I can’t believe it is week 20 already! The date of the Cadbury Marathon is looming closer and I’m at the pointy end of my training. Point to Pinnacle was only last week, yet it seems like it was ages ago.
Corporate life has been crazy busy and emotionally draining. The cheesemine is going through a restructure which means heaps of change and the inevitability of people leaving because of the changes. Change is inevitable and I’m putting on a brave face to be there to support those going through the changes and trying not to think of the potential downstream impacts for me. Thankfully, I’m chasing a big goal one km at a time and this has been a welcome distraction.
This week I got some new kit and started breaking in my runners that I bought during week 3 of training in Melbourne. The coaches gave me a couple of rest days to recover from the Point to Pinnacle so my running week didn’t start until Wednesday.
Here’s how it went down.
Wednesday 18/11/15
It was hard to wait until today to run. I was ready to run on Monday, the day after the P2P. I had to rein myself in and give my body the proper break it deserved after such a gruelling event. I think it is a huge credit to my training program that I pulled up so well after the event. My hydration and fuelling strategies are paying off.
800+km vs 0km – spot the difference!
Today was an easy 50 day to get me back into the swing of things. I also took my new runners for their maiden voyage. I’ve logged over 800km on my trusty grey Nike Flyknit Free 3.0 runners and they are starting to show significant wear and tear. I also need to start breaking in my new pair. They are exactly the same except for the colour. Check out the difference on the sole! Being a soft/thin soled shoe these wear faster than your more traditional runner. I like how they feel and the fact that I don’t get any aches or blisters. With running shoes it’s all a matter of personal taste. I swear by these and I’m a big Nike fan girl. My ultimate dream is to be sponsored by Nike…..until then I’ll keep forking out the big bucks to buy their amazing shoes and kit.
Today’s run was great! I felt amazing, no lingering aches and pains. The new shoes were good but I’ll need some time to get used to them. Wearing them made me realise just how much cushioning was gone from the other pair. I do kind of like how the old pair are “molded” to my foot. I’m sure with another 20km or so the new ones will get there. I took it easy and managed 8.8km with an average pace of 5’46”. I still need to try and get up early and eat before I go.
Friday 20/11/15
So tired from work that I ended up drinking in bed!
Ah Friday! My favourite day of the week. I’ve been feeling corporately exhausted all week and really needed my run today. I woke early, but not early enough to eat. I got my gear on and headed out on my city circuit for my easy 60. I felt a bit achey to begin with – maybe Sunday’s effort is catching up with me. My knees and hips were a bit stiff but they warmed up after the first 3 or so kms. I managed to do 10.6km in 1:01:51
I had a few aches and pains after the run and unfortunately I didn’t have enough time to do my foam rolling or my stretches afterwards. I was in a huge rush to get myself ready to catch the 7:30 bus to get to work. I had to pack my makeup and eat breakfast on the run. I looked like one hot mess! Anyway, I somehow managed to get to the bus stop with 5 minutes to spare and guess what? It didn’t bloody turn up! I was fuming. I could have had a relaxing morning doing my face and enjoying a cuppa with my hubby but instead I was at the mercy of Metro buses. I ended up catching another bus that left a full 30 minutes after I had left my house. I could have had pancakes for breakfast with that much time.
I was well and truly exhausted by the time I got home from work. So much so that I ended up having my Friday night beers in bed. Tragic.
Saturday 21/11/15
Still feeling a bit achey I did a 30 minute tempo run today. Just a quick trot down Sandy Bay Road. Nothing exciting to report. Just gettin’ it done. 5.6km at 5’32” – should have taken it easier.
Sunday 22/11/15
Today I set out on my longest run EVER. 26km.
At the Pipeline with my new kit
After all of the discussion about hydration last week, I decided it was time for me to get a camelbak to quench the thirst of the longer long runs. I went out shopping during some welcome downtime at the cheesemine. Hydration solutions are so expensive and confusing. After going to a variety of stores and trying on a plethora of different packs I had just about given up. At the end of the day, I was always going to hate wearing a pack. I hate backpacks. I hate the way they bounce. I hate the way they rub and chafe. I hate the big sweat patch they leave behind. I actually have backpack scars – I kid you not! At my wits end, I found myself at a specialist run shop that happens to be right across the road from my work – Find your Feet. The guy in there was great at helping me find what best suited me. Enter the Salomon S-Lab Sense Ultra Set. I had never considered a running vest until the man in the shop suggested it to me. I always thought they looked wanky (and maybe they still do) but they do the job and do the job well. Bye bye bounce, bye bye chafe, bye bye sweat patch and hello hydration.
My Sunday morning started early. I was up at 4:30 having a non-fried Elvis sandwich washed down with a couple of glasses of water. Back to bed for bit and then out the door at 6:45 headed to the Pipeline Track.
With my new vest filled with 1l of water and 4 energy gels I was ready to roll. The first 3km were painful until I found my rhythm and the incline evened out. It was nice to be up on the mountain again but it was a completely different experience because there was nobody on it for the first 15km of my run. Ah the serenity! The vest was great. It took me about a km to get used to it. It comes with a whistle that gave me the shits flappin’ around so I tucked it away. At first it felt like I was running with an extra pair of boobs because of the water bladders. They settled down once I had my first drinks and the bottles started contracting.
Going into the Danger Zone
I ran with a slow and steady pace and enjoyed the track. I even turned off the music for the last 12km. I’ve never done that before. One good/bad thing about the Pipeline Track is that you don’t really get much sun. It is always a bit cooler up there. I kept my fueling up by having a couple of gels along the way. I probably needed to have one more but I took a gradual approach to it and didn’t slam them down. I’m still not a fan of gels as my tummy felt upset at times. However, they do a good job of keeping the energy up so I’ll need to keep training with them and find what works best for me.
Since my run was so long, I had to be naughty and go past the 12km fence. I felt like such a rebel for going past the “dangerzone”. The area is known for landslips and the drop down the sides was a bit scary even for me who is not particularly afraid of heights. I stuck very close to the mountainside for the 1km I ran in the dangerzone. I do hope they open it up again one day because it would be awesome to run all the way to Kingston.
I started seeing some runners going up on my way back down. I even saw one of my coaches, Jay, out for a run with a pack of insanely fit guys. Just to clarify he’s insanely fit himself. Man I wish I could run like them! They are absolute machines. But hey I’m doing the best I can.
Pipeline Scenery
I ended up running about 400m more than 26km. I felt tired towards the end and I think that is due to not having enough gels. I need to force myself to have them! Having water whenever I wanted it was fantastic and I think that helped me feel good. Although I think I probably drank too much simply for the fact that water was available. I had about 700mls all up.
I ran my 26.4km in 2:38:41 with an average pace of 6 minutes per km. I ran 5.2km more than last Sunday and did it 3 minutes faster. It just goes to show what a physically challenging event the P2P is. It was a great feeling to accomplish my longest run. I need to somehow find the mental and physical strength to run an additional 15.8km to complete a marathon. I’m sure I can do it. One km at a time.
