A record week!
After the exertions at Mallory Park on Wednesday it has been back to training. On Thursday I went for an 8.5 mile run although I ran fairly slowly as my legs were still quite heavy from the race the day before. On Friday I had the day off work - my first full day off since mid February! As a result I went out for a 9 mile run on one of my usual routes. Although I enjoyed the run it was very warm around 26 degrees so I wilted a bit. For the first time ever though I took a drink round with me to at least quench some of the thirst.
Yesterday I went for an easy 5.5 mile run but with the tiredness of the week creeping in together with the heat I had to ease off a bit. Today I woke up feeling quite chesty with a dry cough and slight loss of breath. At first I thought I might have the beginnings of a cold which is going round work, but as the day went on I had wondered whether it was the cumulative effect of the extra mileage and warmth of the last few days. It was sods law really as I had earmarked today as being my first real 'long' session. I still decided to go out for a run and see how I felt later on. In the end I did my 7 mile country route but as I was still feeling pretty good I decided to continue on to Sutton Park and add on another 9 miles. After the seven miles had passed my heart rate was only about 140 which confirmed that I felt ok. After 11 miles things were beginning to hit me and every mile thereafter became exponentially more difficult to do. By about 14 miles my legs were pretty much gone before staggering back. In the end I did 16 miles at an average pace of 7.33 min miles (2hrs exact running time). This is by far the longest I have ever run on the roads with my previous best being half marathon distance. I should have come back feeling well chuffed but in the end just felt bitter disappointment that I found it so hard. It was so bad that I could barely stand up and had to have a lie down for an hour. My body was also feeling extremely hot but also cold at the same time. I think some if not a lot of this was down to the heat - another 26 degree day with only 250ml of fluids being carried by me. Either way I have even been questioning whether I can manage the MdS. Frankly I could do with the money as well as the 3k required could easily be spent buying furniture etc at the new flat (currently living with my mother and sister so I have to start from scratch). I know I need to keep persevering, but if all runs are as hard as that then I wont make it to the start line. On the plus side I was absolutely fine to 11 miles before things hit me. The other plus is that it has been a record week with the mileage - 46.5 miles including one race. I'm now going to rest tomorrow so I can recover a bit from today's run and general chestyness.
I had been harbouring thoughts about resurrecting my marathon debut in mid September, but after today's run I think all bets are off. The problem is that with the schedule I have I now wont be able to do one until early next year. I need to decide quickly whether to do another half before some other races I have planned in Oct/Nov.
Yesterday I went for an easy 5.5 mile run but with the tiredness of the week creeping in together with the heat I had to ease off a bit. Today I woke up feeling quite chesty with a dry cough and slight loss of breath. At first I thought I might have the beginnings of a cold which is going round work, but as the day went on I had wondered whether it was the cumulative effect of the extra mileage and warmth of the last few days. It was sods law really as I had earmarked today as being my first real 'long' session. I still decided to go out for a run and see how I felt later on. In the end I did my 7 mile country route but as I was still feeling pretty good I decided to continue on to Sutton Park and add on another 9 miles. After the seven miles had passed my heart rate was only about 140 which confirmed that I felt ok. After 11 miles things were beginning to hit me and every mile thereafter became exponentially more difficult to do. By about 14 miles my legs were pretty much gone before staggering back. In the end I did 16 miles at an average pace of 7.33 min miles (2hrs exact running time). This is by far the longest I have ever run on the roads with my previous best being half marathon distance. I should have come back feeling well chuffed but in the end just felt bitter disappointment that I found it so hard. It was so bad that I could barely stand up and had to have a lie down for an hour. My body was also feeling extremely hot but also cold at the same time. I think some if not a lot of this was down to the heat - another 26 degree day with only 250ml of fluids being carried by me. Either way I have even been questioning whether I can manage the MdS. Frankly I could do with the money as well as the 3k required could easily be spent buying furniture etc at the new flat (currently living with my mother and sister so I have to start from scratch). I know I need to keep persevering, but if all runs are as hard as that then I wont make it to the start line. On the plus side I was absolutely fine to 11 miles before things hit me. The other plus is that it has been a record week with the mileage - 46.5 miles including one race. I'm now going to rest tomorrow so I can recover a bit from today's run and general chestyness.
I had been harbouring thoughts about resurrecting my marathon debut in mid September, but after today's run I think all bets are off. The problem is that with the schedule I have I now wont be able to do one until early next year. I need to decide quickly whether to do another half before some other races I have planned in Oct/Nov.
Hi Lloyd, well done on the distance covered this week. I wouldn't worry too much, there seem to be a lot of viruses going around at the mo, so you could well have picked up a bit of something.
ReplyDeleteIt is also the first time you have covered this distance in a week, so your body is bound to be feeling the strain I guess, by the time we get to the MdS your body will be used to doing this week in and week out and I think it will come much easier.
You are doing a lot more mileage than I am at the mo! I think you will be fine.
Hi Lloyd, don't worry too much about feeling tired - I think maybe you're trying to increase the distance too quickly. The coach at my running club recommended increasing the long run by no more than 2 miles a week, and the total distance by no more than 10%, if I remember correctly. He also said to do the last really long run - at least 20 miles - 3 weeks before a marathon, so you're right not to plan to run one in September. It might be best to pick one of the Spring ones (London?) and then work backwards from that to see what training you need to do.
ReplyDeleteHi Nigel, good to hear from you! It turns out that my chestyness is a cold after all so this almost certainly had an effect. I've also just worked out that I ran 3hr 18min marathon pace which excepting the last few miles felt quite comfortable and included 220 metres of climb.
ReplyDeleteI know about the 10% rule so in theory my max distance for the week should be 40 miles. Having said that I'm probably going to have an easier week this week to compensate a little.
Hope your running is going well?
Lloyd
Steph - Thanks. It was just that the run was far far harder than I had thought it was going to be. Feel a bit better today (except for the cold).
ReplyDeleteNigel - Just to add that had the marathon been in mid October I reckon its doable but unfortunately Sep is just a little too close. That aside I could probably get round in 4 hrs but doubt it'll achieve anything.