Slightly shorter week

Since my last post earlier in the week I did 9 miles through the park at an easy enough pace of 7.27 min mile pace. That sort of pace should have made it pretty easy but for some reason I found it harder than it should of been - just slightly more sluggish than normal but could be down to the hard run the day before.

On Thursday I had to wait most of the day for some furniture to arrive so wasn't able to go out for a run until later in the evening. I tried another attempt to run at marathon target pace of 6.52 min miles, but still managed to run far too quick and ended up doing 10km at an average of 6.29 pace. Never mind, I still have four weeks to get it right. It doesn't really concern me too much as in race conditions there will be mile markers making things easier to judge.

Friday was a rest day as is customary at the moment. On Saturday I did another 21.5 mile run although I found it far tougher than the previous week even though I was running the same pace. My legs never really felt comfortable for some reason and even after a couple of miles I was very tempted to cut short at 10 miles. In the end I continued my intended route and thankfully the legs didn't really worsen. I ended up doing the route just 4 seconds slower than the previous week when I was feeling pretty good. I actually added on another 100 metres or so because of a busy road crossing so in fact I did run marginally quicker. Total time was 2.38 at an average of 7.26 min mile pace. Unfortunately when I have a run such as this it becomes far too easy to think how on Earth I'll be able to run sub 3hrs marathon pace - I'll have to run 36 seconds a mile quicker which is a big ask.

Yesterday I was going to go for a recovery 9 miles but for various reasons didn't in the end. Overall mileage for the week is 52 miles. I've now got just four weeks to the marathon so next week will be my last full week of training. Having said this I haven't gone out for a run today either, basically to give my legs a bit of a recovery.

Comments

  1. Anonymous22 January 2008 at 00:45

    Another cracking week mate, and good on you for doing the 21.5 miler... don't you feel sdo much better for having done it? Question for you... what's the longest distance you're going to run before the marathon? I hear most people do a couple of 20 milers before the big one, but I was actually going to try and do a 26 miler before my run in April... thoughts?

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  2. Lloyd Biddell22 January 2008 at 01:17

    Cheers mate. Do I feel better for doing it? It felt about as enjoyable as cutting off my leg and beating myself around the head with it.

    Longest distance is the 21.5 miler, maybe 22 this weekend if I feel like it. Normally you should do a few 20 milers and that in itself should be sufficient. Some people advocate doing just a couple of 21/22 mile runs, which is the route I'm following. Ideally you should be comfortable enough doing them that you know you could have completed the extra 4 miles anyway. I dont know of anyone doing a full practice 26 miles - its generally not reccomended as the stress on the body increases substantially and will increase your recovery time. Bear in mind that after racing a marathon most people take a month to recover fully. Remember the golden rule about quality miles not quantity. Thats my tuppence worth anyway!

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  3. Lloyd Biddell22 January 2008 at 01:23

    In fact just to add, what I think is better is to do say 20-22 miles, and see whether you can follow this up the next day with another 9-10 miles at a similar pace, or alternatively go for a slow to moderate 8 miles then put a couple at above marathon speed (without forcing it) at the end. Just a thought!

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  4. Anonymous22 January 2008 at 21:38

    Cheers Lloyd, what you say id pretty much what I've heard from most people on that front. To be fair after my 18.5 miler on Monday, although I hit a bit of a wall... I was actaully almost sprinting towards the end of it... pace was definately quicker in the second half than the first, which is a good thing. Could I have carried on? Well it wasnt 21 miles that's for sure, but at the moment I definately could ahve carried on for another couple of miles I reckon. I guess I need to test it out and push beyond 20 miles at some point in the next 10 days.

    Funny you mention the whole going for a recovery run thing. I was actually going to go out last night and do my usual 7 mile loop as a recovery, but decided against it in the end. Tuesday's are usually my rest day, and having done the 18.5 miler... I thought I'd better listen to my body and just rest. But, if I had to, I could ahve done it I reckon. Albeit quite slowly! Anyways, thanks for clearing that up. Have a fun week training!

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  5. Steph Cooke24 January 2008 at 07:49

    Hi Lloyd, your training is going really well, sounds as though you have cracked those long runs!

    ReplyDelete

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