Chasing Dreams, Project 2:20 Week 9 of 12

M 70 mins Heat Acclimatisation (6:49mm), 70 mins Easy (6:46mm)
T 70 mins HA (6:41mm)
W 110 mins inc. 10X1mile (0.5mile float) (5:52mm), Recovery 30 mins (8:14mm)
T 95 mins Easy (7:03mm),
F 70 mins HA (6:44mm), 50 mins inc. 10 mins, 5X2mins (60s) (6:03mm)
S 70 mins HA (6:44mm), Recovery 30 mins inc 5X30s accelerations (7:30mm)
S 175 mins inc Manchester Marathon (2:36:27)

Total 130.3 miles (6:31mm)
Aerobic Efficiency 971 Beats Per Mile Vs 969
Weight 142.48lbs Vs 142.56lbs
Body Fat 10.29% (14.66lbs) Vs 10.92% (15.57lbs)
Lean Body Mass 89.7% (127.8lbs) Vs 89.04% (126.94lbs)

Fitness 95 Vs 90.8
Fatigue 117.3 Vs 107.7
Form -10.9 (Optimal) Vs - 11(Optimal)

What a week that was! Almost certainly the biggest and hardest of the campaign. The introduction of my Heat Acclimatisation runs and three sessions along with some big filler mileage meant I nudged over 130 miles again.

The heat acclimatisation runs are really not nice, especially the first couple. I put four layers on, three of which were thermal, thermal tights, wooly hat and two pairs of gloves.

I need to do these as I do feel they prepare me for any adverse conditions that may pop up on the day but also they're very good in other areas such as improving one's ability to retain electrolytes, increasing blood plasma volume and reducing perceived effort at all intensities, irrespective of conditions! I do these runs on the treadmill in the garage and do my best to make a cloud. Of course I cant particularly regulate the conditions in the garage but I do like to see what happens over the course of a run. The below picture is my hygrometer that was reset before I started. Humidity increased from 63-86% and the temperature from 9.1 degrees to 12.6. Whilst I may not have had so much of an impact in the change in the room temperature I am certain that the humidity was down to me. I should really take my core body temperature at different parts of the run to really know what's going on but I draw the line at buying a rectal thermometer.

Over the course of four HA runs this week I saw significant improvements in aerobic efficiency for the runs demonstrating how quickly one adapts from this kind of stress. There will always be a cardiac drift in these runs as my core body temperature continues to rise throughout the run and conditions in the garage worsen but the more that drift is reduced will show how well adapted I have become.

Cardiac drift of my fourth HA run

I was keen to get a feeling for planned marathon pace so decided my Wednesday session would be 10X1mile with 0.5 mile float recoveries. The intention being to run the recoveries at a moderate pace so I wasn't entirely recovered before going into the next one. They average 5:18.5 mm for the efforts and 6:11s for the recoveries, meaning I averaged 5:36mm for the 15 miles. Another pleasing session in this build up.

Friday I did a short fartlek session of 10 mins threshold, 5X2mins (60s). Again it was pleasing to see the threshold pace come in at 5:04mm and the efforts averaging 4:50. I really hope this means I can average 5:04 or better at Salford as it will leave me with a very overdue PB of around 31:30. In honesty I should be capable of running much quicker than this anyway.

Then to Sunday, which for anyone that read last week's blog could have been my attempt at breaking 2:20.. In the end I decided that I would just use it as my last proper long run for London. It was great to be toeing the line of a marathon for the first time in two years. There is just something magical about a marathon. The excitement in the air at the start. The nervous glances, the smiles of trepidation. I had been deliberating how to run and had a few options. In the end all went out the window as a few miles in my guts were playing havoc and my legs were a little tired from not tapering at all. I usually take imodium prior to races just to make sure the doors are well and truly padlocked shut. I also realised perhaps foolishly that a marathon is actually quite a long way. The brain is quite good at forgetting at painful experiences. Take childbirth as an example! Thankfully I wont have to go through that, and I'm certainly not comparing a marathon to childbirth but I'm pretty sure that if a woman truly remembered what it was like the first time then they wouldn't choose to do it again. Ever! So I ran 2:36:27 with two toilet stops feeling pretty comfortable but not as comfortable as I would have liked. I don't know if it was due to not fully racing that contributed to the boredom that I endured but hope I will be a bit more 'switched on' when London comes around!

Trying to not be bored.

It was great to see a few people on the course supporting and I had a few pleasant chats with folks along the way, including a Swedish chap Niklas who knocked 20 minutes off his PB and got the standard to run in the Swedish Championships. Also another couple of worthy mentions; Leeds City V45 clubmate Jonathan Walton running a spectacular 2:28:36 PB off a mini taper from some big miles. And Anthony Clark of Bournemouth finally cracking the 2:30 barrier.

So that's most of the really hard work done and I do feel like I am in the shape of my life from an aerobic and speed point of view. Next week will see a slight reduction in miles before the taper really kicks in the following week.