Changing course

As many of you know, Ralph and I have been training for the Walt Disney World Marathon on January 11, 2014.  This would have been our first ever marathon.  Well, this race will no longer be our first, but our second marathon.  We have decided to change our registration to the Space Coast races on December 1st from the half to the full marathon. Have we gone bonkers???  Well, yes we have, it seems.  Okay, here's the rationale behind it and it does make sense.  Our Jeff Galloway training schedule for the WDW marathon puts us to run 23 miles that weekend.  Initially we were going to run the half on December 1st and run the 23 mile training run the following weekend.  After careful reconsideration, we decided why not just run the 26.2 miles and be done with the 23 mile training run with a 5K mixed in!  No big deal adding 3.2 miles to our training run, ha!  Honestly, I have had some major doubts about our being able to run the full this soon.  However, I believe that with proper training, we can do it.  I am now mentally prepared and looking forward to running and finishing the race.

2013 Space Coast Marathon Medal

#9 of 13 in 2013 - Firecracker 5K Race Recap

Runners singing the National Anthem before the race!

I couldn't have asked for a better morning to run on the 4th of July at the Firecracker 5k. Well, it was all we could ask for for a July morning in Central Florida, that is.  The race was scheduled to start at 7 am to avoid the blazing heat of the sun.  Even so, the sun was already up but the humidity wasn't so bad yet (at least for me) at race time.  It surely got hotter and more humid as soon as the gun went off.

This was my first 5K for the year with my running buddy, my husband, Ralph.  The last time we raced together was at the Disney Princess Half Marathon back in February.  Princess was also his last race until today.  For me, I had been running at least one race a month since the beginning of the year but the last race I ran was the Run for the Gecko 5K on May 11.  Just like him, it felt like this was  my first race all over again.  With my excitement, I beat the alarm clock set at 5:30 by an hour!  I waited until Ralph woke up before getting out of bed.  For breakfast, I had one fried egg, two hot pandesal (Filipino bread), and a cup of piping hot green tea.  Ralph made a bowl of oatmeal with sliced banana.  We quickly took a shower, got dressed, spread on some sunscreen, grabbed our water bottles and iphones and we were out the door.

And we're off!  Photo courtesy Gloria Abad Suan

Since it was a 4th of July run, the race was held at the Liberty Bell Museum in Melbourne.  Parking was at the nearby Melbourne Auditorium which is a good half a mile from the venue.  It was a good distance to walk and warm up before the race.  After finding our friends and the mandatory photo ops, the race was on.  I hit start on the mapmyrun app  and Lady Gaga's Telephone on my iphone and I was off.  With over 1000 runners, it was a little slow at the start but we spread out in no time.  Ralph had gone ahead of me (he always does) because he wanted to beat his last race record.  I was in the middle of the pack and was maneuvering my way around the other runners.  I hit a good stride in the first mile according to the "lady" on the app.  According to "her", I was at a 10:24 min/mi pace at mile 1.  However, the official race split put it at 11:32 min/mi!  Mmmm, who's more accurate?  I guess in the end it doesn't really matter.  I still fell behind this pace after mile 1 and continued on to officially finish at 38:59 (12:44 min/mi).  Since I can never catch that elusive under 35 PR, I will just shoot for the attainable under 40 every time!  Hubby PR'd at 31:45, woohoo!!!  Not bad for a 50-year old novice runner!

Crossing the finish line!  I look like I'm swimming in my sweat!
Photo courtesy of runningzone.smugbug.com 

Ralph crossing the finishing line with a PR!!
Photo courtesy of runningzone.smugbug.com

It was a great run all around.  We got American flags, necklaces, and an array of fresh fruits after the race.  And as always, a nice cup of fruit smoothie that hits just the right spot especially on a hot race day as today.  

I can't wait to run the 10th of 13 races in 2013 race next month at the I Run for Pizza Football Kickoff 5K!  I hope to see you there.

So happy to wave the American flag marking another great race together.

With our friends, Lorna and Tony Mazza. 

Me at mid-race. Photo courtesy of runningzone.smugbug.com

Ralph at mid race .. Photo courtesy of runningzone.smugbug.com

Team Eau Gallie High School!  Photo courtesy of Natalie Marshall

WDW Marathon Training

(Photo courtesy of rundisney.com)

I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post.  Life just got in the way and writing took a back seat.  My last post was about my taking on the Runner's World Streak challenge.  Unfortunately, I had to cut it short due to illness.  I hope to try again next year.  The biggest change since my last post was the return of my running buddy and husband, Ralph, from a 6 month teaching and research stint in the Philippines.  At the same time as his return, the Florida heat and humidity arrived in full force.  Call me a wimp, but it is just so hot and humid to run out there.  So I have done what a wimp does and signed up for gym membership so that we can be active indoors.  The gym that we signed up for has an indoor track that we have used for a couple of runs.  We have also taken strength classes (Strong) and cardio exercises such as Zumba, Kickboxing and Metabolic Training.    

Another reason why we signed up for gym membership was to be able to use the facilities to train for a marathon.  Back in April, I signed us up to run the WDW full marathon on January 12, 2014.  Today is the official start of Jeff Galloway's Training Program for this race.  We are not new to Jeff Galloway's training program.  We used his training program when we ran the Princess Half Marathon back in February.  Personally, I like Jeff Galloway's training because it involves the use of run/walk intervals.  In his experience, incorporating walk breaks during long runs avoids injury.  I would not have been able to finish the half marathon if I had to run the entire race.  So, since Ralph and I have a half marathon under our belt, we decided that the 29-week training for Experienced Runners with a goal to "Finish in the Upright Position" was the best training program for us this time around.  The training program includes two maintenance runs of  30 minutes each on Tuesdays and Thursdays with long runs on Saturdays.  Long runs slowly ramp up in distance every other weekend with a final long run of 26 miles in Week 25 with a two-week taper before marathon weekend.  Jeff Galloway recommends cross training on non-run days so we will hit the gym for weight training, spinning, or Zumba.

When we ran the Princess Half Marathon, we used a run/walk interval of 45s/30s.  For the WDW Marathon, we have decided to train at 2/1 interval which is equivalent to a 12 minute/mile pace.  We will probably end up running at 1/1 interval in the first 13.1 miles and ramp it up to the 2/1 interval in the second half.  

Although we are no longer novices to the sport of running, we are quite novices as far as marathon training is concerned.  This is one journey that hubby and I are both excited and anxious to be embarking together.  I believe that we have it in us to finish the journey and cross the finish line upright.  We hope you will join us as we run, run, run to Marathon weekend 6 months from now.

Our training gear!  The inside pairs are our running shoes (Brooks Adenaline for Ralph and New Balance 890 v3 for me) and the outside pairs are our cross training shoes (Skechers for me and Nike for Ralph)