I die.

I don’t know how I missed this last week but…

RUNDISNEY RELEASED THE DUMBO DOUBLE DARE MEDALS!

 

I admit, I screamed a little in my head at the cuteness. RunDisney has outdone themselves again!

Obviously my sister was not as impressed as I was… since she withheld this vital information from me the whole week. Lot of good she is

105 days to get my running ass in gear so I can do this! Um……

Wish me luck!?

Are you a medal lover or a medal tosser? I can’t imagine not being excited for the finish medal, regardless of the cuteness level!

Running Hates Me.

I have not been running. Like at all in probably 5-6 weeks? I don’t even remember the last run I went on but it was not a memorable one or one that caused me injury or anything like that. And at the moment, I have absolutely zero interest to run (and therefore blog about running). But…

I still have this nagging feeling that I really want to run another marathon…someday. Heck, I’d even be happy with a good training cycle leading into a half marathon. But I think my body might hate running. Or at least the distances I ran training for my marathon(s) last year. Or maybe the fact that I am an idiot and ran three marathons in a year when I was not really trained well for any of them? Your guess is as good as mine…

I run for DQ Blizzards.

But I do know I swore after Disney that I would NEVER run a marathon again. Ever. And here I am just five-ish months later already craving another one. It probably does not help I am coming up on the one year anniversary of when I was supposed to run my first marathon. All I know for sure is running must be an addiction. Or something.

Never. Running. Again.

I guess time will only tell if I ever run a marathon again. Or a mile for that matter. But one thing has not changed, my brain still thinks I am a runner!

Anyone else ever been in a months long running funk that just won’t go away?! 

#PrayingforBoston

I haven’t felt very compelled to blog lately but this morning I couldn’t help but write up the following after yesterday’s tragic, horrific events. Even if you are not normally a praying type, please pray this with me today:

Dear Father,

Please be with those who are still in critical condition in Boston today. Please bring them healing.

Please be with the doctors and the nurses in Boston. Please give them what they need to help those who are injured.

Please be with those who have lost family members, especially the parents of the little boy who was killed yesterday. Please don’t let his parents ever play the “what if?” game in their heads. Please be with his sister who will never be the same again.

Thank you for the fast acting medics at the race yesterday. I have no doubt those fast responses helped save lives.

Thank you for the police, the FBI and other emergency response personnel. Please keep them safe and provide them with the information they need to bring this terrorist to justice.

Please be with the entire running community. Even though many of us were not there yesterday, we are all feeling an inexplicable connection to what happened yesterday, I just know it. There is something strange about runners that makes us all feel like friends when we are on or off a race course.

Please help us all be nice to everyone today. Please help me be nice to everyone today. There is no doubt in my mind this world needs a whole lot more “nice” in it.

Please also be with those that still have hate in their hearts today. Please let this hate die and be replaced with compassion for others for we are all in this world together, for better or worse.

Thank you for the safety of those I knew of that were in Boston yesterday and the safety of all those that were far from the incident yesterday.

Please be with anyone and everyone affected by the tragedy yesterday.

Please help us to find healing in Your love.

In Your Name we pray,

Amen.

Race Flashback: Lucky Leprechaun 7k 2013

I got to race over the weekend! Like actually race, race. I think the last time I ran a race that I felt I could push myself was the Turkey Trot back in November of ’11… And talk about a totally different everything from last year’s St. Patrick’s Day weekend running… So where to begin?!

I woke up to actually find snow on the ground on Saturday, not really something I was expecting. I don’t recall ever doing a race when there was snow on the ground! When I signed up for this race, I was not at all thinking Spring would still be a distant event, especially considering last year’s race was 80 degrees and I was frantically trying to rip the sleeves off my shirt because I was way too hot. I guess a year makes a big difference! (and PS, the groundhog needs to be shot and a new one hired, this one is as accurate as the weather forecasters…)

The race started at 9am down in Tosa and my parents decided to come along and cheer me on! Little did they know they were going to freeze as well. The start area was SO crowded (3,500+ runners!) and considering this was the inaugural year, I really hope they realize the course cannot support that number, let alone any additional that will join next year. Parking was chaos, running was terribly cramped and the finish area was horrible. I actually think I had more room at the Disney races I’ve done and that’s saying something. I feel bad for the people finishing behind me because the finish line got so much worse within five minutes after I crossed! I was also really glad my parents were along to help with the parking situation because I would have totally freaked out when I got there if I was alone!

I got to Hart Park with plenty of time to get my packet, use the port-o-potties (which were plentiful at least!) and stand around for a few pictures before the race began. It was crazy cold and I was really glad my mom + dad brought along some blankets so I could try to stay warm. I was so cold I even kept my puffy vest on at first which was dumb but whatever.

The first two miles were super crowded and I had to really weave and pop through people to try to get to a point I felt like I was running. I surprisingly felt really good and like I was keeping a great pace, except for all the crowds holding be back so I tried my best to get to some clearings so I could really run. At about the two mile point, we got to a neighborhood and that really helped ease the route crowding and I could finally run freely for another 1.5 miles.

I hit the three mile marker and thought, “Hey, just one more mile!” but within a half mile, I passed the four mile sign so then I was really confused. Also, by this time, I was carrying my vest, headband, gloves and phone… oops. I was sure a 7k was only four miles, even, and I guess I never looked that up to confirm it?! Also at this point we started running on a SUPER narrow path through the park so it got even worse before I could finish as far as crowding was concerned but I knew I had to be getting close so I just kept running.

Once I finally could see the finish line, I took off to try to get in close to 40 minutes which was my original goal, thinking that would equal 10min/mile pace and I thought I was already over that.  (Gun time 41 minutes or so) I missed a chance to grab my pup and bring him with me because I was way too much on a mission to finish

Once I finished I was super confused for awhile because I really felt like I ran faster than 10min/mile pace which is what it would have been had the course been the four miles I stupidly thought it was After a few minutes though, I realized it was really 4.3 miles, hence my confusion all race!

I was even more surprised to find I had finished in 38:57 or an 8:58 pace!?! No wonder it felt kind of challenging!! Either way I would have been happy with my finish time because I didn’t walk once which was my secondary goal, but considering I came in under 9 minute miles, I was really shocked by that finish time!

Pros/Cons of this race:

Pros
1. Start/Finish in the same spot
2. Free t-shirt, bandanna, beer + green “finisher” necklace
3. Short porto-potty lines!
4. Awesome volunteers directing traffic + lots of police helping with that
5. Fun distance!

Cons
1. WAY too crowded…
2. Poorly marked miles
3. Chaos at the finish line through the beer pickup, spread this OUT!
4. Cold But I don’t think that was under any race official’s control!

I do think the snow amounts negatively impacted the amount of space at the finish line and maybe even all along the course, also, it was likely way more people than they thought would join an inaugural race?! I guess before I sign up next year, I will make sure they either choose a different course or stagger walkers/runners/strollers. (I was passing walkers within 2 minutes) But all and all, it was a fun race that I would like to do again, provided more room on the course in future years.

To continue the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, I also made the best dinner EVER! Cottage Pie, Irish Soda Bread and Irish Salad. OMG so good!

I am excited for racing this year and really hope my slow + steady weekly running with an actual plan will help me a lot for my upcoming half marathons! Now if only Spring would appear so I can run in shorts and tanks…

Next race is a 10k at the end of April, unless I find another 5k to run before then

Monday Mileage: Week 1

I wrapped up my first official half marathon training week on Sunday! 18 weeks always sounds so far away but then the weeks start ticking by at a break-neck speed and race day is here before I realize it.

My first week of mileage was kind of low but I’m trying to be smart(er) this time around. Crossing my fingers it pays off but with my luck, nothing is out of the realm of possibility! Snow/100 degrees/hurricane in June, yeah…

Monday: Snowy walk + Physique 57
Tuesday: 1 mile run + 1 mile walk + Body Pump DVDs
Wednesday: 2 mile run + 15 min BP core DVD
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 2 mile run + 30 min BP DVD
Saturday: 3 mile run
Sunday: 55 min BP DVD

Running mileage for the week = 8
Weight Lifting Sessions: 3+

I really liked the mix of weight lifting + running this week. I know in the past, being more consistent about weight lifting while training has helped my legs and core stay stronger so hopefully building both from the get-go this time around will = success.

I also found out I can earn Humana fit points through my insurance to work towards getting a free FitBit or something similar! That has motivated me to start tracking my workouts on my phone app also. The app is not perfect but at least it gives me credit for walking/running. I just wish the weight lifting part would count too…Maybe I’ll have enough points sometime this year yet

Have a good week!

18 Weeks.

So my first half marathon of this year is in 18 weeks. That gives me hope for warm weather! But it also got me thinking about half marathon training. I’m pretty sure I’ve never really done it… oops!

My first attempt at Summerfest and also probably the last time I semi-trained for a half marathon. – June 2011

So maybe I should actually try to be a good runner and train for races, no? Well, at least this one. I am revisiting a training plan that I loosely followed two summers ago when I ran this race but with less focus on speed-work this time around. I’m also going to follow the 6 week lead-in option since I haven’t done much running since the marathon in JuneJanuary. So the 12 week program + a 6 week lead-in = 18 weeks of training which = THIS WEEK!

The first 6 weeks are pretty low mileage and even the peak week is not that crazy high so (knock on wood) hopefully, I can avoid injury and ease my body back into training and running consistently again. I’ve been such a bad runner this past year it’s really sad…

My week has not really started out on track already… Monday was supposed to be 2 miles but… it was black-ice galore and 40mph winds. Let the excuses begin!

Here’s to making 2013 different than 2012, or at the very least trying

What now?

I feel like I have been training for a race for like two years.  Scratch that, I am pretty sure I HAVE been training for most of the last two years.  And as you can probably gather from the last six months of my training (or really lack thereof), I need a break.  I want to like running and I want to like following a training plan… but I just don’t right now.  And haven’t really since oh, May?

Back when training was fun… even when it was COLD!

I want to complete a successful training cycle for a race and feel prepared on race day! (has never happened)

I want to feel like my running fitness is improving rather than disappearing.

I want to strive for PRs instead of just setting personal pain records.

I want to surprise myself by actually enjoying a run instead of dreading it.

I want to be a “runner” again…

But I think in order to do any of this, I’m going to have to take a few weeks/months off of running and see what happens.  I’m thinking not much running until end of March/beginning of April.  It’s not really a ton of time but I’m hoping it might do my legs and body some good?

This guy still likes running – except he’s not fond of the current weather.

My first race of 2013 (that I am signed up for already) is not until June 15th so I should have time to get in a 10-12 week 1/2 marathon training plan.  And hopefully “just” training for a half marathon will be a needed change as well.  I really think halfs are my favorite!  And races are my favorite too

I’m sure I’ll be looking forward to training for this one

Maybe a few weeks from now I will be ready to run again and excited to run again?  I guess only time will tell… But until then, I plan to have some fun revisiting my workout DVDs I already kind of miss running…

Have you ever trained yourself into running exhaustion?

Race Flashback: 2013 Walt Disney World Marathon

This marathon can be summed up in one word.  Pain.

It was a little painful to have the 1:50 am wake up call again but this time we’d had success going to be early so that helped.  I think we ended up with 5ish hours of sleep so that’s not much less than normal for me.  We got ready for running and then headed to the race bus shuttles around 3:30am.  For some reason, the buses were not coming fast enough and the line was so long!  We were all supposed to be at the race start line by 4 am (per Disney’s instructions on our race materials) but we were not even loaded on the bus until 4:20ish and we were the first bus of about 6+ probably.

We got to the race start pretty quick and felt really rushed but we should have just taken our time because we ended up sitting around everywhere.  Our walk to the start corrals was actually much better than the half last year (because we were later??) and we got there in about 10 minutes (swear it was closer to 30 last year…).  Ours was a rather late corral, F, so we had to wait about 30 minutes after the official start to go.

They do a count down for all the corrals, complete with fireworks and everything which is really cool!  You get kinda over it by corral C or D though – ha!  But eventually we did get started and started making our way through the crowds.  Last year we just kept the pace of the corral we were in but that ended up sucking up so much time + energy so we tried to do some weaving and passing this year without going crazy doing it.  I think it really did help us not walk so much the first half because we knew the last half was going to get H.O.T.

Mile one-two was pretty boring, mainly on highways but you still have that running adrenaline going so it goes SUPER fast!  We were keeping about 10:45 pace at this point and that was feeling super easy.

Mile three you start heading through the Magic Kingdom entrance gates and to me that is one of the highlights of the race because it’s when you first realize this is real and you are running in Disney World! We were still keeping a pretty good pace at this point and feeling strong!

Mile four was through the outskirts of Magic Kingdom and again pretty boring.  Lots of parking lots and lots of side roads.

Mile five started to get interesting as you go through the Magic Kingdom Park!  The feeling of running down MainStreet U.S.A is like no other stretch of road I’ve ever run on.  You see the Castle straight ahead, so many people are cheering and you feel so IN Disney.  It’s probably my favorite mile of this whole race.  You continue through Tomorrowland, Fantasyland and then THE CASTLE!!!  We stopped here for mom to take our picture and then continued through Adventureland and exited the park.  This mile was closer to 12:30 with the picture stop + crowd getting through the castle.

Mile six through eight was pretty boring again.  Lots of highways + side roads to run on.  Our paced picked up again after the park and we were still feeling really good at this point.

Miles eight through nine were really runfun because we got to run on the Speedway they have down here.  No clue what they have on this speedway??  But it was really runfun to run on.  Because it’s a race track, it was a little slopped so you had to be careful to run on the flatter parts but there was actually plenty of room on this track to pass people and go your own pace.

Miles 10 though twelve were quite horrible.  Running was still going good for us but Disney decided to have 2+ miles with no water stops at this point along the way which also ended up being the hottest part of the beginning half because the sun started rising by this point.  You also run past the sewage treatment plant which is just plan disgusting.  Kind of makes you realize Disney is not some perfect place after all…  For the life of me I can’t figure out why they don’t try to reroute this race to avoid that…

Miles 13 through 15 started to get harder running-wise but we were both able to keep at it.  At this point my stomach really started to bother me though and made it increasingly difficult to run… We did go through Animal Kingdom at this point which was a welcomed diversion but was kind of anti-climatic considering how cool it is running through MK.

After mile 15 we both essentially died.  It got SO hot and my hips started hurting SO BAD! My knees also did not feel so good but the hips were the killers.  I’ve never felt pain like this running before… We ended up trying to stop and stretch some and walk a large portion of this part and I think our paces dropped in the 16+ minute pace… (never really got any faster after this…)

Mile 16 through 17 we both wanted to stop running so darn bad.  It was so painful.

Mile 17 we started the loop through the ESPN Wide World of Sports which maybe helped distract us some but this 3 mile stretch was quite possibly the most horrid stretch ever.  I think this stretch is when we clocked our 20 minute mile.  Awesome, right?  We also saw mom at this point again and got to runshuffle on the baseball field so that part was cool.

Mile 20 was the 20th Anniversary 20 Mile Spectacular! It wasn’t really that spectacular but it was kinda cool…

Can you see the pain in my smile?

Miles 20.05 through 23 were hellacious.  On a side road/highway, frying in the heat we are not at all used to in January in Wisconsin, sick to our stomachs with so much gu + powerade and just plain miserable.  It was during this stretch I became very resolved to never run another marathon.  Maybe not EVER but certainly not anytime in the next 10 year… Bad, bad, bad stretch and I think I was in tears about 90% of it because I.Hurt.So.Damn.Bad.

Owwww

Mile 23 through 24 were through Hollywood Studios and that was a welcomed relief at this point but also just plain exhausting to realize we are only at 5k left.  Kels had a bright idea to “run through this park at least” well, that lasted a total of 60 seconds… ha!  We were in SO MUCH PAIN!!!!  It was really cool though to run through another park.  I really did like runningwalking past Tower of Terror and the big magician hat.

Mile 24 was bad.  Pain, pain, pain, ouch, ouch, ouch.  We ran on the Boardwalk which I had never been on before and it was really cool looking.  I just wish I could have enjoyed it a bit more but the pain was intense.  I ended up taking some Tylenol which is totally not something I would have ever done in any other race I’ve ever run before, the pain was that bad.

As we came into EPCOT, we were nearing mile 25 and decided to give running a go again.  I was surprised that Sister and I were able to run the last 1.2 miles with only 1 maybe 30 second walk stop!  It helped us feel a little better about our finish to feel relatively strong running through World Showcase and redeeming ourselves after almost 10 miles of walking (gosh that sounds like a lot of WALKING outside of a marathon!)

I think we both have never been so happy to see a finish line.  I think we actually managed to “sprint” to the finish and we were so darn happy to be done!!!!!  We took an exhausting 5:54 minutes to finish, 3:30 of which were so painful but we still did it.  Somehow!

In hindsight, I should not have signed up for 3 marathons before even doing 1.  I should have never done more than 1 in 12 months, let along 3 in 7 months.  There is not enough time to recover!  I really do think my overzealous-ness caused me so much pain in this race but I also think if it would have been less painful, I would have thought about signing up for marathons in the future and then dreaded training/regretted it.

I wouldn’t trade any of my marathon experiences for anything though.  Maritime was my first, my whole family was there and I finished my fastest ever.  Lakefront was a real surprise that I could finish and with such a decent time.  And Disney was with my sister, my sister’s first and only marathon and was magical in it’s own way.  It’s OK to end my marathon running career here – lol.  I think it’s time to retire the 26.2 and just enjoy the 13.1 and work on getting faster at that distance.  I really do enjoy the halfs and enjoy training for them!

We’d planned to walk around a park after today but then decided a resting at the hotel day was in order so didn’t really do much else.  Sweet Tomatoes for dinner, a quick stop at the outlet mall and an early bedtime rounded out day #3 in Disney!

Running Recap: 2012.

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas yesterday!  My second most favorite Holiday ever Too bad I woke up feeling sick as a dog and have continued to feel horrendous for the past 48 hours.  You know what’s also awesome?  Being the only person out of three at work this week when it’s our busiest week of the year.  #fml

I’ve seen quite a few bloggers post about their years in review as far as running is concerned and I really liked that idea so here is my year in review:

Total miles: 807 per Daily mile.  This is likely not 100% accurate.

Total Races: Started = 10, Finished = 9

This is not going to end well.

Total States run in: FL, TN, MN, IN, WI

# of new shoes purchased: 4-5 I think?

New Distances: Marathon! and 15k

PRs: 5k!

Favorite Race: Tie between Maritime Marathon and Disneyworld Half Marathon

And just like that… a Marathoner!

Least Favorite Race: Turkey Trot 15k.

Most forgotten race: Bellin 10k.  Totally forgot about this one happening in 2012  Also, the Madison Shamrock Shuffle 10k…

Most remembered race: Fox Cities Half Marathon

Most disappointing race: Cellcom Marathon

Best Race Photo EVER!: (You’re quite welcome for this)

Don’t let anyone tell you marathons are easy.

It really was a crazy running year for me this year.  Starting with hurting my back in January and being unsure how I would recover to run again.  Then, the fiasco that was Cellcom and living with the severe disappointment of a race that I never got to finish because of the weather.  Five more weeks of training and then FINALLY becoming a Marathoner!  Totally being burnt out on running after training for 6+ months and then taking a running break that lasted a few months (and fighting a piriformis/sciatic issues all the while).  To really make it a weird year, throw in one of my most favorite half marathons ever in Appleton and then randomly deciding to attempt Lakefront even though I was not trained at all and finishing it in relatively good shape…

I think 2012 will always be remembered by me as the year where I learned you have to just throw all your expectations out the window with running and just have fun!  Rest when you need to, break if you want to but run when you can.

Here’s to another good year in 2013!

20 and Done.

Yesterday, Sister and I tackled our very last long distance training run for the Disney Marathon!  How we finished, I still don’t really know but we did.  I took off from work on Friday to run but the lovely weather here in Wisconsin decided not to cooperate so we postponed until Saturday morning.  It was still kind of chilly but the wind was much calmer.  I think when we left it was like 5 degrees or something like that.

Yeah, we actually got like 1″ here…

We set off by 7:45 am or so because we had some fun afternoon plans with the parents.  Right away I think Sister was struggling on this run – maybe too many sugar cookies or something?  But I felt better than on our last 20 miler over Thanksgiving weekend.  We ran a different way than our typical long run route which was a good change of scenery and also considering the weather, was probably the safer route to take as well.  For once in our lives, we planned ahead and brought money so we could refuel with gatorade at a gas station instead of stopping home and man, that was a good idea.  Otherwise, this 20 miler might have turned into a 15 miler!

We also each tried out our new lulu turtlenecks we scored on clearance!

We kept a more moderate pace and walked a lot but that seemed to really help me make it to the finish.  Sister was not feeling the relief but at least it helped me?!  Also, when we stopped at the gas station, we took a few minutes to stretch and do a down dog or two and hip stretches and that made all the difference for me on the last 5-6 miles of this run.  I also should have taken one more gu sometime in the last 3-4 miles but realized it with only like 1.5 to go and I figured at that point, it was not really going to help… made that last part not so fun…

Highlights:

• Finishing
• Realizing I don’t have to train in the winter anymore this year!!!
• Running with Sister
• Talking about our newly developed running plans for 2013
• Reminding Sister that finish time is not important!
• Somehow being dressed appropriately – not too cold and only too hot for like 10 minutes!

Lowlights:

• Knowing Sister was struggling
• Remembering a marathon is 20 + a 10k
• Freezing water bottles/gu
• Rude cars that refuse to be polite to runners and slowdown/move over

We ran for about 4 hours which, to me, didn’t feel that long at all.  I really think running with someone makes the long distances more fun.  I can’t wait until I get to run with Sister over the finish line in Florida three weeks from today!  In fact, by this time, three weeks from now, we will be DONE!!!!!  And sporting some awesome Disney race bling around our necks!  Whoop!

‘case you forgot what this looks like.