"The Marathon Man" or "There's Life above the 10K" I started running just before the running boom in the late 1970s .In those far off days there was only x-country, track and the odd road race. As it was too easy to come last in a track race or the road races at that time, I didn't do much in the summer. Then came the marathons and people that ran slower than me - it was safe to go out. My first one was the first Edinburgh marathon. I ran it off about 40 miles a week plus a couple of runs of 18 miles. The weather was atrocious and I struggled in at 3.15. Surely I could do better than this -a bit more training -a few more miles - I was hooked. The magazines were full of training tips for the now increasing number of participants, encouraging them to run high milages and wear the right shoes, drink the right isotonic drinks, and wear the right tea-shirts with the right logos. It was big business. People were regularly doing 90 -120 miles week with 25 mile runs on a Sunday an a 15 mid-week. They said that the hardest part of a Marathon was making it to the starting line; with that sort of training regime it was no wonder. I found the biggest improvement was going from 40 to 70 miles a week. I also found (an still find) it hard to do any decent quality work (a marvelous excuse). I tried a few weeks at 90 - 95 miles. That made me really tired. I've only ever done a 100 mile week once. At this level you start to hit real problems. The arithmetic works out at 20 on Sunday - 8 + 6 on Monday, 8 + 3 (this was 5 x1000) on Tuesday, 15 on Wednesday, 8 + 6 on Thursday, 8+10 on Friday and 10 on Saturday (that's 102 miles or about 11 hours). You spend the week, training, changing, eating and sleeping and waving good-bye to your social life. (bed by 9.30).I'm not sure of the benefits apart from out-boring your fellow athletes about your training schedule. Even 70 miles a week is tricky at once a day. I quickly learned that to get through the week I had to run quite slowly - I even found I had a natural talent for this. Also get through a high-mileage training programme, the load must be spread fairly evenly through the week. There's no point in saving it all up for Saturday as the week starts again on Sunday. I believe the running boom ended because no-one can keep up that sort of training. Fields dropped as people switched to half-marathons and 10Ks which are easier to organise, and you can run one every other week. A very few of the more dedicated started doing ultra-distance, positive proof that long-distance running affects the mind. The art of marathon running was lost. There are now only three full marathons left in Scotland from the nine or so at the peak. Fields are now in the low hundreds compared with the low to mid thousands. So do you still want to do one ? To run a good marathon, you have to be able to run good short distance races at speed. This is the flaw of starting at long distance and working down the way as in a marathon you have to turn out 6 minute miles without drawing breath. Most of those reading this article will not be starting from scratch and will probably be doing 30-40 miles a week and will be running short distance races like 10Ks ( this is a different view-point from the trackies who think that 5000m is long-distance). If so you are half-way there. All you need to do is increase your mileage by 10% a week and in 8 weeks there you are ! Final preparation for a marathon begins a few weeks before. I like (like ?) to do one run a slow 25 miles about 4 weeks before; this is the highest mileage week of the order of 90 miles. The reason for doing this is purely psychological, thereafter the weekly mileage drops. I also try to find one or two short races around 10K about a week before. When I ran my marathon PB I did a track 3000m 4 days before. I am also a great believer in "The Diet" made popular by Ron Hill to avoid "The Wall". The variant I use is a 15 mile run on the Sunday before (marathons are always on a Sunday -except Dublin). Then follows three days of eating nothing but protein (meat, cheese, eggs etc.), no sugar, no starch, no beer. In spite of eating as much as you like, you still feel hungry. During this period training continues at a low level. At about day 2 I find that I can't run any further than about 4 miles, energy has gone completely and my legs have turned to jelly. Day 3 is the same only worse. By then the hallucinations of chocolate doughnuts have started. Surprisingly it is possible to run quite fast -but only for about 10 minutes. On the last three days I eat nothing but carbohydrate (bread, potatoes, Mrs. Gunn's steam puddings, Shreddies, bananas etc.). Training reduces to virtually zero. I usually train lightly on day 1, do nothing on day 2 and day 3 (the day before) I jog 3 miles; mainly because I have eaten too much. Remember you are allowed to drink no more than two pints of beer the night before, but don't touch wine or spirits. The diet again may just be psychological -but don't knock that. I didn't do it before the Edinburgh- North Berwick, the year it was a marathon, and suffered serious rubber legs for the last two miles. For marathon day, eat a light breakfast of toast and as much coffee as you can handle. Make sure your kit is in perfect condition, and all there and remember the Vaseline and elastoplast. Try to get to the start an hour before and start drinking water. If it is a hot day - I stay inside, same for a cold day. With twenty minutes to go, jog for a mile and stretch and get mentally prepared - I prefer not to talk to anyone. Advice given in magazines is to start slowly. They also say "run your own race" -so you can start by ignoring the magazine advice on starting slowly. This does prevent dropping out but doesn't necessarily give you a fast time or good position -to achieve this some risks must be taken. This requires knowing the form of the other participants and trying to run with those near your own ability. I prefer to test the water for about 5 miles to see who is bluffing. There will be those who hare off into the distance. The ones of known pedigree you won't see again, the others you will pass at 22 miles. The biggest problem with the low fields now encountered in Scotland is that it is often necessary to run with groups that are going faster than your optimum pace, this is a lesser evil than running on your own or with a much slower group. OK they will drop you at 13 miles but on the other hand you might get lucky. ( the faster you run the luckier you have to be). Running at 6 minute miles is probably optimum- the main reason for this is that it is easy to do the mental arithmetic during the race to work out the splits as your brain stops working at about 10 miles. Six minute miles are however not ideal since it makes getting under 2-40 a bit tricky -on the other hand the brain can't cope with 5-55 mile splits. Oh and there's no point in writing the splits on the back of your hand as the sweat washes it away. The thing that screws most race plans up is the weather. Running into the teeth of a gale for 13 miles is not funny. In this case it is best to run with a pack, remembering to take your turn at the front otherwise you'll be pointed at in the showers afterwards. Don't clip the heels of the guy in front -athletes get a bit irritated, especially if you do it twice. On a hot day take advantage of the sponges . These can be used to mop off sweat from your brow or inside your shorts to avoid sweat rash. They are usually in short supply so the helpers are glad to get them back for the later runners. Drink stations are also useful -not only for sustenance but race tactics. The ability to drink on the move can gain you several yards which can be enough to finish off a rival who has had to slow down or stop. If you see someone ahead who has stopped to take a drink in the last stages, they're finished. Only take water since if you can't finish it you can pour it over your head (for some reason this amuses the spectators). Never ever drink from a sponge. A feature of marathon running that you don't get in short races are the bad patches (you don't get good patches). For some reason your pace can drop, either through loss of concentration or through one of the strange pains that occur (these incidentally aren't real). Bad patches normally last for a few minutes. The trick is to spot it happening to other runners and increase the pace. A major bad patch occurs between 20 and 24 miles. The elation of getting to 20 has gone and there is still six to go. The feeling is indescribable. Small things start to irritate you. At Aberdeen, every few miles along the South Deeside Road they cleverly concealed pipers. Because the field was so spread out, they conserve their breath and only played when they saw a runner. If you caught them unaware they would start up about 5 yards from you ,this really shattered my concentration, that and the small boy on the squeaky bicycle who peddled about a yard behind me. He was in serious danger. At about 2 miles to go you start to feel a bit better. By then you realise you are not going to achieve your target time and you can take your mind off the pain by working on your post-race excuses. The best bit of a marathon is the 2 seconds after stopping just before the cramp hits you. This is the point when you realise why it is not wise to stop in the last five miles. Try not to sit down as you will not get up again. I find that I can't face eating anything so I tend to drink anything I can lay my hands on. You may like to try a pint of beer as it causes almost instant intoxication and hides the pain. The Blister Ball, held after the Aberdeen Marathon, had the spectacle of drunk runners trying to walk down the stairs backwards. Fortunately you forget very quickly how bad it is during one of these races, I have run two separated by two weeks, and got a better time in the second one. The next day it is best to try to run a little bit if you can. It takes about 4 days before you think you've recovered -it actually takes about 2-3 weeks. So I hope to see as many of you as possible at Lochaber -failing that the Edinburgh to North Berwick; a dawdle at 22 miles. Next issue - " Hill Running for Fun and Profit"