mock jogger

You may have noticed that I’ve been a bit quiet of late. I’ve found it hard to find the time to write, what with all the actual running.

A few months ago I entered the ballot for the Tokyo Marathon. I didn’t have any serious intentions for the race, but after several failed attempts at London I figured I needed the ballot practice. With a chance of success somewhere south of 10%, I forgot about my entry and literally fell off my perch a couple of weeks later when an email arrived telling me I was in. Three thoughts sprang to my mind in quick succession.

• I can’t not do this; the karma gods will not go easy on me in future ballots if I reject this one.
• I actually have a work reason to be in Japan around about that time.
• How am I going to break this to my Japanese/half Japanese family, who are going to have to stay in Edinburgh?

I confirmed my participation before the deadline expired without any real plan and waited for the planets to align. They did. I am booked to travel to Tokyo the week before the race.

Running, in general, had been going quite well following a couple of injuries last year. Even so, after clocking a PB at the Men’s 10k Edinburgh in November I knew I would have to crank things up a bit to get back to marathon-ready state. I took a look back at the training plan I put in place for Paris and Edinburgh in 2014, and decided I did not want to be a slave to the calendar this time. Instead I planned a loose series of increasing-distance long runs for the weekend and left in-week running to whatever I felt like. One thing I did want to incorporate was more than one decently long run. I want 3 x 20 milers this time. Two are now in the bank and the last one is up this weekend.

Overall, the mileage has built up nicely, and I am running about 40-45 miles per week with taper in sight. It’s not all been plain sailing though. It may be obvious, but February marathons mean winter training and I live in Scotland. My building blocks for Tokyo are a testament to the elements …

• My long runs have generally been east to west. Storms Abigail through Henry have generally been at the same time, but blowing west to east.
• I’ve had business travel, arriving somewhere late and leaving early. In January I clocked 50k on random hotel treadmills. I invented treadmill reps, for goodness sake.
• When it has been light enough on foreign soil, I’ve kitted-up and got out there. I’ve been running in 4 inches of snow (and still snowing) at 6am around Horn Pond, Woburn, USA

One downside of all this bravado running is that I have no real idea of what pace I should run at on long runs. Strong headwinds, snow and ice all distort the flow. And while long runs in December, with just a few jelly babies for comfort, were going nicely, I’ve been bonking way too early on long runs in 2016. I hate gels and have been experimenting with other fuelling options. Clif Bloks* are my current favourite and plan of record for Tokyo. I think of them as professional jelly babies.

So what are my targets for Tokyo? Three years ago I set myself a goal to run a marathon in under 4 hours. It’s about time I delivered on that.

* mock jogger has no connection with Clif Bar and no one from Clif Bar has contacted him to offer to fuel his training. It’s a dammed shame, really.