GP Mind and Body Fitness

Road to Dublin Marathon | Week 11 | 7 Weeks To Go

One of the biggest mistakes I see marathon runners make at this stage of training is asking the wrong question.

❌ Am I ready?

Seven weeks out... you're not supposed to be ready yet.

A much better question is:

✅ Am I doing the things that will get me ready?

Are you getting your long runs done?
Are you completing your quality sessions?
Are you recovering well?
Are you practising your fuelling?
If the answer is yes, then you're heading in the right direction.

Coach's Rule: Stop judging yourself by today's fitness. Judge yourself by today's habits.

Coach's Challenge: Today, don't ask yourself if you're ready for your marathon. Ask yourself if you did what you needed to do today. Keep stacking those days together, and race day will take care of itself.

Be honest... have you started questioning whether you're ready yet?

Road to Dublin Marathon | Week 11 | 7 Weeks To Go

After today's long run, you've only got five key marathon-building long runs left before Dublin Marathon.

That might sound like plenty...
But it'll go by much quicker than you think.
This is the stage where every long run should have a purpose.

One might be about practising your fuelling.
Another might include marathon pace.
Another could be your full dress rehearsal with your race shoes, breakfast and race-day routine.
Don't just head out and tick another long run off the plan.
Make every one count.

Coach's Rule: Don't just count your long runs... make your long runs count.

Coach's Challenge: Before your next long run, decide on one thing you're going to practise. By race day, those small improvements will add up to a much bigger performance.

How many key long runs have you got left before your marathon, and what are you focusing on in your next one?

Road to Dublin Marathon | Week 10 | 8 Weeks To Go

Should you race a half marathon four weeks before your marathon?

My answer is... it depends on your goal.
If your goal race is the marathon, I'd be very careful about racing a half marathon all-out just 3–4 weeks beforehand.

A half marathon at maximum effort can leave you carrying fatigue into one of the most important training periods of your marathon build.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't run it.

It means you should decide before the gun goes off what the purpose of the race is.

For some runners, that might be:

✅ A controlled marathon-pace effort.
✅ Practising race-day fuelling.
✅ Testing race shoes and kit.
✅ Building confidence.

Coach's Rule: Never let your tune-up race become more important than your goal race.

Coach's Challenge: If you've got a half marathon before your marathon, have you already decided whether you're racing it... or using it to prepare for your goal race?

I'd love to hear your thoughts. If your marathon was four weeks away, would you race a half marathon all-out or run it as part of your training?

Road to Dublin Marathon | Week 10 | 8 Weeks To Go

One of the biggest mistakes I see marathon runners make is spending too much time running at the wrong intensity.

Every training pace has a purpose.

🏃 Easy runs help you recover. 🏃‍♂️ Steady runs build your aerobic engine. 🏃 Tempo runs develop sustained endurance. 🏃 Threshold sessions improve your ability to hold a strong pace. 🏃 VO₂ max sessions are your hardest sessions, but they're used sparingly in a marathon block because they take longer to recover from.

The goal isn't to make every run hard.
The goal isn't to spend as much time as possible at your hardest pace. The goal is to spend enough time at the right pace.

Coach's Challenge: Think about your last five runs. Did each one have a clear purpose, or did they all end up feeling the same?

Which pace do you find hardest to judge, easy, steady, tempo or threshold?

Road to Dublin Marathon | Week 10 | 8 Weeks To Go

A lot of marathon runners quietly sabotage their training... without even realising it.
As your fitness improves, your easy pace naturally gets quicker.

The mistake is thinking every easy run should get quicker too.
Easy runs have a job to do.

They're there to help you recover, build your aerobic base, and arrive fresh enough to get the most out of your next threshold session, interval workout or long run.

If you turn every easy run into a steady run, the quality of the sessions that actually make you faster starts to suffer.

Coach's Rule: Easy runs don't make you fast. They allow your hard runs to.
Coach's Challenge: On your next easy run, forget about the pace on your watch. Finish feeling fresh and ready for your next quality session.

Be honest... what's harder for you: running fast or slowing yourself down?

Road to Dublin Marathon | Week 10 | 8 Weeks To Go

One of the biggest mistakes I see runners make is turning every threshold session into a race.

Threshold training isn't about seeing how fast you can run.
It's about spending quality time at the right intensity.
Go too hard and you might feel great for a few weeks... but eventually the fatigue catches up, recovery becomes harder, and progress can stall.

The best threshold sessions should leave you thinking:
"I probably could have done one more rep."

Coach's Challenge: On your next threshold session, leave your ego at home. Finish feeling like you had one more rep in the tank.

Do you normally finish threshold sessions feeling controlled, or completely empty?

Road to Dublin Marathon | Week 10 | 8 Weeks To Go

The next eight weeks aren't about getting dramatically fitter...
They're about becoming more marathon-specific.
The first half of your training plan builds your fitness.
The second half should start preparing you for race day.

That means using your long runs to rehearse: 🏃 Marathon pace 🥤 Fuelling 👟 Race shoes 🍌 Race-day breakfast

Don't try to change everything at once. Pick one thing to practise each week and build confidence from there.

Coach's Rule: Stop just building fitness. Start rehearsing your marathon.

Coach's Challenge: What's the one thing you'll rehearse on your next long run, your pace, your fuelling, your shoes or your breakfast?

Road to Dublin Marathon | Week 9 | 9 Weeks To Go

I think a lot of marathon runners are asking the wrong question after every long run.

Instead of asking: ❌ How far did I run? ❌ What pace did I average?

Try asking: ✅ Could I have kept going for another 20–30 minutes if I had to?
The purpose of your long run isn't to leave you exhausted.

It's to build endurance, practise your race-day strategy, and leave you fit enough to keep training consistently.

Coach's Challenge: After your next long run, don't judge it by your watch. Judge it by how well it prepares you for your next week of training.

How do you judge whether you've had a good long run?

Road to Dublin Marathon | Week 9 | 9 Weeks To Go

The weather is changing.
The mornings are darker. The evenings are wetter. And for a lot of runners, this is when consistency starts to slip.

The runners who stay consistent over the next nine weeks won't be the most motivated.

They'll be the best prepared.

Lay your gear out the night before. Charge your running light. Have a towel and dry clothes ready for when you get home.

The hardest part of most winter runs isn't the run... it's opening the front door.

Coach's Challenge: Get tomorrow's running gear ready tonight. Make it as easy as possible to get out the door.

What's the biggest challenge for you when the weather starts to change?

Road to Dublin Marathon | Week 9 | 9 Weeks To Go
If you're starting to doubt yourself...

You're probably exactly where you're supposed to be.
Nine weeks into an 18 week marathon plan is often when the excitement wears off. The training has become routine, the long runs are getting longer, and it's normal to question whether you're doing enough.
Don't judge your marathon by how you feel on one random Wednesday.

Judge it by the weeks of consistent training you've already put together.

Coach's Challenge: Forget race day today. Just focus on completing this week's training. Stack another good week, then another.

How are you feeling with 9 weeks to go, confident, tired, excited, or a bit of everything?