VIN McCarthy was out of bed and on the road at 3.40am yesterday, running 12 kilometres from his Moonee Ponds home to work at BOC Gases in Preston for a 5am start.At 3pm the 40-year-old production operator ran the return journey, with backpack and iPod belting out alternative Brit rock numbers from The Doves, Radiohead and Elbow.It is an upgraded training ritual three weeks in the making as the 10-time Koroit to Warrnambool Half Marathon winner builds towards his latest title defence.McCarthy's regular build-up in recent years has involved an alternating run-ride commute along St Georges Road through Brunswick, Northcote and Thornbury, providing a solid training base for his competitive program.Doubling the weekly running total from 60 to 120km should have a pay-off in the 20th Koroit to Warrnambool on Sunday, although the former Warrnambool athlete is looking for longer-term benefits."I've entered the Melbourne Marathon (October 11) and wanted to get an extra few kilometres in the legs," McCarthy explained."Last year with the running and cycling I was probably doing 60km running and 60km riding a week. Generally I don't train on weekends."For the last three weeks I decided I would run both ways. My legs have stood up to it pretty good."McCarthy has built a remarkable Koroit to Warrnambool record since first contesting the race in 1992. From 15 starts he has finished no further back than fourth, as well as holding the race record of 66 minutes, 29 seconds. His fastest race time came in 1996, the same year he set a marathon PB of two hours, 25 minutes in Canberra and a 10km PB of 29 minutes, 57 seconds."After that my priorities changed when I came to Melbourne with family life and work," McCarthy said."Lately with my routine of running to work it has been good because I'm getting a bit of consistency in my training."I would love to get somewhere back down around 2:30 for the marathon."In 1998 I ran 2:30 for the Canberra Marathon. Since then it's generally been around 2:45."I've run about 15 marathons. I've only run about two or three that have gone to plan. "A half marathon you can run recklessly because it's only an hour and 10 minutes. "In a marathon if you don't run it right you can come unstuck."McCarthy is uncertain what impact the increased training load will have on Sunday, suggesting he'd be happy with anything under his 2008 winning time of 74:46."This run on Sunday will be a good indicator," he said."To run 2:30 for the marathon I'm going to have to get down around 70 minutes."With his wife Sue unable to attend on Sunday due to work commitments, McCarthy's cheer squad will be led by his children Ella, 10, and Devlin, 7."Another motivating factor for me these days is I like to set a good example for my kids of looking after yourself and looking after your health," he said."Then you have more energy to do stuff with them."