This week has been a fantastic week of training. I’ve racked up a grand total of 50 miles in the past 7 days and right now, as I type this I am feeling pretty damn good for it. I do hope that I can keep this up and keep improving, for it is the improvement that I am seeking.
It’s fair to say that without the use of the treadmill I would not have reached such a fantastic mileage this week. 20 of these miles were achieved using the running machine in our garage.
But it’s the outdoor miles where I’ve felt that the training is really delivering results.
My Monday evening run of 8 miles felt amazingly good and I attribute that to the speed work I’ve been doing on the treadmill. The rest of the week was indoor all the way until Saturday’s long run. I could get down about that but it is what it is.
On Monday, Tuesday and Thursday I ran morning and night – double run days. On Thursday evening I was on the treadmill at 10 pm running a rather fast 5k.
Come Saturday I was out the door at 7.30 am to get my long run in before Storm Dennis moved in. Being outdoors felt so good.
The long run of the week was my longest run since I was last training for a marathon in 2017. I clocked up 15.5 glorious miles along the country road north Ryedale in North Yorkshire.
Throughout the run, I never felt overly tired. I used some gels to keep me going but I also ate some porridge before heading out (as well as a double espresso). It may well have been a fluke, but I got my fuelling spot on.
We were expecting Storm Dennis but the menace left me alone on my long run. In fact, it only rained during the last half hour. Though I was soaked by the time I got home. I also have to wake up one of our teenagers to let me in as I hadn’t taken a key with me.
Later in the day I definitely felt those miles in my legs. However, when I ended the run I felt that I could easily have carried on.
Running 15.5 miles in 2 hours and 9 minutes equates to an average pace of 8:18 per mile. I extrapolated that out to the marathon distance and that would put me at 2 hours and 36 minutes over 26.2 miles. It really made me realise that my training is going in the right direction.
Come this morning (Sunday) and I wasn’t feeling too much from the previous day’s miles. After the usual routine of taking and picking up the youngest two from band practice plus taking the oldest two to work, we went for a walk with the dogs.
After some serious cleaning of the kids’ bedroom, with numerous bags of clothes going to the local Age UK charity shop, I went for a recovery run.
The contract to yesterday’s weather was stark. Instead of 4 layers, hat and gloves I was in a single running top with the sleeves rolled up, and a peaked cap to keep the sun out of my eyes.
I did a fairly quick 5k (3.1 miles) – 24 minutes 17 seconds. Hardly recovery pace really, but I find it hard to run slowly when my legs really want to go.
Getting home I discovered the teenagers were already walking home from work so I decided to leave Duke at home to rest and I went back out to do another 5k. Crazy? Yes, but I was so close that 50 mile mark.
My second recovery run was faster than the first. I did exactly the same route but decided to race myself. 22 minutes 31 seconds was my time and I was really pleased with that. I could have gone quicker but I was trying to hold back a little.
Next week is half-term. This means I will be able to run outdoors more and use the treadmill less. But I will still do some workouts on the machine to keep improving my speed.
Thanks for reading
D
