The long tempo runs were also a challenge, having to run at a moderate pace, just below my aerobic threshold, in order to increase my stamina. Hard work. After that I had another week of easy mediu-length runs to recover, then it is on with the same schedule repeated but to a higher intensity. That means longer runs, longer interval periods and more jogging up hills. Great!

So my new intensive base training schedule sees me running between four to five times a week, which is a step up from the effort that I have come to expect at this stage in marathon training. However, I can confidently call myself an intermediate now rather than a beginner, so I’m not intimidated by the increase in training.

The most exciting part of this new schedule is the inclusion of different types of training, such as fartlek and hill work. Fartlek involves running at a fast pace for a set time, then doing a “recovery” jogs for an equal period and repeating the sequence several times. Hill work involves the same principle of a period of hard effort followed by an equal period of recovery, this time running up hills and then jogging down them, several times.

This base training schedule lasts about six weeks. The benefit of all this should be that I will have given myself a solid foundation on which to build my marathon training.