Right, well this is it. Last post before the inevitable. The impending doom is now almost…well, just doom I guess.
It’s like déjà vu all over again from the Paris marathon…my longest run during this training cycle (which would you believe started in June) has been 13ish miles. I’ve run that distance four times and have run 10-11 miles four times. My total mileage for the entire cycle (included the marathon) will be (all going well!!!!) 259 miles, with 348 bike miles.
So feeling a leeeetle bit unprepared. But I believe I have a good level of fitness. When I couldn’t run, I still cycled and cross-trained. Getting back into running post injuries hasn’t felt hard. I’ve consistently strength trained two or three times every week and have incorporated yoga into my week too.
My plan for the actual race? I have my paces all written up on a piece of laminated paper which, like I did in Paris, I will keep with me tucked into my sports bra and, all being well, I will stick to those paces. If it goes to plan, the first half should feel very easy. My pace is fairly consistent, though it drops slightly as I near the end (we’re talking 10 second increments, never increasing more than a total of 30 seconds from my starting pace). From experience I know that the easy pace I’ve set myself won’t feel easy at all past 16 miles. I don’t have the miles on my legs in terms of training to go any quicker later on so I’m being very very conservative.
My plan is to run 10 miles without any music or podcasts and ‘absorb’ the atmosphere and scenes (though I do have a playlist just in case I need it with ‘gentle’ songs to enjoy and keep me entertained rather than spur me to go faster), then 10-20 miles will be a podcast (BBC 5 Live Film Review) and then the last 10k I have a super duper playlist aimed to pump me up and get me going. This worked perfectly for Paris.
Part of my 10k playlist
Ben and me leave for Berlin Friday lunchtime and my dad will arrive Friday night. We have nothing planned for Saturday so we’ll probably just mosey about and take things nice and easy. Though I do hope to do a very easy shake out run of 3 miles in the morning.
Sadly Ben has decided not to run the marathon 🙁 I’m not going to lie, he’s devastated, as am I. There’s nothing I can say to make things better. We both love running so much and it’s a big part of our life, so not to be able to do it is really gutting. He saw the physio on Tuesday night and the physio suspects he’s torn his hamstring. He’s having an ultra sound in a couple of weeks to confirm. He can’t run for at least two weeks, potentially a month. But the outcome of the ultrasound will really define his recovery time. Thankfully he can still cycle and swim, but these are poor substitutions for running (in our opinion).
I feel terrible that I can run it and he can’t. I did say I wouldn’t do it, but he wants me to run it. Some consolation is that my dad will be there too and the two of them will have an adventure of their own getting to different spots around the course while also sampling some German beer beverages along the way where they can. They hope to be at mile 5, half way, mile 18 and the finish. This is hugely encouraging! I couldn’t be more grateful. But the race has less of a ‘sparkle’ now that Ben won’t be doing it too.
So there we have it. Not much can be done now. I did my last UK run this morning. To be honest, I don’t care how fast or slow I run this marathon. For me it will be a success if I finish it without shin pain or any other injury. I just want to get it done.
Have you ever been to Berlin? Any recommendations?
How do you keep yourself mentally motivated during a long run/workout or race?
Have you ever had a injury that required more than just rest?
