NYC marathon training begins!

It has officially begun - the road to the TCS New York City Marathon, 2014! It's all starting to become real now and I am pleased to have the first block of training under my belt.  Thanks to the programming skills of Coach Waino, I feel great and I'm really hoping that feeling will stay for a while!

I've been to New York City a few times but never for a race, and never for a marathon. In fact, this will be my first ever proper marathon. The only other 42km run I've done was at the end of Ironman in 2012. I'm hoping I will feel A LOT better during this race, considering I don't have to ride 180km before the run!

At the moment, my training consists of 3 runs a week on top of swimming, cycling and teaching group fitness classes. This month, I have run a total of 100km (averaging 25km per week, with the longest run being 13km). Probably doesn't seem like a lot of mileage to most runners but it's definitely a step in the right direction, in order to gain some consistency in my training.

Being the peak of winter in Sydney right now, it's time to embrace the suck and stick it to those freezing cold mornings! Getting out of a warm bed in the dark is tough, but not when you have these views to look at:

 Sydney Harbour Bridge - 5 mins from my house

 Milson Park, Kirrbilli (behind my apartment)

Kiama with the girls (Girls Weekend Away)

North Sydney - who run the world? MINIONS!

(huge thank you to Mike Delagarno from Northside Runners in Crows Nest for sorting me out with my new Saucony Ride shoes.  So comfortable for my long runs. Love them)!

Recovery swim with Penny at Balmoral Beach (only in Funkita swimwear)

Along with training for the marathon, I have decided to race in an Olympic Distance triathlon in Yarrawonga, VIC in October! Nuts, right?! There is a reason: this is a qualifying race for the Age Group World Triathlon Championships in Chicago, USA next year. Obviously not ideal timing, but certainly a race I need to do (in terms of locality) if I want any chance of qualifying. That and I have always wanted to race in America!

My New York City marathon buddy, Teresa (aka The Health Whisperer) has been helping me out a lot with my nutrition, which has made a massive difference to my training, both mentally and physically. I'm also enjoying making loads of goodies with Bare Blends products. They have been a massive support since I came on board as a Bare Blends Athlete, so a huge thank you to Anthony and Chris for all their help in fuelling me for training and recovery. I've made a ton of smoothies and bars but I thought I would share some creations made by fellow triathletes that have been using Bare Blends:

Chocolate Ricotta - by Em

Chia Pudding - by Em

Vanilla granola bars (using Bare Blends Vanilla WPI) - by Allison

Peruvian cacao protein balls - by LJ

Lastly, a huge thank you to a few people who have helped out with my fundraising efforts lately: the staff at Australian Fitness Network and to the BTC open water swimmers who bought goodies at the tuckshop I held at Balmoral a couple of weeks ago. Thank you to Kat, Alisha and Kristyn who have all made goodies for me to sell. To the Robison Family in San Francisco and everyone who has generously donated their hard earned dosh to my fundraising page. You guys rock!


I'm always looking for training buddies so drop me a line if you're in the area and want to join me for some training!

15 weeks to go!