"It's at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys" - Emil Zatopek.
At the moment as I try to manage my various issues around back, achilles, asthma/asthma meds, etc, it does become quite trying at times. In some ways I am spending some time as much at the mental borders of pain and suffering as at the physical borders. However, really it simply comes down to whether you quit or whether you persevere, and nobody ever achieved anything worthwhile by quitting, so there is no option other than to continue to forge ahead in the belief that once everything settles down I will be in a good place. I view it as building some mental fortitude for when races get tough :-)
Monday: 10.02m - 5m progressive, 5.02m brisk (6:37m/m) - (7:05m/m)
Tuesday: am: 6.41m easy (7:40m/m)
pm: 11.28m - 3m wu, road reps, cool-down - (6:51m/m)
Wednesday: 21.06m - 4 jog, 7 easy, 4 steady (7:07), 2 easy, 4.06 steady (6:57) - (7:27m/m)
Thursday: am: 12.09m - 2 jog, 3 steady, 7.09 brisk (6:36m/m) - (7:01m/m)
pm: 7.02m - 3m steady, 4.02m brisk (6:29m/m) - (6:44)
Friday: am: 6.15m jog (7:58m/m)
pm: 13.04m - 3m+ warm-up with strides, track session, cool-down - (6:23m/m)
Saturday: 0.53m - (8:24m/m)
Sunday: 0.22m - (8:25m/m)
Total: 87.82m @ 7:07m/m
This week showed the yin-yang nature of my training all in one week. 5 days of good running, including a long run, 2 reps sessions totalling 10.75m at 10k pace or quicker, and some faster steady (aka brisk) running. Then, after my first track session of the year on Friday I had some pain in my shin as it turns out I strained the muscle at the front of my left shin slightly (combination of the turns on the track and that I was trying out a heel lift to ease my achilles).
Saturday and Sunday saw two abandoned runs as the shin muscle was cramping. All in all though, if a bad week consists of 87m+ with 2 sessions and a long run then it could be worse (especially as I started off the week very stiff after a lot of gardening and heavy lifting over Sunday/Monday), though obviously it's still not ideal.
Onto the sessions now.
Tuesday's session: road reps of 1.35m (5:19m/m), 1m (5:12m/m), 1.15m (5:20m/m), 1.25m (5:26m/m). The first rep was supposed to be 1.25m, but I wasn't paying attention and ran a bit longer, so balanced it out with a shorter third rep. By the 4th rep though I was tiring a bit, so left the pace ease out and called it a day there.
Friday's session: track reps of 1600m (5:16) - ~4mins rec – 2400m (8:08) - ~6mins rec – 3200m (10:49) - ~5mins rec – 2400m (8:05). I went through 100m on the first rep in 16s (always start too quickly!), and then 80s/lap metronomically after that. The wind picked up significantly during my first recovery, making the following reps a bit slower, though, again, metronomic. The overall total was equivalent to a per mile pace of 5:25m/m (or a 10k pace of 33:39), and, overall, if you assume that the wind on the latter reps balanced out the quicker first reps, then it is probably about where my 10k pace currently is.
Overall my 'speed' is not yet where I need it to be for a sub-2:30 marathon, but at the same time it is not that far away. Certainly, with 7 weeks to go, especially with 3 races due in that time which will bring me on a bit, it is well within range. I just need to catch a bit of a break, and, in fairness, I am certainly due one at the moment.
Still, if I don't get it, it is only running after all and there are much more important things in life (and I know these things all balance out in the end, so I remain positive).
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