Saturday, December 17, 2016

BQ Take 2 - Tracktown USA Edition

There are no shortcuts to any place worth going ~Beverly Sills

Oh, hello again. If it wasn't already obvious, the Hamkins have officially caught the marathon bug, and we are excitedly planning our training programs and our next couple of 26.2s.

The opportunity to run our next marathon in Eugene, Oregon, through the campus of the University of Oregon and finishing the race on the historic track of Hayward Field was too perfect to pass up.. 

Originally, we had our sights set on running at REVEL Mt Charleston in Vegas in late April, but that just never sat well. The course is a monster net downhill, but it all seemed a little too corporate (think Rock n Roll without the music, crowds, and energy). Plus, it's not really possible to train for a downhill race like that in DC, and we really loved the small town feel that we experienced in Marquette.

The Eugene Marathon takes place on May 7th, which pushes back the beginning of the 18 week training plan from December 26th to January 2nd. The course is pancake flat save for two early minor inclines. This year marks the 11th running, and has been a race mentioned in most "must try" lists since its inception.
I've selected the Pfitz 18/85 training plan for this go around. The past two months I've slowly built up my weekly mileage to the current 65 mpw, which is where the Pfitz plan starts at Week 1. The big noticeable change has been increasing running from 6 to 7 days a week, but so far, so good. 

Christine has been battling some nagging aches and pains the past few months, but has been getting in mileage where she can. She's getting an MRI soon on her hip/knee to pinpoint the issue and finally get clarity on next steps. Hoping it all goes well, and she's back at it soon.

We're pumped for this new challenge and the fun of doing a race in a place so revered as Eugene.

J

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