A CUL-DE-SAC [kʌl.də.sæk] is French for a dead end.
In some ways, my South African marathon was the cul-de-sac of my easy marathon years.
Does this mean that no further progress is possible?
Not at all!
Does it make pushing the envelope multiple minutes at a time comparable to throwing yourself at a brick wall?
Well, my finish face can give you an indication 🙂
To separate the facts from the feelings I present you a two-part blog post:
- The first part digs into the roots of my cul-de-sac ( sounds nastier than it actually is).
- The second part is a more cheerful and picture-filled race day report –> To be found here.
So what happened exactly?
A couple of things changed whilst preparing for my fifth marathon:
- I dated an Olympic marathoner who is way faster than I am.
- I joined an athletics club with people way faster than I am.
- I found myself a coach, Tim Moriau, who professionally trains people way faster than I am.
As a result, I spent a year listening to faster runners telling me how my body is not ideal for marathons nor for handling the stress of true high volume training. Shout-out to my half-Ghanaian sprinter genes.
This can be neatly summarized as being ” way, waaaay too fat” (sic).
Now, a lesser man would see this as a turning point, to go and look for a new talent to explore. Salsa dancing could work, I hear.
I chose differently.
I chose the path of the Danny Glover.
Accept your inherent flaws, blink and carry on to do three more Lethal Weapon sequels.
Numero Uno: Addressing body type
Being of mixed Ghanaian and Belgian descent mucks up Olympic marathon aspirations.
- Olympic marathon standard (Males, Rio 2016): 2.19.00
- Belgian marathon record (Vincent Rousseau, Berlin 1995): 2.07.20
- Ghanaian marathon record (Emanuel Amoo, Lagos 1990): 2.18.43
We could go through a painful muscle biopsy to see my actual ratio of slow to fast twitch fibres to prove why this gap in marathon performance exists.
Favouring a cheaper and needle-free proxy, let us take a quick look at my weight to height ratio.
Five marathons deep, my weight barely dipped under 69 kg even after 400+ km months. According to the graph above, I would need to drop to 65.5 kg to be close to optimal for my height.
Right. Maybe a wee bit too heavy after all.
How to tackle this amount of casual weight? Do I target my fat, protein or carbohydrate intake?
Fats or “Lipidiciousness”
Combining marathon training with a lower fat intake, assuming that is what that 3.5 kg consists of, can seriously compromise my immune system.
Focusing on a winter marathon, which means peaking around sick people at work and sneezers on public transport is risky business.
Let’s not touch the fat part.
Protein or “Swolefuel”
Bodybuilders know that juggling your protein intake (timing, quantity, type) can have impressive results on your GAINS.
The same holds true for distance runners.
After having a first-hand experience with the wonders of high-protein non-carb bonking long runs, this can be a viable route to manage my weight.
Carbs or “Sure I can have another one”
Busted.
You caught me with a craft beer in the one hand and a banana-and-walnut muffin in the other.
Yes, some carbs are needed to replenish the body under volume training.
No, artisanal beer-drinking or eating pastry the size of your hand are not the hallmarks of a distance running champ. Though Sage Canaday does inspire.
Clearly, some work can still be done in this area.
Now, what was the second big issue?
Numero Duo: Addressing high mileage
As soon as I entered the athletics club end of 2017, I realized two things:
- Running track is incredibly fun! It suits my body type like a glove.
- You cannot combine the intensity of track running with high volume.
Ergo, both my body and running style (“like a horse“) seem to point to a middle-distance predilection rather than the marathon madness.
And what do you know, the coach’s “less is more”-approach to mileage is perfect for spiked-up stallions like yours truly!
Thus, I spent the first half of 2018 running a crisp 1.600km (61 km/week!) focused on shorter distance races with the following results:
Which boils down to finally earning the right to wear nothing more than a tank-top while running races:
With my newfound vestimentary confidence, the coach gave me a 12-week marathon plan (averaging 81 km/week) to try and conquer my Argentinian PB of 2.45.46.
Following this schedule, I ended up with a targeted plan that meant more running at/above goal marathon pace and less volume overall than the previous Pfitzinger program for Buenos Aires.
To see how that played out in Cape Town, check the race report here.
Conclusion
Surpassing this cul-de-sac starts with fully grasping that my body has more potential in middle-distance than long-distance.
The idea for the coming year will be to train like a middle-distance runner transitioning into a decent marathon.
This has three big implications:
- My body responds far better to quality workouts (e.g. Critical Velocity intervals) than epic mileage (150+ km/week).
- The quality work demands targeted strength training to counter injuries.
- My nutrition should support the training but reduce dead weight.
To help me with this I will continue working with my coach (1), start working with my physio/dietary innovator (2) and live like a mid-distance monk for the next 12 months (3).
Let’s hope there will still be craft beer in 2020 🙂
Run well,
Simon
percentagerunner.wordpress.com 
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