September is here, the season is now spring, and the weather should be on the improve. 5 weeks left until the day of the marathon, the perfect time to complete my longest run before tapering the distances back. Here’s a brief wrap up of this weeks training.
Monday 1st September – Rest day from serious cardio. A quick run on the treadmill (1.6km @ 7:30) as a warm up for yoga. Only 3 weeks until the instructor finishes up. Hopefully they can arrange a replacement as I am enjoying the classes for both the core work and flexibility/stretching.
Tuesday 2nd September – Usual 5:30am alarm and off to spin class. Instructor is sticking with the same mix, working us hard for this month. (22.6km @ 55:06, Avg 83rpm / 185 watts)
Wednesday 3rd September – Back out running again this morning. Set off a little after 6:00am and was reminded of the change of seasons as the sun was already starting to peak over the horizon. Looking forward to the lengthening of the days, as the mornings get longer, the runs can be extended and the warmth will be appreciated. (14.74km @ 1:06.05) Wednesday evening and I am back on the yoga mat.
Thursday 4th September – Spin class again, amazing how much sweating can be done before 7:00am (22.1km @ 53:08, Avg 84rpm / 185 watts)
Friday 5th September – Early morning run with a slight difference. Decided to give a Fartlek session a trial. Basically first few kilometers were an easy pace of 4:40min/km then I would pick a marker and run to another random marker at an accelerated pace. My quicker pace was pretty much flat out, and my understanding is the variance in the pace should show improvement to my fitness level and pace. I’m guessing a few sessions will be needed to see how it can change things. (14.07km @ 1:02.18)
Saturday 6th September – Long run day. A day that has taken more preparation than my previous long run a couple of weeks ago. From lessons learnt I made a number of adjustments which made a big difference. First off was a simple thing, eating breakfast before heading out. Usually I wake, stretch, dress & run. Obviously longer runs meant I was running out of fuel. This run was underway after a couple of slices of toast with peanut butter. Next change was a new route, usually I run a route that I know where the 14km mark is, and I try and hit that mark before the first hour. With a new route, and a slightly slower pace I also added the ingestion of an energy gel along the way. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to write a post about it in more depth soon. The final result was a new personal best distance and a renewed belief in my ability to finish the marathon (36.67km @ 2:58:51)
Sunday 7th September – Race day – 5km with the Geelong Cross Country Club at Fyansford. After last weeks victory in the clubs ‘King of the Mountain’ the handicappers decided to step up my challenge. I moved from the middle markers right back into the back markers. I tried to keep pace with my new running partners, even managed a PB on the first kilometer but watched in vain as the runners disappeared along the path. Definitely a lonely run today at the rear of the pack, but at least it presents the opportunity to try and improve my times over the coming weeks… (5.01km @ 20:16.9)
With 5 weeks to go before Melbourne Marathon I will now be tapering down my long runs, with the plan not to complete any over 25km until the marathon. The Geelong Cross Country Club race next week is a half marathon, which will be my first official run over the distance. With my current handicap I have virtually no chance of winning, but I will be out there giving it my all, and hopefully at least getting a new personal record for the distance.
Overall distance – 44.7km spin class , 72km running