London Marathon Training - 15 Weeks to go!
I've followed the plan less than I'd have liked this week. The reason? This weekend was my first Cross Country race where I was representing my county. So I top loaded the week and re-arranged some sessions. No races next week though so I'm going to focus on sticking to the plan.
KEY - GFRG WRITES - GBRM WRITES
Monday 1st January 2018 (Happy New Year!)
After a brilliant night out, celebrating the new year, with our friends, we were feeling slightly iffy when the alarm sounded at 8am! Despite the aching heads we got up and ready - there was no way we were going to miss the opportunity to do 2 parkruns in 1 day!
We ran to Ashton Court -allowing plenty of time after being late last week. Having time to spare turned out to be rather handy as, after arriving at the start, I realised that I'd committed the worst possible parkrun crime...I'd forgotten my barcode! Just as I was starting to feel upset at my newyears double parkruns not counting, John came to my rescue. He selflessly decided to run all the way home (2 miles!) and back again! He missed the start of course but was by no means last! My hero!
Not wanted to disappoint John after going to all that effort, I thought I better try pretty hard on the run...I did and managed to nab the 1st lady spot.
We then ran home, jumped in the car and drove to Pomphrey for parkrun number 2. Similarly to last year, as soon as we arrived, it started to rain - and became very very cold. We arrived just in time and managed to both catch the start. Obviously my mind was focused on the double victory.
I got a good start but didn't manage to hold 1st position for very long. A lady passed me on the first hill and it quickly became evident that hills were her thing. On each lap, I would get closer on the downhill and she'd pull even further away on the uphill sections. Not a win but a 2nd place at my 2nd parkrun of the day. Not a bad start to the new year.
Good fun doing two parkruns in one day but feels like cheating in a way, especially with it being a Monday instead of the traditional Saturday. Weather was pants but by the time we were home we were feeling sober enough to enjoy the last day of the holidays.
Tuesday 2nd January 2018
John was back at work today so we both got up at 5am and ran up to Clifton for our weekly personal training session. Today our session looked like this:
Squat and press..5-7 kg, squat thrusts, mountain climbers. 20 seconds, 40seconds-60seconds.
Squat and press with plates...10-15kg , Squat jumps. 20 seconds, 40seconds-60seconds.
As I was still off work, I also did a yoga class during the day - lovely.Crunches, leg raises, reach to feet. 20 of each 3 times.Single leg down and ups. X5.....x8......x12. Each side.Medicine ball alternating hand press ups x10balance throws with medicine ball 3kg..5kg ....8kg. X10 each way. Elbow to knee crunchs in between alt throws . X3Bench.: 12 of each 4 times.Side to side jump step oversStraddle jumpsSide step ups and press with medicine ball
Meh. This session was especially hard after having a two week break from PT. Glad to be back working hard. PT was one of the biggest differences to me progressing last year. It helps running up hill and on technical terrain easier and I think being stronger (generally - not just legs) helps to prevent injuries. 5K running there and back - we're doing the PT commute in Sub9MM pace nowadays whereas when when we started training together a year a go it was more of a sluggish plog at 11+MM pace - more progress!
Wednesday 3rd January 2018
As I knew I'd be racing on Sunday, I wanted to get my long run done today. 15 miles on the plan. So John and I ran to and from club plus the 10 mile club run making 15. It was a good fast run with a couple of quicker ones down the portway.
Definitely my best run for a couple of months. So nice to be running fast and for it to feel fun and effortless - instead of feeling sluggish, mechanical and a forced effort. Eating up the miles and banking the longest mid-week long run of the campaign. Glad I hose to run long with the GFRG instead of just turning out a GA. With the extra miles on Monday I'd racked up 30+ miles already - proper training.
Thursday 4th January 2018
First day back at work for me today. No better way to start the day than a 5 mile recovery run at an average of 9mm.
3rd day at work for me - same workout. Both running recovery runs strong and economically: 1102 and 1134 heart beats per mile respectively. I banked another steady 5K after work with a couple of the lads from work.
Friday 5th January 2018
Today I lacked the same enthusiasm as yesterday and chose to ignore my alarm. As I still had to get my run in, I decided to run to and from school. It was a lovely morning and I really enjoyed running in. It's been a while since I've done it and definitely want to try and run to school more frequently. John joined me for the first mile - lovely to have some company.
A lie in - unheard of this year - lush! A steady 5K for me to.
Saturday 6th January 2018
Today I had a lie in! I didn't wake up until John got back from his run! I did find a little note saying that if I woke up, I could join him half way through....oops! I just wanted to do a gentle 5 miles today in preparation for tomorrows race. John went out so I ran alone and decided to run with headphones which I hardly ever do. After noticing that The Script are playing at Westonbirt in the summer, I thought I'd listen to some of their stuff...I'd forgotten how brilliant they are! Singing my way around the harbourside, I felt amazing. Legs felt great and I had to keep reminding myself to slow down - this was suppose to be recovery after all!
Early doors for me as I had plans to have breakfast with my mum and sister. 10 miles - which felt as easy and as fun as Wednesday - really enjoying running so far this year. Enjoyment backed up by the stats also - 7:36mm pace pumping 1018 beats per mile - so close to Sub1000, who will get there first?!?
Sunday 7th January 2018
After another long sleep (wooohoo) I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to race...unfortunately, this was 7am and my race didn't start until 2pm! Never mind, I spent the morning reading (finished the last in Phillip Pullman's Northern Lights trilogy) and catching up with social media. Really enjoying reading the 'fast runners of 2018' that is being published on fastrunning.com.
At 11am I had my short- distance pre-race breakfast of choice - a poached egg on toast (the new amazing Warburtons sour dough gluten free bread). We then headed to Yeovile for the South West Cross Country Championships!
We arrived and saw part of the course from the road ...it looked very hilly. But it was a beautiful day. The sun was shining. It was however VERY windy and rather chilly. I went over to the find the Avon crew. I was given a vest (which looked huge!) and my race number and I was ready!
As this was my first race at this standard I wasn't really sure what to expect. I figured my aim would be to come in the top 1/4 of the field...I was thinking around the top 30 would be good.
The gun went and for once there wasn't the usual high pitch squeals - these women mean business! I felt great so went for it and quickly found myself in 3rd place...woops! The first 1/2 of the course was flat followed by a downhill so I thought I'd better make the most of it. I ran a storming first mile of 5:44 (that's quicker than I can usually do on the road!) was still in the top 10 and feeling great...then came the hills. The next 1/2 mile consisted of 3 pretty steep hills in quick succession. Annoyingly I just could keep up or hold my position and felt myself falling quickly down the field. Never mind, I told myself, keep pushing, this is your first time at this event. For lap 2, I knew what to expect so managed to overtake a few people on the flat and downhill sections but once again, they came past my on the uphills. Mile 2 - 7:14, mile 3 - 6:54 (total average pace for the 3.4 miles - 6:45).
I've written this many times in my blogs but don't seem to learn from my mistake...I MUST do more hill work. Whenever I come to a hill in the middle of a run, I always slow down. I need to start pushing myself more on those sections. As John frequently says to me "You won't get faster at running uphill if you don't run faster uphill in training!" message received.
I'm not sure on my overall position yet but I think I might have squeezed top 25. Avon ladies actually won the competition...annoyingly I didn't count for the team as the 7th finisher. A little bit disappointed about that but I enjoyed my first attempted at representing the county...even if it did feel a bit strange running in red!
Another early rise for me. I Met the Maestro and fellow London Marathon trainee Rob ready to blast out a long run. 0degrees and my blood cells carrying the half a bottle of wine from the night before did mean the run wasn't quite as fun as Wednesday's and yesterdays to start off with. We run the usual long run route, taking in the sights of; the Clifton Suspension Bridge, Ashton Court, the Avonmouth Bridge before finishing up on the Portway. The miles ticked over nicely, distracted from any discomfort by running chit-chat/banter. A few miles later and I'm in a different mood altogether and feeling totally refreshed and re-energised. Double figure miles show on the watch and it's another great run that I don't want to end - 3 in one week! 16 miles in just under 2 hours - HR economy 1037 - so close!!!!
I got home to Kelly feeling emotional coming to the end of the HDM trilogy. My favourite books and a recommendation I'm glad she enjoyed. Both of us were feeling super pumped (me post run/Kelly pre-race) to trek down to the south Somerset town of Yeovil and enjoy the XC. As above - Kelly had a fantastic race and fitted right in with the specialist county representatives. It was great fun supporting and extremely rewarding to see the GFRG reaping the rewards of training hard - super proud as always!
A 70+ mile week for me - well chuffed. Long runs feel strong and fun. Looking forward tp hopefully backing up this weeks efforts and positivity with another long week next week before tapering down for my first race of the year (The race that shall not be named / Doynton HARD Hilly Half) and generally taking it easy(ier) before getting into proper training/more intense training with 12/10 weeks to go.
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