M 11.5 miles (6:33mm), 5.5 miles (7:25mm)
T 10 miles (6:52mm), 5 miles (7:26mm)
W 14.5 miles including 20 mins, 4X3mins, 20 mins (5:56mm), 5 miles (7:30mm)
T 10.5 miles (6:43mm), 5 miles (7:24mm)
F 8.5 miles (6:46mm)
S 25 miles progressive long run (6:26mm)
S 9 miles (7:04mm)
Total - 110.2 miles (6:43mm)
Aerobic Efficiency 1003 beats per mile average
Average Weight 146.9 Lbs
Average RHR 34.6 bpm
This week has been really interesting (well, for me at least) as it has been the highest volume of running I've ever done in a week and I've also gone through everything one should feel when training for a marathon; shattered, strong, quick, slow, ruined legs, grumpy and happy.
There has been another improvement in my beats per mile average although the drop wasn't as much this week as in previous weeks which is understandable as it starts to level out as I get close to my fittest. I hope there will still be a gradual improvement over the coming weeks but I would be suprirsed if it drops more than another 30beats per mile over the remaining time I have before the race.
It was also pleasing to see my weight continue to drop a little after last weekend's BBQ excesses with me losing 1.5lbs. I kept forgetting to take my resting heart rate first thing in the morning but largely remembered to take a reading just before I went to sleep and that averaged 34.6beats per minute from the five readings I took.
And so to the week's training. Monday was fine and I was still feeling pretty sprightly but then on Tuesday I had an enormous amount of fatigue. Not necessarily in the legs but I just felt completely worn out so my 10 miler on Tuesday morning was taken at an easier intensity but to be honest I couldnt have put much more effort in if I'd tried! Wednesday was a marathon specific session of 20 minutes at marathon pace and the first bit came in at 5:40mm and then with 3 mins jog recovery it was on to 4X3mins hard with 2 mins recover (link above). Now, I had no idea how these would go seeing as the legs are never that quick anyway but especially now when I was in the throws of marathon training and generally feeling pretty shattered. I was very surprised to see those come in at under 5:00mm pace, with the quickest at 4:52mm. That's basically as quick as I can run so to hit 4 reps after a decent tempo stint was quite pleasing indeed. The session then finished with another 20 mins MP which came in at a ratther sprightly 5:31 pace. It is fair to say that that was probably faster than my current marathon pace but if it happes to be that on race day I would be very happy indeed as it would mean a sizeable PB! It was also nice to have a good 14.5 miles done in an over all decent average pace.
Truth be told, Thursday and Friday were a bit of a struggle as the legs were doing their best to recover from Wednesday and then even on Saturday going out for my long run they didn't seem too keen! The plan was for a step up from the 22 I did last week and move up to a 24 which I had diligently mapped out on the computer and uploaded to my Garmin. Unfortunately the mapping had thought there was a through route where there wasn't so I ended up running 25 miles instead.Never mind, I'll probably be thankful I've done a 25 considering I'm planning a full distance 26.2 next week. It was a pleasing average pace and I picked it up in the second half as my legs actually started to feel a bit less mangled. Also, as it was over a reasonably bumpy route it was a good one to have in the bag.
So, I've made it through this week and this coming week is planned to be another big one before I take a cut back week with a half marathon race in a couple of Sundays time to start to gauge what sort of shape I'm coning into and what I might be able to expect come marathon day.
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