Recovery - Oxford Half Marathon Training Diary - Week 4

Posted on: 6 September 2024

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

26th August - 1st September

  • Total volume: 75.8km (3.5k football)
  • Longest run: 18.4km
  • Average resting & max HR: 39 / 153
  • Average bed time: 22:43
  • Easy / hard split: 85/15
  • Tanda marathon race predictor: 3:14:22 (đź”˝ 00:00:35)
  • Training VDOT: 53.9

Oxford week 3 plan

Monday

I started this week away from home on a long bank holiday break visiting my parents. I got my 7km easy run in in the morning for a change, before it got too hot out. It was 7.4k easy at 5-flat pace. A standard Monday, in a changed-up location.

I followed it up with a rather tame 5-a-side match which lacked in competitiveness and resulted in only 29 Relative Effort score from Strava (last week was 55). Good for a recovery week though. This week I was aiming for slightly less volume and a good amount less intensity, aiming for closer to a 75/15 easy/hard split.

Tuesday

I had a bit more energy than usual on my Tuesday run after the lower intensity football session the evening before. It was a warm day and I picked a hilly route and kept the pace ~5secs/km quicker than usual. Was a good run but the heat sapped my energy by the end. 11km at 4:56/km and 109m of elevation.

Wednesday

Wednesday was a hot day, somewhat unforcasted. I couldn’t run in the morning due to work scheduling, so I ended up swapping my tempo run with Thursday’s easy run. Still got the volume in - 13.7km total - and ended up progressing from an easy pace to steady by the end. Average pace was 4:55/km with 123m of elevation gain.

Training in summer involves being flexible to work around the weather. It’s not productive to do hard intervals in 26 degree heat, and can be dangerous if not handled correctly. I was pleased with the effort in the end, and the effect of the heat wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been.

Thursday

20 minutes at threshold pace (4:00/km). I do these type of tempo runs once a month or so as I find them to be a good barometer of fitness. Particularly how they feel. I’d not done one at this pace before though. It was hot, perhaps too hot, especially as I didn’t get round to doing this until gone noon.

I hit the paces, but HR was high and it was far from comfortable. In reality, I could’ve allowed myself 5 seconds of leeway on the paces and it still would’ve been a solid effort in the heat. Heart rate peaked at 172bpm, which is a fair way beyond my threshold. 11km total at 4:27/km pace. 35.7km in the last 3 days in the heat; it didn’t feel like a recovery week.

This run took me to 300km for the month, a record for me.

Friday

Friday was a rest week, my first for 3 weeks in fact. I took the opportunity to do some strength training and rest up for a decent Parkrun effort on Saturday.

Saturday

What an occasion Saturday was. Francis and I travelled up early to Bushy Park in greater London, the “home of Parkrun”. It was the 1000th Parkrun at Bushy Park and there was quite a celebration to commemorate it. The vibes were great and the mood high. We got a decent warm up in and lined up with the hordes of people on the start line (over 6k in the end).

I thought there was a chance of a PB, but was mindful of the sheer number of runners, and an unfamiliar course. After running 18:42 on Hove Prom 3 weeks ago, I’d be happy to get somewhere near that. We were both fortunate to get fast starts and the initial crowds dissipated before too long.

Bushy is a fast course - pancake flat with minimal turns - but not the fastest surface under foot. It’s predominantly rough, compacted stones with grassy and tarmac sections too. I ran it well I think, but with hindsight held back a bit too much. I found my stride in the 5th kilometre, overtaking a bunch of people and registering by far my quickest split. A final time of 18:45 put me 3 seconds off my PB. If I could run it again I think a PB would’ve been on, but that’s the benefit of hindsight.

A thoroughly enjoyable and brilliantly organised event, especially as I was able to meet and chat to YouTubers Andy Maguire and Brett Elesmore after. The slower end of the 6,000 runners did have a bit of a wait crossing the line and registering their time, but that’s to be expected for an event that typically gets 1,500 runners!

Sunday

Sunday was a shorter long run than the previous 3 weeks, 18k on the plan, run at easy pace. On paper, fine, but due to a busy day on my feet in the sun with the kids, it turned out to be anything but!

I got out after dinner around 7.15pm. The plan was 18k around Burgess Hill, sticking to well lit areas. Was going OK, albeit on some tiring legs, but around 9k in I started getting some painful bloating in my stomach. I decided to power through, but mid-way through the 13th km I had to call it quits. Too uncomfortable and not an enjoyable run at all by that point.

I walked over a kilometre home, took a quick toilet break, then decided to try to finish the prescribed 18km. It was late and dark at this point, but I decided on a 6k round route near home at a steady pace to finish the week off. With 12k and a busy day in my legs, it was a very hard 6k. By the end I was completely spent. I hit 18.6k in total for the day, and I’d definitely earned it. Whether it was the right decision to persist, time will tell, but I was pleased I got it done.

Overall

I bouldered this week and got a decent weight lifting session in and a short mobility workout. Clocking over 34km walking wasn’t the ideal scenario for a recovery week, but sometimes this happens.

I did get reasonably good sleep though, averaging a 22:43 bedtime, a good 20 minutes better than last week.

With volume and intensity both trending down this week, I think I accomplished my goal of a down week. No big workouts, but I feel ready to attack the next big 3 weeks of training.

Tags: running health sleep