So, I was up early on Monday and only managed to squeeze in a half hour treadmill recovery run at the gym. I was amazed that Deb stood for it to be honest, but with a few weeks left to go, her tolerance for my focus (obsession) has increased. I am sure it will only be temporary but I am grateful nevertheless.
The travel down to Stansted was pretty stress free - until I realised that we had forgotten the driving licences we needed for the hire car we were picking up at Paphos airport. I thought it was sorted after a few phone calls but DVLA managed to send the required fax to the wrong number - the start of a farce that continued for the next 48 hours meaning we ended up getting a 30 euro taxi to our hotel and being without a car for the first day or so. But, I am drifting off topic.
I spent the plane journey watching episodes of Walking Dead and making adjustments to our training plans (as you do). I wanted to make use of the opportunity for us both to do more morning / evening training (doubles). I also wanted to build a bit more marathon effort work into the last few weeks of the plans - 'tune up' stuff to get us used to the target pace and effort..
Tuesday was scheduled for an evening session of long reps, but I was too keen to explore the Paphos coastal path I was planning to do most of my running on whilst away. So I headed out early for an easy 5-miler, looking for decent bits of path for 'intervals' later. The evening session didn't go as planned as the kids required supervising at the jacuzzi (don't ask). So I swapped in a hard treadmill 7.4 mile fartlek session in the gym overlooking the jacuzzi.
The kids are at the age now where they will happily get themselves up in the morning and get their own breakfast. There may be a time when they put down their tablets, clean up after themselves, and get dressed and ready to leave the house unprompted, but I am not holding my breath. Anyway, this means that Deb and I can go out for a run together before breakfast on holiday these days. So, Wednesday morning started with a gentle 10-miler up the coast with Deb at just under 8 minute mile pace.
My plan was to top up with a few more recovery miles on Wednesday evening, but we ended up eating out and going to the cinema (weather wasn't great). Skipping the evening miles was frustrating, but it did mean that I hit Thursday morning's session with fresh legs. The plan was to do a couple of easy miles with Deb and then do 5 miles at marathon effort (heart rate around 145 bpm) before meeting back up with Deb who was doing the same session and jogging a mile back to the apartment. After the easy two miles I kicked on but judged it wrong and found myself struggling to get my effort level right. My heart rate was too high at around 150bpm meaning my pace was up around the 5:40 / mile mark. After a mile or so of getting it wrong, I gave up trying to fight it and just decided to run the session hard. The 5 miles over a mixture of crazy paving and rough ground passed by quickly in about 29 minutes. It felt good to have a blow out.
Thursday daytime was spent sightseeing ("not more old rocks Dad") with a few hours on the beach in the afternoon. I managed to get a bit of sleep in the sun on the beach and by evening felt fully recovered from the morning session. I decided to up the tempo of the scheduled recovery run and tested the hotel's creaking treadmill with a 36 minute 10K. As I have increased my mileage over the last couple of months, I have found that I recover much more quickly than I used to. The relaxing snooze on the beach helped to!
I ran out with Deb again on Friday morning for a proper zone 1 active recovery run (might be my first ever) - a nice and easy 49-minute 10K with heart rate around 110 bpm. Friday evening was a 7-mile treadmill recovery at a more typical 125 bpm.
Saturday morning was a short, tune-up run with a couple of steady miles followed by a hard 1.5 mile push down the coast. I only managed to average 5:45 pace for the push due (I hope) to the strong headwind. I kept the evening run as a short recovery with half an eye on the final 20 miler of the training plan the following day.
The start of my scheduled 20 mile Sunday run was reasonably delayed by waiting for the kids to get up for the traditional chocolate egg hunt. When I got out at around 10am it was already 19 degrees and the sun was pretty oppressive. I was glad of the cool breeze blowing in off the sea. Six miles into the run, I bought some water from a beach shack, took a good glug, put my remaining euro back in my pocket and stashed the remainder of the water under a rock for the way back.
I managed to get pretty lost on the way out - ending up on some rough terrain and taking a detour through a plantation of triffids, but the miles were ticking by at well under 7 minutes and I felt pretty comfortable if a little hot. Navigation was less of an issue on the way back as I stuck to the coastal road for a bit longer. With a gel dispatched I was also feeling a bit more lively and the miles started to tick by more quickly - close to 6-minute mile pace on the tarmac. I retrieved my water at around mile 15 (not a moment too soon) and took a caffeinated gel to give me a lift for the home stretch. The plan was to push up to marathon effort for the last 3 miles to get a feel for how fast my tired legs would go with my heart rate at around threshold level - 145 bpm. I managed to set my effort level about right and I was reasonably happy to hold 6:10 pace on rough terrain and whilst dodging tourists. I am hoping that a decent taper and adrenaline on the day of the marathon will give me the confidence to go out on the day at 6 min/mile pace and finish in around 2:37. Starting to feel realistic?
At the end of the run, I was seriously hot, with the temperature now around 23 degrees. I popped into a shop to get some water but found that I had managed to lose my euro! It was a very thirsty jog back to the apartment - although the cold water hamstring and calf massage in the hydro pool was worth the wait!
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