PROJEKT LONDON & STOCKHOLM

MARATHON TRAINING - WEEK 6

Monday

Today was supposed to be a recovery run, but I opted for an easy 16k instead. After running 32k during yesterdays long run my legs and energy levels felt too fresh that I would likely benefit more from an easy session than a recovery run. As soon as I made the change to my plan I had two rules for the run. Rule one, make the run on the easy side, not pushing the pace at all. Rule 2, no matter how fresh I feel on Tuesday perform a recovery run at the very most or take a full rest day. These rules help prevent over training and will allow me to work harder during Wednesday's workout. I made this session more interesting by performing 2k cutdowns. It went like this:

2k@4:40/km

2k@4:30/km

2K@4:20/km

*repeat the cutdown sequence twice & perform the first two cutdowns again to complete the 16k session.

Tuesday

A 10k recovery run. All ran at around 4:40/km pace. Nothing silly, apart from the banter! As I ran with a few friends, Sharon, Jason & Helen. I don't get to run with people very often and I enjoy it when I do. Recovery runs are perfect for this! The time flys by and it's great to catch up with everyone. It was a very early morning in the horrible rain before work but we all got it done. Cheers guys!

Wednesday

Today was a med-long run, totalling 22k. After a progressive 14k warm up the plan was to try and hold dream marathon pace for 6km followed by a 3k cool down. I attempted to hold around 3:42/km which, as a guess, would be at the very top of my race pace range for a marathon. It felt fine! I would need to test this pace over a longer distance to experience what would happen. I called this "dream pace" as it would give me a 2:36 marathon. I still think this maybe on the fast side. To help find marathon pace I will be running Thirsk 10 Miler (16km) at the weekend so I will try a slightly slower pace of 3:50/km for the whole race, wrapping the run with an easy 10km as a warm up and 4km as a cool down. This allows me to still get the long run in and tinker with what marathon pace may actually be. It's still a long way to go yet!

Thursday

Thursday's session was a V02 Interval session. Whilst I think V02 work should be used sparingly during a marathon build up, I still think these type of workouts have their place. They are tough but they're also fun and productive. After a 6k warm up I performed 5x1k efforts with 2 minutes rest. I made the intervals long so I could spend more time at the optimal intensity whilst still being able to recover well for the following days. I ran these close to 5k race pace, but holding back only a little. I feel this workout is better than a 10x500m. Both of these workouts will cover 5000m in total work at V02 intensity, however, in the 5x1k workout you will likely elicit a more optimal stimulus to improve your V02, simply from more total time being spent in that zone. Intervals in the 2-6 minute region, or the 800-1600m range I think are a good choice for anyone running fast intervals during a marathon program. I think this because they are long enough so you can accumulate a decent amount of time at close to your V02 max, but short enough that you can maintain optimal intensity throughout the workout. Plus they don't leave you hanging the next day as much as a tough and fast 10x500m would leave you. Today's workout was made tougher by the weather. Bastard wind!

Friday

All aboard the disclipine train! That was the tagline for the workout. A classic hour and a half, 19k ran at easy pace of around 4:30/km. Keeping the whole session aerobic to help increase my capacity, something I still need work on. Nothing fancy, just got out in the wind and enjoyed a workout. I went by feel a lot during this run and I ran very even splits.

Saturday

Saturday was a 10k steady run with my mate Johnny. Again holding the pace back ready for a tough Sunday workout. I am sure I speak on his behalf when I say we find these type of workouts the toughest. Simply because we love tough fast track work! Discplined is the word of the day again! It was also very rainy and windy. But we got it done! The soggy run was made better when I came home to a new pair of race shoes that got delivered. The same pair I currently race in and perform faster work in. The Adidas Adios 4's.

Sunday

Sunday hasn't happened yet at time of writing this blog. My plan is to run the Thirsk 10 mile race but at a guess marathon pace of 3:50/km. This pace would give me a 2:42 marathon, which would be a huge 10 minute PB. I feel I can hold the pace quite well, it will just make the Sunday long run much tougher and more fun! The plan is as follows:

10k warm up @4:30/km

16k (Thirsk 10 miler) @3:50/km

4k Cool Down @4:45-5:00/km

Week 6 Total Distance:

124km

(77miles)

A fun fact for the weekly distance covered:

The distance ran this week is the length of 27,121 London Black Taxi's!