I have my medal and an official time, but this one is a bit of a strange tale to tell. I’ll tell it tomorrow – need to do some eating and sleeping first!
Category: Exercise
parkrunday: Jesmond Dene #59
Volunteering this week as we’re into the last stages of the marathon taper. I usually (well, for my two marathons so far!) do a shakeout parkrun the day before a marathon – but that won’t be happening this time because of the way that our weekend logistics have worked out. As such, next time I attend parkrun I will (hopefully) be wearing a new race t-shirt!
It was a lovely morning to be marshalling, and it looked like (as usual) there were a fair amount of parkrunners new to the Dene (i.e. lots of people asking me for directions to the start!).
Also, I remembered to take the hi-vis selfie today:
…though there are some even better ones currently at the top of the Jesmond Dene photos page!
Weekending, water and wishing the final week away
I’m very nearly 19 weeks into my 20-week marathon training plan. The first half went perfectly. The second half has not. I have pulled it back in the last three or four weeks, but I do wish I had been able to do a few more long runs than I did. I also wish I did not now have the additional worry of trying not to get caught by the fire-breathing demon that is the sweeper bus (every slow runner’s mortal enemy).
I have my strategy ready (it feels like it changes day by day and it may well do so again by race day, but it does make me feel better when I think about it).
I’ve been having a lot of stomach issues in recent weeks (which have been affecting my longer runs) so I’ve started drinking two extra pints of water a day this week. I already feel considerably better for it.
I’m so ready for these nerves to be gone. I hope to glean some amount of enjoyment from the race (it is meant to be fun after all!) but I can’t deny I will be really glad when it’s over and I can start gathering all the lessons I’ve learnt for the next one. (Spring 2023. I’m not doing back to back seasonal marathons again!)
I’m volunteering at parkrun this weekend. No more running it until after the marathon – I’m too ‘maranoid’ at the moment to risk doing any damage to myself with sprint finishes etc.!
parkrunday: Jesmond Dene #57
Last finisher (save the tailwalker) at parkrun for the second week in a row… but this time I finished in 41:06. Not typical for the usual last finisher time at Jesmond Dene! I wonder where all the slower-than-me runners have been for the last couple of weeks…
I still had a bit of a stiff hip, but I felt much better than last week (hence the five-minute difference). I’d been unsure about even going last night because I was so tired after a long week, but I’m glad I did go. I always feel better afterwards.
parkrunday: Jesmond Dene #56
(It was touch and go whether I would make parkrun today, but there’s been a 48-hour extension to the deadline for the game competition I’m entering, so I’ve got a bit of breathing room to finish my game!)
A fairly slow one around Jesmond Dene this morning as my hip was still stiff after my 14-miler on Thursday. I took 46-ish minutes (slow even for me nowadays) and was surprised to find myself accompanied by the tailwalker, as it was a fast field today (the tail usually comes in closer to 55 minutes at Jesmond Dene). It’s been a very long time since I was last at parkrun!
Hoping to be a bit quicker again next week.
parkrunday: Jesmond Dene #55
Back to Jesmond Dene this morning as expected. I had planned to run but decided yesterday I would volunteer instead due to my back flare-up. This turned out to be well-timed as the team were in need of barcode scanners this week!
Geth was marshalling so finished a lot earlier and headed home, and I was planning to run home if my spine played ball. After an hour of standing and scanning I had stiffened up a bit, but a good hike up the hill out of the Dene loosened everything up and I was able to have a really good run home. Keeping my fingers crossed that improvement will continue this next week.
parkrunday: Pendle #347
A weekend visit to the in-laws also means a visit to Pendle parkrun, which as a two-lapper feels a lot more compact than Jesmond Dene but is probably fairly similar in terms of elevation. As I’m still letting my leg recover at the moment, I didn’t push it, and so I was very surprised to end up with a course PB. That’s given me a bit more confidence for getting back into training!
No picture today. I did take one but it’s awful!
Back to my regular adventures at Jesmond Dene next week.
parkrunday: Jesmond Dene #53
It was really nice to be back running parkrun, if gently. I took some scheduled walk breaks and didn’t bomb it down the downhill at the end (I actually walked some of the steeper sections of the finish straight as I was a bit nervous about doing more damage!). Running outside is quite a bit tougher on the legs than the treadmill, especially a hilly parkrun course like Jesmond Dene, but it’s all helping to pinpoint the areas I need to strengthen and protect. I went home and did my full rehab strength training session, which I normally skip after parkrun.
Same again next week I hope.
Patience
I had my long-awaited physio appointment yesterday. I’ve been advised that I still shouldn’t run more than two or three miles (*waits patiently for next week’s appointment and hopefully an update to that*), but it is really nice to be able to get out on the roads again. I did a mile this morning and it felt great, and I’m planning to walk-run parkrun tomorrow and see how it goes.
With just over seven weeks to go till the marathon, I am really hoping to be able to get a 14-miler, 16-miler and 18-miler in for the remaining long runs. If the physio still says no long runs for another two or three weeks then I could maybe cut that down to two… but we’ll see. It’s important to me to have a fairly long taper as I feel that’s worked better for me in the past, but at the moment it’s still sort of all up in the air.
As my last long run recedes into the past I do also feel a bit anxious about losing fitness, so I’m going to have another serious look at cross-training options.