Seven (after 36hrs off)

7M pm recovery run

I kept it nice and slow this evening after my 36hrs off. Long one tomorrow.

Mile reps

13M am incl 10x1M off 90s jog

I repeated last Friday's mile rep session along the canal to Stratford but added in an extra three reps around Victoria Park to make it a ten rep session. Like last week, I had my pack on. And like last week, I think it was pretty good.

I'm now taking a 36hr rest (the equivalent of a day off, but from this morning til tomorrow evening).

Steady

19M double; steady run & recovery run
12M am steady run
7M pm recovery run

Another early one today, around the Heath one and a half times and then to work. Steadily.

A good medium-long tempo around the Heath

22M double; medium-long tempo run & recovery run
15M am with miles 1-12 at tempo (no Garmin)
7M pm recovery run

I prized myself out of bed at 5.20 this morning to give me enough time to run this one hard. I am so slow to warm up in the mornings, I need about 15 minutes walking around the house before my muscles are the right length, let alone have the ability to run.

I ran twice around my usual loop that runs around the perimeter of the Heath on the roads and then to work. I warmed up on the section from home to Swains Lane and then picked up the effort. My legs felt great. Really great, the whole way. I had a really positive rhythm, particularly on the flat sections in the second half (though without a Garmin, I don't know what my actual pace was).

Another recovery day

14M double; recovery runs x2
7M am recovery run
7M pm recovery run

I've recovered pleasingly after Sunday's 28 miler. I only held off on a session this evening because I couldn't leave work in time to fit in a proper one. I'll run a medium-long tempo in the morning.

Recovery

13M double; recovery runs x2
7M am recovery run
6M pm recovery run

Two slow ones on a bank holiday. Around and through the Heath.

28 steady

28M am long run at 6.30-6.20min/M

I ran another properly long one this morning - 28 miles steadily. I warmed up for a couple of miles before picking it up to 6.30 pace. For the rest of the run I kept the pace fairly even, but slowly speeding up towards 6.20min/M. I didn't want to push it.

I had pre-fuelled and had a Lucozade at half distance, which probably helped me feel a fair bit better than on the steady 26.2 I ran a few weeks ago. Over the last 8 or 9 miles, my legs began to hurt. It was a general, burning, fatigue-type ache and they weren't tight and I could keep the pace up just by concentrating on keeping good form. Hopefully this will help my endurance and give me confidence in the later stages of the race.

Easy

12M double; recovery runs x2
7M am recovery run
5M pm recovery run

Two gentle ones in and around the Heath today. My legs are feeling ready for a solid one tomorrow.

Seven mile reps to Stratford

17M double; mile rep session & recovery run
10M am incl 7x1M off 90s
7M pm recovery run

I was in clinic out East today (Romford, not Shanghai), so I ran to Stratford along the canal with my pack and put in some pretty good mile reps. I added a loop in Victoria Park, so the run was 10 miles in total with 7 mile reps. I was cream crackered on my plod home (along the canal again from Mile End).

Recovery

14M double; recovery runs x2
7M am recovery run
7M pm recovery run

Two slow ones. I need the recovery I can tell you.

Steady (and fairly long) early on a Wednesday

22M double; medium-long steady(ish) run & recovery run
15M am steady (in parts)
7M pm recovery run

I got up early and ran another steadyish fifteen miler first thing this morning. It was steady in parts but fairly slow in others. I was pretty tired the morning after a K rep session.

K reps in Regent's Park

14M double; recovery run & K rep session
6M am recovery run
8M incl 10x1K off 90s jog

Another Tuesday, another tight schedule and another K rep session squeezed in on the way home, looping f around the grass circuit near the Hub in Regent's Park. My legs felt pretty fast I think.

Recovery

13M double; recovery runs x2
7M am recovery run
6M pm recovery run

I ran nice and slow today, but felt ok. No niggles still.

Summary of week ending 18/08/2013

Mon 12/08 - 14M double; 7M recovery runs x2
Tue 13/08 - 16M double; 6M recov & 10M incl 10x1K off 90s jog
Wed 14/08 - 22M double; 15M steady & 7M recovery runs
Thu 15/08 - 22M double; 15M crescendo run (finishing at 5.20min/M) & 7M recov
Fri 16/08 - 22M double; 15M steady & 7M recovery runs
Sat 17/08 - Rest
Sun 18/08 - 21M crescendo run at 7.15-6.20-5.55-5.35-5.30min/M
TOTAL - 117M

A gritty twenty-one miler

21M am crescendo run at 7.15 (0-3M); 6.20 (3-7M); 5.55 (7-14M); 5.35-30 (14-21M)

You would have thought a rest day and an evening feeling inspired watching the World Champs marathon would have put my legs in murderous mood for my long run. And I did feel pretty good as I headed out and at 5.55 pace in the middle section I was cruising without pushing, even over the cobbles in Wapping. But it turned into a real grinding, sapping session as I got into the final quarter. By the end I had whole body ache (though no specific tightness), not unlike at the end of last week's 26.2.

I was well hydrated (before - though I think I should start adding refuelling mid-run now) and I didn't go that hard early on (though a bit harder than sometimes). The final segment still held together just about ok despite the struggle.

Along the canal I hit 5.35-5.30 despite the obstructions and little rises at locks. The segment through Angel is always slow so I ignored the time and just tried to keep as much rhythm as I could. And the last mile and a half (up the hill from the canal home) was slower, but at 5.55 is faster than I usually manage when running at 5.30 effort.

I am now an immobile wreck.

I've run 117 miles this week (in six days of running)... These are the weeks that might bring a solid time in Frankfurt into reach.

Rest!

Not. A. Jot. Of. Running. Today.

Steady again

22M double; steady run & recovery run
15M am steady run
7M pm recovery run

I ran pretty much the same as Wednesday really. But felt more tired. Luckily Mo wasn't the recipient of voodoo-style sluggish vibes from me.

Rest day tomorrow. My first in a while. And I think I'll benefit from it. I've run 135 miles in the last seven days.

Another Thursday morning medium-long crescendo run

22M double; medium-long crescendo run & recovery run
15M am with 2M warm up; 6.00min/M (2-5M); 5.35-5.20 (5-14M); 1M warm down
7M pm recovery run

I ran pretty much the same session as last Thursday again, though with more tired legs. As with last time, the initial speed up to 6min/mile pace was an effort after only two miles of warm up, but I got going pretty well and once I got to the open spaces of Hyde Park, hit a pace of 5.30 fairly easily - before that my route is pretty zig-zaggy and involves road crossings left right and centre. I slowly upped the pace from there so that the last three miles were at 5.20 pace. I didn't quite have the oomph to hit a 5.07 final mile like last week (and the wheels started to come off a bit the final few hundred metres) but I mustn't grumble...

I was shattered on my way home.

Steady

22M double; steady run & recovery run
15M am steady run
7M pm recovery run

I ran a long-ish steady-ish run this morning around the Heath and on my way to work. The steadiness came from its hills rather than that much speed in the flat. But it should still have been a solid general aerobic workout.

K reps in Regent's Park on the way home

16M double; recovery run & K rep session
6M am recovery run
10M pm incl 10x1K hard off 90s jog

I am feeling good still and ran what felt like a pretty swift kilometre rep session on my way home from work around the grass loop near the Hub in Regent's Park. The grass is cut short and the ground is firm, so it's a great surface for it. And there was some cricket to watch during my recovery jogs.

Recovery (feeling good)

14M double; recovery runs x2
7M am recovery run
7M pm recovery run

I'm feeling pretty great considering my last week. Slightly achy quads thanks to Saturday's speed, but no adverse reaction to yesterday's long-un. And I was full of beans on both of my runs today once I got going. 

26.2 mainly at a reasonable pace

26.2M am 0-3M warm-up 4-26.2M at 6.14mun/M

I decided to fit in a proper long run this morning to end what feels like one of my best ever weeks of training. I find running a full marathon in training is a good way of removing the fear factor from racing it. I ate well last night and drank a pint of milk in the middle of the night amd a glass of squash before starting to prepare myself, butI  didn't eat or drink at all during the run (partly because I didn't want to stop and partly to show myself I have plenty of reserves).

I ran the first three miles nice and easy amd then picked my pace up to a bit under 6.30 per mile. I then very gradually increased it. I ended up averaging 6.14min/M for the last 23.2 miles. I probably ran the last 15 miles at a pretty even 6.10min/M. It felt pretty easy legs and breathing wise. I wasn't at all tight and didn't have to push to keep the pace up, though by the time I finished I felt a bit hot, generally achy and pleased to finish (but better than I've felt before on these sorts of runs).

All in all, it was a good end to a 125 mile week (my 2nd biggest ever I think).

A bit of speed on a Saturday

13M double; surge session & recovery run
7M am incl 20 min surge session
6M pm recovery run

I felt like making a good week of it and take advantage of my energised legs this morning by running the surge session Danny taught me last year. It's faster than my usual sessions but also less arduous. It's the one that goes 90s hard-90s steady-90s hard-90s steady and so on with four lots of 60s hard/steady, 4 lots of 30s and 4 lots of 15s. By the end it feels pretty bad. I ran it up Swain's Lane and then along the road at the top of the Heath before jogging back home through a meandering route through the Heath.

Recovery

14M double; recovery runs x2
6M am recovery run
8M pm recovery run

Two easy runs today. I felt pretty ok, in fact quite springy by the evening.

A proper 'medium-long' crescendo run

22M double; medium-long crescendo run & recovery run
15M am crescendo at ~7min/M (0-2M); 6.00-5.07min/M (3-14M); ~9 (15M)
7M pm recovery run

I got up early again to get in my session before work. I ran with my Garmin and, despite a full two miles of warm up, my attempt to lift the pace to 6min/M made me very aware of how long I take to warm up. It was a real push for the first mile or so and I was just beginning to think I might have to accept I was having a bad day and settle for a poor session. But by the time I arrived at Hyde Park (5 and a bit miles in), 6 minute miling was beginning to feel comfortable. I upped my pace gradually so that by eight miles in I was cruising along at 5.40 pace without too much effort. I kept upping the effort, so I ran the miles from 9 to 14 (down Birdcage Walk and then up and down the river to Temple via the Lambeth and Millenium Bridges) in 5.30-5.30-5.20-5.20-5.07. I was tired at the end, but not dead, and jogged the last mile as a warm down.

I've run 129 miles in the last 7 days.

Recovery

14M double; recovery runs x2
7M am recovery run
7M am recovery run

Two easy ones today to and from work along the usual route other than a diversion via Chiltern Street in Marylebone to check out what's there. I'd heard it's where it's at for hip shopping... having seen it, I'm not sure unless u want a saxophone or a stale croissant.

Ten mile reps in the early morning

22M double; mile rep session & recovery run
15M am incl 10x1M off 90s jog
7M pm recovery run

I'm aiming to make some of my reps sessions higher volume in the coming weeks and this was the first. I ran mile-ish reps around the Heath perimeter (I actually just ran 5.10-20 each time rather than knowing the distance, hence '-ish'). I managed to judge the effort pretty well and I don't think the early morningness made them too slow other than my first rep (which was up Swain's Lane and was never destined to be a good one).

I am really feeling the miles this week. I skulked around the corridors at work and was dead slow again on my recovery run home.

Much needed recovery

14M double; recovery runs x2
7M am recovery run
7M pm recovery run

110 miles last week, ending with a hard 23 miler left me pretty shattered today. Both runs were dead slow. Nothing feels injured though. My hamstrings felt a bit tight first thing, but eased off.

Summary of week ending 04/08/2013

Mon 29/7 - 10M double; 7M & 3M recovery runs
Tue 30/7 - 25M double; 7M am recov & 18M pm incl 6x1M off 90s jog
Wed 31/7 - 12M double; 7M & 5M recovery runs
Thu 1/8 - 6M double; 3M recovery runs x2
Fri 2/8 - 22M double; 15M incl 12M crescendo/tempo & 7M recov run
Sat 3/8 - 12M double; 6M recovery runs x2
Sun 4/8 - 23M crescendo long run
TOTAL - 110M

23 mile crescendo run (a bit harder)

23M am crescendo at 6.45-5.55-5.30

This is my first Garmin-timed long run of the campaign, so I was a bit nervous and standoffish at the beginning.

My general aim is to run the first third nice and gently, just as preparation for the rest of the run and to get some miles on the board, the second third at a respectable pace, but not pushing, and the final third at the limit of what I can achieve without tearing anything or compromising the next week.

This spring, I was managing 5.20 miling for decent chunks of the final third. I stuck with 5.30 mailing today, but could hold it fine (if you count puffing hard and feeling a bit sick as fine) on the flat of the canal and held a similar effort the last mile and a half up the hill home. I was pretty pleased with it. And the post-run glow.

Recovery

12M double; recovery runs x2
6M am recovery run
6M pm recovery run

Two easy ones around the Heath. Legs heavy. Not sure how ready I'll be for the long run in the morning.

Medium-long tempo

22M double; medium-long tempo & recovery run
15M am incl 12M crescendo/tempo
7M pm recovery run

I had more time to fit in running today. I got up early and ran twice around the perimeter of the Heath with the first two miles as warm up and the rest either fairly hard (miles 2 - 6) or properly hard (miles 6 -12). The last three miles were a gentle jog to work after a brief pause at home.

I was shattered all day and at the beginning of my run home. It was the sort of run where you feel better at the end ham re beginning despite still feeling pretty rubbish.

Just two three milers

6M double; recovery runs x2
3M am recovery run
3M pm recovery run

No time for more than a couple of real shorties today.