McMillan Custom Marathon Plan: Week 4 Day 4

Week 4, Day 4
Phase: Pre-Marathon
Workout: 65 to 80 minute Pace Booster Run: Run 40 to 50 minutes at Steady State Pace in the middle of the run
Purpose: Build Speed – Aerobic Capacity (VO2max)

So much for the “recovery week” Coach McMillan promised at the beginning of the week. Tuesday’s workout was tough with 8 x 60 intervals at 5k pace and this afternoon’s 40 minutes Steady State Pace was by the far the toughest workout so far.

I’ll spare you the gory details, but even during the 15 minute warm up my legs were rebelling. Unusually for me, I’d convinced myself the 40 minutes at around 6:30 pace would be almost impossible and was dreading the moment I’d need to step up the pace.

The first mile was quite tough and I struggled to settle into a rhythm, but luckily my 6:30 pace was in the required zone. The second mile was about the same, but at some point in the third mile everything clicked and my mood changed. I can’t say the remaining four miles were easy, but somehow I managed to quicken my pace and average 6:22 per mile for the 40 minutes – 8 whole seconds per mile quicker than last week’s 30 minute effort!

As usual the cool down was a slog and the longest 15 minutes of running I’ve experienced for quite some time. Eventually I made it home, enjoyed a long, cold shower and am literally trying to get my legs back as I type this. Tomorrow is another easy day and according to McMillan is where any fitness improvement will be made. Should be an interesting day….