Tags
10k, marathon, recovery, Redway Runners, Rest, running, Silverstone
Head down and go for the line at Silverstone 10k – the chap in front was from Marshall Milton Keynes Athletic Club – I couldn’t be beaten by a ‘rival’.
Just over a week on from ‘that’ day (I’m sure everyone I know must be bored of hearing the ‘M’ word), and I’ve started to think about my next steps.
It takes a long old time to prepare for any endurance event and a marathon is no different.
As such, I took an hour away from work one day last week to start writing a semblance of a training plan for the next effort.
Way off in the distance lies the difficult second marathon – October to be precise, when Sarah and I are planning to have a crack at the Bournemouth Marathon.
Since the MK rendition, I’ve attempted the most difficult and hard-to-stick-to part of any runner’s regime: rest.
I’ve read plenty of different theories about rest and recovery from a marathon – one of which stated that you should take off a day for each mile completed, meaning a total of 26.
As a friend of mine said recently while discussing this topic: bollocks.
Instead, I’ve decided to take the rest of May off ‘training’ as it were. For me, this means no intervals, hill work or tempo runs, meaning that most runs are in the recovery/general category.
On that subject, I try to put all my runs in different categories, which are then grouped together to make up the overall training plan, but more on that in a separate post.
I’m fairly confident that I’m taking the right approach by continuing to run and keep my muscles in use, but nothing excessive so they can fully heal and repair.
That said, two days after the marathon, Sarah and I – along with 10 or 15 other Redway Runners – took part in the Silverstone 10k race, which took place on the F1 track itself.
Sarah and I are both massive Formula 1 fans, attending the race weekend every season for the last five or six years, so treading the Tarmac was too good an opportunity to turn down.
However, on the day itself – a cold, wet and windy Wednesday – it suddenly didn’t feel such a good idea when I was stood at the start line with stiff, aching legs while being pelted with sideways rain.
Still, cheered on by a great group from DLRR, I really enjoyed the race and clocked a respectable 45:41.
And I’m definitely sure that taking the F1 racing line through the corners made a huge difference…
This week I’ve more or less returned to normal – it’s now Friday morning and I’ve banked 22 miles so far with the prospect of another 8 tonight, Park Run tomorrow morning and maybe a few on Sunday.
After that its seven days in the sun with a much-needed holiday.
And then it all starts again with 18 weeks’ training from the start if June.
No rest for the wicked (or endurance runners, it would seem).
The embryonic stages of my training plan for October’s Bournemouth marathon.