On the home straight

Day:         116

Distance: 6.31km/3.92 miles

Time:       29:35 secs

Calories:  517

So, according to the Runner's World guide this run should be "3 miles 6 x 100 s". I have no difficulty understanding the first part, but the second part means nothing to me. After checking the key I can see that this means I should cover 3 miles in total and, within that distance, I should do 6 lots of "gradual, smooth accelerations over 100 metres ... then just as gradually decelerating". OK, so a little bit of speed work - why didn't they just say so?

I follow the same route as for the earlier run from this week and build 2 of these "gradual, smooth accelerations" into each of the 10 minute segments of the run. It's not exactly taxing, but it does feel good to be out running. It feels even better to do so with the Vaccines' debut album "What did you expect from the Vaccines" on my ipod. This is a great album to run to. It weighs in at just over 30 minutes in total, which means that I get to listen to it in its entirety, and it has some varied songs from the uptempo "Norgaard" to the slower - and ridiculously catchy - "Wetsuit". 

I got really excited about this band when their debut single came out and I'm so pleased that their album is an absolute belter. For once the hype was worth it. "Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)" has been an ever present on the running playlist and I've included it in a previous post, so I thought I'd put up this live version of "Wetsuit" for your musical enjoyment. It kind of reminds me of the Beach Boys, which is never a bad thing.

Anyway, back to the running and things are really hotting up this week. 

• I've absolutely smashed my fundraising target this week (thanks to everyone who's sponsored me)
• I've been over to Excel to pick up my running number (look out for 38836)
• I've received my goodie bag - quite why the London Marathon needs an "official beer" I don't know, but I'm more than happy to accept the free can of London Pride they dish out along with a Mars Bar and a small can of deodorant
• I've started my carb-loading (and am feeling pretty bloated) and tomorrow I'm off to Diabetes UK's pre-marathon pasta party. 

So, pretty much the only thing left to do now is to run those 26.2 miles through London town. People keep asking me if I'm nervous, but I'm genuinely not. I've no doubt that I'll feel nervous on Sunday morning as I make my way over to the start line in Greenwich, but at the moment I'm just very excited.

Blister in the sun

Day:         111

Distance: 11.86km/7.37 miles

Time:       59:41 secs

Calories:  914

It's the last of the long runs. It doesn't feel all that long though as it's one of the shortest runs I've done since I started my marathon training - only the run at the end of week one was shorter than this. Still, I guess that's exactly what this tapering lark is supposed to be about.

It's another beautifully sunny morning and while it's a pleasure to run 7 miles or so in weather like this I am wondering what 26.2 miles in similar conditions will feel like. I've just checked the BBC's outlook for next week and it tells me that:

Temperatures will remain well above the seasonal average ... more dry weather can be expected across the south of England and Wales, whilst April's rain and showers will be found further north.

Granted, the BBC's weather forecasts should always be taken with a pinch of salt but it looks like I may need to get used to running in lovely, sunny, punishing weather. Still, it'll be nice for spectators.

Anyway, back to the run and the running playlist must have sensed that this was the last of the long runs as it saw me out in style. Around 20 minutes in I was treated to the finest threesome that an honest married man can enjoy; "I wanna be sedated" by the Ramones, "Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)" by the Vaccines and "Get Free" by the Vines. Three perfectly formed nuggets of rock n' roll to propel me along the street of London. At the time it feels as if my ipod has judged my mood perfectly, but then I remember that the playlist is stuffed to the seams with tunes of this quality - a fact that is highlighted when the Vines segue into Funeral Party's "Finale" which has a fantastic riff built for speed.

Although I have now decided to run the marathon sans ipod the running playlist has been fantastic for the training runs that I've done over the last few months. It's been there to spur me on when energy levels have dropped, it's been there to put a smile on my face when the right song comes on at the right moment and it's been integral to my enjoyment of the last 111 days. I had originally planned to use it on the marathon, but I've been advised that the crowd and the atmosphere of the day do the exact same job. In addition, I have friends and family coming out to watch me so I'd like to be able to see those who do come out to cheer me on.

Speaking of spectators, I need to sit down at some point and work out where I'm going to be at certain points. I'll post those details up over the next few days.

Anyway, to finish off today's post I'm going to leave you with another song from the Vaccines. I've mentioned this band quite a few times on this blog (not as many times as the National, admittedly). I picked up their wonderfully titled debut album "What did you expect from the Vaccines?" last week and I'm really pleased with it, so here's their latest single which features a very insistent chorus and a great line about "all the friends I do not like as much as you".

Looking for positives

Day:         59

Distance: 9.97km

Time:       53:19 secs

Calories:  767

Note to self: when the training plan suggests you take it easy after a long run at the weekend you should take it easy.

Following last night's AudioFuelled run, tonight was challenging. In my eagerness to try out the AudioFuel freebie last night I ended up covering 8.38km in about the same time that it took me to cover 7.48km the Monday before. Now I see the difference written down it really doesn't seem all that much, but this can be the only reason why I found tonight's run so difficult.

I started out with high hopes for this "60 mins fartlek" run following the successful pilot of my "Slow/fast" playlist last week. However, it never really felt as though I was able to speed up as much as I would like for the fast sections of this run. The only two fast songs that really seemed to pick me up this time round were "Wreckin ' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)" and "White Riot" - but they both last for less than 2 minutes!

Although this was perhaps the least enjoyable of all the training runs I've been on so far there are definitely some positives to take out of it. 

Firstly, at least I went out and did it. There were points when I considered turning back, but I'm glad I pushed on. I didn't manage the full hour, but 53 mins isn't far off. 

Secondly, looking at the Run Keeper analysis I can see that, as so often happens, perception is different to reality. While it felt as if every kilometre was a struggle and as though I was wading through treacle at times I can see that despite the varied pace of a fartlek run only one of the kilometres averaged more than 5:30 mins/km. The fastest kilometre was covered in 4:39 and the slowest in 6:02. The average speed came out at 5:20 mins/km which, incidentally, is about the speed I need to be averaging if I'm to complete the London Marathon in my target time of 3:40.

Thirdly, well it would have been nice to have had three positives to take out of tonight's run but I'm afraid I've stretched it too far at this point. That said, tomorrow is designated as a rest day and after a run like this that is most definitely a positive.

Are you going backwards, or are you going forwards?

Day:         53

Distance: 8.31km

Time:       40:29 secs

Calories:  639

It's an early start (out the door at 6:20am) and the training plan has dictated a fartlek run consisting of "40 mins 2 mins easy 8 mins fast x 4". Given previous posts you could be forgiven for thinking that I'd be dreading this run and normally you'd be right, but last night I finally put together a fartlek playlist and I was looking forward to trying it out.

Compiling a playlist for a fartlek session is quite difficult as the majority of songs lasting for around 2 minutes in my itunes library are 200mph punk numbers. I have a pretty limited number of slow 2 minute long songs to choose from. The second problem is, essentially, the reverse of the first. There aren't a whole lot of fast songs which last for 8 minutes, so I'm left trying to beat match a number of fast songs so as to create a vaguely consistent tempo.

The first 10 minutes began with British Sea Power's slow-building opener "All in it", which lasts for 2:13 secs. This set me up perfectly for the 'slow' tempo start to the run before the Vaccines, Idlewild, The Ramones and The Rakes crashed the party and got me running at a 'fast' tempo for 8 minutes. Run Keeper underlines the effectiveness of this mix as I was running at 6:25 mins/km in the first minute, but when "Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)" by the Vaccines kicked in in the third minute I was propelled forward at 3:52 mins/km - a pretty impressive change in tempo. While the tempo wasn't constant for the entirety of this 'fast' section most of those eight minutes saw me record an average speed around or below 4:30 mins/km.

The second 10 minutes began with Mark Kozelek's cover of AC/DC's "Love at first feel". This acoustic beauty gave me 2:12 secs of respite before Blur's "We've got a file on you" informed me that it was time to pick up my pace. This was followed by "Oh Yeah" (The Subways), "22 Grand Job" (The Rakes) and "I wanna be sedated" (The Ramones). Again, the effectiveness of the music mix is clear to see as for the two minutes of 'slow' running I was averaging 6 mins/km. For the 8 minutes of 'fast' running that followed this I was able to maintain a pretty fast pace, although I can see that I definitely slowed down for the last couple of minutes (the last minute of this section took 5:41 mins/km).

Relief was on hand at the start of the third section as Michael Cera and Ellen Page (the stars of "Juno") serenaded me with a cover of the Moldy Peaches' "Anyone else but you". The 'fast' section was run to the sound of the View ("Wasted Little DJs") and Arcade Fire ("Month of May"). By this time it really felt as though I was running through treacle and the difference between the slow and fast tempos seemed, if not exactly non-existent, certainly less pronounced. So, I'm pleased to look at the stats on Run Keeper and see that there was still a clear difference between the two paces.

The final quarter began with Bill Withers singing "Ain't no sunshine". It's a good song to slow the pace down, but I hadn't realised how bloody repetitive it is. In one chorus (?) alone he repeats "I know" 26 times. Twenty six. I thought my ipod was skipping.

It was with some relief that the Libertines' "I get along" kicked off the final 'fast' section of the run. This was followed by "Readers and Writers" by Idlewild - which I've already mentioned on this blog as being a song that really helps to fire me up. This was trumped by the final song on the playlist, "White Riot" by the Clash - one of my all time favourite songs. As soon as that urgent two chord riff started up I felt completely re-energised and this is demonstrated by Run Keeper which shows that those last two minutes were conquered in 4:11 and 4:51 mins/km respectively.

So there we have it. Proof that a fartlek playlist can be done and can be very effective. I've got some more of these runs coming up in the next few weeks and now I've got this playlist sorted I may even look forward to them, more so when I've found a replacement for "Ain't no sunshine".

Thank you for the music

Day:         22
Distance: 6.55 km
Time:       34:37 secs
Calories:  504

Rarely in the field of marathon training have music and running come together in such perfect unison.

I was only supposed to be going out for a 35 minute run at an 'easy' tempo following yesterday's 17km run, but when your ipod treats you to such perfect explosions of rock n' roll as "Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)" by the Vaccines, "22 Grand Job" by the Rakes and "Blitzkrieg Bop" by the Ramones one after the other there's no way you can settle for a slow pace. None of those songs weigh in at more than 3 minutes (in fact "Wreckin' Bar" comes and goes in just 1:24 secs), but they are exactly the kind of songs that really fire me up. I've checked Run Keeper and for the first kilometre of this run I was averaging just under 4.5 mins per km - that's the kind of speed I run at for a 10k race - and I've absolutely no doubt that this tempo was down to the urgent, punky energy of each one of those three songs.

Obviously, I can't have a 5 hour long playlist consisting solely of songs like this - for one thing I'd be shattered well before the finish line - but they play an absolutely crucial role. I can well imagine one of those songs picking me up when my energy levels and pace are dropping and today they helped me to forget about my weary legs.