Marathon Training Journal

MY MARATHON JOURNAL

Background - I am PC, 44, from Texas and I am a walker. Walking is a huge part of who I am and what I do. I have wanted to walk a marathon for some time and this year I am doing it. I am currently training to walk the Portland Marathon. If I can do this so can you.

Excerpts from my journal:

Early Jan.

I've been considering walking a marathon for some time. I think this year will be the right time for me. The problem in the past has been working too many hours, and small children . This fall my youngest will begin Kindergarten. That should give me time to train for a November/December date. AND the local annual marathon just happens to be in December.

Jan. 20

I have been afraid to mention the fact that I want to walk a marathon to anyone. Two reasons: 1) they will probably think I am crazy 2) once I tell anyone, I might actually be committed to it.

I finally discussed it with my husband and of course he said "Not crazy. I think you should do it." So... here goes. My first goal is to get my walking program back to some kind of consistency. My mileage has been up and down the last couple of months. I want to have a consistent base of 20/25 miles a week before starting a training plan.

Jan. 25

OK, I am going public. I am starting to ask questions and let people know that I am considering doing this. I had thought I would do the marathon here in Dallas in December. That would save travel money, be easier on my family, and allow me to begin my REAL training about the same time school starts in August. Bummer, I found out today that they have a 6 hour time limit. I don't want to worry about time for my first marathon. Looked into a few other things in Texas, all seem to either have a time limit or be too soon for proper training (or both). Back to my original thought... Portland. That sounds pretty good, but I will be training in the summer heat!!!

Feb. 1

Last week I walked 18 miles. My plan is to walk 20 this week. Then I will continue with 20 - 25 each week. I will start adding in the longer walks about 20 weeks prior to the marathon. (Still don't know when that will be as I have not settled on which marathon I will be doing.) I have looked at several training schedules that I found online. Used info from them to put together one that seems right for me.

Feb. 2

I walked 5 miles on the treadmill today. Now, for me walking five miles is not a big deal ... but this is the first time I have stayed on the treadmill longer than 4 miles. I always wait until I can get outdoors to do longer walks. I figure I better get that thing warmed up. There are going to be a lot of miles between here and marathon day. I will easily do my 20 miles this week. Feeling good.

Feb. 7

All set for October! My mother in law has volunteered to keep the kids for a few days, we have enough air miles to fly 2 free, so my husband and I are going to make a long weekend of it. I am so excited!

I really thought I would have to go by myself and leave him here with the kids. I was not looking forward to that. I want him to be there for support and to share with me in this experience. Now, not only will he be able to be there, but we will actually be able to spend some time in Portland. How fun!

February 20

I spent the weekend in Austin with my younger sister. What a great time we had. This Tuesday is my 44^th birthday. We celebrated with a weekend of walking (4 miles Saturday and 10 on Sunday - 2 X. @ five miles each), eating out, and watching the Motorola Marathon Sunday. Wow!! What a great experience.

We watched the first runners pass somewhere near the 20 mile mark. (That was close to my sisters apartment.) I had tears in my eyes as they went by. Then we walked in the opposite direction of the runners, to the finish line and watched as the rest of the participants completed. Surprisingly, most of them completed looking pretty good. Now, I am more pumped than ever.

March 10

I have been searching for the right location for my distance training. Around the neighborhood is good for the normal four mile walk, but I am having a hard time finding a good route for putting in those miles. I tried the state park a few days ago. I think it is my best option. It has most of what I am looking for ... drinking water, restrooms, relatively safe, not too much traffic. I could even take a swim after my walk!! I will have to drive to it (about 20 minutes one way), but I think it will be worth it in the long run. The biggest problem with it will be the hills. I am not used to that. I will need to get out there once a week and get used to the hills before I start adding mileage.

I am doing pretty well at sticking to my plan of 4 miles, 5 X. weekly and getting in strength training 2 X. weekly.

April 13

I did my first longer walk last Sunday. It was really fairly easy. Since I am used to doing 4 to 6 miles a longer walk is defined as anything OVER six miles. Sunday I did 7.4 miles at just under a 15 minute mile. I did have a few spots on my feet that would be blisters had I walked much longer. I will have to remember to pack band-aids. My next distance will be a nine mile March of Dimes walk later this month.

I have also changed my plan ... I am now doing 4 walks a week in order to give myself more recovery time. I think that will be necessary as I get in more miles.

April 24

Everything is going great. I did a good 7+ miler on Saturday and a 6.8 mile Volksmarch the weekend before that. Next Saturday is the 9 mile March of Dimes walk. My sister is going to do that with me. It should be pretty easy and it will be fun to walk with her.

I would really like to work more Yoga into my fitness program. I don't know where I will find the time for that, especially as my walks get longer.

April 30

Yesterday was my longest training walk so far. We did the nine mile March of Dimes walk. It started out with rain and a crowd that you could not walk through. After about a half mile the crowd thinned and we were able to pick up our pace. We kept a good pace throughout the walk. It was pretty tough due to the high humidity level, but we did it without any problems. No blisters, chafing, sore muscles, etc. I did learn that I probably should not do lower body strength training the day prior to a long walk. LOL. I was extremely tired, hungry, and thirsty the rest of the day, but all in all feeling pretty good.

May 9

Good walk today. 5 miles in 67 minutes. That is pretty good for me.

May 11

8 miles at the lake. Whew! It was a very windy day and hard to walk. I did it, though and don't feel all that tired this afternoon. My body must actually be getting used to this mileage. I am excited because I have a racewalking lesson scheduled next week. Maybe that will help with my speed.

June 22

Wow, it's been a long time since I have written here! Things are going well. My long distance walk last week was 12 miles. I didn't know how it would go because I had a sore back all week. I rested a lot, so I would be prepared for the walk. The last mile was tough because my upper calf and knee were giving me problems ... but the back held up fine. I did get a little bra burn and have ordered some lubricant to use for the next distance walk.

July 17

Well the end of June was not good for my training. After suffering from an aching back for about a week, I ended up hurting my knee on that 12 mile walk. Did nine miles the next weekend with it hurting the entire time. Then had to take a couple weeks to recuperate. Back on track now, although a little behind schedule. I have re-vamped my plan and hope to still be able to make the October marathon date. Feeling good right now. Did 12 miles again last Saturday.

July 30

This weeks long walk was 14 miles. 13 miles was easy, but the last mile was pretty tough. I think it may have been from strength training on Friday. I know I already said that this was a no- no for me. Couldn't help myself - we just bought a new home gym. I also think I need to carry some gatorade with me.

It rained for about an hour at the beginning of the walk. That was GREAT! It kept me nice and cool. The first thing I did when I got back to the car was take off my wet shoes and socks. YUK! I have one place that gets a blister on my long walks. I used the band aid blister blocks and it worked (even in the rain).

August 13

16 miles!!! I have been nervous about this walk all week. I really don't know why. I guess 16 miles just seemed like a long way. Also I know the rain helped on my last long walk. No rain this weekend AND it is over 100 degrees. I just decided to take it slow and I was extra careful about staying hydrated.

It was a breeze. No problems at all. In fact it was much easier than the 14 mile walk.

August 27

This Saturday I walked the 9.3 mile loop around the lake TWICE!! I can remember when this seemed like a long way on my bicycle. The hottest walk I've had so far. Temps still over 100, very sunny day, and we had an ozone alert. I can not believe that my sunscreen actually worked.

I tried power gel for the first time. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was fine for the duration of the walk, but super tired and a little queasy after. I have a pretty good pre-walk routine... blister block, runners lube, sunscreen. It's like preparing for battle. LOL.

September 10

It's hard to believe that this was my last LONG walk before the marathon. I did 21 miles yesterday. Not an easy walk, but I did it. Our temps are down a little. I think I expected that to make the walk easy and I pushed a little too hard.

September 20

Yes, I definitely pushed too hard. I have been having trouble with my foot since that last long walk... a mild case of plantar fasciitis. What bad timing! I have had difficulty with this in the past and always cleared it up with some time off. I don't want to take off right now. I am trying to continue with slower walks and a little less mileage than planned.

September 28

The marathon is only a few days away. My foot is doing a little better, my current plan is to take the marathon at a slow pace.

Click here to read about marathon day.