We flew back to Dubai on 24th July and arrived in 50 degree heat to pick up marathon training again…
Thursday 27th – 4 miles outside at 70% humidity with a pace of 10:14/mile, then an attempt to “cool down” with one mile on the treadmill but it was really hot in the gym as well and this was slow at 11:30 for the mile.
Friday 28th – 4.5 miles outside at 10:20/mile, 50 degrees and +70% humidity so it’s time to move indoors to the dreadmill…
Saturday 29th – 3 slow (10:50) and boring miles on the treadmill followed by 3 miles on the bike.
Sunday 30th – Travel day to Hong Kong
Monday 31st – I arrived in Hong Kong at 11pm on Sunday night but only managed about 4 hours sleep due to jet lag, I somehow still got myself to the gym for 3 miles (11:06) on the treadmill taking my July total to 85km which was less than June.
Tuesday 1st August – This was my first speed workout and I did 6 miles on the treadmill in 55.36 at 9:16/mile. I did a 2 mile warm up then 8 x 1 minute sprints at 7:42/mile with 3 minutes recovery at 9:20/mile, followed by 0.5 mile cool down. My splits were 11:22, 9:26, 8:49, 8:29, 8:31, 8:59.
Wednesday 2nd – Rest day
Thursday 3rd – I tried my first tempo run and did 3 miles in 26:39 at 8:53 average. Half a mile warm up and half a mile cool down with 2 miles fast running in between, my splits were 9:39, 8:21, 8:39.
Friday 4th – Travel day back to Dubai
Saturday 5th – Long run day! We went to Dubai Sports World where they have an indoor running track open in summer and did our long run here. I ran 12 miles at 10:15/mile average and the total running time was 2 hours 3 minutes. I was pretty happy with this run as it was almost as good a pace as my half marathon in February so it made me feel more confident about my training.
Week 9 summary: 24 miles in Dubai with 3 treadmill runs (one 4 mile tempo, 5 mile steady, 3 mile fartlek) and then 12 slow miles at Dubai Sports world on Saturday. The first half of my long run felt impossible and overall pace was 10:42/mile.
Week 10 summary: this week was a bit of a disaster with only 4 miles at 8:49 pace on the treadmill.
The struggle in these weeks of marathon training was running on the treadmill, regardless of distance. I don’t know why but I do not enjoy running on the treadmill in Dubai at all, even though I find it much easier to run on the treadmill in Hong Kong despite the fact I am staring at a black screen the whole time! Do you have any tips for making treadmill running more fun? If I am doing a speed workout the time passes quicker and it’s more enjoyable than slow and steady.
