Question: Great win this year in the Gold Coast Half marathon; were you expecting such a good race?
I was expecting it to be a competitive race at the front end, as there wasn’t a clear favorite. My goal was to finish as high up as possible, which for me meant the pace needed to be solid without being crazy fast. Ben Moreau and I shared the lead for the first ten miles before I went to the front with some purpose. With 5km to go, I managed to string the pack out a bit (Ben, Shinichi Yamashita, Ben Ashkettle and Liam Adams) and had a little break a kilometre later. Ben M and Shinichi reeled me in with 3km to go, but I pushed again and by 20km I had about 30m. I was hurting, but telling myself just hold it together. I think I held this gap until the last couple of hundred meters when they both kicked hard, but I held on. More of a grind to the finish than a kick finish!
Question: What New Balance shoes did you wear for the race? What models have you got on rotation at the moment?
At the Gold Coast Half Marathon I wore the RC1100s (as pictured) that had been in the cupboard for a little while. I have found that these are well suited for half marathons and marathons, with a little more support than the really lightweight racing flats, such as the RC1400s. I have also received a number of comments about the colour!
I am rotating my easy and long running in 1080 v3 and 1260 v3.
Today I pulled out a new pair of RC1400s for a set of 1km reps. They felt nice and fast.
Finally, I have some 890v3 that I use for very long interval sessions; surges on rough terrain; or if my legs are feeling a bit beaten up, but I still want to get a quality session out.
Question: What are your plans leading into the marathon at the World Championships?
I have one more week before I fly out, so I will continue with the high volume until then. I plan to run a local low key 10km road race this weekend, but might run 16km directly beforehand to simulate running hard with some distance already in the legs. Once I arrive in Europe I will have about a fortnight to my race, so I will have a chance to get some quality training done, but will back off the volume. The last week will just be a few runs and some work at race pace.
Question: What’s your mileage at the moment?
I have not been hitting the really high loads that I have in the past, but have still been consistent at 170-180km for a couple of months, with some lower weeks when I have raced. I have done six long runs at 35km or longer and have one more to go this Sunday.
Question: Do you have any key speed sessions you like to incorporate into your training?
I try to mix it up a lot, but I love hammering out a Mona fartlek on the road when I am in shape – plus it only last 20min! One kilometre reps also usually suit me reasonably well, as they are at a pace that I can run fairly efficiently.
Question: Can you talk us through your nutritional intake during heavy training periods?
I just try to eat a fairly balanced diet with enough calories to sustain the kilometres. I have been using plenty of GU products during training and for recovery and I will aim on having up to five GU gels during the marathon in Moscow.
Question: What’s the plan after the World Champs? Do you think you’ll attempt the 100km record again?
One of my goals for Moscow is to finish in the top 24, which based on the Commonwealth Games selection criteria would be an automatic place on the team. If that happens, it would open up the rest of the year for me to decide which races to do, maybe an ultra or some road races. If I don’t get an automatic place for the Commonwealth Games, I will have to consider whether I am motivated to chase a competitive qualifying time early in the new year.
I won’t be back for the 100km record in the short term. I think I would be better off building back up to that by doing some shorter ultras (3-5 hours) before trying again.
Thanks for your time Marty and all the best in Moscow.
