No rain to complain!
I had it in my head that today’s post would be the merits of running in the rain during training. When I left the house, it was bleak indeed! It was raining but didn’t come to anything. It was cloudy though with a gentle head wind on the way back to keep me cool.
Ran 14.7 altogether. I’ve tried to post a link to Runmeter (my running app for the marathon training). Let’s see if it’s helpful!
Surges – dissecting today’s training
After mile 8 I did 6 x 2 minute surges followed by a 5 minute easy pace. The first two were really difficult. At 8 miles I find I’m pretty ‘set in my ways’ as far as pace and stride are concerned. I could almost hear my legs and glutes saying ‘what the…?!!!! But the following surges were good. One of them was uphill before and after the required split, so I felt extra proud of my efforts! Here’s the interesting thing…
After the surges, I thought I would feel super tired but I didn’t! I really picked up the pace and got into a consistent effort with my stride and breathing. I had a second wind! And for almost 3 miles! I felt like I finished really strong. Legs were a bit sore but expected them to be as I had a 9 miler threshold run yesterday. This rollover fatigue is supposed to be what’s going to get me through the marathon more comfortably.
So I was quite chuffed!
Another little discovery in stretching
Following on from my comment the other day about not being able to walk immediately after one has done a long run – I realise that the stiffness is in the hips. I stopped for a few seconds, and hugged each of my knees into my chest for about 20 seconds (leaning up against a fence for balance as this is clearly not the time for Tree Pose!) and it really realised the stiffness enabling me to walk. I’m sure I’m not the first to discover this little trick but I’ve not been aware of it before. So I was then able to get a good walking cool down/stretch into my legs. It’s really helped my recovery today.
http://share.abvio.com/5d6e6380c4569528/Runmeter-Run-20140427-1123.kml
Really enjoyed the run today – saw a pony and here new baby foal in a field and 6 tiny little ducklings in the River Nene. Also saw a heron take flight and a swan landing in the river flapping noisily, like an Airbus coming down onto a runway. Hope you are all inspired by getting out running this spring. I find it really energizing. Great to see families in the parks, cycling and walking by the river and folks generally getting out of the house. I’ve discovered parts of my town I never knew existed and some amazing urban nature!
MarathonMAGIC! 