An Aussie on a Wine & Dine 2019 Mission - Comments Very Welcome

Wowwwww that trip looks amazing!

Aww thanks so much! It was pretty amazing. I'm very lucky to live in such a beautiful country and have these stunning Pacific Islands right on our doorstep. I really want to take my husband back next year as this was strictly a girls trip :)

What a great way to celebrate your 40th! I ran my first marathon at Disney for my 40th, which was fun, but your trip looks way more relaxing. Happy Birthday!!

It was super special and a great celebration. I made sure to spend plenty of time on our balcony and enjoying our ship - Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas :)
 
WEEKLY UPDATE
10 - 17 MARCH

So I fully admit to a week off training this week! I completed no distance or runs and really just took a week to rest and recover.

After coming off my cruise my body went into post holiday meltdown and I ended up with 2 HUGE cold sores on my bottom lip. I've never had 2 at the same time though and it's a good indication that I needed to take it a bit easy. It's now Tuesday 19 March though and a third one has now popped up as well :( :( :(

So did I mention it was 19 March? Like thousands of others I'm sitting here stuck on the scrolling screen waiting to purchase entry to all 3 distances for Wine & Dine Half Marathon weekend - EXCEPT it's 12:30am here!! I think I might be a bit delirious with fatigue right now but I'm determined to get those race entries for my husband and I. Our whole Oct/Nov Disneyworld trip hinges on them. If we don't secure entries today to Wine & Dine we'll probably delay our trip to Marathon Weekend where I'll attempt the Goofy Challenge :)

Wish me luck! I really need to get some more sleep!!
:worship::worship::jumping1::worship::worship:

 
RANDOM UPDATE 19 MARCH

WOOO!! These little Australians are definitely committed to a Wine & Dine Trip!!

My 12:45am wake up call this morning to logon and register as soon as races opened paid off!! Hubby and I are registered for the following:

ME
Fall Feast 5km
Two Course Challenge

HUSBAND
Fall Feast 5km
Wine & Dine 10km
Afterparty Ticket

I'm so unbelievably excited.
:jumping1::jumping1::jumping1::jumping1::jumping1::jumping1::jumping1::jumping1:

As I mentioned earlier in my training journal, the thing that kicked off my whole running journey a couple of years ago was a burning desire to one day run a Disneyworld Half Marathon onsite. I cannot believe that in approx 7 months I'm going to be arriving and fulfilling that dream! For me it really will be a bucket list event and I have absolutely no doubt that I will be blubbering mess of emotion as I cross that finish line on 3 November. Those 36.1km will truely be so magical for me and I'll enjoy every moment.
:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:
 


WEEKLY UPDATE
17 MAR - 24 MAR


It's been such a great week! As you all saw from my random update I managed to secure Wine & Dine registrations in the 5km for my husband and I, the 10km for my husband and the 2 course challenge for myself. I have to admit to being nervous as I've not ever run a 5km, 10km and Half back to back so any training tips would be very much appreciated. I'm not expecting it to be easy but I've got plenty of training time ahead of me.

I'm also only 8 weeks away from The Great Ocean Road Half Marathon. For all the non Australians following along the Great Ocean Road is one of the most iconic coastal drives in all of Australia. I've been trying to get there for years and never seem to go even though it's only about an hour away from me now that we've moved to Melbourne. The views will be absolutely spectacular and I can't wait to complete the course BUT (there's always a but), this course is actually 23km's, so slightly longer than a Half Marathon distance and it's full of hills! GAAAHHHHHHHH.

So during training over the last couple of weeks I've noticed that my regular Mizuno Wave's are feeling a little less than ideal. I've started getting some rubbing, hot spots and the tread under the balls of my feet is almost smooth. I'm sure they've got another 100-200km's in them but given that I'm currently running 20-30km's a week it won't be long before they're ready to be retired so today I threw these bad boys into the mix.

Untitled by Jennie G, on Flickr

I've been brand loyal to Mizuno for a couple of years but these Brooks Glycerin felt lighter and moved a little easier than my Wave Sky's. By breaking them in now they'll be race ready for the Great Ocean Road Half.

I also got a sneak peak at the awesome medal I'll earn at the Neon Run 5km race! It's Star Wars themed this year and half on May 4th - OF COURSE!!

Untitled by Jennie G, on Flickr

I can't wait to put this bad boy in the collection.

19 Mar = 6.87km Run + 2.5km Walk = 9.37km in 52:49
21 Mar = 5.07km Run in 36:58
22 Mar = 4.01km Walk in 44:20
24 Mar = 8.84km Run in 1:05:52

WEEKLY TOTAL = 27.29 Km (16.957 Miles)
MONTHLY TOTAL = 58.4km Km (36.288 Miles)
ANNUAL TOTAL = 220.759 Km (137.173 Miles)
 
Hi :wave2: I love your enthusiasm! A Disney Half is a dream for me, too. Unfortunately I will be waiting a few years for that dream to come true.
 
Hi :wave2: I love your enthusiasm! A Disney Half is a dream for me, too. Unfortunately I will be waiting a few years for that dream to come true.
Thanks so much! Glad to see you here :)

Never give up! With training and patience anyone can complete a half marathon. I just can't wait to run through a Disney park!!
 


Thanks so much! Glad to see you here :)

Never give up! With training and patience anyone can complete a half marathon. I just can't wait to run through a Disney park!!

I've actually run a half marathon (exactly one) before, but to do it at Disney would be amazing!
 
I've actually run a half marathon (exactly one) before, but to do it at Disney would be amazing!

I have absolutely no doubt that I'll be on of THOSE people who cross the finish line a blubbering mess. I still get teary and cry as I finish most of my races. There is so much work and training that goes into each and every race and the actual race is more a celebration of all that hard work. So it's an achievement every time I cross that line and this one will be more special than all the ones before because it's what's motivated me to run for almost 2 years now :)
 
WEEKLY UPDATE
25 MAR - 31 MAR


I started and finished the week really strong but had a bout of stomach flu in between which knocked me out for a few days. We're in the middle of that dreaded change between summer and autumn here when everyone seems to come down with a flu or bug and then decides to exercises great judgement and comes to work with it to share it around with all their work colleagues. So believe it or not I am actually glad it was just a 24 hour stomach bug.

The first bit of exciting news for the week is that we've upgraded the last week of our accomodation for our Wine & Dine trip. Initially we had 18 nights booked at POP Century but when we started looking closer at the crowd calendars we realised that the last week/weekend that we're at Disneyworld the crowds are predicted to be 8/10 to 9/10. So we've decided to upgrade our last week at POP to a Studio Villa at Saratoga Springs. We're also only buying a 14 day ultimate ticket instead of a 21 day so that we can stay out of the parks for those last 3 or 4 days and enjoy Saratoga Springs, Disney Springs and do some of those out of park activities we keep hearing about but never get time to do.


I'd love hear what non park activities you'd recommend or have loved doing so that we might include them in our plans!

The second bit of exciting news is that a ran a 10km PB today!! I didn't just beat it by a little bit either - I ABSOLUTELY SMASHED IT!!

As soon as I knew we had our race registrations I started working towards a proof of time because I really don't want to start in corral F. I want to put as much distance as possible between me and those dreaded balloon ladies! So this morning I was up at 6am and driving to the other side of town to participate in an officially timed race for proof of time.

The weather this weekend has been terrible! It's rained all weekend and I was really worried that the race would be cancelled but it all came together in the end nicely. It was freezing cold, only 8 degrees and with a freezing onshore headwind but somehow I still pulled a PB out. And the whole time I was running I just kept telling myself 'JUST KEEP SWIMMING JUST KEEP SWIMMING" :joker::joker::joker::joker:

Untitled by Jennie G, on Flickr

Untitled by Jennie G, on Flickr

My previous best 10km time was 1:18:48.6

Am really wrapped with my run this morning and am feeling more motivated than ever! I'd love to get to a sub 1:00:00 10km proof of time and I'm going to use that as motivation up until the proof of time cut off at the end of July.


25 Mar = 4km Run in 30:20
29 Mar = 4.1km in 30:08
31 Mar = 10.17km in 1:10:21
WEEKLY TOTAL = 18.27Km (11.352 Miles)
MONTHLY TOTAL = 76.7Km (47.659 Miles)
ANNUAL TOTAL = 239.029Km (148.526 Miles)
 
Awww thank you so much @DopeyBadger & @JAMIESMITH

I love the encouragement, support and appreciation that can only come from other runners. I've shared my result to my personal Facebook page and my non running friends and family just don't get how massive it is to slash almost 8.5 minutes off a time. Plus, this puts me well in front of the last corral assignment for Wine & Dine.

I've still got 4 months to improve my proof of time for Wine & Dine so my next goal is to get a sub 1:05:00 time :)
 
WEEKLY UPDATE
1 APR - 7 APR

Remember in last week's update I mention fighting off a stomach bug and that I was so thankful it wasn't the flu? HA HA HA jokes on me because this week I've been struck down with the flu and been fighting it off which has meant ZERO training
:guilty::guilty::guilty::guilty::guilty::guilty::guilty::guilty::guilty::guilty::guilty::guilty::guilty::guilty:

The silver lining is that it's happened 6 weeks out from my next half marathon - The Great Ocean Road Half Marathon - and I've still got a decent amount of time to prepare and train. I'll be back into a regular training routine tomorrow.
WEEKLY TOTAL = 18.27Km (11.352 Miles)
MONTHLY TOTAL = 76.7Km (47.659 Miles)
ANNUAL TOTAL = 239.029Km (148.526 Miles)
 
RANDOM BLING UPDATE!!

Now that I've completed the first quarter of my training/crazy running year I thought I'd give you a bling update LOL!!

Untitled by Jennie G, on Flickr

This isn't all of them and there are still 3 in the post on their way to me but as each new one arrives I put it up on my work desk pin board. Everyone at work is a bit disbelieving of how many training runs / challenges and races I've already completed in 2019. LOL they haven't seen anything yet!!​
 
WEEKLY UPDATES
8 APR - 21 APR

Well this bloody cold/flu just isn't letting go. I thought I was getting better but then the sore throat came back and the energy drained out of my body and down I went again after only 2 training runs. I've taken Easter Weekend off to try and relax and recover so that I can really get into my last 4 weeks of training before the Great Ocean Road Half Marathon.
:guilty::guilty::guilty::guilty::guilty::guilty::guilty::guilty::guilty::guilty::guilty::guilty::guilty::guilty:

Over the next 4 weeks before the Great Ocean Road Half I've actually got a pretty good schedule

4th May = Star Wars 5km Neon Run
12th May = Mothers Day 8km Classic Run
19th May = Great Ocean Road Half Marathon

As I've been going through this running journey it's suddenly dawned on me that it's not about the time or PR's. When I first started this journey it was all about the numbers, the splits, the per km pace, the PR's. Now that I'm 4 months in I've realised that the training is the hardest part and the run events themselves are a celebration of all the hard work that's gone on behind the scenes. The events are there to be enjoyed. I'm not the kind of runner who's going to finish on a podium or break records. I'm your average runner who'll finish in the back third of the pack but I'll cross the line with a smile and a sense of achievement. You'll probably even see me shed a tear :)
WEEKLY TOTAL = 12.3Km (7.643 Miles)
MONTHLY TOTAL = 16.6Km (10.315 Miles)

ANNUAL TOTAL = 255.629Km (158.84 Miles)
 
WEEKLY UPDATES
22 APR - 28 APR


I'm slowly getting back into the swing after this horror run with the flu but I'm sorry to say that I've fallen victim to the dreaded over eating when sick trap. It seems like its a universal rule that when you're sick you reach for the comfort food and sugar laden junk. Now that I'm out the other side of it I'm feeling and looking a little rounder - OOPPPPSSSSSSS. With all the races I have coming up I have no doubt that it'll get burnt off pretty quickly and what's life if you don't enjoy the things you love??
I RUN FOR FOOD!!!

Only a couple of 5km training runs under the belt this week.
Even though I've got a half marathon coming up I don't want to go crazy getting back into it and run myself into sickness again.

I've also had a little snaffoo with those lovely Brooks Glycerin's. Unfortunately they just weren't working for me and after 4 training runs in them I found that I was repeatedly getting a blister in the same spot on the inside of my right arch. I used to naively think that runners or trainers were all the same apart from the pretty colours and the brand name. How wrong was I!!! Luckily I always buy my shoes from a retailer who offers a 30 day fit and feel guarantee so back they went to the store and I'm back in a lovely new pair of Mizuno Wave Sky 2's. I've been running in Mizuno's ever since I started my running journey and they just seem to really work for me. I've tried other brands twice and both times I've had to return the shoes due to poor fit or feel issues :( I guess if it's not broke don't fix it right?? At least I've got enough time to break these ones in before the Half Marathon on the 19th.

I know it's not Disney but hubby and I also went to see the amazing stage production of Harry Potter & The Cursed Child this week. It was absolutely AMAZING!! I'd love to tell you more but I have to #KeepTheSecrets :) I'm not typically into stage plays, nor is the husband, but this was so good that we both got on the phone to search for tickets to go see it a second time later in the year :)

Untitled by Jennie G, on Flickr
Untitled by Jennie G, on Flickr

23 Apr = 5.25Km Run in 34:44
26 Apr = 5.22km Run in 37:19

WEEKLY TOTAL = 10.47Km (6.506 Miles)
MONTHLY TOTAL = 27.03Km (16.796 Miles)

ANNUAL TOTAL = 282.659Km (175.636 Miles)
 
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