Preparing for marathon

OK, many things happened between the last blog and today. Gracia's birthday, we went for a break overseas, work went crazy once again, etc.

Now, with only 45 days to the marathon, I have been preparing for it regularly. I must admit that it is a wonderful learning experience of my body and mind. I have been gradually increasing my distance and time on the road. And, yes, I did get my black toenails. For those who are worried a little about black toenail after your runs, you might want to take some comfort from a fellow runner (including myself).

Today, Gary showed me a cool application which can be downloaded to a Nokia phone. It is the Sports Tracker. It is a wonderful thing. I wished I have one to run with as I clocked my timing and distance.... but this is a luxury, since I use google maps to plot my route and measure the distance of my route. Anyhow, I must admit that it is very wonderful piece of application. Well, at least it is better than the Polar sport watch. You can't speak to a watch yet unless your are wearing one of those James Bond stuff, right?

Right now, I am only doing two half-marathon runs per week. I doubt I can complete my full training prior to the actual run itself. I might be able to do a trail run just a week away from the actual, but I will see how it goes. I just have to leave the rest of the training to the actual day as part of my endurance bit. I should be upping my distance soon (while cutting down on my timing). I did manage to shave off 10 mins from my last half-marathon attempt. I hope to shave off some more minutes tomorrow. Changing my shoe lacing too to get a better foot secure to the shoe.

Looking forward for a gentle ramp down of my training after next week to a few 10 km runs with good timing targets.

Yan has been supportive of my runs. We bought a new pair of running shoes for me. We have been strategizing on how I should attack the full 42.1 km. I gotten a Northface hydration pack. Hydration is one of the important factor for sustain performance for long distance. It is really water discipline. The hydration control is really something that each runner will have to learn about his own body, I guess. And this is one of those part that I enjoy about my runs. I get to learn how much water I need at a particular distance, and when will the hunger comes in.

That's all for now, I hope I will enjoy the run tomorrow.