This is the beginning of the taper down to next week's marathon, so a nice gentle run, very comfortable. Hoping the knees will be 99% unbruised by the time the starting gun goes off at 7:30 on the 18th. They were pretty good today, so it looks promising.
I've been reviewing the marathon course; it starts with a couple of "hills", like over the harbour bridge, then around Mrs Macquarie's Chair, then back up to Moore Park. Fortunately that's all pretty much over and done with in the first 10 km, so they won't be too stressful. The trick in Moore Park appears to be to avoid getting lost, as we switchback around in there for about 15 km building up the distance, then it's back down to the city and up across York St, down to Sussex & around the waterfront to the Opera House forecourt. It's a bit of a shame in some ways to have all the downhill at the end - contrary to expectation, perhaps - because it's not so easy to stretch out and run like a mad thing downhill when you're absolutely buggered. Staying upright seems so much more important. Overall though, I think the hills won't be too much of an issue, but I also doubt that it will be a particularly fast course.
Anyway, I've decided my tactics; no guts, no glory. I've had a couple of good training runs this week, so I'm pretty confident I can get to 25 km at 5 minute pace. From there it doesn't really matter how fast I come home, I should be in good shape for a PB.
Spring is here with a vengeance; last week was good but today was even better. A bit surprising, because yesterday was freezing, but today was clear and warm. Lots of grasses flowering in the Bexley wetlands and last week's spring rains greening up whatever isn't flowering. Lots of fisherfolk out this morning too, including a couple in kayaks. It was certainly the kind of morning that wouldn't seem wasted even if you caught nothing; not that you ever meet a fisherman who caught nothing.
The Rockdale market gardens were looking fantastic as well; it's really a stroke of good fortune that the council has had the moral fibre to keep the developers out. We buy some of our vegetables from a local-ish market gardener (a bit further south than Rockdale) and the in season vegies we get from her are fantastic. They look as good as supermarket produce *without* water sprays and trick lighting. Plus, they're cheaper. And we can walk to the shop. (Admittedly, by the time I've finished saucing them, it's not clear that they taste much better, but they certainly don't taste any worse).
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