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Back into Marathon Training

Jan 20, 2014 | Running | 3 comments

With less than 11 weeks to go until the Paris Marathon, double digit mileage during weekend long runs is back on the training plan. I haven’t run further than 6 miles since the New York Marathon back in November, and I’ve been feeling a little rusty. Yesterday morning, I met up with Leah, Charlie and Lissy, all of whom are also training for Spring marathons, to rack up some Sunday miles.

I met up with the girls on the South Bank at 8.30am with the plan to run 10 miles of their scheduled 12 mile run. I ran 4.5 miles on Saturday with Tom, and wasn’t sure how my hip and knee would feel about upping the distance. Luckily we took it at a slow and steady pace and my legs felt fine. I’ve actually missed my long runs along the Thames. The paths were full of other runners, no doubt training for the London Marathon and other races this winter/spring.

We headed out West, towards Vauxhall and into Battersea Park. It’s crazy to see how close everything in London is when you’re on foot- Battersea is only 3 miles from Waterloo.

A lot of my runs recently (not that there have been many) have been solo, or with Tom who doesn’t like to talk while we run, so it was lovely to chat with Charlie, Lissy and Leah whilst running. I haven’t seen Leah since before Christmas so we caught up on holidays, training and most importantly, her wedding plans! It was also the first time I’ve actually met Charlie, despite being in contact on twitter and Facebook for a while.

It’s been raining in London for weeks it seems, so we were lucky with the gorgeous sunshine yesterday morning. If only we could be treated to weather like this all winter I don’t think it would seem so bad.

Running past the tourist attractions in London, despite the crowds of visitors, will never get old. Above is Westminster Abbey, situated opposite the Houses of Parliament. Since taking up running, and particularly marathon training, I’ve definitely got to know parts of London on foot a lot better. I love that I can build up my mileage along the river, knowing that as long as you stick to the embankment you can’t get too lost, as well as discovering some of London’s hotspots along its banks.

We took a little bathroom break at Big Ben and I decided to peel off and run up to Piccadilly to make it an even 10 miles for me. The girls continued onwards and finished their 12 miles feeling strong.

Paused for a quick stretch in Battersea Park

This week’s workouts:

Monday- Boom Cycle Body Blast spinning class
Tuesday- Vinyasa Yoga Class and 30 minute Treadmill workout
Wednesday- 5 miles at Lunch with Laura and Bikram with the Lululemon ladies after work
Thursday- Yoga for Runners workout at home
Friday- Yang and Yin Yoga Class
Saturday- 4.5 miles with Tom @ 9.15 average pace
Sunday- 10 miles @ 10.14 average pace

As you can see, yoga is a big part of my workout schedule at the moment (I’m 10 days in to my 21 day challenge!) but I really need to increase my runs plus add in some strength training to the agenda.   I feel a little in denial that I’ll actually be running a marathon in less than 3 months time, and that it’s not just me I need to worry about, I’ve promised to help Leah finish strong. Time to pull my finger out and get these legs into gear!

What are you training for? It seems like most runners are currently training for a full spring marathon, or trying to hit a half marathon PB! 

3 Comments

  1. Mary Moore

    Every time I see runner’s photos in London it makes me that little bit more excited about running London marathon for the first time in April! Paris is another one I’ve heard great things about. Well done on upping your mileage successfully. The first few long runs are always the hardest.

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  2. danielle

    I am running Paris too so I find it really interesting to see where others are at in their training. It’s reassuring when I feel like I am far behind or whatever. If you feel like following along I blog at indieless.tumblr.com though mine isn’t strictly a running blog you can follow the paris marathon tag at the bottom of a relevant post.

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  3. izzyldn

    Fantastic views! London truly is stunning… and good luck on the marathon training! I’d be curious to find out how you feel your general health and fitness has changed since you started running.. that’d be interesting reading for us trying to keep the motivation! Thanks for a good blog anyway, I enjoy reading about your runs!

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