More than 24 hours later I think I’m still riding a high from my first 32km/20mile run of this training cycle. I did my long run up in Kincardine and it went really well. The plan was to do a “long slow distance” run. So there was no pressure to run at a particular pace and the goal was just to get the distance in. My legs started to tire around 20km and got progressively tighter up until about 24km. At that point they seemed to reach a steady state and I was able to run the last 8km fairly comfortably. I also ate a bit more during this week than during last week’s poor performance. For the record I had 2 packets of oatmeal, a banana and spoonful of peanut butter before heading out and then gels at 8, 16 and 24km.

This week ended a big three week training block of 55+60+65km. Up next is a recovery week. It’s a bit of a strange week though since I’m doing a 25km trail race on Saturday as my long run. I’m going to do 15-20km of easy mileage during the week as a mini taper for the race.

This was the first week of the fall semester so now I’m back to teaching. It’s like someone took my life and turned the intensity up to 11. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but this week was particularly crazy. In fact on Tuesday after a dead laptop, my speedwork session and the first day lectures for both my classes I was so exhausted that I went to bed at 9pm and slept for a solid 9 hours.That’s a lot on a weeknight but it’s exactly what I need during marathon training!

When I ran the Toronto marathon last year that one place I thought my training had come up short was in doing marathon pace (MP) long runs. This year I decided to try and incorporate them into my training and this Saturday I attempted just that. I say attempted because it wasn’t a very successful run. The plan was to run 10km easy then 15km at MP (5:42 min/km = 3:59:59 marathon) and then 3km easy for a total of 28 km. The first 5km of the MP section went OK (avg 5:45 min/km) but then I hit a hill and a headwind and it went bad. I just could not hold the pace. My legs and butt tightened up and honestly, it was a battle just to keep running. My second and third 5km averages were 6:01 and 6:08 min/km. The last three 3km were a bit of a death march.

I’m still seven weeks away from the Hamilton Marathon so I’m not panicking yet. Next week I have my first 32 km (20 mile) long run. I’ll be taking it slow and easy and maybe attempt holding MP again in a couple weeks.

Another week of training is in the bank and this week’s 55.0 km is my biggest week of the year. Of course there’s more mileage on tap for next week (and the week after that …) so that record won’t last for long.

Initially I was a bit disappointed with the paces I ran during my 8km tempo run on Wednesday. My goal was to average 5:18 min/km but I was only able to average 5:22 min/km and I actually only got under 5:18 in the last km. Hmm. I decided to go back through my training archives and see how I was doing this time last year. In late August 2009, 7 weeks out from the Toronto marathon I did a 5mi tempo run at an average of 8:43 min/mi which is equivalent to 5:25 min/km. So it looks like I’m in the same or a tiny bit better place than last year which makes me feel good.

My long run was a bit tougher than I anticipated it being. Two weeks ago I did the same distance in Stratford and averaged 6:37 min/km even with spraining my ankle. However this week I did the middle 8km on the trails around the Columbia Forest neighbourhood and although there aren’t any really huge hills there’s a fair bit of up and down. In fact some of the inclines have switchbacks so that gives you a sense of the pitch. My legs were in such rough shape that when I got home I actually took an ice bath. Well, not a real ice bath, I didn’t actually use any ice. I did however fill my tub with cold tap water and sit in it for 10 minutes. Brrr. The jury is still out as to whether this helped my recovery but I’ll keep you posted!

This was a recovery week and my focus was on getting my ankle back in running form. I RICE’d for all of Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and by Wednesday morning the swelling was mostly gone and all that was left was a lovely bluish tinge. I certainly took my first two runs back easy and I was hypersensitive to avoiding any cracks or ridges on the pavement. Thankfully my ankle seems to have bounced back and I think I can swing into full on training again next week.

On Saturday I decided to do something a little different and run part of my run at marathon pace (MP). My goal for the Hamilton Marathon is to finish in 3:59:59 which is a pace of 5:42 min/km or 9:09 min/mile. I really need to hone in on my MP so when it comes to race time I can just lock in and cruise. On Saturday I did 10km at MP with the two 5km splits coming in at averages of 5:43 and 5:36 min/km. The pace felt pretty good but of course right now I couldn’t dream of doing it for four hours! But that’s what training is all about. I’m hoping to incorporate MP into a few more of my long runs building up to doing maybe 20 km at MP before the race.