Counting down to 'monster' run

The Loch Ness Marathon takes place on Sunday 1 October. BBC Scotland news website editor Mark Coyle has entered and will be writing a diary throughout his 15-week training programme.

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Marathon. It's only a word, not even a particularly long one. But it has a cachet, a special something which prompts the "wow" factor.

Here's one I did earlier - the Edinburgh half-marathon in March

Try dropping into a conversation the fact that you've run a 5-kilometre race, a 10K or even a half-marathon and the chances are you'll elicit a sort of "good for you" response. Do the same thing with the "I've run a marathon" remark and prepare for a different reaction.

Now, let me be frank up front. I'm following in the footsteps of millions of people who've trained for and run a marathon so I'm not doing anything particularly unusual.

At the age of 41, I have to count myself as middle-aged. I must admit that it rankled when I entered my first race I found myself in the veteran's category.

But my marathon aspiration is not the result of an age-related life crisis which sees some men buy a flashy red sports car, go for a hair weave or search for icons of a past youth. To tell the truth, I rather like being over 40.

No. Put bluntly, I'm challenging myself. You'll have heard this question and answer: "Why do people climb mountains? Because they're there." That's why I'm doing this. Because the marathon is there and it's a personal challenge.

MARATHON STATISTICS Fastest man: Paul Tergat, 2:04:54, Berlin 2003 Fastest woman: Paula Radcliffe: 2:15:25, London 2003 First Olympic marathon: 1896 World's biggest marathon: London, 32,000+ Finishers in Loch Ness Marathon 2005: 1,144

I won't win it. I won't even come close. Who cares? For me, it's about finishing and not even in a particularly fast time (although I have targeted around the four-hour mark).

Although it'll be my first shot at the 26 miles, 386 yards event, the Loch Ness Marathon won't be my first race. I've been running reasonably seriously for just over a year now.

During that time I've done three half-marathons, seven 10Ks, one four-mile and one 5K race. Last autumn I joined Motherwell Athletics Club with a view to holding the motivation to run through the winter nights and to benefit from the advice of other, more experienced runners.

Faster times

I must have been doing something right because I've seen my 10K times come down from 53mins 26secs at the Great Caledonian Run in Edinburgh in May 2005 to 44 mins 55 secs at Carluke earlier this month. The buzz, the adrenaline rush, of winning that personal challenge is a phenomenal high.

Now though the focus changes to endurance training. I'm setting out on a 15-week schedule for a sub-4hr marathon which is available on the Runner's World website.

It assumes I'm already doing between 20 and 30 miles a week, which I have been, and demands running five days out of seven. And that's where part of the challenge comes in - finding the hours in the day.

It's not just women who collect shoes!

There are other things to think about too, such as the prospect of injury. I go into this training having recently suffered a recurrence of shin splints, the catch-all description for problems with the lower legs.

The pain is caused by the repeated impact from running on hard surfaces. The solution? Cut back on running, which I have done over the past week and RICE - rest, ice, compression, elevation.

I had entered the East Kilbride half-marathon this coming Sunday but have decided to pull out partly because of my shin niggle and partly because it doesn't fit in with the marathon schedule.

The programme peaks in August and early September, followed by what it describes as a "serious taper", or wind-down, towards 1 October.

Your comments

So why Loch Ness and why this diary? On the former, I reckoned a picturesque marathon would add to the enjoyment of the experience.

On the latter, more than 1,000 people took part in the same event last year. More than 11,000 did the Edinburgh Marathon on 11 June. That suggests there's may be some interest, albeit small, in my virtual scribblings and I see it as another motivating factor in my training.

You're welcome to drop me a line with your marathon experiences, advice or just general comments.

Click here to send an email.

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Mark, firstly, congratulations on your endeavour, I'll raise my hat to anyone who attempts such a distance and having run the London Marathon in 2001 and 2002 I know what you must be going through. Like you, I had run a number of 10km events and various half marathons, the quickest half marathon being 1hr 29 mins, however, nothing really prepares you for your first real marathon distance. For my first, I ramped up the training fairly quickly over a 7 week period, going from a 6 mile distance right out to 18 miles and felt well prepared to complete the distance in 4 hrs. The reality was somewhat different! All went well until the 15/16 mile point where I ran into the marathon "wall". Up until that point I'd been averaging 9 minute miles, on hitting the "wall" this plummeted to around 12 minutes with a stop/start jogging, rather than running style. It wasn't until the 23 mile point that I began to pick up again but by that time the dream of a 4 hr marathon had completely evaporated. My eventual finishing time was 4hrs 51 minutes and although I was thoroughly elated at completing my first marathon (at the age of 39) I was also very disappointed that I'd failed to achieve my target time. After the race I vowed never to do it again, been there, done that and got the t-shirt! Three days later my disappointment turned into determination that I could and would do better. I applied, failed to get in and managed to secure a charity place for 2002. Once again I was determined to do a 4hr time (now 40 years old) but this time I knew I'd have to train a lot harder. Normal 6 mile runs, hill work (jog down, run up) for 50 mins, efforts, fartleks and the long Sunday run. My training started on 2 Jan 02, right through until 3 days before race day with the obligatory run down prior to the actual event. I stopped consuming alcohol for the full 13 week period (hence why my training started after Hogmanay!) and ensured my diet included plenty of carbohydrates. The best advice I received was from the drink sponsors at the registration event in the London Arena. They took my age, weight etc, plugged all the details into a computer and told me how much I should be drinking during the race (I had been consuming only about 500ml of water on 19 mile training runs which was woefully inadequate). Taking on water at every drink station and isotonic mineral drink every 5 miles or so was definitely the way ahead as well as maintaining performance throughout the race. To cut a long story short, no wall, a finishing time of 3 hrs 46 mins an average speed of 8 mins 40 secs per mile and a sub 7 min mile to finish! The feeling great, the crowds fantastic (I hope you get good support along the Loch Ness route) and the elation of beating your personal targets priceless. I look forward to my third marathon (selfishly, it'll be my last and it'll be for me) and wish you all the success for your first.
Charlie Allan

I too did this as my first marathon in 2003 and enjoyed it so much I did it again in 2004. If you have family or friends going up to support, get them to enter the 10k so they feel part of the day (it¿s a very good 10k, mostly downhill) and they'll still be finished in plenty of time to cheer you over the finish line. I've attached details of the route gradients. I used to have a mile-by-mile narative describing the route but don't know where I've filed it however I'm sure you'd be able to find a copy on the net. It's true about the hill at 18miles but save your self for it, dig in during and you'll coast back down to the finish line.
Neil Mitchell, Aberdeen

I just read your diary on the BBC website. I want to wish you good luck. Loch Ness is a beautiful marathon, I ran it last year. The scenery is magnificent, but it has a sting in the tail at mile 18. There is a long steady hill for about 1.5 miles which really saps your strength, but after that it is all downhill to the finish. Last year there was a great turn-out lining the river banks in the city and the finish is along the running track in the stadium. As you enter the stadium the announcer reads your name out and you will get a huge reception from the home crowd. My wife waited for me just before the finish with my 3 year old son and she passed him over the barriers and we ran the last 100 metres together. Probably the best memory I have of running. As we crossed the line the crowd gave us a standing ovation and the race marshalls gave my son his own medal, goody bag and thermal blanket. To this day he still thinks he won the Loch Ness Marathon. It's little things like that which make Loch Ness the friendliest race I have ever run. Stop running for one week and your shin splints will disapppear. I get them all the time and just go swimming or cycling in the rest week. Good luck.
Jonathan Beamish

I have had lots of similar experiences. I was in for the Loch Ness Marathon last year but got an achilles tendon injury and did not recover in time. I found a book on the art of running using the Alexander technique, very helpful in improving my posture to reduce the risk of injury. I just got over shin splints in time to do the East Kilbride half-marathon this Sunday. The injury was was caused by excessive hill running one week. I actually could barely walk for a couple of days. After joining a local club, Bellahouston Road Runners, I got my 10k time from just sub 38 last year to 35.30, it is good to be stretched by running with faster people. I did decide that marathons are not really good for your body however - 13 miles is quite far enough!
Andrew

I decided for my 40th I'd do a marathon and ran New York. Enjoyed it thoroughly but didn't break the 4 hours so went back the next year and did a 3:35. I then started cycling as well. Started with the E'tape de Tour (a mountainous stage of the Tour De France of about 110 miles) and then moved on to longer distances, this year having just finished a Land's End to John O'Groats (910 miles). I'm now looking into the prospects of riding across America, a journey of 3,000 miles or so. People warn you, don't take drugs, they are addictive. The press advertise, 'just say no' everywhere. You wouldn't try heroin when you are 40, so why would you want to take up an even more difficult and obtrusive addiction in your middle years? If you are hooked though and can't turn back, then good luck to you. If you aren't then think carefully before you go any further!
Steven Vallance, Glasgow

Great to hear you will be running just in front of me for Loch Ness, I'll need a quality pacemaker! Seriously though I'm very pleased to see the Loch Ness Marathon getting a blog on the BBC website, it's my first marathon too and I'll be running for myself, my family and to help raise money for Meningitis Research. The training is going reasonably well and I¿ve been doing quite a lot of trail running which I think has led to fewer injuries early on, it¿s rougher but softer if you know what I mean. A decent pair of runners makes a huge difference as well though I'm sure your collection of smelly trainers is already impressive. If you don't mind I'll mention my sponsorship site www.justgiving.com/skyedoc which gives details of just why Meningitis Research means so much to me that I'll train for 4 months, through wind and rain to climb my own personal mountain. Well done to you and to everyone who gets out there and has a go¿
Paul Davidson

Hi Mark, running any marathon is a great achievement, but don't forget that it should be fun too. The feeling of completing is absolutely wonderful! One of the things I've discovered during my training if that whilst marathon guides are useful, making them work for you is more important. Take the key ingredients of a training plan (short fast runs, medium tempo runs and longer slower runs) and fit them around your real-world life. Every plan you look at will recommend slightly different things, so don't get too hung up if you miss a day. Running should not be a painful experience, so I'd advise you to make sure you have a good stretching routine. If I could go back in time, that is one of the things I would get sorted out when I first started instead of two years later. Your comment on most leg pain being shin splints isn't fully correct either. If you've not been to a good physio, it would be well-spent cash to do so. I know a good guy in Edinburgh. As others have said, writing your name on your vest is a "must". As a runnner I know what the lift can do, and as a marshall at the Edinburgh Marathon I've seen the effect shouting someone's name has. Don't be shy, make them BIG easy-to-see letters. Enjoy your running!
Martin

Dear Mr Coyle, don't ask me what I was doing there, but I saw and read with much interest your piece on running the Loch Ness Marathon on the BBC website. At age 52, my aspirations are not nearly as robust as your own, but I felt uplifted, inspired and very entertained by your article. Please keep up the good work (and journalistic postings). Maybe you can attend our own Marathon in December. Thank you so much.
Frank Sherman, Las Vegas, USA

I too am doing Inverness as my first marathon. I am doing a Runner's World schedule, though sub 4h 30 is my time and I don't hold out much hope! I am looking forward to the early morning/evening runs and well, let's face it, the trainer shopping! I wish you all the best and hope to see you there... Good luck!
Lisa Young

I have just read your article on the BBC website regarding your Loch Ness marathon - I wish you the very best of luck. We moved to Kuwait two years ago - just when I was starting to think about my "marathon" (yes, being a Highland lass it would have been the Loch Ness one for me too as it was just starting) and I was also starting to toy with the idea of triathlons. Why triathlons? For the same reason - because it's there and because I want to see if I could do one! Now I live in one of the world's hottest, driest countries and running outside is only for the locals and the English! (midday sun and all that ¿ who in their right mind would run in temperatures of 45 degrees plus?). Running is the one pastime I truly miss and I look forward to reading your articles over the next few months. May all your runs be injury free and the wind always at your back. My thoughts are with you, you lucky person! Kindest regards.
Laura Reid, Kuwait

I've just read your blog. Very good. Four years ago I took up the marathon (walking at first, running later). I lost 50+lbs (4 stones) in 3 months. I've never put one pound back! Last year, I qualified for Boston in 3.40 and ran there with 20,000 others in April, 2006. http://www.clanmills.com. You've done really well to get your 10k time down from 53 to 44. You should be easily able to achieve sub-4. However time isn't really important in your first marathon - finishing happy and injury free matter more. Good luck.
Robin Mills, San Jose, California, USA. (I was brought up in Largs)

Running London in April was one of the great days of my life. I followed a training schedule too, although the RW 5/6 days a week was too much - I stuck with a long run, some intervals and tempo runs, with cross-training each week. I never thought of myself as ascetic, but I liked the almost cleansing discipline of the training. I thought it was pretty cheesy to put my name on my vest (I was running for the Stroke Association) but hearing your name shouted out by strangers gives you a huge lift, especially at crucial mile 15/ 16. Anyway, all the best. Enjoy it.
Andrew Johnston, Gairloch

Mark - just saw your diary on the BBC Scotland website. I ran a half marathon earlier this year and was so inspired at improving from a 2 hr 15 time to sub 2 hours that I decided a marathon was the next logical challenge. I live in London but really wanted to run a Scottish race, so when a friend suggested Loch Ness it was the perfect choice. I ran the Glasgow Marathon in 2000 in 4 hrs 24 with no real science behind my training, just running a lot of miles (and I was a youthful 26 years old). I am now in week 5 of a formal 20 week training plan and aiming to do Loch Ness in sub 4 hours. I'm training based on heart rate and time rather than miles. It worked for me in my half marathon training so I'm sticking with it. I only run 3 times a week and do a speed and core strength session in the gym once a week too, covering 20-30 miles per week in total. I've developed mild sciatica so unfortunately have to fit in the physio too, but my gym work is helping build the right muscle strength. My problems stem from my running posture - it's not something I had ever thought to consider before but now I'm getting some proper guidance it's really helping. Fitting it all in is tough but I find it so inspiring when I feel my fitness and pace improving and I love having the goal to work towards. And at the end of the day this degree of dedication to training is a short term thing - though family and friends are mildly amused that I'm already harassing them for potential 13-16 mile running routes when we head to Canada for my brother's wedding later this summer. Hope the training continues to go well, see you at Loch Ness on Oct 1st!
Ann, London

I'm looking forward to reading your diary as it commences. I am also using one of the Runner's World 15 week plans and hoping for a sub 3:30 time. Good luck!
Davie Clark, Girvan

At the age of 41 too I have just run my first marathon. I ran the Edinburgh Marathon earlier this month and despite the very high temperatures I loved every minute (in fact all four hours 56 mins!). I would love to do another one, but it is the training that puts me off. I certainly didn't run 5 times a week, as I have a life and responsibilities beyond running and also I'm not certain that my body (dodgy knees) could cope with the strain of that level of training. My time was not a record breaker - but it was good enough for me and I think that's all that matters. Oh, and I've raised nearly £1000 for Asthma UK into the bargain (both my kids and I are asthmatic). One small thing in retrospect that I wished I'd done was write my name on my running vest. I had heard people recommend this, but to be honest I thought that it was a bit naff. However on the day, when the crowds are cheering you on, they really do shout out runners' names from their tops - I did get a few "Come on Asthmas!!!", which I truly did appreciate, but "Come on Debbie" would have been better. The marshalls were absolutely fabulous, especially when the crowds were thin on the ground and they were great at cheering on the runners and spotting those who had written their names. So good luck with your training and I hope that you enjoy Inverness as much as I enjoyed Edinburgh - and hopefully the weather will be a lot kinder. I look forward to reading your online diary, as I'm sure that it will bring back memories of those long training runs! But for now, I'll be sticking with half marathons and 10Ks.
Debbie Donnett, Stirling

Good blog Mark. I've almost committed to doing this race too. I just want to see how my first few weeks back training after last week's Edinburgh Marathon go before I part with the cash! While you are resting up get looking for some off road routes for your training. Your shins will thank you for it.
Carole Burt