Thanks to David Rowe for the picture above. Taken at the Bushy Park 5k on 30th Jan (only managed 17.50 here). Having had pretty much all of 2009 off in terms of exercise I was certainly lacking confidence that a sub 2.45 marathon was possible. Being quite impatient I was quite quick to dismiss the chances given the early stats. Not that it stopped me from putting in the effort. It's amazing how every now and again a breakthrough session confirms that rapid improvements are possible and that the form is starting to head towards what i would expect for this time of a marathon build. I'd normally start in late November so starting on January 1st was pretty late really.
So what are the breakthroughs? One was today. 16 miles @ 6.53mins per mile for an average HR of 140!!! Contrast that with a 12 mile run on the 23rd of January on exactly the same terrain where I averaged 7.07mins per mile for an average HR of 146.
