Have you ever run a marathon? 26.2 miles? No - well, I haven't either. But I'm getting closer. On October 5, 2008, my sister Jeanette and I are running the Portland Marathon in Oregon. Its our first (and hopefully successful) attempt at this distance. We've been officially training for more than 6 weeks, and we have about 7 more to go. That means we're almost at the half-way point. As of the date of this publishing, both my sister and I have recently run 1/2 marathons (13.1 miles). We've been following a training log, as well as advice from a marathon coach.

This week, we took the big step and sent in our registrations for the race! With the investment of close to $100 for the entry fee, there is no backing out now.... Also, during this week, I was up in the Seattle area visiting my family (including Jeanette) for the baptism of my newest nephew, Charles Lewallen. He is 2 months old and is an adorable addition to our family! While I was in town, Jeanette and I headed out for a few runs together - our first ever, and certainly our first while training for the marathon.

Catch up on our progress so far:

Training for the Portland Marathon - Week One

Training for the Portland Marathon - Week Two

Training for the Portland Marathon - Week Three

Training for the Portland Marathon - Week Four

Training for the Portland Marathon - Week Five

When you are in the midst of training, you want to be able to track and chart your progress. That's where technology comes into play these days! Both Jeanette and I have fancy devices that can track our miles logged, pace, calories burned and more. With four kids, I opted for the less expensive option.... the Nike Sportsband. I wear a watch that has a removable plug-in chip for the computer. It tracks miles, calories, pace and time. The wristband communicates with an iPod device that fits either into special Nike running shoes, or into a small pocket that you fit onto your left running shoe. I opted for the latter first, which didn't work very well for me. It seemed that the iPod did not lie flat enough to communicate properly with the wristband. As a result, my pace and calibration was very far off. Once I bought the shoes with the insole insert, everything got much better. My statistics seem to be accurate now, which is a great relief for a person training for a marathon!

Jeanette invested in a Garmin Forerunner 405. It looks just like a watch, and is about 3-4 times more expensive than the Nike Sportsband (look for good deals on eBay - see some suggestions to the right). The Garmin uses global positioning satellite (GPS) technology so your total miles will be 100% accurate (Nike, not so much). It can also log the elevation, as well as overall distance, calories and pace. With both the Nike and the Garmin device, you can determine splits on running laps, if you train on a track.

With both the Nike Sportsband and the Garmin, you can track your progress on the computer. Check out your prior runs, race against yourself, see your progress and even share your information with other runners.

Now, take a look at our training logs for this week. I can tell you that things are about to get a lot more interesting!

Sunday 8/3 - So, with the drama of getting ready for Charlie's baptism (I am staying at my parents' house along with my sister, brother-in-law and 2 nephews), I opted not to rock the boat by going out for a run before church. I considered running after the party, but soon decided that it was too warm and I would rather go to a movie with my mom and Jeanette. I need to put in some miles this week before the half-marathon! But let me tell you, Mamma Mia was a great diversion! Very fun!

Monday 8/4 - Jeanette and I headed out for our first training run together! While I had a day off yesterday, Jeanette put in some serious, fast miles. So, I was chipper and ready to roll. Jeanette was bemoaning the loss of her usual Monday day off. Thanks to her accurate Garmin Forerunner 405, we know that we put in 6.25 miles together. It was a warm day, but not too bad running along the shady streets of East Mercer Way. Very fun!! We got some great photos of the two of us before heading out. Oh - and the biggest news for the day.... we both officially registered for the Portland Marathon! No backing out now. We just need to make our hotel reservations now. 2 months from tomorrow is the BIG DAY!

Tuesday 8/5 - I dragged Jeanette out for a second day of running, putting her farther behind on her day off. We were both dragging and slower today. It was HOT and (for me) a bit humid. We discussed whether we would go 6 or 7 miles, and quickly decided it would be 6. We took off from the Bellevue Club and ran along trails towards Factoria. At 3 miles, we turned around to head back. We really had to push each other to keep running. Finally, with about .7 left, we decided to walk it out. No sense in risking injury. Total run was 5.3, plus the last .7 for a grand total of 6.0 miles. I am flying back to Bend tonight, landing at midnight. I don't expect I'll be up early for a run before work!

Wednesday 8/6 - No surprise here. I took today off. Got in very late last night and was completely sacked out in the morning. I went to work and had next to nothing to do all day until - you guessed it - 4:30. Then it was crazy busy responding to some nonsense from a neighbor opposing one of my client's projects. I went home and packed again for the Oregon Coast. I have a 2 1/2 day CLE at the Salishan Lodge and have to leave Thursday mid-day.

Thursday 8/7 - Woke up this morning even more tired than the day before. Plus, very strange, intense thundershowers. Unusual for Central Oregon mornings. I'm not going to test my luck by running in that stuff. Driving to work I saw at least 3 lightening strikes. Our power kept shutting off at the office. By 11:30, I was on my way to the Oregon Coast. Trying to get there early enough for a run before the 7:00 reception. Got there around 4:00, thanks to massive road construction over the pass, plus general tourist traffic along the Coast highway. Now I'm unpacked and have my running gear on. I picked up a trail map at the front desk, so I am off for a quick run. Looks like there is a good 4.8 mile loop. If I want to, I could add that to the 2.6 mile loop tomorrow and get in 7.4 miles. I'll have to get up early to do that! So, I went to follow the "trail," and lost it after about a mile. I ended up running a paved loop around most of the Salishan home development and ran for almost 50 minutes. I'll count it as 5.5 miles.

Friday 8/8 - I set the alarm so I could get out and run again before the CLE seminar started at 8:00. Out fresh at 6:50 a.m., I ran back to find the trail that I lost yesterday. Turns out that it was a mistake! I ended up on the beach and the tide was way in. That meant that I was running up on the super soft sand to stay away from the waves that kept threatening to get my feet wet. Not only that, but the shore sloped pretty steeply towards the ocean. It was really tough. After almost a mile on the sand, I finally noted a sign that would take me back up to the road on which I had run the night before. Whew! I spotted a brown bunny rabbit (both on the way out and back), and then, in the bay, I thought I saw a dog way out in the middle for a swim. Turns out it was a sea lion! It was a nice quiet run in the damp, drizzly morning. Again, 5.5 miles.

Saturday 8/9 - I thought about doing another 5 mile run, but I talked to a marathoner last night who strongly suggested I take the day off since I'll be running my half marathon tomorrow. He's from Bend and told me all about the "Haulin' Aspen" run that I'll be doing. Not the easiest 1/2 marathon, given the 1500 foot elevation climb. But he thoroughly described the course and had some great tips. He's also run the Portland Marathon 4 times - averaging just over 3 hours for a finish time. Incredible!! So, I figured he knew what he was talking about. I drove back to Bend from the coast mid-day and stopped by the Footzone to pick up my race number and t-shirt. Jeanette told me about how she couldn't sleep the night before her first half-marathon, and here I am at 10:45 the night before mine (that's really late for me, BTW!) Look for my next post after the run!! Its going to be only 75 degrees here tomorrow, so it should be perfect race running weather. On the drive home, I stopped to snap some photos of the gorgeous Central Oregon scenery (see photo to the above right).

Stephanie's Week Six Grand Total: 23.25 miles

Sunday 8/3 - So, very much out of character, I got up EARLY today and headed out at 7:30 a.m. for my run. We had to be at church at 10:30 for my nephew's baptism and I wanted to run at least 8 miles (and I was determined to do it given my previous three days off). I headed out from our and house down Gallagher Hill (a huge hill -- almost .75 mile long) and headed to East Mercer Way. I ran until I hit mile 4.25 and turned around and headed back. I ran 8.5 miles in 77 minutes -- a fairly zippy 9 minute/mile for me, given the early hour. It was chilly, but otherwise it was a great run. I'm tempted to start setting my alarm every day for morning runs. Nah!!

Monday 8/4 - Normally I take Mondays off to recover from my Sunday long run. However, as Stephanie is in town for Charlie's baptism, we decided to hit the trails and get in a joint run together. I was definitely feeling stiff and sore after my run yesterday. And Stephanie tends to run at a faster pace. But it was still a good run. We ran from the Community Center to East Mercer Way and back -- a total of 6.25 miles. We ran at a pace of 9:30/mile. I'm sure I held Steph back a bit, but that's still a decent pace for me for 6 miles.

Tuesday 8/5 - Today is Stephanie's last full day in Seattle, so we hit the road again for another run. It was HOT HOT HOT by 9:45 when we headed out. We left the Bellevue Club to do my route down to Factoria and back. We were planning on 6 miles (so we turned around at mile 3), but I just couldn't take any more by the time we hit 5.3 miles. After drinking far too much caffeine and running, I just HAD to find a potty so we walked the remaining 3/4 mile back to the Bellevue Club. All in all, it wasn't the best run. I'm not sure what our average pace was (I forgot to stop the timer on my watch), but our time reflected we ran around 9:50/mile when I checked towards the end of our run. Certainly not one of my better runs. But at least we got the miles in -- even in the Seattle heat!

Wednesday 8/6 - After three straight days of some good runs, I decided to take off today. This may be a mistake, as our family is leaving tomorrow to go camping in Eastern Washington with my in-laws for the next four days. While I know I'll have plenty of time to get my runs in (thank God for grandparents!), I know that the 95+ degree heat will make things difficult. I'll just have to get up early, which probably won't be too difficult as we'll be sleeping in a tent!

Thursday 8/7 - So, following Stephanie's advice, I got up early today and got out for my run first thing. Although I felt very slow and sluggish (no time for my secret weapon -- Rockstar iced coffee), it was actually a pretty good run. 5 miles in 46 minutes (9:20/mile). I ran from our house up to the Middle School and back. It's going to be a super hot day here in Seattle, so it was very wise to get the run out of the way first thing. Time to pack up the car and head out of town!!!

Friday 8/8 - Today we got up and set out for a full day on a ski boat. It was sunny and hot...just the way I like it! Unfortunately, I was the only one in the group who knew how to water ski and we had the boat for a full 8 hours. So, I ended up skiing my little heart out. I decided to count today as a great "cross-training" day and abandon all plans for a run after returning to the campground. Instead, it's Miller Time!

Saturday 8/9 - I woke up today with an ENORMOUS stiff neck. I can't determine if it was the water skiing (and accompanying wipe outs), the "Hotel Coleman" accommodations, or a combination of both that contributed to my pain. Either way, I was quite crabby when I woke up and not in the mood to set out for a run. I decided to take the day off, work on my sun tan, and try to cultivate a beer belly like the rest of my fellow campers.

Jeanette's Week Six Grand Total: 25.75 miles

With the Olympics in full swing recently, we watched many of the competitions, which are inspirational, regardless of your sports or athletic ability. Jeanette and I viewed the women's marathon race in awe. The gold medal winner finished in an astounding 2:21, more than a minute ahead of anyone else in the following pack! Even if you realize that a 2:21 finish is far too fast a pace than one you'll ever achieve, just watching the last few minutes of the race is enough to make you ready to dust off your running shoes and get out there for a jog!

So much of running long distances like a marathon is a mental exercise. Once you are in relatively good shape, you can push yourself and your body to do more and go farther. If you tell yourself you are only going to run 6 miles, then once you get to 5, you may start getting tired. On the other hand, if you know you are going to be pounding the pavement for at least 12 miles, you may find that you can complete 10 without too much effort (pacing yourself, drinking water and keeping up on Gu or other carbohydrates).

So, now that we are less than 2 months away from the race, you'll see in my hubs and our training logs that we will be pushing harder and working more to make sure we're in shape, while at the same time making sure not to injure ourselves.

Stay tuned for Week 7 and beyond.... and wish us luck!