Yeah: Back in Sydney back running the Bay

Back in Sydney yesterday morning and back running the Bay this morning.

Thankfully I am once again running injury free. On the 20 May I strained the left hammy and one month later it is pain free running. Well it was 15k this morning with not a hint of an issue. I ran 4 days in Singapore and then took 5 days off. I was hoping that the rest would result in the pain free running as the runs in Singapore were not quite pain free.

How nice is life when a simple thing like running in the crisp pre dawn with no injury causes such joy.

This morning was not about speed but about testing to see if it had fully recovered. The time was just under 85 minutes @ 5.51 and just before the injury it was just on 70 minutes @ 4.53.

With just 12 days to the marathon I have not much time to prepare. But then again I managed a good time running the second week in a row with a not fully fit hammy. The preparation will be just steady runs of between 15 & 21k and see what that produces. I suspect between 3.45 - 3.50. Not what I was expecting to run a few months ago but I will be running injury free so that will be a nice way to start the marathon.

Singapore

The last day of 8 days in Singapore.

The first few days were spent at a conference on Sentosa Island. It was pleasant although the early morning running was very difficult with the humidity. Also it is not daylight here until about 6.45 am so very early running was not easy. I did manage to run for 4 straight days along the path next to the water.

The conference then ended and we moved into Singapore itself. It is much more difficult to run in a city that is very busy with traffic and not really runner friendly - as is the case with most cities in the business/commercial area. So I did not attempt it. Used the gym and pool and decided to not stress about not running.

I considered I have enough time for that at other times and I should just enjoy the rest and the holiday.

I will be back in Sydney early Sunday morning and then life returns to normal as regards all aspects of life. I have taken it relatively easing after the last marathon and so hopefully that means the hammy is well on the way to full recovery.

Taralgon Marathon : 3.46.40

It's just gone 6.00am and I am just about to start to get ready for the marathon.The luxury of an 8.00am start. I have not run a step since crossing the finish line last week. What else could I do ? For a few days the hammy was an issue but not as bad as I thought it would be.Just walking around it feels fine but running...... I will have to wait and see.

I will be happy with a finish in about 4.30 with no damage done! I can then give it time to recover before the Gold Coast and the bunch of marathons in July. I need to be over this injury by then.

Well now to start getting ready. I think I will need a lot of luck to get my wish.

Race Report

Well you just sometimes cannot pick what the body will do when asked to do something. My first ask was to get me from the start to the finish without doing any damage and preferably running all the way.

So I started off slowly and by 3k I could feel the hammy but it did not seem an issue. I thought it was well on the way to recovery and the feeling was not from still being injured but because the scarring around the injury was still present and needs to be massaged away. I ran through the first 5k in about 27.30 which was to be the slowest 5k of the day.

I seemed to be able to manage about 5.25 pace easily both a regards the hammy and my breathing. The HR was very low and so I was running very much within myself in that regard. It stayed that way and I turned halfway in 1.54.45. By this time a young girl was running next to me and we we running off each other and sometimes that just seem to aid in keeping a a good rhythm going. And so it turned out.

It a flat course but with a very slight rise to the turn around and then a very gradual downhill although at the time it all seems even. We kept a strong pace up and all our 5k splits from the turnaround were 26.xx. A negative split in the second half of 1.51.55. Got to be pleased with that because in almost 3 weeks all I have run is 2 marathons and not a step beyond that above a walk.

I was planning to go the Macleay River Marathon next week - one of my favourite events but work is sending me to Singapore for 9 days. Someone has to do it. So that should result in almost no running and the injury should have plenty of time to recover and then a couple of weeks to get ready for the Gold Coast on 3 July.