marathon training

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10 Road Marathons To Train For in 2021

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10 Road Marathons To Train For in 2021

It’s around that time of year where we start signing off from work and thinking about the year that is to come. This year, despite all of the tough times, is no exception. In fact, perhaps more so than ever, us runners are looking forward to getting back to racing, back to consistent training routines and less threat of race cancellations due to natural disasters or global pandemics. Judging from race directors and the increase in advertising for races around Australia, there is now more confidence than at any point over the last 6 months, that we will get races going ahead in 2021.

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The Broken Ankle, the Marathon and the Turtle: Sarah's Story

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The Broken Ankle, the Marathon and the Turtle: Sarah's Story

Sarah has come back to running after a full ankle reconstruction and has continued to push her own boundaries in terms of distances, times and her own image of herself as a runner. A self-confessed and named ‘Turtle,’ she loves the trails and the trail running community. In this blog she writes in her own words about her journey of taking up running, through to completing a marathon and tackling an ultra marathon in 2019. Thank you so much to Sarah for contributing this story. This one is for all the turtles out there…

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Navigating the Long Road Back to Running: Tim's Story

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Navigating the Long Road Back to Running: Tim's Story

So many runners get injured through overtraining and have to then tread the delicate balance of coming back from injury, managing volume and intensity and also changing their mindset to their training. Tim was one of those runners who managed to navigate his way back and ended up surpassing all of his expectations both with his running but also his triathlon. Here is his story and some of the lessons that he learnt along the way. Thanks to Tim for sharing this with us…

Different Marathons, Different Approaches to Strength Training.

Different Marathons, Different Approaches to Strength Training.

This is Part Two of Coach Kylie’s explorations into the strength training that we do and the impact on our running. This blog is her own personal experience of training for two different marathons in 2019 and the strength and mobility training that she did for each. Enjoy!

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5 things that a first time marathoner needs to know.

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5 things that a first time marathoner needs to know.

No matter what challenge you have decided to take on in your first marathon, you have to start with where you are at. Whether its training, nutrition, recovery or pacing, you will learn a lot taking on your first marathon challenge!

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We Fall to the Level of our Training

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We Fall to the Level of our Training

An old coach of mine had a very simple saying, "finish at the finish."

Seems simple enough to do, right?

In a race or event, this absolutely makes sense but he also used to say this during almost every training session. Whether it was an easy recovery run or a hard interval session, 'finish at the finish' still rings true. Just like you can’t imagine stopping your race 100 metres before the finish line, nor should you imagine this during training. We are creatures of habit and by finishing actually at the finish and not before, we are looking to create a positive habit that is reinforced in each and every session, not just when the coach is looking.

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How to choose the right next event for you

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How to choose the right next event for you

The post race break usually means a quadrupling of our food and alcohol intake (particularly in ‘fat week’), accompanied by plenty of reflections on the race that has gone, discussions about what we enjoyed, where you can improve, and questions about what race might be next.  This down time and reflection period is really important.  It allows for recovery both mentally and physically, but it usually isn’t long before the ‘What’s next?’ question rears its head… Cue animated predictions, planning sessions and discussions with friends for races that we want to sign up for.  

With so many events on the running calendar these days and entry costs going through the roof, it is becoming tricky (and expensive) to decide which event is actually the right event for you.

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How to not screw up your marathon taper

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How to not screw up your marathon taper

For those of you running at Melbourne Marathon Festival on 13 October, congratulations on getting this far in your training.  You will mostly have gone through the tough, long preparation for the 10km, half marathon or marathon distances and are now entering (or about to enter) a taper period, to freshen you up for race day.  This is a weird and wonderful couple of weeks where many people can screw their races, so I thought it would be useful to run through five 'anti-screw up' tips with to help keep you focused and ready to roll when you get to the start line.

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Conquering the Great Wall of China Marathon

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Conquering the Great Wall of China Marathon

Running the Great Wall of China was a pipe dream. I confidently stated this one was top of my wishlist even though I couldn’t really explain why.  There were so many amazing runs out there to do, but it was just the one that needed to be my first international race. Forty was looming so why not pencil it in as a birthday present to myself?!

I am fortunate to know a lot of inspiring people, none less so that my dear friend Kelvin who over the course of the last eleven years has completed 34 marathons including on Easter Island, Petra, Bagan Temples, Boston, New York, Tokyo… the list goes on! He was the one who I’d first floated the idea with and if I was going to do the trip it had to be with him. 

May 2019 was scheduled to be ‘our year’ for China however in November 2017 my husband Paul and I shared the news with Kelvin that after several rounds of IVF we were pregnant and due in June 2018. He was super happy for us of course and over dinner graciously suggested that maybe 2019 wouldn’t be the year for China and perhaps we postpone it to 2020. 11 months was a relatively quick turnaround to birth a baby and be back running marathon distance after all. Perhaps I could do the half-marathon I suggested, but Paul being Paul said if you are going all the way to China you’d be crazy not to do the full! It didn’t need to be fast , I just needed to do it and conquer those steps so it was the perfect event to aim for! I had his blessing to go, despite the fact that logistically he wouldn’t be able to join us, now all we had to do was have our baby and then make a running come back!

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How to stay on top of your marathon training even when you travel for work

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How to stay on top of your marathon training even when you travel for work

Meet Scott (aka Dr. Scott). Scott ran the Gold Coast Marathon with guidance and coaching from GoRun. Running one marathon is impressive.  At the time of writing, Scott had run 7 marathons, which is really impressive.  Running his fastest of all seven, by 73 seconds is super impressive, but none of this comes even close to Scott’s real story….

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Don't Panic! How to Start Your Melbourne Marathon training on the right foot

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Don't Panic! How to Start Your Melbourne Marathon training on the right foot

The Melbourne Marathon Festival is now not far away! Many runners are in the midst of their training for one of Australia’s biggest and most prestigious marathon events.  The finish line at the MCG awaits but first the real work of training has to be done.  The few months of running, recovery and planning will be challenging, but there are a few fundamentals that each of us need to stick to, no matter what pace or distance goals are.

Here are five of my top pieces of advice to surviving and flourishing over the next few months before your victory lap around the G’:

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Run / Walking Busselton Marathon... and loving it!

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Run / Walking Busselton Marathon... and loving it!

Sydney Marathon (Marathon 13) was a really tough experience, both on the day and in the week after.  I felt like I had lost fitness, re-injured an old achilles problem and gotten very glum in the process of it all.  Not ideal.  

 

Fast forward 3 weeks and the 17 marathons fun bus was heading over to Western Australia.  This was my first ever trip to W.A and I was travelling there to run Busselton Marathon on Sunday 8 October.  Whilst I still had the nagging achilles issue that was stopping me from running, I was grateful to be feeling way more positive in the lead up to this one.  I was worried about my ability to complete the run, but positive nevertheless.  I was particularly worried when I discovered the day before that I hadn’t actually signed up to the run at all!  OOPS!!  I am starting to believe that there is such a thing as 'runners brain’…. its a thing….

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Now I know what 11 laps of The Tan feels like...

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Now I know what 11 laps of The Tan feels like...

Last weekend was awesome...

Marathon 12 was back on home turf, running 11 laps around the Tan Track in Melbourne, following some time away for Alice Springs Marathon the previous weekend.  I was really pleased with what I had done in Alice Springs and my aim for this marathon was simply to improve on that time of 3:22, only 7 days later.  I enjoy the challenge of backing up marathons one week after another and it gives the second run a bit more purpose.  I seem to get that little bit more determined to not be slower or fade at all.  It’s like a giant 'negative split' I suppose.  

On race morning, I had woken up early to the sound of torrential rain and howling wind at about 5 am.  Bugger.  The thought crossed my mind to just drop the run, eat lots, drink wine and simply reschedule, but the thought of then trying to fit another marathon into the remaining 4 months of the year, persuaded me to get my arse out of bed and get cracking on some coffee and breakfast.

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ALICE SPRINGS: MARATHON 11 (The one with the NO GPS WATCH experiment…)

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ALICE SPRINGS: MARATHON 11 (The one with the NO GPS WATCH experiment…)

Well its been a while since I wrote last, but marathon 11 is now done and dusted!  I’m at the airport in Alice Springs, the sun is shining and I am on my way home, back to Melbourne.  I am growing to like this place.  This is my second trip here in a couple of months and I am starting to learn my way around, meet new people, see new things and feel a little more comfortable.

 

The last marathon I ran was Cairns Marathon on 9th July, so this was the longest break so far within the 17 marathons journey.  I definitely needed it after nursing myself through 3 marathons in 3 weeks back in June / July.