It will soon be April and that means my next 2 races are running-only events so a slight shift to more running and a bit less of the other stuff seems sensible, although I don't think less swimming is possible. The race at the weekend was top banana and it opened my eyes to what is possible. Like with most things in life the limits we put on ourselves are normally mental rather than physical and if you remove the shackles we can often be surprised with the results. I have absolutely no idea how I was nearly 4 minutes quicker on the second run, after nearly 100 minutes of effort, but I was.
While I'm not going to win one of these things for a long time yet (age group only, obviously) at least now I can see how I could get there; with a quicker first run, a year's training, some better kit and a little more effort, I can get much closer to bridging the 22 minute gaps. I know it's just a dream at the moment, but if you don't dream they can't come true. Anyway back to reality and back to training.
Week 11
Monday comes and goes and while my legs don't feel as bad as they do after a long run my chest aches and I can feel the effort from yesterday. While running a marathon is going to be a real mental and physical test, it's quite different to running a duathlon. I reckon the duathlon is actually a harder event and an Olympic distance race must be real tough. The marathon is about finishing, it's about grinding out mile after mile in a relentless manner. It hurts, it really hurts but very few people are actually racing. While a duathlon isn't a sprint the first run is at a fair lick and by the time you get on the bike you are tired. After 25% of a long run you still feel pretty good. By the time you get to T2 and jump off the bike I am pretty much spent and the second run is done on empty, it's your mental toughness that gets you through the next run. Well whatever the answer is I know that the 20.3 miles this Sunday is going to hurt a plenty.
No time for a spin Tuesday morning, way too much work for that, also I seem to be eating everything in sight since Sunday. Time in the evening for a 5 mile run, considering my legs still ache and I wasn't gunning it 41:42 isn't too bad. On the downside I seem to have acquired the wife's cold. My snotty nose will turn into a sore throat later in the week if the wife is anything to go by.
Wednesday and yep here comes the sore throat and rather annoying raspy cough. I'm not bothering with the swim as I'm not feeling up to it and breathing properly is so important in the pool. Drowning would put the training back a bit.
Thursday and the nose tap seems to be set to flood and the throat feels like I've been eating holly. Spin in the morning goes okay which is more than I can say for the 8 mile run in the evening. To say it was hellish was an understatement. 2 bad nights sleep, a busy day, feeling down due to the worsening wife flu (man strain), not starting till 11:00 and getting a dickey tummy after 2 miles, meant that after 76 minutes I feel like shit. Worse than after my ill fated 15 mile run. I sit in the shower for 20 minutes and then drag my carcass to bed. At least I now know how bad it could get on marathon day and my god it was bad.
Full on sick in bed on Friday with no chance of any kind of exercise other than sitting on my arse or lying on the couch. Managed a little work in the afternoon but not much of anything else, other than deciding on the Portishead Sprint Triathlon on the 17th June and my first Tri. I love events in the Bristol area, we can make a weekend of it plus it's a reasonable price as well.
Well at least I'm feeling a bit better on Saturday, nothing more than a bit of reading and putting my tri bars on my bike is on the agenda. Focus is on the 32.66km I have to cover tomorrow; why does that sound so much further than 20.3 miles. I won't convert again, it's scary.
Sunday long run day and I've had a much better nights sleep and the throat feels better as well. Clocks going forward didn't help, but a decent timed breakfast and a stretch and I'm pretty much ready for it. As with other long runs if you get your prep right then things go a lot better than if you wing it. Food, hydration and a sensible pace. Plan it, do it and you'll be fine. After a smidgen over three and a quarter hours later the miles are in the bag. Now I eat.
4 weeks till London......
Training this week
Cycling 0.75 hours
Running 5.75 hours
Nothing else
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