My legs didn’t feel totally destroyed on Monday following on from the Worthing Half, as they sometimes do after a half. However it was quite windy on Worthing seafront so I ended my recovery run early, and then couldn’t be bothered to go out again after the long drive back from Worthing in the evening. I figured I had earned a bit of a lazy day! I was still a little creaky Tuesday, but some strides helped open them up. The legs were also a bit slow to get going on Wednesday’s medium-long, but gradually improved through the run and I was pleased with the average pace.
Pfitzinger was kind enough to schedule a 7 mile LT session on the Friday after a HM which seemed a little cruel, so I debated dropping it. In the end though I decided to just head out and decide what to do after a few miles. The legs felt ok so I figured I’d try running fast and see what happened, being fully prepared to drop back to MP or even give up if I was really struggling. LT effort immediately felt hard to maintain, so I decided to drop back and attempt 2:55 marathon pace, 6:40/mi. This felt much better, so I just tried to maintain that and see how far I got.
After a few miles I settled nicely. I did consider cutting it short a few times, but always ended up deciding to stick with it. It felt harder than I’d want for the first 7 miles of an actual marathon, but then my legs are very much untapered. Effort felt similar to other MP runs I’ve done, so that seems positive. The fact I managed this so soon after Worthing does make me wonder if I had a little more in me on Sunday, although I’m still perfectly happy with the result! Regardless, pleased I made the effort to do something, rather than dropping the session entirely.
Then on Sunday I completed the longest run so far for this training plan, 24 miles. It was a bit breezier than I’d have liked (though it might have felt worse due to tired legs!) but I pushed on and finished with an average of 7:26/mi which will do just fine. The legs felt a bit battered towards the end, but not too bad considering what they’ve been through over the past 8 days. Overall a decent week of training, and my fifth 100 mile week in the past six weeks!
I have another slight cutback week next week, although not as extreme as last week as I’m only running the Brighton Half at MP. I’m considering running it at 2:55 pace (6:40/mi) to see how that feels over a longer run. Will see how I feel and what the weather it like – I know what marathon HR/effort needs to be so I won’t push for that pace if it’s a struggle.