An exciting week for me last week!
Firstly on Tuesday I fulfilled one of my ambitions - to run a marathon in training. The schedule called for 22 miles and I didn't think an extra 4.2 miles could make much difference.
I had the morning booked off work and the weather was pleasant for once so there could be no excuses.
I made a point of doing the first 12 miles very slow - 8:30 minute miles or slower. This felt extremely comfortable and running through the countryside on a mild winter's day was very pleasant. The next 10 miles were slightly faster - around 8:10 pace - but felt fine. That left the extra 4.2 miles. I just let my legs run at the speed they wanted to go at this point and was pleasantly surprised to find that my legs were still happy to average about 8:20 minutes per mile.
So mission accomplished! 26.2 miles run in 3 hours 38 minutes all fuelled by one bottle of Lucozade.
My legs felt a bit twingey and achy for a few days afterwards but I managed to recover in time for a Half Marathon on Sunday. Overall this run was a huge confidence boost to prove that the marathon is just an arbitrary distance and not to be feared when approached carefully.
The second fun part of the week was the Oulton Park Half Marathon on the Sunday. This was the first edition of this event and it is quite unique as it takes place on a race track. No traffic here and 6 laps would allow for plenty of lapping fun.
As normal I started off at a steady 6:55 minute / mile pace. This felt very comfortable and I soon sped up to between 6:45 and 6:50. By the third lap I started lapping people as well as occasionally overtaking. By the start of fifth lap I was still feeling strong and sped up to 6:40 pace.
By my calculations I was on course to break 1:29 for the first time but I had run wide on lots of the corners due to lapping people and my Garmin measured the run as 13.25 miles. Despite sprinting down the final straight I only managed a 1 second PB - 1:29:18!
All in all this was a fun race and I loved feeling strong at the end.
Four weeks until Wilmslow Half; seven weeks until London Marathon!
Long time no post!
Here is what has happened since my last post:
In the week after my 21 mile run I got over my stomach bug and attempted a 10K tempo in the middle of a 14 mile run. I did the tempo section on my favourite 1 mile park loop. This is flat and allows me to just focus on running rather than worry about traffic and hills. I did the 10K in about 41:45 which is a training (and race) PB for me.
The day after I had a 20 mile run to do. This is when I was re-acquainted with the running term "bonked" which means to run out of carbs. I am not really fit enough to do 34 miles in one weekend, especially when they include a tempo section. This first 15 miles of the long run were OK and I stuck to my normal long slow pace of about 8:20 minute miling. After that point the fatigue and lack of energy kicked in and I ended up 9 minute miling the last 3 miles. Although unpleasant this carb depletion experience is apparently very good marathon training as it is teaching your body to burn more fat.
The next week I had a cross country race at the weekend so I did my marathon pace run on the Thursday morning instead. This went well and the 12 miles at 7:30 pace felt surprisingly comfortable.
The cross country race was at a very muddy Wythenshawe Park. Despite having only two days to recover from the marathon pace run and doing a slow 13 miler the day before my legs felt strong and I finished in 5th place in my club, in front of some club mates who often beat me.
This week just gone was a cut-back week - thank goodness!
I did my first interval session on Wednesday with 6 * 800m as part of a 9 mile run. The 800s came out at about 3:05 and felt good.
As loads of my club mates were doing the Woodbank Parkrun yesterday morning I decided to join them and have some fun. The route incorporates a 50 foot hill that you have to do twice. The first mile came out at 6:20 but the next two included the hill and were more like 6:50. I was pleased to finish the last 400 metres at sub 6 min/mile pace and hold off the challenge from two guys behind me. Thirteenth place and a course PB of over 15 seconds made it a job well done.
This week will finish off with a 15 mile run this afternoon and then it is one of the hardest weeks of the schedule. As well as a 15 mile mid-week run there is a 22 mile long run and a 7 mile tempo session. Aaargh!
