7 Weeks to Go - Chocolate

The sun came out for my run this morning and my legs needed this short cross country to wake them up.  Yesterday afternoon my knees had been very stiff - walking downstairs and sitting down had been particularly painful.  I think the ache was from Thursday's run rather than the long run.  This appears to be the muscles I'm using for speedwork and is related to my knee issues.  I'll keep up my stretching to see if that helps.
The total mileage for this week was 45 miles.

Chocolate Tower Bridge

I've previously mentioned using cakes and treats as an incentive to myself to run.  I'm usually pretty good at staying off the sweet stuff but even I couldn't resist today with a visit to Cadbury World.  Even there though I was reminded of the marathon! 
The schedule for this coming week is:
Monday - REST
Tuesday - 15min ER, 5min IR with 60sec recovery x 6, 15min ER
Wednesday - 50min ER
Thursday - 15min ER, 10min TR x3, 10min Marathon Pace, 15min ER
Friday - REST
Saturday - 22 miles
Sunday - 60min SR


The actual schedule only has a 20 mile run on Saturday but before starting this, I sent a copy to my uncle (an experienced marathon runner) for his advice.  He recommended adding another 2 miles this week, so we included at least two 20 + milers in our training.  Sunday's run might be shorter to compensate for this, although I am finding the Sunday runs good for easing the muscles back to life!

Running in the Rain

We've not had much luck with the weather on our long runs lately and today's started off wet again.  However it was a very different type of rain to last week's downpour.  Today's rain was just the right type for a run - not too cold either so the rain kept you nicely refreshed.
Three of us started out on the 18 mile route but only 2 of us finished it!  Tina, who is well known for her sense of direction, or rather lack of it, decided to do 3 laps rather than follow the route.  She actually did 18.7miles doing that so well done to her.
That left Sylvia and myself on the traditional route.  As per plan we started out with the intention of running 10 miles at marathon pace.  My splits for those miles were: 9:31, 9:48, 9:43, 9:43, 9:15, 9:29, 9:18, 9:48, 9:25 and 9:19.  It was quite an undulating route with a big hill at mile 7 to 8, which took me a while to get back to pace after getting up it.  I'd taken my gel at 6.5 miles, practising taking it on the move.
The rain started to ease off and my original plan had been to take the next 8 miles slower.  Running with Sylvia though we got into a comfortable pace so kept going at that.  I took my second gel at mile 14, which I was glad of 2 miles later.  The final splits were: 9:38, 9:26, 9:32, 9:48, 10:00, 9:59 and 10:11.  We finished the run in 2 hours 54 minutes.
I'd started to feel it in my legs before we finished running.  I walked home and could feel my muscles stiffening up.  After stretching, I ran a cold bath and tried to sit in that - not that I managed very long!  Coming downstairs after my shower, my legs were very stiff.  I have very stiff kneecaps which don't move as they should, meaning the muscles around it have to work harder.  And they let me know that this afternoon!  
By now it was a lovely sunny day, so after lunch I took the dog out for a walk.  Much as its tempting to stay on the sofa after a long run, a walk can help muscle recovery and gets muscles use to having to work when they're tired.  Also its hard to relax when the dog is nagging you for its walk!  Now that's done, I can put my feet up in front of the rugby.

Hectic Holidays

How come its even harder to fit in my runs during the school holidays?  We had friends staying for the first part of this week, so I got up early to ensure Tuesday's session could be done without impacting on our plans for the day.  As I didn't go to the track my interval times were slower than they have been, but were consistent at about 8m/m.  We then headed off for a walk which included a big hill climb.  The kids and dog scampered off leaving the adults to drag themselves up behind.  All good for for making tired legs work again!
I was coaching a 5 mile run on Wednesday night, which had a steady hill up and a nice long down.  My Garmin was playing up a bit but I don't think the pace could be classed as an easy one.  I had to get up early again to fit my Thursday run in before my husband left for his golf day.  Running back to back sessions at this stage is not good news!  Still, it was a gorgeous morning and I wasn't too slow - within the zone although slower than previous threshold sessions.  Apart from Wednesday's club run, I was running on my own.  I'm not sure if that impacted my speed - maybe I'm more competitive than I thought I was.
I had a few aches this week - mainly my left hip and knees.  My toes were also a bit sore after Thursday's run.  I do get sore toes and wear socks with thicker toe bits to protect them as much as possible.  I'll need to book a chiropodist appointment as soon as possible - that tends to sort them out for a while.  
The lovely weather inspired me to get out into the garden and tidy things up a bit.  When I got out of bed this morning, my lower thighs were really stiff - not sure if that's down to the running or the gardening!

8 Weeks to Go - Halfway There

Started the day with a very muddy 40 minute cross country run, with the dog for company. I think I actually tired her out!
It feels good to be half way through training but also a bit scary knowing what's to come. This last week's 41 miles will be the norm as we enter 'monster month'.
The plan for the coming week is:
Monday - REST
Tuesday - 15min ER,3min IR with 90sec recovery repeated 8 times, 15min ER
Wednesday - 40mins ER
Thursday - 15min ER, 15min TR with 2min recovery repeated 4 times, 15min ER
Friday - REST
Saturday - 18 miles with first 10 at marathon pace
Sunday - 60min steady

Mental Toughness

It's hard to motivate yourself to get up early on a Saturday morning after a long working week.  It's even harder when that Saturday is the first day of the holiday and it's tipping it down with rain.  But get up we did and met at Sarah's parents house for a 16 miles run.
The schedule suggested running the first four miles at marathon pace.  Sylvia and I found ourselves running together, putting the world to rights and completed that section with splits of 9:58; 9:26: 9:34 and 9:33.  We stopped for a gather up just past 6 miles and took our gels at this point.  

Gel Stop

By now the rain was coming down even harder, but we were already soaked through so it didn't make a lot of difference.  We started talking about mental toughness, mainly disagreeing with a professional runner who had given a talk on the topic recently.  He had given up in a race when he realised that he wouldn't win it and therefore make money.  Obviously we're not in that league and are not likely to be, but consider ourselves to have some level of mental toughness.  We classed this as actually going out and running on a morning like this; running extra distance when your mates have stopped (Sarah did an extra mile); carrying on even if it takes you hours to finish a race.  Back runners everywhere - we salute your mental toughness!
We ran together until mile 12, when we stopped for another gel.  My plan at this point was to take my second gel at mile 14.  I usually take them in 7 mile stages so wanted to get into that routine.  Then it was time for our last four miles at marathon pace again.  The first mile counted the bit I walked whilst the others took gels so the time for that was 10:21.  I felt as if I had energy left and just ran, without really looking at my watch.  I was following road signs back so I knew when I'd reached 14 miles but felt okay, so didn't take my gel as I only had 2 miles to go.  The remaining splits were 9:00; 8:41 and 8:56.  I'm extra pleased with these as there were some decent hills in that section too.
The total run took me exactly 2hours 40minutes, which is an average pace of 10min/mile.  We felt very good climbing back in the car to come home, although I'll need to take the dog out for a decent walk later to prevent stiff muscles tomorrow!

Neglect

It's been quite a week so far and I'm so glad it's a rest day tomorrow! 
I had to be away from home for work reasons at the start of the week.  I got home just in time to pick my son up from school, say hello to my husband, then I was out of the door for Tuesday night's session.
We covered just over 10 miles that night and did a little more speed work than necessary as we had to get the car out of the car park before our time expired!  Perhaps we should try using that strategy at races as it did produce a fantasic sprint finish.
Yesterday was another night where I vaguely saw the family before disappearing off to the club.  We ran a nice four mile with a good hill so got to stretch the hamstrings again after Hell in the Middle.  There was a coaching meeting after the run last night and I got home at about 10:30.  As I had an early meeting this morning, I slept badly as I hadn't managed to fully prepare for it last night, so felt like death warmed up when we set off for today's speed session.
We decided not to go to the track but to do it on the local roads and we were impressed by the distance we covered in the session.  Another 7 miles done, making a total of 21 so far this week. 
I haven't had time to do any food shopping yet this week.  Luckily its amazing what lurks in my freezer which can be added to pasta/potatoes to make a meal!  As the family have been through this once, they know there is light at the end of the tunnel.  Things will be back to normal soon .... until the next race training starts!

9 Weeks to Go

Just a correction on yesterday's post - I've found out the Hell route was eleven miles not ten.  Don't my hamstrings know it!

The schedule for this week is:

Monday - REST
Tuesday - 15mins ER, 20mins TR with 2min recovery repeated 3 times, 15mins ER
Wednesday - 40mins ER
Thursday - 15mins ER, 5mins fast with 2 min recovery repeated 6 times, 15mins ER
Friday - REST
Saturday - 16 miles - first 4 at Marathon Pace (MP), 8 slower 4 at MP
Sunday - 40mins ER

Extreme Sport 2: The Hills of Hell

A race isn't called Hellrunner if it's going to be a nice little trot through the forest and I knew we were under-trained for the terrain but even so - HOW HARD WAS THAT?!!
It started off quite well, although a rogue metal loop poking out of the mud almost took me out just past the start.  The first mile was undulating forest tracks but nothing too stretching.  Then we hit the first series of hills.  My strategy on hills is to keep going even if I'd be quicker walking (as my son shouts "that's not running Mum!").  If I have to stop, I've had it.  The nature of the tracks meant they weren't wide enough to overtake people.  Starting in the traditional Washlands position of at the back, we got stuck behind people walking up the hills.  This was not only frustrating but meant we got cold too, despite the mild conditions.
By approximately mile 4 (no mile markers) I was actually feeling quite fed up.  I'm usually a very positive runner who can motivate myself quite easily to get over down patches.  However I kept thinking all the walking was a waste of effort and I should have just been out on a 14 mile training run instead.  Going at a slower pace also tires you out as you can't get into your stride.  I knew I was only about 4 miles in yet felt shattered.  At that point I was doubting my ability to finish a marathon, let alone at an improved time.
Luckily, it was at that point we hit the first water obstacle, which really cheered me up.  It's strange how throwing yourself into freezing water actually makes you feel better but it does.  After all, it only feels cold for the first few seconds before you lose all sensation!  There's something very childish and rebellious about it - you know you shouldn't do it but it's fun!  Ruth had a bit of a bad patch here and we had the help of a valiant stranger (Runner 6161 - thank you!) to help her through.  

An easy hill towards the end

The long hills were very tiring but at least there was space now to go at your own pace.  The woodland boggy bits in the valley were lovely and I enjoyed running up the small stream, and clambering up the steep banks to get out.  The Bog of Doom was stinky but not too long, with some nice music there to keep us going and the Quarry challenge was a nice bit of variety at the end.  Karen had a sudden burst of energy about 1000m out.  We couldn't let her leave us behind so we ended up with a sprint finish over the muddiest finish line I've ever seen!
As you can probably guess, Hell in the Middle wont go down as one of my favourite races.  The main reason is that there was no support around the course.  We had got some spectators with us but there was no map of the course, so no-one ventured out onto it.  A bit of support would have made a lot of difference.
Also, from a race organiser viewpoint, I didn't feel there were sufficient marshals out on the course.  We passed one woman on the ground being tended to by another runner and asked her if she had help coming.  She replied that she thought so, and luckily we met a bike marshall at that point.  In the Bog of Doom, where tired runners could get into trouble, there was one marshall who stationed herself on the other side of the hillock to warn runners what was coming up.  There was no-one on the other side to check people got out safely. The same applied to the first water, where one marshall was stationed. 
It's one to tick off the list but not to repeat I think.

The Little Devils did amazingly well with Jamie leading the pack home - well done to all of you!
This morning my hamstrings were a bit sore after the hills.  The schedule set out a 10 minute run for this morning which we had a bit of debate about.  Some were up for trying to make up the miles 'lost' by doing Hell (10miles instead of the scheduled 14) but we decided time on your feet counted and we were out there for 2hours 50 minutes.  So it was a quick run round the block before breakfast and feet up for the rest of the day!

Competition

I feel almost guilty writing this but this week has been a very easy week, even if it did see me down at the track twice!

The mileage has dropped right down, although the two speed sessions were at a faster pace than we've been covering so far.  I enjoyed those sessions, probably because they weren't Yasso's!  Yasso's are repetitions of 800m fast with 400m recoveries - the club schedule starts at 2 reps and builds up to 10.  If you keep each rep steady, the idea is that your time in minutes will be your marathon time in hours (e.g. average 4mins per 800m equals a 4 hour marathon).  Going round the track for up to 8 miles is very boring though!
Our Tuesday session had us running reps of 3 minutes long, which gave us a place marker on the track to aim for each time.  Yesterday we did one minute bursts of speed (sub 7min mile pace!) with one minute recoveries.  I am enjoying the variety of this schedule as it stops you thinking "on no, it's Tuesday so it's that session".
I was one of the coaches at the club on Wednesday on the hills run.  We introduced a bit of competition by having everyone chase each other up the hill.  Sarah was crowned Queen of the Hills as no-one could catch her over 6 reps!  I always say I'm not competitive and that my aim is always a personal best, but someone once told me that had not to be true or I wouldn't keep pushing.  I have to admit my half marathon p.b. came when a colleague entered the same race and I didn't want to look rubbish compared to him (I beat him!).  I am aware of where I should sit in the finishing list at races and am driven to make sure I maintain my 'place'.  We do get satisfaction from finishing above our usual pecking order - I don't think Sarah will ever let Tina and Pam forget Suicide Six!  When it comes to London though, I'll definitely only be racing against the clock.

10 Weeks to go

As nice as last night's curry was, I don't think it was an ideal pre-run meal despite the rice and extra nan bread.  Luckily this morning's outing was a 50 minute easy pace run, so we enjoyed a couple of laps around the local forestry centre tracks.  Some bits were very muddy which hopefully will count as good training for next weekend's Hell in the Middle Race.  I feel a little ill-prepared for that.  I entered before getting a marathon place and usually would have been cross country running on Saturday's long runs in preparation.  However the marathon is the priority and Hell is just a bit of 'fun'.  It can't be worst than Tough Guy and I survived that!


This next week, the schedule is:
Monday - REST
Tuesday - 15min ER, 3min Interval Run (IR) with 90sec recovery repeated 5 times, 15min ER
Wednesday - 40min ER (although I'm coaching a hill session)
Thursday - 10min ER, 1min IR with 1min recovery repeated 8 times, 10min ER
Friday - REST
Saturday - 14 miles but we're doing 11-ish miles cross country Hell in the Middle
Sunday - 10min ER


Interval pace for us is between 7:50min/mile and 8:22min/mile

Weather

Aside from the icy start to training, we've been very lucky with the weather so far this year.  Our luck changed this morning and we got up to a very windy morning. The forecast suggested winds of 20mph, with gusts of 30mph.  All good training for those miles round Canary Wharf on the actual day!
Our schedule had us dropping back down to a 12 miler on the long weekend run,  as consolidation and due to the increase in speedwork during the week.  So that it wasn't too easy for us, we decided to do a nice hilly route we'd first covered last year.  Some of the group are in their 9th year of marathon training so were getting a bit bored of the routes set out and measured by the club.  Last year we each took responsibility for finding a new route, measuring it and writing out directions.  We started from different villages in the area and covered new ground, making it much more interesting (and you didn't know where the tough bits were coming!). 

This route was prepared by Katie, one of our fastest marathon runners, who is currently training for the Paris Marathon on April 10th.  She puts her success down to hilly runs.
Why do we want to practise hills when the London Marathon is flat?  Because anything that will make London seem easier is welcomed!  It's also actually quite hard to find a flat route round here - as we found out when trying to plan our 8 mile speed session for Thursday!

By the time we'd got to the six mile point, the wind was slightly less brutal but the rain had started.  We do have to train in all weather, as we don't know what it will be like on the 17th April.
The final four miles were a gradual climb back to Katie's house.  I was imagining Tower Bridge (my favourite part of the marathon) to get me up the hills and managed the last 3 miles in sub-10min/miles.  

The water tower seemed to come into view a lot sooner than I expected and we were back to finish in just over 2hours.  Average pace 10:14min/miles which I'm pretty pleased with considering the inclines!  

We're trying to be much better this year at our post run cool down.  We walk a little bit after finishing the run, rather than stopping and jumping straight back into the car to go home.  We've also been much better at stretching too, which will hopefully help to ensure we stay injury free.
Tomorrow we're off road again for a leisurely 50 minutes and hopefully we'll be checking out a possible fundraising option.

Extreme Sports: One Legged Ironing

Three runs down this week and we've already covered 20 miles!  Seeing the Tuesday and Thursday sessions split into 15 minute or less 'blocks' rather than as 7 and 8 mile runs helped psychologically. I do tend to split longer runs into sections of about 7 miles in my mind, as that makes it seem less daunting.
I'm at the stage now where any aches or stiffness start to worry me and I head to the internet for a diagnosis.  My outer calves were tight on Wednesday during the day (before the evening run) and felt the same yesterday morning.  I don't have any aches whilst running and they feel okay today.  I'm covering a lot of miles now so some aches are bound to crop up but I want to try to ensure they don't develop into anything more serious than general tiredness aches.
If I'd sat down yesterday afternoon, I would have been asleep immediately.  Luckily I had lots of other jobs to get on with.  That's not to say I can't exercise whilst doing the housework!  One way to improve your long distance running is to strengthen your core (your body minus the arms and legs).  Having a strong core improves your running technique and helps you run more efficiently.  One of the ways to strengthen your core is to work on balance.  I do this whilst ironing, by balancing on one leg and changing legs on each item of clothing. Balancing on one leg with your eyes closed is even better, but I can't manage the ironing then!

New Trainers!

The sun came out this afternoon and I really enjoyed my run, despite it being a speed session.  My pace averaged 9min/mile in both threshold sections, which is good in terms of the pace we're aiming for and in keeping it steady.  It did depress me a bit that four years ago I could comfortably finish an undulating half marathon running 9minute miles and now that's a threshold pace.  Have I just got lazy over the last few years?
Another excitement today was getting a new pair of trainers.  I do buy new pairs fairly regularly (as my husband found out when he decided to clear the garage - cue cries of "how many pairs of trainers do you need?").  However, my Garmin says I've covered about 650 miles in the last 12 months and that wasn't even a marathon year, so important to keep the kit up to scratch I feel.                           
As I do have a few pairs to choose from, despite running 5 times a week I'm able to ensure I don't wear the same pair two days running.  Most of my trainers are the same make and style, which may have slightly changed as the manufacturer "upgrades" them.  I also have a different pair for cross country running.  I confess to being a shoe addict and that addiction is carried through into my running!

I've gone for the same pair of road trainers I had last time -Asics Gel Cumulus 12 - in last season's colours as that knocked £30 off the price.  The colour won't help the way I run and I happen to like purple!  
I'll now break these in by wearing them over shorter runs, such as tomorrow night's 50 minute one, over a couple of weeks.  If I don't have any problems with them, I'll start running the long Saturday runs in them by the time we're up to 16 or 18 miles.