Yes, you read that correctly folks! I have a marathon on the horizon. Woohoo!
After my husband and I got our first vaccine shots (Pfizer) we started to get serious about finding a marathon. We wanted one in a state we hadn’t run yet that seemed likely to occur (i.e. a smaller marathon) so we could make some progress on our 50-state goal!
We will be running THIS marathon in Sun Valley, Idaho on June 27th!
The marathon is split into two days, Saturday and Sunday, with 250 people each day.
It’s a downhill course, which some might call a “cheater” course. My PR of 3:35:38 is from a downhill course, Big Cottonwood, also a Revel marathon (though I did get close to my PR at my last goal marathon, Indianapolis with a 3:37:54).
But I know plenty of people who don’t do well on a downhill course, as it can tear up your quads, especially if it flattens out at the end. I’m hopeful that the addition of strength training at Discover Strength 2-3 times a week will help my quads be strong enough to handle a downhill course.
Here’s a recap of training this past week for the Sun Valley marathon!
It was a gloomy & rainy week overall but I was mostly able to avoid the rain when I ran.
Monday: I ran to meet Christie for some morning miles
8 miles, 9:15 min/mile average.
Discover Strength virtual 1:1 after work
Tuesday: I woke up really tired and decided to cancel on the morning run and potentially skip my run altogether!
It rained most of the day, which only added to my tiredness. However, there was a break in the rain around 5 pm, and Ruth was all kinds of energetic, so I decided to take her for a quick 4 miler, 8:40 min/mile average.
Wednesday: Workout Wednesday! My workout was 3 miles easy, 8x (5 minutes at marathon effort, 1 minute recovery jog), cool-down to 10 miles.
5 minutes translated to about 1k repeats. My splits for the 5 minutes at marathon effort were 8:19, 8:20, 8:21, 8:04, 8:12, 8:23, 8:29, 8;24. Slower than I’d like to be, but a good starting place to see how training progresses.
Discover Strength virtual 1:1 after work
Thursday: 7 miles before work, true easy pace after Wednesday’s workout. 9:35 min/mile.
I decided I should end each run by running hard down this steep hill by my house to prepare for Idaho!
It doesn’t look very steep in the picture, but it is!
It’s only a few blocks away, so won’t add on much distance to runs, but I’m hoping the daily hard effort on the downhill will help prepare my quads for the downhill marathon at Sun Valley, Idaho!
Friday: Pre-work run with my friend Vicki, 6 miles at a 9:40 min/mile average, then an in-person Discover Strength session!
Saturday: Long run day! I had 2 hrs- 2 hrs 15 minutes easy running on my schedule. That ended up as 15 miles.
We changed things up and took the Greenway to the Hiawatha Bike Path through downtown. It was fun!
This route crosses over the Martin Olav Sabo bridge:
The temperature was in the low-40’s and kind of windy, but it was a great long run.
Early that evening, we had a few people over again on the deck to hang out and celebrate our friend Julie’s birthday!
Ruth played hard with the other dogs who came over. She was zonked out afterwards!
Sunday: Dustin, Ruth, and I ran 8 miles together, 8:43 min/mile average. We ended the run with the downhill repeats!
Summary: 58 miles of running, 3 strength sessions (2 virtual, 1 in-person)
12 weeks isn’t a very long time to train for a marathon. But I feel like I kept a solid base even without a race on the horizon, so hopefully its plenty of time to build up my endurance!
And that’s a wrap; I hope you had a great week in fitness, be sure to visit all the other bloggers who link up with Running on the Fly and Confessions of a Mother Runner Check it out!
Congrats on signing up for a marathon! ID is so beautiful. My half there was a downhill half. I used to love them (until my Achilles became a problem this year) & they’re all my PRs!
I hear such good things about Revel, that was the last race I was signed up for but it didn’t happen for obvious reasons.
That photo of a pooped Ruth. Priceless!
oh no, are downhill courses harder on the Achilles? Boo….But they’re apparently great for PR’s, eh? That’s interesting that your last race that you were registered for was a Revel!
Yes…pooped Ruth. She’s well behaved when she’s tired, ha!
Yay for having a marathon to run! I think you will be fine to train in 12 weeks since you have such a strong base. I always thoughts a downhill marathon sounded appealing but I really don’t know how my body would handle it. I’m sure that you will go into it prepared and will do great!
Thanks Lisa! I’m not sure how my body will handle it, but I’m going to give it my best!
Woohoo on the marathon! I agree a downhill course can be tough. Training on that hill is a great idea. OMG, Ruth is so cute!
I’m going to seek out some hills and run hard down and recover up!
Ruth sure is a cute, yes 🙂 We think so!
Yay that you have a marathon on your schedule again!!! The next 12 weeks are going to fly by.
Thanks Becket!
Congrats on scoring a spot in a marathon! Idaho sounds great! Holly is actually training for a June marathon in Washington state. I don’t think downhill marathons are cheaters. You still have to run 26.2. You won’t see me signing up for one, lol! Nice week of training, Jessie!
Oh how fun for Holly! Which marathon is it? We already did a marathon in Washington state (Seattle).
Good point Wendy, it’s still 26.2 miles!
That’s so exciting! I think you’re correct, you’ve kept up a solid base of running so a marathon in 12 weeks is reasonable. It must feel great to have something to train for.
Ha, hills never look as steep as they really are in pictures- why is that???
Right?? Why is that? That hill is actually quite steep, but you can’t tell at all in the picture!
Couple other options for hill repeats with long downhills:
The path from Minnehaha Park (by the dog park) into Fort Snelling is awesome, about 1.5 miles of gentle down hill.
Montreal Ave in St Paul. Depending on where you start and end, it can be gentle, or steep and super fast.
The 50th Street Bridge over 35W is also super fun definitely on the steeper side.
Thank you Liz! These are great ideas. I’ll check them out!
That is so exciting to have a real marathon on your schedule! I have never been to Idaho but it’s supposed to be gorgeous here. You have such a strong base, I am sure 12 weeks is plenty of time to train. Excited for you!
I have heard great things about Idaho too, and am excited to go there!
Hooray for a real race. I agree. You have a solid base. You will do great.
I’d love to run a downhill race. But I too much downhill running can wreck havoc on your legs.
Good luck with your training
Yes, it will be a tough balance between doing some hills to prepare, but not crushing my legs so much they don’t recover…
Thank you!
That’s exciting that you found a marathon! I have never done a downhill marathon (or race, for that matter); great idea to do those downhill sprints!
I hope it helps!
Congrats on pulling the trigger on another marathon! That looks like a fun one and I know you’ll be trained for all that downhill. I have a couple of friends who assumed they’d BQ on Revel courses only to be humbled by the quad pounding. I’ve never been to Idaho. That will be cool!
Ha, exactly my fear- I did okay on Cottonwood, but I worry I can’t repeat that again! Downhills aren’t easy!
yes! a real marathon on the horizon! I am sure the 12 weeks will be fine since as you said you kept up a good base. you will be absolutely FINE with 12 weeks!! Great idea to add the downhill repeats in the training.
Even Ruth runs fast!!
Thanks Renee! I’m excited to have a marathon coming up.
haha, yes, Ruth is fast! But I joke that she’s only as fast as the person she’s leashed to 🙂
That is great news about the marathon! I think you will do fine since you’ve been running really good throughout this whole time. I’ve never been to ID (it is only list) but did a downhill race in UT and I was sore for days afterward.
I’m excited to see Idaho!
Did you also do Cottonwood in Utah?
No, I did the Utah Valley Half Marathon in June.
Oh, gotcha! That looks like a fun one too!
Woohoo on having a race on the horizon, and that hill sounds like an excellent part of your training.
The rain makes it so hard to get going. Truly is draining. Yay on vaccine!
Thanks Cari!
Hooray marathon – and you have a great solid base to build on so you’ll be fine!
I’m tentatively planning to do Reykjavik again in 2022 – the first one I did, so I enjoyed it but spent my race worrying about whether I was going to finish …
Reykjavik sounds like an awesome choice (just difficult to spell, ha!)
Very exciting that you’ve got a marathon planned! You seem to have very solid base. Maybe some cheater shoes will get you a super PR 😉 Great idea about ending with a hill run and great that it’s so close! I should have done some more hills because there will be at least one on my course, but hey, it’s too late for that now! Going to have to be good enough.
hah, I love it! Some cheater shoes on my cheater course 🙂
Yay for a marathon on the horizon! My marathon PR is on a downhill course which leveled out slightly and then had a couple of uphills and a killer uphill finish. They eventually changed the finish line slightly so it wasn’t such a bear of a finish. I loved the race – Steamtown Marathon in case you haven’t decided what to run in PA.
I have done Steamtown! I did it before they changed the course. That hill at the end was TERRIBLE! But the begging part was so fun and a beautiful course! I recommend that one to everyone.
I ran it in 2012! http://www.therightfits.com/2012/10/fits-do-race-reviews-steamtown-marathon-in-scranton-pa/
This is so exciting! I have never run a downhill course, but it sounds so fun.
Unrelated, but I saw a Vizsla at the brewery this and thought of you and the girls!
Aww, that’s awesome! Was the vizsla well behaved or a wild woman like Ruth? Ha!
Woo-hoo! Congrats on finding your next marathon. I think you clearly have a great base so 12 weeks should be plenty of build up. If I recall, you didn’t like the Nike Vaporflys. Have you tried out the Saucony Endorphin Pros or any other of the newer shoes? Is that a consideration for this race or are you sticking with one of your tried-and-true shoes?
Hi Eric! I have the 4%, but they made my toes go number on a 13 miler. I was able to wear them for shorter races and I loved the bounce! But I don’t think I could wear them for 26.2…
Dustin has the Endorphin Pros! I might have to check them out. I am open to cheater shoes for my cheater course, hehe!
Such awesome news to have a marathon on the calendar, Jessie! Excited for you! And Sun Valley looks like a gorgeous place for a marathon, too. I can’t wait until Olli the V is old enough to run with us – he has SO MUCH ENERGY. When did you start running with Ruth? Was she a year? That’s what we were thinking, so the end of May!
Thank you erin! I’m excited to see 26.2 miles of Sun Valley!
At the beginning of the pandemic last year, I started adding a mile at the end of runs with Ruth, so technically we started a bit before her 1st birthday (May 27th) but we didn’t go very far at first. I built up slowly to work on good behavior and by end of summer she was doing 5 miles. Now she is up to 8 and seems to still have all the energy afterwards, ha! Good luck with Olli!