Marathon Training Update: 12 Days Left

The Pittsburgh Marathon is twelve days away.  Yesterday, I ran my 600th mile of the training schedule.  600 miles is a lot of running, and honestly I’m ready to be finished with the training.  But I’m still very much looking forward to 7:00am on Sunday the 15th when the race will begin (and to 10:45am when I’ll hopefully be approaching the finish line!).

Twelve days left until the marathon also means that we have twelve days left of raising support for our team running with Team World Vision.  Eileen and I and a few other friends from Upper Room are running to raise funds for clean water wells in Kenya and Ethiopia, and we’d appreciate gifts of any amount to support this mission.  To give online, visit our team page.  If you prefer to give by check, make the check out to “World Vision” and mail it to Upper Room at 5828 Forward Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15217.

Marathon Update: 2 Months to Go & “Sabina’s Shoes”

 On this past Sunday I ran 15 miles.  That’s the most I’ve ever run in my life.   In exactly two months, though, I’ll be running 26.2 in the Pittsburgh Marathon.  I’ve been training for about 9 weeks, in which I’ve run over 300 miles total.  And I am tired.  Running takes up 10 to 15 hours per week for me now, which has left little free time for other things (such as blogging).  Eileen’s been training for the half-marathon, too, and is also feeling the tiredness and watching her free time evaporate.

So why are we doing this?  Partially for the joy and challenge simply completing a marathon.  But we’re running for more than that, too.  As I’ve written about before here, we’re running with a team from Upper Room to raise money for Team World Vision.  The funds we raise will provide money for clean water wells in Kenya and Ethiopia, countries where lack of access to clean water has a profound impact on human life.  To get an idea of just what that impact looks like, read In Sabina’s Shoes from World Vision Magazine.

The tiredness that we feel from training for the marathon is nothing compared to the weariness that Sabina’s exhausting workload produces. Even at the end of the race, our shoes will be more comfortable than hers.  But as the postscript to the article shows, water projects initiated by World Vision are providing relief of that workload for women like Sabina, giving them opportunities for education, better nutrition, and more time with their families. The money we raise by running in the marathon will go directly to support projects such as these.  Please consider supporting us.  Just visit Upper Room’s Team Page and click “Support Our Team”.  Then spread the word about Sabina’s story and the great work World Vision is doing to support women like her.

Marathon Training Day 1

Today I start training for the 2011 Pittsburgh Marathon.  It’s 18 weeks away.  That’s more than four months of running five or six days a week.  All to prepare for (hopefully) just under four hours of running on May 15th.  That’s a lot of training.

I’ve been looking forward to it, though.  The discipline of it is attractive to me.  Perhaps that’s part of the reason why I chose an 18 week training plan rather than the more standard 16 week plans.  I’m using the “Less-is-More Plan” created by Keith and Kevin Hanson and featured in this article from the January 2011 issue of Runner’s World.  The runs don’t get as long as conventional marathon training plans, but there are more runs and more intense speed work, training the body to run even when it’s tired. 

Some particular things I’m looking forward to: (1) On Thursdays, I’m supposed to run at my marathon goal pace.  I said I want to finish the marathon in 3:45, so it gave me a goal pace of 8:35/mile.  My long runs are supposed to be 45 to 60 seconds/mile slower, so I’m going to shoot for 9:15 on those.  I’m already comfortable at these paces, but for much shorter distances than a marathon.  Keeping that speed up for 26 miles will be tough.  (2) A few friends and I are raising support for Team World Vision, running the race to raise money for clean water in Kenya and Ethiopia.  It gives me joy to know that there’s a purpose behind all this running.   (3) Taking advantage of the gym that Eileen and I joined a few weeks ago for running indoors on cold, slippery, snowy winter days. 

Some things I’m not looking forward to: (1) Running during Holy Week: 9 miles on Maundy Thursday, 6 on Good Friday, 8 on Holy Saturday, and 16 miles on Easter Day.  (2) My long runs will be on Sundays, effectively filling most afternoons after finishing worship at Upper Room.  I thought about adjusting the schedule and pushing them to Mondays, but it will be hard enough to regularly run 6 to 8 miles on Monday afternoons after opening at the cafe.  If I’m running double that distance, I’d rather do it on a Sunday afternoon. (3) Disappearing free time.  It appears that training for a marathon is a bit like a part-time job.  I’m going to be running for at least 5 hours a week at first, then almost 10 hours per week in the higher mileage weeks.  I should remind myself not to take on much extra during these months.

Today: 4 miles.  Here we go!

Team World Vision and Clean Water in Africa

Today is Blog Action Day (see Blog Action Day), and writers all around the world are writing on the theme of clean water. I’m no expert about it, but World Vision says that at least 20 percent of the world does not have safe drinking water, and lack of access to safe water is the number one cause of preventable death. So what can we do about it?

It’s seven months away (exactly) but on May 15, 2011, several friends and I will be running in the Pittsburgh Marathon for Team World Vision to raise money for drilling clean water wells in Kenya and Ethiopia. One well costs upwards of $13,000, and we have a small team, so our goal is only a portion of that amount, but any giving will help go a long way to provide clean water for those who need it most. Again, I’m no expert, but this is something tangible we can do to transform lives. So, please support us. For more on what we’re doing with Team World Vision, go to my Team World Vision page.