Two Months To Go: Getting in the Flow

Well, it's been a super busy couple of weeks and I've simply had to prioritise family, running and work, which means other things - like blogging - have had to take a back seat.  But reflecting on my training, I realise that I've actually had some real achievements.  And with just two months tomorrow until the Gold Coast Marathon, it's a real confidence boost to see all that training paying off!

Firstly, I smashed my PB at parkrun the week before last.  I was running it without the pram for the first time in a few months, so I was really curious about what time I could achieve.  My current pram (with 2 kids) PB is 23:52.  We had great conditions - a perfect, cool morning with beautiful blue skies - and I just got out there and ran for it!  I wasn't totally fresh, as it was just 36 hours after running 26 kilometres, but I just picked a lady in front of me and stuck behind her the whole way.  I finished in 22:33 and I was thrilled with that!  Yay!

The following week (last week) I got some good sessions in - I'm just loving running with intraining on a Tuesday morning.  It's a speed session, but is different every week, and I love being around other runners, meeting new people and mixing it up!  Anyway, it was a tough week, with my 1-year-old a bit under the weather and he'd been waking up a lot in the night.  I got to Wednesday and had heaps of excuses NOT to go running.  But I just made the decision to prioritise my run and decided to push myself and do a fast 10km.  It's not a distance I do very much lately, but I really enjoy it - so I took the kids down to the waterfront and went for it.  I beat my pram PB (set a few months) ago, and ran it in 54:08 - I was so happy to get under 55:00!  Double yay!

Friday came and it was time for my weekly long run.  This one was 28km and marked my 4th week in a row of a long run, each 2km further than the last.  Each time, I'm noticing the recovery is SO much easier and the mental battle is lessening.  The first couple of long runs, I would get to the end and literally feel like I couldn't run even 2 metres more.  But now I'm just feeling so much better at the end, and like I have a bit left in the tank.  So I set another distance record and recovered really well!  Triple yay!

Unfortunately, it's not all smooth sailing.  We had a wonderful family weekend away up the coast, but I was really undisciplined with my eating (it's so easy to use the excuse of doing so much running!).  We got back today and I knew I had to knuckle down and go for a run.  I did 10km, but I felt so tired and sluggish.  It really is so important to fuel your body with the right foods.  I run so much better and have so much more energy when I've been eating well - lesson learnt!  My time today, without the pram, was slower than my 10km with the pram last week (admittedly, there was a really strong headwind for half of it).  It was not fun, but was a just punishment for eating too much crap.

So, another week down and less than 9 to go until the big one.  I'm looking forward to pumping the pavement some more, putting some delicious and nutritious food into my body and doing a long run of 30km.  Stay tuned!