To Hell In A Handcart

Pacing Mule wrote: »

Solid run there M. I'd be quite happy with that.

Cheers bud, mile 7 was my favourite as I spotted a guy in a Spurs across the road so screamed 'YID ARMY' as I tend to do to any Spurs I see about. He loved it

In other news, I just booked my place in the MK Marathon, along with flights and hotel. No going back now

Thursday

4 Miles Easy

11:15, 11:30, 11:36, 11:06

A rare late run for me due to Aintree taking up me time studying the form. Legs felt great once again.

Friday

10 mins on a Dublin bike at effort level 8

Tuesday

3 Miles Recovery @ 12:33

A nice early run ahead of a trip to Fleetwood to watch Fleetwood v MK Dons which ended 0-3 leaving which closed the gap on Preston

Wednesday

4 Miles easy with 6 x 100 meter strides taking the day to 5.08 miles.

10:17, 10:13, 10:23, 10:46, 10:09, 12:39 for the 0.08 miles.

I got out for this early enough despite the wind and rain hammering me along the coast of Blackpool and feeling a little worse for wear after a few drinks the previous evening.
My legs were going quicker than expected for this, which is a good sign ahead of the MK Marathon on Monday May the 4th. I wanted to see how they felt 24 hours after flying, due to fears that flying will tighten up my calves.
I had to stop in a McDonalds after 1.5 miles for the toilet once again.

Thursday

3 miles easy

My stomach woes continued, giving me a moody start to my birthday (36 years young) and another toilet stop in McDonalds after 1.5 Miles. I lost interest in pushing this run up to 5 miles so called it quits after three miles. I'm sure the continued poor diet and late night drinking had an impact on my stomach woes. The sea was nice and calm and the sun even came out which was pleasant!

Friday

Rest day thankfully

We traveled up to Ayr via three trains in preparation for the Scottish Grand National on the following day so the rest day had perfect timing. Things got worse due to our B n B double booking our room leaving us homeless for the next two nights. We ended up at a Travelodge by Glasgow Airport leaving our morale somewhat low.

Saturday

1.89 Miles easy @11:30

Toilet issues once again had me running very close to the hotel and give up after having to use the toilet twice during this run no doubt made worse by my weeks awful food and alcoholic diet
Had a nice day out in Glasgow rather than bothering the commute back to Ayr and watched the Racing in the pub which saved a few quid.

Sunday

I was hoping to get my LSR in this evening but decided to push it back a day due to travelling back to dubs and needing to eat too close to when I would of had to run.

It has not been a great week for running, but I am seeing lots of positives with all runs done after tomorrow which has kept my legs ticking over, plus my legs have had no injury concerns (Touch wood).

Dubgal72 wrote: »

To the jacks in a handcart?!

Its starting to feel that way in the last month. No red meats in the six days leading up to the race should help things.

Week 16

28.14 Miles run for the week

Two weeks until the Milton Keynes Marathon

Wednesday

Sports Massage

Ecoli said that although my calves were still a little tight, they improved quickly to a massage unlike previously. Another great boost of confidence after Mondays great training run .
I felt a little ill all day after this and also had a strange sensation in my left hand. I'm told it can be the toxins released that cause this so I was not concerned.

Thursday

4 Miles Easy with 6 x 100 meter strides and 6 x 200 meter recovery pace in between.
11:50, 11:33, 11:29, 11:02, 10:58
Average pace of 11:23

No signs of illness today thankfully. My legs never feel great for a few days after a Sports massage, so I started it off at recovery pace and gradually increased the pace. I don't tend to sweat much but I was sweating and breathing heavier than normal no doubt due to my legs still coming to terms with the massage and also the nice weather.

Another sign of good news is the cooler weather coming in and sticking around until next Saturday. Hopefully it stays cooler for the next 48 hours past that.

Week 17

16.2 Miles run as the tapering kicks in.

I weighed myself to find that I am now 11lb lighter than when I began this training cycle in January.

I have had a quiet enough week which has given me time to think about my aims in the race.

A. To run the full 26.2 Miles without walking
B. Sub 4:30
C. Sub 4:45
D. Sub 5:00
E. To beat last years awful time of 5:45

8 days until race day.

Pacing Mule wrote: »

That's a fairly wide range !

What's the target going out. Are you off out aiming at 4:30 ?

Yeah I'm just going to try and enjoy it. I am going out at 10:15 pace which is about 4:28 pace in order to allow for a few extra meters that I will no doubt run.

Monday

No running again due to another planned rest day but some minor injury concerns.

Both of my calves are slightly tighter than I would of expected considering I only had a sports massage five days ago, but will get through that.

The other is a blister on the ball of my right foot, the same area of my right foot where I got a blister after about 8 miles in the half Marathon!
I just did a search on here and noted that it could be due to my shoes being a little too tight, or too small. I recall buying my shoes in December and the guy in Arnotts trying to check where my big toe was like I was buying a normal shoe rather than runners that need room when my feet swell. I did want one size bigger but thought he knew what he was talking about so let him talk me out of it!
I've tried various running socks of late with the blister reappearing every now and again and I'm now pretty sure its not the socks, which leaves the shoe!
So my options are to put a big blob of Vaseline on the affected area before a run, although this may apparently wear out after about ten miles. The other option is to run with my older runners which I have had since last May. I think this may be the best ploy as I still been wearing them twice a week on lower mileage runs and doubt they have done the 500 miles that normally show they are worn out. I don't think it would be a great time to be buying new runners and only having three or four small runs to break them in before the marathon.
I've also taken the soles of both pairs of runners out to air them so they may hopefully go back to their old shape should they of changed.

yaboya1 wrote: »

You're making a mountain out of a molehill. Pop a Compeed plaster on it. You won't even notice it's there.

Cheers, will do.
I checked the shoe size last night and sure enough my newer runners are the same size as my normal shoes where as my old pair are a full size bigger.

I just woke up with something worse than a nightmare - cramp in my calf! I've not had this for a few months and Ecoli always thought the triggers were lack of potassium, dehydration or not having my leg straight. None of these were the case and I still got it!
Normally cramp in my calf causes a calf strain which means I can't really run now to race day. I will see if Ecoli can take a look as it will need to be done ASAP to allow toxins to pass out of my body.