Sunday 26 April 2026 is inked into history. A monumental event occurred that redefined the limits of human endurance. One of those ‘I’ll always remember where I was’ moments.
Where I was will be etched into my memory forever – getting the London Marathon medal placed round my neck by a kind volunteer who breathlessly informed me that two runners had gone under two hours.
The 22-year journey to this point began in 2004 with my first London Marathon as a 25-year-old. Fuelled by a few sips of Lucozade Sport, I crashed monumentally into the wall just over Tower Bridge and flopped home in 3:30.17.
But it has, somehow – beyond what I could have imagined. Once I hit 45, thanks in no small part to the new era of supershoes and high-carb fuelling – I started to get faster, with times hitting 2:50, 2:53, 2:52…
Then last year at London, a breakthrough. I ditched a specific time target and instead, ran to feel. No sticking to a certain pace – if I felt good, I’d push harder. I barely glanced at my watch and had one of my best marathons ever, finishing in 2:32 in a hot year when many runners struggled.
So for 2026, it was too tempting not to give sub-2:30 a shot. I went all-in. As a marathon and ultramarathon coach myself at Looped Run Coaching, I designed a plan and asked club-mate and 1983 London Marathon winner Mike Gratton for advice – he stressed the importance of simple long progression runs, which I added to my plan.
Here are some of the key changes that I made to my training for this block.
1. Increase Volume
Sabastian Sawe summed up the importance of volume when asked if one specific training session changed everything for his record-breaking 1:59.30 run. His answer? ‘Mileage. That is the most important.’
I’ve always struggled with high volume. Like many runners in their forties with children, fitting in training can be a logistical conundrum. I also know that for me, a jump in volume produces a major leap in injury risk – in the past, when I’ve gone above 125km a week – which is small change compared to many sub-2:30 athletes running between 180km and 200km weekly – I’ve suffered muscle strains.
Early in the block, I pushed up to 130km for two weeks and, sure enough, pain under my kneecap from overuse forced me to stop running and cycle instead for 10 days.
Consequently, my mileage plateaued around 110km a week. Not as much as I was hoping for, but I hoped enough to do the job. As a masters runner, the balance between volume and overtraining/injury is a knife edge – and everyone has to find their own tipping point.
2. Run Easy Runs Slower Than Ever Before
It’s almost become a cliché now, but in the past, I’ve certainly been guilty of running my easy runs too fast. So this time, I consciously dialled back every run that wasn’t a structured, high-intensity session.
My pace target for these runs was 4:50-5:10 min/km – a decent 90 seconds slower than my target marathon pace (3:33 min/km). I actually began to look forward to these runs, as I knew that as well as helping to build a stronger aerobic base, they were helping me to recover from the previous session while also preparing me for the next hard session so that I wouldn’t feel too beaten up.
3. Push My Lactate Threshold Up – and Do B+ Workouts
I was focused on trying to push my LT2 higher. This is what some would call the top of zone 3 (depending on which zone system you use) – the balance point at which lactate production is equal to lactate removal. Beyond that, your body struggles to use all the lactate produced for fuel, so waste products like hydrogen ions begin to cause the burn that results in you losing power.
By doing increasingly longer interval reps just under this point, the idea is that over time you’ll be able to sustain a faster speed for longer at the point where your body can clear lactate as quickly as it’s produced. This meant that some sessions were a mental challenge as well as physical – for example, 4 x 5k at marathon pace.
I was also careful not to go all out in these sessions – destroying myself wasn’t an option, as recovery takes too long. Team New Balance Boston coach Mark Coogan’s advice around the benefits of B+ workouts rather than A+ is sensible and should be adhered to: ‘I think that almost all your sessions should be at that B+ level. A+ workouts are really hard mentally. Just anticipating having to go to the well once or twice a week in training can be exhausting.’
Having coach and author Steve Magness’ excellent (almost) haiku in my mind was also a useful tool:
Lots of easy
Occasionally go hard, vary it up
Very rarely, go see God
4. Take Inspiration from Others
Two books released in the middle of my training block inspired me that anything is possible: The Running Ground by Nicholas Thompson and Everything You Want is on the Other Side of Hard by Ken Rideout.
Both are about men in their forties trying to break 2.30. (Spoiler alert: both achieve it.) Thompson’s in particular hit a nerve – the point at which he begins to consider trying to break 2:30 as an idea ‘that would have seemed absurd to me a year before’, showing how one key race can shift your perspective on what you can achieve, felt like he’d read my mind post-London 12 months ago.
He adds that we all contain different versions of ourselves buried deep inside – and that this faster version of himself had perhaps been there for 25 years.
It got me questioning whether I could access this faster version of myself. Was it even there, buried deep within?
5. Become a Mental Fortress
I knew that the last 8km were key and I’d likely be physically slowing at this point, so mental strength would play a crucial role. As a result, I designed some training sessions that were purposely built to push me to the brink and leave me staring glassy eyed into the abyss.
One key session involved 22 laps of a 1.5km closed-road loop – half at 3:50 min/km, half at marathon pace. Round and round I went, half into a headwind and incline, building kilometre after kilometre, trying to lock into some kind of flow. I focused on keeping negative thoughts at bay, dampening any thoughts of slowing or stopping, taking strength from Ken Rideout’s advice: ‘When your mind says, “Oh, I’m done,” you’re nowhere near done.’
This meant that on race day, when I began to crumble as predicted at mile 21, I could recall those moments – those sessions where I was losing my mind looping – and take a mental boost from the fact that I completed that workout.
6. Build Hamstring Strength
Having two strength and conditioning sessions as part of my weekly schedule is essential for me as part of my training. This time, though, I focused on a muscle group that I’ve never given much thought to before, other than the fact that they often cause me pain: the hamstrings.
I added specific exercises to build them up, not only to help avoid injury, but also to boost power and economy, especially towards the end of the race. Elevated single-leg long-lever bridges became a staple, as well as hamstring walkouts and single-leg Romanian deadlifts.
7. Worship at the Church of Beets
I became focused on marginal gains. A friend suggested shaving my beard off. I began to think he was right – surely it was an aerodynamic hinderance? (I didn’t bother in the end.) If I shaved my beard, I might as well shave my legs. Do the elites shave their legs? I couldn’t actually find an answer. (If any elite runners are reading, let me know!)
One small possible benefit that’s backed by science is beetroot juice. A 2017 study published in Nutrients showed that it increased nitric oxide levels, basically improving bloodflow and delivery of oxygen as well as aiding recovery. So I began to drink this deep red elixir before every run. Did it help? Who knows. But I will be consuming more for my next PB attempt.
