THE COMEBACK TRAIL: HALF MARATHON TRAINING IN 10 WEEKS

I undertook a self-imposed challenge this summer — to go from zero running to being able to run a half marathon (13.1 miles) in 10 weeks.

That has to be the most painful thing I've done in a while. Nearly every step of running hurt all summer long.

A thumbnail from an episode of Zero To Half Marathon video series on YouTube.

While I have run on and off (maybe a couple of miles on the tready every couple of months) I was basically starting from scratch. The first day I ran 1 mile with a lot of pain. By the end of the first week I ran/walked three miles. I have to tell you, 13 miles seemed impossible from where I was.

But I kept at it running 2-3 days a week and increasing my long run day by a mile every week.

By Sunday of week 10 I ran 13.2 miles in 2 hours and 23 minutes. Slow and too much walking but I made it.

There's a half marathon race on Sept. 23 that I may run but my main goal was/is to just get in shape and run long runs when I feel like it.

I also recorded my "Zero to Half Marathon" challenge in a series of YouTube videos on our YouTube channel. You can find them here: Zero to Half Marathon

Here a few more of the thumbnails (cover images) from the series on YouTube:

The first week of training video.

Video of Week 2

the final week's video

As a follow up on the challenge to go from zero running to half marathon distance in 10 weeks,  which ended on Labor Day, after hitting 13 miles I backed off on my training  a little. For me hitting 13 miles in 10 weeks was really a struggle and I did not want to get injured so for now I'm limiting my long runs to 10 miles and trying to increase my over all weekly mileage, which has been less than 20 a week all summer.

Thanks for stopping by and maybe I'll see you on the road. Take care and be safe.

FROM ZERO TO HALF MARATHON IN 10 WEEKS

Distance running: I've done it, on and off, my whole life. From marathons to Ironman World Championship where you swim 2.4 miles, Bike 112 miles then, after all that, You run a marathon (26.2 miles) all in the same day.

So, let me just put it out there for everyone to read: In the next 10 weeks (basically over the summer) I'm going to go from zero running to 13.1 miles (a half marathon) distance. AND within another 4 weeks after that I'll be able to race at that distance.

The past two years is the longest break I've had from running since 2006 when we moved to the Big Island.

Yeah, it's a lofty goal for someone in their late 50s who hasn't run much for the past couple of years.

In the past 9 years I've competed in two Ironman World Championship triathlons and several half Ironmans and numerous other triathlons, marathons and other distance running events. but for the past two years I've reverted back to a couch potato.

Now I want to change that and get back into Ironman shape. Well, at least marathon shape.

All I can do is either succeed or fail. And you can follow along, either on this blog or on my YouTube channel, to see which I do and to hold me accountable for training and sticking with it. I will need your support, encouragement and advice along the way so please subscribe to either or better yet, both, and comment on each of my training videos. I'm lazy and can't do this on my own.

You can watch a video on our YouTube channel where I talk about this 10-week challenge of getting off the couch and running a half marathon here: https://youtu.be/2paSWjyCDuA

ABOUT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL: Adventure Road Travel Sketchers
you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/user/rdubinhawaii

Our channel is evolving as our lives are evolving.

Our channel started out while we lived in Hawaii and I was competing in Ironman triathlons. That's why the first few videos are about running and Ironman competition. Since we have moved back to the mainland and I became interested in sketching I switched it up to producing sketching videos, sketchbook tours, reviews, and how to sketch videos.

Recently our lives have taken a new direction. We moved out of our three bedroom house with a double car garage and moved into a 264-square-foot fifth wheel RV. We plan to begin traveling the country as soon as possible and sketch the places and people we visit and meet along the way. We plan on sticking to the rural areas as much as possible -- the roots of America.

We also plan on interviewing some of the people we meet and discover what makes their town and neighborhoods special to them.

We will be producing content about sketching, RV life, which includes repairs, coping with small spaces and the pros and cons of full-time RV living. Our daughter, Rebecca is disabled and is wheelchair bound so we will also be talking about how we manage all the work arounds in a world made for people who walk, including how accessible places are for disabled people.

I've changed the name of this channel (for now) to Adventure Road Travel Sketchers (ARTS for short) and my wife Karen, daughter Rebecca, 4-year-old twin grandsons Leo and Desmond and our 6-year-old grandson NJ, will be contributing content as well.

Thanks and please subscribe (it's absolutely free) and it would mean the world to us.

CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN ZOMBIES AHEAD ...

It's slow going but I'm up to 12 miles on my long runs and 10k (6.2 miles) on my other running days. I still need to add one more day of running to get it up to 4 days but I just don't know where I'll get the time, especially with winter coming on.

This Sunday I should be up to half marathon distance (13.1 miles). I can't wait to get up to three hour runs but by then it'll be cold and dark and rainy here. I know, I'm a wimp, but after training for years in Hawaii it's hard to get motivated in poor weather.

Karen and I, NJ and the twins are planning on racing zombies on the 25th in Albany. My guess is we'll not make it too far before we are "bitten." But it should be fun anyhow. I've always wanted "The Walking Dead" to do a show on zombie babies, especially zombie twin babies.

Oh, since Ironman World Championship is this Saturday, here's a video of my first world championship finish shot by my friend Giovanni.

This is from 2009. Back then 13 miles seemed like nothing. In fact I remember racing a half marathon a few weeks before where I went out and ran 3 miles as a warm up then ran my fastest half to date just so I could get in my 16 mile run for the day. Dang I miss in that kind of shape.

SUM, SUM, SUMMAH TIME IN HAWAII

Wow, it's been a month since I've posted anything here. That's the longest I've gone since I started this blog about 3 years ago. Well, here's a quick update on what's been happening on our tiny big island.

Rebecca had a great 5k race at the Kona Marathon last month. She beat her best time by about 10 minutes.

Rebecca working her way up Alii Drive during the race. She did a great job. Alii isn't flat at all and has a severe slope which makes doing a race in a wheelchair even harder.

Even though I'm still unable to run or bike too much I managed to do two ocean swim races in the past two weeks. The Hapuna Roughwater Swim and the King's Swim. As out of shape (and overweight) that I am these days I was pleasantly surprised at my time for the Hapuna swim, which is 1 mile. I did it in 26 minutes. The King's swim is 1.2 miles which I did last year in 31:36 and placed about 7th in my age group. This year the ocean was pretty rough with huge swells and a pretty strong current. I swam it in 33 minutes this year and placed 2nd in my age group. That's my 2nd-ever swimming award.

That's me coming out of the water and running to the finish line at the King's Swim last weekend. Thanks Carl Koomoa for the photo. That swim skin I'm wearing belonged to World Champion Ironman triathlete Chris McCormack and is the one he wore last year when he won the Ironman World Championship here in Kona. Karen won it from him in a contest he had while he was here. I thought I would see if it would help me swim faster -- no such luck, though.

Oh, the week before we were swimming this same course (Kailua Bay) for Masters and ran into three sharks. there's been quiet a few shark sightings here lately.

Not much else going on. I've been running a little but Monday I tweaked my knee some how and now I can barely walk. Old age sucks ...

On a sad note, our dog, Bear, who we have had for about 14 years (we got him when he was only 6 weeks old) has gone completely blind - old age sucks. We've been trying to help him adapt but it's been a struggle for him. He's learning to walk next to walls and feel his way around through the house. We're learning not to leave things where he can trip over them and not to leave doors open to bedrooms and bathrooms where he can get stuck and disoriented.


Bear in his younger days. Actually, this was taken just a couple of years ago.