Maribynong River Run - 12km

Last Sunday I participated in another Sri Chinmoy event. The one thing I love about these events is that it is cheap to enter ($25) and you get pancakes at the end of the run! Since I done the Melbourne Marathon a couple of weeks ago, I have continued to run 2-3 times a week, although I haven't run more than 12km in a session yet.

Whilst I am still deciding whether I am going to go for another marathon next year, I have decided I want to concentrate on shorter distances (when I say shorter I mean 10-15km) and aim to reduce my times for these shorter distances, which will then contribute to reducing my overall marathon time.

I decided going into this 12km event I would aim for a sub 65 minute time. I was basing this on the fact that in my last half-marathon I had run 10km in 54 minutes. I felt I would be able to achieve this goal but also challenge myself.

I don't think we could have asked for better weather for the Maribynong River Run. It was a clear day but not too hot, ideal for running. I had a feeling I could actually go sub 65 minutes.

I was aim to set into my pace quite quickly. The 4km loop was quite flat and given it was along the river, it was a lovely view to have whilst running. I only took drinks from every second station however, because my pace was faster than my training runs, I did find it difficult to take on liquids. On the final lap with about 2km to go, I noticed the time on my phone and thought I actually had a chance to go sub 65. A girl did overtake me and whilst I did try to keep pace with her, I was not able to.

I ended up crossing the finish line in 65:41. Just slightly over the time I wanted but I was happy to take that. At the medal ceremony, the girl that overtook me, ended up coming third in our age category. I was a bit upset because that could have been me! Oh well, if anything it has lit a fire because I really want to be able to place in the top three, so I will be aiming to do that at the next Sri Chinmoy meet in December in Altona. I ended up finishing 4th in my age category (18-39) and 5th overall.

The one great thing I got out of the run is that I was granted priority entry to City to Sea on the 17th November. This is a 14km race and in order to start in the front half of the field (and avoid the joggers and non-serious runners), you had to provide the organisers with official times from your run.
The event is just over two weeks away, so I don't think I will be able to improve my time too much, however I am going to aim for 76 minutes for this distance.

A couple of things I have noted from this run:
-My first pair of Lorna Janes which are a size Large (the rest I have are medium) are still good for the gym, not so good for running. Must stick to my mediums from now on.
-I don't usually run in singlets because I am scared of chaffing but I fund that wearing a singlet for this distance did not bother me.

This Week's Training Plan

So I was very happy with my training plan last week. I mostly stuck to it (except for one day) and actually did add a couple of extra things. The only thing I did miss was my hill sprints and this was due to crappy Melbourne weather. However, I covered it with a Body Attack/Body Pump double class so I am still happy with what I achieved for the week.

This is what I done during the previous week:
Monday: 30 minute Spin Class and 45 minutes boot camp (focus on legs - lots of sprints and lunges)
Tuesday: 12km run in the morning, including 2 laps of The Tan
Wednesday: 1 hour Body Pump class and 45 minute Boot Camp (mixture of sprints, skipping, triceps, etc)
Thursday: Timed Weekly Challenge (2km sprint, 3km bike, 50 compound rows, 50 push ups & 20 burpees -as fast as you can - any order, I completed in 21.50). I also did 30 minutes Body Attack & 30 minutes Body Pump.
Friday: 30 minutes Personal Training. I will do a post soon with the routine I am currently doing in PT.

Saturday I had a rest day and today I competed in a run, which I will blog about soon once the official times come through.

The one thing I did miss this week was a Body Balance/Pilates class. So I need to be able to add this to my training. I was wanting to do Pilates on Tuesday lunch, but I did have some urgent work to do so I missed the class. However, I am determined I will be there this week. So here is this week's training plan:

Monday: AM: 30 minutes Spin Class and PM: 45 minutes boot camp
Tuesday: AM: 12km run in the morning and PM: 30 minutes Pilates. (if I feel good I will also do 30 minutes of Body Step but I will not hold myself to this).
Wednesday: AM: 1 hour Body Pump and PM (evening): 45 minutes Boot Camp and 45 minutes Body Balance (I need it!)
Thursday: AM: Morning Run including hill sprints (distance will not be too much of a concern) and PM: Body Attack class.
Friday: Personal Training
Saturday: REST
Sunday: Run - 15km.

Should be a busy week! I also got a heap of Lorna Jane tops during the week. I had been given a few vouchers for my birthday which you can see in the top picture along with my dog.

Have a good week!

Melbourne Marathon - 6 More Sleeps to Go

This year when I started on my fitness journey, the one thing I wanted to do was a marathon. 42.195km. 26.2 miles. However you look at it, it is bloody scary! The first person I done about wanting to do a Marathon was my Fernwood Food Coach in late May. I had wanted to set goals for myself that would help me to continue to lose weight but also maintain my weight loss.

When the words, 'I want to do Melbourne Marathon,' came out of my mouth, I could not believe it. By telling someone, I was committing myself to it. Making myself accountable. Since that day in May, I have used a schedule to train for this marathon and I have stuck to it about 90% of the time. My focus is on finishing the marathon, not speed, so my main focus was to get the km's in every week.

So now, I have six more sleeps until I will be running my first marathon. I feel I am as prepared as I can be. I completed a number of long runs with the longest one being just shy of 33km. I have participated in two half marathons so these were great opportunities to take in fluids whilst I was running and to run against a clock.

This week, I am focusing on resting my body and adding additional carbs to my diet. I also need to keep myself well hydrated during the week. In relation to my gym schedule, this is my plan for the week:

Monday: Body Balance & PT
Tuesday: Running - 8km (roughly, will go with more about how I am feeling rather than distance)
Wednesday: Body Pump & possibly Pilates (depending on how I am feeling)
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Yoga
Saturday: Rest - maybe take Ally for a walk
Sunday: MARATHON!

My PB for a half marathon is 2:06:52 on what was quite a flat course. Based on this I am hoping to complete a sub 4:30 marathon. *Fingers Crossed!*