Hey, thanks to everyone who is reading this blog and those who are posting comments. I'm not sure how to respond to comments directly so I guess it is just easier to include it in a post.
First though a couple of things I meant to say but forgot.
Registration for the Boston Marathon has closed. It looks like there are 34 Australian residents registered with 5 from WA. If you follow this link and enter Australia in the country of residence, you can bring up the full list.
http://www.bostonmarathon.org/2009/cf/Public/EntryLists.cfm
Rottnest - I looked at the map of the Rottnest marathon course again and realised that I was actually running it backwards. So what I thought was (and ran as) a big uphill, is actually a big downhill. Don't know if I will run Rottnest (one thing at a time is probably wiser) but it is not as daunting as I thought now.
In response to the comments on my last post, yes I have been going out on my morning runs without eating. I always run from home so no travel time for digestion. I used to drink a "Zu" energy drink (Coles brand energy drink, basically a poor man's Red Bull) before any run of longer than an hour but have got a bit slack since we got back from Rottnest. It has the caffeine as recommended so I think I will reinstitute this and maybe a banana as well. Thanks for the tip!!
My favourite gels and the ones I use are either Accel Gel (made by the same people who make Accelerade) which has a 4:1 ratio of carbs and protein. I use the Strawberry Kiwi flavour. Accel gel can be a bit hard to get hold of. There is fitness supplement shop in the city that sells them (below Woolies in Forrest Chase) but the last ones I got from there were out of date (I think they were the same batch as the ones I used in the Perth Marathon) so most recently, I have bought a box of 24 by mail order from the eastern states which was also slightly cheaper.
I also use the Powerade gels that you can get at Coles but only the Strawberry Banana flavour - the Chocolate flavour is revolting and clags up your mouth like glue. No protein in these ones. I find they tend to give a quicker energy boost but don't feel like it sustains as well as the Accel Gel but that is only my impression.
The program I am following is the 18 week up to 70 miles a week program in Pete Pfitzinger and Scott Douglas' "Advanced Marathoning". I followed the 24 week up to 70 mile program before the Perth Marathon. This time I added a couple of weeks to the 18 week program and am substituting a few workouts from Brad Hudson and Matt Fitzgerald's "Run faster from the 5k to the marathon". You can get the Pfitzinger and Douglas book at Borders but a new edition has just been released and I am not sure they have it yet. You can get both books at a good price on Amazon. I can't recommend "Advanced Marathoning" highly enough. I'm sure it is why I got myself in shape to qualify for Boston.
1 comment:
Thanks for the information. I'm using a program based on the book 'SERIOUS training for endurance athletes'. It's based on an acronym for serious: speedwork, endurance, race/pace, intervals, overdistance, uphill and strength. It's a little complicated but basically the full year's load is broken into 13 4-week blocks which each have different proportions of some of those training elements according to the phase you're in (base/intensity/peak/racing/recovery). It rings with some of the stuff McMillan has picked up with training at efforts according to the sessions you're running. It's been great in the past...we'll see.
Btw - the best way to respond to comments can be to post one yourself.
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