John McLaughlin’s Marathon Training

• Training Type: Slow 6miles
• Time Taken: 00:50:16
• Calories: 746C
• Avg Heart Rate: 185bpm (I’m not 100% sure this is right)
• Avg Pace: 08:22min/mile
• Weather: cool but sunny
• Running Shoes: The black ones

According to my Garmin Training Centre, today’s session was to be a Slow 6miles, so you can imagine my surprise when I go to start the session and my watch is only showing 5miles, the problem being the workout is automatically downloaded from my pc to my watch, so in order to change the mileage I would have to power up my pc, well that wasn’t going to happen.  So I decided to do something I have not done yet during my training and that was to not rely on my Heart Rate Monitor, I knew my slow runs are normally paced at an average of 08:33 min/mile, so off I set.

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• Training Type: Slow 22miles (actual 20.01miles)
• Time Taken: 03:26:09
• Calories: 2420C
• Avg Heart Rate: 162bpm
• Avg Pace: 10:18 min/mile
• Weather: very hot
• Running Shoes: The blue ones

Having had a good nights sleep after yesterdays run, I’m still a little concerned about whether it was a good run or a bad run.  I didn’t manage the 22miles that I was meant to run, so from that point of view it was a bad run.  Having said that, I started later in the day, at 9am, the same time as the actual marathon, and despite leaving the house with it being slightly overcast, the sun was soon shining and getting very hot, it then dawned on me that I hadn’t even thought about how the weather is going to affect my run – I mean, I hope to run the marathon in under 4 hours, so at midday I’m still going to have about an hours running to do, so I learnt something about the run, that was a good thing.

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• Training Type: Slow 7miles
• Time Taken: 00:59:23
• Calories: 864C
• Avg Heart Rate: 163bpm
• Avg Pace: 08:29 min/mile
• Weather: sunny but very windy
• Running Shoes: The blue ones

It was an odd training session today, due to the wind I was literally all over the place, but to make matters worse, the gusty wind seemed to be about head height, I felt I was running along doing a very good wobble head toy impression.  Having said that, I am still amazed by the fact that this time last year if I had of gone out for a 7 mile run, I would be close to death by the time I finished, yet now it almost seems like a stroll in the park.

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• Training Type: Slow 19miles
• Time Taken: 03:03:03
• Calories: 2339C
• Avg Heart Rate: 161bpm
• Avg Pace: 09:38min/mile
• Weather: cool to start, but then sunny
• Running Shoes: The black ones

Sundays running session, was good and bad, but fortunately not as eventful as last weeks long run.   I did however still have to make a toilet stop, which is concerning me a little bit, the last thing I want to be doing on marathon day is have to stop for a toilet break.  I am hoping I am having problems due to the fact that I leave the house so very early, so for my next long run, I am going to leave the house at 9am, which is the time the marathon would start.

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• Training Type: Slow 8miles
• Time Taken: 01:08:24
• Calories: 991C
• Avg Heart Rate: 166bpm
• Avg Pace: 8.33 min/mile
• Weather: overcast but warm
• Running Shoes: The blue ones

Well, not much to report about todays run, it was a nice comfortable run, no dramas.  In fact that is pretty much it!!

I did manage to watch some of the London marathon on sunday after my 19mile run, and I must say I have watched it many times in the past, but never really appreciated how much effort the elite runners are putting in, now that I actually know how much effort it takes to run at 8.33min/mile, I can only imagine how much effort it takes to run at 5.23 min/mile which is roughly what the lead ladies were running at.

Anyway, I have my name in the ballot for the 2010 Virgin London Marathon, as it is my first time applying for entry I’m not expecting to get in, but there is no harm in trying.

My next run is on saturday an Easy 4miles and then a Slow 19miles on sunday, hopefully it will be less eventful than last sundays!!