Training Update Weeks 36-39: Wherein I undertake some housekeeping and set myself a new (interim) B-HAG.

It’s been a little while since I posted any actual training updates to the blog. The final hectic couple of weeks before the marathon and having some time off work have made the last month very busy indeed, and this blog was the victim of some temporary downsizing in my life.

However, the chronological bank account is beginning to look more black than red again, and I can once more begin posting on a more regular basis.

Getting the house in order

Week 36 (Wk 14 of marathon training)
Total kms run:43

Week 37 (Wk 15 of marathon training)
Total kms run: 30 (marathon taper)

Week 38 (Wk 16 of marathon training)
Total kms run: 46 (including the Sydney Marathon)

Week 39
Total kms run: 23 (recovery week)

Total running kms for the year to date: 1489 kms

A new (interim) B-HAG

So what’s next? I’ve loved having a goal to keep myself focussed and working hard with my training. There were times while training for the marathon that I felt like I just wanted to go out and run for fun rather than for a specific distance at a specific pace. But that WAS fun in its own way – only the gratification was delayed a little more.

While it’s been nice having a break from a training program for a few weeks, I’m itching to get back into one. So with the Canberra Half Iron (Relay) coming up in December, I have set myself a new interim B-HAG: To beat my half marathon PR of 01:48:08 set at the Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon back in May this year. This could be hard. I’ll be running in Canberra, in Summer and with a starting time determined by how fast the swim and bike legs are finished in my relay team. But that just adds to the challenge!

So, this week, I’ll be pulling together an adapted HM training plan to cover the next nine and a half weeks building on some of the lessons I’ve learnt from my marathon training, but also looking to increase the amount of cross-training I do and changing more about my diet.

For the longer term, I’m cooking up some bigger, hairier and even more audacious goals for next year, but now is not the time and the place to divulge those. So stay tuned!