NDJ's London Marathon - weeks 9 and 10

I had a plan. I really did have a plan. I knew from the beginning that we had a week's holiday in the middle of the marathon training period, and just like with the weekend away in Dublin at the start of the year, I just needed to plan around it.

So here was the plan: in week 9, I would run a normal medium length run midweek, then squeeze in a 10 miler on Friday before we left early Saturday. I would then push the 14 miler due that weekend to the next weekend (made possible by some leeway around long runs being pre-built into my training plan, presumably for exactly this reason), so then all I had to do was make sure I got two medium length runs in during our holiday, aka week 10, before coming home to the 14 miler today.

Yeah, that was the plan.

It started off okay with a nice regular run on the Wednesday, but then my early finish from work on the Friday, which would have allowed the 10 miler, didn't happen as planned, and even when I did get home I had a few more hours of work to get through before holiday. I did go out for a run, but it was a damn fast 5k in between dealing with budget drafts and bazillions of emails. And once we were on holiday, time went so fast, and there were so many pages to write and conversations to have, and beaches to walk on, that somehow those two runs never got done, and then I was going to fit in a quick one on the day we got back, but we ended up getting back later than planned, so that didn't happen, and before I knew it I was facing a 14 miler after not running at all for over a week.

I managed 10 miles, and most of it was horrific. The first 5k hurt because my legs were stiff and out of practice. The last 5k hurt like hell because my right IT band tightened to the point where it felt like I was hobbling rather than running. The 6k in the middle was okay, I guess. I limped home and was vaguely proud of managing not to cry until the front door closed behind me. I was crying because I was so angry with myself, by the way, not because everything hurt, though it did and still does.

I've found it really hard to write this. I guess I'm worried that for some people, it will reinforce the things they already think about my chances of running a marathon. Well, fuck 'em. I'm the only person who knows if I can run a marathon, and I still think I can.

So what's next? Back to the normal training schedule, with a physio appointment to look at the IT band if it's still hurting tomorrow, a Pilates session on Wednesday to get my hips opened up again, and another go at the 14 miler next weekend.