I did this on Sunday and finished in 1:30:22. A fantastic result, an improvement of 4:36 from last year. The course and conditions were the same as last year and last year I thought I did incredibly well. So I am chuffed.
It was a very cold morning and I got a bit cold waiting around. But when the sun came out it felt really nice and warm. The plan had been to run with the 1:30 pace maker but I couldn’t find him at the start. Then a minute before the start I saw him pick up his flag and run to the start. But he was about 30 metres behind me. So I ran my own pace to start with and after nearly two miles he caught me. I then ran with him for the next mile and a bit but decided to increase the pace a little. By the half way mark, I was about 30s or so ahead of 1:30 pace and feeling comfortable.
At about mile 9 I noticed that more people were going past me and that I had slowed a little. Mile 10 was the same. I then heard the 1:30 pace maker coming up behind me so I pushed the effort a bit more and stayed ahead until just before mile 13. He went past me at the turn out of Green Park into the stadium. I couldn’t keep up with him going up the hill and there was no sprint in me as I got towards the stadium. So I finished in 1:30:22. A very good result. In fact it is better than very good. I ran 13 miles at a sub-7 min mile pace. Wow!
Some other notes for next time: After about 9 miles, my forefoot hurt. My legs were my limiting factor, not my heart. I did a 2hr40 bike/20 min run the day before. My calves feel very tight!
This week has been pretty poor in terms of training. I had a sore calf from Friday last week which stayed sore until Tuesday. Then on Wednesday I hurt my quad when the chain broke. Wednesday evening I could hardly walk up the stairs. Even today, it is still sensitive to the touch.
I did a 3hr ride today, followed by a 20 min run. It was really windy and I had a 60mm front wheel on so I really noticed the gusts. I was quite scared a lot of the time for the first hour or so and then I felt more confident. I still don’t plan to use it in Lanza but I figured that if I could get used to the UK winds with a deep front wheel, I will be confident with a normal wheel in the Lanza wheel.
The run was much easier after 3hrs than 4hrs+. Not sure why but it was. Because my quad has been really sore I decided to push the pace up a bit on the way back. That felt fine so I feel confident that I will start at Reading tomorrow. However, I am not confident that I will be able to finish. We’ll see.
…and feeling really good about myself.
That’s the power of exercise!
I’ve just been to the gym and done an hour on the spin bike. The first 20 mins was a warm up. Then I did 20x 1 min all out intervals with the resistance on the highest settings. After that I got off and did 10 mins on the treadmill at 17kph, with a short cool down.
Saturday’s long run went really well. I did the same route that I did a few times last year and was 6 mins quicker. Fantastic!
Sunday’s long bike didn’t go as well as I would have liked. I guess I as pretty tired going into it but I was slower than I would have liked. Also my neck still aches in the aero position. I think I will have a go at moving my aero bars up a little and see if that helps.
Lanzarote is less than 10 weeks away. It’s getting a bit too close for comfort. I am confident about the swim and the run. But still nervous about the bike and especially about my bike position. Stil, I’ve got a few weeks to crack it.
… if you are getting as little sleep as me! Some of it is my fault but most of it is to do with one of the kids being poorly and so having to clean the sink at 1am or get up at 4am the next day because one of the dogs is barking to get out. Aaagh!
Some of it will be because I’ve been training quite hard too. This week has gone well. Best day of the week was yesterday. I did a 4,000m swim session, that included 3 fast 400m in 6:09, 6:10 and 6:12 – pretty consistent. This is not as fast as last week (6:03, 6:05 and 6:16) because I am tired and because my normal ‘shadow’ in the pool wasn’t there to make me go quicker. At lunch time I did a treadmill run that included 12x 1 mins at the treadmills top speed of 12mph. It felt surprisingly easy. OK, that’s not really true. It just didn’t feel as hard as you might expect.
This morning I am up early because of the dogs. As soon as it gets light I will be off for a 4 hour bike ride. Then I’ll go for a 40 minute run when I get back. After that I would love to sleep. But it ain’t going to happen – too many chores.
Yesterday I did nothing. I got to the gym in the evening to do a run, only to find it just about to close. So I went home, via the petrol station and the shop and ended up doing nothing.
Today, I did well. 4hr bike ride averaging 28.0 kph. I got home and then went straight out for a run with one of the dogs. 40 minutes, but I will admit to finding it very hard and that I walked when Tango had to be on the lead.
… before Lanzarote.
How do I feel? Generally pretty good. I nearly always ache these days though. Sunday’s and Monday’s are probably the achiest days of the week but then again every day aches.
In terms of swim, bike, run?
- Swim: no worries. I am swimming more than ever.
- Run: I can do it. I am running more than ever too. The “average” of my runs is more than an hour (compared with 40 or so minutes last year). Also, all my running is being done at a much faster pace this year. However, most of it at the moment is on a treadmill. But that is getting me stronger in the mind.
- Bike: This is the issue. I don’t feel I am good enough yet. My legs just aren’t as strong as my heart and lungs at the moment. Also, I am not hugely comfortable in the aero position at the end of my long rides. But there is a lot of time to go yet.
Yesterday I did a 4 hour ride. I didn’t run straight after but I did a 50 min run later in the afternoon. This was cross country, in the rain and mud, with the dogs. They loved it! They slept a lot afterwards!
I did my long run on the treadmill today. I could have gone outside but I just fancied doing it on a treadmill.
The session was:
- 10 mins easy
- 5 mins of 30s “hard”, 30s “off”
- 15 x (5 mins moderate, 1 min easy)
- 10 mins easy
I used a treadmill at the gym that has a big mirror in front so I can keep my mind busy by looking at what is happening around me. The treadmill is not particularly well calibrated so the speeds don’t mean much in real life. Last week I did the same session with easy being 11.4kph and moderate being 12.4kph. While it was a challenge, it wasn’t particularly hard. So this week I increased the speeds to 12kph and 13kph respectively. This felt a lot more of a challenge, especially on the last three intervals. So my legs now ache big time.
I know that it is not well calibrated because yesterday I did 1 minute intervals on it at 20kph. In my dreams!