February 2012

[marathondan]

A wee leap-day update before the month closes.

Week 10 - 8 to go - the usual trio of efforts.

The canalside interval session went fine; I cut the recovery period to 1:20 against a sprint of 1:50, gradually increasing the workload week by week. Not sure I can work it much harder than that.

Friday morning saw 8 miles tempo pace round the field - the going had returned to muddy, and while I was able to knock out the first lap at 7:26 pace, I finished up a good minute slower. Not to worry - I blame it on the... conditions.

The long one was delayed 24 hours until Monday night - 17 miles on road. The contrast with two weeks ago was significant - I felt comfortable from the off and was certainly very relaxed up until around 12 miles. It got harder after that, but it felt like there was plenty in the tank at the end, and there were no distinct pains in any particular joints. The pace was still slow - 4:09 marathon pace - but for the long runs I just have to keep comfortable, and the pace is what it is. My time target is going to be a huge challenge on the day, but we'll just have to see what the day brings.

I'm really struggling to keep the boredom away now, as I approach three hours of plodding round suburban streets, and I devoured not only the Marathontalk podcast but Material World and More or Less as well, before switching to the 80s party mix to bring a smile to my face for the last couple of miles. My "endurance" playlist has proved a little too worthy / serious to really keep me going - trash is what I need. Came down the road to Livin' on a Prayer and then devoured two bowls of cereal. A couple of handfuls of raisins wasn't enough to sustain me - in-race nutrition is the next topic to address. Step-backs aside, only three long ones left. I think they will do me a power of good.

Week 11 kicked off today with the intervals distance increasing to 5 miles. I probably reduced the effort level a bit to compensate, but that will return over the coming weeks.

February total: 112 miles
Year to date: 198 miles