Running my first marathon this coming weekend here in Cape Town! (Targeting sub 3:30) Watching videos like this probably makes me unnecessarily nervous because I didn't do everything in this block that I knew I should... but hey, we will give it a good "run"! Thanks for your content Nick and congrats on the amazing time!
Hill plus strength training I can vouch for that broke sub 37 10 K today we had final 3k of race hilly today and it paid off for me ....I was overtaking people that overtook me early on !! Well done nick I learn a lot from your routines and look forward to race more outside my country to make memories and adventures ❤🎉
Congrats! Greetings from the USA 🇺🇸 and wonderful to witness you finally breaking 2:20! I am the same age and can relate to not taking the time for granted. Looking forward to running a marathon on my 35th birthday. Keep it up! 👍
I love following your journey, congratulations on an absolutely amazing achievement!! I feel more confident after watching your videos and following your advice. Keep inspiring us all.
Hey, great video and I got a lot of useful information from you. Since you noticed that ready-made food is not good, have you also looked for other very bad things? For example, your toothpaste? It often contains fluorine or fluoride, which used to be used as rat poison. Or your drinking water? There is a lot in there that is suspected of being poisonous. Keyword osmosis system, you should look into that. I would also look into shower gel and skin creams. I would rate anything that has words in the ingredients that no one knows as critical. You can simply replace the toothpaste with 50/50 baking soda with salt. Replace shower gel with soap and leave out creams altogether.
Love having followed your journey the past years. So chuffed for your achievement! I really admire and like your thought process on the balance between running versus the rest and your wondering if it is worth to even push further or not. We only live once and I think it is important to always have a balance. Great choice to think where your balance point lies 👊👏
Congratulations Nick on your superb achievement. You should be well proud. An intruiging observation you made was about adopting what seems to be an 'intermitent fasting' approach to your eating routine. Between your early evening meal and your late(ish) breakfast what did you consume? Liquids only? and if so, was it just water? The reason I ask is that I have tried this method of weight loss in the past and found it successful if I was undertaking zone 2 training exclusively. When I increased the training intensity I found that this type of eating routine was detrimental. I would value your opinion on this. Thanks.
Great content as always Nick, and so nice to watch it coming of the high of running Chicago yesterday! I'm based in NYC and would love to say hi when you are in town next month - are you gonna do any group runs or the like while you are here?
Hills were my secret ❤ I did 3x a week, one long and shallow 4-6% 500m , one medium 6-8% 200m and one short 12% plus and done flat out . Always 16 hills as I was a miler (1600m) 😂. Always trained 2x day 6 days a week . I managed some reasonable times across the board . Now you’ve got to be aiming for 66 something for a half. Agree 100% on nutrition, no alcohol and lots of sleep Good luck 🎉
I think the eating way more carbs before race day also helped you greatly, Nick!! You didn't hit "the wall" this time around; however, I reckon you ran out of glycogen in the past when you didn't carb load! Just my theory on it
Have you watched the film "Whiplash"? It's essentially the story of how much are you willing to sacrifice to become the best you can be. Looking forwards to hearing about the new goals!
Best of luck Nick, I'm looking forward to hearing what's next for you. About the nutrition, would you eat nothing after dinner? I understood that for optimal recovery your body should not run out of proteins.
Yes that’s right I wouldn’t eat after dinner again. On my morning runs I felt strong and didn’t feel the need to fuel (unless it was a hard session). So the fasted runs were perhaps more fasted than in the past.
Have you done a trail marathon? There's a really great one, the Clarendon Marathon, that finishes in your home town Winchester. Though definitely not a PB course!
Thank you for the video. Did you go straight from the short distance speed block to marathon training, or was there a transition period where you recovered?
Interesting video Nick. Don't know if you track sleep quality with whoop etc but if not, I think that moving your meal time to 5:30 with your children could have made a significant +ve impact on your sleep quality. You said you were getting 8hrs which is great but if you are eating later it will really negatively impact sleep quality (as will caffeine / alcohol). Eating as early as 5:30 allows you to fully digest the food before sleeping, and you'll find see a big increase in restorative sleep as a result which is really critical for your recovery etc. (Alcohol definitely impacts sleep quality and general advice on caffeine is none after midday). Congrats again on the sub-2:20!!!
@@edwardburroughs1489 Yep, data is good on this. You need 2-3hrs to digest a main meal so you want this done before sleep ideally. This lets your body focus on recovery/repair while you sleep and not have resources focussed on digestion.
Deep sleep also happens more in the first half of the night, so it will help with recovery if you can maximise the opportunity for deep sleep by avoiding late meals etc.
Hey! Should I keep a plated shoe in my rotation! I finally saved up for a few shoes. I want a shoe like the 1080v13/14 and a plated shoe like the sc trainer v3. Not sure if I can daily train in a plated shoe though. Thanks!!!
@@justalilbester would love to see it and follow that journey! My two cents worth is there is not a lot of difference between a 2:19 marathon and a 2:17 say but a Comrades gold medal on the wall is timeless 👌Good luck with whatever is next.
In my opinion everything else is fairly insignificant compared to that fact the you lengthened your block, in my opinion I don’t know if you have advisors or it’s your own experience but starting quick with those 5kms and working up
Love your reflections on sacrifice! Yes you could maybe shape off 1 min but what are you willing to sacrifice also having 2 kids and a wife to spend time with? Maybe the challenge could be, can i get faster without using more time on running?
Sorry, but getting good sleep with kids is impossible. I am a triathlete that is aiming for an under 9:30 hour result next year. That being said, I have an almost three year old daughter that still wakes up five times a night and only screams for me. I can not sleep more than three hours in a row. I reckon I'd be under 9 hours in an IM if I did not have this sleep deficit
This is why i like nick. He telling everything what he is doing ☺️
🫶🏻 hopefully some good learning points for us all in here.
"Heels pay the bulls"
-Nick Bester 4:54
🤣 Saffa accent never leaves me ;)
@@justalilbester 🤣😂🤣
I was amazed he pronounced both rhymed words in opposite ways 🤣
I love your content! Would you consider doing a vlog on your strength/plyometric stuff?? Congratulations on sub 2:20 👏
As a 29 min 10k and 1:06 21.1k guy I feel like this information was so valid and I’ll be implementing this excellent advice! Thanks for this!
Running my first marathon this coming weekend here in Cape Town! (Targeting sub 3:30) Watching videos like this probably makes me unnecessarily nervous because I didn't do everything in this block that I knew I should... but hey, we will give it a good "run"! Thanks for your content Nick and congrats on the amazing time!
Good luck for CT!! Go get it 🙌🏻
@@justalilbester we did it. 3:25:06 ! Almost 5 minutes under my goal! Thanks for all your content.
as 33 years old who also have 3 & 1 years old kids, i really understand what do you mean 😀
Hill plus strength training I can vouch for that broke sub 37 10 K today we had final 3k of race hilly today and it paid off for me ....I was overtaking people that overtook me early on !! Well done nick I learn a lot from your routines and look forward to race more outside my country to make memories and adventures ❤🎉
Hills pay those bills 💵 well done mate and keep it coming!!
Congrats! Greetings from the USA 🇺🇸 and wonderful to witness you finally breaking 2:20! I am the same age and can relate to not taking the time for granted. Looking forward to running a marathon on my 35th birthday. Keep it up! 👍
Happy bday coming up 🇺🇸
And I’ll be a NY marathon in a few weeks 🎉 sub 2:45 🚂
Much love, onwards and upwards!
🫶🏻 onwards and upwards!!
Keeping up with meal prep and fueling has been the hardest lesson for me to learn. Still getting there. Great content thank you
Always a pleasure. Keep trying. Getting that fuelling up will definitely help you level up!!
Solid takeaways in here. Thanks so much for sharing all you do on your journey ✌🏼
I love following your journey, congratulations on an absolutely amazing achievement!! I feel more confident after watching your videos and following your advice. Keep inspiring us all.
Together we grow 🫶🏻 as I keep learning along the way, I’ll keep sharing!
Onwards and upwards!!
Thanks Nick for sharing valuable information. This will help many of us starting our training block. ❤😊
"Back on the PB train" YES MATE LET'S GO. So excited to hear what's next and follow you through the next chapter. All the best mate
A very useful video!! Congrats Nick for the sub 2:20😃
Hey, great video and I got a lot of useful information from you. Since you noticed that ready-made food is not good, have you also looked for other very bad things? For example, your toothpaste? It often contains fluorine or fluoride, which used to be used as rat poison. Or your drinking water? There is a lot in there that is suspected of being poisonous. Keyword osmosis system, you should look into that. I would also look into shower gel and skin creams. I would rate anything that has words in the ingredients that no one knows as critical. You can simply replace the toothpaste with 50/50 baking soda with salt. Replace shower gel with soap and leave out creams altogether.
Congrats on breaking 2:20 Nick
Yes I’ll definitely do that at some point. It’ll only be about 15 mins long. So very doable too 👊🏻
@justalilbester looking forward to it, thank you ♥️
Love having followed your journey the past years. So chuffed for your achievement! I really admire and like your thought process on the balance between running versus the rest and your wondering if it is worth to even push further or not. We only live once and I think it is important to always have a balance. Great choice to think where your balance point lies 👊👏
Congratulations Nick on your superb achievement. You should be well proud. An intruiging observation you made was about adopting what seems to be an 'intermitent fasting' approach to your eating routine. Between your early evening meal and your late(ish) breakfast what did you consume? Liquids only? and if so, was it just water? The reason I ask is that I have tried this method of weight loss in the past and found it successful if I was undertaking zone 2 training exclusively. When I increased the training intensity I found that this type of eating routine was detrimental. I would value your opinion on this. Thanks.
2:20 is a serious effort excellent job
Super happy for you. You had an amazing marathon training cycle and race. Hope to see you flying in New York 👊🏾
Thanks and really looking forward to NY 🤩 I’ve heard amazing things!!
Upload weekly park run bro I love watching ut
Coming next week 👀 along with tips on how to run a quicker one 🙌🏻
Congratulations!
Thank you! Still buzzing. But then again it’s almost time to get stuck in again 🙌🏻
Congratulations 🎉🎉🎉
Really honest and useful video. Thanks. Lets go.
Very nice work cheampion sir❤🎉
Sir please train my no coach only self trening my PB 2:24hrs sir
Great content as always Nick, and so nice to watch it coming of the high of running Chicago yesterday! I'm based in NYC and would love to say hi when you are in town next month - are you gonna do any group runs or the like while you are here?
Beast. Good work!
lol I love how you pronounce hills as heels but bills as bulls 😂
I even tried to say it with as little of my SA accent as possible 🤣🙌🏻
Hills were my secret ❤ I did 3x a week, one long and shallow 4-6% 500m , one medium 6-8% 200m and one short 12% plus and done flat out . Always 16 hills as I was a miler (1600m) 😂. Always trained 2x day 6 days a week . I managed some reasonable times across the board . Now you’ve got to be aiming for 66 something for a half. Agree 100% on nutrition, no alcohol and lots of sleep Good luck 🎉
Yup very true and I’ll release my new goals soon 🙌🏻
Keep going Nick 👏👏
congrats nick 👏
Thanks! Hopefully there are bit you can take away too
@justalilbester yeah right now training for the 800
Thank you. 🙏🏼
You should show us a video of one of your plyo sessions if you haven’t already
I think the eating way more carbs before race day also helped you greatly, Nick!! You didn't hit "the wall" this time around; however, I reckon you ran out of glycogen in the past when you didn't carb load! Just my theory on it
For sure and definitely a factor. You need to carbon load A LOT the night before! Fuel hard to run hard 🍝
Amazing Nick! But be sure that being cleaner on your diet has A LOT more impact than the 7h window.
Keep going, thank you for sharing!
You are what you eat. So many truths to that saying. Having said that, we do need a cheat meal every now and then 😉 work hard, play hard!
Have you watched the film "Whiplash"? It's essentially the story of how much are you willing to sacrifice to become the best you can be. Looking forwards to hearing about the new goals!
Best of luck Nick, I'm looking forward to hearing what's next for you. About the nutrition, would you eat nothing after dinner? I understood that for optimal recovery your body should not run out of proteins.
Yes that’s right I wouldn’t eat after dinner again.
On my morning runs I felt strong and didn’t feel the need to fuel (unless it was a hard session). So the fasted runs were perhaps more fasted than in the past.
Have you done a trail marathon? There's a really great one, the Clarendon Marathon, that finishes in your home town Winchester. Though definitely not a PB course!
I haven’t yet no, but I will once I have peaked in my road races. Thanks for letting me know
@@justalilbester Worth giving it a go one year. A very different experience from a road marathon.
Thank you for the video. Did you go straight from the short distance speed block to marathon training, or was there a transition period where you recovered?
here in south africa we also have a living legend nick bester
What box table do you use for jumping?
Interesting video Nick. Don't know if you track sleep quality with whoop etc but if not, I think that moving your meal time to 5:30 with your children could have made a significant +ve impact on your sleep quality. You said you were getting 8hrs which is great but if you are eating later it will really negatively impact sleep quality (as will caffeine / alcohol). Eating as early as 5:30 allows you to fully digest the food before sleeping, and you'll find see a big increase in restorative sleep as a result which is really critical for your recovery etc. (Alcohol definitely impacts sleep quality and general advice on caffeine is none after midday). Congrats again on the sub-2:20!!!
Caffeine and alcohol I would think impact sleep quality but I cant see eating times having an impact.
@@edwardburroughs1489 Yep, data is good on this. You need 2-3hrs to digest a main meal so you want this done before sleep ideally. This lets your body focus on recovery/repair while you sleep and not have resources focussed on digestion.
Deep sleep also happens more in the first half of the night, so it will help with recovery if you can maximise the opportunity for deep sleep by avoiding late meals etc.
@@mr_mark_g Maybe. Not sure why deep sleep would be deemed more important than other phases though.
@@edwardburroughs1489 deep sleep is where the physical recovery happens.
Hey! Should I keep a plated shoe in my rotation! I finally saved up for a few shoes. I want a shoe like the 1080v13/14 and a plated shoe like the sc trainer v3. Not sure if I can daily train in a plated shoe though. Thanks!!!
How many calories were you aiming to consume I that window?
So if you only have an easy run scheduled in the morning you’ll do that fasted then breakfast at 10,30?:)
Yes indeed that’s correct. With electrolytes and ketones pre run
How many calories do you typically eat as a daily average Nick?
“2:19 marathoner” sounds better than “sub 2:20 marathoner”. Just saying
Okay I’ll go with that one next 😉🙌🏻
Any 5 tips to get to 3h from 4h :)))
I think you should unofficially pace Manchester for 2:45 🚄 Not that I'm going for that or anything
Sub 2:20 puts you into the ball park for a Comrades gold medal. Ever thought about going for that?
Yeah I did 3 Comrades in my early years and will most likely make a return once I’ve peaked in the marathon distance
@@justalilbester would love to see it and follow that journey! My two cents worth is there is not a lot of difference between a 2:19 marathon and a 2:17 say but a Comrades gold medal on the wall is timeless 👌Good luck with whatever is next.
Project sub 2:19 next 😉
In my opinion everything else is fairly insignificant compared to that fact the you lengthened your block, in my opinion I don’t know if you have advisors or it’s your own experience but starting quick with those 5kms and working up
Definitely something I’ll be incorporating into next block too 💥 Not too long until I commence with operation speed 2.0
Love your reflections on sacrifice! Yes you could maybe shape off 1 min but what are you willing to sacrifice also having 2 kids and a wife to spend time with?
Maybe the challenge could be, can i get faster without using more time on running?
Family I’m never ever prepared to sacrifice 🫶🏻 that to me will always come first :)
Ok great video - but more hills + more strength work = work harder & smarter 😅
Next goal, sub 2:15 marathon.
3:42 "You are not professional athletes" yeah as if its easy to get sub 2:20
Sorry, but getting good sleep with kids is impossible. I am a triathlete that is aiming for an under 9:30 hour result next year. That being said, I have an almost three year old daughter that still wakes up five times a night and only screams for me. I can not sleep more than three hours in a row. I reckon I'd be under 9 hours in an IM if I did not have this sleep deficit