Valencia Marathon Week 4/12

This week didn't go particularly well, my first speed bump in the road. Some of it was from being a little tired but most of it due to humidity, I struggle a lot in these conditions. As delightful a prolonged summer is, I'm craving cooler temperatures.

This will be a shorter recap than previous weeks as I don't wish to linger for too long in the negativity.

Monday

8 miles (13k) easy, a lovely day for a recovery run.

Tuesday

9 miles (15k) easy, into Herbert Park and back along the canal.

Wednesday

8 miles (13k) with 6 miles (10k) at 160 heart rate. An extra mile added to the tempo portion. This should have felt like progress but the fade was obvious, power dropping for the same effort. Just happy to get this one done.

Thursday

5.5 miles (9k) with the RCSI gang. Loved this run, felt bouncy and smooth. Definitely the outlier of the week.

Friday

5 miles (8k) easy, quite the contrast to the day before, every step was a chore. However, I did finally start some strength and conditioning, only about twenty minutes in duration and very light loads.

Saturday

15 miles (24k) with 4x2 miles at planned marathon effort. However I was foreswunk (thank you Suzie Dent - word of the day). Had no real excitement for this run and it went exactly how I expected, terrible! The session was modified midway and no relevant information was gained. Next time I feel like this I'll just run easy, my confidence definitely took a hit.

Marathon training won't always be plain sailing, ups and downs are part of the process and when you get through a week like this, you can expect to have acquired some additional resilience. Hopefully next week will be better, but if not, I now know I'll still get the work done.

Our club motto - It's what you do next that counts!

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