Week 4 – 24.3 miles 🏃♂️ 4th Feb – 10th Feb
The weeks running started with Monday nights Long Club Run at Marathon Training Pace
(MTP). For me, looking at a marathon personal best of 3:59:59, this means my MTP should be 10:08 per mile or 6:18 per Km. My race pace will be a minute a mile faster or 37 seconds faster per Km on the day.
My plan has about 85% of the allotted miles per week at MTP, 10% at Marathon pace (MP) or slightly faster and 5% hills. If time becomes a precious commodity the MP and/or hills will be wrapped up into my long runs.
Volunteering with the 0-5k beginners group is a sure way to run slower and get a few easier miles in, then straight into LCR. Also, as the beginners group run longer intervals, this increases my mileage a bit, every mile counts when you’re training!! So 3.2 miles with beginners then 4.9 on LCR. Running and chatting to Eagles about both their running and my own is a great way to run but forget the miles are adding up! Tail running is also a great method to run miles and keeping the pace down. To often we go into auto pilot and run at our natural pace. Whatever race your looking to take part in, tailing a SCR/LCR is a good way of reducing the risk of injury and spending a longer time on your legs than maybe you normally would over the same distance, then when running on race day at race pace will benefit you. Tail runner sales pitch over!! ☺
My faster miles this week were with the incredible David Bone! Returning to running from a horrible knee injury incurred whilst jumping from the 100 metre ski slope! Oh … not quite right! by jumping 2 inches high and demonstrating how to land in snow on skis! ☹ I joined David for Gunnersbury Park run, we had a good catch up and talked like Les Dawson and Roy Barraclough (see photo below) and the pace was a very respectable 8:23 per mile (26.20 park run). Weekends are now back to back runs for me, which was a training plan thing for my ultra in April 2018. Running on a Sunday with tired legs at MTP improved my stamina over long distances. Sundays run along the Thames was beautiful. I was met by great weather, views and was passed by many Eagles at Richmond Weir. Ken Kenny had been involved in a accident en route with a bicycle, thank fully he was ok! A small step up in miles this week from last week and my focus on my plan has been good!!
Week 5 – 28.6 miles 🏃♂️ 11th Feb – 17th Feb
A four mile increase this week so heading in the right direction! It was a hard week as my back still isn’t 100%. The week was similar to last week, including running on Saturday with David Bone, followed an additional park run on my own to make up the 6 mile planned distance. This weeks hard run was Sundays 10 miler, after 6 on my double Park run on Saturday. I ran 4.5 solo and met the running wives at Kew for a sunny 6 miles along from Kew to Dukes meadows and back. My back was becoming a little sore towards the end! Some training runs will feel hard when you train for a marathon, so I’ve been reflecting on my Ultra training plan where I was running 10 hours a week at my training peak (60 miles a week). Its just a case of believing in the plan and preparing your mind for the inevitable hard run that will pop up now an again. Even on a good run there maybe a hard mile/Km, so you I mentally prepare for them and welcome them in my head and as you go through the next mile/km wave the pain good bye and focus on the next segment of my run.
My reflection point of the week is that in my plan, but not mentioned thus far, are my twice weekly Core stretching session at home. I find that being the most un-supple man in the world means that an hour of stretches equals my body feels beaten up! My upper body seems to be coping but my back and glutes feel differently! I usually stretch on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I have decided that I’ll move them back a day so I’ll have the extra day to recover before the weekend longer runs. Hopefully this will help, together with another physio appointment and an Abiyoga session! Could be an interesting photo in my next update! I may have managed to get my hands past my knees on a stretch!
It’s also been great to see Hayley and Angela out and about running. I looks like your running is going well, just Massimo to catch up with! I know lots of Eagles are also out there training for their marathons all other the UK and abroad…keep believing, use the club members to support your runs and listen to your body as your mileage creeps up!
David Carlin 🏃♂️🍊🦅
