Sunday, January 4, 2009

Change of Plan: A FAMILY MARATHON!

A lot has happened since my last post. Most importantly, I may not be going this next Marathon alone! My daughter-in-law Adrienne told me that she wants to run the Lincoln Marathon with me. Woo hoo! And, to my great joy, a week or so later my daughter Heather and her husband Ben said they want to run with me as well! I am a happy man.

I am very excited and optimistic, but I am also very practical. A lot of things can happen between now and race day, and knees, feet, shins, and the weather can be prickly things. For now, I am a happy man!

Our goal this year is modest but attainable: Finish in under 5 hours. This will be my 4th Marathon, but I'm slow. My fastest time is 6 hours, but with a bit of weight loss and a good strategy, I should be fine. This will be the first for Heather, Ben, and Adrienne. They are young and in good shape, so a five hour marathon is a reasonable goal. And, of course, all of us want to prep and run without getting injured, so five hours seems like a great plan.

Dren started preparing in November, and is making good progress. She ran cross country in High School, so she already knows quite a bit about running. Her knees have been a bit tweekie, so she is taking it slow. But, she has been very smart with her early preparation, and I am very proud of her.

Heather and Ben are just getting started, but both are athletes and should do well. Heather just had her first baby in August, so my little grand daughter is in for a bunch of stroller runs!

I published my running schedule, which is in the sidebar to the right. Adrienne, Heather, and Ben can certainly follow mine if they choose, but each will probably want to make a schedule that better fits their personal needs.

The key to keeping to this schedule is, I think, the weather. I don't run when the temp drops below 15F or when the paths are icy (safety reasons), so my actual miles may vary. In 2007, I missed many days, including 8 days in a row, due to nasty weather, and I had a similar problem in 2008. I'll adjust as the weather permits. I did use the treadmill, but I can only get in 5 or so miles a day on a treadmill so my mileage will be low during bitter cold periods. Regardless, I will try hard to get in 400 miles before race day.

Many experts suggest training runs totaling 600 miles or more before a marathon, including several weeks running over 40 miles or more. That's nice! Great for them!! I have no such goals. First, I'm not an rabbit-fast SBR (skinny butt runner), and never will be. If I try to run over 600 miles in the next four months, or 40 miles in a week for consecutive weeks, my entire body will break.

Anyway, I am excited to run with my kids, and it should be a great race prep!

2 comments:

Jennifer said...

Go for it family!! I love you all!!

Anonymous said...

Kurt - You rock! I haven't been to your blog since the big 2007 marathon, and I am SO impressed that you're on #4 now! (Janika keeps looking over my shoulder here and saying, "You could do that too, James, if you'd go to the gym!!" She just got a YMCA membership and is trying to convert me to 5:30am workouts -- not my time of day!) Anyway... Outstanding work! Best wishes to all of you in the Lincoln Marathon!!