A year of competitive running, the first full circle is nearly complete

Tomorrow is the Wellington Marathon. This was my first real long distance race, and last year we had a lovely day for it. As it turned out, it was a good day and I really enjoyed the experience.

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I thought I had trained hard for it and was pretty fit, but that fitness is nothing compared to how I feel now. I have trained harder and longer than I thought possible over the last year.

I also have lot more experience at longer distances this time around. I’m no longer a novice runner, but an experienced ultra runner. That should make tomorrow’s race a lot easier to run.

It’s going to be quite an exciting race for me. I still have no chance of winning it, or even winning my age group, but that’s not why I run anyway. This will be my first chance to really test myself and see how far I’ve come over the last year.

This race last year was a big test – to see if I could run a marathon. This year, it’s my last long run before the WUU2K ultra marathon, in two week’s time. It is still a test, but it is mainly a training run for me – the WUU2K is my ‘A’ race. As such, I won’t be going hard out to put in my best possible time. I need to finish this race without picking up an injury and without trashing my legs so much that I have nothing left for the WUU2K. That being said, I’m not going to just trot around the course in a daydream either. I still have a target time to make.

Last year I completed the race in 4:37.
This year I want to complete the race in under 4 hours.

I think I can do that. I am much better trained, I have much better gear, much better nutrition and all that experience from running ultra marathons during the year.

I have changed so much, even in the last couple of months. The way I run, my understanding of my body, and how to change what I’m doing on-the-fly to de-stress certain muscles and load others. All of this will be put to the test tomorrow morning.

I’m quite looking forward to it. All I need now is for the weather to play ball….

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Do you like games?

Check out my Steemit Ultra Marathon game where you can win 20SBD for first place, 10SBD for second and 5SBD for third. Get your virtual running shoes on and get ready to run!

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Also don't forget to check out my Dad's blog

Who else can tell you stories about impersonating an officer, stealing a military aircraft to go on a booze run, or steal military aircraft and go on an unsanctioned bombing run - and that's all before he turned 18!

Check out @len.george and find out what other madness he got up to!

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