Cape Town Marathon

Today I leave for Cape Town. This is the first marathon that I've had the shortest lead-up for training. Four months to peak and then taper. This has been a hard one coming from two months off after having some minor surgery late last year. This was because I felt like I was at my fittest leading into Berlin and then felt the first run back that I had lost so much. It has taken consistency to get back my fitness. Am I back to my fitness last year? No. But that is okay. Every race does not have to be about chasing PBs. I feel like there needs to be more light shed on this. Sometimes it is more about getting to that start line or going to a new destination to experience new things. You cannot get PBs every race you enter. That is the reality as much as it seems like social media depicts everyone running fast with little training. It is not sustainable.

It has been the long runs at what felt like a ridiculously slow pace that I would largely contribute to getting my aerobic fitness back on track. Working at a pace that I could recover quickly from and not worrying about people judging my slow pace. My heart rate in the last month because of it has significantly dropped on my runs. What was a struggle to run under 148 bpm is now very comfortable and at a much faster pace. Listening to your body is so important for the longevity of endurance running and to be able to get back up and do it again. I want to be able to keep doing this for as long as I can.

My goal for Cape Town is to enjoy the surroundings and to finish the challenging undulating course (and the horrible hill at 32km). While away, I won't be as readily contactable. After all, this trip is a holiday. I'm there to be in the moment. I'll be posting some stories of fun things leading up to the marathon, but you will all have to wait till I get back to hear all about it. Hopefully, for those training for a big event this year, I hope this brings you some more motivation to keep at it.

Keep training

Lee