Back on the Borderline

After 3 weeks of injury plagued running, I have finally turned a corner. Massage yesterday afternoon has made the legs feel 100%, only up a meagre 90% from last week! A skiing accident the day after Run Melbourne effectively ruined any gains I had made the 3 weeks before. The only positive I can find is that I haven't completely written off my marathon attempt, but where I was aiming for (and conceivably getting to) is now currently under review (as they say in the boardrooms of this country).

21k trail race over tough terrain, and some serious elevation profile on Sunday will determine whether I have gained, lost, or stayed static. Hopefully, at worst, stayed static, as it means that I have only lost about 2 to 3 weeks worth of gains. More than the physical loss, it is the loss of the confidence that follows me with consistent training. Leading up to You Yangs, and Run Melbourne, I was running well and extremely confident of hitting specific targets when training. Those two races alone let me know that I was exactly where I wanted to be at this stage of training. Running, like life, has it's ups and downs.

So, Sundays race. Race 3 of the Salomon Series at Olinda. New course this year, although I am told it covers many tracks and trails used for last years Silvan Dam course. Last year this race was going to be my one and only target race leading up to Melbourne, and I fell sick the Friday night before. Hence I hit the marathon on October 13th, with NO lead-up races in the previous 20 weeks! Not making that mistake this year. The target time is around 2 hours. I will be living on the edge getting that in, given the last 8 k's of the run climb from 265 metres, to about 580 metres (with a number of undulations in between!). The finish is a surreal 200 metre 'sprint' across an abandoned golf course. Seemed like a good idea when I signed up...

Until next time...