6 weeks to go!

Today was my penultimate 20+ training run and it felt great! It really does wonders for your motivation to feel progress over such a short period of time - each week I can feel that i'm getting fitter and stronger.

From first stepping out this morning, I felt pretty good as I had rested all day Friday. The first 4 miles breezed as I then reached the new section I have added to my route which is pretty hilly. Last week one of the hills left me feeling completely out of breath but this week I felt noticeably stronger going up (this is what i'm talking about regarding progress!). I kept going to mile 10 where I stopped for my first Gel - although I didn't feel as I particularly needed it, I had been running for almost 80 mins so didn't want to risk my supplies getting too low.

On average your muscles can store enough Glycogen to keep you fuelled for 90 mins - you do not want to get to empty as this is what we call hitting the wall and means you don't have the energy to move. Once you reach empty it takes considerably longer to refuel than it does to refuel with a little left in the tank so always stay on the side of caution.

I kept moving onto the next section of hills by which time the sun had come out, giving me a little extra push. From mile 15, the route flattens back out which is great for increasing pace. I stopped for my second Gel then pushed on to the end, arriving home in 2:34:15 and clocking up just over 20 miles. Today was the first day during my cool down walk I didn't have shaky legs which is another sign of how far I've come!

My boyfriend, or Delia as i'm now calling him, spent his morning baking homemade jam tarts which after running 20 miles and being in a major calorie deficit, I was only happy to indulge in! Check them out -

The weeks are absolutely flying by at the moment - I cannot believe there is only 6 weeks to go until i'll be lining up on the London Marathon start line! The week ahead is a low mileage one as I have the Reading half on Sunday. I will be aiming to beat my PB that  I set at Brighton 3 weeks ago but it's going to be tough as Brighton was a really strong run. From there, I have one last big of miles then start to taper ahead of the big day. With the mileage falling, I will be focused on increasing intensity as much as possible to ensure I'm in the best possible shape for the 26th April.

6 weeks and counting guys...