Summary of week ending 09/01/2011

Mon 03/01 - 20M long run at ~6.20min/M
Tue 04/01 - 12M double; recovery runs x2 at 6.15 & 6.30 with pack
Wed 05/01 - 12M double; 6M recovery & 6M speed incl 6x1K at ~5.00
Thu 06/01 - 20M double; 5M recovery & 15M medium long @6.30-6.15-5.55 (pack)
Fri 07/01 - 12M double; recovery runs x2 at 6.30 & 6.45 with pack
Sat 08/01 - 8M general aerobic at ~6.10min/M
Sun 09/01 - 18M long run at 6.00-5.49-5.43min/M
TOTAL - 102M

A cracking crescendo long run

18M - long run at 6.00 (0-6M); 5.49 (6-12M) and 5.43min/M (12-18M)

I'm really pleased with this one. I ran most of my long runs like this last year in the marathon build up (but a good deal slower). Slowly building towards ~10% slower than race pace then holding that for the last chunk when your legs are tiring is supposed to be a good format for these long runs. A balance between running fairly hard and with a race-pace-like stride pattern while not causing too much damage by really hammering it.

I had meant to run this one with splits of 6.30, 6.15 and 5.55 for the three thirds, but found myself feeling sprightly and eager. Last year I struggled to sustain the last third of these runs at faster than 6.15, so 5.45 is a substantial improvement (and means that I ran the whole 18 at close to last year's marathon race pace). A real confidence boost. With 3 and a bit months to go to race day, I'm feeling positive about meeting my targets.

Just a general aerobic day in the end

8M - general aerobic run at ~6.10min/M

I decided against racing today as I'm pretty stiff and tired after a hard week back. I'll save myself for some hard miles at the end of my long run tomorrow. Today's run was nice in the sun. But a bit windy on the way out West to to Battersea.

Some good recovery

12M - double; recovery runs x2
6M am recovery run at ~6.30min/M
6M pm recovery run at ~6.45min/M with pack

Just some loosening recovery miles today. Felt a bit tight after yesterday's run. I'm feeling pretty good generally though - no niggles.

Rediscovering the joys of the 'medium long' run

20M - double; recovery run & medium long run
5M am recovery run at 7.30-8.00min/M with pack
15M pm medium long run at 6.30 (0-5M), 6.15 (5-10M) & 5.55 (10-15M) with pack

I had a good chat with Ron last night and also a flick through my notes from last year's pre-marathon training. The plan is to hit some good mileages over the next 2 months (100 miles plus). I'm now going to focus a bit more on the quality of my longer runs (rather than just clocking up the miles as I was in December when I was testing myself out at high mileage).

So today's evening run was the beginning. I ran it as a crescendo run, slowly building towards ~10% below marathon pace. The last five felt good and I hit my planned times ok despite the Queenstown Road hill and human traffic in Clapham.

The morning run was a good loosener (a deux) too.

Some speed!

12M - double; recovery run and speed session (1K reps)
6M am recovery run at 6.15-6.45min/M
6M pm speed session incl 6x1K at ~5.00min/M off 60s recovery

A good day. I tootled in gently this morning... speeding up only for a brief section to avoid the irritation of being overtaken. My legs were still aware they had run 20 a couple of days ago and I didn't relish the idea of a speed session.

But my warm up did the trick and I felt great on my reps. I had plenty of acceleration in me and managed to properly knacker myself out on each one. The short recovery works well with my 6 mile route. I think I'll try to race x-country this weekend to get a tempo session in me.

Twelve recovery miles

12M - double; recovery runs x2
6M am at ~6.15min/M with pack
6M pm at ~6.30min/M with pack

Just some recovery miles today after yesterday's long one. I felt a little tight this morning from yesterday, but also felt pretty springy and good. The first consecutive good days for a while. I'll try some speed tomorrow. New shoes to crack open too!

20 miles to get going for 2011

20M - long run at ~6.20min/M

I had a couple of viral days off to start the year. Not great. But I think it was sensible not to push things. It was the anniversary of my stupid ankle sprain yesterday - which resulted in me missing the whole of January on crutches.

Anyway, this was a good way to start the new year. I felt pretty sprightly and only a little tired in the last 5 miles. I'll try and get some speed in tomorrow or Wednesday. I feel that's what I'll have lost out on most in my virus-disrupted Christmas.

It's nice not to be running on ice. But it's still pretty chilly. I misjudged it this morning and sorely regretted not having gloves. I could hardly get the key in the door at the end.