Monday June 22, 2015 - 19 weeks to New York Marathon (45km)
It has been 8 weeks since the Boston Marathon and running has been spasmodic at best. It took almost 3 weeks to get over the flu I picked up before the Boston Marathon. Since returning home, it has been cold and I have lost momentum to get back into any regular running routine. In the period since Boston I completed dozen or so runs including three races: 10km race (52:50), a 4km cross country relay (22:30) and a trail 22km (2:38). Hardly any consistency and just when I was ready to get back into base fitness building I fell and broke a few ribs during the Glow Worm Tunnel Trail Running Weekend (June 13-14). This put a delay on starting a regular program of runs. But despite the broken ribs and the car not being able to start on Sunday afternoon, visiting the Newnes area was an absolute highlight. Getting out of Sydney was enough to kick me out of my post-Boston funk.
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| Contemplating running the marathon the next day - Newnes camp-ground |
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| Gees its cold and my ribs hurt. How am I going to sleep in a sleeping bag? |
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| Great camping spot - Newnes. |
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| First outing for a replacement REI Half Dome tent. It was excellent at sub-zero temps overnight. |
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| Views from the tent at sunrise. |
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| Remnants of buildings, along the Pipeline Track. |
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| Railway artefacts |
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| Runners passing through Newnes, midway through the marathon. |
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| Railway artefacts. |
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| Railway artefacts. |
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| Newnes Hotel - I spent 4 hours in front of it, waiting for the NRMA. |
So ten days after breaking ribs at the Glow Worm Tunnel Half Marathon, the pain is manageable and I have kicked off the New York Marathon build-up. I have joined a training group twice a week to motivate me to get out of my running comfort zone. This week I ran four times including:
Tuesday - pyramid interval session @ 400, 800, 800, 1200, 800, 800, 400 averaging 2.0-2.15/400m for the longer intervals.
Wednesday - a hilly 11k on the road, feeling remarkably strong on the hills despite the pain in the ribs.
Friday - intervals 8 x 620m (last one at 4.27min/km pace)
Sunday - Davidson Recreation STaR 14k. Freezing cold at the start and it did not get too much warmer by the time I finished. Wonderful to run through the leafy north shore streets where there are still quite a few houses with large yards that including big front lawns, pools and tennis courts. I had intentions of running longer but decided to be sensible since it is my first proper full week back so I cut the run short. I was running hills strongly ans was very happy with how I felt throughout.
