London Marathon Training - 10 weeks to go
Key = Both of us = Blue Kelly = Purple John = Orange
Monday 5th February 2018
I thought I'd been feeling pretty exhausted today after 22 miles yesterday. In past campaigns, after every 20+ mile run, I was almost unable to run the next day - apart from doing like 10 minute miles.
The alarm went off at 5am and I got out of bed and my legs didn't feel too bad.
We started running to our PT session. We went the 'long way' today to make it up to 5 miles rather than just the usual 3. Even with Bridge Valley Road's hill, my average pace was 8:56 - really pleased with that.
Our PT session was pretty brutal but I felt strong and in control throughout.
It went like this:
20 Squats with two 12.5 kg dumbbells then 20 crunches
20 squats with two 15kg dumbbells then 10 down and ups x 10 then 20 crunches
20 squats with two 17.5 kg dumbbells then 30 mountain climbers the 10 down and ups then 20 crunches
20 squats with two 20 kg dumbbells then 20 squat jumps then 30 mountain climbers then 10 down and ups then 20 crunches
20 squats with two 20 kg dumbbells (John had two 25kg!!!) then 20 squat jumps then 30 mountain climbers then 10 down and ups then 20 crunches
Squat and press with 10 kg plate then medicine ball press ups X10. x5
Bridge glute raises then plank foot jumps. X10. X5
Clean n press 15kg bars x10. then split lunge jumps plus 5kg plate x10. X5
35 kg squats with barbell on back .......5-10-15-20-15-10-5
Similarly to the GFRG, I also woke up feeling surprisingly sprightly and raring to go. Our first PT session for a while and we weren't eased into it. A very tough session but we completed it and felt strong and very hungry for the rest of the day.
Tuesday 6th February 2018
After a much needed lie in (by lie in, I mean 7am!), I went to work feeling pretty achy after yesterday's session. Most of the pain was in my shoulders which is common for me when I've done bar work. My legs were tired but not too bad.
At lunchtime, I went out for a cheeky 2 miles for our staff running club. This is a great way to get a proper break and catch up with the other teachers. It was our quickest one yet with 8:56mm average pace.
I had a meeting in the afternoon so I got changed after running club and left my kit bag in the staff toilets...unfortunately, this meant that I forgot to take it home at the end of the day. When I got home, I got ready for my run but realised that my watch was in my bag at school. Urch! This posed a major problem for me because I love running with my watch - I rely on it. Also, we all know that if it's not on strava, it didn't happen! Thankfully, John reminded me that you can use strava on your phone to record a run. The only problem with that, was that I'd have to have my phone in my pocket so would be able to know how fast or slow I was going. This meant that for the first time, I'd have to try 'running to feel'.
I started off with John but, after realising that he wasn't able to run at all quickly, he urged me to go on ahead. Feeling a little bit sad at having to run alone (something that I hardly ever do) I pushed on and tried to think about what pace I might be running. While some people claim that running without a watch lets them feel 'free' and 'relaxed' because they don't have to worry about what pace they're doing, for me it was the opposite. I felt stressed and anxious. I wanted to run faster than recovery pace, as this was supposed to be a GA run, but not too fast because I knew I had a big run planned for tomorrow. Thankfully, my body got into a rhythm and managed 10 miles at an average pace of 7:51 which is almost exactly what I would have liked to have done had I used my watch! I guess my legs know more than I give them credit for!
Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now... Only joking, KD said I wasn't allowed to be miserable and depressed on the blog so I'm gonna defy my natural and what I thought were lovable personality traits for the sake of doing as I'm told... Yesterdays feeling of sprightly-ness was very deceiving. I woke up today feeling like a tonne of bricks had hit me and more worryingly like my back and hips had been ripped apart. I have history of having sacroiliac dysfunction, a diagnosis I paid many hundreds of pounds to receive. A couple of years a go my right hip was nearly an inch higher than my left, this was due to over stretching the muscle that runs from my back to my bum and the body struggling to put it right on it's own. I don't think I've done anything nearly as serious this time round, I think I've been training hard and doing a PT session quite as intensely as I did after a big break maybe wasn't too sensible, body was telling me to chill out and recover.... so I did... 5K for me at 10MM pace..
Wednesday 7th February 2018
What with John only running a few miles and us not wanting to go to club today, I had a challenge on my hands! This Sunday is the last (for me) in the Gwent League cross country series so I needed to do my long run today. 20 miles needed. Solo. Oh dear. I hardly ever run on my own and I've never ran a full 20 miles alone so wasn't sure how I'd cope. I decided that I needed a really strong mental strategy to get me through. By the time I got home and got ready etc, it was already 7pm so dark. I decided therefore to keep it safe by running laps of the Harbourside. It was well lit and a route that I knew well so I wasn't worried about being alone. I decided to do the 5 mile route which meant that I'd have to do 4 laps.
At the Runfest talks the other week, we heard Jim Plunkett-Cole speak. One of the memorable parts I took away, was how he managed to get through a grueling 4 lap swim. He told us that, each time he passed a buoy, he spoke to it and told it how many more time's he'd see it. I decided to use this strategy for my run tonight.
There are a number of memorable landmarks around the Harbourside: bridges, cranes, squares etc. At each one I spoke it it (yes out loud!) and told it how many more times I'd see it. Lap 1 felt surprisingly good. Despite the heavy PT session and 22mile run just a couple of days ago, I felt really good. I really wanted to impress John with my run today and so I set myself a challenge of running all miles at under 8mm pace. I didn't want to go off too fast in the first lap as I was a bit worried about how laps 3 and 4 would go.
Finishing lap 1 felt great. The time had passed super quickly (I wasn't even listening to music or anything) and I was feeling really strong. It was a bit tricky going passed all the people in the center of town but I knew that, with each lap, it would get quieter.
The end of lap 2 came pretty quickly and now I was over the moon. Half way there and feeling great. I was desperate to get back home and see John (who I knew would be feeling a pretty down) so I kept the pace up. Lap 3 was probably the hardest because it was quite tempting to stop at mile 15 and just go home. No. I told myself. You wanted to do 20 now do 20.
For the last lap, I took great joy in telling each inanimate object I passed (in true Jim Plunkett-Cole style) "I ain't gonna see you no more!" That worked as a brilliant distraction and, before I knew it, I was running around Queen's square for the last time. I finished my 20 miles and couldn't help but let out a "YES!" of delight (and making a random passer by jump!)
A really high point of the week for me.
Really depressed at this point. Back still giving me grief and a 5K run at 10MM pace which only happened after a 200mtr run and going back home where I threw all my running clothes and trainers in the bin and had a shower before being similarly inspired by Jim Plunkett Cole - that guy did a triathlon every day for a year surely you can run 5k?!? So I did. I was very proud and pleased for KD when she got home from her run but sadly my depression alongside what was jealousy and envy at being able to run so far and so fast lead to me being rather mean, snappy and rude! I hate being like this and thankfully Kelly is very understanding when I get down and understands what it's like to not be able to run. For the record I thought her 20 mile mid week run was AWESOME - so soon after the previous long run and a hard PT sessions, KD is fitter than ever and the next 10 weeks is gonna be damage limitation cus all things being well, she's in Sub3 shape. :-)
Thursday 8th February 2018
Today my legs hurt. Just a gentle recovery 7 miles today. I really felt that I'd earned that! The first 3 miles, I ran with John who was definitely speeding up and hopefully starting to recover. Average pace was slow but I needed it slow - 9:17mm.
Progress - sadly I missedd running club with the guys as I was worried about being able to keep up and my violent mood swings but did run the risk whilst running with the GFRG! 5k @ 9:30MM!!
Friday 9th February 2018
More recovery today. 5 miles in the morning. Slightly quicker than yesterday but everything hurts. 9:08mm.
It was the last day of term today so running club was rather quiet - a lot of tired kids I guess! I was feeling rather tired myself and was clearly still feeling the effects of Wednesday's run as one child asked me "Why are we going so slow today?" I explained about my 20 miles and the girl was very understanding (although I did let a few of my speedies go ahead of me for parts of the run!).
In the evening, I'd booked another sports massage - I think this may turn into a regular weekly session. I love how I feel the days after and I do think/ hope it will stop me getting injured. Jenny worked mostly on my tight calves and achilles but did a do a bit on the rest of my legs too as the squats from Monday had clearly had an effect on my quads.
More progress! Back is feeling a lot better but I don't wanna risk any set backs. Another steady recovery run at 9MM pace this time... I can see the light!!
Saturday 10th February 2018
Today was going to be a VERY exciting day! We started off with a 5 mile run together (lovely to run the full distance with John x) after a much needed lie in.
Back at home, we packed our things and drove to Frome where we'd booked a lovely little cottage for the night. We watched the rugby, cooked a very healthy gluten free prawn curry for dinner before walking the short walk to the Cheese and Grain. The Cheese and Grain is a brilliant music venue. The first act was called 'Punk my hits'. Cleverly, they took some of the classic 80s, 90s and 00s pop his and turned them into rock songs! After a couple of cheeky sambucas, we were dancing merrily.
Then, S club 7 came on (ok technically S club 3..but they were the best ones!) they were fab. Played all the classics and took us back to the 90s! Finally, 5ive came on (again 3!). Similarly, they played all of their best songs and incredibly, we remembered all the words and most of the dance moves. A brilliant night.
Lovely to be back running properly again with my partner in crime. 5miles at 8:45mm pace and every step felt blissful. Pain free and I felt fully in control of my pace and style. The world wasn't coming to an end after all! The evenings fun times watching SClub and Five was great - it brought back great memories of my sister blaring out this crap music in the room next door so whilst being drunk on 2 shots of Sambucca and feeling somewhat nostalgic allowed for some risky hip action on the dance floor. Awesome night!
Sunday 11th February 2018
After not necessarily the best preparation last night, today we were off to cross country for what would be my last Gwent League race of this season. I wanted to do well but was also really conscious that the marathon is my main goal so I really didn't want to do any damage!
We arrived in Pontypool and the first thing we saw, when we arrived on the course, was the MASSIVE hill. Great. The good thing was, the course appeared to be really dry so would be firm under foot. I knew I'd just have to work hard on the uphill and I'd be rewarded with a nice, long, downhill.
We had a great team today and it was lovely waiting together on the start line. The gun sounded and we were off. After about 50 meters, we came to a very boggy section. Oh dear. 'Never mind, focus on getting a good position ready for the hill' I told myself. Then came the hail. Ouch! Horizontal hail directly into my face - really quite painful. 'Never mind - try not to think about it'.
I got into my (now) usual space - as there are pretty much the same people at every race, you get to know where abouts you should be. The hill was upon us very quickly and I focused on my technique: 'shorten my stride, stand up straight, use my arms' I repeated to myself. It also really helped that all the male GWR crew had positioned themselves brilliantly and were really encouraging.
I knew that I was just outside the top 10 so I decided my aim would be to finish in the top 15 today. After the first lap, I was feeling pretty good and ready to face the hill again...but I'd forgotten that lap two had a cheeky little surprise lurking for us... another hill! Great. But an even muddier, boggier, stonier hill. Double great. There was a very steep section that some people were starting to walk...'No!' I told myself 'you will not walk' so I didn't. I overtook a couple of people on the uphill (almost unheard of for me!) and was looking forward to the downhill. Unfortunately, the downhill was even harder than the uphill. Seriously muddy and slippery and dangerously steep so I had to slow right down to avoid falling over and covering myself in mud.
I was then overtake on the downhill section - again almost unheard of! This made me a bit cross. But there wasn't anything I could do. I wasn't going to risk falling and damaging my ankles and putting my marathon in jeopardy. Doing the hill for a second time was very painful. It seemed to go on forever (probably because I was going up it so slowly!). By the time I was back on the downhill, the finish line was in sight and I gave it everything. I had a cheeky look behind me and to my horror, there were about 20 girls right on my heels. I picked up the pace and sprinted for the line. Delighted just to have finished!
15th position - my 2nd highest this season.
Feeling strong and pretty much recovered I made the journey to XC but with no running kit. London is my main goal and I didn't wanna risk any set backs running off road / cross country. A very sensible decision as the course was one of the hardest most technical I've ever seen. KD and the teams all put in amazing performances. The club entered 14 runners - massive progress, as usually at this point in the season we'd all fit in one car. It was a great venue and a lovely atmosphere, the day was fun and although I wasn't running I was really happy to be a part of it. When I got home I ran a progressive 5miles running up to 6:30MM pace and feeling good :-)
Total mileage for the week:
Kelly = 59.7 (yes this is very painful for my OCD but I'm not going out now to sort it!)
John = 30 miles (just waiting for KD to run around the balcony with the GPS on...)
A very tough week for me. I do not deal with set backs well. Running is my thing. I love to run and without running I am not me. When I woke up Tuesday in pain/agony/dying? I genuinely thought I wouldn't run the same again - stupid I know! I spent the week combating my state of mini-depression stuffing my face with digestives and hob nobs and subsequently have put on 2+ kilos in weight! If I didn't have Kelly on side that would probably have been 5kilos and I'd of probably have tried to run through the pain to punish myself whilst trying to prove I'm indestructible - which I am very much not! The body is amazing but there's only so much it can do. A rest week was needed and I don't feel I've been set back to much. I feel as though I've gone from being a 2 litre Diesel with turbo to a 1.2 with a flat tyre... but there's 10 weeks to go, plenty of time for an upgrade - one part at a time!
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