Judith's Marathon Journey

Well, not much activity on the blog is a sure indication of not much activity on the road! I’ll try to fill in the gaps from memory.

During the first two weeks of this period, I had 4 gym sessions per week, including 2 Express Fit classes. Running was limited to the odd short run and some treadmill work. The gym has started a ‘Couch to 5k’ program for new runners, and I went along to a couple of those runs (about 2k jogging/walking) to show support.

Last week I had very little running – an excellent 6k along the Yarra River in Melbourne, and another gentle 3k. Lots of walking – see below!

This week I have run 3km, 4km and 6km, the latter back at home. The 4km run on Tuesday was terrible – I felt really stiff and under the weather, and thought I was coming down with something – but it seems to have been a false alarm!  Maybe the very amateurish attempt at cycling along the Yarra the day before had something to do with my sluggishness. In addition, most days in Melbourne we walked between 15,000 and 20,000 ‘steps’ – according to my (taller) friend’s step-counter. It was pretty slow touristy walking, so lots of time on my feet, but not much in the way of CV training.

Hopefully back to routine now! I need to start training for the July half-marathon later this month, so will just concentrate on logging some miles now. Rest day today, having run three days in a row.

I suppose the length of time since my last post gives away how disastrous my half-marathon attempt was! In spite of another rest day on the Saturday, I simply ran out of gas – very early! The first 6km felt good, and I was on track to make my goal of 2hr:20min. By 7km I was starting to realise just how far I still had to go, and by 8km my legs felt like jelly…. I managed to keep running until the 10km mark, and my time was still on track at that stage, but I felt pretty bad. I took 1 minute walk breaks from then on, at first every 15 minutes or so, but by the last km, I think it was almost more walking than running. Only pride kept me running when I got to the park and the crowds of people! My time of 2:33 was faster than the Petone run in September – but that’s not much consolation, especially as the conditions this run were perfect.

So it’s back to the drawing board. My training had gone pretty well, and I’d done several long runs in the preceding month. I do wonder whether the extra gym work I’m doing is too much? I don’t think I’ll renew Express Fit in July, and just stick to some core work. I know I need to look at nutrition as well – I think I’m careless at times about what I eat, and I need to smarten up.

Last week I had a couple of very short runs and 4 sessions at the gym. This week has been much the same, although on the treadmill I got bored and added some ‘hills’ on Tuesday and 5x400m at faster than 5k race pace today. And it felt good!

Wednesday: Resistance training.

Thursday: ExpressFit in the morning – way too much for my taper week!!! Afternoon – 6x400m at between 5k and 10k race pace, so about 6min/km, on the treadmill, jogging for half the interval time in between. With warm-up/cool-down, 5k.

Friday: Decided on a rest day instead of the 5k easy – I’ve done all I can do for the half on Sunday, and another 5k won’t make any difference!

Caught up with too much cricket watching! I’m in heaven! But to catch up with the training:

Sunday: last ‘long’ run – a mere 11km – good pace, mostly about 6:30 per km, so very happy with that.

Monday: Resistance training in the gym – not too bad – my push-ups are ratty – I don’t really get right down to the ground – but I’m working on it. Good stretch afterwards.

Today: ExpressFit this morning – LOTS of core work, but all good. This afternoon I ran 5k including 2o minute tempo run – about 6:15-6:20 min/km, so that’s pretty good. Finished with 4x100m strides. (And then an ice-cream – and a good stretch!)

Enjoying the taper before the big race on Sunday….

Monday: I didn’t make up the missing 10k, but I did cull together 5k jogging from place to place during the afternoon! Then, after cricket practice with my boys, I had a resistance training session at the gym.

Terrible Tuesday: Express Fit in the morning – more core work – deadly! Then back in the gym this afternoon for speedwork – 5x800m at 5k race pace with 2:20 rest – covered 7k in about 45 min including warm-up/cool-down. Will sleep well tonight!

Dear reader! sorry to be so erratic with my posts – trying to juggle too many things at the moment, and keep forgetting to tag this task onto the end of other online chores!

OK, Thursday – another ‘double-dose’, with Fit Express in the morning and a run in the evening. The gym class was a real workout for the core, and damn hard work! I incorporated a tempo run into my run home from work in the evening – fortunately with the wind behind me this time! I ran about 7k, with 35 minutes at roughly tempo pace. Given the presence of a backpack, I interpreted ‘tempo’ to mean ‘a bit faster than comfortable pace’, rather than trying to aim for a specific pace. I was pretty happy with the run.

But then I ran out of steam, and ended up taking rest days Friday and Saturday. Better to do that than force myself into running when my body’s not up to it – am I learning, or what?? But I certainly don’t want to get injured now, with the Round the Bays half-marathon so close!

So today was my last long run prior to that event. We ran 19k, and the pace was pretty good, except for the last couple of kms. Although there was only one hill, it wasn’t an easy run given the strong northerly we were exposed to – but that’s almost certainly what will happen in the race in two weeks!

If I’m feeling good tomorrow, I might try to make up the 10k I missed on Saturday – but if I don’t do it then, I’ll have to let it go – too late to start squeezing in extra runs! That way lies injury!

Monday: light Swiss ball workout at the gym.

Tuesday: Express Fit in the morning, then intervals on the treadmill in the evening: 8k, with 5x1000m at 5k race pace, 3 minute recovery. Good workout – hard but not impossible!

Wednesday: Sore today after yesterday’s efforts; just a light circuit at the gym.

Thursday: a morning jog on the beach, about half an hour, didn’t feel as ‘easy’ as I would have expected. Then the Express Fit later that morning was extremely hard work – I guess just a bad day – feeling flat and low on energy.

I decided to take a couple of days off from exercise – apart from a short jog to Kilbirnie Park on Saturday morning to get me to cricket on time!

Today I returned to the Marathon Clinic for the first time in ages! I was nervous about keeping up with the 6:30-6:45 pack, but I managed OK. Most of us were doing 7 minute kms into the wind by the last third of the run. All up I ran about 21km – had aimed at 22km, but it’s just a number, right?

Very sore and achy afterwards – but that will go with a good night’s sleep.

Rest days on Monday and Wednesday – much needed!

Yesterday I took the Express Fit circuit class in the morning, and then returned to the gym in the evening for speedwork. The latter didn’t go as well as I wanted. My plan had me doing 5x1200m at about 10k race pace – but I was unable to complete the 5th – just too hot, too weary, too everything! Ran about 8k all up, and it felt hard, and my rest intervals included a wee bit of walking.

An easy run tomorrow will be good….

A wonderful summer day here – I was up and out reasonably early, but was wishing I’d been even earlier by the end, as it got really warm!  No wind to speak of, which was good, and meant that I ran quite a bit faster than last week for the first 8.5km. The waterfront really was teeming with peopel out enjoying themselves – there was an ocean-swimming race in progress, and, of course, the usual Sunday markets near Waitangi Park.

On the return, my plan called for a slight increase in pace over the last 5k, and I managed that for two of them! Then I lost it! I was just so hot – stopped at every tap to fill my cap with water and pour it over my head! By the last km, I was even taking the odd walk break.

But overall, it was a lovely morning for a run, and I’m pleased I went out and did it. But if the weather’s the same next week, I think I’ll be up an hour earlier!