Sharing my running experiences having started running later in life and achieving some good times and results. My standout performance was running 2:24.31 at the London Marathon in April 2023 at the age of 42, only three and a half years after starting running.
First a tip: Make sure your big toe nail is always clipped hence no pressure on inner mesh that causes those tears eventually! I got 2000k out of my Speed 2's. Just got my Speed 3's and the durability again looks impressive after 150kms. Little roomier in the toe box but that's ok for winter when I will run with thicker socks. BTW on eBay there are some sellers offering the Pro 2 new which is tempting to get for the carbon plate option and knowledge the brand is well made.
The most I've been able to run during my half marathon block is 66 miles. I would run more but it's literally impossible with a full time job that you are on your feet a lot. I don't know how I'm going to get up to 80 mpw for my marathon block.
What a great video and explanation. I'm doing marathon training now and have only focussed on increasing my mileage, and haven't done much tempo work at all, so this is very encouraging! One thing I'm curious about though: how long has it taken you to increase your speed over time. My low heart rate (zone 2) pace is currently 5:45 ish/ km. Would love to get that down overtime so I can run faster races. How long would you reckon I need to keep training to get that below 5:00/km? Thanks so much for sharing this video!
My 2-sentence-resume of the method would be: do plenty of interval workouts of different types (100m, 200m , 400m, 1000m) during your training week, but also take plenty of rest between each interval. This way your HR won´t get up that much, so that you build up far less fatigue while still getting in your speedwork. Do you think that is accurate?
Great video. I've made all my progress since jan purely from running by feel. Have just started playing around with intervals and tempo for the sake of variation and i like feeling that burn every now and again
Patrick , I am more or less a trail runner but I am recovering from an ankle injury and want to stick to roads for a while until it's fully recovered. The road shoe I had been using was the Endorphin speed 3 which I know you favoured for a while. Mine has come to the end of its life , so I was wondering with your a shared proclivity for that shoe what shoe you are now using or would recommend in a similar feel.. Thanks ?
I am stuck at 30 min:30 seconds but the 5k has a lot of uphill segments. I am really keen on improving my personal best but i only run once a week. Would adding mileage help or should I focus on improving stride and tempo on 5k? I am 36 and a bit overweight at 173 cm height and 83-84 kg. I do strength training twice a week. I have not run consistently throughout the years but this summer I have been consistent running 5k every week. For me it is the perfect mileage having both a bit of distance and intensity.
Chapeau! i also used to run uphill. i loved it. I did not have smart watches and i was much younger focusing mostly on the emotional and psychological benefits rather than timing. It has given me much confidence in tackling a lot of things in life because I noticed that my physique would recover while keeping the same pace when going into level ground or downhill.
Hey Patrick, you mentioned running the half in 1.08. In London where you did 2.24, how did you approach the run in terms of pace? Did you intentionally hold back and paced yourself? And if so, did you run to your target pace or did that by feel? Thanks
Really nice video. I would be interested to know how you feed. Getting enough calories is not that trivial (especially if you do not want to eat before a run or the night). Thanks for your advises.
As a hill runner I would suggest not incorpating hills into every run especially for novice runners but doing some timed runs on flat roads or on the track so a runner can be aware of their. Ideally do a weekly speed repeat session on a running track or on a flat raod or parth. Because I had ficussed for several years on log dostance trail and mountain, my pace deteriorated considerably and I had to return to doing speed sessions and fast 5 km roads races to recover my speed. Ideally do one speed repeat session on a flat track or road and oe speed repeat session on a hill. Fast road runners usuallyperform very well if they start doing trail running/races as they have the speed that long term trail runners may not have.
I went from 50 miles a week to 85 for 20 weeks to see what would happen.y marathon time improved to 2;42, from 3: 53 in 20 weeks High mileage with lots of hills will get you good safely. I've been lazy I'm about to try and hold 90 for 6 months
I run 70 and am 71. 35 years ago did 3 months 100 miles a week. Pbs followed at all distances and was in 2.28 marathon shape but caught a virus and didn't run.
Before you set out to run those 100mpw for 7 months, were you running for 3.5 years before start or total 3.5 years with those 7 months? Also prior to that 7 month block what was your HM and FM times. You kinda overlooked it when mentioning your 68 Half and 2:24. Thanks!
I used to do 12 seconds flat out uphill 10 times repeat on every 3rd minute my 23.04 5k parkrun is still the fastest Vm 75 after 9 years at my local parkrun did this nearly every day also competed in 100s and 200s track races such fun marathon kill Knees
Great video and well explained. I joined IMRA ( Irish mountain running) this year and about to complete my 3rd half marathon over the hills at roughly 1000m gain on each event. My running has transformed up another level this year and have broken all PB's from 5k's to half marathons knocking minutes off my times. I run with a club 4 days a week and people have asked what I've done this year to improve so much. I genuinely can only put it down to mountain running. Running consistently on the flat will make you a better runner for sure but add hills and it makes you both mentally and physically stronger 💪
After watching you, I got up the nerve to try steady pace for my run today instead of easy running. IT FELT GREAT! I wasnt overly tired, ans I felt stronger! I thought for sure Id be huffing and puffing at the end, but I wasn't. I felt awesome. Ill be doing way more steady pace runs now. Thank you for introducing this concept to me.
The great Ron Clarke trained 16-20km steady run with a progression near the end every day. Finishing at 5 minute mile pace on grass. This was his daily training. He ran 27:39 for 10000m on cinders with no pacemakers.
Thank you for your honest videos! They are refreshing! Im wondering, about your long runs. When you first started them, were you going by time or mileage or both to classify them as long? Right now, the most time I have for a long run is 60 maybe 65 minutes, but because I'm only just getting back into running, this doesn't equate to much in terms of mileage. Maybe 6 miles/10K. It's a medium long run for me because on average, I run 3-5 miles per day, but in the grand scheme of things this is not a "long" run. How do I make my long run actually long in terms of mileage if I only have 60-65 minutes for a long run per week? I run 30-45 minutes per day otherwise. Is it just building volume throughout the week? Thanks for your videos and advice!!
is this z2 youre referring to or a little more? I ran quite alot at maybe the faster end of z2, and seemed to progress quick by mileage and not really any hard interval sessions at all. for all distances.
The algorithm does work! It recommended this video to me and am now working through your catalogue. Congrats on the success you've had so far. More good things to come. 👌
I absolutely hate the fact that we must run hills its so tiring and takes me out for 2 days i have to rest up. I prefer running down and speed walking up i dont feel dead the next day lol
Thanks for making your profile public on Strava, it's very interesting to see how you approach this training philsophy. I've noticed a couple of things. Firstly you rarely run doubles in a day which always make for 20+ km runs. Secondly, there isn't a huge difference in terms of pace between the hard and easy days, it looks like various shades of moderately hard, "steady running" as you call it in your videos. I'm curious to know how you handle the chronic fatigue of running those long runs at a sustained pace without ever having a day off or a very easy day during the week.
Thanks, I make sure I eat a lot of carbohydrates and get a good amount of sleep. My body has got used to that kind of routine as well, it takes time though. As I get nearer to a race I do run doubles. Mainly the steady pace first and later a much easier pace. Look back at my Strava in Feb, March and April this year and I ran doubles most days.
