I love the position you’re in coming into this big week. The long runs have gone great, you’ve banked a parkrun PB, the gym worked you have done has you stronger than perhaps ever before? You should be so excited about Sunday. It’s a no pressure expectation run, as Brighton marathon is the goal. You could even go out there and not look at your watch if you wanted. My pace sheet which is normally very accurate is telling me 1:53, but that’s just a guide and doesn’t necessarily factor in the hills. If it were me I wouldn’t worry about time, just enjoy it, work hard and see what that big finish line clock says when you pass underneath. Any issues with the schedule just shout. If you need extra rest there is scope to ditch a gym session this week and still hit the target (was 130 on the plan)

134 Points Achieved

MONDAY

25pts | Timed Taper (HM)

25 POINTS

Recoveries: 120 Secs for the 12 mins, 60 Seconds for the 1 min reps.

A really good session to do as a group the week in the lead up to a half marathon. It gives you an opportunity to run a few miles at goal pace and also get some speed in the legs. Be sure to stick to HM pace though, any quicker and it defies the object of the session and you will be tired on race day.

25 Points

I only did 7 mins for warm up and cool down. It was a very reassuring session in regard pace for HHM!

That’s ok, wasn’t easy with the extra activities, and thank you for helping out last night with the warm up, took much longer than I expected 🤦‍♂️ If you get the chance to fit in those missing 6 mins later in the week, it worth adding them on. But you looked super strong and that’s the idea of that session, a reminder that actually, HM pace is quite nice, albeit throw in some hills and it’s a bit more challenging, but you get the idea. Well done Emily.

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

9pts | 30 Mins Elliptical

9 POINTS

30 Mins Elliptical (RPE: 6-7)

A good way to boost cardio whilst reducing the risk of injury. The elliptical can tone muscles and improve endurance whilst being gentle on your joints.

10pts | Emily Push & Pull

10 POINTS

Let me know if you can merge the two sessions you currently do into one and if you send me a screenshot of the exercises I can then add them to this page.

19 Points

Complete ✅ Did 30 mins on the bike as the elliptical was in use 😊

Great work Emily!!! I get very angry when all the stair steppers are being used. Luckily most only last 5 mins on there so I don’t have to wait long 😂

thursday

12 Points

Complete ✅ kept the weights considerably lighter due to HHM and hadn’t done some of these exercise for a while 😊

Sensible decision to lessen the load ahead of Sunday. Good to get the exercises done though. Great work Emily. Roll on Sunday

FRIDAY

12 Points

Did 40 mins ✅ Really really looking forward to Sunday! 🏃‍♀️

5am club. Duly impressed. Well done Emily. Sunday is going to be awesome and great that you are heading into in great shape. You are going to smash it.

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

66pts | Half Marathon (Race)

66 POINTS

Stick to your goal pace early on and it should feel easy. Dig deep in those final 5km to achieve your goal. The biggest mistake you can make is getting swept along in the early stages and going off too fast.

66 Points

Get ready for an essay, Simon! Firstly, thank you so much. It’s amazing to see all the training paying off, and I’m so proud to have achieved a PB! That said, I think it was one of the hardest races I’ve ever done. I found Queensway really tough—the 2-hour pacer was right near me, and I could feel people constantly running past, which got into my head a bit. At one point, I genuinely thought I might not even break 2 hours. When I finally pulled away from the pacer, I was hit with a really painful stitch (probably too many jelly babies!) that lasted from the ridge all the way to the seafront. I almost gave up on my target pace because of it—but I had this little voice in my head telling me to keep pushing, and somehow I did. Also, whenever I slowed to a walk, other runners were so kind and encouraging, which made a huge difference ❤️ Around the 10-mile mark, I checked my time and realised I might be on for about 1:55, which really motivated me to keep going. By the time I reached the seafront, the stitch had eased, but then the heat and exhaustion kicked in. Still, that same voice kept saying, “keep going, keep going.” I stopped looking at my watch and focused on maintaining my pace. Before I knew it, I was overtaking people and actually speeding up—800m to go, then 600m, then 400m. On the final stretch, I saw the clock and felt so happy. I’m really proud that I kept pushing through to the end! And of course, I celebrated afterwards with pizza and a beer 🍻

Sorry to hear you struggled. A stitch is the worst. I’ve only had that a few times and it’s so painful. The fact you kept going is amazing. There’s no scientific evidence to suggest why we get a stitch but from experience I think it might be dehydration. The year it was particular hot, loads of people moaned about getting a stitch. I got one, but then when I stopped to have a bottle of water, it soon cleared. So perhaps something to consider going forward, try and stay hydrated. As for the other 2 hour pacer, they went off too quick so you were unlucky as that gave you a false indication of how you were actually doing, but what makes me really happy about this is your mental strength, this could easily have gone the other way, but you kept going, so never forget this race and how you dug deep. Hopefully you won’t have to experience a stitch for that length of time again. Congratulations on your PB Emily, every reason to be proud of yourself.