Three weeks out and this marathon is starting to become very, very real. This being my first marathon, I still have loads of questions bouncing around in my head; have I done enough training, have my runs been long enough for the 42.2k, should I be doing more strength training, am I eating right, how am I going to find my water bottle amongst all the others at the drink stop tables and it goes on. Only time will tell, all I can say is that I’m prepared as best as I can be and so long as I can run across the finish line with a smile on my face I’ll be happy.
One thing I didn’t realize at the time, but now look on as an important part in my training, is my running diary. I started this back in April and looking at it now, it gives me a bit more comfort in knowing I have done a few km’s in lead up to this marathon (380k to date), whether it’s enough or in the right combination, I’m not sure, but I at least I’ve done it.
Last Sunday I took part in Run Townsville 2016. What a turn out, loads of people, lots of entertainment and heaps of money raised for the Townsville Hospital Children’s Ward. Going by the Run Townsville Facebook page there were 3009 participants raising over $75000, top effort Townsville.
I used the event as a training run for next month. I wanted to see what it was like running in a big crowd and to see if you get caught up with excitement of everyone trying to get out fast. The answer is yes, when that siren goes off you just want to take off and keep up with everyone around you. It took a lot of self-control to “go slow” at the start. The plan was to stick to my anticipated marathon pace (6min/km), it took about 5k to get settled but when I got there pretty much kept it up for the rest of the race. I ended up with an average pace of 5:48min so pretty happy with the result. I’ve been working on keeping that pace for all of my long runs lately, the big test is to see if I can keep that up for 42.2k. Here’s a couple of pics from the day.
Onto a fundraising update. The 100’s boards are still the back bone of Bod Pods fundraising effort, we’ve finally cracked the $1000 mark, a big thank you to Paula and everyone that’s supported us so far. Bod Pod Townsville is hosting a “Party with a Purpose” on the 29th of this month at the West End Tea House and Gallery. We have a special guest speaker for the event, Mr. Brad Hastewell (Relationship and Development Manager) from RMH NQ. There will be a silent auction, musical entertainment, great food and something to wash the food down with. Tickets are still available, so get some friends together and come along and help support our local RMH. Tickets are available at the following link, https://bodpodtownsville.com.au/party-with-a-purpose/
Until next time, Cheers Paul.
PS. Had to put this pic in, Paula never fails to amaze us in the 100’s board draw.
