Locked in!

I just booked and paid for the Hunter Valley Wineries Marathon a few minutes ago. Eeek! Now I'm committed. 22 July is the day.

I did my medium/long run of 22km this morning, starting at 5.20am and going for around 2 hours through Milsons Point, Cremorne Point, back through Neutral Bay and Cammeray. Average pace was just over 5.30 per km which I was happy with considering my legs were pretty sore this morning (probably still not recovered from the 32km run on Sunday which included the Great Nosh, plus Pain in the Domain yesterday) and there's plenty of hills on my run. But it was my best pace on that run so far, definitely helped by the guy I heard suddenly breathing down my neck halfway round and had to run a few kms at under 4min pace to stop him passing me. Competitive?

I've been loosely following this program from Susan Hobson from the Canberra Marathon website, which I liked the look of: Susan Hobson's Marathon Training Program

Now going back to the site where I found it I've just noticed that it's designed for sub 3.30 runners. That's a bit bloody ambitious for the first marathon! Ah well I'm going to try to keep following it and see how I go.

I also noticed this couple of paragraphs she wrote about running form which I wanted to post on here in order to remind myself of:

A marathon is completed a lot more efficiently if you can develop a fast, easy and relaxed rhythm. To do this, you need to think about your running form every time you go for a run from the start of the program. Your running economy will improve as a result of the continuous running.

Be light on your feet, relax the upper body, particularly the shoulders, and aim for a fast shorter stride, rather than slower, longer overstriding. Avoid bouncing along with a high knee lift or leg kick behind. Marathon runners move along closer to the ground.