45' @ 70% MHR

Just an easy run around town this morning. Tuesday and Thursday are my double session days for the marathon training plan so they involve an easy session in the morning followed by the interval training in the evening. I couldn't help but think about the 20 x 500m session this evening as I ran this morning, spoiling what otherwise would have been a very gentle, pleasant session.

IT was cool again this morning and the loop was very similar to Tuesday's session. First kilometre in 4'37" and then under 4'30 for the rest of the way. After 5km I picked up the pace and ran each kilometre in under 4'15".

10.6km all up in 45'53" or 4'17" per km on average. Let's see how this evening goes and we'll be over the hump in this heavy running week.

1 hr @ 75% MHR

God it was early this morning. I woke up and pulled on my running kit and left the hotel in a daze. I ran in a daze too for at least 5 or 6 kilometres. The weather was perfect and it was decidedly cooler than the last few days. The moon was just setting over the horizon and it looked huge as I was running in my deamlike state.

I set off easily, running the first kilometre in 4'31" which is quite normal but I didn't speed up as radically as I normally do. The next kilometres were run at 4'24" pace and I decided that this would do me for this morning at least. I felt the fatigue from my previous sessions in my legs and running any faster was only likely to provoke an injury so I settled for this.

I ran my loop around Sedan, passing the swimming pool and the football stadium, before heading out past the station towards Charleville Mézières and the only hill of the day. Once I'd negotiated this, I'd already run 7 kilometres and the downhill gave me some pace and set me off anew as I clocked a few kilometres under 4'10". In fact I didn't go over 4'10" for the remainder of the loop and finished back at the castle in 1:00:23 and 14.25km. How's that for timing ?

4'14" average pace over the loop and a good deal faster over the second half compared to the first as I woke up and ran out the leg fatigue.

5000m + 3000m

I wasn't looking forward to this session. Not one little bit.

The 5km was supposed to be run in 19:30 so an average pace of 3'54" /km and the 3km was supposed to be run in 11'15" or an average pace of 3'45" / km. There was 3' of recovery in between the intervals but you were wupposed to speed up between the two.

I left the hotel and it was a warm evening so I took along a bottle of water to keep me hydrated after the intervals. It is unbelievably annoying to run with a bottle in your hand. However you seem to hold it, you can never get comfortable. If it wasn't so warm, I would have thrown it away after 500m but I figured that I'd need this later on so I held on to it.

I warmed up for 4km at 4'45" pace before setting off along the main road to Charleville Mézières. Although there was a fair amount of traffic, I decided that it was one of the flattest roads in the area and I wasn't going to make this session any harder by throwing in some hills too.

A slight decline to begin with and a good fast start for the first interval :

3'33", 3'36", 3'39", 3'39, 3'37" and I'd finished the first one with the last 1.5km a bit of an effort and I had to grit my teeth to maintain my pace. 18'07" in total for a target of 19'30".

The 3 minute recovery went by far too quickly and I was off again :

3'35", 3'38, 3'35" and it was all over. 10'48" in total for 11'15".

I almost gave up after the first kilometre on this last session. I was hurting badly and I desperately wanted to throw in the towel. My legs were aching and I was overheating. It was a real relief and a pleasure to have smashed the allotted times with some very regular running. These times confirm my form for the moment as they are in line with the 8k I ran on Sunday at around 3'38" pace.

A jog back to the hotel and 18.2km all up in 1h17. Average pace of 4'14"/km for the session. Going well.

Marathon training - 45' @70% MHR

Ran from the hotel this morning for 45' at an easy pace. Had managed to get a good night's sleep in and was fully hydrated after the 1h20 that I ran yesterday in the heat.

I set off on a shortened version of my loop around Sedan as I was only aiming to run 10km and the normal loop is 13k. The morning was cool at around 8°C so it was a refreshing change from most of my runs recently. I felt the tiredness in my legs from the marathon training. This is the third week now and the fatigue is starting to accumulate, having clocked up 122 kms each week for the first two.

The watch showed 4'35 for the first kilometre and I tried to keep just under 4'30 for the remainder of the loop. Mission accomplished with a loop of 10.7 km run in 47:22 and an average pace of 4'27" this morning. Lovely weather for a morning run - just what the doctor ordered.