As the title suggests the joy is always followed by the pain, well at least I know I'm alive. I suppose it must happen to most of us, you look back at your achievements and think 'if I only knew then what I know now'. Why is it that the mind is more than willing, but the body just can't manage it all of the time. I wouldn't mind if I had loads of money to buy all the best gear, but that just isn't going to happen. I suppose it must be more gaoling for the Saab driving, jumper over the shoulders berk to be passed by some old fart on his road bike, than it is for me to be overtaken by some fat bloke on his Cervelo P5. Deep down we both know who the better man is and I'm sure that I'll nail him on the run anyway.
Thankfully running is pretty much all down to guts and determination and the longer you go the more it comes down to sheer stubbornness and pain management, which with a 22 mile run coming up on Sunday is lucky for me. My half marathon time suggests that a sub 4 hour run is definitely on the cards and I read that the average time for the marathon is 4:15. It's definitely not about finishing now it's about getting my finish time to start with a 3, or at least being better than average.
Week 13
Well it's Monday again and while it felt great running yesterday the fast pace is clearly evident from the pain in my thighs. Thankfully the calves feel okay so it's not all bad, but this really hurts. Rest today and I can't see any reason why I would even consider anything tomorrow either, race plus 2 days usually finds we at my stiffest.
Well I'm off to Belfast today for work so I'm up at 5am and home at midnight. Exercise is not happening and any stair climbing today will be rather uncomfortable. Lets move swiftly, or as fast as I can go, to Wednesday shall we.
Customer meeting in Slough today, so more time sitting and no time for exercising. The body is feeling the strain and with the London marathon so close every pain or tweak feels more serious than it really is. Scratch another day off. Move on, nothing to see here.
Thursday dawns and I seem to have acquired a sore left calf and a very tight right thigh. I'm meant to be running 9 miles today, but that seems way too risky for my liking. I decide on a run before dinner and leave the distance open to see how I feel after the first couple of miles. Extra stretches pre-run seems to help, but here goes. After 15 mins or so 9 miles is definitely out of the question and I settle for an easy 10km. My knees ache as well so gently does it.
Good Friday and I actually don't feel too bad plus I really want to keep things ticking over. So I keep it easy with a 30 minutes run and walk program in the morning with the rest of the family. Debbie (the wife) is running with the boys now and I decide join in. It's good fun and the right kind of thing for the old body as well. Then a 60 minute cycle with the family through the woods and down to Southend. Happy days.
With 22 miles planned for Sunday, Saturday involves eating, sleeping, a bit of gardening and then watching the telly and playing on the IPad. With the usual triathlon reading thrown in for good measure obviously. I've read some great articles recently on training methodology and the reasons for easy long sets, the more information you can take in the better in my opinion an my race times seem to suggest it works as well.
Today is my last long run for the marathon and the last time I will venture over 20 miles on a training run ever again or until I get roped into some other stupid event. It also marks the start of my tapering for the event as well so when I'm done I'll know I'm on the home stretch. 22 miles means 3 drinks, 2 gels, 1 bar and a whole lot of pain. 3 hours and 30 minutes later and after burning off 3100 calories I'm done. I'm absolutely knackered and all I can do for the rest of the day is eat 2 roast diners with cake and watch the golf, although I'm too tired to watch the play-off. I'll find out the result in the morning. Night-night.
Training this week
Swimming 0 hours
Cycling 1 hour
Running 5 hours
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