I'm excited that I've made it this far, I remember looking at my plan all those months ago now and freaked out about 3 hour + runs and now I've done it and it's all over! Phew!
Saturday 14/06 was my peak long run. Unfortunately Lisa is still nursing an ITB injury (please cross your fingers and toes that she'll still make it to the start line!) so I was to run this one alone again.
I figured I should run somewhere different and scenic for my last super long run, so I decided to start from Mordialloc Beach and run along Beach Road to Brighton Beach and back. And somehow I convinced my lovely husband to ride along with me...the entire way!
Rain was forecast for the morning but I was so lucky to be blessed with clear, dry weather again. I have really been very lucky with the weather on all my long runs!
I wanted to hit 32-34km's, hoping to get it done in about 3 hours 15 mins.
I found this training run mentally tougher than the previous week, even with Ronnie there motivating me along the way (he was amazing though, snapping plenty of pics and videos along the way). In the end it was long, slow run but I finally got out 33km's in 3 hours and 20 mins (approx. 6 min per km) which is slower than I'd anticipated but still only roughly 20 seconds per km off my goal marathon pace.
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I was initially disappointed with this last long run but at the end of the day, I have to be happy that I was able to do the distance and am injury free!
One of the many things I've learnt during marathon training is that there's no need for me to 'smash' out my long runs, this is something I have tried to do in the past when training for shorter distance. The body takes time to recover between long, endurance runs and the harder you go, the more time your body needs to recover so you can't back it up the following week or possibly cause injury. I've been advised by my coaches Mel & Bec as well as doing abit of my own research that long runs during marathon training should be at a pace you can hold a conversation at or 10-20 secs per km slower than marathon pace. So I'm trusting that and hoping I'll be able to step it up a bit on race day.
I've also decided to re-assess my goal in regards to time for the marathon, not due to my pace in my training runs, although it did play a small part but as I am by no means an elite or naturally talented runner, therefore I shouldn't be too hard on myself for my first marathon.
(I know I said originally that I was going to do one and one only....but I'm not ruling out possibly running another one day!)
So the goals I have now are to run the whole distance at a fairly even pace (ie. not slow down too dramatically in the last 10-12km's) enjoy it as much as possible (ie. not hit the wall!) and finish the race with a smile (ie. not collapsing in pain and exhaustion!)
I'll still follow a race plan that should get me to the finish line in under 4 hours which will be a bonus if all goes right and I get there! But I know if I focus on a time goal and things unravel (as I'm assured they often do in a marathon) and I don't get it, I won't enjoy the feeling of actually finishing my first marathon as much as I should!
So I'm now going with making it to that finish line - with a smile on my face!
Following my last long run, I started the taper phase of my training. Last week I started reducing my km's, and will continue to reduce it this week and into next week (Marathon Week!) but will be keeping the intensity of my shorter mid week sessions as per advice from coach Bec and including in short periods of marathon pace in my long runs.
Last Saturday 21/06, Ronnie and I headed back to Anglesea for the weekend and I was lucky enough to do a 90 minute long run along the Surf Coast Trail in Torquay, mixing it up with some trail and sand running finishing with 5km's at marathon pace along the Torquay Esplanade. It was the most fun I've had during a training run, I just listened to my body and went for time (except for the last 5k's obviously) and as I said on my Instagram page (@bec_heskes) it was 90 minutes of pure bliss running along the cliff tops above Bells Beach on a perfect Winter morning!
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This weekend I have a 60 minute long run planned...I'm not going to know myself! And my last massage and dry needling session before the marathon following that.
So that brings me to today - 12 days to go and feeling good!!
Bec xx
Hi Bec. Thanks for your kind words on my instagram pic, it was certainly an amazing day. I have seen some of your "GCAM14" tagged photos over the last few months and you always seem to be so happy and loving what you are doing! For a first time marathoner this is the most important thing. Congratulations on your finish and achieving that hard-earned medal. You should wear it with pride! (And maybe next time you can convince your husband to join you for the longer distance!!) And keep up the blog too; it is a great record of how you trained which you will be able to refer to in the future. Cheers, Paul :-)
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