Training for the last 1/3 of a race

Well, I left for my run just before 9am. The weather wasn't any better and I eventually just thought, sod it! I wore a t-shirt and shorts and dressed for the promising weather that was forecast. The first mile was freezing and bloody windy. I couldn't help but think the wind has been there for every run lately, and then I thought about how useful it was from a training point of view. It's probably going to be very windy across farmers fields in Kent, so I may as well get used to it.

I was on my way up a massive hill in the second mile when I started to feel sick. I remembered that in my anxiousness to try and miss the crappy weather, I had forgotten my nutrition. I hadn't eaten for 3 hours (I normally eat and am out within half an hour). I took a gel and hoped for the best. I realised this was probably going to be a day when I needed to take both emergency gels!

The first 4 miles were shit. I actually thought I was feeling too rough to complete the 20ish miler today and considered turning around... then I remembered that I always feel like this when I run this route! I put my sensible head on and carried on. All of a sudden, I felt great. I ran uphills, I sauntered down downhills and I was enjoying the run. This is not usual for this route, so I embraced the feeling. I felt like this until I got to 12 miles and then suddenly everything felt tough. I normally get the beginnings of cramp around this point on this route, but today I just felt very very tired. I congratulated myself on the fact I have discovered the way to stop cramp (for me it's 72 hours without caffeine or alcohol before a long run or race) and thought about how good I felt compared to how I normally do. I was tired though. I considered having a negative walk break more than once, but my new found determination wouldn't allow it. In fact, I felt a bit of a wimp wanting more of a walk, but to be fair though... that's never stopped me before!

At 15 miles (as promised to myself) I had my second gel. It didn't do a thing though. I was starving and I wanted proper solid food. I thought this was probably a good thing, and a sign that I can actually take on solid food, unlike quite a few runners! The last few miles were Hell. I REALLY wanted to walk the whole way home, I REALLY wanted to call for a lift... Hell, I REALLY just wanted to get home! The running sections were horrible but I'd seen a post by William that he'd retweeted about putting pain aside and having other 'life situations' in a box that you can call upon. I called upon them all. For me, when I'm in agony, I think of all the people in my earlier life who thought I would amount to nothing. I think about my family, my job, my car, my friends, my running, and I think about how even I didn't think I'd get as far in life as I have. If only you could have told me that at school eh? I also think about earlier on in the run and how easy it felt. I think about how running like that does you absolutley no good whatsoever. It's when you have to push past pain barriers and through a heaving chest when you finally are training to be fitter. I thought about how William and Shaun tell you to train for the last third of a race. I've sort of wimped out of this in the past. I've done a marathon and had a full week off. I've done a 30 mile training run and then did practically nothing for a few weeks. This time I've done the following on a Saturday... 16.6 miles, 21 miles, 25.8 miles, 30.48 miles, 30.4 miles and today I was hoping for somewhere between 34 and 35 miles. That's a tough few weeks. And next week is my last long run/walk and long walk which should get me to around 38 miles!

I got home after 20.4 miles and I have to admit I felt totally broken! I shuffled through the house feeling sick with hunger and absolutely exhausted. The prospect of another 14 miles made me just want to go to bed. Instead, I got my potato salad that I'd made the night before and poured over the dressing I'd made (Delia Smiths' recipe). I had substituted the sea rock salt for pink Himalayan salt which is quite good for electrolytes and I did the thing I've tried to move away from during a break... I had a bath! I laid in the bath eating my gorgeous potato salad and soaked my aching muscles. The potatoes were lush, and I realised I'm pretty good eating straight after running. I could never do that before. It might not feel so good once I started walking again though!

I still felt like I wanted to do a 14 mile walk as little as I wanted my toe nails pulling off with pliers, so I decided to go up on the treadmill instead. This way I could control my speed very well, and I could bail if I continued to feel rough. I set the treadmill to 4.2mph and got going! The first 3 miles were awful but the next two were amazing and I felt so so good. I felt rough for the next few miles and had to put a compeed plaster on my heel which had developed a blister. At 10 miles I decided to do 1 minute run and one minute walk and it felt brilliant... it was actually easier than walking, but unfortunately my blister was agony and my foot (which had been injured last year) felt very achy and tired. Probably not surprising after all of the hills today! So, I carried on and all went well until the last mile where I thought I was going to die with tiredness. At the end of the 14 miles, I actually lay down on the treadmill and was shocked that it was very very warm indeed.

So... it's done. 34.4 miles. I feel like a haggered old woman and I don't (genuinely) know how I got through today. I think the accumulative effects of running so many miles every Saturday is really taking its toll. Roll on next week. This time next week I'll be sat in a restaurant with my friends and I'll be celebrating the start of my taper... oh how I'm wishing the next week away! I'm tired, but I've trained for the last third of the race this time!