Week 10 | 19.3 - 25.3

Mon - Rest
Could still feel my legs from Saturday hard biking.

Tue - 5.77k ; 33:04 ; 5.44min/k
Seriously good and enjoyable(!) run. I was able to keep up with me colleagues without pushing too much and even had something at the very end. This was the best run I had had in a long time.
Man, did I need that!

Wed - 7.45k ; 47:15 ; 6:21min/k
Took it easy on this one and really enjoyed it. Finally I was reunited with my love of running, which felt as an effortless forward flowing motion. Very happy with this run, indeed.

Thu - Rest
Wanted to rest as much as possible before the long run.

Fri - Rest
Met up with a friend and took great care with food, making sure to be loaded on carbs and protein.

Sat - 29.41k ; 3:44:11 ; 7:37min/k
I woke up covered in sweat and knew that didn't bide very well for the longest run of my life. Hell, I HAD to do it, there was no other way. So I went.
My body felt weak but legs felt quite ok which was positive. I started quite slow, with averaging around 6:20min per km, but decided to ignore the pace as I could feel my body wasn't able  to go faster.
This was also my first real test of all my gear with just shorts and t-shirt, basically what I will be running the marathon in.
The bad news is, it was supposed to be hot. Well not really hot, but definitely around 20oC, which was about 10oC warmer than during my last long run. I took two handhelds with weak Nuun hoping it would be enough. It wasn't. I felt ok around 15k point, getting a bit hot but not too bad, even if my pace was dropping. Around 23k mark I felt a jolt of positive energy telling me I will be able to run until the very end without problems. It wasn't to be, the heat got the better of me. Or rather, lack of water. Just into the last loop I was forced to walk as had no energy. Legs felt ok considering having done 25k but my body was fading fast. I walked a bit more, trying to gather myself and couldn't. So I decided to walk for couple of km, where I was hoping to get some more water (had ran out by that point). Also I noticed that I stopped sweating, which was not good. I was managing the temperature ok, had no cramping issues but was getting more and more thirsty. So I stopped at a pub for some water, of which I drank almost half of the bottle immediately and put some on my head and neck. Damn, that felt good. I tried to pick up the pace, but had full stomach of water, which wasn't very running friendly, either. So I walked more. Only in the last km I went into 'shuffle' mode, by that point my legs had stiffened up considerably, but I was surprised they were able to get going anyway. Finished completely spent and out of it. Phew. As a bonus I got sunburned on my neck, next time I should put suncream on when I am about to spend 4 hours in direct sunlight, duh...
At least I didn't go shirtless as Tony Krupicka, that would have been some serious damage :)

Conclusion:
Fuelling was I think ok, as my legs were able to move until the very end but body was spent. I will need to drink much more during the race, luckily the aid stations are every 5km so I should be ok with one handheld bottle in between. Other than that, the rest of the gear worked great, no chaffing issues thanks to Bodyglide, running belt stayed in place and I had no problems with carrying two bottles for 4 hours. Feet held up remarkably well, no blisters and no sore spots in the metatarsal area.

Sun - Rest
Definitely sore legs but nothing too bad, even the knee is only ok painful. Let's see how it feels tomorrow thanks to DOMS :)

Total running distance:  42.63 km

Much better week than the previous few. Both short runs felt great, the long run was a valuable experience.  This is the last high mileage week, the taper starts now. I definitely need to get back some speed into the legs, and try to loose a bit more weight. Apart from that, keeping healthy and the legs in shape for the big day is the main mission.

have a good week