I realised today that I hadn’t done the weekly round up on Sunday, so I’ve set it out below. Yet another low mileage week, and I’ve binned Ben Parkes completely now as I currently can’t follow a supermarket trolley at the minute, never mind a training plan.
I am feeling decidedly sorry for myself I know. My gammy right leg is improving very slowly, but my track session ham and quad aches do not seem to be going away and I attempted an incredibly slow long run yesterday that didn’t go further than 13 miles and probably exacerbated it all and now basically everything hurts.
The other night, when Anne went out to visit a friend, I found myself alone with half a largish tub of chocolate brownies and baby doughnuts. When Anne got back, I was suffering from heart palpitations from the sugar rush, but at least I’d washed up the tub.
It’s a good idea to hide the cakes when a runner cannot run.
If there is a good point to all this, it is that I’m finding my weaknesses. This whole training process is getting deep down into those under-used muscles and calling them out. It will, if I’m lucky, help me build up those weak bits for the next time I do a marathon.
Not that I’m bailing on this Spring one you understand. If I can run/walk 13 miles in just under three hours, as I did yesterday, I can run/walk/crawl the whole thing in maybe six. I know I can because I’ve done it before. There are still 25 days to go until the big day, and if I knock a week off the usual three-week taper then I’ve got 11 whole days to get my final long runs done.
And, as I’m writing this, I’ve just decided to give myself an arbitrary four days completely off running, including today, to try and ease some of those aches, and then attempt to squeeze two longish runs in before my taper. What could possibly go wrong? Watch this space.
| Day | What I Did |
| Mon | A long slow run on the Wirral Way (so pretty flat) with Emily, and being covered by a whole spectrum of weather, from sunshine to sleet. 15.1 miles [24.3 km] Yoga 11.35 min/m [7.05 min/km] |
| Tue | Yoga |
| Wed | Strength Class |
| Thu | Yoga Physio + exercises Track Session (fantastic but a lot to answer for) ~ 3.5 miles [5.6km] in total at various speeds |
| Yoga + exercises | |
| Sat | 2 painful and painfully slow miles [3.2 km] Yoga + exercises |
| Sun | Yoga + exercises |
theleadlesspencil 
You can only do what you can do and a bit of rest will do no harm.
Yes, a bit frustrating, as I was enjoying it all. But it is what it is. Need to stay away from the cakes though!
yep, been there…I make sure the house is filled with apples, bananas….I ate about a dozen chocolate chip cookies on my rest day…..
Ha ha. Under normal circumstances, Warren, I can have one cake and put the rest away, but I think it was a combination of feeling sorry for myself, not being distracted by someone and the tub of cakes being available (leftovers from an afternoon tea). It was a massacre!
Keep going! Thats all i xan say because ive never ran further than half marathon and after that it was my personal ‘long’ run with you that included a few photo stops along the way… God i miss them runs.
You can do it.
I agree, give yourself the days off but remember those might mitochondria and i and all your other friends, fambo and beautiful wife are routing for you!
Love this ❤️ thank you
Injuries, aches, and pains are the worst, especially when trying to reach a running goal. BTW, I am behind on your posts, and will be popping in throughout this week to catch up. Thank goodness for Instagram because it allows me to keep up with you in real time. 😀 I admire your dedication, but sometimes rest is necessary.
Ha! Then you’ll know the outcome already. I’m sure there’ll be some niggles again along the way, but I’m back to feeling good.