Last Minute Marathon Tips
I saw this on Ted’s blog and had to share:
Last Minute Marathon Tips: shot with Nikon D90 from Mike Kobal on Vimeo.
The final countdown
Well, 6 days to do to my first Auckland Marathon. I have to admit I’m starting to really look forward to it.
My marathon training program called for a gentle 8 miles as my long run yesterday. It feels a bit ridiculous to be calling 8 miles a long run now but that’s the way it is. I had a great run with my wife. She was having a step back week (her half marathon is at the end of November) and I of course was in my last long run of the taper.
I was full of beans and raring to go which is a bit of a relief after my nasty long run last week. I found the going very easy and had to resist the temptation to power up the hills. It’s amazing how much energy I have after a bit of rest.
We ran out towards St Heliers along Tamaki Drive. There is a pier (which goes out 200 metres or so) that has been closed for a long time due to repair work. Fortunately it was open again so we ran out just for fun:
Altogether we did just over 14km in about 1:26 which was just what the doctor called for.
A year ago this time I was lining up for my first half marathon. That turned out to be a fantastic experience and I’m glad I did it.
I’m psyched for Sunday. I have to go collect my race pack later this week so I’ll probably do another post before the event detailing that.
Posting has been a bit slack this year I’m afraid. But life has been busy and good so I can’t complain too much. 
A bad week and a bad run
It’s been a pretty busy week at work and I’ve also had the manflu so I skipped a few of the midweek runs. It also hasn’t helped that my little girl has been having sleep issues so my wife and I have been getting very little sleep.
Anyway, today we wanted to do a half marathon but when my alarm woke us up at 5 we were both rather bleary eyed. There was also a rather ominous howl of wind and the sound of torrential rain so my wife turned around and went back to bed! I was sorely tempted to follow her but I was wide awake so I decided to have breakfast and catch up on the news instead.
We eventually managed to get out at about 1:30pm and the conditions didn’t appear to be too bad at first. The rain had reduced to sporadic showers but it was still rather windy.
The first 9 km were with the wind so we were going quite well. Unfortunately as soon as we turned around we both groaned and it just seemed a bit too hard today. We’ve both been sick this week, combine this with the lack of sleep and I just don’t think we were in the running groove to be honest.
Anyway, we ran where we could and walked when the wind got especially strong and in the end we only did 18km rather than our planned 21.1. I’m praying that the Marathon day is not a windy one! I had my fill of that at Christchurch.
Anyway 18.5km in a depressing 2:05:47.
In happier news, we managed to get a walk in at the Orakei Domain. My little monkey enjoyed it very much as you can see!
I have to admit that I’m so glad I decided to get fit. It means a lot to be able to be able to chase my daughter (and the wife!).
At last…the taper!
I completed my last 20 miler yesterday and now I’m really glad it’s tapering time!
We’ve had lots and lots of spring rain for the last two weeks or so so it was really great to wake up and see blue sky for once. My wife and I left home at about 6:30 AM and did a nice gentle loop through Cornwall Park and then headed towards the Auckland Domain. As you can see it was a beautiful morning running through the park:
We then ran along the coast until my wife reached her turnoff towards home. She did her longest run yet (very exciting) at 21.5km which is her first run that is longer than her half marathon distance. I’m very proud of her accomplishment. I’m also more than a little worried that she’s going to smoke my inaugral half marathon time!
I took quite a while to get into my groove on this run. It was only after about 5km that I felt comfortable and running became effortless. I suspect this is because I had to skip two of my midweek runs this week so the legs needed a bit more warming up than usual. On Tuesday I was at work bright and early and didn’t get home till about 9:30 pm due to having to attend Graduation (as a staff member not a graduand) at The University of Auckland where I work. On Wednesday I was at work bright and early as well and once more didn’t get home till about 9:30 pm as I was MCing a competition finals. So work has been pretty full on and running has had to take a backseat.
The next 20 or so km of the run were quite nice but I have to admit that I struggled somewhat with the last 5-6 km. My pace slowed somewhat and I stopped for a few water breaks along the way. It was one of those runs where you start to question why you want to run a marathon but I think this is normal. I seem to recall thinking this before my last marathon as well. Nevertheless, I was very glad to see this sign which I normally see at the end of every long run:
Overall, just over 32km in just over 3:23:00. I could have done it faster if Ihad focused a bit more but it’s supposed to be a long slow run so I took it slow!
One of the things that I’ve quite enjoyed is that I’ve sort of built up a cameraderie with a whole bunch of fellow runners. Every Sunday morning I tend to bump into the same folks at different spots and we’ve all started to recognise each other. That little nod you give to your fellow runners as you go by has that little bit more meaning and tends to be followed by a cheery smile.
That’s my last 20 miler of this training cycle and I’m now officially into the taper. I thought it would never get here. 20 days to go to the marathon!
Step back week
Week 14 of 18 of my marathon training program and it’s a step back week. Which means that the mileage is significantly reduced. Last week I did just over 43 miles including a 20 mile run and this week I did a measly 24 miles.
My long run this morning was supposed to be 12 miles and I did just slightly over 12 miles. Funny that!
I’ve actually taken it very easy this week. I think the 20 miler last Sunday needed a bit of recovering. It’s quite weird as I did a very slow run today and my muscles were actually quite sore afterwards. Even more so than straight after the run last week.
4 weeks to the marathon now. One more 20 miler and then the taper. I’m looking forward to the taper! 
Daily Mile
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