Three Weeks To Go :)

WARNING.....WARNING.......Don't read if you're not interested in my running...........

This blog entry is further evidence that, for the moment, the marathon has taken over my life. Have told Jo and kids that I am having a month break after it from 'serious' training. They were happy with that. I then said that that's when the training starts for January's Half Ironman. Adam wasn't impressed!

Today was my last serious training day for the marathon. It's all downhill now (sort of) with a three week taper. Today's 34.23k (the 0.23k is important) is the highest mileage until the marathon on the 28th April. Its the longest I have ever run ever and also the slowest. Just a tad worried about the extra 8k that I'll have to go. Didn't have a lot left in the tank today. No sprint finish for me today.

The preparation started again on Saturday night with the placing of bottles on the course. Couldn't have been that exciting for Adam and Jo last week because they both chose to stay in rather than go for a ride. So me and Laura set out with the bottles and tried to find a new place further along the course for us to stash them. I wanted somewhere that I could stand the bottles up and still have them hidden. This would make it easier to pick them up because I wouldn't have to bend down as much. We found a large bit of greenery about 11k into the run that we could walk into and stand the bottles up behind a small tree. Perfect. Laura wrote me a note again as we drove home but the torch wouldn't work and she wrote it in the darkness of the car. "past the realway line next to fokrltf shop". I knew what she meant. Unfortunately I forgot to take the note out in the morning. She was not impressed! Sorry Laura :)

I had an extra weapon in my armoury today. I had read in a magazine back in the UK about having a small treat every mile of the marathon to help past the miles. One example had been Jelly Babies and I love Jelly Babies. So I decided to give it a go on the training run. Problem was that Jelly Babies out here are NOT real jelly babies .... so had to visit the UK Shop. Worked out about 80p for the tiniest tiniest packet. Had to buy 3 to last the route. Not a cheap sport this marathon lark. I decided to alternate them with the energy gels which I was having every 40 minutes. Thought it would help pass the time.

So Sunday morning I set out at 7am as usual. The first few K went quickly. Too quickly really. Less than 13mins. Should have been nearer 14. Too far to go to go out 'so quick'. I was wearing my heart rate monitor and by the 3rd k I managed to get it down to the 130's. Be good if I could keep it there for the whole run. Probably go up for the lap around the Mount but I was prepared for that.

I reached the centre of Tauranga and dodged all the barriers set up for the Jazz Festival. We went the day before and it was greeeeat! Watched one 'band' three times. They were really good and did 'Blues Brothers' type jazz. Adam asked if we could book them for Laura's wedding. Poor girl. Even Adam wants to get her married off as quickly as possible. Think he wants to knock through to her bedroom once she's gone to get the best views. It won't happen of course because I'm having her bedroom as a study. How did she manage to get the best views in the house! (We love you really Laura and you are welcome in my house as long as you want .... well when I say as long ... I mean erm ....only joking!)

Back to the interesting run story. The time came for the first Jelly Baby. Yum yum! Heart rate was upper 130's. I was feeling good and running steady. Now I don't know if a lot of this was psychological but after the jelly babies my heart rate went up and I found myself running faster. It might have been that I started running faster which raised my heart rate but whatever way round it was I got amazing 'sugar rush' from them. Too much really and they were just a little bit too sickly. Eating them regularly didn't seem a good idea and I abandoned the idea of eating them every 20mins. I closed the bag and decided I could use them towards the end of the race if I needed a boost. Had used this tactic at the end of the half ironman and they had got me through the last few ks.

I reached the first drink stop, found the bush just past the 'fokrltf shop', ran in, picked up the bottle with the minimum of bending, refilled the bottle I was carrying and was out again and on my way. No problem. By now the Mount was in my view. I was running through the industrial part but I chose to focus on the Mount in front of me rather than the salt and bitumen factories around me. It was a grey day and this part of the town looked even worse. I was soon out of it though and at Pilot Bay. The sun tried to poke through but the view wasn't as spectacular as last week. A kilometre along the bay and then I found myself at the base of the Mount. I had only recently decided to include a lap of the basetrack in the longest run and at this point I was questioning my decision. Plodded on around it though. Well its more up and down around it. There are no major hills in it but then again there are NO flat bits. You are either going up a short sharp hill or struggling to control yourself going down one. I struggled down the steepest one and had a nightmare flashback to the same point in the ironman when going in the other direction I had struggled to get up it. Legs had gone completely to jelly at the top and I nearly had to walk. Felt much better today going down it though. I felt quite good all the way round. I was going really slowly at this point though and the 3k lap took me about 22 minutes. Oooops. People were passing me all the time, flying round at incredible speed. Just kept telling myself that they probably weren't doing a 34k run and if they were I would catch them later (yeah right!). Got off the basetrack and hit the boardwalk that runs along the beach. Last week I had wished that I could have run further along it to soak up the atmosphere. They say be careful what you wish for and I got caught out because this week I had a couple of k to complete and I wasn't in the mood. Even the scenery didn't really lift me like normal. Maybe a jelly baby would help. No. I resisted. Save them for when I am really desperate.

I was quickly along the boardwalk (again overtaken by everyone and their dog - literally), up to the turn and then back along the cafe side. A woman pushing a stroller with a baby inside jogged past me. I wished I could have swapped places .... with the baby. Sitting down would have been good at this point. I tried to ignore the people drinking coffee (but that would have woken me up) and eating their Sunday morning cooked breakfast. mmmmmm ..... nope I was choosing a different path, a different lifestyle choice. Damn fool!!! I was quickly out of the touristy bit and back into the industrial site. The smell of petrol/diesel/bitumen took my mind off the coffees and fry ups I had just left behind and I looked forward to the next drink stop. Little things like that keep you going after 20k. Found the 2nd bottle, picked it up with no pain, undid my now empty bottle and promptly dropped the lid in to the undergrowth. Damn, damn, damn. My words were a little stronger at the time but I'll stick with those for now. I had to get on my hands and knees to find the bl@@dy lid! That bit was easy. It was the getting up that was harder. It was energy I didn't have to waste. It was all sorted quickly though and I was on my way. I was heading for the harbour bridge and although its not exactly steep it is an up and over and so i had a jelly baby to give me a boost. It seemed to work. I also tried to run as 'tall' as possible. Had read it on the Internet about attacking hills keeping as upright as possible to save the stress on your knees. That seemed to work as well and my knees were surviving much better than last week. I was soon in and out of the main town which had started to fill with people ready for day 2 of the jazz festival. The cafes along the front were full of people drinking coffee and eating loads. I ran on the other side of the road and tried to ignore them.

Once I got back on the main Cameron Road I felt like I was sort of 'home'. It was still about 7 or 8 k to go but the route is familiar to me and I knew at this point that I could get home without having to call Jo on the mobile that I had forgotten to take out. Doh!

It was at this point that my groin (top of my leg on right side to be exact) started to hurt. More of a burning ache than a pain but it was not pleasant. I had read somewhere about visualising a running pain being 'virtually massaged'. Worth a go I thought. Seemed to have some effect but I got bored so I invented some virtual massagers. Kylie Minogue was especially good. Pain had eased a lot when she finished and by the time the three from Bananarama had finished arguing about who was going next the pain had almost gone (so neither of them got a turn). If they had only taken it in turns they would have all had a go. Well that wasted a few k and with about four to go I decided I needed some jelly babies to give me a boost to get home. I had three. The sugar rush was good and it helped me keep going. I didn't go any faster though. My k times went over the 7 minute mark for the first time during the run. Quite a way over the 7 min mark for the 31st and 32nd k. Think there was a 7:38 and a 7:30. I was determined to finish strongly and so tried to pick up the pace. Felt like I was going faster in the last k but the watch said I was still slow - 7:02. It was a bit of an improvement but showed there was very little left in the tank. I had also started to run out of drink and I was rationing it during the last 2k. Not a good feeling. I started to crave a glass of cold water filled with ice. The finish to my runs is at the bottom of our road and so I still have the walk up the long steep hill of Waimapu Street and then the even steeper one down to our house. Going up the hill was hard and slow but going down killed my knees. I had to walk down in a series diagonals across the road. Not sure if anyone saw me but I must have looked stupid!

The good thing about the end of the run was that my legs still felt like they belonged to me and my brain was still in control of them. They were sore and tired but they were still under my control. I had a protein drink and sat in a cold bath. After a shower I dreamt of sleep. No chance! Jo had plans for my recovery. A day of gardening! Not quite sure how I kept standing but I did and the four of us really worked well together to clear the garden, cut back all the trees and get the grass cut . The 'ute' was filled with garden rubbish ready for the 'dump'. Couldn't have got another twig on it.

I slept well Sunday night.