 So what is going on everybody? Welcome back to another Marathon Prep video Today's date is November the 16th. It's five days out from my very first marathon guys These are the streets these are the streets that I'm gonna be running in preparation in my weeks preparation I don't know if I've been enough more than I can chew But I'm I can happily say guys that I've recovered relatively well from my 20 kilometer test run that I did two days ago So at seven days out I found myself having done very minimal training for my very first marathon I thought there's no way You know regardless of how fit I feel like I am I've got a decent base of fitness I suppose but you know regardless of how fit I feel like I am I'm never gonna turn up on race day and Expect to be able to smash 42 kilometers Without doing any preparation. So this week is all about just getting the feet moving you know getting the the lungs going so to speak and Testing myself, you know what I mean? Slowly but surely tapering to the to the day of the race. So today is the second day of training in that week and I'm looking forward to it Today, I'm not exactly sure what you know what I guess what the best strategy would be But what I do want to do today is get out there once again for a decent amount of time So in the previous run we did two days ago I did 20 kilometers in a PB which is a fucking fantastic surprise for me Which means we're on the right track Which means that I might actually you know end up You know finishing this marathon, which is a massive goal I guess that the major goal of this this thing is is to finish my very first marathon It's not only just to do it. Okay, it's to finish And I'd love to finish without stopping too many times So what I'm going to focus on today is just to keep going I went out there for an hour and 50 minutes in the last run. I want to I want to extend that I do want to get out there for more than two hours. So as long as I'm out on the road this morning for two hours or more Without stopping I'll be happy. I do want to Continue trying to maintain a certain pace. I do not want my pace to go under six minutes per K Because at the end of the day a 42 kilometer, you know race at six minutes per K There's four hours and 12 minutes and with that in mind my major goal, you know, not only to finish this race I'd be lying if I didn't if I said that was my only goal because it's not My major goal is to finish this marathon my very first marathon with minimal training in Under four hours. So what that means is yes, I'm going to have to keep my pace under six minutes at the very least For 42 straight kilometers. So today guys, I want to go out there. I want to run for two hours At a pace of six minutes per K or less just to get some time under the belt some more time on the streets More time in my new pair of shoes, which I'm still, you know, going to be wearing in this week but I Was pretty pleased with how they went last time. I literally it was the first time I tried them on I hadn't worn them in whatsoever put some, you know, fresh pair of socks on new shoes went out ran 20 Ks. No blisters I'm happy, you know, I mean things are going good. So here we are in Christchurch, New Zealand. I will be Checking in with you guys after I get back and this will be five days out officially from my very first marathon Thanks for watching. I'll see you guys after the run to discuss how we went. I Have no idea how it's gonna go But what I do know is that I need to charge my headphones. So see you soon All right, you guys now In the last video I had salt all over my face. I still haven't had a shower since the run this morning But I don't think there's any salt in my face, which is a pleasant surprise. Um We did it. In fact, I did more than I Anticipated I pushed myself. I hit a wall today that I have not experienced before I feel like it's because I didn't give my body Enough time to recover from my last run, which I did at seven days out today's five days out from my very first marathon In a previous clip I feel which was about Six seven maybe eight hours ago now, it's it's three o'clock in the afternoon and I've done 25,000 steps And I've burnt 3700 and 71 calories, but we're not here to talk about that We had to talk about my performance and how the the second test run and my very first I'm happy to report half marathon ran in under Two hours, so I'm not only stuck to a six minute per K pace Which was the goal, but I was able to bring that down by six minutes Effectively at least and was able to sneak in that that that 21st kilometer in the two hour mark So I was absolutely stoked with that but to do that I really did have to push through mentally and physically at multiple points and it's it's really interesting You know these these these long-distance runs they they test you both physically and mentally you go through different stages of The race effectively of the run, you know, it's a two-hour Non-stop event and mentally, you know a two-hour event doesn't matter how slow or how fast you're running It's gonna be taxing and that's how I felt today, but I've got to do double that Okay, so that's that that That thought in the back of my mind actually helped me push through and think that you know if I'm gonna do double this This really shouldn't be that hard and so without further ado. Let me bring up my Strava results Once again, if anyone does want to follow me I feel like my username is jake mcdonald and I will have a link down in the description box for anyone that does want to follow along But yeah, even just looking at the map, okay It was a journey. It was a journey and a half and it was mixed terrain So today's run I specifically took on mixed terrain if I did see it Rather than staying on pavement the whole time because I don't exactly know what the tracks gonna be like For the Queenstown marathon although I do think it is all Tarmac although I wouldn't be surprised if it's not so today We literally probably did over half of the event on either gravel grass dirt Or something that's just not flat concrete So with all that in mind, I Guess I'm pretty pleased. I did my very first half marathon in under two hours The question remains the question the question remains guys a lot of people ask this Can you do a half marathon with no training and effectively I can okay 21.01 kilometers an average pace of 538 per K a total moving time of one hour 58 minutes and 29 seconds and The elevation was minimal Although there were parts where it went up and then it went down and like I said, it was mixed terrain It wasn't the easiest race. I probably could have I definitely could have ran faster With the same amount of effort if I was on a flat surface, but we're not here to talk about that We had to talk about exactly what happened as openly as honest and as transparent as possible Because that's what we do on this channel. So my best efforts. I got three second best or second fastest times in three different distances long distance distances One with a 20k in an hour 52 minutes and 42 seconds I don't know if that was the first 20 K's or the last 20 I don't know if they excluded the first K of the race or the last K of the race But any mathematicians out there can probably work it out and then we get on to the really interesting part Which is the pace so I went out obviously with that goal of sticking at six minutes per K I wanted to do 20 kilometers without jacking my heart rate up too much In two hours. I wanted to do two hours of road work and and at least cover 20 kilometers Now I made a point of looking at my heart rate probably, you know a good 10 15 maybe even 20 times throughout this this this run and My heart rate did not go below 148 and it did not go above 161 the whole entire time So I was really steady at these, you know early paces Which felt relatively easy around 530, you know 540 520 even And it took until I got to about kilometer 15 for me to actually start feeling fatigued and my legs started feeling quite heavy My you know, I could feel my heart rate going up And it was at that point at about kilometer 15 after having gone quite, you know, relatively steady, but but but hard That my heart rate started to jack up and actually felt it So I looked down and I was at that, you know 161 and I thought shit. I've been at 150 this whole time You know, I'm hitting that wall, I guess my heart rates jacking up I'm gonna have to bring it back for a bit get my heart rate back down I brought it back down to about 145 and then I actually struggled for a bit to to get my pace back So I stuck from from K 15 to 18 at around about six minutes per K And I'm thinking that I'm running a bit faster than that and then I crossed the kilometer line and You know get the notification in my ear that I've ran a six minute K and I thought Okay, interesting my body is going through things that I haven't felt before but you know I fueled myself well the night before I did not have any fuel this morning Which is something that you know if I'm gonna do an early morning run, which I did this morning I'd only been up for an hour. I had a cup of coffee and you know a liter of water And then I left which is not a lot But I did have a decent amount of carbohydrates the night before so I'm not sure how I'm gonna fuel myself on the day I feel like I'm definitely gonna need to take in some inter You know into race carbohydrates, which I haven't needed to do before I've never taken in any carbohydrates in a long distance run You know throughout it. I've always just you know taken in enough water or enough hydration left my bottle at home You know left everything at home and set out on the streets, and that's pretty much what I did today So I was able to bring it back. Thankfully In the 19th K. We did 551 in the 20th K. We did 544 and then you know I was basically left with The last kilometer if I wanted to get you know if I wanted to get a time under two hours for 21 K's for the half marathon I Needed to run six minutes, and I was feeling okay I tried to get a four-minute K for that last one, and I just simply could not do it I did not have the energy in the run that I did two days ago. I did have the energy I had fresh legs. I had a fresh mental Mindset, and that's something I'm gonna discuss at the end here but I was a lot fresher in that run and I was able to push for a 436 final kilometer which I am proud of it meant that we did finish it in 158 29 for 21.01 K's what I'm gonna talk about now is Mindset so I'm gonna need to be in the same position I was two days ago seven days out before that run because I literally finished that and thought that I could do another one So I need to be physically and mentally in that same shape Which is gonna take me to taper down the workload from here So I've done to 20 kilometer relatively, you know, race pace I suppose at race pace definitely a race pace if I'm gonna want to run a four-hour marathon These two runs have been pretty much at race pace, which I'm stoked about it's really set myself up for a good run into this This this race I feel so I'm going to taper down the work. I'm going to see you guys again at day number three I'm not gonna run tomorrow. I'm gonna go to the gym instead because I haven't gone for about two weeks I've been putting all of my time and effort into my YouTube channel, which has taken away time from my lifting and Running so that's why I simply had to start this series I had to get myself back off that couch out onto the street again and to see just how much fitness I was able to retain which seems like I've you know been able to retain a decent amount So who knows what's gonna happen on race day. I feel like I do feel like the the event You know people being everywhere. I feel like I'm gonna feed off of that I feel like I am gonna be filled with the adrenaline at least for the first half I do feel like at 30 K's anyone's gonna struggle. So for those last 10 or last 12 K's It's gonna be tough But that is the time that I I enjoy actually Funnily enough in a funny kind of way in a sadistic kind of way That's the shit that I enjoy and that's you know You've got to enjoy the pain at some point you have to enjoy the you have to well not so much enjoy the pain But you have to endure it and you have to know the Reward that comes at the end of setting a goal You know a pretty a pretty hard goal pushing through at times and achieving it Which is everything that 2020 has been about for me and this is just you know another thing This is gonna be the icing on the cake It's a week before my 30th birthday and I will have completed my very first marathon so guys Thank you so much for watching. I really really mean it. I'll see you in two more days We're running the Queen's Town marathon if I haven't mentioned it before and I cannot wait So for anyone that is running, please let me know down in the comment section below if you did it these videos are gonna come out post marathon or post event so I don't know when or how or what or Why you'd even comment because it is post marathon But if you did do it or you do know anyone that did it or you do want to you know lend a comment of support for me Please do it's all appreciated. I'll see you in the next one. Peace out everybody