06 July – Training is generally going well. However I have been sick this weekend. I think it was allergies, but I also have a cough – Colds in July!?!?!?!? Who would have guessed. I missed my long run this weekend so will try to do it on Monday or Tuesday + a second long run this week – before Saturday. We leave for Mississippi on Saturday for a week of Ministry and construction. I have no idea how much training I till be able to get in while down there. It will also be really hot and humid, so training will be rough anyway. The Achilles is doing great. With the temps going up, it is now time to start carrying water on those long runs. I tend to sweat out more water in one run than I drink in a day! This week a 12 mile run is scheduled. Can’t wait. I told someone recently that the first 5 miles are the hardest – after that I get into a rhythm and I can run for a long time. I think people think I am crazy.
18 May – I took a break from running this week and spent most of my training time on my bike. I have been itching to “go long”, but the coordinator of the World Vision team has strongly warned against doing so to avoid injury. Here are his latest things to keep in mind during this pre-training period;
- You may already be able to run the 6 miler (actually I will be doing an 8 mile run that first week because I am not a beginner when it comes to marathons – imagine that one marathon under my belt and I move from beginner to intermediate level)that we will be doing in week one of training.
- Fight the urge to put in excessive mileage during pre-training.
- Unless you are doing an early season half-marathon, stay away from runs over 8 miles for now.
- Include a recovery week (less mileage) one out of every four weeks.
- Putting in a lot of long runs now could put you at risk for injury later in the season.
- Focus on speed work.
Here is the schedule for this week – I will modify the speed work a bit;
| Mon: short run and strength training | Tues: speed work | Wed | Thurs: cross-training | Fri: short run and strength training | Sat: long run | Sun: rest |
| 30 min jog; 45 min strength | 10 X 800s 200 easy jog and Rest 30 seconds in between |
4 mile tempo run (Fast) | Spin class or swimming 1 hour |
45 minute easy run; 45 minutes strength |
5-8 miles at race pace (the pace you hope to run the marathon) | Rest |
After a week of low miles and cross training on my bike – I am ready for a hard week of training. I hope to get a long run in over memorial day weekend – I will be here by myself as I await for Courtney to return from France and Gary and the others will be in Missouri visiting my mother-in-law. Good time to try 6-8 miles at race pace!
11 May- Training seems to coming along just fine. There is a guy from World Vision that is coordinating the team. He sends out a weekly email. Those that are in Chicago can meet and run weekly. They had their first run last week and Friday I received an email with the following subject line – Run. . . or else! He was reminding us that we are in the pre training or conditioning phase. The more time and effort we put in now will pay off later as we hit the 18 week intense training for the marathon. Skipping workouts now will hurt us later. He also said that all Team World Vision runners need to be able to run the entire marathonn in 13 minutes/mile or less – this time gives a runner cushion to finish before they clear the course.
This was encouraging for me as I can do 10 minute miles and working on dropping that time to 8 minutes/mile. I have a friend who runs 8 minute miles for 3-5 miles and we have done a couple of runs. The first time, I about died. This weekend when we went out again, it was much better, but I was really tired by the time we completed the run. Garrett has figured out that if I run 8 minute miles for the whole race, I will finish under 4 hours and qualify for the Boston Marathon - while it might be exciting to qualify, I need to be realistic about my chances of doing that. Based on past experience, I think finishing somewhere around 5 hours is very doable and if the Lord grants good weather and no injuries – a faster finish might be possible. I am running to change lives in Africa – every step counts in training and in the race.
27 April – I missed several runs last week – the weather here was not good for running. I hope to get some good runs in this week. I did buy new running shoes over the weekend. Everyone will tell you that when you are breaking in new shoes to do it slowly. Nope I just put on the new shoes and run. I has worked for me over the years. But buying new shoes this early in the training, means that I will need another pair before I run Chicago – UGH. But I would rather do that than to get injured. Hill training will begin this week. There is a good stretch of hills not far from my house. As hard as it is to run them, they really help with the endurance.
21 April Update – I have missed some runs of late due to busy schedule. But hopefully things will begin to slow down and the weather is getting nicer – although they are calling for thunderstorms later in the day. A typical training week for me looks like this – at least until the beginning of June;
Monday Strenth Training and a short run
Tuesday Speed Work
Wednesday Hill Work – I have a 3-4 mile course with lots of hills that help with endurance
Thursday Strength Training - 3mile pace run
Friday Cross Train
Saturday Long run – 4-5 miles for now. I have been advised not to do anything longer until we start the 18 week countdown to the Marathon. This will hopefully lessen the chance of injury. I ran the last marathon with injuries and would like to do this one without injuries!
Sunday Rest -
I have been working a program that helps inner city girls with life skills, academic tutoring and learning how to go deeper into a relationship with God. I love those girls and some of them have expressed an interest in doing some short runs with me. We tried on Saturday, but the weather and other things prevented them from joining me. We will try again and so I will be rearranging my schedule so that I have a shorter run on Saturday – at least until the weather gets warmer and I need to run earlier in the day. I did run with one of the mentors on Saturday and she has a faster pace than I do. We have agreed to run every Saturday so that I can get faster. Two minutes for each mile can add up quickly.
This is where the training updates will be posted. This will be updated monthly until June when the updates will be weekly.
The next 3 months will be spent doing strength work – think weight lifting:-) and building a running base from which to launch into the serious training in June. There are 18 weeks of serious training before a marathon that are intense, but really get you ready for the race. I will have some running buddies in the first few months. This is a first for me – I have almost always run solo. Praise God for this – it is a great encouragement.
The first runs went well. The weather has been great, at least for Minnesota in March!! The trails are currently either under water or still covered with snow, which means that I am running on the street. The biggest thing to accomplish in the next 3 months is to build the lung capacity back and to gain enduarance and conditioning. This weekend it looks like my oldest son and I will be loading up the bikes and heading into the city to ride the chain of lakes.
