Week Eight Of Training

Week Eight!  Finished!  That's the official training programme half way through.

I'm really relcutant to admit this, but the truth is: I'm getting a little bored with this.  Honestly.  Not "I'm going to quit" bored, but just a little... bored.

Trying to run four times a week is a commitment far greater than any show I've ever done, and I can't imagine that the post-run feelings are going to be anything like the adrenaline rush and sudden massive low of a show.

Maybe I'm wrong... whatever may happen, I've committed too much effort to this whole project to stop now.  Eight weeks tonight it will all be over... whether I finish the marathon or not, whether I make a time or not, it will all be done.  I shall (I hope) be resting at home, recovery compression gear on and enjoying a glass or two of red wine...

Union Canal at Philipstoun

Anyway, what happened this week?  We had a fairly gentle five mile run on Tuesday as a recovery run after the 17½ mile run last weekend.  We had a threshold run where I tried my best to maintain three eight-minute threshold sessions with two minutes in between.

And then we had a brainstorm on Saturday.  Driving home from a photo session, I realised that I had enough time to do the long, slow run on Saturday and leave Sunday for family stuff... and I went on a 20.3 mile run.

Was this wise?  No.  In the training plan?  No.  But it was very interesting.

From the start I ran at what I hope to be my marathon pace.  There were a couple of occasions where I had to stop for a moment: once for a photograph and once for... another reason.  Anyway, that lasted until mile 16.

Mile 16 saw the long climb out of Linlithgow.  From there, it was essentially uphill all the way home.  A gradual 85m climb over about three and a half miles.  What worries me is that even in those moments where the climb levelled off, I still wasn't able to get back to the pace I had been at earlier in the run.

On the plus side, today (Sunday) I am actually feeling pretty well, and am sure that I shall be back in the saddle on Tuesday, and hope to be doing some more threshold work on Thursday.

Future LSR plans:

08-Apr	13 miles (not sure about doing Heaven and Hell half)
15-Apr	16 miles
22-Apr	19 miles
29-Apr	20 miles
06-May	22 miles? 20 miles? See how I feel...

26 Mar - 01 Apr 2012

Number of runs	Three
Links	- Tuesday - 5.25 miles (618 cal) - Thursday - 5.15 miles (621 cal) - Saturday - 20.31 miles (2449 cal)
Total mileage this week	30.71 miles
Calories burned this week	3,688
Total mileage since start	234.9 miles
Calories burned since start	25,906