Overlooking the lake at Retiro Park***Warning: the cheery mood stops here!***
So onto this week's training; I managed two runs in the four days I had at home:
Thursday: Plan 7 miles @12:15 (easy) / 4 miles @ 13:44 average
Yup, not only did I have to cut the run short, it was also completed at practically a walking pace :( My legs were very sore from the start - perhaps it was having not run for a week, or doing lots of walking/being on my feet lots in Madrid, whatever the reason it was painful (down the sides and front of my lower legs). I tried to run through it, but after two miles I had to turn back - I could tell that it wasn't simply tightness and the pain was worsening with running, rather than reducing as the muscles warmed up. Even walking was painful. :(
Saturday: Plan 14 miles @ 13:00 (slow) / 14.5 miles @ 13:35
Again, a very slow pace. Somehow, this run was even more horrendous than Thursday's! Legs felt crap for the first 3-4 miles, then things got a bit better (but only a bit!), but by mile 8 I was ready to quit (but determined to cover the distance) and by mile 11 my legs were dead - as in I can barely lift them high enough off the ground to not drag my toes. I thought that it would be a better idea to cover the distance and have 'time on my feet', regardless of pace or run/walk splits than to give up. So I slugged on until the end. At 14 miles I realised I had miscalculated my route, and was still about 1.5 miles from home, I carried on for another 1/2 mile, but then called Carl to pick me up - couldn't face another step! The first 9 miles were run at an average 12:53 pace, which was close to the target pace - I just need to get my legs used to these 10 miles+ runs.
So a PDR (Personal Distance Record) for me this week (my previous longest ever run was a half marathon), however there was no sense of achievement at the end, just an awful feeling of dread that I'll never complete the marathon. Even now, having had 24 hours to reflect, I'm still convinced that my chances of running an additional 12 miles is zero.
Fingers crossed for some better runs next week...
Rach, the fact that you dragged your ass through those 14.5 miles feeling like that is a helluva battle won. Seriously. Sorry about your legs though. What do you do post run? Do you have a routine for stretching, icing, elevating etc? I found that ice baths really did help with the soreness. That and the dreaded foam rolling..
ReplyDeleteAnd stop with that negative chat. It takes up to 4 weeks to see the benefits of a long run, but in a month, you'll run 14 and it'll feel nowhere near as difficult. You just gradually keep ratcheting up the distance, until you manage 20. And then from thereon in it's all about the day and your supporters on the course.
Glad you and Carl had a good break! :)
Aww well done for dragging your tired legs round. The hardest part of running I find is the inner chat. My will to give in is rubbish, so really really well done x
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to echo what the others said about dragging yourself round. There's nothing as hard as covering that sort of distance when it is the last thing your legs feel like doing. Try and feel that bit of satisfaction that you deserve. Don't forget that the weather conditions were far from ideal and running in wind like that makes the task so much harder.
ReplyDeleteYou CAN do this and it is totally normal to feel like you can't! I'm on a positive day today but most of last week I was of the 'can't' brigade!
Hope it all feels a bit easier this week
Rosexx