Marathon Diaries – Amsterdam
I can’t quite believe it’s been two months since I crossed the finish line at Brighton and today sees the start of marathon training for Amsterdam. In the two months since Brighton I’ve been running, and doing a few classes, but I’ve also been injured. In the last 2 weeks I’ve mustered up a measly 15 miles due to that pesky ITB. If I’m honest I’m feeling a little under prepared to kick things off again.
It’s not all doom and gloom! As of now I am injury free, have a new 5k PB, a new PT, and a new training plan. My main aims are staying injury free, getting my legs to run a little faster, and having an absolute blast.
So I’m kicking off marathon training with you all by sharing what the next 16 weeks will look like; My Marathon Diaries – Amsterdam Edition!!
Life will undoubtedly get in the way, but my plans will go a little something like this:
Monday – REST! Monday’s were my rest days for Brighton and I’m going to keep it the same now. The majority of my long runs are on Sunday, so it makes sense to have a day off after to rest my tired feet!
Tuesday – Yoga and Run Club; my favourite day of the week activity wise, and again no real change from last time. I do Vinyasa Flow Yoga on my lunch break and then somewhere between 5-7 miles off road on the beautiful South Downs. Running with my run club was a game changer; I made great friends and got constantly pushed to be better. I’m still one of the slowest, but I love it every time.
Wednesday – Strength, Conditioning & Intervals. This is something a little new and definitely something I need to do more of if I want to get quicker and stronger. This will involve a gym session and then intervals outside! I avoided the treadmill in my winter training for Brighton, and I plan to do the same for summer training! Although the British weather is trying its best to hamper my plans.
Thursday – Threshold Run or Hill Repeats. Another new addition that will for sure help with my speed. Threshold is basically running 8/10 effort for a designated period of time and just seeing how far you get without throwing up! Hill Repeats do what they say on the tin; find a hill run up it as fast as you can, run down it slowly, and repeat/try not to throw up. Or at least that’s my general understanding.
Friday – If I’m not completely floored by the week’s antics then it’s back to run club on a Friday morning. This is a flat seafront route usually 5/6 miles.
When I can, I get back to Yoga on a Friday night to release some of the tension before the weekend’s long run.
Saturday – Park Run and Rest. I really love park run, and I’m pretty excited that it is now local enough for me to take part. My plan is to use it as a kind of shake out recovery run on a Saturday and then spend the afternoon resting! I must keep reminding myself to not treat it as a race…
Sunday – Long Run Day! I haven’t run more than 10 k since the marathon so this could get interesting. I’m hoping my muscle memory will kick in and remind me how to keep going! For the most part though long run days are a joy. Starting off somewhere around 6/7 miles and making my way towards 20/21 in the coming weeks. This is where I lace up, get out, and just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Note to self to read how much I’m raving about the long run when I’m cursing its name next month!
Somewhere in this crazy schedule I will be fitting in a session with my trainer, navigating a particularly hectic work schedule, oh yes and having a life/seeing my people! Why did I say yes to this again?
I jest, I’m honestly looking forward to kicking this all off. I’m feeling excited about making some real progress, and pushing myself once again to see how far I can go! I feel like I have learned a lot through my training for Brighton, and I have some pretty big goals to aim for this time round!
The other great thing about marathon training 2.0 is that I have two friends running this one with me, which means buddies to train/complain with!
Apologies world! My life is about to once again become eat/sleep/running/repeat.
c-x
ThinkingClarely 