It is whizzing by! I managed to panic myself today by clicking on a link from the Brighton marathon- 39 days to go! That does not sound long at all.
So, last week went like this:
Monday– Rest. Had a bath to try and help as my legs were a bit stiff. Noticed the Epsom salts as I got out. Whoops. Must try harder next time.
Monday morning post-half marathon treat= a yummy chai latte
Tuesday– Club run. A new route which ended up being 5 miles (and some did more as they were looping back). Legs felt pretty heavy so just went at a steady rate and chatted.
Wednesday– SRC run. Only 2 of us turned up! The run leader accompanied us on a bike. Originally was going to go further but only just got home in time to make the start, so 4.5 miles was the total.
Thursday– Pump.
Friday– Rest.
Saturday– Parkrun with my dad. He was going to take it easy, so I joked I would try to keep up. It started raining at the start, so we sheltered behind a tree (the wind was making the rain go properly sideways). We had a good catch up on the way around and he even let me cross the finish line first (we got the same time). It was pretty cold and although we both enjoyed it, we were glad to get back to the car. Then I popped home for a shower before we headed over to my parents’ for breakfast. The rest of the day was spent catching up on work.
Sunday– Long run day. I laughed at my plan, as until now it just said the exact number of miles, whereas this weekend it said 17/18 miles. If you had a choice, what would you choose? In the end I mapped out a route that was just over 17 miles, and thought that if I felt OK I could always run up and down the road at the end to make it up. I woke up before my alarm (7am), had a vanilla pulsin’ bar (thanks to Jess for suggesting something more dense than porridge), had some water and then stopped dilly dallying about and just did it. The route ended up being 17.6 miles, and it was so windy that I could not face adding the extra bit on. It was slow- I think I should be doing 11 min miles but it was less than that, but then I think at least I finished. Andy even said when I got home “you don’t look too bad”. And I didn’t have to stop. After walking around town, and having a late lunch I even managed an afternoon nap- I went to lie down and listen to a few more podcasts and then suddenly it was an hour later!
4/4 workouts done, long run distance done (I had put 17 miles in) and 30.2 miles in total.
Next week the joker will be played as I will be at work for a couple of evenings and know I won’t get the 4th run in. I have set my March targets (4 runs per week and long runs of 20/12/20/12, and a time target for one of the 20 milers). Next weekend is a biggie- 20 miles. Eek!
How have the first two months of the year gone for you? If you are doing Jantastic, what distance have you chosen for your time trial? One year I predicted 27 minute 5k, did a parkrun in 27.10, and then realised I had managed to predict 27 hours as my time! I did not score well that time!
I’m so happy that the Pulsin bar worked well for you 😀 And it sounds as though you had a strong long run, so no need to panic about the marathon. You’ll be in fantastic shape with time to spare.
The first two months of the year were pretty awful for me…thank goodness for the ultra at the end of February that redeemed 2015 thus far!
You did so well in that ultra!
Yes, thanks the bar was a great idea- I will stock up at the weekend so I have enough for each long run from now on I think.
Lol aren’t loved ones brilliant: “you don’t look too bad”. There’s a compliment somewhere there hehe. Ben is exactly the same!
Your runs seem to be going really well – you’re definitely smashing this marathon training malarkey! Even the sound of a 17-18 mile run scares me. It’s just mental to be out there for so long, you know? I definitely think I’d have a nap. I always get that lovely post-long run sleepy feeling. I can usually get on with other things and be fine but when you sit down and relax properly then it gets you.
So far my running has been easy going. This is the first time I’ve ever really been so gradual in my build up post injury (which clearly says something right?) so I’m hoping things will continue to go well! Who knows though.
It is a long time, but actually it doesn’t seem as bad as the 14 -16 runs for some reason- I think I knew I would be out for over 3 hours so just tried to not think about it.
I am glad your training is going so well too.
The first 2 months of the year have gone way too quickly for my liking. Although, I feel like the whole of last year flew by, so who knows how this year is going to go!
I think the years always go by fast!
Well done on the long one. Jan was brill for me, but Feb was sucky, I’m hoping for a good March with the marathon in 10 days. I’ve set my time target for the marathon ha, so it could go very very wrong.
Not long to go for you! I am sure it will go well for you – good luck 🙂