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