Solo Atlantic Row 2011

So the Paris marathon took place on this Sunday just gone and it is a great feeling to have finished and now have a week or so to relax and not have to train! My preparation the few days before the race consisted of significantly decreasing my training along with my protein intake whilst massively increasing my carbohydrate and water intake. I mentioned before that since my last training run I had tailed off to only a couple sessions a week and so in my last week I did minimal training. On the Tuesday before I went for a slow job in the hypoxic chamber for 45 minutes and went for a 30 minute swim on the Wednesday. By Thursday I was into full preparation for the race. As mentioned I went through a stage of 'carbo-loading' where for every kg you weigh you aim to eat about 10g of...

With now less than a week to go before the Paris Marathon, my training has pretty much come to a stop. Common training techniques for marathon running suggest a period of about 10 days to cease all training and let the body recover for the real thing. The problem with running any long distance event (over about 20 miles) is that it is not good for the body. This is also why when training to run the 26.2 miles it is suggested that you don't run that length until the actual race, instead build up to it over the previous weeks... Obvioulsy I have been doing a lot more training than getting miles under the belt, but I have been tracking all my running over the last 4 months or so preparing for this weekend (disregarding my training in the hypoxic on the treadmill) . According to my trusty calculations,...

So yesterday was my 22nd Birthday which is a bit worrying as I decided to do this row when I was 20 and still don't feel any closer to being ready! Anyway it also coincided with my last training run for the marathon and was another great morning for a run. I have been in London this weekend (I have done my training runs down in Sussex previously which gives more of challenge with the hills) and my route was along the river from Chelsea Bridge to the other side of the Isle of Dogs and back. All was going really well until about 17 miles when I met 250,000 people marching down embankment protesting against the government cuts...so not my best time unfortunately! It did show me though how important getting into a good rhythm is when you run. Obviously naturally everyone gets into a good rhythm when they go for...

So with the Paris marathon now just a month away, we are getting down to the business end of it! I am doing one long training run a week which I have been doing on my Saturdays, increasing the distance in small increments each time. Today I completed an 18 mile training run. Couldn't think of anything much better to be doing than running round  a spring-like West Sussex on a Saturday afternoon! Although I have to say I did find it tough, definitely harder than my 15 miler last weekend. My time today was 2:19 so of course I am really happy with that as my target was 2:20, even though it felt a lot harder than the time would suggest. It was a tough course with a fair amount of hills so obviously that will have added to my time, but of course will help with it being a...