4 weeks to go and the worst is over
Sunday’s ‘21 Miler’ at Cranleigh was the longest training run before the Marathon itself. Not the most glamourous of settings, and with the clocks going forward it meant an early and chilly start, but it is a good feeling to get this milestone ‘out of the way’. Although it is still 5.2 miles short of the marathon distance, the lack of crowds, atmosphere and fellow runners makes it much more of a psychological battle. This is especially the case as this ‘race’ is for 15 miles or 21, so at 15 miles you have to run virtually through the finish and then do another 6 mile loop. It was very tempting to drop out at 15, but deep down I knew that the psychological benefits of completing the full 21 would far outweigh the physical discomfort over the last 6 mile loop. And so it proved.
3 hours and 8 minutes (the winner finished in 2 hours 1 minute!) with an average heart rate of 156 bpm reflects the effort that is required to complete such a run. My training has certainly helped though. Last week I ran for 2 hours 45 minutes including a couple of big hills, so my cardiovascular endurance should not have been a problem. The question was whether my legs would hold up, both in terms of local muscular endurance and injury. Apart from a couple of miles where my right knee felt sore and weak, injury-wise it was as good as I could have hoped for. Clearly, though, they felt tired especially around the 16-18 mile region. Once past that phase, the end was in sight and it is amazing what a lift that gives.
Despite lots of post-race stretching the legs are sore and stiff today. The muscles and joints do take a real hammering, and the constant pounding on tarmac has left me with a bit of a headache too. Otherwise, no lasting side-effects or blisters so I cannot complain. And now begins the phase of training known as ‘tapering’, when the quantity begins to drop (next week’s long run is ‘only’ 16 miles). Your body needs to have its stores full to the max come April 26th, so the next 4 weeks are focussed more on quality, cross-training, rest and stretching. The hardest part of the 6 month preparations are over. Still some hard work to do, but in shorter bursts. Thank goodness!
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