The final 2 hour+ run.

 Hi Everyone,

With less than 2 weeks to go till the big day, my training is now easing off to allow for full rest and recovery.

Training last week was as follows:

• Tuesday (pm) – Cricket Nets for 2 hours. COMPLETED
• Wednesday – 50 Minutes Steady. COMPLETED (on Thursday)  10.75km in 56 minutes @ 11.52km/hour. 170 BPM.
• Thursday  – 60 minutes easy fartlek. (Wednesdays run instead)
• Friday – 45 minutes marathon pace. RESTED
• Sunday – 2 hours 10 minutes at marathon pace. COMPLETED 22.75 km (14.22 miles) in 133 minutes @10.26 km/hour. 172 BPM.

I needed a couple of rest days in the week as the 20 miler on Monday followed by cricket nets on Tuesday took its toll.

The Sunday run was slightly below my target marathon pace of 10.5km/hour (4 hour marathon). The first 11 miles were going well, but I started to slow down in the last 30 minutes. I put this down to:

1. Carrying water and energy drinks in a camelbak which slow you down. These items will be provided on the day at roadside and so will not need to be carried.
2. Not eating 600 grams of carbs per day in the previous day or so. This is something I will do in the 3 days before the marathon, equivalent to 6 large jacket potatoes or 12 portions of pasta per day! 🙁 

So, a sub 4-hour marathon time is still a possibility, but I’ll need things to go my way on the day and in the final preparation.

The race plan at this stage is to complete each mile in 9 minutes 10 seconds (approx.) for the first 16 to 20 miles and then up the speed at this stage if everything is feeling comfortable.

Therefore, I would say a good range for the guess my time competition would be 3 hours 50 minutes to 4 hours 30 minutes 😉

But if I get off to a slow start in the hustle and bustle of the crowds and hit “the wall”, then over 4 hours 30 minutes is possible!

And remember, a timing chip is given to every participant which they attach to their shoe. The clock will run from when I cross the start line.

Schedule for this week is as follows:

• Tuesday (pm) – Cricket Nets for 1 hour.
• Wednesday – 35 Minutes Brisk.
• Thursday  – 45 minutes Steady.
• Friday/Saturday – 25 minutes Easy.
• Sunday – 50 minutes Steady.

Have a great week.

Ben