The cornerstone of marathon training is the Long Slow Run, or LSR. "Long" is a relative term - it means significantly longer than the other runs you are doing at that time, and ideally needs to build to being 20 miles, or even more, before your marathon.
Most runners do their long runs on Sunday mornings - but that's really not an option for me! As long as I don't have any meetings or appointments, I do my long runs on Monday mornings. This morning I did my long run along the Southwell trail, parking my car at Farnsfield. This has the advantage of being relatively flat, although there is actually a small incline (downwards) from Farnsfield towards Southwell, and obviously uphill on the way back. I used my GPS watch to tell me when I had done four miles, then turned round and came back. This way - there is no chance of wimping out and cutting the distance short, and also no way I could get lost!! I actually did an extra couple of hundred yards up the road before I went back to the car, to make sure I would do the full 8 miles. I did 8.1 miles in 1 hour 44 minutes - this matches the longest run I had done at the start of August, before I sprained my ankle.
In the event, although I did feel a bit tired around 5-6 miles, I actually did the second half slightly faster than the first. This is a good sign, and also an indicator that I am ready to up the distance further. At the point when I started to feel tired, I imagined myself in the last couple of miles of the marathon, with the crowds cheering and encouraging me on - and that made me speed up without really trying to.
And I want to thank you, my supporters for the encouragement I've already received. There have been a number of donations already, and including the fee I have paid to register, I am already 7% of the way to my target of raising £2,500 for Cancer Research. A good start - and I'll continue to build from here. Thank you again.
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