The last two weeks training have been pretty positive.
Last week was over 60 miles, but the two key runs went very well. On Thursday I went out to do an 8 mile tempo. One mile warmup then 8 at 6.35. I hadn't run for the two days previous and it felt like a mini taper. The weather has been very good for running lately, not too cold or windy. The first few tempo miles went well, but I always seem to start to struggle around the 5 mile point. I pushed through and was at mile 7 very comfortably, with all miles faster slightly than target so I pushed on to 9 miles with an average 6:33 pace. One mile cool down, and I was quite pleased. The next day I felt pretty good too.
The long run was to be 16 miles and I was not looking forward to it. I have been running up to 13 or 14 pretty Consistently, but the push through those last few miles always was going to be a challenge.
The target was 7:30 pace, and the first 8 miles were easy and uneventful, probably due to the fact that my 'short' run is now a 9 mile lap.
I had a small bottle of barley cordial mixed with water strategically placed at 11 miles. It took about two miles to kick in, but when it did it was very noticeable. The legs felt refreshed and I attacked each mile, having to pull myself back at times. I couldn't believe when I hit 16 and kept going towards home pushing out a total of 17.5 miles at 7:28 pace. More importantly I felt I could have easily kept going, but not if there were any more hills!
The key was the drink. All my runs up to 14 miles are done with no drink intake at all. I work on the 90 minute glycogen assumption. If I can train my body up to that point with no drinks, then on marathon day, taking in refreshments from early on should be a massive bonus to the stamina. I learned from Dublin 2013 that I cannot take gels, so I have to rely on water and sports drinks which served me very well. Gary O'Hanlon's advice on that occasion was to drink from the very first station and I intend to follow that again.
Yesterday was tempo run day again. I had done 10k the day before so the legs didn't feel quite so fresh heading out. After the mile warmup I set off again at the 6:35 pace. It didn't feel quite so easy this time, and from 6 miles the legs felt distinctly heavy and tired. It was much more of a struggle, but I pushed on for 10 miles at 6:33 again, with one mile cooldown gave me 12 for the session.
Bohermeen half is on 8th March, not sure if I will do it yet, but I would like to test myself in a race scenario, I have purposefully stayed away from races and will largely continue to do so until the marathon itself. I find that trying to run races, whether tapering or recovering, while focused on something else can interrupt and dilute the training for the main event.
A small reduction is planned this week and next, with 8 weeks to go, I am happy with where my training is so far.
