London Marathon!! 😁 Well this is rather exciting. There’s no hiding place, it’s going to be tough, but what a goal to work towards.

In terms of the data, we jump from an average of 73 training points per week in the last plan to 110 in this one. That might feel like a big step up, but we finished the last plan at 90 and we start this one at 100. So we are doing it in a smart and progressive way.

Plus the number of runs per week still only averages out at 3.44 and the weeks there are 4 runs, one of them is generally a short easy run.

There are two things we need to improve on ahead of London. Endurance and strength. Those are the key attributes. We do that through both the long runs and the the strength work at home.

One speed session per week is still very important but you don’t need to be maxing out in those sessions. Speed isn’t going to be that important in London so as long as you are consistent in your speed work, that takes away a little bit of pressure.

The best advice I can offer at this juncture is always focus on the next run. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with the challenges that lie ahead, but you might just be surprised and often the reality of the long runs are not as bad as we make out in our head in the build up.

We can only do 1 run at a time. Within that 1 run we can only run 1 mile at a time. And that’s the best way to treat the training. Run the mile you’re in.

I’ve been there and you’ll have Sunday long runs where you might be tired after 10 miles and think how can I do another 16? You don’t need to. Not on that day anyway. Worry about that when London comes along. And you’ll be able to do it because you’ll be fitter, well rested, have eaten lots of carbs and have thousands of people cheering you at every point along the route.

I’ll finish by saying this is an opportunity that is very hard to come by these days. It’s almost like a Golden Ticket to the Chocolate Factory. So make the most of it and make yourself proud.

You got this!! Plus I’ll be there to support you on this fantastic journey.