Monday, October 17, 2011

Marathon Running - Perth City to Surf 2012

My hubby, Manuel, and I always wanted to become better runners but it wasn't until the beginning of this year that we really got into it. Last year we wanted to run the 12km City to Surf here in Perth but because we went to Germany on holiday this never happened. So at the beginning of the year we talked about goals for this year and we decided that this was going to be the year when we run the City to Surf Marathon. I know it is kind of funny that we just skipped the 12km and went straight to the Marathon!


We started training in March and it has been an amazing journey. When we first started I did some research online to find a training schedule and found the 100 Day Marathon Plan by Marius Bakken. The great thing about the plan was that it allows you to choose a schedule based on the time you want to finish and also the time that you have available for training. Over the next few months we focused on healthy eating, lots of fruit and vegetables, and also on our training. I think in the beginning I was not sure at times how people can possible complete the 42.2km however with time I learned how amazing the human body is and my body got stronger and stronger. It even got to that point that if we did any of the leg or ab exercises in the Pilates class at work I could hardly feel a burn...

The day of the Perth City to Surf Marathon came and I was very nervous. We started of more at the back and kept going in a comfortable pace. Most of all I focused on enjoying the "run" and the beautiful scenery. Manuel and I always ran together. The first half was a breeze but then we had to tackle the big hill up to Kings Park. The most encouraging thing which gives you an enormous lift was the cheering of all the people around us as we ran up the hill. After the hill as we entered Kings Park we started feeling the first signs of exhaustion but we kept going. When we were past Subiaco we slowed down a little because Manuel started having pains in his foot but again we kept going. Overall we finished in 5 hours and 43 minutes and there are simply no words to describe the feeling of crossing that finish line to receive your medal!

That night we went out with family to celebrate!

Both Manuel and I are now in love with running and am already planning the next goal; more on this in my next post...



1 comment:

  1. Your post was so cool and inspirational! I too have found the joy of fitness and realisating that my body is stronger and more capble than I first thought. Running long distances is still a barrier for me but I'm working on it. Did I tell you I love fitness so much I'm doing a Cert III and IV in personal training? Crazy huh? Anyways great post, thanks for sharing!

    Regards

    Samith

    ReplyDelete

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