Running a better Marathon in 2025...

I came late in life to running, being one of the Covid lockdown running generation that hit the roads in 2020. In 2024 I decided to put a little under 12 months work into training for and then competing in my first full road Marathon. But despite careful preparation some mental health issues and some basic preparation flaws meant that although I finished the Marathon my performance could be best described as sub-optimal.

My plan was then to profit from this first effort, learn from the experience, and then run a much stronger marathon in 2025. All that training, all the required hard work, is documented on this page as I progressed towards competing in the Sydney Marathon in August 2025, just a few months before I turned 65 years old.

Perhaps this journey that I have documented on this page will be useful for you, or even just a little entertaining? If so please let me know...

12 month plan...

I divided the year into three preparation stages that came close enough to a full 12 months of preparation:

1. Base Training (4 months): A solid training period that aimed to establish a really good, strong, base from which to run the upcoming two long races of 2025.
2. Half Marathon Prep (3 months): Early in the year I booked myself in for the Sydney Half Marathon, partly to get some decent race experience under my belt and partly for the joy of this great run!
3. Marathon Prep (4 months): 16 weeks of focused preparation for my second Marathon following a Marathon training plan from a highly respected New Zealand / Australian runner and Physiotherapist.

Something new this year is that although I will be running hard in the Half Marathon it is really only part of the preparation for the full Marathon at the end of the year. This gives me functionally 7 months preparation for the Marathon.

Base Training...

16 weeks of solid base training were intended as a foundation for all of my training in 2025. This plan went from October 2024 through to January 2025, so over the long, hot and humid Australian summer:

So what am I doing differently this time, how have I profited from my poor performance at the 2024 Sydney Marathon? The bulk of the changes in this base period are:

1. Strength and Stability: I have increased these sessions from 2 per week to 3 and on the Wednesday this session importantly is the first session of the day. I have cleaned up my home gym plus the equipment in it as an acknowledgement of the importance of strength work.
2. Base Mileage:I am achieving 60kms per week in this base training period and there will be nothing heroic about these kilometres but consistency is there. Total distance for 2024 was just above 3,000kms and this is most definitely a good total from which to springboard into a strong Marathon preparation.
3. Psychological Work: I had a very difficult year with my mental health in 2024 and this profoundly impacted both my training and racing. I have been doing the required work with a really good psychologist, managing eventually to come off all medication and although there is more work to do I now know what I need to do.

The base period went well with the only real difficulties being some sparained ribs after a fall and a sprained ankle while wheel-barrowing concrete. Lesson learned there: no more concrete shifting! Significant enough injuries but I got the training done.

Half Marathon prep...

Time moved quickly, as it does when you get a little older, and it was a little frightening when the time came for Half Marathon prep. I followed a commercial plan again with the following basic outline:

A few obvious changes from the base training: I have increased the total volume by about 10kms per week as well I will be working in a cycle of 3 build weeks followed by 1 recovery week. I have also eliminated the more 'social' runs as well as eliminating all of the trail running so I can focus purely on the required road work. Some other major changes from 2024:

1. A 'B' Race: On week 7 of the preparation I ran a flat Half Marathon race close to my home. This was really a training run but also a reminder of how a race feels. I ran the first 14kms at an easy pace and then pushed harder for the last 7kms. My last formal race was in September 2024 so a freshen up was definitely called for.
2. Psychological Work: I am focusing on pushing through harder spells of training rather than collapsing as I did in my 2024 Marathon. I have also managed to get my Yoga practice well and truly bedded in again and this has been a huge plus for my mental health! As Swami Satyadharma from the Ashram said to me: 'You have the tools, now use them!'.
3. Weekend of running: More than usual I have dedicated my weekends to getting some large amounts of quality kilometres in. There will usually be a 12km run on the Saturday and then a 22km long run on the Sunday making 34kms for the weekend. Partly important is stacking up the kms but more important is the dedication of the 2 days to running work. Being retired certainly frees up some time.

So how did it all go? The Sydney Half Marathon was a really good, solid run on a course with road, studded wharf timbers, gravel and some reasonable hills. I ran it strongly and felt good at the end of the race. I felt psychologically a lot stronger and this was especially noted in the last kilometre or so where two long hills are always a challenge on tired legs and tired head.

I took a goodly dose of Covid home with me from this race but where would life be without challenges! Ready now for the next phase of training: preparation for the full Marathon...

Marathon prep...

2025 was the first year that the Sydney Marathon was run as one of the world 'Major' marathon races and it was very, very exciting that I had a place in this race, and that the great Eliud Kipchoge and the always impressive Jeannie Rice also ran.

The overall plan was as follows:

So what am I doing differently this time, how have I profited from my sub-optimal performance at the 2024 Sydney Marathon? It is important to not simply repeat your preparation and expect a different result. Big changes were:

1. An emphasis on rest: This training block for the first time I took rest really, really seriously. I went to bed early and had a solid 8-10 hours of sleep every day. This made a big difference towards the end of the Marathon block where the really big mileage weeks formerly knocked me around a fair bit. Most days I also added in a Yoga Nidra session after my morning run which rested me physically and recharged me mentally.
2. Yoga: My Strava records also confirm that this Marathon block I have massively increased the amount of Yoga that I have undertaken. Not just the Yoga Nidra mentioned above but also formal mantra, asana, pranayama and meditation. This has benefited my Marathon preparation and also really, really helped improve my overall mental health.
3. Keep it all low key: Doing a first Marathon comes with all sorts of excitement and drama and I am pretty sure that while this contributes to a great experience it also heightens tension in a way that is quite unhelpful. For my second Marathon I attempted to make the training and the race itself something that I just did, methodically and calmly, rather than doing it all while riding on a big wave of drama and excitement.
4. Taper Work: Last year I did not fully grasp what I had to do in the taper period and this was corrected with this year's Marathon preparation. Rather than simply sagging into a resting state and passively watching my energy levels slowly rebuild, as I have done previously I made the taper a much more active process. Maintaining the intensity while dropping the overall mileage, focusing on getting more rest, concentrating on my Yoga practice, keeping foam roller work moving along getting my mental state ready for the Marathon itself. Much better this time...

It was a great training block with only two hiccups: that dose of Covid that knocked me around a fair bit and a chest wall injury with a set of misguided tree loppers believe it or not! But otherwise the running went well, nutrition and hydration practice went well, rest and sleep did well.

So how did it all go??

A very exciting day in Sydney as the Sydney Marathon became the 7th World Major! Many, many international visitors among the 35,000 runners and a truly magical atmosphere. All the work that I put in place paid off as I took just under 40 minutes off my previous Marathon time and importantly felt much more in control for this my second time around.

Of special note was the attention that I paid to hydration and nutrition which gave me a better run as well as giving me a much better recovery following the race. My mental game was also vastly improved and in that difficult time between 30 and 40 kilometres I felt very strong and refused to go down the rabbit hole of self doubt that my mind wanted to take me. All that work with a psychologist, all that work on my own emotional development, all that personal growth I worked so hard for: it all paid off.

So I am very, very happy with this result and the hard work that I put into my preparation. I have decided to pick up another Marathon in 2026 which I will not document on these pages as my Marathon journey has become much more a routine part of my life. And all the very best with your own Marathon journey!

And in conclusion...

This document demonstrates how one 64 year old man prepared for, and ran, his second Marathon. I hope the page has interesting and perhaps even useful in your own running journey. If so please let me know...