Judith's Marathon Journey

Monday: rest

Tuesday: 2k warm-up on the treadmill, including some 40m sprints for netball training; then Express Fit circuit – focus on core, good workout.

Wednesday: 5k run around the Bays, feeling good. Added some sprints, and direction changes towards the end. Good pace.

Thursday: Express Fit (just a 1/2km jog to the gym to warm up) – focus on cardio – exhausting! Then I had a discussion with the trainers, and after a long dialogue, I agreed to a change of emphasis in my training plan for the next half-marathon – in July. I’m going to cut down to 3 runs a week, plus a short warm-up for netball on Saturdays. They think that the three runs, all the gym work plus playing netball is more than enough for my body to cope with. I’m not so sure – I’d rather run more! They also recommend adding in a Yoga session on Tuesday evenings. So I’ll give it a go – if I don’t run better in July, I’ll know they’re wrong!!!

Friday: Glorious day, and I ran 8km in 50:37 – awesome effort! It was hard towards the end, but I wasn’t in any difficulty holding the pace. Happy!

Went out about noon on a glorious Wellington Sunday…. I started off feeling a bit ginger from yesterday’s game, and wondered if ‘Plan B’, a shortened run, might have to come into action. But although I felt a bit tired, I soon settled into a rhythm, and my pace was OK. Even the hill (Pass of Branda) didn’t faze me too much.  So a good 13km run – I’m really happy with that

Played netball this morning – very hard work!!!  Running is just moving along in a straight line – no direction changes, no leaps into the air…. really feeling my age.

Anyway, ran a couple of kms to warm up – included 5 short ‘sprints’. Not sure how I’m going to run for an hour and a half tomorrow!

It’s totally unlike me, but I agreed to a 6:15am run with a colleague! We had a gentle-paced 40 minutes, probably about 6km. The wind was strong (back to northerly today) – but only on the way out! I felt pretty good, considering the hour, and it really is a good time to run. Glad I did it!

Monday: Rest day – just a walk on the beach – about 45 minutes.

Tuesday: 1.5k warm-up (included 3x40m sprints – for netball conditioning!), then Express Fit class. This was really, really hard work, and I could barely stay awake for the rest of the day! Totally trashed.

Wednesday: Still suffering the after effects of the class yesterday – slept late and had no energy all day.

Thursday: Much better – ran about 7.5km, the first half into a still stiff southerly. Felt pretty good – but again tired in the afternoon.

Ran 12km, first half into a very strong northerly! I felt pretty good, although it was a tiring effort – then enjoyed catching the wind back again! I think I was a good 2 minutes faster on the way back.

Some soreness in the sacroiliac joint, but that seems to be part of the deal now. I stop periodically after the first hour to stretch, and that helps a lot. Then cold/hot under the shower…. and a couple of times through the rest of the day I’ll put on an ice pack alternating with a hot water bottle. Will also have a good stretch session later this afternoon.

I didn’t run as much as I wanted to this week, but I seem to be gradually getting back to sleeping through the night, so hopefully I’ll have more energy this week!

Had a rest day yesterday… not sleeping well, weather awful.

Today I jogged to the gym and back, intending to join in the Couch25K run, but nobody else turned up, so I jogged another 20 minutes to ‘warm up’ for netball – probably a mistake! I played three quarters of the game, and found it really challenged my fitness! It’s all very well chugging along for a couple of hours at the same slow speed, but this was hard work! Changing direction, sprinting, changing direction again… but I loved it! Need to add some extra skills to my training program, though!

Monday: Rest day – just a walk on the beach!

Tuesday: My first day back at Express Fit after 3 weeks – hard work!

Wednesday: Very sore after Express Fit! But managed 5k easy on the treadmill – but it was boring, so I very gradually increased the pace each km, and finished with 4x100m strides…. I promised I wouldn’t do speed work!!!

Thursday: Express Fit again – not much fun – feeling tired. Not sleeping well.

Not exactly a long, long run – but my longest since the half-marathon in February!

Easter Sunday, and I ran around to Island Bay and back this afternoon – about an hour, about 9km. I felt really strong on the way back, so hopefully I haven’t lost too much condition over my rest period.

With daylight saving over, it was quite cool, but still a lovely afternoon – I wish I knew how to attach photos to this post…. must be a way!

Easy 4.5km, about 31 minutes. Felt pretty good. It’s windy out there today, and I suspect the same for tomorrow’s longer run!

Just about recovered from the Melbourne trip, and looking to gradually build mileage over the next 3 weeks or so…