The problem with marathons is that you have to take time out from regular training to allow yourself to recover. Your body is fragile after a marathon and there is no sense in punishing it more when it just needs time to repair.
With this in mind I kept the mileage very low for the first two weeks after Chester Marathon, with three rest days after the marathon and only 15 miles for the first week and 30 for the second.
My first run after the marathon was a bit grim as expected with tight hamstrings. However, two days later my club had the first cross country race of the season and rather naughtily I decided to join in.
I started at the back to keep my pace down but my legs actually felt good and I spent the rest of the race overtaking people. I actually completed the course quicker than last year which surprised me as last year I was racing whereas this year it was just a medium / hard effort.
Last week I joined a club session for the first time in ages. Running up and down hills in a group was fun and I felt strong.
This Saturday I am going to attempt a parkrun. It will be almost four weeks since the marathon so I will be ready for a test. My last parkrun was a rather poor 20:08 so it would be good to at least get under 20:00. Even better there should be some club mates there who I can hopefully show a clean pair of heels!
Monday, 27 October 2014
Friday, 10 October 2014
Chester Marathon
Here I am with a smile on my face after a marathon. Something must have gone right!
In the spring I had targeted 3:15 and had got nowhere near it. Now I was targeting 3:20 and had another marathon training plan in the bank. Surely I wouldn't miss my target a third time?
In the two weeks leading up to the marathon I had had a sore hip that made driving and even sitting at a desk uncomfortable. I was unsure about whether I should attempt the final 10 mile MP run but in the end went for it and smashed it. 10 miles at 7:00 min/mile pace made me happy!
The hip pain eased over the next week but the night before the marathon I felt pretty dodgy with a head cold. However I felt reasonable at 5am on Sunday morning so decided to go for it.
Arriving at Chester at 7 am it was cold but no rain and a tail wind for the last ten miles. Perfect. My plan was to stick to 7:4x pace and then hopefully speed up in the second half. However when I started I locked into 7:3x pace which felt about right.
It is a great feeling when you feel really comfortable, look at your watch and see that you are actually going too fast. This never really happened at London but happened all the time at Chester.
Conservation of energy is the name of the game in the first half and I kept the effort easy, despite being overtaken quite a lot. I knew people would come back to me and they did.
So 10K in 47:02 and position 452. Feeling great.
At around 9 miles I was temporarily running by myself and got a lot of support as I ran through a village. I was also cheered by someone from a Runnersworld forum I post on which was very welcome. At this point I felt fantastic.
I just kept plodding along, happy to be there, saving the excitement for later.
The second 10K was completed in 47:08 and position 447
Halfway was reached in 1:39:28 so slightly ahead of target but feeling good.
Mile 13 is uphill and this saw my first 7:4x mile but mile 15 is downhill and I cruised down it, giving myself a breather.
At the end of mile 16 I saw my parents, cunningly positioned on an uphill section! However I had plenty of energy to wave and overtake people.
The third 10K was completed in 47:21. Position 406. A slight slowing but miles 17 and 18 are undulating.
Last year I ran out of gas at this point and ended up doing 9 minute miles. This year... I sped up! Mile 20, which is slightly downhill, was a 7:15, my fastest of the race. Miles 21 and 22 were both 7:2x. Miles 23 and 24 were both 7:3x.
During mile 24 I was joking with some other runners that they weren't allowed to slow down as I was using them as pacemakers. It was amazing to still have a clear head at this point.
Since mile 22 I had had warning spasms that my legs weren't happy and cramp was around the corner. In the 25th mile the spasms increased and I had to drop the effort. However...
The fourth 10K was completed in 46:48. Position 329. So chuffed with that.
Another random goal of mine was for each mile to be below 8 mins. With this in mind I kept a reasonable effort up over the last two miles, despite the risk of cramp. I managed miles of 7:48 and 7:54 to tick another box! The final 0.2 at 7:10 pace saw me home in 3:18:49.
I am very pleased with a slight negative split and my most enjoyable marathon yet by a long way. I can now have the confidence to attack my next marathon a bit more.
As for Hansons - well it worked! My theory is that marathon training is all about working the slow twitch fibres which means slow / steady running. Maybe the volume of easy miles is more important than the length of easy runs? What is endurance anyway? Isn't it having the fitness to not get fatigued at a certain pace? Maybe you don't have to run 20 miles to get that?
The weekly MP run, although hard in the second half of the plan, was probably very beneficial although I can't prove it!
So my trend of knocking five minutes off my marathon time every six months continues. 3:15 is a nice doable target for next spring.
I failed to get through the ballot for the London marathon but will happily do Manchester instead.
But for now, four weeks of being a jogger as I let myself recover.
In the spring I had targeted 3:15 and had got nowhere near it. Now I was targeting 3:20 and had another marathon training plan in the bank. Surely I wouldn't miss my target a third time?
In the two weeks leading up to the marathon I had had a sore hip that made driving and even sitting at a desk uncomfortable. I was unsure about whether I should attempt the final 10 mile MP run but in the end went for it and smashed it. 10 miles at 7:00 min/mile pace made me happy!
The hip pain eased over the next week but the night before the marathon I felt pretty dodgy with a head cold. However I felt reasonable at 5am on Sunday morning so decided to go for it.
Arriving at Chester at 7 am it was cold but no rain and a tail wind for the last ten miles. Perfect. My plan was to stick to 7:4x pace and then hopefully speed up in the second half. However when I started I locked into 7:3x pace which felt about right.
It is a great feeling when you feel really comfortable, look at your watch and see that you are actually going too fast. This never really happened at London but happened all the time at Chester.
Conservation of energy is the name of the game in the first half and I kept the effort easy, despite being overtaken quite a lot. I knew people would come back to me and they did.
So 10K in 47:02 and position 452. Feeling great.
At around 9 miles I was temporarily running by myself and got a lot of support as I ran through a village. I was also cheered by someone from a Runnersworld forum I post on which was very welcome. At this point I felt fantastic.
I just kept plodding along, happy to be there, saving the excitement for later.
The second 10K was completed in 47:08 and position 447
Halfway was reached in 1:39:28 so slightly ahead of target but feeling good.
Mile 13 is uphill and this saw my first 7:4x mile but mile 15 is downhill and I cruised down it, giving myself a breather.
At the end of mile 16 I saw my parents, cunningly positioned on an uphill section! However I had plenty of energy to wave and overtake people.
The third 10K was completed in 47:21. Position 406. A slight slowing but miles 17 and 18 are undulating.
Last year I ran out of gas at this point and ended up doing 9 minute miles. This year... I sped up! Mile 20, which is slightly downhill, was a 7:15, my fastest of the race. Miles 21 and 22 were both 7:2x. Miles 23 and 24 were both 7:3x.
During mile 24 I was joking with some other runners that they weren't allowed to slow down as I was using them as pacemakers. It was amazing to still have a clear head at this point.
Since mile 22 I had had warning spasms that my legs weren't happy and cramp was around the corner. In the 25th mile the spasms increased and I had to drop the effort. However...
The fourth 10K was completed in 46:48. Position 329. So chuffed with that.
Another random goal of mine was for each mile to be below 8 mins. With this in mind I kept a reasonable effort up over the last two miles, despite the risk of cramp. I managed miles of 7:48 and 7:54 to tick another box! The final 0.2 at 7:10 pace saw me home in 3:18:49.
I am very pleased with a slight negative split and my most enjoyable marathon yet by a long way. I can now have the confidence to attack my next marathon a bit more.
As for Hansons - well it worked! My theory is that marathon training is all about working the slow twitch fibres which means slow / steady running. Maybe the volume of easy miles is more important than the length of easy runs? What is endurance anyway? Isn't it having the fitness to not get fatigued at a certain pace? Maybe you don't have to run 20 miles to get that?
The weekly MP run, although hard in the second half of the plan, was probably very beneficial although I can't prove it!
So my trend of knocking five minutes off my marathon time every six months continues. 3:15 is a nice doable target for next spring.
I failed to get through the ballot for the London marathon but will happily do Manchester instead.
But for now, four weeks of being a jogger as I let myself recover.
Tuesday, 16 September 2014
BMC 10k track festival
Having tried road, track and fell races, ten days ago I tried a new challenge - 10,000 metres on the track!
The track festival had the intention of giving road racers a taste of track racing as well as a 10,000 metre PB. Runners had to have a sub-45 minute 10k PB to be eligible and with my 41:13 minute PB is was in the bottom group.
Having stalked some of the runners in my start list on thePowerOfTen website I knew that I was one of the faster runners there and had a chance of winning as my PB is soft.
When the gun went I settled into second place, being pulled along at just under 6:30 pace.
My main goal in this race was to go sub-40 for the first time rather than win the race so after four laps at 6:30 pace I decided I would have to take it on and increase the pace to the required 6:25.
The guy I had overtaken stayed with me for another four laps or so and then dropped back, leaving me in sole first place. This is how it stayed for the rest of the race with me gradually increasing my lead and using my Garmin to keep my pace at 6:25 min/mile.
I went through 5000 metres in just under 20 minutes and from then on it was a case of counting down the laps and trying to maintain the pace.
There was a commentator at the stadium and a stand on the home straight where friends and family were watching. Being in the lead I got quite a lot of mentions by the commentator and lots of support from the stand - all great fun. Someone also took it upon themselves to inform me each lap how far ahead of 40 minutes schedule I was!
With about five laps to go the commentator noted that I was looking tired but I used this to spur me on and maintain the pace. When I finally started the last lap I saw that I had 100 seconds left to go under 40 and knew I would achieve it.
I managed to speed up over the last 400 metres and come home in 39:50 for a win by about a minute.
This was my first race win and will also probably be my last for a long time! If I do the race next year I will probably be in the next group which was won in a time of about 35 minutes!
Overall this was great fun and a pleasant change from road running. Hopefully I will be able to persuade some of my club mates to do it next year and we can have a smack down on the track.
After the race I noticed a lady in the stand who looked like Britain's number one marathoner Susan Partridge. On closer inspection I decided that it really was her and she very graciously allowed me a photo and a chat. A very down-to-earth lady, mixing in with the club runners the day before taking on the East Africans at the Great North Run!
The track festival had the intention of giving road racers a taste of track racing as well as a 10,000 metre PB. Runners had to have a sub-45 minute 10k PB to be eligible and with my 41:13 minute PB is was in the bottom group.
Having stalked some of the runners in my start list on thePowerOfTen website I knew that I was one of the faster runners there and had a chance of winning as my PB is soft.
When the gun went I settled into second place, being pulled along at just under 6:30 pace.
My main goal in this race was to go sub-40 for the first time rather than win the race so after four laps at 6:30 pace I decided I would have to take it on and increase the pace to the required 6:25.
The guy I had overtaken stayed with me for another four laps or so and then dropped back, leaving me in sole first place. This is how it stayed for the rest of the race with me gradually increasing my lead and using my Garmin to keep my pace at 6:25 min/mile.
I went through 5000 metres in just under 20 minutes and from then on it was a case of counting down the laps and trying to maintain the pace.
There was a commentator at the stadium and a stand on the home straight where friends and family were watching. Being in the lead I got quite a lot of mentions by the commentator and lots of support from the stand - all great fun. Someone also took it upon themselves to inform me each lap how far ahead of 40 minutes schedule I was!
With about five laps to go the commentator noted that I was looking tired but I used this to spur me on and maintain the pace. When I finally started the last lap I saw that I had 100 seconds left to go under 40 and knew I would achieve it.
I managed to speed up over the last 400 metres and come home in 39:50 for a win by about a minute.
This was my first race win and will also probably be my last for a long time! If I do the race next year I will probably be in the next group which was won in a time of about 35 minutes!
Overall this was great fun and a pleasant change from road running. Hopefully I will be able to persuade some of my club mates to do it next year and we can have a smack down on the track.
After the race I noticed a lady in the stand who looked like Britain's number one marathoner Susan Partridge. On closer inspection I decided that it really was her and she very graciously allowed me a photo and a chat. A very down-to-earth lady, mixing in with the club runners the day before taking on the East Africans at the Great North Run!
Thursday, 21 August 2014
Belper Rugby Rover 30K
I did this race last year and really enjoyed it so last Sunday I was back for more.
The conditions were OK, cool and windy with the odd shower so actually quite good for running if not for the spectators.
Last year I got stuck in a huge queue for a stile in mile 2 so this year I set off at a brisk pace and was rewarded with virtually no queue at all. This probably saved me two or three minutes on last year's time. The second mile ends with a very steep hill and I trotted up it, overtaking quite a few runners. This may have been early race bravado but I felt good.
The next four miles are undulating and fun, up and down through fields and woods on paths, tracks and roads. The sheer variety of terrain really makes this race for me. I tried to keep the effort level down as I knew what was coming in mile 7. However three 7:15 miles in this section were a pleasant surprise.
At the start of mile 7 the hill of death begins. Over the next 3 miles you climb almost 700 feet. The first part is very steep but then it levels off a bit and becomes more undulating.
Unfortunately after the steep part I managed to take a tumble. I was merrily coasting along a rocky track when next thing I know my Lucozade bottle had gone flying and I was lying on the path. I guess I tripped on a rock. I retrieved my bottle and carried on, nursing a badly grazed knee. This tumble did knock my confidence for a while but didn't seem to affect my running, despite an impressive trickle of blood down my right leg.
I gained a few more paces on the slog up to the 9 mile point where the hill ends. From here you are rewarded with 4 miles of descent where you gradually lose the elevation you just gained. The paths are quite treacherous in places though so 8 minute miling was the best I could manage. At one point I was in a group of three, one guy in front and one behind me, which was fun but gradually the guy in front of me pulled away and I dropped the guy behind me. This seems to happen a lot in these sort of races as some people do better uphill and some on the down-hills meaning that you are always changing places.
Mile 14 contains the final nasty hill but I managed to trot up it without too much trouble. Then there are some steep downhill sections until the 15 mile point when it is a slightly downhill 3.5 mile fast stretch to the finish.
On the last steep downhill section some guy raced past me but I managed to keep him in sight and then reel him in on the flat.
I was feeling quite tired in the 16th mile but then I started to enjoy myself! I was being dragged along at 7:30 pace, overtaking a couple of stragglers and looking forward to a sprint finish. Last year I was counting down the 0.1 miles till the end at this point so this was definitely progress!
As we crossed a bridge with half a mile to go I finally overtook the guy in front and raced to the finish line. Having people watch me on the finish straight always makes me speed up and I had plenty of energy to zoom down the final straight. One lady gasped "look at that guy's knee!" Nice to feel like a soldier once in your life!
My time of 2:30:23 was about nine minutes faster than last year so I am obviously happy with that. The strong finish is a very positive sign. I would like to think that I could have carried on to 26.2 miles at a reasonable pace!
The conditions were OK, cool and windy with the odd shower so actually quite good for running if not for the spectators.
Last year I got stuck in a huge queue for a stile in mile 2 so this year I set off at a brisk pace and was rewarded with virtually no queue at all. This probably saved me two or three minutes on last year's time. The second mile ends with a very steep hill and I trotted up it, overtaking quite a few runners. This may have been early race bravado but I felt good.
The next four miles are undulating and fun, up and down through fields and woods on paths, tracks and roads. The sheer variety of terrain really makes this race for me. I tried to keep the effort level down as I knew what was coming in mile 7. However three 7:15 miles in this section were a pleasant surprise.
At the start of mile 7 the hill of death begins. Over the next 3 miles you climb almost 700 feet. The first part is very steep but then it levels off a bit and becomes more undulating.
Unfortunately after the steep part I managed to take a tumble. I was merrily coasting along a rocky track when next thing I know my Lucozade bottle had gone flying and I was lying on the path. I guess I tripped on a rock. I retrieved my bottle and carried on, nursing a badly grazed knee. This tumble did knock my confidence for a while but didn't seem to affect my running, despite an impressive trickle of blood down my right leg.
I gained a few more paces on the slog up to the 9 mile point where the hill ends. From here you are rewarded with 4 miles of descent where you gradually lose the elevation you just gained. The paths are quite treacherous in places though so 8 minute miling was the best I could manage. At one point I was in a group of three, one guy in front and one behind me, which was fun but gradually the guy in front of me pulled away and I dropped the guy behind me. This seems to happen a lot in these sort of races as some people do better uphill and some on the down-hills meaning that you are always changing places.
Mile 14 contains the final nasty hill but I managed to trot up it without too much trouble. Then there are some steep downhill sections until the 15 mile point when it is a slightly downhill 3.5 mile fast stretch to the finish.
On the last steep downhill section some guy raced past me but I managed to keep him in sight and then reel him in on the flat.
I was feeling quite tired in the 16th mile but then I started to enjoy myself! I was being dragged along at 7:30 pace, overtaking a couple of stragglers and looking forward to a sprint finish. Last year I was counting down the 0.1 miles till the end at this point so this was definitely progress!
As we crossed a bridge with half a mile to go I finally overtook the guy in front and raced to the finish line. Having people watch me on the finish straight always makes me speed up and I had plenty of energy to zoom down the final straight. One lady gasped "look at that guy's knee!" Nice to feel like a soldier once in your life!
My time of 2:30:23 was about nine minutes faster than last year so I am obviously happy with that. The strong finish is a very positive sign. I would like to think that I could have carried on to 26.2 miles at a reasonable pace!
Monday, 18 August 2014
Sale Sizzler 5K
One month ago I attempted to go sub-19 at a 5k for the first time but fell short, ending up with a 19:03.
Last Thursday night I had another chance with the final Sale Sizzler of the summer.
Having had a cold all week and a fuzzy head all day I wasn't sure if I was in PB shape but my legs felt good during the warm up so I decided to go for it.
The plan was to stick to 6:10 pace as long as I could. If I could do 3 miles at this pace I would go sub 19 as the Garmin measures the course slightly short and I would speed up at the end.
During the first mile the lap pace often slipped towards 6:20 but some surges in the second half of the mile got the time down to 6:09. Step one complete.
One month ago I didn't manage to maintain the pace for the second mile but this time I felt stronger and mile 2 clocked by in 6:10.
However early on in mile 3 I glanced at my Garmin and the lap pace was saying 6:30 so I knew I needed to up the effort. Fortunately a lady then overtook me and I sped up to keep up with her and then overtake her back. This cycle repeated a few times and the frequent surging got my mile 3 time down to 6:11. This could be a lesson for the future. In flat races you are always using the same muscles so by speeding up for a few seconds you are breaking the monotony a bit for your legs.
After 3 miles it was back onto the track for the final 200 metres. I spotted a club mate ahead and managed to overtake him and sprint past a few more runners for a time of 18:52.
Eighteen months ago my 5K PB was about 21:15 so I am obviously happy with the progress. That will probably be my last fast 5K of the year so next summer I can target a sub 18:50.
Compared to the previous Sale Sizzler this one was much more fun. Although I was tired in the last mile I managed to dig deep and keep moving up the field. In an ideal world the tiredness of the final section of a race is balanced by the excitement of being near the end and that is what happened.
My half marathon and especially my marathon PBs are now slow compared to my 5K PB. Hopefully 8 more weeks of marathon training should help that!
Last Thursday night I had another chance with the final Sale Sizzler of the summer.
Having had a cold all week and a fuzzy head all day I wasn't sure if I was in PB shape but my legs felt good during the warm up so I decided to go for it.
The plan was to stick to 6:10 pace as long as I could. If I could do 3 miles at this pace I would go sub 19 as the Garmin measures the course slightly short and I would speed up at the end.
During the first mile the lap pace often slipped towards 6:20 but some surges in the second half of the mile got the time down to 6:09. Step one complete.
One month ago I didn't manage to maintain the pace for the second mile but this time I felt stronger and mile 2 clocked by in 6:10.
However early on in mile 3 I glanced at my Garmin and the lap pace was saying 6:30 so I knew I needed to up the effort. Fortunately a lady then overtook me and I sped up to keep up with her and then overtake her back. This cycle repeated a few times and the frequent surging got my mile 3 time down to 6:11. This could be a lesson for the future. In flat races you are always using the same muscles so by speeding up for a few seconds you are breaking the monotony a bit for your legs.
After 3 miles it was back onto the track for the final 200 metres. I spotted a club mate ahead and managed to overtake him and sprint past a few more runners for a time of 18:52.
Eighteen months ago my 5K PB was about 21:15 so I am obviously happy with the progress. That will probably be my last fast 5K of the year so next summer I can target a sub 18:50.
Compared to the previous Sale Sizzler this one was much more fun. Although I was tired in the last mile I managed to dig deep and keep moving up the field. In an ideal world the tiredness of the final section of a race is balanced by the excitement of being near the end and that is what happened.
My half marathon and especially my marathon PBs are now slow compared to my 5K PB. Hopefully 8 more weeks of marathon training should help that!
Thursday, 14 August 2014
Bramhall Runners Foodbank 5.5K
Marathon training is progressing well and I have now reached the "strength" section of the plan where you do longer intervals at MP - 10s pace rather than the VO2Max sessions.
The Sunday before last I did my first 15 miler of the plan. I took in the hilly Stockport 10 route for a different challenge and did the run in 2:05 (about 8:20 pace.) This felt very comfortable so I think I still have a reasonable endurance base.
Last Thursday I raced the Foodbank 5.5K - a trail race in the scenic Happy Valley. This year you have to cross the river on stepping stones and then on the way back you ford it so a bit of an extra challenge this time.
When I raced this last year it was a bit bizarre as after the first Kilometre or so I did no overtaking and was not overtaken either. This year I did plenty of overtaking - starting in about 30th place saw to that!
The initial pace felt very pedestrian but according to the Garmin it was 6:20 min/mile so not too shabby. After the river crossing I spotted a club mate about 30 metres in front of me who normally beats me in the short races. I figured that if I kept near him I would be doing well so over the next mile or so I gradually overtook about 10 runners until I was the next runner behind him but still about 30 metres back.
We then crossed the river again and for the last 500 metres or so it is just a case of keeping your foot on the pedal to ensure that no one gets past you.
I managed to keep my place and came home in 13th position My time was about the same as last year which is OK considering that this year we had water obstacles!
Doing all that overtaking was fun but probably cost me some energy so at the next Foodbank I will start further forward and see if I can use the faster people to pull me along.
Tonight is the final Sale Sizzler 5K of the summer. I have been fighting a cold all week so I don't know if that will slow me down but I am aiming for my first sub 19 min 5K! Three 6:10 miles should do the trick as my Garmin measures the course short. It sounds so simple on paper!
The Sunday before last I did my first 15 miler of the plan. I took in the hilly Stockport 10 route for a different challenge and did the run in 2:05 (about 8:20 pace.) This felt very comfortable so I think I still have a reasonable endurance base.
Last Thursday I raced the Foodbank 5.5K - a trail race in the scenic Happy Valley. This year you have to cross the river on stepping stones and then on the way back you ford it so a bit of an extra challenge this time.
When I raced this last year it was a bit bizarre as after the first Kilometre or so I did no overtaking and was not overtaken either. This year I did plenty of overtaking - starting in about 30th place saw to that!
The initial pace felt very pedestrian but according to the Garmin it was 6:20 min/mile so not too shabby. After the river crossing I spotted a club mate about 30 metres in front of me who normally beats me in the short races. I figured that if I kept near him I would be doing well so over the next mile or so I gradually overtook about 10 runners until I was the next runner behind him but still about 30 metres back.
We then crossed the river again and for the last 500 metres or so it is just a case of keeping your foot on the pedal to ensure that no one gets past you.
I managed to keep my place and came home in 13th position My time was about the same as last year which is OK considering that this year we had water obstacles!
Doing all that overtaking was fun but probably cost me some energy so at the next Foodbank I will start further forward and see if I can use the faster people to pull me along.
Tonight is the final Sale Sizzler 5K of the summer. I have been fighting a cold all week so I don't know if that will slow me down but I am aiming for my first sub 19 min 5K! Three 6:10 miles should do the trick as my Garmin measures the course short. It sounds so simple on paper!
Tuesday, 29 July 2014
Cumulative Fatigue
One of the foundations of the Hansons Marathon Method is to build up fatigue so that you start runs on tired legs. The idea is that you are training for the second half of the marathon rather than the first.
After runs of 10, 10, 8 and 11 miles over the last four days I am becoming well acquainted with this concept! Sometimes I go to sleep not being able to imagine starting a workout seven hours later. However a sleep does seem to work wonders and, combined with my new motto "just get out the door and start trotting," I seem to be surviving.
This morning I did my first 8 mile tempo (marathon pace) run. With two miles warm up and 1 mile cool down that was an 11 mile run to get in before 7:30 am. Fortunately, setting my alarm for 5:30 am now seems pretty normal and I was out the door by 6 am. After two miles of gradually speeding up I did eight miles at around 7:10 pace. This felt surprisingly OK at first and then gradually got harder until the last few miles felt like an effort.
According to the McMillan pace calculator I should be able to maintain 7:10 pace for a whole marathon. However past experience tells me that I can't. I am planning to do the training tempo runs at my McMillan marathon pace but when it comes to the real marathon I will start off somewhat slower.
It is well know that your best times are set when you pace a race evenly or even get a negative split. This will be my goal in Chester, starting at a steady 7:45 and hopefully speeding up in the last 10 miles.
But for now I will carry on "getting out the door and trotting."
After runs of 10, 10, 8 and 11 miles over the last four days I am becoming well acquainted with this concept! Sometimes I go to sleep not being able to imagine starting a workout seven hours later. However a sleep does seem to work wonders and, combined with my new motto "just get out the door and start trotting," I seem to be surviving.
This morning I did my first 8 mile tempo (marathon pace) run. With two miles warm up and 1 mile cool down that was an 11 mile run to get in before 7:30 am. Fortunately, setting my alarm for 5:30 am now seems pretty normal and I was out the door by 6 am. After two miles of gradually speeding up I did eight miles at around 7:10 pace. This felt surprisingly OK at first and then gradually got harder until the last few miles felt like an effort.
According to the McMillan pace calculator I should be able to maintain 7:10 pace for a whole marathon. However past experience tells me that I can't. I am planning to do the training tempo runs at my McMillan marathon pace but when it comes to the real marathon I will start off somewhat slower.
It is well know that your best times are set when you pace a race evenly or even get a negative split. This will be my goal in Chester, starting at a steady 7:45 and hopefully speeding up in the last 10 miles.
But for now I will carry on "getting out the door and trotting."
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