Jo’s Marathon Blog – week 8 (part 1!)

Over halfway now, and I can’t believe how fast the summer is going! The one drawback I did not foresee when we started the marathon training was how it would impact on our Sunday social time during the summer hols…. we have friends with children, and we would always spend a gorgeous day at Blackgang with them during the summer holidays, but this year we are working 6 days every week and then running hard on the 7th. We are sad about this but having to get on with it, but I wonder how easy it is for those dear friends to understand our predicament and NOT feel let down by us 🙁

Anyway, week 8 started with a rest day. Not exactly a rest as I did an hour of much needed exercises and stretches (lunges and squats are my best friends at the moment!). Cross training is very important for runners, as we tend to overuse muscles otherwise, so I highly recommend at least one day a week of “other activities” (they only call it a “rest day” as you don’t run – it doesn’t mean you sit and eat biscuits all day!).

Tuesday was the usual running group 2 miles followed by a fast solo run back to the car (it was supposed to be a “speed” session, so I attempted to run at 9:30 per mile as much as possible. The only problem was a sudden onset of asthma at the end, but I took a few puffs of Ventolin and soon felt fine, except that it tasted very peculiar. On the way home though, I experienced a sickening wave of dizziness and light-headedness, and it wasn’t until later that I put the 2 issues together and checked my inhaler, only to find that it was actually out of date. It went straight in the bin.

Wednesday was meant to be a 60 minute steady run, so I planned a nice route and was delighted when a lovely group of friends turned up to join me. It went so well that a few of us decided to turn it into a “fartlek” session, which – although it sounds rude! – is actually a kind of spontaneous interval training technique, in which your normal run is interspersed by short bursts of fast running. It is very exhilarating and a great way to improve your overall speed. We would do bouts of this and then run to the back of the group and continue a steady pace all together. It was really good fun, especially as we were all different speeds and would “race” each other! Because of the back-and-forth-ing I ended up doing 6.5 miles of this (about 1hr15) and went home nicely tired!
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On Thursday I got out of bed like an old lady! My quad muscles were tight, my back was tight and my legs were so heavy… I was supposed to do a 6 mile easy run in the evening, but I felt dreadful, and in the end I only managed a very slow 4.8 miler (huge thanks to my lovely friends Coral and Bel for getting me out and keeping me company – especially as I felt I whinged rather a lot!!).  It really did me a favour though as on Friday I felt brilliant again!

There is nothing that helps lactic acid drain away like a gentle run! Lactic acid is a chemical build-up runners experience in their leg muscles when they put in an effort on their runs. It is what makes the legs suddenly feel like lead and makes running feel so hard. Massage is a great way to work it out of the muscles too, but I swear by a gentle run.

No running on Friday (due to other commitments) or Saturday (due to saving myself up for Sunday!), and it is the same for Deb this week, who has just had some sports massage to get her right for Sunday.  We are now fully focused on tomorrow… a 16 miler which is – for both of us – the longest distance we will ever run! The route is planned, the kit is sorted… bring it on!