T 70 mins Easy (6:42mm), Easy 55 mins (7:14mm)
W 70 mins inc 15X1min (60s) (6:23mm), Easy 50 mins (7:25mm)
T 60 mins Easy, 40 mins Moderate, 5 mins Easy (6:42mm), 35 mins Recovery (7:52mm)
F 70 mins HA (6:41mm)
S 125 mins inc. aborted session (6:19mm),Recovery 45 mins (7:35mm)
S 70 mins HA (6:41mm), Easy 75 mins (7:16mm)
Total 113.9 miles (6:50mm)
Aerobic Efficiency 955 Beats Per Mile Vs 971
Weight 142.4lbs Vs 142.48lbs
Body Fat 10.84% (15.44lbs) Vs 10.29% (14.66lbs)
Lean Body Mass 89.16% (126.97lbs) Vs 89.7% (127.8lbs)
Fitness 93.9 Vs 95 Vs
Fatigue 102.5 Vs 117.3
Form -7.8 (Neutral) Vs -10.9 (Optimal)
Have I pushed too far? Have I tried to do too much? Do I still believe in my process? Is there an easier way? A more optimal way. These are all questions that have run through my head this week.
Last week I ran 2:36:27 at Manchester and while I didn't race it, it felt tougher than I would have liked. I've run quicker marathons around my favourite tempo loop at 5am without a number pinned to my chest. Maybe I'm not as fit as I thought? Sod it, carry on. You can't really control the outcome, you can only control what you put into it. What does sub 2:20 mean anyway? All you can do is your best. Keep going. Get back to focusing on the process. Do the things that have worked for you in the past. Look at all the great sessions you have done, not the crap ones that have left you wondering.
Monday I took a rest day. It wasn't planned and although the legs felt fine to be running, even after covering over 28 miles the previous day, I was on annual leave and decided to have a sleep in. We were going away in a hired motorhome for a few days to the Peak District. I promised myself I'd get my run in after we'd packed up. That then drifted to 'I'll do it when we get there.' And as is often the case if I haven't got my run in first thing the day drifts away and then it's too late. There are 24 hours in every day. I only need to find about two of those hours to run. On Monday I failed! Oh well. A rest day is never a bad thing I'm told and maybe it'll do me some good in the long run.
The rest of the week I just got things done but it never felt quite right. I do find it difficult to run when on holiday. Perhaps just because I'm not in my routine of run, eat, school run, work, run, eat, work, eat, eat, sleep, etc. The holiday was brilliant and it was lovely to spend some quality time with the girls doing something different, but my training did seem to be a bit of a damp squib.
I did a session of 15X1min(60s) on the Wednesday on a trail, so although the surface wasn't brilliant it wasn't particularly bad either. And it was a bit downhill! I did this in the hope that it would wake up the legs a bit. I ran them at an average of 4:47 pace which is about bang on 15 minute 5k pace. Recoveries were around 6:40 pace so not slouching either. It was on the face of it a good session and again proves I am fit. Maybe I'm just wanting to get to the start at Blackheath and get on with things.
The second session was planned for Saturday and a repeat of what I did a couple of weeks prior: 30 mins, 4X5mins, 30 mins. My legs still felt 'dead', perhaps because I had got my Friday run in which was a HA quite late and maybe, just maybe I hadn't manage to replace enough electrolytes. I knew on the warm up that my legs weren't really in a place to run fast, so I took it relatively easy but then knocked the session on the head 10 minutes into the last 30 minute effort. Sometimes it's just not worth pushing on and I was nervous about digging myself a hole. In hindsight it was a curious run in that my aerobic efficiency was brilliant. Just about the best it's ever been, I simply couldn't get the legs to turn over at the pace I wanted. I guess that's what a taper is for though to see some of that freshness come back.
So the aerobic efficiency has improved a bit and getting to peak levels for me. Body composition is much the same although I'm showing as having a bit more fat this week. I think this is because I only did two HA runs and as the core body temperature rises has a complimentary effect on the scales, which improves the averages.
Just two weeks to go now and with a bit of focus on getting my hydration sorted properly will see my legs return for a hard effort at Salford on Good Friday. Feel free to comment to predict my time!
The rest day on Monday seemed to improve my freshness, although I'm yet to feel it yet! So do I think I've pushed too far? No. I do feel good. I know I am as fit as I have been before. Have I tried to do too much? Maybe. As a runner wanting to get the best out of myself the desire to push on is always greater than the desire to hold back. A way I plan to alleviate this over the next two weeks is to really not force the pace on my easy days at all. I may even drop a few of the HA runs that I had planned given the long range forecast doesn't look too bad. Do I still believe in my process? Absolutely yes. I do. Of course there are doubts that creep in from time to time. I wouldn't be human if there weren't but I know what works generally and more importantly specifically for me. Is there any easier way? Maybe! But lofty goals require immense hard work and with the limited amount of natural ability I have, 'more and harder' is just about my only remedy.
Last week I ran 2:36:27 at Manchester and while I didn't race it, it felt tougher than I would have liked. I've run quicker marathons around my favourite tempo loop at 5am without a number pinned to my chest. Maybe I'm not as fit as I thought? Sod it, carry on. You can't really control the outcome, you can only control what you put into it. What does sub 2:20 mean anyway? All you can do is your best. Keep going. Get back to focusing on the process. Do the things that have worked for you in the past. Look at all the great sessions you have done, not the crap ones that have left you wondering.
Monday I took a rest day. It wasn't planned and although the legs felt fine to be running, even after covering over 28 miles the previous day, I was on annual leave and decided to have a sleep in. We were going away in a hired motorhome for a few days to the Peak District. I promised myself I'd get my run in after we'd packed up. That then drifted to 'I'll do it when we get there.' And as is often the case if I haven't got my run in first thing the day drifts away and then it's too late. There are 24 hours in every day. I only need to find about two of those hours to run. On Monday I failed! Oh well. A rest day is never a bad thing I'm told and maybe it'll do me some good in the long run.
The rest of the week I just got things done but it never felt quite right. I do find it difficult to run when on holiday. Perhaps just because I'm not in my routine of run, eat, school run, work, run, eat, work, eat, eat, sleep, etc. The holiday was brilliant and it was lovely to spend some quality time with the girls doing something different, but my training did seem to be a bit of a damp squib.
I did a session of 15X1min(60s) on the Wednesday on a trail, so although the surface wasn't brilliant it wasn't particularly bad either. And it was a bit downhill! I did this in the hope that it would wake up the legs a bit. I ran them at an average of 4:47 pace which is about bang on 15 minute 5k pace. Recoveries were around 6:40 pace so not slouching either. It was on the face of it a good session and again proves I am fit. Maybe I'm just wanting to get to the start at Blackheath and get on with things.
The second session was planned for Saturday and a repeat of what I did a couple of weeks prior: 30 mins, 4X5mins, 30 mins. My legs still felt 'dead', perhaps because I had got my Friday run in which was a HA quite late and maybe, just maybe I hadn't manage to replace enough electrolytes. I knew on the warm up that my legs weren't really in a place to run fast, so I took it relatively easy but then knocked the session on the head 10 minutes into the last 30 minute effort. Sometimes it's just not worth pushing on and I was nervous about digging myself a hole. In hindsight it was a curious run in that my aerobic efficiency was brilliant. Just about the best it's ever been, I simply couldn't get the legs to turn over at the pace I wanted. I guess that's what a taper is for though to see some of that freshness come back.
So the aerobic efficiency has improved a bit and getting to peak levels for me. Body composition is much the same although I'm showing as having a bit more fat this week. I think this is because I only did two HA runs and as the core body temperature rises has a complimentary effect on the scales, which improves the averages.
Just two weeks to go now and with a bit of focus on getting my hydration sorted properly will see my legs return for a hard effort at Salford on Good Friday. Feel free to comment to predict my time!
The rest day on Monday seemed to improve my freshness, although I'm yet to feel it yet! So do I think I've pushed too far? No. I do feel good. I know I am as fit as I have been before. Have I tried to do too much? Maybe. As a runner wanting to get the best out of myself the desire to push on is always greater than the desire to hold back. A way I plan to alleviate this over the next two weeks is to really not force the pace on my easy days at all. I may even drop a few of the HA runs that I had planned given the long range forecast doesn't look too bad. Do I still believe in my process? Absolutely yes. I do. Of course there are doubts that creep in from time to time. I wouldn't be human if there weren't but I know what works generally and more importantly specifically for me. Is there any easier way? Maybe! But lofty goals require immense hard work and with the limited amount of natural ability I have, 'more and harder' is just about my only remedy.
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