Another week in the books and the best week to date in this marathon block. Really solid consistency throughout the week and 2 very solid runs on Wednesday and Saturday which you can see below:
Weekly Recap:
Monday: 7.12 miles - 51.35
Tuesday: 7 miles – 51.27
Wednesday: 2 miles easy – 8 miles @ marathon effort 45.43 (5.43 avg) – 2 miles easy
Thursday: 6 miles – 48.40
Friday: 5 miles – 37.50
Saturday: 20.14 miles – 2.05.53 (6.15 avg)
Sunday: Rest Day
So the tib post and the knee tendonitis issues I’ve been battling the last few months have been improving every week and this has left me more confident in both attacking and executing the longer sessions needed for a marathon. So lets start with the session on Wednesday! Really really hot conditions for this but I always like when the session is made a little bit tougher be it through hotter weather or windier conditions etc its like adding a bit of resistance that although makes things tougher ultimately will leave you better conditioned when you want to peak and perform at your best! Ran this at the track in Shercock which made things mentally tougher going round and round but also allowed me to get into a good rhythm. As an aside whenever I put up a picture of the track on Social Media people always ask where is that and comment on how great the backdrop looks aesthetically which is brilliant. Having ran there for over 20 years I probably take it for granted and don’t appreciate enough how lucky we are to have such a facility in the community. Getting back to the session after a 2 mile warm up eased into things and was able to click of the following miles:
· 5.51
· 5.49
· 5.44
· 5.45
· 5.44
· 5.40
· 5.37
· 5.28
Really happy with this effort I have to say and gave me a bit of confidence that my fitness is in an ok place. After 2 very easy days tackled into a long run on Saturday morning. Firstly, the fuelling situation in terms of gels and water went much much better this week in comparison to last week so regardless of how the run went it was already a success 😊 The run itself went really well. Eased into things and ran around 6.45 pace for the first 5 miles before picking things up gradually reaching 10 miles in just under 65 mins and from here on in ran more or less 6.00 pace for the rest of the run feeling good doing so and at times having to hold myself back when I’d look down at my watch and see 5.30 pace or so I knew Saturday wasn’t the day to push down towards that pace. Had planned to go to 21 miles but from 18 miles my left Glute Medius felt very very tight and felt like it was inhibiting me quite a bit. To be honest I could of gone to 21 but didn’t want to take any risks so cut it short at 20.14. Got it checked out by Dara earlier today and he confirmed that it was in fact very very tight and after 1 hour of torture it seems to have loosened out so should set me up well for the week!
Have to say I am delighted with the weeks training and in particular the long run, was surprised at how strong and comfortable I felt. However I know not to get too carried away and it only means something if I can put another week of similar training back to back. I will take the wins when they come and with just under 5 weeks to go to Belfast feeling more positive and upbeat about matters 😊
As we move into September I have a small number of Online Coaching Spaces that have opened up for all levels, abilities and distances. If you're looking to improve your times from 5k to a Marathon or if you simply want to improve your overall fitness DM or Email noelcarrollrunning@gmail.com for more information or to book your spot.
Cheers for reading folks and have a great week 😊
Noel
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