Lloyd Biddell

On Friday I did end up going out for another 10k but knowing I had a 21 mile run the next day I took it very easy, running at about 8.10 min mile pace, which is about as slow as I've ever run. Yesterday I went out for what would be my final 20+ mile run before the marathon. Within the first 30 seconds of setting off I could feel that my legs were very heavy. As a result I quickly decided against doing an early small extension to my planned loop which would have made the total distance 22 miles. In fact between miles 2-5 I found it a real struggle and was beginning to harbour serious thoughts about doing only one 10.5 mile lap. In the end my tiredness didn't get any worse and the miles pretty much came and went. I knew I was running at a slightly quicker speed than before and just ran at a pace that I thought was suitable rather than clock watching which is more normal for me. I did the first 10.5 mile loop in about 1.15.30 and still wasn't feeling great, but a lot better ...

As said in my last post I had another rest day on Monday so the week started on Tuesday with a gentle 10k at 7.15 min pace. I must have quickened in the second half as I was bang on 7.30 pace for the first couple of miles. I have to say that I felt really good so must have been down to the two days rest. I had originally intended to do a second lap but decided whilst out on the run not to bother, it just seemed like doing miles for miles sake. Just 10 hours later at 5.45am on Wednesday I ran the 11.75 miles to work. I aimed for 1.30 and beat the time by just eight seconds although I had to increase my pace over the last 30 minutes by a fair bit to achieve this. As usual when I run to work I had my rucksack on, although I decided to do without the heavy coat which must be why the rucksack felt so heavy last time. The run was pretty good other than I set off an hour earlier than usual so meant the canal section was still pitch black. After 2.5 miles I did run past a camera crew by the la...

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 doi ng 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 ne...

Been a bit of an idiot over the last couple of days. Again after a hard weekend of training I went out for a 6 mile recovery run yesterday, except that I did it at 7.24 min mile pace. No matter how hard I try I just cant seem to run in the 7.45-8 min mile range. Hey ho. Today I intended to do a 9 mile run at 3hr marathon speed which is 6.52 min miles. This is a fairly brisk pace to run 9 miles at in training, especially since the route has 150m of climb. I went off at a reasonably hardish pace and went through the first mile in 5.58!! Oops, slight mis -judgement of pace me thinks! You can guess the rest, my legs soon started to feel extremely heavy and it became a case to hold on as best as possible. Still, I managed to get round the course in 57.15 which is 45 seconds quicker than when I pushed the week before. However this is not the end of the story. I've noticed that the distance measuring device on my foot seems to under calculate whenever I push really hard - and ...

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 ...

Well the title describes my week, though has nothing to do with the fruit! After the poor mileage last week along with my desire to give a sub 3hr marathon my best shot I have decided to really push myself this week. I felt that I was really fannying about with my training so have decided to up the mileage and the intensity for the next couple of weeks before I begin to taper. On Monday I ran the 11.75 miles to work which took 1.28.30 which was as fast as I've ever done it but still within comfort levels. Following this on Tuesday (New Years Day) I did my 9 mile loop but as fast as I could. I had my doubts early on as my legs were clearly quite tired from the day before. In the end I settled down at as fast a pace I could comfortably live with but still held a small amount in reserve. In the end I finished in 58.15 which is 6.26 min miles and frankly is bananas, but taught me a lot in the process. It was the quickest I have done that loop by about 4 minutes. Before I did this run...