Half Marathon in my Full Marathon Training

Hey All,

I just got back from a 3 mile run, part of my marathon training for October 9th in New Minas(the day before my 32nd birthday) the Valley Harvest Marathon will be my first marathon ever - but not my last. 

I've been running for a handful of years, interval sprints, fartleks(no jokes please), etc, but I have never ran as far as a marathon - at least not consecutively.  My training schedule was 18 weeks long and I say was because I started late.  So in order to get under the wire of time that I have, I selectively eliminated 5 weeks of the training schedule.  See below for full schedule, marked off weeks are ones I skip:

I'm currently on week 8, so this weekend I have to run 13 miles.  For those of you who don't know, a half marathon is 13.1 miles and wouldn't you know it?  There's a half marathon this Sunday!!  HAHA!! Ho-ho, heh-heh, a-hemmm, hmmmm..... *sigh*, oh my.

So the goal is to do the Yarmouth Bean There. Ran That Marathon. (well, half marathon for me) this Sunday - or Sundee as my budd Davest likes to call it.  I'm trying to stay positive about it, it is for a great cause - the Kidney Foundation of Canada and focus on the love of running that I have.

I'm really looking to incorporate more of my running into my photography, wouldn't it be great to meet with clients and go over job specifics while cruising down a sunny road for a few miles in the sunlight and fresh air?  The blood pumping and lungs gasping, it can only spur on the brainstorming of creative ideas. 

Maybe I should offer it as part of my workflow with clients, a kind of optional extra - with no extra charge!  I need to run, for my health, for my family, for my photography, for myself.  Strength training is great - in moderation, but how many body builders can run 26.2 miles consistently?  What's the life expectancy of a body builder?  What's the main cause of death of a body builder?  I use body builders as my example because, well, they strength train and I believe for the most part they do little if any cardio.  I would think that a body builders life expectancy would be average 60-70 years(low average to average) and I would believe that the main cause of death would be cardiac arrest.

If I'm wrong, please correct me - with scientific information, I have not looked up any information to back up these beliefs, they are based on my own very basic knowledge of strength training and how it effects the body.  But I know for a fact that marathoners and overall runners have life expectancies of 90+ years, few die of cardiac arrest and the bonus is that most have the physical and mental acuity of people decades younger when compared to their less active counterparts.  Anyways, enough runner's preaching from me.

I hope to see some of you out there at either of these events, a few races have landed on my other training days, a few 10k's and a 5k, which were fun as heck.  Take a look:

Okay, so back to work.

Next Blog?  Mike Is A Fucker.  Don't ask, just keep your eyes peeled.

Laterz,


Michael Carty
Michael Carty Photography Website
tangentpath@hotmail.com