Still on holidays

In being away during the week before the Marathon I missed recording the details of my final week of training. I’ll keep it as brief as it gets. For the record it went…

Week 18 of 18:
Tuesday 5km Recovery Run
Wednesday 8km Tempo Run with 1x10 minute effort
Friday 6km Easy Flat Low Intensity Preparation Run


So my Marathon Splits were:

1st 10km 52:38
2nd 10km 52:22
3rd 10km 53:58 (30 second walk through 25km drink station)
4th 10km 56:59 (2 minute walk through 35km drink station)

1st Half 1:51:xx
2nd Half 1:57:xx

There was some ups and downs in the 1km splits throughout each 10km, but for the most part they were pretty consistent. The quickest 1km was the 8th km in 4:59, which I’m guessing included the downhill section from Parliament House.

There were only 4 separate kilometres that were slower than 4 hour pace (5:41min/km). The 1st due to the delay in crossing the start line, 26th and 36th due to walks, and the 38th for no reason I can recall although it may have involved the rise up to the Commonwealth Avenue bridge.

In the first three days since the marathon I did a fair amount of walking each day, including a big day on Wednesday at Taronga Zoo. The massage on Tuesday worked wonders on the soreness in my quads and stairs were my friend again by Wednesday.

After not running at all for about a week after Canberra I’m happy to only do a handful of easy recovery runs for a week or two after that. I’m hoping that by easing back into it I’ll minimise the reported flatness that many people find after running a Marathon and can slip back into some training for my next goal.

My first run afterwards was a week later – just an easy 6km on Sunday morning. Didn’t feel too bad, but just plodded down to Flynns Beach and back. Was happy to put in a strong effort up the hill from the Shelly Beach shop to Lighthouse Road.


And now…

Rather than push straight back into preparing for another marathon I’d really like to do some shorter stuff for the rest of the year which I think would be a bit easier on the legs as I could ease off the distance a bit before the next big one. I’d like to get a bit quicker, throw in some extra hill work and gradually increase the k’s spent on some trails.

First up I’m planning on running the Macleay River Half Marathon at South West Rocks on the June long weekend. I’m really looking forward to having a good crack at a half now that this distance doesn’t seem as far as it used to.

Then I’d like to run the City to Surf in August.

Ideally I’d manage to fit in a couple of Sydney Striders 10km races over the next few months if it fits in with my trips to Sydney.

Then pencil in the Central Coast Half Marathon to finish off the year.

This would then lead into a summer of training for my first goal for 2008: the Six Foot Track Marathon in March…now that I’ve qualified!

And in the meantime I'll be thinking about another Marathon to do next year. I’d love to run Canberra again, but it may be a bit close for me to back up for and run well. Maybe the Gold Coast Marathon in July based on the positive reports I’ve heard of it.

I’d updated the sidebar with my Marathon time and future plans.

2007 Canberra Marathon

Yeah, this is going to be very long and rambling…probably twice as much as my first Half Marathon post, but I want some notes that I wrote while it’s all fresh to be able to refer back to for next time!

It was an odd feeling lining up for this, my first Marathon. I wasn’t really nervous about anything apart from my hamstring, which really had me worried and everybody I saw heard about it…sorry! I knew that I’d done some tough training runs, all the main sessions I needed to do almost to the letter, had a great taper, carbo load, was reasonably well rested, had my hydration/nutrition plan in hand, some duct tape for running repairs in case the hammy fell apart (joking) and there was nothing more I could do apart from dig in and run the thing.

It was a nice cool morning with a little bit of cloud cover around and conditions seemed just right. I did an easy 5 minute jog through Telopea Park and back before lining up about half way through the thousand odd other starters.

The gun went off and about 20 seconds later I was across the line at an easy pace for the first 10km loop around Parliament House. It turned out that my easy pace was around 5:15 minute k’s and I hit 10km in 52:38. This saw me hanging about 20 seconds behind the 3hr 45min pace group, and I stayed at that position until after 30km when they started pulling away a bit. I was fairly happy with that because I’d spoken to Horrie earlier (the 3:45 pacer) and he was planning a slightly quicker than even first half. I was careful to make sure it really was a comfortable pace as it was a little quicker than my originally planned 5:30 minute k’s and I didn’t want to blow up later.

The second lap heads over the lake and out to the base of Black Mountain. I was enjoying the scenery and keeping an eye on the splits through this lap. I stayed roughly a minute ahead of the 3:45 splits along the way. There are a few undulations through the course but nothing too serious. Apart from the climb up from the bridge to the south of the lake the worst seemed to be the little climb back up from the turnaround at the Black Mountain end of the course. I really enjoyed that section of the course though as you get a long stretch of out and back where you get to see everyone ahead and behind you which is lots of fun. I found that there wasn’t anyone really running around my pace for most of the race. There were a few people I was passing and being passed by a few times, but apart from a brief chat I just ran my own race. This made it easy through the drink stations as I didn’t have to dodge anyone and rarely even slowed down.

There was lots of support from spectators along the entire course which was just fantastic. During the second lap I hit half way in 1:51. Then it’s over the bridge and along the lake back near the start after 25km before heading out on the third lap. The CR cheer squad was doing a great job here, as were Jodie and the kids, all of which was wonderful and such a great boost. It was also great to see Ewen and Gnome out and about at various places on the course – always a surprise to see where they’d pop up next! Just before this turnaround a guy on a bike came past to say that the leaders were approaching from behind on their final lap and to just maintain my line on the bend and they’d pass on the outside. I actually avoided being lapped, but only by about 30 seconds!

On heading back over the lake again, the climb up from the bridge was a bit more noticeable this time, and I pushed out to Black Mountain again. On the way out I realised that my hamstring was well under control and although I could feel it as a mild dull pain, it actually improved as the race went on. In fact apart from the general fatigue my only real pain was in my neck when I turned my head to the side. It must have been a bit tight so I concentrated on loosening that up as well as keeping my arms and hands relaxed, all of which was a good distraction as the race wore on.

After 34km, the climb out of the turnaround was a little tough, but at that point I was thinking about all the training I’d done, particularly in the hills, and that this one wasn’t as bad as I was used to. At the 35km station I walked for a couple of minutes and loosened the legs a bit before getting back up to pace. From that point it was tough, but I never felt like I really needed to stop for a walk again, although I felt that I was going as hard as I possibly could and simply couldn’t (or shouldn’t?) run any faster. I was really working on the mind games over the final 6km to make sure my legs just kept going and counting down how close the finish was. I was thinking about the months of training I’d done, with all the time, effort and expense involved in getting to this point, determined not to let a tough half an hour bring it all undone. It helped to know for certain that my body had the fuel and training it needed to make it to the end. I knew I’d make 4 hours easy, but 3:45 slipped away with my walk break so I refocussed on beating 3:50. There were heaps of people walking in those final few kilometres, and I was gaining on quite a few runners as well. A handful of people passed me, but not even close to as many as I passed.

It felt great to turn up along Telopea Park for the final stretch before the finishing straight. I pulled in more runners along here before turning into the finishing straight to the cheers of my family and the CR cheersquad which really spurred me along for the last couple of hundred metres. The crowd lining the finish was a blur and whilst I took it all in, I was mostly focussed on that finish line and the timer above that said 3:48:xx.

It was the most amazing feeling and I was a little overwhelmed to finally be crossing the line. During the run I’d been thinking about how it was over a year ago (before I’d even run my first Half) that I had the idea to run my first Marathon at Canberra on this day. To realise that after all that time and all the steps along the way I’d achieved that goal of finishing the Marathon, finishing it well and coming in under the time that I wanted was very satisfying. I think I was a bit dazed for a fair while after finishing.

Thinking back now I believe that the training I did and the race I put in on the day was very well balanced. For my first one I wouldn’t have wanted to push harder for the first 30km, and for the final 12km I couldn’t have pushed much harder. All my nutrition and hydration went perfectly to plan and I had no troubles at all with any of that side of things, which I’d carefully planned in the preceding days.

I’d read a compelling article during the week about not eating anything for at least 3 hours before the race, and considering my experiences with early morning runs on nothing but water this made sense for me, and in fact I could recall the negative effect that even a small meal had before a few runs. So I decided not to eat anything as although it’s good to top up liver glycogen stores 3-4 hours beforehand, it’s probably better to just get a bit extra sleep and focus on getting what you need once the race is underway. When Isabel stirred and I was awake at 3am anyway I figured that I may as well get the 300-400 calories in anyway as there was still 4 hours to the start time, then go back to bed for another couple of hours sleep. So after getting up at 5:30am I just had water beforehand and a dose of Endura Magnesium formula at the start line.

I had my own sports drinks at 15km (Gatorade), 25km (Endura)and 35km (Endura) and had 4 gels at the 1, 2 and 3 hour marks, give or take…the final gel being around the 3 and a half hour mark for a bit of a boost to get me home! I just had a few mouthfuls of the provided sports drink in the cups – just what I could have quickly on the go. The water sachets were just great, being really easy to use and at most times I had a spare on hand as they were easy to carry in hand or pocket, and very useful for when there was a gel due. I didn’t need a pit stop at all, although I could feel the need coming on a couple of times so I just eased up on the water a bit and it was all fine. It wasn’t a humid day and I didn’t have sweat dripping off me at any stage so I didn’t feel the need to rinse off with water.

My legs (quads in particular) have felt pretty smashed up since Sunday and walking down stairs is the least of my favourite activities at the moment. We went for an hour walk on Monday and I had a massage today, so they should be back to normal shortly. After walking around the zoo tomorrow and an easy cycle in a couple of days I’m not going to run until the weekend, and even then it will be just easy recovery runs for another week or two. I do want to run and feel the motivation to do so, but don’t feel the need to rush back into it too soon.

There are some photos, maybe splits and future plans to come, but until I get home in a couple of days I have limited internet access so that will all have to wait. So too will catching up on everyone’s blogs, particularly reading all the other Canberra reports. Can’t wait!
Apart from a couple of isolated mentions I’ve been neglectful in not naming so many of the people that were involved in the weekend, before, during and after the race. It’s been tough just getting this massive report done and as there were so many people that provided inspiration, encouragement, advice, support and congratulations that I’m scared of missing out on anyone!! The safest thing to say is that I appreciate the support I’ve had from so many people before hand and from pretty much everyone I spoke to over the course of the weekend…I know it’s a cop out, but thank you all so much :)

Week 17 of 18

Tuesday 5km Recovery Run
Just plodded along feeling really flat today. It was reassuring to find out from Eagle’s blog that this is not unusual in the taper, and I guess it wasn’t helped by long days incorporating long periods of standing and walking around during the Ironman weekend.


Wednesday 13km Tempo Run
I was a bit wary of how I’d go after yesterday’s effort. Most of the run felt like a plod, and the efforts just felt like a slightly faster plod! Today I did 3 x 10 minute tempo efforts with 4 minute jog recoveries. It felt like I was lucky to get close to 5 minute kms at any stage, so I was surprised when I got home and found that the average pace of each interval was 4:45, 5:10 and 5:00 minutes/km. I think I faded in the middle one more so because I was resigned to a slow pace at that stage, but was feeling better by the last effort.

Came away from the run feeling pretty good though, and I felt sure that I’d pick up over the next few days seeing that as well as the rest of this day, 3 out of the next 5 days were rest days.

At this point my hamstring was fairly good, but I could still feel it now and then. Given that I’d neglected it over the past few days I decided I should give it some more therapy in an effort to get it back to 100% over the next week or so. No issues with the hip or achilles at all over the past few days.


Friday 9km with 8x400m VO2 Intervals
In a recurring theme my hamstring was still a little sore. I drove down to Wayne Richards Park and headed out on a couple of local streets as a warm up. By the time I got back to the park there was no discomfort and I started off on the intervals. I was scheduled to do 10 but figured beforehand that 6 would be more sensible, but felt pretty good after 5 so I compromised on 8.
The grass was very slick after some rain, which probably assisted in reducing the strain on my legs as I seemed to be sliding around a little. Due to a miscalculation I thought at the time that I was doing the 400’s at roughly 4:00 min/km pace which I guessed was a sensible pace and about right, but later realised that they were actually around 3:30 – 3:40 min/km, so I was pretty pleased with that. Not quite sure how I’d manage to sustain that sort of pace for an entire marathon (or even a half or 10km), but perhaps if I were 20 or 30kg lighter it wouldn’t seem so tough!


Sunday 14km Run
I was mindful to keep this run “nice and easy, even if you feel good”. That wasn’t an issue for most of the run, as it often takes me the better part of an hour to warm into the long runs by the time I do an easy warm up and make it through the half hour hump. But for the later part of the run I was feeling fine yet still taking it nice and easy. Still, rather than ease up I opted to maintain my pace up a few short hills with seemingly little effort.
I ran into town and back on as flat a route as I could manage. All was quiet on the roads seeing as it was early on Easter Sunday.

My legs are responding well to the reduced distances of the last couple of weeks. With only three light runs this week I hope to have them fully tamed and ready to go for next Sunday - gah, only six days to go. The massage I had this morning should assist with that as well. Plus, it’s always good to be on holidays for three weeks!

Still haven't got around to putting up anything on the Ironman last weekend, and it might have to wait some more as I need to get around to some blog reading rather than writing tonight. Just writing this up quickly before the kids wake up from their afternoon nap.

Week 16 of 18

Tuesday 11km Tempo Run
I skipped my recovery run this week and after three and a half days rest plus a massage I still had a sore hamstring, but at least the hip was improving. By Tuesday night I decided it was time for a test run to see how it would hold up.
After a thorough go at loosening and warming the area up I headed out. After a really easy 20 minutes through Mortdale and Oatley I start the first of 2 x 15 minute efforts (reduced from 20 minute efforts). Everything felt great. The pain disappeared once I was warm, and I felt like I was running fast with relatively little effort. I finished the first effort comfortably in under 5 minute/km pace, then had a 6 minute easy jog recovery. The second effort was similar.
I got home, stretched and waited for the pain to return. It wasn’t really bad at all, and not until the next day that I did feel it a bit, but not as bad as before the run. Looks like active recovery worked well in this case.


Thursday 10km VO2 Intervals
I headed over to Renown Park for 6 x 800m intervals with 2 minute jog recoveries. Again the leg was a little sore still, but once warm it was mostly fine. I could feel it during the 4th interval so I decided that I’d only do 5 today instead of 6 as there was no point risking any harm.
Went to Sydney CR drinks on the Thursday night in at the James Squire Brewhouse. Was great to see lots of people again and meet more for the first time, including some who will be heading down to Canberra in a couple of weeks. Many thanks to Plu for the lift back to Milsons Point.


Saturday 21km Long Run
This was going to be a 28km run, but after considering much advice and the state of my leg I reduced the distance.
It was quite a cool morning and I didn’t have a specific distance mapped out, just an idea of a roughly 20km route to follow to see me through for 2 hours.
I went through the Lighthouse Beach area, Emerald Downs, Greenmeadows, Lake Road, a lap of Kooloonbung Creek the back home via Granite Street with a couple of diversions.
I felt really good the whole run and there was little effort involved. I didn’t drink as much as I expected as I wasn’t sweating much, mostly due to the cool weather. This distance training run was marginal for having a gel but it stayed in my pocket for today.
After I got home and cooled down I felt fine. No problems with the legs and very little fatigue. Just as well with the Ironman taking place and lots of standing and walking to do, but that’s a story for another post.

I’m putting off my nutrition and hydration thoughts again until I have more time. After a busy weekend and with three days to go until I’m on holidays things are a bit busy at the moment. As for a full test of all the race gear, pretty much all my long runs of 30km or more have been done with that in mind and it all seems to work fine for the 3 hour plus runs.

Edit: That brings my March total to 261km, which is by far my biggest ever month. The taper and recovery from Canberra should bring April right back down to Earth.