Developing my plan

So as I said after the Wellington half marathon - I plan to work on building up my strength.  Why is this so important and what am I going to do to achieve this?

First - I plan on running my first full marathon in 2018.  In May of that year to be exact because I have chosen Rotorua to be the one and only marathon that I will run in my life,  Why Rotorua?  Because I have a friend who has run it every year for the past few years and I always get a sense of jealously when I see her photos from the event and I love reading about the amazing run that it is.  I also have another friend who lives not far from there and who will run with me for the distance of the marathon and help me through those tough times.  Going to Rotorua to run has been on my bucket list for a little while now so why not make it really count!  Plus if I run it in 2018 then I can say I have completed a full marathon before I hit that ripe old age of 40.  Yes, that gives me well over 18 months to work towards this goal but there is a reason for giving myself a long build in.  It doesn't mean I will give up on my goal sometime next year and say it is all too hard.  It means I can put some steps in to make it a more enjoyable experience.

I know that Rotorua has hills in it.  I know that a marathon involves finding that slower pace and just keeping on going.  I know that I really need to build some strength and this is the reasoning behind the two events I have chosen to partake in next year.

My first event will be heading back to Waitarere to complete the Great Forest Run half marathon.  I have really enjoyed this event in the past two years and it does work your body.

My second event will be one I just learnt about this year - a 25km course that starts on the Pahiatua Track and runs through to the Manawatu Gorge.  Looking at it, it does look hard BUT that is what I need.  I need a run where I am not focused on time.  It will be a run that will make me stronger and make my legs work hard.  Yes I will be on them for quite some time but this is what running a full marathon will be like.

I know I have not met my sub 2 hour goal for a half marathon but this is going down on the bucket list.  For now, I want to look at challenging my body a little more in different ways.  I'm going to have to brave running some trails on my own.  But guess what, I am going to have fun while I am doing it all!