Same Same but Different

It's Friday night before my first weekend of taper.

That means last weekend was my last big weekend of training. And I've had a week of taper, which I'll write about later.

Your last big weekend or session is always hard but sometimes it pays to remember that as much as you want your training to simulate racing, it's different.

If all else fails Part Two

Thanks for your feedback from my last post, both here and on Facebook.

This is a follow up post, but you'll notice I've called it 'part two' not 'number two'. (Sorry. I'll try to resist any more poo jokes.)

I've learned a lot since Part One, both about blogging and about runners bowel. It's only fair I share my insights.

If all else fails...

You'll know from looking at this picture whether you want to read the rest of this blog post.

If you're an endurance runner, you may already be nodding your head knowingly. If you're not, well, brace yourself for an overview of "runners bowel".

Longest run is long no more

This weekend's long run was 32ks.

Usually this is distance of the longest long run I do in training for an Ironman but this time it's just the beginning. Next week is 35.5, and then on alternate weeks, 38.5k, then 42k.

I had to consider yesterday's run as just another long run, not "the big one" and I found the way to do it - International Park Run day.

Poo, poles and people on the Peninsula

In case you missed my last blog post, I've signed up for my first ultramarathon. This means I'm running a fair bit.

Last weekend's long run was 29ks, a distance I've done in training a handful of times before. But this time it felt different. It hurt a bit more than usual. (I suspect it hurt more because I had a massage on Friday. That's a whole other story. Note to self: write blog post about Friday's massage.)

So I preoccupied myself however I could on my run from Sandgate to the Redcliffe Peninsula and back.

Brush with fame: Justin Langer

Last Friday on my long run I ran into Justin Langer.

Not literally. Man, that would have been embarrassing...

But then again, I said something kind of lame anyway so I might as well have made a complete fool of myself by bumping smack bang into him...

But more what I said later. Let's focus on why I said it (even if it came out all wrong).

Things I don't normally see on my long runs

I'm away on holidays in country South Australia and did my long run this morning.

The town I'm in isn't big enough to run IN. I would have had to do laps, which would not only have been very boring, it might have had the locals talking!

So instead we plotted out a loop that ended up being 27.5ks - a little longer than my scheduled 26ks, but hey. I'm on holidays. I had time.