In Training: Marathon Weekend 2015 (Dopey Challenge)! **COMPLETE**

[Ariel484]

Challenge Accepted!

Today is Monday, January 13, 2014. Marathon Weekend 2014 ended yesterday...is it too early to start talking about Marathon Weekend 2015?!

My name is Shannon and I'm 29 years old. To date I've run...let's see...8 races at Disney. It started in 2011 with the Princess Half Marathon, which I ran with my younger brother, Craig (27). First-ever half marathon for both of us!

I was hooked immediately, and both Craig and I signed up to run Disney race #2, the 2012 Walt Disney World Marathon. First-ever marathon for both of us!

The addiction was now fully taking hold. In March of 2012 I signed up for the 2013 Goofy Challenge (running the WDW Half Marathon and WDW Marathon on back-to-back days). A few months later I also signed up for the WDW 5K and started a thread to document my training. I worked my butt of through the fall and early winter to get ready, and had a pretty fantastic training cycle...which translated to a pretty wonderful weekend running through Disney.

So what's next?...

Continued in Next Post

 

[Ariel484]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Challenge Accepted!
The Rest of 2013...The Wheels Fall Off

**TRAINING**

January 2014: 32.5 miles
February 2014: 31.6 miles
March 2014: 69.65 miles
April 2014: 76.7 miles
May 2014: 74.3 miles
June 2014: 64.7 miles
July 2014: 71.31 miles
August 2014: 100.8 miles
September 2014: 31.05 miles (took almost 3 weeks off due to injury recovery)
October 2014: 78 miles
November 2014: 84.45 miles
December 2014: 131.1 miles

841.26 miles in 2014

COMPLETED TRAINING:
Cleveland 10-miler Pre-Training
Cleveland 10-miler Training
Cleveland 10K Mini-Training
5-miler Training
Half Marathon Training
Dopey Challenge Training, attempt 1 (injury)
Revised plan - Jingle Jungle 5K/Wine & Dine Half Marathon Training
Revised plan - Dopey Challenge Training

RACE RECAPS
Disney's Royal Family 5K (2/21/2014)
Cleveland 10-miler (4/26/2013) - **PR**!
Cleveland 10K (5/18/2014) - **PR**!
May 5K (5/24/2014) - **PR...ish???**
4th of July 5-miler - **PR!**(7/4/2014)
Castaway Cay 5K (7/22/2014)
Fall Half Marathon (9/7/2014)
Akron Half Marathon (9/27/2014) - DNS (injury recovery)
Rock & Roll Cleveland Mini Marathon (10/11/2014) - Canceled on 9/4/2014
Bernie Shuffle (11/1/2014)
Mickey's Jingle Jungle 5K (11/8/2014 - AM)
Disney's Wine & Dine Half Marathon (11/8/2014 - PM)
Cleveland Turkey Trot (11/27/2014)
Walt Disney World 5K (1/8/2015)
Walt Disney World 10K (1/9/2015)
Walt Disney World Half Marathon (1/10/2015)
Walt Disney World Marathon (1/11/2015) **PR**

OTHER TRAINING POSTS:
Training to Train for Dopey - 2014 Race Calendar
Dopey Training
The newest member of our family...my treadmill!
Long Run Routines

**TRIP PLANNING**

Dopey Challenge Trip (January 2015)
The Cast (???)
The Resort (???)
Resort Attempt #1
The Resort!
Dining
Small Dining Change
REGISTERED!!!
ADRs!
Proof of Time and Flights...ish
Flights Booked! One ADR dropped
DOONEY...and DME
Packing List!
2015 Walt Disney World 5K - The Outfit!
2015 Walt Disney World 10K - The Outfit!
2015 Walt Disney World Half Marathon - The Outfit!
2015 Walt Disney World Marathon - The Outfit!
Expo Shopping List!

Wine & Dine Half Marathon Trip (November 2015)
Shameless Plug...2013 Wine & Dine Half Marathon Trip Report Link!
I'm running Disney (twice!!)!!!!!!!
The One ADR and Flights!
Updating Proof of Time!
Small Flight Change
Fuzzy Disney Math and an Extra Disney Day!!
Jingle Jungle 5K outfit!
Wine & Dine Half Marathon Outfit!
TOMORROW.
** Trip Report**

Disney Dream Cruise - 4-night Bahamian Itinerary (July 2014)
Flights!
Online Check-in Complete!
60 Days Away!!
1 Month Away!!
** Trip Report**

Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend Trip (September 2015)
2015...but when?!
Resort Attempt...

**OTHER STUFF**
I'm going to Walt Disney World!
Odds & Ends
Odds & Ends...part 2!
Race T-Shirt Quilt!
Doctor Visit

STRIDEBOX:
March 2014
April 2014

 

[Ariel484]

The Rest of 2013 - The Wheels Fall Off

I returned home from Disney in January 2013 - slightly sore yet pretty thrilled with my accomplishment. Unfortunately I was also completely, totally, 100% burned out on running. It was totally odd after pretty much constantly being on a runner's high during the previous 6 months...now I could barely motivate myself to lace up and head out the door for short run. 2012 was definitely the best running year I've had yet (I logged almost 1,000 injury-free miles), and while 2013 wasn't the worst, it was definitely the most erratic (710 miles logged with one injury, see below).

It started off well with Marathon Weekend followed by a PR in the 10-mile distance in a local race a few months later, but was pretty much downhill after that. During that running high of 2012 I'd signed up for a bunch of races at home, including 2 marathons. In my 2013 funk I ended up dropping down to the half both times - the first went pretty terribly (not surprising due to my erratic-at-best training ), and for the second, I recorded my first-ever DNS (Did Not Start) by not showing up on race day. I still sort of can't believe I did that, but by then this funk I was in had a tight hold of me and wouldn't let go. I was dreading that half so much that it was almost depressing, so while I still struggle with it (mostly the fact that I wasted money on the entry fee), I think the decision to DNS was the right call at the time. I ran another half in October (which was terrible), a 5-miler on the 4th of July (which was pretty great - almost a PR for me in that distance, and on a 90-degree day no less!) and the Castaway Cay 5K in September (which I think would have been a 5K PR for me if I hadn't taken a wrong turn on the course and ended up running 3.7 miles...lesson learned, look at the course map ahead of time!).

So I was sort of-ish getting my mojo back in the late summer/fall. Good timing because it was time for Disney races #7 and #8...Mickeys Jingle Jungle 5K and the Wine & Dine Half Marathon! I was sooooo excited for these races, because 1. I'd be running the 5K with my husband, Will (28...his first-ever race!) and 2. I really loved the look of the Wine & Dine Half course. Training was still pretty erratic but I never run Disney races to break any kind of speed records, so I figured I just needed the knowledge that I could complete the distance. In the 4 weeks between the awful October half and W&D I logged 13-15 miles per week...not great but a whole heck of a lot better than I'd been doing up to that point.

During my last long training run for the half, 6 days out from race day, something happened to me that I've never really had to deal with in my running "career": I got injured. I'd started to feel some knee pain about 9 miles in and adjusted my gait to compensate for it. I finished the run (a 12-miler) feeling okay, but by the next day my foot - not my knee, which started this while issue and now felt totally fine - was so incredibly sore that I could barely walk. I never went to a real doctor for it, but Dr. Google made me think I had a strain or, worst case, tendonitis. Nothing I could really do but ice like crazy, pop Ibuprofen like candy, and shut down the running until race day. The 5K and half were definitely in jeopardy and I wasn't even looking forward to the trip...and when you're not looking forward to your upcoming Disney trip, something is seriously wrong! In what was probably a not-so-smart move I made the trip anyway and completed both of the races thanks to lots of walk breaks and a generous amount of KT tape (my new most favorite running product) on my foot and knee (the stupid thing that had started this mess - which, again, felt totally fine after that fateful 12-miler). It wasn't pretty but I just couldn't miss Wills first race and the Wine & Dine course I'd looked forward to so much. And now that I've done it once I fully intend to do Wine & Dine again HEALTHY...seriously, LOVED the course. (UPDATE: My chance to run Wine & Dine again came up more quickly than I expected...I'm signed up for it in 2014!!! )

After returning from the trip, my foot still hurt...not any worse than before but it certainly hadn't improved. What followed was one whole week of zero exercise (very rare for me) and 3 total weeks with no running, the longest running break for me since 2008. When we'd returned home I told myself that if the pain wasn't any better by the next week I'd give in a see a doctor, but the week of no exercise was enough for me to heal. Jumping back into running right away made me nervous, so for the next 2 weeks I focused on strength training and yoga. That's the one silver lining I can take away from this injury - during this time of no running I grew to really love strength training and yoga a LOT. Finally I resumed running on December 2 and have slowly been trying to build back up to a more regular schedule. And I mean SLOWLY...I've run just about 25 miles total in that time, so about 5 miles per week. Very odd for someone that was somewhat regularly running 15-20 miles per week just a few months ago.

So that brings us to now, and the whole point of this thread. I'm still keeping up with the strength training and yoga, but running has been sporadic (especially since we just got back from a non-running Disney trip on January 4! I had every intention of going to the gym but was sick almost the entire time, so extra sleep took precedence). I'd been planning on skipping Marathon Weekend 2014 all along since 1. We had that non-race trip booked, and 2. I'd rather not be the guinea pig for runDisney's new Marathon Weekend schedule, i.e. adding a day for the 10K and moving the 5K to Thursday...test it out on other people this year so it will be perfect for meeeee, kthanks! And really I'm glad I wasn't signed up for anything last week since I'm nowhere near marathon shape right now due to my inconsistency and the injury in November. So the plan all along was to come back in 2015 for the 10th anniversary of the Goofy Challenge. Then runDisney went ahead and announced that darn Minnie 10K...and I just cannot pass up a Minnie medal. So I may as well do all 4 right?! What a Dope(y).

And that's my plan for 2015...the Dopey Challenge - running the Walt Disney World 5K, 10K, half marathon and the marathon during Marathon Weekend in January.

During training for Marathon Weekend 2013 I found that I really enjoyed writing about what I was doing in my thread here...I've toyed with starting a blog but overall I just don't think I'm interesting enough for one , so a thread like this will do just fine. I also think my thread about training for 2013 really helped me stay consistent, and I could really use that consistency right now.

So my plan for this thread is to do what I did last time - post a short daily training update along with some mini-race reports and trip planning stuff (that's the most fun anyway!) along with some other random stuff sprinkled in. I'm definitely looking forward to writing about running to Disney once again! Follow along and yell at me if I'm slacking, won't you?

Continued in Next Post

 

[Ariel484]

Training to Train for Dopey - Race Calendar

So training for Marathon Weekend doesn't officially start until the fall...why start this thread so early? I feel like I'm starting at not-quite-but-almost zero right now and come September I want to be in good enough shape to start the training plan (I think) I have picked to get Dopey-ready. Good training is important for having a good Marathon Weekend, and I'll only have a good training session if I'm physically ready/capable to actually begin training. So even though the formal training doesn't begin until September, I'm choosing to have the mindset that its really starting NOW.

Wow, I sure did say the word "training" a lot in that last paragraph, didn't I?!

Anyway...in order to keep myself motivated, I'm planning on doing some other (shorter) races this year so that I can set some mini-goals along the way. Of course I'd love to PR in all of these races but that may be a tall order since I feel like I'm just getting going again. My main goal is just build back up to where I think I'll be ready to tackle Dopey training.

Here's my list of races for 2014 so far:

Disney's Royal Family 5K on February 21, 2014 (COMPLETED! RACE RECAP!)

Cleveland 10-miler on April 26, 2014 (COMPLETED! RACE RECAP!): My favorite distance to race and my favorite local race. This is an important one because if I get a good time I'm going to use it to send to Disney as my proof-of-time for corral placement next January, so right now this is my main goal race and the one I am currently "training" for. Current PR - 1:37:15, 9:44/mile pace (which is from last year...so it may not be too old to send to Disney but I'm going to assume I need a more recent time). I'd be thrilled and shocked if I broke my PR in this race, because I feel like it was almost luck that I did so last year, PLUS I was most likely in better shape than I am now...but we'll see!

Cleveland 10K on May 18, 2014 (COMPLETED! RACE RECAP!): This is another case (3 times now! ) where I originally signed up for the marathon and then later dropped down to a shorter distance. So I need to STOP FREAKING SIGNING UP FOR LOCAL MARATHONS and just accept the fact that, for now, if I'm going to train for and run 26.2 it's going to be at Disney. Darn! But back to the 10K... I've never actually run a 10K race before so I'm excited to tackle a new distance. It's too soon after the 10-miler to do a lot of dedicated training for it - 3 weeks I think? - so realistically I'm not sure how it'll go, but I'll do my best with it. Current PR - none, so this WILL be my 10K PR! My A+ (possible but also might not be entirely realistic) goal is to finish in under 60 minutes, 9:39/mile pace...eek!

May 5K on May 24, 2014 (COMPLETED! RACE RECAP!): Registered for this one somewhat impulsively on 5/20/2014...it's right in my town, fits my schedule, and my 5K PR (28:03, 9:03/mile pace) is 2 years old at this point, so why not try to beat it?

5-mile race on July 4, 2014 (COMPLETED! RACE RECAP!): This will be my 3rd year in a row running this race. Always challenging because it'll be approximately 10,000 degrees and humid outside, but I almost PR'd in this distance last year and I'd like to try again or at least beat last year's time. Plus, this race is held in my town and the course goes right by my house...and it's cheap to enter with a nice tech shirt given to all runners. Once the 10K is done I'll start training for this one, so I'll have 6-7 weeks of dedicated training for the 5-mile distance. Current PR: 46:11:27, 9:14/mile...HOWEVER this PR was not on the same course. Actually it was a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving of 2012, so the temperature was significantly cooler, which I know made a huge difference. My PR for this 4th of July race is 47:06, 9:25/mile.

Disney's Castaway Cay 5K on July 22, 2014 (COMPLETED! RACE RECAP!): This one is tentative, but it fits in my schedule so I may do it. I didn't love the course when I ran this race in September and since we'll be there in July, I know it'll be approximately 11,000 degrees outside. BUT...it is free and if I have a race in mind for our cruise maybe I'll be more likely to get the runs in? If I can wrangle Will into running it with me that would be even better.

Half Marathon on September 7, 2014 (COMPLETED! RACE RECAP!): This race is held in the town next to mine and I've heard that the course is gradually downhill the entire way...music to my ears! : I've never done this race but have wanted to for the past few years - the timing just hasn't worked out yet. I think this is a good one to have in my schedule because it's close to home, hopefully a fast course, and seems like a good back-up option for proof-of-time in case the 10-miler in April doesn't go well. So hopefully this year will be the year that I finally get to do this race! Training for this one would start the week of the 5-mile race, so I'll just integrate that 5-miler into my training plan. Current PR (not on this course): 2:13:32, 10:12/mile. This PR is from November 2012 so I'd really like beat that time since it's over a year old by now. Someday I'd love to break 2 hours, but for now, realistically, I'm aiming to go under 2:10. And also...Dopey training starts the day after this race!!!

Akron Half Marathon on September 27, 2014 (DNS - recovery from foot injury ): I may be an idiot, but I'm seriously thinking about doing this race. Biggest reason why? This is my DNS race from last year, so even though doing the race this year wouldn't "make up" for last year's DNS...I feel like I need to do it. I'd like to think I'll treat it as a long run for Dopey with no rigid time expectations...but I could totally see myself getting swept up in the race-day atmosphere and really going for it. It's a tough course, though, so I'm hoping I'll be smarter than that, especially since Dopey is the main goal here. ETA: Registered on 5/17/2014!

Rock & Roll Cleveland 5K on October 11, 2014 (RACE CANCELED): I signed up for this one on a whim. This is the race that I mentioned earlier from October 2013 that was pretty bad, so while I had a not-so-great experience, I know once I crossed the finish line that I wanted a shot at "redemption," if you will. These Rock & Roll races are pretty expensive and they were running a sale on registration, so I pounced. Assuming the course is the same as last year - which was the race's inaugural year - I don't think I'll PR here because it's a pretty hilly course. There's one awful hill at mile 10 in particular that still haunts my dreams, but if I can beat my time from last year (2:27...14 minutes off of my half PR, UGH!!! ) I'll be happy. ETA: Submitted a request to switch to the mini marathon (3.5 miles) on 7/7/2014. My 13-year-old cousin is signed up to run the mini - her first race ever - so I am going to run it with her! 7/18/2014: The mini is now a 5K. Update 9/4/2014: The race has been canceled!!

Bernie Shuffle on November 1, 2014 (COMPLETED! RACE RECAP!): Doing this one with my brother and cousin. Should be fun!

Mickey's Jingle Jungle 5K on November 8, 2014 (COMPLETED! RACE RECAP!)
Disney's Wine & Dine Half Marathon on November 8, 2014 (COMPLETED! RACE RECAP!)
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!

Turkey Trot on November 27, 2014 (COMPLETED! RACE RECAP!)

Wow, that's actually not as many races as I thought! ETA: Originally it wasn't that many races, and yet I keep finding new ones to sign up for... As of right now that's it until Dopey, but I'm going to update this page if anything changes. The half marathon that my current PR is from is run in late November each year and is decently priced with a REALLY nice long-sleeved tech shirt given to all runners, so that one is definitely an option, along with any other short local races that pop up. But for now I think I've got a decent variety of distances that I'll need to train for in different ways, and hopefully that'll be enough to mix things up and keep me motivated this year without the burnout. I'm hoping that training for the shorter races will help me get faster, too.

Continued in Next Post

 

[Ariel484]

Dopey Training

All of those races will, of course, lead up to...

WDW 5K on January 8, 2015
WDW 10K on January 9, 2015
WDW Half Marathon on January 10, 2015
WDW Marathon on January 11, 2015

AKA the Dopey Challenge!

The registration price will be crazy, waking up at dark-thirty in the morning will be tough, and I'll be a walking zombie by the end of it (assuming I actually WILL be able to walk when all is said and done )...but I'm EXCITED!! This is what I need to get my mojo back. I'm thinking of training as sort of 3 parts...the Life Stuff, the Non-Running Stuff, and last but not least, the Running Stuff.

Life Stuff

During training, I'm planning to...

1. Not put my relationships on the back burner - training is important but not as important as my family, particularly my husband and dog, and friends. I don't want them or anyone else to feel neglected. Right now I have a girls weekend trip to WDW booked over the Princess Half Marathon weekend (not running, but will be cheering on a friend) as well as a cruise on the Dream in late July with the same friends and their husbands, plus Will. We've also got 2 weddings over the summer: Will's cousin in May (which will require some travel for us) and my cousin in June (local, but I'm in the wedding party so I know I'll have some responsibilities with that). I've got tickets to see Lady Gaga with my cousins in May (SQUEEEEEE ). Woohoo, fun times ahead! Anyway...I need to fit my training around those things, plus any other family and friend commitments.

Pic of the dog...just because this report needs more pictures!

2. Not let my work suffer - again, training is important, but I like my job and I want to continue to be good at it and grow in my position (hence the work trip in October). Plus, I gotta pay for this trip and these races somehow!

3. Drink lots of water. I'm pretty good with this at work - I keep a 32-ounce Nalgene bottle at my desk and try to drink 2 per day, so I'm hoping to increase that to 2.5 or 3 bottles per day when training really gets going. I'm VERY bad at drinking water at home so I want to be better about this. Beyond that I have a Starbucks habit that I'm not really interested in taming - I don't drink a lot of alcohol (1 glass of wine per week normally) so Starbucks a few mornings each week doesn't seem too bad. Or maybe I just like to tell myself that! I also have 1 Coke per week, and ONLY one, because for a few years I was borderline-addicted. But yeah...more water is a goal of mine

4. Sleep more. Always a problem for me...if I could get to bed by 9:30 or 10 each work night that would be super. Right now its more in the 10:45-11:00PM range, which means I'm getting up later than I want to and to the gym later than I want to (I use the gym here at work in the mornings). So that needs to change.

5. Eat better. I was REALLY bad about this while training for Goofy in 2012, and while I expected to gain a few pounds (it's just inevitable with marathon training) I put on a few more AFTER training was done. I'm about 7 pounds overweight for my height and it would be lovely if I could just go ahead and lose 10-15 pounds. Just lovely. So I'd like to reign it in a bit this time around and possibly get rid of what I gained. I'm not sure I'll write a lot about weight loss here (if at all) but I read somewhere that every pound lost = 2 seconds per mile faster running...so that would be nice.

Non-Running Stuff

1. Strength training - VERY important for injury-free running, especially (in my case) for healthy knees. While training for Goofy/5K 2013 I did IronStrength twice per week, and while it kept me healthy it was so BORING and repetitive, and had almost no core work (which is important for me as I have a history of back injuries - having a strong core is important for a healthy back). But it did keep my knees healthy...so right now I'm not sure what I'll do this time around when Dopey training starts. When I was recovering from that injury in November I did the Jillian Michael's 30-Day Shred and liked it a LOT. My main takeaway from IronStrength is that squats and having a strong butt and legs are important, and Jillian's 30DS doesn't skimp on that. After 6 weeks of shredding (no way I could do all 30 days in a row with no rest days) I could definitely feel that my legs and butt were stronger during yoga (more on that in a minute). Plus, it's 3 different workouts that I could rotate to keep things interesting. : So I'm going to stick with 30DS for a bit and see how it works with the 10-miler in April. If I continue to like it I'll keep doing it this year through Dopey training. If it doesn't work with running I'll design my own plan, something that's 30 minutes at the most and 1-2 times per week...and probably based on IronStrength since that's worked for me in the past.

2. Yoga - something that I really came to love in 2013 when I was sick of running. I tried to incorporate yoga into my training in 2012 by taking free classes at work on my lunch hour and failed miserably. During the Great Running Funk of 2013 I started going to a studio near my house and LOVED it. So while it stinks that I need to go to classes outside of work and pay for them, this studio is a better fit for me, I think because I like the teaching style more than whats offered at work, and I really love the hot yoga classes (where the studio is heated to 99 degrees!). I think this will be really important, because if I'm more flexible I'll be less likely to get injured. Plus...I just really like yoga. So I want to do this 1-2 times per week.

3. Rest Days - Must have at least one per week for recovery, injury prevention and my sanity.

4. Foam Rolling - I was not so great about this in 2012 and barely ran enough in 2013 for it to matter, but I need to be better about this. Again - INJURY PREVENTION! And last but not least...

Running Stuff

Quite often I've looked into trying any number of training plans, but I always seems to come back to those from Hal Higdon. I like them because I feel like they get me well-prepared for whatever event I'm running without piling on too much mileage. For both the 2012 marathon and the 5K/Goofy Challenge in 2013 I used the Novice 1 marathon training plan, and it was perfect for me. It starts at 15 miles per week with a build to one 40-mile week, spread out 4 days of running per week. I went into both Marathon Weekends feeling pretty great and successfully completed the marathon in 2012 and all 3 races in 2013, so Novice 1 holds a special place in my heart. So do I use a plan that I know works for me or do I turn it up a notch to this plan - Hal Higdon's Dopey Training plan?

The Novice 1 Plan...

1. Is comfortable and familiar...I've used it twice now
2. Definitely works. I successfully used it for the marathon in 2012 and Goofy/5K in 2013 (with minimal tweaking, adding 2 weeks to the plan and shuffling the days so they worked better with my schedule), so it seems like it should work this time too
3. Is 4 days per week of running, which I know I can handle

BUT...
4. Is it really enough for Dopey?
5. Should I test the limits and see if I'm capable of more?

The Dopey Plan...

1. Is designed specifically for Dopey
2. Turns things up a notch but doesn't have crazy mileage (tops out with a 42.5 mile week, not that much more than the peak week for Novice 1)
3. Might give me more confidence than Novice 1
4. Works out better with the other races I've planned for this year

BUT...
5. Every other week there are 5 days per week of running on the schedule
6. The mid-week runs are longer.

What to do??? I mean...I'm sure Novice 1 could get me there. But I think I need to go with the Dopey plan. Signing up for these 4 races is serious business and I would hate myself if I arrived at WDW in January undertrained. The only things holding me back from fully committing to the Dopey plan are the higher-mileage mid-week runs and the thought of running 5 days per week...I'm currently at 3 days per week of running and am planning on adding a 4th day next week. Four days per week of running is really what Im used to, so adding a fifth would be taking it to the next level for me. But I guess Dopey requires taking things to the next level, so thats probably what I'll do.

I'm very lucky that I have a few helpful things at my disposal...
1. A gym at work - so most of my Monday - Thursday runs will be on the treadmill (if we go to the gym a certain number of times per month we get a break on our health insurance)
2. A "gym" at home, i.e. a dedicated workout room in our house with free weights and a bench (no treadmill yet)
3. A yoga studio close to home...2-3 miles away so no more than a 10-15 minute drive
4. One work-from-home day per week - this is HUGE. Normally it's on Friday, meaning that my schedule is more flexible then and I just need to get my work done. So I'll be able to get some of those longer mid-distance runs in.
5. A supportive husband! Couldn't do it without him!

So that's the plan! I was pretty proud of my training in 2012 - I missed, I think, one run (had a pretty painful sinus infection Labor Day weekend) and cut one run short (my 2nd of two 20-milers...miserable weather, super snowy and cold, so I bagged it after 16 miles). If I could come close to that with training for Dopey in 2015, I'd be thrilled.

Continued in Next Post

 

[Ariel484]

Trip Plans - The Cast (???)

With all the race talk out of the way...here are some other trip details!

The Cast: Well, not sure about this one yet...definitely me and Will. I'll be flying in early Wednesday and Will won't arrive until Friday evening...staying until Monday.

Possible Cast:

My brother Craig (27)...he's run 3 runDisney races with me and is not as addicted to Disney as I am but definitely *gets* it. He was signed up for Goofy in 2013 but didn't train for it. After somehow making it through the half he decided not to run the full, and I know it's bugged him ever since. He's been pretty gung-ho about trying again, and I was pretty sure he'd try Goofy in 2015...but then he got in a car accident right after Thanksgiving, coming away with a broken leg (he's since had surgery and now has 4 pins and a plate near his knee), one sprained ankle and one ankle with a bone chip. THANK GOD he didn't die...seriously, I was worried when I heard about the wreck (it was extra hard since we're all in Ohio and he's in Louisiana for school with no family around), but seeing the pictures of his totaled car was pretty terrifying. ANYWAY...he's still on crutches right now and I know he wants to get back to running, but he just told me yesterday that he already thinks he's underestimated the recovery time he'll truly need. So I'm pretty sure sure Goofy will not be in the cards for him this year...or the full or half alone. Maybe he could do the 5K or 10K with me. The other wild card is that he's in grad school for nursing, so he's 1. Broke, and 2. Busy. So we'll see what happens.

See? Photographic evidence that he was totally enjoying himself during the 2012 Marathon!

Another possible cast member is my mom. She's come with us for the Princess Half and the 2 marathon weekends. If my brother doesn't make the trip I'm pretty sure she won't. But I get to see her all the time so that's okay!

And finally, last year I had a couple of friends from grad school pretty excited about doing the 10K, but I haven't heard anything from them about it since then.

So at this point I'm operating under the assumption that it will just be me for Wednesday, Thursday and most of Friday until Will arrives. Fine by me!

Continued in Next Post

 

[Ariel484]

Trip Plans - Resort (???):

Another one I'm not sure about, but I'll know soon. I'm definitely renting points at a DVC villa, and the 11-month mark is coming up in a couple of weeks, so I need to make this decision soon.

In 2011 we stayed at Port Orleans Riverside for the Princess Half...which was fine, but we're total deluxe resort snobs.

In 2012 I made the trip alone at stayed in a studio at Beach Club Villas. I didn't love the room I had but obviously you can't beat that location. Again, good experience.

Last year we stayed at the Grand Floridian, and I thought I was forever spoiled by having the monorail for the race mornings. It was soooo nice.

For Wine & Dine we stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter, and despite our deluxe resort snobbiness, we really liked it.

At this point my dream scenario would be to rent points for a studio at the Grand Floridian Villas to get that monorail access again, but I'm not sure it's realistic to expect the points to be there to rent already at the 11-month mark. It's so new, and anyone that owns there has only owned for a few weeks or whatever...would they really want to rent out their points already? I'm guessing not.

So right now I think I'm going to go for Bay Lake Tower.

I'm a little torn on this. We've walked through the common area only once and felt pretty uncomfortable, like we weren't allowed to be there (hence the above chandelier picture being the only one I have). Plus, there are cheaper options out there for point renting.

But...
- It has the monorail. This is HUGE - easy transportation for the half and full marathon, plus we can easily go to the Grand Floridian, the Polynesian and Epcot, where we plan on making some ADRs
- It's within walking-distance to the Magic Kingdom - 'nuff said
- The rooms look pretty sweet
- It should be pretty easy for Will to spectate for the half and full marathons...he could just walk outside or even walk to Main Street and take the monorail to the finish
- It's a place we've never stayed before...always good to try new things, yes?!

I told Will the other day that I was thinking Bay Lake Tower and he wrinkled his nose in response. I'm REALLY hoping we just got a bad first impression of the place and am excited to try it out!

During the point rental application process I'll have to pick 4 choices...so right now I think I'll have:

1. Bay Lake Tower - Standard View
2. Bay Lake Tower - Lake View
3. Grand Floridian Villas...A girl can dream
4. ??? Not sure??? Maybe something random like AKL (where we just stayed and LOOOOOVE) or even Saratoga Springs?? Hmmm....


But the 11-month mark is sooooon...yay!

Continued in Next Post

 

[wiigirl]

Following along!

 

[Ariel484]

Cleveland 10-miler Pre-Training

Now that I've gotten some of that intro stuff out of the way...time to start training!

Right now I'm preparing for the Cleveland 10-miler, which takes place on April 26. This will be my 5th year in a row running this race, so clearly it's one that I really like. It's an important one too, because if I beat my time from last year I'm going to send this year's time to runDisney for corral placement during Marathon Weekend. So I'd really like to do well here.

Despite the fact that I've run this race 4 times, I've never actually done dedicated training for it. It's always fallen in line with training I'd been doing for a spring half marathon. With no spring halfs (halves? ) on the schedule, I'm planning on using Hal Higdon's Intermediate 10-miler Training Plan, which is a 10-week plan (dropping out the 3-miler on Mondays...I just can't do 5-day running weeks yet!). I won't start this plan until the week of February 17, which is good because I'm just not in shape for it yet (6-miler during week 1?! ).

The plan is made up of one shorter run, one middle-distance run, one long run and one speedwork/tempo run per week. So before I officially start the plan I've put together a little "pre-training" plan based off of the HH plan I'll be using. Hopefully it'll get me ready!

Tentative 10-miler Pre-Training Plan


COMPLETED
Week 1 (1/13 - 1/19): 7ish miles planned/7 miles completed
Monday: Strength Training
Tuesday: 3-mile run/yoga
Wednesday: Strength Training
Thursday: 20-minute tempo run
Friday: Strength Training
Saturday: 2-mile run
Sunday: Rest Day

Week 2 (1/20 - 1/26): 6.5ish miles planned/10 miles completed
Monday: Strength Training
Tuesday: 2.5-mile treadmill run
Wednesday: Strength Training
Thursday: 2x800 @ 5K pace (3x800 @ 5K pace completed)
Friday: 3-mile treadmill run/yoga
Saturday: Rest Day
Sunday: 2-mile run/Strength Training

Week 3 (1/27 - 2/2): 11ish miles planned/8.5 miles completed
Monday: ST
Tuesday: 2.5-mile run
Wednesday: ST
Thursday: 20-min Tempo Run
Friday: 4-mile run
Saturday: Rest Day
Sunday: 3-miles planned, unscheduled rest day taken due to neck/shoulder soreness

Week 4 (2/3 - 2/9): 12ish miles planned/5.5 miles completed
Monday: ST
Tuesday: 3-mile run
Wednesday: ST
Thursday: 3x800 @ 5K pace
Friday: 3.5 miles planned, unscheduled rest day taken (whiny about the weather!)
Saturday: 3-mile run planned, strength training only completed (whiny about the weather!)
Sunday: Rest Day

Week 5 (2/10 - 2/16): 14ish miles planned/13 miles completed
Monday: 3 miles planned, 1.5 miles completed
Tuesday: Strength Training/25-minute tempo run
Wednesday: Strength Training
Thursday: 4-mile run
Friday: Strength Training
Saturday: 5-mile run
Sunday: Rest Day


And then 10-miler training would start on Monday, February 17. That seems doable, right?? RIGHT???

Realistically I'm not sure about the days where I have 2 things planned (i.e. a running/strength training or running/yoga day), but I'll try my best.

I'm also not sure if my goal time of 1:35 is realistic, but once again, I'll try my best. I plugged that time into the McMillan Running Calculator and it spat out a 5K pace of 8:49 (which I'll use for my speedwork days) and a 10K pace of 9:09 (which I'll build up to on my tempo runs). It's a goal pace of 9:30 to run 10 miles in 1:35 which translates to a 10:00/mile - 11:00/mile long run (30-90 seconds slower than goal pace). At least these will give me a place to start! And with that said...I started this morning!

Continued in Next Post

 

[Ariel484]

Following along!

Yay, thanks!!! And welcome!!

 

[Ariel484]

Week 1 of 10-miler Pre-Training
Strength Training (30-Day Shred Level 1)
Monday, January 13, 2014

0 miles completed/7ish miles planned for the week
0 miles completed in 10-miler Pre-Training so far
7 miles completed in 2014 so far

Started the week off by shredding! I completed this program just before Christmas when I was recovering from my injury and really liked it. Then the holidays came and we went to Disney and I feel like I'm almost back at square 1! It's amazing what you can lose by taking a few days - or weeks - off.

In other news...I am still definitely adjusting to eating normal quantities of food after returning from a week of Disney on 1/4. Get with the program, stomach! Anyone else know what I mean?!


I'm going to try to end each of my posts with a picture...because I like taking photos and every report is better with a picture! Have a good one!

I wanna go BACK!

Continued In Next Post

 

[steph0808]

Yes! A new thread from Shannon! Woohoo! I kept watching for a Wine and Dine one - now I see why you never did one. I am glad you are all healed now and can start training!

Dopey - yikes! I don't really have a desire to do all those races back to back to back to back.

I really wanted to do Goofy in 2015 for the anniversary, but I am almost positive that will not happen. I am signed up for the GSC this year, but my hubby wants me to defer, so I am just going for a short vacay and will do the 5k. I'm trained and everything, I'll just be 20 weeks pregnant at the races and he would prefer for me to take it easy.

So 2015 will involve the Glass Slipper Challenge, and Goofy will just have to be put on the backburner until another year. I don't think I could adequately train to run Goofy six months after giving birth. GSC will probably be a challenge.

Subscribed to the thread! Yes! The motivation I need!

 

[Ariel484]

Yes! A new thread from Shannon! Woohoo! I kept watching for a Wine and Dine one - now I see why you never did one. I am glad you are all healed now and can start training!

Yay Stepth! Glad you're here! You know, now that you mention it...I actually do have a Wine & Dine report all written out, I just never posted it. Perhaps I should get on that.

Dopey - yikes! I don't really have a desire to do all those races back to back to back to back.

...yes? I hope I don't regret it! I'm pretty sure it'll be a one-and-done thing for me.

I really wanted to do Goofy in 2015 for the anniversary, but I am almost positive that will not happen. I am signed up for the GSC this year, but my hubby wants me to defer, so I am just going for a short vacay and will do the 5k. I'm trained and everything, I'll just be 20 weeks pregnant at the races and he would prefer for me to take it easy.

Goofy's no joke. It was a total blast but it'll always be there. So exciting that you guys are expecting a baby, congratulations!! That's a pretty good reason for deferring!

So 2015 will involve the Glass Slipper Challenge, and Goofy will just have to be put on the backburner until another year. I don't think I could adequately train to run Goofy six months after giving birth. GSC will probably be a challenge.

Subscribed to the thread! Yes! The motivation I need!

Yeah, I know some women do that but it just seems like a lot of pressure to put on yourself.

Yay! Glad to be "chatting" with you again!

 

[Ariel484]

Shameless Plug...

steph0808 reminded me that I never posted my Wine & Dine Trip Report...here it is!

Flabby, Fat And Lazy...Run A Race And Oopsy-Daisy! A 2013 Wine & Dine Half Marathon Trip Report!

Continued in Next Post

 

[rpcvpanama]

Hey Shannon, following along. My sister and I are signed up for the 2015 Dopey. We had planned on running this year but I injured myself in training (hip bursitis) and we deferred to the 2015 race. My last race was the 2013 W&D; agree with you that it is a great course!! For me though, it was a terrible race, I was injured and could barely manage a running hobble. Ended up walking the last 4 miles which just dragged on and on. Hoping my training for Dopey this year goes a little better. I too am incorporating more strength training into my work outs this year to hopefully ward off any training injury issues. We were following the Dopey training plan and for the most part it worked really well. I definitely recommend it. We got up to 2 of the 4 day weekends and it really does provide some basis for understanding what it could/will feel like for 4 race days in a row. I know you did the unofficial Dopey a few years back so you get it!!!

Anyway, good luck with the training and I will be following along.

 

[Ariel484]

Hey Shannon, following along. My sister and I are signed up for the 2015 Dopey. We had planned on running this year but I injured myself in training (hip bursitis) and we deferred to the 2015 race. My last race was the 2013 W&D; agree with you that it is a great course!! For me though, it was a terrible race, I was injured and could barely manage a running hobble. Ended up walking the last 4 miles which just dragged on and on. Hoping my training for Dopey this year goes a little better. I too am incorporating more strength training into my work outs this year to hopefully ward off any training injury issues. We were following the Dopey training plan and for the most part it worked really well. I definitely recommend it. We got up to 2 of the 4 day weekends and it really does provide some basis for understanding what it could/will feel like for 4 race days in a row. I know you did the unofficial Dopey a few years back so you get it!!!

Anyway, good luck with the training and I will be following along.

Hello and welcome!

I'm so sorry that you couldn't do Dopey this year! How is your injury now? I hope you've had a speedy recovery and I'm glad you were able to refer your entry. That would have REALLY hurt to lose that money, I bet! And CONGRATS on finishing Wine & Dine under less-than-ideal conditions. Fabulous course!! I am looking forward to trying that one again HEALTHY...I'm sure you can relate.

Thank you so much for your insight into using the Dopey plan!! I'm glad to get a positive "review" of it. I know that's the on I should use but it makes me nervous!! Haha.

Amen on the strength training. It helps a LOT!

 

[Ariel484]

Week 1 of 10-miler Pre-Training
Run #1 (3-mile loop) - 37 degrees and sunny/Yoga (Powerful Flow)
Tuesday, January 14, 2014

3 miles completed/7ish miles planned for the week
3 miles completed in 10-miler Pre-Training so far
10 miles completed in 2014 so far

Oh man. I am WIPED.

I have a big-ish meeting on Friday, so today was my work-from-home day this week. So today I was able to fit in my longest run of the week and a yoga class around completing my work for the day.

Run
I set out for the run around noon, and while I was looking forward to it, the run was definitely a struggle.

Splits:
Mile 1: 10:38
Mile 2: 10:23
Mile 3: 10:32

Total time: 31:35, 10:31/mile pace

I'm not gonna lie...even though I know I'm coming back from an injury (and need to get a few pounds off), it's discouraging to know that I'm just not where I was a year ago. Back then I would have completed this run in less than 30 minutes pretty easily. Today I felt like I really had to work hard to get that 10:31 average pace. I'm attributing part of that to being sore from shredding yesterday (where I did all of my squats/lunges a little deeper than normal...definitely feeling that today!). Going forward throughout the rest of this "pre-training" period I'm going to try not to focus on pace so much...the important thing now should be to just get used to running consistently again.

After the run I took a quick shower, did some more work and then headed to yoga.

Yoga
BUTT. KICKED.

Normally I go to an "All Levels Flow" class (meaning it's for - gasp! - students of all levels and there are modifications for the different poses). But with my schedule changing this week the only class that worked well for me today was a "Powerful Flow" ("For the experienced student").

So today I learned that I am not "experienced" enough for a power class. So freaking hard! I am going to feel it tomorrow. I was totally drenched in sweat by the end and my arms feel completely shot. I think I'm going to stick to the "All Levels" class for a good awhile. Someone's gonna sleep well tonight!


Happy Tuesday!

Just got done editing photos from our recent trip...love my UWA lens (and the Grand Floridian)!

Continued in Next Post

 

[Ariel484]

Week 1 of 10-miler Pre-Training
Strength Training (30-Day Shred Level 1)
Wednesday, January 15, 2014

3 miles completed/7ish miles planned for the week
3 miles completed in 10-miler Pre-Training so far
10 miles completed in 2014 so far


So despite the fact that I was completely wiped out from that yoga class yesterday, I didn't have the magical night of sleep that I expected. I got into bed earlier (10:20...woohoo for me! ) but I just laid there for awhile and couldn't turn my brain off. I woke up a lot, too. Oh well.

Anyway...another day, another round of shredding. I'm waiting for that magical 30DS session where the exercises suddenly start to get easier...hasn't come yet!

In other news, I've decided that I want to try to hit the weight loss a little harder. And by "try to hit the weight loss a little harder" I mean that I'll actually TRY to lose some weight. I know I can do it - I've done it before - I just need to actually put the effort in. Plus, I have access to FREE Weight Watchers meetings at work...shouldn't I take advantage of that awesome perk?!

I actually made this decision on Monday, so Tuesday was the day I started. It wasn't bad! Part of what helped was I went to the grocery store and got some Skinny Cow Ice Cream sandwiches and some Weight Watchers ice cream items. In looking back on what I eat each day I think I do pretty well with breakfast and lunch...I think my dinners are okay but the portions are too big (I want to work on finding some delicious-sounding recipes for vegetable side dishes to help with this). My after-dinner nightly "snack" can definitely be a problem, so hopefully having these ice cream things will help. I definitely don't like having to think about what I eat so much, but I know for sure that running alone won't be enough for me to magically shed the pounds. A new Weight Watchers session starts on Thursday so I'm going to consider that starting anew. It could be my imagination, but even with trying to pay a little more attention this week I've started to feel a little better already. I weight myself on the scale at the gym on Monday and again today and I was down a pound! Of course I know that could just be a normal fluctuation...but at least I know I must be doing something right. But I'm going to take the WW number (which always weighs me 1-2 pounds MORE than the gym scale - don't you hate that?! ) as the "real" weight to base my progress on. Plus Will and I have discussed how we need to eat more fruits and veggies anyway for general health, so it seems like good timing to start paying more attention to this.

ANYWAY...still not sure how much I'll talk about this, but it might be more than I originally thought I would because it does relate directly to the Marathon Weekend trip. Losing weight will make running easier, if running is easier I'll enjoy the races more, and if I enjoy the races more it'll make for a happier trip.

Happy Wednesday!!

Continued in Next Post

 

[wiigirl]

Love your pics!

 

[Ariel484]

Love your pics!

Thank you!! I've been trying hard to improve!