Still running

I am please to report that I have managed an entire week of running without incurring any significant injuries. A total mileage of 38 miles in the week sees me at a level I have not managed for nearly 18 months ( when in IM training mode in my heaviest weeks I may get to 40 odd miles but rarely more!). Since I am on a run focus it is interesting to see how much quicker I recover and how much less fatigue I feel.

I am back on the bike from this weekend as I believe you have to keep the long rides going winter, spring, summer or autumn, to misquote a song :-)

so now starting to try and pick a way to train for Luton Marathon. As ever sustainablity would seem to be the key. I am currently trying to get up to 2 x 2hr runs a week, with at least 2 other runs a week. The idea of running a marathon every week is frankly not sustainable (at the moment) as I just dont have that sort of (muscular) running endurance, nor indeed the time in my life to fit another 4 hr session in without sacrificing my weekend bike.

If and when I get to back up a few solid 50 mile weeks it might then be something I consider (so the end of October maybe). That would still leave me short of the miles I would like to get in by Luton to start contemplating a sub 3 but I would hope I could run a 3.14 in a controlled fashion.

Which still leaves me thinking about a sub 3! I guess it will depend on progress by Luton, but if I get there in good condition then I will be looking for another marathon in february- any ideas?

Been a while but life has been demanding and for the time being the old work thing has to take a bit of precedence. That said I managed to knock out a 3.33 marathon at the 3 to go marathon on sat 12th sept which was pretty good considering the complete lack of significant running between my last IM and the race. The race was great and one I can strongly recommend as a good day out (a slightly odd statement for anyone who does not have a strong background of endurance training I guess). I set out to run 8 min miles and was pretty much bang on for the whole race except the last 3 miles when my legs stiffened up (lack of training). I also ran out of things to eat at about mile 18 which may have been a factor. My plan is to try and run a marathon or equivalent distance once a month through the winter (injuries etc permitting). So the next one will be in October, possibly a lumpy one in Surrey hills failing that a homemade tour of all the major london parks.

Other goals for winter training are to see if I can manage a 200m non-stop butterfly, which gives swimming a slightly different angle. In addition I will try and do more swimming strength work all of which is designed to keep me motivated across the winter.

Cycling will be left to be done as and when I feel. In general I shall aim to stick with a 4 hr ride most weekends to keep things going but as I plan to work on running and therefore I am going to avoid any heavy bike work.

It seems likely that next year will be the last season for IM racing for a while since the time commitments are starting to impinge on the other world. I think I may well focus on a single discipline for a year or two and perhaps try and do some other endurance challenges like cycling to somwhere far away, doing a mountain marathon or swimming something challenging.

In the meant time I'll just keep plugging away at this autumns goals.