The build up to London Marathon

The build up to London Marathon

Runderwearer and friend of ours, Anthony Woodward, is continuing his build up to the London Marathon.  We are excited to continue sharing his thoughts in his build up to the big day! We caught up with Anthony this week as he builds up to the Big Half this weekend.  We will report back on how it goes and look ahead to the final 7 weeks of training before London.

How are you finding marathon training?

Running for me is as much a mental challenge as it is physical.  Pretty much every time I've trained for a marathon I go through a tough patch around eight weeks out from the race.  We call this The Eight Week Wobble!  I'm not exactly sure whether it's the churning out of the miles, early morning sessions, lack of sleep, constantly trying to find the balance and juggle training with work and family life, or a combination of all of the above but this time has been particularly tough.  I generally use my running time to go over things in my mind and normally come home in a much better mood than when I started.  Being a typical bloke I don't tend to talk about things and tend to become slightly withdrawn - which is never good.  Fortunately I've come through the other side and divorce papers haven't been issued!  As for The Eight Week Wobble, the way I tend to overcome it is the only way I know, knuckle down, be positive, keep believing and continue to churn out those miles! 

How do you balance training with work and family life?

With the unseasonably warm weather in Feb it's been great to enjoy some sunshine and top up VitaminD levels during what felt like warm weather training!  Some early finishes at work have also meant I've been able to enjoy some valuable family time.  Mostly spent in the garden trying to teach Theo how to ride a bike, and the odd game of Hide & Seek.  Turns out that the boys are better at hiding than seeking as they had to get mummy to help come and find me!  

Are you excited about The Big Half in London?

It's now only a day until The Big Half, race day is approaching and I'm looking forward to the trip to London.  The half marathon should hopefully give a good indication of what kind of condition I'm in as I head in to the last seven weeks of marathon training.  Training is going well and the tough sessions continue to come thick and fast.  At this stage now the key is to stay fit, healthy and injury free. There's been a lot of easy miles, which is fairly typical with some key sessions including shorter, sharp reps this week to try and get things moving!

 

am

pm

 

 

 

Monday

Easy 40 minutes

Overspeed Reps

 

 

5 mile w/u

5 x 250m downhill with jog back recovery

2 mile c/d

Haven't had any overspeed sessions for a while so I was glad to get this short and sharp session under my belt.  Trying to fire up some fast twitch fibres!

 

 

 

Tuesday

Easy 40 minutes 

Easy 40 minutes

 

 

 

Wednesday

1k Reps

Recovery 40 minutes

 

15 minute w/u

12 x 1k reps (3:09) with 2 minute recoveries 

10 minute c/d

 

Decided to run this session on the treadmill for consistency and maintain leg turnover.  Warm up and cool down were both ran on the road as 90 minutes on a treadmill is mind-numbing!! Felt strong throughout the session which is encouraging!

 

 

 

 

Thursday

Easy 40 minutes

Easy 40 minutes

 

 

 

Friday

Easy 40 minutes

Easy 40 minutes

 

 

 

Saturday

Easy 40 minutes

Easy 40 minutes

 

 

 

Sunday

Long Run

Recovery 40 minutes

 

15.5 miles

(incorporating 7 x 1 mile at half marathon pace with 0.5 mile easy.)

 

 

 

 

MILES FOR THE WEEK

100.8 miles

 

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An inspiring journey of an old friend
Runderwear Runners in Dorset

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