Tuesday, January 13, 2009

New Event/New Training

Yes. I am at it again. Training never stops for me as I have mentioned before. I and many of us with NF2 train to just function as normally as possible. It really helps keep me motivated by having a variety of events to accomplish with a cause attached.

I will again be racing to the top of the Columbia Tower on March 22nd as a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society which I have been involved with since 2006. This will be my 3rd year and I hope to scale the skyscaper in 14 minutes. Last year my time was 14:16 and the year prior was just over 15 minutes.

Of course I have been mildly training for it since I finished my long distance hike in September. I thought I was going to have another brain surgery so I was concerned about keeping fit and being able to bounce back right away in time to do the tower again.

Fortunately, I did not need another surgery last fall. So I was able to just carry on (lifting 3 days a week, water aerobics once a week, 15 minutes on the stair climber once or twice a week, and a weekly run 30-50 minutes in length.)

I have pondered it for quite awhile and Sunday I finally made the decision to actually run a marathon now (a half marathon in Eugene, OR near my parents).

I still need to register (for both events) but I labeled yesterday as the official start of my 10 week half marathon training.

Am I scared? Heck yeah! LOL As I mentioned before, I really am not a "runner". Running has always been something moderate for me and a means to supplement training for something else or a small part of keeping in shape.

Running this distance will be a HUGE challenge for me...the greatest by far (more than walking a marathon or 31.5 miles). First of all, I have not really talked about it, but I get double vision within the first 10-15 minutes of running that STAYS with me the whole duration and there after! I found out in September that it is here to stay and something that I need to learn to deal with and compensate for. I do this by looking down at the ground about 3-5 feet in front of me most of the time. When I look ahead to the trail the double vision is worse and it is hard to calculate my footing and not get disoriented. I can only make quick glances to see where I am.

The second issue is that I am unable to run indoors on a treadmill. Therefore, all of my training runs must be done outside which proved to be a challenge at the end of December when we had lots of snow followed by lots of rain and flooding.

There were a couple weeks when it snowed that I just could not do my weekly run. One day it was just too icy and within 5 minutes I tripped over Katie's legs when we were trying to avoid another large patch of ice. After that, I determined it just was not worth getting injured and would wait out the couple-few weeks until the snow and ice were gone (afterall, I cut up my knee again).

The week before Christmas I did try running on the treadmill hanging on to the handle bars. Wow! It is just not made for that! After 10 minutes my shoulders and arms ached terribly from all the jarring! So I hopped off and rode the cybex machine instead.

Now the snow is gone and it is starting to dry up. My usual path on the Snoqualmie Valley trail is most likely flooded right now or muddy. Last I walked on Redmond Ridge, the trail through the woods had quite a few puddles. Fortunately there are some paved trails around for me to run on.

I never imagined I would ever run in a marathon. Yet, it just feels like it is the next step for me. This summer I was able to make it through a 10K. a 10K = 6.2 miles and is almost half of a half marathon. I have read over the past couple years of a technique where people run for a few miles and then walk a mile. The walking helps them recover and re-energize. In fact, people who have done this technique resulted in better running times than had they ran continuously the entire course.

So my strategy is to try this technique and run every other mile. That way I am doing what I know I can accomplish which is to run a 10K and I know I can certainly walk it. I am going to pursue the regular half marathon training and see how it goes for me. In any case, I will finish the half marathon somehow. I am committed to it.

I am going to try my best to journal my training here so keep checking in!

Here is the half marathon training schedule I found online:
The marathon is May 3rd so I am just a tad early into training which is good.

10-Week Half Marathon Training Schedule
Week Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Total
1: 3 Rest 3 3 Rest 4 Rest 13
2: 3 Rest 4 3 Rest 5 Rest 15
3: 3 Rest 4 3 Rest 6 Rest 16
4: 3 Rest 5 3 Rest 8 Rest 19
5: 3 Rest 5 3 Rest 10 Rest 21
6: 4 Rest 5 4 Rest 11 Rest 24
7: 4 Rest 6 4 Rest 12 Rest 26
8: 4 Rest 5 4 Rest 9 Rest 22
9: 3 Rest 4 3 Rest 8 Rest 18
10: 3 Rest 3 Walk 2 Rest 13.1 Rest 21.1

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