Final pre-London

Yes, yes.  I know London was yesterday, but a race report without at least a partial update on the proceeding weeks feels like another gap in a blog that is already more gap than actual blog.

So that cold, it cleared up.  It hang around in the chest for a little while but short of hard extended sprints, it didn't cause any really problems, just additional effort to get things done until it eventually faded away.

The calves eased up after a week without running.but I could still feel a nagging pain in them during runs and so the last few weeks of pre-London training lacked the long sessions that were in the plan and efforts were reduced in time or pace, but so be it.  Getting to the start line relatively healthy was more important than hobbling there with a perfect training plan.

And this would have been the final notes during the taper phase if not for a bit of a running shoe shopping spree and then the unconstrained desire to use them once they arrived.  With a week of no running, the internet drew me in and practically forced me to make the purchases so it's nor really my fault.  Anyway, the Inov-8 Roclite 315s had to go back for a different size.  The Saucony Endorphin Track Spikes seem like a good fit but have to be tested in anger.  And then the most beautiful of the bunch, the Salomon S-Lab Sense Ultras.  And this last pair are the ones that tempted me into running a couple of sessions that I really didn't have to, such as the interval session on the grass six days before the marathon, and the 300m intervals on the track three days before the marathon.  You know, the sort of sessions you would tell anyone in their right mind not to do.  To not be so stupid.

So, in the last two days before the goal race of the year, the calves were still feeling usable, although a little more tender than I would have chosen, and I felt relatively fit and healthy.  A balance that I'm happy to take into the day.  Several months of quality training were in the legs, and probably just as importantly, in the mind.  Time to perform.

London approaching

Well, if you ever want to know how badly you've neglected your blog, when you spend the first minute trying to work out where the button is to create a new post.  Hmm.

It has been twelve weeks or so, basically the core of the marathon training plan since the last update and so where I have been through the highs and lows of struggling through those key sessions and it doesn't feel appropriate to recap in too much detail.  That ship has sailed.  If you are interested you can find them on Garmin Connect (link).  But some summary is required.

In general, the training has been great.  I've managed to stick to the plan fairly rigidly, of the two weekly key sessions, only one of those wasn't hit (due to a blister developing three quarters of the way in and it wasn't worth making it worse), weekly mileage was getting hit with the correct paces and a few weeks into the plan, I felt comfortable enough to increase those paces.  At some point in the future, having put in this training during some of the worst winter weather the UK has had is something I should be please with.  Right now however, I'm rather focused on the fact the London marathon is less than three weeks away and my first serious training issue has decided that this is the moment to appear.

I say serious, it almost certainly isn't.  But with so few days until the race and a taper already weighing heavy on my mind, it feels serious.  Painful cramps in the calves, particular after the most recent long run with pain still lingering a few days later.  I think it's probably shoe related; I've been using a few pairs of shoes during training but the majority of the miles have been in the Mizuno Wave Inspire 8s and during the last month or so, I've been breaking in the new Inspire 9s.  The most recent long run was my first in the new shoes (trying to keep them relatively fresh for the race) and looking back over the last few weeks, the tight calves do seem to correlate to runs in the 9s on tarmac (grass and track don't seem to have flagged anything).  So, it isn't conclusive, but sitting on the sofa with sore calves and seventeen days until the marathon, you can bet I'm not going to be using them again until after my legs have healed a little from VLM.

And of course, I also have a cold.  It doesn't feel serious, not really, but everything aches and the calves ache a little bit more.  So it is a deliberate couple of days away from all of the running shoes to give myself a bit of time to recover before the final push for the day.  Pity, but it is the sensible option.  So I've ordered an array of new running shoes to play with for after London when the summer season and those trail races kick in.  Now I just need to stay away from those chocolate hobnobs.