I have been absent from my blog for awhile now. Since running Newcastle marathon in April I have been consumed by two new jobs, volunteer work and of course training.
For those of you that don't know already I ran 3:36 at Newcastle marathon taking 14 minutes of my previous best at Sydney Blackmores last year. Naturally I was chuffed with my performance and thoroughly enjoyed the race, mainly because I had trained for it this time!
Post marathon I was a little down in the dumps. Having achieved what I set out to do I had no other events booked in to focus on. This left me a little deflated and unsure what I was doing. Needless to say I had a stern word with myself (see my previous post) and booked in for Gold Coast half marathon in July. This event is to improve my speed for the marathon and not a change of event. Although I am aiming for a new PB of 1:35 at GC it is merely to improve my speed stamina for Melbourne marathon in October, where I aim to run 3:30. Six minutes quicker may not sound like a lot, but I can tell you it will be a challenge.
I was hoping to get a trail race or two in this winter in order to enjoy a run in the woods and to mix training up. But because of my work requirements at my new job at the Apple store in Bondi I can't commit to a race until I know my schedule. Fortunately my managers are accommodating of my running and because I told them well in advance I have got the all clear for both Gold Coast and Melbourne. I will have to do a last minute entry when I know what my schedule looks like!
There's not much else to report regarding training. I did manage to pick up a new pair of Altra running shoes when I was at the Sydney half marathon expo earlier in the month. It was a great result as I saved $60 and got the new edition of my running shoes. So I am already setup for Melbourne with a pair of blue Altras to run out in. Check out Altras on Google if you have wide feet like me and enjoy a minimal running shoe.
Until next week,
Happy training!
Tom :)
