Marathon Training – Week 6 Reflections

Another bitterly cold 5K yesterday morning, the snow just as deep as it was last week. On the plus side, I did get to try out the Yaktrax and they worked a treat.

Final Straight

Other than the Parkrun, I managed a good 10K time on Thursday morning (sub-47) and two High Intensity Training sessions on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon.

I’ve been plagued by a bit lower back pain after the latter session (first time training with kettlebells) and I wasn’t sure whether the standard Sunday long-run was so wise this week. I said I’d see how I felt come this morning, and even though I was still a bit sore, I laced up and hit the road regardless.

21K was all I could manage. I struggled to keep up a sub-10:00/mi pace after only three miles in, and I didn’t get sub-09:00/mi even once. Very disappointing and I wonder whether I should reconsider the HIT sessions if I can’t work out a way to speed up my recovery times.

On a positive note, the weather forecast is looking a lot better for next week. Although the snow has made the local area a much prettier place, it’s done nothing to help my training! With any luck we’ll see the back of it this week and I’ll be back to the normal 2x10K, 1x5K, 1x21K+ routine come Monday.

Week 6 Highlights: