Melbourne Half Marathon 2011

Since the Sydney Marathon I have been dealing with minor calf, knee and hamstring pain which limited the amount of running I was doing. I decided that rather than pull out of the Melbourne Half Marathon, I would run it at an easier pace and simply try to get around in one piece. It turned out to be an enjoyable run and I finshed strongly in a race with what I believe is my first ever negative split. My calf didn't give me too much trouble. My official net time was 1:34:29.

Sydney Marathon 2011

Holy hell that was tough! Started out at 4:30 min/km which lasted until 6km when the 3:15 pacers breezed past me like I was standing still. Not sure what was happening but I had completely fallen apart in the space of 100m. I was walking by the 9km mark. I was feeling exhausted but not faint.

I nearly packed it all in at that point but with my time goal of 3:15 already blown and not wanting to claim my first ever DNF, I decided to push on slowly. Every km felt like 5 and by 14km I was just about to quit but at that moment I knew this was a challenge I had to take.

I walked often and by 20km got my first stop-me-in-my-tracks cramp. These would continue to stop me every km or so for the rest of my run. Salt tablets didn't fix them and I was in a world of pain. Only 22km to go....

I kept shuffling along, run/walking and stopping at aid stations to rest and water myself. Once I hit 30km I knew this would get worse but I also knew I would finish. I started to think about crawling in under 4 hours and with that new goal fixed in my mind, I went about finishing this damn race.
Time was catching up with me and my revised goal but with such amazing crowd support over the last 3km I was feeling a little buoyant again. When I crossed that finish line outside the Sydney Opera House, I felt like I had achieved something great. 3:55! Yes! I had just finished the Sydney Marathon for the first time and I was happier than if I had run my original goal of 3:15. Well, nearly.

I found out later that it was over 20 degrees at the start of the race at 7:30am and climbed over 30 degrees during the run.

City2Surf 2011

In the recent City2Surf I just managed to sneak under 60 mins with a 59:51. I wasn't feeling great in the day so I feel reasonably happy with that time.

The problem is that I went out for a planned 30km run today that I had to cut short at 25km because I was feeling pretty bad. I hope this is not a trend and just a couple of off days. I need to increase midweek training as in general the miles have not been enough. Probably the issue.

I think I still have time before the Sydney Marathon on September 18 to get it sorted so I can post a sub 3:15, which is the Boston qualifying time I need and my revised goal for this year.

M7 Cities Marathon 2011

Ack. Mega cramps from 30km. Lots of walking and swearing got me to the end in 3:33. I hated the many inclines and hills and cramp got me so bad that I 'adopted a run/walk strategy' for the final 10km (yes, I under-trained and went out too hard) but the race was so well organised and supported that I'm already wanting to sign up for next year.

I have to add, this is the first race where I finally out-grew my ipod addiction, discarding it for the last 10km. I'm now a convert in the great ipod debate.

I have now completed four marathons. The next one is the Sydney marathon in September.

Sutherland2Surf 2011

How good was the weather for the Sutherland2Surf 2011!? So much for wet and wild. Calm, cool and sunny - another perfect race day in Sydney. My race was far from perfect though. Two weeks in Fiji followed by a week with a cold equals under prepared. Nevermind. I still managed a 44:01 so was ok.

The only thing I would change is the starting chute: put in some time indication flags so runners can self-seeding more appropriately. I thought I was near the front but got caught up in a very slow start.
Cities Marathon this Sunday. I'll be aiming for 4:30min/km average to finish in 3:10.

Also, the most exciting news is that I have ordered a new Garmin Forerunner 610! Should be on it's way from the US in the next couple of weeks, packed full of new features and a more slim-lined casing. Hurray!

On target after Sydney:10

I managed an evenly run 39:51, finishing in 248th place, at the Sydney:10 10km race today at Sydney Olympic Park - bang on my target time.

I did not feel like I was running right on the edge, keeping some gas in the tank to make sure I didn't blow up in the second half.

I suspect I could have challenged my PB of 39:30 if I had gone for it but given that this is really just part of my training for the Marathon at the end of July, I am very happy with the outcome.

I am starting to really believe in a sub 3 hour marathon at the end if the year.

• Garmin details
• Sydney:10 website
• Results

SMH Half Marathon 2011

I ran, I enjoyed it and I finished with a net time of 93:02. I am not too dissapointed with that even though I was hoping for sub 90, and I am now feeling very inspired to crack the 3 hour marathon. I've decided to run the following races this year and I will be aiming for at least the time listed next to each one:

• Jun - Sydney 10 - 40 mins
• Jul - Sutherland2Surf (11km) - 42 mins (This is a downhill race)
• Jul - Westlink M7 Cities Marathon - 3:10 hrs
• Aug - City2Surf (14km) - 55 mins (This has many hills)
• Sep - Sydney Running Festival Marathon - 3 hrs
• Oct - Melbourne Half Marathon - 85 mins
• Nov - Run4Fun (10km) - 38 mins

Building Speed

While extending my Sunday run slowly out to 18km, I've also be focusing on some interval sessions and some faster short threshold runs. Yesterday I ran a 5km in 19:52 and this morning I ran my 4th fastest Domains/Kings Cross 6km run ever (this run has a significant hill in the back end of it).

These two runs are certainly adding to my confidence and with four weeks to go until the half marathon, I am starting to get a feel for a realistic target time: Currently I feel like I am in 92/93 min shape and I think if I can get a good three week period of training in now, I can manage a 88/89 min race.

Finally I am feeling fit  (although still overweight) and 90% injury free and looking forward to the first race of the year!

Six weeks until SMH Half Marathon

There are six weeks until the SMH Half Marathon on May 15th and I just completed a 16km run this morning during which I felt relaxed and fairly strong in the legs. It was probably the first time this year that I finished a run over 10km and felt like I could keep going further if I choose to.

I also found a new section of my Walsh Bay route to run - the Barangaroo foreshore. I think it has been open for a while but I never knew where the entrance was - this time I stumbled across it when coming back from Darling Harbour.

• Garmin details of my run

Intervals at Farm Cove

I completed a set of 6x1 minute and 4x30sec intervals this morning down on the waterfront at Farm Cove in Sydney. It is a pretty flat curved path and not overcrowded early in the morning. I managed to break the 3mins/km barrier for just one of my 30 second efforts. Elite runners can keep this speed up for over 10km...

Garmin details >>

Training for the SMH Half Marathon 2011

I spent December & January slowly building up a base by doing 2 to 4 runs a week of usually 6km up to 10km. I started to ramp it up in February and in March I have started training in earnest for the SMH Half Marathon 2011 in May. I've created a training plan, which I had not even bothered with through last year's struggles, that includes a long run, some interval running and cross training in a fitness group.

On the injury side, things are mostly contained. I had a flair up of a sore right knee earlier this year but with some stretched I got from the physio, it appears to be under control. There are a couple of other niggles but nothing that is overly concerning.

I haven't really began to run tempo pace in training yet but with the interval training, I can feel the speed is coming back so some quicker runs will be my focus for the next month, alonside my Sunday long runs. The most I have done so far is 16km but I plan to get up to around 25km a few weeks out from the race.

My primary goal is to run the half in under 90mins with my hopeful goal being sub 85mins for a new PB.

A New Year

Been a while...

I never did write about my final race in 2010 - the Run4Fun 10km. I was aiming for sub 40mins and went through the first 5km in 20:20 but I didn't have the fitness to carry it through and it turned out to be a tough second half, finishing with 41:53.

I opted out of the King of the Mountain run in Pauanui this year so that I wouldn't start the year stiff and sore. I have been doing 2-4 runs a week for a while now, building a base. My first goal this year is to break 90 mins in the May Sydney half marathon and get as close to 80 mins as possible. 84 mins is probably my realistic stretch goal at this point.

So on to my main goal for 2011: To break 3 hours in the marathon and qualify for Boston. My stretch goal will be 2:50 because hey, you've got to make the goal hard right, or what's the point? I'll be targeting Sydney Marathon in September for this but may run another one through the year - possibly Gold Coast.

Time to leave the injury-laden 2010 behind me and break some new ground in 2011!