Getting the schedule right

I confess, I was a bit "subdued" yesterday with regards to the running (and also generally) but I'm not really sure why.  Last week's runs weren't too bad in reality....in fact the Monday (10K PM training run) and Wednesday (the club speed session) were very good.  Thursday's was fine and Saturday's was also okay, if a little cold.

I think my issue is is that I am still not 100% sure on my training paces, and I'm worried that I am doing my LSR's too fast.  Even Saturday's session was 9min/mile pace and I think that needs to be more like 9:30-10:00 min/mile really.  This week on the LSR, I am really going to try and slow down and make sure I do more like 9:30min/mile.  I am well aware that that Internet is strewn with examples of people ignoring this advice and then blowing up on their marathon day, which is something I want to try and avoid.

Having said that, today's session was supposed to be a quicker session and I got 6 miles in at variable pace, some of it quick so I was pleased with that.  It was interesting actually, because I could have (and in some ways, I actually wanted to) run a lot further and I finished strong and steady.  Reflecting on this a bit, I wonder if I have stumbled across a schedule that suits me better.  Last week I ran Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday (as opposed to the more usual Mon, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday) where as often my LSR is on a Sunday so on Monday's session I would not usually be quite as fresh.  I really feel that I could have gone on to do 10-12 miles today (not all at a quick pace), so I think I'll keep that in mind for future weeks as well.

I've mentioned before that I have drastically reduced the alcohol intake over the last few weeks and I've been continuing on that vein since the New Year.  However, to be honest I think that was getting to me as I was feeling that I didn't have much to look forward to in terms of non-running activities/weekends.  This is especially because although I have February Half Term off of work, it's close to my planned Half Marathon event, so I know I won't be able to "let my hair down" on that week either.  Therefore, my wife and I have organised a weekend away soon which is something that I am already looking forward to!

Another thing that I experimented with on my LSR on Saturday is fuel.  I know when I start regularly going over 16+ I will start need to practice a fuelling strategy for the marathon.  In the past I have used Go Gels, but I didn't really get on with them and to be honest they are quite expensive.  On the forums, I have seen talk of jam sandwiches but on Friday I made some flapjack!  I must say, it went down pretty well and it wasn't too crumbly and it was fairly easy to chew.  I've frozen 3 batches of it, and I think I'll make it again but maybe next time I'll add more Gold Syrup and probably throw in a few sultanas.  They don't look like much, but they were very nice - even if I do say so myself!