October 7th – October 21st
Mon: Am: cross train 40 min PM: 30 min easy.
Complete. 6.81km.
https://www.strava.com/activities/12598356866
Tue: Am: cross train PM: 45 min.
Complete. 10.09km.
https://www.strava.com/activities/12607130866
Wed: 70 min
Complete. 14.80km.
https://www.strava.com/activities/12615998188
Thur: AM: 30 min PM: 30min.
Complete on Friday. 6.55km AM and 6.46km PM.
https://www.strava.com/activities/12630416744 https://www.strava.com/activities/12628297912
Fri: 20 min WU, 45 min @ 4:00 km pace, 20 min CD.
Complete on Thursday. 3:54 average. 18.62km.
https://www.strava.com/activities/12623519708
Sat: Off
Sun: 2 hours.
Complete. 27.79km.
https://www.strava.com/activities/12643271434
Mon: AM: 30-60 min cross train (very easy) Pm: 40 min easy + 5 x 15 sec strides + 5 min.
Complete. 10.09km. Skipped strides as v tired.
https://www.strava.com/activities/12654138023
Tue: 20 min WU, 10 x 200m hills (70-75 effort/easy back down) jog to acres 5km @ 3:50 km pace, 20 min CD.
Complete. 200’s between 37 and 40 secs. 5K in 18:48 (3:46). 17.21km total.
https://www.strava.com/activities/12663217141
Wed: 60 min easy.
Complete. 12.67km.
https://www.strava.com/activities/12671470823
Thur: 20 min WU, 30 min @ marathon pace, 20min CD.
Complete. Stephen’s Green @ 3:42 average. 13.81km total.
https://www.strava.com/activities/12678579067
Fri: OFF
Sat: 20 min WU, 15 x 400 @ 85-87 (30), 20 min CD.
Complete at the track. 80, 81, 84, 84, 83, 83, 83, 83, 82, 82, 82, 82, 82, 82, 83. 13.8km total.
https://www.strava.com/activities/12690724068
Sun: 80 min easy.
Complete. 18.07km.
https://www.strava.com/activities/12698479323
Does anybody ever enjoy the taper? For most of a marathon training block, your training is in conflict with your body and you are constantly trying to manage the load with every other aspect of your life. It can be very tiresome and, even in the most successful of blocks, it will take some sort of toll.
The above is a universal truth. So why is it that, when you do eventually start tapering down ahead of a marathon, you start to question everything? Why am I longing for the pain? Why am I wishing for fatigue? Why am I disappointed in, and insulted by, my coach that he has not this week scheduled me to do a Tuesday session totalling 28km of volume with 22km of effort? Why is there no 2 hour long run?
I have my own opinions on what causes this and most other folk will, too. It is hard to put your finger on it but fundamentally the change in routine is what I find the hardest. I know I shouldn’t be doing anymore than I am but I feel like I should be doing much more than I am. The taper not only allows you freshen up ahead of the race but it is also the period where I feel that your body can consolidate and absorb the block of training that you have put into it up to this point. Seán had predicted that I would get a fitness bump off the back of the 3/4 marathon and I think that has come to pass. I had a couple of easy days off the back of that and then ran steady on the Friday, incorporating in some of the DCM route in the Phoenix Park and Castleknock. The session flew by and I felt very good throughout. It’s not exactly an impressive run but it is something that is there to call on in these days to come.
I have been thinking about some of the harder efforts that I have done in recent weeks. Without mentioning the races, I’ve had plenty of Sunday long runs of 2 hours plus, all with hard efforts in them. Some notable Tuesday efforts include 5 x 3K at alternating paces, 10 x 1 mile at 5:49 and 4 x (2k (90) + 5 x 400m (30)) w/400m between sets, to name but a few. These sessions came within a block that was largely built off solid, consistent work in the winter that lead to a 10 mile PB, a 10K PB and a summer 5K PB. When I start to question how I feel, if I have trained enough, wondering if I am ready to go – the answer is empirically yes. I am ready to go.
The race is supposed to be the cherry on the icing on the cake. But for me, I find that to be the training. I love running so much that I would likely run as much as I do now even without any races on the horizon. The race is the bookend of a cycle and the ending of a season. Running is ephemeral and races are, too. No matter the outcome of Sunday, I will start training again. If the race is what I want or exceeds my expectations, I will enter into a new training block buoyed by the result and ready to kick on. If it all goes to shit and I am left devastated, I will enter into a new training block ready to prove that I can give myself a better showing on the biggest day of all. It’s a win win.
Seán consistently tells me to let go of the outcome of races. It’s probably the message he delivers to me more than any other. I finally feel like I am doing that for this marathon and I can honestly say I’ve never been more excited to get out and race. It’s time to pop one off. Roll on next week.
Buckets of Rain 