"Hmmmm" pretty much summed up my sentiment on Monday morning (13 Apr). With 13 days to marathon day, I was having a rare rest day, but it wasn't the thought of resting that was troubling me. It was the sore muscles in my legs.
The soreness did not really fit with my perceived effort the day before when I had run hard(ish) round Sheffield Half Marathon; it felt more like Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness than 'day after' race fatigue. I am guessing therefore that it was the full blast few miles at the national relays on the Saturday that were to blame - with the hard 13-mile run delaying my recovery. If I hadn't been recovering so quickly in the last few weeks, I would have been more worried.
My plan for the week following rest day was to drop the overall mileage down to around 45 miles, and focus on 'specificity' (a word I can write but can't say) - doing more of my miles at marathon pace - getting a feel for the leg speed and effort level and preparing psychologically for 26 miles of it! I was also planning to log every bit of exercise and food on www.myfitnesspal.com to make sure I managed by calorie intake down in line with the reduced mileage (whilst getting enough protein for some much needed muscle repair).
Tuesday was not a specificity session - it was the last scheduled club intervals session and I had 4 x 1500m at 5K pace (off 2 minutes) in the plan. This was to be the final speed 'sharpener' session - with 12 days to recover before the big day.
The continuing work round Don Valley meant we had to use an alternative hilly 1200m(ish) route - so we stepped up to 5 reps to compensate. At the end of a comfortably hard first rep, I hit my stop button and saw the lap pace over the 4 minutes had been 5:10 min/mile - about 10 seconds quicker than my usual 'full on' Tuesday interval pace. I made a conscious effort to calm the remaining 4 reps down, but they still went by at 5:20 pace. I would have been buoyed by the pace, but tapering does funny things to your mind and I was more concerned that I had overdone the session. I also had a nagging tightness in my left glute and hamstring - a long standing niggle having an inconveniently-timed flare-up.
I was away with work Wednesday to Friday, but managed a quick gym visit first thing on Wednesday morning. I did a bit of bike work to warm up, and then 4 miles on the treadmill with two miles at marathon pace - felt good this 'specificity'.
After the conference in Staffordshire on Wednesday evening I jogged out for a 7-miler to explore the surrounding roads and trails - using a quick search on strava to find the routes most used by local runners. The roads were too busy at rush hour to run on comfortably, but I found a nice XC route between the conference centre and a nearby village. With a decent level of bounce in my legs, I picked up the pace and did the last few miles on rough ground at around marathon pace (6 min/mile) - with the help of a bit of descent. Nearly stepped in a sheep's afterbirth - but it beats smacking the tarmac as speeding commuters fly by.
The conference dinner on Wednesday was more challenging than the evening's XC terrain. The tables were full of free bottles of wine, and the first course didn't come out until 8:30pm by which time I was starving. The main course - a rather stingy portion of pea risotto came out at 9:30pm with a tiny cheesecake to finish at gone 10. If being the only sober one at the table wasn't frustrating enough!
I made my excuses and went back to my room for a protein flapjack and an early night. I would have been last at the bar 10 years ago (although I would have probably talked myself into a new job by midnight).
Thursday started nice and early with a gentle and really enjoyable XC run. Left glute still tight though and I was miles away from a tennis ball or foam roller! Thursday evening was the scheduled conference run (what a great idea). Seven of us set off for a gentle 5-miler, but I ended up running most of the 5.5 miles with a bloke from Coventry (2:52 london marathon runner a few year's ago following his divorce, now around the 3:10 mark!) Again, nice and easy. Thursday evening was conference dinner hell again. However, having had a decent sized lunch in anticipation, I coped better with the small portions and soberly skipped pudding for an early night.
I said goodbye to the trails on Friday morning with a gentle 5 miler - with 1 mile at marathon pace. Specificity.
The plan for Saturday was to have a proper 'calibration' run - testing with reasonably fresh legs on flat ground my pace across my marathon heart rate range. To explain: I expect my heart rate to increase during the marathon as I tire - from about 144bpm to 152bpm. This is based on what I have read, data from my long Sunday runs, and my own bitter experience at Liverpool Marathon last year. I do wonder whether people who try and hold the same heart rate for a marathon are setting themselves up to fail - surely, scientifically, a constant heart rate for a marathon doesn't make sense? It must often lead to a poor second half of a race?
Anyway, with the kids at their usual Saturday activities, Deb and I went out to Damflask to use the gently undulating back end of the Percy Pud route to test our legs. We both did 3 x 10 minutes off 3 minutes at marathon effort. Deb ran to pace (7:09 min/miles) and I tried to run at starting heart rate (144bpm). Deb was metronomic but it took me until the end of the third 10 minute slot to settle my heart rate down to 144bpm (after an unscheduled sit down rest at The Plough). Still, the session worked well - I felt comfortable and confident across the 144bpm to 150bpm range (my half marathon effort level is about 155bpm). And, I was consistently inside my target pace of 6 min/miles. As it turned out, it looks like 144bpm is going to deliver something more like 5:55 pace on the flat. That would do nicely on the day!
Sunday's run was an easy 5 mile jog out. Enjoyed it and the exercises I have been doing to free up my glute are starting to work (thanks Phil W). A 5.5 mile hike with the kids with a good catch up on spome great Manchester Marathon results for my club mates, topped the week off nicely. Just got to keep the head together for 7 days now - it'll be my data under scrutiny next week!
One thing that is bothering me is Deb waking up with a really sore throat this morning. A stinking cold now would not be good for either of us (and she needs to keep her bloody distance for a week if she gets ill).
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