marathon

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No frills, no fuss, marathon training programme for ordinary folk

For Cheryl

training_programmeWhen it comes to running, I like to keep things simple. This approach got me over many marathon finish lines, so if you just want to finish, relatively comfortably (not that the marathon distance is comfortable by any means), this might help. I’m not an official trainer and I’m not a professional, but rather just a normal person who likes to run. I think that setting goals that make you giggly, or scare you a little, is good! Continue reading →

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Mountain to Surf – New Plymouth

Date: 7 March 2015

Distance: 42.2

Time: 4:19.50

A perfect early morning start in the foothills of Mt Taranaki.
Start-selfie. with our regular pre-marathon mix of excitement and apprehension.
The first few downhill kilometres combined with the great weather, makes it very tempting to go out too fast.
Country roads meandering through dairy farms.
Gerry enjoying an easy run.
Fly fly away.
Friendly volunteer helpers at the well stocked aid stations.
Reaching SH3 – the first stretch on busy roads.
Approaching the halfway mark at Inglewood.
A little out-and-back section in town to make up the distance.
Lots of supporters makes this a jolly changeover.
After a good shower, the rain stopped and our clothes had time to dry out.
Back onto SH3 with congested traffic.
With one kilometre to go, we got another soaking. Coupled with the wind, I was near-hypothermic at the finish.
Happy, but shivering, at the finish.

Mountain? There was a mountain? As is the case more often than not, Mt Taranaki was tucked in under a thick blanket of cloud all weekend. So much so, that it was hard to figure out where exactly the mountain is supposed to be on our drive to New Plymouth. If I hadn’t been there and seen Mt Taranaki at numerous previous occasions, I would never have thought there’s a beautiful 2518m high volcanic cone, dusted at the top with snow.

Since TUM we’ve cut back on our weekly kilometres quite a bit. Needless to say, the week after the 100km event saw only a couple of walks with one or so short attempt at a “run”. As we didn’t burn it both ends at the Tarawera, our recovery was quite fast. Not that I’m fully recovered one month after the Tarawera, but I’m not injured and okey to do a little bit of training/maintenance for our next ultra – the Two Oceans 56km in South Africa. Apart from sensitive feet on Gerry’s part and a general lack of energy and lethargy on my side, we are nearly back on track one month after the Tarawera. The Mountain to Surf was placed perfectly in the middle of our post-Tarawera build-up towards the Two Oceans. Continue reading →

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Three Bridges Marathon

Date: 13 December 2014
Venue: Wanganui
Time: 4:52

Johann, myself and Gerry shortly before the start of the marathon.
A smallish field gather for the briefing.
The early morning sun on the river within the first kilometre.
An out-and-back section next to the river in the park.
Johann and Gerry on lap one.
Crossing bridges – that’s what it’s all about.
A little off-road downhill to pass under a bridge.
Three runners, all three entered for the Tarawera (including the photographer).
Some nice artwork en route.
Self-portrait. A beautiful reflective sculpture of the river.
More artwork. Love these pencils!
Gerry going strong.
Johann all smiles a few hundred metres in front of us on the out-and-back stretch.
One of the water points.
Entertaining signage along the way.
Gerry at another drink station with some Striders in the back.
Had to get another shot of these. We didn’t pass them four times for nothing! 😉
Tired and sore only two weeks after our previous marathon.
Johann and me with a mouth full of jelly babies.
Trying to encourage each other, we caught up with another slower runner in the last few kilometres.
Johann and Gerry only about 4km before the finish.
Approaching the runway for landing. It came just in time.
All done and happy to reach another milestone.

I always find it amusing how people with the same goals in mind, tend to gravitate towards each other. Years ago, 2008, Gerry and I entered for the Cape Odyssey event as a team. It was a 5 day staged race over roughly 220km for teams of two people. (The event unfortunately had a short lifespan of only two years before it was cancelled.)

During our built up for this mammoth task, we entered a lot of other events of various distances all over the country. It’s always infinitely easier to cover long distances when you know there are other runners and everybody is going through the same effort and sometimes pain, plus you get support in the form of aid stations. The company on the road and getting to meet and chat to likeminded folk, sharing experiences and swopping tips and tricks, makes it all the more worthwhile. We’ve met so many wonderful people who became great friends afterwards. Continue reading →

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The Flying Pink Marathon – a jolly great run!

Date: 30 November 2014
Time: 4:58

The two of us with Michael, who completed his 522nd marathon at this event.
The rather small field shortly before the start.
And away we fly!
In the streets of Upper Hutt.
HHH signage on the sidewalk.
The course took in some interesting urban features.
Water station #3.
It takes all sorts: a Kiwi doing his 178th, an ex-Saffer on 20 and a visiting Brit completing his second marathon.
A lovely little off road stretch next to the Hutt River.
Gerry making the most of the trail.
Enjoying the off-road stretch away from traffic.
Gerry still going strong at about the 19km mark.
For a city marathon, the race included quite a diverse range of scenery.
My favourite outfit!
High-fives all round.
Out of town into the farming area.
Halfway!
Having a laugh with other amazing runners – Mel being on 117 marathons.
We may be the rookies in this field, but we had loads of fun.
Another great outfit in the spirit of Michael’s trade-mark speedo.
Running into Michael on our way back for a quick hug.
Next to the river coming back.
Hungry anyone?
More HHH signage both ways.
Look for trains!
Water station #1 (also the last one on the way back).
Only a few more metres.
The finish between the two cones, right where we started.
Prize-giving.
Gerry and I were both lucky draw winners!
A great idea to use recycled medals from the Dunedin marathon. 🙂
List of participants in the early start.
List of participants in the medium paced group.
The list of fast runners.

The Flying Pink marathon is the brainchild of Michael Stewart – the man who’s done the most marathons in the Southern Hemisphere.

After running into Michael at the Rotorua marathon earlier this year, I was curious to hear his story. His characteristic pink speedo and the sheepskin padding on his backpack is hard to miss. I’m sure there’s not a runner in NZ who doesn’t know of his achievements, but to me, he was (and still is, to a certain extent) a stranger. All I overheard in a short conversation with a fellow runner coming past, was that the Rotorua was his 515th or some such number marathon. I thought my hearing must have failed me during this bit of accidental eavesdropping as I could not believe that anyone could have achieved such a feat!

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Wairarapa Country Marathon

 

Gerry about 8 seconds before the start.
A beautiful morning as the sun rises over paddocks and lakes.
Henley Lake in the background.
Quaint letterbox. 🙂
Gerry on his way to the first water point.
With the sun still only just out, it’s hard not to also get the photographer in the pic.
Early morning wonderland.
Running in rural Wairarapa.
Between farms and cattle filled paddocks.
Signage to indicate where runners should go, as there aren’t many marshals en route.
Almost a quarter of the way done. I knew then already that the 32km trail run of the previous weekend was still in my legs.
First run in a while that I’ve ended up in a t-shirt!
For some reason a farmer dumped his lamb tails next to the road?
Hehe – couldn’t help but have a laugh at this sight!
First lap done, onto number two.
Over the Waipoua River.
Clear instructions along the way.
Crossing the Ruamahanga River.
Amusing rural distance markers.
Heeha!
Lovely scenery en route.
Only about two kilometres to go. Yey!
Prize-giving.

This is another of those events that we’ve been looking to do for the last couple of years. Being “reasonably fit” this year in our attempt to run 100km in February 2015, Gerry entered us for the Wairarapa Country Marathon as buildup towards our main goal. Being well aware that I haven’t remotely recovered from the 32km trail run of the previous week, we were entered and was going to push through. Neither of us are ill or injured and we need the mileage, so with no excuses we drove through on the Saturday afternoon.

Continue reading →