Marathon Training Update - 4 months and counting.....

It's been a couple month since the last update, so here goes......

First, the important stuff. Despite the significant side benefit of everyone getting to make fun of my attempts to get into shape, the real reason for all of this is to raise money for the San Francisco Aids Foundation. People have been very generous so far, and to all who have donated, thank you very much! I have already passed the minimum required donation amount but I am still slightly short of my "original personal goal", and a long way from my "adjusted personal goal" of $15,000. There is an intermediate fundraising milestone approaching on August 2nd, so if you've been thinking about making a contribution, now would be a great time. No amount is too small, of course, no amount is too large. And remember, if you work for Oracle there is an easy donation matching program available.

Secure online donations can be made here - http://www.aidsmarathon.com/participant.asp?runner=SF-4071&EventCode=HN06
Oracle Matching can be made here - https://www.easymatch.com/oracle
Organization = San Francisco Aids Foundation (ID = 0004936),
Purpose = Runner Alan Fletcher,
RunnerID = SF-4071.

OK, so now that you've made your generous donation, onto the fun stuff.....
It's been 4 months and I've run 235 miles, biked 164 miles and swam a staggering 0.1 mile. I am hoping that the swimming piece isn't the important part! Obviously a triathlon is not in my future, plus I've heard that a "gentlemanly-breast-stroke-without-getting-your-hair-wet" is not the the typical swimming style of an ironman.

I'm still running 3-4 times a week and biking once. I even ran in Vegas, which was not a good idea - Too much sun, not enough sleep, too much beer...... not pretty. But as they say, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

The last 2 months have been part of the "official training program". This is a gentle, beginners program, based on the training philosophies of Jeff Galloway, who has apparently run 100's of marathons. It seems to have a goal of getting you to the startline uninjured and with enough endurance to finish. No focus on finishing quickly or anything like that.

Our first meeting was a timed 3 mile run, to be completed at a comfortable pace, to determine your pace group. "Comfortable pace" is not exactly specific, so most of us interpreted it as "run as fast as you can without collapsing". The guidance was that you should be able to carry on a conversation without huffing and puffing. Off we go, casual banter for the first 200 yards, then it gets less and less. By the second mile, no-one's talking much, people are panting. By the end most of us have run 3 miles quicker than ever before, but everyone fakes a grin as they cross the line and the coach falls for it. Mission accomplished - we are all now in a training group that will be too fast for us to sustain! I'll deal with that problem later....

They then add 90 seconds to your pace, and that is your training pace. I'm in a group of 8 with a target pace of 10:30. A marathon at that pace would be 4 hours 36 minutes..... 7 minutes slower than my nemesis, Oprah Winfrey. And just for fun, they then throw in walk breaks - 1 minute walking for every 6 minutes running. At that rate I'll never finish. Apparently, on "race day" it all clicks and you can run faster than your training pace (despite the humidity, heat, and the 35,000 other people in the way). So I haven't (yet) dropped my ill-advised and improbable 4 hour target. (If anyone has a good idea how I can get rid of that goal without huge loss of face, please email me privately...)

We ran 9 miles yesterday, and it was a blistering 96 degrees, plus they added some hills for the first time. We ran at about 10 minute miles, and with the walk breaks averaged around 10:30. Not too bad. A few people are beginning to feel the distance and struggle in the heat but I'm still OK at this point. I must admit that I was a little hot at the end so came home and jumped in the pool. We have an old thermostat which is on the fritz, so the pool was 95 degrees. Not refreshing at all. Over the next few months we run the miles up, all the way to 26 in November.

One thing I am proud of is the huge growth in the number of GPS watches in our whole group. First week I was the envy of everyone with my new toy. Now there must be at least 50 of them. They are all beeping and chirping all the time, no-one really knows how to use them but Garmin must be very happy. I should be on commission.

On the health side it's all good except for my knees. Just had my regular checkup and my weight is down, heart rate is down, blood pressure is down, cholesterol is down, and I'm taller! (OK , so I made up one of those). All of my research indicates that knee replacement is far easier than heart replacement so I'm gonna keep going. I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that my knees are going to hurt after I run, and given that I'm running all the time, they hurt all the time. I've been told that chicken stock helps but I'm dubious.

At some point I will need to get some leg muscles so my ligaments can stop doing the job that my muscles should be doing. I've been back to the knee doctor and he told me this is a common problem with senior athletes....That's about it for my saga.

Thanks again for your support - Alan

Two Month Training Update

Quite a few people have asked me about how my marathon endeavor is progressing so here's an update on the first 2 months of slogging my way around the streets of Los Altos.....

The "official training program" kicks off next week but I decided that given my incredibly low level of fitness it would be a good idea to get some pre-training training done in advance, with the hope of not being the slowest person in the group.

So on April 2nd, in my gleamingly white new shoes, I set off to run for 3 miles. It wasn't what I would call graceful, in fact it was downright ugly, but I did it without throwing up which was my primary objective. 3 days later I ran another 3 miles: a little better that time, but my knees didn't feel great. Another 3 days later I ran 5 miles (no-one has ever told me that I'm patient). After that my knees complained violently and 3 days later my run was more of a walk. I decided to take a week off and see if they got with the program. They didn't.

So I went to the sports clinic in Palo Alto who told me I had "Jumper's Knee". Usually caused by overuse, running/jumping on hard/uneven surfaces, weak leg muscles, poor stretching, or cheap shoes. OK, so I was guilty of 4 out of 5 . Up next was 10 days without running, plenty of ice/ibuprofen and lots of stretching exercises.

At the end of April I started again, with 4 miles on soft surfaces - and it was OK. So I started running 4-5 times a week and upped the miles on Saturdays to a maximum of 10 (which was OK but I wouldn't have wanted to keep going for another 16.2). I'm now running 25-30 miles a week and biking about 20 - I even ran on vacation and in the rain. I'm getting faster (but I started really slow....) and am able to run at increasingly lower heart rates, which is all good.

The jumper's knee is just about gone but now I have a little bit of "Runner's Knee". I'm encouraged that at least I now have an injury related to the correct sport. Less encouraging is some information from the web that runner's knee is very common among 10-20 year old girls. So I guess I'm now running like a teenage girl.

I'm definitely running faster than "they" recommend for new runners, and I'm ramping the miles more quickly than I should, which probably explains the injuries. However, I believe that if you want to be good at something you need to do it as much and as fast as you can and you'll get better. (I expect some different opinions during the official training program....)

I have tons of data and analysis of each run (thanks to my GPS watch) and can see the improvement as I train more. If I continue to progress like I have so far I should be able to finish this thing. However, my initial goal (based on zero real data) of doing the marathon in 4 hours looks to be quite challenging. That means doing it all at 9 minute 10 second miles. I can do a couple at 9 minutes but my best "long" run to date was about 6.2 miles and that was at a pace that would have me finishing in 4:14 (a pace of 9:40). So I just need to take 30 seconds off each mile and be able to keep going for an extra 20 miles, plus deal with the heat of hawaii and running up/down hills.

We'll see how it goes, but after 2 months of this I'm now really impressed that Oprah Winfrey ran a marathon in 4:28.

On the fundraising side things are going much better. I'm way past the minimum required, so that means I have to run this thing now. I'm not yet at my goal of $10,000 but I'm getting there.

Thanks to everyone who has sponsored me so far. For those that still want to donate you can do this securely online here.... http://www.aidsmarathon.com/participant.asp?runner=SF-4071&EventCode=HN06

If this update has inexplicably left you wanting more information about my runs, you can see all the grisly details of my exploits at the following very cool (but usually mind numbingly slow) website http://afletche.motionbased.com/

And finally, if you like gadgets, and are looking for something to waste some money on, I'd really recommend the GPS/heart monitor I use http://www.garmin.com/products/forerunner305/
thanks, Alan

NEWSFLASH... Alan Fletcher to Run Marathon!

This may surprise you (especially if you've ever been drinking with me), but I have decided to run a marathon.

I recently had an epiphany in Roundtable Pizza. As I was gorging myself on a triple-meat-deep-dish pizza and several beers, I spotted an AIDS Marathon brochure lurking next to the ranch dressing. Having just turned 40 (and having recently seen my older brother), I have the feeling that my metabolism will soon start struggling to keep up with my intake of calories. So I decided this was the the time to get in shape.

Not being one to do anything half assed, I thought a full marathon would be a good place to start. After all, it's just running, how hard can it be? (left, right, repeat as necessary). I did a little of that in high school, I went skiing a couple dozen times 5 or 6 years ago so I should be fine. And if Oprah can do it, I can do it. So I filled in the form and went back to my pizza.

Two weeks later I went out to get the most technologically advanced shoes, microfiber clothing and GPS enabled heart monitor yet devised. Before even taking a step I feel much better prepared to complete the journey, and although no-one has mentioned anything I think I may have lost some weight.

Of course, it's not just any marathon, I luckily found one in Hawaii and I'm always looking for an excuse to go there. The Honolulu Marathon will take place on December 10, 2006 and my training lasts from June to December during which I'll run over 500 miles.

Now this isn't just about me, this is to raise money to help the San Francisco AIDS Foundation provide HIV services and prevention programs in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. A portion of the funds will also support treatment access in the developing world.

More than one million Americans, and 40 million others around the world, are living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. With more than 20 million deaths so far, AIDS is now the leading cause of death among all people aged 15 to 59 worldwide.

To help this cause, I have made a personal commitment to raise at least $3,000 before August 25 2006, and I hope to raise even more. Any contribution you can make would mean a great deal to me. Contributions are usually tax-deductible (so part of this will be coming from Mr. Bush or Mr. Blair....)

You can donate easily, and securely, online at this site http://www.aidsmarathon.com/participant.asp?runner=SF-4071&EventCode=HN06.
Please note than many companies have charitable donation matching programs so please check with your HR/benefits department.

Thanks for your generous support.Alan Fletcher
P.S. Please feel free to forward this to any rich, generous people that you may know