Berlin Marathon Training: Week Nine

This week started with a bit of a struggle and ended with a bit of success...

MONDAY: Body Pump class - I was so tired today this was a real struggle; my body ached and I just felt totally drained of energy. Not a good start to the week!

TUESDAY: shock - an interval session I actually enjoyed! My plan was for 7 miles with 6 x 1000m reps and 200m recoveries; I found the reps were long enough to be a challenge, but not so long I wanted to crumble to a heap at the end of each one! I aimed for each interval to be around my 10k pace and was very pleased when reviewing my final splits to see all but the final rep (still registering at a very acceptable 7.20 min/mile pace) was on target. A good run. 

WEDNESDAY: although I enjoyed yesterday's run, it was intense, and I also was aware of how tired I had been on Monday. With this in mind, I tried really hard to keep the 10 miles I had on my plan at a steady pace. Consciously keeping my pace down made the run feel a little 'ploddy' but it did work and I averaged 8.33 min/mile and felt much more rejuvenated for my second Body Pump class of the week. 

THURSDAY: 7 miles alternating the pace for each mile from 'easy' to 'hard'. It was very windy when I chose to run which made some of the miles feel a bit tougher than normal, but otherwise I found this quite pleasant, and not as demanding as say a tempo run. I alternated my paces at 8.35, 7.32, 8.12, 7.50, 8.35, 7.52 and 8.23 min/mile.

FRIDAY: Rest Day

SATURDAY: a morning of double success at Lincoln parkrun. The past few weeks have seen thoughts of a new PB cross my mind as I have edged nearer to my existing marker. After slight disappointment last week, I bounced back today to run not only a new PB of 21:16, but I also managed to finish as First Female for the first ever time at my home Lincoln event. A First Female finish at Lincoln had been a goal of mine to achieve one day, so needless to say I was a very happy runner!

SUNDAY: continuing on with a weekend of success, today I mastered the first of the big training runs - 20 miles. I chose to run with my friend who had lunchtime plans, so this meant an early start time of 7am; which we all know actually means waking up a lot earlier to fuel and get ready. When my alarm went off at 5am I snoozed briefly for a few minutes, but soon got myself out of bed, there was no way I was going to contemplate 20 miles alone and the option to run with my friend was all the motivation I needed. I felt surprisingly relaxed about the prospect of running 20 miles, and even as we ran I felt comfortable for a good majority. I was perhaps a little too comfortable in fact, as the miles and time ticked by I was shocked to see when we had been running for over 90 mins already and I hastily took on a gel before I could dip. Miles 15-16 were a little sticky until we managed to get some water on board, but once refueled we tackled the final miles with determination, finishing in 2.54.36 with a pleasing average pace of 8.43 min/mile. This was the best I have felt after a 20 miler; I was not in bits, my legs did not feel wrecked and I was not totally exhausted. Berlin I am coming for you. ​