Today I did my longest run to date in this training for my April marathon. With 5 weeks to go I had to do 18 miles today to allow myself time to do a couple more long runs before the taper.

I was a bit apprehensive as to how I would get on as my legs had been stiff and hamstrings tight for most of the week after the half marathon last Sunday. I had also discovered that the calibration on my Garmin Forerunner 50 watch was a bit out (that’s for another post!).

The last 15 miler I did had been two loops of the same route so this time I opted to combine three of my shorter runs to give me the required 18 miles. This worked really well as I passed my house at the end of each and only covered a very short distance more than once. Also psychologically it was good as I segmented the run into 3 in my head and concentrated only on that one segment at a time.

Legs definitely feel like I’ve done something but having done this and not died has given me confidence that, with a couple more long runs under my belt, I should manage 26.2 in 5 weeks time.

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Today I ran 15.9 miles – this is the longest I have run since training for my last marathon in 2007. I did it in a time of 2 hours 31 mins – average pace of 9.29 m/m – which I was really pleased with considering this included my warm-up and the route is not flat.

The route was two laps from my house. I am never sure if I prefer doing loops on a long run or a single route. On one hand doing multiple loops you are never so far from home and can restock energy drinks etc but psychologically it can be difficult covering the same ground for a second time. I always try if possible to alter the second loop a little, like going round part of it in the opposite direction.

I had all four seasons today in the space of 2.5 hours, from sunshine (when I wondered if I would be too warm in my jacket) to rain, hail and wind. Towards the end of the run my legs, and especially my calves, felt stiff and a bit tight. It’s always at this point that I think – how on earth will I manage the full marathon of 26.2 miles – bearing in mind that there would still be another 10 miles to go. What I then remind myself is that this is the whole point of building up the long run distance to get your body used to running for long periods of time. There are still 7 weeks to my marathon and a few more long runs to fit in before the taper, so hopefully this time in 7 weeks my legs will be even sorer but I will have completed 26.2 miles!

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