Sydney Marathon Diaries

Hey team! The countdown is on with less than 100 days till the Sydney Marathon. In my running circle, this has been a bit of a wake-up call. It's time to get serious about training or maybe adjust those goal times.

We're in that weird phase where it feels both far away and too close for comfort. So, for this week's recap, I thought I'd share my shoe rotation and the reasoning behind each choice.

Shoe Rotation

On Cloudeclipse - My daily beater and do-it-all shoe. I love everything On is doing, from their track nights to their sponsored team. Despite their history of subpar footwear, they've recently turned a corner. The Cloudeclipse handles slow, easy miles and can kick up to tempo pace. With its speedboard and high stack, it's also great for long runs. It's nearing retirement at 700km, though.

Saucony Endorphin Pro 3 - Easily my favorite shoe yet. It's springy, light, but somehow stable enough for comfortable easy paces. Nearing 500km, and I haven't figured out a replacement yet since they're impossible to find in stock. I primarily use them for threshold to marathon pace runs and longer workouts.

Nike Vaporfly 3 - Bought for my latest half marathon. Super fast but not as stable as I'd like for most runs. Mainly used for track or interval sessions. This will likely become my 5-10km race shoe.

Adidas Takumi Sen 8 - I wanted to love these, but the profile is too tight for my foot shape, causing hot spots. Initially bought for track and 5km runs, now replaced by the Vaporfly. If I were to go back, I'd size up half a size.

Weekly Breakdown

Sunday: Long Run

• 1.6km @ 5:35min/km

• 2 x (3.2km @ 4:35min/km + 2 min rest)

• 1hr @ 5:45min/km

• 1.6km @ 4:35min/km

• 1.6km @ 5:55min/km (Actual 0.54km)

• Avg HR: 177 BPM

This was huge and way harder than anticipated. According to Daniels, these sessions fatigue the legs early to mimic marathon-end fatigue without high mileage. Never have 5:45min/km felt so hard. Legs felt like bricks, but I'm happy I completed the workout, minus chickening out on the cool-down by a km.

Long runs follow a 3-week schedule of easy, marathon pace, then threshold sessions. Threshold sessions are the ones I get most nervous about.

Monday: Treadmill Run

• 7km @ 6:00 min/km - Easy Pace

• Avg HR: 152 BPM

Tuesday: Treadmill Run

• 7km @ 6:00 min/km - Easy Pace

• Avg HR: 153 BPM

Wednesday: Easy Run

• 7km @ 5:45 min/km - Easy Pace

• Avg HR 161 BPM

Avoided the treadmill today despite the wind. Need to get used to tough conditions because race day doesn't discriminate.

Thursday: Midweek Long Run

• 40 mins @ 5:45min/km

• 5 x (3mins @ 4:10min/km + 2 mins @ 5:45min/km)

• 3.2km @ 5:45min/km

• Avg HR 158 BPM

Got my Coros HRM, which addressed my HR confusion. As seen, lower HR for a midweek long run with intervals than the easy run the day before. Great purchase for HR training. Felt comfortable and confident, could have done 1 or 2 more reps.

Friday: Treadmill Run

• 7km @ 6:00min/km

• Avg HR 139 BPM

We are back in zone 2 for the easy runs!

Saturday: Easy Run

• 7km @ 5:45min/km

• Avg HR 149 BPM

Quite a windy one today

Total Weekly Volume: 71km

Another week done and dusted. Confidence is back after realising my flu didn't cost me as much fitness as I thought—just my watch playing tricks.

Next up, I'll review my latest purchases (hopefully the Adidas Adizero SL2 arrives in time) and share how I use Runalyze with Jack Daniels to create my program and why HR readings are essential.

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