Jo’s Marathon Blog – week 6 (nearly half way!)

This has been a very nice week of training – not as intense as the previous week’s 8 day stretch without a break, but enough to culminate in a BRILLIANT Sunday run!

Following the challenging St George’s 10, I set out on Monday to do a 4 or 5 mile recovery run. Due to the heat, a dicky tummy and no energy though I only managed 3 sadly, but I was still pleased to have got out, and I even got some verbal support from running friends on my way round! Tuesday was also an easy run day, and on Wednesday we had a post-work meeting so I used this as my rest day. Simon was a treasure on Thursday and accompanied me on a nice hilly 5 miler after work, and Friday was a gorgeous 4 miler around Carisbrooke Castle and Mountjoy again with friends – very relaxed and enjoyable. Saturday was a rest day due to visiting family, and by Sunday I was raring to go!

So, according to our training plans Deb and I had to do 13 miles on Sunday, but we both said that we’d love to have a crack at 14 instead! Another running buddy (Sarah) joined us for the first time, and as Sarah actually knows the area she navigated what turned into a brilliant route. We decided to set out on the actual marathon route from Cowes Community Centre (felt a bit tingly knowing we’d be back in 8 weeks for the big day!) to Shalfleet, and then make up a loop around Newtown before heading back on the final 6 miles of the marathon route. Phew those hills! We want to be prepared on the day, and we feel that by knowing what is coming we can set out in the right frame of mind, so it was a good experience. It was a beautiful day as well – hot, sunny and blue skies – so we could appreciate the views and the gorgeous countryside too!

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The final mile was brilliant for me, though I felt guilty as I ended up leaving poor Deb behind. I couldn’t help but visualize how that bit would feel on the day of the race; knowing that it was a flat stretch of tarmac between me and the finish line, and I just wanted to push on and see what I could do at the end of one of my longest runs ever…. Simon had rejoined us by this point (having done an amazing 19 miler) and thankfully he was chivalrous and kept Deb company a little way behind!

By the end Sarah and I had done 14.5 miles (a bit of doubling back here and there!), Deb had achieved 14 miles (her longest ever run), and our friend Laurie have accompanied us for a lot of it and notched up 10 herself. It felt amazing, and we are already discussing what we can do next time when we go for 16! Deb is a brilliant running buddy, and such an inspiration, and I’m actually enjoying this marathon training lark a lot more than I thought I would!