Great Wall of China Marathon Blog: Week 5
I am finally in my tapering weeks for training for the Great Wall of China Marathon and it feels so gooooooooood!!!!! I love running…… I mean I really love it but not having to do such a high volume feels amazing. Committing to training five times a week for 28 weeks straight is something I probably should of thought of a bit more intently before impulsively booking this marathon. It is also surprising the amount of guilt you feel for missing a session or decreasing the intensity of a session, even though you know your body is shouting at you to STOP! It becomes an addiction that you can’t give up. Who knows what I will do when it’s over and I’ve suddenly got more time on my hands. I’ll probably be like a lost puppy………until I find the next challenge.
The first week of tapering came at a good time as I had to travel with work this week so I was a bit short on time. I managed a few good runs early in the week which were pretty steady. Still trying to incorporate some hill work. This basically involves me running up any hill I can find and then running back down it. I think all this hill work is working though because I’m able to carry on running when I get to the top rather than lungs heaving out of my chest. That is until my hill session at the end of the week!
Mid-week I travelled to Malaga for a conference (It’s a hard life I know). Even though the conference was pretty intense I still managed to fit in some good training. Getting up early to run along the beach every morning with the sun coming up was pretty easy to be honest. Much easier than doing it at home. Also running in the heat was also good practice. I did a good 8 mile run one morning (I didn’t want to have to get up too early to have to run) and Malaga is extremely hilly so I had a really tough hill session. I found a hill that had a winding track of about 400m with an incline of about 20%. I managed 8 reps but had to stop at the top for a quick breather every time because my legs and lungs were on fire! That will teach me to be cocky. I need to respect the hills because I’m sure they are going to be tougher in China.
Even though I had a busy weekend of learning and training I came back full of energy and also quite rested. Which is the first time in weeks I have felt like this. It surprising what a bit of sun can do for the mind, body and soul……….. now only two weeks left to go!