^^ This selfie was taken before we got together back in 2019. I love it, simply because we were both knackered at the time due to dealing with divorce/cancer/moving house, but any opportunity we had to run together provided a short reprieve. All we did was laugh and act like teenagers. I love this woman…
At the time of writing, it’s a cold, cloudy Monday November 11th, and I’m sat upstairs in my recovery boots, revelling in the fact that I don’t have to head back out of the door again to train clients like I normally would do. It feels as though retirement is just around the corner but, in reality, my job is likely going to shift to working online 100% of the time from January of 2025. This is a very recent discussion we’ve had and I’ve not spoken to my clients as of yet. I’ve worked as a coach for twenty years. I’ve dreamed for a number of those years about not having to be out of bed at 5 or 6am on cold winter mornings… perhaps now is the right time.
I’m a week late with releasing this one due to a chaotic weekend and, in total honesty, I’m failing to recall last weeks training exactly. I know that it was another 72 mile week. I also know that I had a stormer of a long run on Sunday.
I’ll take things back as far as Saturday and Hollys race at the ‘Wendover Woods 50 Miler’ trail race. 5 x 10 mile laps of the woods with an astonishing 3500m of elevation gain. I walked half a lap with Lemmy after the race started and I can tell you that, yes, it was indeed hilly.
She hadn’t told anyone that she was racing. The fact is, she hasn’t run over 23 miles in one go since the start of the year, due to wanting to see if she could go under 2:40 at Amsterdam Marathon in October. Sadly, Covid prevented us both from being able to express the fitness that months of training had built at the race, and we instead opted to do the half.
“Fuck road running. I’m done with it.”
In fairness, she was done with it some time ago. Not due to waning ability. She ran in the early to mid 2:40’s at Manchester two years back - she was on pacing duties back in April of this year and the only marathon prior to that was a hilly marathon in gale force winds, although she still ran sub 3 at both :) She loves trails and mountain running and I think entering Wendover Woods 2024 was an opportunity to just go out and rekindle her relationship with racing in the wild. And it undoubtedly worked. Taking the win by over 30 minutes, she ran hard and she ran well. Every lap she appeared more rejuvenated than the last - like she was actually having fun. I truly have never known an athlete like her.
Sunday November 10th - the day after Wendover Woods - was a long run session along the canal. 20 miles with 5 miles at MRP toward the end. I’d spent the day prior eating a whole bag of bagels. Not toasted, buttered, sliced, nothing. I guess you could say I ‘raw dogged’ a bag of bagels? I’m not 100% sure of the terminology but let’s go with it. I also ate a whole pack of maple and raisin pancakes, carb bars from Maurten, SIS chews, you name it. I still only came in at just over 600g carbs, but I didn’t want to go through the misery of my last 800g day. Suffice to say, it worked. The first 11 miles averaged out at 4:30 per k and a 140-something HR. The following 5 miles at MRP came out as 4:01-4:02 avg per k. I was advised to pull the pace back a bit on the tow path, which I did. Another 4 miles of easy 4:30 k’s concluded a damned good run although, sadly, the blisters and rubbing I’m getting from my Alphafly 2’s means I need to switch to another shoe. The problem is, no other shoe boosts my economy like this one. The 3 is good, but not the same. The pods are slightly too far back to give me the pop I’m used to. Hey ho, I picked up a dirt cheap pair of Saucony Endorphin Pro 3’s from Vinted and they’re very nice to run in. I’ve ditched the Metaspeeds. The low drop just causes issues for me over longer distances.
Our post race or Sunday long run plans are typically geared toward dressing up and going out for a nice meal, but, 99% of the time we end up getting Fish & Chips, and slobbing on the sofa watching a movie.
So how was this past week of training? Honestly, the marathon fatigue, at this stage, is kicking my ass. The workouts, however, are going great. Tuesday was 75 minutes continuous, starting at 5 mins per k, increasing to MRP in the second 15, followed by 3:55, 3:50 and then the final 15 min reps were broken down into 5’s: 3:42/3:37/3:32.
Average pace for the entire run was 4:01 per k (MRP), avg HR was 155bpm.
Wednesday and Thursday were 11-12 mile easy running days before hitting another session on Friday. A 60 minute continuous run consisting of 3 mins at 4:10 and 3 mins at 3:50. The pace averaged out at 3:59 for the hour but the HR was a little high at 159bpm. It makes sense. This week has had a lot of miles at marathon race pace or quicker, and, after going to a gig in Cardiff on Friday night and not hitting the sack until 1am, I made the decision to take Saturday off completely. This left me with Sundays long run along the canal. I wore my Alphafly 2’s. The impact on my economy is too good not to wear them, but luckily my feet came out intact - thank you callouses!
The long run was set as 2 hours easy with the final 30 minutes at half marathon feel. You know have a good coach when you begin to understand why certain efforts are required to be performed in a way that doesn’t quite make sense to you. Why HM feel? Why not HM pace? Because when you’re carrying this much fatigue HM feel usually equates to marathon pace. Which it did. Psychologically, this is a good way to program, but honestly it was all I had. I don’t normally burn the candle at both ends but right now, I feel pretty rough… a cold, hopefully, not Covid. Time to do a test.
66 miles clocked. I am SO READY for an easy week!