Week 9, Session 1 - 3 x 8 mins Threshold Intervals (7 Miles)
Session 2 - Recovery Run (3.5 Miles)
Session 3 - 3 x 8 mins Kenyan Hills (7 Miles)
Session 4 - 6 x 3 mins 10K pace Intervals (7 Miles)
Session 5 - Long Run (19 Miles)
I'm begining to sound like a bit of a stuck record, but yet another busy week meant no mid-week blog entry. So for the third week running here's a summary of the whole week . . . and what a week it was. The going has certainly started to get tough now. The total weekly mileage jumped considerably this week and all but one of the runs were 'quality' sessions.
My first session of the week was a Tuesday lunchtime interval session where after a warm up I had to run 3 x 8 mins at threshold pace, which for me equates to intervals of 1.2 miles each with 90 second recoveries between them. It was a great session considering I ran 16.5 miles 2 days earlier and I managed to sustain an even pace for each interval. I was also glad to report that the blister under my big toe didn't give me any grief either and I only covered it in vaseline this time rather than a blister plaster (thanks "Mrs Old Bird" for that tip).
After an early morning recovery run on Wednesday, Thursday lunchtimes run was my final Kenyan Hills session of the training program. As I've mentioned previously I've really enjoyed running these sessions (most of the time) during this program, but I am glad that they are over now because they take alot out of the legs, which you don't need when the mileage is ramping up as much at it is now. I actually thought that I was going to have to abort the run during the first rep as I was feeling extremely 'leggy', but after the 3 minute recovery jog I felt refreshed and managed to complete each of the following reps at a better pace.
I was supposed to run my 4th session of the week on Saturday, but there was no chance of me fitting it in, so I went out at 9 o'clock on Friday night instead. So far during the training I have always had a recovery run before a long run, but this week I had my first 10K paced speedwork session scheduled. I had eaten quite a large meal earlier on and I was a little concerned as to how well I'd cope with running a speedwork session with that inside me, but I was pleasantly suprised at the pace I achieved. I was wearing a pair of trainers that were only about 20 miles old and they felt great. I don't usually wear a pair with so few miles in them for a quality session like that, but I really need to protect the mileage in the other pair I'm rotating them with, so that I have a decent mileage in them for marathon day.
On Saturday night I was out at my Mum & Dad's Ruby Wedding Annivesary party. It was a great night out meeting up with many friends and family that I hadn't seen for a while and the kids really enjoyed themselves too. The only downside to it all was that being out until after midnight wasn't the ideal preparation for a long run the next morning. I should've been guzzling water all night rather than Guinness!! I was good though, and limited myself to just a few pints.
Due to the late night I slept in a little longer than I initially planned, but I thought the extra sleep was more important that trying to force myself up at 6:30 to eat breakie just to time the run to match the marathon start time. Instead I got up at 8:30 ready to fuel up before going out at 10:30. This only gave me 2 hours rather than the usual 3 hours to get all the necessary food and fluids in, which I was to pay for a bit later on.
It was a gorgeous day for a long run and I set off in a great mood listening to a podcast that I'd downloaded earlier. After about 4 miles though I felt like I needed a wee, but I've had this before and managed to ignore it and carry on to the end of a long run regardless. However, over the next couple of miles it was becoming increasingly obvious that I was going to have to make a pitstop, because I was going to be running for a couple more hours and it was getting uncomfortable. Luckily I new that at 7.5 miles I was going to be running past a toilet block, so when I reached it I dived in for a minute. This was a first for me, because in all the years I've been running, I've never had to stop mid-run, but this had to be done. So now I see why the experts advise not to take on fluids (other than small sips) within the hour before a run and I won't be making that same mistake again. Apart from that mishap, the rest of the run went really well except for getting caught in a small shower at about the 11 mile point. My knees and feet started to ache after about 15 miles, but I'm hoping that this is just them getting used to running distances that I've never run before. I completed the 19 miles in 2 hours 41 minutes, which is right in the middle of my target long run pace band.
Next weeks long run is THE BIG ONE !! 22 miles with the final hour at marathon goal pace. It's going to be very interesting to see how that goes next week, because I'm not so sure I would've wanted to add an extra 3 miles to yesterdays run . . . I'll just have to trust the training plan !!
Week 9 Summary - 43.5 miles : 5hrs 57mins
Session 1 - 3 x 8 mins Threshold Intervals - 7 Miles
Session 2 - Recovery Run - 3.5 Miles
Session 3 - 3 x 8 mins Kenyan Hills - 7 Miles
Session 4 - 6 x 3 mins 10K pace Intervals - 7 Miles
Session 5 - Long Run - 19 Miles
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