Run Stronger- The Marathon Blog pt2

Marathon Peril

As I work midway into my 8th week of marathon training and the event itself has been rescheduled due to Coronavirus. I am currently trying to scramble together a last minute marathon entry around that time but we will have to see how that works out.

Run Training

Training continues and even if I can't get another marathon place, I will probably see this block through. It has at the very least served as a great base build for future events.

Training has been very much the same as previously but with a little more volume, both in the weekly intervals and the weekends longer run. Tuesday intervals are up to 600m and Thursdays up to 1000m, which I am enjoying a little more than expected. Weekend runs are still below 20km though but will creep slowly in the weeks following. Generally my running feels good, I feel light and am not suffering from any aches or pains.

Strength training

Strength training has been solid with several of my bodyweight movements increasing, (chin ups and press ups) which is probably due to the decrease in bodyweight. Squat tested the other day and got 125kg for a comfortable triple, which despite being a long way from previous bests, I am pleased to hit at a lower bodyweight.

Bodyweight

After an ongoing gradual decrease I now sit in the low 89kgs and the push for 88 continues. This is probably the lightest I have been in the last 10 years or so, which is good. A far cry from 109kg of the Strongman days.

Further thoughts

I am feeling more tired now and hunger has increased especially in the last few days. Striking the balance between a social life, getting enough sleep and maintaining a calorie deficit is by no means easy.

Broken sleep on Saturday night (due to sleeping on a mates sofa) didn’t set me up ideally for my Sunday long run. Sunday evening was later than usual due to seeing family friends which then meant I got to bed later. Monday then started earlier than usual as I recorded a podcast in London at 11am so had to get my workout done early. An emotional podcast and then a busier than usual Monday led to me feeling flat and tired on Tuesday.

You can quickly see how a chain of events can quickly disrupt and impact your life. And this is all coming from someone who has relative freedom in their work, training and sleeping patterns. So I can’t really complain.

It does however, make my decision to follow a lower volume training plan more valid. As I have previously explained, it would be easy to chuck the kitchen sink at this marathon and go all in. Reality is that I a) am building several businesses and b) don’t want to get injured. My energy is just as important to me in succeeding business wise as it is to achieving personal sporting success. So in order to protect that energy and use it wisely I am glad I picked this plan.

Personal Trainer Hackney