The Road to Chester: Week 6

Blogging my way through my 16 week training plan on the way to my first marathon at Chester in October.

Week 6 highlights:

• 50.2 miles this week.
• Oldham parkrun birthday banana relay.
• I can't read a training plan. 

Last week I said that this Sunday would be my first 20 mile run of my marathon training. I was talking rubbish (again) as I can't read my own training plan. Last week I should have done 16 miles not the 18 I did. This week should have been the 18 with next Sunday being the first 20....

So this week I topped out at 50.2 miles putting me on 1137 for the year already. I went out for my long run this week thinking I would repeat last weeks 18 mile run but it didn't quite end up that way.

From very early on in the run I could tell I wasn't enjoying it. Much more so than last time out when it was more a case of "I'm mad" this was a case of feeling like I could happily stop and go home. No idea why I felt like that but I wasn't going to stop, I know marathon training is going to be hard and a slog at times. If it was easy why bother? If I could just rock up on 6th October and run round no problems what's the challenge in that?

I kept going, hoping that it would become fun as I carried on. Mother Nature had other ideas; the weather today was wet and humid not the best conditions to be running in but then as a runner you don't get a choice in the weather. So I kept going in the wind and the rain knowing that while it wasn't fun it WAS doing good in the long term. Getting my body used to doing 15+ miles at a time is just the same principal as getting it used to doing 10+ miles. Consistently getting out there and putting the miles down. Nothing else will do it.

I kept running on and got to about 15 miles where due to needing to add a mile or so on I needed to go and run a mile loop but I was near home so I thought "sod it" I'll get home and will have done 16 miles. If I can do the last mile or so at a faster pace that will make up for the missing miles and will also give me some practice at running fast while tired.

Yes, I may have ran shorter than I'd planned to but I keeping positive about it: I changed my goals for the session to take into account how I was feeling. I did a decent pace considering I was 15 miles into a run I didn't want to be doing. Positive mental attitude; it'll help when I'm doing the marathon as I'm sure there'll be times where I'll have to tell myself to keep going and maybe even pick up the pace when I'm shattered.

Either way next week is a new week with new targets.

This week was also Oldham parkrun's 3rd birthday. As many people who know me will know I am passionate about parkrun and really enjoy running at Oldham. I've made many friends there over the past year or so to the point where a 20 min run takes up my whole morning.

For this years birthday celebrations there were two events: the usual parkrun using the "B" course and a banana relay race.


This is the first time I've ran this course without there being either snow on the ground or me dressed as Father Christmas. Not fun. There may be slightly less hill climb than the main course most of the climb is contained in one long slog each lap. By the third time it was tough going on the old legs. This is the first time I've gone over 20 mins at Oldham parkrun for a couple of months. I could say I was saving my legs for the relay, but it'd be a lie!

On to the relay race. The idea was simple: a handicap relay race with a banana used as a baton. It was just a bit of fun after the usual parkrun nothing to be taken too seriously. Shame Mike, Mark and I didn't get that memo.

Mark, me and Mike showing off the team vests before the action begins!

Direct from Lithuania were three custom made running vests. They even had our names on the back. The vests caused a bit of a stir as we arrived at the start line. Had we really spent all that money on a vest we were only going to run in for 800 meters? Yes, but I'm sure we'll use them again.

The relay was a good laugh all taken in the spirit it was intended in. It was only as the first team set off that some clicked that the handicaps were a bit too tough for the teams full of faster runners. The last team to go had to wait five and a half mins after the first before setting off. I'm sure if they had tried harder they might have finished first but given they were using a bottle of sun tan lotion as their baton they were never going to win.

Neither did we, but if there had been an award for best dressed team we wouldn't have got that either!

So that's six weeks gone and just ten weeks until the big day. I hope that today's long run will give me the mental strength I'm sure I'll need to finish the marathon and give a good account of myself. Next Sunday will also show a lot as twenty miles is a huge milestone (no pun intended) on the way to the marathon. Before then I have another Sale Sizzler on Thursday night where I hope the weather is a bit kinder to us and a 5k pb can be got.

Watch this space.