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

[Ariel484]

Week 1 of 10-miler Pre-Training
Run #2 (20-minute tempo run, 2 miles)
Thursday, January 16, 2014

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

I HATE tempo runs. They are always so hard for me!

In these runs you're supposed to start with some easy running, then build up to your peak pace about 2/3 of the way in. Hold that for a minute or two and then cool down for the rest of the time. So I started at about a 12:00/mile pace and by the time I was 13 minutes in I'd gotten up to my peak pace - 9:09/mile. I held that for 2 minutes and then slowed up for the remainder of the run. So hard! I was also hoping to get a shredding session in after the run but I woke up WAY too late for that. Baaaaaad Shannon.

Today's the first day of a new Weight Watcher's session at work and I'm re-committing myself. Hopefully I'll stick with it!

Also, since this training journal is going to be SO long I think I'm going to, from now on, do a weekly summation post of what I've done instead of day-by-day. Probably less repetitive that way.

Almost Friiiiiday!

(Latest ridiculous Spaceship Earth video from a couple of weeks ago...haha!)

Continued in Next Post

 

[Ariel484]

Week 1 of 10-miler Pre-Training
Monday, January 13, 2014 - Sunday, January 19, 2014

7 miles complete/7 miles planned
7 miles completed in 10-miler Pre-Training so far
14 miles completed in 2014 so far

Monday, January 14: Strength Training (30-Day Shred Level 1)

Tuesday, January 15: Run #1 (3-mile loop)/Yoga (Powerful Flow)

Wednesday, January 16: Strength Training (30-Day Shred Level 1)

Thursday, January 17: Run #2 (20-minute tempo run, 2 miles completed)

I already wrote about the run, but today was also the first weigh-in for the newest Weight Watcher’s session. Normally it comes right down to the wire as to whether we have enough members to actually have the session (minimum of 15 required)...but today we had 20! Must be due to the New Year. Anyway...considering I still feel like I’m adjusting from going to Disney I was pleasantly surprised with the weigh-in. So at this point I have 2ish years of weigh-ins recorded and looking back I can see that my weight now is 9 pounds over what it was when I left for Marathon Weekend 2013. Soooooo yeah. I’d definitely like to get back to where I was at that point in time, possibly even surpass that. We’ll see!

Friday, January 18: Strength Training (30-Day Shred, Level 1)
Big accomplishment for me...I went to bed at 10PM last night! Unheard of. As a result I hit the snooze less and arrived at the gym about a half-hour earlier than normal. If only I could make this a normal occurrence. Shredding went pretty well, I’m still waiting for that magical session where everything suddenly becomes significantly more doable, but it hasn’t happened yet. I definitely feel stronger though.

Saturday, January 19: Run #3 (2-mile out-and-back)
19 degrees and sunny
I fit today’s planned 2-miler in between visiting my mom and meeting friends from college for dinner...busy but fun day.

During the first mile I was running into the wind and my legs felt sooooo stiff. I tried my best not to look at my watch but I did peek when it alerted me that I’d finished the first mile - 10:40. And it was a struggle to get that 10:40, which was a little discouraging.

So then I turned around to head back home and glanced at my watch after about 0.5 miles...suddenly my average pace had dropped to 9:44! What?! Turns out I did that second mile in 8:46 and didn’t want to die. I have no idea where that came from, but it definitely gave me hope that I can get back to where I was last year, speed-wise.

Total time for 2 miles: 19:28...9:44/mile

So glad the run wasn’t any longer in 19-degree weather!

One other running-related thing that happened today...I sold my Garmin 210 on eBay and didn’t get as much as I’d been hoping for it. Oh well. I’m still glad I upgraded to the Garmin 220, it’s soooo much better.

Sunday, January 20: Rest Day
Was originally signed up for yoga this morning but then I realized that would leave me without a rest day...plus, I want to sleep in. So rest day it is! I need to figure out how to get in a second yoga class and still leave one full day with nothing. Hmmm…

Happy Sunday!

Continued in Next Post

 

[ZellyB]

Awesome report! I'll be following along for your Dopey training.

We are tentatively planning on Goofy for the 10 year anniversary. Probably going to pull the kids out of school and actually take them along this time.

Looking forward to the rest of this report.

 

[kaf7878]

Thanks so much for taking the time to chronicle your journey--I really enjoy reading these I'm also hoping to participate next January (we volunteered at the Full this year). Probably just the half for me....still battling chronic plantar fasciitis but it has been more manageable. Thanks to your "blog" I went out for a 2 miler today and it felt great!

 

[Ariel484]

Awesome report! I'll be following along for your Dopey training.

We are tentatively planning on Goofy for the 10 year anniversary. Probably going to pull the kids out of school and actually take them along this time.

Looking forward to the rest of this report.

Thanks Gisele!! Having the little training journal really helped me train for 2013...even if not that many people read it, I still think it was some added incentive to get everything done.

Ooh, a trip with the kids this time! Will they do kids' races??

Definitely looking forward to another Marathon Weekend at WDW, should be fun!

Thanks so much for taking the time to chronicle your journey--I really enjoy reading these I'm also hoping to participate next January (we volunteered at the Full this year). Probably just the half for me....still battling chronic plantar fasciitis but it has been more manageable. Thanks to your "blog" I went out for a 2 miler today and it felt great!

Thank you for reading...and for volunteering! I'm sure it's very tiring! I'd like to do that someday.

Sorry to hear about your plantar fasciitis. Great job on your run today!!!

 

[Ariel484]

Week 2 of 10-miler Pre-Training
Monday, January 20, 2014 - Sunday, January 26, 2014

10 miles complete/6.5ish miles planned
17 miles completed in 10-miler Pre-Training so far
24 miles completed in 2014 so far

Monday, January 20: Strength Training (30-Day Shred Level 1)
Got into bed early AGAIN last night...could it be becoming a trend?!

This morning was the one I'd been waiting for, as far as strength training goes...everything is starting to feel little easier and I am starting to feel stronger. Hooray for progress! My one big nemesis continues to be push-ups. It’s the very first move in the workout...you do as many as possible for 30 seconds, another strength move (legs & arms combination) for 1 minute, then 30 seconds of push-ups. When I was shredding after my injury in early-mid November I got up to where I could knock out 15 regular push-ups in both 30-second intervals. This morning I did 14 regular push-ups in the first interval, followed by a couple modified push-ups (knees on the ground). In the second interval my arms were DONE and I think I did 4 push-ups, followed by struggling to complete 10ish modified ones. Haha!

Now hopefully I can get that easier/stronger feeling going on the running side. That would be super!

Also...last night I was on a different, non-Disney message board that I like to lurk on and there was a thread for people that were trying to go sub-4 in the marathon. It was so inspiring to read, and the main takeaway I had was that these people noticed significant improvements when they *gasp* ran more...like 50-70 mile per week. I definitely won’t get up that high - who has time for that?! Seriously, explain how this works! - and I'm nowhere near thinking about going sub-4 in the marathon but it did inspire me to re-examine some of my upcoming plans. I know I'm doing the right thing slowly building back up now, but what about once training for these spring and fall races start? Hmm…

Also, I joined some of the Marathon Weekend threads in the WISH section of these boards, as well as the Tower of Terror 10-miler thread (even though I'm still not sure I'll run that one). Hooray!

Tuesday, January 21: Run #1 (2.5-mile run on the treadmill)
Another night with an earlier bedtime, woohoo! Unfortunately the dog (whose crate is in our room) made some weird noise at 3AM and I was CONVINCED he was about to hurl. Thankfully he didn't (maybe he was just having a dream?) but I had trouble getting back to sleep after that. Booo.

The run went pretty well this morning! Going on the treadmill is such a mental battle for me, and over the past few months I’ve struggled to churn out 2-milers on the 'mill. Running 2.5 seemed like SO MUCH MORE. But I felt pretty good overall, except that I think my lungs are still getting used to running in that small, stuffy cardio room. I really think doing treadmill runs helps me a ton in getting ready for Disney races though - I feel like my cardiovascular system adjusts much better to running in Florida if I do regular treadmill runs. Maybe it’s mental.

Speaking of mental, the only way I can get through these things is to vary the speed a LOT. Here's what I did today:

0.5 miles @ 5.8 MPH
0.5 miles @ 5.9 MPH
0.5 miles @ 6.0 MPH
0.25 miles @ 6.1 MPH
0.25 miles @ 6.0 MPH
0.25 miles @ 5.9 MPH
0.25 miles @ 5.8 MPH
= 2.5 miles

Total time for 2.5 miles - 25:25
Overall average pace - uhhh...10:10/mile?? Something like this.

Very pleased with this run overall!

Wednesday, January 22: Strength Training (30-Day Shred Level 1)
Another early bedtime, yeehaw!

Again, felt a little bit stronger today than I have been. 15 regular push-ups during the first round, 6 (I think?) during the second. Just plugging along...

Thursday, January 23: Speedwork (2x800 @ 5K pace planned, 3x800 @ 5K pace completed, 2.5 miles total)

Last night after dinner I was reading a running thread on another (non-Disney) message board (same board I mentioned on Monday, different thread) that I lurk on, and it was incredibly inspiring. Again, I kept reading over and over from these people was that - surprise! - they really didn’t see significant improvement in their running until they started to run more. It totally makes sense and was weirdly exciting to read about - it even made me think that I, too, could be doing more. (It also made me think, "OMG I SHOULD SIGN UP FOR A FALL MARATHON!" Thankfully I didn't actually whip out the credit card, haha.)

So this morning, I had a speedwork day on the schedule - 2x800 @ 5K pace with a 5-minute warm-up and a 5-minute cool down, and 0.25 rest intervals in between the half-mile repeats. When I was driving in this morning (unexpectedly slowly, booooo snow!) I told myself that if I felt good during those two speed intervals that maybe I could add a third half-mile repeat. And that is what I ended up doing! And I felt GREAT!

Here’s what the workout ended up looking like:

5-minute warm-up (2 minutes of walking followed by 3 minutes of jogging)
0.5 miles @ 8:49
0.25 mile rest interval (0.1 miles walking, 0.15 miles jogging)
0.5 miles @ 8:49
0.25 mile rest interval (0.1 miles walking, 0.15 miles jogging)
0.5 miles @ 8:49
Cool down (walked until I hit the 2.5-mile mark)

Total time: 27:30ish
2.5 miles

This workout felt AWESOME! I think I may have actually had a little bit of runner's high going on when I was done. I really feel like I'm sort of turning a corner this week...last week I felt like thinking I could try to break my 10-miler PR in April was kind of stupid and naive of me, but I'm starting to think I'll at least be able to give it a decent shot. Woohoo!

Also...there was a lady on the treadmill next to me that seemed to be doing intervals at 7.0 mph (I was at 6.8 MPH for my speed intervals). It was so funny because she very well may be close to a foot taller than I am, so here I am feeling like I'm running super fast at 6.8 MPH while her going 7.0 MPH looks like a leisurely jog! Oh, to have long legs.

So anyway, in looking at my little schedule I set up I realized if I leave it as is I'd have 8ish miles done this week, and then next week I'd make a somewhat big jump to 11.5. I still trying to be cautious in ramping things up, and jumping from 7ish to 11.5 might be pushing it, so I'm considering adding in a short run to my schedule tomorrow (2 miles or something) ...hopefully that'll bridge the gap a little better.

Today was weigh-in day too, which was a bit disappointing. I've been feeling really good and my clothes seem to fit a teeny bit better, so I was expecting a small loss. Instead, I had a small gain of 0.4 pounds. Oh well, I'll just have to try to do better next week.

Friday, January 24: 3 miles on the treadmill/Yoga (Hot All Levels Flow)
Really not great weather here this weekend. A decent amount of snow and temperatures in the single digits...bleh!

So today I used our "community fitness room" for the first time ever. It's basically a small area of the middle school gym that is partitioned off and contains 2 treadmills, 2 elliptical machines, 2 stationary bikes and some free weights. I'm not a member so I paid the $4 drop-in fee and slogged it out on the treadmill for 3 miles (30:45, 10:15/mile pace). I figured since I was paying for it and the rest of the weekend is supposed to be pretty crappy, I may as well get my longer planned run in now. Really not a fun run but I got it done. I just felt pretty sluggish the entire time.

Then I went to hot yoga later that evening and felt even MORE sluggish. I still felt good when it was over but during class I just felt sort of out of whack.

Saturday, January 25: Rest Day
More and more snow today - roads aren't safe, so I'm calling today my rest day. I think I was due for it, too...I’m hoping that's why I felt sort of crappy yesterday.

Sunday, January 26: 2-mile out-and-back/Strength Training (30-Day Shred Level 1)
12 degrees (windchill of -4) and snowy

Woohoo! I did it! 4-day running week AND my weekly mileage total was in the double digits!

The run was tough. The first 0.5 miles were the worst - running straight into the wind and feeling like I was getting some major windburn. After awhile it wasn't so bad - either the wind died down or I was just used to it. I was running in the street (sidewalks aren’t safe right now - covered in snow. I don't want to sprain an ankle!) in the left lane, toward the cars - which I know is the right thing to do. I had a guy slow down, lean over his seat and make some sort of gesture at me with his hand. I'll assume he was waving. I've had an older lady yell at me before for running in the street...I know it's the safe thing to do. I see them, they see me. Plus, I wear pretty bright clothes (for example, today I was wearing a hot pink jacket and neon yellow running gloves). Deal with it, people! Mile 1 was in 10:45 (including the time when I stopped and really debated on just going back home), mile 2 was in 10:15 - 21:00 for 2 miles, 10:30/mile pace.

When I got home I went straight back to our "gym" and did a round of 30-day shred. And that's is for the week! Woot!...

Continued in Next Post

 

[Ariel484]

2014 Royal Family 5K - REGISTERED!

...except for one piece of news. Last night I signed up for the Royal Family 5K!!

I went back and forth on this for awhile and finally pulled the trigger. In the end, it was a no-brainer - I was already planning on being in WDW for the Princess Half weekend and there are spots open in the 5K. Why not?!

It's going to be very, very odd being there and not running the half (or really, the Glass Slipper Challenge...which is what I would have signed up for if I'd known about this trip earlier). But really, I wouldn't have been ready with the injury in November. At least this way I get to run a Disney race in 2014, even if Tower of Terror doesn't work out.

So excited!!!!!

Me in Epcot during the 2013 WDW 5K...same course as the Royal Family 5K!

Continued in Next Post

 

[jbuckent]

Hooray for another training report! I enjoyed reading the last one, can't wait to keep up with your training again this year!

 

[Ariel484]

Hooray for another training report! I enjoyed reading the last one, can't wait to keep up with your training again this year!

Thanks! Hmm, it would probably be easier to keep up with my training if I actually, ya know, wrote about it!!

 

[Ariel484]

Week 3 of 10-miler Pre-Training
Monday, January 27, 2014 - Sunday, February 2, 2014

8.5 miles complete/11.5ish miles planned
22.5 miles completed in 10-miler Pre-Training so far
32.5 miles completed in 2014 so far

Ah...oops. I sort of forgot about this little journal of mine! Let's get caught up. It's been long enough that I don't remember details, but I know what I did and did not do (and why I did not do certain things).

Monday, January 27: Strength Training (30-Day Shred Level 1)
No big news here. Same ol', same ol'.

Tuesday, January 28: Run #1 (2.5-mile run on the treadmill)
Completed it. Yay!

Wednesday, January 29: Strength Training (30-Day Shred Level 1)
Yawn. Can you tell I'm getting bored with this program?

I think this is when I started researching some other strength training options. Eventually I started looking into ChaLEAN Extreme. It's a DVD set from Beachbody, the same company that distributes P90X. We actually have P90X, but neither of us have used it since we just don't have 1 hour per day every day to spend on exercise (we ripped the DVDs to our computer in case we want them later and sold our set on eBay...so we still have them, just not in DVD form).

ANYWAY...after reading some rave reviews, along with finding out that each workout is about 30 minutes long, I went ahead and ordered ChaLEAN Extreme. The program is 3 strength workouts + 2 cardio workouts per week, so I'm planning on doing the 3 strength workouts, bagging the cardio DVDs, and following my running schedule. I think it was Wednesday or Thursday that I ordered the set and the estimated delivery day wasn't until 2/4. Sadness!

Thursday, January 30: Run #2 (20-minute tempo run, 2 miles completed)
Completed it. Yay!

Friday, January 31: Run #3 (4-mile out-and-back)
Okay, this run I DO remember, and I loaded it into my GarminConnect account so I can look up the stats.

Splits:
Mile 1: 10:23
Mile 2: 10:13
Mile 3: 10:03
Mile 4: 9:38

Total time for 4 miles: 40:18, average pace of 10:04/mile

AWESOME run! I felt like I was on top of the world after this one! ...

...however, as the day went on I felt less and less good. I think I must have really tensed up a lot during the run without realized what I was doing, and I started getting some bad neck and shoulder pain. UGH! Eventually it got so bad that I almost couldn't turn my head at all.

Saturday, February 1: Rest Day
Normally I like taking my rest days on Sundays, but I switched in hopes that my neck would feel better and I could get my 4th run of the week in. However...

Sunday, February 2: 3 miles planned, unscheduled rest day taken
...it just wasn't in the cards. My neck was still bothering me quite a bit. And I don't know about you, but to me it doesn't seem smart to mess around with potential neck issues. Boo!

Continued in Next Post

 

[Ariel484]

Week 4 of 10-miler Pre-Training
Monday, February 3, 2014 - Sunday, February 9, 2014

5.5 miles complete/11.5ish miles planned
28 miles completed in 10-miler Pre-Training so far
38 miles completed in 2014 so far

Uh-oh! Clearly this week didn't go very well!

Monday, February 3: Strength Training (30-Day Shred Level 2)
Zzzzzzz....

Tuesday, February 4: Run #1 (3 miles on the treadmill)
Don't remember much about this one, but I got it done! I do know that my neck was still bothering me at this point, but running didn't seem to aggravate it.

Also, the ChaLEAN Extreme package came in the mail on this day! I was super excited to get started on this!

Wednesday, February 5: Strength training planned, unscheduled rest day taken
This day was a freaking MESS. The first of a few days this week (and let's face it, this winter) where the weather royally messed things up. It took me over an hour to get into work due to a gigantic snow storm, and just as long to get home...so working out was not happening. And thanks to 2 tense drives my neck wasn't getting any better!

Thursday, February 6: Run #2 (3x800 @ 5K pace, 2.5 miles completed)
Roads were cleared, woohoo! Got the run in!

Today was weigh-in day too...down 2 pounds since mid-January! It doesn't sound like a lot but I'll take any victories I can get!

Friday, February 7: Strength Training (ChaLEAN Extreme Burn 1 + ab burner)
Day 1 with ChaLEAN! Her whole philosophy is to lift HEAVY weights to "failure" at about 10-12 reps (so you pick a weight where you can make it to 10 reps but can't do anymore than 12). I really, REALLY liked this workout a lot. One thing I didn't like about 30-Day Shred was the light weights they used (3- or 5-pounders) - I feel like lifting heavy will do way more for me and make me stronger. Really like the ab DVD too. The Burn 1 workout was about 35 minutes long and the ab DVD was about 10 minutes long, which is a good length of time for me. I think I originally wanted to run on this day but didn't due to the crappy weather...

Saturday, February 8: 3 miles planned, unscheduled rest day taken
Uh-oh! CRAPPY, crappy weather. I'm totally over it. Just didn't have the motivation to get out there and fight the elements.

HOWEVER...we did do one very important thing on this day. We bought a treadmill! I'll talk more about that in a separate post.

We also went to BW3 this evening and ate crappy fried food and played trivia (so much for hitting the Weight Watchers a little harder...). I'm noting it here because it came back to haunt me later...

Sunday, February 9: 3 miles planned, ChaLEAN Extreme Burn 2 and ab burner completed
Uh-oh! Same as Saturday, except without going to buy a treadmill. Although we did submit our tax return stuff this day, which is what is actually paying for the treadmill...so woohoo!

And the day wasn't a total loss as I got a strength training workout in, but still...not pleased with my total mileage for this week!

Continued in Next Post

 

[Ariel484]

The newest member of our family...

Please allow me to present...my new treadmill!


This is something that I knew we would get eventually, but not this soon. I always thought we'd wait until we had kids for whatever reason. But then this winter happened. In general I think I'm pretty good about getting out to run in inclement weather, but it's only smart until a certain point. It's just not safe to run outside when it's super icy or dangerously cold, and I know we're not the only ones that have been dealing with one or both of those issues lately.

I'd been doing some research for quite awhile, but we started getting serious about pulling the trigger last weekend. On Saturday we headed to a local place that sells exercise equipment and were all set to purchase the PRECOR 9.27:

(source)

I knew I wanted a PRECOR treadmill because those are what is in the cardio room at work - I've been using that room for 6+ years now and the treadmills seem incredibly solid and reliable. Obviously the rec center treadmills are commercial grade (and thus cost $5K+ ) but still, it seemed like a good starting-off point to look into their "in the home" line. PRECOR has 5 "in the home" treadmills - 3 of them were WAY out of our budget (after researching a bit I figured we'd probably be spending about $2K for a good treadmill), so that narrowed things down quickly.

From there I read tons of reviews and found that:

- the PRECOR models are pricey (the 9.27 is the second-lowest grade model and costs $2,299)
- PRECOR has a good reputation
- the warranty is one of the best out there (Lifetime frame and welds; 5 years parts and wear items, which jumps up to 7 years after registering the purchased treadmill; 1 year labor)
- the reviews are consistently pretty awesome
- the belt was maintenance-free...something I'd never thought about until I read reviews pointing this out. The less I have to do to keep this bad boy plugging, the better!
- I could buy one from a store just a few towns over - we definitely like buying local when we can and even though PRECOR is very well-known I wanted to make sure we could try out the treadmill in person before buying

So we headed to the store on Saturday morning and took turns running on the 9.27. It was great and felt solid...we both really liked it!

We were ready to buy...but then we started asking about the 9.23 that was sitting next to the 9.27 in the store and was marked at $1,799.

(source)

The sales guy we worked with was so awesome. He didn't pressure us at all and seemed to super honest. He told us that the 9.23 was different from the 9.27 in 4 ways (beyond the obvious price difference):
- the side pieces are plastic on the 9.23 as opposed to aluminum in on the 9.27 (you can sort of see in the pictures) - he said this was more of an aesthetic difference than anything else
- it doesn't have handle bars like the 9.27 does (again, you can see in the pictures)
- the 9.27 has 10 programs built in, where the 9.23 has 6
- the 9.27 has the ability to save 2 user IDs (I guess you put in a person's weight, height and age to calculate calories burned), where the 9.23 doesn't save user profiles.

Everything else, he said, was exactly the same between the two models. Motor, belt, shock absorbency, everything. In his words, buying the 9.23 was "an easy way to save $500" if we didn't care about those other things.

We talked it over quickly - neither of us ever use treadmill programs or user IDs. The aluminum vs. plastic thing didn't bother either of us. The handle bars bugged me a little bit, just because it sort of seems like a safety precaution...but was it worth $500? That's a lot of money.

So we went with...the 9.23! It was delivered and set up yesterday. Here's a picture of it in our "gym" at home.

I'm SO glad we bought this thing! I did my tempo run on it yesterday and didn't have to battle the elements. It was GREAT! I'm shocked at how much I love it!

One downside...I was reading more reviews Sunday evening. The distance display only shows distances to the tenth, not the one-hundredth. Here's a picture I took after yesterday's run (had to send it to Will to commemorate the first run on the new treadmill! ):

So when it went from 2.4 to 2.5 miles, for example, it was just stuck on 2.4 for about a minute before changing to 2.5...instead of showing 2.40, 2.41, 2.42, etc. It's annoying but not a deal-breaker - it would definitely be a problem for, say, speedwork - if I want to do 0.25-mile repeats that just won't happen on this treadmill. I checked, and it's the same on the 9.27. Oh well. I still LOVE my new treadmill!

Continued in Next Post

 

[rpcvpanama]

Congratulations on the new treadmill!!! I had to buy one a last year because of the weather. I just can't take the bone chilling cold for outside runs. I prefer to run outside but it is nice to have just in case. I had to do 8 miles this weekend on the tredmill. It just about killed me but it was in the 20's outside and just too darn cold.

You might want to look into getting a mat that goes under the treadmill. The belts do tend to throw off black dust and the mat helps it from getting stuck in the carpet/flooring. We purchased ours from Costco but I am sure other places sell them.

Can't wait to hear how it all works out.

 

[Ariel484]

Congratulations on the new treadmill!!! I had to buy one a last year because of the weather. I just can't take the bone chilling cold for outside runs. I prefer to run outside but it is nice to have just in case. I had to do 8 miles this weekend on the tredmill. It just about killed me but it was in the 20's outside and just too darn cold.

You might want to look into getting a mat that goes under the treadmill. The belts do tend to throw off black dust and the mat helps it from getting stuck in the carpet/flooring. We purchased ours from Costco but I am sure other places sell them.

Can't wait to hear how it all works out.

Thanks! I'm totally with you, I definitely prefer to run outside but the cold is just too much sometimes. Kudos on getting in 8 miles!! I think my limit is about 5 on the treadmill without going completely insane (which is not good as I have a 6-mile treadmill run on my schedule for Monday...). I was shocked at how excited I was yesterday when it was delivered! When I first started running I was exclusively on the treadmill and actually did a 12.5-mile treadmill run while training for the Princess Half! I can't imagine doing that now!

Thanks for the reminder about the black dust! The installer told me about that yesterday and I'd sort of forgotten about it. We actually do have a mat under the treadmill (it's hard to see in the pictures, but it's there), but it's really only under the treadmill "feet" so it doesn't damage our floors. The delivery/installer guy did mention the black dust/flecks, I wonder if we should put a towel behind it or something until the dust stops? He made it sound like a temporary thing. Hmm...

Thanks for the suggestion!!

 

[Ariel484]

Trip Plans - Resort Attempt #1

Okay, so now that the running portion of this report is finally up-to-date, here's the resort (non-) update.

I mentioned earlier that I was planning on renting points for Marathon Weekend, ideally at a monorail resort. So Bay Lake Tower or the Villas at the Grand Floridian. DVC members can, of course, book at their home resort 11 months ahead of time, and Friday, February 7 was the 11-month mark for me.

I actually sent my application in the night before with the following choices:
1. Grand Floridian Studio, Standard View
2. Bay Lake Tower Studio, Standard View
3. Bay Lake Tower Studio, Lake View
4. Villas at Wilderness Lodge Studio

I was pretty sure that a Grand Floridian room wasn't going to come through. The resort just opened in October or whatever, so it's not likely that anyone who owns there wants to rent their points out already. But I figured it couldn't hurt to try. I went into the process fully expecting to come out with a reservation at Bay Lake Tower.

Well, that didn't happen. Not only are the points not there for VGF (as I suspected), they're also not there for BLT. Also, there are no standard-view studios at Bay Lake Tower available.

So the bad news is that I currently don't have a room reserved. The good news is that there ARE studios available at both the Grand Floridian and Bay Lake Tower (lake view) and I'm on waiting lists with 2 point rental companies. If a member that owns enough Bay Lake Tower or Grand Floridian Villas points joins either company, I get my room. If that doesn't happen, points from other members will be used to get a room for me at the 7-month mark (June 7)...provided those rooms are available.

I can't say I'm super thrilled with just sitting on my hands and waiting 4 months - I'm not a very patient person! - but I'm not very surprised either. Too bad I'm such a control freak.

If Grand Floridian or Bay Lake doesn't work out, we'll either get a regular room on the monorail or rent points at a different non-monorail resort. Getting a regular room will cost a lot more than renting points, so I'm crossing my fingers and toes that the requests I put in will come through. Either way, something will work out.

And thus concludes my non-update. Time to play the waiting game...

Continued in Next Post

 

[Ariel484]

Cleveland 10-miler Training

I still technically have 2 more runs in "pre-training," but the real deal starts on Monday. These last few weeks have flown by!

Right now this is my main goal race...it's important because I'd like to set a new PR here and use this time for corral placement for the Dopey Challenge. This will be my 5th year running this race, so I'm very familiar with the course (and like it, obviously...otherwise I wouldn't keep signing up! ). It goes through historic neighborhoods and has awesome views of the lake, it's pretty flat, and it's only about 20 minutes from my house, so it's easy to drive there. Last year's race was one of the best I've ever run, and is my current 10-miler PR (1:37:15, 9:44/mile pace)...it might be a stretch goal to want to beat that but I'm going to give it my best shot!

Since this is a 10-miler training post...here's mile 10 of the WDW Half Course...because this post needs pictures!

Before Mile Marker 10...arrr, there be pirates!

Mile marker 10...right before the one significant climb in the course, going up an overpass!

Sarge is there to say "good job, soldier!" just after Mile Marker 10!

I'm basing my training off of Hal Higdon's Intermediate 10-miler training program. I'm planning on following this plan pretty much to a T, except for a couple of changes:

1. Changing the days of the week the runs are completed on to better fit with my schedule
2. Dropping the Monday 3-miler...just not ready to commit to 5 days per week of running!
3. Adding in a 3rd day of strength training if I can


That'll leave me with one short run, one mid-distance run, one long run, and one speedwork/tempo run per week. Hopefully I'll be, like, super speedy fast come race day (April 26)!!


More pictures! Mile Marker 10 is on Bear Island Road on the marathon course. I think a lot of people hate this area, but I love it because it's shady and cool!

Last year, just before that mile marker, there were villains!

And just after there were Christmas friends!

THE PLAN...


Tentative 10-miler Training Plan

COMPLETE

Week 1 (2/17 - 2/23): 14ish miles planned/13.1 miles completed
Monday: 6-mile run planned, 4 miles AM + 2 miles PM on the treadmill completed
Tuesday: Strength Training (ChaLEAN Extreme Burn 3) + ab burner
Wednesday: 4-mile run
Thursday: Rest Day (TRAVEL)
Friday: 2 miles planned, Disney's Royal Family 5K completed
Saturday: 4x800 @ 5K pace planned, did not do because DISNEY
Sunday: Rest Day

Week 2 (2/24 - 3/2): 17ish miles planned/0 miles completed (sick with bronchitis/ear infection)
Monday: Rest Day (TRAVEL)
Tuesday - Sunday: Unscheduled Rest Days

Week 3 (3/3 - 3/9): 20ish miles planned/21 mile completed
Monday: Strength Training (ChaLEAN Extreme Burn 1)
Tuesday: 3-mile run
Wednesday: Strength Training (ChaLEAN Extreme Burn 2)
Thursday: 5x800 @ 5K pace...4 miles total
Friday: Strength Training (ChaLEAN Extreme Burn 3)/8-mile run
Saturday: Rest Day
Sunday: 6-mile run

Week 4 (3/10 - 3/16): 13.25 miles completed/13ish miles planned
Monday: Strength Training (ChaLEAN Extreme Burn 3 + ab burner)
Tuesday: 2-mile run + ab burner
Wednesday: Strength Training (ChaLEAN Extreme Burn 1 + ab burner)
Thursday: 35-minute tempo run
Friday: 4-mile run/Strength Training
Saturday: 4-mile run/ab burner
Sunday: Rest Day

Week 5 (3/17 - 3/23): 19.75 miles completed/18ish miles planned
Monday: Strength Training (ChaLEAN Extreme Burn 2)
Tuesday: 3-mile run
Wednesday: Strength Training (ChaLEAN Extreme Burn 3)
Thursday: 6x800 @ 5K pace...4.75 miles total
Friday: 5-mile run
Saturday: 7-mile run
Sunday: Rest Day

Week 6 (3/24 - 3/30): 15.65 miles completed/21ish miles planned
Monday: Strength Training (ChaLEAN Extreme Push 1 + ab burner)
Tuesday: 4-mile run
Wednesday: Strength Training (ChaLEAN Extreme Push 2 + ab burner)
Thursday: 40-minute tempo run + Ab Ripper X (15)
Friday: 8-mile run
Saturday: Rest Day
Sunday: 6-mile run planned, unscheduled rest day taken

Week 7 (3/31 - 4/6): 7.5 miles completed/15ish miles planned
Monday: Strength Training (ChaLEAN Extreme Push 3 + Ab Ripper X (16))
Tuesday: 2-mile run/ab burner
Wednesday: Strength Training (ChaLEAN Extreme Push 1 + ab burner)
Thursday: 7x800 @ 5K pace
Friday: 4-mile run + Ab Ripper X (16) planned, unscheduled rest day taken
Saturday: 10K run planned, unscheduled rest day taken
Sunday: Rest Day

Week 8 (4/7 - 4/13): 20.85 miles completed/21ish miles planned
Monday: Strength Training (ChaLEAN Extreme Push 2) + ab burner
Tuesday: 3-mile run/Ab Ripper X (16)
Wednesday: Strength Training (ChaLEAN Extreme Push 3) + ab burner
Thursday: 45-minute tempo run/Ab Ripper X (16)
Friday: 5-mile run
Saturday: 9-mile run
Sunday: Rest Day

Week 9 (4/14 - 4/20): 23.25 miles completed/24ish miles planned
Monday: Strength Training (ChaLEAN Extreme Push 1) + Extreme Abs
Tuesday: 4-mile run
Wednesday: Strength Training (ChaLEAN Extreme Push 2) + Ab Ripper X (18)...and REGISTERED FOR THE DOPEY CHALLENGE!!!!
Thursday: 8x800 @ 5K pace planned, 4x800 @ 5K pace completed...oops
Friday: 6-mile run/Extreme Abs
Saturday: 10-mile run
Sunday: Rest Day

Week 10 (4/21 - 4/27): 18.8 miles completed/18ish miles planned
Monday: Strength Training (ChaLEAN Extreme Push 3) + Ab Ripper X (18)
Tuesday: 4-mile run
Wednesday: 30-minute tempo run + Extreme Abs
Thursday: 2-mile run + Ab Ripper X (18)
Friday: Rest Day
Saturday: RACE DAY! 10 miles!
Sunday: Rest Day

Continued in Next Post

 

[OasterP]

Following along! I run half marathons and I have always wanted to do a Disney race!! I would LOVE to attempt the 2015 weekend but I don't think it will happen, as we will just be getting back from Disney a few months prior and those trips/races aren't cheap!

I look forward to following along!

 

[ZellyB]

Great updates!!!

I'm sorry things didn't work out to get to rent points for the locations you wanted. BOO! Here's hoping the waiting list works out. We've been trying to decide what to do about where to stay on our trip for the Goofy. If we do take the kids and another adult along with us, then we will probably just go with renting a condo/house again off-site. With 6 people it's hard to find Disney accommodations that won't break the bank. Keeping my fingers crossed that you get GFV or BLT.

Reading your training journal is getting me anxious to start training again. I had to have another surgical procedure shortly after the marathon this year, so no running for 6 weeks for me. But, I've got my training schedule laid out to start soon. There's a local half-marathon that's on a really fast course that I want to run this spring to try and improve our corral placement.

I've also got to find a way to work in strength training and I'd love to start some yoga. I need to win the lottery so I can quit my job and find time for all the workouts I want to do.

And I bought a treadmill 8-9 years ago and it was one of the best purchases I ever made. It's still go strong, although a big squeaky these days. I prefer to run outside, but it's so nice to know it's there if I need it.



Excited to hear more.

 

[annmarieda]

Just wanted to say I am following along! I love your training plans! Thank you for posting them. I ran the "just" the donald last month then got sick and have been feeling pretty down about my running since. So thank you! I think your PTR will help me to get more motivated... cause I do have two Disney races I am already registered for. I plan some others... so I need to keep up with my training. Plus, I think I may do my own training/travel sort of PTR to chronicle my own. You have inspired me

BTW, I know you want the villas at the GF... but (and I could be wrong) but you do have to walk from them to the GF (not that far..but it is a walk nonetheless) So they don't have "direct" monorail access. (again, maybe I am wrong?) Last month when I was there, I walked from GF to them just to take a peak at the lobby... so I am almost sure there was no direct monorail access.

I booked my room at the 11 month window for my home resort... I do hope to switch at the 7 month. You have me nervous that everything will be full.

 

[Ariel484]

Following along! I run half marathons and I have always wanted to do a Disney race!! I would LOVE to attempt the 2015 weekend but I don't think it will happen, as we will just be getting back from Disney a few months prior and those trips/races aren't cheap!

I look forward to following along!

Hello! If you're a runner that loves Disney you totally need to try at least one of their races. They are so much fun! You're right that they are not cheap though...

Great updates!!!

I'm sorry things didn't work out to get to rent points for the locations you wanted. BOO! Here's hoping the waiting list works out. We've been trying to decide what to do about where to stay on our trip for the Goofy. If we do take the kids and another adult along with us, then we will probably just go with renting a condo/house again off-site. With 6 people it's hard to find Disney accommodations that won't break the bank. Keeping my fingers crossed that you get GFV or BLT.

I guess I will just need to be patient...definitely NOT a strong suit of mine! Thanks for crossing your fingers for me.

Yeah, you'd need at least a 1-BR suite in a DVC villa for 6, right? Do any of the regular rooms hold 6 people?

Reading your training journal is getting me anxious to start training again. I had to have another surgical procedure shortly after the marathon this year, so no running for 6 weeks for me. But, I've got my training schedule laid out to start soon. There's a local half-marathon that's on a really fast course that I want to run this spring to try and improve our corral placement.

I'm sorry to hear you had another surgery. I hope you've been having a safe and speedy recovery! Let me know how that half marathon goes!!!

I've also got to find a way to work in strength training and I'd love to start some yoga. I need to win the lottery so I can quit my job and find time for all the workouts I want to do.

YES to the bolded portion! I haven't really been able to fit in yoga lately...just not enough hours in the day/days in the week for everything!

And I bought a treadmill 8-9 years ago and it was one of the best purchases I ever made. It's still go strong, although a big squeaky these days. I prefer to run outside, but it's so nice to know it's there if I need it.



Excited to hear more.

Yes, I'm so glad we bought the treadmill! Hopefully ours will last long like yours has!!

Just wanted to say I am following along! I love your training plans! Thank you for posting them. I ran the "just" the donald last month then got sick and have been feeling pretty down about my running since. So thank you! I think your PTR will help me to get more motivated... cause I do have two Disney races I am already registered for. I plan some others... so I need to keep up with my training. Plus, I think I may do my own training/travel sort of PTR to chronicle my own. You have inspired me

Hi!! Thanks!

I've been lurking on your half marathon report, can't wait to read your take on the race!

I'm sorry to hear that you have been sick...ugh!! And I can relate to feeling down about running, honestly, that was seemingly ALL of 2013 for me after doing Goofy/5K. It just felt like one long burnout. I like having the PTR, somehow it makes me feel more accountable, ya know?!

BTW, I know you want the villas at the GF... but (and I could be wrong) but you do have to walk from them to the GF (not that far..but it is a walk nonetheless) So they don't have "direct" monorail access. (again, maybe I am wrong?) Last month when I was there, I walked from GF to them just to take a peak at the lobby... so I am almost sure there was no direct monorail access.

I booked my room at the 11 month window for my home resort... I do hope to switch at the 7 month. You have me nervous that everything will be full.

Oh yeah, you're right about the walk! I guess having the (what I think is) should walk to get to the monorail still counts as "on the monorail" for me! I mean, GFV doesn't have a bus to the MK, right?

I hope we both pull through at the 7-month mark!! Good luck!!