Seville Marathon. The one that got away.

Since my wife and I’s honeymoon in 2021, I’ve been dreaming of running the Seville Marathon. I originally booked it whilst lying on a gorgeous Turkish beach, probably a bit drunk, and wanting to run a sub 2hr45 marathon. Training was going well, however I contracted an injury a few weeks out that stopped me being able to run it.

No worries - we went anyway, had some sangria, and wandered the streets of this gorgeous city. I was able to do some running there, and quickly found a lovely riverside path going from the Plaza de Espana, to San Jeronimo. Fast forwards to the day of the marathon, and I was feeling extremely frustrated that I wasn’t able to it. So I went out, hit the riverside path, and pounded the pavement. First 5km? 17:55, 10km? 35:50, 10 miles? 57:42…WHAT THE F***… I’d just run a 10km PB and 10 mile PB, and wasn’t running the marathon? I was pissed.

On the walk back to my hotel, I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the winner kicking past the pack towards the finish line…. 2:04:43, Fairplay. That made me a little happier.

Build up to the Pisa Half Marathon 2022

Okay, so training up until the Pisa Half Marathon 2022 had been going swimmingly. I was hitting some huge sessions (3x 20min @ 3:20/km), hadn’t been injured in months, and my long runs post-London were going well.
The race itself? a PB! A tough one, but a PB nonetheless. 1:17:10 in near perfect conditions, and where I finished feeling as though I still had a couple more KM’s in the tank if needed.
BUT…. I was tired. Work, the travelling, the race etc had taken it’s toll, and with a flight delayed by 5 hours that night we got no sleep before heading off to work the next morning. With my immune system battered, I contracted that horrible winter bug that was going around, and essentially couldn’t even get out of bed for two weeks, let alone think about running.
I suppose some rest is required after a hard half marathon, however two weeks of lying in bed was certainly not what I had in mind! So when I felt able to run again, I started off with a vengeance.

Seville Marathon 2023 training

My first run post-Pisa half marathon? 15km in 3:45/km in the DRT Performance Lab. Okay, so I took this one a little quick however I was frustrated about having not run in weeks, and knew that Seville was round the corner so a good training block was needed to ensure I could run my desired sub 2hr45 marathon time. It was clear I wasn’t fully recovered, as the run felt harder on me aerobically than it should have done, but my body held up.

New Years day brought a cheeky 30km run with it (once I’d gotten rid of the raging hangover….). I laced up my shoes, and clipped along at a decent pace, watching a film as I went along. Again, I could tell I wasn’t fully recovered, but was glad I could actually run!

…

Step off the treadmill…’Ow, WTF was that?’… The outside of my right knee, that’s what. Stepping down stairs hurt, and by the time I’d gotten into bed the leg was stiff and quite painful.

After a couple of days I ran again, trying to see how the knee would hold up. Running a 3x 20min session @ threshold pace, the knee was dull but not painful, so I took that as a win, before following up with a little 10km recovery run a couple of days later once my legs had rested.

Sunday 8th Jan - Long run day. How was my knee going to hold up? I set the treadmill 20 seconds slower than my goal marathon pace and went on my merry way, watching re-runs of Benidorm. The run went surprisingly pain free. However, again, upon stepping down from the treadmill my knee immediately stiffened and became painful. Walking was not something I relished the thought of after getting out of the shower….

Jan 10th - 2x 20min today. Doesn’t sound too bad right? Wrong… it’s 2*c, wind whipping about and rain pouring down heavily. To say I was fucking miserable is an understatement. But, my coach wanted me to be running outside, and coach knows best. I ran the first 20min effort at around goal marathon pace, and stopped for my 60s rest (generous…). Almost immediately, my knee began hurting again. I tried to pick up the pace to get going for the second rep, however a combination of the pain, rain, and wind told me it was better to run back to the office and chalk it up to experience.

15th Jan - I leave it a few days until I run again, allowing my knee the time it needed to heal, and did a couple of long rides on the bike instead to keep the fitness up. Fast forwards to the 15th Jan and I head off early morning to Hyde Park to begin a 30km long run, with hydration vest and gels at the ready. I don’t have high expectations of pace, but I was frustrated. That showed. I ended up running the entire 30km at goal marathon pace, without even looking once at my watch. The best part? It felt great! No knee pain.

18th Jan - Restless. 3x 20min @ threshold effort. Run strong- feel like I could do more. No knee pain.

20th Jan - Feeling buoyed from the previous session, I opt for 3 x 25min off of 60s rest. A big session. But I complete it, with the help of The Grand Tour. Running about 3:45/km pace, nice.

22nd Jan - Agreed to run with my London City Runner training buddy, Oscar. Met up in Battersea park on what was a glorious day, and agreed to run at about 3hr marathon pace for 21km, at which point I’d leave him and go do another 11km by myself. I’m running in Nike Invincibles, and carrying a couple of kilos in my Salomon hydration vest, and coming off the heavy week my body is feeling sluggish - it’s hard to keep up. But as we settle into the rhythm it becomes easir, and we chat away for a solid 1hr30. The next 11km were fine - I took them slower, but kept an honest pace throughout.

24th Jan - 3x 16min. Treadmill. Took these very fast, around 3:35/km. I could tell my body was handling them fine, however something in my mind was telling me it was difficult and that I should stop. I didn’t. I kept going, pushing right until the end. Knee pain? a little, in the last minute, but nothing to be concerned with.

27th Jan - 35km long run day. I set off optimistic, trying out the Skillrun Unity 5000 treadmill which I’m thinking of buying. Gorgeous machine, but seems to run a little faster than it’s telling me? Anyway, set off at 3:54/km pace, carrying that for 20km, at which point I switch to a more modest 5min/km pace. 25km - I’m tired, and I’m late for work. I call it a day. Damn.

30th Jan - Track day! Love the track. 8min threshold followed by 6x 1km reps. I don’t have high expectations, however surprise myself when I go out running a very easy, controlled 3:36/km pace for the first 8min effort. Now the 1km reps. I tell myself I don;t need to worry about the time - anything below 3:30/km is a good result. 1km? 3:09/km. Fuck, well i’ll take that! 2km? …. didn’t make it. 300m in my right calf pulled up, and I knew I had to stop. I put my clothes on quickly, got warm, and gently stretched my calf before heading back home in despair.

1st February - 3x16min on the bike. Normally, i’m awful at translating running sessions onto bikes. I simply can’t get my hear rate high enough, and always feels like i’m failing whilst simultaneously about to die. But the determination got me through it - bossing each rep and keeping a high heart rate throughout.

What’s next?

Officially 2 weeks and 1 day until the Seville Marathon. This would be the time to begin tapering, however I feel as though I’ve already begun to taper in a way, through being naturally slowed down through injuries! Tonight? Well, if there’s any spare time after painting and decorating, I might try and get in a sneaky 3x20min bike session @ threshold effort, before a 2hr30 easy ride tomorrow.

I’ll be trying a small 5km run on Wednesday next week to test out my calf and knee, but hoping all will be well.

My coach and I are taking things a couple of days at a time at the moment, keeping an eye on things, and will adjust my plan accordingly.

Seville marathon 2023 goal?

Originally, this was going to be 2hr45. Then, after Pisa I was nonchalantly thinking I may as well target a cheeky sub 2hr40! Laughs and cries simultaneously. Now? Hmm. I’d like to beat my time from London marathon 2022 (2:58:41), which I think is easily achievable if my body holds up. Other than that, i’m not sure. I want to enjoy it - something I’ve not really thought for any race I’ve ever done before. Maybe I’m maturing? Who knows…. Anyway, the only person who’ll be reading this far down is my wife, who’ll tell you that i’m not maturing. So there.

What’s next?

Watch this space ;)