Week Commencing 16th February
That's week 7 of London Marathon training complete. Just 9 weeks to go. Can't believe I'm halfway there after next week is complete. A new job is also on the horizon. After almost 4 years with my current company I handed in my weeks notice to move onto something different. I've been driving for 8 years now and was getting very board so a change was needed. More on this another time as at time of writing this I've not yet started my new job.
Monday the usual steady 5 mile recovery run was done. Tuesday I was late down the track due to work commitments so changed my session to a quick 8 x 2 minute intervals on the track. A nice mild evening on the track. Wednesday again work commitments stopped me from running so postponed this run until Friday. Thursday I ran over to the track and ran 4 mile at around 6:45 pace. A bit quicker than planned marathon pace but felt very comfortable. I know it was ran on the track so it will feel easier anyway but to think I ran 3 mile at 6:50 pace at the start of all this and I was hanging out of my arse! I defiantly feel fitter. Friday I ran what I should of Wednesday. I ran a steady 6 mile. I felt a little tired and sluggish but just put this down to me running on rest night and it being the end of the working week. However about an hour or two after my run I went to be soon as I had my tea as I felt like rubbish. Headache, kept feeling cold, sweats etc. Just felt like I was coming down with something. After an awful nights sleep I was scheduled just for the 3 mile with me racing the next day. Big mistake running this. Woke up with a headache and again felt awful. I ran with Keedy and was battling with 9-10 minute mile pacing. After this run I went for a lie down. Felt a little better Saturday evening but not 100%. An early night with an early rise Sunday.
Race Day - The Great North West Half Marathon
One of my build up to London Marathon races. An early rise seen me getting up at 5:20am. Still pitch black outside. After quickly getting ready and some breakfast I headed over to Keedy's for 6 and we set off for the long drive to Blackpool. Smooth drive over apart from us dropping our guts a few times. Swung by to Peters Golf Spa and picked him up when we arrived at Blackpool then headed to The Hilton Hotel on the North promenade where the race started and finished. Days leading up to the race bad weather was forecast (Gale force winds and heavy rain/snow) but when we got out the car it was actually ok. A bit on the cold side but overcast and calm. Ideal racing conditions really. A couple of hours later however the tables would turn weather wise. We arrived in good time (8:30) so decided to go for a "mooch" which Keedy calls a walk. All I wanted was a coffee but after seeing so many run down B&B's, hotels and grotty sex shops we headed back to the hotel and got a coffee from there. The race organisers were selling cups of coffee/tea for £1. I took one sip from mine and had to bin it. One of the worst cups of coffee I have ever tasted. Not only that, it was decaf! No good for me that. Race start soon came round so after a quick warm up we were stood waiting to go at 11am. The wind picked up and was gusty and the heavens opened. A cold bitter strong wind, along with sleet and rain was the conditions that greeted us on the off. I thought to myself nothing we can do so just cracked on with it. The route was 2 small loops to start with going up and down the promenade then 2 large loops. When you came back up head on against the wind you knew about it! I found the route awful. I remember passing the mile 9 marker at mile 5 and thought I've got to come past all this again. Was soul destroying. I was honestly expecting a simple out and back route. I was holding 6:50's pace quite easily with the wind on my back but going back against the wind was hard graft and slowed me down considerably. I remember passing a lot of runners/walkers struggling on my last few mile. My last 2 mile was horrendous. I've ran a lot of winters races, trained in some harsh winter conditions, ran night races over the moors etc but racing in that has got to be up there amongst the toughest conditions I've ran in. I finished race in just over 1 hour 33 minutes. Overall target was to just slip under 1:30. Naturally disappointed with the time but considering I struggled running 3 miles the day before and seeing everyone's` times were a good 2-4 minutes over it made me content. At the end we were giving our medals and t-shirts which were not too bad. It took me about half an hour to stop shivering and feel normal again. Overall not a bad race is you like your flat coastal routes and don't mind some loops chucked in so it gets a little repetitive. But you need the weather on your side. Would I do it again? Absolutely not!
Monday - 5 mile recovery @ 7:58 pace
Monday the usual steady 5 mile recovery run was done. Tuesday I was late down the track due to work commitments so changed my session to a quick 8 x 2 minute intervals on the track. A nice mild evening on the track. Wednesday again work commitments stopped me from running so postponed this run until Friday. Thursday I ran over to the track and ran 4 mile at around 6:45 pace. A bit quicker than planned marathon pace but felt very comfortable. I know it was ran on the track so it will feel easier anyway but to think I ran 3 mile at 6:50 pace at the start of all this and I was hanging out of my arse! I defiantly feel fitter. Friday I ran what I should of Wednesday. I ran a steady 6 mile. I felt a little tired and sluggish but just put this down to me running on rest night and it being the end of the working week. However about an hour or two after my run I went to be soon as I had my tea as I felt like rubbish. Headache, kept feeling cold, sweats etc. Just felt like I was coming down with something. After an awful nights sleep I was scheduled just for the 3 mile with me racing the next day. Big mistake running this. Woke up with a headache and again felt awful. I ran with Keedy and was battling with 9-10 minute mile pacing. After this run I went for a lie down. Felt a little better Saturday evening but not 100%. An early night with an early rise Sunday.
Race Day - The Great North West Half Marathon
One of my build up to London Marathon races. An early rise seen me getting up at 5:20am. Still pitch black outside. After quickly getting ready and some breakfast I headed over to Keedy's for 6 and we set off for the long drive to Blackpool. Smooth drive over apart from us dropping our guts a few times. Swung by to Peters Golf Spa and picked him up when we arrived at Blackpool then headed to The Hilton Hotel on the North promenade where the race started and finished. Days leading up to the race bad weather was forecast (Gale force winds and heavy rain/snow) but when we got out the car it was actually ok. A bit on the cold side but overcast and calm. Ideal racing conditions really. A couple of hours later however the tables would turn weather wise. We arrived in good time (8:30) so decided to go for a "mooch" which Keedy calls a walk. All I wanted was a coffee but after seeing so many run down B&B's, hotels and grotty sex shops we headed back to the hotel and got a coffee from there. The race organisers were selling cups of coffee/tea for £1. I took one sip from mine and had to bin it. One of the worst cups of coffee I have ever tasted. Not only that, it was decaf! No good for me that. Race start soon came round so after a quick warm up we were stood waiting to go at 11am. The wind picked up and was gusty and the heavens opened. A cold bitter strong wind, along with sleet and rain was the conditions that greeted us on the off. I thought to myself nothing we can do so just cracked on with it. The route was 2 small loops to start with going up and down the promenade then 2 large loops. When you came back up head on against the wind you knew about it! I found the route awful. I remember passing the mile 9 marker at mile 5 and thought I've got to come past all this again. Was soul destroying. I was honestly expecting a simple out and back route. I was holding 6:50's pace quite easily with the wind on my back but going back against the wind was hard graft and slowed me down considerably. I remember passing a lot of runners/walkers struggling on my last few mile. My last 2 mile was horrendous. I've ran a lot of winters races, trained in some harsh winter conditions, ran night races over the moors etc but racing in that has got to be up there amongst the toughest conditions I've ran in. I finished race in just over 1 hour 33 minutes. Overall target was to just slip under 1:30. Naturally disappointed with the time but considering I struggled running 3 miles the day before and seeing everyone's` times were a good 2-4 minutes over it made me content. At the end we were giving our medals and t-shirts which were not too bad. It took me about half an hour to stop shivering and feel normal again. Overall not a bad race is you like your flat coastal routes and don't mind some loops chucked in so it gets a little repetitive. But you need the weather on your side. Would I do it again? Absolutely not!
 |
| Me Before Race |
 |
| Finishers Medal |
Monday - 5 mile recovery @ 7:58 pace
Tuesday - Speed - 8 x 2 minute intervals on track. 5 mile covered
Wednesday - Rest (Due to work commitments)
Thursday - 6.8 mile with 4 Mile @ marathon pace over track
Friday - 6 mile @ 8:08 pace
Saturday - 3 mile @ 9:33 pace
Sunday - Great North West Half Marathon (Blackpool) - 1:33:09 @ 7:07 pace
This weeks weigh in : 174 Lbs (Starting weight 184.5 Lbs/Target weight 160 Lbs)
Lost so far since 3rd January: 10.5 lbs
Lost so far since 3rd January: 10.5 lbs
Weekly mileage - 40.3
Week conclusion and looking ahead.
Week conclusion and looking ahead.
A drop in mileage this week but back to it next week with an expected mileage of about 60 miles.
One last thing, I've never been to Blackpool before. So many people have told me what a dive the place is and I tell you what, what a sh*thole it was. looks so outdated and run down.
No comments:
Post a Comment