Participants
So WHY 7 in 7?
Mark Gardner said: "Primarily, the reason behind running 7 marathons in 7 days - if reason is the right word....maybe insanity would be more apt - is to raise money for our charity, FLOAK. It was set up to benefit a number of projects and organisations such as the Family Holiday Association, Everyman, Facing Africa and Alzheimer's Society with the fundraising bar set at £15,000.
"We're also using this challenge as a warm-up for next year's Marathon des Sables, which is universally recognised as the world's toughest footrace. For those that are unfamiliar with the event, it is the equivalent of six marathons in six days across the Moroccan Sahara Desert whilst carrying all of your equipment and food from start to finish. And the temperatures reach 50 degrees centigrade. And you sleep out in the desert. With scorpions."
"I really need to stop making decisions after a few beers with Jarlath!"
See participants' details below:
|
Name: |
Mark Gardner |
|
Nickname: |
Sparkie / MSG / Sparks / Taff |
|
Age: |
31 |
|
Weight: |
67kg |
|
Occupation: |
Managing director, Teamlink Travel |
|
No. of marathons: |
13 (New York, Chicago, London(3), Lisbon(2), Paris(2), Ottawa, Nottingham(2), Berlin |
|
PB: |
3.05.00 (Berlin) |
|
Hobbies: |
Running, triathlon, climbing, snowboarding, golf, extreme sports |
|
Likes: |
Pizza, rugby, feta cheese, creative writing and Argentinean women |
|
Dislikes: |
Liver, Australians and failing to run sub-3h marathons |
|
Preferred footwear: |
Mizuno Wave Elixir 3 |
|
Name: |
Jarlath O’Hara |
|
Nickname: |
G / The Machine |
|
Age: |
28 |
|
Weight: |
80kg |
|
Occupation Sports: |
LSE Sport and Recreation Manager |
|
No. of marathons: |
3....so far! |
|
PB: |
3hrs 19min |
|
Hobbies: |
Music, travelling, and any competitive sport |
|
Likes: |
A challenge and celebrating successful challenges |
|
Dislikes: |
Injuries and talking about money |
|
Preferred footwear: |
Asics |
Training Diary
During the build up to 7in7 we will update this section with our training programme to enlighten you on how we prepare for this formidable challenge.
Mark:
I've 13 marathons under my belt to date and am constantly learning about how to prepare my body correctly to run the 'perfect race'. Prior to running my first marathon in London four years ago I targeted a sub 3-hour time and trained accordingly, taking advice from experts atRunner's World and formulated using my sports science background. This proved a tough target as running had immediately replaced rugby in terms of my regular physical activity and a whole new set of muscle groups were about to get a pounding. With retrospect, this was a touch ambitious as here I am 13 races and four years later with a PB of 3.05.00! The target is set and I WILL beat this one day but for the 7in7 challenge I have had to strip my schedule to pieces to focus on building up endurance for this challenge.
Running each of my previous marathons had incorporated a three-month schedule that focused on delivering a performance to meet the target time of 3 hours. One session per week focused solely on SPEED work, using a treadmill to complete 4 x 1-mile intervals at maximum capacity (i.e. going like the clappers) with two minute recoveries between each mile. This is necessary to build up the fast twitch fibres in the muscles that kick in at various stages of a race when competing for an ambitious time. However, as the 7in7 does not carry a time challenge the pure objective is completing the distance - albeit in a respectable time (4 hours has initially been agreed to complete each section) - which negates the need to include speed sessions in my schedule. It's all about working the slow-twitch fibres for this event.
This requires a complete reboot of my existing programme as I now have to concentrate purely on getting 'miles' in the legs and preparing myself by running at the same 'tempo' as I will be during the 7in7. In Layman's terms, I have to double my previous weekly mileage from 35 to 70 and take things a little slower.
Therefore, I am now adhering to the following schedule as closely as possible in order to get prepared for the challenge that lies ahead:
| MONDAY | MEDIUM: 10 miles (treadmill) |
| TUESDAY | MEDIUM: 10 miles (treadmill) Sauna / jacuuzi recovery |
| WEDNESDAY | AM: core strengthening PM: swimming (to maintain upper body strength) |
| THURSDAY | LONG:18 miles |
| FRIDAY | MEDIUM:8 miles |
| SATURDAY | LONG: 22 miles |
| SUNDAY | RECOVERY: 2 miles (gym) with core strengthening Sauna / jacuuzi to follow |
Many people have been asking questions such as, 'where on earth do you find the time to train for this' and 'is all of the training causing injuries' and the answer lies with the words preparation and time management.
The latter point is where I'll kick off. By simply removing the half hour I allocated to Sky Sports News each evening and preparing meals at the start of the week has automatically provided an additional training period. Whereas I've been guilty of working a little late in the office, I now know that if I have to run 20 miles then three hours' running time needs to be slipped in to an evening alongside 15 minutes' prep time and 15 minutes' cool down/stretching. On that day I'll start work earlier and leave at the exact time required to allow the evening's activities to function as planned. Yes, there are sacrifices to be made and my social calendar has taken a slight knock but in order to complete this task there can be no stone left unturned.
I have previously competed two marathons in a week and recall the demons that were swarming around my mind when I neared half way in the second event. The body sends out warning signals when it's under stress as a defence mechanism and it takes a focused and determined mind to block out negativity when the going gets tough. The above schedule has been designed to constantly put my body through rigorous and continuous physical activity to guard against the shock of running seven back to back marathons.
Whilst my weekly mileage is 70 against the 183.4 that I'll take on during the 7in7, the constant training with limited recovery time will force my muscle groups to adapt to the regular thrashing of foot on asphalt. Nutrition plays a huge part and without adequate sugars, carbohydrates and water it will be dangerous to take on these training runs if ill-prepared. Following each run I ensure that my immediate snack is biased towards quality protein content to immediately commence the repairing process of muscles and fibres. Running tenses the major muscle groups and flexibility is vital to ensure suppleness. Therefore, 15-20 minutes of stretching / pilates kicks in upon returning from each run to ensure the following day's run begins with a fresh and loose feeling.
Finally, resting is where the body really gets to work and a protein drink is consumed each night alongside 500ml of water prior to dozing off to provide fuel and nutrients to the muscle groups. Needless to say I have been sleeping like a baby, which is a slightly confusing statement as I'm sure babies cry half the night and scream the house down. You know what I mean, anyway.
Jarlath:
"I'm fairly new to long distance running and this time last year I had never run over 20 miles and had only done more than 13 miles on 3 occassions. Fingers crossed that I'm a quick learner......
I've done 3 marathons since April 08 starting with Paris and then Berlin in September followed by Lisbon in December. I'm nowhere near understanding my perfect preparation or race plan yet but I have picked up a lot of running know-how along with plenty of do's and don'ts!
My PB is 3hrs-19mins which was done on my first run in Paris. Injuries, over-training and setting the bar slightly too high have resulted in slower times of 3-29 and 3-26 respectively! Whilst no one likes 'going backwards', the lessons I have learned should prove invaluable and have only added to my belief that "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger".
When I realised that I had run 1300-1400 miles in the same trainers, I literally wanted to bang my head against a brick wall. I really should have known better. But now I do and that is one of many mistakes that I will never make again!
So - all this doesn't say much about my training but hopefully provides a little background. Moving on, I first need to say that I don't see how there can be an ideal training plan for a challenge like this. If you ask any expert they will simply say that no one should attempt to run 183 miles in a week. Apart from being a big part of the reason why I signed up for this, it also gives me some comfort since I know I can'treally be 'wrong' with my training.
Anyway, after deciding that there is no perfect plan, I thought about what has previous worked well and badly for me and my body type and made the call to go for more, shorter runs.
The main mileage from my training has become the 5 mile route to and from work most days with the odd day off doing this to do 10-13 miles in one session, either road or treadmill. I would imagine my side step has come on a long way through having to avoid rush hour commuters on london's streets whilst the home leg is usually made more exciting by finding a bus to race against or even on one occasion a roller blader!!
Weekends have then generally involved a longer run (16+ miles) and a rest day. A little too often this rest day has been used to recover from a different type of session (what a time for Ireland to have their best season ever in the Rugby!?) but has also included a couple of 60 mile cycle trips which has been a perfect way to shake out the legs and clear the head at the same time.
Added to this, I've been keeping going with a couple of core workouts a week and a little boxing to try and make sure my shoulders don't totally dissapear along with my long extinct 'guns'!
The key to this regime seems to be recovery and I have been taking a recovery shake (1 part protein : 3 parts Carbs) after every session to help with this. Whilst the final challenge will see much higher mileage per day, I'll have double the recovery time which I'm hoping will be enough to get me through. I'm now also offically bored of stretching and can be seen randomly leaning (no - not always against a bar!) in public stretching quads, calves etc
I've done 3 marathons since April 08 starting with Paris and then Berlin in September followed by Lisbon in December. I'm nowhere near understanding my perfect preparation or race plan yet but I have picked up a lot of running know-how along with plenty of do's and don'ts!
My PB is 3hrs-19mins which was done on my first run in Paris. Injuries, over-training and setting the bar slightly too high have resulted in slower times of 3-29 and 3-26 respectively! Whilst no one likes 'going backwards', the lessons I have learned should prove invaluable and have only added to my belief that "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger".
When I realised that I had run 1300-1400 miles in the same trainers, I literally wanted to bang my head against a brick wall. I really should have known better. But now I do and that is one of many mistakes that I will never make again!
So - all this doesn't say much about my training but hopefully provides a little background. Moving on, I first need to say that I don't see how there can be an ideal training plan for a challenge like this. If you ask any expert they will simply say that no one should attempt to run 183 miles in a week. Apart from being a big part of the reason why I signed up for this, it also gives me some comfort since I know I can'treally be 'wrong' with my training.
Anyway, after deciding that there is no perfect plan, I thought about what has previous worked well and badly for me and my body type and made the call to go for more, shorter runs.
The main mileage from my training has become the 5 mile route to and from work most days with the odd day off doing this to do 10-13 miles in one session, either road or treadmill. I would imagine my side step has come on a long way through having to avoid rush hour commuters on london's streets whilst the home leg is usually made more exciting by finding a bus to race against or even on one occasion a roller blader!!
Weekends have then generally involved a longer run (16+ miles) and a rest day. A little too often this rest day has been used to recover from a different type of session (what a time for Ireland to have their best season ever in the Rugby!?) but has also included a couple of 60 mile cycle trips which has been a perfect way to shake out the legs and clear the head at the same time.
Added to this, I've been keeping going with a couple of core workouts a week and a little boxing to try and make sure my shoulders don't totally dissapear along with my long extinct 'guns'!
The key to this regime seems to be recovery and I have been taking a recovery shake (1 part protein : 3 parts Carbs) after every session to help with this. Whilst the final challenge will see much higher mileage per day, I'll have double the recovery time which I'm hoping will be enough to get me through. I'm now also offically bored of stretching and can be seen randomly leaning (no - not always against a bar!) in public stretching quads, calves etc
*Added later* - So somewhere along the line, I decided to put a few more miles in and in the week of 30th March-5th April I ran an average of a half marathon a day to complete 92 miles! It was so hard to get started again every day but eventually my body would warm up and manage to plod my way through it. The relief at finishing the hardest (and best) running week of my life with a 20.5 mile run was overwhelming as I relaxed in a refreshing pool but somewhat spoiled by the realization that in 2 weeks time I would need to double that!?!!
Wish us luck - we'll need it........."