A Long Road Ahead
Many see the marathon as the most gruelling of all Olympic disciplines. What goes before is often just as tough, with a number of cardio workouts coming together to create what will hopefully be a gold medal winning training regime.
Dear Diary
The final stretch is here, less than 100 days to go until the London Olympic marathon. Here is what I did today.
06:00 Woke up in athletes training and performance centre, feeling a little stiff after the last few days, which have been really intense. Another long day ahead!
06:30 A light breakfast of oats, a glass of orange juice and a cup of coffee. A few of the others had cinnamon bagel, which looked delicious.
07:00 Light walk around the centre to fully awaken the body and loosen up. Given the stiffness in my body and the cardio workouts to come, I went to see the masseuse as he arrived for work. Stretching out the lower back and legs really helps first thing, as well as working out any tightness throughout the rest of the body.
08:30 Time to run. Four hours today, at a relatively easy pace, which means around 24 miles, just short of marathon distance. Cardio workouts close to the race distance really help the body adapt and mentally prepare you for the task ahead.
12:45 Banana and ice bath. Soaked for around 10 minutes before heading back to the massage therapist.
13:00 Massage lasting around an hour. Essential to aid recovery after the ice bath and a definite indulgent moment after the morning cardio.
14:15 Nap time! Work hard and rest hard is our motto here, I really think I would break down without an afternoon nap.
15:45 Chicken sandwich today with a side salad. A later lunch than usual after the long run earlier this morning.
16:00 Weight session for an hour. Keeping the muscles moving with some light routines. I prefer doing weights on the same day as my hard cardio workouts, so my body gets more rest on easier cardio days.
17:15 Evening run around the grounds of the centre. Just the four miles tonight at a similar pace to this morning, so I was only out for around a half hour. Running straight after weights gets the body used to running when the muscles are working out lactic acid and great race preparation.
18:00 Stretch out and long, hot shower.
19:00 Light dinner this evening, have an easy work day tomorrow so will indulge at the table more tomorrow.
20:00 Early night for me, let’s see how much recovery time we can get in!
Good night.
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