Another 60+ mile week
Well another week of training has quickly gone and not a great deal other than the usual to report. I have been feeling slightly off colour all week, ever so slightly phlegmy, but at the same time avoiding the cold which is doing the rounds at the moment. In some ways I'd actually like to catch the cold now so I have time to recover from it before the marathon, rather than in a couple of weeks when it is unlikely I would have enough recovery time.
On Monday I did my tempo run although my legs were still tired from the 26 odd miles over the previous two days. Although I went off a touch too fast I managed to complete just over 10k in 41 mins at 6.30 min mile pace. In some ways I was a tad disappointed as its only 22 seconds a mile faster than my marathon target pace. On the flip side I still had something in reserve, it was pretty windy and all the miles from the previous week probably took its toll.
Tuesday evening was just a gentle jog, partly as a recovery run but also because I was going to run the 12 miles to work first thing the next day so only had 12 hours recovery time. It was probably the windiest conditions I've run in over the last year so was probably best I just jogged anyway. It was funny to feel the gusts of wind which caused a sudden drop of leg speed before easing off again. In the end it was the same 10k as the day before but at an average of 7.48 min mile pace in 52 mins.
Wednesday was my 12 mile run to work and for some reason I had an extremely heavy rucksack. I ended up doing it slightly slower than usual in 1:33 and if I'm honest my legs were beginning to feel quite tired now. What was most problematic about the run was that I developed a number of sores on both feet, mainly around the side area of the ball of the foot and the side of my large toe. It actually made walking around in my work shoes that day fairly painful.
Thankfully I had 36 hours recovery to my evening run the next day so some of my problems with the feet had eased off a bit then, but I still used a copious amount of Vaseline to reduce friction. I did my 10k+ route (again!) and ran at a moderate intensity, not pushing too hard but at the same time still putting a bit of effort in without danger of burning up. I didn't bother looking at my watch whilst out which was unusual for me so was surprised to see that I went round at 6.50 min miles which is marginally quicker than 3hr marathon target pace. Total run time was 43 mins. The Vaseline had seemed to do the job as my feet felt a lot better this time.
As usual I had a rest day on Friday and yesterday I went out for my long run. I was feeling a bit lethargic and didn't really want to do it but forced myself out anyway. I decided to do a different route this time as I thought the country roads might be waterlogged what with all the rain/sleet over the last 36 hours. I did two laps of my normal 9 miles route in the park, except for a slight extension from my 10k route making it 10.5 miles per lap. As usual I felt sluggish to begin with even though my first mile was a bit too fast, but soon settled into a rhythm. In the end I didn't feel all that bad and even managed to increase my pace over the last few miles. The total distance was 21.3 miles at an average of 7.24 pace with a total run time of 2.38. What was particularly pleasing was that it was the best I've felt after a long run, but also managed to sneak in another 1.3 miles from my previous longest run!
Today I did another 9 miles at a moderate 7.03 min miles in 1.04. The weather is what I would call 'pleasantly grotty' as it drizzled all the way round and quite windy at times, but also means that there are not so many people to dodge in the park so you can appreciate the wilderness a bit more. What was pleasing was that I was still able to run at that pace having done 21 miles the day before. My knees were very stiff in the first mile but the soreness gradually eased off (but not entirely so) and found the run quite easy. I don't know why this is the case, but often I feel a lot better when I've run quite hard the day before.
Total mileage for the week is 61.5 which I'm fairly pleased with. I've got next week off work so am hoping I can do something similar, before I gradually begin to taper.
On Monday I did my tempo run although my legs were still tired from the 26 odd miles over the previous two days. Although I went off a touch too fast I managed to complete just over 10k in 41 mins at 6.30 min mile pace. In some ways I was a tad disappointed as its only 22 seconds a mile faster than my marathon target pace. On the flip side I still had something in reserve, it was pretty windy and all the miles from the previous week probably took its toll.
Tuesday evening was just a gentle jog, partly as a recovery run but also because I was going to run the 12 miles to work first thing the next day so only had 12 hours recovery time. It was probably the windiest conditions I've run in over the last year so was probably best I just jogged anyway. It was funny to feel the gusts of wind which caused a sudden drop of leg speed before easing off again. In the end it was the same 10k as the day before but at an average of 7.48 min mile pace in 52 mins.
Wednesday was my 12 mile run to work and for some reason I had an extremely heavy rucksack. I ended up doing it slightly slower than usual in 1:33 and if I'm honest my legs were beginning to feel quite tired now. What was most problematic about the run was that I developed a number of sores on both feet, mainly around the side area of the ball of the foot and the side of my large toe. It actually made walking around in my work shoes that day fairly painful.
Thankfully I had 36 hours recovery to my evening run the next day so some of my problems with the feet had eased off a bit then, but I still used a copious amount of Vaseline to reduce friction. I did my 10k+ route (again!) and ran at a moderate intensity, not pushing too hard but at the same time still putting a bit of effort in without danger of burning up. I didn't bother looking at my watch whilst out which was unusual for me so was surprised to see that I went round at 6.50 min miles which is marginally quicker than 3hr marathon target pace. Total run time was 43 mins. The Vaseline had seemed to do the job as my feet felt a lot better this time.
As usual I had a rest day on Friday and yesterday I went out for my long run. I was feeling a bit lethargic and didn't really want to do it but forced myself out anyway. I decided to do a different route this time as I thought the country roads might be waterlogged what with all the rain/sleet over the last 36 hours. I did two laps of my normal 9 miles route in the park, except for a slight extension from my 10k route making it 10.5 miles per lap. As usual I felt sluggish to begin with even though my first mile was a bit too fast, but soon settled into a rhythm. In the end I didn't feel all that bad and even managed to increase my pace over the last few miles. The total distance was 21.3 miles at an average of 7.24 pace with a total run time of 2.38. What was particularly pleasing was that it was the best I've felt after a long run, but also managed to sneak in another 1.3 miles from my previous longest run!
Today I did another 9 miles at a moderate 7.03 min miles in 1.04. The weather is what I would call 'pleasantly grotty' as it drizzled all the way round and quite windy at times, but also means that there are not so many people to dodge in the park so you can appreciate the wilderness a bit more. What was pleasing was that I was still able to run at that pace having done 21 miles the day before. My knees were very stiff in the first mile but the soreness gradually eased off (but not entirely so) and found the run quite easy. I don't know why this is the case, but often I feel a lot better when I've run quite hard the day before.
Total mileage for the week is 61.5 which I'm fairly pleased with. I've got next week off work so am hoping I can do something similar, before I gradually begin to taper.
Hey Lloyd, thought I'd post back on your site. So far, so good with the Keyano's although only session number two in them and they need at least 100 miles in them before I can truely understand how they perform. Initial comments though would be:
ReplyDelete- I'm a 10 1/2, and they fit well. The thing is I always buy Asics as their 10 1/2's fit me like a glove. Although I would say on the Kayano's they seem slightly narrower up the top end, but it's not causing an issue.. it might be that they need to stretch out a bit and my foot needs to make it's mark in them
- It's a little wierd for me in these as I'm normally used to wearing racers, such as the Asics DS or Speedsters, which are really light and flimsy trainers. So going to Kayano's is quite strange as they are very sturdy and quite clunky, but do give you great support I must admit. So for me it's more about adjusting to this shoe.
- I'll be doing my marathon in them yes and to be honest I'll probably do the mds in them. I do have my DS racers in reserve (riducolously light trainers), but feel I should race in the Kayanos.
- As for time, well given I've never done a marathon before I dont know what to expect. First goal is to beat 4 hours, however I'd be lying if I said that I would ideally like to achieve a 3hrs 45 mins. Training suggests that I can do it as my half-marathons have been at the 1hr 45 min mark and that includes some pretty steep hills around where I live and is a very uneven route. The Canberra marathon is apparently a very quick flat course, so we'll see how we go to be honest, take each step at a time so to speak!
Your training seems to be going really well also... I've really ramped things up in the last three weeks. I used to be a cross country runner in my school days, but rugby took over, so I'm trying to re-discover that old touch, but know my limitations! My run at the weekend was the furthest I've ever run, so still a lot of unknown territory for me. Going to do another 16 miler this weekend, but not in 30 degrees with such steep inclines as last week... so that will give me a better gauge a to how I'm doing. All the best for this week!