When and How I Started Running?

My father was a runner and British record holder over the 10,000m on the track in the late 60s with a best of 28 minutes and 26 seconds. Our home was somewhat of a local running hub for athletes in the surrounding area and I remember many local and International standard athletes joining my father on Sunday mornings for their weekly long, Sunday run. This was naturally an influence on me and made me want to run myself.

Perhaps my earliest running memory is taking part in a local ‘fun run’, a 5k that was held once a month in a local park close to my home in Bolton, England.

I ran pretty much the same as any other child growing up and at around the age of 13 started to go to my local running club, Bolton United Harriers twice a week. I took part in the junior athletics league meetings during the summer and in cross-country events during the winter months.

Middle of the Pack

I’d usually finish ‘mid-pack’ in most races and it wasn’t until the age of 17 that I began to see an improvement and my finishing positions were much nearer to the front of the field.

Spurred on by my results I began to train more, but more importantly in a more structured manner. My twice-weekly track sessions would be supplemented by steady runs of around 5 miles during the week and a longer run on Sunday mornings.

During my later teens, I saw a good improvement and from winning local events, I began to target regional and then area competitions. I had a plan of aiming to win the slightly larger races progressively, as the catchment area for each event grew, so did the level of competition and I saw these stepping stones as a great way to progress.

Track Runner and Senior Athlete

I won county and regional events and progressed to national standard and my first International event, running for England on the track in the Under 23 age group over 5000m. The first cross-country season following my International track debut saw me gain selection for England in the Senior ranks in the home countries International (England v Ireland v Scotland v Wales).

As a senior athlete, my dreams were to be a track runner and more specifically a ‘miler’. Being brought up in an athletic family, my life was focused on running and life focussed around running and reading about running. Being a fan of Bannister and the Mile, my focus for each track season was to run a sub-4-minute mile. I’d compete over other distances from 400m in relay teams up to 5000m and I also loved racing on the roads, but it was the mile that held my focus.

Spending many years training hard and racing on the track (and wearing spikes) did take its toll and my Achilles began to become the main point of weakness. I’d limp off the track after many training sessions and races and miss weeks during most summer seasons, having to take time off to let the Achilles settle down.

I’d run 1:50 over 800m and 3:43 over 1500m so the sub-4 mile was within my grasp, but it just wasn’t to be, I ran my best of 4:01 in the Emsley Carr mile in 1991.

Move to Road Running

With the track becoming the surface that irritated my Achilles the most I started to run more road races and did manage a sub-4 mile on the road as well as winning the Bermuda International road mile and beating former World Record Holder, Steve Cram in the process.

I did race on the track occasionally running 13:55 over 5,000m and it was my track background that helped me transition to road racing more successfully. I found having spent many years training at 4 minute-mile pace meant that when racing on the roads over longer distances the pace felt rather comfortable for the major part and if I could stay in touch with the leaders, my track speed would again prove beneficial as I could kick on to a win.

Stepping up the Distance

In my first race over the ten-mile distance on the road, leading out the field at around 5 minute-mile pace felt easy until the very late stages and I finished in just over 48 minutes!

I took this speed and confidence up to the half marathon distance and knowing the leaders would likely go through the 10-mile mark in around 50 minutes I had great confidence. The issue proved to be I hadn’t thought things through beyond ten miles and as the pack kicked, I came home in 64 minutes and 55 seconds in 5th position.

The half marathon became my favourite road event and after winning the British Championship, invitations came from events around the World and I’d win races over the distances in Iceland, Fiji and Bermuda.

My Debut Marathon

The marathon was an event that never really held any attraction for me at this point. I could compete in half marathons regularly throughout the year and the volume of training miles suited my work and life perfectly.

In 2000, having started working for sports brand Fila, the opportunity arose to take part in the New York Marathon. Seeming like a good idea at the time and with a colleague wanting to run 2 hours 40 minutes, I agreed to pace.

We hit the halfway mark in exactly 1 hour 20 minutes but my colleague started to flag and struggled on for the next 5 miles. Soon after 18 miles he urged me to push on and having lost several minutes between 13 and 18 meant I’d have to recoup some time to get back on track.

Having spent years calculating split times of the track while racing my mind worked out what was required and I figured the best plan was to run a quick 2 miles up to 20 to get back on track before an even pace last 6 could bring me home in the original 2:40.

The miles before 18 had been somewhat of a recovery jog for me, so covering the next two miles up First Avenue in 9 minutes and 50 seconds (although very fast) got me back on track and allowed a more controlled run into the Finish in Central Park.

I came home in 2:39:59, bang on target. My friend limped home just under 3 hours, be we celebrated at least one of us hitting the sub 2:40 target!

Getting Older

My next marathon would be in Chicago in 2002. Again, it wasn’t a focus at the time and came about thanks to another work opportunity, this time while working for adidas.

I hadn’t put the miles in to run a marathon but was encouraged by colleagues (and a few beers) to take part. Going through halfway in 1:10 with the pack that was led by Paula Radcliffe (on her way to a new World Record), I felt reasonably fresh, but not fresh enough to run the same speed for another 13 miles!

From 18 miles I faded badly and although finished in a PB of 2:35, it hurt. It hurt so much that I wouldn’t run another marathon for 15 years and not without some marathon-focused training.

Achilles Issues

My Achilles continued to be bothersome throughout my running life into my 40s and early 50’s it continually presented itself with varying degrees of pain that meant my training became disrupted. I’d find myself running for a few months, getting fit, racing and then breaking down with the pain. This cycle continued to the extent of me considering surgery.

In 2021 when the pain in my Achilles had again reached a point that my running was almost completely halted, I was considering surgery again.

It was while investigating surgical procedures that a specialist sports Doctor with experience in runners suggested that my issue may be a bursa on the heel bone behind the tendon. Being present for many years, this bursa had ‘hardened’ and could well be the root of my continuing pain. Scans confirmed this and a PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma) injection proved to resolve the issue almost overnight!

Within weeks I was pain-free and back to running daily.

Running 2:40 at 50

Running pain-free and wanting a focus, the Berlin Marathon of 2022 would be my target. I was 54 years old and maintaining a 6-minute mile pace for the marathon distance would be my target. I felt comfortable running at this pace and over 26.2 miles and give or take a couple of minutes I hoped to come home in under 2 hours and 40 minutes.

A Lifetime of Miles

As you’ll have read above, at this point in my ‘running life’, I have around 40 years’ worth of regular training under my belt.

It often amazes me when on running forums people ask the others the optimum number of miles to run X time for the marathon.

I often respond to such questions with ‘at 55 years of age I ran 2:40 for the marathon with an average mileage of 50 miles a week!’ – I then add an important caveat, that I did those 50 miles a week for the last 20 years!

There’s no Secret Formula

Bearing the above in mind, it’s important to remember that we are all different, very different.

If there was a set formula to run a specific time for a marathon, life would be much easier. But we are all very different, with different heights, weights, ages, jobs and home life. There are SO many considerations that can affect every single area of marathon training and running.

Don’t Compete with Younger Runners

Whether you’ve been running for many years or are relatively new to the scene, it’s always easy to take on younger competitors. I have certainly done this many times and since turning 40 and then again 50 years old, it’s nice to be able to be competitive against much younger rivals.

In doing so, we can invariably set ourselves up for disappointment. I’ve returned home many times after a race and been disappointed when explaining to my partner that I finished in second place (or further down the field). She always does an excellent job in firstly asking the age of those in front of me and then reminding me that I’m ‘in my 50s’!

Don’t make competing with younger rivals the focus of your race, run your own race and focus on your own performance. After all, there aren’t usually prizes for the first ‘older runner to beat someone younger.’

Recovery

Recovery is and always has been one of the main rules of training. If we don’t allow time for the body to recover, then we lose the full benefit of training. Alternating hard days and easy days allows for both cardiovascular and muscle development and adaptation and brings significant training gains.

As we age, we’ll naturally require a little more time to recover from hard training days than when we were younger.

In my 20s and 30s, I tended to follow a hard day / easy time type of training regime and sometimes ran three harder sessions during a week.

This simply can’t be done as we get older and I’ll now sometimes run just one harder session in seven days.

Train to Feel

I find it is more important than ever when we get older to listen to our body and adjust our training accordingly. Train to feel is a great way to optimise this. If you feel tired, take an easy day.

Look at your cumulative training workloads and from time to time give it a few days to ‘sink in’, let the body absorb the training instead of it simply flowing over the top. Rest and recovery are some of the most overlooked aspects of running and training.

Think Longer Term

With the marathon specifically, I find it more important to think a little longer term.

Marathon training plans often quote 12 or 16 weeks in the preparation ‘block’. This is fine as long as you are in a good place to start training in week one.

Specifically when it comes to marathons, I find that if you can maintain a weekly long run of at least 13 miles and ideally around 15 miles, you’ll be in a great place to build during a specific marathon block.

So think a little more long-term and try to include elements of marathon training year-round.

The Long Run

If you are regularly running around 13 miles as your weekly long run, then building to around 20 or 22 miles over the course of a marathon block is easily achievable.

I tend to build from my regular weekly 13-mile-long run by adding 2 miles every two weeks. So the run becomes 15, 17, 19 then 21 miles long.

These runs are at around 1 minute per mile slower than the marathon pace.

A three-hour marathon is approximately 6:52 per mile, so these would therefore be at around 7:45 to 8 minutes per mile.

I usually train with a target marathon pace of 6 minutes per mile. So for me this long run, once every two weeks is at around 7 minutes per mile pace.

On the weeks in between this ‘steady’ long run, I run a long run with an element of marathon pace within it.

Marathon Pace Long Run

In order to become accustomed to maintaining a sustained pace over the marathon distance, I alternate my weekly long run between one at a ‘steady’ (1 minute slower than target race pace) pace and one which contains a large part of it at the target pace.

I build this marathon pace run up throughout the block and aim to build to a peak of approximately 17 miles.

The build to this point can start with the ‘normal’ long run distance of say 13 miles and be broken down into a couple of miles warm up, followed by perhaps ten miles at target pace and then a one mile cool down.

There’s no set regime I stick to with this run apart from building the race pace distance up over the course of the block.

Alternating Long Runs

By running a long and steady run one week, followed by a long and hard (race pace) the next, I find I recover much better and when including the midweek interval session, I have just three harder sessions in a two-week period. This allows plenty of time for recovery.

Interval Session

In my track running years, I’d usually complete two speed work or interval sessions during the week and sometimes, if not racing, another on Saturday. As mentioned, recovery is a major consideration as we age especially when training for a marathon.

With this in mind, I keep to one interval or speed work session per week. I usually run this on a Tuesday or Wednesday. Midweek allows me time to recover from the Sunday long run and again time to recover from the session for the following weekend’s run.

I try to build the total volume of this session to ten miles. Again, if targeting a three-hour marathon most runners will already be including an interval session, so use this as a starting point.

I tend to stick to interval lengths varying from half a mile up to 3 miles (or 5K). I also usually keep my recovery between intervals to a two-minute jog. I usually find that my heart rate has come down sufficiently over two minutes to allow me to go again.

Suggested Interval Sessions

Suggested interval sessions could be (again – build to this volume) 3 times 5 km, 5 times 2 miles, 10 times 1 mile or 20 times half mile.

Strides

Once a week include some stride during a shorter recovery run.

Strides are simply short intervals (approx. 100m) where you should aim to ‘stride’, NOT sprint at a fast pace but at the same time concentrate on a smooth, relaxed action. Lift the knees, try to lengthen your stride a little. Repeat these strides around 6 times, with a 100m walk between each.

Strides help to remind the legs of their best, most efficient movement pattern. If you’ve not tried them before try to run them in the style of your favourite athlete, they’ll more than likely have a great action you can try to emulate!

Easy Running

On the days between your long run, midweek session and easy (‘stride’ day), your other running should simply be easy-paced running. I aim to run for one hour on each of these days.

This should give a weekly total of around 50 miles per week and I consider this to be the optimum (or perhaps minimum) to achieve a 3-hour time.

Other Things to Consider

As well as simply the running elements of training, other considerations that play a large part in the preparation for a marathon include diet, sleep, work and home life.

If you can improve each of these in just a small way that will help you prepare for or recover from your training you’ll see additional improvements too.