My long term average mileage (kilometreage?) over the last 5 years or so works out around 55 km / week. There are a couple of points to reflect on from this. The first is the importance of consistency in building a base to run marathons . We always suggest to new runners to look at the long term, accept that change takes time and give your body time to adapt to an active lifestyle. Secondly, an increase in distance and cycles of increase and adapt give your body the best chance to get used to longer distance without injury. 55km/ week is average. There are heavier periods as we are going through now and then post event there will be periods of lower mileage as we recover. Even recovery is relative. When we talk about a 12 week lead up to a marathon that is on the back of many years of consistent running. The twelve weeks then becomes an event specific program. With this adventure there are three events in three weeks so post Berlin and London are about freshening up and going again. Post number three in Chicago is all about recovery and celebration.

So we entered July with twelve weeks until the first overseas marathon in Berlin. Twelve weeks is pretty standard as a training block for us for a marathon. For three marathons in succession the length of time is OK (we hope) but the volume of work needed to increase to allow for the accumulation of fatigue over three weeks and to check some recuperation strategies.

So July was all about combining an increase in distance with some racing and race paced training. Weeks were 72, 100, 85, and 63 kms. All above the long term average with one big 100 km week. One run in there of 32 km, a couple 21+ km runs and one 30 km race that went really well. Time of 2.16 translates to 3.10 marathon pace if I could hold it for another 12 km. I finished 2nd overall in a small field and won my age group.

There were also a couple of medical appointments in there to befuddle the training program. I still have a curiously low iron that has been investigated, a couple of skin blemishes that need removing (50 years of running in the Australian sun) and there was a blood donation in there as well.

Where to from here? Building, building. Another 30 km run this weekend and then we are looking to running two back to back marathons in Mudgee and Dubbo to assess the effect. Should be fun. From there it is just over three until we depart and four weeks to the Berlin marathon. The trip is shaping up. We have had our fourth covid booster, I will have had all the procedures done that are required at this time and all training will be complete. 90 % of the trip is planned all the way through all of the marathons with just a bit of down time left to fill in at the end.

How am I feeling? Well it’s starting to get a bit real. As with so many of these projects while they sit safely on the horizon everything is peachy. As they get closer there is always a niggly naggly doubt that we’ve forgotten something catastrophic. We’ve done our TSA form, we have nice new passports that we haven’t been able to use since they were issued 18 months ago, we have travel insurance that includes covid coverage. We have trained well and I feel well. It will all be Ok…..