Tag Archives: Mile

It’s all for Whizz-Kidz

Running the London Marathon really is a privilege and being able to do it for a charity like Whizz-Kidz makes it all the more special.  The atmosphere on the day is something else, running with almost 40,000 other runners of every ability there is and being cheered on when you’re struggling at about mile 16 (and every other mile) and when it hurts, is a welcome boost.

Knowing that when cross that line (however much it hurts) all the money raised from my friends and family, far and wide, goes to benefit the children Whizz-Kidz help is fantastic, so please please donate through my Just Giving Page… even if it’s only £1 you can donate, please help out – it makes a huge difference.

Thanks to everyone for your support and encouragement over the last few months.  Only 11 days to go and a nice slow-ish 8 miles planned tomorrow.

Probably the most important workout for marathons?

Last week was a week of shorter faster runs and I decided to try something new – having read a good post from Twitter about mile long intervals.

2 miles warm-up run, just faster than planned marathon pace, then 1 mile fast (about 1.5 minutes per mile faster than marathon pace) followed by 0.5 mile recovery (about 30 seconds per mile slower than marathon pace) and then repeat the 1 mile / 0.5 mile interval 4 times and then finish with a 2 mile cool down.  10 miles in total.

That was the plan – the first one started a bit too late in the day and had to be back, so had to cut the final 2 miles off or down.  8.3 in total and great average pace – not surprising really with 4 faster miles.  Did the same again a few days later – with the full 10 miles – and a great great run.  Average pace up as well.

Nice way to train, the longer mile intervals get harder during the run – no surprises really – but it’s a good routine.

Lots of articles around about interval training and the longer mile intervals are known to be good for marathons.  Even referred to as the “single most important workout for marathon training“.  More planned for me next week.