This was a lighter week in terms of running mileage, with only 17 miles clocked up. I did however do much of that faster than I normally do - more about that later - and also walked the 7.5 miles around Carsington Water with David yesterday. I've done two talks this week (one about training for the marathon, the other about our pilgrimage to the Holy Land earlier this year), and both groups gave a donation to Cancer Research as a thank you. I also picked up some more sponsorship from individuals, and the fundraising total now stands at a magnificent £1,141 - 45% of the way towards my target.
Running pace is a topic of endless fascination for me. If it's of no interest to you, you may prefer to skip the rest of this blog. Most distance runners think about their pace in minutes per mile. The "four minute mile" is famous, but that sort of pace is restricted to elite runners and shorter distances. As a general rule, you can assume that men run faster than women, younger people run faster than older ones, and the longer the distance, the slower the pace. For comparison purposes, here are some world record times and the corresponding paces:
Marathon (men) - 2:03:23 (4:43)
Marathon (women) - 2:15:25 (5:10)
Of course, those are the times for senior athletes, i.e. those aged between 20 and 34 (for women) or 39 (for men). At 35, female athletes are classed as veterans.... but only at 40 for men... funny, that. By the time I run London, I will be 50, so the appropriate comparison is with 50-year-old women:
Marathon 2:31:05 (5:46)
10K 35:05 (5:40)
5K 16:51 (5:26)
My best ever 5K time (so far) is 31.04, which equates to 9:57 per mile, and my best mile within that was run in 9:27. So you see, I am unlikely to be competing in the trials for the 2016 Olympics! But that really doesn't matter - I run for enjoyment, for my health, and now of course, to raise money for Cancer Research.
The other thing to bear in mind is that there is a big difference between training and racing. Most of my runs are considerably slower than my best, which is what is generally advised. Running fast takes too much out of you to do it all the time. I do my long runs at around 13:00 - 13:30 pace and my medium length ones (4-6 miles) at 12:00 - 13:00, depending on the terrain and how fresh or tired I am feeling.
On Monday morning, I was feeling quite fresh but was short of time, so I only ran 3.8 miles, but did so at a pace of 11:54. My 5.2 miles on Thursday were run at 12:42 pace. I went to the gym twice, and both times
did a spell on the treadmill. One of these was an intervals session, where I ran 1 minute bursts at 10:00 pace, with 2 minutes of jogging in between. At Parkrun this morning I was out for a gentle run, and kept company with a lady who is slower than me. The first 3 miles were run in 11:27, 12:02 and 11:56 respectively. But for the last little bit - the final 0.1 miles - I did my best impersonation of a sprint, running at a pace of 7:50. The world record holder does a full 26.2 miles at more than 2 minutes per mile faster than what I managed for a couple of hundred yards....
The rule of thumb is that long runs should be done 90 seconds - 2 minutes per mile slower than your intended marathon pace. This makes perfect sense - a training run is a training run, and at the end of it, I need to get on with my day. A race is a race, and after it there is time to rest and recuperate. Running my long runs at 13:30, it's reasonable to think in terms of 12 minutes per mile as my marathon pace, which would see me finish in 5 hrs 15 minutes. It remains to be seen whether, by April, I will be able to maintain that. My goal, really, is to finish and still feel human.
And, to do that, I need to continue the training. On Monday, I intend to run (slowly!) for 2 hours 40 minutes. I should cover around 12 miles in that time. Before Christmas, I should have run a little over half marathon distance. Little by little, I edge closer. The support and encouragement I get from various quarters is a big help - I can't let you all down now!
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