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Showing posts from January, 2014

2014 Marathon Training

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I'll keep this one fairly dry. With the first lot of training already under way, I've noticed I've got some significant gaps to address. Having run a 100km last September and covering a 56km race earlier this month just do not translate anywhere near to the level I wanted. Time for some honest training. I'm aiming to the Traralgon Marathon in mid-June. On the way I'll have a good crack at the Australasian Police & Emergency Services Games in April where I'll race the 5000m, 10km cross country and half marathon in quick succession. I'll throw in a handful of other races along the way. My training will be geared towards developing the speed endurance required to perform well at the Games  with the background of developing marathon specific endurance alongside this preparation. Beyond the games will then become completely directed at the marathon, depending on my strengths and weaknesses as they develop. So the following guidelines will take me into Ap

Sub 3 Hours in 2014

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It's settled. My goal this year is to run my fastest marathon. After throwing around timeframes and race selection, I've decided to target the Traralgon Marathon in June this year. Given where my current fitness is the timing is tight, but it fits in with other aspects of life. Also, extending the plan out further makes me prone to make some of my more common training mistakes. Training from now will be geared towards the marathon, and this should still allow me to hit my goals at the Australian Police and Emergency Services games along the way. I've just put a few days of good basic running in the diary and am feeling good. A few days off work, beach and camping certainly made that easy. My legs are feeling recovered from Two Bays. Now the challenge is to get the required consistency in mixing it with rotating shift work, family commitments and all the other aspects life throws up. Along the way are plenty of other runners sharing similar goals of running sub-3 hour or fas

Two Bays Trail Run 56km - What Should've Been

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I had big goals for this race, but due to plenty of reasons this post is a lament to those goals. First up the race organisers were well aware of my concerns there was no aerobics or Zumba warm up before the race. I mean it just isn't an event without it. Managing to push past the issue with true champion thinking I found myself lining up for the start. Another issue cropped up. The race started on time, there was even a countdown clock from 10 minutes out to let everyone know. Clearly a problem, as how can a race start on time, we weren't held in position for over half an hour getting cold and listening to crappy speeches from people telling us all how inspiring we are. As result I lined up a little back from the front as it was now really hard to be mentally ready. Then I realised we'd skipped straight to the run leg. I mean as a triathlete I can't really swim so that's fine. The real issue is I had spent the last week incorporating my GoPro camera i

Goals and Consistency

So many people writing posts about New Year Resolutions and goals for the year, it feels almost obligatory to do the same. I like proper, meaningingful statistics based on good research that have a large dose of realism and practicality mixed in. From what I can find it appears that at the 6 month mark, that people are 10 times more likely to stick with a resolution made for the New Year than at any other time. Even so, this better success rate is still somewhere between 14-46% depending on what you read. So the majority fail anyway. The continually regurgitated basics of goal setting apply here. Otherwise, it's a pointless exercise. I'll keep this running related but I think the following caries over to any goals or resolutions. First up there is a difference between setting goals and working towards goals. Put another way you can list a goal, but there's a lot more to it to make it happen. Importantly, a goal has to be measurable and should have a time line attach