12 Weeks Out
Monday is a regular day off now, although I have had to do all my lifting during the first two days of this week as we head to Cornwall on Wednesday in preparation for Hollys race, ‘The Arc of Attrition’. In 2023 she podiumed at the 100 miler - for 2024 she’s racing the 50. As far as my training, I ran 9 miles easy on Tuesday and then hit a fast session just prior to leaving for our trip.
8x3 mins off 90 secs jog. Reps between 3:40-3:50 per k. Performed outside in 24kmph winds. Avg pace for reps was bang on 3:45. Up until recently I would have pushed just faster than the prescribed time ‘to be safe’ which is basically just ego running. So I kept it controlled. As a result, all the reps felt, well, like they should I guess? Not full on Vo2 max, blowing out of your arsehole, struggling to hang on at the end type reps. Instead, I felt I had experienced exactly the workout that was intended.
How often do you hear professional athletes talking about consistency being key, showing up day after day, not being a hero, getting the work done etc? They tell us it takes time and that we have to bury our ego and have patience if we want to run faster and better. But, just like so many others, I decided I want to run under 3 hours NOW- 36 mins quicker than my last Marathon, and, I wanted to do it in a few months. I trained hard and I trained consistently. I was, to be frank, obsessed. And I did well. 3:09 is a massive pb in less than 6 months, considering the course and the wind. I wanted sub 3 but 3:09 is what I earned. If there’s one thing for certain, it is that I am not special. Running talent is not a skill I possess.
I look back at everything I’ve learned. So much. Probably the biggest, most helpful change was fixing my cadence. But my downfall at Chippenham HM and Porto was not knowing how to race. Chippenham was fine pace-wise but drinking water at 4:07 per k really screwed me up around half way - I felt like I had waterboarded myself as my HR shot up and just got knocked totally off my rhythm.
Porto was a pacing issue.
If your sub 3 pacer goes off (and remains at) 6-8 seconds quicker than MRP, you should probably back off and run your own race.
Running for the next 10 days is going to be on undulating Cornish roads and treadmills. Crewing this weekend means mileage takes a hit.
Thursday was 10 miles of Cornish roads. No need to worry about pace, just aiming to keep hr reasonable considering the constant ups and downs. We’re house sitting at the Boathouse, like we do 2-3 times per year. I used to come to crab fish here as a kid. I remember looking up at this house perched on the edge of the water, wondering who lived in such an incredible building. Turns out that Holly may well have been here at the exact time, looking down on me as I was pulling crabs out of the water.
Because of the typically slow roads in Cornwall, Alan has set a little additional work to keep the legs turning over, so today, Friday, I ran just shy of 9 miles with 6x10 sec hill strides followed by 8x45 sec flat off 75 sec recovery. The 45 sec reps were around 3:20. Now it’s time to jump in the van and head to Porthtowan to collect Hollys race number. Tomorrow is a 4:30am start for the Arc 50.
Saturday off, Sunday 7 miles after 2 nights of poor sleep. Supposed to be a long run day but as Holly took second place in the race, we needed to be in Porthtowan for 10:30.
All in all, a fairly light week of 40-something miles.