How I ran my first Marathon in 3:25

Running the 2023 London Marathon was a long time coming for me. So from the first day of training right up to race day, I was going to give it everything I had.

THE BEGINNING

I had never run a marathon before, and with everything I'd heard about London, and this city holding a special place in my heart, I wanted it to be my first. So I applied for the ballot - 7 years in a row. 2020 was the year I finally got in, I trained for 4 months, then, I don't need to tell you this, it got cancelled. After deferring multiple times, it looked like April 2023 was finally going to be the year for me and I was going to make it worth the 10 year wait.

5 key factors that made my first marathon a success:

1. Base training.

I decided to step it up from the go and actually bought a training program, a first for me. And 6 months out from marathon day, I started my 2 months of base training. I wanted to begin my program strong, so in order in to physically and mentally prepare for what would have been an overwhelmingly drastic change in my schedule, I stepped up my easy runs, lengthened my long runs, and stuck to a consistent weight lifting regimen. When my first day of the 16 week program came around, I was ready.

2. Consistent strength training.

Consistent strength training has been a game changer for me. Not just for running, but everything else in life! There is nothing more empowering than feeling strong. Though specifically for running, hills have always been my weak point and the noticeable difference as to the ease of which I now tackle them (Disclaimer: I do live in notoriously flat London, so any amount of small incline for you trail runners!) is quite satisfying. Lifting weights is also so important for injury prevention, and I was very happy to come through the other side completely injury free.

3. Keeping easy runs really, really easy.

One thing that has been stressed more than anything else by the coach I bought the program from, is keeping the easy runs, really really easy. It's remarkable, as amateur runners, how difficult it is for us to master this seemingly simple concept. But once you do, it's the answer to it all coming together. And this came true for me when, 3 months into my training, I signed up for a half marathon to see where I was at, and my time blew me away. A 10 minute PB on the same race two years before, and a consistent speed I didn't think I was capable of maintaining for that distance, I'm convinced it was all those easy runs that felt too slow, that were paying off. So I kept running those slow runs slow!

4. Nutrition.

When I stepped up my game on paying more attention to my nutrition, I really began to notice a difference in the speed of my recovery and quality of sleep. I've always been conscious of mostly consuming nutritionally dense foods, but making sure I included an adequate amount of protein with most meals, and increasing my electrolyte intake made a noticeable difference to how I felt all round. I also gave up wine for a few months, as this had the potential to impair my performance/recovery the next day. Sometimes a couple of glasses wouldn't make a difference, sometimes just one small glass and I'd wake up feeling blur. So I decided to remove the problem. No one could take away my weekend beer garden pint though! A couple beers on a Friday arvo didn't seem to affect me. The enjoyment out-weighed the consequences, and that worked for me.

5. Keeping in tune with what worked for me and what didn't.

I pretty much followed the training program to a T. Being rigid like this really helped me mentally to get out on the days when I really didn't feel like it, because in my head it wasn't debatable, it just had to be done. And with the cold, wet winter we just had, I didn't feel like it a lot! However, towards the second half of the program when I was well into a routine, training started to ramp up and I was becoming more aware of my strengths and weaknesses, I started to tweak things to A. Get the most out of the session, and B. Enjoy the sessions more.

THE RESULT

When I originally got a ballot place for 2020, I had a hopeful 3:45 in my mind. When I knew 2023 was finally going to be my year, I thought, you know what, let's go for a 3:40. When I blew my own mind with my half marathon result, I went all in from then on, for a sub 3:30. Crossing that finish line in 3:25:02, has been the most satisfying thing I have ever experienced. The long wait, the anticipation, and a direct result from my own hard work and commitment. It was 1000% worth all of it.

4 things I've learned, and what I'll do differently next time:

1. Consistency

I believe consistency is the most important thing we can do to succeed. Whenever I was strapped for time, I thought about how much time I did have, and used it. For example, if I only had 20 minutes for a strength workout rather than an hour, instead of skip it and think, 'I'll just do it tomorrow', I used that 20 minutes to do what I could. Maintaining that mindset of, 'doing something is better than nothing', was key to the progression in my fitness level. 

2. The Treadmill

People knock the treadmill but honestly it saved me so many times. We had temperatures last winter that, in the decade+ I've been in the UK, I have never experienced and I suffered. Having access to a treadmill on the days where mentally, I was dying at the thought of facing the cold, or the ground was icy, or I was just sooo sick of running in the rain, was an immense help with sticking to the program. 

3. Training Efficiently

Something I didn't stick to very well is the strength training and speed session are always on the same day, then it's an easy run for recovery the next day. I never seemed to manage this from the beginning. I would always do the strength training and speed sessions on different days, mostly one day after the other, so I often did one of those things on a tired body. Next time I plan on sucking it up, and doing what I'm told, so I can maximize my potential on the hard training days, and then recover properly.

4. Sugar Cravings

I have a massive sweet tooth at the best of times and it escalated with my training. Trying to keep that under control was an effort (and often a failure!) I was pretty happy with how I kept my macronutrients in check and keeping those three meals a day nutritionally dense, but in between I craved all the deliciously sweet sugary thangs. Next time I'd like to lay off the sweets a little more. And don't tell me to eat an apple!