 Good morning. Good morning, everyone. It's Jacob here. Welcome to my marathon prep video series It is exactly seven days Until I run my very first marathon running a marathon's been a challenge that I Always wanted to do But I've never actually done it. I've never specifically run 42 kilometers, I believe it is 26 point something miles 26.1 miles 26.2 miles something crazy like that But today's the day today Marks seven days until we do it Seven days until D-Day It's November the 14th. It is 7 20 in the morning I've done something that has motivated me even more than I was before which is by a brand new pair of shoes Brand new pair of running shoes, which is something I've known that I've needed for a while I've been Doing a little bit more running than usual in 2020 Due to the fact that I did a bodybuilding prep. I did two bodybuilding shows this year The final one being about three weeks ago So one of the major challenges that I wanted to give myself post bodybuilding show Was to do a long-distance running race and I was able to find a marathon that was being held in a place called Queenstown Which is in the South Island. I'm in Christchurch. Queenstown is about six hours south So in six days time, I will be driving down I'll be staying down there for a couple of days and doing my very first marathon. So guys This is the video series the way that I do things on my YouTube channel is I will You know do whatever interests me and I will bring my camera along To document the journey to talk about my experiences my opinions And that's how I roll on this channel, you know, you never know exactly what you're gonna find But one thing I do know myself is that I love a challenge and that's what this is gonna be So it starts today. We're only seven days out guys. I haven't given myself I haven't given myself much time to get things ready, but like I said, I've gone and got the shoes I'm going to charge my headphones. I'm going to make a specific running Spotify playlist so I'm not fumbling with my phone every five minutes trying to change a song I think that's going to be key and I'm going to set off on a 20 kilometer run this morning So that's going to be seven days out. That's going to be my prep For today is going to be 20 kilometers I'm going to go out at a pretty steady pace nothing too crazy because I do want to finish it and I think we're just going to taper it down from here, but I do need to test myself I need to test myself with a long distance run Before we before we you know get to the D day because to be fair I only entered this a week ago and I haven't done any prep. I haven't done any running in the last month I did prior to that but as you'll know You know with jogging and running especially Especially a running pace that you might have got yourself up to which I did I pretty much got myself to about five minutes per kilometer But I feel like I definitely would have regressed in some way shape or form So today the goal is to complete 20 kilometers in Two hours or less That's going to require me to run at a six minute per kilometer pace Which I think I should be able to start at that but for me to continue it for 20 kilometers May be quite difficult, but this is about challenging ourselves and today is day number one so guys Welcome to the series the way that I'm going to structure this is I'm going to come out here in the morning each morning Talk about how I'm feeling talk about what the plan is for the day and then post training or post run We'll come back. I'll have a look at my Strava and we'll discuss how it went Seven days out from my very first marathon guys I'm excited. I am excited. I I I Firmly believe that with my mindset, you know the way that I tackle challenges I could turn up on the day having not done any training and still complete it But that would not be ideal. So I'm starting this series today to keep myself accountable to make sure that I do You know train myself Towards the show for the final week most most I feel like most people when training for a marathon Start about six months out I'm starting a week out But if you've known me for any length of time, you'll know that Sometimes that's just the way I roll And with that being said I'll see you guys after my two-hour run, which I'm slightly apprehensive about because I haven't done it for so long But thing is and this is the advice that I give to anybody and this is what I'll finish on All you need to do is keep those feet turning over. That's all you need to do slow down as much as you need to Just keep those feet turning over and that's the main thing. So I'll see you guys later on in the day. Peace Okay, what's up guys? We're back. We're back from the run and I can happily say it was completed We did 20 kilometers in under two hours. That was the goal and we we smashed it So I have to say it was a great start to the day. I headed out onto the road at 7 30 in the morning I got back about 9 30. I did an hours worth of YouTube Videos before I went out for the run. So honestly this morning has been fucking fantastic. Couldn't have gone better But I am gonna quickly sit down and run through the numbers So I'm gonna run through exactly what the splits were each kilometer And then I'm gonna give you my my Strava details. So if you do want to follow me on Strava You can do that, too So I'm just gonna grab a drink. We're gonna sit down and discuss how this run went and What three factors I Included in this run that I haven't done previously that I honestly feel really gave me an edge To push probably a little bit harder than I have done previously. So with that being said Let's sit down Okay, here we are. All right, so we are seven days out Like I said the time now is 1140 November the 14th The date of the marathon is Saturday November the 21st, and it's down in a place called Queenstown Beautiful place like I said six hours south from Christchurch. I can't wait, but some honestly guys this morning I did not know what to expect. I'm not gonna lie. I did do a 10 kilometer slow jog Four days ago. I had three days off completely this morning at seven days out I knew I was gonna create this video and so, you know, it was time to push myself time to test myself You know, I'm not gonna turn up on race day and expect to just roll out of bed And run 42 K's I Probably could but I'm not gonna. I'm not I'm just not gonna put myself in that position So today it was was the start of a little taper to the the the race as far as you know, just just getting my pace and knowing what pace I can actually continue at and I guess not not gas myself out. I think today was was successful in that I think after that 20k run. I didn't stop the whole entire time. I was able to You know maintain a heart rate of about 150 beats per minute the whole entire time so what that's led me to believe is that I've found basically my My pace my comfortable pace that I'm gonna be able to maintain at least for 20 K's like I did today and Hopefully, you know, continue that on race day and maintain that for the full 42 K's So I Am so proud and so happy to say that I actually ran a PB for 20 K's So I ran 20.02 kilometers in One hour 51 minutes and 19 seconds Which is a PB for 20 K's? I also got my 10 mile PB, which is One minute one hour 28 minutes and 14 seconds and I also got my 15 kilometer PB Which is one hour and 22 minutes flat so As far as the splits go, I am gonna put the splits up on the screen right now So you can look through them as I discuss them but basically I Began the the race like I mentioned before I went just ticking my feet over just going out a nice and easy pace I know that I can run at six and a half minutes per K and not be out of breath whatsoever So I did that, you know, it's it's a it's a relatively easy way to get into it It's it's not scary You're not going out there and and you're jacking your heart rate right up instantly and then you know in recovery mode from There on out so I I went out really really easily and I went six minutes 25 for the first K from there I said to myself right I'm gonna go I'm gonna try and get under two hours for the 20 K's and what that's gonna require me to do like I mentioned before I set off is Run each K under six minutes and That's exactly what happened from then on out. So we went six twenty five five fifty eight five forty four five thirty nine Five forty four five twenty six five thirty four five thirty nine five seventeen and so on and so forth and in the end I averaged five thirty four per kilometer. So I completed twenty kilometers today guys at an average pace of five thirty four per K Which is an astounding success. I mean I Feel good after that. I feel really good twenty kilometers without stopping under six minutes per K If I can double that if I can double that I'm not expecting I'm not expecting to be able to double that because you know my my legs or my calves are sore Not so much my quads or anything, but my calves are certainly Saw right now. So I'm gonna have to keep stretching those out But you know, I tend to think that I probably could double that on a good day Which means that I'm you know fairly close to a four-hour marathon Which is a huge huge goal of mine. I Honestly never thought I'd be capable of running a marathon in under four hours and actually thinking about it right now I still don't believe that that's possible. I feel like I'm definitely gonna hit a wall I feel like I didn't quite hit a wall today because that 20k mark about that two-hour mark of exercise, you know, I Feel like you can you know push through without Needing to take in extra carbohydrates or water and that's one thing I will mention that this morning all I had is a cup of coffee I had a glass of water and then I set out for my run I didn't do anything else. I didn't eat and I did not take in any consumable Carbohydrates or liquid throughout the run. So I knew that I wanted to get out there on the road You know with with no drink bottle in my hand No, you know, no shit for me to worry about other than just trying to get these 20k's done And so the three factors that I included in this run to help me push through mentally definitely helped That I haven't done previously is number one. I got a new pair of shoes So I'm gonna show you guys the new shoes next next video tomorrow morning. They are awesome I am absolutely stoked with them the new balance. I'll show you them next time, but they felt good So new shoes definitely a motivating factor, right? You get anyone a new pair of runners and they're gonna want to go out and test them So new pair of shoes not only that but I put on a playlist a specific running playlist So every time I go out for a run, I'll always just press play on Spotify on my liked songs Now some I like more than others, right? So specifically today, I made a playlist for running with my favorite songs Which meant that I didn't need to change songs at all. So you're literally just going and going and going and K after K after K seem to just You know happened just seems that you know, you just keep running without Without anything distracting you because I will say that every single time I need to stop and change a song It's not as if I'm stopping running, but it is stopping your flow your mental flow and in a long distance run In those middle K's you just want to be in a flow You want to be in a zone where you're just going and going and going and not really thinking about it And that's the zone that I found myself in today. So new shoes a specific playlist And the third thing And the third thing was being adequately fueled, right? So yesterday I specifically carved up I probably ate a good seven eight hundred grams of carbs yesterday which You know, I would not have been able to do this run last night because my stomach was relatively full and I felt quite Fucking quite bloated heavy, you know what I mean? But I had a plan in place and that plan was to fuel me for this run this morning So that I didn't need to have any breakfast I didn't really need to take in any water and I would be sweet to go and that's exactly what happened. So new shoes playlist specifically for running and Adequately fueled and lo and behold. I got a PB For my 20k around this morning seven days out from my very first marathon. So guys. Thank you so much for watching. I Assume I'm gonna bring out a video every single day leading into the marathon I will be leaving Christchurch on Friday. So that'll be One day out staying in Queenstown that night waking up early Saturday morning and heading out to the start line. So guys Follow along at home. If you like if you do want to follow me on on Strava, I Believe my username is Jacob McDonald. I could be wrong. I Could be wrong but if you yeah, if you look me up on Strava, it's Jacob McDonald and And Please if you follow me, I'll follow you. I'll give you kudos. I mean Strava is a fantastic app I do want more people on there. I want more friends that I can I can then support back You know what I mean? Strava's an amazing app. It's It's it's an app that I've been using for about six months now consistently I Was running Then I was doing walks and now I'm obviously back to running if you want to like this video Please do if you want to subscribe that would be amazing and I'll see you tomorrow at six days out from my very first marathon I'm going for four hours. I'm gonna say it right now a success a massive success something that I'll be so proud of Would be to run a marathon run this marathon in under four hours. That is the goal I'm going to do whatever I can over the next week to prepare myself for that and then it's race day See you soon guys. Thanks for watching