So today I ran a marathon - luca style!

In the world of ultrarunners, the term "long run" takes on a whole different meaning. It isn't the distance that defines it as "long" but the time we spend pounding the pavement, the trails, and everything in between. It is closer to what a cyclist might call "long".

For me, any run that stretches beyond five hours qualifies for this category. These are not runs you can just "wing", they're often adventures requiring serious planning. The route, the terrain, the weather, the gear – it all needs to be considered. Do I need my trail shoes, or will my road shoes suffice? How should I pace myself? How much nutrition should I carry? Is there a water stop along the way? How will this long run fit into my overall training schedule?
And that's just the running part! 
Most of us have more things to fit into life - the job, the kids, the family commitments to take care. At least for me, it's an increasingly complex balancing act.

After weeks of trying to squeeze in a long run amidst the chaos of everyday life, I am happy I made it happen today by combinaing a warm up, the Noosa Marathon event and the 5km Noosa race with the kids. Originally, I had planned to run home too but for different reasons that didn't happen - and I must admit I'm not too disappointed. I got carried away and ended up running a good portion of the marathon faster than what I initially intended, and I paid for it on the last stretch. 

It was a good day out, and it may be worth a short blog as I learnt a thing or two worth sharing.

This almost long run, removes the pressure of another long outing before the BVRT 100 miles mid June. Unless I can wing one in between :D