Fitting marathon training around my life is exhausting, or is it the other way around???

Monday

I weirdly felt good considering I ran 18 miles the day before. Slightly stiff but it was great to get some yoga in and stretch out.

Tuesday

I went to the park for club intervals and realised I was still tired. Really tired.

Intervals still went well, we did a loop of the park with a mini loop to recover. I was about 8-10 seconds slower than I was when we did it a few weeks ago.

It makes sense, this is the tough part of marathon training!

Wednesday

At lunchtime I decided to do some yoga, fast paced sun salutations with a stretch at the end. I don’t think the stretches were for long enough!

Then in the evening I did 20 minutes of weights. It was a full body workout and was great fun.

Thursday

I was in the office today, which meant I had to get up ridiculously early.

After work I ran in Manchester onto the canal, a 60 minute out and back.

It felt really good, I don’t know why running in city centres is so energising. I think it’s funny how annoyed and miserable people are stuck in their cars!

It’s a flat route, which is something I’m not used to. So of course, I did get carried away… Whoops!

Friday

I had stayed over in Manchester. Another early start which involved eating what felt like the entire hotel breakfast – to make it back home in time to start work.

The train was only a few minutes late and all was well, apart from my kitten who was very annoyed I left my mum to look after her!

I made it down to PT and it was a really good session. The weights decreased slightly, but the reps increased! So I still got that hard workout. It’s good to mix things up, even ones I don’t like very much!

Saturday

Parkrun day!

And another friendship run planned today.

My friend Jay joined myself and Becky and we had a lovely chatty run. Both Becky and Jay had been unwell but as we ran chatting away, all was forgotten and they actually had a pleasant run!

It’s funny how running with friends can have such a great impact on your week, not bothering about pace or worrying about the massive long run I had planned the next day……. oh!

My mum also took part again today and we enjoyed a coffee and some breakfast after. A Saturday win.

Sunday

I am strong, I am determined and I can run 19 miles.

I am absolutely tired.

I’ve been tired all week. As I set off I felt the usual groans of marathon training and I ticked along. The tired and stiffness normally goes after a few miles, but today my legs were just tired.

3 hours and 40 minutes is a long time to run with tired legs. But I did it.

I had hoped to add some pace in the middle, but my legs just didn’t have it in them. I tried to relax and cruise through and I definitely relaxed… but there was no cruising.

I figured I might as well carry on, on race day it’s likely I’ll feel like this (hopefully at the end and not from the start!!) and it’s important I continue on.

It wasn’t the run I had imagined or hoped for, but it was a Plan C that meant I finished.

I then headed to the pub for food and watch Huddersfield Town beat Cardiff. It was worth it!

Overall Thoughts

I’m writing this on Bank Holiday Monday because I’m still bloody tired!

My right glute isn’t feeling too good today, but I have eased it slightly with foam rolling. The last thing I want to do right now is get injured!

I’m so glad this week is my last long run before tapering, it’s really starting to get to me. I just want to sleep and eat all the time!

Fingers crossed this right glute is just something and nothing and I can carry on. I might take it a bit easier this week just in case.

This week’s song is perfect for when I’m losing my sanity and just want to smile. Genuinely don’t know how my legs let me run for so long but I did laugh when this came on 😂