Two More Sleeps Until the Marathon

Well, this is it.

Four solid months of training (usually four runs a week, with long ones on weekends) are about to culminate into the biggest physical challenge of our lives. Janis and I will run the full Vancouver Marathon on Sunday, the first time we’ve attempted such an insanely long distance.

The question that we get most often is, “how long is a marathon exactly?” For those who are wondering that very thing right this minute, here’s a quote from the race’s official website to answer it for us:

The Full Marathon course has been accurately measured by measurers qualified by AIMS, IAAF and Athletics Canada and has been certified by Athletics Canada as 42.195 km BC-2007-004-BDC and CAN-2007-002-BDC from IAAF. This means that we are very confident that, even considering the inherent errors and uncertainty in measuring a road race course, the course is at least 42.195 km.

If you’re more of an Imperial system type, that translates to 26.2 miles.

I’m a bit nervous, but I’m also pretty confident that we will finish without incident and perhaps even with a time that we are proud of. Either way, crossing the line on our own steam (ideally still running) and hopefully with huge smiles will feel terrific, and give us a sense of accomplishment.

If you’ve ever wondered about training for a marathon yourself, we highly recommend the Novice Training Program from Hal Higdon. It’s 19 weeks of training that slowly builds over time, balancing stress and recovery so that your body builds strength as the distances get longer. For Vancouverites wanting to do the local marathon, just remember that this 19 week program means that your first day of training is roughly the day after New Years, it will be freezing cold and probably raining, and your New Year’s resolution has to last well into May.

(Marathon legend and author Hal Higdon)

Hal is our official coach (in absentia) and any time we’ve had to reschedule or cancel a run I think of him, and how we’re letting HIM down. Hal has never heard of us before of course, but he’ll be getting a note of thanks if we cross that line alive. As will anyone who leaves us a comment of encouragement for us, either here on the blog, on Facebook, or in our email inboxes.

We would also like to wish the best of luck to Ryan Ashton and Christine Behan, who will be running their first half-marathons on Sunday. Do the math: 21.5 km, or 13.1 miles. Until just a few weeks ago, I had never dreamed that I would run a distance that long, and they too have been training very hard for the big day.

Wish us all luck!

1 week left….!

Jord and I had a great run this Saturday, the 28th. We did an 8 Miler From Granville Island, over the Burrard Street Bridge, into English Bay, which was packed full of people soaking up the beautiful sunshine. We were testing out the bridge because we will have to run over it and back in the Marathon next week. What we found out was…. it was a piece of cake! We then ran into Stanley Park for a loop around the lake and back to where we started. It was an absolutely gorgeous sunny day, and a great last weekend run before the big day.

2 weeks to go…

This week we took ‘er a little easier, because Jordan has been suffering from a leg injury. We ran once during the week and we did our long run on Saturday, which was 13 miles, or about 21 km. We finished in 1 hour 56.5 min, and we were bookin’ it at the end! We were sprinting as we crossed our finish line, and it felt pretty damn good. It is a good sign of things to come, if we can still feel that good after a half-marathon distance to just give it everything you have for the last few hundred metres.

Easter Run

I thought I would save and post our 14 mile route, or “Tour de Powell River” run that we did Easter weekend. Check it out here at mapmyrun.com. For those of you who are Powell Riverites, you’ll see that we covered most of town – Westview, Cranberry Lake, the Townsite, then the Beach Trail back to Westview, the Sea Walk and out to Thunderbay along Marine, back to Oceanview and a loop around the track at Gordon Park before heading back to Parksville Street! It’s one route I won’t be attempting again very soon…

Finally Some Photos!

It took going home to Powell River for the weekend for us to have a photographer document some of our training. As we approached our parents house, I yelled at brother Wes to grab my camera and start firing.

The result was a “time lapse” of sorts, of our finish of today’s 14 mile training run. I’ve made the photos into a Flickr slideshow, an idea that was admittedly cooler in theory than in execution. View it here.

Feelin’ Good!

Ran 9 miles/15km today at Central Park, and it felt great! The sun is shining, and there were no cramps, no aching knees or feet, nothing! And we really pushed ourselves. We ran it in 1 h 14 m. I feel awesome! That’s all I have to say today.

Janis

Happy to Have the Support

It was great of Janis to write the first post on here, just like it has been terrific having her as a running partner during this most challenging quest.

She’s learned a lot about blogging and social media by having to listen to me blather on while we train, but look at what a little smarty-pants she’s become! She’s even built her own blog, and she wrote her first marathon related post there yesterday.

Janis, I know I say it a lot, but having your support for all of this training is what is keeping me in it. I can’t wait to cross that line like champions.

Thank you!

Over half way there…

Well if Jord isn’t going to write the first post, then I guess I will.

Saturday, the 24th, was a big day. We ran 13 miles at Burnaby Lake, the equivalent of a half marathon, and we are now both officially signed up to run the Vancouver Marathon. This is also the day we chose to start writing this blog. Better late than never, right? We are over half way through our training schedule now, week 13 of 18, and it’s sometimes hard to believe. May 6th is creeping closer and closer each mile we run.

This blog should have been started the 2nd of January, when Jordan and I ran our first 3 mile run. It was the first of many at Central Park in Burnaby, and it was the worst day of weather we have had in all of our training! The rain was flying at us sideways, there were gale force winds, I swear…. We were wearing our ski jackets, and our clothes and shoes were still drenched! But we persevered. It would have been very easy that first day of training to say, “Nah, we’ll wait ’til tomorrow.” And if we weren’t counting on one another, we might not have gone. Of course, I’m glad we did, because it makes a great story for our first run. We’ve had a lot of other weather conditions to deal with too, like snow and ice on the sidewalks. There were a few days earlier on, in January and February, where we ran indoors on the treadmill, just to be safe.

There have now been so many runs, I can’t even keep track anymore. We’ve been running to a training schedule by Hal Higdon, and doing the best we can to keep up with it. We’ve done pretty well so far, I’d say. And if you keep reading, you’ll get to hear the amazing story when we post about our victorious feat on May 6th. Please come back and visit, leave a comment below, and help cheer us on!

Janis