I am currently typing this one handed because the little dog won't let me stop petting her. 5 miles is done and the weather was unseasonably cool and perfect. It's funny how I've run so far in the past and yet completing 5 miles still feels like a victory. I deserved pancakes :-)
Well not so much the leafy branch but the relief that the branch that hit me in the face was neither an enormous winged insect nor a bird. That's the problem with running in a baseball cap. In the winter, the branch just sort of skims over the brim but in the summer, the leaves weigh it down and it flutters beneath the brim. So yeah, after a moment of terror, I got a chance to laugh at myself.
So another run and done.
Gah! I'm getting terrible at updating this time around. Anyways, last Tuesday's run was excellent. I kept thinking about the upcoming Antman movie (in which Paul Rudd plays the title character) and smiling. I try to keep my mind somewhere happy.
Sorry folks. Unexpected knee pain on Thursday cut my run a little short. My legs have been a little achy lately so I've started doing yoga and I *ahem* appropriated a foam roller from my mom's house last weekend. Hopefully that will help ease some of my pains.
Today is unseasonably cool, and I'll take it. As I did my run, a touch of rain began to fall and I remembered running in the rain this winter. In the summer, it's actually rather nice (the winter? not so much). Because of my achiness, I started out easy, doing intervals of 2 min running and 1 minute walking and then slid up to 3 minutes running and 1 minute walking. That seemed to really help so I'll try to keep doing that.
I was too busy floating in my mom's new pool to log my run this weekend. Today, I've realized that some things change and some things stay the same. While training for Disney Princess, I fought the cold, now I am struggling in the heat. Instead of trying to put on as many layers as possible while still being able to move, I am struggling to keep enough clothes on so I don't give the town a show. One thing does not change, however. I still burp and fart my way through my run. It is gross and embarrassing and it feels so darn good to get it out.
Another early morning run completed. Everything hurt a little. I think it's my body readjusting itself to the demands of regular exercise. Like I said, it's been a while. I also think I need new shoes. Not running shoes, but everyday shoes that support my feet a little better.
I saw Sirius Black this morning. There's a black stray that's been living in town for a couple months now. Animal control can't seem to catch it and for the most part, she just watches and runs away. Lately though, she seems to have taken a bit more of an interest in me (and to my concern, Coco). This time, she fell into a trot a few yards behind me for a stretch. Her ears were up and her tail was high. Not sure if she's curious or exhibiting predatory behavior. Until she's caught, killed or moves on, however, she's probably going to be a regular entry in this blog.
I'm not going to lie folks, I've been less than religious about my running habits. After the Disney Princess Half Marathon, I let things slide. I skated by on luck and determination for the Broad Street Ten Miler. After that... Yeah, I've been lazy. I also got a dog! She's a little white terrier-thing that is sweet and wonderful and loves long walks. I thought a small dog wouldn't need much exercise, but she never gets tired. Never. This means that a great deal of my free time is spent tromping through the neighborhood.
So, to accommodate the princess dog, I set my alarm for 5 AM. No, that is not a typo. 5 AM. I forgot how much I like that pre-dawn time. No one else is really up, just me and some birds and the odd commuter. The cats are thrilled with this new arrangement. They've been trying to tweak my schedule in favor of more food earlier for a while now.
I like to say that the first day is the hardest and I've got to admit that it wasn't easy. Parts of me are a little creaky and all I want to do is sleep now. The good news is that I've done my run for today, the bad news is I still have a full day of work to get through.
I still can't believe it's over. Nearly a year of training, lots of blood, sweat and tears, a few trips to doctors, surgery and some iron transfusions and it's over. I ran a frickin' half-marathon guys!
I was up at 3:30 a.m. which gave me just enough time to throw on my costume, eat a little food and then join 20 thousand of my closest princess friends. Traffic was a mess, even so early and I was grateful that we'd gotten a room at the Beach Club Resort, which meant we didn't have too far to go. Once we arrived, it was a huge party complete with long lines to the bathroom. There was a stage and music and so many clever costumes. It felt like it was 10 p.m., not the wee hours of the morning.
Finally, we made our way to our corrals. I made friends with a Snow White named Gretchen who was from DC. We were both in J, so we kept each other company while we waited, counting the gun fires as each corral was released in turn. Finally it was us. I didn't even know it at first because no one was moving. We were just too crowded, but then we were at a walk, a trot and finally a jog as "Eye of the Tiger" played.
At about mile 2, a cheer went up and I looked left across the median to see a lone runner streak past. I later found out it was an Olympian athlete who crushed the course record by finishing in 1:11. I can't even comprehend running so fast and sort of wonder if she enjoyed the half as much as I did. It was incredible.
I passed the princes photo shoot and others (Ants, Mary Poppins, Snow White) and kept going. Through water stops and medical tents and porta johns. One of my new friends had advised me to stop at every water stop even though I had a hydration belt. It would be downtime. I don't quite know if I agree, but the humidity was high and I needed all the liquids I could get.
At some points, the course narrowed and the walkers clogged the route (myself included). Sometimes it was frustrating because I wanted to go faster, other times because I knew I was in someone else's way. At mile 5, we entered Magic Kingdom and ran down Main Street towards the castle. The streets were lined with spectators cheering everyone on. I couldn't help but grin and then we were through the castle and back on the road. Soon after, the theme song for the race played: "Let it Go". Amazing song and perfect when I needed that extra boost.
The last few miles were something of a blur as we climbed exit ramps and continued on the roads. I stopped at the second prince's stop for the derpiest picture. With four princes, I wasn't sure whether to stand by Flynn (as I was Rapunzel) or position myself in the middle. I chose the middle and Flynn looks so sad in the picture! Really the guys doing that must have had to put up with a lot from us runners. It was hard to smile pretty for the picture when my thoughts were on the road. I am not good at having my concentration disrupted. In the end, it looked like I was going to cry!
At mile 13, they had a gospel choir. Really! A gospel choir. By then, I knew I had this. I still couldn't believe it was done. I was a sweaty mess and my forehead was gritty from the salt in my sweat having dried. But I crossed the finish line and got my medal and found my Mom and sister and cried a little. It was over. At 9:30, I was heading home for a bath and then drinking around the world at Epcot. It was all an amazing day.
And soon after I discovered that there's an Avengers Half at Disneyland. I'd get a coast-to-coast medal and be running with the boys (and girls). It's crazy, but I'm doing it! Stay tuned folks. The ride ain't over yet!
I have my gray kitty to thank for the 5:30 wake up. He decided to try to eat something on my dresser that was not kibble. So I got an early start and Dodger got his breakfast. Well played lad. Well. Played.
I was going to take it easy. No need to push too hard, just aiming for the status quo. My biggest worry has been the sudden stiffness in my right knee. By the end of my last run the entire leg felt like it was bionic. After barely a mile, though, I could feel the swelling begin (I'm assuming the cause is inflammation). So I cut the run short and popped an ibuprofen. Maybe Friday.
I can't believe it's almost here. I'm still working on my costume and making my way through all the Disney animated films. Just three more to go! Watching them as an adult is much more different than watching them as a child. Today was 4 miles, nice and easy. I'm trying not to worry about my stiff right knee.
I'm turning into such a wuss with this cold weather. It must be my old age creeping up on me. Again, I relied on the kindness of my boss and used their treadmill. My boss is also the one who will be sewing my sparkle skirt (due to arm chafe concerns, I will not be wearing a tutu). Clearly I owe her big time.
Thanks to the snowflakes in today and tomorrow's forecast, I decided to do a dry run for the half this morning. That meant waking up at 4:30 and getting out there by 6 to run 12.75 miles. I didn't want my first half to be in training. I ran until the town woke up and now I'm on the couch trying not to think about bagels since I'm making pizza. That's a lot of carbs. :-) This was the last long run until the real thing!
Nice but cold today. It felt good to get out there and just do it. I'm thinking when this princess stuff is over I might leave the watch at home for a week or so. Right now, I'm just happy there's no snow on the ground. I am so over winter!
I was back home in PA for the weekend which made for a slightly fragile run this morning. It was a positively balmy 31 degrees! My Magic Mile was a bit slower than the last time, but it was also involving more hills than I am used to so I'm still pleased.
One interesting thing is that another girl was out running the same circuit that I was but in the opposite direction. As I did my walk/run interval, she plugged along at a steady pace. Not only that, but she was still running when I went in. It was the first time in a while that I was not the longest runner. Not sure I liked the sensation of going in early...
Three weeks till the run! Costume is 85% finished.
Ran on the Dreadmill today due to ridiculous cold (7 degrees when I woke up this morning) and spots of ice. Luckily, my boss's husband is a tax attorney so he's pretty much living in his office this time of year. What also lives at his office is a treadmill. I still don't like using it: no fresh air and no sense of victory at the end, but it does give me a chance to really focus on my running form. I have terrible running form. It's a miracle I haven't hurt myself more seriously.
Also, the corral placements were announced. Thanks to the Turkey Trot, I am in Corral J, pretty much in the middle. This means a sooner start and thankfully more time to complete the course. Tutu construction is also in progress. I think it might be a bit too floofy. I need to readjust.
Welcome back! I've been absent the past week due to icy weather and slight illness. Once I hit 11.5 miles two weeks ago and realized that I've got this, my priorities changed a little. Now, staying uninjured is slightly more important than getting a run in. This means that when there's ice on the road, in theory I'm to put in an exercise video. Of course, I couldn't do that for my 12.5 miler so I appealed to my boss and the treadmill in her husband's office.
Some things I've learned using a treadmill:
1. Don't close your eyes. You will open them and find yourself nearly off the back of the tread.
2. It might sound like an elephant is tap dancing through the room but really, that piece of equipment is designed to operate under heavier circumstances.
3. This treadmill times out at 100 minutes, meaning it will shut down.
4. Life gets boring on a treadmill for 3 hours
5. I don't do as well on a treadmill. I'm packing a 16 minute mile there while my other long runs were more like 14:30.
Until next time!
I hit a new PR in the mile. I had to double check my route and make sure I ran the right distance, but yep, I ran a mile in nearly 10 minutes. Between this and my 11 miler, I'm starting to think I've got this half marathon thing.
I've done white knuckle drives home, but this morning I got to experience a white knuckle run home. Or rather a white knuckle baby-steps ice skate home. I knew it was supposed to rain and I knew it was below freezing outside. My original plan was to get my run in between 5-6 before the rain was supposed to come.
I'll wait for you to stop laughing at that ludicrous idea.
Still that goal did get me out by 6 and there was still nothing in the sky so I thought I might be able to slide. Just half an hour. How bad could things get in half an hour? Well half way through, I started to slide on the concrete, so I switched to the road. Then I started to slide on the road so I switched to the grass. Unfortunately there is no clear cut pathway of lawn so I ended up scooting along very slowly until I came to a stretch and then tried to run on that. Really though, it wasn't worth it.
Now I'm all grumpy because I was doing really well and could have PRed my route. Not only that but I was all set to talk about how ridiculous I look in my glasses and ski cap, sort of like Martha Plimpton in The Goonies sister. (I'm in glasses due to a stye in my eye that hasn't healed yet). Anyways, grump grump grump. 11 Miles on Sunday. Not calling for rain, thankfully.
Aside from the fact that it is cold as hell outside (19 degrees according to my more generous weather app), there was nothing coming down from the sky, nor were there hazards on the ground and I had no worries regarding injuries. In fact, I would say I felt better today than I have in a while. The only issues were my calves. Since I knew I was running on Wednesday, I thought I could do something a bit more strenuous on Monday. I ended up doing Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred. And boy did I feel shredded. Two days later, I am still walking on my toes. But a little stretching helped that issue.
Have you ever seen the movie, The Cutting Edge? It's one of my mom's favorites and so I've seen it dozens of times. While running past the Domaine de la Victoire (field of victory, also known as the field I pass during my runs), I remembered that scene when Doug and Kate are running and he steals her hat... anyways it made me laugh thinking of it. Toe pick.
I had a choice to make: either run today or run tomorrow. And since we are expecting freezing rain tomorrow, I decided to get out there today. For the most part it was fine, though I am annoyed at all the houses that hadn't bothered to clear their sidewalks. This includes businesses too. E tu Dollar General? So I nearly wiped out 4 times and had to walk for a few stretches, but mostly it all went well until the end. It's funny how my right side used to give me all these problems. Just about every part of it has hurt enough for me to worry about serious injury, but since a week ago, it's been a running machine and feels amazing. Now it's my left side. Luckily, my achilles tendon cleared up with some rest but my left knee is now getting me concerned. I'm thinking I might have wrenched it during my wild run in the rain last week. Hopefully it just needs a little ice and tlc.
