Monday April 07th HRV 67 Green.
A reasonable result after yesterday’s steady session and late night. Feeling good but will take it easy today. Easy lunchtime run of 7K staying slow and keeping an eye on HR which seemed than expected. That’ll be all for today unless I change my mind.
I’m avoiding the Gym this week as don’t want any muscle soreness leading up to race day and my plan for tomorrow is an early running commute depending on HRV result.
Tuesday April 08th HRV= 78 Green.
Woke just before the alarm feeling rested and that’s always a good start. Very happy with HRV score and can see a slight climb in my blue line so it’s business as usual but the running will remain easy. Early morning running commute to work keeping the pace nice and easy and left the house early enough to allow a more leisurely stroll. Arriving into the city centre I passed a crash scene that caused the death of a young girl around this time yesterday morning and I probably ran on the very spot she stood. I paused for a moment and continued on.
Plan for tomorrow is an undecided steady Track session and will depend on how the group has recovered since Sunday’s race.
Wednesday April 09th HRV=76 Green.
Woke before the alarm feeling rested, went back asleep and woke with the alarm feeling tired… A good HRV result and hopefully it’ll increase over the between now and Friday. Won’t be too concerned with Saturday or Sunday’s result as it could be influenced by the travelling and pre-race nerves. Didn’t run at lunchtime but instead went for a leisurely walk and did some food shopping for my weekend away. Went straight to the Track from work and did my own pre-race session rather than join in with the usual Wednesday night crew and went for an easy 11K with the middle 5K at London Marathon pacing pace. Finished the evening by coaching 2 separate sessions and then it was off home to refuel and chill out.
Plan for tomorrow is an early running commute or lunchtime easy.
Thursday April 10th HRV=75 Green.
Woke with the alarm and feeling ok but still trying to decide on what to do. Felt ok getting out of bed and HRV seems ok so I take a chance on the running commute and keep it even easier than usual. HR spiking at the start of run and it’s an obvious spike seeing as it’s unusually high and I’m guessing it’s caused by the cold air and insufficient moisture on the HR strap contact points. It started to settle down after 2k and I spent the rest of the journey wishing I’d taken today off. Finished the day with a coaching session and then it was some last minute preparation for tomorrow’s journey.
Tomorrow I fly to London.
Friday April 11th HRV= 77 Green.
Woke just before the alarm and had a very relaxing start to the day and ready in time to leave the house earlier than planned for my commute to the Airport. A nice relaxing journey with all going to plan and found my hotel quite easily although that was a bit of a let-down being so small but barely enough room to move. I had packed my foam roller but using it in the hotel wasn’t an option and the room didn’t make a relaxing environment.. Did a quick turnaround from the hotel and went to the expo to collect my race number and get the last minute instructions from Runner’s World. Probably spent too much time walking around but it’s hard not to and the Expo is something I always enjoy. Back to the hotel and then it was out again to meet some friends / fellow pacers for dinner and then it was home for an early night. I’m thinking about the Parkrun tomorrow but only thinking about it and will decide when I wake. Today is my first non-running day since Dec 20th.
Tomorrow’s plan is for a nice easy relaxing day but might do a local Parkrun.
Saturday April 12th HRV= 67 Amber.
Woke before the alarm and feeling OK but HRV shows signs of stress so I’m not taking any chances and will forget about running to allow more recovery time in advance of the London Marathon. Took my time getting ready to go out and wasn’t impressed with the hotel breakfast so I didn’t take a gamble on eating it. Left the hotel and met the other guys and spent most of the day walking around London at a leisurely pace with the occasional coffee stop and a break for lunch. Went for dinner after sorting and packing my race day kit and then it was an early night.
Tomorrow is London Marathon Pacing day.
Sunday April 13th HRV= 75 Green. (London Marathon)
Woke a few times but when the alarm went off I was feeling rested and this is an unexpected perfect start to the day and shows I’m not having any problem with pre-race nerves. Happily checked out of the hotel and met the other guys for the journey to Greenwich Park to meet the Runner’s World crew and then it was off to the starting area. Settled into the back of Pen 1 at the Red Start and passed the time chatting with runners targeting the sub 3hr and we discussed a strategy. One thing that concerns me is the weather and the conditions are far from ideal for marathon running as it’s very warm with a clear sky. Hydration will be an issue today and I don’t like drinking when pacing as toilet stops aren’t an option at this pace. I mentioned same to the other guys but emphasised the importance of taking on fluids which was more important for someone targeting a PB as they’d be operating at full potential whereas I was running a bit more comfortably.
When the gun went off to start the race I pressed a wrong button on my watch (not my usual) and started it too early and only noticed when crossing the chip mat. Not a big deal but later in the race it can mess up calculations if trying to calculate a split. Settled into a rhythm quite quickly and went through the first mile in 6:52 as planned and from then on I was watching the 5K splits which were all close enough to time and the 5K splits are a good indication or overall pace smoothness. Lost a few seconds after losing satellite coverage going through one of the few tunnels and when going through Canary Wharf the tall buildings messed up the GPS signal and for a short while there was no connection. There were quite a few at this stage starting to feel the pressure and fall back and that made it feel like we were going faster so I slowed ever so slightly only to discover at the next marker that we had lost time. The course was starting to get quite congested with so many slowing down that it became an effort to get through the gaps and making up the few seconds was tricky as you can’t just knock out a few 6:20 min miles to make up lost time as it’s way too fast. Got back into a rhythm with a controlled pace and crossed the line just off the target in 3:00.43. A little bit disappointed but I’m content with the result considering the conditions. Spent the next few hours lazing around the meet & greet area before heading back to the airport.
Plan for tomorrow will be a Recovery run if anything…
Weekly Summary:
An easy week finishing with the London Marathon and included my first day off after a 111 day streak…