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.