30 Days to Train for a Marathon [The Results]

On 1st December 2020, I decided that I wanted to try to run a marathon in under 3 hours and 30 minutes before the end of the year. That meant I had just 30 days of training. Fortunately my training camp went well and on 31st December, I stood in Cadiz – injury-free – prepared … Read more

Week 4 Update: The Final Countdown

Training is complete. Done and dusted. Now, there’s just the small matter of running a marathon to bring this challenge to an end. Week 4 Training My plan coming into this final week of training was to just keep my legs ticking over, while concentrating on upping my pace a touch to get more comfortable … Read more

Marathon Month: Week 3 Update

By some divine miracle, I’ve done three weeks of training without getting injured. I’ve taken every precaution I can: I ice after runs, I wear KT tape during longer runs, I listen to my body and I even blast out the massage gun regularly. But even with all this precaution, I’m still astonished that my … Read more

Marathon Month: Week 2 Update

At the start of this week I was getting a bit concerned. I went on two pretty short runs (just over 4k) but I felt like I was struggling for power, while my troublesome solei were starting to tighten up – normally a sign that they are about to trigger a pull in the muscle. … Read more

Marathon Month: Week 1 Update

So far, so good. Well, no injuries anyway. And that’s my biggest concern with all of this, so definitely on the right track. I didn’t go too crazy in the first week, I just smashed out a few 4km runs to get into the swing of things, then finished off with a 10k on Sunday, … Read more

Day 1: Not the Ideal Start

Last night I decided I was going to run a marathon in a month’s time. I wasn’t even drunk. I’m not exactly sure why I made the decision, but I think the idea had been bouncing around the back of my mind for a while. Anyway, after fleshing out the idea in my head, I … Read more

Can I Run a sub-3.5 Hour Marathon with 30 Days of Training?

This is the big question: Is this even possible? I’m not a big runner. I play a fair bit of sports, but that’s largely been on hold this year. I’m also notoriously injury prone. Indeed, that’s the real risk here. I’m not even sure if I can complete this goal without pulling my soleus muscle … Read more

My Last Goal (for 2020)

At the start of 2020, I set myself three goals. The first two I’m on course to achieve, but the third was to run my first ever marathon and in a time under 3 hours and 30 minutes – which, as it stands, hasn’t happened. I signed up for the Rotterdam Marathon in April, but … Read more