Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Running a Half-Marathon is Easy!

Okay the title is a bit of tease, running a half marathon is still hard work but at this stage of my marathon training when I am now reducing the length of my 'long runs' running a half marathon doesn't seem so hard :). On Sunday morning I met up with Gary and Phil my regular running buddies to do our regular Brighton Beach Baths to Rickets Point run (and return of course). I really do enjoy these beach runs, lots of trails to run on so gentle on the joints and the fantastic ocean view and even Steve Monaghetti agrees the trail is a fantastic place to run!


On the way out the guys quickly outpaced me but were nice enough to stop and wait for me at the water stops. At our turning point - Rickets Point - we all had a drink and I had an Endura Gel. I had never tried one before but Gary had a spare so I tried it out - I'm not convinced about the 'citrus' flavour but at least it didn't upset my stomach. We then turned back towards Brighton to discover the reason why the run out had been so pleasant, we unknowingly had a tail wind - of course this meant a head wind for the entire trip back! Oh well, I thought it's great resistance training and I do need to train for the potential Katabatic winds in Antarctica!


On the way back the head wind was tiring and the guys had well and truly run off ahead so I couldn't even use them as a wind break! Luckily for me at this point I was joined by another runner - Peter who was also training for a marathon, the Melbourne Marathon. We started chatting and it was great distraction for me. As it turns out Peter was a very experienced Marathon runner, running numerous national and international marathons all at a much faster pace than me. I asked him what inspired him to keep going back and doing more marathons, he replied simply that running was his passion.

It was really interesting to hear what motivates other people to do long distance running and while I would say that I am passionate about running a bigger motivator for me is the challenge and completing the goal. With only a week and half till the completion of one goal - the Alice Springs Marathon I am feeling good :).


My other news of the week is the most recent addition to the Silent Auction Goods. As seen in the picture a signed, limited edition (49/100) print of Ricky Ponting valued at over $800. So if you are interested in owning a beautifully framed picture of one of Australia's Sporting hero get your 'Fire and Ice Soiree' ticket now!

1 comment:

  1. Those endura citrus gels are very peculiar - the vanilla ones are better :)
    It's funny when what used to be a whole race is now a 'short' run. You're so ready for Alice Springs!

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