I thought I’d share a vlog with you to capture my Marathon Day experience.
I’ll write a blog tomorrow with the blow by blow for anyone interested in the stats and the detail but thought I’d post this one now while it’s still fresh (and before I chicken out!).
Thanks so much to everyone who sent me messages of support and encouragement. I can’t tell you how much it helped. My mum sent me a message telling me she had her arms around me pulling me along and that message came to me at the perfect moment. The vision of her pulling me along was very powerful – thanks mum.
Nine weeks ago, I started this blog about my marathon journey and now it’s only 5 days away. WOW! You know when you were younger and your parents used to go on about how quickly time goes by and you thought they were just really strange. Well…
This week, everyone has been asking me “Are you ready?” The answer is, I don’t really know. I’ve done almost all of the training sessions my running coach sean from Sweat assigned for me. My running buddies Brian aka Marathon Man (MM) and Sook54 aka Marathon Woman (MW) tell me I’m ready. All of my wonderful, supportive friends and family tell me I’ll do it “no worries.” What I do know is, I’ve done what I can and now all that’s left is to run it and see.
This past week of tapering has been a nice change. I did a 13km run on Wednesday at an average pace of 6:15. I met up with MW for a nice 6km run / chat through the city. Her training has been going well and she’s looking good for her 2nd marathon. As she said, at least she knows what to expect this time round. My calf pulled again slightly but nothing too bad. On Friday, I did 4×7 min intervals at 5:58 pace. On Saturday I went for a 7.5km easy run at 6:05 average. It was a glorious day. I felt strong, happy, ready and proud. If I feel this good next Sunday, I will be a happy runner. I decided to share the joy and recorded a bit of my run. (Warning: it’s a bit noisy for the first few seconds due to wind noise).
As you know from last week’s blog, I had a huge social weekend starting with my stepsons 30th birthday dinner at Justin North’s fabulous Becasse and fabulous it was. Great company, sublime food, perfectly matched wine. I did over-indulge and it was worth it. On Saturday evening I attended the 12WBT Round 2 party. As with the Round 1 party, it was amazing to see how people have turned around their lives. Not only are the physical changes obvious but you get a real sense that some of the participants just feel so much better about themselves and their outlook on life. I rave about this program because it’s great. Simple. After the party, I met up with Adonis and friends for a late dinner. Didn’t over-indulge although it was a late night.
On Sunday morning I got up and did 10km at 6:23 average pace and I certainly felt the effects of the food, alcohol and lack of sleep. But the social activities weren’t quite over. I had my friend’s 40th to attend. Luckily it was a child friendly, alcohol free event. She’d done her grown up celebrating the evening before. All up a good weekend but one I probably could’ve done without this close to the big day. I’m sure a whole week is enough to clear my system though so not too much damage done.
This week will be very slow and gentle. A few short, slow trots just to release a bit of energy and keep my legs moving but nothing fast or hilly because I don’t want to risk any damage to my calf. It’s strange to say but I’m looking forward to that nice long run on Sunday – did I say that out loud? The bigger challenge this week is keeping my head in a good positive place. I’m currently oscillating between anxiety, excitement and fear. MM told me today that a bit of nervous energy is good for race day.
I’m also focusing on fueling my body with protein and iron early in the week and will start the carb loading on Thursday adding some rice, pasta and potatoes to build up that important glycogen store. Speaking of carb loading, my cousin Bryce who did his first body building comp last weekend will be doing his fair share of carb (and beer) loading this week. He did great and looks fit. Well done Bryce.
I’m getting to bed at a decent hour and getting my 7-8 hours sleep each night. So far I’ve only had one anxiety dream which was on Monday night. I dreamt I took a wrong turn and ran 1km uphill before I realised my mistake. I had also started the race too early so ran back down the hill to meet the other runners. We then headed off to a park, with Adonis lugging a 50kg bag of potatoes on his shoulders, to cook and eat the potatoes before the run. mmmmmmm – calling Freud!
The other thing I MUST remember to do this week is to collect my race kit – bib, timing chip etc. The weather forecast for Sunday is currently “Partly cloudy. Isolated showers. Light winds” so a mixed bag with a high of 19C which means it won’t be too hot by the time I finish around midday!
My race plan is:
Get up at 5.30am, have a coffee and a slice of toast with peanut butter & banana.
Hopefully go to the toilet. I know, too much detail but it is one of the things bothering me!
Get dressed and kitted up – exciting!
Leave home around 6.30am (starting time for 1/2 marathon) and do a warm-up walk/jog to start – about 2km from home.
Fight my way through the crowds. Hopefully not have to line up at the porta loos for a nervous wee – I know, I am obsessed!
Try to find the 4hr 30min pacer and get close to him/her if possible
Set my Garmin and Runmeter app
Get ready, get set, go! Run Forrest Run
Finish race within 5hr 30min cut-off, exhausted but well pleased with myself.
Try to record a video blog as my final entry
I have a lot of friends doing the Bridge Run, 1/2 marathon and marathon and I wish you all a great run and hope you enjoy the day. If you are participating in the Sydney Running Festival events this weekend or any other fun runs, leave a comment and tell me how you’re feeling and what your goals are.
On Sunday 19th, please remember to send me tweets to @Suellen_Hughes or post messages on my facebook wall so that runmeter can pass on your messages to me as I slog it out. It really helps immensely to keep me going and put a smile on my face so hope to hear from you.
Thanks for reading my blog and sharing my journey. Until next time…when I’ll be a marathon runner!
Well actually, it’s now only 12 days until the marathon but I had intended writing this blog yesterday!
These signs are everywhere around Sydney so wherever I run, I see them. It reminds me of some kind of dream sequence with these images flashing around my brain. Not that I need reminding. It seems that all I can think about right now is the marathon. I’m struggling to focus on other priorities in my life because I’m so focused on the ever nearer race day.
The past week has been pretty good all up. I managed to do a total of just on 70km for the week including a 25km long run on Sunday and a good 4x6min interval session on Friday. My average pace has been improving and I know I can now pretty consistently run between 6:00 – 6:30min and that’s just where I need to be for marathon pace. The best news of all is that the pain in my calf has gone! Physically, I’m feeling good apart from a little pain in my knees but that’s just “runner’s knee” – hey maybe that does make me a runner 😉
I’m now on what is known in running circles as my taper – phew! That means that for the next 12 days, while I’ll continue to run, I won’t be pushing quite as hard or as long. Last Sunday I “only” ran 25km and that will be my longest run now until the marathon. This week I will focus on a few shorter speed and interval sessions and a nice easy 10km run on Sunday. I have to say, it seems strange and a bit scary not to be running a really long 35km+ run again before the marathon. As MM told me, nothing I do in the next 2 weeks will affect my cardio fitness or my pace so I have to be content knowing that I’ve put in the hard yards and I’m as ready as I will be.
For the next 12 days it will be a combination of maintaining my physical fitness, making sure my nutrition is good and most importantly getting my head in the right place. Physically, I’ll do my planned runs and gym sessions, get a massage and do some stretching. Nutrionally, I’m making sure I drink lots of water to keep my body as hydrated as possible. My diet is already pretty good and the main focus on the food will be next week with a bit of “carb loading” to help build up my glycogen stores. This weekend will be a challenge for me nutritionally as I have my stepson’s 30th birthday party at Becasse on Friday night involving an 8 course degustation dinner with accompanying wines! On Saturday night I have the Michelle Bridges 12WBT Round 2 party with canapes and cocktails followed by dinner with Adonis and friends who like a drink at Tomislav. On Sunday, I have a 40th birthday party to attend! So you see what I mean when I say I will be nutritionally challenged this weekend. As my stepson would say “that’s a very 1st world problem”. Sometimes life just gets in the way.
[Special side note: My cousin Bryce is competing in his first body building competition on Sunday 12th. His body fat is currently <7% – to give you an idea, 18-25% is probably the average for someone of his age. Imagine the nutritional discipline it's taken him to get to that! Bet he's looking forward to a bit of carb loading! Good luck Bryce]
The toughest challenge for me will be the mental one. I fluctuate between being excited and eager to being scared stupid. On Saturday when I woke up it was raining but I went out running anyway thinking that if I wake up on MD and it’s raining, I can’t very well stay in bed! Then, on Sunday it was blowing a gale and in parts of my run, I was almost going backwards! It was very tiring being buffered around in the wind for 2.5hrs but good mental training in case the same happens on MD. There are lots of things within my control but the weather isn’t one of them – only my response to it!
So this week, it’s a mind game. I’ve been focusing on my strengths, thinking how great it will be to achieve my goal and visualising crossing that finish line.
What techniques do you use to psych yourself up for a big challenge? I’d love to hear your success stories to give me inspiration – especially if you’ve ever run a marathon or undertaken some other kind of endurance event.
Until next week….which will be my last blog before the marathon!
Transforme 