During my half marathon training I loved tackling the next distance and felt so good once I had achieved it. This feels different in marathon training, I am scared. Whereas before reaching a new distance was adding a .5 of a mile on, now this is 2 or 3. I know just how much this is going to hurt and just how much mental strength is going to be required of me to reach my finish line. 

 

On Sunday I will be tackling my first 20 mile run. I am doing this in a race environment. I am not going to race it, I am going to stick to my marathon pace of 11:30m/m. I am going to ensure my fueling is on point. I know I can do this. I've hit every other distance even when I didn't think I can, so there is no reason why I can't do this. 

20 miles just seems is a really long way and I can't actually get my head around the fact I can run this distance. I know once I've completed this race I will feel a hell of a lot more positive about making it round Edinburgh.

Let's do the damn thing Oakley!

Sunday

18 miles
11:42 pace

Wow what a lovely first warm run of the year. The girls who I train with were completing their first 20 miler as they are doing London, and I only wanted to do 18. Jill kindly offered to come with us on the bike and swap with me at 18 miles. I really enjoyed this run and found it really comfortable, I think this was due to the slower pace. Up until 16 miles I felt really good and was really enjoying it, but once past this stage the last 2 miles felt really hard, I think this may be down to the heat. Overall a really good run. 

Monday

Boxercise
1 hour

Tuesday

Rest

Wednesday

Gym
Arms

Deadlift
25kg
1 set of 8 reps
1 set of 8 reps
27.5kg
1 set of 5 reps
1 set of 5 reps
1 set of 5 reps
30kg
1 set of 5 reps
1 set of 5 reps
35kg
1 set of 5 reps

Shoulder Press
15kg
1 set of 8 reps
1 set of 8 reps
1 set of 8 reps

Chest Press
15kg
1 set of 8 reps
1 set of 8 reps
20kg
1 set of 8 reps
1 set of 8 reps
22.5kg
1 set of 5 reps
1 set of 5 reps
1 set of 5 reps

Bent Over Row
10kg
1 set of 8 reps
1 set of 8 reps
15kg
1 set of 8 reps
1 set of 8 reps
20kg
1 set of 5 reps
1 set of 5 reps

Tricep Curl with dumbell
8kg
1 set of 8 reps
1 set of 8 reps

Bicep Curl with dumbell
1 set of 8 reps
1 set of 8 reps                  

Thursday

5.06 miles
Speed Session
1 mile warm up, 1km fast, 0.6km recovery x 3, 1 mile cool down. 

Friday

Rest


Saturday

PT session
1 Hour
 

Sunday

Rest

Monday

Boxercise
1 hour

Had to have a lot of the exercises modified as they are getting too easy! Never thought I would say that.

Tuesday

4.82 miles
10:30 pace


Wednesday

Gym
Arms & Legs

Deadlift
20kg
10 reps x 2
25kg
8 reps x 2
27.5kg
5 reps x 2
30kg
5 reps

Squat
10kg
10 reps x 2
20kg
8 reps x 2
30kg
8 reps x 2
35kg
5 reps x 2
40kg
5 reps

Upright row
20kg
8 reps x 2

Chest press
10kg
8 reps x 2
20kg
5 reps x 2 


Thursday

4.11 miles
10:30 pace

PT Session
High intensity, Pad work & Circuits. 

Friday

Badminton
1 hour

Saturday

Rest
Ready for Sundays 18 miler

Sunday

15.6 miles
11:30 pace

Also know as the worse run ever! What was meant to be an 18 miler was cut short after I had a small mental and physical break down.  It was warmer out than I had been used to, so I overheated really quickly and couldn't cool myself back down again. I just couldn't get into a rhythm and found the whole thing very hard going. At mile 11, I felt really light headed and had to stop and take on another gel very quickly. The last 4 miles were very difficult with me even pulling over on the side of the road to have a cry. I was just so frustrated at myself for not being able to do it.

Thankfully I have a rest weekend coming up, I think I'm just a little burnt out and need some time to rest.

Monday

Boxercise
1 hour

Tuesday

5.09 miles
11:00 pace

Indian file speed session - 1.5 mile warm up, speed session & 1.5 cool down (actually really pushed this as it felt nice to use some speed again). Looking at my Garmin some of my sprints were 6:40 pace, I know the sprints aren't very far in distance but that is super speedy. 

Wednesday

Rest
All hail the rest day!

Thursday

Gym - Arms & Shoulders
Entered the big boy weights area in the gym today
Bench Press
1 set of 10 reps -  17.5 kg
1 set of 10 reps -  17.5 kg
1 set of 10 reps - 20kg

Shoulder Press
1 set of 8 reps - 15kg
1 set of 8 reps - 15kg
1 set of 8 reps - 17.5kg

Upright Row
1 set of 8 reps - 15kg
1 set of 8 reps - 15kg
1 set of 8 reps - 15kg
1 set of 8 reps - 15kg

Deadlift
1 set of 8 reps - 20kg
1 set of 8 reps - 20kg
1 set of 8 reps - 20kg
1 set of 8 reps - 25kg
1 set of 8 reps - 25kg

Russian Twists with medicine ball
1 set of 25 reps - 5kg
1 set of 25 reps - 5kg

Run
3.1 miles
9:05 pace
Chase me race at club - Everyone is given a time handicap and set off at different times, the aim is to chase the person in front of you. I really wanted to give this a go as I've worried over marathon training that I had lost my speed, not only did I manage a PB but I also managed to win!             

Friday

PT session
1 hour
More on this in a separate post.

Saturday

Rest

Sunday

Rest
Still recovering from the 18 miler (sorry still feeling like a champion)


Monday

Boxercise
1 hour
Burpee's, core work, pad work, sprints etc.

Tuesday

3.24 miles
10:30 pace
Please tell me I'm not the only one to completely slow down during marathon training. Niggle in hip as I think I need new trainers so didn't want to push it.

Wednesday

Rest


Thursday

4.21 miles
10:30 pace

Friday

Badminton
1 hour

Saturday 

Rest

I'm getting closer and closer to being half way through my official training schedule, mine being slightly longer than most due to choosing to run Edinburgh, thus giving myself 6 extra weeks. I naively entered Edinburgh before I had even ran my first half marathon, it's a good job I didn't hate it and give up on running all together.

Over the first 7 weeks of my marathon training, I have felt every emotion known to man, ranging from I can bloody do this - to if I get run over I have a legitimate excuse to not run, the latter being a bit dramatic. I'm in two minds as to whether I am loving the training or hating it. I am so tired and hungry all the time. How is a girl meant to loose weight and train for a marathon - it's near on impossible. But at the same time I am loving ticking the sessions off my training plan and making it to further distances.

One thing I am struggling with is who do you listen to? Especially as a member of a running club, everyone has ran a marathon and all have different tips and approaches to training. It can get really overwhelming and you start to compare yourselves to others, which is something I have been trying to avoid. So far I have stuck with a group of 3 and it has been working out very well. However none of them are using any races as training and I'm stuck between what to do!

Do you race during your training?

Sunday

Another rest day
As I mentioned in my previous post last weekend was a complete write off with so much to cram into such a small space of time it just wasn't going happen.  I vowed to make up for it this week though.

Monday

Boxercise
1 hour

Yoga for runners
20 minutes
This is the first time I have done yoga and oh my! My legs are so much tighter than I imagined. I'm now going to try and work this into my plan by including 3 sessions a week. I did this before bed and it really helped switch me off for the day.


Tuesday

5.1 miles
10:30 pace

1 mile -  warm up
3 miles - Indian file (run in a line, person at the back sprints to the front)
1 mile - cool down

We have done this session once before and both times I have really enjoyed it. It is the only speed work sessions I really like.


Wednesday

Yoga for runners
20 minutes


Thursday

3.1 miles
10:40 pace
Slow one ready for the epic 18 miles I will undertake at the weekend


Friday

18.41 miles!!!
Longest run to date
11:40ish pace.
Slower than my marathon pace - Hoping this was because it was after work and I was tired. Hopefully next weekend will be a little quicker. But if I have to drop my marathon pace then so be it. 



Saturday 

Rest