The Top Ten of 2011

I wasn't intending to write a post to describe my 2011 year in review, unlike the past two years. I thought my Three Years in the UK post covered my feelings on the matter, but after looking at previous posts I couldn't resist doing another one. Plus, my three years post covered my three years in the UK at a very high level, but what about 2011 itself? What were the highlights (and lowlights)?

2011 was the year in which I felt that I came full circle, that I redeemed myself somewhat. After spending most of 2010 outside of the UK, away from my comfort zone, and not knowing exactly where I was going to end up next, I now have that feeling of security, that I have regained some sort of control. Living in another country where things were provided to me constantly wasn't the type of life I wanted to lead, and to come back to the UK allowed me to put my feet on solid ground again.

Berlin Marathon 2011 - Race Report

It's great to be a part of history, and on my third Berlin outing this race has provided that in threes.

• A new men's world record was set.
• Haile Gebrselassie and Paula Radcliffe, the men's and women's world record holders were both there.
• I set a new PB, and for the first time I broke the 3:20:00 barrier.

I won't go too much into my training for Berlin as all of it is published on my dailymile page. What I'd like to mention is that in my hardest training weeks, I managed to log 30 consecutive training days, averaging over 90 km a week in that month. I've never done that sort of volume and frequency before and I was quite surprised to get through that without feeling the least bit tired, injured or sick. Though I have to put that down to being extra careful, eating healthy and getting plenty of sleep.

Haile, Paula and Me

This year will be my third Berlin Marathon, and it also happens to be the one where competition is at an all-time high. I've seen stacked fields in major marathons, but this promises to be the most competitive yet. Indeed, the world-record holder and the women's world record holder will be making an appearance in the 38th BMW Berlin Marathon..... along with me. 

I'm talking about Haile Gebrselassie and Paula Radcliffe, possibly the two greatest marathon runners of all time. And I am truly honoured to be racing alongside with them. While my chances of winning Berlin just got a lot more complicated, I can honestly say that there's still a minute chance that I can finish ahead of these legends on race day, so much so that I will provide an "objective analysis" of their strengths and weaknesses and how I size up in comparison. 

The Top Ten of 2010 Part 2

Continuing where I left off last time, here is part 2 of my Top Ten of 2009. Without further ado, I'll continue the countdown, starting at number 5.

5: Shaun visiting the UK

To have my good mate Shaun visit the UK on business for at least 2 months was a bit like Christmas come early in February. It also coincided with my return from Spain when I wasn't really in a positive frame of mind. So having him in region for a time provided a lot of normality.

The Top Ten of 2010 Part 1

I've been really slow in coming up with a post to describe my 2010 year in review, much like my final posts for 2009. I am currently holidaying in my home country, which is currently taking up all my time. I've been thinking about this for a couple of weeks now, but it's only now that I can put aside some time to write something for this blog.

In reflecting on 2010, it has been a rather unsettled year for me. For most of the year I've been on the move, living out of my suitcase and generally not knowing where I'm staying most of the time. This kind of experience can be quite daunting and it has affected my personal life somewhat as I've had to live away from most of my friends in the UK.

Berlin Marathon 2010 - Race Report and Conclusion

Hi,

So, going into the Berlin Marathon, I'm going to be trying something I've never done before, trying to run faster than I've ever run before in a marathon, and hopefully break 3 hours in the process.

The good news is that I did run faster than I've ever run before in a marathon, setting a new personal best of 3:21:25. The bad news is that personal best was obviously not under 3 hours.

The Plan to Attack Breaking Three Hours

Hi,

So, going into the Berlin Marathon, I'm going to be trying something I've never done before, trying to run faster than I've ever run before in a marathon, and hopefully break 3 hours in the process.

And almost every race I've completed, it's always been my aim to try and set a new personal best. When I reach the start line, I cannot help getting pumped up and thinking that this is the race that I go out and hit a six (for those cricket fans) or a home run (for those baseball fans).

But what if I don't hit a big one on the big day? It may happen that even though I'm fully psyched up, I just couldn't deliver the goods that I thought I could.

Training Week 42 Recap

Hi folks,

There's only 1 more week to go, and this is the stage where nothing more can be done, where I need to let the body recover in order to be strong on race day. This is the stage where I need to believe in my fitness and the training I have done over the past few months, and beyond that! It is finally coming to an end and right now I should be excited, organised and looking forward to race day. Here's how the week went.

Official Statement - Withdrawal From Helsinki Marathon

Hi all,

After much consideration, and with equally the same amount of reluctance, I have decided to withdraw from the Helsinki marathon in mid-August. The event is six weeks out from my target event and to run Helsinki, even at a very leisurely pace, would put me at risk of not being at my very best for Berlin and reaching the Breaking Three Hours goal.

When I started to map the road to Breaking Three Hours, I initially thought that I would be okay to run Helsinki and be fully fit for Berlin, despite having some minor concerns that Helsinki and Berlin were six weeks apart. So, needing to get in early, I registered for both events.

However, after running two marathons this year, listening to feedback, and having just started the 16 week programme designed by the FP Run Club, these concerns have escalated recently and I was forced to rethink my training strategy for the next 3 months.

Initially I intended these lead-up marathons to be like"glorified long runs", in that I do my weekend long run at marathon distance and in a marathon setting. It sounded like a good idea at the time. However, doing these regularly does put a lot of stress on you physically and mentally, and it does take some time to recover from these efforts.

Case in point, after Rotterdam and Copenhagen I didn't run for a week. After a typical long run, I'd normally take one or two days off and get back into training. Even though I felt like I was able to run and having little soreness in my legs, I was still pretty tired and it took some time for me to get back into quality training. I never struggled at any point in these lead-up marathons and kept them as easy as possible, but the amount of time spent on my feet started to become a game of diminishing returns, which led to a case of a long and slow recovery period. Erring on the side of caution, I tend to recover slower than I would like.

I've also started the 16-week, sub-3 hour training programme designed by the FP Run Club. When I studied the first week of the programme to see what I was getting myself into I got a really big shock. 8 training runs in 6 days! I've never done anything like this before. While the majority of runs have been easy and the hard days prescribed were manageable, the amount of running needed and the tough demands of the programme will only get higher as the weeks progress.

Having not seen the entire programme, I imagine that weeks 9-13, which also coincides with the Helsinki marathon, is the time where the demands placed on me to produce quality mileage and speed will be at the highest. Running the Helsinki marathon, regardless of completing it in under 4:00 or over 5:00, would be highly detrimental and would affect my output in that critical period. Moreover, the subsequent couple of weeks after Helsinki would most likely be spent on the long and slow recovery process, effectively stalling any progress I could make towards Berlin.

Last year, when training for the Berlin marathon, I did my final long run 2 weeks prior to the event. From a naive view, it was a great run - 37 km in 2:57:41. In hindsight I probably made a big mistake. On race day, I finished in 3:22:45, which meant that my marathon pace was just slightly faster than my long run pace. But I felt the difference should've been greater. Two possible reasons were:

• My long run was way too fast.
• Doing the long run two weeks out didn't allow enough time to recover and be at 100% on race day.

This year, I've gained a bit more experience and I believe that withdrawing from Helsinki would give me a much better shot at a faster time at Berlin. Ultimately in order to run a sub-3 hour time, it comes down to being physically and mentally prepared (as well as having many things go your way on the day!). Having Helsinki thrown in the mix isn't really going to help my preparation and may even go as far as hurting it.

The goal of running a sub-3 hour marathon is really important to me, and I've learned that in order to achieve an objective that you've firmly set your sights on for nearly half a year, you must be willing to make a few tough choices along the way. Withdrawing from Helsinki was a tough decision since I was intent on running it, but pulling out of Helsinki is going to allow me to focus on the real goal - to break three hours.

Having already registered, this is my first event where I will get a DNS, a Did Not Start in running parlance. It's a shame that there isn't a shorter alternative race at Helsinki on that day, such as a half marathon or even a 10K, otherwise I'd probably still participate knowing that the demands of running a reasonably fast 10K or a half marathon doesn't really compare to running a marathon, regardless of your time. It does hurt not to have a time next to your name in a race that you have registered and prepared for (a black mark in a runner's long distance career), but in the bigger picture it will pay dividends when it matters the most. For now, rather than viewing the DNS as Did Not Start, I'll look at it as Did Nothing Stupid.

Cheers!

Aaron

Training Week 24 Recap

Hi all,

This is going to be a short recap for the week. Tomorrow (the usual day of writing these recaps) I fly to Palma on business so I'm going to write this now.

Tuesday

Type: Continuous Hills

Time and Distance: 49 mins 33 secs, 11.8 km.

Detail: 1.1 km warm up. 3 sets of 4 hill reps (400m up, 400m down) with 2 mins recovery. First set was 12:35, second set was 13:00, third set was 12:58. 1.1 km cool down.

Thursday

Type: Intervals

Time and Distance: 45 mins, 8.55 km.

Detail: 15 mins warm up at 10.5 km/h pace. 4 x 800m at 15.7, 16.0, 16.3, 16.5 km/h pace with 3 mins recovery at 8.0 km/h pace. 6 mins cool down at 10.5 km/h pace.

Total Weekly Distance: 20.35 km.

Comments: A poor week in terms of quantity, but hopefully not in terms of quality. Continuous hill session and intervals have been upped or modified a notch but I had to cut the long run out as I'm going to be flat out this weekend, plus the Copenhagen marathon is next weekend, so I'm intending to enter this event as fresh as possible. Like Rotterdam, I'm going to take the event easy, and hopefully recover as quickly as possible.

Improvements: I'm going to take it easy in the coming week to be fresh for Copenhagen. I'll still do a continuous hill session and an easier run. There is my normal running route I did in Palma that incorporated an uphill climb, which is going to be great for my continuous hill session. Plus I know what sort of time I can get on this run, so if I better it this time round I know I've gotten fitter since the last time I ran it.

I've checked the running calendar and there is only 19 more weeks to the Berlin marathon, which is the event I'm targeting for sub-3 hours. Time really does move fast! There's also 3 more weeks till the start of my 16 week training programme designed by the FP Run Club, so I'm really eager to start training according to a plan designed by the experts. I'm also eager to see how difficult it can get, just to see if I'll handle the rigours of their training plan!

I had a sports massage last night, and I have to say it was okay, if a little disappointing. It didn't hurt as much as I had expected, which is good as I have no injuries or niggles to worry about. Plus it seems my legs are in great shape. However I wonder if the masseuse could have gone a little harder - obviously she doesn't want to give me huge amounts of pain brought on by her elbows and knuckles.

My separate entry on running form and technique will have to come in a later post, sorry. I've been too busy this week on other things, so I will visit this section in future. Don't miss it.

Cheers!

Aaron

A step in a different direction

Hi guys,

This afternoon I had the pleasure of chatting to George Anderson on the phone for roughly an hour, talking about my training direction and my focus. The conversation was very enlightening and George offered ideas that I probably wouldn't have considered had I been training on my own.

I recently joined the FP Run Club, which is an online coaching resource combining the experience of the UK's top running coaches. George launched the FP Run Club a couple of months ago to support marathon runners wanting to achieve their goals. He also offered two free coaching calls to his Twitter followers (ah, good ol' Twitter) if they signed up to the FP Run Club within a particular time. I quickly jumped to the opportunity.

On the phone, I told George about my goals, my training direction and what I've normally done in training. He also took note of the event I'm preparing for (Berlin on September 26th).

George commented that September 26th is still a fair bit of time away. What he was really getting at is that the running programmes offered by FP Run Club have a maximum length of 16 weeks! At the time of writing, I have exactly 26 weeks to Berlin. The 16-week running programmes are designed with time goals in mind, from just finishing a marathon to sub-3 hours which is what I want to follow. The rationale is that extended periods of training would more likely be more harmful than good, such as peaking at the wrong time, or picking up injuries as a result of prolonged training. This leaves me 10 weeks of running to no programme, so what am I to do?

On the phone, George recommended 6 weeks of hard running, followed by 2 weeks of taper prior to starting the running programme. Since I actually have 10 weeks to go, I'm going to make this 8 weeks of hard running, followed by 2 weeks of taper. George also recommended that I drop the long run and hard intervals entirely, and devote most of my focus on hill work and threshold runs. After noting down the pace and distance of my recent long runs, he suggested that I limit the time spent on my feet to around 90-110 minutes, instead of going as far as 150-180 minutes. The extra volume will most likely lead to injury, and since I'm already accustomed to running long distance, I'm already running to my strength instead of addressing my weaknesses. My weakness, which I've alluded to in my earlier post, is speed endurance (the amount of time where high speeds can be maintained).

I mentioned that my 5 km splits in the Reading Half Marathon were averaging between 22-23 minutes. George advised me not to look into it too deeply, but agrees that if I want to break 3 hours this year I would need to lower my 10 km time to around 35-38 minutes if I were to run a 10 km race. The only way to get faster over shorter distances is to increase the quality of my threshold and hill runs, and not focus on volume, which is something I've been guilty of (by association!) over the past couple of months.

Two key workouts that George proposed include:

• Threshold running
• Continuous hills

I'm already familiar with threshold running, having done forms of it in training already. George defined over the phone what he believes threshold running is, and I'll be trying to incorporate that definition into my training.

Continuous hills is a whole different workout for me. Also known as Kenyan hills, which was popularised by the Kenyans, who are of course the world leaders of distance running. Looking back at my past training schedules, hill workouts have been very few and far between. So I'm keen to include hill training as a regular run in my training programme.

As to the frequency of training, George stresses quality over volume. I've already known this, but looking at my past training recaps, I've been emphasising volume over quality instead. For the 10 week period, George recommends at least a continuous hills session, a threshold session and a long run session, with some recovery runs thrown in. I'm not sure what's in store in the 16-week training programme, but the 10 week "preliminary period" is designed to get me in the best possible form to allow me to undertake the 16-week sub-3 hour training programme. Without the long run at this stage, I'm using these preliminary 10 weeks as a means of improving my times at shorter distances, and I mentioned to George that the kinds of running workouts in this period is similar to training for a 10 km race (just without the faster intervals).

Lastly, I mentioned to George that I'll be running the Rotterdam marathon in April and the Copenhagen marathon in May. These will be like my marathon long runs, so to speak. As I expected, George advised me to take these slowly and run for the experience.

Overall, this was a very fruitful discussion with a top running coach, who has given me something new to focus on. I can't wait to get started again.

Itching to get the running shoes on,

Aaron

200 Days To Berlin

¡Hola a todos!

As you might gather from the greeting, I'm now in Spain for the week. Not a bad place to be in the first week of the taper period leading up to the Reading Half Marathon. Unfortunately, it's not all fun and games as I'm here on business, plus the fact that I've fallen sick right after my hardest training period. At this stage it's best that I stop running and try to recover as quickly as possible, before I start to do any running this week. Hopefully this won't put me off the roads for long! Here's a picture of Castell de Bellver in Palma, which is where I did quite a lot of my running when I was in Spain before.

I had a look at the timer on my blog, and noted that there are 200 days left until the Berlin Marathon, which is the marathon I'm focusing on to break three hours in. It does sound like a lot of time, but if you factor in the off-days, e.g. taper days, easy days, missed training days and sick days (like now!), then these things can eat a huge chunk of time out of your available training days. In an earlier blog post I mentioned that I had 259 days left, so up to now, over 8 weeks (a fifth of my training period) have passed. I always provide training recaps every week, but it's also good to recap over several weeks as I'm interested to know how much I have progressed since then.

Of course, the only real way to know that I have made improvements is by racing (assuming nothing goes wrong during the race), so by peaking for the Reading Half Marathon I'll have a general indication of how well I'd perform in a marathon. According to the McMillan Running Calculator a 1:30:00 half marathon time would equate to roughly a sub 3:10:00 marathon time. It's not sub 3-hours, but it's a step in the right direction. The calculator isn't going to be accurate for everyone's performance, but for me it seems to be giving close enough times.

Looking at the training schedules, I'd say that I'm running as hard, if not harder, than I was when I did Berlin last year. At this stage, I've already put in more miles in training than last year's preparation for the Reading Half Marathon. I'm feeling confident that I can set a new PB in the half marathon, but I won't dare to be bold in saying that I'd go under 1:30:00 on race day. But let's hope that I do, so that it gives me the reassurance that I'm heading in the right direction, and that I can finally update my personal bests section on this blog!

Hasta pronto (see you soon in Spanish),

Aaron

Making Every Mile Count

Hi all,

Since my last post, I've added a countdown timer to this blog showing the number of days left to Berlin 2010. It's a great method to see at-a-glance how many days I have left to the event that I'm targeting for sub 3-hours.

At the time of writing, 259 days does sound like a lot of time. However if you factor in the days for the mandatory taper period, rest days, easy days, missed days of training for whatever reason, and days when you are sick, tired, don't feel like running, or even injured (hopefully not!), then these things can eat a huge chunk of time out of those available 259 days in my training bank.

Hence, each training session should have its purpose, whether it's to build aerobic endurance, increase lactate threshold or develop leg strength and faster stride turnover. When approaching a training session keep in mind two things:

• Keep the purpose of the training session in the forefront of your mind.
• Make every mile count.

A training diary recording the specifics of the session helps a lot! I record things like the type of training, the average pace, the length of time I spent training, distance covered and any other notes related to the training session. The idea is that in a future training session for that type of training, you should be able to move up to another gear, e.g. increase the pace, increase the distance or shorten the recovery.

So when you (and myself as well) are training for a particular goal, for every training session make every mile count. It's the sure-fire way to get closer to your goal.

Best,

Aaron

The Road To Breaking 3 Hours

Hi all,

I haven't really gone into any detail yet about what events I'll do this year in order to break 3 hours. So I'll cut to the chase now and list them out here in this entry.

But firstly, a little background (yeah I can hear the groaning now). One of my other goals for this year, peripheral to running, is to travel more widely around Europe. However, travelling can be disruptive to marathon training, especially if a trip is scheduled during a high-intensity period. It happens, and it's unavoidable. Just this week, my company planned a belated Christmas party weekend in Granada, Spain, on the 15th January. So I guess I'll be taking my running gear over with me. From a training perspective, these things have to be managed as best they can.

After some convincing I believe that to get the best of both worlds, why not run a marathon in a city that you want to travel to? So at the end of 2009, I got a year calendar and plotted all the marathon events for 2010. Most of the marathons are clumped in the March-May months and the September-November months, with a small handful of events in summer and winter. Lots of big marathons tended to be on the same day! But in the end, I picked five events, which I've called my final five. They are:

• Rotterdam: 11th April
• Copenhagen: 23rd May
• Helsinki: 14th August
• Berlin: 26th September
• Athens: 31st October

As indicated in bold, Berlin is the event that I am targeting to break 3 hours. You may be wondering whether Athens would be a better choice to target a sub 3-hour marathon as it's the last race in my calendar. Having only run Berlin before and it's reputation as the fastest course in the world, I'd be more comfortable with choosing Berlin. The course profile for Athens indicates some big hills. If I don't break 3 hours in Berlin, at least there's Athens as a backup, but I'm hoping it won't come to that.

The other 4 marathons are going to be for fun/training purposes. I chose Rotterdam as it's one of the top 10 marathons in the world according to Runners World Magazine. I've always wanted to visit Finland and Denmark. And now I have a chance to travel around these Scandinavian countries and run a marathon in each. Finally I chose Greece as it's the home of the marathon. Athens 2010 will mark 2500 years since the Greek hero Pheidippides ran from the Battle of Marathon to Athens to announce the Greeks' victory over the Persians. So far I've registered for all marathons except Helsinki and Athens. I'm a bit concerned about Athens though; I am absolutely certain that this round-number anniversary will lead to a rush of registration entries, and a quick cut-off date.

To be at their very best, elite marathoners limit themselves to only 1-2 races a year. For the last two years Haile Gebrselassie has concentrated on Dubai and Berlin, and he'll make another world record attempt at Berlin this year. With 5 races on my plate, I'll only peak for Berlin, whilst using the other 4 events for fun/training/an excuse to visit a city. Instead of saying I travelled around Athens, I could say that I ran the Athens Marathon and travelled around Athens. Of course I could just travel to Athens without needing to run the marathon, and that's fine. There will be cities that I would like to visit without needing to run a marathon in that city.

By running a marathon and treating it as a training run, I think the benefits are several. You do the most important run in your marathon training - the long slow run. And 42 km is more than enough mileage required for a typical long slow run. You also get to run around a new city and take in the sights. And you can soak up the marathon experience in a foreign country. I think doing a long run in a marathon setting in another country is more preferable to doing long runs on your own in training in our own neighbourhood. But you might have a different opinion on what makes a long run enjoyable.

But surely, you could still travel and do a couple of shorter, faster runs during your holiday. Yes, that's true. However, which would you rather do? A marathon event with thousands of other runners and screaming crowds, or just a couple of shorter faster runs by yourself. Marathon legend, Emil Zatopek, said it best: "If you want to win something, run the 100 metres. If you want to experience something, run the marathon."

One thing I'm concerned about is that by singling out Berlin as the race to break 3 hours, I only have one shot to do this. I guess the one shot approach is what makes it more exciting - the thrill of success on the first go, or the sudden crash of failure at having missed out. There is always next year though. But I hope it doesn't happen, after all I have under 9 months to plan and get ready for Berlin.

I'm quite excited about how my running in 2010 will pan out. I've never taken on anything like this before when it comes to running multiple marathons. But I guess if I put my mind to it, and keep my eyes on the original goal of breaking 3 hours, and believe, then who knows what I can achieve.

Wish me luck,

Aaron

P.S. You can follow me on Twitter, where I'll report on my training as well as the more mundane things in my life. I will include the #breaking3hours hashtag to any tweets related to my goal.

Introductions

I've been running since 2005. I have to credit my company, Orion Health, for getting me running in the first place. My company has a lot of enthusiastic sports people of varying abilities, including a world class adventure racer, an ironman, runners, cyclists, triathletes and participants from other codes, so it was no surprise that this sporting culture rubbed off on me.

I've always liked participating in sports, and considered myself to be reasonably active, but never really had any constant outlet to put my focus on. So I basically sailed through high school and my early twenties not really committing myself to any sport.

It was only when I started with Orion Health that I did my first running event, the annual Round the Bays event in Auckland. Not knowing a thing about running, I laced up a pair of walking shoes(!) and started training for it. At the end of it all I managed to finish in a reasonable time.

In 2006, I decided to run the Auckland Marathon. From running 8.4 km in the Round the Bays to attempting 42.195 km, I didn't really know what I was getting myself into; I just knew it would involve some pretty long runs in training. With a new pair of running shoes, I managed to survive the training and managed to finish my first marathon. It was a lot tougher than I expected, but I finished with a time of 4:17:04. Finishing a marathon for the first time is something I cannot describe in words.

I finally caught the marathon bug and in 2007 I managed to do two marathons. I'm not sure about you but there's always something about the second time not being as good as the first. My second marathon, Rotorua, was a lot tougher and I managed to get home in 5:00:20. In my third marathon, the Auckland Marathon, I resolved to break the 4-hour mark. With 12 weeks of training and armed with a little more experience, I managed to finish in 3:51:29.

2008 was a very quiet year in terms of running as I tried to organise my O.E. (overseas experience - the kiwi term to go abroad, work in a different environment and see more of the world). Organising my O.E. was like preparing for a marathon, only not as fun ;-)

Having made it to the UK in late 2008, I wanted to get back into my running. Being in Europe, I was lucky to have some of the big marathons of the world at my doorstep, e.g. London, Paris, Berlin. In 2009, I chose Berlin as it's the fastest course in the world, and world record holder, Haile Gebrselassie, was going to make another world record attempt. I also had a goal to run sub 3:30:00, but as my training progressed I had harboured dreams to qualify for Boston 2010.

Berlin was such a great marathon event, with an elite field, a great atmosphere, and a fast flat course. Running through the Brandenburg Gate, 400 metres from the finish, was such a thrill, probably even bigger than finishing the marathon itself. The hard work I put in in 2009 paid off greatly, and I finished in 3:22:45.

Now it's a new year, a new decade, with new dreams and goals. A new year is simply a demarcation on the calendar, but I have always found it a good time to assess and reflect upon my own goals. My motivation level may not make it all the way through the year, but I know this is the time I have set to commence achieving specific goals.

So my marathon goal for 2010 is to break 3 hours. 3 hours is like the Holy Grail for amateur runners, and a qualification time for prestigious events like Boston. Having reviewed my past training programmes, and my performances in previous marathons I admit that it is a significant and ambitious undertaking to cut 22 minutes and 45 seconds off my personal best. But you never really know unless you try.

I just read a tweet by Josh Cox, an elite marathon runner. The first step is the best step, it’s where intent meets action. Don't talk about it, be about it. I've just talked about it in my introductions. From now on I'll be blogging about my training and progress. I'm very excited to blog about any developments that will come along as I progress in my journey.

Best,

Aaron

Happy 2010

¡Feliz año!

I've just come back from a week of snowboarding in Switzerland. It has been a pretty eventful week, a bit of a mixed bag really. While travelling in Switzerland was a plus, the low-lights were the not-so-nice weather conditions for snowboarding, baggage delays and delayed flights from country to country. At the moment, my baggage is somewhere out there. The good news is that I should be getting it back at the end of the week. The bad news is that I have to travel to the UK to retrieve it.

But now it's a new year and I'm back in Spain, away from the very cold weather of the Swiss Alps and good ol' Blighty. A new year is simply a demarcation on the calendar, but I have always found it a good time to assess and reflect upon my own goals. My motivation level may not make it all the way through the year, but I know this is the time I have set to commence achieving specific goals.

I'm getting rather excited at the challenges facing me in 2010. Incidentally, 2010 in the Chinese horoscope is the year of the Tiger. The Tiger symbolises courage, boldness and self-assurance. Now I don't follow horoscope readings of any shape or form, Western or Chinese. I think it's all rather nonsense. But I think that the challenges that I've set in 2010 will require me to adopt the spirit and characteristics of the Tiger - to be courageous, bold and self-assured in whatever I embark on and encounter along the way.

The biggest goal I have set for myself is to qualify for Boston 2011. This will require me to run 3:10:00 in an upcoming marathon event. But after some reflection I thought to myself "why run 3:10:00 when I could break 3 hours instead?" That's a nice round number to aim for.

One of my running heroes, Dean Karnazes, is noted for the magnatude of the challenges he takes on. Sometimes he succeeds, other times it's not so pretty. The grander the challenge the higher the potential for catastrophe. The point I'm trying to make is to have the courage to try. Failure can lead to incredible discovery. Embrace failure as an opportunity to learn and grow. Shake it off, pick up the pieces, and move on. As Sylvester Stallone said in his movie, Rocky Balboa, "it ain't about how hard you hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much can you take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!"

Before I ran Berlin last year, I never thought I would be capable of breaking 3 hours in a marathon. This time I'm going to give it a go. Regardless of the outcome on September 26, 2010, I can say, with the attitude of the Tiger, that I had the courage to try.

The Top Ten of 2009 Part 2

Continuing where I left off last time, here is part 2 of my Top Ten of 2009, which also brings us to my Final Five. Without further ado, I'll continue the countdown, starting at number 5.

5: Meeting New Zealand superstar, Hayley Westenra
What a talent, and what an extremely nice person she is! I was probably the only New Zealander at her concert that cold night, and I was extremely fortunate to have met her as she was leaving the venue. A few stragglers were waiting for autographs, and like a true Kiwi, she was only too happy to oblige. When I first asked her for a photo in my real thick Kiwi accent, she immediately knew I was from her side of the world, and luckily she didn't turn her fellow Kiwi down!
Awwwwwww, don't we make a lovely couple! Only lasted 3 minutes, but easily the best 3 minutes to make it into my Final Five!

4: New Years in the French Alps
A week of snowboarding mayhem, living in a little cosy chalet, fun with friends, snowboarding down the red and black runs, new years parties and drinking mulled wine to warm our cold bodies. Great fun and great times!
I've done skiing before, but this was my first attempt at snowboarding. I have to say that snowboarding is easier, and far more enjoyable, than skiing! Despite falling on my head and butt numerous times, and experiencing sore muscles I didn't even know I had, it was great fun going down the mountains. The rest of the folks in the chalet were a cool bunch of people to be around with as well. I'm going to do it all again in a couple of weeks, this time in Switzerland, so that should be a laugh! Look out for another snowboarding report near you!

3: Moving to Spain
Moving to Spain has presented new challenges, both professionally and personally. Professionally, because I am now the technical lead for the project I am involved in. Personally, because of the new environment, culture, the Spanish way of life, and the most obvious challenge being the language barrier. Before I moved to Spain, I knew absolutely no Spanish whatsoever. But having been here for just over a month, it's amazing how much Spanish I've picked up. There's still a long way to go to be truly fluent, but I've made a solid start, even impressing the locals. Moving to Spain also allows more opportunities for travel, such as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, and the infamous party island of Ibiza! And I must say that Spanish food is absolutely wicked! If there were any concerns that I would miss the nice pastries and curries in the UK, then these were all dispelled when I ate this paella.
Not sure why I have my eyes closed though. I'm probably thinking about how on earth I'm going to eat the whole thing!

2: Dining at The Ritz Hotel in London (The Most Famous Hotel in the World)
Nothing can quite prepare you for the first time you step into The Ritz! The sheer grandeur, opulence and beauty of this legendary hotel is absolutely breathtaking. An experience unrivaled anywhere else, dining at The Ritz Restaurant will give true meaning to the phrase 'wined and dined'. Absolutely no photos allowed..... but I still kept taking the camera out.
The event was organised by BritBound, a social group that tends to attract a lot of Kiwis and Aussies. So the evening was pretty much a trans-tasman affair. The 3-course dinner was absolutely amazing, coupled with the most ambient setting and flawless service you can imagine. You certainly will not get this kind of experience in a Chinese restaurant!
It cost £50 for dinner, but I took my good friend along for a birthday treat, so £100 for the both of us.
Awwwwwww, don't we make a lovely couple! Okay, enough of that! Moving on to Number 1.

1: Running the real Berlin Marathon
Ich bin ein Berliner. One of the best marathons in the world, if not the best in the world. Running in a city and country once divided and now reunited, running in both East and West Berlin, running through the Brandenburg Gate 400 metres out from the finish line is such a thrill.
A poignant reminder of the loss of life, the division and reunification of a city, a nation, and the German people. And when I ran through that middle column of the Brandenburg Gate, I knew I was taking part in something very special.
At the end, I crossed the finish line in a new personal best time of 3:22:45. I didn't qualify for Boston, but then again, I'm going to have another crack at this coveted goal in 2010. Watch this space!
Epilogue

This concludes my Top Ten and my Final Five of 2009. After much deliberation and reflection over the last couple of weeks, I believe this is it. Of course, I've had a bunch of other unforgettable experiences this year, such as visiting Cornwall, celebrating Chinese New Year, the Waitangi Day pub crawl, watching the very best musicals on London's West End, seeing some huge tennis stars at Wimbledon, watching the Black Caps take on the world in the ICC World Twenty20 championship in London, etc, so it was a pretty difficult task to choose what should be included in the Top Ten and Final Five of this year, and which position it should occupy in the list. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed creating it.

P.S. 150 blog posts!

Paving The Road To Boston

Every single journey begins with a single step...

Every single road begins with a single brick...

It's been two months since my marathon effort at Berlin. I met my initial goal of sub 3:30:00 with a solid run of 3:22:45. I was on track for 3:20:00, until the Berlin weather (or maybe my lack of endurance, or mental distractions, or both) decided that it wasn't time for me to break that magical barrier.

But I also harboured a secret goal - to qualify for Boston in 2010. I never told anyone about my Boston aspirations. It was an ambitious undertaking, having not run a marathon in two years, and also never going faster than 3:50:00. Qualifying for Boston required me to run Berlin within 3:10:59. It was a lofty goal at the time, but I believe that lofty goal I set for myself made me work much harder in training. I've never ran this fast, this hard, or this long in my entire training experience! Unfortunately it wasn't enough; I failed to qualify for Boston 2010.

I've had a couple of months to reflect on my running this year, and my running goals for 2010. I've made great improvements in my running this year, far exceeding my expectations. At the start of the year, I never even thought I would go as fast as 3:22:45. It was a pleasing result compared to what I managed last year. I think the good work that I've done in the year will be a solid foundation for my running in the next year. As well as being fitter, faster and stronger, I'm also more experienced, and can draw on this experience to help with my future runs.

My running goals for 2010 are twofold. Firstly, I want to qualify for Boston 2011. Having reflected for a couple of months on what I want to do in 2010, I believe the desire is still very strong. But, why Boston? Boston is one of the few marathons where runners have to qualify to gain entry. There is no first-come first-served registration system like Berlin, Chicago or other marathons. There is no public ballot like London or New York where public demand far exceeds supply of places. This marathon requires a high standard of running. It's also the oldest annual marathon event in the world, inspired by the first marathon competition in the first Olympic Games of 1896. Because of this, it's considered the most prestigious marathon in the world. Thus, for many marathoners to qualify for Boston is an achievement in itself, making it a "people's Olympic event."

My second goal is more peripheral to running, and that is to travel more widely around Europe. I believe that running through a city is a great way to travel, and an easy way to visit a city I'm interested in. Instead of saying I travelled around Rome, I could proudly say that I ran the Rome Marathon and travelled around Rome. Of course I could just travel to Rome without needing to run the marathon, and that's a fair point. There will be cities that I would like to visit without needing to run a marathon in that city.

However, as I found out in 2009, travelling can be disruptive to marathon training, especially when I have a trip scheduled in a high intensity training period. It happens, and it's unavoidable. From a training perspective, these things have to be managed. After some convincing, I believe I've found a way of doing this. And that is to run a marathon in a city that you want to travel to.

By running a marathon and treating it as a training run, I think the benefits are several. You do the most important run in your marathon training - the long slow run. And 42 km is more than enough mileage required for a typical long slow run. You also get to run around a new city and take in the sights. And you can soak up the marathon experience in a foreign country. I think doing a long run in a marathon setting in another country is more preferable to doing long runs on your own in training in our own neighbourhood. But your mileage may vary in that regard.

But surely, you could still travel and do a couple of shorter, faster runs during your holiday. Yes, that's true. However, which would you rather do? A marathon event with thousands of other runners, or just a couple of shorter faster runs by yourself. Marathon legend, Emil Zatopek, said it best: "If you want to win something, run the 100 metres. If you want to experience something, run the marathon."

So having convinced myself to run more marathons in order to travel more, which marathons am I going to run, and which cities am I going to visit? I had some criteria and they were as follows:

• The marathon must be in a major city, with an elite field and with a sizeable number of participants and finishers.
  
• One of the races must be a Boston Qualifying (BQ) race to peak for.
  
• The BQ race has to be on a fast/flat course.
• The event must have a minimum of 5-6 weeks afterwards in order to be fresh and ready for the next event.
  

I checked out all the marathons in Europe for 2010, and plotted them all on the 2010 calendar. Most of the marathons are clumped in the March-May months and the September-November months, with a small handful of events in summer and winter. Lots of big marathons tended to be on the same day! But in the end, I picked five events, which I've called my final five. They are:

• Rotterdam (11th April 2010)
• Stockholm (5th June 2010)
• Helsinki (14th August 2010)
• Berlin (26th September 2010)
• Athens (31st October 2010)

These races will pave the road to Boston, that is, these are the races that I will be running in my journey to qualify for Boston. Having only run Berlin before, I have singled out Berlin as the race to get the BQ time as it is currently the fastest course in the world. The other 4 marathons are going to be for fun/training purposes. I chose Rotterdam and Stockholm, as they've been named as one of the top 10 marathons in the world according to Runners World Magazine. I've always wanted to visit Finland and Sweden. And now I have a chance to travel around these Scandanavian countries and run a marathon in each. Finally I chose Greece as it's the home of the marathon. Athens 2010 will mark 2500 years since the Greek hero Pheidippides ran from the Battle of Marathon to Athens to announce the Greeks' victory over the Persians. So I am absolutely certain that this round-number anniversary will lead to a rush of registration entries, and a quick cut-off date.

One thing I'm concerned about is that by singling out Berlin as the race to gain a BQ time, I only have one shot to qualify for Boston 2011. All five events are certified events to gain a BQ time, but as Berlin is the fastest out of all the five, and since I am currently not in the required shape to get a BQ time, I need all the time available to me to be in prime form for Berlin. I guess the one shot approach is what makes it more exciting - the thrill of success on the first go, or the sudden crash of failure at having missed out on my only shot for Boston. There is always next year though. But I hope it doesn't happen, after all I have 10 months to plan and get ready for Berlin.

I'm quite excited about how my running in 2010 will pan out. I've never taken on anything like this before when it comes to running multiple marathons. But I guess if I put my mind to it, and keep my eyes on the original goal of qualifying for Boston 2011, and believe, then who knows what I can achieve.

Hopefully a BQ time. Maybe a new personal best. And some long-lasting memories of the cities I've managed to travel to.

20 Years of Running Without Borders

It was an overwhelming moment for everyone on September 30, 1990, when about 25000 marathon runners passed through the Brandenburg Gate for the first time. This year's Berlin Marathon commemorated this day under the motto: 20 years of running without borders.

When I ran through that middle column of the Brandenburg Gate, I knew I was taking part in something very special. To run in a city and country divided by one of the most devastating events in history, aside from the pain I was experiencing in my legs, I couldn't help but feel a few more emotions when running through that gate. Sadness, for those that lost their lives needlessly through man's cruelty. Happiness, for those reunited after the fall of Die Mauer 20 years ago. And pride, for all the hard work that I put in over the past six months to get ready for this event, and the vast improvements that I've made in my running. And I believe that my best is still yet to come.

I still remember the day that I registered for the event. It was February 23, 2009. At that time, I couldn't believe that I had entered one of the biggest marathons in the world so easily. Before I came to Europe, I had always wanted to do Berlin, just like I always wanted to do London or Paris. I knew it was one of the fastest marathons in the world and that the world record was broken at Berlin three times in the last five years. What I didn't know was the significance of the course and the history behind the city. To me, that increases the profile of running the Berlin Marathon ever so highly, and why it is arguably the 2nd best marathon in the world.

Even though I registered in February, I didn't start proper marathon training until April as I was still training for the Reading Half Marathon in March. I was excited, and a little afraid at the same time. I hadn't run a marathon in nearly 18 months. A half marathon is manageable, but a marathon is an entirely different beast. I had no idea how I would perform on the day, or how I would react to the demands of training. So I kept mum about the news and only told a couple of people, namely my parents and my housemate, Tina, as she is German. When I ran the Reading Half Marathon much faster than expected, I knew I was capable of getting a fast time at Berlin.

So from April to September, I dedicated myself to a training programme designed to give a fast time. Initially I wanted sub 3:30:00, then I modified it to 3:20:00. When my training picked up the intensity in the latter half of the programme, I started to believe that 3:10:00 was possible. To be fair, I really didn't know what I was capable of. Sometimes I doubted myself, other times I was optimistic. Looking back, I may have been too optimistic aiming for 3:10:00, but as they say, if you shoot for the moon and miss, at least you'll land among the stars. In the end, and given perfect conditions on the day, I wasn't too far off. But one thing was clear - at the end of my last training run I was in the best running form of my life, and I was due to smash my marathon PB to bits.

Berlin is such a fantastic city. The day before the race, I walked around parts of the city, which were closed off for the marathon, just to appreciate the surroundings and to get a feel for the course. I had a great chance to learn about the history of the Berlin Wall, and to see the remains of the wall, now in the form of a brick line on the ground to show where the wall once stood. The course starts west of the wall, then crosses to the east at around 6-7 km. After 12-13 km, the course crosses west again, which is where most of the course is run. Only from the 38th km onwards does the course cross east, until the runner reaches the Brandenburg Gate. The course crosses west one more time after the gate, with another 400 metres to the finish.

The race was extremely organised in typical German fashion. The start was so orderly, until the starting gun sounded. And then the chaos began. Over 45000 runners ran through the start line in Tiergarten on Straße des 17. Juni. It took me 5 minutes to cross the start line, but I used this time to prepare myself mentally and to get ready for the race. The theme music of Chariots of Fire was playing from the loudspeakers, coupled with the release of hundreds of yellow balloons slowly rising high in the air. Such symbolic imagery, it was a special moment before I even took my first stride.

And when I crossed the start line, I was in full swing. For the first couple of kms, I was mostly weaving through the masses of runners, sometimes pushing through them, and also getting a few nudges from behind. The first 5 kms were very comfortable. I was going at around 4.7 mins/km pace, which is slower than the required pace for 3:10:00, but I believed I could claw back the deficit. I did claw back some time, getting slightly faster with each 5 km split up to the half way mark. I was hoping that I would still have enough in me in the second half to go faster or just hold on.

The crowds along the street were fantastic, the best atmosphere I have encountered in any running event I have done. Kids were putting out their hands and I was more than happy to give high-fives. Some of the older women gave me high-fives when I stuck my hand out to them. I had my name on my race number so occasionally they were shouting my name as I ran past. It was such an uplifting feeling when you can feel the support of the crowd. Live bands were also out in force on the streets, but I was running to the music from my iPod, to provide me with the extra kick I needed at certain stages of the race.

The second half saw me go a bit slower than the required pace. It was a combination of tiredness, dehydration, and the uncharacteristic hot temperature Berlin had on the day. I tried pushing the pace, and the effort lasted for a couple of minutes. But in the end I had to slow down. At that time I knew that sub 3:10:00 was asking too much; at the half way point I was over 2 minutes out from the required split, and I wasn't able to claw back the deficit or maintain the required pace. However, I was still on target for sub 3:20:00. It was just a matter of holding on.

As it turned out, the conditions got hotter, and I wasn't taking in enough fluid. I was dehydrated and my core temperature was rising to the point that I felt like a hot car radiator. The last few water stations were a godsend. I had to stop briefly to get water in the system, but also to pour water on my head and body to cool down. The benefits were immediate, but short-lived. As soon as I poured water on myself, my breathing got faster and my heart was racing. It was like a surge of cold adreneline in my system. It helped me to run faster for a brief moment, but not long enough to last to the next water station. Of course, I began to overheat and slowed down yet again. In the last 12 km of the race, I slowed down from around 4.6 mins/km pace to around 5.0 - 5.2 mins/km pace.

Eventually I made it to Potsdamer Platz, the important square of Berlin and once a wasteland during the days of the Berlin Wall. I had just run 38 km. I looked at my splits and worked out that to get under 3:20:00 I need to finish the race in approximately 20 minutes. This was going to be tough since my current pace had dropped to 5.2 mins/km and still slowing. But I kept pushing onwards, ignoring the pain, but wary that I could still suffer from a cramp attack anytime.

At 40 km, the last water stop was available. I grabbed as much water as I could, poured it on my head and ran hard. I knew I was very close, but the last stretch of road on the course, Unter den Linden, was extremely long and extremely straight. The Brandenburg Gate was so small in the distance that when I kept running it still stayed the same size. It was the ultimate psychological test. At this time, I noticed that one of my shoelaces became untied. A Danish runner pointed it out to me, but I was so close to the finish that I didn't even stop to tie it up. I just did the only thing that I knew how. I just kept on running.

Eventually the Brandenburg Gate became the size of a monument, and I consciously made my way towards the middle column of the structure. Running through the gate was once in a lifetime thrill, and it was there and then that I started to throw all coals into the fire and run as hard as I could to the finish line 400 metres away. As soon as I crossed the line, I raised my arms up like a champion. I honestly felt like a champion. Even though I ran the last 2.195 km faster than the pace during the 35-40 km split, in the end I didn't get under 3:20:00. My official time was 3:22:45.

The euphoria of completing Berlin was brief though because the pain started to kick in in my legs. Remembering the inspiration throughout my training, I shouted, "Yo Tina! I DID IT!", in reference to that famous line that Rocky Balboa said when he won the world heavyweight championship. I got a few weird looks from the other runners at the finish, but I was so inspired by the Rocky movies that I wanted to do it anyway. Next I had to keep on moving. I started to walk towards the water stations and took in as much water and electrolyte drinks as I could. Occasionally I would scream in discomfort. One German runner wanted to know if I was alright, but he only spoke German. I spoke back to him in German saying that I didn't understand him. He replied back in German and gave me a pat on the back. I didn't understand anything he said, but I felt a camaraderie between us, as if we were team mates. All marathon runners share a special unspoken bond, and even though I didn't know the man I definitely felt it there and then.

I've had the chance to reflect on my performance, and I can honestly say that I gave it everything. I was not good enough to run 3:10:00, but I believe I can run 3:20:00 on a good day. I couldn't do anything about the weather, so I'm happy with 3:22:45. For 6 months, I have managed to turn up to training everytime, always managing to deliver, even when my mind and body sometimes had other ideas. I am proud of the way I stuck to my training, and how much I have achieved in my running performances this year. And on race day, I can't think of anything I would do differently. I ran a good solid race, but unfortunately the weather has a part to play, and in my case it was decisive. That's marathon running, and I have to accept it.

I just want to thank all those that supported me during this event. Even though I didn't have a support crew that travelled with me to Berlin, there were many people that helped and kept encouraging me along the way. Shaun and Shanta, for procuring and transporting the energy gels across to the UK. Lance, for his encouragement and humour and constantly reminding me about Hayley and the headlines. The folks in the office, for their constant reminders on food intake and leaving me with more than my usual portions of jam donuts and heavy pastries that I could manage. And finally to my housemate, Tina, who doesn't share the same level of interest in running as me, and has called me crazy on more than one occasion, but has quietly supported me throughout those long months of hard training. After I downed copious amounts of fluid at the finish line, I got my phone and texted her from the finish line, saying, in true Rocky fashion, Yo Tina, I did it.........I did it.