Week 4 Training For The London Marathon

Week 4 Training for the London Marathon

Just a couple of things to start with. To read the opening story about my training for the London Marathon please start here or click on the links for the previous week’s training updates. Secondly, I’d love to hear what you are training for, how it is going and any questions you may have. Please comment below.

That completes the first full month. Week 4 training for the London Marathon was a completely different story from week 3. I managed to hit all my training sessions and even got a few bonus miles thrown in. My body is feeling strong at the minute. I am getting my 100 minutes of strength training per week, which is what I aim for every week. However, there are things I need to work on. I still haven’t started getting my yoga sessions in. This is going to get more important as my weekly miles build. 

Monday

Monday was a rest day, but as I didn’t run on the Sunday before, I stole a few miles. I ran 6.3 miles with Chief up at Jenkin Lakes, which is a great hilly run. I was really happy to be feeling better and out in the forestry, just dog and I. 

Tuesday

Tuesday was an 8 mile tempo session. I ran this from my house out to Fivemiletown and back. This went to plan with my tempo miles all fairly steady. The weather was agreeable with no wind to speak of. In addition, I got a 4 mile walk around Enniskillen in the afternoon. 

Wednesday & Thursday

Week 4 training for the London Marathon included back to back easy runs. Wednesday was a 6 mile easy run which I did in Enniskillen. Again, the weather was grand with no rain or wind to contend with. Overall pace sat at a steady 8:34 minutes/mile. 

Thursday, on the other hand, was scheduled for 8 miles easy. I ended up taking Chief up to Crocknagrally for another trail run. As much as I’d like to say the 9:41/mile was easy, the hills and terrain just aren’t easy. Still, it was a very tame pace and we both enjoyed every step. 

Friday

Friday was a 4 mile steady run on the plan and that’s exactly what I did. Again, I went into Enniskillen for my miles and did the Killyhevlin Industrial Estate loop a few times. Overall pace came in at 7:33/mile. 

Saturday

Although it was supposed to be parkrun + 5 miles, we had a local 10k race on. I attended the Lisbellaw 10k for my session. I had a target pace of 6:50/mile as I know the route is a tough one. I managed a slightly better pace, hitting an overall 6:39/mile. I was certainly pleased to get the good miles in as a 10k is such a great training session.

Sunday Runday

The long run for week 4 training for the London Marathon was 16 miles. I joined a few from the Enniskillen Running Club for these miles in Enniskillen. They ticked over nice and quickly, maybe slightly faster than I intended. This does happen when you run with a group. But they were fun miles with lots of laughs. Overall pace was 8:27 but I would have liked a bit closer to 8:45, especially after the 10k the day before. Still, hard to beat. 

Metrics:

I’m pleased with where I am and the measurements are showing improvement, for the most part. What I take from week 4 training for the London Marathon is I have to work on my cadence. I also would like to see my heart rate show in zone 5 for some of my hard sessions. My resting heart rate went up by 1 bpm, which I’m not too concerned about. It will come down I had a few days down around 46, so that’s a good sign. Other than that, my weight isn’t too far off my target and I’m eating well. I got all my sessions in and then some.

Upcoming Week 5 Training for the London Marathon:

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 6 miles hilly
Wednesday: 7 miles easy
Thursday: 7 miles progression
Friday: rest
Saturday: Parkrun + 5 miles steady 
Sunday: 18 miles long slow distance run