This is a blog recording my training toward running a marathon following two years of injury.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Tuesday and Wednesday
Tuesday - 4.5 miles recovery run.
Wednesday - This evening I went for a steady/tempo run of 8 miles. I set off at a 7:40 pace and ran each mile pretty close to that pace (and which is the pace I would ideally do in next month's half marathon). I'm pretty confident I had 10 or 11 miles at 7:40 in the tank this evening if I had decided to keep going, but 13.1? I'm not so sure, but I'll find out on 3 September when I run in the Glasgow Half Marathon.
1- 7:37 2 - 7:38 3 - 7:40 4 - 7:38 5 - 7:42 6 - 7:39 7 - 7:41 8 - 7:24 1:01:03 at 7:38 average pace
The 7:xx's felt unusually easy. The 6:51 was in no sense of the word easy, but I wanted to dip below 7:00 as I don't think I've done so in a training run before.
Saturday - 5.5 miles easy at 9:20 pace.
Today should have been my 20 miler but I started sniffling and coughing on Saturday afternoon, which continued all evening and into this morning. So I'll put it back until Monday, which is when I've been doing most of my long runs of late anyway. 20 tomorrow will give me 57 for the week which is a new high mileage week by 5 miles or so.
This was a fairly hard run at half marathon pace with a strong wind behind on miles 1-3 and 8, and a strong wind against in the other miles - the last mile was a hard one to prove to myself that there was still a bit to spare. I tried to hit a pace for the first 7 miles which was reasonably fast, but also safely below the red line point at which the lactic would begin to build. There were definitely a few miles at 7:45 pace left in the tank, but another 5.1? I'm not too sure.
I'll decide what to do tomorrow depending on how my legs feel, but I'm due to do a 14 miler (probably at LSR pace) shortly.
Tuesday: ill Wednesday: 8 miles @ 7:56 pace Thursday: 10 miles @ 8:09 pace Friday: 5.5 miles @ 7:58 pace Saturday: 10.5 miles @ 9:18 pace Sunday: rest Monday: 18 (17.9 on the Garmin) miles - 2:43:45/9:08 pace Total: 52 miles
A decent week. 52 miles in 5 sessions, and an 18 miler to boot. I hydrated well for the 18 miler and it wasn't too uncomfortable to end up with. After a few weeks of struggling in the heat I managed to drop my pace back down to 8 minute miles for a couple of steady runs without too much difficulty.
Target for this week is high 50s or low 60s, with a 20 miler.
I binned Tuesday's run because I was feeling unwell. I think I have a minor sinus infection again. When I get this it always seem to spread to my left ear for some reason.
I still wasn't feeling 100% today but went running anyway, and once I was out I felt great - in fact, that was the best I've felt during a run in a couple of weeks at least, and it probably qualifies as one of my most enjoyable runs of the year.
I ran 7 miles at a steady 8 min/mile pace and ran the last mile as a hard effort which ended up at about 7:19 (which wasn't as enjoyable as the first 7 but worth doing ). Even the splits were the most consistent I've produced in a while. Conditions in certain parts of the route were idyllic - gravel path, sea to one side + nature trail to the other, cool, overcast, slightly damp underfoot, calm and no-one else to be seen. After the crazy heat of the last few weeks this was bliss.
If I get my entry shorted out I am due to run the Glasgow half at the beginning of September.
When I ran the Edinburgh half at the end of March my time was 1:47 and comprised 11 miles at 8 min/mile pace before I blew up for the last couple. I'm aiming for about 1:40 in Glasgow which equates to 7:40 pace - I'm rationalising this as ambitous but not impossible. As a confidence booster to go out at this pace I'm planning to try a 13 mile training run at 8 min/mile pace in the middle of August - I figure if I can do that without too much difficulty it is evidence that I've progressed since March (which I am sure I have).
