The end of an excellent week of training. Probably the best week of marathon training ever I’d say. Here’s how the week looked.
Monday – 8 miles easy (7m30s pace)
Tuesday – 4 miles easy (still tired from the 20 on Sunday)
Weds – 13.1 miles @ 6m53s (steady)
Thurs – 6 miles easy (tired)
Fri – 4.13 miles @ 7 mins per mile AM + 5.43 miles easy PM
Sat – Bushy Park 5k (3.1 miles) in 17.10 (5m29s per mile) + 6.90 miles easy
Sun – 20 miles @ 6.59 mins per mile
GRAND TOTAL 71 miles
Once again thanks to David Rowe for the picture taken at the finish of the Bushy Park 5k. It’s the 19th time I’ve run the race and it’s the equal 2nd fastest time ever in far from ideal conditions. There was a pretty strong breeze blowing up the last mile. I reckon a sub 17 will once again be on the cards. Strange how the PB was set on the 1st run and I’ve not been able to go under 17 since.
I’ve run some 400 miles now in 2010 and the good news is the blisters are going away. So that problem is hopefully behind me now. Naturally there is a new problem. The arch of my right foot is starting to hurt and I’m also getting twinges in the arch of the left. I also have a very strange pain on top of my right foot (furthest right cuneiform bone) which looks like bruising. The pain feels like my foot is trying to snap. It’s not acute and may be due to my running shoes. Speaking of which, with 400 miles on the clock I’ll be getting a new pair of Asics Nimbus. I think little foot niggles are a sign that they need replacing. The exact same niggles have occured in the past and I’m pretty sure the problem was cured by parting with coin.
The main injury that has thwarted two previous attempts to go sub 2.45 in the marathon is behaving itself nicely. I’m continuing to stretch both my Gluts and Hamstrings after every run (in addition to doing the ITB, calf and quad stretches). The deep tissue massage with Aurélie (www.thetritouch.co.uk) is also helping massively I’m sure.
So in we go into week 9 and it’s all fitting into place nicely. I have the G3 10k fell race next weekend, the Dorney Half marathon on the 28th March and the 16 mile Kingston Breakfast run on the 11th April. The half marathon should give an idea as to the marathon potential and the Breakfast run will be an excellent indicator of form based on previous years. Fingers crossed that March will be kind to my body. Mentally I’m tip top and looking forward to the challenge. I’ll be doing some running with James Brown (recently went 1.13 at Wokingham) in the next few weeks, he’s also doing the marathon and it will be his first time at London. Here’s how the weekly mileage looks.
Week 1 – 35 miles
Week 2 – 40 miles
Week 3 – 45 miles
Week 4 – 50 miles
Week 5 – 55 miles
Week 6 – 60 miles
Week 7 – 45 miles (first rest week)
Week 8 – 71 miles (yay!)
Week 9 – We’ll see. Aiming for another 70 and will push for 75 in week 10.
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