Final Pre-Marathon Long Run!!!

I have been so looking forward to writing this blog entry!!  That's because I would only write this entry after today's long run attempt.  Doesn't need to be a successful attempt, just an attempt, but the final and longest training run has to deserve a mention!  And it was a tad slower pace than last Friday, but it was absolutely successful!!  The plan was for a three-hour run, so essentially the same as last Friday but with an extra five minutes.  Last Friday I was very keen to make it to 20 miles. but I managed that last week, so today I had no overall goal.  Just try to follow the plan as best I can, but know that, like last week, the plan at this stage is simply too tough for me.  I did a similar thing to last week and ended up at an average pace of 5:27m/km whereas last Friday was 5:26m/km.  So without having to hit the 20 miles I slowed down, but not by much really.  The big difference was that I did an extra stop on the treadmill.  For a three-hour run on the treadmill I have to stop/start twice, as you can only do an hour max on those mills.  But today I was so exhausted in the last hour that I stopped and started again with about 15 minutes to go.  That would have taken my average pace down a tad, which probably largely explains why today was slower than last Friday.  But I still managed to do 20.5 miles in the three hours which, according to Garmin (my watch that monitors my runs), is the longest run I have done!  The previous 'record'  was set in March 2018 when I did a Lancaster 20 mile event.  That event took me 4 hours, so I have got significantly faster!!  Yay!!  The Palladino marathon plan is tough but a winner!!  Only other thing to mention is that for my long runs I have always made overnight oats the night before and eaten them before heading to the gym.  I also always take a couple of Wiggle gels for fuel during the run.  Doing this seems to have been successful, so, I made overnight oats last night as per usual!  And then in the morning, before going to the gym for the long run, I had an espresso and forgot the overnight oats....  Doh!!!  I only remembered when I got close to the gym, so I nipped in to a supermarket and bought a vegan protein bar for 75p.  I figured it was best to eat something before a 3-hour run!!  At least I had remembered my two Wiggle gels, so it all worked fine.  And I have a day off tomorrow and Monday's planned run is only 25 minutes long!!  Tapering for the marathon which is in two weeks!!  Yay!!!  Next Saturday is planned to be a two-hour run,  but that doesn't count as long these days!!  I am struggling with runs over two hours, but at least I feel I have a decent chance of finishing the marathon.  Maybe even close to four hours with a following wind!! But I guess we'll see in two weeks... 😁

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