Goal Pace Focus - Oxford Half Marathon Training Diary - Week 6

Posted on: 18 September 2024

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

9th September - 15th September

  • Total volume: 85.7km (3.8k football)
  • Longest run: 25km
  • Average resting & max HR: 39 / 152
  • Average bed time: 23:02
  • Easy / hard split: 76/24
  • Tanda marathon race predictor: 3:11:17 (🔽 00:00:55)
  • Training VDOT: 53.9

Oxford week 6 plan

Monday

I managed to get my usual 7km recovery in, alongside the new-normal school run (~4km total walking). My quads were a bit achy from Sunday’s fast finish long run, but otherwise it was a pretty typical Monday run. Average pace was 4:59/km.

Football was a decent effort. A less intense game, as is typical in 5-a-side compared to 6 or 7 (perhaps somewhat unintuitively). I averaged 142bpm and registered a 60 Relative Effort on Strava. It still blows my mind the difference in readings between the chest strap and the wrist strap for football. With the wrist HR monitor, I’d rarely get above 10 RE. With the chest strap, I average over 60. The chest strap is much better at picking up nuances and spikes in the HR, something that happens when playing football.

I picked up a sore calf from a tackle at the end of the game which was very sore going to bed.

Tuesday

Fortunately, the pain in my calf subsided overnight to a slight dull ache Tuesday morning. Tuesday’s run was a solid 11km, run a bit too fast, averaging 4:54/km pace. I need to slow these easy runs down to let the body recover from and for harder efforts. Sometimes the pace will just drift if I’m not concentrating. It was still only a 30 RE though.

Wednesday

Due to school commitments, I moved my workout from its typical spot on a Wednesday to Thursday. Instead, Wednesday was a 13km easy effort with strides. I took it easy and stuck mainly to the trails. An enjoyable run. Average pace: 5:05/km.

I also bouldered in the evening. Was feeling pretty knackered from the day so drove there, which saved me a lot of walking, but made me feel a little guilty. I felt a bit more fatigued than usual during the climbs.

Thursday

Thursday was a race-simulation workout, starting it at close to the race start time. I also used my race day shoes and practiced my race day nutrition. The workout was 2 x 25 minutes @ my target HM pace. A daunting prospect. I wasn’t feeling full of beans in the morning, but the weather was at least on my side - a cool 9C to begin.

On paper, the workout was a success. I hit both 25 minute blocks, averaging 5:06 pace - slightly quicker than my target of 5:07/km. But I didn’t feel very strong and the second block in particular was hard work to maintain pace. It was, however, great practice. You can’t nail all workouts, and sometimes you just have to grit your teeth and get it done. You’ll be pleased you did come race day.

I managed to clock a fastest ever 15k and 10 mile distance on Strava. A really positive sign for the upcoming half marathon.

In the rush to get the run started, I forgot that I’d planned to cycle the first and last few kilometres to save the legs and get it done a bit quicker. This lead to a bit of a rushed finish to meet school pick-up. It also meant the workout clocked a pretty sizeable 19.5km by the time I’d finished! Suffice to say, energy was pretty low for the rest of the day.

I had one gel containing 40g carbs during this, and I probably could’ve done with more.

Friday

Friday was a much needed rest day. Often I have to convince myself not to run, but today I was pleased of the break. I finished Thursday’s run with my recovery needs at 72 hours!

I did squeeze a strength workout in in the evening. A Ben Parkes 30 minute one. It was tough, but another one in the bank.

Saturday

Saturday was an early start to meet up with friends in Kent and try a new Parkrun: Kingdom. I did a bit of research beforehand and discovered it was a pretty hilly course. Past results suggested with an all-out effort I had a reasonably good chance of finishing in the top 3. But I was sensible and had this down as a tempo effort 5k - aiming around 4:00/km splits.

The course started with a big downhill 600m, followed by an equally big uphill to complete the first lap (3 lapped course). I got a bit carried away and clocked a 3:43 first kilometre. Whoops. After this, it got hard. The legs felt heavy and I was breathing hard. I lost 3rd place early on and was stuck in no mans land in 4th.

I tried to keep the effort steady at this point. I came in in 20:29. My slowest Parkrun for a number of months, but probably about where it should be for a tempo effort on an unknown, hilly course. A 60 relative effort showed it was a hard one.

I had a pretty active day after this so didn’t have any energy come the evening. I decided to rest up for the long run rather than doing a strength session.

Sunday

I had 25k on the plan, the furthest I’ll have run for many years. No specific pacing requirements, but I decided to make it a moderate progression run. Starting easy; finishing steady. The route was undulating, so I decided to increase the average pace every 5k, to even out the elevation. This method worked really well, and kept me focussed and engaged throughout the run. The distance flew by much quicker than if I’d just been running the whole run even.

I averaged 4:43/km over 25k, my 3rd fastest half marathon distance on Strava (faster than an actual race in 2022). My legs started to fatigue in the last 5k, but I was able to finish strong, with my last kilometre coming in at 4:26. I was very happy, and like last week, this was a big confidence boost for the upcoming race.

Overall

Another positive week, with record volume - I hit over 80k for the first time. I did feel the fatigue a bit more than other weeks, but that’s to be expected, especially with such a big goal pace workout in the middle. Hard efforts were up to 24% of my volume this week.

Resting HR is returning to normal after illness, but bedtimes did get a bit lax, creeping over 11pm for the first time in 3 weeks.

My Tanda marathon prediction continues to fall, closing in on 3:10 now.

I bouldered, and got 2 strength sessions, albeit at reduced volume.

Tags: running health sleep