It's been a while since my last post and I apologise for not yet getting a Berlin race report out but I am working on it and hopefully it'll be here soon.
Great to see the All Blacks take down France so easily too;-) They certainly made it look a lot harder than they needed to but 1 point is all you need.
In the meantime, I thought I'd share a little Q&A I had with Xempo. They are a new running clothing company over here in the UK and have a unique grading system for runners where you essentially get to show off your times. Here's a link to the Q&A in their news section (who's the sexy model?!) but I've also copied below.
Tips from the top
The recent Berlin marathon provided a lot of running news; Paula Radcliffe’s comeback and Scott Overall’s breakthrough performance on debut, not to mention a new men’s WR from Kenya’s Patrick Makau. But not far behind, setting a superb PB of his own in a lightening fast 2h16 was London-based New Zealander Paul Martelletti, whose rapid rise towards the top of road racing has been nothing short of extraordinary. Xempo caught up with Paul to find out more…
You haven't been running marathons that long; can you tell us about your first marathon race and what inspired you to take on the iconic distance in the first place?
A work colleague suggested we do the London marathon and after looking into it I thought the easiest way to get in was to secure a Good For Age place by running under 3 hours. 4 weeks later and I was running the Robin Hood marathon in Nottingham in September 2007. I was quite naive about the whole thing and having only decided to run the marathon 4 weeks out I only managed 2 runs over 15 miles. On top of that I was ill leading up to the race and still not the best on race day so it was very much an unknown if I'd even be able to finish. I ran the first half in 1:25 feeling good and and really enjoyed it. The 2nd half was much tougher but I managed to hold it together and post a 2:58 on the board. I guess I caught the bug from here!
From sub 3h00 in your first to sub 2h30 in your second marathon is a heck of an improvement (Paul ran 2h28 at the London marathon in 2008). What did you do that enabled you to improve so much so quickly?
2:58 to 2:28 in less than 7 months is a decent improvement and there were a few things that helped. The first was an increase in mileage. For the 15 weeks leading up to Nottingham, I averaged 36 miles a week, whereas for the 15 weeks leading up to London, I averaged 65 miles a week. The second thing was a more structured training approach which included more quality. I moved away from every run being a tempo run to having easier and harder days. I think this was a natural progression from an increase of mileage as it's not so bad running fast every other day as the body can recover, but when you are running every day you need to take it easy in between the hard days.
So you ran 2h16 in Berlin. Did that race go as expected for you?
I would have loved to have broken 2:15 and a sub 2:16 on the day would have meant a top 10 but to get a pb by over a minute and into the 2:16s was still a very good result. I ran well to 30km and was on track for sub 2:16 but my quads starting tightening up which was having an effect on my stride length and by 35km I had just slipped outside 2:16 pace. The last few kms were tough and I lost a bit more time than I'd have liked. I don't mind that I didn't have the perfect race as at least this way I know there's room for improvement next time round.
You prepare phenomenally hard for your big races. Explain to us what a typical weeks training will look like to you in the build up to a big marathon.
I like to get a block of 3-4 weeks in at a really high mileage, so around 130-150. This is usually done 8-10 weeks out so I have sufficient time to recover and freshen up. Otherwise, I typically sit in the 100-120 range which would look something like:
M: am 8 easy / pm 8 easy
T: am/lunch 10-13 tempo / pm 5 easy
W: am 8 easy / pm 8 easy
T: am/lunch 10-13 tempo / pm 5 easy
F: am 8 easy / pm 8 easy
S: am 15 steady (may include some hard efforts like a 5km parkrun) / pm 5 easy
S: am 20-24 / pm 3-5 easy (optional)
With the Tue/Thu tempo session, I like one to be around MP (so 10-13 @ MP) and the other will total the same mileage but only include say 5M at HMP or some shorter reps like 8x1km. I will often use a race on a Sunday to get some extra quality in and this means I may drop one of the Tue/Thu sessions and do the other on the Wed so I'm feeling fresh enough. If racing on a Sunday then I try to make it up to 20M (ie a Half + 7M warm down) so I'm not missing out my long runs.
And yet you manage to fit it in around a full time job. How on earth do you fit it all in?
I have made running part of my daily routine and commute to and from work. the added bonus of this is that I don't need to use the tube! My route takes me up and down Regent's canal so I don't have to deal with traffic and by the end of the working week I've banked a solid 80+ miles without even thinking about it. When I want to do a session during the week I typically cycle to work to conserve my energy and then do the session before work or at lunch.
Are there any secrets to rapid improvement? What would you recommend to those who want to improve their race times but don't have the time (or ability) to put in the training of top guys like yourself.
I don't think there's any real secret but a few things that helped me improve rapidly were quality, quantity, structure, and consistency. When I first started out I was running low mileage and it was basically done at the same pace. I improved very rapidly once I added more miles (quantity) and varied the running I was doing to include easy days and hard days (quality). Some people will be able to add quantity and quality at a more aggressive rate than others but the key thing is to listen to your body an not overdo things. In my experience, when you up the mileage you start to feel really good and then after 2 or 3 weeks of it going well you start to think you're invincible. It's here you need to be really careful as it's the next week or 2 that can tip you over the edge. To make the quality / quantity equation work you also need a bit more structure in your training. Your hard days should be specific to the event you are training for or encourage physiological adaptations and your easy days need to be easy so that you can recover from the hard days. The last ingredient, and arguably one of the most important, is to have some consistency in your running. There's no point training well for 8 weeks to then let it all go down the drain with a few weeks off. Sometimes this can't be helped due to injury or illness, but if you can keep on keeping on then the improvements will come. A bit of natural ability, risk taking and luck can also help.
Quality or quantity? What makes a good marathoner?
Both are important. I think you can be a decent marathon runner with mainly quantity but it's the additional quality that will get you much closer to your potential.
You must be getting on the radar of national selectors now? What are your aspirations in that direction and what do you need to do to make the final step towards becoming an international runner?
London is my home now and it is my dream to run in the Olympics here in 2012. I've completed the paper work for Athletics New Zealand so in theory I could be selected as I'm the only New Zealander with the IAAF B standard. In reality it's not that simple as ANZ have a very tight selection policy. I'm not writing it off just yet and I may have one more trick up my sleeve!
You're from NZ, but have lived in the UK for many years. Any chance that you could follow the example of our cricketers or rugby players and become "one of us"?
Every sports person dreams of donning their country's vest so obviously I would love to run for New Zealand. That said, UK is also my home away from home now so it could be a possibility.
Would you like to become a full time athlete, and if you did, how much quicker do you think you can become?
During the great recession of 2009 I was unlucky enough to be out of work for around 5 months so I got to sample the full time athlete lifestyle. It didn't really work as well as it should have as I slipped out of a routine so ended up wasting a lot of time in my days. If I was in that situation again I'd be a bit more disciplined in my routine. I also spent a month in Kenya training which I absolutely loved and this was a much better experience of being a full time athlete. Everything was geared towards running and the life was much simpler with far less distractions than in the UK. I think I'd definitely improve as one of the major benefits would be the extra recovery. Add on to that some regular sports massage (something I need a lot more of but is very costly!) and it would probably be enough to get me to the next level.
Older runners often bemoan the lack of quality around when compared to the glory years of the seventies and eighties. From your perspective at the sharp end, do you think road running is in good shape in the UK and/or NZ?
The glory days are no more and a big factor of this is that the world has changed significantly, especially in the western world where there is no real incentive to run. There needs to be more people coming through the ranks, ie the base of the pyramid to feed the top of the pyramid analogy, but there is literally zero money in the sport and Africans typically dominate the distance races so it doesn't look enticing with everything against you. It's unfortunate that there are very average "athletes" in other sports, like football, who can make a good living out and then you've got guys who are putting in massive miles and getting into supreme condition and get nothing. It's the way it goes though with the advertising world and public interest.
Do you ever despair against the depth of quality that's coming out of Africa? Is it even worth bothering to compete?
Recent Frankfurt marathon results are quite amusing with the top 20 basically all from Kenya with a couple of Ethiopians and Eritreans thrown into the mix. There is just so much talent and having trained in Kenya for a month it's easy to see why they are so good. It's definitely worth competing as they provide a really good depth of competition. For most of us though, it's not about competing against others, it's about competing against ourselves and pushing to the limits. There's nothing better than putting in the hard work and running a pb and if you can beat a few Africans along the way then that's a bonus.
Any view on the increasing trend of putting elite Africans into so many regional races in the UK nowadays as well as the big city marathons? Is it fair?
At the end of the day, a race is open to anyone so a bit of prize money will always add a bit of quality to the front. Some UK races are now introducing UK only prize money which I think is a good idea as it gives the local guys something back at the end of the day, even if it only covers race entry and transport costs. A negative side effect of this means that I'm not eligible but I guess this means I have to get faster to compete for the open prize money!
You've got an impressive set of PB's (marathon 2h16, half marathon 1h05, 10,000m 29:43, 5000m 14:19) - any favourite races or performances that stand out for you in your running career so far?
Even though I just ran a new pb in Berlin, my favourite performance has to be from last year's Amsterdam marathon where I ran 2:17:54. I had an injury interrupted buildup with 3 very low mileage weeks right when I would normally be knocking out big miles so I was a bit unsure of where I was at. I contemplated not running it but I managed to get in some decent last minute training, including a 2:23 marathon in Toronto (4 weeks out) where I was pacing the ladies. In Amsterdam, I planned to run at 2:19 pace but all I really wanted was to finally get under 2:20. I ran most of the race on my own and things went really well. I passed halfway just outside 69:30 and I was feeling good so I picked up the pace (brave, as it was into the wind!). My brain was still working ok so I was constantly working out my predicted finish time. I didn't think I'd get under 2:18 but a super fast finish from 35km meant I dipped under. Everything just clicked that day and it probably helped that I had no real expectation. So it goes to show that you don't need to have the perfect buildup to run the perfect race. However, I'd never try to replicate that buildup and miss 3 weeks of training!
Most of us will run for years and never get close to winning a race. What does it really feel like to be first across the line?
It depends on how big or important the race is but it's a great feeling to know you beat everyone who was there on the day. It's a lot more enjoyable when it's a close battle as sometimes you don't know you are going to win until the last few hundred (or less) metres. Most of my really big races I don't even think about winning as the fields are a very high standard so even to get into the top 20 is an achievement.
Any advice for those whose targets are a bit more modest, but who are still chasing those all important PB's?
My advice is to just keep at it and don't be afraid to experiment. Equally, make sure you listen to your body and don't be afraid to back off a little. Missing a session or a run or 2 is not going to be detrimental and it's much better than overdoing things and missing a week or 2.
Great to see the All Blacks take down France so easily too;-) They certainly made it look a lot harder than they needed to but 1 point is all you need.
In the meantime, I thought I'd share a little Q&A I had with Xempo. They are a new running clothing company over here in the UK and have a unique grading system for runners where you essentially get to show off your times. Here's a link to the Q&A in their news section (who's the sexy model?!) but I've also copied below.
Tips from the top
The recent Berlin marathon provided a lot of running news; Paula Radcliffe’s comeback and Scott Overall’s breakthrough performance on debut, not to mention a new men’s WR from Kenya’s Patrick Makau. But not far behind, setting a superb PB of his own in a lightening fast 2h16 was London-based New Zealander Paul Martelletti, whose rapid rise towards the top of road racing has been nothing short of extraordinary. Xempo caught up with Paul to find out more…
You haven't been running marathons that long; can you tell us about your first marathon race and what inspired you to take on the iconic distance in the first place?
A work colleague suggested we do the London marathon and after looking into it I thought the easiest way to get in was to secure a Good For Age place by running under 3 hours. 4 weeks later and I was running the Robin Hood marathon in Nottingham in September 2007. I was quite naive about the whole thing and having only decided to run the marathon 4 weeks out I only managed 2 runs over 15 miles. On top of that I was ill leading up to the race and still not the best on race day so it was very much an unknown if I'd even be able to finish. I ran the first half in 1:25 feeling good and and really enjoyed it. The 2nd half was much tougher but I managed to hold it together and post a 2:58 on the board. I guess I caught the bug from here!
From sub 3h00 in your first to sub 2h30 in your second marathon is a heck of an improvement (Paul ran 2h28 at the London marathon in 2008). What did you do that enabled you to improve so much so quickly?
2:58 to 2:28 in less than 7 months is a decent improvement and there were a few things that helped. The first was an increase in mileage. For the 15 weeks leading up to Nottingham, I averaged 36 miles a week, whereas for the 15 weeks leading up to London, I averaged 65 miles a week. The second thing was a more structured training approach which included more quality. I moved away from every run being a tempo run to having easier and harder days. I think this was a natural progression from an increase of mileage as it's not so bad running fast every other day as the body can recover, but when you are running every day you need to take it easy in between the hard days.
So you ran 2h16 in Berlin. Did that race go as expected for you?
I would have loved to have broken 2:15 and a sub 2:16 on the day would have meant a top 10 but to get a pb by over a minute and into the 2:16s was still a very good result. I ran well to 30km and was on track for sub 2:16 but my quads starting tightening up which was having an effect on my stride length and by 35km I had just slipped outside 2:16 pace. The last few kms were tough and I lost a bit more time than I'd have liked. I don't mind that I didn't have the perfect race as at least this way I know there's room for improvement next time round.
You prepare phenomenally hard for your big races. Explain to us what a typical weeks training will look like to you in the build up to a big marathon.
I like to get a block of 3-4 weeks in at a really high mileage, so around 130-150. This is usually done 8-10 weeks out so I have sufficient time to recover and freshen up. Otherwise, I typically sit in the 100-120 range which would look something like:
M: am 8 easy / pm 8 easy
T: am/lunch 10-13 tempo / pm 5 easy
W: am 8 easy / pm 8 easy
T: am/lunch 10-13 tempo / pm 5 easy
F: am 8 easy / pm 8 easy
S: am 15 steady (may include some hard efforts like a 5km parkrun) / pm 5 easy
S: am 20-24 / pm 3-5 easy (optional)
With the Tue/Thu tempo session, I like one to be around MP (so 10-13 @ MP) and the other will total the same mileage but only include say 5M at HMP or some shorter reps like 8x1km. I will often use a race on a Sunday to get some extra quality in and this means I may drop one of the Tue/Thu sessions and do the other on the Wed so I'm feeling fresh enough. If racing on a Sunday then I try to make it up to 20M (ie a Half + 7M warm down) so I'm not missing out my long runs.
And yet you manage to fit it in around a full time job. How on earth do you fit it all in?
I have made running part of my daily routine and commute to and from work. the added bonus of this is that I don't need to use the tube! My route takes me up and down Regent's canal so I don't have to deal with traffic and by the end of the working week I've banked a solid 80+ miles without even thinking about it. When I want to do a session during the week I typically cycle to work to conserve my energy and then do the session before work or at lunch.
Are there any secrets to rapid improvement? What would you recommend to those who want to improve their race times but don't have the time (or ability) to put in the training of top guys like yourself.
I don't think there's any real secret but a few things that helped me improve rapidly were quality, quantity, structure, and consistency. When I first started out I was running low mileage and it was basically done at the same pace. I improved very rapidly once I added more miles (quantity) and varied the running I was doing to include easy days and hard days (quality). Some people will be able to add quantity and quality at a more aggressive rate than others but the key thing is to listen to your body an not overdo things. In my experience, when you up the mileage you start to feel really good and then after 2 or 3 weeks of it going well you start to think you're invincible. It's here you need to be really careful as it's the next week or 2 that can tip you over the edge. To make the quality / quantity equation work you also need a bit more structure in your training. Your hard days should be specific to the event you are training for or encourage physiological adaptations and your easy days need to be easy so that you can recover from the hard days. The last ingredient, and arguably one of the most important, is to have some consistency in your running. There's no point training well for 8 weeks to then let it all go down the drain with a few weeks off. Sometimes this can't be helped due to injury or illness, but if you can keep on keeping on then the improvements will come. A bit of natural ability, risk taking and luck can also help.
Quality or quantity? What makes a good marathoner?
Both are important. I think you can be a decent marathon runner with mainly quantity but it's the additional quality that will get you much closer to your potential.
You must be getting on the radar of national selectors now? What are your aspirations in that direction and what do you need to do to make the final step towards becoming an international runner?
London is my home now and it is my dream to run in the Olympics here in 2012. I've completed the paper work for Athletics New Zealand so in theory I could be selected as I'm the only New Zealander with the IAAF B standard. In reality it's not that simple as ANZ have a very tight selection policy. I'm not writing it off just yet and I may have one more trick up my sleeve!
You're from NZ, but have lived in the UK for many years. Any chance that you could follow the example of our cricketers or rugby players and become "one of us"?
Every sports person dreams of donning their country's vest so obviously I would love to run for New Zealand. That said, UK is also my home away from home now so it could be a possibility.
Would you like to become a full time athlete, and if you did, how much quicker do you think you can become?
During the great recession of 2009 I was unlucky enough to be out of work for around 5 months so I got to sample the full time athlete lifestyle. It didn't really work as well as it should have as I slipped out of a routine so ended up wasting a lot of time in my days. If I was in that situation again I'd be a bit more disciplined in my routine. I also spent a month in Kenya training which I absolutely loved and this was a much better experience of being a full time athlete. Everything was geared towards running and the life was much simpler with far less distractions than in the UK. I think I'd definitely improve as one of the major benefits would be the extra recovery. Add on to that some regular sports massage (something I need a lot more of but is very costly!) and it would probably be enough to get me to the next level.
Older runners often bemoan the lack of quality around when compared to the glory years of the seventies and eighties. From your perspective at the sharp end, do you think road running is in good shape in the UK and/or NZ?
The glory days are no more and a big factor of this is that the world has changed significantly, especially in the western world where there is no real incentive to run. There needs to be more people coming through the ranks, ie the base of the pyramid to feed the top of the pyramid analogy, but there is literally zero money in the sport and Africans typically dominate the distance races so it doesn't look enticing with everything against you. It's unfortunate that there are very average "athletes" in other sports, like football, who can make a good living out and then you've got guys who are putting in massive miles and getting into supreme condition and get nothing. It's the way it goes though with the advertising world and public interest.
Do you ever despair against the depth of quality that's coming out of Africa? Is it even worth bothering to compete?
Recent Frankfurt marathon results are quite amusing with the top 20 basically all from Kenya with a couple of Ethiopians and Eritreans thrown into the mix. There is just so much talent and having trained in Kenya for a month it's easy to see why they are so good. It's definitely worth competing as they provide a really good depth of competition. For most of us though, it's not about competing against others, it's about competing against ourselves and pushing to the limits. There's nothing better than putting in the hard work and running a pb and if you can beat a few Africans along the way then that's a bonus.
Any view on the increasing trend of putting elite Africans into so many regional races in the UK nowadays as well as the big city marathons? Is it fair?
At the end of the day, a race is open to anyone so a bit of prize money will always add a bit of quality to the front. Some UK races are now introducing UK only prize money which I think is a good idea as it gives the local guys something back at the end of the day, even if it only covers race entry and transport costs. A negative side effect of this means that I'm not eligible but I guess this means I have to get faster to compete for the open prize money!
You've got an impressive set of PB's (marathon 2h16, half marathon 1h05, 10,000m 29:43, 5000m 14:19) - any favourite races or performances that stand out for you in your running career so far?
Even though I just ran a new pb in Berlin, my favourite performance has to be from last year's Amsterdam marathon where I ran 2:17:54. I had an injury interrupted buildup with 3 very low mileage weeks right when I would normally be knocking out big miles so I was a bit unsure of where I was at. I contemplated not running it but I managed to get in some decent last minute training, including a 2:23 marathon in Toronto (4 weeks out) where I was pacing the ladies. In Amsterdam, I planned to run at 2:19 pace but all I really wanted was to finally get under 2:20. I ran most of the race on my own and things went really well. I passed halfway just outside 69:30 and I was feeling good so I picked up the pace (brave, as it was into the wind!). My brain was still working ok so I was constantly working out my predicted finish time. I didn't think I'd get under 2:18 but a super fast finish from 35km meant I dipped under. Everything just clicked that day and it probably helped that I had no real expectation. So it goes to show that you don't need to have the perfect buildup to run the perfect race. However, I'd never try to replicate that buildup and miss 3 weeks of training!
Most of us will run for years and never get close to winning a race. What does it really feel like to be first across the line?
It depends on how big or important the race is but it's a great feeling to know you beat everyone who was there on the day. It's a lot more enjoyable when it's a close battle as sometimes you don't know you are going to win until the last few hundred (or less) metres. Most of my really big races I don't even think about winning as the fields are a very high standard so even to get into the top 20 is an achievement.
Any advice for those whose targets are a bit more modest, but who are still chasing those all important PB's?
My advice is to just keep at it and don't be afraid to experiment. Equally, make sure you listen to your body and don't be afraid to back off a little. Missing a session or a run or 2 is not going to be detrimental and it's much better than overdoing things and missing a week or 2.
Categories: marathon running, marathon training
Good read and well done on races to date..