Training begins, 3rd Jan 2011, 6 months to go!

The first day of a six month process culminating with the Gold Coast Marathon (GCM) on the 3rd of July 2011.

I have wanted to run the GCM for a while now but never really had the timing quite right. I was keen to run last year but study and a new job got the best of me. This year I have rearranged my priorities with the shift back to fitness and enjoying life. Not that I haven't been enjoying life, but study and work have taken a pretty big toll on the body over the last 12 months with the life balance way off centre.

This year I am looking for the balance again. A bit of study, a bit of work and some fitness training. All going well I plan to keep the fitness levels up and over the next few years run the Sydney, Melbourne and possibly some international marathons. But first thing first, the GCM beckons and I have some training to do!

The first three months of training, especially if you are like me and have been sitting on your arse for the last twelve months, is about getting out there and strengthening all areas of the body including your feet, heart, legs, core and your respiratory system. It is also about building up your training runs so that you can comfortably complete several 10km training runs a week and manage to get through a half marathon holding a steady pace.

My goal for the first three months is to be fit enough to complete a half marathon as part of the Canberra Marathon on the 10th of April 2011. This is a little over three months away which gives me a couple of extra weeks to build up the mileage and reach the start line of the half confident that I can complete the half without injury or total exhaustion. (Hopefully I will weigh less than I do now which will make the journey easier).

For details on the half marathon see http://www.runningfestival.com.au/default.asp?PageID=21190 After all the controversy last year, Cundy sports have now let go of the Canberra running festival and the local Canberra running club have taken it back (under a new name) and will continue to run the event. Lets hope it all goes off without a hitch, if for some reason the event is cancelled or postponed, I will be running a half marathon on the 10th of April around the lake so I can stick to me training program.

Okay, I am off for my first run of 2011 and my first steps towards the Gold Coast marathon woohooo!!!

For further details on the GCM see the follow link http://www.goldcoastmarathon.com.au/

Wish me luck, the new kid on the blog, Simon.