I mentioned on my last update that I was hoping to get an 18-mile LSR done on the weekend, and I'm pleased to say that I actually managed 20 miles. I started at around 7.30am and it was much cooler and more pleasant than earlier in the week, but I still drank 1.5L of water on the run as well as making sure I was well hydrated before the run! For long runs, I always run with a 750ml bottle of water/TorQ Energy on a waist belt, and this time I parked my car on the route with another 750ml stored in the cool boot. It wasn't a particularly inspiring route but I'm pleased I got the miles in.
I was a bit worried about how the long run would go because since my marathon at the start of May, I have only done one 16 miler. I've done lots of 10-13 mile runs (and lots of shorter runs) but I was getting worried that I wasn't getting in enough long miles. However, it seems I still have some fitness as the run itself was fine (apart from the amount of water I needed) so I'm pleased. Also, since the marathon I've been consistent with the sessions I've been going as I've clocked up nearly 350 miles over 48 sessions since 7th May.
The main reason for pushing on from 18-miles to 20-miles was due to the fact that I knew this would take me to a new personal weekly mileage record of 45 miles in a week. The majority of these miles have been in very hot weather and I am hoping training in the hot weather will stand my in good stead for when the weather starts to cool again. This was off of 5 sessions a week, which I've now been doing for 4 weeks. The fifth run per week is effectively the parkrun, which although only 5K is a good run out each week.
Below are my weekly stats since the marathon:
| Time Period (w/c) | Number of sessions | Distance | Elapsed time | Calories |
| 15/07/2013 | 5 | 45.19 | 07:45:11 | 6,288 |
| 08/07/2013 | 5 | 36.63 | 05:37:15 | 5,186 |
| 01/07/2013 | 5 | 34.04 | 05:06:00 | 4,851 |
| 24/06/2013 | 5 | 32.44 | 05:11:08 | 4,652 |
| 17/06/2013 | 4 | 29.92 | 04:13:30 | 4,279 |
| 10/06/2013 | 5 | 36.18 | 05:36:59 | 5,153 |
| 03/06/2013 | 5 | 38.9 | 06:19:31 | 5,524 |
| 27/05/2013 | 3 | 23 | 03:28:40 | 3,521 |
| 20/05/2013 | 4 | 31.96 | 05:02:00 | 4,945 |
| 13/05/2013 | 4 | 22.37 | 03:25:19 | 3,369 |
| 06/05/2013 | 3 | 14.1 | 02:15:19 | 2,183 |
| Summary | 48/77 | 344.75 | 54:00:53 | 49,950 |
I think that is pretty consistent, so I am really pleased with that. The two "3-sessions per week" weeks are due to a) the week after the marathon where I reduced the mileage and did a recovery week and b) a holiday week, where I was just pleased to get any running in at all. The w/c 17th June wasn't 5 sessions because that was the week of the Torbay Half Marathon where I had a lighter week in the run up to that event. I've included the "Calories" column just as a matter of interest really, as I don't know how accurate those numbers are, but it is interesting non-the-less.
There are two things that I think I need to work on, or at least keep in mind, in the run up to the October marathon I have lined up. Firstly, I need to incorporate some hill training as part of my longer runs. This is because the Dartmoor Vale marathon is quite "lumpy". I am hoping that after the summer season is out of the way I will be able to get a long to a few Trotter weekend social runs where there are often some hills thrown into those sessions.
Secondly, I am aware I haven't really been doing enough speed work. This is at least partly due to the hotter weather, where it's harder to get the speed in without feeling quickly drained. On the positive though, I am at least getting a parkrun in which is a good, quick run out and they are enjoyable too.
Haytor Heller marshalling
The other thing I mentioned in my previous post is that I was marshalling at the Haytor Heller, which is put on by my running club (Teignbridge Trotters). It was a brilliant event in hot weather, and it's great to be a very small part of the running of these events. The winner again did the event in under 40-mins which is just mind boggling and equates to around 6.5min/miles on what is very tough terrain.
I had a great marshalling point which was in a shaded area where the runners come down a path, over an old granite bridge and disappear up through the trees before a very steep incline. After the event, I went back to race HQ where I had my complementary burger which went down very well indeed!
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