Valencia Marathon - Week 2/12

Feels like the weeks are flying by, maybe a sign I'm in the zone and enjoying myself. Week two was almost an exact replica of the first. The only changes were an extra rep on Friday and a slightly faster long run on Saturday.

Before I go into last week's training in detail, I just want to mention my nutritional changes, they're quite simple really, eat more! For me this is extra bowls of cereal and also toast and jam. My energy levels appear infinite, and as a result I'm looking forward to every run.

Monday
8 miles (13K) easy, weather was perfect for running and energy levels were high.

Tuesday
8 miles (13k) easy, humid and windy, my least favourite conditions. I also got a reminder from my left quad to foam roll.

Wednesday
7 miles (11k), up to Marlay Park for my first session of the week, which included 5 miles (8k) at 160 heart rate. For this run to happen I have to be out the door by 6:30am. I love these early morning starts but it does take the body time to wake up. For this reason it took some time for the heart rate to hit the 160 zone. Still another strong session, even if the paces were slightly slower than previous week.

Thursday

5 miles (8k) easy with RCSI crew, nice chats.

Friday

6 miles (10k) which included 6x1k at an average of 6'39 mile pace (4'08 km) off a 60 seconds standing recovery. Started at 4'14 km pace and progressed each effort, the last rep hitting 4'01. I was always in control, felt strong and confidence is building.

Saturday

15 miles, didn't sleep very well the night before due to pure excitement for this run. It was another early start at 6am, I like this time on the weekends as the roads are quieter.

The run would follow the same progression format as the previous week but with slightly higher power numbers. The result was 7.5 miles (12k) at 8'06 mile pace (5'02 km pace), 4.5 miles (7.2k) at 7'43 (4'48) and 3 miles (5k) at 7'29 (4'39).

I was certainly working hard towards the end. I took a lactate reading straight after and had 1.5 mmol. I should have taken a second reading as I expected to see a higher number to match my effort levels. Don't get me wrong, lower is better but fairly sure the reading was inaccurate, so not kidding myself.

Overall another solid 50 mile week (80k), motivation still high and feeling focussed. In preparation for the Valencia Marathon, I also signed up for their half marathon. This takes place in four weeks time, October 22nd. I'm hoping for a big performance but nothing is guaranteed and I've actually no clue to what kind of shape I'm currently in. This is dangerous territory as the heart and gut feelings start to lead the conversations, but I guess the excitement is in the unknown.

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Valencia Marathon Week 8/12

October 30th - November 5th Monday - 5 miles ez (8k) back up to Bohernabreena reservoir for some more peace and quiet. Tuesday - 9 miles ez (15k) I enjoyed the run but was made aware of a slight niggle to my right calf. This was most likely caused by wearing my vaporfly shoes for last week's long run. For me it confirms these are only to be used for 5 and 10k races going forward. This run brought October to a close and although I've felt pretty meh throughout, the volume of work is there, 224 miles (360k) the total. Wednesday - 10 miles (16k) with 5*1 mile (1.6k) at half marathon effort off a 2 minute jog recovery. First session since Valencia half marathon, ten days ago. There was a little bit of dread leading up to this, my confidence needed a strong session. Wore the Mizuno rebellion pro to help with my calf niggle and they did the job just fine. They've now covered 300 miles (500k) and they still feel nice and bouncy, however they do stink and are becoming quite squeaky

Valencia Marathon Week 3/12

Plan for this week is to increase my mileage from 50 miles (80k) to 54 miles (86k). I'll do this by reducing the weekly intensity, dropping Friday's session in favour of 100 meter strides sprinkled throughout. Monday 9 miles (14.5K) easy, glorious weather to start the week. Tuesday 9 miles (14.5k) easy, listening to the Inside Running Podcast, highly recommend. Three Australian marathon runners of sub 2:20 standard, they discuss their training, running news, answer some listeners questions and plenty more. Wednesday 7 miles (11k), back to Marlay Park for my 5 miles (8k) at 160 heart rate. No such issues getting my heart rate into the correct zone. Only my third week doing this session and it felt very controlled and comfortable, covering the route in 36:17. I've mentioned previously that the goal of this workout is parallel lines between heart rate and power/pace. I use power rather than pace due to the undulating nature of the course. Looking at the picture below and you c

Valencia Marathon - 12 Weeks to go!

Last year's Valencia Marathon resulted in a small personal best. I ran 3 hours 18 minutes and 31 seconds, it was my first time to ever run a negative split (second half faster than the first half) and my eleventh attempt at the distance. I'm definitely a slow learner! It was very satisfying and not once did I experience any weak spots throughout the 42k. Needless to say, I was thrilled, however I left this wonderful city thinking, what if.... What if this wasn't my third marathon in eight weeks, what if I concentrated on a good diet (eat more), what if I did some strength/core work? So here we are, twelve weeks out and my motivation is sky high. I want to run another personal best, feel strong and have a smile crossing the finish line, it doesn't sound like much, but to an experienced runner, we know what's involved! Time, commitment, patience, effort, recovery, support, to name a few. I've made some rough sketches that are starting to form a plan. Some of which

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