Weekly Total Mileage: 98.5 miles
Friday 13 August - Mileage: 7.5 miles
Saturday 14 August - Mileage: 22 miles
Sunday 15 August - Mileage: 11.5 miles
This weekend has been a really tough one. My legs have been really heavy and I have felt really fatigued. I spent three hours a sleep in the sofa on Sunday afternoon, as my body craved some down time. I think that was a real sign of how hard I've worked this last few weeks. I didn't quite make a third consecutive week of 100 miles, but I was pretty close and totalled over 300 for the three weeks. By far the most intense period of running training I have committed to. The first two weeks were pretty easy in terms of getting through it and I really enjoyed it. The third week was really hard, which I have alluded to earlier this week in my blog. It wasn't helped by a small cold that I picked up mid-week. The cold may well have been as a result of the heavy training or something that has been going round, either way it has helped to make the week's training harder. I am glad that I am not attempting to do a fourth week like this, as I am certain that would spell trouble.
Thankfully Friday was nice and easy and allowed me some recovery time before my long run on Saturday. I ran with Niamh on Saturday who has also been running lots of miles in training over the last three weeks and as we ran at a pace much slower than in recent long runs we chatted about how we both felt fatigued rather than sore or out of breath. I am quite sure I could have run faster on Saturday, but it would have probably put me at risk of injury and reduced my ability to recover well for next Saturday's race, so I was happy to go steady. I was pleased that all 22 miles felt okay from a cardiovascular point of view and there was absolutely no sign of the wall. Just my legs felt tired.My right knee is still a little niggly, but I am sure it is just muscle tiredness more than anything else.
Sunday's run of 11.5miles with Kim was nice and steady, but my legs were still tired and tight.
I now have a week's easy running and tapering before Saturday's Nairn Half Marathon. I hope that this is enough time to recover sufficiently to run well and put all the recent training to good use.
Looking back over the last three weeks I think I have made some real progress towards my marathon target. I feel fitter, stronger and quicker. I am really confident that with more hard training over the next 6 weeks before my taper I can get even quicker. The only thing I am not a 100% happy with is my weight, which is still a few kilograms higher than it was before I went on holiday. I am trying to eat well and not too much, but even with all those miles it just doesn't seem to shift. Hopefully the final period of training will help me get rid of that and I'll peak perfectly in time for Amsterdam.
Well, now I have a week of tapering so I'll probably be moaning and complaining about how unfit I am and fat I am! My usual pre-race/tapering chat.
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