#TBT Happiest Places On Earth #rundisney

Before the 2012 Wine and Dine Half at Walt Disney World

Before the 2012 Tinker Bell Half at Disneyland

Any guesses where I wish I could be right now?

Maybe someday I'll get to run another Disney race.  

Have you RunDisney?  What was your favorite race?

Throwback Thursday: 2012 Tinker Bell Half Marathon #runDisney

In honor of this weekend's Tinker Bell Half - a few pictures from the inaugural race in 2012. I so wish I was heading to Anaheim right now.

I loved running with Beki and meeting up with Barb and Andrea.  

Sleeping Beauty's castle and Disneyland will never compare to Cinderella's and Disney World for me, but I still loved running through the parks in California.  Plus, this was part one in my quest for my Coast to Coast medal :)

I couldn't leave California without seeing the Pacific Ocean.  On a related note, I really need a beach right now.

Are you running Tink?  Which Disney park do you prefer - Disneyland or Walt Disney World?

Fitness Friday: To My #runDisney #wdwmarathon Peeps!

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And remember...

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I'm cheering you all on from Michigan and wish SO MUCH that I could be there in person. Have a great weekend my Disney running friends!

Wine and Dine Half: Post-Race Party!

After running my butt off through 3 Disney parks, I got changed and scooted (Ha! very slowly) back into Epcot for the Wine and Dine post-race party. The good folks at Disney were keeping Epcot open until 4am for race participants and my goal was to last to as close to 4am as I could since I hadn't spent any time park hopping before the race.

(I apologize in advance for the somewhat crappy pics - all I had with me was my iPhone.)

With as messed up as my tummy was and as slow as I was moving, I didn't manage to hit any of the rides. Plus, there simply wasn't enough time. I definitely needed some nourishment and real beer so I hoofed it straight to World Showcase and made my way around the lagoon.


Normally I have issues with seeing Christmas lights before Thanksgiving, but I loved all the Christmas decorations I saw during the race and at the after party.


I love Spaceship Earth all lit up at night. I wanted to ride that one since I've heard it's been updated, but I was afraid if I sat for that long (it's a long ride) that I'd never get up again.


Getting cozy with Mulan and Mushu. After not getting any character pics during the race, I needed one here! Mushu asked (with Mulan translating - it was so cute!) if I'd run all the way from the west coast for the 2nd medal. I told him it sure felt like it!


Decided on a seared filet of beef with sweet potatoes and a spicy tomato sauce from South Africa first. Bad, calorie-deprived blogger I was at the time I didn't take pics of my food. I was a bit disappointed in the size of the portion, but it was delicious.


Is that Paris across the pond?


Long lines at some of the booths made me walk by, but I waited for some great German food - Schinken Nudel (a noodle dish with ham and cheese) and Roast Bratwurst in a Pretzel Roll with a spicy/sweet German mustard. (Sorry no pic / total fail.) I was only able to eat a few bites before my tummy said "no more" but it was also delish.


I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of my beer! I tried a Weizen from Germany -  Schöfferhofer Weizen - and it was amazing. Next time, I'll definitely take more food pictures and run faster so I have time to enjoy more of the party and rides.

Have you ever been at Disney for the International Food and Wine Festival?  I'd seriously consider going back just for that, although the sizes of the portions could've been bigger given what they were charging for them.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Wine and Dine Half - the 2 day race: part 2

When we left off, I was zonking out on the plane after downing a couple of these babies in my much deserved upgraded seat:


(Seriously, if you can afford to upgrade to business or first class after a destination race - DO IT! Hell, even if you can't afford it, upgrade anyway.)

The fireworks had gone off and I was bouncing along to Eminem as my playlist started. If you haven't read part 1 of my recap, you can find it here. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Glad you're back! All caught up now? Did you grab yourself a beverage? This is going to be another long one.  You know I'm overdressed but feeling really good at the start of this race. I'm not warmed up though, but since I've never started a race with a warm up run anyway, I'm not too worried about it. I've missed the excitement of the starting line and I can't wait to have all my training pay off. I'd taken it really easy on my legs during taper week, swapping out 2 runs for a cycle workout and swim. My last 2 mile run plus strides on Wednesday went great and felt easy at race pace.

Now, onto the race itself.

Miles 1-3
My plan was to start out slow - somewhere around an 11 or 11:30 m/m pace. (I knew from Tink I'd need to weave around people & the start would be crowded). I figured once I got out on the main drag it would quickly open up and I could pick up my pace a little. I was wrong. Right away, I felt bunched in but also like I was running a bit too fast. It felt like I was working to hold about a 10:30 pace but every time I looked at my watch I saw high 11's. My breathing was already feeling off and I couldn't get my groove. It also felt like the first 3 miles were uphill, but I know there was a dip down in the 2nd mile based on my splits. My Garmin was beeping the miles before the course markers, but I figured it was from all the weaving early on or possibly the course markers weren't exactly in the right places. I tried to just get lost in the early songs on my list and find holes in which to get around people. (Side note: I have no issues with people using the Galloway run/walk method since they are out there covering the same distance I am, but their timers should be set on vibrate because the constant buzzing gets annoying fast. Also, they need to learn to watch behind them when the start walking so people running don't run into them.  Really.  If you are walking a race or need to stop for some reason, please, for your own safety, take a peek behind you and then move to the side.) There was a band playing along this stretch and I said "hi" to Mr. Incredible as he passed me (we'd leapfrog for a part of the race). I hit the 5k mat just before I entered Animal Kingdom. My paces were all over the place but overall I still felt ok and my target pace for the first 3 miles wasn't bad.

5k (3.1 miles) in 34:37 (11:08 pace). Mile splits from my Garmin (remember they beeped early): 11:22, 10:45, 10:59.

Miles 4-6
Most of the 4th & 5th miles are run through Animal Kingdom. The paths were very narrow with a lot of sharp turns. This park is DARK. I remember a man working a giant lizard puppet and the smells of animals. Seeing Everest lit up and running through "Africa" was incredible, but mostly I kept my head down. I couldn't believe how tired I already felt and how much I was sweating. As I exited Animal Kingdom around mile 5, I took a gu (Espresso Love if you're wondering). This is a tried & true flavor & I chased it with plenty of water (I was making sure to drink at every mile marker plus a little extra at the water stops). Somewhere in here I switched from water to Nuun since I was sweating so much. The 6th mile was outside of the park and I was able to speed back up a little (but not to nearly the pace I wanted to be at here).  I crossed the 10k mat and was disappointed to see how much I'd slowed down already. I knew my ultimate time goal was gone at this point.

10k (6.2 miles) in 1:10:24 (11:20 pace). Mile splits: 11:28, 11:24, 11:05.

Miles 7-9
Most of this section was parking lot and roads and was wide open but I couldn't seem to pick up the pace. I did some mental math at mile 7 (very difficult for me to do which was a really bad sign) and knew if I could get my shit together and pull off a negative split that I could still PR, but it would be really tight. There wasn't much to see here that I remember, just some cute lighted cars from the Electrical Light Parade doing circles in the parking lot. I do remember one of the green Army men from Toy Story at the curve around mile 7.5 yelling at us to get up the hill.  He made me smile, even though the hill and curve of the on-ramp were kicking my ass.  (To be honest, I don't remember many characters at all and the ones I did see did not have Disney staff taking pictures, just people with their own cameras. Not cool if you were running alone. They might have been there, though, and I just didn't see them.) Anyway, I was getting close to Hollywood Studios and starting to feel a little sick. My stomach was cramping up and this was a totally new experience for me. I've gotten nauseated if I take a gu too fast, but nothing like this. I kept burping & started feeling like I needed to make a pit stop. Did you know, when you think you have to go there is NEVER a place to stop? I kept plugging along but started taking some short walk breaks to see if it would help.  I should've taken another gu at the end of mile 9 but I was afraid if I did it would make things worse, so I really set myself up to bonk at the end.

15k (9.3 miles) in 1:46:48 (11:27 pace). Goodbye PR dreams. Mile splits: 11:10, 11:43, 11:35.

Miles 10-13.1
Miles 10 and 11 are run through Hollywood Studios. I LOVE this park. I ran by Rockin' Roller Coaster and really wished I'd had some Aerosmith on my playlist. The route here was great as far as visuals go - around the hat, thru an area covered with Christmas lights, thru the Imagineer's Workshop. You name it - Disney hit all the highlights. Except port-a-potties. There were none. I walked a lot in mile 10 and was starting to wonder if I was going to be THAT runner. You know the one. The poor soul who craps their pants during the race and then either doesn't finish or finishes with shit running down their legs (sorry if that's TMI, but it's not an urban legend). Finally in mile 11 (I think, my brain is pretty fuzzy at this point) I saw actual bathroom facilities that were open. Woo-hoo!!! I ran in and hit the first open stall.  Only...I couldn't go. Just peed a little and the cramping feeling stayed with me, but at least I was pretty sure I wasn't going to be known as "Poop Pants" for all eternity. I decided then and there that I was ready to be DONE. I felt like shit - literally - and figured I'd run as much as I could to get this race over with. It was all about "left foot-right foot-lather-rince-repeat".  My one regret was not taking pictures at this point.  I knew all my time goals were gone and I was in it to finish and have fun.  I should've gotten my phone out and started preserving the memories. This was by far the most scenic area of the race and I blew it as far as race pictures go. The 12th mile runs along Disney's Boardwalk and here there were a ton more spectators, but it was also more narrow. I wanted to run but people wouldn't move! I got lots of "Go Jessie" cheers and even a few "Go Woody"s. Really? You can't tell the difference? It made me laugh, though, which I really needed at this point.  Finally I was heading into Epcot. I couldn't believe how many twists and turns there were! (This was very similar to Tink now that I think about it. That last .25 never seemed to end either.) Finally, I saw the finish line and busted out my fastest pace for the whole race in the last .26 miles - a 10:15 - the pace that was supposed to be my average for the race. At least I was able to hit it for a couple minutes, right?

Official time: 2:33:52 (pace 11:44).  Mile splits: 12:08, 13:59 (ish-my Garmin stopped when I was in the bathroom), 12:04, 11:38, and 10:15 for the last .26 (my Garmin had the course at 13.26 and a time of 2:33:55 when I added back in the stopped time). Even though my time wasn't what I'd trained for, I was thrilled to see I'd finally broken into the top 50% of a race - in all areas, overall, gender and division!!!

I was DONE!!! and if there is anything that Disney does right it's race organization and medals. I got my race medal, some water and then my Coast to Coast medal - the main reason for doing this race. Clearly I was thrilled to be done.


I quickly got my bag from bag check (totally impressed by this, Disney!) and used the changing tents.  Then, I grabbed my pouch of sangria (the choices were sangria and Michelob Ultra - there might have been others but they were gone) . I drank about half before I had to dump it. My tummy was still pissed. I was also limping at this point.  My left calf was completely cramped up and nothing was going to make the knot go away. I was hoping walking around would help.

A couple weeks ago, I set 6 non-pace goals for this race.

Finish with a smile on my face :)

Have Fun!

Remember the words I have tattoo'd on my wrist and ankle and keep them in mind through the whole race

Make my friends and family proud - but mostly be proud of myself

Come away from the race with double bling - my Wine and Dine Half and Coast to Coast medals

Have enough left in my legs to have fun at the afterparty!

I was thrilled with finishing (goal 1) and having fun (goal 2).  I think I made my friends and family proud (at least all the tweets and Facebook messages from you indicate I did - I love you guys, THANK YOU!!!).  I tried through the race to "Believe" I would finish and I found "Strength" to keep going when I really thought the last 3 miles might end up a death march to the end.  Double bling? CHECK! and CHECK! As for energy in my legs for the afterparty...you'll have to wait for the next post to hear about that.

I finally made it to bed around 5:30 am, feeling more hate for running than love thanks to the agony in my legs and disappointing finishing time, but I was definitely in love with my bling. It was so bizarre to start a race on Saturday and finish it on Sunday.  It was a 2 day race! Maybe if I ever do this one again, I'll get fast enough to finish on the same day that I start :)



What I didn't post when I talked about race goals were my time goals.  Those of you who know me knew I would have some.  (And please respect my feelings about "racing" this race by not slamming my decision to do so or telling me that my finishing time is something others would dream of or is better than nothing at all.)

I failed at all my time goals. I had not posted them here on the blog or really anywhere (just a few people helping with my training knew).  My training was designed for a 2:15 half. It would've been a 12 min PR and as of my last long run, I believed I could possibly hit it under the right conditions. My 2nd time goal was for a PR in general - I'd have needed to be under 2:27 and I truly believed this was in the bag.  I'd missed it by a mere 6 minutes. I was incredibly disappointed in myself and I've spend the past day or so trying to figure out what I did wrong.  What I've come up with is that it just wasn't my day (or night). Just like the bad training runs that happen, sometimes there are bad races.  It just sucks out loud that a Disney race was my "bad" one. I was overdressed, the temperature was a full 30 degrees higher than what I'd trained in for the past 2 weeks (and almost month), the course was too crowded and twisty, and I really wasn't 100% healthy with my leg acting up in the 2 weeks before the race.  The issues with my gut? Who knows.  I still haven't figured that out.  I don't know if it was just the night atmosphere, eating the wrong foods, severe dehydration, or what.  I might never figure that piece out.

I may not have set a PR at Wine and Dine (although I did blow away my previous Disney half time from Tinker Bell in January by 15 minutes!) but I did learn a lot during this race. Those lessons learned will be shared in another post because this one is already too long!


One thing is for sure, though....3 is definitely better than 1 :)

Did you run the Wine and Dine Half?  If you did and you wrote a race report, please leave a link in the comments so I can read it!

Wine and Dine Half - the 2 day race: part 1

This is my account, or race recap if you will, of my 2012 Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon. I'm not really sure where to begin - my training started some 12 weeks ago. If you've followed my blog you've seen the training recaps each week. This was a fairly aggressive plan designed to get me running again after my injury last spring, but with the ultimate goal to result in a huge PR at Disney World. I had some acting up of my shin/calf and a small knee issue that slowed me down a bit, but if my last 2 long runs were any indication, a PR of some sort was definitely in my grasp when I got on the plane to fly to Orlando. The fact I'm starting this recap on my bumpy first leg home less than 18 hours after finishing what was certainly a bumpy race seems a bit ironic.

Warning - long post alert

Anyhoo...I should probably get to the race itself. I arrived at the expo over at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex on Friday afternoon and quickly secured my race packet, bib, and got outfitted in my "Coast to Coast Challenge" wristband that would be my companion until I crossed the finish line and a very nice race volunteer exchanged it for medal number 2 of the night. While waiting in the short line for my packet, I ran into Barb! She was my virtual training partner back in the winter for January's Tinker Bell Half and was also going for her C2C.


After saying "see you later" to Barb, I headed into the expo to shop around and pick up my race shirt. (Note to those doing Disney races, only the Princess Half has women's cut shirts and my size small race shirt, while I love it and am wearing it right now, was a bit too big. Tons of women were trying to exchange for smaller shirts.) The expo was quite similar to the larger race expos I've been too. It was well organized with tons of vendors.


I did something that I hadn't done at the Tinker Bell expo - I listened to a couple speakers, including the amazing Jeff Galloway. He had tons of practical advice for running a night race and discussed his run/walk method (which many runners used on the course - both to my amazement and chagrin).


After awhile, I met up with Christie and her friend and we headed to Plant Hollywood at Downtown Disney for a late dinner.


I was on my feet for quite awhile on Friday. I didn't think this would impact me much on Saturday night, but who knows.

Flash forward to race day. I spent the day staying off my feet, watching sports and having a healthy chicken pita sandwich with fruit for lunch. Plus lots of water.


I felt good and tried to take a little nap Saturday afternoon. I might have slept 20-30 min, it's hard to say. Around 5:00, I ate my leftover pasta with a creamy basil sauce for dinner (mistake?) and at 5:30 or so I got ready in my Jessie costume and hit up Starbucks for some last minute fuel.


It was about 65 degrees at race time (remember it was in the low 30s for my last two long runs at home). I had a jacket that I wore before checking my gear because I thought my arms would get cold, but in all honestly, I was overdressed for this race. My upper body was fine but I think the Jessie hat, capris and compression socks with my cow socks over them contributed to the clusterf*ck that was going to happen. Who knows. Hindsight is 20/20 or some crap like that, right?

I was able to just hang out in the grass and people watch while I waited for the race to start. I loved all the costumes and was totally blown away to see one woman light a cigarette and start smoking about 45 min before the start. For realz. There wasn't really anywhere to do any warm up or strides though. About 30 minutes before the start of the race, I hit the bathrooms one more time (there were about a million of them) because I'd been hydrating with water all afternoon. I tried to get as close to the start of Corral B as I could because I had some lofty goals for this race. I hadn't trained my ass off (literally, I lost about 6 pounds in the 12 weeks of training) to be stuck behind a bunch of walkers. With a few minutes to go before my corral (B) was to start (at 10:05 pm), I snapped pics of the starting fireworks for corral A.


I started my playlist and tucked away my phone. Pretty soon, they were counting down the start and the fireworks for corral B went off and the nearly 2400 of us started the slog to the starting line. (There were about 14000 people running the half - bib numbers went up to 14300).

Remember how I said I was typing this recap on my first flight home? The 2 vodka cranberries I've had are kicking in. Back soon.

*I wrote the above section on the first of two plane rides home Sunday night. It's now Monday morning and I've decided to publish this race report in two parts. I still need to process the race itself.*

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thankful Thursday: Any Guesses?

Today I'm giving thanks for three things:
1. That I'm physically able to run the Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon on Saturday and hang out with my friends while I'm there.
2. That I have a wonderful boss who is allowing me the days off to go.
3. That people on the interwebs have done my job for me and created some pretty great packing lists for out of town races.  You can bet I've been checking and double checking these lists!  Here is one great one I found (click the image to make it easier to read):

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That's it!  I'm packing up and ready to take to the skies, hit the roads and run around a little, magical place called Disney!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Wine and Dine Half Training: Week 12 !!!!

Holy crap on a cracker - I made it! 12 weeks of training and I'm *relatively* unbroken.  Last week was another tough but very good week & I'm feeling pretty confident going into taper mode.  I have no doubts I'll finish the race, how quickly remains to be seen.

Monday 10/29/12 - RUN: 6 mile tempo in 1:00:47 - I was SOOOO freaking close to doing this in under an hour.  

Tuesday 10/30/12 - XT: Did a couple Nike Training Club workouts for about 30 minutes total.  Arms and abs & I felt it for days afterwards.  Note to self: more strength training is needed.

Wednesday 10/31/12 - XT: Cycled spin intervals.  My shin has been starting to complain more and more so today I did intervals on a spin bike instead of 800s.  I felt a little like I was cheating on my running though, but giving my shin and break was really the best move.  Covered 20.5 miles in 56:53 (if you are to believe the bike).

Thursday 11/1/12 - Rest day. Not really intended, but my daughter was diving in the conference prelims and I was at the meet all night.

Friday 11/2/12 - XT: Swimming 1200 meters/yards (no clue what our pool is) in 33:52.  It felt good to give my leg a little break from gravity, but all the kicking still kicked my butt - pun intended. 

Saturday 11/3/12 -  RUN: 10.01 miles in 1:46:21.  This run freaking kicked ass! It wasn't my fastest 10 miles ever, but came pretty close.  The amazing thing was running the last 2 miles at my fastest pace - 9:45s.  Crazy.  I recapped the run here. Almost immediately after the run, hubs and I headed to the D (that would be Detroit) to watch the State Marching Band finals.  Our kids finished 8th in the state in level 1 (the biggest schools). It was a very long day & I don't recommend sitting in a car for 3 hours and then a football stadium (they marched at Ford Field) for the rest of the night after running 10 miles. You WILL hurt. A LOT.

Sunday 11/4/12 - XT/stretching: Mostly I sat in the car some more, including some time on I-696 after our tire blew. Basically, we paid for our AAA membership and barely made it home in time to get the kids.  At one point, their busses passed us as we were driving the glacial speed of 55 mph after we got the donut put on the van. I did some stretching when we got home and lots of walking up and down the stairs doing laundry.  I figure all that counts somehow.

Now I am officially in taper mode and my last half marathon of the year (this will be number 3 in case anyone is keeping track) is just a few days away.  I'm not sure what I'm more excited about, running the race, running through Disney World, or getting to hang with my friends a bit this weekend.  In any case, it's gearing up to be an amazing weekend.

Thanks for putting up with the training recaps.  Next week should contain a race report!

Motivation Monday: #WineDineHalf Playlist!

If any of you know me, you know I rarely run without music. I've made playlists for all my races but never posted any of them until now. Music motivates me and keeps me going.  Normally I hit shuffle and let the songs fall as they may, but this time I decided to go with the order I created. Each song is here for a reason, whether it has special meaning or a certain beat (often it's both). I love to start with Lose Yourself & even when I'm shuffling songs, I'll start with that one.

I tested this playlist on my 10 miler on Saturday & it was perfect. The music started with a great beat to get me in a groove and picked up when I needed it to. My 1:45ish run ended with Little Lion Man by Mumford & Sons, so I figure I have plenty of songs here to get through the half. I'm only posting screenshots of the playlist because I'm writing this post from my phone, so if you want any if the music, you'll have to look them up yourself.
Enjoy!








What about you? Do you run with music? Any standards you need on your playlists?

Motivation Monday: Bling!

To a self-professed bling-whore, sometimes the shiny things are what keep you training.

Paraphrasing Wayne Campbell from Wayne's World...She will be mine...oh yes...she will be mine :)

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And because I completed the Tinker Bell Half Marathon back in January, when I finish Wine and Dine, I'll earn one of these too - the Disney Coast to Coast medal for finishing races at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World in the same calendar year :)

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So...make me feel better - I'm not the only one running for bling, right? What's your favorite race medal?

Wine and Dine Half Training: Week 10

Getting into the home stretch.  It's time to start earning that taper in a couple weeks - I can't believe the race is in less than 3 weeks. I know I can cover the distance, but I had a bit of a rough week, so I'm not going to say much.

Monday 10/15/12 - RUN: 6 mile tempo. My longest tempo to date and it didn't go well. 1:01:04 (10:10 pace overall).

Tuesday 10/16/12 - XT/Cycling - I hooked my bike up to my girlfriend's trainer.  Holy sweat fest! I cycled for an hour & guess it was around 14 miles.

Wednesday 10/17/12 - RUN: 7x800 Yassos (plus 1 mile wu/cd in 10:47).  First time to do 7 of them.  I ran outside (my 1/2 mile neighborhood loop) and I averaged a 9:07 pace. 3.5 miles in 32 minutes is crazy - but when you take into account the 4:30 rests it's not as impressive.  

Thursday 10/18/12 - XT/Yoga- Did 30 minutes of yoga. The workout was supposed to be 40 minutes but it was mostly sun salutations and I got bored.

Friday 10/19/12 - Rest day. 

Saturday 10/20/12 -  RUN: 2.4 mile shake out run. Easy 2 miles followed by 4 sets of strides. Averaged an 11:10 pace, but the strides were crazy fast.

Sunday 10/21/12 - RUN: 12 miles in 2:16:23 (ave 11:24 pace).  I ran the 2nd leg to the Grand Rapids Marathon Relay and then ran back to town. You can read what a disaster it was here.

I REALLY need some good runs this week to get my confidence back but my training this week scares me.  This is peak week - 6 mile tempo, 8x800 and a 13 mile long run. To be brutally honest, I'm scared.  I'm still sore from Sunday's crap 12 and I'm afraid  I know I can finish the half at this point, but I also want to have fun and not completely suck. I don't think that's too much to ask.

Wine and Dine Half Training: Week 8

I'm a bit amazed that I'm not just a little over a month away from heading to DISNEY!!! This week has been another week of strong running and little to no cross training.  This seems to happen at about this point in all my training cycles.  I keep up with the running, but everything else goes to pot.  I keep saying, "this time it will be different" but it's time to call bullshit on myself.  It's never been different. I don't know why, but I can't keep up with the cross training and stuff. I should be able to, but for whatever reason I completely fail in this regard.  Ugh.  

Monday 10/1/12 - No workouts, but saw my massage therapist for my usual Monday treatment.

Tuesday 10/2/12 - B double E double R U N BEERRUN! Tonight was the final GR Marathon Beer Run for the year (except for the post-marathon one they usually do in November) so I moved Monday's tempo to today.  Since I needed to get 5 miles in, I left for the run about 20 minutes before the organized group run started. 1 mile warmup and then one of my fastest 3 mile runs ever (29:48, a 9:56 pace!), followed by a 1 mile cooldown.  This was very tough but the beer afterwards was worth it.

Wednesday 10/3/12 - Bupkiss. This is becoming a very sad trend.

Thursday 10/4/12 - Run - 5x800 Yassos.  This time on the treadmill because the weather was pretty crappy.  Averaged a 9:02 pace for the 1/2 mile sprints, which was great, but I hated doing them back inside after the great outside runs I've been having.

Friday 10/5/12 - Rest day. 

Saturday 10/6/12 -  Run: 12 miles beyotches!!! This was an untimed run, which for me is almost unheard of.  I have no idea exactly how long it took (I have a rough idea but I'm not reporting it). It was very refreshing to just go out with my music and try to find that joy in running again.  

Sunday 10/7/12 - Nothing. I focused on stretching and rolling. Also went up and down my stairs doing the laundry and did all the grocery shopping. That should count as cross training. (This is exactly what I wrote last Sunday, only the stairs were more painful this time.)

This coming week I have a few shake-ups in the schedule and I'm hoping the weather holds for what is in store on Saturday.  More to come!

Wine and Dine Half Marathon Training: Week 3

My training took a serious hit this week with my official start of school this past week and being out of town for my Dad's surgery (thank you for all the prayers - he's actually feeling some pain relief even though the surgeons were unable to complete the surgery/fusion because his vertebrae had too much scar tissue).  I got my runs in (sorta) but there was no cross training or strength work to speak of.  

Here's how the week played out (I'm not going to show plan/actual since I don't really have a "plan" at this point:

Monday 8/27/12 - Run 3.1 miles in 36:14 along the bluff and beach in St. Joseph, MI (the course where I set my 5k PR of 33:40 back in 2006). After getting up around 5 and spending the day sitting in a hospital waiting room, I managed to get a run in before I went home.  As far as training runs go (this was supposed to be a tempo) it really sucked, but it was also exactly the type of run I needed.  One of the reasons I run is to let out emotions that most of the time are bottled up tight.  They came out BIG TIME during and after this run.  I was very hard on myself for not running well but someone several people who love me reminded me that we don't always run to hit a certain pace. Sometimes we run just because we need to and this run was a huge success for that very reason. The scenery was beautiful and I was able to get out what I needed to get out.

Tuesday 8/28/12 - NADA, ZIP, ZILCH, NOTHING. This was my first day of work, plus open house, plus K's first dive meet of the season.  I left the house at 7:30 and didn't get home until about 9:30 that night (other than a short break to run home and eat a little bit of dinner). Workout was NOT going to happen.

Wednesday 8/29/12 - Another day of nothing.  I saw my sports chiro after school and he worked the bejeezus out of my foot and calf.  I spent some time at home stretching, rolling and doing ankle mobility drills (think - writing the alphabet with your foot). No real workout again though :(

Thursday 8/30/12 - Yasso 800s - 3x800 at approx 9 m/m pace. Total 3.1 in 31:20.   I wore my old orthotics for this on advice of my chiro.  I didn't really notice a difference and my legs pretty much hated me afterwards.  I feel like I should be getting stronger and I'm not - I'm only getting more sore.

Friday 8/31/12 - Rest day

Saturday 9/1/12 - Long Run 6.2 miles in 1:08:19 - SURPRISE! I ran a race today.  You can read the race report here. By far one of the hardest runs I've ever done and my right knee is completely fucked from the hills and not knowing the correct way to run down them you mean you aren't supposed to fly down them at a 9:xx pace???

Sunday 9/2/12 - Lots of stretching and rolling to try and save my knee. So far it isn't working. Back to the chiro this week Wednesday.

Aside from setting a 10k PR on Saturday, the week was pretty unimpressive.  I didn't bike or swim at all, no strength training, and I'm completely wiped out.  Being plagued by a new injury isn't improving my outlook much either.

Wine and Dine Half Training: Week 2

This week represents my last week of summer before school is back in session.  Today is my first day back and the kids all go back next Tuesday.  Training is going "ok".  I'm definitely feeling the effects of my increased mileage, with my left shin acting up.  I saw my sports chiro on Thursday and he still feels a lot of the issues are stemming from my left big toe (crazy that a jammed up toe joint would result in so many issues, but whatever).

Here's how the week played out (I'm not going to show plan/actual since I don't really have a "plan" at this point:

Monday 8/20/12 - XT - Biked 20 miles in 1:25.  Averaged around 14 mph which was great because I had so many stops and route issues.

Tuesday 8/21/12 - Tempo - managed to maintain 10 m/m pace for 1.5 miles :)  Total 3.1 in 33:43.

Wednesday 8/22/12 - XT - completed a NTC 30 minute strength workout.

Thursday 8/23/12 - Yasso 800s - 2x800 at approx 9 m/m pace. Total 3.1 in 31:32.  Then did an OWS that was a disaster. Swam for 30 minutes, somewhere around 1/2 a mile.

Friday 8/24/12 - Rest day

Saturday 8/25/12 - Long Run 5 miles - Kept it very slow and easy. 1:00:39 (12:07 pace). Trying to be ok with the really slow pace.  I wish I could say the slow pace kept me from feeling sore, but it didn't.  I spent most of the day stretching and icing.  I even had soreness in my right knee and I NEVER have knee issues.  This concerns me.

Sunday 8/26/12 - XT - walked 3.1 miles in 52 minutes, then 25 minutes of stretching and abs.

It was a pretty good week - I managed to get in all my workouts, but I'm fighting the injured feeling and that frustrates me greatly.  Hopefully the next week will go better, but with school starting up, getting the workouts in will be the hard part.  Do I start working out at 5 am?  Ugh.

Fitness Friday: Tough Decisions

I believe in previous posts I alluded to the fact that I wanted to complete one more triathlon this season.  Being in Michigan, the tri season is relatively short - basically June to mid September and my first tri was mid August.  As far as first triathlons go, it went very well.  I'm still recovering from that ?@!#?$%)* stress fracture/reaction and my running has really not been where I'd like it to be - pace wise or pain/ease wise.  I had it in my heart to compete in the Reeds Lake Triathlon on Sept. 8th but in all honesty, I'm not ready.  I won't BE ready in 2 weeks.  I have it on good authority from several friends who have raced it before that this is NOT a beginner tri.  The course is much hiller than Millennium, not to mention longer.

If you are friends with me on twitter or daily mile, you might know I had a rough swim yesterday.  At this point, the swim was the one discipline I really felt comfortable with, but Thursday's OWS in a different lake and in a wet suit shook me up a bit.  To be clear, that isn't the only reason I've decided (85% sure) that I will NOT be competing at Reeds Lake this year.  I just know deep down that I'm not ready.  I know that I could do serious damage - both physically and mentally - if that race does not go well.  (It actually has some pretty scary minimum times - ones I'm barely hitting in all disciplines - so there's a strong chance I may not be able to even finish.)  BUT...I've never considered myself to be a quitter.  Having a DNS for the 5/3 River Bank Run this year SUCKED OUT LOUD - but I was in a boot and there was absolutely NO WAY I could have run 15.5 miles. I couldn't have even walked the 5k. The DNS was decided for me. I probably could do Reeds Lake, but I might end up even more injured if I try. My shin has been hurting quite a bit with the ramping up in my running since finishing the tri.  I'm working HARD to get my base back and it's literally kicking my ass (and pissing off my leg). After many long discussions with a few of my friends (and you know who you are - thank you for looking out for me and being willing to tell me the shit that I don't really want to hear but need to hear for my own good), I know that this race is a bad idea. I need to be smart.

Sometimes being smart is admitting you aren't ready.

My priorities have changed. I LOVED training for Millennium.  I would have never guessed that I would end up liking biking and swimming so much and the challenge of the "threesome" (as my van now says) was right up there with distance running.  But for the next few months I need to be a runner.  I 100% MUST be healthy and finish Disney's Wine and Dine in November. Failure is not an option. It's already paid for and it wasn't cheap. Plus, that race is where my heart really is right now.  I'm looking at a few running races between now and then to use as tune-ups or training runs, but I probably won't decide to actually do them until the day before and that's ok.  (With the exception of the Grand Rapids Marathon Relay, which I'm already registered for and REALLY excited to do.  It will be my first relay and I can't wait to tell about the experience later.)

This post may sound a little Debbie Downer, but it really isn't meant to.  I had a rough day yesterday.  I won't deny that I shed more than a few tears (ok, I cried a lot), but I'm ok with it.  I'm running smart.  I WILL do more triathlons next season.  I'm hoping to get a bike trainer, new shoes and clipless pedals this winter so I can keep improving my biking and I'll continue to swim for cross training, too.  But for right now, I am focusing on getting healthy and running the best race I can in November.

Wine and Dine Half Training: Week 1

Last week I asked what you all thought of the training recaps each week and the overwhelming response was to keep them, so here we are with week 1 of my training for Disney's Wine and Dine Half Marathon.  The race is November 10, 2012. Wine and Dine will be my 2nd Disney race and my first night-time race.  SQUEEE!!! I have some lofty goals in the back of my mind for this one, but coming off injury (and my running and my race weight not getting back to where I think they need to be fast enough) the primary goal will be to cross the finish line in the upright position and get 2 medals hung around my neck.  When I finish, I'll also have earned the 2012 Coast to Coast Medal since I ran the Tinkerbell Half back in January out at Disneyland :)  The chance at double bling will keep my feet moving for 13.1 miles.  Worst case? I crawl.

When I started looking at a training plan for this race, I really thought I would use the half plan from Run Less Run Faster, but the first long run is 10 miles and I knew that wasn't going to happen.  So, I'm still following a 3 run per week (tempo, yasso 800s (speed work), long slow run) plan for this race, but it's scaled back quite a bit.  I'm also still toying with the idea of another triathlon before summer is over, so some biking and swimming are thrown in the mix as well.  The plan just isn't nearly as detailed as my tri plan was and I have no clue when/how I'll fit in any bricks before the tri since I don't want to give up any long runs.

So let's see how week 1 played out.

Monday 8/13/12 - Plan XT - Completed Run 2 miles in 20:57.  Calves and ankles were really stiff from the tri but loosened up a little on the run.

Tuesday 8/14/12 - Plan Run 2 miles tempo - Completed XT Bike 12.69 miles in 55:15.

Wednesday 8/15/12 - Plan XT - Happy Birthday to Me! Completed 2x800 at 4:30 pace with 4:30 recovery. With warm up and cool down I ended up with 3 miles in 32ish minuts.

Thursday 8/16/12 - Plan 2x800 at 4:30 pace with 4:30 recovery - Completed XT Swim 1000 yds in 46:40.

Friday 8/17/12 - Plan OFF - Completed OFF

Saturday 8/18/12 - Plan Long Run 4 miles - Completed 4.33 mile run in 49:36 with negative splits. WOOT!

Sunday 8/19/12 - Plan XT - Completed 30 min abs and arms workout.

Basically this week was the trial week to see how things fit.  Obviously, Tues/Thurs runs did not work out and will continue to not work because of my girl's diving schedule - so there will be some tweaking to the plan in the coming weeks.  So long as I get in the 3 quality runs each week, I'll be good.  I'm happy that I got in all of my workouts, even if my legs are a little pissed at me.  Running 4 miles without stopping on Saturday was a huge confidence boost, too, since that was the longest run I've done without walking since getting injured.  Let's just hope the trend continues.

Happy #runDisney Tuesday!

Lately, my Tuesday posts have been full of gloom and doom and generally not being very nice to myself.  

Not today.

Today the sun is shining and I'm getting ready to go for a run (even brought my running clothes to school so I could squeeze it in before picking up K from track).

I even registered for another race today :)

 

Yep!  I'm going to be running the 2012 Wine and Dine Half Marathon at Walt Disney World in November so I can earn my Disney Coast-to-Coast medal!!   This will be my first-ever night-time race, which scares me a bit because how in the heck do you train for that???? But I'm going to be running with some girlfriends again and then partying it up at Epcot until 3 am.  

Is it really only March?  This year needs to get moving - I've got people to visit and races to run!

Tinker Bell Half Weekend: part 2 Race Day!

I gotta say, it's funny how my body just knows when it needs to get up on race day.  Even though the day before the race was a long and full day, I woke up at 3:00 am, 15 minutes before my alarm.  (I was also up around 1:30 am.)  Beki and I got ourselves ready and I had a bowl of oatmeal made with hot water from the coffee maker (gross, btw - Beki couldn't eat hers).  Andrea was meeting us in the lobby at 4:00, so downstairs we headed!

I think we look pretty awesome at 4 am!

The temperature was in the mid 40s, so I opted for my "It's not sweat, it's pixie dust" t-shirt, long bra top and sports bra, arm sleeves and capris, plus my awesome Team Sparkle skirt and wings! (I also wore 2 belts (hydration and bib holder), and I don't think I'll do that again.  I really don't like the way my fuel belts look in pictures so I've gotta come up with a different system - vanity, sue me.)  Luckily we got outside just as one of the shuttle buses was pulling up, so we didn't need to walk the 1.5 miles to the starting line - yeah!

There was a nice walk through Downtown Disney to the start.  We found some cute pirates along the way and couldn't resist taking pictures.

There was a DJ playing music, tons of port-a-johns, and so many people milling about.  Even with all the people, we were able to meet up with Barb for a quick hug and picture before we left to find our corral.

Once we got to our corral we found Tiffany!

There were adorable costumes and wings everywhere.  Before long, corral A was off to fireworks.

We were just a few minutes behind and waved to Minnie and Daisy as we crossed the starting line.

Mile 1: The first mile wound outside the parks and up a couple of hills as we crossed the highway.  The number of people was just insane and our pace was really slow.  Beki and I had decided to try and run the race together as best we could, so we did our dodge and weave as we tried to get around the walkers and slower runners. In no time at all, we were headed back into Disneyland.

Miles 2-3+: We entered the park through some weird back entrance that was usually reserved for cast members.  They were there cheering us on and warning us about the twisty course.  A bunch of parade floats were out for us to see and before long we happened upon the first characters, Cinderella and Belle with their men.  The line was ridiculously long so I didn't stand in line, but Beki and I both stopped to snap some pictures.

After a cast member snapped my picture, I looked around for Beki and couldn't find her.  I thought for sure I'd lost my running partner.  I decided to just keep running and headed down Main Street and the lights were so pretty.  I ended up running into Beki at the next character stop! There were quite a few picture opportunities in the park and we didn't really care about our time, so we stopped for most of them.

So much green, tutus and wings!

I think we stopped for just about every character we could - our time at the 5k point was around 47 minutes and we cheered - pretty funny if you ask me!

Miles 4-11: Somewhere around mile 4, we headed through Downtown Disney and there were about 100 women from the Red Hat Society cheering.  I almost stopped to take another picture because these women were awesome, but we decided we wanted to make up some time.  This part of the race was just like any other road race, but Disney made sure there were tons of HS cheer squads, dance teams, marching bands, hula dancers, etc to keep us entertained.  These 7 miles were run between and 11 and 12 minute/mile pace, which was definitely slower than I'd planned, but the 9 hours on my feet the day before at Disneyland had taken their toll.  I don't think I could've run much faster if I'd tried.  At around mile 7 1/2, I looked to my right and recognized a twitter friend, Mihael (@smplefy646)!  Seeing a friendly face at that point in the race was awesome.

We got hugs and high-fives and headed on our way.  While we were out on the streets, I was really feeling my feet and my right hip was starting to complain.  Beki and I walked through the water stops and around mile 9 or 10 started walking for a bit at the top of every mile.  The sun had come up and I was definitely wishing for some sunglasses (and new feet).  Even with our walk breaks, we kept our pace under a 12 m/m.  It was amazing how many people we were still dodging at this point too.  Along this section of the route was an awesome band comprised of soldiers!  

Mile 11-ish to the end: At this point, we started heading back toward the Disney property.  We ran into California Adventure and through the really cute Bugs Life area.  I was so focused on getting to the finish line at this point that I didn't pay much attention to the park.  We did stop for one more photo op because Beki and I both love Monster's Inc.

We were in the home stretch and I about lost it when we passed a DJ booth and Katy Perry's "Firework" came on.  (It's sorta my song and Beki even commented about it!)  People kept telling us the finish line was "right around the corner" but there were actually about 4 corners to turn before we finally saw the finish!  Beki convinced me to pick up the pace and we finished that last .1 with a 10 m/m average pace (and max 8:51 m/m!).  

I'd just completed my 2nd official half marathon in the SLOWEST time EVER, but I had the MOST FUN EVER in a race.  I got to run with one of my dearest friends, take pictures with tons of Disney characters, get sprinkled with Pixie Dust, and rock this kick-ass medal at the end.

Official Time:  2:56:37 (13:28 pace)

5334/9386 women

830/1428 AG

(I looked at my Garmin splits when I was writing this post and it lists the average pace per mile, but also the "best" pace per mile.  My best times in each mile ranged from 8:05 to 10:19 m/m!  Many of the miles were in the 8:40 to 9:40 range, which this slow chick thinks is pretty cool.)

After we finished our race and got some bagels and fruit, we walked through Downtown Disney again and stopped at one of the stores so I could get souvenirs for my kids (nothing like waiting to the last minute).  While there, Beki realized how close to checkout time it was, so we hobbled the 1.5 miles back to the hotel so we could quickly pack and get out of there.  I had one stop I wanted to make before she took me to the airport.

I'd never seen the Pacific ocean and this girl couldn't leave California without putting her toes in the water.  

"Magical" doesn't even begin to describe my Tinker Bell Half Marathon weekend.  It absolutely sparkled and glittered with pixie dust.