A very easy cruise around the neighbourhood today, a beautiful day and lots of lorikeets etc flying around chirping. I ended up back at the park opposite home and did 6 x 100m strides just to stretch the legs out a bit further.
Stats 7.3km in 35:55 (avg pace 4:55 avg HR 159).
Now for a massage today to clear out any kinks, then more carbs and more water. I've decided not to run tomorrow, no need instead I'll enjoy the first day of Little Athletics with my 2 girls.
I have been getting increasingly distracted with thinking about Sunday. Some would call it focus, others, fixation, I think my wife would call it obsession :). In particular ideas on pacing are forefront in my mind.
To remind myself (publicly) back in May I wrote "However I do want to run this marathon so that I can finish strongly and so the end goal must be achievable so I don't race off and go out too hard (again)!". Certainly I built a better base, although the last 6 weeks have seen a drift away from targetted milage, more to do with racing every weekend (which has it's own benefits) but also from some niggles and lack of motivation. I truly believe I am in better shape today than I was 2 days out from Canberra. The weight has not dropped off as much as I thought it would but I have lost another couple of cm from the waist so it must have shifted to muscle in the legs.
So for Sydney I have a few different types of goals
- disappointed if I don't break 3:22:01 (pb)
- aiming for sub 3:15
- dreaming for 3:10
I've decided to go out at 4:30 pace which if I run evenly the whole way will see 3:10. Given the nature of the course after about 5km I may try and go a few seconds faster as it is pretty flat for around 20km. Then it will be a case of trying to hold the pace and/or minimise slowdown as the harder last 10km comes into play.
To compare against Canberra, I went out at 4:25 pace from the start (3:06 Marathon time) and died pretty spectactularly at around 30km. The aim will be to get to halfway in around 95 minutes (2 minutes slower than Canberra) which gives me 5 minutes of slowdown on the back half of the course up my sleeve.
Thanks to all the positive comments from those that have been reading my ramblings they do make a difference when things seem a little bleak or when the niggles are affecting the running.
A deep breath now, remembering to focus on relaxed running, restrain my enthusiasm in the first 5km and be confident about having a good base to support me in the last 10km.
Next blog will be post race.
8 comments:
Best of luck mate. Hope you run well and finish strong. See you at the finish. Gronk :)
Wishing you all the very best Dave - but I won't wish you luck. The plan sounds perfect, and your training base has been really solid so it must make it easier for you to at least know that particular side of things has been well and truly taken care of.
I will however wish you good luck with the weather - to be honest, I think you've got yourself covered for everything else the marathon could throw at you mate
Go Dave go !!
J
Hope your dream comes true :-)
Good luck Dave.
Dave, you have put the work in and stuck to a pretty solid training plan. Remember to be patient and just settle into a comfortable rhythm without pushing too hard. If you do this, the time will take care of itself. Run well and enjoy it.
Good luck! I'll be out on the course, way behind you, on Sunday. Hope its a lovely day and that you achieve your goal. Look forward to reading your report.
good luck, dave! can't wait to read the race report.
about pacing, i've found that adding an extra minute or two to the first 10k really forces me to warm up well and i end up having plenty of kick left in the legs later in the race.
great goals, those are all boston qualifier times for you, right?
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