Marathon countdown - Less than 24 hours to go

So less than 24 hours to go to the 2014 Vanguard Way Marathon.

The training has been done, the hard work has been put in and there is not much preparation left to do, a mixture of nerves and excitement as the race looms large on the horizon.

The last week has gone well, I have scaled down my training and only covered 27Km in the last week, I have eaten well and enjoyed my carb loading, kept hydrated and managed to get plenty of sleep.

So all in all its all gone to plan and now I am just left to rest, eat well and relax with just one day to go. 

I am feeling quite nicely not overly excited nor nervous. I am a bit concerned that I am a bit under cooked in terms of having only completed one run in the region of 30Km due to illness and injury but you always have last minute regrets over what you could change or have done differently.

Now my concerns are about the weather with heavy rain forecast in the build up to the marathon and I am apprehensive about how hot and humid it might be and how this will impact my running.

On the injury front I am not hampered by any fresh injuries, my big toe problem that restricted my training a few weeks back has calmed down and although it is still an almost constant pain it is minimal and isn't affected by running.

I am increasingly convinced the problem with my toe stems from my new trainers as I fear my right shoe is a fraction too big and has caused my toe injury and is also causing an issue with my right ankle as my foot moves around a little in the shoe. Anyway there is nothing I can do about it at the moment so I will hope it doesn't affect me in the marathon and will address the issue afterwards. 

So I feel good my legs feel fresh, my preparation has been good, I have eaten well and rested up so fingers crossed everything goes to plan tomorrow. My mind is a wash with thoughts about how the run will workout and what my splits should be but I am feeling quite relaxed. 

My aim is for 4.15 as I think the magical sub 4 hours mark is slightly out of my reach. Thanks for reading and for all the support given over the past few months, best of luck to everyone else racing this weekend!

The fun part of marathon training

So now for the fun part! The early morning training is done, the grueling long runs are finished the aching limbs from high mileage weeks are over now its just time to take it easy and make sure I am ready for the marathon. And of course the fun part every runner enjoys race week carb loading! 

This week my focus has been on:

• Looking after my legs to make sure they are fresh for Sunday so not too much running plenty of walking and some stretching and ice baths.

• Staying hydrated in the build up right the week through by drinking plenty of water mixed in with some green teas and fruit juices.

• Plenty of rest by aiming to get to bed by 10pm every night and not being busy in the evenings.

• Carb loading, making sure I have been eating a good quantity and good variety of good carbohydrates.

A great article I found with some great advice on pre marathon preparation is here its an article written by Olympic Marathon runner Scott Overall so its definitely from a source you can trust! His blog on realbuzz is definitely worth checking out as it has some great advice on all things running related.  

I have increased my carbohydrate consumption a little through the week but now its Thursday I am really upping my game.

I have been sneaking extra carbs into my diet by eating plenty of potato and by adding a tortilla wrap to a meal or having a wrap with peanut butter as a snack.

My eating plan for today is shaping up like this:

Eggs on toast for breakfast, plenty of fruit, brown rice for lunch, flapjack for an afternoon snack, more fruit and steak and mashed potato for dinner. 

I try and minimize my wheat intake as I don't like being bloated so cut down on bread and pasta options.

Brown rice always plays a part in my pre race diet both in terms of a good low fat clean eating lunch option and a good carb loading source in the build up to a run.

Flapjacks are also a key ingredient of my pre race diet as a good carb heavy snack and as my pre race meal. They weigh in at over 400 calories and around 60g of carbohydrate so they are not a light option but will provide me with the fuel I need to complete the marathon ahead.

Thanks for reading, what are your carb loading secrets and tips? Any advice on marathon build up and what to do/what not to do in the week before a marathon? 

Marathon countdown

Now into the final week before the Vanguard Way Marathon on Sunday 3rd August. The marathon on Sunday will be my third marathon but more importantly the first of three marathons I will be running in three months.

Sunday was my last longish run, I set out with an aim of maybe around 15K but with the main aim being to run well and feel confident with a good run under my belt.

It has been pretty hot and humid the last few days with temperatures pushing 30degrees and this morning despite heading out soon after 8am it was still humid and reasonably hot.

I think the heat and humdity has taken its toll on me as I felt pretty jaded. My legs felt quite leaden and heavy I think as a result of not recovering that well from my two longer runs in the week. 

So all in all I struggled from the start to feel comfortable and run at a decent pace so I decided to scale things down a bit and aim for just over 12K. I thought it better to successfully complete a shorter distance than to struggle with a longer distance.

So now into the final few days countdown, my priorities are eating well, staying very hydrated, looking after my legs, getting good quantities of protein in the early part of the week and plenty of carbs in the 3-4 days before the run.

It is lookong like a busy week at work so I need to make sure I focus on looking after myself, staying relaxed and doing the little bits of training I want to do this week.

All in all I am looking forward to it, the course looks both challenging and scenic and I am well up for pushing myself to achieve the challenge in front of me.

I have scaled down my original hopeful aims of a sub 4 time to a more realistic 4.15 target. I am not lowering my ambition but being realistic as the course will be mostly offroad and undulating and steep in places plus I feel slightly under cooked having missed two long training runs due to illness and injury.

Thanks for reading and look out for more updates later in the week as well as a race report about the marathon on Sunday. I am always all ears when it comea to marathon advice and tips so if you have anything to offer please let me know! 

 

Early morning sub 50 10K along the Thames

With just 9 days to go to my first of three marathons in three months I am caught between trying to train hard to make up for loss of due to illness and injury while at the same time trying to to take it easy as I come towards the marathon.

This morning after a pretty decent weeks of training which consisted of 29.3K on Sunday, gym & treadmill intervals on Tuesday, 11.9K run home on Wednesday and some circuit training on Thursday I was planning a nice early morning 10K along the scenic paths of the Thames in central London.

Feeling so good with my training and feeling particularly sharp this morning I decided to push for a sub 50 time which I managed comfortably.

For no reason in particular I opted to take a clockwise take on my usual Thames loop. 

From temple station I headed left along the river past Blackfriars and St Paul's, under the millennium bridge and down to The Tower of London. Then over Tower bridge and onto the South Bank, past the mayors offices all the way down to The London Eye. Up and over Westminster Bridge past Big Ben and back to my starting point.

London was looking especially good this morning in the early morning haze as the summer sun fought to break through.

I clocked my run at just under 47 minutes and from running the same route many times before I know it to be pretty spot on 10K. Take into consideration stopping to cross the road, slowing down through narrow path sections and stopping, weaving and sometimes tripping your way through London's mix of bemused pedestrians and tourists and that's a pretty nifty time.

I did feel anxious not having my mapmyrun on though to accurately record most importantly my distance but also my time and splits. Not having technology to track my distance makes me uneasy and doubtful of the time I have achieved as I feel I will have ran significantly less than the distance I was aiming for.

My last picture below is one of my favorite monuments in London. The picture is of one of the sphinx that flank either side of the Egyptian obelisk that is commonly referred to as Cleopatra's needle.

I like this monument for several reasons, firstly I like the fact there are near identical statues in New York and Paris as well as London and I have visited them all. I also like the mysticism associated with the obelisk, their Egyptian connections and the fact they date back to 1450BC. 

My real reason for it being one of my favorite sights in London is that the two Sphinx statues were installed incorrectly! The correct statue formation is meant to see the Sphinx pointing outwardly from the obelisk as they are positioned to guard the statue therefore they need to look away from it to be able to see any danger approaching. However English workmen in the 1800s thought differently (or just got it completely wrong!) and stationed them facing the statue rendering the whole obelisk incorrect and pointless! I don't know why but that fact interests and tickles me and I cant help but think of it every time I pass the monument.

On a more somber note I also like the fact that the plinths the Sphinx sit on were damaged by shrapnel in the second World War and that this damage has never been repaired as a lasting reminder of the damage inflicted upon the City during the terrible conflict. 

Thanks for reading, wherever you are running this week I hope your running is going well and you have somewhere interesting to run and some fun places to run by or some cool things to look at as you go by.

Finally getting out for a proper long run

On Sunday despite my niggling big toe injury I headed out for a long run and managed to complete 29.3Km!

I was so relieved to be able to get a good distanced long run in before my fast approaching marathon in two weeks on 3rd August. I was also thankful my toe allowed me to complete the distance and has showed no signs of worsening since the run.

My aim was to try and cover 20K and then if my toe held up to try and push into the higher 20s towards 30.

My long distance stamina isn’t where it should be as it has been two weeks since I complete 20K and three plus weeks since I completed anything longer.

I did find it a struggle and my legs started to wain a little around the 14K mark but I dug in and completed a distance I was really pleased with.

I was also able to successful practice my race preparation and race strategy. My pre-race schedule looked something like this on Sunday morning:

My carb loading strategy worked well and I felt well fuelled throughout the run, I was also able to get some much needed experience of using my new hydration pack on a long run.

I also took along a fee energy gels and took four during my run which helped maintain my energy levels. I was happy with how they helped my performance and was satisfied I was able to digest them with no stomach issues.

The run has to go down as one of the most enjoyable runs I can remember. Firstly the relief at being able to run after injury, secondly with not being sure how far I would be able to run being able to run such a good distance felt great!

It was also such a great summer’s morning, warm and bright even though the sun hadn’t quite pierced through the clouds fully at 8.30am when I started out.

It was the kind of day where summer felt in full peak after a few days of really hot and humid weather, the grass was all sunburnt and straw like and the ground mostly dry and crisp despite some heavy downpours a few days previously.

Running through fields in the country park I was often running through a vibrant cacophony provided by what seemed like a million grasshoppers/cricket providing at times an ear piercing backing track to a lovely summer morning. At times it was a relief to leave a fielded area to get reacclimatised with the silence and you then realise how loud the cricket orchestra had been.

Post run I feel great although I have painful blister on my right heel and sore, damaged nipples which will take a few days to heal over. The run has reconnected me with why I love to run, the feeling of pushing yourself towards your limit and the physical and mental excellence you are rewarded with as a result.

I can’t wait to get out and run the marathon on 3rd of August and am looking forward to many more long runs as I train towards the following two marathons after that.

Thanks for reading, I hope you are enjoying your running and your training is progressing well.