Posted By jelly on 04, Oct, 2015 | 2 comments

I’ve realised that I’m beginning to sound a bit like a broken record!  Sore hip, lacking motivation yadayadayada.   Sorry!  It’s been a tough slog but I guess that is what marathon training is all about.  If it were easy everyone would be doing it.

This week the theme was similar.  My hip is less sore (thankfully) but still giving me grief.  My times are, for want of a better word, shit.  As per usual, I persevered and didn’t drop a single km of my program.  What I did do differently is switch up my training times and days this week.

Here is how I ran my 51km this week:

Monday 28/9/15

Meant to run my easy 45 minutes today.  Didn’t happen.  Couldn’t be bothered.  Yes, there I said it.  Not my proudest moment but even the best of us have CBF days.

Tuesday 29/9/15

Time to get back on the horse or in my case the tarmac.  Got my lazy bum out of bed and tackled an easy 45 on my Sandy Bay Loop.  Only managed a bit over 7km due to the niggling hip thing.   While it was hard to get out there, it set me up for the day.  I approached the corporate big top with a smile and had a great day.

Wednesday 30/9/15

Interval day.  I couldn’t summon the energy to get out of bed so I decided to do it after work.  I did my 8 x 1km with 60 sec rest on the treadmill.   I normally hate the treadmill, but it was convenient and nice and controlled for my hip.  I was able to push myself a bit harder that I could on the road (hip hurts more going up hill and there are freaking hills everywhere!!)  Managed to do 5′ kms.

Cenotaph – A place of rememberence

Friday 2/10/15

I enjoyed my rest day on Thursday but overindulged in Solo Pizza.  I always have weird dreams after eating pizza and wake up with the dry horrors but I love pizza so much!   Before you ask, no I didn’t have beer with the pizza.   I didn’t have a particularly restful night so I did some twilight running after work.  It was such a warm and beautiful day.  The warmest day of spring so far!  If this is a taste of what is to come then we are in for a ripper of a summer.

It was nice heading out in the warm evening in a singlet watching the sun go down.  For my easy 60′, I did my city loop.  I’ve had to make some amendments to the city loop because I’m adding time to my runs.  Where I’d normally turn around at Zero Davey Hotel, I keep going.  Since my uncle’s passing I’ve made a point to do a lap of the Cenotaph.  I like seeing the eternal flame and sparing a thought for all those dear to me who have passed away.  I kept going to nearly the Tasman Bridge and clocked a little under 10km in my 60 minutes but ran that extra minute or so to get to my OCD  even 10kms.  Beautiful evening run followed by leftover pizza and gin.

Saturday 3/10/15

Well pizza and gin were a BIG mistake!  Woke up feeling sick as a dog.  I could barely make it out of bed.  My head ached and I was so thirsty.   The mistake I made was not to hydrate properly last night.  I don’t normally drink much water but I really need to force myself now that the weather is warmer.  I had minimal water and went straight for the booze.  Not a good idea.   Well needless to say I didn’t run my faux Parkrun in the morning.  Once my head cleared and I got re-hydrated I pushed out 5km on the treadmill.   I didn’t run outside because it was super windy and hot and I was being a huge sook!   I did enjoy the treadmill run and glad I did the kms.  I made sure I got heaps of water into me during the day.

Sunday 4/10/15

My post run saviours

Today was long run day. 20km. It loomed before me all week like Everest.   I was going to run it on the Pipeline but I decided to stay local.  Why?  I wanted an easier run.  The Pipeline is awesome but I find it quite challenging.  I also wanted to feel the sun on my skin.   It was an absolutely stunning day, not too hot and not too windy.  I had a few false starts getting out there because of daylight savings and general tiredness.  Once I got out and started running I loved it.  Why was I so worried about it all week?

I ran all the way to Moonah along the bike track/Cornelian Bay Track and included my Cenotaph salute.   I saw my fellow Make Me a Marathoner Stuart on the track. Love seeing someone you know out there.  The smile and the high 5 give me that extra bit to go further.  He went on to smash a distance PB at over 27km!  I’ll get there soon.   I also saw my husband who is also training and a corporate colleague pushing his baby boy in the pram.  It was all happening at the biketrack today.   I was feeling great up until I stopped for a drink with 5km to go.  My hips decided to freeze up and it took them about 500m to get them going ok.  I felt like a little old lady…oh well!

Post run I drank a 500mls of coconut water and 500mls of normal water before stretching/foam rollering.  I had a banana/mango/yogurt protein shake after my shower.    I think this is why I’m feeling reasonably good a few hours on.  Normally I’d want to crash and sleep.  I’m learning how to look after myself a bit better.

Hey if any of you have any tips on keeping the motivation up or any nutrition/post run recovery rituals I’d love to hear it.  Just pop in a comment below.

I’ll leave you with a video that inspires me when I’m having those CBF days.  Nike does it to me everytime.  Special shout out to Jemina who shared it with our training group.  It has gotten me through a few dark days. I’m hoping for less of them moving forward….

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