I've just posted an update on my blog Tomthesloth about the running and trekking I have been doing with Catherine over the last two weekends. But today's post is a little update on my own training for Newcastle marathon on April 6th.
After completing Coastrek on Friday night with team Achilles Cake Walkers 35 we had 3 hours sleep on Saturday morning when we returned home. We chose not to sleep longer so as to make sure we got a regular sleep on Saturday evening. But it felt like I had jetlag for most of the day as my body came to terms with being up all night trekking! However we had a great day of relaxing with our friend Caitlin and eating like machines!
For me the rest was a necessity because on Sunday morning I got up at 6am to head into the city and run with my Achilles friend Andrew. I woke and felt pretty good in my legs after a restorative sleep, so I was confident that the run would go well. However you never know on an 18 mile run how your body will respond. Some days you feel great and have a terrible run and other days when you expect little your body can produce near miracle performances. Fortunately Sunday was one of the latter days and I ended up running quicker than the target pace for the run. The only difficulty was running up hills where I felt as though I had no "oomph", no fast gears to change into. For me a hill is a chance to push and power up the slope, but on this occasion I truly felt like a sloth as I lolloped upwards, just managing to keep my breathing under control as I reached each summit. I also found it difficult to talk throughout the whole run (I know it's shocking, but there is something that works!) despite running at a pace that would normally be very comfortable. None of this was surprising but was a useful guide for future run training.
After a day's rest on Monday I was back into training on Tuesday with speed work again. I had a "lovely" session of 3 mile (1600m) intervals with a target of 6:49 for each one. It was a great run in Centennial Park in the late afternoon, with a cool breeze providing a little respite from the warmth. Having run the 18 miler on Sunday I wasn't sure how my body would go, but with a little self talk beforehand I took on the task and surprised myself. I ran 6:47, 6:40 and 6:42 without any muscles cramping, so it was a good day!
Today I managed to hit the gym for an hour cycle on the spin bike. This was always part of my original marathon plan; to cross train between run sessions, but I haven't been as regular as planned. Never the less I felt pretty strong on the bike and it was enjoyable to forget running and focus on a different activity for a change.
Ultimately all of the training I get under my belt helps to build my confidence in my fitness to run a PB on April 6th. But if I have a crap session I will still let you know about that!
Next week I will have a new post about training when injured, hopefully with an interview from my very own fiancee Catherine!
Until then,
Happy training!
Tom :)
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