About Keith

I ran to a reasonable level as a teenager in Ireland, but then, like a lot of people, went to university, stopped running, started smoking and drinking and gradually piled on the weight over the following years.

I started running again in January 2007, just as I was turning 30, some 13 years after I had initially stopped, with the aim being to primarily set a good example to my then 1 year old son, as I was heavily overweight and not partaking in any sports at all, and I didn't want him to grow up thinking that this was normal.

From September 2007 to May 2009 I managed to reduce my marathon time from 2:55:46 to 2:30:02 and even managed to win one in the process :-)

I then hit a long period of problems as a bout of pneumonia in autumn 2009 was followed by significant (but not long lasting) damage to my knee in a home accident that eventually required keyhole surgery in late 2010.

I took it easy during 2011, though I did run the Berlin Marathon in September in 2:34:03 off of low mileage.

In 2012, off, again, intermittent training, but a little bit more volume, I went back to Berlin, again finishing frustratingly close to breaking 2:30, in 2:30:19.

So, that brings us to now..........

Training habits...... I am a big believer in high volume training and I am also a fan of structured fartlek sessions. I typically run 6 days a week, with one day off as a family day. Over those 6 days I expect to consistently run over 100mpw, but will have no qualms about cutting back if tired. All my training is done to feel, rather than to prescribed paces.

For the next few months my aim is to improve my Lactate Threshold (i.e. 10k-HM paces) prior to starting a very marathon specific phase as I get closer to Amsterdam - my conversion from half to full marathon is usually very tight, so if I can significantly improve my Half Marathon condition it should hopefully pay off handsomely over the full distance.

As for my little brother, Emmet, well I have been bugging him for ages to start training properly as I believe he has the ability to go much faster than what he has done so far, so hopefully we can both deliver this October.