2018 Goofy Challenge Part 2 – Walt Disney World Marathon Race Recap

On Saturday January 6th, I ran my first marathon of 2018 and my 3rd marathon overall! This was the second part of the Goofy Challenge (13.1 + 26.2) and I was so excited to see what I could do over 26.2 miles after having a pretty strong training cycle. I was slightly nervous because my legs definitely weren’t feeling “fresh,” and I had been sick just the week before.

Saturday, Post 13.1: After the half marathon on Saturday, I took a short nap before my mom and I headed over to Disney Springs. We had a delicious lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, which is a regular spot for us during our visits. I had great parmesean chicken + pasta to keep my levels up for the next day. After a couple of hours of shopping around, I was starting to feel tired and very nervous for the day ahead. At this point I had put over 20 miles on my legs that day. We headed back to the hotel for a similar routine as the night before. Dinner in the food court (chicken, rice, and brussels sprouts), a warm bath, feet on the wall, and putting out my gear had me ready for bed!

Sunday, pre-race: Because I spent so much time just standing around on Saturday, I didn’t get up quite as early. Thankfully I slept much better and I slept until around 2:45. Unlike my first two marathons, I felt very calm as I got myself ready and out the door. After grabbing some cereal at the food court (it was perfect the morning before) I was onto the bus and on my way to Epcot once more. This morning was warmer than the previous but because I was dressed in less clothing for the race it felt much colder. I sat in the starter’s village for probably a good 45 minutes before making “the trek.” I stayed pretty warm in my sweatpants, fleece blanket and mylar blanket but I was wishing I had my bathrobe from Saturday!

Getting to the corrals felt much longer this day. I happily chatted up some other  marathon runners to help feel less alone in the sea of people! I started to share my 5:00 goal out loud, and that started to scare me. I ended up sitting in front of the porta-johns for a while so I didn’t have to get in and out of my corral. TMI but I couldn’t just do the deed, ugh! Thankfully I packed an immodium (#runnersprobs). I entered my corral (D) just before 5:00 and was still towards the front. Unlike Saturday, I didn’t stand to see the pre-race show. I sat to save my legs and try to stretch a bit. At 5:30 the race started, I began to de-layer and of course, had to go to the bathroom. Yesterday there were no lines at the porta johns at .8 miles. I was sure I could make it that far!

They released more “mini-waves” in the corrals during the marathon, 25 starts for 25 years. I actually loved that they played music from each year. For the 3rd corral they played Mmmbop! Around 5:20, my corral was off!

Miles 1-5: Let’s just say it now – every single porta john area had lines bigger than the corrals. WTF People?! But honestly, that sucked. I was still working for that 5:00 time, so I told myself to hold it until I could get to one without lines). Nevertheless, these miles were the exact same as they were the day before. I was calmed when my mom said that she made it to the Magic Kingdom and set into a good rhythm. I was running 60:30 intervals at a very even, easy pace. My watch was almost right on with the mile markers. (12:01, 11:43, :47, :48, :42)

Miles 6-10: Once again, the Mile 5 marker was right at the Magic Kingdom entrance! I slowed to call my mom to make sure that I saw her, and I was so happy when I did! I also turned off my interval timer to enjoy the Magic Kingdom. After stopping to see my mom, my #1 goal was to find a bathroom! The first two in the park had bad lines, but thank heavens, I finally found some with no line. Sweet relief! I felt so much better after. I made my way through the castle again and found my mom once more! I was on cloud 9. After mile 6 we were out of the park and back onto the roads to head toward Animal Kingdom. It seemed much more crowded than the day before and I had a hard time finding a spot to run/walk. Eventually, the 5:00 pace group (which started about 3-4 minutes behind me) caught me and I made it my goal to stay with/ahead of them as we headed to Animal Kingdom. (12:29 (stop for my mom and bathroom!), 12:28, 11:30, 10:55, 11:08)

Mom was much more successful than during the half!

Attempted the jump shot…

Miles 10-15: The first half of this segment had us heading past the water treatment plant (so smelly!), through boring “cone alley” and towards Animal Kingdom. These few miles were pretty boring – there were a few things on the side of the road, but not really any characters. Around mile 12 I was starting to get some chaffing under my arm, so I stopped to get some vaseline from an aid stop – what a godsend! I was stoked to see the animals when going into the park. I really wanted there to be a warthog! I was disappointed when I only saw two mules. Maybe the good stuff was on the other side of the road?

Anyways, around mile 13 we finally entered the Animal Kingdom park – my favorite! I regret not stopping for a picture with Timon and Rafikki, but was making good time and wanted to keep trucking. At this point I had my watch taped, so I didn’t know how far ahead of the mile markers I was. When I arrived at the 13.1 marker I took off the tape to see I was already .5 miles ahead of the mile marker, crap. I can make up some time, but that’s a lot of time to make up! At that point I decided to keep running 60:30 intervals at the same comfortably-hard pace, but understood that even with that, a sub-5:00 wasn’t happening. Since I was running so fast (for me) I decided not to up my intervals to 90:30. Anyways, after about a mile that brought us through backstage AK and the parking lot, we were back on the highway for the trek to ESPN Wide World of Sports (WWOS). I was thankful to stop at another aid station for them to have sunscreen. Not only sunscreen, but the kind I normally use! (I’m allergic to many. As a redhead, this sucks). (11:08, 10:50, :41, 11:03, :11)

Miles 16-20: I was dreading this part of the race, due to race recaps I’d read. It was 2.5 boring miles on the highway, then another 2.5ish weaving through the (WWOS). I was doing really well until about mile 18. I had just stopped for a quick picture with Pluto (my first of the day), but when we hit mile 18, I started to feel a little off and depleted. Since my 5:00 goal was out the window, I decided to just have fun. Between miles 18-20 I stopped for pictures with Minnie, Goofy and Mickey/Donald. I also had a banana – I’ve never done this in a race but it was seriously a lifesaver and I felt so great after! I will definitely take advantage of them in future races. I was thrilled running through the baseball stadium and through the mile 20 marker. “Just” a 10K (or 7 miles) to go! Physically and mentally I was feeling great! (10:59, 11:00, :19, 13:52 (Minnie), 15:14 (Goofy))

Miles 21-26.2 (or 27): Coming out of ESPN WWOS felt so good! The course widened and we could see runners behind us and cheer them on. I was completely giddy when I saw Jeff Galloway ahead of me just before the 21 mile marker. I knew he started with the A corral and must of fallen back (his wife and I went back and forth during my WWOS stops). **Back story: I obviously run using Galloway intervals. I passed him at mile 8 of MCM 2016, and then he passed me at 24 when I was struggling hard. It felt like redemption to pass him.**  I shared my gratitude for his training methods, and sped by. Anyways, then I just felt super strong heading up “the hill” and towards Hollywood Studios. I started chitchatting with some other runners which was great and helped pass the time.

Around mile 23 (I think?) we headed passed a candy stop (skittles, YESSS), I stopped for a picture with Oswald as we were heading in for our short jaunt in Hollywood Studios. Honestly it was so short that I hardly remember it aside from the fact that I took more candy (nerds) from strangers and it was incredible.  After Hollywood Studios, we headed towards the Boardwalk. The course got so narrow here and it was really hard to keep going at a decent clip. When we got onto the Boardwalk proper, it did open up and on my god it was beautiful!! I was completely taken away by the beauty, as well as the crowd support. When my watch dinged for 25 miles (well, like 24.4) I knew we were almost to EPCOT! It took so much not to cry. I was almost there and feeling FANTASTIC!

EPCOTTTT!!!!

And then we crossed “international gateway” and were in Epcot, running around the world!! We made it! There were so many people everywhere and seriously I’m surprised I didn’t ugly cry. I totally cried a little but thankfully I was wearing my sunglasses :P. I turned off my interval timer to just enjoy the experience. The mile 25 marker was special for the anniversary, and it really hit me then that I had met this goal that I set when I was in high school. One bummer was that I really wanted to get a wine slushie (France), beer (Germany), and/or a margarita (Mexico), and I had reached the World Showcase before it officially opened at 11:00, so most of the stations were closed! I also was bummed that many of the princesses weren’t out yet. I did get pictures with Snow White and Mulan just as they were coming out though! Then it was the rest of the jaunt through future world, under the ball, past the gospel choir, and to the finish!!! (15:15 (Mickey/Donald), 11:26, :40, 12:58 (Oswald), :17, :14, 10:53)

I DID IT! My official time was 5:21:36. Even with all of my stops and running .8 miles over, it was still 12 minutes faster than my first marathon! I was so proud. I ran this the day after a half marathon, with tired legs and having been sick the week before. I felt freaking fantastic. Sure, I was a little stiff, but nothing on me hurt or felt injured. Unlike my first two marathons, I didn’t feel like I was going to puke after. It was a success.

Just for kicks and grins, I looked at Strava to see what my time was without stops. With stop time taken out, I ran 5:04 for 27 miles. This equates to a 11:18 pace, which if I ran only 26.2 would have been around a 4:58. While my 5:21 was my time, I was really happy to see that my average running pace was a sub-5:00 pace while running 60:30 intervals the entire time. I can run a marathon. I can do it. And now I have the confidence to know that I have a sub-5:00 in me.

Post-race celebration: My mom and I got on the bus quickly, showered, and were off to the Magic Kingdom ASAP! I had been dreaming of post-race nachos from Pecos Bill’s Tell Tale Inn Cafe since I registered, and boy, was I ready! I seriously went savage on them. My mom and I really enjoyed our half-day at Magic Kingdom. By 8:00 I had walked/ran a total of 38 miles for the day and I was DEAD. When we got back to the hotel I finally had one last Mickey ice cream sandwich, my post-race beer (there’s no alcohol at MK), packed, and collapsed in bed.

My last celebration was breakfast at Chef Mickey’s the morning after the Marathon. This was a complete surprise for my mom to end our trip and it was definitely one of the highlights!

This was a long post, so if you made it this far – thank you! I plan to share one more post on my big takeaways from the trip, highlights, and what’s next. I can’t believe the experience is over but I’m so thankful that I took the risk and signed up for the Goofy Challenge!

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Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend 2018 Part 1

Hello from somewhere above the southeast. Yes, I’m totally starting this from the plane on Monday evening because I simply have so many feelings to share from this amazing weekend. Yes, I just said amazing. That may be a spoiler but if you saw my instagram you already know that the WDW Marathon Weekend was full of smiles. My heart is so full and I’ve never smiled so much while running.

I met all of my goals for the half marathon and while I didn’t clock that sub-5 for my full, I am probably happier than I would have been if I did. More will be coming up about the races soon but first I would like to share some thoughts on the RunDisney experience. Not everyone had/will have the same experience as me, and I’m sure other race weekends are different but this is how it was through my eyes.

As you would know/expect, running at Disney is freaking expensive. But in all honesty I found that it was worth every single penny. The races themselves were impeccably organized. Transportation to/from the events from my resort (Art of Animation – on property) was as smooth as butter. I was back to my hotel within a half an hour of finishing, which was huge for recovery between the half and full. The aid stations (medical and water) were plentiful and well stocked with products and amazing volunteers. The course entertainment when not in the parks was fantastic and made the miles fly by. While I know many Dopeys had a bad expo experience, I went on the second day and it was very smooth. And obviously, the swag is top notch.

The actual of running this race was just as positive as the energy that I found at the Marine Corps Marathon. I was afraid this was going to be my view coming out of this weekend, but I’m not sure anything can beat the races themselves. Even if I wasn’t at Disney World, this would have still been a top EXPERIENCE. However, I as at Walt Disney World. Nothing beats running down Main Street USA and through Cinderella’s castle. I didn’t dress in costume but I love seeing everyone who did. Seeing the Mission Space ball and knowing that you’re almost there is just incredible. This was the best running experience ever. I will do other marathons, but nothing will compare (until I run NYC, London, or Boston (someday) ). The energy, camaraderie, spectators and volunteers were simply incredible.

Yes, I’m on THE BIGGEST runners high right now. I’m expecting quite the post marathon/vacation blues to hit within the  next few days. It’s taking all I have not to scrap all other race plans for the spring and sign up for a marathon. After the races are over I’m still spending #allthemoney on merch (which I did not think I’d do). 

 

It’s Time to Go The Distance – Goofy Challenge Pre-Cap

“I’ll be there someday, I can go the distance
I will find my way if I can be strong
I know every mile would be worth my while
When I go the distance, I’ll be right where I belong” – Michael Bolton, from Hercules

It’s time, it’s time, it’s time! Well, almost. I don’t leave until Thursday but my bags are packed and ready to go! Having registered for the races and booking my hotel 10 months ago, I honestly felt like this week may never come. I’m having some mixed feelings going into the races, but it would take a lot to wipe the smile off my face until I get on the “not-so-Magical-Express” back to the airport on Monday.

Of course, I’ve been training pretty hard for these races. It wasn’t quite the buildup I hoped, but I feel prepared to run a marathon. While I’ve been running great long run paces, I still don’t feel as “in shape” as I did for my first two marathons. While I did run 17, 18, 19, 20 miles on double weekends, I didn’t run those numbers as often as I normally would. And even though mileage wise it’s not that much less, I do like running two 10’s and two 20’s before race day from the confidence standpoint.

Mostly to keep myself accountable with race plans, here’s how I plan to run out the big kahuna double race weekend.

Saturday – half marathon: SLOW SLOW SLOW. I’m going to be disappointed if I don’t set a new PR WORST in the half marathon. I mean, like, 12:30-13:00  miles. I haven’t yet decided if I’ll do 30:30 or 60:30 intervals. I have never run at 30:30, but I feel that’s my best bet to conserve energy. It may depend on how cold it is – if I’m too cold doing 30:30 I’ll definitely do 60:30. I also plan to stop for all the character stops that I so desire and just have fun.

Sunday – marathon: This is where things get wonky. Seriously, it’s stupid to think that I can run a PR the day after running a half marathon. But how my training went, I feel that I am so capable of potentially succeeding if I have a perfect day and maybe a little pixie dust as well. So while a PR isn’t my utmost goal, it is on my mind. The first thing I’m going to do is tape my watch. Because the #1 goal is to have fun, I really don’t want to be stressing. There are mile markers where I can generally see where my time is, and my tracking splits will get sent to my phone.

Just a little throwback to ’97. I was always a Goofy fan.

My run plan is to run 60:30 through the half and then up to 90:30, which is similar to how I ran the NJ Marathon (I think I did 10/16.2). I’ve run consistent long runs at 11:30 and below paces easily while running 60:30, so I don’t think it will affect my speed negatively.  I do not plan to stop for character photos in the first half of the race. When I get to mile 13, I’ll re-evaluate. Am I on pace to potentially PR? How am I feeling? If I’m on pace and feeling good, I’m giving myself permission to go for it, and I’ll re-evaluate at mile 20 and keep going. Maybe I’ll stop for desirable photos with short lines, maybe I won’t. If not, I’ll just to to finish and have fun and stop at whatever photo stops I want. First and foremost, my #1 goal is to have fun. I’ll probably cry going down Main Street USA and I’m totally okay with that. If I were to set time goals, my heart is set on that 4:59:59 mark.

Another thing I’m really excited for is to make videos! While I was burnt out in November, watching videos that runners filmed during the WDW Half and Full really helped to keep me looking forward to this weekend. I first watched these videos while (unhappily) on the treadmill, and I cried three times in the gym. Seriously. I’m excited to pay it forward a little and make my own! Filming video, let alone talking on camera and editing is completely unknown territory for me. I’m excited to see how the videos will turn out. Hopefully they will help someone out like the videos kept me going. I still have been watching at least one of these videos a night before bed. I’m also excited to make a video of memories for my Mom, family movie style. To do this I considered borrowing a friend’s GoPro but ended up buying a small point+shoot camera with good image stabilization. AND IT’S PURPLE!

For those who’ve come across my small little blog while I’ve been training for this race, let me know if you’ll be there! I hope you all have a wonderful race (races?) in the most magical place on earth. While my blog isn’t much, it keeps me motivated and helps me reflect. I truly believe reflecting is a huge component in success. And to my few regular readers, you can (almost) finally stop hearing about Disney for a while! I’m so ready for this daunting task to be over, but I know when I cross that finish line on Sunday, I’ll also be a little sad (*crying as I write this at work*). I’ve been dreaming running the WDW Marathon for 10 years, and it’s finally happening. I hope it’s everything that I have dreamt of!

Goofy Challenge Training – Taper Time

IT’S RACE WEEK!!!!! EEEEK! I have been waiting for this since last year when the WDW Half was cancelled. AGAIN: RACE WEEK IS HERE!

Sorry I missed last week’s recap – I didn’t bring my laptop home to NH for Christmas. When I returned, I was sick and my laptop charger was at work along with my iPad. Not much was missed though – my taper weeks were lower in miles than even I like to run in taper, but it is what it is. So instead of bringing you through each day of each week, here is what I did do:

Week 16:

Tuesday: 5 miles easy

Friday: Napped through my run time – oops!

Saturday: 3 miles moderate effort on the treadmill

Sunday: 5 miles + 7 miles on the treadmill. There was seriously so much snow when I went home!

Weekly total: 20 miles

Week 17:

Tuesday: 4 miles easy

Wednesday-Thursday: Sick. Ultimate taper!

Friday: 4 miles on the treadmill with some mini speed-work thrown in to keep my legs moving. It felt great and quad felt the best it has in ages.

Saturday: 4.5 miles. Plan was for 9 outside to make it to 1,250 for the year. With just getting over being sick, I chose the warm (more like sauna-esque) gym at my complex. I was dripping by the end of the first mile! I did 3 easy then tried to bring it up to marathon effort and my body was just not.having.it. Then I slowed and it was still not.having.it. So I took it as a bad run and just went home.

Weekly miles: 12.5.

Now the training is almost 100% complete! I was bummed about Saturday’s run, but it is what it is. The hay is in the barn anyways, as they say. My body is feeling good going into the marathon. While I’m still a little stuffy after being sick, the extra rest of being at home and literally being in bed all day was great (although inconvenient). I’m packed and ready for my trip, and I am seriously so excited! I’ll posting more about that sometime this week though.

I hope everyone had a great holiday season and has a wonderful, prosperous new year!

 

Goofy Challenge Training Week 15: 12/11-12/17/2017

I’m coming to you all straight from taper town today. With the completion of my 20 miler this weekend, I officially made it through the bulk of training for the Goofy Challenge! I’m ready to enjoy the next few weeks of less running, more sleep, and eating well. That won’t be hard with the holidays! I indulged in cookies yesterday. I don’t deny myself sweets, I’m just not a huge fan of them (give me doritos or cheese and crackers any day). However, I ate 8 cookies last night and I’m totally okay with it.

Let’s look back at how week 15 was.

Monday: Rest. I was planning to run, but my quad was bothering me so I played it cool.

Tuesday: 5 miles during my afternoon break. I used 90:30 intervals for the first time since my period of “burn out” and ran pretty fast for me (10:47 average pace) and felt good!

Wednesday: Rest – I was planning to go to NP, but it was a windchill of 9 degrees when I woke up. NoThankYou.

Thursday: 5 miles during my break again. I made a conscious effort to run easy. I didn’t fuel well in the morning, and I felt really bad when I finished.

Friday: 8.13 miles. My plan was for 10, but it started snowing as soon as I got to the trail. By the time I was done, I was running on two inches of snow. I didn’t have my trail shoes, so I was slipping everywhere and kept having to de-clog my treads. Man, I forgot how much harder it was to run on snow. I was beat.

Saturday: 20.01 miles at 11:17 avg pace! GUYS, I RAN  20 MILES AT FASTER THAN GOAL MARATHON PACE!! That wasn’t even a goal or on my mind. I just wanted to finish. This long run was weird, though. I ran 6.2 miles to a race, ran a 4.9 mile race, then ran just over 8.8 to finish it out. Running to the race was almost all uphill, and the conditions were pretty icy. The race was full of hills. I ran some miles fast (like a 9:40ish first mile) and some slower (11:30). I kinda did my intervals, but ran the downhills straight. I didn’t want to screw myself up for the rest of run, but wanted to push a little. Then I ran 8.8 miles back down towards Jake’s house and finished around the harbor. I was tired when I finished, but could have kept going. My body felt great, aside from my tight quad.

When I got to Jake’s I saw his roommate outside, and he said “I’d invite you skiing, but you look thrashed.” Yes, Andrew. I felt pretty thrashed, but also pretty stoked that I was officially in taper town.

Sunday: REST. My legs were a little sore in the morning, but felt better as the day goes on. As I write this (about 7 pm) I feel fine. I’ve been ravenous all day, but I normally am after that long of a run!

Weekly total: 38.x miles. Not the 40 I had planned, but with plenty of miles atop snow and ice, I’m cool with it!

How was your week of running? Have you had any snowy runs yet?

Goofy Challenge Training Week 14: 12/4 -12/10/17

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but there is just ONE MORE WEEK until I start to taper for the Goofy Challenge! My magic bands have arrived, all I have left to buy is Disney’s Photo Pass service, and our fast passes have been booked for a month (well, some I re-did this week). This week didn’t go quite according to plan, but I’m really happy with how it turned out!

Monday: Rest. My quad was really achy, so I took an extra day to let it recover a bit.

Tuesday: 5 miles before work. This was my first morning run in forever that I really enjoyed and was happy that I got out of bed for. I kept it pretty easy on the hills.

Wednesday: Rest. I woke up feeling ill and stayed in bed. I thought about running in the afternoon, but ended up going home and sleeping through my break. My daily resting HR was about 6 BPM higher than normal, so I took it as a sign my body was fighting something and needed rest.

Thursday: 5 miles during my afternoon break! It was an absolutely beautiful day to be outside, and it really helped me keep up my motivation during my last work hours of the week.

Friday AM: CRYOTHERAPY! I’m planning on writing a post on this experience soon, but I’m so glad I went. My quad does not feel 100%, but it certainly helped it feel better and also helped my calves loosen up.

Friday PM: 7.31 miles. I honestly didn’t think I’d make it that far, but I felt great!! If I didn’t need to get home to start making dinner (homemade sauce, yo!) I probably would have ran another 1-2 miles.

Saturday: 19 miles! Guys, this run was fantastic. I think it was my second fastest long run pace of this training cycle, and I felt like I could have gone on and on. Now that I look back, it was :23 sec/mi faster than any 20 miler I’ve done. I had almost decided to go for 20; however, it started snowing the minute I started to run and by the end I was sick of my eyes burning by being pelted with snow. Then I spent the day celebrating my Birthday! I had an amazing night out with friends. Now, I’m ready to “detox” without (almost any alcohol) for the next 4 months until it’s time to go to Florida!

My phone was almost dead by mile 10, so no run picture happened. So you get this beaut instead!

Weekly total: 36.6 miles!

I’m so glad that I’m finally, truly starting to feel like myself again. This week is my “peak week.” I’m aiming to hit 40 miles in 4-5 runs. Then it’s taper time, just in time for the crazy holidays. Taking two trips in 2 weeks is going to be draining, but so worth it. I’m hoping work will be nice and quiet in-between so I have some good downtime.

Goofy Challenge Training Week 13: 11/27-12/3/17

Week 13 is over! Less than 4 more weeks until I am done with the Goofy Challenge! This is the week where I started to get over the feelings of overtraining/burnout that I was experiencing for most of November. I also experienced some pains in my right foot and quad that caused me to run less than I wanted to. Nevertheless, I’m feeling more like myself again.

Monday: Rest day – unplanned. I couldn’t get out of bed and was busy during my mid-day break so a run didn’t happen.

Tuesday: 4 miles during my mid-day break. Instead of running at the gym, I explored the neighborhoods around my office! It was a beautiful afternoon and was a pretty decent run.

Wednesday: 3.68 miles at November Project. It was a little rough getting up and moving, but running with two different people helped keep me going. I went much easier than I normally would on PR day. However, my right quad was feeling very tight and I didn’t want to cause any more discomfort.

Thursday: Rest day. I considered heading to the gym to cross-train, but I ended up doing some extra work during my break.

Friday: Rest day – unplanned. I planned to run, but when I got up I had an aching pain in my arch that felt like deja vu of my plantar fascitis days. SO instead, I walked to move my car, then went back to bed. I spent half an hour in the evening using all of my self-massage tools.

Saturday: 13.25 miles.  My foot felt fine, and while my quad felt tight it was alright. I ran 60:30 not to hurt it more. I started out really slow and sped up like normal. While it took me a while to get out the door, I did enjoy the run! I just went to use my R8 roller and it’s so cold!!

No long run picture, but we had a mighty Friendsgiving!

Sunday: Rest day

Weekly miles: 20.9. Once again, totally not where it should be right now. But, it is what it is.

The next two weeks bring my 19 + 20 milers. I may not do 9/19 and 10/20, but will surely do doubles with at least 5 miles both days. With my mileage being so low, I don’t want to bring it up too quickly again and hurt myself (especially with how my legs are feeling now). I got burnt out at a really unfortunate time in training, and it’s getting to me because I was feeling so good through October. However, now I know how far I can/can’t push myself before I break and I’ve been taking much better care of myself to try and find more balance in my life. I’m planning for 5 days of running this week, which will probably be close to double the mileage of last week. That means slow and easy runs while I’m hitting “peak week(s)” at a really weird time fitness-wise.

Goofy Challenge Training Weeks 11 + 12

So long, so quiet! Things haven’t been quite silent around here, but I’ve slowed down a lot since getting sick a few weeks ago. To be completely honest, November has not been what I was hoping for. I started off the month aiming for my first 150 mile month, and I’ll barely hit 120. However, things are starting to feel a little better. It’s just in time, because there are just 2.5 more weeks until taper time!

Week 11: (11/13-11/19)

Monday: 5 miles of a “workout” on the treadmill. I was feeling pretty motivated. I ran with longer, harder run intervals and finished with a 10:12/mi average – my fastest of the training cycle so far. “Daily” plank and 30 burpees.

Tuesday: 5 miles on the treadmill, again. I could not muster up the energy to get up and out of bed. Again, the “daily” plank and 30 burpees that I was trying to start up again.

Wednesday: Literally no.desire. to run.

Thursday: Typical rest day.

Friday: 8 miles. 2 miles, 2.5 miles of hills at NP, then finished up the daily miles. It took a lot to get going, and I really hated it. I didn’t enjoy the run at all. When people asked me how training was going, I didn’t have a positive word to say.

Mid-NP photo by Gio Vargas!

Saturday: 18 miles was on the docket. 0 happened. You could have paid me $1,000 and I wouldn’t have ran. I was done. No fire in me. Instead, I enjoyed a relaxing day and a friendsgiving. I tried so hard not to think about, or talk about running. When my friends kept asking/talking about it, I tried to change the subject (for once). It was very needed.

Sunday: Rest

Week 11 total: 18 miles.

Week 11 was #rough. I was the first time since I started to run that I truly felt an aversion to running. I was exhausted, stressed, and was putting so much pressure on myself to train as hard as possible for the Goofy Challenge. It killed me that I was working so hard to run a race that wasn’t “for time,” even though my paces have been great lately. I needed a change in mindset, and I needed it fast.

On Saturday morning, I posted in a Dopey Challenge training group on facebook about the struggles I was facing emotionally. Finds out, I wasn’t the only one feeling this way. It felt great to rant about it to people who were training for the same (or a similar) event and I saw that I wasn’t the only one in this state of mind. I just need to finish the marathon. It may not be fun, but it will be done.

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Week 12: (11/20-26)

Monday: 3 miles. It took all I had to get out in the morning and I ended up running without my watch! I wasn’t feeling well, so I turned around when I felt like it.

Tuesday: 5 miles on the treadmill. While I ran, I watched WDW marathon videos on youtube and it really helped keep me moving. I teared up a couple of times, even!

Wednesday: Rest day.

Thursday: 3.15 miles at a Turkey Trot with a friend from work. We went to have fun and finished in 31:54. We were aiming for under 30, but it was hard with all of the weaving we had to do, as well as a few good hills. We kicked it in good and finished the last .2 at under 7:30/mi pace!

Friday: 5.1 miles in the afternoon, as I took the morning to do some shopping. Actually, I ran this after a lunch and movie with beer and lots of popcorn. I ran without structured intervals and it felt wonderful.

Saturday: 18.1 miles. The run was a little rough, with 3 potty stops (with no feeling of relief), an outfit change, and some wonkiness in my legs. I felt pretty weak, and ended up running 60:30 for the entire run. Nevertheless, I was proud of myself for running the entire distance.

Sunday: Rest.

Week 12 total: 34.35 miles. A bit more back on track.

I shortened my weekday runs this week, mostly just to run enough days, but not to kill myself in the process. I focused a lot more on getting good sleep and taking the pressure off of myself. As of Wednesday night, my legs still don’t feel 100% after Saturday’s run. I’m thankful this weekend only calls for 13ish miles – which I’ll be sure to run easily. Hopefully I’ll be back to 100% by next week. Just two more hard weeks of training!

Goofy Challenge Training Week 10: 11/6 – 11/12/2017

Ladies and Gentlemen (okay, probably many more ladies, just sayin), Week 10 is over! In terms of my “training plan” that I loveeee it was supposed to be a “down” week, but it was much more “down” than was planned.

I started feeling sick on Sunday night. It ended up getting better, than worse. I finally think I’m over the hump and hopefully in a day or two I’ll be nearing 100% again.

Monday: Rest. I wasn’t feeling well and had so much to do at work. I took it as a sign to work extra instead of heading to the gym.

Tuesday: 4 miles on the treadmill. I ended up doing a mini-workout (looking back, I totally should have taken it easier). I did 3 x .9 mi run with .1 mi walking recovery then 1 mile straight run. It was nice to just run instead of doing intervals. I need to do it more often!

Wednesday: 5 miles at 120:30 intervals (what I hope I’ll do marathon #4 at, if not Disney), then 2.5 miles at November Project. Once I got to the workout, I started to feel real crappy, so I ran laps with some girls who were tapering for a race weekend instead of hitting the stairs. 7.5 miles total.

Thursday-Friday: Rest. No typical gym on Thursday and no run on Friday. I ended up leaving work early on Thursday, which I never do. I just felt that crappy.

Saturday: 14.22 miles. I originally had plans to run with a new friend, but I cancelled them when I was feeling pretty sick. But after a morning on the couch, I felt up to at least trying once it warmed up a little. I ended up having my best long run of this cycle so far. I ran a nearly 7 minute negative split and had some great reflection time. But it WAS cold and I was absolutely freezing at the end! (I also took many “gotta blow my nose” breaks.)

Weekly total: 25.77 miles. About 10 miles less than was planned, but everyone gets sick sometimes, right? I’d rather it happen now rather than later.

As I was afraid of, I’ve started to kind of “dread” my double weekends, especially with working extra hours at work. I’ve been working Fridays on and off so I don’t use my PTO days for holidays (my office doesn’t close on Federal Holidays, don’t even get me started….) but thankfully I was smart enough to plan them on weekends opposite my really high mileage weekends.

This week my plan jumps up in miles to 5/8/5 for my weekday runs. Just 5 more weeks until taper time! 8/18 next week, 9/19 two weeks after that, then 10/20 two weeks later. It’s go time!

Are you training for anything right now? Will I see you at Disney?

Goofy Training Week 9 + October 2017 Recap

With week 9 being done, I am now officially halfway though training for the 2018 Goofy Challenge! Today I ordered my park tickets and booked Fast Passes – it is all feeing so real! The 7+17 double this weekend also made it feel real 😛 I definitely spent some time re-thinking this challenge this week, but I know it will be worth it in the end.

Monday: 4 miles on the treadmill, with some arm/leg weights. My orange Hoka One One Arahi’s felt pretty dead, so I was happy that I had already purchased some new ones!

Tuesday: 4 miles on the treadmill again, because I was lazy AF in the morning. I made myself do a hill setting and got progressively faster. It felt mostly good, except for in my calves. I hate hills on a treadmill because I feel like my legs are always trashed after!

Wednesday: 7 miles fast (for me!). I don’t really have a goal race “pace” for the marathon, but I ran with 120:90 intervals, which is my goal interval setting for the marathon. I ran faster than I probably should have, ending with a 10:12 average pace. But I felt fantastic and had so much fun!

Thursday: 25 miles on the bike, and leg day in the weights section!

Friday: 7 miles of hills- 2 easy, 3 miles of hill repeats with November Project, then another 2 easy. I loved the hill repeats, especially pushing myself to run without intervals. While still slow compared to a majority of the other tribe members, I ran near a friend most of the time and felt strong.

Saturday: 17 miles – These were not the best, but looking back on it, 17 miles isn’t ever going to be easy, especially after 7 miles with 625 feet of gain (a lot for me)! I didn’t last as long at 90:30 as I had hoped, but I held a similar pace once I moved down to 60:30. By the end of the run, my legs were feeling pretty rough. Some miles were rough, but 6-13 were pretty smooth!

Sunday: REST DAYYYY….and started to come down with something, I think. Crossing my fingers that it passes quickly!

Weekly miles: 39.06 miles

Like I mentioned before, I am struggling more during this training cycle than in my first two marathon cycles. I am just so not gelling with this plan, even with the modifications I have made to the “down” weeks. I am also starting to struggle with the idea of putting all of this work in, and not really running for a time on January 8th. I’m so tempted to sign up for a local marathon in less than 3 weeks just to see what I can do even though I would be undertrained. However, I don’t want to screw anything up going into WDW Marathon Weekend!

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Also, October is obviously over! It was a really good month of running for me, although not all runs were perfect. I only missed one run, ran a few races, and crushed a goal.

Monthly miles: 122

2017 miles to date: 1,009 <– A THOUSAND miles!!! Seriously, this has been a goal since I started running. I was about 30 miles short last year. I hit my 1,000th mile while running with friends at the Towson Homecoming 5K and couldn’t imagine it any other way. Seriously, if my running gets someone moving a little more, that makes my heart happy. I’m now working to meet my second mileage goal of the year, which is 1,200 miles!

Races: 4 miler (short) with my nephew, 2 5Ks, and the Baltimore Half Marathon. None were crazy good or bad, but I was happy I did them all. I don’t have any races coming up between now and Disney. I’m sad about it, but realistically, there aren’t many that fit with my training schedule and I’m trying to save the $$$ for new race experiences.

I’m looking forward to: DISNEY – of course! Also I’m looking forward to races I already have planned for spring 2018 and some potential hard halfs or a full in April/May. I want to keep up this momentum for a PR in 2018! I also just joined the Oiselle Volee, to try to make more running friends, hopefully people to travel to races with. I’m looking forward to getting to know other members of the “flock”!