The weeks are running away and I’m already halfway through my marathon training. Here’s what I did last week.
Monday, Thursday and Sunday – rest days
Tuesday – I ran in the evening, just an easy three miles around the block at recovery pace. I wore new trainers and still had a tight/ankle calf. This doesn’t seem to stop me wearing them, though. I am convinced that if I wear them for a few more miles, they’ll be broken in and I won’t have any more niggles.
Wednesday – A lunchtime run: 5.6 miles with 6 x 90 seconds fast up a slope in the park. This was instead of doing hill repeats. My training plan does call for hill repeats, but I haven’t managed to make it to a proper hill yet. It was very warm and this was a tough run.
Friday – An easy four miles at lunchtime, wearing my other new pair of trainers. I still had a stiff ankle/calf (although I’d worn the same trainers on Wednesday and don’t think I had any issues then). It was still hot. I’d intended to run a bit longer and a bit faster, but I felt sapped of energy, as always in the heat.
Saturday – Long run day – 18 miles. It was an early start, but a beautiful one. I was worried that my ankle/calf might give out and I’d have to cut the run short; but although it hurt at first, it was okay after a while. I stuck to the park and the towpath, and finished with parkrun. I managed to run the second half faster than the first, and finished well, although not quite as strongly as I’d hoped (it was hot again).
Total mileage for the week: 30.8
8 weeks to go!