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Sunday, 1 April 2018

3 in 3hr Marathon Challenge ~ Training Update #2 (inc MK Parkrun PB report :-)


Just two weeks to go now until the Brighton Marathon! This is a quick update on how this week's training has gone. In short.... well I think and finished with a Parkrun PB. Read on for a super short summary of that. 

It felt like a critical week in the training cycle. Probably most will argue that at 3 weeks to go (rewinding to last Sunday) you can't gain too much more now that will change the outcome on the big day. The much banded around 3 week taper is common practice they would have you believe but I think that is too much time to start taking the foot off the gas. So I wanted to make the most of this third to last week before tapering with two weeks to go. And I think most (certainly those that I know in my running circles through the club and forums) would agree. So my target was to maintain my weekly mileage as in previous weeks and hit 45 miles but with a shorter long run.

Last Sunday I just did a slow and steady 10 miles nothing eventful just turning a legs over. 

Work and other commitments then stepped in making it quite hard to get any runs in during the first half of the week. Nevertheless with a 1 night business trip to Scotland on Wednesday I packed my running gear and committed to rising at 5 a.m on Thursday morning to squeeze in my second run of the week. It was - 2 degrees outside and I wrapped up to complete a 12 mile run up to the Wallace Monument in Stirling. I got to the top before sunrise and looked over the view of Stirling which was fantastic with the moon shining bright. First time I've run trails in ages too which was great fun.

On Good Friday I was back at home and did a steady 15 mile run around Leighton Buzzard with a friend. This included the Good Friday Easter service in the town centre as part of 'Churches Together' in mile 2. So Strava looked a little strange with a 49 minute mile!! :-D 

Saturday morning it was Parkrun at Milton Keynes. I decided to really go for it and despite wearing my watch made a conscious decision not to look at my mile splits throughout the run. I positioned myself at the front of the start and fell comfortably into 7th place. The pace was quick but I just made sure that I didn't lose the heels of the person in front. I then made a move along the flat canal section in the first mile and managed to pass him and move into 6th position. If you know Milton Keynes Parkrun you all know that it has a zigzag uphill section which is only short but kinda messes with your pace and flow. I focused on just running smoothly up, back straight and maintaining pace and then using the downhill section that immediately follows to overtake two more people. I was now in fourth place (the fast guys obviously weren't here as being this far up at MK is not the norm!). As I hit Willen lake and the flat section for the second half I had third position in my sights.  I was already blowing hard and knew that I was working at my maximum rate but this was my only chance to go past him and then try and put some distance between us so that's what I did. Having taken third the last mile was really hard but I really wanted to hold onto 3rd place. Its not a race I know and it all depends on who turns up but for me 3rd place was quite a big deal and definitely a motivator to keep pushing hard, and perhaps even get a course PB. I kept looking behind to see if the guy in 4th (who was now a different person) was getting any closer. I was maintaining a gap of about 10 metres. Everything was burning now as I rounded the bend and on to the final straight with about 200m to go. I held on for 3rd place and stopped the watch at 18.19 (Official time was 18:18) A new MK Parkrun PB :-)

Not looking at the watch definitely helped and I will adopt this approach on all of my Parkruns from no on. Checking splits can definitely slow you down as mentally we all have an expectation as to what pace we think we are capable of and we can sustain rather than pushing on to strive to go faster and harder.

So a good end to the week which makes 45 miles in total. And the 6th successive 40+ mile week. Really pleased with that. Now going into the 2 week taper I plan to do some shorter faster stuff this week with some club races planned. First up is the LBAC Easter Monday handicap race (5.5m) and Wednesday is a the 2.5m club time trial. I expect I'll do no more than 30 miles this week then I'll back right off and largely rest up in the final week. 

The 3 in 3 marathon challenge is a personal challenge and fundraising campaign. If you can support me then that would be brilliant. Find out more about the Challenge and donate at www.sponsorstuart.me  

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