I booked my flights and accommodation this week for the Tokyo Marathon and have joined two new Facebook groups to help me plan my trip and get tips from other runners. AbbotWMM Six Star Journey is a Facebook group was launched this week and currently has 3.5k members all inspiring runners sharing their six star journeys and Race Captains from each major race city sharing their knowledge, tips and insight to the six major race courses and info on the cities and what to expect on race day. Tokyo Marathon 2019 tips and tricks is a Facebook group currently has 1.1k members everyone sharing their Tokyo journey, tips on travel, accommodation, race entry and how to get around the course. Many discussions on travel and running blogs. I’m feeling a bit over whelmed planning this trip as there is so much to organise. I went with Sports Tours International for the New York and Chicago Marathon so there was minimum planning and organising as the budget only allowed for me to go for the weekend run the race and return the next day. I was very lucky to get the entry for my Tokyo Marathon via the lottery which means I have budget to stay on and do some travelling after the marathon. I’m currently researching this part of the trip.
For anyone interested in the running the TCS New York City Marathon on 3rd November 2019 the entry is now open until 14th February 2019.
This week my focus was to put in 3 to 4 outdoors runs and try and complete a 15km run by the weekend. My intention was also to join a running club run at least once a week to run with like minded people and get some insight to the running community in Dubai. Unfortunately, the later never happened this week due to work commitments and moving accommodation.
Here’s the training journal for the week.
Most mornings I am up around 5.30- 6am. I practise 20 minutes of yoga and 10 minutes of meditation to set me up for the day.
Sunday, I organised to join a local running club evening run around the Dubai Marina Walk but missed the run, so I did a quick 5km on the treadmill in the hotel after work. It was just a short run low incline and a 6 mins/km pace to get the legs moving.
Monday, I took a rest day. It is my second week in Dubai, I was in work and post work I spent the evening packing I was moving on Tuesday evening from my hotel to a studio in the Dubai Marina where I will be based for the next few months. It is the perfect location for runners as the marina walk is a 7km loop and you can top up mileage of the run by crossing a few bridges and adding a beach run.
Tuesday, morning I did a treadmill run of 5km slow and steady pace 6 mins/km as a warm up and get the legs moving. Post run I did a 4 x HIIT sets with some of the exercises that I learned from my Supersupfit class with instructor Sophie last week working on my core. The set included mountain climbers, squats, burpees, tuck ups and planks.
Wednesday morning, I ran my first 10km around the Dubai Marina. I woke up at 6am as the mosque beside me called its morning prayer. It was still dark outside, I did my morning yoga and meditation and set off on my run with my Garmin. I did not run with music as I wanted to work on my breathe, I find this is very important part of my training to get to know my breathe and how this affects my pace and mental stamina. It was perfect morning the Dubai Marina Walk is shaded until about 8.30am and has a slight breeze in the morning a full loop of the Marina including a bridge crossing was exactly 10km. The route is on pavement and very flat, its is not very busy in the mornings, mainly other runners, walkers and a few cyclists. I managed to run the 10.01km in 55:26 mins. I was surprised how cool it was and the slight breeze really helped. The humidity was not too bad for this time of year I really enjoyed the run. The breathe was good, steady and rhythmic, the legs felt strong, mentally I was distracted as I was running a new route and getting know my surroundings so looking at all the buildings, boats and what shops and restaurants were in the neighbourhood. The 10km was over before I knew it.
Thursday morning, I went out around 6.30am and ran in the opposite direction. I went out with my Garmin and a bottle of water as I forgot my bottle yesterday. Again, I ran with no music and focused on my breathe and pacing. The humidity felt heavier and I found a few times my breathing was a bit faster and I was taking water quiet regularly. Body, arms and legs felt good. I managed to do 10.72km in 1:04:26.
Friday is the beginning of weekend in Dubai. This is the day to put in my long run. The aim was to do 15km and see how the body feels as it is the longest run this year since I started training. I went out with my Garmin, headphones and a bottle of water. I also wanted to test the Gu Energy Gel as I haven’t taken one in a while and wanted to see how my body reacted to one. I ran at a nice steady pace for the first 5km with no music so I could focus on my breathing and my pace. Once I hit the 7km mark I put on my headphones and took the Gu energy gel. I also took note at what points I took water, so I am aware of the signs for my next race day which is the Rak Half Marathon on 8th February. I found I was using the water more to cool down my face than drinking it today. I completed the run of 15.26km in 1:33.18. good steady pace and that included a 1km beach run on sand. I was very happy with the run. The body especially the legs felt strong.
Saturday morning, I went to a Supersupfit class. It was a very cloudy morning and it felt cold out on the paddle board. Once we completed our first set of HIIT (high intensity interval training) the body warmed up we were good to go. There were a few new exercises focusing on the arm strength. I felt it the work out on my shoulders and upper arms in class. There was bit of extra stretching required post class and even later in the day the upper arms felt tight and tired.
Overall this week I was happy with the training runs and core body work outs. Slowly building the mileage (45kms). Disappointed I didn’t make a running club run as I really wanted to find some like minded runners to run with and try an evening run. Most of all I’m happy with the location of my accommodation as it allows me easy access to go out and run.
Happy running!
Chrissy x
Comments