Have been meaning to post this for almost a week now but have finally got it done.
On the 16th of October in a sunny but cool Amsterdam I finally achieved my goal of running a sub 3:30 marathon. It has taken 5 attempts but it was well worth the wait, crossing the line in 3:14:23!! Smashing my pb by 21 mins. Helen also smashed her pb by crossing the line in 3:35:26 taking 15 mins off her time.
The marathon was well organised and the route was pancake flat and although it went out of the city was well supported throughout. Starting and finishing the Olympic stadium was perfect, being cheered round the final 300 meters.
For the last year we have both really dedicated our self to the training Nick has set, enjoyed the hard track sessions in Tottenham and really enjoyed learning what our bodies can do. As a result we are now both happily enjoying our 2 weeks off and looking forward to coming months.
This weekend me & Helen were in Edinburgh for a friends wedding so we had the chance to do our long run somewhere different rather than Greenwich Park/Blackheath or the Thames Path!!
After a long lie we ran part of the Water of Leith walkway. Our run took us from my parents house, up to the Union Canal and then into Colinton Dell and up to Balerno. Running along the traffic free trail surrounded by the sound of the river was such a nice change (even though it was raining!!). So much so that we did not really notice how much of an incline we were running until we turned round to come back.
Its amazing what a change of scenery does!
Algarve focus week
Have just got back from the inaugural ‘Running With Us’ focus week in the Algarve. I booked this back in December last year and have been looking forward to it since, only to find that it flew by way too quickly. This is down to a number of factors – great: coaching, training, group of people, weather & facilities.
This was my first training camp experience and the balance between working hard and relaxing was spot on. Whether it was a long easy run, recovery run, a hard track session (first time for me, really enjoyed it) or a core session. Everyone was given encouragement or advice from Nick, Phoebe and Bud.
The three seminars throughout the week (different training paces, race/mental strategies & training triangle) all gave us some thoughts and new ideas to use in our own training. My main one being that I am going to start running recovery runs a lot slower to maximise recovery.
Even though this was my first camp I was made to feel welcome by everyone and enjoyed chatting to people either by the pool or at dinner. David and Steve made a great comedy duo and had me in stiches on more than one occasion.
Thanks again to Nick, Phoebe & Bud for a great week and I am looking forward to next year already.
Hopefully see some of you at Bristol or another race in the summer.
Cheers
Chris
