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Part Two of our Half Marathon series. Crystal spearheaded the half marathon walk training and Debbie Burk jumped for the chance to do it! Debbie began attending our classes and events approximately a year ago. It has been fun watching her get stronger so we were excited when she agreed to do the San Diego Half Marathon with our fitness instructor, Crystal. Read about Debbie’s experience and maybe it will inspire YOU to train for something that will make you stronger and give you a GOAL to achieve!
1/ What made you decide to walk a half marathon?
In 2001 and 2003 I walked two full marathons with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training Program. About a year ago I started thinking about training for another event. When Crystal, the fitness instructor, emailed the LYF group asking if anyone was interested in training for the San Diego Half Marathon I jumped at the opportunity.
2/ Where was your fitness before you started? What were you doing? What was your longest walk?
I’ve always enjoyed walking, and with my 2 labs, Bella and Tucker accompanying me we have done a lot of walking! I started with Leash Your Fitness about a year ago so in addition to walking on my own, I regularly attend Bootcamp, a lot of 5ks and some of the hikes and other classes. Eleven miles was the longest I walked while training for the half marathon. I did a lot of 10- to 20-mile endurance walks with Team in Training before walking the two full marathons, so I was pretty confident with the distance of the half.
3/ How often did you train for the half? How many weeks before the half did you start training?
I started training seriously in January. So for 10 weeks I trained about five days a week – four days of walking, one day of bootcamp or other activity, and two days of rest. Crystal and I trained together about once or twice a week, depending on our personal schedules. Together we worked on distance, endurance and speed. We climbed the Secret Stairs in La Mesa, hiked at Sweetwater Summit, and did laps around Miramar Lake. For mental prep, one day we walked the first half of the marathon course and another day we walked the second half. Somehow we got mixed up and ended up walking about 11 miles that day!
4/ Did it help to do the training with friends? Did it help to keep you accountable?
It was great training with Crystal, and we were joined at times by her two friends, Debby and Helen, who were also training with us. It really helps to have someone to train with when you’re working on distance and endurance. It also helps to have two athletic yellow labs to walk with. During the week I would walk three to four miles with Tucker who has a fast, energetic pace, then bring him home and walk another couple of miles with Bella for hills and a cool down.
5/ Did you encounter any challenges during your training? How did you overcome them? Did you feel like you were ready on “race day”?
Unfortunately, I injured my knee on the Ramona Dam hike, and I didn’t realize how bad it was going to get. A couple of days later we walked the first half of the marathon course, which aggravated my injury further. I kept thinking it would go away with rest, icing and Motrin, so I kept training. I also started taping my knee with KT Tape at Crystal’s suggestion, which seemed to help some. Well, by the time we did our last training walk four days before the half marathon, I could barely walk five miles. I saw a doctor the next day that did x-rays and gave me a knee brace, meds and a prescription for crutches! Both he and my primary doctor said no go on the half marathon. That wasn’t what I was looking for – I just wanted to confirm that I wouldn’t do any serious damage if I went ahead with the event. I wore the knee brace 24/7 until the night before the event.
6/ How did you do and what did you learn from the experience?
I started the half marathon not knowing if I would finish or how far I’d go or how fast I’d be, but at least I’d do something. In my mind I was walking in memory of my first labbie love Colin because the half was on the three-year anniversary of when we had to put him to sleep, so I knew it would be a tough day no matter what. I taped my knee and wore my brace and not only finished the entire half marathon, but did it faster than I expected. I had envisioned being the last person, with the course opened back up to traffic and finishing in like 4+ hours. When our wave started and all the runners took off, I wouldn’t even look back because I didn’t want it to depress me. From my prior marathon experience, I knew people would burn out at some point and a trained walker can sometimes walk faster than someone who is alternating between running slowly and walking. I eventually passed about 50 people so I knew I wasn’t in last place!
My marathon training kicked in, I kept a steady pace between 14:00 and 14:30 per mile until the steep walk up Washington Avenue (about mile 9), which killed my knee for the rest of the course. I never stopped for anything and I didn’t keep track of time, I just walked by myself and listened to my music. I kept my mind busy by picking my lines, staying close to inside corners and choosing the straightest/diagonal lines between points to save footsteps and time. I finished in 3 hours and 21 minutes, with an average pace of 15:24 per mile, taking 31,757 steps.
7/ Anything else?
I’d like to thank Dawn, Crystal and everyone I’ve met along the way for making Leash Your Fitness such a fun and positive part of my life. When Bella and I participated in the World Record Yoga Class I had no idea that we’d have all the great adventures that we’ve had in the past year. I’m particularly touched by the kindness and patience Dawn and others have shown towards me in my never-ending quest to help Tucker with his social skills which is what brought me to LYF in the first place. Now he thinks he is a prince!
