Month: March 2017

Another week of training done. It is certainly not easy. In fact, I am finding it hard. I never expected it to be easy but it is at least as difficult as my worst nightmares. The positives are that I am not having much trouble with stamina or tired legs. The problem is with my feet.

Having said that, I completed my training for the week, running 4.70 miles on Monday, 4.92 miles on Wednesday and, finally, the long run on Saturday – 18 miles. At the end of the 18 miles on Saturday, my feet ached like mad and I now have another blister on another toe. I bought these “fantastic”, very expensive marathon socks which were supposed to prevent blisters. They worked fine for the shorter runs (up to 14 miles) so I think I am going to have to smother my feet/toes in vaseline to, hopefully, prevent more blisters from forming. The good thing though is that today, Sunday, my feet no longer hurt, so it’s only a temporary thing.

I have one more week of really hard training, with a 20 mile run on Saturday, then the long run reduces in volume. Can’t wait to get that over and done with.

The figures for this week are that I ran for 5 hours and 26 minutes and covered 27.62 miles.

ONLY 4 WEEKS TO GO!

Only 34 more days to go. Time is flying by and I’m getting really nervous, but excited as well.

I am following my training plan and, even though I am finding it tough doing the long runs, I have stuck to it and hope it all pays off on the day. I do find the long runs difficult. Firstly I find them boring and, secondly, they take up quite a lot of time. Fortunately it is only one long run a week and this week I ran 16 miles on Saturday. I thought I was never going to finish but now, when I look back, I can say, “well, there’s only 10.2 miles more to complete the marathon”. Of course 10.2 miles after 16 miles is quite a lot but I feel better when I break it down into smaller bits.

My feet were aching quite a bit after my 16 mile run and I now have a huge blister. It is difficult running on calcada (Portuguese pavements which are a little like cobblestones) so I will try to run on the road as much as possible in future.

This week I  spent 5 hours 2 minutes running and covered 25.6 miles.

 

After my setback last week, I was anxious to get back on track. I followed my training plan and achieved everything I was supposed to this week, including my long run of 14 miles on Saturday.

I spent a lot of time analysing everything I had done wrong last week and working out what I had to do to get my enthusiasm and commitment back. Once I had decided my problem was the “high” I had felt after the half marathon, I was able to look forward again.

Before my long run on Saturday, I decided I needed to plan it, as if it was another half marathon. So I woke up at 5.30 am, had my breakfast of porridge and a cup of tea, and just relaxed until it was time to go out for my run two hours later. I also decided that I would need to do circuits which passed my house, so that I could top up with drink every  two miles or so. This worked really well and I will use this system for all the long runs until the taper. Also, for the first time, I listened to music whilst I ran. This helped with the boredom of running 14 miles on my own – time passed by more quickly – or at least I felt it did.

I am really happy to be back on track.

This week I spent a total of 4 hours 18 minutes running and covered 21.81 miles.

41 DAYS TO GO, 3 MORE LONG TRAINING RUNS, THEN THE TAPER (3 WEEKS) AND, AT THE END OF ALL THIS TRAINING, THE LONDON MARATHON! SO EXCITED.

I had a totally unexpected mental setback after the half marathon. I lost all enthusiasm for running and had a total lack of commitment all week. I believe this was due to having achieved something quite monumental (for me) and it was very hard to motivate myself to continue training. I felt as if I had accomplished my goal – but of course I hadn’t.

I only did two training sessions during the week; the first was a short run (40 minutes) and then a longer one on Saturday. My intention was to run 12 miles on Saturday but I only managed 7.65 miles. I was absolutely distraught and really disappointed with myself. I gave up too easily. OK, I did have a sore toe and it was very hot (I am now in Portugal for the next few weeks) but really that was no excuse.

I have thought long and hard about what I did wrong and how I can get my motivation back. I have decided to completely put the half marathon out of my mind and re-dedicate myself to the London Marathon by thinking of all the people who are supporting and sponsoring me and why I am doing this.

I CHOSE TO DO THIS

I WANT TO DO THIS

I CAN DO THIS

This will be my mantra.

I expect to write a more positive post at the end of this week.