Are you guys sick and tired of my marathon training posts? Because Im sure as hell getting a bit fed up with having to train for this damn thing!
Safe to say I had a mini breakdown in WEEK 10 – Im not sure if it was my hormones, or the seasons changing, or maybe all the internal stress and pressure that I am feeling at the moment with my MA project deadline and the marathon approaching – but safe to say I lost it a bit and it had an effect on my running too.
On Tuesday I had a really shit run that could only be saved by a treat (yes I know I shouldn’t be eating ice cream but fuck it!). I felt tired and my mindset was completely off due to the internal struggles I was having. Decided to listen to a podcast instead of music which in hindsight was a bad idea, but I did my 4 miles despite wanting to cry at most points throughout the run so go me!
Because the Tuesday run was so shit I was determined to do well the following day. I felt good for the first 2½ miles and I was running at a much speedier pace than the night before. However, due to the bad lighting around peckham rye, I twisted my ankle quite badly in one of the darker spots where I couldn’t see the pavement. I still carried on running, but my ankle was hurting more and more the further I went.
When I woke up the next day my ankle still hurt, so I decided to skip my strength training and 3 mile run, mainly because I felt it would do me more harm than good. I was tempted to run on Friday instead, but my ankle wasn’t feeling 100% normal and since my long run was swapped over to the Saturday, I didn’t want to mess up my chances of completing it.
The weather was a bit chillier all week, and the saturday was no exception! Running through 2 minute hail storms, some spitting rain, coupled with occasional icey winds and glorious sunshine – it was perfect Orsi weather ;)
I was trying out some new running shorts from Nike that sadly weren’t as good as I hoped. They were meant to be 13cm so a bit longer than some of the other ones they have, but sadly that didn’t stop them from riding up as I was running. Not the shorts fault really, it’s my big ass and thighs that are causing the problem – but it was annoying to have to pull them down every 0.5-1 mile and I cant imagine doing it throughout an entire marathon!
Despite the crazy weather and silly shorts, I would say that those 15 miles were one of my best long runs in recent weeks. I wasn’t feeling overheated and fatigued, and if it wasn’t for the fact that we had to stop towards the end to look at the map, I could have carried on for another 1-2 miles. Plus, the chilly weather meant I could wear a jacket which meant no silly bumbag (which I hate running with!) and less chaffing.
Oh and if you’re wondering, thats my face covered in SALT! That’s what it looks like when your sweat dries on your face – yum…!
The milage is still going up this coming week and I will have clocked over 120 miles in March alone which is pretty mental if you ask me. This is what I have to do this week:
MARATHON TRAINING WEEK 11
MON: REST – DONE
TUE: Strength training & 4 miles – No strength but done running
WED: 8 miles – DONE
THU: Strength training & 4 miles – No strength but done running
FRI: REST – DONE
SAT: Swimming – NO :(
SUN:16 miles – ONLY 8.6 MILES!