Two years ago when I turned 50 I took up running. It wasn’t my idea! Although always an avid walker, I never thought I could be a runner. And, the older I got, the less I considered it an option. Then my daughter had a baby and wanted to take up running to help her loose weight and get back into shape. She asked me to join her in training for a 5K (3.1 miles). That was in March 2006. Cory found a 5K training program on the Internet (www.coolrunning.com) which we used to prepare ourselves for our first 5K scheduled in June 2006. Little did I know that I would quickly grow to enjoy running like I did. Granted, I’m not a real fast runner, but I have been able to systematically lengthen the distance of my runs over the last two years, starting with 5K’s, then 10K’s, and finally today, running my first Half Marathon (13.1 miles).
I decided to tackle the Half Marathon in December 2007 as a way to keep myself motivated to continue my weekly runs. Although I enjoy this activity, there are times, as with anything, when motivation and desire wane, and I was experiencing this myself towards the end of last year. I looked up how to train for a Half Marathon by my favorite running author, Jeff Galloway, and found he recommended a 17-week plan. I started looking around for events that would be held in May or later, thinking that would give me plenty of time to prepare. Then Dan and I found out we would be in and/or traveling to Alaska during that period of time, and there weren’t any events scheduled in Fairbanks during the time we would be there. Plan B was the Shamrock’n Half Marathon scheduled in Sacramento in March, but that would only give me 11 weeks to train instead of 17 if I started training on January 1st. I decided to go for it, and just try my best.
Keeping to my training schedule was sometimes difficult while on the road. Every two weeks I was supposed to increase my weekly “long run” by 1.5 miles. I was never exactly sure where we were going to be, if there would be a good place to run, or what the weather would be like. Dan was great, always running with me on the short runs, and on his bike with me on the long ones. On January 20th on my 8 mile training run, we were in Bernalillo, NM, and the temperature when I started out that morning was 32 degrees! I’ve attached a picture from that day, it’s the one where I am all bundled up! On February 26th I fell while skiing and twisted my knee. That was touch and go for a few days. At one point I almost called Fleet Feet to ask if I could transfer my entry to someone else, as the race had completely sold out. Luckily I healed in about a week, and the worst thing that happened is that I had to postpone my 12 mile training run by 4 days. The 12 mile run was my longest run prior to the Half Marathon, so I had never actually run that distance before today. During training, I was averaging 13 minute miles on my “long runs”. I wasn’t out to set any speed records, my only goal was to finish. I employ the walk/run method recommended by Jeff Galloway which is basically incorporating regular brief walk breaks into the run. Today, during the actual Half Marathon I averaged 11:57 minute miles (total 2 hours, 36 minutes), over a full minute faster per mile than during training! Probably because it was so cold to start out, I just naturally ran faster to warm up!
I don’t know that I will do another Half Marathon. The training commitment is big, and it can interfere with other plans for a long period of time. I’m happy today to just be able to say I did it, at least once! I really don’t think a Marathon is on my horizon, but at one time I never thought past the possibility of a 10K, so who knows? The pictures I’ve attached include two from a different training runs, the starting line for the Shamrock’n Half Marathon, and a finish line picture of me getting my finisher’s medal.
I decided to tackle the Half Marathon in December 2007 as a way to keep myself motivated to continue my weekly runs. Although I enjoy this activity, there are times, as with anything, when motivation and desire wane, and I was experiencing this myself towards the end of last year. I looked up how to train for a Half Marathon by my favorite running author, Jeff Galloway, and found he recommended a 17-week plan. I started looking around for events that would be held in May or later, thinking that would give me plenty of time to prepare. Then Dan and I found out we would be in and/or traveling to Alaska during that period of time, and there weren’t any events scheduled in Fairbanks during the time we would be there. Plan B was the Shamrock’n Half Marathon scheduled in Sacramento in March, but that would only give me 11 weeks to train instead of 17 if I started training on January 1st. I decided to go for it, and just try my best.
Keeping to my training schedule was sometimes difficult while on the road. Every two weeks I was supposed to increase my weekly “long run” by 1.5 miles. I was never exactly sure where we were going to be, if there would be a good place to run, or what the weather would be like. Dan was great, always running with me on the short runs, and on his bike with me on the long ones. On January 20th on my 8 mile training run, we were in Bernalillo, NM, and the temperature when I started out that morning was 32 degrees! I’ve attached a picture from that day, it’s the one where I am all bundled up! On February 26th I fell while skiing and twisted my knee. That was touch and go for a few days. At one point I almost called Fleet Feet to ask if I could transfer my entry to someone else, as the race had completely sold out. Luckily I healed in about a week, and the worst thing that happened is that I had to postpone my 12 mile training run by 4 days. The 12 mile run was my longest run prior to the Half Marathon, so I had never actually run that distance before today. During training, I was averaging 13 minute miles on my “long runs”. I wasn’t out to set any speed records, my only goal was to finish. I employ the walk/run method recommended by Jeff Galloway which is basically incorporating regular brief walk breaks into the run. Today, during the actual Half Marathon I averaged 11:57 minute miles (total 2 hours, 36 minutes), over a full minute faster per mile than during training! Probably because it was so cold to start out, I just naturally ran faster to warm up!
I don’t know that I will do another Half Marathon. The training commitment is big, and it can interfere with other plans for a long period of time. I’m happy today to just be able to say I did it, at least once! I really don’t think a Marathon is on my horizon, but at one time I never thought past the possibility of a 10K, so who knows? The pictures I’ve attached include two from a different training runs, the starting line for the Shamrock’n Half Marathon, and a finish line picture of me getting my finisher’s medal.
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