There is now just one week to go until the 2006 London Marathon (and I have just got back from Barbados). Unfortunately, my second week’s training in Barbados wasn’t much better than my first. I managed a couple more treadmill runs, a beach run and a weights session but nothing lasted longer than an hour… outside was just too hot and inside was just too boring! I did however do one monumental treadmill session where I ran at over 16km/hr for a full hour without stopping! All in all Barbados was not the best marathon training destination and this final week is going to be key if I want to achieve my target time.
So I now have a difficult balancing act… I don’t want to over-train in this final week but I need to condition myself for the 26-miles. How much running should I do?
I plan to do long runs on Monday and Wednesday with medium runs on Tuesday and Thursday and shortish runs on Friday and Saturday… hopefully that will be enough.
I agree with martin (again just from what I have read). good luck preparing for the race!
From what I’ve been reading, you really don’t want to do too much in this last week — possibly 1/3 to 1/4 of your maximum. It takes about three weeks for your muscles to catch up on the bashing you’ve given them, so I’d save it for the race now. The only thing you need to do is do a bit of speed work, but keep it light.
Note: I am *not* a professional, I’ve just read more than I need to about the final week.
See you on the startline!