London Marathon Training – Week 8

/in , , , , /by

Week 8 was mainly front-loaded and managing my niggling calf that started better than last week but still not right.

 

Monday started really well with a 10 mile fartlek run. This included the first 4 miles being run progressively, followed by 3 x short steep hill sprints and a fast mile before a couple more hill sprints on the way home.

 

Tuesday was another long double day, comprising of an easy 10 miler in the morning and then an 11.6 mile run, mainly with Wigston Phoenix and with a few faster miles in the middle. My calf held up well although I had a few weird twinges at the start of the evening run.

 

Wednesday was just an easy effort 4 mile recovery run with my calf feeling a little better than last night.

 

Thursday morning was an 8.2 mile easy effort run. Now, when I say easy effort, what I mean is that it would have been easy had Storm Doris not decided to get involved. As well as the strong winds, which never actually seemed to be behind me, there was the driving rain and dodging twigs and flying debris. Thursday evenings run was a speed/hills session with Wigston Phoenix. I completed 15 reps of various hills at about 75% effort due to my calf still not being quite right.

 

Friday was my last run of the week due to a coaching course I was attending on Saturday and Sunday. I set off with two runs in mind. It was either going to be a 16 mile run with 6-8 miles at marathon pace or, if my calf didn’t feel right, a 4 mile recovery run. I knew from the start that the 16 miler probably wasn’t my wisest of ideas. I got to a mile away from home and decided to be sensible. There was no point in running for 4 miles and potentially making it worse so I ran home to limit it to 2 miles, knowing I had 2 days rest to come.

 

My calf may mean that I have to abandon my sub 2:45 ambitions, but I’d rather do that and be able to get to the start line than push on regardless and break myself.

 

Week 8 Totals: 52.1 miles covered over 7 runs, plus 2 strength sessions and some basic core exercises on my BOSU ball.

Want to know more about running, personal training or nutrition?

Do you want a personalised training plan?

Contact me today to ask any questions or to book your FREE consultation

Call me on 07815 044521 or email me at martinhulbertpt@gmail.com

Martin Hulbert – Personal Trainer Leicester & Online Personal Trainer

 

London Marathon Training – Week 7

/in , , , /by

Week 7 was finally going to be my cutback week as my first six weeks had averaged 78.5 miles.

 

Monday started with a 3.1 mile walk with my wife, immediately followed by an 9 mile run with the first 7 miles ran progressively faster than the previous mile. I started at 7.35 pace and gradually quickened the through 7.25, 7.04, 6.49, 6.30 & 6.10 paces until mile 7 was down to 6.03 pace coming back up Welford Road towards Wigston. The final 2 miles were ran at an easy pace to aid recovery. I always find this run mentally challenging as I know going off too fast makes the last half really tough, but the last two miles are always hard as they are net uphill coming back towards Wigston. However, the recovery from this run is minimal as half is run quite easily paced.

 

Tuesday was far shorter than previous Tuesdays. I had a Running Buddy session in the morning, which was a tour of Wigston, trying to find every uphill possible for a good 5 mile hill session for my client. Tuesday evening was a shorter than normal run as I drove to the club and just did their run. This was a 6.6 mile route which ended up being faster than normal. My legs felt good as after the first 2 miles we averaged 6.41 for the next 2, then 6.12 for the last 2 miles. I would have expected this as the total of 11.6 miles is less than half of a normal Tuesday.

 

I awoke on Wednesday and walked 3.3 miles with my wife but developed a bit of a ‘pain’ in my left calf. I always suffer with tightness in my left calf and it is one of the indicators I use to know when I need to back off training. As this ‘pain’ was not muscular tightness, but more of a sore spot running down my leg between my shin and calf I thought it was best to rest and get a physio appointment. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get in to the physio until Thursday lunchtime.

 

Thursday was a second rest day as I awaited the physio appointment. It was also my wife’s birthday so today was always going to be a short easy day so missing a run wasn’t an issue. I went to Function Jigsaw and after explaining the issue, a bit of prodding, bending me around I was diagnosed with Tibialis Posterior inflammation. I was given stretches, told to roll my glutes and to use a hockey ball to get deeper in to the tissue to relieve some of the pressure (I hate sitting on hockey balls as they are more painful than the inflammation in my leg)! I was told I was ok to run on it if I could cope with the discomfort. I left Function Jigsaw much happier, knowing that it was not a game-changer in the scheme of the marathon or Equinox.

 

Friday was a 3rd non-running day in a row (I can’t remember the last time that happened). However, it was planned as my wife and I were off to London for the day. As usual, we stayed above ground and walked everywhere, managing to wander approximately 8-8.5 miles during the day. That also doesn’t include the time spent on feet wandering around the shops!

 

Saturday was back to reasonably normal. As this was a cutback week I decided to stick to my plan and ran 16 miles. This was broken down as 8 miles easy/steady, 6 miles at marathon pace and 2 miles easy to finish. My legs felt a little strange after no running for 3 days and a lot of time spent on feet in London the day before. However, as I got past the first 2 miles they started to settle down and feel normal again. The first 8 miles then flew by as I gradually got quicker from 7.15 pace for the first mile to 6.41 pace for mile 8. I then pushed on down Great Central Way, aiming for my heart rate to be around 150-155bpm as an average. The next 6 miles all averaged between 6.11 & 6.16 pace with an average HR between 151 to 154bpm. Absolutely spot on! I could feel it as I slowed down for the last 2 miles as running a 16 miler as a first run back after 3 days off was not ideal but, needs must!

 

I finished the week off on Sunday with an easy effort 4.5 miles on the way to volunteer at Aylestone Junior parkrun. As most of it was downhill, the pace was 7.00 average for the first 3 miles, even with my heart rate at under 130bpm.

 

Week 7 Totals: 41.2 miles covered over 5 runs, plus about 17 miles of walking, 2 strength sessions and some basic core exercises on my BOSU ball.

Want to know more about running, personal training or nutrition?

Do you want a personalised training plan?

Contact me today to ask any questions or to book your FREE consultation

Call me on 07815 044521 or email me at martinhulbertpt@gmail.com

Martin Hulbert Personal Trainer Leicester

London Marathon Training – Week 6

/in , , /by

I wanted week 6 to be a big week and that is exactly what it turned out to be.  My biggest week of mileage ever!

 

Monday started with a 3.1 mile walk with my wife, immediately followed by an 8 mile run with 3 miles at marathon pace. On tired legs, I was pleased to hit an average of 6.15 pace for the marathon pace miles with my heart rate being in exactly the same place as it has been on my previous marathons. I use this as a guide as I know that a heart rate in that region is sustainable.

On Monday evening I had a Running Buddy session, where I was showing a client how to run a progressive training run. It ended up a great run for him as the first 3 miles were net downhill with the wind, whereas the next 2 miles, his fastest, were uphill and into the wind and heavy rain. He managed to finish with a mile that was 1m/m faster than his anticipated race pace. He was happy, I was happy and it threw up some questions as to whether his race pace may be quicker than we first thought. The run ended up being 6.43 miles giving 14.5 miles of running for the day.

 

Tuesday, as usual, was my long day. It started with a 10 mile easy run, followed mid-morning with a 4.4 mile Running Buddy session which was mainly running up every hill in Wigston! I finished the day with a 3 mile run to the club and then a comfortable-paced run with them and an easy mile home for an evening total of 12 miles and a daily total of 26.42 miles.

 

Wednesday, as always, was a very easy day, with just a 4 mile recovery run at a very easy effort.

 

Thursday was overall a physically tough day. I started with a 3.1 mile walk with my wife, followed by an easy 6.6 mile run. In the evening I ran down into Wigston to join the club speed/hills session. As I wanted to make the session as hard as possible for me I wanted to run off the front of everyone else immediately, in the hope of doing at least one extra lap of each hill than everyone else. After an initial warm-up rep we headed to the bottom of Newton Lane and then I pushed hard up the loop of Newton Lane hill, turning right at the top and running hard back down the hill to Welford Road, with the recovery being a flat stretch of Welford Road, about 100 metres long. To make it harder I jogged this recovery at a cruising pace so that I wasn’t as recovered as normal for the next rep. After 5 of these I felt as though I was struggling but surprisingly, each rep actually got faster and rep 5 was 4 seconds faster than rep 1.

The next set of reps was a loop of 3 roads on the Wigston Harcourt estate. The faster parts of the loop was 400 metres in length and once again I ran as hard as I could with the recovery being as fast as I could sustain. Once again, the reps got faster as I got through them, with rep 5 being 5 seconds faster than the first. We then did one final sprint uphill on Meadow Way where although it felt as though I was running through treacle I actually averaged 4.4m/m pace. The session finished with me running back home to complete a total of 7.9 miles for the evening and 14.5 miles for the day.

 

Friday was another easy day with just a 4 mile recovery run after the Thursday intervals and I could certainly feel it in my legs!

 

Saturday was a long 20-mile run that I never look forward to, but always seem to nail when I actually do it. I call it my 6,5,4,3,2 run as I increase the pace the further through the run I go. I was up and out before 6.45am on Saturday, with the weather very cold, dark and sleeting/snowing/raining. Plus there was an annoying cold wind. I felt quite good for the first few miles and the first 6 miles averaged 7.16 pace. I then pushed on a little harder for the next 5 miles, which averaged 6.53 pace but still felt very comfortable. At this point I was heading towards the bottom of Great Central Way. After the first of the next 4 mile block I turned at the bottom of GCW and headed back up to Glen Parva. I always find it harder running this way as it is net uphill. This 4 mile block averaged 6.30 pace and my HR was still way below my normal MP HR. Just as I got to the bottom of the big hill at the top end of GCW I had to increase my speed again, this time to around marathon pace. Heading back towards Wigston I hit a very cold headwind but kept pushing, keeping an eye on my HR, trying to keep it between 150-155bpm. I managed to keep going for the full 3 miles within the HR I was looking for, with my average pace for the 3 miles being 6.10 per mile. I was very pleased with this as it was faster than I had expected but was also my 80-82nd miles of the week. The final 2 miles was a sedentary-feeling 7.11 average pace.

 

Sunday closed the week with a very easy 4 mile recovery run on very tired legs.

 

Week 6 Totals: 87.5 miles covered over 11 runs, plus 6.2 miles of walking, one strength session and some basic core exercises on my BOSU ball.

Want to know more about running, personal training or nutrition?

Do you want a personalised training plan?

Contact me today to ask any questions or to book your FREE consultation

Call me on 07815 044521 or email me at martinhulbertpt@gmail.com

Martin Hulbert Personal Trainer Leicester

London Marathon Training – Week 5

/in , , , /by

We are now moving in to the second quarter of London Marathon training and I had planned another high-mileage week, with two-thirds of the weekly mileage coming in two days. I’ll explain why further down!

 

Monday kicked off with a 3.3 mile walk with my wife and was immediately followed by a 6 mile easy run as I had a planned Running Buddy session late afternoon. However, he cancelled due to a niggly knee so it left me a little short of my planned mileage.

 

Tuesday was to be a long day with two medium-long runs and a Running Buddy session with a new client. I started with an easy 10-miler, followed two hours later by the Running Buddy session. This ended up as 3.8 miles of hill reps and flat sprints around Wigston. As with most clients, she surprised herself by how hard she can work when pushed and how much faster she can run than she thought. A very pleasing session for both of us. Tuesday finished with a 3 mile run to Wigston Phoenix Running Club, followed by their Linear Run. This consists of a half a mile warm up, then a 20 minute run down Welford Road from Wigston to the city centre, seeing how far you can get. You then have 25 minutes to get back (so at an easier pace). The theory is that everyone arrives back at the start point at the same time.

As I had already ran 17 miles by this point, my plan was to run the 20 minutes at Marathon Pace (6.15-ish pace) and then run back with others. However, as usual, everyone started tearing off down Welford Road and I was soon caught up with them. The 20 minutes averaged 5.57m/m and I managed to get to Fenwicks in the allotted time. My legs felt good all the way and I actually felt as though I still had another gear if needed. By the time I had ran home again this third run totalled 11.57 miles, giving a grand total of 25.4 miles for the day.

 

Wednesday was a very easy day, with just a 4 mile recovery run at a very easy effort.

 

Due to Friday being my long run day for the week I kept Thursday to a one-run day. Before that, I decided to get back in to my garage with a heavy weights session. I really enjoy lifting weights but often do not have enough time between working and not wanting it to conflict with my running. After an hour of lifting various weights, working my whole upper body, I realised that it had been a while and I would ache in the morning. My one run of the day was the club speed/hills session at Victoria Park. As my legs now felt fresh I pushed hard on all reps and tried to do as many as possible in the time we were there. I managed a total of 6.5 miles and my legs could feel it by the end.

 

Friday was a bit of a ‘make it up as we go’ day. First of all it was a Running Buddy session which entailed a hills/speed session around Wigston. This totalled 5.5 miles and the reps were ran at a faster than comfortable effort.

As I had a night out planned for a friends birthday and had agreed to lead the 8.30m/m pacing group at We Run LE1 I decided to aim to run 17 miles and then lead the pacing group for a further 5 miles. I parked at Victoria Park and headed down New Walk to the canal and out through Abbey Park and Watermead Park. As the light was starting to fade I turned back at 8 miles. As I did, I upped the pace to aim for a few miles at 6.45m/m pace. However, I had managed to misjudge the light as not only was it getting to dusk, but it also got cloudier at the same time. This meant that I was having to concentrate more on the muddy towpath than I would have liked, whilst still trying to keep the pace fast. After a couple of miles I started to become a little disorientated with the darkness and unlit towpath. I tried to keep to my 6.45m/m pace but it started to feel harder after each mile. I started to slow down as I began to feel a little light-headed. I put this down to just four rounds of toast and a banana being eaten for lunch. I headed around Bede Park and the bottom end of Great Central Way before cutting through town, up New Walk and around Victoria Park to my car. That was at the 16 mile mark, but as I was early I drank a 500ml bottle of home-made sports drink and then did another lap of the park before joining the We Run LE1 runners.

I have to say that at this point I didn’t feel great. I felt light-headed and as though I was running through treacle, even though my heart rate was fine. I set off at the front of the We Run LE1 crowd, sharing the pacing with the other 8.30 group pacers down New Walk, around town and back again. I was trying to talk as much as possible and concentrate on my running form, trying to keep my brain working. Once back at Victoria Park, I said my goodbyes and left the group, heading across the park back to my car as the taxi to take me back into town gave me 30 minutes to get home, showered and changed. Once home, and after consuming a bar of chocolate and a cereal in record time, I started to feel a bit more normal again. So lesson learned; even in my 11th year of marathon training you can still get your fuelling all wrong!

 

Saturday was always planned as a rest day and that is what I did. It was my first rest day of the year and my last day off was also after a night out!

 

The week was finished with an easy effort 6 miler on Sunday. Nothing special and if anything, I felt a little sluggish after my rest day. Not an issue though as it means I can run further next week!

 

Week 5 Totals: 75.6 miles covered over 9 runs, plus 6 miles of walking, one strength session and some basic core exercises on my BOSU ball.

Want to know more about running, personal training or nutrition?

Do you want a personalised training plan?

Contact me today to ask any questions or to book your FREE consultation

Call me on 07815 044521 or email me at martinhulbertpt@gmail.com