Entered the Melbourne Marathon 2009

After running the Auckland Marathon twice (2004, 2005), I have finally signed up for my third marathon - this one in Melbourne. Also today, I signed up for the Sutherland2Surf and the Sydney Blackmores Half Marathon (where I plan to run my first official sub 90 minute half marathon. Can't wait! Let the long runs begin...

14km in 60 minutes

I had the day off from work this Friday so I went for a run at around 11am. I wasn't sure how far or fast I would go so I just started running. I made up the route as I went, heading up William St and past Hyde Park and then down towards Darling Harbour. From there I followed my normal lunchtime route around Walsh Bays wharfs and through Circular Quay, around the Sydney Opera House and Farm Cove. From there I went up to King's Cross.

I realise that at around the 7km mark I was at a decent speed so I kicked on to see if I could go under 40 minutes for the 10km - I had a bit of ground to make up so didn't quite make it but managed a 40.23 - easily my best over 10km so far.

I slowed down for a while to catch my breath and then decided to go for 14km under an hour. From the 10km point, that was always on the cards and I came in at 59.20. I guess I better set a harder goal for the City2Surf...

3km Personal Best

I finally ran the 3km under 11mins, going 10.57 at lunchtime today. Technically, my Garmin said 10.45 through 3km but I am counting the time from my usual starting point to the 3km point so the Garmin looks to have lost the plot a little on the last km (it was accurate through the 2km marker). It doesn't matter because either way I achieved my sub-11min 3km goal for the year to go with my sub-20min 5km. Happy :)

Week Total - May 18-24: 23km

City2Surf entries opened today and I signed up first thing in the morning. After being out sick for a week and a half and missing the Sydney Half Marathon, I've got back to running. I went for four short runs this week of 4k, 6k, 6k and 7k.

I'll start building up the weekend run again in training for the marathon later in the year and also for the City2Surf in August. My pace aim for the C2S is 4.15mins/km so to get me under 60 mins. Also, I'll be aiming for a 45 mins Sutherland 2 Surf (11km). All a bit ambitious but that’s the idea of goals.

Running and feeling good

I went for my first run since I had a bug or virus or whatever it was. Just 4km to start with to make sure I was feeling alright. It went well and I'll go for another on Friday morning of about 6-7km. I saw this as a good time to finally remove the hard orthotics from my running shoes. I've had them for several years and I don't think I need them any longer. No pain from my tendon or shins or anything recently. It is a good chance for me to slowly run in my Brooks Adrenlines without orthotics while I build up distance after being sick.

Bad News

I caught a bug of some sort on the weekend and ended up blacking out and being attended to by an ambulance. I asked the doctor if I could still run the half-marathon on Sunday. Sadly, the answer was "No."

Very disappointed about that. I'll have to have a couple of weeks off training and then start training again for a sub-60 City2Surf. Then there is the Blackmores Running Festival in September to go for the sub-90 half and the Melbourne Marathon in October...

18km and 3 Weeks To Go

I ran 18km this morning in 85.27 mins. It was a pretty good run out to past Vaulcluse and back - I felt good the whole way and kept hydrated with the camelbak. Took a couple of gels too. I'm looking forward to the Sydney Half Marathon in three weeks - I'm feeling well prepared, despite the achilles issue early which has come pretty good now - I'm still doing the stretches.

I'm certain I will go under my PB of around 96mins but it will be a hard slog to do under 90mins this time. No problem though; it's early days. There's always the Melbourne half in October.

Oh, and forgot to mention that I set a new PB in training for the 10km - 42.31 mins

SHM: One Month To Go

With about one month to go to the Sydney Half Marathon (May 17), I completed a 16km training run on Sunday, following the City2Surf route up to just past the top of Heartbreak Hill and then turned and ran back. My km splits were pretty good, hovering around 4.30min/km for much of the run but with so many hills, I slowed going up them. The first km I got stuck at lights waiting to cross the road.

My Achilles tendon issue has been a lot better since I have been doing the eccentric calf stretches my Physio (Sydney Physiotherapy) gave me and it didn't really play up during the run. Also, I had been getting some pinched nerves in the ankle as well but the stretches I think are help that too and all was fine on the run.

I took my 3L Camelbak for the run and drank around 2L water during the run so stayed hydrated. I was pretty pleased with the run overall and will stretch it out to 18km next week with some 6-10km runs during the week.

Training for the SHM

The first week of fourteen weeks training for the Sydney Half Marathon is upon us! This will be my first earnest attempt to run it in under 90 minutes. Today I ran 6 intervals of 1min with 45sec standing rest after a warm up jog. Felt pretty good.

Last night, I played hockey for the first time in probably ten months - I think my fitness was good but my skills were lacking somewhat! Two more preseason games next week so I'll hopefully improve and see how hockey fits in with running this year.

10km & 3km

To set a time to beat, I went out over the last two days to run a fast 3km and 10km. The 10km was in 30+ degree heat and though I was through 5km in sub-22mins, I ended the run in 44.42m - so still a long way to go to go sub-40mins.

My 3km run I managed 11.19 and I feel that I should be able to go sub-11 relatively soon. The last km got me as I only did it in 3.54 where as the first two kms were around 3.42 each.