Training Log Archive: Whitesheep

Fartlek on the x-trainer and rowing machine. Going to start doing sessions like this more often now to try and get a bit of body strength, of which I now have none.

Upper body weights and core

Fartlek on hill climber.

Brisk jog around Kingsbridge, couple of hills. Felt pretty good, think I've mostly recovered from Abingdon now.

Easy run up & down the river from work.

pilates

Easy run from parents house, around the bridges loop sticking to the soft ground. Legs OK to begin with but got tired and achey quite quickly.

Event: Abingdon Marathon
 

Abingdon marathon - 59th place.

Overall really pleased to have made my target of sub-3. The pacing was just about right with a 1:22 negative split: first half 1:29:23, second half 1:28:01. Most of the time gain came from a quicker stretch after halfway when I joined in with the (slowing) 2:55 train.

Got lucky with the weather which was perfect, and the course is flat as promised (although with a lot of kerb-jumping that felt pretty brutal by the end!).

Didn't feel quite 100%, so very glad to have a) got myself into better than 3hr shape and b) not gone off any quicker. Legs felt a bit heavy from the start and I'm sure the early miles felt better at the Maidenhead 1/2. Not really sure why - probably just lack of sleep and using up too much nervous energy over the previous couple of days. But it doesn't matter. I ran the fastest I could have on the day, and very close to the fastest I could have realistically hoped for after a 21 minute 5k in January!

Self-indulgent race report for posterity...

0-6 miles - 6:48, 48, 50, 47, 46, 48.
Lots of people went off very fast (too fast…) and I was quite happy to let them go, although even this took me through the first few miles at the quicker end of what I'd planned. I knew one of the leading ladies was aiming for 2:55 so it was useful to keep her in sight, about 30s ahead. At this stage the pace felt easy and legs were OK - although it was a bit disappointing not to feel fresher than I had at Maidenhead. Saw Em at 5 miles, and it was all smiles.

6-13.1 miles - 6:52, 42, 44, 46, 46, 46, 48 + 1:11 (includes a bit of extra time for earlier splits when Garmin a bit off)
A small climb out of town to start with, such as there are any at Abingdon. Here I came together with a guy called Nathan and we paced each other until the last few miles. My plan was to start picking the pace up here, but I didn't really feel comfortable - legs were feeling heavy, although I was still breathing easy. So kept it steady.

13.1-20 miles - 6:42, 39, 50, 36, 49, 39, 44
Started to get a bit tactical. I wasn't feeling any better but we ran a couple of quicker miles to latch on to the 2:55 train (which by now was down to 2:57 pace) just up the road as I thought it would be useful. Glad for the encouragement from Em just as we were catching up to them. Their pacing was faster but a bit erratic. Think there were a few in this bunch still hoping for 2:55 and they would occasionally push up to that pace before falling back. The quicker pace was a bit tough on the legs and I started to feel like they were getting tight. A definite low point when we went past 18 miles and I'd misremembered and was expecting 19!

20-26.2 miles - 6:48, 52, 51, 49, 51, 51 + 0:50
2:55 lady went off the front at about 18-19 miles, chasing down the 2nd and 3rd ladies ahead. With her gone the pace started to drag and I started to pull clear at around 23 miles just by holding steady, although it felt like I was putting the hammer down! From 20 miles on I was pretty sure I would go sub-3 but I had to give it everything on the last stretch through town - especially to climb the kerbs and back up the subway. The last few twists & turns through the park felt like they'd gone on forever and a lap of the track has never seemed so daunting. Amazed at how quickly I went from marathon pace to unable to walk!

C • Get in 8

Bit of light jogging pre-start and did I bollocks do a warm-down!!!

Easy jogging, easy drills and strides out to marathon pace. All felt good.
So nice to get out for a jog, felt much calmer out in the park than sat at home - although that may also have something to do with the rugby finishing!

C • Have a good one! 1

Steady run along Millbank

2x1 mile at marathon pace as part of a steady run. With hindsight I'd have done this differently, the first felt too much like hard work after less than a mile warm-up, but by the end of the run I was happily cruising at marathon pace.

C • training graph 4

A very easy no-impact loosener on the x-trainer.

pilates - good session this week.

5x600m reps off ~2 min recoveries on the playing fields near home. Nice fast pace but overall not too intense, around Yasso 800 pace.

Times: 2:02, 2:05, 2:01, 2:06, 1:59 (quite a gusty headwind, mainly on the evens).

+ recoveries since they were so long.

easy around BPP

Fartlek around the 3 mile Beckenham loop. 5x ~200m sprints with long easy recoveries.

steady around the Beckenham 3 mile loop.

pilates

HFW
and went the long way around Crystal Palace hill for some extra distance.
Forgot garmin so distance a guess.

Easy jog around S Norwood. Wasn't going to as I woke up a bit achey & tired, but couldn't resist the lure of a gorgeous evening.