Punch!

London Marathon Training
Week 6, Day 3

That’s the way to do it! Geddit? No? Ok, I’ll shoosh then.

I will admit here and now I had lost all confidence in myself after Thursday’s botched attempt at a run. In my head it didn’t matter how much progress I’d made over the past few months. That all counted for nothing after one bad two-mile run on tired legs, from a tired body and with a tired head.

But I knew I simply had to get out today. I’ve got a schedule of four runs per week. I’ve only done two so far and with ten miles planned for Sunday I had no option but to go for it today.

I decided just to do 5k, I didn’t have a lot of time to squeeze a run in plus I had one eye on tomorrow’s effort, so I didn’t want to overdo it, just to loosen up really.

Not expecting an awful lot from it I somehow recorded a decent time for the first kilometre, and then the second. I went even faster for the third kilometre, usually the point when I start to struggle, regardless of the length of the run until I find my legs. But, no, here I was plugging away and at a fair old lick too.

Indeed, I kept this pace for the entire run, slowing ever so slightly during km4 before setting my fastest split during the final push. I knew I was on course to set a new 5k best for my Garmin but, unfortunately, I was ever so slightly outside it.

However, it was a great return to form. I knew deep down that I’d bounce back from a bad run, I always do, I just didn’t believe I had it in me.

As I said, I’m scheduled to do ten miles tomorrow. I was advised during the week to run my long runs slower than marathon pace because it’ll help me on the day itself so it’ll be interesting to see if I can follow that advice. It’s all about time on feet apparently. Don’t be surprised if you see me berating myself tomorrow morning, feel free to give me a good kick up the backside if you do!

London Marathon Training (81.6 miles – 21 runs)
Week 1 – 12.2 miles (4 runs; average 3.05 miles per run)
Week 2 – 9.3 miles (2 runs; average 4.65 miles per run)
Week 3 – 17.7 miles (4 runs; average 4.4 miles per run)
Week 4 – 18.8 miles (4 runs; average 4.7 miles per run)
Week 5 – 14.9 miles (4 runs; average 3.7 miles per run)
Week 6 – 8.7 miles (3 runs; average 2.9 miles per run)