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The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 13 Update

November 11, 2024

The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 13 Update

The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 13 Update will show an excellent week of training. I had a high volume week and some fairly high intensity. Pleased with week 13, I feel like I should be feeling at this point. I'm left wondering how I would be feeling if I didn't have the issues I had earlier in the training block. That's the thing about marathon training...the what if's! However, there's nothing can be done about the past. I can only look forward to the next 10 days of work before I taper for the event.

Update on Valencia Marathon

Probably the biggest question in the world of marathon running at the minute is, will Valencia go ahead? We received an email last week asking for our patience as the organisers work through the details. Although the city of Valencia was not badly affected, the surrounding areas were devastated. To make matters worse, the government is being highly criticised for its handling of the entire situation. There is no need for me to go into the politics, but suffice it to say, the people of the Valencia Community are outraged and continue to be.

There was a half marathon in Alicante cancelled on Sunday, the 10th of November and there is no damage in that area to speak of. It was a government department that forced the cancellation of that event. My feeling is that it is 50/50 at this point. There has been much speculation on the internet floating around, but it is complete speculation. Until we hear direct from the organisers, I will be treating it as if it is going forward. I do not have a plan B. It wouldn't be the first time I was marathon ready only have the event cancelled. We all remember Covid and the 2020 Manchester Marathon.

The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 13 Update: The Daily Updates

Week 13 was a very good week. My volume was relatively high at 82 miles (132 km). In reality, it just didn't feel that high. I think I could have handled plenty more volume and saying that in week 13 is a great sign. Overall, my fitness is coming into a good place at just the right time. Here is how the week played out:

Monday:

Monday started the week off with a bang. It was 16 miles (26 km) at an easy effort. Starting the week off with a session to tire the legs, who wouldn't love that? I actually did enjoy this one. I ran out of fuel, or at least it felt like it, at around mile 10. From that point on, it actually felt just like the last 6 miles of a marathon. Just grind out the last 6 miles and keep the head up. Using mantras, and counting cadence got me through these last hard miles.

Running Details:
Distance: 16.2 miles (26.1 km)
Avg Pace Overall: 8:24/mile (5:13/km)
Running Shoes: Nike Zoom Tempo Next%
Time & Temperature: 13:32 - 24 C (75 F)
HRV: 77.7

Nutrition Statistics:
Calories: 1794
Protein: 122g
Carbohydrates: 232g
Fat: 42g
Water: 3.25 Litres

Strength & Conditioning: 20 minute bodyweight routine

Sleep: 6 hours 56 minutes

Tuesday:

Tuesday was a 9 mile (15 km) tempo run. The aim on the 5 miles at tempo pace was to hit 6:30/mile (4:02/km) pace. I have been trying to make the conversion to KM's and therefore my watch is set to record kilometres. It might not sound like a big deal, but sometimes it makes a difference when looking at splits. My splits on the tempo portion look like this:

4:25
4:22
4:09
4:17
4:19
4:03
4:03
4:05

Running Details:
Distance: 9.48 miles (15.27 km)
Avg Pace Overall: 7:18/mile (4:32/km)
Running Shoes: Nike Alphafly 1 Old
Time & Temperature: 13:50 - 25 C (77 F)
HRV: 66.6

Nutrition Statistics:
Calories: 2387
Protein: 142g
Carbohydrates: 300g
Fat: 74g
Water: 3.75 Litres

Strength & Conditioning: 20 minute bodyweight routine

Sleep: 8 hours 17 minutes

Wednesday:

Wednesday of Week 13 was a 13 mile (21 km) easy effort run. I got out late for this run and barely made it home before dark. However, the miles went by without any issue and it felt good to stretch the legs.

Running Details:

Distance: 13.13 miles (21.14 km)
Avg Pace Overall: 8:30/mile (5:17/km)
Running Shoes: Asics Novablast 3
Time & Temperature: 14:09 - 23 C (73 F)
HRV: 87.4

Nutrition Statistics:

Calories: 2422
Protein: 110g
Carbohydrates: 347g
Fat: 66g
Water: 3 Litres

Strength & Conditioning: 20 minutes body weight routine + 20 minute yoga for runners

Sleep: 6 hours 56 minutes

Thursday:

This was a rest day. After piling the volume on early in the week, a Thursday rest day was appreciated.

Running Details:
HRV: 114.3

Nutrition Statistics:
Calories: 2656
Protein: 163g
Carbohydrates: 275g
Fat: 92g
Water: 3 Litres

Strength & Conditioning: 20 minute bodyweight routine

Sleep: 8 hours 24 minutes

Friday:

Friday in Week 13 of the 2:49 Marathon Project was a double session. 8 miles (13 km) steady in the morning and 7 miles (11 km) in the evening.

Running Details:
Distance: 8.17 & 7.05 miles (13.15 km & 11.35 km)
Avg Pace Overall: 7:03/mile & 9:01/mile (4:23/km & 5:36/km)
Running Shoes: Nike Alphafly 2 & Nike Revolution 6
Time & Temperature: 11:05 & 16:37 - 20 C (68 F)
HRV: 86.5

Nutrition Statistics:
Calories: 1944
Protein: 128g
Carbohydrates: 241g
Fat: 52g
Water: 3 Litres

Strength & Conditioning: 20 minute body weight routine

Sleep: 6 hours 48 minutes

Saturday:

Saturday was a 7 mile (11 km) tempo run. Pretty much 5k max effort. This 5k was sandwiched between 3k easy. I was quite happy to keep a good hard, steady pace through to the end. My splits for the 5k effort looked like this:
3:38 - 6:01
3:54 - 6:17
3:54 - 6:17
3:54
3:54

Total 5k max effort run was 19:18

Running Details:
Distance: 11.5 miles (7.13 km)
Avg Pace Overall: 6:12/mile (3:51/km) - Tempo portion only
Running Shoes: Nike Vaporfly 3
Time & Temperature: 10:31 - 19 C (66 F)
HRV: 72.1

Nutrition Statistics:
Calories: 2202
Protein: 157g
Carbohydrates: 261g
Fat: 56g
Water: 3 Litres

Strength & Conditioning: 20 minutes yoga

Sleep: 4 hours 41 minutes

Sunday:

The 2:49 Marathon Project week 13 Sunday run consisted of 12 miles (20 km) easy followed by 10 miles (16 km) at sub 7:00/mile pace (4:20/km). I changed it up a little and mixed in some harder 5k sections of the run along the route. I really enjoyed this run. It did turn out a little shorter than I anticipated, but the work was done.

Running Details:
Distance: 21.13 miles (34.01 km)
Avg Pace Overall: 7:50/mile (4:52/km)
Running Shoes: Hoka Rocket x2
Time & Temperature: 10:42 - 20 C (68 F)
HRV: 70.3

Nutrition Statistics:
Calories: 1779
Protein: 108g
Carbohydrates: 210g
Fat: 56g
Water: 3.75 Litres

Strength & Conditioning: 20 minutes yoga

Sleep: 9 hours 54 minutes

Body Weight

This wasn't a great week of discipline in the kitchen. It was certainly a challenge on some days. With the weight gain, I'm not going to be near my goal, and probably not even near Manchester weight. It will likely be more towards my 148 pounds (67.1 kg) that I was in London in 2023. This week's weigh in saw me hit 155.6, or a gain of 3 pounds in total. At 2-3 seconds per mile / pound of body weight, this is going to add up.

Strength & Conditioning

I did my 20 minute routine 5 out of 5 weekdays this week. I managed to get 3 x 20 minute yoga sessions done.

The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 12 Update Lessons Learned

For the lessons learned this week I would say it is more a reminder. As marathon runners we will sometimes struggle to get through an entire training block without missing some time. For the last 3 years I hadn't suffered any injuries or missed any time worth speaking of. In 2022 I had a sore back, which caused me some problems in Berlin and Dublin that year. But it didn't really affect me on my target races.

However, missing some time isn't always a bad thing. I missed 8 days of running and after coming back, I feel energised. I'm coming closer to my target paces that I had been and I feel so much better. I suppose what I'm saying is, missing some time during a training block isn't always detrimental to training. As long as the comeback is gradual, the missed time could actually be an advantage. It gives the rest of the body time to heal up and take on the benefit of the hard work that had been done. So while the injury heals, so does the rest of the body. Happy days!

The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 14 Running Sessions

This week's sessions are described in this post and on YouTube. I am back to feeling much more like myself and I look forward to pushing myself in week 14. Here are the week 14 running sessions in brief:

Monday: Rest day
Tuesday: 8 x 1k reps
Wednesday: 20 miles (33k) easy effort
Thursday: Rest day
Friday: 6 miles (10 km) steady
Saturday: 6 miles (10k) tempo run with middle 5k hard
Sunday: 24 mile (39 km) easy - Dress rehearsal

The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 13 Update Summary

For the 2:49 Marathon Project Week 13, it was one of the most enjoyable weeks so far. It was hard, don't get me wrong. But, at the end of the day, this is why we take on these challenges. I love pushing myself and trying my best to improve and I put in the work in week 13.

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.

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

Weekly Metrics:

This is the Week 13 Updates

Friday Weigh-in Pounds: 155.6 lb (+3.2 lb)
Friday Weigh-in Kg: 70.58 kg (+1.45 kg)
Average Resting HR: 41 bpm (-)
Average 7-Day HRV: 82.1
Average Nightly Sleep: 7:39 hours ( +39 minutes)
Average Daily Protein: 133g/day (+24g)
Average Daily Water: 3250 ml/day (+ 350ml)
Total Weekly KM's: 132.5 (+59.3 km)
Total Weekly Miles: 82.3 miles (+36.8 miles)

Click here to see last week's metrics