Week 8 summary

Mon – 6 miles easy (7:17m/m)
Tue – 9 miles general aerobic (6:56m/m)
Wed – 9 miles inc VO2 max session  (7:02m/m avg)
Thu –  AM 4 miles easy (7:09m/m) PM 10.5 miles medium long (7:35m/m)
Fri – 6.5 miles recovery (7:47m/m)
Sat – 7.45 miles National Cross Country Champs (6:02 m/m)
Sun – 16 miles long run (7:14m/m)

Total – 68.5 miles

Nothing too remarkable about this week, it was billed in the schedule as a recovery week so the mileage and average run length were all a bit reduced. I won’t go into the details of every run, they were generally quite uninteresting with the exception of an interval session on Wednesday, and the National XC Champs on Saturday 🙂

The interval session began (as usual) with a 2.66 mile warm-up run to Perivale track to join the club’s regular Wednesday night training. I had 6 x 800m @ 5k pace planned, and press ganged Matt into joining me. The rest of the club were doing other specific sessions, so it was just the two of us for the 800s. Each interval was completed in 2:40 with around 1:30 recoveries, which felt fast but not totally eyes out hard. If you subscribe to the theory of Yasso 800’s as a marathon indicator this was all positive.

If you happen to look at the Garmin link for the session you’ll notice the last 800 was clocked at 2:44, not because I was particularly struggling but because Matt mistakenly stopped after 600m and I slowed to shout at him! Also noteworthy are the rubbish quality heart rate stats, they’ve been inaccurate all week and I may need to change the batteries.

Of course the highlight of the week had to be the National Cross Country Championships, at the historic Parliament Hill with it’s stunning views over London. With over 1500 senior men racing, this was the largest field for many years and the traditional hill charge at the start must have registered on the richter scale.

Unfortunately my race did not go terribly well, I had some residual tiredness in my legs from Wednesdays session plus a slight issue with my right knee. The unrelenting hills did for me, and I was fading in the last third of the race. Still, it wasn’t a total disaster and it was a pleasure to be part of such an important event. I placed 466th, and 45 minutes flat for the 12k course. No Garmin link for this race, I ran it totally on feel and without a watch.

Next week is quite high mileage, with a 7 mile tempo run, the 61st running of the Horsenden Hill XC relays, and a 24 mile long run – the longest of the build up. The week after that it’s the Bath Half Marathon, have to say I’m really looking forward to seeing what I can do there 🙂

Week 9 summary

Mon – 6 miles recovery (7:49m/m)
Tue – 9 miles easy (6:51m/m)
Wed – 15 miles medium long  (7:05m/m)
Thu –  7 miles recovery (7:55m/m)
Fri – 13 miles medium long  (7:24m/m)
Sat – 7 miles recovery run (7:40m/m)
Sun – 18 miles inc 12 miles marathon pace 6:18m/m (6:49m/m average)

Total – 75 miles

Only 9 weeks to go until race day now, single digits always makes it seem a bit more real 🙂

January’s injury and illness woes are a distant memory thankfully. Looking back at last years training diary I see exactly the same pattern, I think it’s simply an indication of my body adapting to the increased mileage.

This was another good week – emphasis on medium long runs with no races, but a key marathon pace session on the Sunday. Here goes…

As per usual Monday was a simple recovery run, I had done both a cross country race and a 22 miler over the weekend so I think that’s appropriate! The schedule called for a double, 4 miles & 6 miles, but like last week I couldn’t get out for the lunchtime run. I am not really too worried by the loss of a 4 mile easy run, I am putting in the sessions and long runs I need this year.

Tuesday was a 9 mile general aerobic run, and I built it up nicely to finish at around 6:25 pace. This was a very enjoyable run, everything just flowed and the speed felt effortless. A real buzz. Wednesday was similar, although it was 15 miles this time and taken at a more straightforward (but steady) 7:00. These two runs combined gave me a big confidence boost, being a good indicator of the continuing improvements to my aerobic fitness.

Not wanting to over cook it, I made sure Thursdays 7 miler was taken at a very easy recovery pace, and similarly dialed back Fridays 13 mile medium long run to 7:24 pace. I still get a good workout at that speed, but it is a lot easier on the legs. Saturday was a nice 7 mile trail run, taking it easy once again!

All those easy runs were not because I was being lazy, I was just saving my strength for the key workout of the week – 18 miles with the last 12 miles at marathon race pace.

Unlike last months MP session, I managed to muster up some companions in the shape of Matt and Dan from the club. Unfortunately Dan was not really feeling he had the fitness for this session (though he is a relatively high mileage runner, he’s not training for a marathon right now), and dropped back 3 miles into the fast portion of the run.

The venue for the session was once again Bushy Park, it’s simply ideal for this kind of session. The wind was blowing again, though it was not nearly as bad as last time.

Long story short, with the help of company and improving fitness I managed to maintain a much more even pace, averaging 6:18 (just 3 seconds off goal race pace). Looking pretty good, I think I should be able to trim those remaining seconds off the pace in the next MP session in week 5.

See you next week!

Week 10 summary

Mon – 6 miles easy (7:02m/m)
Tue – AM 4 miles easy (7:03m/m), PM 8 miles easy (7:00m/m)
Wed – 12.2 miles with 6 miles tempo @ 6:00m/m  (6:52m/m average)
Thu –  15 miles medium long (7:19m/m)
Fri – 6.2 miles recovery run  (8:14m/m)
Sat – 5.6 miles cross country race (5:57m/m)
Sun – 22 miles long run (7:40m/m)

Total – 81 miles

A good week, hitting some solid paces in my easy runs, a pleasing tempo run, successful cross country race and my longest long run in the build up so far 🙂

I went into the week feeling surprisingly good, which was a relief after the horrendous 20 mile slush run the previous Sunday. Kicked off with a simple easy run, I had a double in the schedule for Monday but was unable to get out at lunchtime due to meetings. Tuesday was clearer so slotted the easy 4 mile lunchtime run in then, a nice plod round a muddy Wormwood Scrubs. Clocked up another 8 in the evening, ran this without looking at my watch once (it was hidden under many layers) and just ran it as I felt which turned out to be 7 minute miling.

Wednesday was the day I was really looking forward to, a 6 mile tempo sandwiched in an overall 12 mile run. Last weeks 5 mile tempo at 6:08 felt quite pedestrian so I was keen to see if I could hold a slightly quicker pace. This session was run solo, and I was happy to complete the 6 miles in 36 minutes dead, 6 minute miling pace. Very pleased with that, feels like all those cross country races have paid off somewhat.

Thursdays medium long run was started at a gentle pace as my legs were a little stiff from the tempo session, but they loosened up nicely and I picked things up to finish with an average of 7:19m/m. These mid week medium long runs are certainly getting easier, and my legs are generally soaking up the mileage quite nicely at the moment.

Friday was a super slow recovery run with Matt, discussing tactics for Saturdays race – the final fixture in the 2011/12 Met League season. This race was very important for the club, we had been sat at the top of the second division for the entire season (just ahead of local rivals Thames Valley Harriers), and were keen to both win the division and gain promotion. Luckily this was on home territory, the historic cross country venue of Horsenden Hill just across the A40 from our HQ at the Perivale track.

We turned out a strong mens field of 24, and everyone ran very well to secure 2nd place which was enough to get promotion as division champions 🙂 I had a so-so race, my legs were a bit too tired from the training to pull a really strong effort out of the bag, but I did my bit and placed 78th which isn’t too far from where I’d expect given the relatively small numbers present.

Sunday was (of course) a long run, and I wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of that, not even XC the day before. A soak in a hot bath on Saturday night and my legs felt as good as new.

Matt and Dan (my usual long run club cronies) weren’t up for 22 miles. so did a 6 mile loop then met up with them for the remaining 16. This worked out really well as I simply forgot about the initial 6 miles and tricked myself into thinking it was actually a much shorter run.  Paced it progressively, which is how I like to treat all long runs if I can, with the final 3 miles at around 7m/m. Overall this was a total breeze compared to the horror run of slush last week!

In summary, a good week with all the key sessions completed at or above satisfactory levels 🙂

Week 11 summary

Mon – Rest
Tue – 7.2 miles recovery (7:21m/m)
Wed – 11 miles with 5 miles tempo @ 6:08m/m  (6:58m/m average)
Thu –  15 miles medium long (7:22m/m)
Fri – 13 miles medium long (7:32m/m)
Sat – 6 miles easy (7:20m/m)
Sun – 20 miles long run (7:55m/m)

Total – 72.5 miles

The start of this week was marred by a mystery illness that kept me off work and wiped out Mondays planned double (4 and 6 miles) altogether. It’s hard to describe what was wrong, but it felt like bad heartburn/indigestion and it wasn’t until Thursday that I felt mostly better. The week was also characterised by a spate of very cold weather, easterly winds bringing freezing air in from the continent (where they’ve been having it even worse).

After Mondays day under the duvet, I had to re-jig the schedule a bit. I was due to do 2 medium long runs and a tempo run during the week with some easier days in between, but I had to move the medium long efforts to Thursday and Friday, leaving me with a shorter 7 miles on Tuesday and the tempo run in it’s original place on Wednesday.

Pleasingly the tempo run went well, the pace was consistent and felt comfortable which indicates I could dial it up a few notches next time. I started the session with Matt, but he dropped out at mile 4 with a hamstring problem.

The back to back 15 and 13 mile medium long runs were dull but I got them done.

On Saturday night it snowed, and I woke up to a good 3 or 4 inches of the white stuff. I normally love running in the snow, so headed out looking forward to a nice 20 miles along the canal, river and Richmond Park. However, it did not go quite as planned. The temperature had risen a few degrees above freezing by the time I left at around 10, and the snow had turned into a slippy, slushy, wet nightmare. The resulting long run was tough going, and the pace dropped significantly from where it would normally be. But you know what, these are runs that build strength and mental toughness, it’s all good!

Preparation for Marathon training and racing seminar

On Saturday I headed over to the Endurance Performance And Coaching Centre at St Mary’s college in Teddington for a seminar on Marathon training and racing.

There was an impressive list of speakers lined up including Hugh Brasher (London Marathon race director and Sweatshop CEO), Eamonn Martin (London Marathon Winner 1993), Scott Overall, Jo Pavey and Gavin Pavey. Unfortunately Brasher and the Paveys couldn’t make it, but Eamonn Martin and Scott Overall gave some fascinating insights into marathon running.

Eamonn Martin's PBs

A very successful track runner, Eamonn Martin didn’t run a marathon until he was 34, winning the 1993 London Marathon in 2:10:50. Incidentally, he was the last British man to win the London Marathon.

Eamonn gave a very detailed run through his preparation for the marathon, which was very reflective of his track running past. Of course he gave great emphasis on the long run, but would also run 3 speed sessions a week and never ran at marathon race pace at all during training. The latter surprised me, as race pace sessions are prominent in most current training philosophies, but hey, he ran his first ever marathon in 2:10 so who the hell am I to argue!

Eamonn's typical marathon training week

Over lunch I chatted to some of the other attendees, including a man who came second in the Himilayan 100, and a lady seeking an Olympic marathon qualifying  time for her country. Feeling a little out of my depth I headed back over to the lecture theatre for the Q&A with Scott Overall.

Scott was the talk of the Athletics community recently when he debuted at the Berlin marathon in an excellent 2:10:55. Scott was so laid back he was practically horizontal, but host Neville Taylor coaxed some interesting details out of him.

Scott Overall and Neville Taylor

The main lessons learnt here were: mentally converting KM to Mile splits while running at 2:10 pace is difficult, Masters degrees are easier in the USA than the UK, and some people just exude self confidence and relaxation.

All in all, this was a great seminar and I thoroughly enjoyed. I understand that this is one of a series of public events, so I’ll be keeping an eye out for more.