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It’s time to find out who you are and who you could be

July 8, 2016 //  by Zoey

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gold-coast-sunset

The first time I ran at the Gold Coast Airport Marathon I was doing the Half Marathon and I was walking back to Surfers and a local said to me the running gods always shine on the Gold Coast. And it stayed with me. And three years later, it’s still true. I’ve had fast runs, slow runs, half marathons and now a marathon, but I’ve never had a bad run.

IMG_2822

(From 2014. That was a pretty good run.)

The morning of the marathon I woke up and I thought I was going to have a bad run. I had one of those ghastly sore throats where it feels like razors every time you swallow. I’d had zero sleep because I watched too much election coverage and felt a bit nauseous from the self-inflicted lack of sleep. And to add insult to injury I was about a day away from my period and my breasts hurt enough walking, let alone running. For probably the first time ever I thought I might have to pull out of the run. It seemed like the planets had aligned to create catastrophic conditions to go out and run a marathon.

pre-marathon

But you never know right? And I had loads of time down at the start line because I was down there for my husband to run the half marathon which starts about an hour and a half beforehand. Plenty of time to wake up, inhale coffee and mentally get ready for a five hour run. After all, I’d eaten all the carbs the night before, it would be a shame to waste them.

carb-loading

Carb loading isn’t the best part about running a marathon, but it’s almost the best part.

When I hit the start line I had a vague goal of running it in under 5 hours. For no other reason than it can help to keep you motivated through the harder parts of the run. I’d never trade the minutes I spend chatting to people on the run, or high fiving kids for fewer minutes on my watch at the end. But it can help to have a goal to keep you focused. My idea for my training this year was to treat the marathons as training runs and run my way into training form through races. And so far, I’ve enjoyed it. My really long runs are marathons and I do more maintenance stuff in between. As I go I’ve been fine tuning it, so this run I wanted to really focus on my nutrition which I’d not paid enough attention to at South West Rocks and I really suffered in the last third of the run because of it.

start-line

I started off way faster than what I intended to run the race for so I could catch up with Carolyn and see how she was going. It was lovely to chat for a bit and then I dropped back so we could both run our own races. And I got to run the rest of my race knowing she was doing really well and got to see her flying on by with about 5km to go too.

I stuck to my plan of one shot blok every fifteen minutes and a GU gel at 14km and 28km and it was great to see how much more my body was capable being properly fuelled for the distance. Although next time I might even add more to that. It was about 30g of carbohydrates every hour but I think I could probably use about 40g. And despite having inhaled about a litre of coffee before I started my stomach was really settled the whole way which let’s face it is like the holy grail of marathons.

So for the most part I got to really enjoy my run. The conditions were stellar. You get to see so much of the water as you are travelling along.

 

It is a long time to be out there with yourself. All the best parts of you and all the worst parts. The part of your brain who believes you can and the part of your brain who thinks you are a fraud. But it teaches you things too. Like patience. I hit a bit of a wall around 17km which is pretty early but my shoes were irritating my ITB a bit, or maybe it was just that start of the section coming up to half way which is a struggle because you still have so far to go. But if you wait it out, you get that second wind. Mine came at 25km. 8km of patience waiting for it to show up, but it did. And then you get to feel invincible for about another 10km.

I’m fond of saying that on a bad day, a run will remind you who you are and on a good day it will remind you who you could be. Marathons always prove me right on that score. I had everything aligned for a crap run, but I showed up and I couldn’t have asked for a better one.

garmin-post-marathon

Never met a finish line I didn’t want to kiss though. I was counting down steps towards the end. It’s what I do interval runs too. It gives me something to focus on, and before you know it, you’ve done the impossible.

42

And now it’s your turn. Maybe it’s time to find out who you are and who you could be.

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Category: InspirationTag: gold coast airport marathon, marathon

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Zoey | Running Coach 🏃‍♀️ and Podcast 🎙
I help people start running, transform through running and love running for life.
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Are you Friday run club curious? For the month of Are you Friday run club curious? For the month of July, it is free - but you do have to book in so I have contact details if plans change and we do rotate between locations. 

https://calendly.com/operationmove/friday-run-club
Look who I found at the Gold Coast marathon finish Look who I found at the Gold Coast marathon finishing chute @soniaw2480 🙌
Every great story starts with a shit sandwich. Y Every great story starts with a shit sandwich. 

You can fall over, just don’t unpack and live there.
Turns out staring at a non-compliant foot in quiet Turns out staring at a non-compliant foot in quiet judgement doesn’t make it heal faster. 

Had a tendon issue pop out almost out of nowhere on Monday, and figured if I just rested up and did all the things I would be good for Sunday. 

Turns out wearing crappy shoes while carrying a 40kg kid who was having a sensory issue with crowds at the lantern parade will just tip your foot stabilisers right over the edge. Injuries are almost always stupid shit unrelated to running. 

Anyway, it’s a bit shit and I’m sure at like any moment I will find the capacity to drag myself out of my pity party. 

You get to keep the training, you just don’t get to go to the dance.
That feeling when all the long runs are in the ban That feeling when all the long runs are in the bank and marathon training becomes an eating competition. 

It’s a big unknown but if you knew what would happen you probably wouldn’t even show up. That’s the fun part.
I have about a week off work. Currently torn betwe I have about a week off work. Currently torn between doing nothing and not wasting it 🤣 I’m sure I’ll come up with a middle ground. Maybe.
The key to a successful marathon preparation: do a The key to a successful marathon preparation: do all the things you need to but never think about it. Not how far it is, not how hard it will be, not about running x more km than you did today. Never bloody think about it. Compartmentalise that shit into a deep dark hole and embrace selective amnesia. 

Even today at the gym they were letting us know about a seminar on the 2nd of July and I was like ‘hmmm I wonder if I’m doing anything that weekend?’ That is how deep that hole is. It’s a crevasse that ends at the earth’s core. So don’t think about it. 😜
Hell of a view with 5km to go! Due to poor plannin Hell of a view with 5km to go! Due to poor planning and the chaos of my life in general over the last few months I’ve done all my long runs fasted, which is extremely sub optimal but it’s all I’ve had the mental capacity for. Anyway let’s just say in a few weeks I’m very much looking forward to all the carbs. And potentially the feeling of being shot out of a canon.
Don’t tell anyone but it’s only two weeks to g Don’t tell anyone but it’s only two weeks to go until I run a really long way at Gold Coast marathon. Mentally preparing for when you pass the finish line at 30km and the marathon actually starts 😜

Dialled in marathon effort by running to heart rate today along a similarly flat route. 

Reminding myself too that it doesn’t matter how well you’ve trained, the marathon doesn’t owe you shit.
The crew after nailing the 30:20:10 workout. One o The crew after nailing the 30:20:10 workout. One of the best sessions to improve your 5km time. 

To try this at home: 

5 x 0:30 Easy, 0:20 Moderate, 0:10 Sprint x 5, Jog 2:30. You can choose the amount of repeats but anywhere in between 2-5 reps is great. 

But you can also join us next time, it’s more fun 🤩
“To cross an ocean You must love the ocean Befor “To cross an ocean
You must love the ocean
Before you love the far shore.” - Suzanne Buffam

Sometimes loving running isn’t loving running, it’s loving 5am, it’s loving the grind, it’s loving the headwind slapping you upside the face, it’s loving the suck, it’s loving failure, it’s loving all the stupid-ass rehab you have to do, it’s loving being the weakest person at the gym. And if you love all those things, then yes you love running too.
Getting fit is hard. Being fit is easy. Starting t Getting fit is hard. Being fit is easy. Starting to hit that sweet spot of training where I don’t feel pressed on workouts and there’s always another gear. Might as well soak it up while I can 💜
Don’t often get a sleep in and a run later in th Don’t often get a sleep in and a run later in the morning, but you’ve got to soak up those public holiday vibes where you can!
That was a big week! If you need me I’ll be eati That was a big week! If you need me I’ll be eating 😜
I finished this run around 7-ish so best not to th I finished this run around 7-ish so best not to think too hard about what time I woke up 😜 But sometimes taking a hit on the wake up time just makes the rest of your day that little bit easier. 

Next time I will need gloves though. Everything else warmed up, but not my hands 🥶

As with most marathon training sessions: could have run 15km more but glad I didn’t have to 😉
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Which is exactly what happens when you go on auto pilot and things just happen to you, rather than you deciding what happens. 

A lot of it comes down to being present, which is easy to say and really hard to do. Which is one of the reasons I love running, because it requires that of me. Not just sometimes, all the time.
Making the most of saying goodbye to Anatomy for t Making the most of saying goodbye to Anatomy for the session. Officially on uni break and looking forward to not memorising blood vessels in the near future. 

That was a tough session and I’m just glad to get to the other side in more or less one piece. And for the next month at least I’ll just focus on the running and the crocheting!
You have to get up pretty early to get in 16km bef You have to get up pretty early to get in 16km before getting the kids ready for school and even though half of it is in the dark with just a head lamp, you still get a good reward at the end 💜
It’s hill run day for #friyayrunclub and it was It’s hill run day for #friyayrunclub and it was fresh out there, but how good is it to see the sunrise and the sky for a change 🙌
Marathon training is getting a bit real. Had one l Marathon training is getting a bit real. Had one long run this week where I was like I don’t know seems like a long way and not a fun time and then today (after doing a 15km progression run yesterday) had a brilliant run and felt like I could have kept going for ages. Which just goes to show you how crap brains are at picking how things will go. You just need of have to get comfortable with not knowing.
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