We’re 7 weeks from the Olympic Marathon, and I’m going to share my last week of training with you. My coach Hamish lives in New Zealand, so I get a weekly e-mail with my training schedule. Aside from the actual work-outs, he sets a clear goal for the week, both physically and mentally. This helps me to put the whole week of training into perspective, thinking about what we’re building towards. It’s important to keep the long-term vision, otherwise I’d hammer work-outs just to prove myself. Like every long-distance relationship, it’s all about communicating. 😉 And it turns out that my coach is quite the poet. Here’s the mental goal for the week:
“BALANCE: Stay balanced. Balance your efforts with recovery. Balance family time with training time. Balance apprehension with excitement.”
After a block with some more intense work that finished with the European Half Marathon Championships on June 9, we’re now back into the endurance building phase of the preparation. This means lots of volume, and gradually implementing longer blocks at around marathon effort. At 190km, this was the biggest volume week of the preparation so far. It’s important to note that this preparation will have a slightly different approach than normal. The course in Paris will be very hilly, and thus we’re preparing the body to run on hilly routes. The focus shifts from hitting certain paces, to gauging your effort on hilly tempos.
Monday
AM: easy hour in the morning (14km)
PM: 30 minutes in the afternoon (6km)
These two easy runs are totally based on feel, I might run 4’00/km in the morning, and close to 5’00/km in the afternoon. It’s just about getting the time on your feet while saving the legs for the harder days ahead.
Tuesday
AM: 20 minutes of jogging
PM: Heat stress testing in the afternoon.
This was a retest of a heat stress testing we did a few weeks ago. The retest has to check if I’m better adapted to running in hot and humid conditions after a period of heat acclimatization. This involved a sauna protocol twice a week as well as doing easy runs in lots of layers, to learn to sweat more efficiently. It provides essential information to prepare as best as possible for a hot race in Paris!
Wednesday
AM: 6x 2.6km hilly tempo run. The course was flat in the beginning, going up 45 meters in the second part. The goal was to run the flat part hard but controlled, and keep the pace on the hilly part. This meant that every rep ended at around threshold or just over, then jogging easy for 3 minutes, and starting the loop again. Pace was not really important today but ended up being between 3’10 and 3’15/km.
PM: 30 minutes of easy jogging (4’45/km)
Thursday
AM: 30km easy
PM: off
Friday
AM: 30 minutes jog + weights + 10 x 100m strides
A morning of strengthening the legs for all the marathon work coming up. Strides are on the track from 16s to 13s, which sadly feels like full-on sprints now than I’m a marathoner.
PM: 14km easy run
The boring stuff, but it’s got to get done. 4’05/km
Saturday
AM: 15km hilly tempo run in the forest, alternating paces between 2’55/km and 3’20/km. Average pace: 3’13/km
This was like a 45 minutes fartlek, changing the paces every few minutes. Three loops in the forest, with a nasty hill halfway every loop. It will help me to go off my feeling during the marathon, push when necessary, and settle into a good rhythm when I can.
PM: 6km jog at 4’30/km
Sunday
35km long run on hilly terrain
For now, the focus is on getting in the time on the legs. Soon we’ll add marathon blocks within the long run to maximize the effect of these workouts. Today just 2h15 in the forest, by myself. Strengthening the mind as much as the body.
Total volume: 190km
For all remarks or complaints about this training plan, I’m happy to direct you to the guilty party, Hamish Carson.
