You're doing it all wrong.”

That's basically what Coach Vic told me when we first began discussing training for a marathon a couple of months ago.

Like Aesop's tortoise, up until that point I had been running slow and steady for about an hour at a time, five to six days a week. Vic, however, explained that this approach wasn't going to help me win any races — or finish a marathon.

Apparently, Aesop wasn't a runner.

“All you're doing is breaking your body down,” Vic said. “You've got to mix up your routine.”

So, we set about designing a weekly running plan that fit my schedule:

Monday: Hill repeats, 6-12. Sprint up, walk/shuffle down. There's a stretch during the Boston Marathon called Heartbreak Hill. Araby Drive in Palm Springs is mine.

This training was especially helpful for the Tram Road Challenge. Still, my glutes were sore for two days after the first session.

Tuesday: Regular run, 60 mins., flat surface. This is supposed to be a maintenance run, not too strenuous, not too easy. I usually take my dog Lola — a German shepherd/Lab mix — along on these. I enjoy the solitude of running most days, but it's also nice to have some company once in a while.

Wednesday: Speed intervals, 7 a.m. at Palm Springs High School track. Started out running 6 x 800m but recently increased to 6 x 1600m.

Thursday: Yoga. There's no getting around it — if you do a lot of running you're going to feel some aches and pains. For me, mixing in a yoga session once or twice a week helps reduce soreness and build up strength in my muscles and joints. It also increase balance and flexibility.

Friday: Regular maintenance run.

Saturday: Long run, 10 miles and up. Coach Vic says this is the most important run of the week, because if you want to get your body in marathon shape you have to slowly build up to 26.2 miles. The toughest part for me is occupying my mind for such long stretches of time.

Sunday: Rest.

So far I'm seeing positive results, hitting or exceeding most of the goals set by Coach Vic.

And I've never appreciated Sundays so much in my life.

Meeting Mary

This past Monday was one of those days where I just didn't have it — low energy and less enthusiasm. And let's face it, repeatedly charging up a hill isn't the most fun way to spend your morning.

I was shuffling down Araby after my sixth (and final) hill repeat when I met Mary Ahlroth, who was walking up.

I was thinking about how glad I was to be finished when, as we got closer, I noticed her mouth moving. I took out my earphones and we exchanged “Good mornings.”

Looking fit in crisp blue slacks and visor, I guessed she was in her 60s, 70 at the most.

“Are you training for a marathon?” she asked.

I explained that yes, I was training for a marathon, and that Monday is my hill day.

“That's good,” she said. “I'm not, but I'm 89.”

Mary told me that she moved to California from Idaho back in 1943 and honeymooned in Palm Springs two years later.

“There wasn't much here back then,” she said, recalling the long stretches of desert between Palm Springs and Indio.

Mary and her husband raised their family in the San Fernando Valley before moving to the desert in 1987. The couple stayed active by playing tennis, a game Mary still appreciates but no longer plays. Her husband passed away five years ago.

Most mornings Mary trudges up Araby.

“I'm blessed,” she said. “How many 89-year-olds do you see?”

Meeting Mary gave me a second wind and I decided to charge up the hill again.

Because if Mary can find the motivation to make it up there, I'll let her be mine.