Manchester Marathon Week 15 - Race Day is coming

Manchester Marathon Week 15.

The start of a two week taper period and it is all pretty low key. I know, I know. We don’t like drama, but also I don’t like lowkey. It all feels too calm.

This week has happened and I feel it has whizzed by without anything really interesting to report back.

It has been the lead up to my book launch so running has been a nice nature fuelled escape. Something that has nudged my body and mind outside to ‘stretch’.

This is how it’s been:

Monday I rested.

The training plan started on Tuesday with an easy 9km. We like easy.

Wednesday arrived with an unusually long mid week 15km run. I headed towards the River Clyde to enjoy a surprising blue sky in a week full of rain showers. It felt so refreshing. Another easy pace.

Thursday delivered one of those sessions on paper that looked easy, but was far from easy. It went like this:

➖Run fast for 90 seconds.

➖Then Jog easy for 60 seconds.

➖Repeat Ten Times.

My legs were still felt tired from my Sunday long run. Yes from week 14. Although I ran easy on Tuesday / Wednesday, I also like to ride my bike. Sometimes it creeps up on me, all my cycling and running.

The Thursday session represents life a little. In life we always have an extra gear we can pull on. We can operate in our highest gear, but not forever. We know a rest, reset or refocus point is coming. This keeps us motivated.

So I kept reminding myself “Run fast for 90 seconds, it feels hard work but is manageable. Keep focussed on the 60 second ‘rest’ Jog coming”

The jog allows you to catch your breath and refocus. Ready to go again. And I did. The ten intervals were completed.

Saturday was a rainbow spotting 16km.

Then Sunday, the date of my book launch party, I started the day with a blue sky 5km run. What a day and what a run!

My takeaway this week is:

Plant future rest or reward flags to motivate your current and future performance. We can’t rely on motivation only, sometimes we need a shiny carrot dangling in front of us.

I run Manchester Marathon on Sunday 10th October then on Monday 11th October I fly to Madeira.

When it gets hard in Manchester, the thought of Madeira will keep me focused. That’s when I can rest.

But first I need to get ready as it is nearly race day.