Week 6 saw me run a half marathon before work, never thought I'd say that, but I ran 21km and then spent a day at work! Omg!
My week consisted of 1 x 11km, 2 x 8km and a 21km long run.
The 11km was my kick off run for the week and I took it up a notch running a 5:31 pace, felt pretty good, although one issue was it was quite dark in the morning at 5am due to cloud cover and one of my streets I ran down was a little poorly lit, must remember to avoid that street on dark mornings, either that or I really need to wear the sweaty knuckle lights, which is not great on warm mornings!
My 8km Wednesday run was a solo run in Geelong, I hit some hills in the gardens and set a 5:29 pace, very happy with this given the hills.
My Friday run was my 21km long run, after last weeks successful 18km run to work, I decided to to the same route but added an extra 3km loop before the 18km stretch. It was the most amazing morning, perfect temperature and beautiful clear skies. I set out at 5:40am and did my 3km loop before hitting the trail to head into town. It was starting to light up a bit before I hit the main path and the sun was starting to come up. As I ran along the Hovells creek path I could see it was going to be a spectacular sunrise. At the 8km mark, I stopped to take photos it was so incredibly beautiful. Looking out of the inlet where the creek meets the bay was just pure magic. Black swans were swimming, I could not help but feel so very lucky to be out experiencing such a gorgeous morning.
But back to the task at hand, running, well, it's not hard to run when you've got such artery back drop, that's for sure. For the first time I used energy gels in my run. I normally eat little apricot chews on longer runs, but for the marathon, I have decided I will use energy gels but of course want to try them out to see how my stomach copes. I had a vanilla flavoured endura gel for this run and I have to say it was actually really pleasant! I made sure I took it with some water. I only had the one, as no need to take more on this run, but it seemed to keep me going till the end and no upset stomach. I'll use them again on my next long run which is in 2 weeks time.
As for today's run, which was my last run for week 6, I did an 8km run and decided to head out towards Serendip sanctuary, this was lucky for me as I needed a pit stop and they have good loo's in the picnic area. The other downside of my run was that I had an allergy issue and my eyes have puffed up like the elephant man! I think it's probably half ever related, I have had this happen twice before, but normally not whilst I'm running, it normally occurs once I've stopped. When I got home I used eye drops, took an antihistamine and have been icing my puffy eyes, they are starting to go down now, 2.5hrs after my run! Let's hope that is not an issue when I run my marathon!
So over all, it's been a really good week, I loved my long run and I guess that's the main thing. I've pulled up quite well from it too, although I am feeling a little twinge in my glute, so back on the roller for me and also need to make sure I'm doing my glute strength exercises.
Next week is a recovery week with the longest run being 15km, after that it's up to a 23km long run which will be my longest run ever! Wonder how I'll feel?
Until next time, may everyone enjoy the marvels of nature as I did on my long run, get up early one day and see if you can experience a beautiful sunrise, it certainly has a wonderful effect on your mood :-)
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