Weekly Update w/e 25.03.12 - 4wks to VLM12!

Mon - 10.15 miles easy (7:20mm)

Tue - AM 6.23 miles (7:33mm) | PM 5.34 miles (6:40mm) inc. 4x 0.38 miles @ (pace) 5:12 / 5:10 / 4:58 / 4:53
Wed - 10.52 miles (7:19mm)
Thu - 13.75 miles (6:34mm) inc 10 mile Tempo in 62:20 (6:14mm)
Fri - 6 miles easy (7:39mm)
Sat - REST
Sun - Cranleigh 21 - 21.21 miles in 2:16:45 (6:27mm) 6th/500+?

Total mileage – 73.2 miles (6:56mm)

"To boast of a performance which I cannot beat is merely stupid vanity. And if I can beat it that means there is nothing special about it. What has passed is already finished with. What I find more interesting is what is still to come."
Emil Zatopek - Triple Olympic Gold Medallist, 5000m | 10000m | Marathon, Helsinki 1952

I am over the brow of the hill. There is still some important training to do in the next 4 weeks, but the hardest work and the biggest volume is now done with. And that's a good feeling.

This week didn't quite break my weekly mileage record, but it really came down to what state did I want to be in for the race on Sunday. I could have ground out a few more easy miles on Friday or Saturday, but honestly I was pretty wiped out by then from doing 52 miles Mon-Fri. Even as it was, with the easy 6 on Friday and a complete rest day following that, I still felt exhausted late Saturday and took an hour nap to try and feel better. That seemed to work a bit, and with a decent night's sleep I felt much better and much fresher come Sunday morning. That being the case and the conditions being perfect for a good run, I finally made my mind up about how to approach this one. All along, in my programme Cranleigh was scheduled to be just a final steady long run; but I'd been thinking for a while that there was a better twenty in me than that I managed in tough conditions at Thanet. So, this would be the last opportunity to test that theory.

I set off near the front and made sure not to get carried away as a chain of two or three lead groups strung out ahead of me. I went through mile 1 in a controlled 6:31 and then concentrated on managing the pace and reeled off a string of high 6:2Xs, making sure to not go any quicker than that. It's a great course through gently undulating Surrey country lanes and I felt relaxed and strong still as we completed the first 9 mile loop and went back through Cranleigh village centre. I was basically in a group of four now and we were sharing the work as we started the first of two 6 mile laps. I was aware of my quads feeling achey, leftovers from Thursday's tempo run, but it wasn't slowing me down so I pushed on. Through 13-14 miles I naturally drifted off the front of that group to keep my splits under 6:30 and I had a long quiet spell running on my own back to the village to start the final 6 mile loop. Back in the village there was some good roadside support which gave me a real lift and as I swung left to start the final lap I suddenly felt better again. I was naturally finding myself speeding-up a little bit and pyschologically, I knew I only had to follow this route one more time. I knew then I'd be able to hold the pace right through to the end. I was passing people on their first time round the 6-miles now, and getting some really nice cheering-on and support from a lot of them, which I returned every time. I saw a couple of clubmates, one of whom told me I was 6th! I didn't think I could be so high up but it gave me a lift all the same. I had to work pretty hard through miles 19 & 20 to keep on pace but before I knew it I was cruising down the final downhill back towards the start/finish, and across the line. I was tired, but not wasted, and was over the moon with my time.

According to my garmin I went through twenty in 2:09:10 which is an unofficial PB and my 5 mile splits were 32:24, 32:27, 32:13, 32:06. It couldn't have gone better really. And it turns out I was 6th overall, which was way higher than I thought I'd be. Lyndsey had a strong run too, running the distance at marathon PB pace, but not enjoying the final 6-mile lap in the rising heat. Still, just 4 weeks to go now and we're both on track for a good day in the City. I'm looking forward to a final smackdown in Kingston next Sunday, then I'm really looking forward to the taper...

WEEKLY MILEAGE SO FAR: 53, 70, 43, 61, 73, 48, 63, 0, 50, 74, 61, 49, 64, 73

Weekly Update w/e 18.03.12 - 5wks to VLM12

Mon - 10 miles easy (7:20mm)
Tue - 11.62 miles (6:36mm) inc. 15min @ MP | reps 3,4,5,4,3mins | 15min @ MP
Wed - REST
Thu - AM 4.08 miles (7:37mm) / PM 12 miles (6:54mm)
Fri - REST
Sat - Bushy parkrun 17:32 (5:36mm) 10th/808 | 2.98 miles WU/WD
Sun - Datchet Dashers 20 miles (6:41mm) | 0.7 miles WD

Total mileage – 64.5 miles (6:56mm)

"Ask yourself: 'Can I give more?'. The answer is usually: 'Yes'."

Paul Tergat - Kenyan past marathon world-record holder

2 seconds doesn’t sound like a lot to beat a PB by, but honestly I couldn’t be more happy with running 17:32 at Bushy on Saturday. My previous best of 17:34 was set 28 months ago (!) at Brighton Parkrun so it was the oldest of all my PBs. Bettering it feels like breaking through a barrier – I feel confident now that I can take more off that time, especially as Saturday’s run was a really evenly-paced effort too with mile splits of 5:38, 5:40, 5:35. Having the fitness from this marathon campaign gave me the confidence to not try and ‘bank’ time early on, and it paid off. I should have at least one opportunity to get back to Brighton Parkrun before London so it’ll be good to see if I can improve that time further round the (arguably) faster, all-paved course in Hove Park.

But of course it’s not about running a fast 5k right now and I’ve still been putting the work in on the big marathon-specific sessions. Tom and me joined Datchet Dashers, a Windsor-based club, on Sunday for their annual 20-mile training run. It was a good opportunity to tick off another twenty with some company and different scenery, and we quickly settled into a good pace with a lead group of about 7 guys, and a lead bike! Not bad for a ‘training run’! The route was epic, through Windsor Great Park and around Virginia Water lake and the Dashers really looked after us with drink stations, marshalls and even some supporters. We both felt really good and wound up the effort the whole way from 7:00mm at the start to a few 6:20s at the end. It’s a much better training session than I thought we’d come away with and is another big confidence booster for marathon day.

Plan for this coming week is highest mileage of the campaign, so 74+? I’m all set to do it sensibly though; I’ve got Wednesday working from home and then Thursday & Friday off work completely so I can rest properly in-between the double runs and sleep a bit longer in the mornings. I’ve broken in a brand new pair of Asics Nimbus 13s this evening (thanks Sweatshop for not quibbling) so the legs are looked after and I’ll be making sure to keep the easy runs easy. I even did some stretching earlier... Key runs will be another quality (hopefully!) long tempo run on Thursday, and the Cranleigh 21 on Sunday, the final twenty of the schedule. If all goes to plan, I’ll then be cutting back and tapering down the next week so I can hit the Kingston Breakfast Run (16 miles) on Sunday 1st April properly fresh...

WEEKLY MILEAGE SO FAR: 53, 70, 43, 61, 73, 48, 63, 0, 50, 74, 61, 49, 64

Weekly Update w/e 11.03.12 - 6wks to VLM12

Mon - REST
Tue - 7.66 miles (6:54mm)
Wed - 5.95 miles easy (7:18mm)
Thu - 11 miles (6:15mm) inc. 10 mile Tempo in 61:24 (6:08mm)
Fri - 4.14 miles easy (7:18mm)
Sat - 8.7 miles (7:13mm)
Sun - 12.29 miles (7:11mm)

Total mileage – 49.7 miles (6:58mm)

If it wasn't for Thursday's session this week wouldn't really have any redeeming features, even as a cut-back week. But, Thursday's tempo run was an absolute dream, so I can live with only having one quality session in there. I think prior to this the best time I've ever run for 10 miles in training is a high 63:xx so this really was a breakthrough. It was particularly pleasing because I was winding it up the whole way through with the second 5 miles in 30:15 and the final mile in 5:53. It basically points to me being fitter than I've ever been before. I think. Very happy about that. Better try not to stuff it up then.

That's a poignant reminder-to-self to keep the training sensible as it was actually this weekend last year that I did the 26-mile 'training run' that put the finishing touches to an injury that put me out for 8 weeks. No such misfortunate this weekend thankfully, although my long run did end up as a pitiful 12 miler rather than the intended 16. Don't know what was wrong really, other than I had almost no energy and I hate my new trainers. Asics seem to have created a top of the range lightweight, cushioning shoe (Excel-33s) which feels too hard to be a high-mileage shoe but that aren't light enough to really feel fast either. And I paid a ton for the privilege. I was angry about it for the whole run today, another contributing factor to deciding to chuck it in without suffering the final 4 miles. Will be interesting to see just how 'no-quibble' Sweatshop's 30-day exchange policy really is.

PS - if you don't really care about running shoes, sorry about that last bit. Just be glad you didn't have to suffer that rant in glorious technicolor like Lyndsey did... : )

Anyway, I'm still up-beat, and looking forward to just 4 more weeks of 'proper' training. That's long enough to carve out a little more fitness so I'm looking to run reasonably high-mileage still for 3 of those 4 weeks, with the exception being a proper mini-taper week for the Kingston Breakfast Run (16 miles) on 1st April.
And next Saturday we have the 3rd trophy race of 2012 with our running club, at Bushy parkrun, so it'd be nice to post a decent 5k time there.

WEEKLY MILEAGE SO FAR: 53, 70, 43, 61, 73, 48, 63, 0, 50, 74, 61, 49

Weekly Update w/e 04.03.12 - 7wks to VLM12

Mon - 5 miles easy (7:37mm) / PM 3 miles easy (7:46mm)
Tue - 10.87 miles (6:41mm) inc. 15min @ MP | 4x 4min | 15min @ MP
Wed - REST
Thu - AM 4.07 miles (7:21mm) / 15 miles (6:53mm)
Fri - 3 miles easy (7:49mm)
Sat - REST
Sun - Thanet 20 - 2:12:26 (6:37mm) 15th/411

Total mileage – 61.0 miles (6:57mm)

"You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can't know what's coming."

Frank Shorter, Olympic Marathon Champion 1972

It would have been nice to post up a few more miles for this week, but with the 23 miler last Sunday to recover from and a couple of light days needed prior to the race on Sunday just gone, 60+ still feels like a good place to have come out. It’s been a while since I’ve had serious DOMS in my quads from a big run but I certainly felt it Monday & Tuesday and then again after my mid-week long run. But I think these long runs are really building some toughness into my legs and that’s what I’m going to need once I get to the Isle of Dogs in April.

Tuesday’s speed session was done with Matt & Tom from my club and having those guys alongside made hitting a respectable pace in the 4 minute reps much easier. We got faster throughout them, all of us seemed pretty in control and an average pace of 5:41mm for the 4x reps is a great result. The ‘Marathon Pace’ sections that book-ended those reps were done at 6:30-6:40mm and the total session gave us almost 11 miles with plenty of quality in it. We’re doing this session again next week, and I might even use it as the basis of my Tuesday quality sessions right through to the marathon now.

We were expecting to get a proper weather-bashing in the race on Sunday, but as it turned out the rain held off until we’d both finished, which made it slightly more pleasant I guess. This one was always going to be training with a number on rather than a 100% effort and I had a couple of plans going into the race about how I was going to run it; both of which started with setting out at 6:50mm pace and getting faster later on, so that’s how I started off. A few miles in, and having had a fair few glances of the definitely-not-flat Kent coastline we still had left to tackle, I settled on the more moderate of my master plans – basically, increasing the pace by 10 seconds each 5 miles, finishing up with the last 5 miles at 6:20mm. I felt very comfortable through 10 miles and was still fairly confident of nailing the whole session. But as we twisted and turned through the 2nd 10 miles, up zig-zag cliff paths, then back down, then back up, my mile splits got more and more erratic. I was going faster, and overtaking people consistently still, I just couldn’t quite get down to the paces I’d set out for. Anyway, I’m very chuffed with going out in 67mins and back in 65mins – and managing 6:07 for the 20th mile, which was (finally) completely flat, shows I probably hadn’t thrown everything at it either... which is promising. Lyndsey took it steady and ran an impressive negative split too, to dip under three hours (2:58) at comfortably under marathon PB pace. Worth the long drive for both of us then.

An easier week coming up again now, no doubles and a measly 16-miler scheduled for next weekend. That leads in to two final big weeks, with a few days booked off work in the second week to give me every chance of nailing every run. 7 weeks, it’s creeping up now.

WEEKLY MILEAGE SO FAR: 53, 70, 43, 61, 73, 48, 63, 0, 50, 74, 61