Brace for the Hills

3 years ago I ran Great Ocean Road Half Marathon, which is actually a little bit longer than a normal half, it’s 23 km. Now I felt it was time to face the real challenge, the 44km marathon on the hilliest and windiest road in Australia.

Spectacular Victorian Drive

Great Ocean Road is over 200km stretch of road between cities of Torquay and Allansford on south-eastern coast of Victoria. Apart from driving you can also walk most of it as there is a well maintained trail. However thankfully for us, road runners, once a year part of the road gets closed to traffic and we can run possibly the most beautiful part of it between Lorne and Apollo Bay. It’s spectacular and breathtaking, also in the literal sense. There are barely any straight or flat part of the course.

Training for the Hills

This time I know what to expect… yes, lots and lots of ups and downs, so I plan my training accordingly pumping it up with extended and more frequent hill workouts.

I would do at least 2 sessions every week, one fast on a short incline and one slower on a longer distance. I’m also doing my long runs on more hilly routes like Melbourne City Trail. To balance all of that I’m running only 4 days a week, but with added strength training at my local gym at least 3 times a week… and also cycling to work for about 9km each way twice a week.

Is it enough… I hope so, I just really want to finish this run in one piece.