One Final Run

Today I did the final training run before the race tomorrow. 5km very slowly wearing my new GPS watch. I felt good running, and the temperature was nice and cool (same predicted for tomorrow). My hand seemed to cope…

After I had finished I waited outside our resort to watch the 10km race pass by. I was amazed at all the different running styles, some people seem to glide past and others almost stop each step they take. I sat on the side of the road for a while until I started to feel cold then went in to have breakfast and a shower. While sitting there I noticed my hand was hurting a little and had swelled up a bit.

My hand has been a little grumpy all day, the thought crossed my mind to pop the blister, but I am not sure if that’s a good idea. I hope tomorrow it will be okay as I get quite puffy hands when I run long distance anyway. We shall see…

My running gear is laid out, my race number and gels all ready to go. All I have to do is set my wake up alarm for 5.15am and I am all set. All the training, tapering, carb loading and hydrating has been done, now it is time to do that Marathon!

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Nearly Race Day!

I have been quiet I know. The last time I sat down at my computer to write anything was almost 2 weeks ago! Various reasons….been feeling tired, and a bit meh…. This week we were away in Auckland and Colville. I have still been training, had a few hamstring niggles, went for 2 painful massages! It was almost as if I got the 35km run done and thought to myself “That’s it! Job done!” Not so….

I have a new toy, a Garmin Forerunner 410. I used it on Sunday for my final long run and again today. Why did I not buy this toy earlier? It is so simple to plan and do your runs, so easy to upload the info when you’re done. The only downside is the size of it. I have VERY small wrists, so have to use the smallest watch strap while the watch itself is HUGE, so no wearing of this one other than while running.

This week is final taper week. I am enjoying the severe shortage of runs. Today I went for a 6km trot, on Friday I will do 5km. Then Sunday is Race Day! I am going to wear my new toy as it tells me my pace, however I need to figure out how to drive it properly as I don’t want it beeping at me each km and reminding me that I still have screeds of kms left. I am hoping the weather will be good, and warmer than here. A few runs I have done lately, it has felt as if my face is going to fall off, it’s been that cold. On two mornings last week I was running along the boardwalk and it was covered in frost. I am hoping I can walk properly after the race, as when I did the Auckland Marathon, I had such sore feet I couldn’t walk properly for 2 days afterwards. I am dosing myself with Vit C so I don’t catch any bugs.

We leave for the Gold Coast on Friday morning, driving up to Auckland Airport for our flight. Perhaps I am starting to feel just a little bit excited…..

And So The Taper Begins

Sunday was the biggest long run in my training programme. 35km run mostly in the rain. The plus side was it wasn’t too cold, the minus side was it was windy! So in the end it felt a lot longer, and it showed in my time….3hrs 51mins.

Afterwards I was soaked, but glad it was all over. I had done that illusive distance, I knew that the final hurdle had been leapt over and now there was just the slow winding down to Marathon Day! The rest of the training until then should be a doddle, right? Wrong! Monday I was tired – I did not want to do my strength workout, but I did it in the end. Yesterday I did an 8km recovery run – my legs felt like lead and I was feeling sluggish! Today I did a 14km run with km repeats – I couldn’t wait for it to finish! What am I going to feel like by week three of my taper?

I can only think that my body is tired, and possibly this taper is timed excellently as the gradual ease off of distance will give it the chance to recuperate and strengthen before race day on July 7. Hopefully I have not over-trained, hopefully I am not short on nutrition or dehydrated, I guess the next couple of weeks will tell. It’s now time to eat well, keep hydrated and if I need a few extra rest days…..I had better listen to my body and take them 🙂

Poised At The Bottom Of The Hill

Today I got wet…well I should rather say soaked! I had about one hour left of my long run (today was 24km) and the rain came down. At one stage it was quite painful! Stoically I kept going, the result being I ran too fast once again, and I was dripping, sloshing and squishing by the time I finished and reached the shelter of my hubby’s car. I did think to myself that had I been doing next Sundays run of 35km, I may have given up…or would I?

Today also marks four weeks to go until the Gold Coast Marathon. Finally I am feeling excited. Due to the weather (it has not stopped raining since 9am!) I have been preparing my taper and subsequent carb load by entering all the relevant information into my training sheet. It feels good to have it all down on paper so it’s out of my head, which leaves room for other thoughts. Like the fact that I am poised of the eve of my biggest training week ever! This week marks an 81km week culminating in the 35km long run on Sunday.

Now, if you have been following my blog since last year, you may remember that at this stage in the build up to the Auckland Marathon I became ill and had to miss out the 35km planned run, so I never did the big week and long run, and consequently I am feeling a little apprehensive about my body’s ability to cope with the (in my mind) massive mileage. No doubt I shall be fine, but I am nonetheless nervous about it. What helps me though, is the knowledge that after that the taper begins, and so the next big run is the race itself! All I have to do is get through this week and all will be fine. I feel like I am poised at the bottom of a steep hill, looking up to the top where Sundays run lurks, and then on to the other side where the taper is waiting until the final climb of the race and the ultimate relief of the recovery week.

On your marks!

Well, the time has come to head off up to Auckland and run this marathon! Last night I had the worst sleep ever, and it was supposed to be a good one. I went to bed with a horrendous headache that appeared out of nowhere and had to get up a few hours later to take a neurofen, something I have not done in months! It did get rid of the headache, which does not seem to be there this morning, so that is a positive.

My cat was also being a nuisance throughout the night. She decided grooming was in order at 3.30am and when she does that her teeth squeak  So squeak  squeak  squeak she went and then she thought some water was in order so hopped off the bed and went to the bathroom door and started scratching on it for someone to open it so she could get to her bowl. The only thing I opened was my sock drawer to extract a pair of socks which I then hurled in the general direction of the door. She got the hint….

Needless to say, when the alarm went off at 5am I was in no mood to do my 3K jog suggested in my training schedule, my body was saying no way! My mind was trying to convince me that I must, but for once I have listened to my body! This whole training journey has been an exercise in learning to listen to my body, and if I never do another marathon again, I have gained some insight into how I function within my mind, and how I need to sit back and chill and listen to that small voice that is my body!

So saying…..tomorrow the mind must carry me through the final journey of this marathon adventure. I plan to take in the scenery as much as I can, and enjoy the race. I plan to walk through all the support stations to make sure I get all my fluids in and not on me, and give my legs a short break from running. I plan to smile as much as possible. The forecast is for rain, but according to http://www.metvuw.com/forecast this will not be happening until after I plan to finish the race.

As I write this my nerves are building. I feel like I am typing faster than normal and my fingers are shaky. I can remember the first time I ran a half, I felt the same. I was worried that I would not make the distance, and I did it. So I know I will do this….I am just a little scared by the whole idea!

Perhaps I should do that jog……make sure my legs still work……

Will I be able to walk on Monday?

This is the question I am asking myself today.

The nerves are finally starting to make themselves known. The excitement has given way to a certain level of apprehension at my ability to run this race. Body parts are starting to hurt, today it is my big toe and my lower back. I know from reading many articles that this is normal, and I know from my own experience when doing half marathons, that in the final week I always get these twinges, some of them quite severe! However, I am still, in that illogical place in my mind, thinking I have something wrong.

The other thing that is playing with my head is the whole process of carb loading. I am feeling bloated and fat, and it is only day one. I haven’t really changed much in the way I am eating, just added a little high quality carbs to my meals, and removed some fat. With this I need to drink more water and I am struggling to keep this up. On top of all of this I am not running as much this week, and consequently am feeling lazy and even more fat! I am not the sort of person who can sit still for long so am finding this very challenging.

And on top of all these thoughts whizzing around in my head I am asking myself “Will I be able to walk on Monday?”