14 Miles - 8 @ Marathon Pace

This was supposed to be a straightforward 18 mile long run, but I decided to do the first 8 miles at my Marathon Pace. I figured that as I missed a few of my scheduled runs this week I'd be able to increase the intensity since I effectively had a bit more rest then was planned this week.

However, it all fell apart on me. I ended up doing 14 miles and felt really sluggish. I did the first 8 at Marathon Pace, but once I slowed down I just seemed to fall apart. My legs were really sore, especially my calves for some reason. I did feel ok doing the faster section of the run, just once I slowed down it seemed to fall apart. That said, feeling good at pace for 8 miles is not going to cut it on Race day.

Although I'm trying to stay positive I have to confess that I really regret starting this schedule, it just doesn't suit me. I'm looking forward to getting the race done with so that I can begin my recovery and start back with the club, although I think I'll have some catching up to do pace wise. I guess I'd never have found out whether this schedule suited me or not until I tried it. As an experiment its been useful, I know my capabilities a lot better and I think I'm getting a much better sense of what works for me.

I think once this is done, I'll be back to 10k and Half Marathon distance with a view to building my speed endurance again. My diet has not been right either for the last couple of months, I'm not too bad although the last two weeks have been bad as I've been living in Hotels and eating Hotel food. I imagine all the "sludge" oozing through my arteries is not fuelling me properly. I really feel like I hit the wall today.

The Splits tell the story.........



The bottom line is that I decided to stop at 14 miles and take a shortcut home, I had to walk as I had to climb over a few barriers and walk across a building site to get home. I just decided that even if I could have persevered to 18 miles (and I could have) it might have done more harm the good. Bad week, but its behind me now, just need to concentrate on the next few weeks to sort myself out. My diet is back on track, and I have a few pounds to lose prior to the race. At this stage I'll take any advantage I can ;-)

Todays Run.......