“Welcome back to sea level, it’s 39 degrees and perfect training conditions for your marathon on the Gold Coast in April.”

This week we were in planning mode. Tuesday morning I met with my coach, Liam Delany, to work out the training plan. We both believe that these meetings should of course be held in the most professional and productive manner...over breakfast. After getting the most important aspects of the meeting out of the way, such as, what we were ordering, we got down to business.

Considered planning is an essential element of any marathon campaign. The marathon will only ever reward you when you give the distance the respect it deserves.

In these meetings, myself, Liam and my fiance Trent, openly communicate and discuss all aspects of training and life – how my body is holding up, what went well in the last campaign, what we can improve on, goal races for the next few months as well as my work, social and training balance. Enjoying the process is key.

We have considered many scenarios and hopefully there will not be too many hurdles to overcome... as I think I inherited Dad’s hamstrings and they certainly were not made for the steeplechase event or any sprint events for that matter! 

This week we averaged 150km of running, 6km of swimming, 2x strength sessions and daily stretching.

The week finished with a 34km run on Sunday. Starting at 6.30am it was 24 degrees and by the end of the run it was 29.9 degrees. I started my run with two other marathon friends, Sophie Ryan and Ant Rickards, and Trent joined me on the bike for the second half.

This was great training in the heat and finishing strongly gave me confidence that I have adapted to the summer and am feeling the benefit from the altitude training.

The concept of altitude training is to acclimatise the body to work efficiently with less oxygen available. Part of this adjustment is not just during training, it’s also about living and sleeping at altitude. The changes that occur from living and training at altitude improve the delivery of oxygen to the muscles and therefore improve an athlete’s performance at sea level.

Athletes respond differently to altitude. Some athletes need to race within 48 hours of coming down from the mountain, others need three weeks before they reap the benefits. Personally, I take a few days to find my groove again after being on the mountain. After Tuesday night’s speed session, I certainly noticed greater ease in my breathing and strength in my running. 

Back to school this week!