Road to Valencia - Part 9 ๐
Intro
This is an ongoing series of how I'm preparing for the marathon of Valencia, taking place on Dec 7th. I'm using Stryd to train for this event based on running power, a metric I have found very useful for the past years.
I'm ramping up my fitness, hope to finish somewhere around 3h10 / 3h15.
Read my introduction post here or check out the full series.
Week 8 training schedule
I normally had an easy week with 2 days of testing, but as I lacked volume last week, due to sickness, I've followed the plan from last week.
- Mon: Rest
- Tue: 60min 3x8min30 intervals
- Wed: 45min recovery
- Thu: 60min 2x15min intervals
- Fri: 40min recovery
- Sat: 50min recovery with strides
- Sun: 140min long run
Distance: 73km
Week 8 review
Overall feeling: good ๐
I followed the plan to the letter. And likely due to the forced rest of last week, the runs at the beginning of the week felt really easy. Like running with the handbrake on.
The long run on Sunday, however, was something else. When I started, my legs felt tired. Knowing I still had to go 2 more hours didn't make me very optimistic. However, before halfway, when I had to speed up on a downhill section, the tiredness vanished and everything felt ok again. My pace increased, and running felt easy again. I was taking energy gels every 5km, yet, after 15km, I started to feel hungry. I managed to endure through this feeling, but the last part, where I even had to speed up, became hard. I finished as planned, but somehow, this run took a heavier toll than expected, making me feel very tired and sore afterwards.
While I did take my energy gels as before, it's possible I "under-fueled" in the morning, or the day before. Hopefully, my next long run will feel better.
Additional training, tools & comments
Again, a heavy focus on breathing exercises. Box breathing is not only good for managing stress or calming the body, but can also help improve recovery and create CO2 intolerance during exercises. With that in mind, I tried to do a few sessions daily with apps as iBreathe or Unwind.
Curious to see its full impact over time. I'm not sure if it's due to these breathing exercises or my body being in a good recovery state, but my HRV has been exceptionally high, indicating my body was up for any challenge.
This week
Week 9 training schedule
- Mon: Rest
- Tue: 60min 4x6min intervals
- Wed: 45min recovery
- Thu: 65min 2x17min30 intervals
- Fri: 40min recovery
- Sat: 50min recovery with strides
- Sun: 150min long run
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