I'm a man with a plan: a marathon training plan. Officially, my 10 week training plan doesn't start for another couple of weeks but since I need a sense of purpose and some focus for my running training, I'm doing the first 2 weeks of the plan twice. So my 10 week plan has become a 12 week plan. Does this make sense to you ?
The first step in the plan and the new-found focus was to get the plan onto paper. Or rather, get the old plan off paper onto an excel file and then back onto paper. I was given my tried and trusted 3 hour marathon training plan over 2 years ago and having printed it onto a sheet of A4, I lost the file when my hard drive crashed on the PC. Since this plan actually managed to get me under 3 hours, I've held onto it as a sort of good luck charm, a guarantee of a good performance as long as the plan is respected and revered. Over the years it has been scribbled on, had tea splashed over it, faded in the sunlight and quite frankly it was looking a bit of a mess. I copied it up carefully and created a new excel file. I struggled on one day when you're supposed to do 6 x 1000m at threshold and couldn't read whether it said 6 or 8 intervals. I chose 6 as the session looked hard enough anyway.
So week 1 for the marathon training involves mostly speed work, which suits me fine with the relay in Vincennes approaching fast. The first interval session for this week is 2 x 2000m and then 2 blocks of 12 x 200m for Thursday. 18 months ago I was doing this very session over 2k in 8:05 then 7:52 around the Maisons Laffitte course so how would I manage today ?
As soon as I began to run this morning, I knew that I'd recovered from Sunday's session. The comparison to yesterday was huge. Whereas yesterday I could barely manage to stretch my legs due to the stiffness in the thighs, I was fully recovered today and had found some energy again. I ran down to the Seine and along to the roundabout in Maisons Laffitte before I began the intervals. I tried to push the pace from the start (basically because there's a slight downhill!) and then maintain this pace until the end of the second kilometre. As I ran alongside the racecourse, I began to wonder when the Garmin would beep to indicate the first kilometre as I was already feeling the pace. There's a slight relief when the Garmin beeps as I realise that there's only another kilometre to suffer before I can recover. This is harder as there's a slight uphill section and then I have to swerve onto the pavement to avoid 3 horses starting their morning walk from the stables in the park. The joys of early morning running. The Garmin beeps again and I slow to a walk and then an easy jog to recover. I notice that the watch is showing 3:50 for the last kilometre but I have no idea as to the result for the first.
I set off again and it's as hard as ever. I focus on keeping a regular pace and relaxing my arms and upper body, letting my legs do all the work. Again, I listen intently to make sure that I don't miss the watch splits but since I set off at the 5km mark on the usual course, I'm better prepared for the splits as I know where to expect them. I finish and look at the watch again 3:49 for the last one so I've been regular.
Final result was 3:50, 3:50 for the first interval (7:40 in total) and then 3:49, 3:49 for the second interval (7:38 in total) and far better than I ever managed last year. Pleased with the result as it gives me something to build on.
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