Actually, I know the title says first marathon, and I know I said I’d do the full Two Oceans ultra next year, but not sure about that right now. I’m not sure I’ll run another marathon after this one.

Right now it seems like one heck of a long way to run.

We’re running the Cape Town Marathon on 18 September.

My plan was to run this under 5 hours. At this point in my training, I doubt that’ll happen. I’ll finish it… and then collapse… but I doubt I’ll finish it in 5 hours. I should finish under 5 and a half hours though, I think 5 hours is just pushing it. And if you’re wondering, the cutoff is 7 hours, but I want to do it in 5 hours as a Two Oceans qualifier.

Flights are booked. Airbnb is booked with friends, and our car hire is sorted. There are 5 of us travelling, and 4 of us running the marathon. The weekend is going to be busy… yet quiet. We’re not planning anything for Saturday to make sure our legs are rested. I actually cannot wait for the weekend away though, it’s going to be awesome traveling with friends again. The marathon, however, will take up most of it. We’d better book a special evening out for Sunday night with loads of good wine 😉

Back to the training..

Don’t ever underestimate the amount of training you need to do a marathon. In the beginning it’s ok, but right now, I’m tired. Getting up at 5am on weekends to run umpteen kilometres is not easy. It takes hours out of your day… and when you’re finished the long runs you’re so exhausted that you can’t do much for a few hours.

We’ve got 2 weekends left, which means only one weekend of long runs left. The last weekend has to be tapering, which means shorter runs.

I’ve now run 30km twice… once in April, and last weekend. Last weekend’s run with Harriers was the most intense run I’ve ever done. If you know Joburg, you’ll know what I mean when I say we ran UP Golf Club Terrace, along Ontdekkers, and then UP Northcliff hill… and then through Linden to get back to Randburg. This is sure getting us the hill training we need… but my word, it was intense!

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The best part of the long weekend runs have been running with friends. Even though it’s tough, I love running with Lance and my friends. The water points are the best thing after running up a tough hill, and I try so hard to have a smile on my face for the camera that I know will be facing me as I get there.

I’ve skipped 2 weekends of training because of our trips to the bush, and thankfully haven’t managed to get sick or injured, and I’m roughly on track according to the training schedule I was following, but I’m still feeling under prepared!  I’m feeling every single niggle, and trying to wrap myself in cottonwool.

And I’m still not running fast enough!! It’s SO frustrating!

My only hope now is the sea level magic 😉

Wish me luck, next weekend I have to do a double 21km… and then start tapering until race day.

 

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Ask me AFTER my first marathon whether I’ll run another one… I’m not sure if I’m keen to carry on with this training regime. To do more and to train for the full Two Oceans would means another 7 months of this! That’s hectic!