Week 2 - Marathon Training

You don't have to be stupid to train for a marathon, but I think it must be an advantage!!

I have been out in the freezing cold, the pouring rain, but we have managed to stick to the marathon schedule. (I told you that it pays to have a plan if you want to take it seriously)

Anyway, can really notice the difference already, 5km seems like nothing now that we are running 10km with ease (well we are finishing 10km and surviving it all). Most of all I haven't stopped alcohol consumption which was always a concern, but so far so good.

Week 1 wrap up

So after finally deciding on a marathon plan (I have a thing that if I'm going to commit to something then I need to have a plan to stick to) we picked Hal Higdon's intermediate plan since it seemed to capture our fitness levels best, even though we had to convert everything back to km, it seemed this would be the one to get us ready for the City to Surf Marathon in August. 

Now I thought I could run 5km without too many dramas, as it turned out 5km was about my pain threshold limit, but with Dutchy's encouragement I found ways to break through it, with a 10km run on the Sunday. I'm happy to say that I ran the entire way without stopping (just) at just under a 6min/km average pace.

Marathon Training Schedule: Intermediate 1

WEEK	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
1	Cross	3 m run	5 m run	3 m run	Rest	5 m pace	8
2	Cross	3 m run	5 m run	3 m run	Rest	5 m run	9
3	Cross	3 m run	5 m run	3 m run	Rest	5 m pace	6
4	Cross	3 m run	6 m run	3 m run	Rest	6 m pace	11
5	Cross	3 m run	6 m run	3 m run	Rest	6 m run	12
6	Cross	3 m run	5 m run	3 m run	Rest	6 m pace	9
7	Cross	4 m run	7 m run	4 m run	Rest	7 m pace	14
8	Cross	4 m run	7 m run	4 m run	Rest	7 m run	15
9	Cross	4 m run	5 m run	4 m run	Rest	Rest	Half Marathon
10	Cross	4 m run	8 m run	4 m run	Rest	8 m pace	17
11	Cross	5 m run	8 m run	5 m run	Rest	8 m run	18
12	Cross	5 m run	5 m run	5 m run	Rest	8 m pace	13
13	Cross	5 m run	8 m run	5 m run	Rest	5 m pace	20
14	Cross	5 m run	5 m run	5 m run	Rest	8 m run	12
15	Cross	5 m run	8 m run	5 m run	Rest	5 m pace	20
16	Cross	5 m run	6 m run	5 m run	Rest	4 m pace	12
17	Cross	4 m run	5 m run	4 m run	Rest	3 m run	8
18	Cross	3 m run	4 m run	Rest	Rest	2 m run	Marathon

Day 1

Most people when they talk about turning 40 and having a mid life crisis, go out and buy a sports car or die their hair bleach blonde. For me, it was training for a marathon.

I'm not much of an athlete, I've spent 23 years serving in the submarine arm of the Royal Australian Navy, I like beer (a lot), and am much more inclined to watch football on the TV rather than pick up a ball and go for a kick. So when my good mate Leigh Holland (Dutchy) organized running on the Rocky foreshore each Friday morning, I was very surprised to hear myself say "Count me in", and even more surprised to say to him "Why don't we try and do a marathon!" I have only recently had shoulder surgery so can only assume that the drugs were talking that day and not me.

So today starts the beginning of what is probably going to be a painful journey.

Marathon: (noun)
A popular form of overpriced torture wherein participants wake up at ass-o-clock in the morning and stand in the freezing cold until its time to run, at which point they miserably trot for a god-awful interval of a time that could be better spent sleeping in and/or consuming large quantities of beer and cupcakes.
See also: masochism, awfulness, 'a bunch of bullshit', boob chaffing, cupcake deprivation therapy