Did nothing today.
Ok, went for 2 walks with boys, and stretched thrice, but nothing else. No running, no spinning, no swimming, nothing. Nada. Zilch.
It was boring.
Food
7 days to London – rest, recover, run
Tldr: late walk, post walk lunch, post lunch siesta, post siesta run, post run stretch, post stretch dinner, post dinner lazying. Taper starts tomorrow.
8 days to London – run in the sun, and tiring day
Ran 12 km in the sun. It was 18°C according to the apps, but felt 20+ when not in the shade. It felt harder than it should have, and felt slower than it was. Still, very happy to have run it.
All my training has been in cooler weather. Temperature barely touched low teens on the rare hot run. It was in low-mid single digit Celsius on most runs. So, it was a good to get a feel for how body will deal with the predicted heat next Sunday. It didn’t leave me feeling too confident, but at least I know what to expect.
Apart from the run, I was able to squeeze in 3 stretching sessions as well – pre run, post run, and pre dinner. Good.
Didn’t get any foam rolling, icing, or meditation done. Bad.
Started the day with volunteering at Park run as number checker. Hopefully I did not too shabby a job. May have met R’s GP out there, without either of us knowing who the other was 🙂
Also, 4 more to go before I reach the 25 volunteerings landmark.
Took the boys for the evening walk at Virginia water. Didn’t check timings before leaving. Ended up driving longer than walking. Still, it was a happy outing for everyone, even if we had to drag R by her legs to take her along.
Meals were a Cheeseburger and fries, from 5 Guys, for lunch, and R’s dal rice for dinner. Nothing healthy, everything tasty. Just the way it should be. (May have had eggs for breakfast, and whey protein after the run, too)
Quite knackered now. Will probably sleep in tomorrow, before starting a week of early wake-ups on Monday.
Also got one last run of the week tomorrow. Just an easy 5K next week after that.
9 days to London – the no running day of this week
Didn’t run today. Instead attended the usual pilates with Brenda, and went for a swim before it.
Body was knackered when I woke up. It was knackered when I dropped R off at the station. It was knackered when I returned with the hill loop walk with the boys. It was knackered before the swim, during the swim, and after the swim. It felt ok for the first half of the pilates class. It was very knackered at the end of the class. And started knackered rest of the day.
Got just one set of stretches in, apart from the ones on pilates. Did foam roll and ice the legs though.
Meals were eggs for breakfast, chicken katsu for lunch, and subway for dinner. Bribed the head with an Oreo ice cream sandwich after dinner, so it could keep on going for another few hours.
Looking forward to end of the week now.
11 days to London – stretching, running, gorging
It’s 11 days to London marathon.
Today, I stretched twice, walked the dogs twice, and ran 5 miles. That’s three consecutive days of running – 10K each on Monday and Tuesday, and 8.6K today.
Legs are feeling much better after three days of stretching regularly. Now, need to add foam rolling to stretching.
The run was primarily intervals with Fitstuff run group. Nothing really hurt on the run today, though the legs did feel empty after a few intervals. Took it easy after a while to prevent any potential injury.
Am feeling a bit of tingling and stiffness in the feet now – on the balls, arch and heel. Will massage them before sleeping.
Ate a humongous 1000+ kcal dinner – ½ each of a pizza, tiramisu, and chilli soul breads from Zizzi.
About to enter post run, post gluttony deep sleep.
No Chain No Gain
This is a draft of the post (below the fold) I started writing after last year’s Burgess Hill Sportive. It’d been my first sportive, and first proper ride, of the year. It was also the first time I almost died on a ride. Had to stop and recover, twice each, on both Kidds Hill (The Wall) and Cob Lane before completing them (I never walk uphill, that’s for hiking trips). It was an embarrassment, and a wake up call. Thankfully, it came well in time and I could prepare better for the one that mattered – RvV (Tour of Flanders) sportive. Just leaving this out here, now that I’ve finally successfully completed the course. Might even come back to this some day and finish the post. It deserves this.