How (not) to train for a marathon? by Catherine_L

Took it easy yesterday at running club because I've been working quite hard at the running just lately so thought it was time for a bit of a rest week. Did about 4 miles with some hill work. Was good, just very, very cold.

8 miles yesterday! Woohoo! In 91 minutes! Woohoohoo! And it was hilly! It was a lovely morning tho - cool and crisp and sunny. Went with two friends from running club - one of them is quite a bit fitter than me so was just having an easy run and chattered all the way round, which really helps.  Our actual route was just less than 8 miles so we ran round the car park at the sports centre twice to make up the distance. Felt silly but it was worth it. But that last little bit was tough because my body thought it had already finished when we got back to the centre so didn't appreciate being made to do those few more metres.  Felt really good afterwards - achey but not uncomfortable. That good feeling lasted about 4 hours, then I crashed out and went to sleep in front of the Africa Cup of Nations final. But it really was a really good run.

5 miles continuous on Tuesday. 5.1 actually. In 54 minutes. Quite pleased with that. Was tough tho and had the jelly legs at the end. Track tonight - 3 x 1 mile. It's definitely working coz I'm hungry all the time. But tired too. Need a holiday. Oh well, nearly the weekend :-D

Well, after 4 weeks of having a cold/8 inches of snow/bad knee as result of aforementioned, therefore doing very little exercise and eating and drinking a very lot of things that are bad for me, I finallly got back on track with marathon training last Sunday. Went out for a 4 miler but the paths I like to run on were still like sheet ice in places, so I changed my route, went off road, slipped and slid through the mud and snow, got a little lost and ended up staying out twice as long as I meant to.

Then on Tuesday went to running club and we all 'fessed up to our Xmas sins and went for a 4.2 mile tempo - 1.6 moderate, 1 fast and 1.6 moderate.  Thursday was track (now the track's finally clear of ice and open again) and I did 10 x 300m with 100m recovery in between.

Then today went out for a 6 mile long easy run which was enjoyable except for the big hill at the end which well nigh killed me. Well, not really, but I did find it very tough to keep going and was wheezing a bit.   But boyfy was off work today so when I got back he fed me juice and chocolate until I felt better. Did the run in about 70min.

So there you have it - the first four runs of 2010!