Things are progressing well on the build up to New York, by the end of this update, we will be 7 weeks out from race day. In my WEEK 11 & 12 update, I had clocked up my biggest runs since April having run 16 miles in total on the 1st September.

The plan is to continue to keep building the mileage up gradually, keep increasing the intensity of the speed sessions and generally keep kicking ass.

No real races during this two week update, although, I am taking part in Tough Mudder North West this first Sunday but I don’t see Tough Mudder as a race, for me, it’s just a bit of fun with the main aim of not injuring myself.

Week 13:

• Running:  38.1 Miles – 6hr 54mins
• Bike:  135.6 Miles – 8hrs 12min
• Swimming: 2,187 yrds – 39min

Monday:

Full Rest Day.

My feet were not feeling good after yesterday’s 16 miles. It feels like the Vaporfly Next% have rubbed one of my toes, the nail has gone black which hasn’t happened for a long time and the top of my foot also hurts, this might be from my laces being too tight so I will have to have a play with them before running the marathon in these shoes. I was going to bike into work today too but I felt 60 miles on the bike wouldn’t really help my feet get better quickly, the main focus is to listen to my body and make sure it is right to continue the run training from tomorrow.

Tuesday:

• 30 Mile commute to work
• 31 Mile commute from work
• 2 Min Calf Stretches & 12 bodyweight calf raises (each leg)
• 5 Mile Easy paced run @ 9:00

The feet are feeling better today, nail is still black (likely to stay this way for months) but the pain on the top of my foot has cleared. I do think I must have tied the laces too tight on Sunday but will see. Today was just an easy-paced run to help the legs get over Sunday’s effort and to bank some more time on the feet. Pace today averaged 8:57 with a heart rate of 132bpm. Pretty happy with that, I didn’t run straight after the bike home this time, in fact, that ride home absolutely destroyed me today, it took 20 mins longer than last week and was a 2hr battle into a 10mph headwind. Same again for tomorrow, can’t say that I am remotely looking forward to it at all.

Wednesday:

• 27 Mile commute to work
• 27 Mile commute from work
• 2 Min Calf Stretches & 12 bodyweight calf raises (each leg)
• 5 Mile Easy paced run @ 9:00

This is where copy & paste comes in handy, today is an exact copy of Tuesday. I did change the bike route slightly by driving to the nursery where I would pick my daughter up from in the evening, then riding into work from there. I hoped that would save me around 6 miles each way, but turned out to be just a 3-mile saving. Another day where the ride home was hell, well, in fact, the ride in this morning was tough too, it poured down all of the way in then the ride home was more of the same but with 30mph crosswinds. It pretty much felt like for the whole ride home I was leaning to the right to counter the effects of the wind. The occasional gust would blow my front wheel to the left, I just had no control of the direction of travel at times, I ended up having to ride further into the road to avoid being blown into the curb. Obviously, riding further in the road comes with its own risks.

More easy miles banked on the run later that night before a faster effort tomorrow. My feet are generally feeling much better. The pain on the top of my foot has gone now, just the nail hurts a little. Pace today 8:55 min/mile. My heart rate was 133bpm, higher than the past few easy runs but given I have spent nearly 8 hours on the bike over the last 36 hours and battling against the wind I knew the HR was going to be higher.

Thursday:

• 2km steady swim
• 10 Min Foam Roll
• 2 Min Calf Stretches & bodyweight calf raises
• Controlled Tempo Run:
  • 1.5 Mile Warm Up @ 9:00
  • 10 Min Stretches & 2 x 10 sec Strides
  • 4 x 1 Mile Repeats with 2 Min Recovery Jog:
    • Mile 1 – Target Pace 7:30 – Actual Pace 7:29
    • Mile 1 – Target Pace 7:30 – Actual Pace 7:29
    • Mile 1 – Target Pace 7:20 – Actual Pace 7:19
    • Mile 1 – Target Pace 7:10 – Actual Pace 7:09
  •  3 Min Recovery @ 9:00
  • 1 Mile Cool Down

A fairly steady tempo run today, the pace targets weren’t taxing and easily achievable. The fatigue levels are definitely rising after two races last week and two long days on the bike. Having a pretty steady tempo session at this stage was by design. My coach Charlotte said two weeks ago that this session would be steady to reduce the stress on the body after a tough week and she was correct, it was well needed. I don’t feel the tiredness / fatigue is having any impact on my running at the moment. In most cases, I feel ready to go fast by the weekends.

Friday:

• 2 Min Calf Stretches & bodyweight calf raises

Today was a bit of a mess, I did plan on two 1 hour bike rides on Zwift but didn’t have the time to do it in the end. Just one of those things when trying to fit in training with work and family life.

Saturday:

• 2 Min Calf Stretches & bodyweight calf raises
• Long Steady Run #4 – 12 Miles @ 8:45 min/mile pace

So today’s run is my weekly long steady run, the aim to build up the mileage over the weeks and give the body more exposure to running for a long period of time. Today’s long run is actually less than last weeks total of 16 miles, but this week is a bit of an easier week to aide recovery. Another factor is, I am taking part in a 10-mile Tough Mudder tomorrow.

Today’s pace was 8:15 min/mile, I did set off with good intentions but after running mile 1 in 8:21 and mile 2 in 8:19 I thought I may as well just carry on at 8:20 which felt comfortable and very easy after last weeks long run at 6:41.

Sunday:

• 8.4 miles at Tough Mudder North West

Week 14:

• Running:  42.7 Miles – 5hr 49mins
• Bike:  138.7 Miles – 7hrs 25min
• Swimming: 5,960 yrds – 1hrs 44min

Last week was pretty easy going, although the early part felt like a battle against fatigue. This week, we are picking things up with more interval work and my longest continuous run during this training block. 15 Miles, in a sad way I am really looking forward to getting out Sunday morning and just running at a nice steady pace and getting some good miles in.

Monday:

• 57 Min Zwift Academy Workout 8: 4 Minute Power Duration

So Monday was a bit of a write-off, I did want to sneak in an extra run today and do a hill rep session that I did bi-weekly in the build-up to Tokyo. This wasn’t on the plan, in fact, the plan had today down as a rest day but I wanted to do this extra session to see how I compare to my pre-Tokyo hill reps. This will give me a good idea of where I am at on the injury recovery and marathon build-up for NYC.

Tuesday:

• 60 Min Zwift Academy Group Ride 3/4
• 5 Mile Easy paced run @ 9:00
•  Run – Hill Reps:
  • 20 Min Warm Up @ 9:00 Min/Mile pace
  • Repeat 5 Times:
    • 3 Min Run uphill at Max Effort
    • 3 Min Recovery Run Downhill
  • 10 Min Cool Down @ 9:00 Min/Mile pace
• 2 Min Calf Stretches & bodyweight calf raises
• 30 Min Legs, Hips, & Glutes Strength Training
• 10 Min Foam Roll

I woke up this morning with the aim of swimming first thing, but my arms are still aching from Tough Mudder and I just have this now-familiar early week tiredness and lack of energy. It seems that each week starts off with me feeling low on motivation and feeling tired from the bigger weekend activities. Gradually as the week goes on, I recover and feel energised and ready to attack the weekend. Needless to say, swimming didn’t happen today. It’s never the easiest activity to get motivated about at the best of times.

Double run today to make up for yesterdays missed hill reps. I started the day off with a 5-mile easy run at 8:51 min/mile pace, my heart rate today was 136bpm which is higher than most of my easy-paced runs of late. Could be a sign that my body is feeling the effects of a busy few weeks.

In the evening I ran the hill rep session I had planned for yesterday, this went really well today, I hit the pace goals or faster and although it was a tough workout, I had that feeling of accomplishing something and knowing more sessions like this will pay off in the long term.

Wednesday:

• 27 Mile commute to work
• 27 Mile commute from work
• Swim Interval Session
• 2 Min Calf Stretches & 12 bodyweight calf raises (each leg)

The plan said rest day today but I was in work so I took the opportunity to commute to work on the bike, banking 54 miles and saving money on fuel for the drive to the train station, car parking at the station and the train fare, plus also saving the CO2 emissions. It’s a win/win right? it is once it’s done, but I find these bikes back from work very difficult, even though they are only 27 miles. I don’t have the correct fuelling for it and feel tired from a day in the office and most days, it is either wet and windy or just cold now.

Thursday:

• Ironman 70.3 Race Pace Swim Set
• 2 Min Calf Stretches & bodyweight calf raises
• 30 Min Legs, Hips, & Glutes Strength Training
• 10 Min Foam Roll
• Endurance Run Intervals:
  • 1.5 Mile Warm Up
  • 10 Min Stretching & 2 x 10 sec Strides
  • 10 Min Target Pace 7:20 min/mile – Actual Pace 7:15 min/mile
  • 2 Min @ 9:00 min/mile
  • 10 Min Target Pace 7:10 min/mile – Actual Pace 7:06 min/mile
  • 2 Min @ 9:00 min/mile
  • 5 Min Target Pace 6:20 min/mile – Actual Pace 6:09 min/mile
  • 3 Min @ 9:00 min/mile
  • 1 Mile Cool Down

Really enjoyed that run. The pace targets were ok, not too challenging at this stage but as the weeks go by, the pace of these sessions is picking up and recovery reducing. This are the types of sessions I love. The ones that are fast and pushing yourself to go harder and faster.

Friday:

• 14 Mile commute to work
• 2 Min Calf Stretches & 12 bodyweight calf raises (each leg)
• 4-Mile Easy Paced run @ 9:00 min/mile pace

Just an easy paced recovery run today, the aim to shake out the legs following the speed work yesterday. Today was a bit of a struggle all around. I should have been biking 27.1 miles into work and back afterward. The ride in this morning I underestimated just how cold it was. I went out with no jacket and just my summer mits. Quickly had to stop to put my jacket on but no long gloves. My hands got so cold with the wind chill, I couldn’t feel them and couldn’t bend my fingers. I got to Wilmslow and decided to catch the train into work.

After lunch, I felt really tired and exhausted. A week of waking at 4:30am and working late, past midnight on a few days caught up with me. I took the train home to save some energy.

Saturday:

• Rest Day

The plan said rest day but I had hoped to get a 2-hour hard bike session in plus an hour of strength training. I felt tired still today even after a 9-hour sleep so I listened to the body and scrapped all plans, took that rest day.

Sunday:

• 60 Min Zwift Academy Group Ride 4/4
• 2 Min Calf Stretches & 12 bodyweight calf raises (each leg)
• 20 Min Core Strength Training
• 10 Min Foam Roll
• Long Steady Run #5 – 15 Miles @ 8:00 min/mile pace

The long run went ok, I ran it averaging 7:54 min/mile which was pretty much on target. Just a steady run to get some miles on my feet banked. In the coming weeks, we will look to pick up the pace of the long runs a little. That said, I did bank 13.1 miles at goal marathon pace of 6:45 last week so it’s looking quite positive so far.