Here comes the big week
Friday: I dragged myself out for a gentle 6 miles around Maidenhead on a mild evening (a taste of the weather to come as it happens). Motivating myself to get out is becoming a chore, because when I don’t have time to run at lunchtime then it’s taking away family time.
My right quad was still slightly making its presence felt, which was a little worry. But generally I seemed recovered, at last. (I can’t believe it’s only two weeks since Reading.)
Sunday: Again I wasn’t keen to do this, but I didn’t have much choice. Although this was a step-back run, I was concerned that it would still be damn hard work – 14 miles, after all. It turned out to be quite instructive. With my current level of conditioning (and that’s not going to change much in the next four weeks ) I can start to feel it in my legs, ankles, hips, back, all those lower body muscles and joints, after about 8 miles. The more miles I do on top of that, the more the aches build up and the more keen I am to stop. Rocket science, huh?
14 miles turned out to be not too bad. Of course there were aches and pains, but I’m learning to accept them. The main problem that they cause is worry that they’ll turn into something more serious. Distractions help to minimise those worries, and there should be plenty on the big day.
The right quad irritation came and went, and finally went – hopefully that’s the last I’ll hear from it. So all in all, quite a success and a confidence boost. It turns out that the pace was faster than I thought, and today I’m feeling virtually no ill-effects – I’ve certainly felt a lot worse after half the distance.
This week is supposed to be the big one: 40 miles. I had planned to cut down the midweek runs a bit, because I thought I was overdoing things. But I am seeing now that my body has recovered well from the fast half marathon and the 18 mile run, and it should recover equally well during the taper that starts next week. So I think I’ll try and get fairly close to the target total.
My right quad was still slightly making its presence felt, which was a little worry. But generally I seemed recovered, at last. (I can’t believe it’s only two weeks since Reading.)
Sunday: Again I wasn’t keen to do this, but I didn’t have much choice. Although this was a step-back run, I was concerned that it would still be damn hard work – 14 miles, after all. It turned out to be quite instructive. With my current level of conditioning (and that’s not going to change much in the next four weeks ) I can start to feel it in my legs, ankles, hips, back, all those lower body muscles and joints, after about 8 miles. The more miles I do on top of that, the more the aches build up and the more keen I am to stop. Rocket science, huh?
14 miles turned out to be not too bad. Of course there were aches and pains, but I’m learning to accept them. The main problem that they cause is worry that they’ll turn into something more serious. Distractions help to minimise those worries, and there should be plenty on the big day.
The right quad irritation came and went, and finally went – hopefully that’s the last I’ll hear from it. So all in all, quite a success and a confidence boost. It turns out that the pace was faster than I thought, and today I’m feeling virtually no ill-effects – I’ve certainly felt a lot worse after half the distance.
This week is supposed to be the big one: 40 miles. I had planned to cut down the midweek runs a bit, because I thought I was overdoing things. But I am seeing now that my body has recovered well from the fast half marathon and the 18 mile run, and it should recover equally well during the taper that starts next week. So I think I’ll try and get fairly close to the target total.
