In this weeks #Marathon Spotlight we have Metro Aberdeen Running Club’s Fiona Brian. Fiona has recently ran The Great Aberdeen 10km, the Chicago Marathon and recently represented Scotland at the Leeds Abbey Dash…setting her personal best over the marathon distance and also over the 10km road race. Fiona, also a yoga guru, talks about running to feel, London treacle streets and Chicago greatness. Her interview is a fantastic read and also gives some more thoughts on all things marathon…
Marathons completed?
3 (London twice and Chicago)
PB Marathon time?
2.48.47
Favourite marathon and why?
I liked London but Chicago is my favourite so far. Classic big city race, amazing crowds, wide roads and I loved how you ran right through the heart of the city, you were never really stuck out in the suburbs at any point. It’s also the only one I’ve done where I actually felt like I was running strong and not just trying to get to the end so that probably helped with the enjoyment! Great memories 🙂
Worst marathon memory and why?
London 2016. My first marathon – absolute disaster! Started going backwards from 16 miles and ended up with a 20 minute positive split. One of the stats you get in the results is how many people you pass and how many pass you in the last 5km I was passed by over 600 people in that 5k alone-it was pretty demoralising! Lots of lessons learned and reasons as to why it went so off piste from my plan so not a complete waste of time!! But then I think these experiences only make the good ones even better.
Marathon plan 80:20, Pfitz, Hal Higdon or other?
For London 2016 it was a mix of Runners world and the lowest mileage Pfitz plan. Overall I think it was pretty good and under other circumstances would have done the job. Now I’m coached and that works well as we can adapt the plan depending on how I’m reacting to the training.
Hydration & Nutrition snack of choice on long runs?
I don’t usually have any hydration or nutrition on long runs but always have a chocolate milkshake afterwards and after hard sessions. For races I use the SIS Go isotonic energy gels. In Chicago my plan was to take one every 30 mins but I went a bit off track as it got warmer and I wanted more liquid so mixed it up with the Gatorade on the course. I’m not great at taking on water and I’m still working on that. I think in London I had a little every 5k or so and in Chicago every 1-2 miles as it was a bit hotter and that seemed to work well.
Shoes – minimal or maximal ?
A mixture. Asics gt 2000 (my clunkers) for easy runs, Asics Super J33 for tempos and sessions (although I’m on my last pair and they’ve stopped making these 🙉), Adidas Adios Boost for races. In both London marathons I wore my clunkers (which I hate! I feel so slow in them!) and in Chicago I went for the lighter adios. I had done a few half marathons in them and they’d been great so I just went for it. It might have been more in my mind but I think if you feel light and fast then that can only help. Well it does for me anyway!
Terrain – trail, track or tarmac?
Mainly tarmac, especially for sessions but I like to get off-road when I can so if I’m not dong a session long run I tend to do most of my long run in the forest. Mainly for a change of scenery and to give the legs a break!
Top tip for #project345 ?
I’m a big fan of long runs with a chunk of miles at marathon pace and even another shorter run during the week with marathon paced miles in it. I think the more miles you do at marathon pace, the more natural it seems to come. In Chicago the GPS signal was pretty bad at the start so I was manually lapping my watch and missed the first few mile markers but when I split at 4 miles, I was bang on target pace and I think it’s because I’d run that pace so much in training that it was now my default speed.
Thanks again to Fiona for her thoughts. Preparing for heat, getting some cup drinking technique practise prior to the run and different trainers for different distances. Great info.
#Marathon Spotlight 5- Claire Smith
Marathon Spotlight #4 -Ali Mathers
Marathon Spotlight #3 – Nikki Gibson
Marathon Spotlight #2 David Scott
Marathon Spotlight #1 – Tom Brian
#Marathon Spotlight Special – Mel Edwards
Thanks for reading
Run Long and Prosper
James
SPEAR:RUN