I'm Exhausted

Just a quick post to fill you in on what I've been up to. As of today I am now tapering for the World 24 hour championships in Turin, Italy on April 11th. Now I know many of you will think after reading this that I've simply over trained -  to that I answer, well, maybe.  Run training isn't rocket science, its simply preparing the body for the challenges coming it's way. My training plan this time around didn't focus on weekly mileage, hill repeats or the ever so dreaded speed work but on good quality long runs with an emphasis on starting every long run already in a semi state of exhaustion. Each long run was started after a long day of work in which I get up between 3:45-4:30am, work on my feet
all day as a massage therapist then start my run as early as 4pm or as late as 8pm running into the wee hours of the morning. There is a significant focus on fuelling during these runs. Even last week a group of friends and I stopped 28K into a run to hammer down a Big Mac cuz if you can digest that you can digest pretty much anything. On a side note the McFarts were a major issue later. The other focus is my no fade principle making the final stretch of these efforts a significant mental challenge.

All things considered I'm very happy with how the last 6 weeks turned out. In total I've had 12 runs longer than a marathon, 9 of which longer than 50K, 5 of those exceeding 60K and 2 runs surpassing the 70K distance. All long runs were averaging a pace between 4:45 and 5:05 min/km and no run felt too uncomfortable or laboured. The introduction of the New Balance Zante has been extraordinary and I plan on using them in Turin, Italy on April 11th. I am pleased to stay that I am feeling more fit and more confident than I ever have before.



All the time Sharon and the kids showed the support and patience and I would like to thank them from the bottom of my heart. Sharon has explained that she wants to support me with my passions as she does with parenting, career and so on. I agree with her as long as it's done with a relative moderation and I feel at times my passion as gone from moderation to excess. I guess what I'm saying is that Sharon - your acceptance, love and support has not gone unnoticed and that maybe the time we will spend drinking wine in Florence and picnicking in Cinque Terre will substitute as a slight consolation.