Training for the Portland Marathon - Week Three

As you may know, my sister Jeanette and I are training for the Portland Marathon in October of 2008. Its our first marathon each. This is now Week Three of our running, after Weeks One and Two have been reviewed on previous hubs. We now have less than 11 weeks to go, in the middle of summer!

This week was not easy for either of us, but we still managed to keep going with our training. We had sick kids, a camping trip, and work issues that complicated things. My left knee is starting to bother me too. I injured it many years ago during competitive gymnastics. Notwithstanding these hurdles, we still both got in more than 25 miles of training and (I think) are ready for a more productive Week Four!

Our training is paying off. On Saturday, July 19, I won my age division in a 10K race in Bend, Oregon(see photo to the above right). I beat out 10 other women in my group and was 12th overall, out of over all women participants. Although many would not consider my time stellar, I was happy with running 6.2 miles in 51 minutes. This week, I am going to work on trail running to increase my speed and strength.

In two weeks, I will be running a half-marathon in Bend, the "Haulin' Aspen," on August 10, 2008. The 13.1 mile race will be held at Shevlin Park. I understand that the race is about 6 miles uphill on the trail system, and then the rest is sloping downwards towards the end. There is a 1300-foot elevation gain during the run! I am a much better runner on pavement than trails, so I plan to go out to the park this weekend for some practice.

More than anything else, we are discovering that training for a marathon takes dedication. It can be a real mental challenge to think about running for 2-3 hours straight, but our training schedules call for these long runs. It is not as much the physical fitness, but the willingness to - as Nike ad campaigns declare - "Just Do it."

Without further ado, read below for our Week Three training logs:

Sunday 7/13 - Day 3 at Cub Scout camp. Similar routine as on Saturday. I asked Jeff to watch the boys while I slipped out for the same run as I did the day before. 3.5 miles again. Nothing like running at 4600 feet. My mother-in-law (from Sisters, OR) promises that when I run closer to sea level, I'll be faster and feel stronger.

Monday 7/14 - Last day of Cub Scout camp. I had an early morning rise to watch the boys do the Polar Bear swim. 1/2 day of activities and then I can't wait to go home. Laundry, shower and checking emails, etc. I just decided to take another day off instead of squeezing in a run. I'll be behind in mileage this week, but its worth a little rest.

Tuesday 7/15 - LAME-O! I slept in by accident and planned to run from work. Of course, I had completely forgotten about the Chamber of Commerce event from 11-1:30 that I signed up for. It was quite an interesting program, so I guess it was worth the missed running opportunity. I could have tried to run after work, but it was 90 degrees. And I wanted a glass of wine. *sigh* I have a feeling this could be a bad week...

Wednesday 7/16 - Finally, back on the trail. Actually, this morning, it was back on the treadmill. I haven't run inside for about 2 weeks. It was really hot in the den and that dragged me down a bit. Otherwise, I increased my pace by .2/hour and finished up at 4 miles today. Tomorrow may be a repeat because Pete is gone - I can't run outside while leaving all the kids at home alone.

Thursday 7/17 - Another boring morning on the treadmill. Pete had to go register the kids for Kinder-care at 7:00, which meant that I had to stay inside with the kids. I REALLY wanted to run outside. So, I slugged it out, watching the TODAY Show, as I usually do. Ran for 4.25 miles. Then, a busy day at the office with a lunch meeting and mediation at 2:00. Tomorrow, I intend to get in a good 5 or 6 mile run outside.

Friday 7/18- Outside for a run for the first time since... Sunday?? Yep. But it was a good one. I ran 6.3 miles roundtrip from my house to Reed Market Road and back. This time, I made it in 59 minutes - two minutes faster than the last time. I'm a little worried about running 6.3 miles right before my 10K race tomorrow morning, but we'll see what the result is. It was 75 degrees out when I ran, but it felt a lot warmer. Not much breeze. No blood sugar issues today. Hope for the same tomorrow. I think 1 hour is pretty safe for me.

Saturday 7/19- Finished up the week with a 10K race, the Deschutes Dash. I completed the 6.2 mile run in 51:20! And, even more impressive, I won my age group! They put me with the 40-44 year old women because (unfortunately) that is how old I'll be on December 31, 2008. The run was fast and felt pretty good. About 3-4 miles of the race was on trails, which was difficult for me. I did great on the pavement segments, though. There were 11 women in my age group and I beat the next one by over 3 minutes. I didn't feel "that" fast, but its surprising to see how well I did. :-)

Stephanie's Week Three Grand Total: 24.25 miles

Sunday 7/13 - Week three of my marathon training started with another sunny and hot day in Seattle. As I'm not a morning person and I've learned not to run in the heat of the day, I decided to postpone my run until early evening. This was an especially smart move today, as Brandon woke me up in the middle of the night and I couldn't get back to sleep for almost an hour. So, after lounging around the house in the morning with the kids (while Kurt went for his run), we packed it up and went to the pool for most of the day. Later, I got some work in while the kids napped, which was good too. Around 6:30, I headed out for my run. I ran from my house down Shoreclub Drive towards East Mercer Way. When I hit E. Mercer Way, I ran south for about 4 miles. I headed up SE 68th street to the intersection of 68th and Island Crest Way (by Sunnybeam School). I then headed home via Island Crest Way. It was a great run -- exactly 7 miles in just over 1 hour. The hill up from E. Mercer Way was a KILLER -- very steep and about .4 miles long. Suffice it to say, I walked the whole thing. If it weren't for that hill, I would have had a great time. But I was pretty happy with my pace -- I averaged 9:27/mile, but for most of the run I kept a pretty consistent pace of about 8:50/mile (which is really zippy for me).

Monday 7/14 - Today is an off day for me. This week the kids have swim camp at our local club, which means I'll have 2.5 hours each day to get my runs in. This is great! Today I used the time to do some contract work. Not fun to sit inside on a sunny day, but it pays the bills.

Tuesday 7/15 - Dropped the kids off at swim camp at 9:30 a.m. and headed out shortly thereafter for a run. One of my best runs yet -- 5 miles in 45 minutes. I'm pretty pleased that I'm keeping my pace pretty consistently at about a 9 minute mile outside (with hills) in the full sunshine. I tend to slow down pretty dramatically when I get hot and tired, so it's nice to see a more consistent (and faster) pace. I plan to replicate this run for the rest of the week.

Wednesday 7/16 - Another repeat of yesterday. Dropped the kids off at swim camp at 9:30 and headed out the door by 9:45. Another terrific run -- 5 miles in 43 minutes!!! An 8.6 minute mile!!! I think I've figured out my magic mojo...(1) running in the morning before it's too hot (but not too early that I'm dragging); (2) running a fairly short, 5 mile course with three big (yet short) hills; and, most importantly (3) drinking my new favorite, RockStar Light Latte, before the run!! I'm feeling good and actually FEEL like I'm getting in better shape, even though I've been running consistently for months now.

Thursday 7/17 - Today started from bad to worse. I couldn't run in the morning because I had to zip out to court to retrieve some documents. So I dropped the kids off at camp and got some work done. After camp, we all went to Red Robin for lunch. Pretty much as soon as we were done there, Brandon started complaining that his stomach hurt (I attributed it to him needing to poop). We raced home and got ready for a little play date/party at a friend's house. After that, I had to head to a meeting at my church. I got home around 6:30; five minutes after walking in the door Brandon threw up EVERYWHERE --and I mean everywhere. We cleared the house of my mom, grandma and nephew and got everyone ready for an early bed time. Brandon threw up until after 10:00 pm; I started vomiting at 8 p.m. and was still dry heaving at midnight. Both my nephew and my grandma are super sick too, I've learned. So, it could have been food poisoning (we all ate out together), or it could have been a bad bug. Either way, I wasn't able to run today.

Friday 7/18 - So, after a terrible night (and the smell of vomit still lingering in the air today), I'm thinking that I won't be able to run today. No one is going to swim camp and I think we'll just lay low here today. If there's a dramatic improvement throughout the day, perhaps I'll get a few miles in on the treadmill.

Saturday 7/19 - Although I was still feeling under the weather, I forced myself to get outside and go for a run. I was able to get in a 6 mile run, but I was running so slowly I felt like I was running under water (I'm not going to even dare putting in my time here!). I was completely lacking in energy and stamina. It's amazing what a big dose of vomiting will do to one's body! Hopefully this will be my one and only illness to contend with while training.

Jeanette's Week Three Grand Total: 23 miles