WEEK Eight - Sixteen! (Feb 13 – March 17) 2011 London Marathon Training

I am now at the end of my training program. Last time I updated this blog I was at 15miles for my long run. I have now successfully run 17, 19, and 22 mile runs! The entire training experience has been an emotional and physical battle!

The week leading up to my 17 mile run I started to experience pain in my inner right calf, near the bone. It would hurt really bad when I first started running and would take nearly 4 -5 miles to subside. The pain was also dragging down my running times by nearly a minute. As a result, I took 3 days off consecutively to rest.  This helped considerably and after the 3 days rest I started to slowly work up the mileage again. I did a 6 mile run, then 8miles and on to the 19 mile run.

The 19 mile run was the strongest run of my entire program! It also gave me a huge mental boost as I was really concerned about my injury and no running. After running 19 miles at my target time I realized how far I had actually come in my training and those 26 miles was truly achievable! I then went on to run 22 miles, slower than I wanted, but was still really happy knowing that come race day I would only need to do 4 more!

Now there is 4 days to the race and I am getting nervous. Not because I am worried about my running times or injury but rather I have had some serious sinus issues. I started feeling this on Sat. Night and Sunday I was extremely tired. I have since started taking sinus tablets once a day, along with some vitamin c and Echinacea, which has helped some. I am also drinking tons of water and green tea in hopes of flushing whatever this is out of my system.

Overall, I am excited to be running the Marathon this Sunday and look forward to an experience I can take with me for the rest of my life!

WEEK Six & Seven (Jan 30- Feb 12) 2011 London Marathon Training

The last two weeks pretty good, however, I did miss my first day of the entire program. As a result I was able to do my longest run I have ever, 15 miles, strongly; because I did so well, I didn’t beat myself up too badly about the short run I missed. I did this long run along the canal in the old Roman city of Bath which was beautiful! Here are some pics of the trail, very pretty!

The weather has been hit or miss and I have had to run twice this week on the treadmill, which I hate! It feels so unnatural and I am always really sore after wards. I have also managed to burse one of my toe nails on my long run last week, not sure how I did this. I am sure there will be more battle wounds with this training program.

This Sunday I have my first official half marathon, in Windsor where I ran my last race which was a 10k. I have two co-workers joining me. They are considerably faster than I so they won’t be running in the same race, but it will be good to have the support.

With only 7 weeks to go, I am really looking forward to race day! Below is a recap of my last 2 weeks...

Week Six:

·         Monday - rest

·         Tuesday – 4 x 800m fast

·         Wednesday – Slow 6 miles

·         Thursday – Brisk 3 miles (8:57 – 8:37)

·         Friday - Rest

·         Saturday – Easy 4 miles

·         Sunday – Slow 13 miles (ran to Richmond and back)

Week Seven:

·         Monday Rest

·         Tuesday – Hills x 9 (treadmill – yuck!)

·         Wednesday – Slow 7 miles

·         Thursday – Steady 6 miles

·         Friday Rest

·         Saturday – Slow 15

·         Sunday – Easy 4 miles (missed)

WEEK Four & Five (Jan 17-29) 2011 London Marathon Training

Leading up to Sunday Jan. 23^rd I felt strong. On that Sunday I set a person best 10k. After the 10k, I struggled most of last week. My legs we’re sore and I felt weak until this past Sunday.  I was also featured on Huddle’s blog this week, see the posting here, http://blog.huddle.net/the-marafun-team-ashleigh-casner

Jared, my husband, has been VERY supportive. He is always encouraging and even massages my legs when they are tired, usually on Sundays :) As a Valentine’s Day present he booked a weekend for us in Bath, old Roman city here in the UK, which even has natural hot springs! We head there next Friday and I can’t wait. It will be interesting to be a tourist while still logging a run 15 mile run… stay tuned!

Last 2 week’s completed runs, are below:

Week Four

·         Monday - rest

·         Tuesday – 4 x 800m fast

·         Wednesday – Slow 7 miles

·         Thursday – 2 miles jog and 2 miles fast (8:37 – 8:57)

·         Friday - Rest

·         Saturday – Easy 4 miles

·         Sunday January 23^rd Race 10k – set a personal best, 10k in 49:44

Week Five

·         Monday Rest

·         Tuesday – Fartlek 4miles

·         Wednesday – Slow 5 miles

·         Thursday – Steady 5 miles

·         Friday Rest

·         Saturday – Easy 4 miles

·         Sunday – Slow 11 miles (1:49:15)

WEEK THREE (Jan 10-16) 2011 London Marathon Training

This week I logged 29 miles with speed work on Tuesday, maintenance runs on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday and a 9 mile run today. I definitely felt tired toward the end of this week and today’s run was tougher than I expected. I think it’s just part of adjusting to the increased mileage.  

Wimbledon Common

I have been running mostly through city neighborhoods. Although today I ran through Wimbledon Common which was a nice change of scenery. There were parts of my run where no one was in sight. It was just me and the open crisp air, it was very peaceful. I hope to do more park running as it's a great way to see all of London's parks. I plan on visiting Richmond Park next weekend. 

I have been listing to audio books recently which is a great way to take your mind off the running. At the moment I am listening to Dear John, which honestly is a bit of a downer. I think the next book I choose will need to be a bit more light hearted. I am considering a comedy or thriller. Any recommendations are appreciated! :)

This week’s completed runs:

• Mon Rest 
• Tue 1M jog, then 3 x 1M (or 8 mins) fast, with 400m (3-min) jog recoveries, then 1M jog 
• Wed 6M (approx 60 mins) slow 
• Thu 1M jog, then 3M (approx 27 mins) steady, then 1M jog 
• Fri Rest 
• Sat 4M (approx 42 mins) easy 
• Sun 9M (approx 90 mins) slow

Days 5 & 6 - 2011 London Marathon Training

Saturdays run of 4 miles proved to be challenging for some reason. Sunday my run was strong I did 8 miles with an average of 9:30 mins per mile. I think this may have been due to my carb loading the night before where I had pizza and ice cream, super indulging!

I haven’t had any issue with the running until after my 8 mile run on Sunday when my arches (outside foot) started hurting. After doing some research I believe this was mainly due to my shoes. I have discovered I am an underpronator, whereby I run on the outside of my foot. I realized that my New Balance 1064's were not providing enough support. These were originally designed for neutral runners, and I am very much an underpronator. After doing my home work I decided to go with the Nike Air Pegasus +27 which are highly rated for underpronators. I will be running in them tomorrow, stay tuned!

Day 3 & 4 - 2011 London Marathon Training

Yesterday’s run consisted of 2 miles jogging and 3 running fast... Todays run was 2 miles jogging 2 miles at a steady pace? Both runs were fine and haven’t been too hard given the low distance. However, because it has been raining a bunch I have had to do my running on a treadmill which is not desired in my book. I always feel a bit off balance when running on treadmills. I also feel like it says I am going much faster than I really am...

Re: the diet it been pretty consistent, yogurt or muffin for breakfast, soup and/or sandwich for lunch, fruit or snack bar for a snack, dinner is filled with veggies and protein. Last night it was chicken and veg, tonight its sushi :) Oh an no alcohol... at least for a month.

I also registered for my first warm up race which will be a 10k in Windsor. See the details here, http://www.f3events.co.uk/race_view.php?i=125   should be a nice scenic run.

Until the next post, ciao!

Day 2 - 2011 London Marathon Training

Today’s run was strong. I did a 1 mile job, followed by a fast 1.5 miles, 5 min walk x 2. I ran from my office on Bermondsey Street across Tower Bridge past the London Tower then up to the Embankment station and back to the office. Total time – 56:14, Avg. pace 9:48, and Distance was 5.74. 

It took some motivation to do this at work during lunch, but once I was done I was happy I did. It was interesting to see how many others do the same thing. I saw people of all shapes and sizes running my route. Seeing so many others hitting the pavement like I was instantly made me feel better.

As for todays diet, this morning I had coffee and a large blueberry muffin. After my run I had a large bowl of Pho with beef and veggies. This afternoon I had a bowl of Fruit and Fiber cereal, it’s like Raisin Bran with dried bananas, yum! For dinner I will be having thin crust pizza with mushrooms.

Tomorrow's run is a relaxed 5 mile run, which I plan on doing after work. Depending on the weather it will be at the gym or outside...

Until next time... Ciao!