These final weeks of training seem to be racing by! I honestly don’t know where the week went. This week saw the final easy 60’s and from next week I’m dropping down to 4 days a week of running…how am I going to cope?
Corporate life has been good. It was a week of celebration and last minute flurries of activity as most of my team is off on Christmas break as of Friday. I’m there Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday holding the fort so to speak.
Here’s how this week of training went.
Monday 14/12/15
Easy 60 today. I honestly didn’t know how I’d go considering I had just run my 32km biggest ever run the day before. Well, I’m pleased to report I was absolutely fine. I didn’t break any land speed records but it felt GOOD! I did just on 10km with an average pace of 6:03. I was running a faster pace towards the end of my trot down Sandy Bay Road – I guess my muscles were warming up. This run gave me the confidence to know that I can do my 42 at Cadbury.
Wednesday 16/12/15
Interval Day – 3x2km repeats with 90sec rest. I finally found a nice level place to do these! Marieville Esplanade….wish I’d of thought of it at the beginning of my training. Because it was nice and level I was able to push a bit harder than normal. It was quite warm though and this impacted my speed. I managed an average pace of 5’09” with my fastest km at 4’55”. It was probably one of my better sessions.
Friday 18/12/15
My final easy 60′ day of the program. I have quite enjoyed these runs, especially the Friday ones. Today I suffered through the first 4 as my guts ached. I actually went to the doctor on Wednesday and I’m currently being tested for coeliac and chrons. Hopefully it is not that serious and will be manageable through diet. I find out next week or after Christmas. Anyhow, I managed to get through my run after a pit-stop and did better than Monday’s run on the same route. I did 10.5km and my average pace was 5’42” per km.
Bulk buying!
Saturday 19/12/15
30 minute tempo run today. It was stinking hot today. Normally I run in the morning when it’s cool but I had stuff to do so I saved it to the afternoon. It was so hot I put on my running shorts for the first time this year. I feel really self-conscious running in my shorts. Maybe it is because of the ridiculous tanline I have from my usual leggings or that fact that I still think I’m obese. Who knows! Today was one of those days I just didn’t care. I ran my city circuit and was literally dying from the heat. I really hope that it is nice and cool when I run the Cadbury Marathon. I sweated through 5.3km at an average pace of 5’37” per km.
Today I also stocked up on my Clif Shot Gels and my Shotz electrolytes at Find Your Feet. I got a discount for buying in bulk.
Stunning Pipeline
Sunday 20/12/15
Big run day – 26km. It was going to be super hot today so I made a very conscious effort to run on the Pipeline where it is shady and run early to avoid the heat I hate so much. I made up my gel mix and electrolyte water the night before and had my breakfast at 4AM again. I’m starting to get used to the ritual. I was out of bed at 5:35 but had some tummy issues which meant a bit of a delayed start at the Pipeline at 6:40AM.
It was warm at the beginning of the run and I thought it was going to be a hard slog. After getting through the first 3km (the worst part for me) it started getting cooler as I headed up in elevation. The colours on the trail were spectacular and I ran without music again to fully immerse myself in it. It was quite a different experience to that of a couple weeks ago. There was less wildlife around and less birds singing. I think they were all holed up in shady spots near water. I did see a couple of Pademelons and I actually managed to get a photo of one.
Can you spot the wildlife?
I had the whole trail to myself until I got 11km into it. Every time I crossed a brook or waterfall it was like running through air conditioning – beautiful! The heat affected the trail a bit, I noticed it was quite firm in places because it was dry. The trail even smelled different – there wasn’t that same fresh eucalypt smell I had when it was damp and rainy last time. Just goes to show you can run the same run over and over and discover something new. I prefer the Pipeline in the rain.
As I got closer to the end of my run the trail started filling up with people and I saw a few familiar faces along the way. I was glad to finish because I was getting hot. My gels and the electrolytes in my water kept me running at a steady pace of 6′ per km and finished 26.3 in 2:37:40. I cannot stress what a huge difference I’ve felt since I’ve started doing my long runs with proper hydration. I have learned so much so far and I’m sure I’ll continue to learn right up until raceday and beyond.
Only 2 more training weeks to go!
Pipeline Colours
