90% of this plan has gone well. I deliberately avoided long runs early on and when I ran the Syd Quirk Half Marathon I don't think I had been over 6 miles. The following week I planned a long slow run with Paul Curphey in the hope that we could could resume some of our training together but he was ill and had to cut the session short (sadly we never did another one). A week later I did more than 18 miles and by the end of November I did one of a total of 13 sessions of 20 miles or more.
Nearly all my training has been done in the morning. Overall the mileage has not been high - I don't even count it but probably about 40 miles on average. My second hardest session of the week (after the weekend long one) has been my mid week one when I would get up just before 5.30 and hit the road by 6, often around Baldwin. I have been slipping and sliding and running in the dark was tough but I was inspired.
Some of my sessions have been better than for a couple of years and my 10km in March was very positive. One of the times I thought that things were really coming together was when on 20 February I had to delay my training until the afternoon because of the weather but I went ahead with my plan to run the full marathon distance in under 2.53 and the next day did a really tough 12 miles - I had never experienced that recovery.
But I will not achieve my goal of running 2.45 tomorrow. I made a mistake after the 10km in March. I ran 20 miles the next day and suffered later in the week. Although I rested for the 20 mile race, there was nothing in the tank and my sub 2.05 scheduled became just inside 2.10. I've had dental problems and a cold and I had breathing problems in the Good Friday 10km.
The computer says 2.52 (based on my 20 mile time). I say 2.50. Unlike running around Baldwin on a cold midwinter morning I'll be able to see the time - I hope that I will want to.
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