Week 9 was all about trying to build on the low previous week.
Coming off the adventure to the Cheviots with an ankle issue was a pain but I was starting to feel more confident that it was resolving itself and that running was possible and certainly not aggravating it further.
I’m in a little bit of a transition phase where I’d like to keep as fit as possible with one eye on a long 2 week holiday at the end of March where I won’t be looking to get much running done.
So ticking over is the name of the game.
It also gives me chance to think through what it is I really want to do with my running.
I turn 43 this week so I still have some scope to compete in the 40 to 45 veterans age bracket. The option that excites me most is the full marathon as I see that as the most obvious stepping stone to considering some longer trail ultra races.
Having ran 73:34 for the half in 2021 I always wondered whether I had a decent marathon in me. Indeed my initial idea for starting my running YouTube channel KR Runs in 2020 was “Project 2:34”. Although that didn’t develop into a marathon debut it remains something that I’m really keen to do.
Admittedly the full marathon does scare me and I don’t doubt how hard it will be to do well. That said I feel like aiming for something like a sub 3hr marathon represents a sensible ambition. It should be within my capability whilst respecting the challenge it remains to be. The 3hr barrier also represents the standard for England Athletics so it’s certainly worth aiming for even if I don’t intend to try to earn a vest (based on my 2021 half experience you would have no chance of earning a vest at the minimum entry standard!).
Being a low mileage runner (I achieved a 16.01 5km and 73:34 half on an average of 28 miles per week) presents a key question in my mind: how much training mileage do I need to do to sensibly prepare for 26.2 miles?
My current thinking is I need to progress from current 40-50km to something in the range 60-80km. I also think I can prepare on a diet of easy running with two key sessions per week:
1. Threshold running at half marathon to critical power effort, progressing up to say 8km of total work (reference Yasso 800s for example)
2. A long run at marathon race pace, progressing up to 13 to 15 miles.
I guess the excitement of deciding on making a sub 3hr marathon debut the key focus led to a strange training week where I probably strayed into overtraining in my eagerness to get a sense of where I’m at.
I know I need to up my S&C and become a more rounded athlete generally. I’m planning to rejoin a gym so I can complement my road running with some cross training activities. Something that worked for me well in 2021 was doing some 45-60 minute gym sessions incorporating rowing machine, cross trainer, stair climber and high incline treadmill. It really helped my aerobic capacity and is something I know I need to start doing again. I’ll also want to get some gym strength sessions on the weight machines as it’s an obvious area for me to improve things.
Monday 26th February
This was an aerobic run of just over 45 minutes on my nearby estate.
Things felt pretty good and I logged almost 5.5 miles averaging 129bpm. At 8.45 minute miling this represents a beats per mile of 1,129 which is starting to show progress. This is pleasing as I know at my peak in 2021 I was regularly dipping below 1,100bpmi. So I feel like I’m getting closer to that level.
Tuesday 27th February
This was a repeat of Mondays run.
This time pace was slightly quicker at 8.30 miling. Average HR was also correspondingly slightly higher at 132bpm but representing a small improvement in beats per mile at 1,122.
Wednesday 28th February
This ended up as a rest day. Having not really planned the week I was just playing things by ear as I was quite busy with “life stuff”.
Thursday 29th February
I decided to throw in some light threshold work. I got down to an approximate 2km loop that I was using in Autumn 2023.
The plan was to do two loops referencing Stryd power. My Critical Power has been steadily decreasing as I’ve not been training at a level that the pod recognises. To maintain/improve Critical Power you need to be giving it data that it recognises. Like moderate long runs and decent efforts over 10 or 20mins, even half an hour.
Although this wasn’t about trying to increase Critical Power it was about learning something about how my body is at threshold.
After a warm up I aimed to run the first loop at around current Critical Power levels which is 333 watts. Critical Power is approximately current 10km ability.
Because of a slight uphill finish to the loop I ended up averaging 341 watts with an average pace of 3.50 per km. Average HR was 161bpm, peaking at 171bpm. I decided to run the second loop at a lower intensity with the initial idea to keep HR around 150bpm. This didn’t quite workout though and I ended up averaging 158bpm and peaking at 165bpm. The 2.18km loop was completed approx. 30 seconds slower with an average pace of 4:07/km at 317 watts.
It was a line in the sand. The second loop feels like a more sensible aerobic threshold level until I gain more confidence with some faster running.
Friday 1st March
This was another rest day, again for personal stuff.
Saturday 2nd March
Historically I’ve always used Saturdays as a big training day, at least for me. In theory it’s the Sunday long run day. Or a decent mileage day with an effort at parkrun. I still don’t feel ready for parkrun so I decided on aiming for a moderate long run, targeting 21.1km.
Based on my Critical Power of 333 watts, marathon effort was set at 295 watts. So my plan was to build to that level and see how things felt on my way to the target distance. If all went well the distance would be covered in not much more than 90mins.
In the back of my mind I knew this was a planned “overreach” as I’ve always felt long runs should be in the range of 25-33% of total weekly mileage. If my overall weekly mileage was say 50km then a half marathon would be over 40% of total. So I very much planned to just feel my way into it and make decisions as I went.
It’s always a bit foolish launching straight into a long run at planned tempo. Better to build into it. As a result I felt like I was running harder than plan on my way to inching my average power up to 295 watts. It seemed to take 45mins to an hour to get there and heart rate was well above 150bpm. I’ve read old school marathon texts (Ernst van Aaken) that preach about keeping heart rate below 150bpm in the first 20 miles of a marathon. So it wasn’t as controlled as I’d like and pace was locked in around 4:21/22 per km, slower than sub 3hr pace.
But I did feel like I could maintain it. I was doing laps round the Town Moor.
Conditions were decent, slightly damp but no real wind to speak of. I was quite enjoying it and trying to remind myself to just relax. I made a couple of errors in my mental maths with lap length and, once I’d realised I’d need to do more laps than I first thought, it affected me mentally.
I noticed power through my right leg reducing with niggles in my ankle, knee and hip. This was obviously connected. So around 16 to 17 km into the run I was already re-negotiating targets. I decided to crack on for 20km. I also noticed my heart rate was trailing off. I was clearly tiring physically.
One the last lap I made my way back uphill to home. The rhythm I’d gotten in on the laps was lost and it felt like a real grind to finish off the 20km. But I did it.
I walked the rest of the way home, slightly nursing my right knee. Part of me felt like I’d overdone it but not cardio wise. As is usually the case, it’s my under carriage that is the limiting factor. Strengthening needs to be a key focus.
Sunday 3rd March
I rounded off the week with a short 25 minute run just to flush the legs out and see how things felt following yesterday’s long run.
I was pleasantly surprised that things felt fine and also pretty strong aerobically.
Summary
Although slightly over zealous at times I feel like I’ve completed a transition week into more sensible and sustainable training which I plan to complement with more cross training and S&C.
Overall 5 running days out of 7, over 4hrs and 31.2 miles (50.2 km). I’ll be looking to build in the range of 55-60 kms next week.
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