I have finally decided to admit to myself that my London Marathon training started this week (the plan I downloaded started on Dec 23rd but I've been ignoring it). It was the first week when I actually paid attention to my plan and tried to achieve the required mileage and speedwork. Of course, I failed at the speedwork, and Thursday's run didn't go to plan either, but it is only week 1...
Today I was scheduled to run 11 miles. After the 9 miles I ran last week (in 4 small circles around town), I wanted to actually get out and run a large loop. I got up really late, so a morning run was out of the question. After making Sunday lunch for the family, then going for a walk with the children to get us outside in the fresh air, I couldn't put it off any longer.
The route I chose followed the Letchworth Greenway for 2 miles (from Stotfold to Baldock), then along the A505 through Letchworth towards Hitchin, turning off into a housing estate just before the Greenway crossed the road (it was going dark and I didn't want to run across fields), across the railway line (via a bridge!), then back onto a lit section of the Greenway for a mile, before following the road back to Stotfold. I had to do a small loop of town to make the distance 11 miles, but I bumped into my friend while I was looping round so I slowed for a chat :)
I'm quite happy with this run. I am aiming to run my long runs between 9:30 and 10 min/mile, because I am hoping to run the marathon in around 4 hours 10 minutes, which is 9:30 pace I think. I should probably check that! Anyway, I consistently ran just over 9:30 pace, but my average was 9:45 in the end because of the short walk with my friend.
19 miles run this week in total, which I'm also happy with. Plus one swim session, two circuit sessions, and Pilates.
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