This was an important week for me, the last week before the start of my taper and the 20 mile run that had avoided me with the cancellation of the Oakley 20. Two weeks ago I had managed a 19 mile run which although I felt good having completed the distance was not very happy with the pace so the target now was to improve on pace to make my sub 4 hour marathon a reality.
The build up to the Saturday run saw me complete two training runs, an easy 4.5 miles and a 5 mile run at fast pace (8 minute miles). I'd studied the Garmin stats from my 19 mile run and compared them against the pace requirements to run a marathon at 8:45 minute miles and also to finish in 3 hours 59 minutes which would require a 9 minute mile pace.
Saturday morning welcomed me with bright skys which was something that I thought would never happen again based on the how the weather has been. An early start with a target to complete 20 miles within 3 hours was ahead of me. I set off at 6:30am in what I considered perfect running conditions and with a mindset to focus on the moment, the scenery, my running style and how I felt;
20 Mile Training Run - Olney, Newton Blosommville Loop followed by Olney to Filgrave Out and Back
All I can say is that I finished very happy with myself having completed the 20 miles in 2hrs 57:23 on a route that was not flat and had me keeping up pace on the inclines and also not stopping at the 20 marker but running on a further half mile at pace (although not timed) to prove I could break the 20 mile wall barrier.
Taper is now the order of the day in which I will incorporate some hill work as I believe this will help no end and also living in the hope that the same glorious weather will avail itself on race day .
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