Long run improvement

So not quite a year ago I did this 19.22 mile route, a mix of off-road by the river and road, it took me 3:25:52 at 10:40 minute miles and 5.6mph. And that was my only run close to 20 miles before doing the London marathon and dying around mile 21.

This time around I'm determined to get more of these long runs in so I'm much better prepared come marathon day in about 6 weeks time. So I repeated the route so I've got a direct comparison of progress from last year. However going into it I was still concerned about my right foot and the pain in the mid-sole and I felt it all the way around. I had various points where I could cut my run short if I needed to. I was able to get all the way around, but after ten days of enforced rest and not being brilliantly prepared this morning with food or hydration, I was a bit worried.

I shouldn't have been though with a time of 02:59:49 at 9:24 minute miles and 6.4mph, I was (and still am) really pleased. That's a massive improvement and gives me hope for around 4hours and not the 4:47 of last year.

Here's the route again:

 

Plantar Fasciitis

So a couple of weeks ago I ran a good 16.2 miles, really pleased with the effort and the sustained pace. The next day though my right foot was sore and I was limping. I ran Wednesday but probably shouldn't. Scared myself Saturday thinking it could be plantar fasciitis which just has a horrible recovery time.

I've been putting my foot on hot water bottles and resting and it feels OK. Haven't run at all for a week though. I'll put it to the test on Saturday with a long run.

Testing the knee

So no runs 4 whole days and 3.43 miles today. I've been worried, the knee has felt pretty sore and I've not wanted to run on it. But today was a glorious day and too nice not to run. So started pretty gentle and kept to roads and flat track. I ran this route which 6 months ago took me 33m 40sec. Today on a recovery run I completed in 28m 47 sec, nearly a 5 minute improvement on a test run for a dodgy knee. So I have to be pleased with that. The average pace was 8.5 minute mile although that wasn't even, I guess I was 9minute miles for the first half and 8 minute for the return. It's quicker than I need to be on the day to get 4 hours and running in a group should help.

Abandoned Run

OK so this goes down as a bit of a setback with only 20 days to go until the London Marathon. This was to be my last long run and was over 20 miles. It's a mix of trail and road and the river sections were just playing havoc with the outside of my left knee. It very quickly felt sore but I thought I'd keep going. The downhill bits were the toughest. After about 14 miles I stopped for a quick drink and an energy gel and even though it had been a bit slow, I felt ok, other than the knee. I was at the top of a section that dipped back down to the river and as I set off it just felt like my knee locked. I just couldn't run on it. Walking was hard enough. Run over.

I hobbled to the nearest main road and hitched a lift, I'm so glad someone stopped and gave me a lift. So now what? This hasn't happened before. I'm going to assume it's just inflamed from the running so rest, ice, more rest for a few days, then test it out on some short runs. I'd be tapering the training soon anyway, so it's more important I rest it and hope it holds out on the 26th. There's no offroad so that should help!