#MarathonTraining

2025-05-14

TCS Sydney Plan (Week 6/21) - 800m Repeats with Runna ✅

1.6km warm up at a conversational pace (no faster than 5:25/km), 90s walking rest

6 reps of:
• 800m at 4:10/km (4:00-4:20/km), 90s walking rest

1km cool down at a conversational pace (or slower!)
—————
Speed work is feeling really good at the moment with my last 800m repeat at 3:50/km. While I’m not currently a slow boi, I will forever be #SlowBoizRunClub in my heart

#running #SydneyMarathon #MarathonTraining

2025-05-12

TCS Sydney Plan (Week 6/21)
Tempo 4km with Runna ✅

2km warm up at a conversational pace (no faster than 5:25/km)

4km at 4:30/km (4:20-4:40/km), 120s walking rest

1km cool down at a conversational pace (or slower!)

#running #SydneyMarathon #MarathonTraining

Man in running gear with running stats superimposed over itBreakdown of run times:
Warmup - 5:06/km
Tempo - 4:19/km
Cool down - 5:21/km
2025-05-04

Mission complete. Must say I really enjoyed it. Great atmosphere and support. Weather was perfect. I've had tougher halfs I think. Easier pace suits me better!
Food, drink and rest now!!
Thanks for all the great mastodon support along the way!
#runnersofmastodon #RunningCommunity #running #firstmarathontraining #MarathonTraining
#garmin #beatyesterday

2025-05-04

#runnersofmastodon #running #firstmarathontraining #marathon #MarathonTraining
Well, after what seems like an eternity of a Saturday, marathon day has finally arrived.
Weather is cool, dry, bit of a breeze though. I hope it's behind me where I'm not sheltered from it.
Excited and looking forward to it. Last 6 miles might be tough, as a 6mile race joins the route around about the time I'll get there, oh well, I'm going to enjoy it anyhow 🙂

2025-05-04

Vancouver Marathon 2025 – Ready to Race

https://www.flickr.com/photos/canadianveggie/54267623121/in/album-72177720325862674

Back in October of last year, I thought it would be a good idea to celebrate my 42nd birthday by running 42.2 kilometers. An idea so good, the numeric symmetry so perfect, that I signed up for a marathon even though I wasn’t running at all at the time. I had only jogged 3 times in the prior 3 months, never more than 5 km, and an ankle injury from the summer before was still bothering me.

And yet, I convinced myself that with 6 months of solid effort I could get myself into marathon shape. I had the time to train, I had the willpower to get it done, and I had the experience of having done it once before. Although the version of me who ran that marathon was a lot younger and realistically long gone (the human body replaces all of its cells every 7-10 after all) – that was pre-parenthood, pre-broken hip, and pre-turning 40. I was going to have to figure this out largely from scratch.

https://flickr.com/photos/canadianveggie/54479222690/

Last time I ran the marathon, I trained with the Running Room. This time I convinced my good friend David (also 42) to train with me. He had been running regularly (heat mapping all of Vancouver), but had never attempted a full marathon before.

We came up with a plan together and tried to do our long runs and harder workouts together. More importantly, we kept each other focused and motivated throughout the long winter of training.

Tomorrow I get to put all that training to the test as I race the beautiful BMO Vancouver Marathon.

Training Plan

https://flickr.com/photos/canadianveggie/54345260373

Most marathon training plans are 16 weeks long. We had an extra two months. So, we spent November and December getting a steady baseload with easy, steady runs, so that once January rolled around we would be comfortably handling 30 km of running a week. David was already doing close to this, but I had a lot of catching up to do.

Once January rolled around, we kicked off a 16-week training program derived from Caffeine Bullet. I was aiming for a 3:45 marathon and David was aiming for 3:30, but we were able to do our Saturday long runs and Tuesday interval/hill workouts together.

Training Successes and Setbacks

https://flickr.com/photos/canadianveggie/54359610456/

The biggest success of the marathon training was the Saturday long runs. It was so good having a friend to chat with, especially as the runs became longer. I did a few by myself with just podcasts to keep me company and they were a lot harder to finish. But more than making the time fly by, I loved the conversations we had and the time to reconnect and socialize. I work from home and am a natural introvert, and I didn’t realize how much my normal weeks were lacking in human connection. I also got to do some training runs with Colin and Owen. Colin is signed up for the half marathon and Owen just loves to run. I hopeful we continue to do more social runs, like our fun journey to Rocky Point.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/canadianveggie/54306595549/in/album-72177720325862674

Everything was going almost perfectly to plan until April 2. We had gotten through the darkest days of winter, we had gradually increased the distances we were running without injury, we squeezed in runs even when the ground was covered in snow, we kept mostly to the schedule even when we were traveling. And then I had a setback I hadn’t anticipated.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/canadianveggie/54439196362

I got COVID, and it was bad. It started with a sore throat and I just thought it was a light cold or flu. Then, I ran a fever for 2.5 day and had trouble sleeping. When that cleared I didn’t have any energy to run. After 7 days, I was starting to panic – searching for backup marathons in case I needed to drop out.

I ended up missing 8 days of training during the pinnacle of our training plan, and had to slowly ease back into things when I started running again. I think I’m back to where I was before, luckily without any lingering side effects, but I definitely lost valuable training time.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/canadianveggie/54458016943/in/datetaken-public/

And then 2 weeks before race day, just as I was feeling like COVID was behind me, I had a heavy door slam on my ankle leaving me with a nasty cut right where the skin pushes against the shoe. I only missed one running workout, but I had to switch running shoes to ones that put less pressure on the ankle. It’s not ideal, but I’m hopeful it’s healed enough now that I won’t notice it during the race.

Race Goals

Overall, my goals for tomorrow are:

  1. Finish the race
  2. Finish strong
  3. Finish in under 3:40

Stretch Goals:

  1. Finish in under 3:30
  2. Beat David
  3. Run a personal best (PB) – Under 3:27

Picking a goal time for a marathon is extremely hard. My last marathon was 12 years ago. My last races were a 5 km park run before I started training and a half marathon two years ago. Not great benchmarks, but if I put those into a race time predictor I get 3:39:00. So, I figure that’s my baseline and I can do better.

When I registered back in October, I said my expected finish time was 3:45. On April 1, my training was going well enough that I was dreaming of 3:30 or even a PB. With COVID and injury setbacks, I think 3:35 – 3:40 is a more realistic now.

We’ll see how I feel tomorrow. I wanted to run the first 5 km with David, but he’s definitely gunning for a 3:30 finish and I don’t want to burn myself out in the beginning of the course. Hopefully I can find a good pace to settle into.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/canadianveggie/54425902633/in/album-72177720325862674

Maybe my fancy shoes will give me the edge I need to do well tomorrow. I have a new pair of Saucony Endorphin Speed 4. Not quite super shoes, but definitely nicer than anything I’ve raced in before.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/canadianveggie/54495105210/in/album-72177720325862674

If you’re viewing this on May 4, you can follow my progress live here. Afterwards, I’ll be sure to write a post-race report.

#bmoMarathon #BMOVancouverMarathon #COVID #COVID19 #injury #marathon #marathonTraining #training

Marathon training
2025-04-27
Today was always going to be about managing the heat, but with 3 loo stops in the first half I considered DNFing at Tower Bridge. I opted to continue using a run-walk strategy and only ended up with a 13 minute positive split in the end.

Not my fastest, not my slowest, but my last for a while, and I kept myself out of the medical tent (which was the main goal).

Definite shades of 2018, but with fewer water stations (and with more mileage between them in the first half) I think some problems could have been avoided. I wait to see what the attrition rate was. The ice was great (where it was available). Straight into the crop top it went.

53.74 miles (86.49km) completed in the week.

#thisgirlcan #thisgirlruns #runner #running #runnersofpixelfed #pixelfedrunners #ukrunchat #womenrunning #coros #strava #yourruns #unicornforlife #abbottwmm #londonmarathon2025 #marathontraining
2025-04-26
A little shakeout with the sister at Hampstead Heath #parkrun and jumped in to do some barcode scanning afterwards. All ready for tomorrow, even have my #flatlay done. Weather is looking far too hot, so I'll be taking it easy and trying to enjoy myself as much as possible. 1 day to go.

#thisgirlcan #thisgirlruns #runner #running #runnersofpixelfed #pixelfedrunners #ukrunchat #womenrunning #coros #strava #yourruns #unicornforlife #abbottwmm #londonmarathon2025 #marathontraining
2025-04-26

I felt good at this morning’s #parkrun. Now a week’s taper until #MKmarathon. #loveparkrun #MarathonTraining #UKrunchat #running

Wimpole Estate parkrun. 5.03 km distance. 23:40 time. 4:42/km pace.
2025-04-25
I had an easy 6 miles on the plan and an earlyish train into London, so ran down to join the Queen Square Run Club on their Friday doughnut run. It was to Small Goods, which was on my route home. Picked up a cinnamon bearclaw, and managed to run it the couple of km home without squashing it. 2 days to go.

#thisgirlcan #thisgirlruns #runner #running #runnersofpixelfed #pixelfedrunners #ukrunchat #womenrunning #coros #strava #yourruns #unicornforlife #abbottwmm #londonmarathon2025 #marathontraining
2025-04-24
A rest day from running, so did some pyjama yoga then all of my packing to head up to London tomorrow. Also did my race day nails. 3 days to go.


#thisgirlcan #thisgirlruns #runner #running #runnersofpixelfed #pixelfedrunners #ukrunchat #womenrunning #coros #strava #yourruns #unicornforlife #abbottwmm #londonmarathon2025 #marathontraining
2025-04-23
Kept up with my #scyforrunners this morning, but no extra free weights (not in race week), then out with club in the evening. 4 days to go.


#thisgirlcan #thisgirlruns #runner #running #runnersofpixelfed #pixelfedrunners #ukrunchat #womenrunning #coros #strava #yourruns #unicornforlife #abbottwmm #londonmarathon2025 #marathontraining
2025-04-22
My watch had a wobble on that run, reporting 5:20 per km downhill and 4:15 uphill. A reminder to run to feel rather than pace, especially on an easy run like this. At least I knew the distance was right, having used this route many times before. 5 days to go.

#thisgirlcan #thisgirlruns #runner #running #runnersofpixelfed #pixelfedrunners #ukrunchat #womenrunning #coros #strava #yourruns #unicornforlife #abbottwmm #londonmarathon2025 #marathontraining

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