Weekly Mileage: 86miles
This weekend has been really good from a training perspective. Certainly far better than last week when my sore Achilles confined me to my bike.
I took Friday as a rest day, which was really difficult. Having spent a couple of days the week before where I couldn't run to then voluntarily take a day off running felt totally mad to me. Deep down though, I knew it was a good idea as I had done a couple of hard sessions this week, especially my Thursday night sustained run at marathon pace.
At first I wanted to ride my bike and go for a swim on my 'rest'day, but after some thought I realised that this would make it more of an active day than a rest one, so I did nothing. It wasn't too bad really, I didn't go as crazy as I thought I would. My legs were heavy, stiff and sore so they were more than happy to do nothing even if my mind wasn't quite as happy.
Saturday morning I had agreed to meet Niamh and do a 30 minute fartlek in the Meadows, doing one minute fast followed by one minute recovery. I had hoped that my legs would be lovely and fresh after my rest day, but they were really heavy, especially my right one, which ached from my calf to my hip. I am not really sure why it was so tired and stiff in the leg, but I have always had problems with my right leg. Thankfully, my left Achilles, which had been injured the other week, was still holding up fine. I have to admit it was a little bit frustrating to feel that way as I jogged to the Meadows. By the time I got there it was not really any different and as we set off on our Fartlek it didn't improve. The 15 fast reps were all fairly steady if not spectacular, fluctuating between 10k and half-marathon pace. I was pleased to come through them and not feel any worse. My right leg had loosened a bit, but was still fairly stiff as I ran home. The 13 miles I did on Saturday were pretty hard going all in all and I was far from happy.
Like before my run on Thursday I was nervous about my long Sunday run. It had been my long Sunday run two weeks ago that had led to my Achilles problem, so the thought of doing 26 miles filled me with a lot of apprehension. Added to that my calf muscles in both legs felt pretty tight and my whole right leg was still stiff and heavy like it had been on Saturday. Thankfully, I had good company for a lot of the run with Niamh, Colin, Bryan, Tommy (a friend of Bryan's who had run 1.19 in his first half marathon the week before) and Steve Manian. We set out at a nice reasonable pace and on a nice sunny morning we chatted quite a bit, which was good for no other reason than stopping me from tearing off up the road at a daft pace. After 6 miles Steve turned off to head back, as he was doing a 12-13 mile run and the rest of us continued.
I actually felt pretty good. My legs were still tight and heavy, but my lungs and heart felt very strong, which I was pleased about. We continued at the steady pace right through and up the hills of Balerno an by the reservoirs. I felt a little sorry for Niamh today as we boys were continually telling tales of our drunken boy antics as well as delving into a fair bit of toilet humour. I enjoyed the banter and it helped to keep us going at a nice reasonable pace rather than running at the pretty fast pace that we normally go at on a Sunday.
All through my run today I was feeling out for my Achilles, trying to sense for any changes, any pain or discomfort. At times I was convinced I began to feel something, but I am not sure if this was in my head or if I was over sensitive about the ankle. What was definitely aching was my calf muscles, but they were tolerable and I felt okay. After 15 miles Tommy, Bryan and Colin turned off to head back and finish of their 16 mile run while Niamh and I turned on to the canal. I am getting sick of the sight of the canal!
Niamh was doing 20 miles today so we ran together for a couple of miles before she then turned back leaving me on my own. It was at this point I started to really worry about the strength of the Achilles, but it held up and despite my other aches I even managed to pick up my pace a little.
Finishing the 26 miles in 3.07 was pretty good and I was pleased. I was pleased to survive and despite a lot of stiffness and aching limbs I didn't feel any uncomfortable pain like I had with my Achilles two weeks before. When I got home I decided to try and alleviate my aches by getting an ice bath. Despite the initial shock it was not that bad and after ten minutes I climbed out and my legs felt pretty good.
I have two hard weeks of training and then I can look forward to reducing the mileage in my taper. I never thought I would say that, but I reckon my body will enjoy it!
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