16 miles steady

After an easier week so far I was hoping I would be flying in today’s long run but that didn’t prove to be the case. Instead the pace was just average at 7:45 overall. However the 14th mile was a nice 7:05 and I remember thinking that my form felt good so I’ll take consolation in that.

So 2017 is a wrap. With PBs at parkrun, 10k, HM and marathon I shouldn’t complain but I will! All those PBs apart from parkrun were set during the first four months of the year and the parkrun PB in September was set by seeking out a fast parkrun. So I haven’t ended the year on fire but hopefully I am building a base that will make 2018 even better.

6 miles recovery

A recovery week and another recovery run. The ground was frosty so it was another slow one (8:30 pace) but I could feel life returning to my legs.

In fact the last mile felt awesome. I let my legs go and was rewarded with a 7:40 mile at easy effort. It was only afterwards that I realised that the last mile was downhill. Oh well, at least I enjoyed it.

In case anyone cares about how this week fits in with the P&D plan, it is an extra recovery week, added to make the Christmas break more fun and give my joints a rest. It is based on week 6 but with Monday off for Christmas Day.

10 miles easy

Someone on the internet recently said that winter training is all about getting the miles in and speed will come in spring. Well I hope they are right as my legs seem devoid of speed at the moment.

So it was another plod today. The ground was frosty and when then snowfall became heavy it doesn’t seem sensible to do anything but jog. So jog I did. 10 miles averaging 8:30 pace.

6 miles recovery

Today’s recovery run was more hilly than normal. It was also frosty so the resulting pace was close to 9 minute miles. That’s pretty slow in my book but I have resolved to do my recovery runs slow in order to compensate for the increasing mileage.

Speaking of mileage, I feel like I have trained pretty hard all summer and autumn with very little to show for it. Obviously the runs have an immediate pay off in terms of mental energy and general well being but if I was just running for those benefits then there are some runs I would cut out. These would include longish runs in the dark after work, long cool downs after racing and running with DOMS. I also wouldn’t do runs longer than 16 miles.

So the jury is out. What is the point in training like a maniac and running like an Ok club runner? This plan should yield some results or I will be turning the fun dial up and the plodding dial down.

Adlington Winter Warmer

What’s this? A race? Some fun?

Yes but this was a race with a difference. You predict your time and try to get as close to that time as possible. Garmins are banned.

Of course I am a data nerd so I just stuck some paper over the face of my watch so I couldn’t be accused of cheating.

My prediction was 41 minutes for the 10k course which should be just faster than marathon pace.

The prediction was great but it turned out the course was actually about 10.3 k and I came home in 42 minutes.

Being a minute out didn’t get me a prize but I was happy with the 6th fastest time and a decent workout.

Another great thing about this event was that it is close enough to run to. So a long warm up and cool down made it 14 miles for the day.

10 miles with strides

No run yesterday! Last planned rest day until the day after London Marathon.

So back on it today. The legs felt nice, as they should after three easy or rest days in the last four. After a rare lie in it was back up to my favourite trail (a disused railway line) for 10 miles with 10 sets of strides.

Strides are just 100m sprints where you accelerate to almost flat out pace and then try to hold good relaxed running form for the rest of the distance. They are supposed to improve your running economy and get your legs moving fast.

And that was today. Should be having some fun tomorrow.

6 miles recovery

Just a 6 mile jog today at 8:30 pace to bring up 70 miles for the week. That is week 3 done.

To summarise my first three weeks: general fitness: ok, tempo runs: poor, marathon pace run: good.

Rest day tomorrow! I may be busy with other plans.

Happy Christmas!

10 miles steady followed by parkrun

Today I actually managed a bit of fun! It was Christmas dress up day at my local Parkrun but I was supposed to be doing 14 miles today so I had to get creative.

First I got up quite early to drive near the Parkrun and then do a steady 10 miler. I didn’t feel completely recovered from Thursday’s exertions but 7:45 pace felt ok. Then afterwards I had a few minutes to change into my Christmas jumper, wrap some flashing lights around myself and then jog to the start.

I actually missed the start but caught the tail-enders soon enough and then spent the rest of the run working through the field. All good fun and nice mild weather for it.

6 miles recovery

I was a bit worried about how this run would feel as my legs were completely shattered after my  hard 16 miler yesterday. However in the end they were no worse than normal the day after a hard run.

I didn’t push the pace though. 8:30 mins per mile was plenty fast enough for today. It’s ok to be a jogger now and then.

16 miles steady

I had the afternoon off work to get my long run done in glorious daylight. My legs were a bit tired from yesterday’s tempo but I was mentally up for a good run and I got one. All 16 miles were sub - 8 with an average of 7:35 on a net uphill route. The last four miles were hard work as my legs started to feel batterred but hopefully that is good marathon training.

10 miles with 5 @ tempo pace

It was dark. My legs were tired. Humidity was at 100%. There was a slight headwind. Whatever. I just couldn’t get my legs to move fast enough this morning to get my HR above 155. So the pace was down to 6:30; far off my best. The cumulative fatigue is real and I guess I’ll have to accept that paces will be slower for a while.

Hmmph

6 miles recovery

The legs were tired today. No sub 8 min miles on my jog in to work but you can’t push every run.

They still felt tired on my cycle home; hope a sleep will work magic ready for 5 miles at tempo effort tomorrow 😐

12 miles steady

So another week begins with another vaguely unpleasant run in the dark. The conditions were fine I just don’t running on bumpy pavements in dim light. It is impossible to see every rise and fall and as a result your legs take a battering. Oh well, should be grateful I live in a country with lots of street lights I guess. Would rather live in California though 😉

6 miles recovery

Today’s run had no pace target; just let the legs go as slow as they want. That turned out to be about 8:30 pace with the HR nice and low at around 122 bpm.

So week 2 is done. 67 miles and a good MP run. And my legs feel good! Now for an early night...

17 miles with 8 @ MP

After an 8 mile plod yesterday with some strides thrown today was the first run with a marathon pace (MP) segment.

I do these tempos by heart rate now without using the lap pace feature so I am always nervous about what pace the first tempo mile will be. Fortunately it turned out to be 6:30 so I knew it would be a good day. The next five miles were all around 6:43 pace and then unexpectedly the pace improved to 6:30 for the last two tempo miles. The last couple of miles felt strong as well so a good day at the office.

Here I plod again on my own

Plodding in the dark. Remind me why I decided to start marathon training in December? Next year it will be different. Got to avoid these miserable runs in the dark after work. Or maybe it’s mild SAD.

Anyway, 8 miles with strides done. Tomorrow I get to run in daylight. Yippee

13 steady miles

I have never been so glad to see 3 degrees on the forecast!

After another freezing run into work on Tuesday, finally the temperature moved above zero.

The air this morning was a comfortable three degrees above zero although the ice on the trail had not quite got the message. Running in the dark with just a dim headtorch for company I couldn’t really see the patches of ice so just had to put up with my feet slipping all over the place on occasion.

Normally I do the second half of these steady runs at faster than 7:30 pace but my legs were weary today. Rather than force the pace I just accepted that I was fatigued and eventually got the average pace down to 8:00.

In other news, my standing desk arrived today. Project stretch hamstrings continues.

11 icy miles

Did I ever mention that I don’t like running in the dark? Especially on the streets. Especially later in the day. Especially in the freezing cold. And especially when I am having to hold my phone as I have forgotten my belt.

So not a fun run tonight but I managed to stay upright and hold a steady 8:00 pace. And if I can just survive running in to work tomorrow in -4 degrees it will be a balmy 3 degrees on Wednesday!

6 miles recovery

It was dark. It was cold. I was weary. I had four hours of cross country recorded waiting to be watched. It was tea time.

You get the picture. It would have been so easy to stay in and put my feet up but there was a run to be done. I sometimes think getting these everyday, slow and forgettable runs done is harder than the long runs or workouts. They are nothing to boast about, probably only make a small difference to fitness and yet form part of the daily consistency that brings about physiological changes.

And no, the run didn’t turn out to be the best run of the week. It was just a slow 6 miles in the dark. But it is done. And I feel good about that.

17 miles steady.

A frosty morning but the trails were fine and cycling gloves kept my hands warm.

9 miles @ 130 HR and 8 @ 140 HR. Once I had ascended to the trail the easy miles were all well under 8:00 min / mile pace and the harder miles were under 7:20 so happy with that.

Winter weather? Pah!

5 easy miles

Another easy day today before the long run tomorrow.

5 miles jog at lunch followed by a 30 min spin after work and then a swim session in the evening.

Managed a 400m PB of 8:30 in the pool. One advantage of being such a bad swimmer is that there are lots of PBs to come, even off averaging training.

6 and 4 miles easy

One run of 10 miles is better than two runs of 6 and 4 miles on the same day. I guess a ten miler tests your endurance more.

However I didn’t have the luxury of fitting a ten miler into my schedule today so has to split the run in two. The good news is that my legs felt strong in both runs.

I love running into work in the mornings. The run is normally enjoyable and the endorphins afterwards are amazing!

9 miles with 4 @ tempo

The dreaded Advanced Marathoning tempo runs. While many more modern plans break up the tempo session into intervals, the Advanced Marathoning plans just have them in one block.

Today was just a four mile block but that felt more than enough.

I normally get my heart rate up to 155 and see what pace comes out. On a good day it can be close to 6:00 min / mile pace but today it was more like 6:25. Why the loss of fitness?

Who knows! Since mid September I have been off my best and haven’t had any training or racing PBs. Fitness can be a mysterious thing. It comes in peaks and troughs. Hopefully by the time of my Half Marathon in 8 weeks time I’ll be peaking again.

6 miles easy

Thank God for easy days!

Running every day is fine but you can’t run hard every day.

6 mile run commute @ 8:15 min / mile felt easy and a great way to start the day. The main disappointment is having to sit down and work at the end of it!

12 miles MLR

And so it begins. 20 weeks of training for the 2018 London Marathon.

I am following the “Advanced Marathoning” 70 to 85 miles per week plan with two extra recovery weeks. These plans are for serious runners who aren’t scared of putting the miles in.

Last winter I followed the 55 to 70 miles per week plan which resulted in a 3 hour marathon. It will be interesting to see what my body makes of the extra mileage.

And so today: 12 miles averaging 7:45 minutes per mile. I did the run in the dark after work; not my favourite running conditions but it was mild and dry so I’ll take it.

Day on complete. 139 to go!

2017 Recap

I have noticed a pattern with lots of blogs - they blog the buildup to a marathon in great detail and then leave out the race report.

It looks like I have fallen into the same trap.

To cut a long story short I had a great marathon at Manchester, running 6:5x min/mile pace for 20 miles and then speeding up slightly over the last 10K, finishing in 2:59:45.

I carried on the high mileage over the summer but did more 5K style training, ending up with an 18:12 5K PB in September.

I then had a bad Chester marathon in October, just not having good legs on the day and finishing in a very disappointing 3:07.

For a month or so after the marathon I found myself in a bit of a hole in terms of fitness but have gradually built the mileage up to 60 miles per week.

So, with a place in the London Marathon next April it starts again tomorrow. 20 weeks to get that marathon PB more comfortably under 3 hours. Something like 2:55 would be amazing.

I am a bit sick of club mates who do little training getting PBs all year round so if the high mileage plan I will be following does not improve my fitness I will have to rethink my training.

But for now... let's do this!