How to run a faster marathon ?

Do not run alone !

New personal best for half marathon in 1:30:54:

On 20.09.2014 i ran the Dublin race series half marathon in a new personal best of 1:30:54. After having dental treatment, a business trip to germany and the celebrations for my girlfriend's graduation i did not stick to my running plan and was pleasently surprised to hit that time. With one month left to the Frankfurt Marathon i am in distance of achieving my goal of a sub 3:00:00 marathon. Time to get back to plan and dig in for October. Fun fact: If i was a woman I would've been the 9th fastest in the race. Overall I was placed 504 out of 6000 and 178th in my own category.

Big thank you to senior runner Sean

I couldn't have done it without Sean and this is a story of how inspiring running can be. I am 28 and he is past his fifties and still running. All of his club supported him on his way and we ran side by side for the last three miles pushing each other to our new personal bests. In every race so far I found someone to help me on the last few miles and I definetly recommend that you find someone to do likewise for your races to hit that PB. Believe me, your instinct will show you who to pick if you are not with a club already.

How to run a faster marathon ?

Do a personal best on 10 miles!

On 23rd of August i ran a personal best on 10 miles of 1:09:05:

Andrew Douglas finished first in 49:56 which makes me feel rather insignificant. It was a good run, but i ovcerpaced in the middle and almost puked, which relates to my common mistake of overpacing at the beginning of a long run.

With more emphasis on my weightlifting training most recently, the running falls a bit short, which i have to remedy. I am already off track by 4 minutes, as i wanted to finish the 10 Mile in 1:05:00 to be on track for an under three hours marathon time.

Still i managed to shave off 10 minutes from my last years time, which is not too bad.

At the Fingal 10k in Dublin on the 20th of July i ran a pr 10k of 39:48:

The 10k run was part of my current preparation to the Frankfurt Marathon on the 26th of October 2014. I am running for a good one and a half years and when i got the result i couldn't believe that i made it to the crowd who is capable of running 10k in under 40 minutes.

I got a feeling that i was onto something when i started slightly behind the top runners and was still going strong with barely anyone overtaking me. I passed the club runners who I admired when I ran the Finglas 10k last year. As i passed one of the senior runners who had been pointed out by the commentator at the beginning of the race I felt proud.

The things i did differently from the year before which definitely helped me run faster:

• Made use of the bag tag to leave my bag comfortably behind
• Arrived one and a half hours early, checked out the area and did a proper warm up
  
• Left my I phone at home. The chip already measures your time 

How to run a faster marathon? Run on your holidays

First you think it is hard, but then you enjoy it!

I went to a beautiful holiday together with my girldfriend in July 2014 organised by Riviera around the Bay of Naples. We opted for the all inclusive no brainer: Everything is done for you kind of vacation as we made the experience that this leads to less complications. The kids were off to the scouts to Lisbon and we had a great time.

How to solve the biggest problems with running

What we know we should do...

How often did you think about losing weight ? What would you do if you could just get fit ? How great would it be to run 5k, 10k, a half marathon or even run a marathon ? How jealous would the neighbours and old school friends be if you came back to your form from ten years ago ? All these things are running through many heads when stepping on a scale, the doctor says you should excercise more or the favourite trousers just won´t fit anymore. But there are obstacles which we put in our own way to stop us from running or getting healthier.

How to run a faster marathon? Learn from others!

How to run a faster marathon ? Be prepared!

Some people set themselves the goal to do a couch to 5k program. Some people go for 10k or ahalf marathon. The selected view go for the full 42K and actually stick with their plan and accomplish it. Now, only an Idiot would challenge his friend, a former track and field semi professional, on his marathon time of 3:41, right? Especially when you are currently overweight and hated running when it was part of your training regime in younger days.