I know I am a few days behind. The consequence of an extremely busy few days. Instead of catching up with the earlier training sessions from this week I am just going to jump into today's, because it felt so good. Tonight was my 20 mile run with 16 miles at marathon pace, which I did last week as well, and the week before.
Again, like the previous weeks, I was actually nervous before my run. My left heel was again giving me some grief. It was at the bottom of my heel in a different area to my recent Achilles problem. I kept getting a strange pinching sensation, which would come on at different times with no warning and in no similar way. It was odd and I was really worried that it might be the sign of something serious. I was worried that at some point during my run tonight it would give in or tear and that would be the end of Amsterdam, so I was apprehensive as I pulled on my kit in the toilets at work.
I set off and met up with Seamus, who after last week, was keen to come again and have another go as part of his marathon training. We jogged for a bit before reaching the usual starting point and ploughed straight into it. In order to get the sub 2.40 time I really want to at Amsterdam I need to run at 6.06 minutes per mile pace. This was again my target for each mile tonight. The first mile felt remarkably easy and we coasted through it in 5.57. As I was feeling good I decided to keep the pace up rather than ease off. I decided to experiment and see how long I could hold a faster pace for. Seamus was happy to keep the pace up too, so we pressed on. I felt a lot more comfortable in my legs this week compared to last and all was good with my left heel. I did, however, conitnued to worry slightly about it and was constantly on the look out for any sign of trounle. The next couple of miles ranged between 5.56 and 6.01. Unfortunately at this point my watch packed in, which angered me greatly. Thankfully Seamus had his watch and I knew where the 8 mile marker was for turning round so would know the overall time. My anger actually translated into speed, as I was worried that I would drop off the pace without being able to check my mile marks. We flew for the last 3 miles and reached our turnaround point in 47.40 well ahead of the 48.40 target time for a sub 2.40 marathon.
We stopped for a quick stretch and toilet break and then turned back round to do the return 8 miles. Seamus gallantly gave me his watch, as we both expected that I would finish a little ahead, so I could get my precise time. The best thing about this week was I genuinely felt comfortable right through all the miles. Unlike last week where I had a few troublesome miles, this week I had very few problems. I'd pulled slightly ahead of Seamus over the last 8 miles and so was on my own for a bit, which was fine as I felt relaxed and in control of my pace. Without remembering exactly where the mile marks were it was difficult to know exactly how well I was running, but I felt strong. There was a stiff breeze blowing into our faces and although it may have slowed me slightly it didn't disrupt my rhythm.
Last week in the final 2 miles I had begun to struggle and although I managed to hold a good pace I was totally exhausted at the end of it. Another step seemed impossible never mind another 10 miles. Today, however, I felt good in the last two miles and finished really strongly. I am fairly certain I could have continued and done a few more miles at the end, which is a great sign for the marathon. I completed the second 8 miles in 48.18, which although slightly slower than my first 8 miles was still well inside my target time and into a head wind probably would have evened it out a little more. My total time for whole 16 miles was 1.35.58, a minute and 43 seconds quicker than my target time for a sub 2.40 and one minute and 38 seconds quicker than last week. Job done!
Seamus wasn't too far behind me and finished his second 8 miles in 49.12. We both felt really good and as we completed our cool down jog we talked about the confidence a good session like this gives you. With us both having marathons coming up this is the perfect session for that. I feel great after tonight's session, really good. I now know that I can run 16 miles at an overall pace faster than I need to get the time I want. I felt so strong at the end of my session that I know I can keep the pace up too. With some good rest I know my legs and lungs will be even stronger than than they were today, which will help in those last 10 miles. Today I ran those 16 miles (on top of a 1.5 mile warm up) without taking on any energy gels, energy drink or water, so for those last 7-8 miles I will have been depleted of energy levels and not running at optimum performance. Energy levels that I will be able to maintain during the marathon by refuelling with water and energy drinks at regular aid stations. This will give me a boost.
I am signing off tonight in such a positive mood, you can probably tell. Despite a few aches and groans in my body I feel as though I am peaking at just the right time. I have been looking forward to my taper for a couple of weeks now, but the mood I am in right now, I could quite happily do annother couple of weeks hard training!!
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