Final run: 6 miles / 9.66 km in 1:05:22.
Injury check: Minor niggles.
Support crew: Ian, on bike.
______
My final 'long' run was on Saturday, and it was only 6 miles. From now on I might just do a couple of ten-minute jogs to keep my legs moving, but there won't be any more serious training runs. I might not even do that: my bad knee has been twinging a bit in the last week or so, and I'm inclined to rest it up in preparation for the big day.
Saturday was a good run: good pace, good route with a very little bit of gradient but nothing bad, in a new town so it had novelty, with a different training partner (who obviously didn't break any more of a sweat than my previous bike-riding partners) - and pretty nice weather for running. There was even blue sky and sunshine at the start. Again, something like that for M-Day would be good.
In other news: I have reached - and passed - my fundraising target! I will write more on that later, but for now I would just like to say THANK YOU to everyone who has been so generous in sponsoring me.
And yes, this week, I will be mostly eating pasta. Carbo-loading for Sunday. As well as making many lists in an effort to distract myself from The Fear of The Marathon...
1. Make list.
2. Run marathon.
3. And relax.
Succeeding and failing on the road to the London 2013 Marathon. Possibly falling to bits in the process.
Showing posts with label foodstuffs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label foodstuffs. Show all posts
21/02/2013
Ups and Downs
This is a long road to the marathon.
On the one hand, I am probably the fittest I've ever been in my adult life. Today I ran 2.43 km in 15 minutes. I ran something close to that around this time last year - and then I had to lie down for five minutes to recover. Today I simply carried on with my gym session.
Another benefit: I decided a little while ago that as I was training for a marathon I was going to eat whatever I damn well wanted to. No, I'm not eating junk food - my recipes at the moment include lots of pasta for the carbohydrates and lots of chicken for the lean protein. But I'm also not feeling even a shred of guilt about succumbing to a mid-afternoon chocolate bar. And I'm definitely eating more than I would normally.
I like being this fit. I like having lost 5kg since I started training. I like fitting back into those trousers. I like eating what I want.
On the other hand, I'm blooming tired of exercising.
Every other day I'm going out for a run, or climbing onto the treadmill for a run, or going to the gym to do my cross-training and strength work to support my running. Sometimes - especially after a long day at work and when it's a cold evening - I really just want to go home and curl up on the sofa. But I go to the gym and run.
I'm also sick of the winter. Last weekend's weather was lovely for running as far as I was concerned: sunshine and cool air. This weekend is looking much more wintery. I will be running in layers, hat and gloves again. Bah, humbug.
Still, I have recently begun to rethink my stance on never running again after April. I have no doubt that immediately following the marathon I will be extremely anti-running. But after that... Well, being able to run five miles in an hour without curling up and gasping for breath is a nice level of fitness to be at. Running is probably the best way to keep it up.
No promises, though.
On the one hand, I am probably the fittest I've ever been in my adult life. Today I ran 2.43 km in 15 minutes. I ran something close to that around this time last year - and then I had to lie down for five minutes to recover. Today I simply carried on with my gym session.
 |
| This is good for me... |
I like being this fit. I like having lost 5kg since I started training. I like fitting back into those trousers. I like eating what I want.
On the other hand, I'm blooming tired of exercising.
Every other day I'm going out for a run, or climbing onto the treadmill for a run, or going to the gym to do my cross-training and strength work to support my running. Sometimes - especially after a long day at work and when it's a cold evening - I really just want to go home and curl up on the sofa. But I go to the gym and run.
 |
| ... this is not. |
Still, I have recently begun to rethink my stance on never running again after April. I have no doubt that immediately following the marathon I will be extremely anti-running. But after that... Well, being able to run five miles in an hour without curling up and gasping for breath is a nice level of fitness to be at. Running is probably the best way to keep it up.
No promises, though.
09/12/2012
TEAM!
Today was our first Team Em And Me (a.k.a. TEAM!) meet-up. There are 15 of us in the team together but although we all knew Em we don't all know each other, so the TEAM instigators arranged a lunch gathering and even provided homemade cookies.
Yes, potentially we could all have met up for a run - but there is a vast disparity of abilities across our group, and I'm not sure how successful a mass run would be! Maybe we'll try something along those lines closer to the Real Thing, once we've all got a bit more training under our belts.
Anyway, we didn't get everyone there but it was good to put a few more faces to names and chat about the various trials and tribulations of long distance running. Several of the team have run marathons before as well, so they had some tips and tricks, and I will definitely be hitting them up for more advice in the future.
Also, it turns out that one of our TEAM members is a bit of a Master Baker - look at this:
Onwards, TEAM!
Yes, potentially we could all have met up for a run - but there is a vast disparity of abilities across our group, and I'm not sure how successful a mass run would be! Maybe we'll try something along those lines closer to the Real Thing, once we've all got a bit more training under our belts.
Anyway, we didn't get everyone there but it was good to put a few more faces to names and chat about the various trials and tribulations of long distance running. Several of the team have run marathons before as well, so they had some tips and tricks, and I will definitely be hitting them up for more advice in the future.
Also, it turns out that one of our TEAM members is a bit of a Master Baker - look at this:
 |
| Purple laces and everything! (Also, it's a healthy snack, so there's no guilt attached.) |
__________
P.S. In checking that the links in this post worked I discovered that our TEAM effort so far has raised nearly £4,000. That's one hell of a tribute to Em already - and we're nowhere near done yet.
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