Great Wall of China Marathon blog: Week 3
So just when my spirit and motivation was high again from the previous week. This week has been a bit tough. Probably the toughest long run I have had so far. The continuous weeks of training are really taking their toll on my body, and I am tired…. really tired. I am trying to keep positive though and keep that smile on my face. As they say if you smile the world will smile with you.
The weather has improved greatly (so much so that I have tan lines from my running socks, brilliant!) and given me a big boost. It was also a very exciting week as I applied for my Chinese Visa. This involved LOTS of paper work but it’s all sent off so fingers crossed I get my passport returned next week with a brand new visa in it.
The beginning of the week started off with a hill session early Monday morning. Although I had to get up super early again, I actually really enjoy my hill sessions. Probably because although the hills are quite steep the intervals are quite short. I did 10 x 2minute hills sprints with a slow jog back down. Psychologically I just think it feels as if the session is over quicker. (Just work hard, and get it done type mentality) Again all for a good cause though as I was off to Brighton with my best friend to go and sit on the beach in the sun all day. Pure relaxation.
Mid-week I had another tough interval session of 3x15min reps with 5 min recovery in between. I did this on quite a hilly course as I wanted to practice hill running as much as possible. It was a killer and after the second interval I wanted to give in but after the 5 minute recovery run I thought ‘if you’ve done one you can do one more’. Doing my strength session the next day though, I didn’t get my usual ‘leg burn’ but my legs did feel heavy. Again I think it is just training taking its toll on me. I will need an easier training week soon.
I had to do my long run of 18 miles on Friday afternoon after I finished work this week. I was booked on a course all weekend so wouldn’t be able to fit it in then. Training for a marathon does take a lot of commitment and planning. It’s easy to just skip sessions if they don’t fit into your diary, but in the end it’s only you who would suffer. I knew I couldn’t miss this long run otherwise I wouldn’t make my mileage in time for the race. So after a long week at work I took myself off on Friday afternoon.
I had an absolute shocker of a run. It was the hottest day of the year so far with temperatures reaching 25 degrees. Initially I thought this would be great training as I know it’s going to be hotter in China. Even last week I was moaning about the weather and praying for some sun. Now I was praying for it to cool down a bit. I massively underestimated how hot it was and didn’t take enough water with me and I was suffering. I managed the first 12 miles ok but realised I would have to stop for water soon but I wasn’t sensible enough to take any money with me. I ran up to a small kiosk hoping to beg some tap water. I explained my situation to the gentleman behind the counter. He was lovely and handed me some cold bottled water straight from the fridge and told me not to worry about paying. I must have looked in a bad way but I was very grateful. Unfortunately after downing the water I tried to run again straight away. BIG MISTAKE, I got massive cramps so had to stop and walk. After this I found it really tough to keep motivated and kept wanting to stop and walk. I only stopped and walked once more, but I felt really deflated. It was a really tough run mentally and much slower than I hoped. Although I reminded myself that I’m not doing this race for time.
My only saving grace was I remember in my last block of training for the Barcelona Marathon, I had a shocker on my 18 miler but then ran an amazing 20 miles the week after. So fingers crossed for next week!