This week I met my long run target of 2 hours 30 minutes, covering 11.2 miles in that time. My total mileage for the week was 24. No more cash raised this week, but I received a phone call from Cancer Research on Friday, asking me how my training and fundraising were going. It is nice to have that support - but it does make it all feel rather real! The first question was, "How do you feel about running a marathon?" My answer was: "Excited and terrified!"
I had morning appointments on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and fitting in my long run before them would have meant getting up very early and running in the dark. I'm dedicated - but we all have our limits! There is a distinct lack of street lighting around Blidworth, which would mean a choice between wearing a head torch or running laps of the mining estate. On balance, I elected to leave my long run until Thursday. My run on Monday in particular was a joy. Although I had run quite briskly at parkrun on Saturday, I felt quite fresh. It was a glorious morning for running - bright, crisp and dry. I ran just under 6 miles, thoroughly enjoyed it, and felt invigorated afterwards.
For my long run, I did a circular route taking in Rainworth, the MARR road, Harlow Wood, Thieves Wood, Ravenshead and Ricket Lane. This involved a certain amount of mud, and also getting slightly lost, as I don't know the paths through Harlow Wood terribly well - but I knew I was never far from civilisation, and if I kept going in one direction for long enough, I would hit a road. In the event, I came out onto the A60 at the point I had intended to, but just didn't take the most direct route to get there.
As well as being the cornerstone of endurance training, long runs are important opportunities to try out the kit you intend to wear on race day. A garment which appears to fit perfectly well on a 5 mile run, can turn out to have edges or seams which, given long enough, will chafe to the point of bleeding. Race day is not the time to try out new things! Running 26 miles without taking on water or calories is not recommended - but you need to practice drinking and find out what foodstuffs you can tolerate. Some runners suffer from cramps and the delightfully named "runner's trots" if they eat the wrong thing. Many runners use carbohydrate gels, which are quickly absorbed - but there's no reason why you can't just use ordinary food. So, I have started to experiment. This week I consumed a packet of yogurt-coated raisins, and they seemed to do the trick nicely, with no unfortunate side effects.
I deliberately paced my long run slightly slower than last week, averaging 13:30 minutes per mile. This hides a lot of variability - I was practically whizzing along the MARR road at around 12 minutes per mile, and while avoiding tree roots and boggy bits in Harlow Wood, slowed to over 16 minutes per mile. I don't attempt to run while eating - so I had a few short walking breaks.
I was - of course - tired after this run, and had a good (and long!) night's sleep on Thursday. But I had very little stiffness the following day, which I take to be a good sign. I had volunteered to be the Tail Runner at parkrun this morning, which means deliberately running at the back of the pack, to make sure everyone gets round safely. This morning I accompanied a lady who was running for only the second time, and encouraged her to run for a greater proportion of the time, as she knocked 45 seconds off her time.
Having done my long run so late in the week, I won't be doing one on Monday - I shall leave it till the week after. So, in this coming week, I will run 4 times, aiming to cover over 20-25 miles in total. Then the following week, I'll continue the build-up with a long run of 2 hrs 40 minutes, and hopefully getting my total into the upper twenties.
When I think back to 6 months ago - I was just preparing to run my first race, a 10K trail race at Clumber Park, which took place on 18th May. At that point, the furthest I had run was a little over 5 miles, and the 6.1 miles of the race was an endurance challenge. Now, 6.1 miles is a comfortable mid-week run. How times change!
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