I always knew this weekend would be a bit of a shakeup to the schedule. Having booked to go on a Marathon Training day a few months ago organised by Virgin Money and run by Liz and Martin Yelling, I figured there would be some Saturday running and finding time to fit in the Long Run maybe a challenge…

On Saturday we did end up doing some running. A 3 mile looping route had been set off around Dorney Lake in Windsor and we had been given time to run it 4 times if we wanted. Still nursing a semi painful knee I set odd at a 9min/mi pace and decided to take the opportunity to run with others. I ran with a chap called Richard who seemed to be happy to run with company, esp when the company had a garmin and could tell him his current pace! I had a great little run that day – 9 miles flew by in next to no time and after about 10mins my knee felt good so I left happy! The conference was also good, being in the presence of true professionals in the sport is very inspirational!

Having run just shy of 9miles on Saturday I didn’t feel that was enough miles in my legs for the weekend so I went out on Sunday for a run. I didn’t really plot a route, plus, for the first time in training this year I threw my gamin in my bag and just ran – I didn’t really care what time I did or how far I went. The run went really well, my legs started off a little achy from Saturday but after a mile or so I got into my stride and everything seemed to go to plan. I arrived back at the flat after 13miles it seems and to be honest I could have happily carries on and done more, everything today fitted together perfectly. Averaging 8:50min/mile
I believe which considering the fact I was just running I was really happy with! When I looked at my watch and saw the time/distance there was a part of me that wished I had carried on a bit further but that said I came back with enough energy to last the rest of the day!

Need to book in a threshold run this week as it’s been a while. Maybe I might try Niketown run if I can’t get company. With under a month to go – one long run on Sat then taper time this thing is almost here! Wooo

Till next time.

N

Tonight I was given the opportunity to go on a running track and do a few laps. Baring a lap at the start of the Roding Valley half a month ago I can’t remember when I last run round a track, if ever! At school they had grass markings and from memory back then 1 lap was enough let alone the 1.7Miles we covered this evening in the short 15min session.

I guess what made the evening better was having the opportunity to run with Andy Vernon one of England’s emerging hopefuls in mid distance running. Obviously he humored us with the pace whilst we ran and held a conversation – would have loved to see him do a fast lap and see how long on a 400m track it would take him to lap me – not long I suspect!

Anyway cool night and a couple more miles on the legs Hoping the sun comes out for tomorrows run.

N

Having to swap days due to commitments this evening I was doing the shorter run listed for Thursday. This was a 1M warmup 3M sub 8min/mi and then a cool down. Much like yesterday I was to fit this in before 730 in order to get to work for 9.

The ‘niggle’ was still there however I did manage to achieve the target falling short on the warmdown a bit. I came in at just over 4M – one of the shortest runs I have done in a while, but averaged a pace of 7:52min/mi, quicker than required, I’m happy with that.

I do have a little bit of running scheduled for tonight but not sure how much or fast that will be bit still leg miles in the bank.

Hopefully these two shorter runs haven’t been so tough on my legs and will allow me to successfully complete the 9M+ route scheduled for tomorrow!

Till then.

N

Still slightly concerned by the ‘niggle’ on my left knee I decided to take it easier today. The schedule had it listed as 1M warmup 3×1.5M intervals then a cool down. Instead of risking anything I did the distance and added a few hills but did not do them as intervals.

Something is definitely up with my leg but I’m not too sure what as it’s not painful just…different. Anyway the run went as well as to be expected, trying to fit it in before heading to the tube at 740 meant an early start but I managed to fit in 5.7Mi with an av pace of 8:36min/mi which isn’t too shabby considering I planned on taking it easy!

Resting the leg throughout the day and will ice pack it again this evening.

Till next time.

N

It’s the weekend, so that only means one thing at the moment – time for a long run and this week schedule lists it as a 20 miler. Shifting the day forward to Saturday meant it was to be a very busy 7 days, racking up more miles than ever before.

The route was planned on Friday and thanks to Oliver who had volunteered to accompany me I went towards the river and over to Greenwich where we had planned to meet. He was to join me for the last 6 miles of the run which was very useful.

The run felt tough again, unlike last weekend it seemed an effort to even get to 10miles let alone double that. The run to Tower Bridge felt slow and heavy and unfortunately I had to break for a necessary toilet break in Stratford Mc’ds! The weather was foul with rain and wind not helping the progress and it felt like it was going to be one of those days!

Fortunately, the knowledge that I was to have company at the end pushed me on, perhaps on my own I may have fallen short on the distance as I felt so lousy but knowing Oliver would be there forced me on and into Greenwich. Peculiarly, my splits dropped a bit when I met up, normally I tend to push a bit faster with company but evidently this wasn’t to be the case on Saturday!

The sight of the Tower of London the second time was refreshing as it marked the 19 mile marker and I knew the post run swimming pool @ fitness first was nearby – wooo!

Laura had her uni friends down this weekend, all three of them are physios so before letting them depart I asked one of them to work on my calves which will hopefully help for the training this week!

20 miles completed, only a few more of them to go!

Till next time.

N

The schedule had me down for 11 miles today which meant I had to request a late start to get in the distance in the morning without having to be out of the flat before 7.

Route was as usual heading towards Oxford Circus station, via Hackney, which is as my Garmin informed me today bang on 11 Miles. Having not properly prepared myself right at the start of the week I had to take a pair of trainers and jeans in my bag alongside the water and other normal gibbons. Much like yesterdays run my legs felt heavy and today my splits proved it. I was slow based on my recent norm adding a couple of splits in excess of 9 min miles but the last few miles with a new lease of life the speed increased. Annoyingly I know why I go slow, my stride gets shorter and heavier and hence I get slower and it seems to get worse. It’s only when I actively think about what I’m doing and lengthen out a bit do my splits get better with no real perceived increase in effort. I suspect that is why maybe the audiofuel help as they regularly make me consider my stride!

Anyway, 11 miles in the leg bank which brings the tally over the last 5 days to 37, with my long run scheduled for Saturday it’s going to be another LONG distance week. Tomorrow is a well deserved rest day which I’m looking forward to. 20 miles scheduled for Saturday so will be on my feet for best part of 3 hours. Its gonna be a toughy!

Oh as a final discussion point, when I got to the gym to shower this morning I decided to weigh myself with and without my backpack to see what I was lugging around. Turns out it weighed nearly half a stone and that was with an empty water container. No wonder my legs feel heavier during the week they are carrying more weight!

Till the long run…!

N

Waking up early to head in so I could fit in a 6mile run in I was on the tube by 7:10 amongst all the other early starters – kitted out, all I needed to do was jump off the tube at Ox Circus and I had a 6 mile route pre-planned incorporating Hyde Park. After leaving the tube my legs instantly felt very heavy, my running seemed slow and difficult. Having thought about this since getting into work I remembered having a similar feeling last time I ran an evening/morning session. It’s as if the sleep isn’t enough time for my legs to quite recover.

The run was fairly uneventful, it was a run to serve a purpose of getting miles in my leg and that’s what it did. Even though it felt slow and at time judging from the garmin stats I still seemed to average an 8:30 pace but this time a number of the splits where nearer the 8:40 mark. Considering how it felt when doing it that is quite surprising!

11 miles tomorrow – hopefully legs will be recovered for that run!

N

Having had a recovery day yesterday I was actually fairly keen to get out on another run following the success of Sundays half. Having to be in work for 9 and also as I had my laptop I was forced into an evening run. The schedule listed 7 miles as a Fartlek session so I headed on the tube to Mile End jumped off and ran home from there. According to the Garmin I logged 7.2M so all good there, the run whilst a little heavy wasn’t too bad, obviously slower than Sunday but that was to be expected – however, I couldn’t muster up the strength to do many Fartlek intervals, deciphering the data I did about 5 of them throughout the whole run – PATHETIC!

Having looked at my splits I ran faster than I planned to – averaging an 8:30 pace. It was odd doing that route because it was technically the reverse of a route I do regularly. I have never run it backwards and the usual milestones I had to count down the distances were obviously reversed and this seemed to make a difference. Anyway, home by 7 no major issues with my legs so quick stretch and warm down then a relaxed night before the morning 6miler…

Till next time.

The last post I wrote had me complaining about having heavy legs following the 10k, since that point I did a fastish treadmill session in the gym on Thursday clocking up 6kms which was again felt heavy and on Saturday morning I went for my 3M ‘easy’ run around the block as a warmup. Fortunately the rest day on Friday seemed to go someway to help with the recovery of my legs and Saturdays run felt much better. However as a bonus I was booked into see Chris over at the sports clinic for a 20min session on my legs – perfect pre race massage!

The massage was excellent and left my legs feeling a lot better than earlier and with the added knowledge that I wasn’t showing any real signs of damage I left the clinic ready for Sundays run, although at that point I hadn’t decided whether to race or just take it as a training run, although Chris did say as I left – go and crack 1:45, i’m sure you can.

Sunday arrived and with all the negative press that Silverstone seems to receive I don’t think I was looking forward to it as much as I possibly should – reports of difficulties getting in and out of the course on top of a dull circuit filled me with a bit of dread on the 1 and a bit hour drive. Fortunately, as always, Laura offered to come along and do the driving as well as watch from the sidelines and take photos, this is always a blessing – to have company before and after an event is perfect as it stops me stressing and getting worked up, not what you need before a race!

We got to Silverstone at about 1015 ish, plenty early for the noon start. We pottered down to the start areas and had a look at the shops before I started the lengthy process of sorting out my kit. Gel belt, heart rate monitor, pre-race isotonic drink, toilet break, banana….this routine takes almost as long as running the race but I find it works so I may as well stick to it. At 11:15 over the tannoy we were ushered into the pens, so I left my hoody with Laura and headed in – bad move. It was actually pretty damn cold still and I realised at this point I would be hanging around for 45mins without a jumper – did they really need 45mins to enter pens? On top of this because I got cold my body decided it needed the loo but I decided to hold it, if I needed to go during the route I would grudgingly have to stop!

Bang on midday Martin Yelling started the race and we were off – as usual I set off faster than I had really intended on and found myself running with the sub 8min runners. I tried to take the pace down a bit but judging by my Garmin that didn’t really happen! I managed to maintain a sub 8min/mi for the whole course – averaging 07:43 min/mi and according to my chip time I came in at 1:41:52 a new PB knocking 6 1/2 mins off my previous PB of 3 weeks prior (Laura – you were right I did a 1:48) and amazingly about 20mins off my Half Mara time of last year. On top of that my 10k chip time was sub 45 mins @ 44:15 another PB for me!

Obviously as I hit PB’s the run was incredible for me – it was tough but it wasn’t a killer I’m not sure I had another half in my legs at that speed but that is to be expected really! Marathon training is going well this year All in all a great run, wide course with no bottlenecks which is perfect! Would I do it again? If i was chasing a PB again then possibly, if I was going for scenery then probably not!See 19Mile Splits

Chip Timer Splits
Split Time
5K 00:23:25
10K 00:44:15
15K 01:11:25
20K 01:35:07

place (total) 671
place (gender) 614
place (cat) 484
finish time 01:41:52
http://silverstone.r.mikatiming.de/2010/index.php?content=detail&type=&id=0000030F5ECC83000005416E&lang=EN&event=SVRM&ageclass=

The schedule had me down for a 9 miler today but again due to prior commitments I could only fit in a shorter hour long run of about 7miles-ish.

The run was really tough today, my legs felt really heavy and not in great form. The whole run dragged and as soon as I got out of the door I wanted to give up. Looking at the watch stats I hovered around an 8:45 pace which is surprisingly fast considering how I thought I was moving!

Hopefully in the next 24 hours my legs recover a bit and am looking forward to Saturdays Sports Massage with Chris to hopefully relieve some of the tension in my muscles!

HavensRunners got a mini plug on the marathontalk.com podcast this week, they are sending people that way for the London Marathon Route Map. If you haven’t listened to the podcast check it out I find it a good thing to use whilst on my longer slower runs and also if you haven’t seen the map check it out and send a link to your supporters to let them know when to expect you!

Till next time.

N