Manchester Marathon Week 6: When a 5km hurts more than 42k
Manchester Marathon Week 6 is done.
6 out of 16 training weeks complete. 10 weeks until Manchester.
Time is flying by.
During the last three weeks of the training plan you start to taper - the mileage reduces, the hardwork done and you start to ‘rest’ your body so it is fresh for race day.
So the reality is 7 weeks left of deliberate practice. Eek.
There is practice and deliberate practice.
Regular practice includes just running for running sake. Mindless runs, ticking if off but there may be a question mark around your progress. Going through the motions springs to mind.
Deliberate practice requires focused attention and is conducted with the specific goal of improving performance. Through deliberate practice results come.
Along with training for the marathon I also have my eye on two other goals - ofcourse I do. I am greedy. When you improve at one distance, you improve in your other running. That thing called deliberate practice is the key.
One eye is on the Great North Run - the half marathon now running through Newcastle is scheduled for 12th September. I have a place, deferred from 2020 when the race was cancelled. It is the greatest half marathon in the UK and the largest (well was) in the world. It is iconic. I really want to run this race. My coach knows this and is working it into my plan.
My other eye is on my 5km time. My fastest time sits at 20mins 19 secs. I want under 20 mins - ofcourse I do, this girl always wanting more from life. My coach has been asked to add 5 km time trials into my marathon training programme to test me. The 5km is my nemesis. I love and hate it in equal measures. It is short and sharp, but it can hurt.
This week my marathon training plan involved a 5km time trial. On Saturday I used the local cycle path as my ‘track’. This is where I came eye to eye with that annoying behavior - Self sabotage. When you are on the brink of greatness, you listen to the negative thoughts in your head and bottle it!
The first three km were the dream. I was running faster than I could imagine, I was on track for a really fast time then I started to feel that feeling. The sick feeling that comes when I push myself, then I needed the loo. I could feel it happening, I allowed my quit voice takeover and I pressed the pause button at 3.75km.
If I’m honest I could have cried.
And If I’m even more honest I do genuinely think I bottle it. Like I’m scared of achieving what I've wanted since the summer of 2019 when I first run under 21 mins.
I should be annoyed with myself, frustrated and disappointed. All of which I am...a little.
But all I see is progress. Last night the first three km were unreal. It felt smooth, I was gliding. Before I'd freak out at running that fast. Last year I'd get mega nervous before any time trial. The pressure I put on myself was alot. Now I go in feeling calm cause deep down I know I can do it, and I know what it takes.
My takeway this week:
To achieve anything in life, you need to be a bit bold and at times feel discomfort. It is the only way you learn and grow, become stronger.
Welcome your 'failures' as an opportunity to learn, don't dwell on what could have been but imagine what could be!
Keep yourself motivated on the possibility of what could be! Then keep showing up. The plan doesn't change. I'll go again and again. I know what I need to do.
And my reward for the 5km time trial, a 20km easy run along the canal on Sunday. It was actually really dreamy.
Week 7 is incoming. From a peek at my training plan it is a big week - and so it continues.
"You can never be sure. That's what makes the marathon both fearsome and fascinating. The deeper you go into the unknown, the more uncertain you become. But then you finish. And you wonder later, 'How did I do that?' This question compels you to keep making the journey from the usual to the magical."
-Joe Henderson, running writer