My third marathon was this morning. Both previous times I followed a 4 hour training plan with a longest run around 35km before tapering. Both times I got to 30km and fell apart, walked, felt sad.

This time I trained on a 30km long run most weekends for 6 months, and added hill work during the week. My long runs were at a heartrate under 140bpm, which I’ve never tried before and was a total revelation! Really enjoyed getting out and seeing the countryside. Helped me rediscover the joy of running without the pressure of trying to run set split times.

Couldn’t be more stoked right now! Feels so good to set a goal and beat it. Final time was 3:52:29. Second half was a little slower than the first, and the last 7km was tough! But I didn’t walk at all. Got way more emotional at the finish line than I expected.

If you haven’t tried heart rate training I couldn’t recommend it more. And getting comfortable at the 30km distance was also crucial to getting through the race.

I’d love to hear about your goals! Happy running everyone!