David Carlin – VLM Blog No.5 – Target time 3:59:59
Four weeks not two!! Sorry I’ve been out…running or cross training when I can!
Week 10 – 31.1 miles 🏃♂️ 18th March – 24th March
A busy week at work means I don’t get to run until Thursday!! A 3 mile route home is extended to 10.6 miles and takes in running with Grange Primary School staff as they are gearing up from 0-5k. Then the weekend appears out of nowhere and its time to run Angela’s 3 park run parks 20 miler on Sunday. I arrive at 9am to find a group of around 40 Eagles running off on various distances from 6 miles (I think) to 20. It was great to be with such a big group of Eagles, it gave you time to run alongside lots of Eagles and have a chat and hear which marathons or half marathons they were training for and how their plans were developing.
My Marathon training pace is set at 10 minute miles and I finish the 20 miles with an average of 10.03. Job well done!! This was my first drop in weekly mileage for some weeks, however, taking into account a fast half last week and finishing a 20 mile run in reasonably good shape …I am happy man!
Week 11 – 30.6 miles 🏃♂️ 25th March – 31st March
My strategy is now to run two shortish runs in the week and keep my legs ready for the long weekend run! A slowish club run on Monday to get the legs moving after the 20 the day before followed by some short sprints on Thursday lead me into the weekend.
I leave home on Saturday at 6:10 am and Trisha, Darren and I head out to Canary Wharf to run from 7:20am. The planned last 11 miles of the VLM course takes 12 miles, due to the fact we got lost in Canary Wharf! However, we run a steady 10 minute mile pace and now have the last part of the course in our heads. We paused at the actual mile 23.5 distance to take stock of the VLM day when we will find 100+ Eagles here waiting to cheer us on! Goosebumps time! I have been here supporting our club runners for the past three years and it was quite emotional knowing what this means to our club members on the day and this year I’ll be on the receiving end of your cheering and high fives. ☺ We finish at The Mall (see photo below) and meet Terena has tubed out to support us all back home.
The run from The Mall to home stopped in Chiswick due to the extra mile at the start! Sunday is a a short 3 mile run to shake out the legs!
Week 12 – 37.3 miles 🏃♂️1st April – 7th April
An idea enters my brain, due to not being able to make any track training, I’ll use the short runs to build a little speed work! I have a steady Monday to move from 10 to 9.5 minute miles to and from club run gave me 6.5 miles at a slightly faster pace. Another similar effort on Wednesday. Last weekend ahead for a 20 miler with Trisha! This was a painful run, not only having to talk to Trisha for 20 miles! 😂 but we both found the going tough from mile 1 to mile 20! We ran to Putney Bridge and back. We both felt that we would had stopped between 6 and 10 miles if we were running this alone. The power of running with an Eagle showed how much the club does support you, whether a 5k or marathon, the club is both inclusive and supportive. 🦅🦅
On Sunday a 5 mile run with the wives resets my Saturday blues ‘I cant do this!’ and I’m left reflecting on 6 weeks of nigh on 5 x 20 milers and a fast half marathon! I feel this has been my best training schedule but I’ll have to wait to see what Sunday 28th at 10:10 am brings!
Week 13 – 23.9 miles 🏃♂️ 8th April to 14th April
Tapering (reduction in weekly miles) starts and it feels really odd not running so far on each run! Club run 4.65 miles at av 8:40 gives me a good speed workout and followed by the same on Wednesday. Wednesday was a grumpy old men club run as I start off with Jurek, David Bone, John, Ranjan, Baljit and myself. We are all motoring along, chatting about the good olde days and soon we are back at Ealing Green. 2 x runs at 8:40 felt very quick after so many weeks at 10 minute miles. Thursday I do a short speed session and I feel I’ve crammed 16 weeks speed work into one week! Maybe not my best idea but I’m pleased I had an idea!!
Sunday is Club Champs at the Towpath 10. A concoction of Eagles started out at 10 minute miles which over the 10 miles reduced in number with most moving faster at certain points along the way. We seemed to have as many supporting and taking photos as runners. But c85 Eagles out of a filed of c580 was a very good turn out for the club with numerous PBs and high placed Eagles in the event itself. I was back to 10 minute miles and finished on an average of 9:48.
The marathon fever is growing with the club feeding back results from Manchester, Paris and Brighton this week and Manchester the week before. It feels like London is now looming and of course it would be as its now only 2 weeks away!!
Now two weeks of low activity running wise, I hope to be cross training though and resting and resting and resting…for the next 2 weeks!
I’ll try and make some mental notes of the VLM day and how the run goes but what I do know is that if I make it to the mile 23 support team…I’ll be a happy Eagle and may spend a little time there for a photo or two! 🏃♂️👑🦅
David Carlin 🏃♂️🍊🦅