Now the hard work is done.

Now the hard work is done.

The last week of training is what I consider the hardest part of training. Over the last 3 weeks my mileage would be just short of 170 miles. This time last year I would have hit higher mileage but my training last year was on the same road and the same type training every night. This year I have tried to mix it up by including track work on Tuesday nights and hill work on Saturday mornings. The question is, will this work out well for me in 3 weeks time??? Time will tell but it has made my training easier because of the variance.

On to my last week’s training. Well at the start of the week I decided to train hard for the week. The aim was to ensure my legs were a little tired for the Cork to Cobh race on Sunday as I didn’t want to race Cork to Cobh but just run at my marathon pace. So the week started with my regular six and a half miles Monday run and that was followed by a track session on Tuesday. My track session wasn’t as long as I hoped but the dark evenings are starting to come against me and there are no lights on the track. (excuse)

Wednesday was a rest evening but Thursday was a semi -long run. 11.3 miles in total and this was run at 7.16 per mile pace. Follow that on Friday with a 6.7 mile run with every second mile run at my 10k pace (6:30 per mile). Have to say I felt strong and any niggling injuries that I was carrying over the last few weeks seemed to have mostly cleared up. Just in-case I thought I was having it easy on Saturday morning I did an easy 5 miles on grass.

Now on to Sunday. Cork to Cobh 15 mile road race. I like this race. It is the longest race apart from the marathons that I know of in Ireland. It has always helped me with my confidence before the marathon. Last year my time for this race 1:46:47. I pushed myself then and it worked for me. I had a bad experience 3 weeks prior last year in the Blarney half marathon and the confidence boost from the Cork to Cobh race was great.

This year though was a different story. The plan this year was to learn to pace myself. Pick a target and stick to it. I went out with the following plan. My target Marathon pace is 7:25 per mile giving me a time of just under 3 hours 15 minutes. My plan for the 15 mile was to try run the 15 miles at 7:20 per mile. Well after a 2 mile warm up Sunday morning I lined up along with approximately 800 other runners. After the usual announcements before the start of the race the race got underway. A steep downhill is how it started so it was a case of watching my footing to make sure I didn’t trip over anybody. On wards we go and one of my club mates Patryk ended up running beside me from around the 1 mile mark. I hit the first mile at 7:08 so it was time to readjust. Luckily Patryk was running the same pace as me so by mile 2 we had settled and mile 2 has slowed to 7:12. From there on we averaged between 7:13 and 7:22. I felt very comfortable at all times and myself and Patryk were able to have the odd few words as we ran. By the end of the race I felt there was more to give. What I found hardest was holding back in the first 10 miles. Anyway taking the weeks training into account and holding back my time was 1:49:40. Almost 3 minutes slower than last year but a totally different feeling this year. I feel that 3 hours 15 is very realistic at the moment. (Avoiding injury or the flu)

Now the tapering starts. My weekly mileage this week is 40 miles. That is a drop of 15 miles from last week. Last night was an easy 5 mile recovery and tonight I ran my weekly track session which I plan to be the last one before the marathon. Tonight’s session went very well with 10 x 800meters all under 3:10 each. Rest tomorrow night (Wed). Next week is a 25 mile week and my last week will be around 10-15. In some ways I like the tapering period but the thought of getting injured or getting sick always plays on the mind. I am a big believer in what you eat in the last 10 days will be what makes or breaks a marathon. More about that in my last blog the week before the marathon.

That’s all for now and last blog in 2 weeks time.

Cork to Cobh times.

1: 7:08
2: 7:12
3: 7:14
4: 7:15
5: 7:19
6: 7:14
7: 7:13
8: 7:22
9: 7:21
10: 7:06
11: 7:17
12: 7:21
13: 7:05
14: 7:19
15: 7:07

Now the hard work is done.