Training Week 39 Recap

A very late evening to all,

The business end of my training is upon me. Having produced a productive week last week, it was imperative to continue the good work and really make every run count this week. I just got back from my 3 hour long run and it was surprisingly good, although obviously I am pretty tired now! Maybe the rain made things easier with the cooler temperatures as well. Here's how it went.

Monday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 31 mins 19 secs, 5 km.

Tuesday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 47 mins 10 secs, 7.5 km.

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 29 mins 7 secs, 4.4 km.

Wednesday

Type: Mixed pace

Time and Distance: 85 mins 11 secs, 17.75 km.

Detail: Warmed up for 15 mins (2.4 km). Did 20 mins at marathon pace, with 90 secs recovery (approx 4.56 km). Did 5 x 3 mins at 10k pace, with 90 secs recovery (approx 760m). Did 20 mins at marathon pace, with 90 secs recovery (approx 4.55 km). Cool down for approx 15 mins (2.4 km).

Thursday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 46 mins, 7.5 km.

Saturday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 32 mins, 4.9 km.

Sunday

Type: Long run + marathon pace

Time and Distance: 176 mins 25 secs, 33.5 km.

Detail: First two hours at relaxed steady pace, followed by the final hour at marathon pace.

Total Weekly Distance: 80.55 km

Comments: A great week. The mileage is a little lower than last week, but last week I put in a huge interval session which blew out the weekly mileage. The long run was surprisingly good, the first two hours were going at a steady pace, and I didn't really feel fatigued. It was only in the final hour where I had to accelerate to marathon pace when things got a little tough. I didn't really get it taken out of me at that stage, but I was made to work, even in a semi-fatigued state. Let's see how I'll end up tomorrow!

Improvements: The final key week next week, and while the longest run is now behind me(!), there will be quicker sessions from here till race day, to give the legs a lot of energy.

Only 4 more weeks to Berlin. 1 more week of quality training, and then the mandatory taper period begins.

Counting the days,

Aaron

Training Week 38 Recap

Afternoon all,

After last week's relative inactivity, this week really picked up the mileage. Good thing that I'm doing absolutely nothing today, apart from my laundry (and even that is proving a challenge!). Today's long run really took it out of me. It was supposed to be a 2 hour 45 minute effort, and I thought I could do around 31 km comfortably. Instead I was a lot slower, though the hills of Oslo would have contributed to that, as well as the heat, which led to some dehydration.

Monday

Type: Mile intervals

Time and Distance: 116 mins 26 secs, 21.6 km.

Detail: Warmed up for 15 mins (2.4 km). Did 10 mile repeats with 60 secs recovery for the first 4, 180 secs recovery after the 4th, 60 secs recovery for the next 5, 180 secs recovery after the 9th, 60 secs recovery after the last. Times were 6:30, 6:30, 6:30, 6:31, 7:00, 6:59, 6:57, 6:57, 6:57, 6:35. Cool down for 20 mins (3.2 km). Average pace per interval was 6:44.6

Tuesday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 30 mins 10 secs, 4.2 km.

Wednesday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 45 mins 42 secs, 7 km.

Thursday

Type: Progression

Time and Distance: 45 mins, 9.4 km.

Detail:

Warmed up for 15 mins (2.4 km). Did 15 mins at marathon pace (3.4 km). Did 15 mins at threshold pace (3.6 km).

Saturday

Type: Intervals

Time and Distance: 63 mins, 12.72 km.

Detail:

Warmed up for 13 mins (2.1 km). Did 5 mins at 10k pace, with 60 secs recovery (approx 1.22 km per interval). Did this 6 times. Cool down for approx 20 mins (3.3 km).

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 32 mins 14 secs, 5.3 km.

Sunday

Type: Long run

Time and Distance: 165 mins 30 secs, 28.4 km.

Total Weekly Distance: 88.62 km

Comments: A much better week, and very hard as well. The mile intervals set the tone and the long slow run was the icing on the cake. Because of last week's disappointing Sunday run, I decided to put in some decent mile intervals, which is my number 1 training exercise for my running. And they were hard! Luckily I managed to recover from these and put in other decent efforts as well throughout the week. For the long run, and not being too familiar with Oslo, I mapped out a route on Google Maps beforehand so that I wouldn't get lost. It just so happened that the route was very hilly! Definitely doing a different route in future! 88.62 km is the highest mileage I've done in this round of training, would've been nice to break 90 km. Those damn hills!

Improvements: Another key week next week, and it will be another step up as I enter the final phase of preparation. The long run will now include marathon pace efforts. I really need to find a different, less hilly route for this run. I'm already getting tired just thinking of it.

Well I did manage to regather the momentum this week, and hopefully it will carry over to next week. There are 5 weeks to Berlin, but there will be 2 weeks of key training before the taper period begins. Hopefully I can survive by then.

Counting down,

Aaron

Training Week 37 Recap

Evening guys,

This has been a rather lazy week for me. With week after week of hard training, I felt like I needed a break from it all, so to speak, and ended up doing very little mileage this week. I was supposed to run a half marathon today at marathon pace or faster, but "chickened" out in the morning, and ended up doing an easy run instead. I knew I didn't have it in me to do this run, and if I attempted it I would probably be wasting much needed energy for future training runs. Put simply, I felt burnt out this week! Hopefully I can regather the momentum next week.....

Tuesday

Type: Mixed pace

Time and Distance: 57 mins, 12.05 km.

Detail: Warmed up for 15 mins (2.2 km). Did 3 mins at threshold, with 75 secs recovery (approx 700m). Did 3 mins at 10k pace, with 75 secs recovery (approx 750m). Did this 3 more times. Cool down for approx 18 mins (3.3 km).

Wednesday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 44 mins 47 secs, 6.4 km.

Thursday

Type: Progression

Time and Distance: 30 mins 35 secs, 6.4 km.

Detail:

Warmed up for 10 mins (1.6 km). Did 10 mins at marathon pace (approx 2.25 km). Did 10 mins 35 secs at threshold pace (2.55 km).

Saturday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 25 mins 6 secs, 3.9 km.

Sunday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 44 mins 53 secs, 6.8 km.

Total Weekly Distance: 35.55 km

Comments: Another not-so-great week. It was supposed to be an easier week, but I was gutted not to get that half marathon in. Partly because I felt burnt out, partly because of concerns with my left leg (which is getting better I think), I decided to just take it easy this week!

Improvements: Next week is going to be key. I haven't done a long run for a while, so that will be a challenge. There's only six weeks to race day, and the first three weeks will be CRUCIAL. I have to put in the effort, even if I don't feel like it!

I feel like I've done hardly anything this week. Tomorrow, I am hoping to gather some much-needed drive very quickly and put in some quality mileage. My mind may think that I'm feeling burnt out, but somehow my legs are feeling rather strong and fresh, maybe there's still life in this old dog after all.

The time is now,

Aaron

Training Week 36 Recap

Hey all,

Unfortunately I've not had a great week. My left leg started playing up and I'm not sure what happened. I suppose the increased mileage from last week really started to bite me in the butt and I'm paying for it right now. So I took 2 days off running to get the leg back into shape. It's still uncomfortable, but not serious enough to stop me running completely (well, I hope!). And also, we're reaching the most critical stage of the schedule and getting injured is the very last thing I want happening! Here's the lowdown for this week.

Monday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 27 mins 25 secs, 3.7 km.

Tuesday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 45 mins, 6.7 km.

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 54 mins 48 secs, 8 km.

Wednesday

Type: Mixed pace

Time and Distance: 71 mins 45 secs, 15.06 km.

Detail: Warm up for 15 mins (2.4 km). 12 mins at threshold with 120 secs recovery (approx 2900m). 6 x 3 mins at 10k pace with 90 secs recovery (approx 760m). 12 mins at threshold (approx 2750m). Cool down for approx 15 mins (2.4 km).

Saturday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 47 mins 30 secs, 7.5 km.

Sunday

Type: Progressive

Time and Distance: 85 mins, 16.4 km.

Detail: Warm up for 30 mins at recovery pace, 30 mins at marathon goal pace, and 30 mins at threshold pace. In reality, had to cut the run 5 mins short, and the pace today was slower than my intended marathon goal pace. Kilometre splits were: 4:28, 4:31, 4:39, 4:41, 4:41, 4:43, 4:42, 4:53, 4:51, 4:49, 4:54.....

Total Weekly Distance: 57.36 km

Comments: Not a great week. Discomfort in my left leg is giving me some concerns and I'm pretty disappointed with Sunday's run, although I'm not going to blame the left leg. I thought about taking the first part of the run slowly, but pretty soon I was running out of gas and got slower and slower. When it came time to run at threshold I just couldn't go any faster.

Improvements: More speed work to keep the legs turning over. Another comparatively low volume week lies ahead, so hopefully I can put in an excellent week left leg permitting!

Let's be completely honest here - there's only 7 weeks to go and I'm still coming up short hitting those target times. If Sunday's run is anything to go by, I have to be realistic and say that I'm very unlikely to break 3 hours this time around. I'm considering revising my target time for Berlin, perhaps I can shoot for 3:10:00 and qualify for Boston next year - now that would also be nice to have! It's a bit disappointing to realise at this stage that I won't meet my main goal, but there are always other races to train for and run... as long as my body is able!

Not yet derailed,

Aaron

Training Week 35 Recap

Afternoon runners,

This week marks the half-way mark in the FP Run Club's 16-week sub-3 hour training programme. So the remaining 8 weeks are key! After conceding that last week didn't go as well as I would've liked (and I only have to blame myself for choosing to visit Stockholm), I resolved to put in a huge week of high quality, high volume running. Let's see how I went.

Monday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 33 mins, 5.3 km.

Tuesday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 30 mins 48 secs, 4.9 km.

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 44 mins 52 secs, 6.9 km.

Wednesday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 27 mins 43 secs, 4.3 km.

Thursday

Type: Mixed pace

Time and Distance: 54 mins 52 secs, 11.85 km.

Detail: Warm up for 11 mins (1.6 km). 4 mins at threshold with 75 secs recovery (approx 950m). 4 mins at 10k pace with 75 secs recovery (approx 1km). Repeat the set 4 more times. Cool down for approx 4 mins (500m).

Saturday

Type: Continuous hills

Time and Distance: 85 mins, 17.1 km.

Detail: Warm up for 20 mins (3.2 km). 4 sets of 10 mins at threshold with 90 secs recovery. Cool down for approx 25 mins (4.3 km). Each rep was 200m, each set was 2400m.

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 32 mins 21 secs, 5.3 km.

Sunday

Type: Long run

Time and Distance: 149 mins 58 secs, 29 km.

Detail: Started easy, and got faster as the run went on. Sustained 5 min/km pace for the majority of the run.

Total Weekly Distance: 84.65 km

Comments: What a turnaround! A much better week overall. Just short of 90 km in total mileage, but I managed to bank every run this week. I actually struggled in my long run for some reason, and I guess it was due to the fact that I missed my long run last week, and that my last long run was 3 weeks ago! Whilst I managed to scrape 29 km, I was feeling quite flat at the end of the run and I probably would've slowed down if it was a marathon setting. Not very encouraging to think, but it's only one long run and I won't get drawn into any conclusions at this stage.

Improvements: Week 9 is going to be an easier week for me, thank goodness! The volume will be less, i.e. the long run will only be 90 minutes, but the effort and intensity will be much higher in this run and other faster running sessions. Bring it on!

Well, I've reached the half-way stage and now there's only 8 more weeks to go. In reality, there's only 5 more weeks of quality training as the last 3 weeks will be tapering for the big race in Berlin, to ensure that I arrive at the start line healthy and strong. These coming weeks have to really count, so I'm afraid I'll have to limit certain "pleasures" from now on and just stay true to the task. No more late nights, weekend travel excursions, bad food, alcohol..... :-(

Gathering momentum,

Aaron