Shocktober

[marathondan]

PS, Next Door Andy could have mapped the route on mapmyrun.com or similar

[Sweder]

Excellent, the best runs often come when least expected. Had one myself last night, far shorter, but nonetheless a belter when all reason suggested a painful slog. Go figure.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

The past two weeks has been an infelicitous battle with head colds, sore throats and chest infections. As a consequence, there has been no running other than a couple of quickly-abandoned attempts to see if I 'was any better'.

However this morning I did manage a run of sorts. A cautious seven kilometres at a modest pace and just a slight incline. I was pretty much done in at the end of it, but it's a start back on what must become a rapid path back to fitness. With the race less than three weeks away I am very much behind the eight-ball, but hopefully my residual fitness will emerge soon enough to at least get me up that mountain, although clearly any chance of a good time has now flown the coop.

Well, to quote the inimitable Sweder, let's just see how we get on, shall we?

7.0km 49:06 2% incline

YTD: 1,198.2km

[marathondan]

3 weeks? Yikes! But I have no doubt that once again you will prove you're bigger than the setbacks life throws at you. Take it steady over the next 3 weeks - I know you will.

[Sweder]

Your residual marathon fitness will be there, no question. You may need sharpening up, but that's all. My advice? Don't seek that belter that would signify all is perfect. Better to keep the rocket fuel saved up for P2P. Pre-flight checks are what's needed here; limbs, lungs, any niggles, aches and pains. The worst thing you can do is bust a gasket in the warm-up.

When this happens to me - and it has before big races, a few times - I've been told to treat it as a long taper. You do still run during a taper, but only to keep the blood moving through the muscles.

Recover well. You'll fly.

[Antonio247]

I'm sure that you will go up that dear mountain better than you think. All that training for Sydney marathon will help a lot but if you don't do a PB, it will come next year when a few RC runners will be there trying to do that challenge as well.

Take it easy these few weeks so that you feel with a lot of energy on 18th November.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Thanks gents for the encouragement and advice ... I certainly won't be busting a boiler over the next couple of weeks, but I do need to find that fine balance between getting some hill-climbing fitness back and not over-doing it.

This morning's run was important both physically and mentally. I was up early for my 10km out-and-back along the Pacific Highway. This is sufficiently undulating to classify as 'tough' when recovering from illness or injury, and this was my first run along this course since pulling my calf muscle a few weeks back. I needed a good result to restore some lost confidence and to be sure that physically I hadn't gone too far backward.

And the result? Well, not bad. I concentrated on pace and form, not looking at my watch at all and deliberately not forcing the pace. I returned home in 56:23, my fifth-fastest of fourteen runs along this course so far this year. I'm not unhappy with that, and well-pleased with my even pacing (well as even as it can be on an undulating course) and form, which for the most part was good and loosely based around EG's beloved Chi Running technique. I read the book earlier this year (twice in fact), and whilst didn't have the inclination or discipline to follow the method in detail, the (ahem) core points rang some bells for me and have definitely improved my running.

I never thought I'd say this so brazenly, but I really did enjoy my early morning stars-were-shinging-brightly 10km jaunt along the highway. It always feels as if I'm being forced to do these 4 a.m. runs, but of course I'm not. It's probably just a subconscious trick to actually get me out of bed and onto the street, but it works. It is still something of a shock to realise however that no-one is forcing me to do these runs. Not at all. What a strange feeling. And I also realised this morning that I really do enjoy a good out-and-back course. There's something satisfying about getting to the half-way mark and turning around for the homeward leg. Especially when, as happened this morning, I touch the lamp-post at Boundary Road exactly as my GPS beeped the 5km point.

And the endorphins! What a blast! There is nothing (legal) quite like the buzz from a hard, pre-dawn run.

Oh yeah.

10km, 56:23

YTD: 1,208.2km

[El Gordo]

Excellent stuff, and everyone reading that will have nodded sagely in recognition of that adrenaline rush that feels particularly potent in the early morning pre-work.

I was always astonished (and have recently rediscovered a trace of it) at the positive effect of a run on my work performance. I'm talking simple things, like the ability to attend a meeting and actually pay close attention throughout, hearing and absorbing everyone's contributions, instead of drifting off into PowerPoint hypnosis.

As for Chi Running -- wow! You read the book earlier this year? You kept quiet about that. Interesting that you say you read it twice, because while I've read only about two thirds, my plan the moment I've finished it is to go back and re-read it. There is a lot to absorb.

Good to hear that you're back on form, anyway. Sometimes an enforced rest does us the power of good, despite the sense of frustration and certainty that we must be losing all that hard-won fitness.