New shoes and a long run...

I went into the Running Company store in Geelong to look at all the pretty shoes and get a new pair for the next phase of our training. I plan to wear in these new shoes to run the marathon in. I tried on a few pairs but in the end the best for my pronating feet is again the Brooks Ravenna. Updated from last year in a nice bright blue, which will see me run another 800kms.





We are following the Asics training plan pretty closely and today's 21k was able to be run with a couple of hundred others around the grounds of the Werribee Mansion.

#teamJAM about to start

2 x 10 km loops on a very nice course saw us finish in 2:20 and feeling pretty good. I like this course despite a flight of stairs which we had to climb twice. I like even better that I came first in my age category, yay for the old girls!

A good day overall and another one crossed off the list.

A hard rock to crack...

We tackled Hanging Rock for a 20km run as part of our overall training plan.

Seemed a good idea a few weeks ago.

It was a tough run and the hilly, rocky course was more trail like than we are used to and it showed in our slower times, 2:25 for me.

It was a lovely sunny crisp morning and we had high hopes of continuing our progress through the training runs, we thought we were well prepared but it didn't pan out as expected. At one stage Running Buddy was really struggling and we had to break up the run into smaller parts. "We'll run to that next tree" or "We'll run to the flag" etc. There was no thinking about how many kms there was to go, that was too much. I even tried tricking my brain into thinking I was running along our river and the hill was just like the one at home that we practice on. Even the speedy Melissa confessed to walking on the steep sections. Running Buddy apologised for holding me back but I was glad to catch my breath as well.

We had a bit of a joke with the volunteers/marshalls and photographers. They did a great job and some were cheeky in telling us we looked good (we didn't) that the rest of the course was all downhill (it wasn't) or that we were close to the end (not even close). When we saw this photographer waiting at the peak I told him he was mean but then teed up this jump for fun. I enjoyed this aspect of the event, not taking it all too seriously.

we had some fun with the photographer who was perched at the TOP of the hill!

I was able to trial a new hydration product called Tailwind which I sipped as I ran along instead of pre loading or relying on the drink stations. We also tried some Cliff blocks and protein bars which seemed good. Usually after a long run, despite eating and drinking various things, I feel very nauseated and have occasionally vomited. It takes me a while to come good and I have to feel right before the drive home as that just makes things worse. But after this race with the Tailwind on board and some protein immediately after the run, I felt really good.

The best part of the run was coming into the home stretch into the finishing chute I heard the faster members of the Melton City Runners who had already finished, had a beer and a shower cheering me on by name. It was very uplifting and heartening. It's quite nice to have a crew of varying abilities to be a part of and to pick their brains for advice.

MCR - the running crew

Later that day I saw this quote about runners preparing for this weekend's Boston Marathon...

Enjoy the day. While every person who shows up to run Boston on Monday won’t have the best race of their life time-wise, there is no reason this can’t be the best race of your life experience wise. Savor the moment and celebrate all the milestones along the way.
Each run teaches us something new.

This run certainly taught us something and that just might be not to think you know what you're in for.

Geelong half marathon...

During April we need to do 35km each week with a long run of 20k included in that amount, so we have been looking for routes and events to mix it up a little. Running the same local runs makes getting the distance done hard. We have found a couple of events to achieve our training distances.

The first of 4 planned events took place this morning with the Geelong Cross Country Club  Half Marathon along the Barwon River in Geelong. This event was perfect timing in our training plan to do the 21km distance.

The morning started off a little drizzly and cool and the queue for the bib pick up was insane, so much so that they delayed the start until all the bibs were handed out. But we started out just after 8am for our long run. It was a really nice course and running conditions were great. Along the river the undulations were challenging and there were well spaced drink stations and great supporters along the way. I felt good along the way and was glad to finish in 2:20. Best result for me so far and the training plan has paid off. It was quite a serious race and I was at the back of the field the whole way finishing 658th of 725. I ran all the way and was happy with my effort, I couldn't have run any faster and my goal still remains to run all the way in the marathon and not be fixated on a time.

Supersport images

my favourite running singlet from the City 2 Surf run

Running Buddy finishing strong

Mel finished 10 minutes ahead of me

finished at last 

Funny to think back when a half marathon was the be all and end all not just part of a training plan.

More long distances to cover.

Lots of running news...

After hearing about running running running at work some colleagues have thought 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em' ... we have worn them down.

Both of them have started where we started in running years ago with the Couch to 5k program and have the added advantage of having Parkrun to help them along.

I love both of these things. Couch to 5k gives you easy steps to transition from walking to run/walk to all running at a pace that suits you. Running with other people is another effective way to increase your running and Parkrun is a free timed event to challenge yourself and watch progress.

So Tania and Carol gave up a Saturday morning sleep in to attend Parkrun and we were there to encourage them, run/walk with them, taper for the half and introduce them to the friendly folk at Parkrun.

the relaxed pace meant we could have some fun

The girls did really well and said they would be back to improve on their bench mark time. It was a good reminder for us to remember how far we have come, how hard it was to run just 1k without gasping for breath, the friends we have made and where running has taken us.

This lovely short, relaxed run was a precursor for the next challenge...the Geelong Half Marathon