It's getting nearer, and I've most definitely made some more progress over the past month in regards to my 2015 London Marathon training. Since the last entry, I've:
* Completed one full 16-week Intermediate training programme
* Ran my running total for 2014 to 1112 kms, which included my biggest win...
* Ran the full distance (42.2 km)!
* Ran the full distance under four hours (3hr: 54-ish min)!!
So unashamedly, I will now insert my fundraising plug here: As I mentioned before, the distance is only half of the challenge- raising the 2000£/ 3500$ is what I think is the harder part of the battle. If you haven't already donated to Oxfam (info on their work) through my Just Giving page, please do so generously. I will be providing updates on fundraising activities over the next three months as they arise.
But back to running, even if I bomb out for some reason on the day, I know in my head and on my Strava, that I've completed this goal. Well, sort of. I hope you know full well that it's not any good to me in practice unless you deliver on the day... "who cares if you can land a double axle in practice if you can't land it in your solo"... yet more life lessons learned from a youth filled with competitive sport. And nearly a month after the (unofficial) event, I can say that running the distance feels like a long a distant memory.
How did it actually feel? Well, I'm super happy that I did it from a planning and understanding perspective. I'm most satisfied with my "nutrition" plan. I certainly use the word nutrition loosely, in that from the perspective of someone who studied nutrition, fuelling with jelly sweets, energy gels, and juice concentrate hardly seems nutritious. I suppose that's always been the global message, though- you can eat crap if you work it off... in moderation.
Some tips I picked up from some more experienced distance runners in the last part of my training were to:
1) Work out how much glucose/ carbohydrate you need per body weight per hour and allocate enough jellies to bring with you during your run.
2) Start eating them earlier than you think you need them so you don't drain the tank.
This second tip was especially helpful, as previously for half-marathon training, I would not eat (or drink) at all on my Sunday runs to reap the full benefits of one or two gels and the isotonic stations on the day (often taking 5 - 8 min off my training times on race day). I think my tank (my glycogen stores), seem to last 10 - 13 miles, where some glucose top up at the 10 mile marker normally seems to do the trick for me.
So when and what should I start munching? Some quick Google searching seemed to bring me to the same magic number of "after 1-hour of exercise, ingest simple, glucose rich foods". Learning to keep eating when that's the last thing you want to do was probably just as difficult as adding the extra miles. Like I said, I've used gels on race days in the past, a texture that I generally struggle with out of racing situations. I have since tried soft jellies (Swedish Fish/ Jelly Babies), which are better in every day situations, yet are harder to chew when you're tired and running. I don't want to carry a banana around, nor 1-litre of liquid with me, and I once tried a chocolate bar, took two chews and spit it out.
In the end, I'm going to give full kudos to the portioned out Swedish Fish (four per hour after one hour) + two gels (mainly for the caffeine boost at 2.5hrs and 3.5hrs) + 400mL of juice (to swig ever 30 min). I can't say I liked it (especially the Banana flavoured High5 Energy Gels- revolting!!), but the combo seemed to do the trick. I only felt like stopping from boredom rather than fatigue.
What's next then (of course as far as training goes)? Ding ding ding!!! Round 2!
Goals:
1) Get faster
2) Don't get injured
I am adopting one of the official training plans laid out by the London Marathon team through their website, and when I say adopted, I really mean that I have created a mash-up of their advice at every level. Taking into account that I still want to have somewhat of a life to do some baking plus some helpful encouragement (that I am probably beyond the "Intermediate" category), I have combined the Intermediate and Advanced plans. Of course that means I have taken the rest days from the Intermediate programme and combined them with the extra hill sessions in the Advanced programme. That and, my long runs will not drop below 13 miles until I taper in April.
The plan starts off something like this:
The main difference with this plan vs. my first plan is the more structured break down of speed work for allotted times. For instance, this time there are more "reps" styled sessions vs. 5-miles at Steady pace. I believe it's working, though as my long run average mile pace times are dropping and my legs still feel intact. Although, Goal 2/ legs intact is probably also attributed to diligent foam rolling and stretching. In any case, there are only 12 full training weeks left (as I write) for me to get through, find another half to smash, and raise the rest of the cash. Wish me luck!
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