How I got to Tucson, a first marathon

First, a Century Ride...

I planned to run a half marathon in Montreal and to follow a rigorous training schedule this fall, but cycling alongside my son's College ski team sounded like too much fun. So instead, I said yes to joining a team of friends and colleagues for the Kelly Brush Century ride. The cause is worth every effort and every mile. Kelly is an amazing, courageous young lady, whose love of life and sports inspired close to 500 skiers, cyclists and other athletes to gather for the event.













The course starts at Middlebury College campus, with beautiful views of the Green Mountains (below).

Then continues to Button Bay State Park, Lake Champlain, follows country roads North to Shelburne, and after a hilly sections to the North rides back South to Addison. Close to Shelburne Farms is perhaps the most scenic cycling road in the State of Vermont.

A memorable ride on a beautiful autumn day, though no endurance was tested for a marathon.

Then a 10 K race ... Mad River Mad Dash
a race that coincided with my proposed training plan, where I could run with Ian (#191) and other friends.














The Mad Dash is a cross-country race on packed dirt recreation paths, crossing corn fields, over rocks and 800 yards of a gravel road (hardly what my legs were used to)











But the reality is that most of my day and time in autumn is devoted to work and home. So despite a great plan and the encouragement of a friend who believed with proper "homework" I could run a fine marathon, the last month I lacked preparation and training.
(Sheila! As promised, below is the training plan I followed!)





So I traveled to beautiful Tucson AZ.












The marathon course is a wonderful descent along the Catalina mountain range with refreshing views of the surrounding nature.

The weather was warm, the sunrise breathtaking (a poor i-phone photo below) and the group I ran the first 20 miles with, was fun and good company.


Unfortunately the experience overall was bittersweet, though it taught me to be smarter next time. But I finished.

1	9/7 15m bike	9/8 x-train 15 m bike	9/9 x-train 10 mile bike	9/10 x-train 1.5 m swim		9/11 bike A Century!
2	9/14	9/15 6K (3.7) w/hill	9/16 swim 800m+ 3x200	9/17 10K (6.2) w/hill - Easy:8.32			9/20 10K Race: Mad Dash
3	9/21 x-train swim (long)	9/22 easy: 8:43 7k w/hills		9/24 8K tempo w/hill - 2.5K@8.5/ 3K@7.4/3K@ 8.30	9/25 x-train swim (long)	9/26 x-train bike ride 16 miles	9/27 5 k with hill pace: 7.39
4		9/29 12K@8.7 Mid pt = 7.33		10/1 8K tempo 2.5k+3KT+2.5K			10/4 16K (10m)
5	10/5 5K	10/6 8K		10/8 8K		10/10 5K	10/11 long 20K (12.5)
6	10/12 5K	10/13 10K		10/15 5K	10/16 7K		10/18 long 25 K (15.5m)
7		10/20 8Ktempo 2.5k+3KT+2.5K		10/22 10K		10/24 long 20K (12.5)	10/25 x-train swim
8	10/26 5K	10/27 8Ktempo 2.5k+3KT+2.5K		10/29 7K	10/30 x-train swim		11/1 long 16K (10m)
9		11/3 incomplete run	11/4 6 miles (heat)			11/7 5K	11/8 long 22K (13.7)
10		11/10 8K		11/12 10K			11/15 long 30K (18.6)
11		11/17 5K		11/19 5K hills of 2K+20x100+1K	11/20 swim		11/22 long 22 K (13.7)
12			11/25 10 K Marath. pace		11/27 3 miles speed		11/29 10 miles Marathon pace
13		12/1	12/2 5K easy	12/3 5 m Tempo (1+3+1 treadmill)	12/4 1 K swim		10 K
14	12/7 1K + 5x200 + 1K	12/8 4 m tread 800 mts swim	12/9 Travel gym climbing	12/10 Light 4 miles	12/11 Light 20 min jog	Light jog	Marathon

Months of running ...

A few months ago I decided to pick up running. Having done it as cross-training for years, it is not an easy sport when speed and distance become a goal. I began outdoor running in March, in NY city. No other location is as encouraging as Central Park, where runners of all abilities are permanently present (see entry here)

Vermont was my next landscape to explore on foot. Spring offers ever changing shades of green, budding maples and warm sunshine. Perfectly beautiful experience with the right i-pod sound to complement the occasion. I discovered the most beautiful routes to be in the Mad River Valley, Ripton, Middlebury and Basin Harbor. (see two triathlon training entries here)

But the running continued. And despite having a distant goal in sight, I made sure to always find beautiful places to run. The joy of the journey makes the destination that much sweeter. And the experience of building up to long runs is worth pursuing when each run is a fun sightseeing adventure.




In June I ran along the valleys of the Carnic Alps (border Italy-Austria), along the Ciclabile di Tarvisio

















A week later I found myself running among colorful fields in Val D'Orcia, Tuscany (San Quirico D'Orcia: ginestre, papaveri, sole, campagna estiva) ...



followed by some further steps on the hillsides of Gubbio, Umbria,
in the very early morning.




























The Mediterranean is beautiful in every season. I began running by the sea in Trieste, ending each run with a relaxing swim ...


(lungomare dal Castello di Miramare)




















...which continued in Porto Ross (Slovenia)




















and ended in Lignano (vicino a Venezia).


I also ran in the city, which requires slightly more planning. Milano, a city where elegance is still a must, is surprisingly amiable to runners in the very early morning, shortly after sunrise. In general, the surprise of seeing someone in shorts running around tourist attractions forces locals to smile and say hi. Not bad for a city of 1.3 million. Once at the Castello Sforzesco, runners abound and paths are clean and well manicured.



































More to come ...