Garvoc runner VIRGINIA MOLONEY is preparing for her first Commonwealth Games. She will share her journey with The Standard readers with weekly diary entries over the next 12 weeks.
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IT WAS 10.30 in the morning. I was in Falls Creek and I had just walked into the apartment having completed a 30km run and 10-minute ice bath.
I could see out of the corner of my eye my phone lighting up.
The announcement had been made. In the words of Aunty Louise, "We're going to the Gold Coast baby”.
On January 17, I was officially named as one of three women in the marathon team chosen to represent Australia at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
The hour following the announcement was spent sharing this news with my fiance, parents, coach, siblings and Grandma Mahony.
These were magical moments I will cherish forever.
Over the next 12 weeks I will be covering my weekly marathon campaign – key training sessions, team commitments, training camps, work/training balance, racing, challenges faced and the importance of recovery and support.
I will introduce you to the team that are the reason I love running and ensure that I perform at my very best.
So where to from here? The past month I have spent building my mileage and strength in my body. After an extremely enjoyable weekend helping out with the Surf ‘T’ Surf, I ventured to Falls Creek for 10 days to live and train at altitude.
It was extremely empowering to train with some of Australia's and the world's elite. I am grateful for the opportunity get to know them as humans, not just competitors.
Training and living at altitude is very challenging, however has huge benefits. This is a topic I hope to cover in this column over the next few weeks.
This week we progress our marathon campaign, adding back in our marathon specific speed sessions and planning for the next 12 weeks.
This included a sweat test with Darryl Griffiths. Darryl is the founder of Shotz Nutrition and the author of Sweat, Think, Run Faster.
The test consisted of 80 minutes of running on a treadmill to determine how much fluid my body loses per hour of running and more importantly, how much sodium my body expels.
This will be valuable information leading into the marathon, not just for race day hydration and nutrition, but also for training and recovery.
Over the next two months we will continue these tests in varying environments to ensure with achieve the most accurate and conclusive results and are fully prepared for all conditions that could occur on April 15.
The countdown is on – 12 weeks to the Games.
Thank you to the community of the south-west. I feel extremely privileged to have such amazing support.
In the official words of the 2018 Games, thank you for giving me the opportunity to "share the dream".