Back into it!

After a couple of ordinary weeks of post Fukuoka Marathon recovery, I resumed training this week. I was feeling pretty ordinary for the first half of the week and picked up a little these past 3 days. 142.4 km's - 11:12:52. Weekly summary is as follows:

Monday
AM - 19 km's - 1:30 (sluggish, legs heavy)
PM - 12 km's - 57:36 (legs heavy)
Tuesday
Midday - 9 km's - 50:13 (slow & sluggish)
PM - 13 km's -
- 5x400 (40 secs recovery)- 72/70/71/71/73
- 3 mins recovery
- 4 km tempo - 15:05 (struggled)
Wednesday
PM - 20 km's - 1:37 (very tired / legs heavy)
Thursday
15 km's Fartlek - 1:14:06 (felt fair)
Friday
10 km's - 48:50 (okay)
Saturday
3x2000 (2 mins recovery) - 16 km's total
Splits - 6:58/6:48/6:39 (controlled tempo running - felt good)
Sunday
PM -28.4 km's - 2:04:08 (progressive effort- felt good)

Slow recovery!

Not one of my better week's. All up 78 km's of mainly jogging. Felt sluggish and tired with most runs.

Wednesday - 13 km's over rolling hills. Surged the hills on the way back.

Thursday - 11 km's easy.

Friday - 6 km's jogging.

Saturday - 8 km's and 3 km's jogging.

Sunday - not feeling well. Only did 11 km's instead of planned 2 hour long run.

Hoping for a better week next week as I resume normal training.

Hilly 10 km trail run.

Did a hilly 10 km trail run this morning with the BMMC guys. First time I have ever ran with the BMMC guys. Involved an eary rise (5:00 am) and 6 am start. Just what I need as I still haven't adjusted from late nights to sleep since returning from Japan. Hopefully the early start will have me dozing early tonight.

Total running time was just under 49 minutes. The run was mainly jogging but included a nice 700m hill surge out of Sun Valley at 90-95% effort.

22,000 km milestone

After passing 6,000 km's for the year last week, it was nice to pass the 22,000 km milestone today, since I took up running at the beginning of 2007.

Did an easy 16 km's today on the treadmill at the gym. Started off jogging very slowly (10 km/h) and slowly increased the pace to 13 km/h. Total running time 56:06.

Recovery week.

Took things very easy this week. My quads were extremely saw up until Friday so I decided to get some physio on them which really helped.

Pretty much just jogging this week and virtually all of it on soft surfaces.

Monday - Rest
Tuesday - Rest
Wednesday - 3 km's on sand
Thursday - 4 km's on grass
Friday - 8 km's on grass
Saturday - 3 km's on the road
Sunday - 12 km's on trail / path. The last 5 km's at easy pace.

Only 30 km's all up for the week.

Fukuoka Marathon - Gunbatte!

Gunbatte! A Japanese word, which literally translates to "do your best". Despite never having heard the word prior to the Fukuoka Marathon, it is probably the most appropriate word to best describe my experience. The streets of Fukuoka were crowded from start to finish and the support was amazing. The Japanese people constantly chanted "Gunbatte". Having never heard the word before the race, I wasn't quite sure what they were saying. They were smiling and clapping so I was quietly confident that they weren't swearing at me & I figured that was a good thing. It certainly spurred me anyway!

As I lined up on the starting line, I knew that I'd prepared and trained well and importantly that I was in peak shape. The only thing that I was worried about was the unseasonably warm weather and getting the pace judgement right. The temperature was 16 degrees at the start and there was no cloud cover, which wasn't ideal. On the positive side wind & humidity wasn't a factor. Despite feeling a little nervous, I decided to stick to my original game plan and hold even splits of 3:44 per km (2:38 marathon). In the end this was the wrong strategy, especially as the temperature reached near 20 degrees later in the race.

I managed to hold the pace for 32 km's but struggled over the remaining 10 km's. My finishing time was 2:44:32, which is over 3 minutes slower than my previous marathon & a long way off the sub 2:40 that I was aiming for.

I really got the pace judgement wrong for the conditions. In hindsight, I should have went out easier than 78:54 for the first half. 80 minutes would have been good, but I was feeling good and too psyched about running 2:38. I was on pace until 32 km's and fell away badly after that. The last 4 km's were absolute hell. But the whole way I gave my best (Gunbatte).

I collapsed after the race with severe cramps in my legs and left shoulder and was assisted to the medical tent until I recovered an hour or so later.

The experience was memorable all the same. The course was lined the whole way and the support was unbelievable. "Gunbatte" I heard and "Gunbatte" I gave.

5 Splits were as follows:

18:41 / 18:39 / 18:40 / 18:45 / 18:43 / 19:08 / 19:40 / 21:36 / 10:40

Yes, pretty disatrous from 35 km's on, but I was giving everything I had and can hold me head up high and say that despite getting the pacing wrong, I didn't quit at any stage.

Next challenge is to run an Autumn marathon and run a qualifying time so I can come back next year.

Bludge Day

Recovery day today. 4 km's of light jogging at the gym followed by my final core session before the marathon. Massage later in the day. Weight down to 70.2 kgs, which is nice. Expect to be 71 kgs after carbo loading, which begins after tomorrow's light speed session.

Flying tomorrow at 7 am to the Gold Coast. Have 3 hours to kill there before connecting to fly to Japan at 10 am. Hope to get a nice beach run in. 6 x 30 seconds planned and around 40 mins all up.

Next Blog may not be until after the marathon.

Marathon dress rehearsal

Today's planned marathon pace effort went fine. 4 km's warm-up, 4 km's at slightly quicker than goal marathon pace (14:51) and 2 km's warm-down. Ave H/R during marathon pace running was 154, which is okay. Total running - 10 km's - 44:37.

Legs are feeling a little heavy still and lower back still not 100%. Easy day tomorrow and pretty much the same up until Sunday.

Marathon Week!

Not long to go now.

A nice easy day today. 9 km's jogging around the track on grass in 44 mins. Felt fine. Earlier did a light core session at the gym and had physio on my lower back.

Weighed myself at the gym - 71.2 kg's :(   Am watching what I eat now.

Will start packing my bags tonight asI fly out Thursday morning for Japan.

Weekend Update

Not a bad w/e to finish off an otherwise ordinary week.

Jumped on the scales this morning and noticed the taper hasn't helped my weight. My weight has increased from 69 kgs a couple of weeks ago to 71 today. I've been slack with the core work these past 2 weeks and also been probably eating a little too much. Will watch what I eat this week, but won't go overboard. 70/71 kg's on race day is fine by me.

Saturday
My coach put 3 x 2000 in the programme off 3 min recovery jogs. Decided to ease this back just a little and just do 1000 in the final set. Pretty happy with the session. 6:32/6:36/3:14. All up a little over 16 km's for the session, which included a pretty crusiy 4.4 km's warm-up & drills and 5.6 km's warm-down. Session at Centennial Park on grass. Effort around 90-95%

Sunday
21 km's in 86:54. Progressive effort starting at 4:30 pace and finishing at 3:49 pace. Felt a little sluggish at first but really good once I got into it. Ave H/R 137. Really happy with the pace v effort return. Ave pace 4:08's against ave H/R in muggy conditions is quite pleasing.

One week to go now.

Easing back!

An easy day today. Just 6.1 km's in 28:20 around Parramatta Park. Feeling a little stiff still and discomfort still exists in my lower back. Will try to get time for another physio session.

Thursday

Yesterday included a 25 minute tempo effort & 10 x 100 m strides. 3 km's slow jogging to warm-up, 1 km of drills and strides then 7 km's tempo in 25:25. 1 km jog recovery then then strides and 2 km warm down. All up 16 km's in 1:11:25. Did the session at the gym on the treadmill as it was stinking hot outside. Progressively increased the pace of each stride as follows: 18 km/h / 18.5 / 19 / 19.5 / 20 / 20 + 1.5% incline / 20 + 2% / 20 + 2.5% / 20 + 3% / 20 + 3.5%. 1% incline at all other times.

Tempo started at goal marathon pace (16 km/h) and increased by 0.1 km/h each km. Last km at 17 km/h. Ave pace 3:38 sits somewhere between 1/2 marathon pace and marathon pace, so effort is probably slower than true tempo but I was still working fine. Ave HR 159 (90%). a little higher than ideal.

Buggered! Stuffed! Exhausted! Tired! Sluggish! Sore!

Ain't preparing for a marathon such an emotional thing! There's just 11 days to go and to be quite honest, I'm finding it hard to simply relax. The excitement, the nervous tension and the anticipation is constantly there and I just wish I could just get the bloody race underway. I line up for probably 20 shorter races a year and rarely feel any nervousness until I wake up in the morning of the race. I guess I know that there's always another one next week or soon afterwards. But the marathon is different. I'm only doing 1 this year and this one is potentially my last.

I set my sights on the Fukuoka Marathon about 18 months ago, but I dreamed of running it nearly 30 years ago. As a kid I still remember Deek winning it back in the early 80's. I remember last year looking at the entry criteria for Fukuoka and back then sub 2:45 was required. At the time my PB was only 2:48 so I trained my backside off for the 2009 Melbourne Marathon hoping to achieve that time, in anticipation of getting a start this year. I ran 2:41:17 (gun time) and was feeling pretty confident of getting into this year's race. I'd already saved the Fukuoka Marathon website to my favourites and I checked it every month waiting for entries to open. I shit myself when entries did open and the qualifying time was reduced to 2:42. I was only 43 seconds under the entry requirement. Would that be enough? I put my entry in and waited for over a month before I heard anything from the organisors and when I did, I didn't exactly hear what I wanted to hear. I was told that my entry form was not signed off correctly by the appropriate person at Athletics Australia and I had a couple of days to get it done properly. This was at the same time as the Commonwealth Games and basically I had "bugger all" chance of making this happen.  So I'd resigned myself to the fact that I'd missed out. I switched my entry in the Melbourne 1/2 Marathon to the full Marathon knowing full well that I hadn't prepared or tapered sufficiently for the race. To my surprise, the night before the race I discovered that I had been accepted into Fukuoka. It was too late to switch back to the 1/2 in Melbourne, so I decided that I would treat 30 km's of the Melbourne Marathon as a marathon pace effort and take a short cut and jog back. This actually worked out well as I helped pace a mate of mine who went on to run a PB of 2:39. So there's been plenty to get anxious about along the way this time.

Back to the present. The nervousness has been heightened today after putting in another crap run. I just felt terrible today. It was very muggy, my legs were tired, we were running over rolling hills on dirt and I basically had nothing. If it wasn't for the company of my 2 running buddies, Jim & Earl, I'd probably have just jogged the whole way. In all we covered 17.1 km's in 1:17:22. Pushed the last 4 km's at around 4:10 pace, working the hills and constantly focused on just getting the bloody run over and done with!

At times like these, I know I just need to listen to my body. No point trying too hard or overdoing my upcoming training efforts. I plan to ease back the pace and just back the training I've put in to date.

Absolute shocker!

Put in a really crap day and to be honest really wanted to quit not long after starting. I just didn't feel right. Legs were stiff and I just felt really sluggish. I had hoped to put in a short sharp speed session, but not to be. Session 8 x 400 with 200 float/jog recovery.

All up 10.2 km's in 46:24. Splits: 79/82/82/83/84/84/87/88.

Fingers crossed, I'll get a good night's sleep and wake up feeling better tomorrow and quickly recover.

Dizzy but felt great!

Ran 12 km's around the track with T tonight. Apart from the boredom of running round and round and round and ......... I felt great. Started off very cruisy and progressively picked up the pace each km. 4:58 1st km, then 4:42 then slowly down to 3:53 for the final km. Felt very easy the whole way and at conversational pace. Time - 53:30 (4:28 pace).

2 weeks to go and counting

Only 2 weeks to go now and the usual mixture of nervousness and excitement is there.

A quick update for the last few days:

Friday - 10 km's slow jogging with a mate at a bit over 5 min km pace.

Saturday - 4 km's warm up then drills and strides. 6 km time trial with the squad in 19:59. Tough run on grass with an encouraging time. Followed with 2 km's of hill reps. About 60 metres or so up. 15 in total. Followed with 3.5 km's warm down.

Sunday - Forgot my watch but did an easy 28 kms in just under 2 hours, according to
My friends gamin. Felt cruisy. Solid fast finish over past 4 km's. Probably around 3:40 pace and quicker. Session at Scarborough Park on grass. Feeling fit.

Last week - Just under 130 km's for the week. Ave pace around 4:15. Reduces mileage as first week of taper but quality good.

Will run later this evening and update later. 45 mins or so planned.

Medium Long Run

It was quite hot today and there was no water along the route I ran. Lucky for me my wonderful girlfriend dropped some gatorade to me at around the 13/14 km mark. Today I ran 20.5 km's in 1:26:18. The run consisted of 3 continuous stages. Stage 1 being a little over 10 km's at an easy pace (approx 4:10 km's)- ave H/R - 132, which surprises me given the heat, would normally expect higher. Stage 2 consisted of 11 x 1 minute surges off equal jog recovery. Splits varied a lot as I did these over hills. Metre splits as follows: 285/288/260/290/285/318/307/324/336/259/358/320. Ave H/R 150. Peak 162. Stage 3 consisted of 5.1 km's warm down T an easy pace in 22:21. Average H/R 146. Picked up pace in this section from 4:41 to 4:11 as I recovered from the earlier hill reps. Overall quite happy with the run considering the heat.

Steady!

Relaxed day today. Just the single am run. 15 km's in 1 hour at a easy / steady pace along a 2 km loop that is half concrete path & half dirt trail. Flat terrain. Pleased with the run. Felt very comfortable and average H/R only 142 (80%). First 5 km's in just over 4:00 min km pace and then remaining 10 in just under.

Control, Control, Control!

Someday's you wake up feeling pretty good and run crap. Other days can be the opposite. Today was the later. This morning I ran an easy 9 km's in 41 minutes and followed this with upper body strength work at the gym.

This evening I wasn't really feeling that great. My legs were feeling heavy and I was also feeling a little light headed. After approximately 4.5 km's warm-up, followed by drills and light strides, I was feeling nervous about just getting through the session. The session programmed was 7 x 1200 off 45 seconds recovery. I decided to take things easy to start and just see how the session progressed. To my surprise I found 5 km race pace (3:20 km pace) on grass was feeling very comfortable. I train with a very strong squad and I'm usually near the rear  of the senior squad members. Today was no exception. Except I was feeling strong & the competitive juices within were urging me to go harder. With less than 3 weeks before my marathon, I kept reminding myself the words of my old coach, Barry Magee. "Control! Control! Control!" I maintained fairly even splits as follows: 4:01 / 3:59 / 3:59 / 3:58 / 3:58 / 3:59 / 4:00 / 4:00. Followed the session with a slow 3 km jog.

All-up 25.2 km's for the day & 1:53:20 hrs running.

Marathon Taper Begins!

I'll be going with a 3 week taper for the first time. Previously I have gone with just the 2 weeks taper for my past 5 marathons. However this time around, the mileage has been higher and the quality has also been higher so a little longer to freshen up hopefully won't hurt. Plan is for 130 km's or thereabouts this week, 100 next week and 80-90 km's race week (including the race).

Today I did an easy hour run (14.4 km's), which also included 5 x 100 m strideouts. Felt pretty good today and average H/R was 134 (76%). Followed the run with 45 minutes of core exercises at the gym.

Going okay, I think!

Running these past 3 days has been going okay, I think! Friday I took things very easy, my first 3000 m track race wasn't too bad and I backed up okay for my long run today.

Friday (12/11)

AM - 6.5 km's - 33:14 mins - Legs were still feeling heavy and it was very hot. Jogged on grass and took things very easy. Included 5 very light strides (around 4:00 min km pace).

Saturday (13/11)

PM - 3000 m race (track) - 9:37 mins - Nothing flash but not bad. No idea of the splits, but I went out a little too hard and spent the first 4 laps running wide in lane 2. Need to manage this better if I do more track races. Really felt the pace with 2 laps to go and just did my best to hang on. Conditions were very hot (27 degrees) and muggy (72%), which I always struggle in.

Preceeded by 3.2 kms warm-up jog & then drills & strides. 6 km's warm down.

Sunday (14/11)

AM - Did okay today in shocking conditions (nearing 30%). 33.5 km's - 2:20:07 secs. Ave H/R - 145 (82%). The heat was tough and I was starting to feel heavy in the hips / legs towards the end, but the pace felt very comfortable. Out & back run. Took things very easy going out and progressively picked it up a little coming back. Last 6 km's in 4 min km pace or slightly quicker.

PM - 6 km's jogging/easy in a little under 30 mins. Felt pretty good. Started off very slowly (around 6 min km pace) and progressively picked up the pace into around 4:20 pace. Followed with a light weights session.

All up 163 km's running for the week. 12 hrs 24 mins.

Sruggled today!

AM - Was hoping to put in a sharp session today in readiness for Saturday's State 3000 m track race, but it wasn't to be. Woke up feeling tired and legs feeling very heavy. I probably went a bit too hard on the leg weights yesterday. Session this morning was 4 x 200 metres off 1 minute recovery. Splits: 38/38/38/36.  Pretty crap, but that's all I had in me this morning. All up 11.8 km's in 1 hr.

PM - Had a brief nap this afternoon to rest up. Was contemplating completely resting tonight, but decided otherwise. Did an easy 9 km's (40:28 mins) late evening (approx 9:30 pm) around the Olympic Stadium area. Felt better, although legs a bit heavy. Will rest up tomorrow, with just a 30 minute morning jog on the agenda. Hopefully I will be reasonably fresh for Saturday evening's race, with 1.5 days recovery between tomorrow morning's run and the race. I've never raced a short race like 3000 m's so am not sure how I will go. Ideally would like to be entering with a much lighter training week, but the marathon is top of mind at the moment.

Recovery run & gym

PM Session - 9 km's - 41:48 - Felt okay.

Followed with strength training, mainly legs at the gym and 45 mins of core exercises.

Legs are feeling heavy!

AM session - 25 km's - 1:45:25. Ave H/R 146 (82%)

Legs were feeling very heavy today. Was feeling it early in my run and had to grit my teeth, mix up the speed and just tough it out. Ended up being a reasonably solid session though.

Took the first 5 km's easy, increasing the pace from 4:37 pace to 4:15 pace. Then put in a sub marathon pace km (3:37). Next 7 km's @ 4:12 pace. Then progressively increased the pace every km for the next 7 km's. (4:10's into 4:02). Relaxed for 2 km's @ 14.2 km/h. Then 5 x 100 at 18 km/h uphill, with 1 min jog recovery. Finished off with 2 km's easy (around 4:12), last 300 m's at goal marathon pace (16 km/h). Glad to get through the session.

Off to the gym this afternoon for core work and recovery jog back home.

Encouraging VO2 session

AM - 10 km's jogging in  47:13

Midday - Approx 6 km's of walking.

PM - Nice session of 4 x 800 off 4 minute jog recovery. Splits: 2:23/2:21/2:23/2:25. PB splits. Went a little too hard in the 2nd rep and found the going tough in the 3rd & 4th reps. Still, happy with the session. 3.5 km warm-up. 8 km warm down. All up 16.5 km's, excluding drills & strides in 1:21:17.

4 weeks to go!

Fukuoka is getting closer and closer. 4 weeks to go. 1 more 100 mile week and then 3 weeks taper is the plan.

I woke up this morning very late and feeling very tired having watched the NY Marathon & Brazilian GP during the night. As such I didn't get my jog in until midday smack bang in the middle of the heat. My legs were feeling very heavy and sore after a pretty hefty weekend workload (67.7 km's).

Midday - Jogged 9.3 km's in 45 mins. Slowly loosened up and felt okay despite the heat (around 28 degrees).

Was so tired I slept in the afternoon for an hour or so.

PM - 14 km's in 1 hour. Felt pretty good. Cruisy effort. Legs feeling fine afterwards.

Broke in a new pair of Haile Geb Limited Edition Adidas Adios shoes that I ordered last week from Running Warehouse. My second pair of Adios shoes. They look fantastic in green and gold and felt wonderful to run in straight out of the box. Definitely my favourite marathon shoe. I'll be wearing these at Fukuoka.

Unplanned Long Run

Had planned to run an easy 18 km's today in 85 mins or thereabouts, but ended up doing 30.7 km's instead. Not far from the planned turnaround point at Smithfield I felt a very strong urge to take care of business. Closest public toilet was another 2 km's ahead, so this necessitated a change of plans. Ended up doing the longer loop.

Was feeling sluggish at the start and could feel the residual from yesterday's 32 km marathon pace long run. After 6 or 7 km's of slow easy running was starting to feel pretty good and settled into a little over 4:30 pace. Picked up the pace to roughly 4:20's with 6 or so km's to go. Overall felt pretty cruisy.

30.7 km's in 2:17:30.

In total, that's 160 km's for the week / 11:45 hours of running, excluding strides and drills.

No need for a light pm session today.

I love running!

Rolled out a lazy recovery jog of 4 km's in 21:20. Felt better for the effort. Check out my run around Sydney Olympic Park. Proof that I LOVE RUNNING!

Oops, I didn't follow the script!

Sometimes in the heat of the moment, even the best laid plans get thrown out the door. Well that is what happened today. Instead of going out easy for the 1st hour, I drifted into marathon pace after a couple of km's. So then and there plan B was implemented, well I should say plan B was concocted, viz: Marathon Pace effort for 22 km's and then joing the squad for a hard final 8 km's on grass. Well even that sort of went amiss as I ended up fitting in 24 km's before the joining the squad. All up ran 32 km's in 2:01:19 (3:47 pace), which although this is a little slower than goal marathon pace (3:45's), isn't too bad considering I was running solo without any real taper and I finished running on. The last 8 km's were covered in 29:27 (3:41's) in heavy rain on slushy grass, so that gives me a little confidence.

Followed up with a slow 1 km recovery jog back to the car.

All in all, not great but not bad! Race day is what matters!

Might head out this evening for a slow 5 km's recovery jog to loosen up.

Recovery Day

3rd consecutive recovery day today. Just an easy 6 km's jogging in 30 minutes at the gym followed by 45 minutes of core exercises. Went easy on the core work and no weights today. Starting to feel a little fresher in readiness for tomorrow's marathon pace run.

This will be my 7th marathon and in the past I have always ran a 25-35 km long run 4 weeks before the race at goal marathon pace. Tomorrow I plan to do things a little differently. I'll be heading into Centennial Park and expect to start around 6:30 am. The plan is to hold an easy pace of 4:15's for 1 hour, then 3:45's (goal marathon pace) for 30 minutes and then joining the squad for the final 8 km's where I hope to run at around 1/2 marathon pace (low 3:30's) and really push the last km. Well that's the plan. Will wait and see how I feel in the morning and what the weather is like. Fingers crossed, all will be good.

Recovery + speed

Feeling very tired & flat today. Just the single pm session. All up 20.4 km's in 1:42:40, plus drills & warm-up. 14.2 km's easy jogging (69:53), then drills & warm-up. Then straight into light speed session at Barton Park, Nth Parramatta on grass (10 x 100 off 120 walk/jog recovery). A few lazy strides to begin with followed by relaxed strides. Felt a bit sluggish. Splits: 22/20/19/18/17/18/17/18/18/18. Ave H/R 128 Max H/R 165 during the speed workout. Followed by 4 km's warm down in 20 minutes.

Recovery day

AM - Rest (slept in till 9:30 am)
PM - 14 km's easy paced - 59:50

Cut back on the mileage today to give the body a much needed break. Did 14 km's as a progressive effort. Started off @ 4:25 min/km pace and held it for 5 km's. Increased the pace to 4:15's for the next 5 km's and upped it to 4:08's for the next 3 km's. Next km in 4:06 & final km in 4:00. Fitness good, but felt very heavy in the legs. Glad to get the session over and done with.

Followed the session with core strength exercises for 40 minutes.

Helped myself to salmon for dinner and washed it down with pizza. A rare treat.

Booked accommodation in Fukuoka not far from the start / finish and ideally located near a 7/11 store and railway station. Just need to book accomodation in Osaka and the bullet train tickets. Really looking forward to riding the bullet train. Not looking forward to searching for food though. Japanese food does not appeal to me at all.

The high mileage is taking it's toll on my feet. I've lost 4 toenails, have 3 really bad blisters and have to soak my feet in detol after every run.

Training Update

Monday (1/11)
AM - Rest
PM - 1 hour run with T along the old pipeline from Guildford to Smithfield & back. Felt great today! Covered the initial 6 km's at around 4:10 pace, picked it up for the next km to sub 4:00, and then did a nice 5 km tempo effort in 17:30 (3:30 pace) followed by an easy 2 km's warm down at 4:30 pace. All up 14 km's in 56:04. Enjoyable run in heavy rain. I love training in the rain!

Tuesday (2/11)
Lunch - 22 km's in 91:37 - Ran from home to Penrith Station at reasonably solid pace. Found the downhill sections tough on the legs and looked for the grass wherever possible. Followed with 2 km's joging warm down in just over 10 mins.

PM - Track (Faulconbridge) - 9 km's warm-up / easy pace in 40:54. Followed by 6 x 300 (2 min walk recovery). Relaxed effort (90% approx). Splits: 59/59/59/57/57/57. Felt great. Then 2.4 km warm down in 11:58.

All up 37.9 km's for the day & 2:50:42. Hope I can still walk tomorrow! :)

Going Public!

I tend to be the type who always tries to sneak under the radar. Well, it's time for a change. I've been running for nearly 4 years now taking up the sport aged 39 to get back into shape. At the time I was 89 kilograms and testing the elasticty of my clothes. I've since dropped my weight to just under 70 kgs. Initially I just jogged 5 km's or so each day and within a month I started to get hooked and setting myself goals. The initial goal was to break 45 mins for 10 km's and that proved quite an easy task, recording at time of 41:30 at my first attempt after a few months training. Sub 40:00 became the next target and sub 1:45 for the half marathon. The 1/2 target was also quite easy and I went just over 90 mins at my first attempt. Not long after I cracked the sub 40 for 10 km's.

Over the past few years I've gradually reduced my PB's over all distances. The event that is closest to my heart though is definitely the marathon. I've reduced my times from 2:52 @ my first attempt to 2:41:17 last yeat in Melbourne. Sub 2:40 once would've appeared completely unrealistic, but I've set my sights on this mark and am now going public in my desire to try and crack this target at Fukuoka on December 5.

I don't anticipate a single sole to ever read my blog, but regardless, it's here for all to see and aimed at holding me accountable. Success to me is not necessarily about achieving the goal, but all about my efforts in going about doing so. One thing is for certain, I won't being leaving any stone unturned and I won't die wondering!

I've been training specifically for Fukuoka since completing the Gold Coast 1/2 marathon on 4 July in 75:04. I've averaged around 140 km's per week, including 5 x 100 milers in the past 7 weeks. With only 5 weeks until Fukuoka, I plan on putting in a couple more 100 milers and then a gradual 3 week taper.

Last week was the biggest week of training that I've ever done. All up I did 172 km's in a total of 12 hours 45 minutes. This included a 36 km long run (2.5 hrs), 24.3 km medium long run (1 hrs 45 mins) and the following speedwork:

Tue - 10 x 400 (45 sec recovery). Splits: 74/74/73/71/72/71/72/72/72/72, followed by a 4 km tempo in 14:53 after 3 min recovery.
Thu - 11 km Tempo - 38:56 (19 km's in total, including warm-up, drills, strides & warm-down).
Sat - 4 x 2000 in really muggy conditions on grass with a 2 minute recovery. Splits: 6:47/6:47/6:54/6:44

Monthly mileage since Gold Coast is as follows:

July - 510 km's
August - 541 km's
September - 584 km's
October - 603 km's

Where possible I'll record my daily training sessions from hereon.

Bully