Since then I’ve run three marathons, done the Leeds 10K and even completed the Yorkshire Three Peaks in under 12 hours. I think that’s quite an amazing achievement. However, this anniversary has gone by almost unmarked because that Three Peaks attempt left me with an injury which has stopped me from running for the last four weeks, which I’ve been really unhappy about.

It’s getting better now though, but I won’t be able to run Leeds this year (though I will be able to walk it – hopefully) and my plans to set a PB in this years’ Great North Run are also under threat.

I can’t wait to start running again and when I do, I’ll allow myself to reflect on my achievements. At the moment though, this part of my life is on hold.

So this week I’m starting my full training schedule. I’ve also decided, following my performance at the Paris Marathon, to use the non-linear periodisation system again. Hopefully I’ll be able to smash my marathon PB by running the Dublin Marathon in 4h30m00s – that’s my goal anyway.

Friday’s schedule called for 5 miles easy with 6 x 30 second fartlek intervals. The first time I saw what mileage I had to cover, I thought it sounded like a big ask. I’ve still got memories of how tiring this session used to be, especially with the fartlek intervals, which really knackered me out.

However, once I got out there I discovered I didn’t really need to put in any extra effort into running the five miles (except for running around the headland – the wind was quite strong and was a struggle to run against sometimes). What really pleasantly surprised me though was my peformance during the fartlek intervals.

The last time I regularly did this kind of session, I looked upon intervals with some trepidation because after each interval I was always exhausted. This time though I managed to breeze through them. I was even able to increase my pace in each progressive interval, which was something I definitely couldn’t have done last time. Previously I would start out running each interval really fast and then slow down through tiredness in each following interval.

So after the first week back to “normal” training, I’m generally quite impressed with my state of fitness. As usual, I seem to have underestimated my ability again, as I appear to be fitter than I give myself credit for. Using this training plan to train for Paris seems to have really boosted my general levels of fitness, aerobic endurance and stamina. Not bad!

I’ve been in near-continuous training for nearly eighteen months now, with the odd few weeks resting here and there after each marathon. So after Paris I wanted to really relax and recover and not actually train for anything. I’m not saying I don’t want to go running anymore – I just didn’t want to start training for another event so soon.

Unfortunately my Three Peaks attempt has put paid to that somewhat. It’s only four weeks away and requires it’s own level of training (walking the equivalent of a marathon over three of Yorkshire’s highest peaks). However, I’ve already committed to it and I don’t intend to renege on this promise.

If I started training for Dublin now, that would give me (roughly) six months to train. Considering that I’ve run several marathons before I think this is more than enough time for me. In fact, I’m even willing to gamble and not start marathon training until the end of May. Training for the Leeds 10K (on June 21st) will be in full swing by then anyway, so I hope I’ll be more rested and be back into that competitive running frame of mind by then.

The Three Peaks involves climbing some 4,000m of ascent over Yorkshire’s three highest peaks: Pen-Y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough (usually in that order), which in total is approximately 25 miles. The challenge which has been laid down to me is to complete all three within twelve hours.

Now I consider myself fitter than I have been at this point in time, but this is a totally different kettle of fish from running. I’ll be walking it – definitely not running – and there’s the fact that the route climbs three mountains and the temperamental weather that can bring. So this is no small ask.

Unfortunately, trying to ease myself into training hasn’t come very easy, even though I’m only running a very easy distance (three miles, three times a week). An injury from before Paris needs resting and I wanted to spend more time resting after Paris, so I’m finding it difficult to motivate myself and get myself back into the training state of mind.

So this week is about continuing to taper and about carbo-loading until the big day itself.

My training got off to a tiring start on Tuesday when I ran one mile easy, followed by two miles at my fastest pace, another two at moderate pace and then a final mile at easy pace.

The fast miles were tough and very tiring, as my legs felt remarkably stiff and heavy and took a long time to warm up. Then my MP3 player crashed in the middle of one of my favourite running songs, which was helping me push on through the pain. So I had to stop and fix that, which interrupted my rhythm and which really annoyed me.

By the end of that run I was really tired – I had probably over-exerted myself if I’m honest. So I was glad my next two runs are fairly easy runs at a steady pace.

On Wednesday, I did four miles, with five “strides” – which basically means running at a fast pace for thirty seconds at different points during the route. I felt a little bit more flexible, but still heavy and weighed down by all these carbohydrate stores I’m building up.

Even though I’m running fewer miles now than at any time during the last four months, it doesn’t deel easier at all – in fact it feels like a bit of a drag to get going and slip into a steady pace.

It felt just like that again on Thursday when I ran one mile easy followed by one and a half miles at moderate pace, followed by another mile easy. The moderate lap was really tough because, once again, my legs felt like lead.

Still I managed to finish the last training session for this marathon in a respectable time, slightly faster than I predicted.

So that is the end of training. No more sessions before the big day. I can only hope it all pays off on the day. Wish me luck!

Unfortunately, whatever helped me fly around last time wasn’t there this time. From the outset my legs felt really heavy and my muscles ached from the start. I had to stop about six minutes after starting to remove a stone from my shoe, so I took the opportunity to do some extra stretches as well. I warmed up after the first three miles, but my muscles never totally stopped aching.

The lap system worked well again. I split the run into two nine-mile laps followed by a third four mile lap to bring me up to 22, around the South and North Bays. Running this kind of distance reminded me of just how demanding distance running is. At the end I was racked with aches and pains, which continued all right through the rest of the day. It took me all Sunday, Monday and Tuesday to recover from the effort.

Finally I must comment on the weather. I’ve been rather lucky this year with the weather, with each long run falling on relatively mild Sundays. After completing my first lap, I took the decision to dump my running coat, hat and gloves at home and the bright, constant sunshine rewarded me. The chilly breeze reminded me it was still technically Winter, but it was what I needed on this long run.

The first session of the week was on Tuesday. This intensive phase of my training plan called for a 9-mile run – on a weekday! I wasn’t sure if I could fit a 9 mile run in before work, so I decided to get up at 4:30am instead of my usual 5:00am start just to make sure I had enough time.

This plan backfired as soon as I woke up. I literally dragged myself out of bed and went through my usual routine. However, I just couldn’t get going and I felt like I was in danger of drifting back to sleep whilst doing my warm-ups.

It didn’t get any better once I started running. I was still tired from getting up so early and my muscles were in open rebellion, aching and painful from the offset. I felt like I was running with a sack of potatoes tied to each leg. I managed to complete it, but I felt shocking afterwards. So now, through that hard lesson, i know that getting up earlier than 5:00am to go training is just not an option.

After over-extending myself on Tuesday, Wednesday was a rest day, followed by my next session on Thursday.

This was a simple easy run of five miles, followed by four ten-second hill repeats. I completed it with no problems – it was probably the highlight of an almost universally bad week.

That highlight was followed by Friday’s session, which turned into something of a disaster. My schedule called for 1 mile easy (no problems there), then 8×1k at 10k pace. However, I didn’t measure the distances beforehand, so I had to estimate how far a kilometre was, which I now know that I can’t really do whilst running. Additionally, I fell for the common mistake of miscalculating how long the repeats would take (because I forgot to take into account the rest kilometres in-between). So I didn’t run as far as I should and I didn’t do as many repeats as I should.

I decided just to cut my losses and cut the in-between rest time from eight minutes to two minutes, which I could just about handle. After I’d finished I still felt like the running I had done was good, even if the session as a whole had been a bit disastrous.

So after a shaky start to the final month of training, I wasn’t looking forward to the twenty-mile long run on Sunday. I split the run into three laps: The first two were eight miles each, then finishing with a four-mile lap of the North Bay. I also tried out my new running belt, for storing my energy gels. For the first eight miles, my legs felt rather light, so the going felt surprisingly easy. By the end of the last mile, I was shattered, but I managed to do it in 4h 25m, which impressed me quite a bit.

The first training session of the week was a four mile easy run. I’ve been getting a bit bored of continually running around the North Bay, so this time I decided to run down to the end of the South Bay then back again.

On Wednesday I strategically matched my music to the training. The schedule called for one mile easy, then three miles at half-marathon pace then another mile at easy pace. That sounds easy, but this combination of distance and pace has tripped me up before, hence the decision to run to music this time.

I chose Bloc Party’s new album Intimacy because it has a fast beat and sounds a bit mental. The result? Well, it worked smashingly. I ploughed through the miles and finished on a bit of a high.

I tried the same trick on Thursday, doing 4m easy then 2m moderate. I listened to the same music again, but it didn’t have quite the same effect as last time. Saying that, I still powered through the moderate section. For the first 4 miles, my legs didn’t feel quite as elastic and springy as I like, but they weren’t stiff, so I just had to work through that. I covered the first four miles aorund the headland and then ran down to end of the Spa again, then did the remaining two miles in the North bay.

The end of the week saw the return of the dreaded cold weather, bringing with it a light frost. Fortunately, that didn’t affect me much.

Last week I think the combination of taking Monday off as a rest day and my other recovery techniques worked rather well. On Monday I didn’t fell creaky and painful like I sometimes do the day after a long run and when training the day after, I didn’t feel like I was still recovering from Sunday. So I’ve decided that Monday is my new rest day. On Tuesday I felt more comfortable today than last week. I felt good all the way round. Afterwards, I didn’t feel totally exhausted like previous times.

Unfortunately, by Wednesday, the weather seemed to be getting a bit chilly again after the “mildness” of last week. Thursday was more like Tuesday in that I just seemed to run the four miles easy and two miles at moderate pace without much fuss. what made it memorable was the beautiful sunrise which rose as I ran around the headland.

Sunday

This week has just flown by. So when it came to this week’s long run, a mammoth eighteen-miler, I didn’t feel totally psyched up for it. In fact, I was even dreading it a little bit. Last weeks’ sixteen-mile run hurt, so adding another two miles onto that wasn’t going to make it any more comfortable.

To make the distance a little more manageable, I split it into two laps, each a nine-mile circuit of the South and North Bays. Basically it covered all the areas where I usually run, but with a few extensions to place I’ve run to in the past.

I decided to try and minimise the pain of this endurance run by taking my first energy gel before I had even set off, unlike my usual system of using them after the first six miles. Then I took one every three miles after that. Just a few hundred yards into my first mile, my leg muscles felt solid, like bricks. There was no elasticity or flexibility in them at all. It was obvious that my warm-up exercises had been somewhat lacklustre today. I had to find a wall and perform a few quick leg stretches in order to get my legs going. I was a little surprised as this was the first time I’ve ever had to do stretches after starting running. Once I set off again, they didn’t feel as stiff, but they ached really badly as they warmed up which was really painful.

By the time I had reached the Spa, they had stopped aching so badly, but the rocky start had shaken my confidence somewhat. I took my second energy gel whilst passing the Ocean Room and made my way to the most southerly point of my route. My muscles weren’t aching any more but they still felt as if they were not performing at their best, which filled me with apprehension about what the next fifteen miles would have in store.

Throughout this run I had a sense of stop-start regarding my energy levels. Each energy gel would come “on stream” about half an hour after I had eaten it, so there was a small lag between the effects of the last one wearing off and the next one kicking in. No matter how many gels I ate though, there was no distracting me from the fact that my feet and legs were all feeling tired and achy even in the early stages of the run. This made it much more uncomfortable than usual and I even contemplated walking at some points.

After I had rounded the headland in the middle of the first lap, about six miles in, the tide in the North Bay had gone so far out that I was able to get onto the beach from the most southerly steps (opposite the Albert Drive Cafe) – I don’t often get the chance to get onto the beach this far south because the tide doesn’t usually go out this far when I’m running. I was then able to run the entire length of the North Bay beach all the way up to the most northerly steps outside the Sea Life Centre.

I had managed to establish a rhythm which carried me through most of the nine miles of the first lap. After switching empty bottles for full ones at my home, I started the second lap. Naturally, it felt harder because I had already completed the first lap, but the energy gels meant I kept on having spurts of energy, which kept things interesting.

Coming back from the most southerly point of my route, I took an early detour into the beach, as the softer snad is more forgiving on my feet. It was the first time I had run outside the southern end of the Spa, which still has that feel of faded, dilapidated glory. Whilst I was running towards the lifeboat station and the end of the beach, I noticed how alone I was in the vast expanse of empty beach. Earlier on it had been quite busy, but now this section of the beach was much quieter. The headland was, as usual at this time of day, very busy with plenty of people around the South Bay end.

Coming around the headland for the second and last time and I was really beginning to feel the exhaustion creep up on me. I ran down onto the beach again, this time having to dodge the tide which was coming in quite fast. By this point I had equalled last weeks distance of sixteen miles, but the thought of doing another two miles was almost too much. I deliberately psyched myself up because I knew if I stopped now, I wouldn’t be able to get going again.

To my surprise, even though my legs were fatigued and I was generally quite exhuasted, I didn’t feel like my legs were going to explode like last week. It was more a case of just trying to run through the tiredness and try not to stop. When I finished, I could only half-believe that I had just completed the longest training run I’ve ever done. These long runs are also beginning to remind me of now much effort is required just to keep moving whilst running a marathon and how just much of a massive commitment it is.

After Sunday’s mammoth effort, I was still feeling the effects of that exhausting fourteen-mile run. My legs are still aching, which isn’t really a good sign, especially as my plan dictates that I should have gone training today. I have no idea how anyone other than an athlete could have done a five-mile run today after yesterday’s effort. I feel like the graduation to epically long runs has come about rather soon, when compared to my training for my last marathon in Dublin.

However, that has probably something to do with the fact that this new “non-linear periodisation” training plan is designed to fit a lot of training into a very short period and that I started this phase of my training much closer to the actual marathon than I have ever done before.

Tuesday

It was quite tough going over the first two miles as my muscles warmed up. The last three miles were easier, though I was still quite tired though by the end of it. The four 10-second hill sprints made me feel better, but I still felt more tired doing them than last time, which is not a good sign.

Wednesday

The plan for today was one mile at easy pace, then three miles at tempo pace (basically as fast as I can go without ), then another easy mile to finish with. This is always a deceptively simple run which hides a quite intensive and tiring three mile run in the middle of it. It always sounds easier than it is. I had a burst of energy between miles two and three, the challenge is sustaining that level of exertion over three miles. By the end of it, I felt very tired but not exhausted.

Thursday

Today I ran two miles at four miles at easy pace with two miles at moderate pace sandwiched in the middle. I was feeling quite good until the end of the moderate miles. The last two miles felt quite difficult, but the I had just run two moderate miles so maybe that’s not too surprising. The major bit of fun on this run was when I ran down onto the southern end of the North Bay beach. Unfortunately, the tide had come in further than I could see from the promenade, and cut off my route. So I had to make a slight diversion by climbing up onto the sea wall and making good my escape. I don’t recommend doing it because it is covered in slippy, slimy algae and sea weed, which didn’t make it easy.

Sunday

Now that my Sunday long runs are getting really long, I decided that I needed a better system to my current one of just running one big xx-miles long circuit. Whilst I did enjoy doing things like running to Filey and back during training for my last marathon, those type of runs are just too inflexible for this time round. What if I got injured, or just burnt out? I would still have the remaining miles to walk home and I also could only take as much fluids as I could carry, which inevitably wasn’t enough.

So this time round I’ve decided to go with a laps system. I start at my usual location, but each lap finishes at my home, where I can switch over empty bottles for full ones (and also make use of the facilities if necessary). This also allows me to break up longer distances into smaller chunks, which makes them easier to swallow (or at least makes it seem like they are).

I split my sixteen mile long run into three laps: One six-mile lap and two five-mile laps. It was unseasonably bright sunshine and quite mild as well – perfect running weather. My lap system was working well, but at the end of the first one, I felt like I was already succumbing to tiredness. After completing the second mile of my second lap, I was so tired I wondered how I would be able to complete the remaining eight miles.

I pressed on. Running past the Sea Life Centre for the third and final time I felt like three laps along the same route was a little excessive, as I was by now quite bored of running the same route for the third time. This didn’t help distract me from the tremendous aching in my legs either. Just a mile later, running through Peasholm Park, I felt as though my leg muscles were ready to explode.

Fortunately, they didn’t and I managed to finish in just under four hours, which surprised me a little, as I didn’t think that I had been running for that long. That time is slower than my hopeful marathon pace, but at the moment, I’m not worried.