melbourne marathon

Podcast: Episode 112 – How to celebrate kissing your a goal goodbye (a Melbourne Marathon update!)

OperationMove · October 25, 2019 · Leave a Comment

I’m back, it just took me a little while with school holidays, a race, two short weeks and life, you know?

So this episode is all about how to let go of your A goal, and still have your race or your event be the celebration of your training that you want it to be.

Because as it turns out after Melbourne, that’s something that I know a little bit about.

Honestly, this podcast is a bit of a rambling one, so I won’t attempt to summarise it, you’ll just have to have a listen.

Stay up to date on:

instagram @opmove

facebook @opmove

facebook community group @opmove

Or you can listen on iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher.

Support this podcast for bonus episodes!

If you enjoy this podcast, I would love your support on patreon, where you can listen to this week’s bonus episode: How to prepare for your next race: tactics for physical, emotional and mental preparation.

The wife and the mistress

Zoey · July 24, 2015 · 2 Comments

The thing about training for strength and endurance is you can’t. I know it’s not fair, but you can’t. That’s not to say that endurance programs don’t have a strength component (they do) or that strength programs don’t have a cardio component (they do) but you have to pick one. Endurance training doesn’t work with strength building because you tend to burn through any muscle gains. But you can include strength so you maintain your existing levels at least. And if you are looking at pure strength building your only running is going to be sprints.

I’ve seen many a new runner on body building forums complaining about why running doesn’t build muscle the way strength training does and why endurance training is counter-productive to strength. And I totally get that. When you really enjoy both, it is hard to choose. And the conundrums are endless. I have to run first because I find it hard to run afterwards, but if I run first, I probably won’t be at full strength for my lifts.

So you do have to prioritise one. And it is hard. The struggle is REAL. I loved doing the short distance running because that was well suited to my strength training with Move It Elite, and in that time I was consistently getting PBs for my lifts, especially some of the strict ones that I’ve always been weak on. But I missed my long runs. I realised now that I’ve started doing them again that I have so many ideas and thoughts that just never had a chance to come to the surface when I wasn’t running long. And particularly at this time of year, it is just beautiful running weather. Where I live the winter is pretty mild and so it’s crisp and lovely. Summer on the other hand, I struggle to love running. When you have to get up at 4am to get your window of not 30 degrees but still disgustingly humid it’s a hard discipline to love.

It can feel like you are always cheating on one. Which is why I’m now working off a seasonal plan. I’m doing one last marathon training cycle this year to take me up to the Melbourne Marathon, and then I’ll switch back to short distance and strength building. A fact I am sure I will thank myself for when it is 26 degrees at 5am and the humidity level is at an all time ewwwwwwwwwww level.

So I guess you can have both, just not at the same time.

2015 – are you ready to be epic?

OperationMove · November 7, 2014 · 19 Comments

Some people are planners. They need to have a goal in place, a direction to follow, a training plan to work with.

I am one of those people. In the past, I’ve been one of those people almost to the point of it being unhealthy, and I am re-learning that spontaneity can be really fun too at the moment.

But some goals take more planning than others, and when it comes to bringing the team together we know that the more notice we can give you all, the better the chances that we will get to catch up with you at an event!

And so with that in mind, we’d love to share with you the planned team events for 2015.

Of course many OpMovers will be running in many events over the year, but these are the three where we plan on having most if not all of the exec team present, and we will be organising social catch ups and carb loading events the day prior to race day. So even if you are not a runner now, you can pop the dates in your diary and look at joining Learn to Run and taking part in a 5k perhaps? Or set yourself a heftier target then plan to join our Far and Fast monthly subscription for a personalised training plan to help get you there maybe? Or even just make sure you are free to come along and take the opportunity to meet some Movers, and cheerlead those out on the course on event day.

So grab your calendar and make sure to save the following dates!

May 16 – 17 – Great Ocean Road

Yep, we are heading back to the beautiful bay to head up hills and around bends and enjoy the amazing scenery of this run. The weekend includes many various race distance options so there is absolutely something for everyone.

Our exec team have registered for the full marathon, which we intend to treat as a long slow run (because HILLS) so if you see reference to the ‘picnic marathon’ or #phwooar15 then that is what we are talking about. Anyone keen to join us is welcome, we will NOT be racing this one.

The half is a beautiful run as well, and there are 14 and 6km race options available as well as a 1.5km kids run.

July 4 – 5 Gold Coast

The Gold Coast Airport Marathon is known to be one of the fastest and flattest in the country, plus it is on the GOLD COAST so for those of us who are feeling the chill in the southern states by July, a weekend escape to the sun seems like a great idea right?

Offering a marathon, half marathon, 10 an 5.7km races as well as a kids run, this weekend again gives everyone a chance to be involved no matter how new (or not new) a runner they are.

Mid October (dates TBC) – Melbourne

Back to where it all began, the Melbourne Marathon weekend is a key event in the OpMove calendar and we hope next year to see even more of you running across the many distances on offer.

We had SUCH a great time this year, and it is sure to be a fantastic event once again next year. Stay tuned for details as they are released.

Oh and I mentioned during the week that there was one great big audacious thing that Zoey and I are doing too, didn’t I?

Yes. Yes we did.

On May 31st, along with the gorgeous Jo E, Zoey and I will be running 90kms uphill in South Africa. As you do.

Because if you are going to take it to the next level, you may as well do it properly right?

Surprise!

So your turn! What are your goals and dreams for the new year? Will we be catching up with you at any events?

Top Five Tips for Marathon Training

OperationMove · June 2, 2014 · 9 Comments

Today we are so thrilled to have the ever inspiring Nicole Avery from Planning with Kids join us to share her top tips for endurance training when your house and your heart is full. Nicole is living proof that when you put your mind to something and do the work, the outcomes can be simply amazing. We are all long time fans of Nicole and her work here at Operation Move. Read on, we think you’ll be joining the fangirl movement pretty quickly too.

I ran my second marathon a couple of weeks ago, the lovely Great Ocean Road Marathon. At about the 30km mark I wasn’t thinking it was so lovely! But a couple of weeks have passed and so has the soreness in my legs and my love of long distance running is still there.

I am not a running expert or nutritionist so I am sharing these tips from the basis of my experience. I have trained for three marathons, but have only run two. (For the record I ran Melbourne in 03:11:28 and the Great Ocean Road in 03:30:56.) In my first attempt to run a marathon in 2012, about six weeks before the event, I pulled up terribly after a 30km run. It took a second opinion and two weeks to find the cause. Long story short, I had put a crack in my inferior pubis ramus. You can read a little more about overcoming the injury here.

In hindsight now, this injury was one of a classic novice runner. I was running too much, too fast for what my body could take. I had only been running distances beyond 7km for eight months and it had put undue stress on my body (I have since been introduced the more sane approach of Train slow, Run fast).

I was quite devastated and in a lot of pain. I couldn’t even stand on one leg to put on pants. The physio said it would be a minimum of six weeks before I could start running again. The reality was I did not start running until after Christmas. But this experience taught me a lot and in some ways was the turning point for making significant changes in my life. I found CrossFit, which led me to taking a wholefood clean approach to my diet and I have never been stronger, fitter or healthier in my life.

So from a relatively newbie marathon runner here are my tips for successfully training for a marathon:

1. Be prepared to make sacrifices.

For background, I have five kids aged 15 to 5 and run a small business from home. I also have a husband who works reasonably long hours and isn’t home until around 7pm week night and who is also very active himself. He completed his first Ironman in March, is currently still playing local footy and intends to run the Melbourne Marathon this year.

In deciding to run a marathon by default I am deciding to sacrifice other activities. I love this quote from Seth Godin and think it applies to all aspects of life:

To fit my running in around family life, I run very early in the morning. For the longer training runs I have my alarm go off at 4.30am on a Saturday morning so I can be out and back by the time I needed to get the kids off to their sporting activities. So invitations for a fun Friday night out with the girls are something that I decline.

I watch no television, not because I am a TV snob, but because running takes up time and energy. I either don’t have the time to sit and watch it or some nights I don’t have the energy, as I need to go to sleep.

I also have pretty much given up alcohol. I don’t like how I feel running even after one or two drinks and for the one rest day I have a week, I don’t want to wake up with a foggy head.

2. Have a plan.

Running a marathon places a huge stress on your body and isn’t something that should be taken lightly. When I ran my first marathon last year, as I was approaching the MCG, (where the Melbourne marathon finishes), I ran past one unconscious runner who has being attended to by paramedics and then inside the MCG a runner just in front of me staggered and collapsed less then 100 meters before the finish line. It was unnerving to witness and while I don’t know their exact stories, the most common reasons for non-finishing in marathons is lack of preparation.

Having a plan makes sure you are adequately prepared and you can find many excellent free ones online for whatever type of runner you are. Having a plan takes the thinking out of it for you too. You can just check in with it daily to see what you need to be doing. If you have to think too much about what you need to run, it is less likely to happen.

I uploaded my plan to Google Drive and then shared it with my husband so he could add his training plan to it. We had a number of months of cross over when he was training for an Ironman and I was training for the Great Ocean Road marathon. As the Ironman was the bigger of the two events and a first for him, he had priority on the available training times. He would enter in advance for a couple of weeks at a time to the Google spreadsheet what he was doing, where he was doing it and the time needed. I would then work out when I could fit my long runs in.

3. Look for opportunities.

Sometimes family and/or work life gets busy and can interfere with the great plan! This is where you need to be flexible and open minded to find opportunities. I have grown used to attending the kids sporting activities in my running gear! This might be because I time my early morning run for maximum sleep. I get up to give me just enough time it so I run, stretch, make a refuel smoothie to go, apply deodorant and get to the kids’ sporting event on time.

Other times it is because I will run while they are playing sport. During the boy’s soccer or football games, it can provide an opportunity for a pace run or interval training and still squeeze in some time to actually watch them play.

I am now a devoted lover of CrossFit, so finding time for both has required adjustment. I will run to CrossFit (4.25km each way) 3 or 4 mornings a week to make sure I have enough kms in the bank and make the best use of my time.

I can almost measure time in terms of runs. Have 30 minutes up my sleeve? Can run some hill intervals up and down my street. Got 20 minutes before school pick up? Take the dog for a run around the block. 10 minutes before the kids wake up? Work on planks for core stability. Once you are switched on to looking for running opportunities and have some go to running exercises, it is easier to fit in everything you need to do.

4. Incorporate strength training.

When training for my first marathon I didn’t incorporate a solid strength-training element to my plan and it is something many runners leave out. CrossFit now fits that slot for me and increasing my strength has been incredibly beneficial for my running. The improved stability in my core has allowed me to run more efficiently and it helps me keep form in the later stage of the marathons when fatigue really starts to set in. (See this post on Runners World for core exercises for runners.)

5. Have a recovery plan.

I have actually made the mistake of not having an adequate recovery plan twice! I am going to nail this part after Melbourne 2014! I sought advice on my recovery a week after the Great Ocean Road as my legs were still sore and I wasn’t performing at CrossFit as I usually would.

I have learnt that a proper recovery plan doesn’t just look at physical activity either. It takes into account the need to refuel your body adequately and not just for just the day after the marathon, but for the immediate week following.

I also think massage is an essential part of recovery too. After the Melbourne Marathon, free massage was offered to all runners and the difference I felt before and after the massage was incredible. After Great Ocean Road the only massage available you had to pay for which I was happy to do, but after lining up for 45 minutes and then being told it would still be another hour, I gave up. I think this played a significant part (along with the hills) in my longer recovery after the marathon. I did however have a remedial massage booked in for the following Tuesday which helped enormously.

You cannot underestimate the toll running a marathon has on your body. The type of recovery plan you need, just like your training plan needs to meet your individual needs and I can highly recommend creating this before you run the marathon.

Training for and running a marathon does take commitment and sacrifice. It does also change you and it is worth every bit of the sweat and tears you invest in it.

What tips would you add for training for a marathon?

Nicole Avery is a Melbourne mum to five beautiful kids aged 15 to 5. Nic is slightly addicted to spreadsheets, tea, running, CrossFit and currently on a journey to improve her diet and run her third marathon. She blogs at planningwithkids.com.