I am back to the grindstone with marathon training, Manchester Marathon is in just over 10 weeks and I need to get the miles in my legs.
My 16 week training plan was meant to start on December 17th, however that happened to be the day that I flew to Australia for a month. I decided that although I may not manage any long runs whilst abroad, I would endeavour to keep my fitness up and keep running on my travels.
We flew to Perth, where my brother was living and settled into our apartment. It was amazing going from winter to summer, however I had become complacent with running in the cold weather and running in the Western Australian summer heat came as a shock. I used jet-lag to my advantage and went out for my first Southern Hemisphere run at 5.30am along the stunning WA shoreline. The sun rose fully by 6am and I struggled back to the apartment. 5 miles done on my first day, but wow it was difficult running in the heat again.
Despite the heat I really enjoyed running in Western Australia, the coastline paths are perfect for runners, and there were A LOT of runners. Along the coast there are water fountains, outdoor gyms and beautiful views, so no excuse not to get up at 5.30am and get a few miles in.
Another great running right-of-passage happened in Perth, I took part in my first ever Parkrun, the Cottesloe Parkrun on Christmas Day. Usually I cannot take part in Parkrun back in the UK as I work on Saturday mornings, so I was so happy to be able to finally experience the fun and inclusive environment that Parkrun creates. Considering it was my first Parkrun I didn’t choose an easy one, by 8am it was already very hot and fair section of the route was on sand. However everyone was in sunny Christmas spirits and I had a great time chatting to various runners on route. There was a strong Irish contingent there, including my brother’s housemates Elle, Ian, Ciara and Charles. I finished the run in about 29 minutes (not too bad considering the heat and terrain) and we spent the rest of the day on the beach, not a bad way to spend Christmas.
After a week in Perth my parents and I made our way to Melbourne. Melbourne is a buzzing city, however its weather can be very unpredictable, one minute you are boiling hot and then suddenly you are shivering in a rainstorm. For this reason and the fact that we were located right in the city centre I decided to utilize the hotel gym and pool for the four days we were there. I did a few easy treadmill sessions, but mainly made good use of the beautiful pool and kept my fitness up with swimming.
Our final stop on the trip was Sydney and the Blue Mountains. In Sydney we stayed with a family friend in the beautiful eastern suburb of Vaucluse, with its gorgeous beaches and coastline over-looking both the Pacific and Sydney Harbour. Although it was hot it was a dream to do some slow runs in such a beautiful part of the world. I didn’t do any running when we were in the Blue Mountains, however my brother and I did an 8 mile hike through the rain forest, where we even came face-to-face with a huge black snake!
I had the most amazing 3 weeks in Australia and loved exploring the areas I was staying in by running. It was however somewhat of a relief when I got back to Dublin and had a run in the cold (so much easier than the Australian summer). The one problem with having a long holiday at the end of December/beginning of January is that I missed the first 4 weeks of my marathon training, it was impossible to do long runs when I was away and the longest I managed was 5.5 miles. However now I am back to my normal routine I have thrown myself head-first into my Manchester Marathon training. This Monday I ran 14 miles, my longest run since the 2017 London Marathon and by ensuring I kept my fitness up with shorter runs and swimming whist away I don’t feel like I have fallen behind too much.
I now have 10 weeks until Manchester, with one half marathon (the Big Half) 3 weeks beforehand. I just need to be smart with my training and make sure I look after myself, I do not want a repeat of last year by getting injured weeks before the big day (touch wood).
Katie Rose Runs 