Summer's Over: Back on Bikes

Over a month since we've tweeted any activity.
Nearly a month since we've posted any activity.
OK, we've had our rest (and then some) after completing our last big adventure: hiking R2R at the Grand Canyon twice in five weeks. We are proud of that accomplishment, but it's done.

Now we face a more daunting task: training for a half, or mini, marathon. That happens in a little over 21 weeks. Since we are NOT runners, we need a little extra training time.

There are several sources for training information:
  -   http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-244-258-12006-0,00.html
  -   http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/half_marathon.html
  -   http://www.1stplacesports.com/obtrain.htm
  -   http://www.halhigdon.com/halfmarathon/index.htm

Recent rains created pools of water
along the bike trail. Didn't get a good
shot of this crane enjoying the water.

Most of these references suggest 10-12 weeks to prepare for a half marathon. Those references also assume that the individual has been working out, maybe even participated in 5k or 10k runs.
One resource (http://www.marathonrookie.com/half-marathon-training.html)
suggests training shouldn't begin until you can run 30 minutes,
never mind the distance. Neither Papa or Nana have ever run 30 minutes in our lives. Getting to the point of running even 15 minutes without stopping will be a big accomplishment. Guess that's where we start.

Bike riding resumed this week. Papa rode home a couple days this week and Nana did her first ride today. Not going for time at this point with temperatures still triple digits. Just have to get started!

Back to weekly blog updates starting this coming Sunday. This week the goal is to have our training schedule mapped out and give you an update of just how far we've fallen behind during our summer training break.