One week to the Frankfurt Marathon

It is time again to consider where I have managed to drag my fitness to and consider what level of performance might be possible at the Frankfurt Marathon. With one week to go I think all of the 'training' is now done and I should have enough data to produce a reasonable guess.

Sweat: sweet is better than salty for marathon runners

Thinking back to some lectures I attended, probably about 20 years ago now, I came across another good reason why marathon runners might want to 'over' heat acclimate (i.e. train in more clothing than is comfortable so that they can produce large amounts of sweat).

Virgin Money London Marathon 2015 - Pre-race thoughts

So, this year my race preparation has consisted of more miles than in previous years (Figure 1). In the 8 week run-up to the week before London I covered an average of 130.5 km per week at an average pace of 4:50.3 mins per km.

Thinking new stuff: 3D printing

Computers are great in so many ways - not least their ability to consume time, vast amounts of it. But, in the process of filling that space between birth and death they provide a good degree of fun.

Radio 4: The Philosopher's Arms - Sex Equality

I much prefer arguments that are based on  facts rather than 'urban myths' or extrapolations 50 years into the future. I was listening to the Philosopher's Arms on Radio 4 and heard (12min 55s in to the episode on Sex Equality) the often repeated claim that Women can run faster than Men over long distances. I think it was Beatrix Campbell talking and, in this case, the Daily Mail seems to be more accurate!

How much do I want that Snickers?

I was just mulling over one particular 'theoretical' benefit that might be gained by slow long runs. In my current case it is in the early taper stage before a marathon, but it applies to just about any time. One aspect that I thought would be interesting to guesstimate is what might the 'weight-loss' benefit to marathon improvement time be of a single run, since I don't have a 'ball-park' figure in my brain.

Where am I with my marathon training?

I don't know about you, but this is a question that I often ask myself at this point in my training. It is now just over 4 weeks to the Amsterdam Marathon and I have a target to meet - am I on track or not?