The first two months of training were very sporadic, runs here and there, no real plan just running however far we felt was good enough for that day. Yes, when Gill joined me, we started to run more consistently and further each week but we still didn’t have a plan. However, Gill quickly took charge of that, turning into a full on marathon geek, researching every different type of marathon plan he could get his hands on, till he stuck with one his dad had used several years earlier to tackle the challenge.
This plan as you see above, at first was incredibly daunting. Having to run 10 miles in the first week seemed like madness to me, and just the sheer volume of miles that we had to be covering each week was hard for me to grasp. Reluctantly, I went along with it, completing the first week with relative ease. I was impressed with myself. This plan from what I gather is supposed to push you the whole way, so come race day rather than you just attempting to finish it, you are actually looking to complete it relatively comfortably and even achieve a time you maybe thought wasn’t possible.
Let me give you a quick week by week run down of the mental and physical effort this plan has produce thus far.
Week 2 - The weekday day running was relatively comfortable. I was still adjusting to running nearly every day but it was ok. The long run was going great till the 10th mile and then my body started to put its foot down and the last two were painful mentally.
Week 3 - Beginning to question this plan to whether I really need to run this much, motivation was low, but the running was actually getting better and easier. The long run again became painful in the last two miles. This time a mixture of both mental and physical, but got through it in an OK time.
Week 4 - Rejoice. Only 10 miles on the weekend made it surprisingly easy to run through the week.
Week 5 - Thanksgiving week. Having left for Topsail Island Beach on the Wednesday, I only ran with Gill on the Monday of that week. The rest of the weekday runs were a lot more tedious than expected. My original thought was that running on the beach would be lovely with a great view. However, the sand was way too soft, so I had to run on the road adjacent, which was super boring because it was just a straight road with nothing but houses.
Come that weekend, I was in full ‘fuck this plan’ mode. Telling Gill on Saturday night that I probably wasn’t going to do the 16 the next day. However, having done yoga earlier that day, come Sunday morning my body was feeling surprisingly OK, and at 5:30am I got up and began to run. It all started well, I had my podcast playing while watching the sunrise, lovely. When I reached the pier, I took a break to snap a few pics of the sunrise and check how far I had ran. IT WAS ONLY 4 BLOODY MILES. It felt like I had been running forever. That was the beginning of the end, the rest of the run was a pure mental battle just focusing on putting one foot in front of the other to get to the end. I eventually finished it having listened to three podcasts, and my body in a shaky state. The rest of the day was a write off, with me and Alana traveling back to Charlotte and me really not feeling well enough to do anything substantial.
Week 6 - Back in Charlotte, back running with Gill. We’re now fully in the swing of this running thing. Motivation still wasn’t high for me, but the runs were becoming somewhat enjoyable. 18 to face that Sunday. The night before I barely got a wink worrying about the distance, but come Sunday morning, we were off and running and it didn’t turn out to be to bad at all. It was actually probably my strongest run to date. Yes, it did get painful towards the end but nowhere near to that of the others. I finished it feeling somewhat OK, and thinking I still had enough energy to tackle the day. I was wrong. An hour after completing the run, my body shut down and I had to take a much deserved 3 hour afternoon nap to regain some energy, and I still didn’t feel 100% till about Tuesday of the next week.
Week 7 - Serious numbers. In week 7, we were scheduled to hit 40 miles and we did. The weekday runs again were relatively comfortable, however it was starting to get chilly out. The 20 was haunting me all week. With the Christmas party that Saturday night, I was a little worried to say the least to how I would be feeling Sunday morning.
Saturday night was a hoot. I did drink a lot more than I thought I would and even ended up going uptown, but come Sunday morning I felt surprisingly ok, and good enough to give it a go, even if I failed. The 20 was looooong. Totaling just under 3 hours. Mentally, it wasn’t too bad but physically, my knees began to really irritate me coming into the last 2 miles. But, we got it done and I wasn’t sick so I took that as a win.
Now in week 8 - I am paying for these long runs and lack of recovery. My knees feel worse than they have ever felt and after Sunday’s run I literally couldn’t walk and felt ill for the two following days. This week is the first time we have skipped a run in order to recover a little more, having to give Monday a pass. This week we have 13, which mentally is great. But, physically, I’m worried, as I think I may not be giving my knees enough rest.
I have stepped up the recovery and am starting to stretch and ice more but we’ll have to wait and see how that goes. I also want to add that up until the 20 mile run, I had been running with my iPhone 7+ in hand for each run, which wasn’t ideal but allowed me to track my miles on Strava. At the Xmas party, Christmas came early and I won an apple watch in the raffle and let me tell you...it’s a game changer. Hooks straight up to Strava and doesn’t weigh a thing. I highly recommend investing in a running watch for anyone who is currently gripping their phone each mile.
To keep up with my progress, follow me on strava @RyanEjezie.
Thanks for reading.
- Ryan Ejezie