My Blog, Running

Marathon Training Blog. Week 1.

First week with a couple of speed sessions.

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Marathon Training Week 1 Total distance (incl. warm up and cool downs) 60k. Mon – 5k Virtual Presidents Cup Tue – 8k Recovery Wed – 6x1k@5k pace (75s recovery) Thurs – Rest Fri – Rest Sat – 26k@easy pace Sun – Rest The week started with a virtual 5k race. It was organised by my running club @bellaroadrunner and was a lockdown version of an annual handicap race. The club has been great during coronavirus situation. The committee have kept in touch with members throughout on social media. There have been quizzes, yoga and circuit sessions as well as encouragement to carry on with with training sessions and take part in the @scottishathletics virtual races. The training sessions can be hard to do on your own in terms of finding somewhere to do them where you can maintain social distancing but they're difficult mentally too. There is nobody with you to encourage and push you to get the most out of those reps. While training sessions on your own are difficult, virtual races are nightmarish, especially 5k efforts where you're suffering from start to finish. On my own the only thing to focus on is my pain, there are no other runners to distract me, or look like they're hurting more than me. I also feel quite conscious of my race face in the social distancing age. It can't blend in with similar expressions from other racers. I have visions of people turning away from me in disgust or shielding the eyes of those with a nervous disposition as I career through my local park with my teeth clenched and eyes bulging. It's always good to get these tough days done though and I was delighted to get a time of 19:34 in the Presidents Cup which is much faster than my official PB of 19:50. It was also great seeing other club members taking part in their runs over the southside of Glasgow. Wednesday was a hard session, I still had the 5k in my legs, and I was very generous with my recoveries but was happy with my splits. Saturday was my longest run to date. I probably went a little too fast but it was a lovely day and I just got into a nice groove and kept it going. Maybe the way I ran the session was a reason for my Vo2max dropping to 56. #jrsmarathon #running #training

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