With 4 weeks left before the Berlin marathon I started to take it a bit easier to ensure I'm fully rested for the big day. The first half of the week was a continuation of miles to see me through to the end of the month. During the second half of the week I started to cut back so I could (hopefully!) freshen up a little.
My tempo session on Wednesday morning was a little slower than I wanted but the main thing is that it felt about right effort wise and as soon as I get some life back into my legs the pace will come right. Since I was racing a 10km on Sunday, I opted to do a mini 1km rep session at Thursday lunch. I only did 4x1km and they came out at an average of 2:57 which is about 6s per km slower than when I did the same session 4 weeks ago. It was a little windy going one way but luckily my HR was well down which again tells me that my body/legs are rather tired and lifeless, no surprises there.
The last bit of quality this week was the Middlesex 10km champs. It's run around Victoria Park on a course I'm very familiar and it's essentially a ~1km straight followed by 3 ~3km laps. Nearly every time I've run this course there's a headwind going along the long stretch on the southern part (ie from NE to SW) of the course and today was no different! It was also quite a humid day and I was sweating quite a bit just from a short warmup. My previous best on the course was 31:07 so I was happy to take over 40s off that to win in 30:25 with 15:20/15:05 5km splits. So it looks like I’m getting a little bit of life back into the legs.
So back to August, which resulted in my biggest month ever with 628 miles (or 1010 km in NZ money), or an average of 142 miles per week. The average pace for the month was 6:50/mi and I make that (nearly) 24 marathons at just under 3 hour pace:) Timewise, I ran for a total of 71.5 hours and on top of that my core sessions in the month add another 9 hours. There's a few more hours of cycling (commuting) in there but that doesn't really count and 80 hours training is a half decent total for a month.
I’m already starting to feel fresher and my easy runs are coming in quite a bit faster for a lower HR Next week I’m continuing with the reduced mileage and I’ll look to do a couple of long MP tempo sessions, of which, one will hopefully be a half marathon on Sunday. I also completed my first ever VO2 max test on Tuesday so I’m looking forward to the results of that and will blog about the results next time.
Week beginning Mon 29-Aug-2011 (4 weeks until Berlin Marathon)
Mon am: 1:22:09=12.03mi@6:50/mi(131 bpm/895 bpmi). Drop car off for MOT then run home via Hackney Marshes and canal
Mon pm: 57:44=8.24mi@7:00/mi(131 bpm/918 bpmi). Home to VP and back with hugh jones loop
Tue am: 1:09:10=9.42mi@7:21/mi(124 bpm/910 bpmi). Run from home via canal and Hackney Marshes to pick up car from MOT.
Tue pm: 1:02:40=8.52mi@7:22/mi(122 bpm/898 bpmi). Commute from work
Wed am: 1:39:33=16.28mi@6:07/mi(152 bpm/930 bpmi). Commute to work with 3 VP figure 8 loops @ 5:18s (170bpm). Pace a bit slower than it felt so working slightly harder than I should have been. At least the HR was steady around 170bpm.
Wed pm: 39:19=5.42mi@7:15/mi(129 bpm/936 bpmi). 1 outer lap of regents Park
Thu pm: 50:50=8.51mi@5:59/mi(150 bpm/896 bpmi). 4x1km @ something under 10km pace 2:57 2:58 2:54 3:00 (2:57.41 avg). 2nd reps into strong wind. Pace well off what I managed ~4 weeks ago but equally HR was well below so just tired with no real pace at the moment
Fri am: 37:38=5.11mi@7:22/mi(125 bpm/921 bpmi). Easy laps around Mudchute park
Fri pm: 35:37=5.11mi@6:58/mi(129 bpm/899 bpmi). Easy laps around Mudchute park
Sat am: 49:25=7.13mi@6:56/mi(135 bpm/936 bpmi). Run up to VP and back.
Sat pm: 30:20=4.08mi@7:26/mi(125 bpm/928 bpmi). Easy laps around Mudchute park
Sun am: 14:15=1.85mi@7:42/mi(119 bpm/917 bpmi). easy run round docks 6:30am to wake up
Sun am: 13:31=1.92mi@7:02/mi. Pre 10k warmup jog
Sun am: 3:11=.55mi@5:47/mi. Pre 10k jog to start and strides
Sun am: 30:25=6.22mi@4:54/mi(176 bpm/861 bpmi). Middlesex 10k 1st in 30:25 (15:20/15:05). kms 259 306 305 304 305 301 301 308 300 254. Pleased to run so strongly in the 2nd half as the long stretch into wind on each lap is annoying though luckily wasn't too bad. Quite a humid day too and was sweating quite badly after easy warmup!
Sun am: 28:20=3.8mi@7:27/mi(133 bpm/992 bpmi). 10k warmdown 2 laps of course lap
Total Mileage: 104.17mi@06:46/mi
My tempo session on Wednesday morning was a little slower than I wanted but the main thing is that it felt about right effort wise and as soon as I get some life back into my legs the pace will come right. Since I was racing a 10km on Sunday, I opted to do a mini 1km rep session at Thursday lunch. I only did 4x1km and they came out at an average of 2:57 which is about 6s per km slower than when I did the same session 4 weeks ago. It was a little windy going one way but luckily my HR was well down which again tells me that my body/legs are rather tired and lifeless, no surprises there.
The last bit of quality this week was the Middlesex 10km champs. It's run around Victoria Park on a course I'm very familiar and it's essentially a ~1km straight followed by 3 ~3km laps. Nearly every time I've run this course there's a headwind going along the long stretch on the southern part (ie from NE to SW) of the course and today was no different! It was also quite a humid day and I was sweating quite a bit just from a short warmup. My previous best on the course was 31:07 so I was happy to take over 40s off that to win in 30:25 with 15:20/15:05 5km splits. So it looks like I’m getting a little bit of life back into the legs.
So back to August, which resulted in my biggest month ever with 628 miles (or 1010 km in NZ money), or an average of 142 miles per week. The average pace for the month was 6:50/mi and I make that (nearly) 24 marathons at just under 3 hour pace:) Timewise, I ran for a total of 71.5 hours and on top of that my core sessions in the month add another 9 hours. There's a few more hours of cycling (commuting) in there but that doesn't really count and 80 hours training is a half decent total for a month.
I’m already starting to feel fresher and my easy runs are coming in quite a bit faster for a lower HR Next week I’m continuing with the reduced mileage and I’ll look to do a couple of long MP tempo sessions, of which, one will hopefully be a half marathon on Sunday. I also completed my first ever VO2 max test on Tuesday so I’m looking forward to the results of that and will blog about the results next time.
Week beginning Mon 29-Aug-2011 (4 weeks until Berlin Marathon)
Mon am: 1:22:09=12.03mi@6:50/mi(131 bpm/895 bpmi). Drop car off for MOT then run home via Hackney Marshes and canal
Mon pm: 57:44=8.24mi@7:00/mi(131 bpm/918 bpmi). Home to VP and back with hugh jones loop
Tue am: 1:09:10=9.42mi@7:21/mi(124 bpm/910 bpmi). Run from home via canal and Hackney Marshes to pick up car from MOT.
Tue pm: 1:02:40=8.52mi@7:22/mi(122 bpm/898 bpmi). Commute from work
Wed am: 1:39:33=16.28mi@6:07/mi(152 bpm/930 bpmi). Commute to work with 3 VP figure 8 loops @ 5:18s (170bpm). Pace a bit slower than it felt so working slightly harder than I should have been. At least the HR was steady around 170bpm.
Wed pm: 39:19=5.42mi@7:15/mi(129 bpm/936 bpmi). 1 outer lap of regents Park
Thu pm: 50:50=8.51mi@5:59/mi(150 bpm/896 bpmi). 4x1km @ something under 10km pace 2:57 2:58 2:54 3:00 (2:57.41 avg). 2nd reps into strong wind. Pace well off what I managed ~4 weeks ago but equally HR was well below so just tired with no real pace at the moment
Fri am: 37:38=5.11mi@7:22/mi(125 bpm/921 bpmi). Easy laps around Mudchute park
Fri pm: 35:37=5.11mi@6:58/mi(129 bpm/899 bpmi). Easy laps around Mudchute park
Sat am: 49:25=7.13mi@6:56/mi(135 bpm/936 bpmi). Run up to VP and back.
Sat pm: 30:20=4.08mi@7:26/mi(125 bpm/928 bpmi). Easy laps around Mudchute park
Sun am: 14:15=1.85mi@7:42/mi(119 bpm/917 bpmi). easy run round docks 6:30am to wake up
Sun am: 13:31=1.92mi@7:02/mi. Pre 10k warmup jog
Sun am: 3:11=.55mi@5:47/mi. Pre 10k jog to start and strides
Sun am: 30:25=6.22mi@4:54/mi(176 bpm/861 bpmi). Middlesex 10k 1st in 30:25 (15:20/15:05). kms 259 306 305 304 305 301 301 308 300 254. Pleased to run so strongly in the 2nd half as the long stretch into wind on each lap is annoying though luckily wasn't too bad. Quite a humid day too and was sweating quite badly after easy warmup!
Sun am: 28:20=3.8mi@7:27/mi(133 bpm/992 bpmi). 10k warmdown 2 laps of course lap
Total Mileage: 104.17mi@06:46/mi
