The sports massages are still at the painful stage but my calves are loosening up very well. Coupled with stronger Achilles tendons from the heel-drop exercises this has allowed me to have a good start sticking to the plan.
The month started relatively easy so the longest run for that week was just 10.5 miles.
The following three weeks saw a steady increase in the weekly long run: 13.5 miles, 15 miles (2h37m) and an incredibly dull tarmac-all-the-way run home from work of 18.5 miles (3h35m) four days after the 15 miler.
All of these runs were following a format of 10 minute run/1 minute walk until tiredness increased the walk element. During the week before the long run there were a couple of shorter sessions with faster runs or variable speed runs to try and build and maintain a base speed.
Introducing walking into the longer runs is imperative: very few people run the entirety of the Marathon des Sables (perhaps the top 100) so I'm not even going to attempt to run the entirety of my long outings!
Having run the 18.5 miler on tarmac my legs felt it: the legs always feel a run far more than if it had been off-road. I'll be ensuring the majority of my long runs are off-road and hilly as that's more reflective of the terrain in the Sahara desert.
I did recall the ice-cold bath trick after that run: this isn't at all comfortable but works an absolute treat, so straight after the 18.5 mile I screamed into an ice-cold bath to cover my legs.
Result? No soreness the next day!
