Roxymama's 5k to Marathon, Time to Collect Another Castle

New Year New Plan New Goals New Shoes New Journal Entry
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Last year was pretty epic for running goals. Still can’t 100% believe I completed a full marathon and as comfortably as I did (I mean, it was still a marathon so take that statement for what it is...it’s still comfier here in the couch!)

WDW half weekend is over (can I go back already? It was warm there!!!)

I took time off after the race and the epic park walking to rest and then I got restless. Probably not surprising.
So I started looking ahead to my next race. My 4th Shamrock Shuffle 8k end of March. Math is hard so I was like. It’s January...I have 3 months to train...I’ll ask @DopeyBadger if I could try to PR. He told me it’s 8 weeks so may be tough and my brain broke. Oh yeah...the end of Jan is not the same as the beginning! D’oh!!!

But the my brain decided to be a lil smart and I looked up the spring half I had my eye on and said “what if you made me a plan to try to PR that race in May and we just see what my fitness does during the 8k”. My math must have been slightly better cause that made more sense. So now I’ve got Dopeyplan #....errr....how many is this now??? When do I get my gold membership or is that just cruises that have that?

I went to register for the spring half and it said the first 2000 people to register for the Chicago 26.2 challenge (spring half + fall half got an extra medal). And since the price was not bad (80 per race) I did it. Motivated Roxy is dangerous around her credit card.

So 8k “try hard and see”, May half to try to beat 2:19 and see if maybe can do even better than that by some minutes. I have a spring beginner short triathlon in August so will add in biking and swimming during the better weather months. And then the fall half. Maybe do some 5ks in the fall but we shall see.

So this week had easy 3 milers. Yesterday was outdoor running!!! Because it was 41 out and I finally changed into my brand new Brooks Launch 5’s. Only $65 because they released the 6’s. They felt great!
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Starting Tues we get into more than just easy miles. So stay tuned for how that goes. I fly home from a short Ohio trip to see family on Tuesday so can run before picking up my kiddo from school and taking her to STEM night.


Here goes 2019!
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Looks like a good race line-up and yay for bonus bling! Although I have to admit I'm a little disappointed the Chicago Marathon isn't on the table this year...:P

BTW, I believe I have those same tights you are wearing...C9?
 
Looks like a good race line-up and yay for bonus bling! Although I have to admit I'm a little disappointed the Chicago Marathon isn't on the table this year...:P

BTW, I believe I have those same tights you are wearing...C9?

Yes, very possible same pants!!!

I think it’ll be a bit before I do Chicago again just because it’s such an undertaking. Buuuuuuuttttt I want to come cheerlead this year!!!
 


Yay for a new plan!! Excited to cheer you on as you CRUSH goals this year!

Yay!!! So far so good. Plan update below....

I burned 900 calories today doing Couch to 5k and some yoga! I’m on my way to doing a Run Disney race with you :)

Woooooot wooot :banana:
Please enjoy your first running related dis boards dancing banana. I hope many will follow. I hope you realize I will dress like a Porg if we run together.
 


Plan update, Easter at Disney and Cruise Stuff!

So far so good on the running front. So far no huge mileage but I’m just building on my way to my 8k right now. The snow has almost all melted so I’ll be back outside again for my run today. They got new treadmills at my Planey Fitness this week. I knew they had been installing stair climbers and rowing ergs but didn’t know we’d be getting new treadmills. And they confused me so much!!!! The good news is no rattling and a smooth ride, but they dumbed down the monitors. While I like the big display I miss some of the functionality. Like no min per mile pace showing anymore, only mph. And no easy switching between two paces. Eh? I’ll get used to it.

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I did really like my Thur workout which after WU had me running “I” paced for two minute intervals with a resting min in between. I is my fastest pace on my plan and was 8:39....which is 6.9mph (where’s the road runner “meep meep” emoji on here?)
It went really well although I’m totally fine that it was only 2 min at a time and not miles at a time!!

Today is 4 easy B miles. Can do.

Tomorrow is a blind run but not the normal Sunday LR:
Blind Progression! (20 min WU + 15 min steady + 10 min faster + 5 min fast + 10 min CD)
My last 5 min fast I’m not supposed to kill my self though. So the key will be not to gung-ho those first 15 and 10 right?

Oh and I got my Corral for my 8k. Corral D! Same as last year. I just used the same time as last years registration so not surprised. Last corral of the first wave. Works for me.

So next topic...
IM GOING ON A DISNEY CRUISE

Total cruise newbie here. Our spring break is over Easter and the following week. Disney appears to be very crowded that week historically so we thought “hey a cruise only has a finite # of people on it” and so we’re trying one out.
We are doing 4 nights with Nassau and castaway cay ports in a balcony (verandah if you’re fancy) room on deck 6 Aft but closer to midship. I wanted to stay sort of low in case of motion sickness and it’s near deck 5 kids club for roxykiddo. Hope it all works out! We used the TA that disboards is affiliated with and they’ve been very helpful. I feel like a newbie instead of knowing all the things like I think I do about WDW.

Wed. was our “you can book stuff” day for new cruisers. A lot was already booked up but I’m actually kind of ok with that since it’s stopping me from booking every upcharge option. Keep reminding myself the point is to relax!
But here’s what I did do.

Sat fly in. Arrive afternoon and Uber to Wyndham lake Buena Vista at Disney springs (yay points!!) have a bite and hit the pool!!! At night we’ll go try chicken guy and/or the food trucks at Disney springs and meander.

Easter Sunday: just reserved brunch at Art Smith homecoming (after checking with @rteetz if that was the place he liked) and will have a relaxing day maybe bowling, maybe mini golf, maybe just checking out more of the springs. And definitely more hotel swimming. I thought about Epcot for this day bc flower and garden fest. But it’d be over $400 for us for one park day tickets and every report says it’s a total s-show that day.

Monday we Uber to airport and take our cruise transfer on the magic express to the port. Have an early port arrival time of 11:15am. Didn’t book any extras for that first day.

Tues. signed up for Frozen character meet at 9:30am and then we will maybe check out the town but no excursions. Probably go back on ship to take advantage of Aquadunk and splash pads, etc. 2:30pm BBB for just the hair and makeup bc I’ll bring semi-fancy outfits to wear to dinner :)

Wed: castaway Cay!! I’ll run the 5k and if hubby wants to we’ll let kiddo go to island kids club but I’m guessing it’s just me. I reserved the unlimited snorkeling and pool floats + one hour of bike package. Was tempted by stingrays buts it’s so expensive and I can’t be sure kiddo will be comfortable enough to swim with them. Less is more is my current mantra.
It’s pirate night so I bought her a dance pirate dress after Halloween on clearance. Score!

Thur day at sea. I really wanted a Palo or Remy brunch but all sold out. I keep checking back. However there was a 3:15pm Remy dessert experience so I jumped in it not knowing what it was. I see now it’s a lot of small desserts and wine. Ummmm yes please! So now I’m all in on that instead for hubby and I while kiddo clubs.

Ok so that’s my update. Am I crazy to be at Disney and not go to a park? And any tips on packing stiff slyly for an Easter basket?
 
J'ADORE DCL. You will love it!

FYI on the Remy and Palo strikeouts (and your TA can tell you more about this) - they do hold back some reservations for people that want to make them on the ship, so I'd definitely recommend trying to snag one on embarkation day! They'll have more info about it in the Navigator that they give to you when you check in at the terminal (where to go to get them - I think it's normally Royal Palace/Court, depends on what ship you're on - and what time they start taking them). I've never done Remy brunch but Palo brunch is my favorite thing ever - I recommend running that morning beforehand to properly build up your appetite. :)
 
Ahh! How fun does that sound?! I’m selfishly already excited to read allll about it ;)

Then I will make sure to write an epically long recap. I still have two more days of marathon weekend to recap in my trip report for that. Oof!!!

We can be Porgs together! PORG LIFE!

Deal!

J'ADORE DCL. You will love it!

FYI on the Remy and Palo strikeouts (and your TA can tell you more about this) - they do hold back some reservations for people that want to make them on the ship, so I'd definitely recommend trying to snag one on embarkation day! They'll have more info about it in the Navigator that they give to you when you check in at the terminal (where to go to get them - I think it's normally Royal Palace/Court, depends on what ship you're on - and what time they start taking them). I've never done Remy brunch but Palo brunch is my favorite thing ever - I recommend running that morning beforehand to properly build up your appetite. :)

I think we only have one true sea day (day 4) with a Palo/Remy brunch option. So we will try to snag one that first day like you said and if not, at least we know we won't starve on the ship :)
Think I want to do main dining room with my kiddo all the other nights.


Training Update!

OMG THIS WEATHER!!! I was able to do ONE run outside and it's been treadmill for everything else.
I had a blind run on my schedule from @DopeyBadger with progressing paces by effort and mother nature decided to snow and rain and freeze said rain and snow and snow and brrrrr. It was extra annoying because the morning prior almost every pile of snow had melted off our lawn and driveway and then it all came back. Grrrr. I wonder who p*ssed off Elsa?
Anywho...I procrastinated as long as I could in hopes the weather would magically get better and then headed out that night to do a "blind treadmill run"
Let me describe how that went!

disclaimer:
A) I hate the new Planet Fitness Treadmills...because I'm not used to them yet and I haven't taken the time to learn how to get what I want from them. The screen is "dumbed down" so I probably would have liked them better from the beginning of my running journey.
B) They don't show pace per mile anymore and I'm still sucky at mph vs pace math so at least that helped me in this blind treadmill run. The up and down arrow buttons for speed now are weirdly pressure sensitive so a light press will net you .1 mph change and harder will net you large jumps in pace. Haven't figured it out yet.

I did my warmup at my normal WU speed knowing what that was. Hope that was okay. I then covered the left half of display with my hoodie so I could still see my time and then pressed that increase speed button. I knew I'd be at one speed for 15 min, another for 10 min and a final fastest speed for 5 min but I wasn't supposed to kill myself at the end. so I kinda didn't know how conservative to be to start.
I ran my first time segment and then lifted the hoodie to see what I was on (because how else would I know what to report?)
It was 5.5 mph. Ok?
I covered it back up and pressed it a couple more times and that certainly felt faster but still not dying at it was 5.9mph. Well at least I knew I wasn't at the killing myself range.
I started my last 5 minute and whatever I did was a big nooooope so I clicked back down. I dont' know what I clicked up to but I didn't like it. Turns out I ended up at a 6.3 mph.
So like a high 10 (almost 11), an almost ~10 mile pace then like 9 1/2 ish?

I'm thinking outside it goes differently than on the treadmill but that's what I ended up doing. Likely would have started faster outside for sure knowing me.

My next run was a normal easy paced 3 miles. Only hiccup was the new treadmill flashed my weight at me for like 30 seconds until I got it to stop doing that. Hurumph!

Tonight I have a 1 mi WU + 5x2 min @ I (8:39) with 1 min RI + 8 x 200 @ R (8:04) w/ 200 mi RI + 1 mi CD
Ok so I know I can do that first part cause I did it the previous week. Then I add on essentially 1 min FAST, I min rest right? So I gotta figure out this treadmill's buttons so that my whole minute isn't just pushing the decrease button (I kid...sort of)
That last part seems hard on paper, but I'm thinking positive. Guessing the fast minutes will feel like they take a long time and the rests will feel too short.

Pray for good weather for my 7 mile long run this weekend. No one p*ss off Elsa!
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Hooray for a cruise. I was pricing Disney cruises recently for a potential summer trip, but I just can't bring myself to pay the price for one over other cruise lines. I hope you love it!

Treadmills that display your weight unprompted should be destroyed! Grr
 
Hooray for a cruise. I was pricing Disney cruises recently for a potential summer trip, but I just can't bring myself to pay the price for one over other cruise lines. I hope you love it!

Treadmills that display your weight unprompted should be destroyed! Grr

I have yet to determine if I just have a typical starting weight and it was mere coincidence it knew my weight exactly and you are actually supposed to then hit the up or down arrow to arrive at your actual weight for calorie counting purposes OR if the machine is actually weighing me. But either way...I'm not a fan.
 
I agree with you on the new PF treadmills. Doing the mental math for paces stinks. They also stop after an hour and you have to wait for it to reset before you can turn it back on. So annoying. Apparently, they think no one works out for more than 60 minutes.
 
I hear you on the weather...I am so over it!!! >:(

SOOOO OVER IT!
I also can't wait for it to be "let's go to the park" weather for my kiddo because she is one BORED kid (despite owning 5000 toys.) She literally needs to "run around" just as much as we all do!

I agree with you on the new PF treadmills. Doing the mental math for paces stinks. They also stop after an hour and you have to wait for it to reset before you can turn it back on. So annoying. Apparently, they think no one works out for more than 60 minutes.

UGH the 60 min thing is annoying...please don't give me a reason to want to cut my workout short...don't make me use my extra will power all the time!
Another disboard member sent me a link of pace = mph so I am going to print that out and stick it in with my gym bag stuff. I also think I'm going to write my mph paces on my actual training plan to look at ahead of time. The funny thing is that I have certain "tempo" paces memorized from previous plans, but my new plan has a lot more pace choices (which I like) so I need to be more careful.


TRAINING UPDATE AND MEDAL PICTURES!

Speaking of treadmills. It's been nothing but treadmill lately because even when all the snow melts, it then gets followed by more snow! It's been really icy out too.

I had my first R paced workout of this cycle. Here's my paces btw. So when I people ask what pace do I run during training I just look at them sideways and say "a lot of paces"
WU/CD 13:14
EA 12:24
EB 11:35
LR 11:16
HM Tempo 9:55
HMS 8:21
SPEED 9:06
M Tempo 10:20
Daniels T Pace 9:31
Daniels R Pace 8:04 aka ~1 min for 200m
Daniels I Pace 8:39

Ok so back to my R workout. Previous week I had done a WU mile, then 5 x 2 min @ I pace with 2 min RI + CD mile
This week I did same thing but before the CD I did 8 x 200mi @ R pace w/ 200 mi RI. I'm glad DB had put on the plan that 200 mi @ R essentially is about 1 min. So it was really me just making sure I did one full min at that pace each time. I screwed up in that I then did RI for one minute when technically it should have been more. This would have been easier outside where I have specific 200m areas mapped out in my neighborhood but alas. I'll think it through better next time aka Thursday.
So what's the word for when I kick a workouts backside at the same time that it kicks mine. I feel like there was mutual backside kicking involved. The 6th, 7th, and 8th 200mi at R were definitely harder than the first five. Was getting a tiny side stitch. But none of them killed me and I felt like a superhero after. Now that I realize I could have RI'd a little longer I feel kind of silly.

Tonight I do 4 miles easy and am looking forward to that. Thursday I'll have 3 min at I pace (ACK THREE!!) in my workout. And Sunday I have a blind progression and of course we have snow on the forecast. @DopeyBadger if Saturday is better for road conditions should I flip flop Sat and Sun to allow for a real blind run?

OK NOW MEDAL PICTURES!
(hang tight posting two medals shortly.)

First - the 40th anniversary Shamrock Shuffle medal is SO PRETTY! Super excited to earn this in March. Good carrot to keep up with my plan.

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And a pom pom hat is our bonus freebie this year (along with a tshirt...this is a good "swag" race)

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And I signed up for my annual Sparkle Athletic virtual run that they do for Rhett Syndrome. I did one three years ago when I was trying to run one race every month and used it for my April "race." If you have time to read about what Rhett Syndrome is and what Team Sparkle does each year please do. It really is something that I am more than happy to support annually now.
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Also RAINBOWS! (last year was a unicorn that my kiddo and I "ran for". We will do the same this year. She runs a block and I keep going, haha.)
 
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@DopeyBadger if Saturday is better for road conditions should I flip flop Sat and Sun to allow for a real blind run?

Not ideal, but it should work. Just puts it a little closer to the I workout on Thurs. But since it's Blind progression there really isn't any type of pace goal anyways (except for the instructions).

The 6th, 7th, and 8th 200mi at R were definitely harder than the first five. Was getting a tiny side stitch. But none of them killed me and I felt like a superhero after. Now that I realize I could have RI'd a little longer I feel kind of silly.

You should have about 2-3 min of rest between intervals. The math is 2-3x the work. So 60 seconds of R needs 120-180 seconds of recovery. Be wary though. 400m is definitely not twice as hard as 200m. Essentially once you pass about 50-60 seconds of R pace is when the difficulty rises very very rapidly. Based on physiological response of that pace. Similar with I pace where 2 to 3 min is not the same as 3 to 4 min in increasing difficulty.
 

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