Next Up..New York

From Sydney to the Next Start Line

It feels slightly ridiculous even writing this, but the New York City Marathon is seven weeks away.

Seven weeks!

Only two weeks ago I was running across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, battling what felt like approximately 427 hills and eventually crossing the finish line outside the Opera House with a 22-minute marathon PB.

After months of talking about Sydney, training for Sydney and mildly obsessing over Sydney, suddenly it’s done.

And now… we’re going to New York. 🗽

Sydney changed things

Going into Sydney, I thought 4:15 was possible.

Coming out of Sydney, I know it is.

Despite the hills, the heat and two bathroom stops, I took 22 minutes off my previous marathon time. More importantly, I felt like I executed the race really well.

I didn't get carried away at the beginning. I respected the course. I kept something back. And even when Sydney decided that putting another hill at 40km was perfectly reasonable behaviour, I still had enough left to keep going.

That has probably been my biggest takeaway from the whole experience.

I'm no longer wondering whether I can become a stronger marathon runner.

I already have.

And that's changed the way I'm thinking about my marathon goals.

The ultimate goal is a four-hour marathon.

I'm not expecting to magically knock another huge chunk off my time in one race. For me, this is going to be about chipping away at it — marathon by marathon, learning each time, getting stronger and gradually moving closer to that four-hour mark.

So New York has a very clear next target:

4:15.

If I can get there, that's another step towards the bigger goal.

And after Sydney, 4:15 doesn't feel like wishful thinking. I genuinely believe it's within reach.

Of course, New York isn't exactly offering me a nice flat course to have a go at it! But that's also part of the challenge.

Four hours is where I ultimately want to get to.

New York is about taking the next bite out of it.

But first: recovery

This is the slightly strange part about running two marathons so close together.

Normally, after a marathon you'd recover, enjoy your achievement and eventually start thinking about the next training block.

Apparently I've decided that sounds far too sensible.

My Runna plan has already moved onto New York, but I'm being really conscious that Sydney is still in my legs.

There is fitness to carry forward, but there is also fatigue.

So these first couple of weeks haven't been about desperately trying to squeeze in more fitness. They've been about recovering properly, getting the legs moving again and listening to my body.

I even managed a recovery gym session with my brother while I was in Melbourne, which was exactly what I needed after the marathon.

The temptation is to look at New York being only seven weeks away and think I need to get straight back into hard training.

I actually think the opposite is true.

The best thing I can do for New York right now is arrive at the next few weeks healthy.

I'm not rebuilding – I'm sharpening

This is the mindset I'm taking into this block.

I've already done the big marathon build.

I've done the long runs, the hot runs, the hill sessions, the tired-leg runs and all those kilometres that nobody sees.

That fitness hasn't disappeared because I crossed the Sydney finish line.

So this isn't another full marathon build from scratch.

It's a seven-week bridge from Sydney to New York.

Recover.

Rebuild some rhythm.

Add a little quality.

Keep the endurance.

Then taper again.

It actually feels quite exciting looking at it that way.

Sydney also gave me a New York to-do list

There were a few things that worked brilliantly in Sydney and a couple that definitely need fixing before New York.

Fuelling is one of them.

I learned that taking a gel and then drinking water immediately afterwards made me feel nauseous. If I took the gel without water, I was absolutely fine.

So that's something I'm going to experiment with during this block rather than discovering the solution somewhere around mile 18 in Manhattan.

I'm also looking at changing my fuelling slightly and trying Maurten gels and potentially a carb drink during training.

Then there's hydration.

My little Salomon soft flask worked, but getting it in and out of my Waterfly belt while running was far more fiddly than I wanted it to be. I don't want to be wrestling with my hydration belt through New York, so finding a better solution is firmly on the list.

And finally...

THE TOES.

I taped the toes I knew were troublesome for Sydney and they behaved beautifully.

Then the one I didn't tape got absolutely battered.

Lesson learned.

By New York I may simply tape all ten and hope for the best. 😂

One more Major.

There is something quite surreal about having barely unpacked my Sydney medal and already thinking about another World Marathon Major.

And New York feels different again.

Sydney was the race I'd spent months building towards. It was a huge adventure, a long way from home and my first marathon since London.

New York feels like the next step.

I'm going there fitter, more experienced and much more confident in what I'm capable of.

I'll also have Sunny there with me, which makes this one even more special. He is in partial really looking forward to the expo, and hopefully we get a chance to join Paula Radcliff for a shake out run in Central Park.

The goal over the next seven weeks isn't to chase fitness that isn't there.

It's to protect what I've built, recover properly, sharpen things up and arrive on that start line healthy, excited and ready to see what happens.

4:15 is the New York goal. Four hours is the ultimate goal.

And if there's one thing Sydney taught me, it's that I don't need to get there all at once.

I just need to keep chipping away.

Next stop: New York. 🗽🏃‍♀️