Last week I think the combination of taking Monday off as a rest day and my other recovery techniques worked rather well. On Monday I didn’t fell creaky and painful like I sometimes do the day after a long run and when training the day after, I didn’t feel like I was still recovering from Sunday. So I’ve decided that Monday is my new rest day. On Tuesday I felt more comfortable today than last week. I felt good all the way round. Afterwards, I didn’t feel totally exhausted like previous times.

Unfortunately, by Wednesday, the weather seemed to be getting a bit chilly again after the “mildness” of last week. Thursday was more like Tuesday in that I just seemed to run the four miles easy and two miles at moderate pace without much fuss. what made it memorable was the beautiful sunrise which rose as I ran around the headland.

Sunday

This week has just flown by. So when it came to this week’s long run, a mammoth eighteen-miler, I didn’t feel totally psyched up for it. In fact, I was even dreading it a little bit. Last weeks’ sixteen-mile run hurt, so adding another two miles onto that wasn’t going to make it any more comfortable.

To make the distance a little more manageable, I split it into two laps, each a nine-mile circuit of the South and North Bays. Basically it covered all the areas where I usually run, but with a few extensions to place I’ve run to in the past.

I decided to try and minimise the pain of this endurance run by taking my first energy gel before I had even set off, unlike my usual system of using them after the first six miles. Then I took one every three miles after that. Just a few hundred yards into my first mile, my leg muscles felt solid, like bricks. There was no elasticity or flexibility in them at all. It was obvious that my warm-up exercises had been somewhat lacklustre today. I had to find a wall and perform a few quick leg stretches in order to get my legs going. I was a little surprised as this was the first time I’ve ever had to do stretches after starting running. Once I set off again, they didn’t feel as stiff, but they ached really badly as they warmed up which was really painful.

By the time I had reached the Spa, they had stopped aching so badly, but the rocky start had shaken my confidence somewhat. I took my second energy gel whilst passing the Ocean Room and made my way to the most southerly point of my route. My muscles weren’t aching any more but they still felt as if they were not performing at their best, which filled me with apprehension about what the next fifteen miles would have in store.

Throughout this run I had a sense of stop-start regarding my energy levels. Each energy gel would come “on stream” about half an hour after I had eaten it, so there was a small lag between the effects of the last one wearing off and the next one kicking in. No matter how many gels I ate though, there was no distracting me from the fact that my feet and legs were all feeling tired and achy even in the early stages of the run. This made it much more uncomfortable than usual and I even contemplated walking at some points.

After I had rounded the headland in the middle of the first lap, about six miles in, the tide in the North Bay had gone so far out that I was able to get onto the beach from the most southerly steps (opposite the Albert Drive Cafe) – I don’t often get the chance to get onto the beach this far south because the tide doesn’t usually go out this far when I’m running. I was then able to run the entire length of the North Bay beach all the way up to the most northerly steps outside the Sea Life Centre.

I had managed to establish a rhythm which carried me through most of the nine miles of the first lap. After switching empty bottles for full ones at my home, I started the second lap. Naturally, it felt harder because I had already completed the first lap, but the energy gels meant I kept on having spurts of energy, which kept things interesting.

Coming back from the most southerly point of my route, I took an early detour into the beach, as the softer snad is more forgiving on my feet. It was the first time I had run outside the southern end of the Spa, which still has that feel of faded, dilapidated glory. Whilst I was running towards the lifeboat station and the end of the beach, I noticed how alone I was in the vast expanse of empty beach. Earlier on it had been quite busy, but now this section of the beach was much quieter. The headland was, as usual at this time of day, very busy with plenty of people around the South Bay end.

Coming around the headland for the second and last time and I was really beginning to feel the exhaustion creep up on me. I ran down onto the beach again, this time having to dodge the tide which was coming in quite fast. By this point I had equalled last weeks distance of sixteen miles, but the thought of doing another two miles was almost too much. I deliberately psyched myself up because I knew if I stopped now, I wouldn’t be able to get going again.

To my surprise, even though my legs were fatigued and I was generally quite exhuasted, I didn’t feel like my legs were going to explode like last week. It was more a case of just trying to run through the tiredness and try not to stop. When I finished, I could only half-believe that I had just completed the longest training run I’ve ever done. These long runs are also beginning to remind me of now much effort is required just to keep moving whilst running a marathon and how just much of a massive commitment it is.

Then on Thursday there I started my run in a light rain, which I can handle. However, this soon turned into a horrendous freezing cold shower as I tried to run around the headland. The winds are always bad around there because it is so exposed, but this time they beat me and I turned around. I still intended to complete my planned mileage along a different route, but as I got to the Sea Life Centre, about two miles in, the rain was still pounding me and the wind was not giving up.

So, again, I decided to abandon that run as well. By the time I had walked home, I was thoroughly soaked (my jacket not being waterproof enough to survive the onslaught of the rain), my jogging bottoms clinging and chilling my legs and the rest of me absolutely frozen.

I don’t really like training in winter and this week has proved just how difficult (and disappointing) it can be.

When I turned around at the Sea Life Centre, I looked across to where the headland should be, but there was only a white fog. It was a total whiteout! This wasn’t any old snow either; the snowflakes were as big as a two-pence piece and stuck to me as soon as they blew into me. I regularly had to shake off the settled snow so my body heat wouldn’t melt it and soak through my outer layers.

I might as well not have bothered, however, because when I got back home, semi-caked in Scarborough’s finest snow, I was soaked through anyway, my inner layers from sweat and my outer layers from the snow.

Following my new plan, I ran a mile at easy pace, then switched up a gear into my half-marathon pace (about 12 minutes per mile) for two miles, then ran easy for the final mile. Unlike previous pacing sessions where I always ended them totally exhausted, I felt quite comfortable running the up-tempo section. Which means I haven’t lost as much fitness as I thought since the Dublin Marathon. Despite all that, I had a thoroughly fun time. The training session wasn’t bad either.

Then the second mile was just as hard. Usually, it gets a little easier, the aches and pains wear off and I can concentrate on running the distance. Not today. It just got harder and harder. I was running my normal route of going round the headland, around the South Bay, back around the headland and along the North Bay and through the parks. When I reached the Sea Life Centre, I almost stopped as I turned around to head towards Peasholm Park, but I knew that if I stopped it would be twice as hard (and painful) to get going again.

So I struggled on, plodding away trying to ignore my aching leg muscles. By the time I was a short distance into the Peasholm Park leg, on the final mile of my route, I gave in and started walking instead. It wasn’t just my legs that were being tortured – my feet were on fire!

From there I walked the rest of the route. As I emerged from Peasholm Glen, I was started by a tremendous BANG! from the other side of the lake. It took me a few moments to realise that it was a television crew who were filming an episode of The Royal.

The exhaustion of this run has once again made my doubt my ability to run the marathon in my target time of 5h30m and rudely reminded me of just how hard and difficult running a marathon is.

For this long run around Scarborough, I created a new route. From the end of my usual route at the bottom of the South Bay, I then diverted up along a coastal path which leads me out onto a car park near to where the Holbeck Hall hotel famously collapsed in 1993.

From there my new route turned right onto Holbeck Hill, following that road until it meets Ramshill Road. Then the route continues down Ramshill Road until it joins Valley Road at the roundabout there. Then I diverted up Valley Road for about a mile before turning round to rejoin my usual route. The route follows my usual route around the headland and Marine Drive all the way up to the Sea Life Centre, where my route deviates from the usual again, heading up Scalby Mills Road.

I’d follow that until the junction with Burniston Road, following that down to Peasholm Park, where I would rejoin my usual route again until the finish.

I started late, because I forgot my energy gels, which didn’t put me in the best mood. This also meant I was starting later than I wanted to which in turn meant that I would have to dodge all the Sunday walkers who would get in my way.

The first three miles were run of the mill. The first shock came when I got to the end of South bay and began running up the coastal path. The trouble with aerial maps is that they don’t display terrain elevation very well, as I discovered. It was so steep, running became impossible and I had to walk most of it, which was exhausting in itself.

After I’d climbed that mountain, running along Holbeck Hill was comparatively easy. I passed the six mile mark whilst running along this road and was surprised at how “easy” this run was so far. From there on it was all fairly normal, run of the mill running.

The fatigue only really started to hit when I got to the far end of my route, going up onto Scalby Mills Road. Around this point I started to feel a boost from the second energy gel I had taken earlier, but it was still tough. Turning on Burniston Road I headed down to Peasholm Park.

This was where I really felt exhausted, as Burniston Road is a lot longer than it looks on a map! Finally, though I made it to Peasholm Park and completed my run after that.

That was a really exhausting run and I was left panting for breath when I finally stopped.

I really felt it on my legs this time, especially around the three mile mark, entering Peasholm Park. They felt more like lead than flexible muscles. Usually I can polish a four-mile run off without feeling too tired, but this time I felt much more exhausted. I’m glad I’m not running tomorrow!

After Monday, when I had to stop without finishing my route, I was quite happy with my pace today. Running around the corner of the headland back towards the North Bay I didn’t feel totally knackered like last time and kept up the same moderately fast pace all the way up to the Sea Life Centre.

I’ve measured the distance between the junction of Albert road and Marine drive up to the Sea Life Centre as a mile and I use how long it takes me to run this distance as an indicator of my pace and how fast I’m running. During this run I managed to complete it in just over 10 minutes, which is actually quite fast for me – usually I aim for a speed of around 12 minutes per mile, which is equivalent to 5h30m marathon pace.

Running north towards the Sea Life Centre means you have the wind behind you and on a day like today with bright sunshine, that means there’s no oncoming breeze to cool you down. So I was getting quite warm and sweaty by this point. Running south, away from the Sea Life Centre usually means the wind is now blowing towards you, which would be a welcome relief on this run, but there was only a calm breeze. So the sweat was by now just pouring off me. Every part of my body was slick with sweat. So much was dripping off my face that it smeared my glasses! It really makes you feel like you’re training hard when the sweat is literally dripping off.

Despite all this, I still managed to complete my route, exhausted but not totally knackered. It definitely felt like one of the most intensive jogs I’ve done so far.

A redeeming feature of training so early in the morning is that you get to watch the dawn coming up and in Scarborough, this can be a real treat. By the time it gets light enough to call it morning, I would usually be coming back round the corner of the Sea Life Centre, towards North Bay again with views of the headland and the castle straight ahead. Watching the sun (or at least daylight) come up over the headland is a great experience.

Last week, I went for my usual training run at around 6:30 in the morning and was actually surprised to find it daylight. It was nice to go running in the daylight again as I had been when I started training last July but I had grown used to running at dawn. Ah well. This is also another sign that time is running out to complete my training schedule.