Terena writes:
(warning: skip the first paragraph if you’re not keen on foot talk!)
So, I’ve looked after the 2018 knee injury (Bournemouth Marathon) by not increasing my miles too quickly. Stretched and exercised my hamstrings and gone easy on track to keep them happy to avoid a repeat of Manchester Marathon in 2020. Strengthened my glutes and core to protect my grumbling left hip. So why did I not litigate against the potential of an injury to my right, index toe? I simply didn’t think of it - my bad! I’m waiting for an appointment to see a podiatrist next week. I have no idea what I’ve done to it – it just decided to swell up the day before my 18-miler and has stayed that way ever since! Initially, it was more of an annoyance as my toe wasn’t painful as such, just a bit uncomfortable, but now it is starting to be quite an issue and is quite sore, so I want to get it looked at ASAP. Don’t worry, there is no photo of my foot – that would be taking it too far!
Anyway, back to the training. At the end of my last blog, I mentioned that the following two weeks were to include my longest planned run of 20 miles. That was completely inaccurate! This last two weeks I completed an 18-mile-long run and then the week just gone was a de-load week, so my long run was kept to 13 miles. The 20-miler comes Easter Weekend!
For my 18-miler, we headed out on the marathon route for the first time. Pretty much the only part of the London Marathon route that I am familiar with, is the 100m each way I can see from Mile 23! Every year, since joining the Eagles, I’ve been there cheering on my fellow club members and have never really thought about the other 26.1 miles! I’m so glad I did it! It was challenging getting up at 4:45 but entirely necessary if we were to have any hope of running on reasonably pedestrian-free pavements!
Started from Tower Hill and ran out to Canary Wharf – what is with the satellites? Strava gave me a mile record of 7:04 min/mile which clearly, I did not run!! And here’s another thing – I had no idea that the route did a loop of The Isle of Dogs! Also didn’t realise that the London route managed to find some less-than-picturesque roads to run down! I particularly enjoyed the aroma lingering around Billingsgate Market! I’m hoping the market isn’t open on a Sunday – although I suspect the essence of seafood may be rather a permanent one! It was great to run past Mile 23 and David showed me where I need to get up onto the pavement so that I don’t have to try to climb a ridiculous curb near where the Eagles are! Once we reached Big Ben, and it was still only about 9:30 by this stage, it was completely impossible to run up through Parliament Square as it was rammed with tourists! Buckingham Palace brought a unique challenge of 7 massive pelican’s occupying the pavement (see picture)! Who knows why they were there! There were so many photos to be taken as it was such a beautiful day, and with autopause turned off my average mile pace took a hit. With adjustment, I was keeping reasonably consistent at 10:45 min/mile pace which is my marathon pace – so very happy with that.
But I am getting more and more tired each week and as school approaches the end of the Spring Term, I’m feeling a bit worn out! De-load week was a welcome, and my mileage dropped down with just a 13-mile run this weekend just gone. It was lovely seeing lots of Eagles running the other way to me as they took on the Queen of the Suburbs 25K and 50K events! Unfortunately, maybe because I’m more tired, I managed to trip over a curb I didn’t see round the back of The Watermans Centre. It’s the first fall I’ve had since Green Belt Relay back in 2019! Luckily there was just a couple of grazes, and it could have been a lot worse as I nearly went head-first into a brick wall! But it was a good reminder to keep focused on where you’re putting your feet!
Ahead of me, one more week of increased mileage culminating in a 20-mile run on Easter Weekend then 3 weeks of taper! Of course, that could change depending on the outcome of the toe, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it! Only one more blog before the marathon itself, which makes it feel very close!
Stay safe and run happy as always!