Tough week this week, some really tiring runs and a really encouraging run.
I didn't run a session this week as such. After warming down from the previous week's disappointing 10,000m with Paul Martelletti (2:17 marathon and 29:43 10,000m), he said he did a lot of hard tempo efforts in his training ahead of a marathon rather than sessions, and having read his training laid out in his blogs on NZRUN and the resulting races, it's hard to disagree this approach comes with good results. Paul gets an awful lot out of himself when racing.
I nailed a very solid 14 mile tempo effort on Thursday of this week, after an initial mile to get into it I was more or less bang on 2:22 marathon pace and felt really good, despite the heavy rain.
It was one of those runs. I set off with no real idea of what I was going to do, I'd given myself a day off work and didn't do a morning run. I'd been feeling tired and scrapped a session in favour of a 14 mile run. I had no idea I'd be running marathon pace for most of it.
This was odd as I had been feeling the effort of a 100+ mile week more than normal after the previous weekend's 10,000m race/22 mile double. I headed into the week off the back of that and was always running with it in my legs and, with the exception of the tempo run, most of my week was steady or easy running. My calves and Achilles (both) are tight and sore, have been for three weeks really, I'll have to watch them.
All said and done, I've enjoyed the last few days training and am now focused only on the Toronto Marathon. There's eight weeks left and this is the real business end of the build up. I've already logged two 20 milers and two 22 mile runs. I'm very positive and looking to nail my next marathon, in what I have to consider my best distance.
M AM 5.1 miles easy, PM 6.4 miles moving well at a steady pace
T AM 6.4 miles feeling good, PM 7.4 miles before going to Arsenal game feeling tired - just under 7 min pace
W AM 6 miles easy and tired, PM 8.15 miles feeling pretty good
T 14.25 miles tempo run clipping off miles at marathon pace in heavy rain. Totally unexpected, feeling good - fastest mile 5:22
F AM 6.4 miles very fatigued at 7:14 pace, which is very rare for me, PM 6.4 miles at 7:00 pace
S AM 8.9 miles feeling good at 6:30 pace, PM 5.4 miles at 6.40 pace after watching Arsenal beaten by Liverpool at home for first time in 11 years
S 22.15 miles at 6:41 pace
103 miles