The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 10 Update

For the 2:49 Marathon Project Week 10 Update all I can say is marathon training is hard work. After having so many really good training blocks in a row, it's easy to forget just how hard it is when things aren't going smoothly. This one is just a little more difficult as I try to document the entire experience. The important thing for me to remember is that ego really is the enemy. Given my life experience, this is a little easier to take on board. However, it still hits me when I'm not able to push my body the way I want.

Week 10 was a tale of two halves. The start of the week was a relief in so far as I was starting to get back to myself after a few weeks of low energy. The first speed session of the week went very well. I honestly felt like I was back on track, and then...Wednesday came around.

First of all, I'm not overly worried just yet. I still have the same objective, to run 2:49 in the Valencia Marathon. I will need to adjust things as I go and hope I don't lose too much time. It is important to put some light on why I'm a little concerned. In 2021, I experienced some pain when lifting my legs, especially after a run. The pain was exacerbated when I squeezed my knees together. I continued to run through the pain. Eventually, it got too much and I went for an MRI. As it turned out I had torn both adductors and I missed almost the entire year of running, 10 months to be precise.

Given that experience, I am a little cautious when I feel a similar sensation in the adductors. I didn't try to push through and cause additional trauma on Wednesday, but let's go through the week and I'll explain how things are looking at the minute.

2:49 Marathon Project Feedback

I want to provide an update on the feedback many followers provided regarding Heart Rate Variability tracking. Since learning more about HRV, I began testing my HRV manually each morning at the same time and in the same environment. I will provide the daily readings, however, I am not confident that the data I'm getting is accurate. It varies widely from day to day. As a matter of fact, it varies widely even if I run the same test one time after another. Here is how I'm doing it. I am relaxed in a comfortable office chair and I have my Garmin chest strap on. My watch does not provide HRV feedback, so I have downloaded an app called HRV+ using Garmin IQ. I run this 5 minute test just sitting still and relaxed. You will see the daily results, but I can't see this data being of any value, unless this is really true. If that is the case, I don't know what it is telling me.

Secondly, I will have my blood test results on Tuesday or Wednesday. I was hoping it would have been quicker, but that's not the case. The good news is my energy levels and sleep have gotten back to normal. It is my feeling that either the iron supplements are working well, or that it was viral. So that is a very positive step forward.

The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 10 Update: The Daily Updates

Week 10 was a big disappointment. I only managed to complete one full session during the week and only ran a total of three times. Hopefully the running can resume later in week 11. However, whenever I'm back to running, I feel it's early enough that I can get back on track.

Monday:

Monday was a no running day. I spent the vast majority of the day at my computer once again. Writing and video editing is becoming my normal Monday session.

Running Details:
HRV: 51.6

Nutrition Statistics:
Calories: 2170
Protein: 86g
Carbohydrates: 243g
Fat: 25g
Water: 3 Litres

Strength & Conditioning: 20 minute bodyweight routine

Sleep: 5 hours 51 minutes

Tuesday:

The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 10 Tuesday session was a 6 mile (10k) tempo run. This was executed as 2k easy + 6k @ 6:40/mile (4:09/km) pace target. This was perhaps the best session I've had in weeks. I went out in the morning and the temperature was warm, but nice for me. I genuinely wanted this to act as a confidence booster so I wore my racing shoes, my good Alphafly 1's.. I felt light and fast for a change and my splits showed that to be the case.

The 1k splits on the tempo portion of the run:
3:46
4:02
4:01
3:54
3:54
4:07

Running Details:
Distance: 6.21. miles (10.01 km)
Avg Pace Overall: 7:11/mile (4:28/km) - Tempo Portion: 6:22/mile (3:57/km)
Running Shoes: Nike Alphafly 1's (Race Day shoes)
Time & Temperature: 10:23- 22 C (72 F)
HRV: 51.6

Nutrition Statistics:
Calories: 2236
Protein: 124g
Carbohydrates: 274g
Fat: 76g
Water: 3 Litres

Strength & Conditioning: 20 minute bodyweight routine + 20 minutes yoga

Sleep: 6 hours 09 minutes

Wednesday:

Wednesday of Week 10 was scheduled to be my first long run of the week and the first in a 10-day span. On the plan was a 24-mile run (39 km). I chose to do my long run route in one big loop, which is a fairly new one for me. It's a beautiful, rolling course that takes in a neighbouring town. For approximately 17 miles it was extremely comfortable and I enjoyed the morning, practising my gels and hydration along the way. At mile 17 (27 km), my right groin area started barking at me. Just a little discomfort at first. But as I continued on, it got worse. At that point I had 3 miles (5k) to get back to the house or I could have continued on the route to try to complete the full session. I opted for the former and cut it short.

As I mentioned above, I have a bit of history with my adductors and I suppose I'm always concerned about them. I can only hope for one of two things. First, maybe it's not the adductor and it's just a muscle strain. Or possibly, if it is the adductor, that I stopped in time before it becomes a proper injury. I'm going to test it out mid-week this week.

Running Details:

Distance: 19.94 miles (32.1 km)
Avg Pace Overall: 8:20/mile (5:11km)
Running Shoes: Asics Novablast 3
Time & Temperature: 10:13- 21 C (70 F)Nutrition Statistics:
HRV: 43.5

Calories: 2394
Protein: 171g
Carbohydrates: 271g
Fat: 69g
Water: 3.75 Litres

Strength & Conditioning: 20 minutes body weight routine

Sleep: 6 hours 29 minutes

Thursday:

Due to the setback on Wednesday, I did not run on Thursday. I did go for a 4 mile (6k) walk.

Running Details:
HRV: 73.4

Nutrition Statistics:
Calories: 2584
Protein: 139g
Carbohydrates: 244g
Fat: 114g
Water: 3 Litres

Strength & Conditioning: 20 minute bodyweight routine & 20 minutes yoga

Sleep: 6 hours 28 minutes

Friday:

Just like Thursday, Friday was another no-running day. Once again, I went for a walk of 4 miles (7k).

Running Details:
HRV: 62.7

Nutrition Statistics:
Calories: 2218
Protein: 109g
Carbohydrates: 298g
Fat: 65g
Water: 2.75 Litres
Strength & Conditioning: 20 minute body weight routine

Sleep: 6 hours 44 minutes

Saturday:

On Saturday of Week 10 of the 2:49 Marathon Project I attempted to get a feel for the injury and went for a run. I decided to just play it by ear and try for at least 5k. As it turned out, 5k was probably about the limit. For the first 3k the groin area was fine, but from 3k on it got more and more painful. I completed the 5k and went home and stretched.

On a side note, I repaired a pair of Alphafly 2's with some superglue, so I wore them on this run to see if the repair would hold. I'm happy to say it did.

Running Details:
Distance: 3.1 miles (5 km)
Avg Pace: 8:06/mile (5:02/km)
Running Shoes: Nike Alphafly 2
Time & Temperature: 11:49- 21 C (70 F)
HRV: 46.4

Nutrition Statistics:
Calories: 2871
Protein: 201g
Carbohydrates: 291g
Fat: 88g
Water: 2.75 Litres

Strength & Conditioning: N/A

Sleep: 6 hours 51 minutes

Sunday:

I did not run, but did go to a local 5k. This was a fairly large race with some seriously good quality runners taking part. It's always good to be near the sport when I'm not able to run myself.

Running Details:
HRV: 60.4

Nutrition Statistics:
Calories: 2212
Protein: 78g
Carbohydrates: 237g
Fat: 101g
Water: 2.75 Litres

Strength & Conditioning: N/A

Sleep: 6 hours 32 minutes

Body Weight

For the Friday weigh-in, I came in at 153.4 lbs, which is 69.7 kg. It does feel good to be under the 70kg mark for the first time in a while. With week 11 promising to be a no running week, my nutrition will need to be on point. I need to consume enough good, whole foods to enable muscle/tendon repair. However, with less activity comes less calories burned. There will need to be a balance to be struck.

Strength & Conditioning

I did my 20 minute routine 5 out of 5 weekdays this week. I managed to get 2 x 20 minute yoga sessions done. Not a great week on either of these two fronts.

The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 10 Update Lessons Learned

With the injury in week 10, I'm left wondering what I could do better to avoid injury in the future. I do genuinely follow my own advice with everything I preach about as far as injury prevention. But even all that it isn't always enough. Injuries still do happen. After thinking long and hard over these past few days, the one thing I can think of that may have helped revolves around my nutrition. Ideally, I would have been much closer to my ideal race weight before starting this program. That way, I could give myself a better nutritional regimen for recovery. I say this, but without question, I have fuelled myself far more during this block than I did for any of the last handful. That said, it would be easier to handle the running part of such an ambitious project without having to worry about the weight part of it.

The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 11 Running Sessions

This week's sessions are described in this post and on YouTube. I am back to building this week and hopefully, things will fall into place. If I'm not feeling it, I will adjust as the week goes on. Here are the week 11 running sessions in brief:

Monday: No running
Tuesday: 11 miles (18k) easy
Wednesday: 10 miles (16k) progression run down to 6:30/miole (4:02/km)
Thursday: 13 miles (21k) easy
Friday: Social 7 miles (11k) tempo run
Saturday: Rest day
Sunday: 10 mile (16 km) easy + 10 miles (16k) sub 7:00/mile (4:20/km)

The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 10 Update Summary

For the 2:49 Marathon Project Week 10 started with such promise. It turned for the worse mid-week. The only thing for me to do is to remain positive with my eye on December 1st.

Where Can You Follow the 2:49 Marathon Project?

Daily updates will be shared on my Instagram account and Tiktok account. Weekly updates will be in longer form on YouTube, my Facebook page, and here on the A Heart for Running blog.

If you are on any of these platforms, I would very much appreciate a follow. It would be a huge boost to my chances of reaching my goal.

Also, for anyone who wishes to get email updates, please subscribe to the mailing list at the bottom of this page and the weekly updates will be delivered directly to your inbox. Ensure to check your junk box and allow the emails from here through.

#MarathonTraining #RunningTips #EnduranceTraining #RunningCommunity #FitnessJourney #249MarathonProject

Weekly Metrics:

This is the Week 10 Updates

Friday Weigh-in Pounds: 153.6 lb (- 1.8 lb)
Friday Weigh-in Kg: 69.7 kg (- 0.8 kg)
Average Resting HR: 41 bpm (+2 bpm)
Average 7-Day HRV: 55.7
Average Nightly Sleep: 6:25 hours ( -102 minutes)
Average Daily Protein: 130g/day (+7g)
Average Daily Water: 3000 ml/day (+ 932ml)
Total Weekly KM's: 47.12 (-22.4 km)
Total Weekly Miles: 29.26 miles (-11.1 miles)

Click here to see last week's metrics

Previous Weeks:

Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
Week 15
Week 16