18 weeks to the Lausanne Marathon.
16 weeks to the Phedippidations World Half Marathon Challenge (at Henley on Thames)
12 weeks to the Robin Hood Nottingham Half Marathon.
7 weeks to the Regents Park Summer 10k.
Today is day 1 of my 18 week marathon training schedule.
Last week I managed to log 40 miles in my training diary for the first time since my training finished for the 2000 London Marathon.
I also ran my first 15 miler since 2000. This was a "double" out and back along the Ridgeway and Phoenix Trails on a hot midday. My car provided me with an intermediate drinks station, an hour and a half into my two and a half hours on the roads and trails. Steve Runner's podcast no 49 on warm weather running was a most appropriate accompaniment to the last hour a run that ended with a black toenail; chafing sores on my thighs and inevitably the pink stains of "joggers nipple" on my white running vest. I recovered better than hoped for though and I think the supplements I am taking ARE having a positive effect on recovery. More on this later on.
... and I ventured bravely onto the bathroom scales.
I am not sure which one was the most significant step in my desire to become a "proper runner" again. I think it was the scales.
92.1 kg is a pretty frightening number for someone aspiring to run significantly "sub 4" in a marathon just 18 weeks away. At my height, that gives me a bmi of just under 29 and it needs to be 25. I need to drop 11 kgs in weight, to reduce my chances of injury and improve my chances of meeting my time goals. The running will certainly take care of part of it, but I am going to have to make additional adjustments to my "lifestyle" aren't I?
I think I'll cut out five things and see where that leaves me in about 6 weeks time:
1. Alcohol and any other drink containing sugar (except sports drink on long runs)
2. Dairy products containing fat.
3. Savoury snacks, confectionary, chocolate, cakes and biscuits.
4. Bread or toast at breakfast.
5. Any bread except wholemeal.
My running seems to be going well at the moment but I am well aware that work committments are likely to be at their most disruptive for the next 12 weeks or so and I will need to be extremely disciplined to achieve my training goals. Unless I get injured I am confident that I can get in shape, but I felt like this in late 2004 before I suffered a serious ankle sprain on a run through the woods at twilight in a pair of totally unstable cross-country studs. Like many runners before me, my own stupidity may yet keep me off the start line! This is one of the reasons why I intend to set some "intermediate goals". The main one of these is to try to get as near as I can to 1:45 for the half marathon, hopefully in Nottingham on September 10th. That is 8 minute miling - a dream at the moment!
My goal is to aim for a marathon PB in Lausanne of 3:45. That is 8.35 miling. I think my cureent long runs are about a minute per mile slower than this so I am going to be trying to hurt myself for the next 18 weeks....
I looked hard at several training schedules for my marathon and most particularly at those well-proven ones from Hal Higdon, but my irregular, but at times all-consuming work schedule means that I do not have the luxury of regularity. Some weeks it will easy to run 5 or 6 times - others I will struggle to do 3 or 4. I have thus written a schedule that hinges around 3 key sessions per week.
1. A long run of at least 10 and building up to 22 miles. This will be at 15-30 secs per mile slower than my intended marathon pace, ie. around 9 minute miling.
2. A "strength" run of 5 to 9 miles, usually hill sessions; fartlek on grass or mile repetitions with efforts at faster than half marathon pace, ie. sub 8 minute miling .
3. A pace or tempo run of 5 to 10 miles at about 15 -30 secs slower than my intended half-marathon pace, ie. 8.15 to 8.40 miling.
The rest will just be "easy" running. Ha, ha, ha ha!
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