2 Weeks of Illness and No Training but a Big Silver Lining

7 Weeks Out

26th Feb. Running shoes on for the first time in a week. Still not 100% recovered from illness but good enough to do some easy work. Within the first 100m I felt the familiar discomfort above my pubic bone. No lower ab pain, but I knew if I continued it would return. 

Damn. 

I felt crushed. I was so sure that I would be ok that I hadn’t given any thought to what I would do if not. 

Clearly this was Ostensis Pubis, caused by an instability or imbalance of my hips and adductors. I didn’t understand why. I’ve strength trained for years. I don’t have ‘instabilities’ or ‘weaknesses’. Regardless, the decision was made to drop from Manchester and rest for 8-9 weeks before slowly working my way back to running. 

I don’t have time for this.

I’m not a 20 (or even 30) year old who can afford to take time off. I’ll be 44 this year. How long is my window to be able to run under 3 hours? Then I remembered; 

I can’t think like this. 

I felt sorry for myself for all of about 5 minutes and then returned to the drawing board. I began cross training the next day. I had an appointment with our physio, Claire, on Thursday, which I considered cancelling but didn’t.

This was a good move.

As Holly pointed out to Claire during our session, according to my bone scan I appear to have been grafted from Titanium. 

“You’re not unstable, Pete, at least not physically. And you don’t have OP. You’ve got some thickness on your tendon that needs working out and then you’ll be fine to run again. Give it two days and then start back on your Marathon training.”

Just as a massive grin spread across my face, Claire dug her thumb into a tendon somewhere in my pubic region and caused a feeling of pain I’ve not come across before. Really, I’ve never known anything like it. 

On Sunday March 3rd, I took to the streets for my second run in two weeks. Please let this be ok.

No pain. Thank God.

Marathon training is back on. Losing two weeks of training when you’re this close to racing isn’t great. I have 6 weeks until race day, which affords me 5 real weeks of training. Time is not, and never will be, on my side. 

8 Weeks Out: Wokingham HM

Decided to use the cross trainer until my session on Wednesday. Abs feel fine, but I know they’ll ache/burn again as soon as I run. Tuesday night I developed a chesty cough, waking up on Wednesday with reservations about this week, training and racing. I know I can run today and run well. But I also know that, I’ll probably be pretty ill afterwards and my pubis synthesis (which improves on a daily basis) will revert to the state it was on Sunday. 

So what to do? It’s frustrating because I am 100% sure that I am in PB shape right now and that I can showcase this on Sunday. But since I am coming down with man flu, why not take advantage of a full week of rest, let the pubis synthesis (if that’s what it is) calm down and then return, 7 weeks out, fresh and ready to hammer the final weeks. If I race, I will likely do damage to my pelvis and almost certainly not be able to train correctly next week.

This is about sub 3 at Manchester, not a half. 

Thursday: Full blown man-flu…

Friday and Saturday spent doing exactly nothing. My biggest issue when ill is that I lose my appetite and, as much as I try, I don’t get a lot down because I feel constantly full. As a Powerlifter, this was disastrous. As a runner? Not so much. Dropping a few pounds won’t hurt my performance in just over 7 weeks, that’s for sure. The last time I stepped on a scale I was 91kg so…

The psychological aspect is hard. I don’t want to look like an elite runner. I want to look like an athlete. For what reason? I’m 6’1 and even at 90kg I look skinny. Between 94-96 is the weight I look best at, but it’s noticeably harder to run with that build. Also, (to repeat myself for 100th time) I really feel I’ve reached an age where posting shirtless pics for IG feels embarrassingly vain. It’s a bit like the involuntary wince I make whenever I hear a ‘Stormzy’ track at the gym. 

For now though, I’ll go with the drop in weight (whatever it might be). I’m sure it will climb a little again as I drop this illness and then, post-Manchester, I’ll decrease the weekly volume, add in some more food and creatine, lift harder and work on top end speed. The idea is to race at 5-10k distance before the next build to Amsterdam. I want to get a lot faster at the shorter distances - this is somewhere I’ve never trained specifically and will undoubtedly put me in a good place come 12-16 weeks prior to racing in October. 

In my head, all I want to do is get better/faster. I struggle without having something to work toward that excites me. I don’t give much thought to the fact that I’m 43 now. My training age for running is actually quite low and I will continue train as everyone younger than me does for as long as I can. This is exactly what Ken Rideout did at 42 years old and now he’s one of the fastest masters marathoners in the world with a pb of 2:28 (or 2:29) at 53 years old.

The drawback with training for two marathons per year is the constant low level fatigue you’re dealing with. Resistance is ever present. I have to remind myself to say ‘Yes’ if Holly suggests we go somewhere/do something. It’s not all about me. I justify it by saying ‘I just have to go sub 3 and I’m done’. But what happens if I go under, comfortably, knowing I could do better? And then the bigger question is - who cares if you do and why even bother?

The answer to that is easy. I want to fulfil my potential in the things that I have been gifted the ability to do. I have chosen the things I have chosen because they excite me. In my mind, to have pulled 600lbs (272.5kg) off the floor and run under 3 hours for a marathon is a solid athletic achievement. There are people stronger and there are people faster; but there aren’t many who have reached this level in BOTH disciplines.

Sunday: I suspect that I might be able to manage my first run in 7 days tomorrow. Much less ill and no abdominal pain to speak of. Hopefully this past week was a blip in an otherwise solid block.

Time to lace up!

This is forty

9 Weeks Out

Fun fact: The picture above is taken from a 5am workout that incurred two nose bleeds.

Anyhoo…

Monday: Rest day from running and lifting. I made it as far as loading the bar for bench press and then got into a 30 minute conversation with a guy deadlifting opposite me. Next client turned up and that, was that. I wish that I cared even a little.

Tuesday: Double day. 5 miles in the AM and 5 in the PM. Abs felt much better after a day of rest. 

Wednesday: Session. 3x15 mins at MRP off 3 mins jog recovery. Felt fine in terms of effort but HR was way higher than it would normally be at this pace. Reached as high as 165 during reps. I think this is partly to do with putting up with the discomfort in my lower abs, but it could also be that I’m fatigued. Tbh, I’m just glad that I got it done. Physio tomorrow and then a bit of a taper next week should help. Normally it wouldn’t be much of a volume/intensity reduction at this stage of the build, but I think I need it and race week is likely the best time to take it.

Email from Alan suggesting that there is no reason to go into Wokingham tired, so take tomorrow as rest day from running. You don’t have to tell me twice.

Thursday and Friday off (aside from some low volume lifting). Went to see Claire about the ab soreness. I feel like I’m being held together by sticky tape.

Saturday: Session. This one was a nice confidence booster. 

Mile 1 = 8:30 per mile

Mile 2 = 7:40 per mile

Mile 3 = 6:45 per mile

Mile 4 = 6:45 per mile

Mile 5 = 6:28 per mile

Mile 6 = 6:20 per mile

Mile 7 = 6:10 per mile

Mile 8 = 6:10 per mile

The first couple of miles put me in a mind-frame of ‘Bugger, this is going to hurt”, but I started to settle in at mile 4, with HR dropping a little. Amazingly enough, when I hit mile 5 and started creeping toward threshold, I actually started to feel pretty good. It felt so insane to run the final few miles under 4 mins per k. In the past this was a speed that would be hard to hold for 3 minutes. I am looking forward to Wokingham although I’m under no illusion that 4:01 k’s for 13 miles won’t be TOUGH. If I can pb, I’m happy. Under 1:27 would be brilliant. 1:25 would be mind blowing. 

Sunday Long Run: 12 miles easy. 

Bittersweet. 

Felt the huge benefit of a lower volume week. After the first few miles wading through legit floods and rivers, I made sure to keep HR south of 144bpm when I began to run consistently. The subsequent pace was between 4:30-4:40. It feels weird running at a speed which you assume to be a 5:20-5:30 k, only to look down at your watch and see sub 5 k’s ticking by.

The bad news is that my lower abs burned. The whole run was quite uncomfortable. Not ideal - all symptoms point toward Pubis Synthesis. Next week I’ll cross train Monday & Tuesday. Wednesday will be 5x1 mile on the treadmill followed by a couple of days of cross training. Will throw in some eccentric reverse sit ups and hopefully I’ll see some improvement. 

Mileage for the week: 40

67 Mile Week

10 weeks out

Monday was a rest day from running and a chest & shoulders workout at the gym. 

Does a runner in a marathon block necessarily need to train upper body? No, probably not. You could argue that, a faster, higher mileage athlete might not benefit from lifting at all during a 12 week block; especially if they haven’t engaged in strength training previously. To derive benefit from lifting (and not excluding practices such as necessary mobility work/pt exercises etc), you have to be able to recover from lifting. If your last build culminated in, say, 65-70 mile weeks, and you’re planing to push to 75-80+ on the next, your recovery will very likely be consumed by those miles. Engaging in progressive, relatively heavy strength training in a fatigued state (incurred from an increase in running volume and intensity) means that you are likely not going to be able to generate the force necessary to elicit the ‘strength’ adaptations you’re seeking. At which point your gym sessions risk serving no purpose other than to make you tired and increase risk of overreaching. 

So, should you strength train as an endurance athlete? 

Absolutely.

Should you introduce strength training for the first time during a 12 week or less build? Possibly, but volume, intensity and exercise selection must be introduced in a manner that does not detract from your running by way of incurring too much recovery debt and risking injury.

Sorry, that’s probably not very helpful..

Tuesday: 9 miles easy and a back workout at the gym.

Wednesday: Session Day: 12x3 mins at 4:00 per k off 60 sec recovery. Felt great. I know that my risk of injury increases when my cadence slows, so happy to report that my average cadence for the entire session was 188spm

Thursday: As far as I can recall, this was my first ever ‘double’ day. Due to clients, I couldn’t fit my entire 9 mile easy run in. I instead decided to do 4 miles on the treadmill at 7am and then followed up with another 5 easy miles later in the afternoon. Felt surprisingly ok. I think I’m slowly starting to adapt to the higher mileage. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still constantly lacking in energy and I say more stupid things than I might normally, but I don’t feel quite as knackered and my body feels physically stronger. Normally I would train legs today but I’m leaving it until tomorrow…

Friday: I really need to stop speaking too soon. 9 miles easy but felt super fatigued on this run. Also, no legs…

Saturday: Never underestimate the power of a burger and fries to combat exercise induced flaccid brain and legs syndrome (FBALS). Last night we went to Tivoli - one of those hideously expensive cinemas where you get your own sofa and have food brought to you whilst you watch a depressing film about the life of a German family who live on the border of Auschwitz. On the drive over we listened to Ben Shapiro’s take on the Israel-Hamas war. The delineation between the life of luxury we in the west live and the horrors that others have endured for centuries is not lost on us. The fact that we seek suffering in the form of running marathons because our lives are, in general, very comfortable, it feels… I’m not sure.

Jordan Peterson recently made the following statement:

“You’re morally obligated to do remarkable things. Why?

Well, partly because life is so difficult and challenging that unless you give it everything you have, the chances are very high that it will embitter you. And then you’ll be a force for darkness. That’s not good. Also, the fact that life is short and can be brutal can terrify you into hiding. But you can flip that on its head and understand that, since you’re all in, you might as well take the adventurous risks. That’s a very good thing to understand.”

I digress.

Saturdays session was GOOD!

60 minute continuous run consisting of 20 minutes at MRP (4:12 per k) 20 minutes at 4:29 per k and then 20 minutes at 4:12 increasing every 5 mins in speed to HMP for the final 5 mins. 1 mile warm up and cooldown = 11 miles for the day

Sunday: Long Run: 18 miles. For whatever reason, I was awake frequently throughout the night with sore lower abs. At least that’s the best way I can describe it. Not a deep pain or evenly particularly when sitting up to get out of bed. Feels like the pain is just below the skin. Made the start of today’s run quite uncomfortable but didn’t hinder me in terms of my ability to move. Didn’t ease off either, but I managed to find my rhythm after a few miles and ended up ticking off an easy run at 5:20 per k with a HR in the 1:30’s (long run has lots of ups and downs). To be honest, I’m happy overall considering this is my longest training week pretty much ever. Straight home and into lounging pants. Nothing but food and coffee for the remainder of the day…

Total Mileage for the week: 67

11 Weeks Out

11 Weeks Out

This one is going to be better! We still have a week in Cornwall which is less than ideal for training but whatchagonnado? 

Monday: 16 miles of roads and felt pretty good… let’s see what this week brings.

Tuesday, nothing exciting, 7 or 8 miles (honestly can’t remember). When you’re constantly climbing or descending, data becomes much less relevant for me. I don’t check cadence, HR etc because it tells me nothing.

Wednesday: Session. This was a good one. 

I went to Millies gym in Helston to use the treadmill and, after a mile warm up, went into a continuous 60 minute run. This consisted of 3 mins at half marathon pace (4:01) and 3 mins at 30 seconds slower per mile. I tried to focus on settling into a rhythm and relaxing. After 20 minutes it felt like a comfortable steady run. This was the first time I’d seen myself running in years, thanks to the mirror in front of me. Because I’ve increased my cadence so much in the past months, I’ve ended up looking almost like a real runner (words that would have lead me to self flagellation back in my powerlifting days). It used to be that even when I was running ‘fast’ it appeared as though I was plodding, because my turnover was probably around 150spm. Today my slowest my cadence was 182 . Not bad.

Thursday: 7 miles. Walked for a mile. Not injured or tired but the psychological weight of knowing that my hamstring could go at any point on race day clearly affects me more than I’m aware. Manchester is such a huge focus that it occupies most of my waking thoughts. And I’m not even technically injured right now. I’ve not had to miss any training. But because of pushing too hard on a single day of my first build back in June of 2023, I now have a weakness. Boohoo, right? 

Friday: Day off and travelling home! 

Saturday: Another session with some faster paces. After a mile warm up + drills and strides, I ran for 3 miles at slightly faster than HMRP (4:00 per k) followed by 3 mins easy jog. Next was 6x1 min at 5k pace (3:42 per k) off 30 sec jog followed by another 3 mins easy. Finished with 3 miles at MRP. Holly told me this would feel easy. It didn’t. The minute efforts caused me to be very slightly aware of my right hamstring and because of this (I think), my perceived exertion increased on the final section. I pulled back from 4:12 per k to 4:16 per k for a few minutes until it backed off, then, I pushed their speed back up. Good session overall. 10 miles.

Sunday: Long run: 16 miles super slow. If I’ve completed a session the day before a long run, I’ll stick at the lower end of my aerobic HR zone. If I haven’t I’ll push closer to limit. Hamstring felt fine. The last few miles were the easiest. One of the best things that can happen during a run is for a thought to occur that completely takes you away from focussing on putting one foot in front of the other. I didn’t run with music as I still don’t have anything to listen to that adds (rather than subtracts) to the enjoyment of the effort. Done, dusted.

Weekly total: 66 miles

12 Weeks Out

12 Weeks Out

Monday is a regular day off now, although I have had to do all my lifting during the first two days of this week as we head to Cornwall on Wednesday in preparation for Hollys race, ‘The Arc of Attrition’. In 2023 she podiumed at the 100 miler - for 2024 she’s racing the 50. As far as my training, I ran 9 miles easy on Tuesday and then hit a fast session just prior to leaving for our trip.

8x3 mins off 90 secs jog. Reps between 3:40-3:50 per k. Performed outside in 24kmph winds. Avg pace for reps was bang on 3:45. Up until recently I would have pushed just faster than the prescribed time ‘to be safe’ which is basically just ego running. So I kept it controlled. As a result, all the reps felt, well, like they should I guess? Not full on Vo2 max, blowing out of your arsehole, struggling to hang on at the end type reps. Instead, I felt I had experienced exactly the workout that was intended. 

How often do you hear professional athletes talking about consistency being key, showing up day after day, not being a hero, getting the work done etc? They tell us it takes time and that we have to bury our ego and have patience if we want to run faster and better. But, just like so many others, I decided I want to run under 3 hours NOW- 36 mins quicker than my last Marathon, and, I wanted to do it in a few months. I trained hard and I trained consistently. I was, to be frank, obsessed. And I did well. 3:09 is a massive pb in less than 6 months, considering the course and the wind. I wanted sub 3 but 3:09 is what I earned. If there’s one thing for certain, it is that I am not special. Running talent is not a skill I possess. 

I look back at everything I’ve learned. So much. Probably the biggest, most helpful change was fixing my cadence. But my downfall at Chippenham HM and Porto was not knowing how to race. Chippenham was fine pace-wise but drinking water at 4:07 per k really screwed me up around half way - I felt like I had waterboarded myself as my HR shot up and just got knocked totally off my rhythm. 

Porto was a pacing issue.

If your sub 3 pacer goes off (and remains at) 6-8 seconds quicker than MRP, you should probably back off and run your own race.

Running for the next 10 days is going to be on undulating Cornish roads and treadmills. Crewing this weekend means mileage takes a hit. 

Thursday was 10 miles of Cornish roads. No need to worry about pace, just aiming to keep hr reasonable considering the constant ups and downs. We’re house sitting at the Boathouse, like we do 2-3 times per year. I used to come to crab fish here as a kid. I remember looking up at this house perched on the edge of the water, wondering who lived in such an incredible building. Turns out that Holly may well have been here at the exact time, looking down on me as I was pulling crabs out of the water.

Because of the typically slow roads in Cornwall, Alan has set a little additional work to keep the legs turning over, so today, Friday, I ran just shy of 9 miles with 6x10 sec hill strides followed by 8x45 sec flat off 75 sec recovery. The 45 sec reps were around 3:20. Now it’s time to jump in the van and head to Porthtowan to collect Hollys race number. Tomorrow is a 4:30am start for the Arc 50.

Saturday off, Sunday 7 miles after 2 nights of poor sleep. Supposed to be a long run day but as Holly took second place in the race, we needed to be in Porthtowan for 10:30.

All in all, a fairly light week of 40-something miles.

What Does A Week Of Lifting Look Like When Running 60+ Miles Per Week?

How many of you know the feeling of being deep into a Marathon training block? If you do, you’ll understand that ‘energy’ is a vague memory and something you generally only experience during a taper or a period of forced rest (injury). The inclination for most of us to strength train during a build is, understandably, low.

I’m no different.

I don’t get the buzz I used to from lifting.

But I continue to strength train because I know that, if I don’t, the chance of sustaining an injury will be higher. I actively attempt to stay abreast of the ever-growing body of research into resistance training and it’s benefits. I also have A LOT of anecdotal data from training myself and our clients. I have, in fact (shameless plug) just published a new guide to strength training for runners, which can be purchased in our store and expands greatly on this topic…

We live very close to our gym and, as such, have the option to train as frequently as we like. Because of this (and this is clearly not practical nor necessary for most of you) I like to break my training down into bite-sized chunks. A full body workout can be draining. Typically, we find that 2 gym sessions per week for clients is manageable, but for me, I like to train 4x per week. Less work per session means less overall fatigue, in my experience. So I train somewhat like a bodybuilder, in that I break muscle groups up into sections such as chest & shoulders, back, legs and then core to finish the week. But I don’t train like a bodybuilder. Not even close. My gym sessions also last anywhere from 10 minutes to 30 minutes.

The set up for someone who wishes to use strength work to improve running economy and resistance to injury is quite different to most lifting programs you may have seen or tried, in terms of workout structure, exercise selection, number of reps and total volume.

Let me provide you with a basic outline of my week:

Monday: Rest from running. Chest & Shoulders

Tuesday: 12-mile long run. Back

Wednesday: Speed Session

Thursday: Legs. Recovery run

Friday: 8-10 miles gen aerobic. Core

Saturday: LT/MRP Session or recovery run

Sunday: Long run or Long run with MRP

Leg training starts with unilateral, balance focussed lifting followed by a highly stable compound movement with a focus on producing as much force as possible. Low volume/low rep work with heavy weight to produce the desired result with little to no fatigue accumulation.

Please don’t be put off by the term ‘Heavy Lifting’. I’m not saying you have to tiptoe a 200kg barbell out of the rack like a newborn giraffe trying to walk for the first time; I’m simply saying that, it’s ok to push hard for a few reps on a machine (like a leg press) that removes the need to balance and provides enough support for you to engage in a few reps of some relatively high effort, heavy lifting, safely.

The act of performing too many reps with weights that are far too light, spread over too many sets is, I believe, the biggest mistake made by runners when attempting to strength train.

Want to accumulate soreness that lasts for days and adds a whole lot of fatigue to the fatigue you’re already experiencing from Marathon training? Go ahead and do 5 sets of 15 lunges on each leg followed by 5 sets of 15 Leg Extensions and then tell me how well your 8x1k went the day after.

It is more than possible to build strength, without bulk, without soreness and without eating too much into your time, if a few fundamental principles are followed. If you’re interested in learning more, check out eGuides and programs for more info.

Giving up The 'Gainz'

Sunday long run done and dusted. Avg pace 5 mins per k at 138 hr. Felt surprisingly good. I’m currently sitting at 91kg, which is 20kg heavier than I probably should be if I want to run ‘well’ but I enjoy my gym sessions and I’m not ready to be a lanky beanpole runner just yet.

I think I can count on one hand the number of days, in my thirties, I spent walking around under 100kg. By the time I hit 36 I peaked out at 116kg. My ‘walking-around’ weight a decade prior was 75-77kg.

I’d always wanted to be bigger. Don’t ask me why. Insecurities, bullying, you name it. Most of us who dedicate our time to gaining unnatural levels of mass probably have something from our past driving the desire to crack the pavement with every step we take.

There wasn’t so much a concerted effort to lose 26kg of weight over the past 5-6 years, it happened, primarily, as a result of finding myself in a happy place - something I hadn’t experienced for a long time (due to no ones fault but my own).

For around 15 years I had counted calories. I was meticulous. No bad food aside from a single ‘cheat’ day per week (a day in which I would attempt to gain 10lbs over the course of 12 hours eating the crappiest food you could imagine). I would wake at 3am and be asleep by 9-9:30 each night. Cardio was avoided at all costs. I would switch between bulking and cutting, which meant I was in a permanent state of either horribly full or ravenously hungry. There was no such thing as eating freely or ‘intuitively’. This was what it took, I told myself.

The body dysmorphia that comes with this kind of lifestyle means that you’re never happy with how you look. Because you’ve seen yourself with abs after dropping bodyfat, it’s psychologically hard to watch yourself gain fat when bulking. Similarly, dropping weight (and therefore size) is also difficult. All it takes is one person to mention that you’re looking ‘smaller’ and the rest of your day is ruined.

Let me tell you this: being shredded is miserable. The fact that you look good cannot override the fact that you feel like dog shit and are absolutely no fun to be around. Conversely, having a bloated ‘moon-face’ when bulking is a very similar type of kick-in-the-nuts - your wallet getting lighter and thinner as it pays out for your new saddlebags and second chin.

So what happened? And do I find it hard being this much ‘smaller’?

In 2019 I found the person I was meant to be with. It’s as simple as that. I stopped counting calories. We go out for dinner or coffee and a pastry regularly. I make breakfast and lunch and she cooks for me in the evenings - different food each night! The freedom to not have to constantly think about what I’m eating and the breakdown of the macros etc is SO DAMNED GOOD. And guess what? I’m still happy with how I look. Being big and shredded was so important to me, until I hit 40. I think of it as a bit like rap music. When I was in my twenties, hardcore rap was cool. Nowadays, I can’t help but cringe when it comes on. That’s getting older I guess. Priorities change. Learning to finally not put so much focus on what other people might think of you and start doing what makes you happy is a drug that I can’t get enough of.

The second factor in my dropping weight was the feeling of becoming fit. Mass goes down, health and fitness go up. As someone who was a very heavy man for 10+ years, the feeling of being healthy and able to move just can’t be beaten.

Do I care that I’m not the biggest guy in the room anymore? I did, for a short period of time. Now it doesn’t bother me in the slightest. People at my gym know me as a runner. They’ve never known me as a heavyweight powerlifter. There is no imagined pressure to be a certain size for fear of letting others down if I drop a couple of kg. Yes, it’s nice to be told you’re ‘looking huge’ but should I let this dictate my level of health and happiness?

The simple fact is, running gives me a much bigger buzz than powerlifting ever did. And I’m getting better at it. At 40+ years old, I want to improve in the things I undertake. There is no way I am ever going to squat 250kg again - I’m just not prepared to make the sacrifices necessary to be back at that level. But I will run faster, stay leaner, fitter and (hopefully) happier than I was in my thirties.

Time will tell.