Saturday, April 24, 2010

Better Late Than Never?

I was just sitting down to write an update about week 3 of marathon training, and realized I never actually wrote one for week 2.  Apparently writing blogs in your head does not actually count as publishing them online.  Perhaps someday someone will create a program that can read my brainwaves so I can write a blog WHILE I'm running and publish it without having to wrestle a toddler off of my laptop?  Maybe that's too science-fictioney...  yeah, probably.

In the meantime - here's my short version of Run #2:

Our second group run with the Portland Marathon Clinic started at Road Runner Sports out in Tualitin.  I'd never been out to the store before, so I'm really thankful that I was forced to drive there.  It's a HUGE running store filled with all kinds of fun (and useful) running gear, shoes, and really great looking clothes.  I'm saving my pennies for a nice "pretty" outfit for the marathon.  I did silly and whimsical for the half-marathon, now I'd like to look pretty... well, as pretty as one can look when they're running 26.2 miles.  A girl can try!

Anyways - I stuck with the 5hr+ pace group led by Patti Warren.  This woman is an absolute hoot!  She and her husband Warren are in charge of the clinic, from what I can tell, and have 30+ years of experience running marathons (and ultra marathons), coaching other runners and leading the Portland marathon clinic.   It's so refreshing to be able to just trust the coach and settle into the training program.  Especially when they keep saying things like;

More isn't better... it's just MORE!
Faster isn't better... it's just FASTER!
Slowing down by just 5% can help you go twice as far.
"Walk" is not a four-letter word.

I finished that run feeling comfortable and energetic, like I could have done it twice.  According to Coach Patti - that's exactly how I should be feeling.  Yay!  I'm really looking forward to feeling that way when we run 10, 15, and even 20 miles.  I'll definitely keep you posted.

Our run was 5 miles long that week, and included a pretty substantial uphill.  We ran by a park (can't remember the name) and through some neighborhoods.  For a while - after the hill - I got to be the caboose on the slow group.  That's not a very glamorous role, but finally one of the other gals dropped back to check on me and chat.  I ended up chatting with a good handful of the gals in the group and met three gals who are training for their first marathon with this clinic.  I'm looking forward to getting to know some of them and being "friendly" - which is quite a stretch for an introverted homebody like me.  Wish me luck!

No comments:

Post a Comment