The last time I wrote about my half-marathon training I didn't really go into detail about the training itself! So this post is just to write a little more about what I'm up to training wise.So far it has all gone to plan apart from a couple of weeks ago when my hamstring was slightly tight and I decided to drop a bit of mileage for that week. It feels fine now so I am back following the plan.
My mileage is well into the upper-40km-per-week range now, I was only 300 Metres short of 50k last week. In the grand scheme of things my mileage is still pretty low, but for now I'm feeling really good with the routine I have in place. It could reach 60km soon but with my current level of commitment and available time I can't see it going above that. I leave Monday and Friday free for either gym sessions or rest days.
I have been splitting the week into two parts:
Weekdays:
I tend to keep some flexibility with the exact mileage on the individual Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday runs (work or train delays can screw things up) - All I aim for is to reach somewhere between 20km and 25km over the course of the three runs. I usually run them all at easy-medium pace. Sometimes I'll hit tempo pace on the Wednesday (supposedly the speed day, but see below) or if I am off of work I'll do some hill running in Tonbridge.
Weekend:
On Saturdays I have been doing a 5k Parkrun, which I run at 5k race pace unless I feel that it is a bad idea due to any niggles or tiredness. This is where my speed training is being done at the moment. I was worried about putting the speed training back-to-back with my long run but it seems to be working out ok.
Sunday is my 'long run' day. I have tried to lengthen it by approximately 1km each Sunday. My last long run was 20.2km. The plan was to stop adding extra distance once I reach 21km, but I'm thinking that, providing I feel good, I might continue adding 1km each Sunday until the end of August. That will take me up to a 25km long run.
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I've been trying to sit in a cold bath after the long Sunday run. I don't react very well to cold water! My feet go in without much complaining but I have a mental block that stops me from sitting down completely. One week I sat down in the bath and then put the water in - That was easier. I'm going to keep playing around with the process but really I need to increase my cold water tolerance or just stop whinging and get on with it!
At the moment I am confident that I can complete the distance, I think the only goals are to finish in my predicted time window and to try to get a high-five from Dame Kelly Holmes as I cross the line!
Steven (7t)
