This week was a taper week. I finally saw sense and took it a bit easier on myself to attempt to finally get rid of this hip issue. This was really hard to do! I really wanted to not drop any kms on my training program but sadly it just had to be done. I only ran 27kms this week which is at least 20km down on my normal weekly distances. I don’t want to be injured going into the Cadbury Marathon and I need to ensure I keep enjoying my training.
I made some changes last week in terms of nutrition and hydration. I kept these up this week and apart from a slight slip up (free cake was involved) I did really well. I noticed a significant difference in how I was feeling and how I was running. It turns out I do need more carbs and water!
I also made a commitment last week that I’d get back to the gym. Well I’m proud to say that I did go but only once. It was tough going and I was sore for a couple of days after. I was really surprised at how much muscle strength I had lost while focussing purely on my running. I’m really convinced that working the rest of my body will help my running with the added benefit of getting rid of my nanna arms!
The week ended with the Burnie 10 on Sunday. This race, dubbed “Australia’s Premier Road Race”, will always hold a special place in my heart. The Burnie 10 was my first “goal” race. Attempting to run it in 2012 seemed as lofty a goal as running a marathon. It seemed insurmountable but I did it and have been coming back ever since. I’m a bit depressed that I won’t be able to run it next year because I’ll be in the US recovering from the Chicago Marathon but I’ll definitely be back in 2017.
Here’s the rundown on week 15 of Marathon Training:
Monday 12/10/15
Today was Easy 45 day. It was to be the only day I actually stuck to my official training program this week! I ran it at work during lunch along the bike and Cornelian Bay tracks. As always, it was nice to get out of the office and breathing in the fresh air. My average pace was 5’53” and I did 8km in 47 minutes. Yes I had to run that two extra minutes due to my obsessive compulsion of having to run even kms. My hip was a bit sore but not as sore as it had been.
Wednesday 14/10/15
Today was meant to be 3x3km repeats. I wrote to my coaches earlier in the week and sought some advice on tapering for the Burnie 10 and giving the hip a rest. They advised to have a couple of rest days and pick up again on a revised schedule starting Friday.
So instead of running today I headed for the gym and decided to do a bit of cross training. I warmed up by walking to the gym. Once there I did rowing and bike for 15 minutes worth of cardio as a further warm-up and hit the weights to do some upper body stuff. I also did some hip training, squats and pushups. It all felt great until about lunchtime when I could barely walk because of the squats. Oopsie! May have pushed a bit too hard.
Thursday 15/10/15
Physio’s Office
Rest day. I’ve decided to write about the day because I went to the physio. I saw Ross from Allcare Physio before work. He put me through my paces and reassured me that the hip thing was nothing very serious. He reconfirmed what I knew. I have weak glutes and need to strengthen my hip muscles. I also need to work on decreasing my cadence a little and tweak my form a bit. All in all it was good news and what’s best is that I now have a few exercises to help my strengthen my weak points. I should have seen him sooner!
Friday 16/10/15
Back into it today. My revised schedule had me running an easy 30. I had a magic run along Sandy Bay Road. I think that the rest days did me a world of good! I ran it in 5’42” average pace which is the fastest I had run on the road in a LONG time. What was even better about the run was that I ran it pain free! Yay!
Saturday 17/10/15
Today the coaches had me do some strides in prep for the Burnie 10. This is something I don’t normally do so it was an interesting experience. I had a 10 minute warm-up run and then did 10 x 100 meter sprints walking back to start. I ran this at some random oval in Wynyard while my sister and nephews played a bit of soccer. I tried to get my nephews to race me but 100 meters was a bit too far for them. I actually really enjoyed cutting loose and giving it everything. Hard work but fun. Again no pain!!
Sunday 18/10/15 – Burnie 10!
Burnie 10 Day. Today I experimented with pre-race food. The race started at 11:15 which gave me plenty of time to try some different fueling options to my usual banana or empty stomach strategy! A couple of hours before the event I made myself an “Elvis Sandwich” which is basically a white bread toasted sandwich filled with banana and peanut butter. Yummo! This was washed down with a couple of coffees with Almond/Coconut milk and another banana for dessert. I also had lots of water. About half an hour before the run I had 250mls of coconut water.
It was a stunning day for the run. Not too hot, not too cold – sunny and lovely with no rain! Not quite a record year for participants but the field was strong with over 2000 participating in the 10km. I warmed up for about 10 minutes with a light jog. With such a large field it is always hard to jostle for a starting position. I was midpack and in hindsight I should have tried to secure a spot closer to the start line. It took me a good 2 minutes to get from my spot to the actual start line when the gun went off.
Once the gun went off it was a snail’s pace until we turned onto the Bass Highway. It never ceases to amaze me why walkers and those with walking with prams put themselves up the front and insist on walking in packs/lines making it very difficult to get around them. Anyhow I broke through and caught up to the 60 minute pacer – Andrew Law. Andrew is a bit of a local legend. He’s an ultramarathoner and also a member of the TRR. Andrew was fresh back from running the Berlin Marathon. Pacing the Burnie 10 at 60 minutes would have been an easy walk for him! It was great catching up to him and pacing with him for a couple of kms. It really set my rhythm for the rest of the run. I did break away from Andrew because I had more in me and I kept overtaking people. Having said that I still took it easy and didn’t go ‘hell for leather’.
Airborne! I’m flying… Image Credit: Macks Photography
I think the Elvis Sandwich did the trick. I felt amazing! Best I’ve ever felt running a Burnie 10. No fatigue, heavy legs or tortured breathing just a great enjoyable pain free run in the sun. I wasn’t imagining it either – check out the photo taken by Macks Photography about 1.5km from the finish I’m airborne and still smiling! I even managed a sprint finish and took out the guy that had been trying to overtake me. It was a bit of a mind game between me and him – yes it is the little petty things that keep me going sometimes.
Official times are in and I clocked 57’40” Gun Time and 56’08 Net Time (time from actual start line to finish line). I actually landed a course PB for the Burnie 10 on net time. Wooohooo! I’m getting stronger and getting faster! Imagine how great my run would be if I wasn’t nursing this hip thing? That’s the thing about running though, you have to have everything aligned on the day. Hopefully with the changes I’ve been making the chances of that alignment will significantly increase.
My biggest fans – Alex and Theo
