Week 14 of 20 weeks to Sub 2:20?

M 9 miles (6:35mm), 6 miles (7:13mm)

T 7 miles (7:11mm)

W 11 miles inc. 10X60s(60s float), 5 mins easy, 10mins MP (5:56), 5 miles (7:11mm)

T 10 miles (6:45mm)

F 7 miles 7:14mm)

S 27.5 miles including 26.2 at 5:56mm

S 7 miles (7:09mm)

Total 90.5 miles

Weight 142 lbs

Body fat 10.4%
Aerobic efficiency 936 beats per mile

For anyone that read my blog last week will know that it contained two pretty big sessions so it was always the plan to have a bit of a cut back this week and let some of the hard work soak in. Of course, it wasn’t all easy and there were a couple of workouts that are worth discussing! The main focus became the Saturday long run which was to be a full distance run at a reasonable pace. The aim of this really is to have a good length of time on the feet, but not to plod it out either. Rather run pretty steady and pick the pace up a bit towards the end. Of course, I quite like doing these runs largely fasted as it helps the body utilise fat a bit more as a fuel which is imperative for a good marathon. So with an early alarm call, a quick banana and a double espresso I was out the door.

Anyway, the run started off quite nicely and I had in my mind that I wanted to average approximately six minute mile pace as I had done when I'd done the run previously. I do the course on my tempo loop and for the marathon distance it is 18 laps and the stretch back to home! It is both irritating and fun in equal measure counting up and down the laps. I do find it is a good place for this type of run though as it is quite flat and I can just concentrate on hitting steady mile after steady mile without huge fluctuations in heart rate. My word it can get a bit boring though! I think this is quite good for the mental aspects of marathon racing - it is likely that you will have large segments of the race alone, especially in the second half. To be honest I've never minded running on my own in a marathon unless the weather is really bad where you can get some occasional shelter if running in a group.  All was going well and my legs were moving very well and the pace was hovering around 6:05 per mile. I decided to keep at this sort of effort until half way to see how I felt then. I felt really strong and as boredom was setting in a bit I thought I'd pick up the effort a little over the next seven miles to see how it felt. It felt great and my legs felt really strong, stronger than the last couple of times I've done this. This could be down to the easier week in terms of miles. I ran it well the last two times I did but this felt a lot more controlled. Indeed as I got to 20 I decided to pick the effort up a bit more and was seeing 5:45s for the last 6.2 miles or so with the last mile being my quickest at 5:31 feeling like it was solid but nowhere near all out was really encouraging. My HR averaged 158 for the run so about 20 beats below marathon Heart Rate. It's quite funny doing this type of run and comparing it to for example last week's tempo. I found this so much easier than running 15 miles at a pace just 15 secs per mile quicker. Now this could be due to a couple of reasons such as I was tired from the outset of last week's training run and two I am starting to see some of the benefits of previous weeks' training coming through. In all likelihood it's probably a combination of the two. What it also suggests to me is something I have been pondering for a while is that my endurance clearly seems to be pretty strong (I feel I could have run another 10 miles at 5:55s in my full distance run), my speed is OK but my speed endurance is probably my weakest link, so this gives us something to really focus on over the next few weeks. Don't get me wrong this run was not easy and 26 miles is always a long way and at a reasonable pace it will take some recovering from and I couldn't run at this pace every day but as a specific session within the build up I think I pretty much nailed it.

The other session of note this week was an easier session on Wednesday, which was a slight deviation from the plan. Mike wanted me going in fresh to the long run so we cut it back and put in a bit of speed. It was 10X1min(1min at 6:40), 5 minutes easy, 10 minutes at marathon pace. It was a really fun session, in fact it barely felt like a session at all after last week's hard training sessions. The minute efforts average about 4:45 on the Garmin so could be a bit out but even so that's quick running for me and it felt really controlled rather than sprinting! Then the 10 minutes at target MP.... Well I really had to hold back on this as despite my ongoing niggles the pace felt so comfortable. This may have been due to me knowing it was only 10 minutes of effort but it could also be because of the faster minute efforts got the legs moving quickly that 5:15s ended up feeling like a relative jog!Of course I don't expect race day marathon pace to be 5:15s but I wouldn't mind if it was! Let me confirm now that if 5:15 ends up being my marathon pace this time out I will gladly eat my hat.

My weight has dropped very slightly this week which is nice, but could do with a bit more dropping off yet. I was however really pleasantly surprised to see my aerobic efficiency take a giant leap forward to an average of 936 beats per mile, around 30 better than last week. Looking back over my previous training this is the most efficient week I have ever had, showing that some of the hard work of previous weeks is starting to kick in and hopefully that I am starting to bring myself to a peak of fitness that I have never been in before.