Sunday morning progressive longrun - 32km
Hi there! Thanks for checking my blog on my road towards the Spijkenisse Spark Marathon in November!
Originally I was supposed to pace a friend to his sub 4h marathon ambition - which would mean I could just focus on having a good time without a too intense trainingsblock. Plans changed which left me with 8 weeks to train for a new goal.
I was able to motivate myself and dedicate myself to breaking my personal record again (< 3:20:26) . I really put on some extra trainingsload which might set me up for my long term goal of running a sub 3h marathon!
Todays run
Waking up at 06:00, eating a peanutbutter & jelly sandwich and preparing the camelback before hitting the road while it was still dark. I had to improvise a little because my youngest daughter is having a sport contest herself (and I don’t want to miss that)
My scheduled workout for today was a progressive long run - with a specific breakdown:
- 0.5 km warmup (mostly a check if everything is feeling oke before starting a hard run)
- 15 km at 4:45 min / km
- 10 km at 4:35 min / km
- 5 km at 4:25 min / km
- 1.5 km cool down
I managed to hit and hold the different interval paces. The last 5 km was harder - I needed to focus on relaxing my body in order to maintain a good pace - the trick I used for doing this was to hold your fingers like this:
Focussing on your fingers like this may look funny but it prevents you from clenching your fist and overtensing your shoulders.
Overall, hard but rewarding run!
Happy running!
I also have a lofty long term goal of running a sub 3 hour marathon, but I think you're closer to reaching that than I am! 🤣
Looks to have been a very productive session for you this morning, I wish you both luck and consistency in your training over the next few weeks in preparation for the November race
Thank you! Still feels far away considering we need 4:15 / km. But trusting the progress, we are getting closer!
When are you aiming to try sub 3?
!PIZZA
I find that trying to run faster is not just down to 'physical training' its about also getting some confidence in running at a faster pace, and believing in yourself that you can maintain it over the required distance
Sub 3? er.... not anytime soon considering I only just managed to get under 2 hours for the Half Marathon last weekend, but its still a target to aim for haha!
To be honest I'm just happy to be back to running with some sort of regularity... need to to knuckle down over winter, and start planning events for 2026
Ahh you pushed through!! That is awesome man! Great job!!
Yeah confidence you can maintain is 75%!
$PIZZA slices delivered:
rainbowdash4l tipped thebighigg
rainbowdash4l tipped dannewton
@thebighigg(3/20) tipped @rainbowdash4l
Come get MOONed!
What a great training day! That last five kilometers must have been painful, good for you for pushing through at a fast pace. Concentration really is the key, that's a great trick with your fingers! If it helps you focus it's perfect!
Sounds like you'll need to recover a day or so, but making that marathon in under three hours is looking more doable. Not easy, but doable!
Thanks!
Yeah, feels more doable indeed - I feel if this time I would come up short, I will be close enough to take it the next attempt with a longer trainingsplan. But for now it feels within reach!
Tomorrow I will do a few very light recovery kilometers (to increase bloodflow and speed up recovery. On wednesday I will have a full resting day!
!PIZZA
I'm excited for you! I hope you make it this time around!
!PIZZA
!BBH
Thank you!