Running Renaissance: Road to Paris 2024

[GollyGadget]

I think your castle photo is great! I have no tips for poses as I am struggling with that as well. And I am way to scared to jump while running and risk landing on something or someone.

Jumping has never even crossed my mind!! I know some people get cute photos like that but I’m not very coordinated and would certainly fall on my face (or worse). Would make for a good photo though

For PhotoPass pics that are “too big” for the Dis, I’ve found that just cropping them a little bit magically shrinks the file size enough to pass muster.

Amazing! It used to ask what size and I’d always choose a smaller size but I wasn’t sure what do when that went away. Here’s some chipmunks for you

You got some really great pics! Can totally relate on the Sunset Blvd pic, I had the weirdest face going trying to conceal the chocolate!

Love that your partner thought to bring you dry shoes, bummer he couldn’t give them to you! Hopefully he got to see that awesome finish.

He’s the best! Dry shoes never crossed my mind during the race. I was more worried about him and my mom having rain gear. He missed the rain. My mom just rode the monorail loop until it stopped

Way to go! The Hulk Hogan pic made me laugh.

Initially I thought that he ruined my picture, but he definitely enhances it.

Ooh, a whole car almost to yourself! Sounds like an awesome race!

They were just telling us to pick whatever row we wanted. My foolish race brain headed towards the front when I definitely prefer the back. Anyway, the back car filled up then there was us two and a couple totally empty cars in between.

 

[GollyGadget]

WDW Marathon Weekend Recap Pt 5 (Post Race Ramblings)

I had an absolute blast! There’s really nothing like it. Being surrounded by thousands of other runners but still feeling like I was part of something special and unique. I wasn’t 100% and neither was my training but this race was unquestionably an A+.

After a quick shower, we headed to Whispering Canyon so I could eat as much brunch as I pleased. We had never been but I picked it due to the all you can eat option and proximity to MK.

Yum! Those biscuits and gravy really hit the spot.

I spent the rest of the day at MK. I can’t remember exactly what all we did but I made it until the fireworks which was my goal.

The next day, I spent the AM at Epcot with my mom. We had a great time together and hit a lot of the less popular attractions until my partner arrived for lunch. This included meeting Mickey and Minnie where Mickey was very bossy and kicked my mom out of the photo.

Epcot was quite crowded by the afternoon but we still had fun and made it to the fireworks once again.

A few weeks before the trip, my mom asked about having brekkie with Mickey. She suggested Chef Mickey but I talked her into Topolino’s. This was another great experience! As a millennial, I ordered the avocado toast and was not disappointed. Obviously it’s a bit pricey for avo toast, but, once again, I have no regrets. We got lots of great character photos.


The original plan was to hit MK again on Tuesday but there were storms forecasted so we postponed. I’m so glad we did because I was exhausted and took a giant nap after breakfast.

Wednesday was spent at HS and wasn’t too notable but I mention it so I have a reason to share this fun photo . The crowds were much better than pre marathon. It makes me question the pre marathon park days.


That was the last day and we hit up MK one last time. This also meant one last visit to the country bears. I’m really going to miss them! I know they aren’t going anywhere but I’m worried they’re going to lose their charm. We had one last ADR at Hoop Dee Doo. Another first for us and it was another hit (the unlimited sangria certainly helped).

Our timing was such that we got to see the MK fireworks one last time from the boat dock. Not the best view, but the perfect way to end our trip.

 

[azrivest]

That picture with Mickey and Minnie is A+. I love your Kermit shirt

 

[GollyGadget]

That picture with Mickey and Minnie is A+. I love your Kermit shirt

Thank you!

 

[GollyGadget]

Road Mile Training Week 1

After the marathon, I took 3 weeks off just to make sure my body was ready for training when it picked up again. Like last year, I'm following up the marathon block with a training block focused on the mile. I really enjoyed switching up my focus last year. It has a way to keep running nearly everyday "fresh."

My biggest concern right now is if my body will be able to handle the speedwork. Due to some IT band and hip pain (because of weak glutes & hips), I pretty much abandoned speedwork for the marathon cycle. To mitigate that risk, I plan to put more focus on strength training (for real this time). I've been waffling back and forth on what that means, but at this point I need to just pick something and stick with it.

The goal race is on April 23rd so I have just over 12 weeks to prepare. I've made my own plan following the guidelines from Daniels' Running Formula. It mostly follows the 1500m-2 mile 45 mpw plan from the book with modifications. The biggest changes are to fit the timeline I have and making sure the workouts fit into the various rules for R, I & T pacing.

My current official mile PR is from this same race last year at 6:55. I did run a slightly faster time in one of my time trials but it wasn't official and I don't even know what that time was anymore . Regardless, I'd really love to PR. I went out too hot last year and my 5K time from last April indicates that 6:45 may be possible. With that in mind, I'll use 6:45 for my pacing but will be happy with any result better than 6:55.

Okay, enough blabbing, on with the recap!

29 Jan - Easy 3
Felt really good to get back out there. Felt like I was flying even though it was easy pace.

30 Jan - Easy 3
I still felt really good but I did notice my HR getting above 150 so I spent a lot of energy on keeping that down.

31 Jan - Easy 3
I was really tired and did not want to get out of bed for a morning run. Eventually I put on my running clothes just to make it easier for me to get out the door but I didn't get a chance until the afternoon. It was hot and sort of a drag but glad I got it done.

1 Feb - Easy 3
Thankfully this run felt much better than the day prior. Except for when I tripped with a half mile left and ate sidewalk. Much to my surprise, several folks came to make sure I was okay. It was quite nice and I appreciated it. Last time I fell was in Iowa and literally no one asked if I was okay even though there were lots of folks around. That's Iowa "nice" for ya .

2 Feb - Easy 3
Due to the events of the day prior, I spent most of the run focused on not falling. I'm happy to report it was a success!

3 & 4 Feb - Rest
I spent 24 hours in a 36 hour span in the car traveling back to Iowa so there was little time for exercise. Hence, the prescheduled rest days.

All in all, happy to get back to running and see how this adventure goes. Slightly less happy to be back in Iowa, where it's still winter, but thankfully the weather is above freezing.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

I only made it a few steps in that direction before I realized that I did not have the social energy for talking to others so I quickly bailed on that plan and headed to the corrals

Well dang. Sorry we didn't get to see you.
This means you have to bring the donuts next time....

 

[Blue Caterpillar]

The chip and dale photo is so cute! It looks like a great trip.
I've never ran a mile race, I must look for one. I love automatic PRs. If I read it right you are doing 45 per week on your plan?

 

[GollyGadget]

Well dang. Sorry we didn't get to see you.
This means you have to bring the donuts next time....

Bad news for you, I will never be bringing donuts to a pre race gathering. I had to learn the hard way that donuts and running do not mix.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/running-renaissance-2024-disney-marathon.3595467/post-58535907

The chip and dale photo is so cute! It looks like a great trip.
I've never ran a mile race, I must look for one. I love automatic PRs. If I read it right you are doing 45 per week on your plan?

Last year was my automatic PR! Although now that I'm reminded of that awful donut mile, it was not my first timed mile. However, something would have had to seriously go wrong like my femur pop out of my skin for my time to have been worse than that.

My weekly mileage actually varies so it's not a steady 45, but yes, that's the goal. Peak week will be 48 miles but there's also several weeks in the 35-40 range as I work my way back up. My most recent training block was averaging 45 mpw with a peak of 52 so this will actually be a slight decrease.

 

[Cabius]

Bad news for you, I will never be bringing donuts to a pre race gathering. I had to learn the hard way that donuts and running do not mix.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/running-renaissance-2024-disney-marathon.3595467/post-58535907

Oh man, I wasn't around here in 2017 so I'd never seen that post. WOW, what a much-needed laugh.

 

[GollyGadget]

Oh man, I wasn't around here in 2017 so I'd never seen that post. WOW, what a much-needed laugh.

I didn't eat donuts again until recently. It was very traumatic.

 

[GollyGadget]

Road Mile Training Week 2

It's only week 2 and I'm exhausted . Fortunately, I'm fairly confident that it's not from running. After being away for 6 weeks, I spent most of my free time last week unpacking, putting away Christmas decorations, and otherwise tidying up the house. Good news, all of the Christmas is in its rightful place. We won't talk about the suitcase that has taken up permanent residence in my bedroom....

5 Feb - Easy 4
This was a nice little fun winter run. I spotted a bald eagle and a raccoon but didn't get a photo of either. The raccoon surprised me since it was most definitely still daytime.


We still had 4 Christmas trees fully decorated so I was pressed for priorities but I wanted to start doing SOMETHING for strength so I found a quick 9 min runner workout. It involved a lot of hopping and I felt like I was flailing all over the place so not sure I'll do that one again.

We also had our pest treatment scheduled for that day. Obviously, this is not something that I'd usually mention but he saw my Daniels' book on my desk and we got to chatting. He's a xc coach at a nearby HS and just ran his first marathon last year. He asked what my goal time was for the road mile and I told him 6:45 but then he asked what I thought I could currently run. Yeesh, I had no idea. Hadn't really thought about it at all. I guessed 7:15 but now I'm kind of curious... Could be fun to throw a time trial in early just to see where I'm at.

6 Feb - Easy 4
The weather was perfect for running. Still a bit cold in the shade the first 2 miles but I was happy with it. I went back to an old route for this one to work in some hills, but with only 4 miles, it was really just one hill


7 Feb - Rest

8 Feb - Easy 4
It was warm, sunny, and windy. Naturally I didn't really notice the wind until I turned around and it became a headwind. I ran towards the skatepark and daydreamed about becoming a skater but then remembered that I can't even stay upright running, I definitely don't need to be doing any tricks. As luck would have it, I stubbed my toe on some uneven sidewalk and nearly went down exactly one week from my last fall. Maybe I should move my rest day to Thursday?

I followed up the run with a 20 min glute and hip workout. I've done this one before and really like it. I can definitely feel it in my hips.

9 Feb - Rest
By afternoon, I had all the Christmas decorations put away which was somewhat shocking to me. I thought for sure I'd have some weekend chores but it was nice to get it done before work and on my lunch break. However, I was also not feeling well by the late afternoon. I was exhausted and had cramps so I took a nap instead of running. I definitely could have ran but I'm giving myself some grace. It's still very early in the plan and my body was asking for a break. Now that my life is back to normal, I should be able to prioritize running in my free time once again.

10 Feb - Easy 4
This was a nice little easy run. Nothing really to report.

11 Feb - Easy 4
Another nice and easy run. I ran to the river and took this photo of the Asian Garden. Happy Belated Lunar New Year!


After the run and a quick lunch, I found a 20 min glute and core workout that kicked my booty. I could not complete all of the exercises and I'm definitely feeling it today. Probably need to keep this one in the rotation.

I'm feeling good so far and hope it continues. I can still feel some of my niggles but not as much during the running as I could before. I'm also still tracking my marathon shape even though I have no marathons on the calendar this year. It's interesting to me how quickly the numbers turned around after a couple of weeks off easy running. Hoping that's a good sign

 

[GollyGadget]

Road Mile Training Weeks 3-5

Hi friends! It's been a minute. I've been running (mostly), just had a few other priorities that kept me from updating this. On that note, I'm going to change up the format a bit to focus just on the notable events and not get into so much detail.

Week 3: 9 miles

• only ran 2 of 7 scheduled runs

Week 4: 35 miles

• First of the speedwork went pretty well
• Legs were really sore by Sunday, likely a combination of speedwork and deliberate strength training (30 min total)

Week 5: 40 miles

• Speedwork didn't go quite as well. Felt good but realized paces were slow afterwards. Going to try monitoring lap pace more in upcoming workouts.
• Right hip hurt ALL day on Wednesday. Sitting in a chair at the office all day didn't help. Felt fine but the weekend
• First double digit run since the marathon on Sunday . Felt really good despite the insane winds.
• 40 min total strength - going to keep this as a goal going forward. Focusing mostly on my weak hips & glutes with some core sprinkled in.

Overall, February went okay. Not as many miles as I planned but right on track with 2022 mileage. I still feel confident in my goal of 1500 miles this year.



My marathon shape predictions are also on the rise. It seems obvious that the prognostic time would increase since I haven't been putting in as many miles. I think it is starting to level off though and I expect it to hold pretty steady for the next few weeks.

The optimum time is what might be more surprising; it's also on the rise. I believe my speedwork to be the culprit of that. I'm definitely more of a distance runner so the addition of faster paces throws off my effective v02 max since I under perform at those speeds. We could still see it level off though as I try to improve at these faster paces.

 

[GollyGadget]

Road Mile Training Update


It’s been a bit of a rocky road and I’m just now exiting the denial phase. I’ve been struggling to hit my training paces more than one should which has disenchanted my desire to go for runs which further impacts my ability to train…it’s a vicious cycle.

I knew when I started that my paces were ambitious, but I had a 5K time from last year to back them up. I told myself that I would readjust if needed, but I couldn’t see what was happening. I’d hit the paces for one speed workout and struggle the next. It was easy to write it off as just having a bad day…except it kept repeating week after week.

Yesterday it all finally clicked together. I was scheduled for 6x800 I (7:09). It was VERY windy out and I had failed this exact workout the week before. It was also windy last week which I thought was contributing to the failure so I decided I would run this on the treadmill to eliminate that variable. Well, I made it through 2 intervals and realized that this was MUCH more difficult than it should be. I tried slowing the pace a smidge but I was already overcooked and just decided to throw in the towel.

I know I need to readjust my training. The problem is my race is less than 4 weeks away so there is not a lot of time. Coincidentally, I have a mile time trial scheduled for Friday which will allow me to assess exactly where I’m at. I’ll adjust my pacing from there and just do what I can to see if I can improve from that baseline in 3.5 weeks . Like I said, I know it’s not a lot of time so I will try my best not to be disappointed if I don’t improve. Regardless, I know the path I’m on is not sustainable so I must do something.

If I could, I’d reschedule my mile race but it’s the only option I have at the distance. Instead, I’ll finish out the training, learn some important lessons, and adjust for my next training cycle.

Hope y’all are having a better time than me this spring!

 

[RuntheMouse]

Sorry your training isn’t going as well as you wanted. It’s so frustrating sometimes! I feel you on the wind, it sucks the joy out of a run so fast. Sending good vibes your way to get back to where you want!

 

[GollyGadget]

Sorry your training isn’t going as well as you wanted. It’s so frustrating sometimes! I feel you on the wind, it sucks the joy out of a run so fast. Sending good vibes your way to get back to where you want!

Thanks for the kind words. I’m not too worried about it, it’s disappointing but it’s not my life. As Des says, “it’s just ******* running.”

I do this because I enjoy it. It’s time to find the fun parts again.

 

[Scootin'By]

I do this because I enjoy it. It’s time to find the fun parts again.

 

[azrivest]

I do this because I enjoy it. It’s time to find the fun parts again.

I hope you find the fun in running again as well. And sometimes it's when we let it go that things click so who knows!

 

[GollyGadget]

Road Mile Training Update - 1 April

Pretty sure I’ve felt every emotion related to running last week. I already mentioned that training wasn’t going well and it was time to reassess.

My mile time trial went okay. My legs felt heavy and I was actually surprised when it was sub 8 based on how I felt. However, 7:25 is a looooooong way from the 6:45 I was using in training. No wonder I was struggling so bad.

The new plan was to adjust my paces based on the time trial and just make it through this training block. Life and my body had other plans. I skipped my Saturday run because my left hip was in a lot of pain during dog walk. Typically my right hip gives me grief so this was a very unwelcome surprise. Sunday the plan was to just do a few easy miles and see how I felt. I even drove to a nearby crushed gravel path to make it easier on my body than the typical concrete/asphalt routes near my home. Long story short, I stopped just over a mile and walked the same distance back to my car.

My body feels like it’s being held together with duct tape and baling wire. nothing is injured but there’s a lot of discomfort so it’s time for a new new plan. I have three races in the next month but fortunately nothing longer than 5K so I can just take them as fun runs without too much effort. In the meantime, I’m going to focus on strength training and return to regular running when my body is ready.

There’s a 7 mile race in late July that I’d really like to be healthy for and beyond that is the WDW marathon . So for now the goal is to find that health.

 

[jmasgat]

Road Mile Training Update - 1 April

Is the 1-line "update" indicative of how training is going?

ETA: Ah....it filled in. And the answer looks like ....yes. Sorry it's rough right now. Hope that your body feels better soon.

 

[flav]

nothing is injured but there’s a lot of discomfort so it’s time for a new new plan.

Or new shoes, or new mattress…