North Olympic Discovery Marathon – One Week Out

Disclaimer: I received a free entry to the North Olympic Discovery Marathon as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

With just one week to go until the North Olympic Discovery Marathon, I’m trying to get my thoughts (and training) together before the big day. This will be my first race representing BibRave in 2017, so I’m pretty stoked! And although it’s not my first international race of the year (since I ran in Japan back in March), it’ll be my first US race since last year’s North County Wine Run.

I’ve already blogged about all the reasons why you should run the North Olympic Discovery Marathon, but I wanted to recap some of my training and final preparation for the race. Keep in mind that I’m running the half marathon at NODM, and not the full!

North Olympic Discovery Marathon – Training

My training regimen in 2017 has been pretty consistent thanks to Coach Carey and the gang at Forerunners Vancouver. I’ve been keeping the North Olympic Discovery Marathon on my radar, anticipating this race since I registered, so all training has been with this event in mind.

Having said that, my big goal race was – unsurprisingly – the BMO Vancouver Marathon, which I ran just three weeks ago. And although I didn’t make the time I was targeting, I was still pretty pleased to finish. Post-marathon, my inclination is to ‘take it easy’, and spend a few weeks recovering. However, knowing that an important half marathon was on the horizon, I couldn’t have too many rest days!

I’ll admit I didn’t attend the Monday night speed clinic the day after the marathon – I actually stayed home – I got back in the saddle with yoga on Tuesday. My training got back on track from there.

If you’re curious, this is what training generally looks like:

• Mondays: Speed Training – usually with Forerunners, but occasionally on my own (somewhat less hard core)
• Tuesdays: Lunchtime yoga
• Thursdays: Easy Run with #RunVan – pre-work sunrise run, at a fairly easy pace
• Fridays: Pilates
• Saturdays: Long Slow Distance with Forerunners

But I’m not entirely a creature of habit; I’ll sometimes squeeze in a lunchtime run, I ran a race last Sunday (Shaughnessy 8k), and this morning – in honour of the Grand Opening of Forerunners Main Street – we did a 5k Social Run, followed by pancakes!

My areas for improvement? I need to do more intensive training – things like hills workouts, intervals, and the like. I don’t always push myself as hard as I know I should. Also, I recognize that strength training is essential to make me a stronger runner, but I need to get over my dislike of the gym. Stay tuned on that one!

North Olympic Discovery Marathon – Preparation

Training aside, there’s the logistics of travelling to a race. Since it’s just an overnight trip, I’m going solo. Things to take care of:

Hotel – I booked accommodation months ago. It’s near the finish line, and I’ve already confirmed that they will make rooms available for post-race showers. The hotel is also a handy 3-minute walk from the shuttles that will take us to the start line!

Transportation – I don’t own a car, so I had to make sure I had a way to get to Port Angeles! I’ve booked one of the car share vehicles with Modo Car Coop – my go-to solution!

Ferry – the route I’m taking from Canada involves a ferry. Just to make sure I get there on time for package pickup, I’ve made a reservation on the Coupeville-Port Townsend route. Might be unnecessary, but it gives me peace of mind.

Packing – No, I’m not that organized – still need to get everything in order. But as long as I have my orange BibRave gear, my standard half marathon fuel (Honey Stinger gels), and my passport…I’m good to go!

BibRave Pros! Finally, I’ll have the chance to meet several of my fellow BibRave Pros – Jeremy, Karen, James, and Amanda.

Registration for the North Olympic Discovery Marathon is still open, and the final price increase is at 11:59pm on May 31. Sign up – and save an extra $5 with discount code: BibRave17