11-a-side Match - Oxford Half Marathon Training Diary - Week 2

Posted on: 20 August 2024

This post is part of a 10-part series charting my training block for the Oxford Half Marathon 2024.

12th - 18th August

  • Total volume: 80km (11.65km football)
  • Longest run: 19km
  • Average resting & max HR: 38 / 161
  • Average bed time: 23:06
  • Easy / hard split: 77.1/22.9
  • Tanda marathon race predictor: 3:16:19 (🔽 00:00:17)
  • Training VDOT: 53.9

Oxford week 2 plan

Monday

Monday was a hot day, pushing 30 degrees, and I was still tired after an evening run on Sunday. So I put off today’s run until 7pm, when the temperature had cooled to 25 degrees(!) Stuck to the trees and it turned into an enjoyable warm up run for football. On Mondays I aim for 7-8km during the day, or at the very least, 3km around Hove Park before I play football.

Football was a little lighter than last week, but still a decent aerobic effort. I played 8 minutes or so in goal, so less duration than normal. 66 relative effort (RE) from Strava and a max HR of 175 showed it was still a hard shift put in. I count half the distance covered in the match to be of a "hard" effort to work out my 80/20 easy/hard ratio.

Tuesday

Tuesday was cooler than Monday, thankfully. It was a slower run than last Tuesday’s steady effort; I was feeling more tired and I knew I had back-to-back quality efforts coming up Wednesday and Thursday. It’s important to save yourself for the quality sessions. Averaged 5:03/km over 9.5km.

Wednesday

Wednesday: the first of 2 big quality workouts in as many days, I opted to wear my carbon racers - Saucony Endorphin Pro 3 - for this run. The workout was 2 x 10 minutes at threshold pace (2 minutes recovery), followed by 5 x 30 second anaerobic efforts close to max (45s recovery).

I found this one quite hard. Elevation was variable in the course I’d planned, but flat and paved in the main. It was my first time running threshold efforts at 4:00/km pace (up from 4:04/km). These felt reasonably controlled and not too taxing. The short, fast reps that followed were a nice change of pace (literally), and a good way to end a workout. I could feel I’d worked hard on the warm down jog home. A solid 12.5km with 5.8k of quality in the bank.

Thursday

Thursday was my long run day this week, as I was playing football on the Sunday. The target was 19k total, with a section of 3km at Half Marathon target pace (HMP) in the middle. A little daunting. I also planned to trial the SIS Beta Fuel gels I’d picked up a few days before. 40g of carbs compared to 22g in the regular isotonic ones I typically use.

HMP is 4:07/km, and I’d planned to run the remaining two blocks of 8km at easy pace (~5:00/km). However as soon as I set out, I felt good. I averaged 4:43/km for the first 8km, took my gel, then transitioned into the 3km @ HMP. This didn’t feel too comfortable, but certainly manageable in that short block. Plenty of time yet to feel more comfortable at this pace for longer.

I went straight from the 3 back into the previous pace. I was feeling strong so didn’t feel the need to slow the pace down to recover. Kilometres 11-16, I averaged 4:36/km, which included some elevation; and in the final 3km I hit my target marathon pace, averaging 4:29/km. A strong finish and definitely a confidence booster early on in the training block. It put me in a good mood for the rest of the day!

Friday

Friday is typically my rest day, but I was looking after the kids on my own for the next 24 hours, so I wanted to get out early on to get an easy run and some me-time under my belt to keep the volume high for the week. Did a nice 5.8km at an easy pace and low HR. Legs felt heavy, but active recovery (easy running on tired legs) is important in maximising training volume.

Saturday

Saturday I was feeling a bit sick. Convinced myself to get out for my scheduled 10km easy with 5 x 20s strides in the afternoon. Felt much better after the run. Strides at the end of easy runs are starting to feel more natural; a good habit to incorporate into easy runs. Legs felt pretty fresh after ~30 hours of recovery.

Sunday

Sunday started with running a Junior Parkun and a new PB for my son (very proud). The main event was a rare 11-a-side football match in Brighton, preceded by a 5km warm up run along the seafront (with a sizeable hill at the end). This little warm up felt easy and beneficial to the body, and ticked me over 70km for the week of just running, a milestone first for me.

Football was tough, but fun. 8.3km total run, for around 70 minutes total, and I felt it. Fortunately, no knocks or strains so with a bit of recovery, I should be in a good position to hit the 3rd week of my training plan hard, before a de-load fourth week. Very pleased to hit 70km running and over 80km total for the week.

I didn’t boulder this week, and skipped weight training, but managed two runner-focussed strength workouts from a Ben Parkes’ plan. Next week I want to get back on the weight training and get some cycling in too.

Tags: running health sleep