So London Marathon is just 7 weeks away…the last two weeks of training hasn’t been textbook…. The main reason for this being Wokingham Half Marathon which was 2 weeks ago.
The Wokingham Half Marathon isn’t/wasn’t my “A” race and is only half the distance I’m really training for, but I still set myself a target (which I do for every event and training session I toe the start line of, otherwise how do you know what you’re aiming for/be happy with?). I beat my target of running under 1hr25mins and crossed the finish line in 1hr24mins05secs, just 15 seconds shy of beating my Personal Best! A finish time I was pleased with and really pleased that Ian braved bringing the kids out to support
So what was my error – MY SHOES. I decided (on the morning, amongst trying to pack the kids/snacks/bikes/cowbells into the car) that I would wear some rather flat lightweight trainers that I haven’t worn for a while, because I thought they would make me quicker….maybe they did on the day, BUT they didn’t help my recovery!!! I couldn’t walk down the stairs the next day! Two days later I went for Physio as I was worried I had really burt something good and proper as I was still in pain all the time!
Needless to say I didn’t run for a few days….and actually missed quite a few sessions, BUT DID CROSS-TRAIN; got back in the pool (warned the lifeguard before I got in that I hadn’t swam for a while!) and rekindled my love with my Turbo trainer and Zwift (an awesome indoor cycling training app). I’m a firm believer that whatever your injury/ailment/predicament there is some exercise you can do.
The weekend after Wokingham Half I was till not 100% (maybe not helped by the fact that I was also organising a Hen Do!), but tried a run on the Sunday with Max as my pacemaker….4 miles at 9 min/miling shouldn’t feel as hard as it did.
This week – the leg has been feeling better but I’ve been sensible and cross-trained, including a night run in the snow in the woods; was amazing.
But I’ve really saved myself for my long run today (the real bread and butter of marathon training). 7am this morning – I was out of the door and meeting a fellow Bracknell Forest Runner clubmate to run 20 miles…it was tough, really tough…. I wasn’t feeling the love from the word Go – Mark pulled me round then I told him to stop being polite and push on!!! Back home, straight into the bath and then a much needed Sunday morning nap whilst my parents had our kids!!!!
Am back on it this week and going to be diligent with stretching and won’t be wearing my lightweight trainers for a while!
Moral of the story – wear shoes you’re used to wearing in training for “racing!”