As anyone who’s read this blog or knows me knows, I ‘kin love the Parbold Hill Race. It’s got everything and this year was no exception. Penny Lane always have a good turnout at Parbold and we’ve been close to wining the men’s team prize a few times. I travelled up with Lawrence, Dale and new lad Ste. Ste was a fell/multi terrain virgin and I joyfully informed him this was like busting his cherry with a porn star!

This year we had again a strong team and looking around at the start I couldn’t see any big threats from the usual local clubs so I was super confident we could get the team prize. My tactic at the start is to give it a bit of welly on the road as the first uphill is quite tight so you don’t want to be in traffic.

I felt a bit chesty through the week and I couldn’t get going as quickly I as a wanted, Lawrence and Dale easily pulled away from me and Ste stuck with me for the first mile or so before pushing on. I felt okay, I knew I was working hard and stuck with Neil Bullock and LRC Ian Palin for a while but I couldn’t keep up with them up the hill and past the pub. This is the toughest section of the race and I was still moving but really working the lungs.

Then Neil Kelly and a few others passed, I got back to Neil on the farm path and across the cattle grid where it started hale stoning sideways with the wind. Great to be alive! Neil then duly passed me on the next muddy hill section, both of us chasing a lad from Wigan who looked to be the only team anywhere close to us – the four Penny Lane guys were ghosts in front!

The first lady from Horwich caught me at the windmill, she really hammered it and caught up to Neil at the jumps, I was getting caught by another runner, the last mile or so is the heaviest so nowhere to put you foot down.

I cross the line in 28th and later found out my time was 49.30, 10 seconds quicker than I’ve ever ran and in the worse conditions. We had 4 in the top 30 and comfortably won the team prize, Lawrence, Dale, Ste and Neil B – a fantastic achievement for our club.

So my marathon training is in full swing with just four weeks left to the big day. When it comes to racing and training I’m of the mind that you can never have enough information or advice, especially when it concerns the marathon!

After consulting a few lads who in my opinion have consistently got the best results at the distance, I set out a plan with the core of it as follows:

Running the tempos on Saturday followed by the LSR Sunday. The tempo run is ran about 6.20 to 6.30 pace (start with a warm up though), running 8 mile to start with, and build it by no more than 10 mins each week (with a shorter week once each month (8) on my recovery week). This should be slightly slower than race pace, the race is long way off and fresh legs should allow me to run quicker. It also means I won't over train. This can be done with heart rate, but I have to run this within a range and allow for drift during the longer (14-16 mile) runs.

Then the long run Sunday. The logic of running the tempo the day before the lsr is to run on tired legs then once I start to taper I should feel really fresh. For the long runs, I am building from 2hrs and then gradually building up to three a 3 hour run (these don't need to be too fast) at relaxed pace with the aim of mentally knowing you can run for longer than you race (knowing you can achieve something helps you to succeed).

I’ve been sticking with Dave Evans group on the Tuesday as they’re still doing the 30 min 10k sessions that I love. The Thursday sessions will comprise of a steady run with strides either at the end or up a hill, depending on the route and maybe I’ll throw in a quicker speed sessions every few weeks.

I’m still running a few doubles and I plan to continue, listening intently to my body!