11 Weeks Out
This one is going to be better! We still have a week in Cornwall which is less than ideal for training but whatchagonnado?
Monday: 16 miles of roads and felt pretty good… let’s see what this week brings.
Tuesday, nothing exciting, 7 or 8 miles (honestly can’t remember). When you’re constantly climbing or descending, data becomes much less relevant for me. I don’t check cadence, HR etc because it tells me nothing.
Wednesday: Session. This was a good one.
I went to Millies gym in Helston to use the treadmill and, after a mile warm up, went into a continuous 60 minute run. This consisted of 3 mins at half marathon pace (4:01) and 3 mins at 30 seconds slower per mile. I tried to focus on settling into a rhythm and relaxing. After 20 minutes it felt like a comfortable steady run. This was the first time I’d seen myself running in years, thanks to the mirror in front of me. Because I’ve increased my cadence so much in the past months, I’ve ended up looking almost like a real runner (words that would have lead me to self flagellation back in my powerlifting days). It used to be that even when I was running ‘fast’ it appeared as though I was plodding, because my turnover was probably around 150spm. Today my slowest my cadence was 182 . Not bad.
Thursday: 7 miles. Walked for a mile. Not injured or tired but the psychological weight of knowing that my hamstring could go at any point on race day clearly affects me more than I’m aware. Manchester is such a huge focus that it occupies most of my waking thoughts. And I’m not even technically injured right now. I’ve not had to miss any training. But because of pushing too hard on a single day of my first build back in June of 2023, I now have a weakness. Boohoo, right?
Friday: Day off and travelling home!
Saturday: Another session with some faster paces. After a mile warm up + drills and strides, I ran for 3 miles at slightly faster than HMRP (4:00 per k) followed by 3 mins easy jog. Next was 6x1 min at 5k pace (3:42 per k) off 30 sec jog followed by another 3 mins easy. Finished with 3 miles at MRP. Holly told me this would feel easy. It didn’t. The minute efforts caused me to be very slightly aware of my right hamstring and because of this (I think), my perceived exertion increased on the final section. I pulled back from 4:12 per k to 4:16 per k for a few minutes until it backed off, then, I pushed their speed back up. Good session overall. 10 miles.
Sunday: Long run: 16 miles super slow. If I’ve completed a session the day before a long run, I’ll stick at the lower end of my aerobic HR zone. If I haven’t I’ll push closer to limit. Hamstring felt fine. The last few miles were the easiest. One of the best things that can happen during a run is for a thought to occur that completely takes you away from focussing on putting one foot in front of the other. I didn’t run with music as I still don’t have anything to listen to that adds (rather than subtracts) to the enjoyment of the effort. Done, dusted.
Weekly total: 66 miles