Mountains 2 Beach Marathon Training 2020 – Part One
We found a fun point-to-point race in California: the Mountains 2 Beach, with both half and full marathon options that start in the mountains and finish at the beach.
Xander wants to run a marathon this year so we started looking at choices! Due to his schedule with cross country, music and school there is really only one good time of year to fit a marathon in - late spring. Our criteria for the race required that it be within driving distance, and have a half marathon distance choice. We selected Memorial Day weekend. We promptly selected the Buffalo Marathon as our first choice and were mostly through the registration process before realizing you have to be 18 to run. Strike out. We then fell in love with the idea of the Ottawa marathon only to find out that you also have to be 18. The Vermont City marathon was a good fit for Xander. You only need to be 16 for this one and Xander just turned 16, but there is no half marathon option for Elizabeth.
So we changed our plan! Completely. We opened up our search to the United States in general with a focus on easy flights. We have enough points to use points to fly to a destination race. We thought the Rock and Roll series could be fun, but there was nothing available that weekend. However, we found a fun sounding point to point race in California. The Mountains 2 Beach Marathon has a half marathon choice and a marathon choice. As the name suggests, it starts in the mountains and ends up at the beach. The half starts halfway through the marathon course just like the Wineglass Marathon in Corning. The best news? You only have to be 14 to run the marathon. We’re in!!
Time to train
It has been awhile since I ran a marathon. My last 50K was in 2017 with the Green Lakes 50K and my last marathon was the New York City marathon with Jenny in 2016. I’ve been doing plenty of half marathons, but this is a more serious level of training. I’m going to have to get comfortable with longer distances again and earlier morning running. I also have to support Xander in his training.
Our training plans
One fun thing about this is that it means an opportunity to create a training plan again. I love writing training plans! Now the job is to follow mine. I created a plan for Xander using mostly Hal Higdon’s Novice 2 Training Program. The first 3 weeks are just getting consistent base running. We’ve all been running, but on some icky weather days we opt to bike or elliptical inside. These 3 weeks are about making sure we get started with running in most weather again.
Xander’s training plan
My training plan
My training plan is a mix of the Hanson’s method between the just finished and beginner options (removing Monday runs, dropping some mileage and removing one of the days of speed) and Hal Higdon. I still have a 20 mile run in the mix, but am trying to follow the back to back longer runs on weekends. I fit in 2 times weekly strength sessions, some biking, 2x weekly yoga and I scattered in rest days.
Weekly progress
I plan to write short posts each week about our training progress to keep everyone honest! This will be mostly about my journey with some of Xander’s and Scott’s training thrown in. Elizabeth is in her spring semester of her freshman year of college. She does want to run a marathon someday, but doesn’t feel that now is the best time to train. She’s excited to join us for the half!!
Week 1
The first “pre-training” week went pretty well! I hit my training goals and only shuffled a few things around. There were only a few things to contend with this week.
I ended up moving my Friday evening run. I went to BodyPump and mentioned to a friend that I had to run 3 miles when I got home. It was raining and it was windy and she said, “Why would you have to do that?” I explained that I had gotten home from work late and didn’t want to run in the rain right before BodyPump. Then I’d be wet for class. I felt totally ok running afterwards in the rain. I said I had started marathon training. Her response was, “Couldn’t you just tack on 3 to a weekend run?”
When we got home I realized that made a lot of sense. It was 6:30 and it was pouring outside. We have no snow so there was nothing to illuminate the road meaning I’d have to wear a headlamp. I pushed things off. Thanks Christina for the suggestion!
Week 2
A few more swaps
Week #2 brought more switching things up than the first week. I was able to stick with the plan for Monday and Tuesday and then the forecast looked rough for late week. With that in mind I threw in running on Wednesday and Thursday.
Thursday my legs felt like lead as I ran in the snow with my daughter. I felt grateful that she wanted to have an easy run!!
Check the temperature before heading out
On Saturday morning Scott and I raced around the house to get ready for a ski trip. Xander had All County Chorus and Elizabeth had orientation for school. So the two of us had the morning to work, exercise and prepare for our trip. I knew I had to get a 6 mile run in, and also knew it was going to start snowing mid-day. I threw on pretty warm clothes, an ear band and mid weight gloves and headed out.
Once I was outside I realized fairly quickly that I should have donned heavy mittens and even hand warmers. Still, I thought I would be fine. My run was pretty great until mile 4. Then, I realized my hands were frozen. There was nothing I could do about it except run and hope to get back soon! Scott would be greeting me with the sauna heated up. This has become one of our favorite ways to relax after a chilly run.
I returned home and had to ask for his help to get my shoes off and my phone out of my waist belt. My hands were already tingling and I was in some pretty significant pain. He asked if I wanted to wait to head to the sauna. “No. I’m good,” I said. We walked out and it was only a few moments until I couldn’t stand the pain. I was jumping around, freaking out, whimpering and just generally thinking I might die from the pain. Poor Scott just kept asking me to calm down and reminding me that it wouldn’t last forever. About 6 minutes into the warmth and I felt normalcy start to return to my hands. “How cold is it out there anyway?” I asked. “15 degrees.” He then asked what gloves I had worn. I shared that I wore the mid-weight gloves he gave me a few years ago. He smiled and said, “mittens would have been a good choice.” Yes they would have been. And hand warmers too!
Weekly mileage totals
I was supposed to hit 20 miles for the week and only ended up at 18.76. It is low for a normal week and even lower for pre-marathon training. However, most workouts were met. It was a busy week at work, my mom ended up in the hospital suddenly and we had a very quick ski trip planned that took up most of two days. I look forward to hopefully not mixing days up quite so much this week!
Week 3
Wow this was a week! My mom was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer last winter. She waged a strong battle for the year and we enjoyed a lot of wonderful quality time with her during that year. However, this week turned out to be the end of her time with us. She went into a very sudden decline right after we celebrated my dad’s birthday and survived a week. My training still mostly happened - but there were some changes to the schedule for reasons less typical than because I wasn’t in the mood or because I couldn’t fit something in.
Training is cathartic though, and my solo workouts give me time alone with my thoughts while group workouts provide much needed and appreciated socialization. I always enjoy both but this week I felt even more grateful for the opportunity to train for something. I ended up shy of the weekly mileage but by just a bit.
Why I missed the miles
On Friday I missed the chance to run because my daughter needed me around to help her process what was happening with her grandmother. It was a beautiful day outdoors (unusually balmy for late January) and I asked her if she might consider going for a run with me. She declined. She had a concert for school that evening and had already showered. We talked and connected and it was the right choice emotionally. But I lost my easy 3 mile run that day. I did get into the BodyPump class that I had been waitlisted for so I headed down to FLX Fit Club and enjoyed BodyPump 112 with Chantelle. It was good to see my friend Christina and be able to share what was happening with my mom. I have trouble just texting or calling people out of the blue to say what is going on so this was an easy way to share.
Later that night my mom passed away. I was with her and with my father and my sister. It was emotional and I believe it is how things were supposed to happen. As painful as it was for me, I found myself more filled with peace than I expected. I’ve been actively dreading this for a year, and it was not as awful as I feared. Selfishly I wanted her to be here forever, but it was her time. Now she is at peace, no longer stuck in her broken body. It is our time to heal.
I began healing the next morning with my sister when we chose to go for a hike in the pouring and freezing rain. This weather was followed by snow and I lost another day of running.
A 10 miler is not the same as two 5 milers
Sunday arrived and the day was lovely. Sunny, high 30s and only a little windy. The perfect day for a run. My plan called for me to hit 22 miles for the week and at the time I had only run 11. Man I’d have to run 10 today to be close. I am really committed to goals if I can hit them (or almost hit them) in any way so as I headed out I knew that was my plan. It was challenging but wonderful. Right now a 10 miler is a long run for me - I know soon it will feel short and that is one of the things I love about marathon training! I listened to Tim Ferriss interview Bob Iger. There were so many great life lessons in this podcast. For much of the run I was in my head with my own thoughts and for much of the run I was actively listening. It is my favorite thing about running to podcasts - I can listen when I want to and there is nice background when I don’t want to fully focus in. For the last 15 minutes when the podcast ended I listened to Kip Moore. Scott and I enjoyed his concert this fall in Ithaca so much that I’ve been running almost exclusively to his music this year. I love it when a concert brings me that much joy.
When I arrived home Scott was surprised that I went out for 10. He said, “A 10 miler is not the same as two 5 milers!” Agreed. It is a bunch harder and a lot more fulfilling sometimes!! 10 miles is enough to have a zen feeling run and I needed that on this particular day. On to week #4!