Exciting!! I know you will have a great time in San Diego!

6k very disciplined easy run (11:05, 11:00, 10:55). Much more for our soul than for our training.
This was our last run before the Sunday race.
Afternoon SFactor and long stretch (as long as Deer Hunter)

We discussed our race plan. Our original plan was to have a "dress rehearsal" half marathon on January 11, then a full energy half marathon on January 11. Because our dress rehearsal was an unexpected success (not only reaching our under 2:10 - 10 min/mile pace goal, but fulfilling our dream with an under 2 hour (1:59 time) - this weekend our only goal: enjoying ourselves:-)))
Our race plan a little changed based on our experience. Starting with a conservative 9:20 pace - for 6 miles, then 4 miles with 9:10 pace, finishing with 3 under 9min/mile pace. Nutrition changes slightly too: one cup of Gatorade before run, water at 3 mile, 1/2 energy drink at mile 6, sip of water at mile 8, and 1/2 cup energy drink again at mile 10.
There are toilets at every mile, so if we have to go (last weekend we did not) we can go.
Because this race start one hour earlier, we dont have to fight the sun/heat as last time - good news.

Two weeks ago we were celebrating the first anniversary of the start of my running program (see January 3 entry). When I started I did not have any race goal: simply wanted to fight back the first signs of aging.
Sunday at the start/finish line of the Carlsbad Marathon we are going to have another celebration. My dream, to be part of the marathon magic was born one year ago, 100 yards from the start/finish line of this same race.

We were sitting there with my husband, waiting for our son (he was running the full marathon). It was 10:30 AM – 3 hours after the start of the marathon, and 3 ½ hours after the start of the half marathon. The pro/master and fastest amateur marathoners already arrived, but still hundreds of half-marathoners were on the road. To finish this 13 miles course over 3 1/2 hours means mostly walk. No, it does not mean any less accomplishment, effort. It simply means a different way to overcome this obstacle. They arrived running, jogging, walking, limping, sweating, in solo, in couple, in family, in groups. Old, young, slim, curvy (in 4-40% BF range), healthy, ill – very diverse group, but with the same enthusiasm on their faces: “I DID IT!” Who cares about time, competition… They ALL DID IT. They all were part of the (half) marathon magic. The spectators were enthusiastic too (as I experienced on many other races) giving a cheer, shouting encouriging words, applauding even for the ones who hardly could walk. Oh my… How much I wanted to be among them! Sweating, limping, but finishing.

That was the moment, when my dream was born: "I want to be there, among them!” I turned to my husband, pointing to the finish line I told him: “Next year I will be there.” How typical – he immediately misunderstood me. “Why? What do you want there?” Ok, ok – I can not blame him. A 46 year old wife who can not run more than 100 yard want to be WHERE?

Two days later I registered for an half marathon. 2 weeks later my husband joined to my running program, and registered too. In October we finished our first half marathon, in 2:13, with no walk, then last week our second, in 1:59:45.

On Sunday "I WILL BE THERE!" at the start/finsih line of the Carlsbad marathon. This time to run a half marathon, but I will be back for the marathon :-)))

Dare to dream… and your dream might come true?

WE DID IT!!!!!!!!! Now we have a CERTIFICATE of our under 2 hours half Marathon time:-))))
(Last weekend on the Irvine half marathon we did not have individual chips to measure our time - we had to measure ourselves.)
This time we had official time (a little chip attached to our shoes, read by devices at start, at half time, at the finish).

1:59:29 (9:07 min/mile pace) - 16 sec less total time than in Irvine, last weekend, but it was a much faster run. Why? Here are the details, the split times:

1st mile: 10:23 - because of the huge crowd (4000+ runners/walkers) we hardly could even jog)
2nd mile 8:52
3rd mile 9:05
4th mile 9:01
5th mile 9:10
6th mile 8:56
7th mile 9:38 (includes a restroom break for DH)
8th mile 9:12
9th mile 9:27 (includes a restroom break for me)
10th mile 9:06
and here are the real surprise, the last 3 miles the FASTEST (do you remember the fairy tales about low carb, decreasing energy, bonking etc? During these last three miles nobody passed us, but we passed literally hundreds:-)))
11th mile 8:49
12th mile 8:27
13th mile 8:28

It means, that because of the time we wasted during the first mile, we had to run much faster than last time to be finish under 2 hours. (In Irvine, with much less runners, our first mile was 9:20)
According offical results I finished 50th from 248 in my age group.

Nutrition, carbs: one day before race : 80 carbs (I have been on maintenance since September)
one cup of Gatorade before race: 14 carbs
half cup of Ultimate at mile 10: 7 carbs
(Originally we planned more energy drinks, but contrary that they said, there was NO any between miles 5-9) It was VERY STUPID thing not to have our own drinks:-((( It seems it is not enough simply to check a course map for fuel stations, we need always a back-up plan.

I am very tired, more detail tomorrow:-))

P.S.: Meanwhile "officially" our Marine son migh be not a "low-carber" (who knows what is "low-carber" exactly?) but he finished the FULL marathon in 3:30 - with 1/4-1/5 amounts of carb than the "experts" recommend:-))))
Semper Fi/Fit!

Our after race pic in my gallery.

WOW! What a weekend we had... Yesterday evening I went to bed at 8 PM, had a very deep sleep. Good news: today morning I did not feel any pain/sore spots - seems our legs have been recovering - again - very fast. Considering our full marathon training plan - 13-22 miles long runs on every other weekend - we really need fast recovery.
Still both enthusiastic and exhausted... Today is rest day - planning only long stretch session. Bakground movie? Hm... Maybe Casablanca?

Galladriell,
congratulations!!!!
When I grow up I want to be like you
You look great in the pictures, especially the one where the guy behind you looks like he is ready to die and you look nice, cool and full of energy.
You truly are an inspiration. You are where I want to be by next fall.
I'll keep on coming back to see how you plan for the full marathon in a few months. I'm taking notes and learning from you. Thank you for keeping such good log.

Mary,
thanks for the kind words, but I am still a beginner in the marathon buisness. May I recommend an excellent site? www.runnersworld.com
It is a site of full of articles, advices running plans, etc. from very experienced amatuer runners. We followed their detailed plans for beginners as well as for half marathon training.
Looking forward to read your gym log.

WE DID IT!!!!!!!!! Now we have a CERTIFICATE of our under 2 hours half marathon time:-))))
(Last weekend on the Irvine half marathon we did not have individual chips to measure our time - we had to measure ourselves.)
This time we had official time (a little chip attached to our shoes, read by devices at start, at half time, at the finish).

1:59:29 (9:07 min/mile pace) - 16 sec less total time than in Irvine, last weekend, but it was a much faster run. Why? Here are the details, the split times:

1st mile: 10:23 - because of the huge crowd (4000+ runners/walkers) we hardly could even jog)
2nd mile 8:52
3rd mile 9:05
4th mile 9:01
5th mile 9:10
6th mile 8:56
7th mile 9:38 (includes a restroom break for DH)
8th mile 9:12
9th mile 9:27 (includes a restroom break for me)
10th mile 9:06
and here are the real surprise, the last 3 miles the FASTEST (do you remember the fairy tales about low carb, decreasing energy, bonking etc? During these last three miles nobody passed us, but we passed literally hundreds:-)))
11th mile 8:49
12th mile 8:27
13th mile 8:28

It means, that because of the time we wasted during the first mile, we had to run much faster than last time to be finish under 2 hours. (In Irvine, with much less runners, our first mile was 9:20)
According offical results I finished 50th from 248 in my age group.

Nutrition, carbs: one day before race : 80 carbs (I have been on maintenance since September)
one cup of Gatorade before race: 14 carbs
half cup of Ultimate at mile 10: 7 carbs
(Originally we planned more energy drinks, but contrary that they said, there was NO any between miles 5-9) It was VERY STUPID thing not to have our own drinks:-((( It seems it is not enough simply to check a course map for fuel stations, we need always a back-up plan.



P.S.: Meanwhile "officially" our Marine son migh be not a "low-carber" (who knows what is "low-carber" exactly?) but he finished the FULL marathon in 3:30 - with 1/4-1/5 amounts of carb than the "experts" recommend:-))))
Semper Fi/Fit!

The Details


The January San Diego Marathon/half Marathon races are always held in Carlsbad - the name San Diego Marathon - means only San Diego County. (Meanhwhile the June Rock&Roll Marathon is in San Diego city.) Carlsbad a wonderful small city at the ocean - with beautiful beach. We were very familiar with the place, and because of our son's previous races here, with the race too. We arrived on Saturday morning - to pick up our chips, bib numbers, t-shirts; to visit the expo, to see the 1 mile Kid race. (Thousand kids, many as young as 3 year old.)
The expo was a great opportunity to buy necessary running gears on half prices. We bought fuel belts (for the full Marathon training), and small safety warning flashing lights - for our before sunrise long run starts.

To ease our anxiety, after a light lunch we went to a shooting range. No, we neither are poster kids of NRA, nor deer hunters - our shooting backgrounds come from country fairs :-))) With our professional Marine son it was a great fun, and definetely helped to turn off our minds from the race.
Actually we were confused by our high anxiety. It was our third race, we were absolutely sure that we can finish it easily. Last weekend we already had our record: breaking the 2 hours. So there was not even time pressure. We do not know the reason, but both were emotionally highly charged.

Fortunately we had nice sleep - but had to wake up early, at 5 AM, to start the hydration, and to arrive early to find parking place. We arrived at 5:30, to the start of the marathon walkers race. Spent the time till the 7 AM start with walking around, wathcing other racers amazing pre-race routines. At 6:30 went for a last restroom visit – there were so long lines, we almost were late from our start.

With ChampionChip timing (small chips attached to our shoes) our times started when we crossed the start line. There were 4000+ half marathoner, it means around 8 minutes between the first and last starter's times. And it means a very crowded start. The first mile was walk/slow jog – till we could pass the walkers, slower runners. That is how we finished it in 10:33. (Contrary the planned 9:20.) During the second mile we could speed up, though we still could not run with a constant speed. After 3 miles we reached the beach. The real beauty of this race: 7 miles along the beach – wonderful view. We had sips of water – we were not thirsty, but our mouths were very dry. We had very easy 4th, 5th mile, really enjoyed the running, the clean, cool air, light wind.

Our plan was to have energy drink at mile 6. According the course map there were water stations at every mile, energy drink at every second mile. So after 5 ½ mile we were looking for the next station. Hm… We could not see any. We reached mile 6, still nothing. At 6½ DH suddenly saw a vacant toilet (very rare view on any race) – he jumped in, I slowed down a little, but did not stop. (To suddenly stop might have caused leg cramps.) DH joined me very soon – still no sign of any station. We passed mile 7, no station. We felt very thirsty. I must admit these were the lowest points for us. We should have had our own drinks with us. The sky was clearing up, temperature was raising fast. Already we saw vultures (ok, sea gulls) circling above us. Fortunately enthusiastic spectators and amateur musicians, bands were keeping our spirit up. At 7½ mile we found the next water station, no energy drink, but we were saved. One cup water in my stomach, one cup onto my head. One mile later we saw another vacant toilet, I jumped in and out – breaking my previous restroom record.

During our 10th mile we both started to calculate… We knew that if we could reach mile 10 before 1:33 – we can finish again under 2 hours. As last weekend, we did not talked about this. We did not want to press each other. But we both were checking our watches more frequently. And yes, we were at mile 10 a couple of seconds before 1:33 – we even had time to slow down to drink again - this time energy drink. Then my DH said the magic words: “ We have 27 min, we can finish under 2 hours. Lets rock!”

With this we started the most remarkable 3 miles run of our running carrier. We felt so energized, slowly speeding up. Literally step by step passing others. I checked my heart rate monitor : 94-96%. It was ok, during our trainings we could run 3 miles in this range, without problem. During 11th mile – I felt strong. Then 12th mile – a gentle hill. But after 10 mile run, with 95% max heart rate there is no such a thing as gentle incline/hill. I had to change my breathing from 3 - 3 (breathing in during 3 strides, out during 3 strides) to 2-2 – the sure sign for me that I should not push more. 2-2 means shallow breathing , the cause of possible killer side stitches. It is ok for me during a short sprint, but not for longer time. After the hill I tried to go back to 3-3 – but could not. Checking my heart rate: 99%. Till 1 ½ mile ahead.

Then I saw a huge sign: “From this point only downhill” – can you imagine more beautiful sign for any long distance runner? Still 2-2 breathing, but managed to made it a little deeper, so there were no side stiches. Then suddenly I heard a voice behind us, from a gentleman we had just passed: “Go ahead guys you two look great”. It was the last necessary push.

At the 12 mile sign I asked DH to check the time. (I simply did not have energy even to look down to my watch.) “We have 9:15 to finish”. Suddenly I felt weak, not my legs, my soul. I remembered my dream from 2003 January: “I will be there.” I was only a couple of minutes from "there" ... Tears running down on my face, but had not enough energy to cry. I do not remember running the last mile, only reaching the finish line….

One hour later, sitting 100 yards from the finish line, waiting for our son (he finished the full marathon in 3:30), I said again the magic words to my DH: "Next year we will be here." This time he did understand me: "Oh yes, running the full marathon." (IF we survive our first marathon this June:-)))

For the list of running books that gave me training, eating, inspirational advices click here.
The full list of my trusted, proved running gears here.

From 45 min walk to the first marathon:

(Detailed day by day account in my gym log.)

2003

January - 45 min walk every morning 3 miles walk (WATP)
February-March: 30 min walk/jog - gradually increased the jogging time
From April-August:
weekdays: 3 x 6k tempo run
Saturdays: long runs (April 10ks, May 12ks, June 14ks, July 16k, Aug 1x20k, Sept 3x16k)
Sundays: 8 k interval training - 2 k warm up, 10 x 400 with 100 sprint/300 easy, later 200 sprint/200 easy - 2 k cool down
September: our first half marathon - 2 hour 10'
September-December:
weekdays: 2 x 6k, 1x10k tempo run, 1x5k hill,
Saturday: 10 mile long runs
Sunday: 8 k interval - 2k warm up, 10x400 (200 sprint, 200 easy), 2k cool down.
November: 10k hill race - third place in my age group

2004:

January 11, 18 : two half marathons (both under 2 hours)
Irvine Half Marathon Carlsbad Half Marathon
After race an easy week: Monday, Tuesday no run - long stretches, Wednesday - Thursday - Friday easy 6ks, Saturday see bellow

Marathon training:

Weekdays (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday): 2 x 6k, 1 x 10 k tempo run
Fridays always rest, Tuesdays : cross training, LBWO

Saturdays: the basic pillars of our training, (other days programs might change)

January 24 (and every second Saturday) : 10 mile speedwork (1/2 mile warm up, 9 x 1 mile repeats, 1/2 mile cool down)
January 31 15 miles on track
February 7-8 hiking
February 14 15 miles on trail
February 21 10 miles speedwork
February 28 18 miles on track
March 7 10 miles speed work
March 8 10 k hillwork
March 13 18 miles on trail
March 20 10 miles speedwork
March 28 10 k hillwork
April 3 21 miles on track
April 10 10 miles speedwork
April 11 10 k hill
April 17 10 miles speedwork
April 18 10 k hill
April 24 21 miles on asphalt
May 1 10 miles speedwork
May 2 10 k hill
May 8 10 miles speedwork
May 9 10 k hill
May 15 24 miles on asphalt

Sundays: rest if we had (15-24 mile) long runs on Saturday, 10 k run or rest (based on the state of our legs after the Saturday run) on various courses if we had speed/hill on Saturday

May 16-June 5 tapering (see Runnersworld 3 weeks pre marathon tapering plan: It Is TaperTime )
June 6: San Diego Rock&Roll Marathon


The biggest challenge: to create a workable nutrition plan. Workable means: all necessary fuels on our belt, not counting on anything from the race water stations. So far our nutritional approcah was minimalistic. Emtpy stomach (only water) if we had 120 min or shorter run. Our nutrition for 120+ min runs:
Cliff bar with water before run, and Gu with water after every hour.

I have not mentioned our not running exercises - they are the same as were last year. 3 x UBWO (gym/off gym + Gilad), 1 x LBWO (off gym Gilad + arch strengthening exercises), Pilates (Lynn Robinson's Pilates Manual beginner, intermediate, advance programs + Winsor's book), Back maintenance programme by Fielding, stretches (Anderson or Kurz ) + swimming

Living in South CA means weather is not an issue, and having three adults kids means a "senior" life - style, we have plenty of personal time.

Edited on June 8th: WE DID IT!! 4 hours 35 mins -
Detail of the race: My First Marathon

For the next chapter - 2004 June-September - of my training program go to:
Uphill Battle

Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!
Congratulations on reaching your goal!!!!!
That is awesome!
I got a good ways to go, so im going to make the best of it and enjoy coming down.
im going to have to check out that site so i can look for the perfect pole!
JT
dONT BE A STRANGER!!!!11

After 48 hours leg rest - we are rolling again:-))
6k easy sunrise run (3x11:20) - really easy "soul run" - to test if everything is ok after our double half Marathon adventure.
It was so good to run at home again. Yes, Carlsbad beach was fantastic, but nothing compared to our roads :-) 4000 runners/walkers are nice, but we missed familiar faces.
Young Man with Dog greeted us with his biggest smile. His dog shows unexpected improvement. When we first saw them a couple of months ago, the dog hardly could walk, now it is always running ahead of the guy. Then we saw Lonely Nerd - still lonely - it seems nothing changed:-)

Yesterday evening we filled out our on-line applications for the Rock&Roll Marathon - now we are officially comitted to the 26.2 mile.
DH even reserved room in a wonderful SD hotel for the race. It seemed a little early, but I love his faith in us. :-) Our anniversary is on June 1, we always celebrate it with a one week trip, so this year our trip is to SD.

Stretch, Pilates - movie: Coppola's Dracula

Our nutritional approach to long distance running/racing so far have been very simple. If our run is 90 min, or shorter, we only drink water before/during the run. If it is between 90-120 min, we have on cup of Gatorade before run, and 1/2 -1/2 (or 1/4-1/4 on cooler days) at 60 min, and at 90 min. (Always followed by a high protein breakfast.) The reason behind this minimal approach is not some kind of LC Spartaism, but much more comfortability. One year ago we started our short 15-30 min run early morning, with empty stomach - our stomach did not seemed to take anything before/during run. Because we did not see any adverse effect, we kept this empty stomach start even when our long run increased. We always start to run at/before sunrise, so the sweating was not an issue. During summer, when our long run already was longer than 90 min, and the tmeperature higher, we needed electrolyte intake - that is how we started the Gatorade. We researched the subject, read from many runners - and learned that there is nothing wrong with this minimal approach (many long distance runner do not take anything under 90-120 min) - only we should be careful to eat right after run.
We never had any problem with bonking, lost energy, dropping BSL. Our bodies learned how to run on minimal fuel/water with max efficiency. From a weight loss point of view this high efficency seems to be disadvantage - that is why it is not recommended to try to loose weight during marathon training. Fortunately I lost most of my excess weight during the first couple of months, when our long run was less than one hour. Something else. To be high efficiency during run does not mean that our metabolism slower when we are not running. Contrary. Our BMR is higher than ever.

Now, when we started our marathon training, we need new approach. We crossed the 2 hours limit, it means our muscles need glyc replenishment. (And of course sodium, potassium etc.)
It seems every runner, trainer, expert has different way how to do this. We try to follow our son, who has 4 years of marathon/triathlon experience. He gave us a list of his fuels: bars, Gus, drinks etc.
Our new plan for 120 + min run:
Pre run : instead of Gatorade, Cliff bar + water,
60 min: water
90 min: Gu+water
150 min: Gu+water
We tried the taste of a couple of Gu - tri berry was terrible, but chocolate seems good.

Once upon a time I started my running to fight back the first sign of insomnia. It disappeared very fast, have not had sleeping problem for one year. But now I had a terrible night again. No, not because of health issue, but because of an innocent looking wind chimes - our neighbours bought a couple of days ago. Last night was windy, and the chimes, bells were tolling all night - wakening me in every hour.
I felt so uncomfortable to ask our neighbours to remove these otherwise beautiful chimes/bells - but fortunately they were very understanding.
After this sleepless night somehow my enthusisam for sunrise running was a little less than usual. I felt weka, dizzy. Nevertheless we went out, and had 6k tempo run. (9:12, 8:55, 8:55 min/mile pace)

Chest:
warm up with bands
push-ups 5x10
dumbbells:
press over 1x20x15 lbs
flys 1x20x12 lbs
straight-arm pullover 1x20x12 lbs

Biceps: (dumbbells)
hammer 2x10x12 lbs
wide curl 2x10x12lbs
reverse: 1x10x10 lbs

Triceps:
warm up: band
dips: 3x8
dumbbells:
kickbacks 2x10x7 lbs
overhead extension 2x10x12 lbs

Forearm:
wrist curl-up 2-2x10x7lbs
wrist curl-down 4-4x5x5lbs

This was the last easy day of our after - race week. Tomorrow we are starting our "official" marathon training - with a new type of speedwork (mile repeats)
Today was a no run day. Had wonderful time in the pool: 12 laps back, 10 laps breast. I was alone in the pool (lunch hour always the best time), it was great!
Then I enjoyed the sun for an hour - reading Asimov.

3 miles walk (WATP) - our intensified version

We have just got our official race photos - WOW!!!

First marathon training (full training program: here )

Today we officially started our marathon praparation program with a new speedwork: mile repeats. It means that instead of the previous interval 10x400 (200 sprint, 200 easy) now we have repeated miles. The other difference: at interval the aim is to speed up, as fast as we can, but now speed up to a pre-calculated speed (NOT faster) and repeat the same speed. The speed calculated from our estimated Marathon time, based on our half-marathon time.
Summa summarum:
800 warm up (9:40 min/mile)
10 x mile repeats
(aim: 9 min/mile pace, our times were:
9:14, 9:05, 9:02, 9:01, 9:01, 8:59, 9:00, 8:53, 8:57) - constant 92%mhr
800 cool down (9:40 min/mile)

The track was quiet, only two familiar faces: Black Musician and Man in Black and White - both were very happy to see us.
Mild weather but cloudy, we missed the energy from the rising sun.

Stretches, Pilates: Spielberg's Close Encounters (the extended version)