Since I never really posted a race recap for Tower of Terror, there is one awesome thing that happened that weekend that I have never had a chance to talk about. It's crazy how you run into random people on Disney trips and it can be a huge blessing. I love that while you are at WDW you can talk to people from all over the world. It's amazing being able to ask about different cultures and countries and get answers from young people that live there. It is one of the awesome things about the exchange program that Disney has for college age employees. They get a chance to learn about and live in the American culture and we get to learn from them about their homes if you take the time to just ask. Sometimes though, the encounters happen organically and a random act becomes so much more.
After the ToT expo, we went to the food court upstairs to grab some lunch. We had to wait for my food order to be corrected in the system because these poor kids had very little experience with the dining plan since they usually just feed hungry school kids that are there for competitions. While we were waiting off to the side, one of the cast members that was helping direct expo traffic noticed Diane's birthday button and decided to sing to her. Moments like that make wearing the celebration pins so much fun. Great cast members go out of their way to make you smile. Diane found herself being serenaded by a young man named Elvis. As soon as he was done, she cracked up and said, "Now I can say Elvis sang me Happy Birthday!" He began to laugh because his name had never occurred to him when he decided to sing to her. When she pointed out his name, I looked at his name tag and saw that he was from Kenya. As we were all standing around talking, he asked if any of us were running the race. When he found out I was, he asked if I wanted some advice and pointed to his name tag saying, "You see where I am from, right?"
In my head I was screaming DUH! but I simply laughed and said of course. I was not born yesterday. There is a reason you can buy so many running things that say "In my dreams, I'm a Kenyan." They get it, they understand how to run and how to do it right. World class runners who want to be better, go to Kenya and train with them because they just get it. So of course I was eager to hear anything he had to say. He kept it short and sweet but he made two very good points. One I already practiced, even though people think I am crazy, I know it works(and I finally had some back up) and the other is something I have heard but so many runners have a hard time doing it.
His first piece of advice:
Do not drink during a race.
This is something that has always been natural to me. Most people think I am crazy and many think you will die if you don't drink while you run, but that is simply not true. If you are probably hydrated BEFORE the race, you typically do not need to drink during. I always increase my fluid intake the week leading up and make sure I add some electrolytes the day or two before the race. Then morning of I will drink very little water before the start and that's about it. You shouldn't have to have a pit stop during a race. If you do, you are over hydrated and drinking at every water stop will only make that worse and slow you down. If I drink anything, it is only a sip and then I dump the rest or use it to swish out my mouth. Most of the time your mouth is just dry, you are not actually thirsty, so I swish some water around and then move over to the side and spit it out. I can feel it if I drink too much at a water stop and it sucks.
His second tip:
Run every mile faster than your last.
This is the hard one for so many runners, including myself. It is such a mental struggle for many to start out slower but starting too fast will catch up to you quickly. It's a problem that I have always had and one of the things that was so great about the start of Tink. It was too crowded for me to be too fast. It forced me to slow down the first mile or two and so by the time I was out of the parks, I could run each mile a few seconds faster than the last and still feel good. It is something that I am going to try my best to remember as the Princess half begins. It took me a few months to be able to follow his second tip but once I did, I had an amazing race. I will definitely keep my eyes peeled to see if Elvis is still working there when I return this week. If he is, I will have to let him know that it took a while but I finally figured it out and he was right. I knew he was right when he said it but it took some practice to be able to follow it.
It was so cool being able to chat with someone that has such an awesome knowledge of running that is just natural to him. I have always looked at and tried to follow how Kenyans do it. It is one of the reasons I love my Vibram Five Fingers and wear more minimalist shoes. If they can run marathons barefoot or in shoes that are barely there, why can't I. It feels natural to me and is the only way that doesn't make my feet hurt. I am a Georgia Peach and was raised in the South. That means my feet are shaped naturally because I ran around barefoot all the time and still do. I hate shoes because they try to force me feet into a shape that it isn't. It was nice talking with someone that understood that and so much more about running. It also reminded me about one of the things that makes WDW such a great place to visit.
Next time you are at Disney, pay attention to the workers around you. They have so much to offer us if you take the time to look for it. Check their name tags because everyone loves being called by name and you can find out where they are from. You never know what they may be able to share with you if you don't take the time to notice. And if you are celebrating anything, a birthday, anniversary, first trip or any other thing you can think of, grab a button, because you will find so many people that will go out of their way to acknowledge your celebration and you might get something bigger out of it. Diane was serenaded numerous times that weekend(because when you are at Disney you can celebrate all week)by ushers, waiters, cashiers and even a custodian that was emptying the trash cans near our bus stop. Elvis sang to her and gave her free ice cream and we had a blast soaking it all in with her. I always wonder how many people miss out on the fun things like that because when a cast member calls out to them, they just keep walking. Appreciate the people around you no matter how "small" their job might seem.
But above all else remember when a Kenyan gives you running advice, listen.
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
You can fly...(Redemption)
Two years ago, I finished my first half marathon at Tink 2012. It was a bittersweet race because of the triumph of finishing my first half marathon, missing my deployed husband and hating the course. I finished that race but it was not easy. I fought emotions, mental blocks and pain to accomplish the goal that I was unable to accomplish at the 2011 Princess. Before I ran the first Tink, I had plans of running it every year to become a legacy. After completing that inaugural race, I swore I would never run it again unless it was an anniversary year or they offered something worth running it again because I hated the course so much.
In spring of 2013, Run Disney announced the new pink Coast to Coast medal for those runners that completed Tink and Princess in 2014. The funny thing is, I had decided that one Coast to Coast was enough since they don't really change from year to year. All of a sudden, I had a new reason to run Tink and bring home a new Coast to Coast. It also made me sign up for Princess which I was on the fence about, but there was no way I could pass up the new medal and the chance to run the inaugural Glass Slipper Challenge. As I signed up for Tink, my focus was still mainly on Princess. Even though Tink will always hold a special place in my heart as the first half that I completed, I still had a bitter taste in my mouth from the disappointment with the course.
When they announced the new Tink 10K, I signed up. Even though they weren't offering a challenge, I figured it would be good practice for GSC. Then I was able to talk Rachel, my most reliable cheerleader, into trying the 5K so I signed up for that too. When I trained over the summer, I used a plan that had back to back runs every week so I knew that it would help me prepare. Unfortunately, I did not stick with it like I should after the Rock 'n' Roll half in November. As Tink weekend grew closer, I became more and more nervous about doing all three races. Even as I picked up my packets, all I could think was "What did I get myself into?"
Friday wasn't too bad. I knew I would be walking the 5K with Rachel and not really trying to run at all. I had a fun costume and stopped for one character, Captain Hook.
It was way too much fun having him react to my costume. As we walked past a boat full of lost boys, it was fun to hear them call out to me. It's things like that that make dressing up for Disney races awesome. I had hoped to have a costume of sorts for the half but time wasn't on my side so all I had was the one for the 5K.
After the 5K, we spent the day in the parks. Then Saturday was the 10K. I was planning to run a little at the beginning and then walk the rest. I never felt good during the race. Something just felt off and people on the course were only making it worse. There were SO MANY PEOPLE. And there weren't enough corrals. The course was always packed and I seemed to be surrounded by extremely crabby runners. I was run into and pushed around continuously and no one ever apologized. There were people bitching about other runners or how the race was conducted or whatever and the negativity made a not so great race worse with every step. Looking at the finishing pics of the 10K I was shocked by the mass of people around me. The entire course was that way. I was so glad to be done and headed straight to the room to get changed. I was freaking out because the 10K was so bad I couldn't imagine any kind of good outcome at the half. I took it easy the rest of the day to try to rest up for the half.
I had my traditional pre-race meal after taking a quick nap and then turned in for the night. Through a crazy turn of events, Rachel and I ended up with another roommate for the weekend, Heather, who was also running the half. She was out a little later that night but as soon as I heard her come in, I was asleep. The alarm didn't go off as early as WDW races which is always nice. The hotel we were in was so close to the start it meant we didn't have to rush. I found my way into corral D and found a few people I have known online but never met in person. We chatted a bit as we waited for our corral to start and then we were on our way.
They have not adopted the new corral system on the west coast so it was very crowded getting started. It forced me to run slower during my 10 minute warm up but I think in the end that was a good thing. We circled the back of Disneyland and then entered a side access heading for California Adventure. There was a down and up that I had already done as part of the 5K on Friday just before we entered the park. It was weird running CA first since it was at the end of the race when I ran it the first year. We headed through the park in the dark but it was cool seeing everything lit up, including the fun wheel and the colored fountains from World of Color. That was the first thing I snapped a picture of along the course.
Soon we were running between the parks and I had a chance to see Rachel. I tossed her my running shrug, checked out the poster she had for me and headed into Disneyland. The environment was a lot better at this race compared to the first year. There still weren't many spectators since you had to have a higher level chear squad package there but there were lots more cast members this time. Even in the backlot areas, there were cast members everywhere and they were cheering us on and giving high fives. It was cool seeing Small World still lit up with the Christmas lights and getting a quick pic of the castle before we ran through it.
I missed seeing Rachel on my way through Downtown Disney because they were allowing spectators to cross the course by redirecting the runners from side to side of a holding area they had in the middle. Because of that crossing, I was running on the wrong side when I passed her and had no idea. During the first Tink, I remembered seeing the Red Hat Society ladies out in front of the Disneyland Hotel, but I was not prepared for what I saw that morning. There were so many more of them out there this year. They stretched at least a tenth of a mile if not farther down the course as we exited Downtown Disney and began our time in Anaheim. I couldn't help but get emotional as they all cheered and screamed for us. That is one thing unique to the DL races. At WDW, you have lots of spectators but they are mostly family and friends of the runners. In DL, you get groups like the Red Hat ladies that just come and cheer for the heck of it. It was really nice feeling the support of the community.
Even though I was originally bummed to see that the parks were only at the beginning of the race this year instead of divided up, it turned out to be not so bad. By the time we were heading into Anaheim, we were almost half way done with the race. Being in the parks and DTD for the first 5.5 miles made it go by in a blur. The streets were still a bit boring but not as monotonous as they seemed the first year. There were more people just out watching us run. By the time we were close to downtown Anaheim, we were already at 8 miles. I was shocked at how good I still felt so far in the race. I had the runner tracking texting me and I had been keeping a pretty steady pace of just over a 15minute/mile. That was slower than I had started any other race last year but I felt really strong. As I approached the 8 mile sign, I started to cry again and snapped a picture. Knowing that it all started with 8 miles and how I had felt at the 8 mile mark in the first Tink, I couldn't get over how far I have come. Even though I had some really bad races in 2013, I was finally seeing the work pay off.
Unfortunately, right after the 8 mile mark, I started to feel light headed. I grabbed the fruit snacks I had in my pocket and opened them up only to find that it only contained two pieces. I ate them but knew it was not going to be enough and I still had over a mile before we hit the gel station. I was really worried that I wasn't going to be able to keep running. Just when I needed it most, God sent some help. At around 8.5 miles, there was a group handing out orange slices and red vines. I grabbed one of each and said a quick prayer of thanks. I am not typically a red vines or twizzler fan but at that point, it tasted amazing. I felt a little better but I wasn't great yet. Then as we turned a corner in the downtown area, there was another tent set up with a different group. They had animal crackers, pretzels and peanut butter stuffed pretzels and more that I couldn't see. I grabbed a huge handful of animal crackers and a few pretzels for the salt. I spent the next little while walking and enjoying my snacks. My stomach was happy for something other than sugar and I could feel my blood sugar rising. By the time I reached mile 9 and the gel packets I was feeling good again. I still grabbed a gel and a cup of water just to help hold me over for the last 4 miles.
After that, I was in the home stretch. It's still crazy to me when you are running down the street past McDonalds and Subway and a million other restaurants but this time I tried to keep my focus on the road and on moving forward. I was still running my intervals which has never happened that far into a race before. I've always had to start skipping run intervals or just giving up and walking the rest but I still felt good. Every time I thought about where I was in the race, how far I had come since the first one and how good I felt, I couldn't help but get emotional. As we got closer to the finish, the more I had to fight back the tears. Fortunately, I soon passed one of the most awesome signs and it made me smile.
Finally, we were running through the backlot of California Adventure and I was almost there. I was running. I was feeling good. I was about to finish. I saw Rachel once more right before I turned the last corner. There it was, the finish line. I started to sprint which felt crazy because I am usually too tired to sprint at the end of a race. As I crossed the finish line, the tears began to flow. It is evident in the crazy expression that is on my face in my finisher photo that I was getting emotional. I cried more at this finish than I did when I finished the first one. I was so emotional that I had a hard time talking to Mac when he called to congratulate me. When I checked the final alert from the runner tracking, I had actually gotten faster in the last half of the race, not slower. I couldn't believe it.
In a lot of ways, I feel like this race actually meant more to me than completing my first one. I was proud of my first half marathon but I was still hesitant about the achievement. I had finished, but I had not finished in the allotted time or under the required pace. I had struggled a lot and still had a hard time calling myself a runner. Finally, with the 2014 Tink, I finished under the required 3:30 time limit and with a pace faster than a 16minute/mile. This was the first Disney race I have ever completed in under the required pace. I finally really felt like I had earned the title of "runner." I know I have been a runner for a while but I felt like I had never really ran a race. I always seemed to end up walking more than running and so it was hard for me to say "I ran a half marathon." For the first time I felt like I could proudly say that I ran a race.
The race redeemed itself this year. I didn't hate the course as much, the crowd support was great and I finally felt like it was a race I would willingly do again. But more than that, Tink was my redemption. Last year was a hard year for me when it came to races. I was truly ready to hang it all up and call it quits. I was tired and felt like I wasn't making any progress. This year's Tink finally proved to me that I am getting somewhere and that I haven't been wasting my time. It taught me something about my pacing and about the strength that I do possess. I'm finally looking forward to Princess and the Glass Slipper Challenge again, though I don't expect to have as good of a finish time. California is blessed with low humidity and great weather, and Florida is not. Even though the conditions probably won't be as good, I will still run my best race and hopefully finish with my head held high again.
In spring of 2013, Run Disney announced the new pink Coast to Coast medal for those runners that completed Tink and Princess in 2014. The funny thing is, I had decided that one Coast to Coast was enough since they don't really change from year to year. All of a sudden, I had a new reason to run Tink and bring home a new Coast to Coast. It also made me sign up for Princess which I was on the fence about, but there was no way I could pass up the new medal and the chance to run the inaugural Glass Slipper Challenge. As I signed up for Tink, my focus was still mainly on Princess. Even though Tink will always hold a special place in my heart as the first half that I completed, I still had a bitter taste in my mouth from the disappointment with the course.
When they announced the new Tink 10K, I signed up. Even though they weren't offering a challenge, I figured it would be good practice for GSC. Then I was able to talk Rachel, my most reliable cheerleader, into trying the 5K so I signed up for that too. When I trained over the summer, I used a plan that had back to back runs every week so I knew that it would help me prepare. Unfortunately, I did not stick with it like I should after the Rock 'n' Roll half in November. As Tink weekend grew closer, I became more and more nervous about doing all three races. Even as I picked up my packets, all I could think was "What did I get myself into?"
Friday wasn't too bad. I knew I would be walking the 5K with Rachel and not really trying to run at all. I had a fun costume and stopped for one character, Captain Hook.
It was way too much fun having him react to my costume. As we walked past a boat full of lost boys, it was fun to hear them call out to me. It's things like that that make dressing up for Disney races awesome. I had hoped to have a costume of sorts for the half but time wasn't on my side so all I had was the one for the 5K.
After the 5K, we spent the day in the parks. Then Saturday was the 10K. I was planning to run a little at the beginning and then walk the rest. I never felt good during the race. Something just felt off and people on the course were only making it worse. There were SO MANY PEOPLE. And there weren't enough corrals. The course was always packed and I seemed to be surrounded by extremely crabby runners. I was run into and pushed around continuously and no one ever apologized. There were people bitching about other runners or how the race was conducted or whatever and the negativity made a not so great race worse with every step. Looking at the finishing pics of the 10K I was shocked by the mass of people around me. The entire course was that way. I was so glad to be done and headed straight to the room to get changed. I was freaking out because the 10K was so bad I couldn't imagine any kind of good outcome at the half. I took it easy the rest of the day to try to rest up for the half.
I had my traditional pre-race meal after taking a quick nap and then turned in for the night. Through a crazy turn of events, Rachel and I ended up with another roommate for the weekend, Heather, who was also running the half. She was out a little later that night but as soon as I heard her come in, I was asleep. The alarm didn't go off as early as WDW races which is always nice. The hotel we were in was so close to the start it meant we didn't have to rush. I found my way into corral D and found a few people I have known online but never met in person. We chatted a bit as we waited for our corral to start and then we were on our way.
They have not adopted the new corral system on the west coast so it was very crowded getting started. It forced me to run slower during my 10 minute warm up but I think in the end that was a good thing. We circled the back of Disneyland and then entered a side access heading for California Adventure. There was a down and up that I had already done as part of the 5K on Friday just before we entered the park. It was weird running CA first since it was at the end of the race when I ran it the first year. We headed through the park in the dark but it was cool seeing everything lit up, including the fun wheel and the colored fountains from World of Color. That was the first thing I snapped a picture of along the course.
Soon we were running between the parks and I had a chance to see Rachel. I tossed her my running shrug, checked out the poster she had for me and headed into Disneyland. The environment was a lot better at this race compared to the first year. There still weren't many spectators since you had to have a higher level chear squad package there but there were lots more cast members this time. Even in the backlot areas, there were cast members everywhere and they were cheering us on and giving high fives. It was cool seeing Small World still lit up with the Christmas lights and getting a quick pic of the castle before we ran through it.
I missed seeing Rachel on my way through Downtown Disney because they were allowing spectators to cross the course by redirecting the runners from side to side of a holding area they had in the middle. Because of that crossing, I was running on the wrong side when I passed her and had no idea. During the first Tink, I remembered seeing the Red Hat Society ladies out in front of the Disneyland Hotel, but I was not prepared for what I saw that morning. There were so many more of them out there this year. They stretched at least a tenth of a mile if not farther down the course as we exited Downtown Disney and began our time in Anaheim. I couldn't help but get emotional as they all cheered and screamed for us. That is one thing unique to the DL races. At WDW, you have lots of spectators but they are mostly family and friends of the runners. In DL, you get groups like the Red Hat ladies that just come and cheer for the heck of it. It was really nice feeling the support of the community.
Even though I was originally bummed to see that the parks were only at the beginning of the race this year instead of divided up, it turned out to be not so bad. By the time we were heading into Anaheim, we were almost half way done with the race. Being in the parks and DTD for the first 5.5 miles made it go by in a blur. The streets were still a bit boring but not as monotonous as they seemed the first year. There were more people just out watching us run. By the time we were close to downtown Anaheim, we were already at 8 miles. I was shocked at how good I still felt so far in the race. I had the runner tracking texting me and I had been keeping a pretty steady pace of just over a 15minute/mile. That was slower than I had started any other race last year but I felt really strong. As I approached the 8 mile sign, I started to cry again and snapped a picture. Knowing that it all started with 8 miles and how I had felt at the 8 mile mark in the first Tink, I couldn't get over how far I have come. Even though I had some really bad races in 2013, I was finally seeing the work pay off.
 |
| Passing the 8 mile mark will always mean something special to me |
Unfortunately, right after the 8 mile mark, I started to feel light headed. I grabbed the fruit snacks I had in my pocket and opened them up only to find that it only contained two pieces. I ate them but knew it was not going to be enough and I still had over a mile before we hit the gel station. I was really worried that I wasn't going to be able to keep running. Just when I needed it most, God sent some help. At around 8.5 miles, there was a group handing out orange slices and red vines. I grabbed one of each and said a quick prayer of thanks. I am not typically a red vines or twizzler fan but at that point, it tasted amazing. I felt a little better but I wasn't great yet. Then as we turned a corner in the downtown area, there was another tent set up with a different group. They had animal crackers, pretzels and peanut butter stuffed pretzels and more that I couldn't see. I grabbed a huge handful of animal crackers and a few pretzels for the salt. I spent the next little while walking and enjoying my snacks. My stomach was happy for something other than sugar and I could feel my blood sugar rising. By the time I reached mile 9 and the gel packets I was feeling good again. I still grabbed a gel and a cup of water just to help hold me over for the last 4 miles.
After that, I was in the home stretch. It's still crazy to me when you are running down the street past McDonalds and Subway and a million other restaurants but this time I tried to keep my focus on the road and on moving forward. I was still running my intervals which has never happened that far into a race before. I've always had to start skipping run intervals or just giving up and walking the rest but I still felt good. Every time I thought about where I was in the race, how far I had come since the first one and how good I felt, I couldn't help but get emotional. As we got closer to the finish, the more I had to fight back the tears. Fortunately, I soon passed one of the most awesome signs and it made me smile.
Finally, we were running through the backlot of California Adventure and I was almost there. I was running. I was feeling good. I was about to finish. I saw Rachel once more right before I turned the last corner. There it was, the finish line. I started to sprint which felt crazy because I am usually too tired to sprint at the end of a race. As I crossed the finish line, the tears began to flow. It is evident in the crazy expression that is on my face in my finisher photo that I was getting emotional. I cried more at this finish than I did when I finished the first one. I was so emotional that I had a hard time talking to Mac when he called to congratulate me. When I checked the final alert from the runner tracking, I had actually gotten faster in the last half of the race, not slower. I couldn't believe it.
In a lot of ways, I feel like this race actually meant more to me than completing my first one. I was proud of my first half marathon but I was still hesitant about the achievement. I had finished, but I had not finished in the allotted time or under the required pace. I had struggled a lot and still had a hard time calling myself a runner. Finally, with the 2014 Tink, I finished under the required 3:30 time limit and with a pace faster than a 16minute/mile. This was the first Disney race I have ever completed in under the required pace. I finally really felt like I had earned the title of "runner." I know I have been a runner for a while but I felt like I had never really ran a race. I always seemed to end up walking more than running and so it was hard for me to say "I ran a half marathon." For the first time I felt like I could proudly say that I ran a race.
The race redeemed itself this year. I didn't hate the course as much, the crowd support was great and I finally felt like it was a race I would willingly do again. But more than that, Tink was my redemption. Last year was a hard year for me when it came to races. I was truly ready to hang it all up and call it quits. I was tired and felt like I wasn't making any progress. This year's Tink finally proved to me that I am getting somewhere and that I haven't been wasting my time. It taught me something about my pacing and about the strength that I do possess. I'm finally looking forward to Princess and the Glass Slipper Challenge again, though I don't expect to have as good of a finish time. California is blessed with low humidity and great weather, and Florida is not. Even though the conditions probably won't be as good, I will still run my best race and hopefully finish with my head held high again.
 |
My weekend in summary
This was in my fortune cookie the day after Tink.
I was really ready to
give up after last year but I think I will keep pushing forward instead.
2013: A bad year for races
I was typing up my Tink recap the other day and kept feeling like I needed to post this first. There are things about that race that will make more sense if you know more about how my other races were. I have alluded to recaps on my races in Oct-Dec but I have yet to write them. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I hate the thought of reliving any of those races, some more than others. I guess the last two weren't horrible but they weren't great either.
I was out for a training run two weeks before Tink and I did some serious thinking. I really felt like there was a possibility that Tink and Princess would be my last races. The past year was so bad that I was really ready to just give it all up. It all started with Princess and the nightmare that it became. I finished that race solely because my husband was there pushing me along. I was able to figure out why it was so bad when I finally had a clear head to look back on it but it didn't change the fact that it was a horrible race for me.
I was determined to do better and improve my running as I began training this summer for the Tower of Terror 10 miler in October and the Rock 'n' Roll half in November. I found a new training plan that I really liked and it had back to back run days that would prepare me for Tink and Princess weekends. I felt really strong in my training and actually did the race distance in training for the first time and felt great. I had high expectations for ToT. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't the best and I screwed up and spent too much time on my feet before the race. Once again, my race sucked. I did ok for the first half and then my feet were just done. I ended up walking that last half of the race and I wanted to cry the entire time. I was so upset that training had gone so well but my race time was not going to show it. I finished the race in the worst mood. The hike back into the park to meet up with my friends just pissed me off that much more because all I wanted to do was SIT DOWN. It was bad and I was very disappointed in myself. I knew that it was really my fault. Even though the temps weren't great, I could have dealt with that. The fact that I spent too much time in the park the day of the race really bit me in the ass and cost me a good race.
A few weeks later I ran the Zoo Stampede 10K. My average pace for that race wasn't bad but I still didn't feel good. It was tougher than it should have been. I felt too hot even though the temps were lower that morning. The humidity was playing against me and sweating just didn't work. I also hated that so much of the course ended up being on concrete sidewalks instead of asphalt. Concrete is harder than asphalt and I try my best not to run on it. Even though I have a good fore foot stride that helps reduce impact, since I am still overweight, it is easier on my ankles if I choose a better surface than concrete.
Two weeks after running through the zoo, I did the Rock 'n' Roll half marathon. It wasn't a horrible race but it could have been much better. I started out too fast by running my fastest 5K ever but then the damn hills and the over 90 degree temps got to me. In the summer, I run when it is 90 all the time but this was November 17th and we had been having typical fall weather for a few weeks so the suddenly high temps took a toll on everyone. I saw so many paramedics helping runners and the residents of the neighborhoods we ran through were spraying everyone with water hoses as we ran by to try to cool us all off. Thanks to my fast start, I finished with a good time for me even though I walked at least 6 miles of the course. Because of the unusual weather that day I was actually happy with my race time but I knew it could have been so much better had the temps been better.
After that race, I had a hard time keeping my head in the running game. My family visited for Thanksgiving and it got unusually cold for our area. I don't run well in the cold. I would much rather run at midnight in the summer when it is still 90 degrees than to run in the middle of the day in the winter when it is 35 degrees outside. I had plans of several other races between RnR and the end of the year but one 5K was cancelled at the last minute while the others I never signed up for. I wanted to have a few people do one of the night 5Ks with me but no one else was really interested. Then there was the other half marathon I wanted to do mid December but then I found out Mac was going to be on the other side of the world and I would have no one waiting at the finish for me. It was going to be a two lap race in a kind of boring area so the thought of not having a familiar face to look forward to made the race sound less appealing so I decided to save the entry fee. I tried to get a few runs in but it just didn't happen like I wanted.
Finally the Biggest Loser Half rolled around. It was my final race of 2013. It was not a great race. I was actually shocked the other day when I was looking at all of my results on Athlinks.com and saw that the Biggest Loser half was actually my fastest half ever. It sure didn't feel that way. It was another case of starting too fast maybe combined with a hill that was more than I ever imagined. When I do my training runs, there is a hill that I purposely run on every lap. It sucks but I know it is good training. It didn't help with the hill in this race because it wasn't really a hill, it was a bridge, a big ass bridge. The race was in Panama City Beach and the bridges there are no joke. What made this one so bad was the fact that the half way point for the out and back race was the bottom of the bridge on the other side so you immediately turned around and went up it again. It killed my quads. I had kept a very steady pace for the first half of the race but once we hit that bridge, it just sucked all of the energy out of me. I ended up walking the last half. I considered lying down on the ground a few times and quitting here and there but I kept moving. Finally I finished the race but it wasn't pretty. Once again my feet killed me and I felt like I had never trained at all. I hated that feeling.
So as I forced myself to go for a run before Tink, I seriously considered hanging it all up. I spent so much time trying to train and prepare for these races and they all went to hell. I just didn't want to do it anymore. I prayed that somehow Tink would be better but I didn't expect much out of that race. I was so down on myself about the bad races that I slipped into old habits and regained a chunk of the weight I had lost. Things just didn't end very well in 2013 and I was glad to see the year go.
Tink turned out to be a pleasant surprise though the weekend had it's own bumps. I will post a full recap of it soon but I felt that you all deserved to read what 2013 was really like for me first. I've tried so many times to write recaps for each of the races during those last months but I just never could bring myself to do it. So these condensed versions of them will have to do because I don't know how much more I could say about them. I'm really hoping that things have turned around and that 2014 will be a much better year.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One good thing did come from the Biggest Loser Half though. This awesome pic of me running. I am not one to ever jump or smile or ham it up for a race photographer. I focus on my running and finishing the race. I really love this shot of me which is something I very rarely say.
I was out for a training run two weeks before Tink and I did some serious thinking. I really felt like there was a possibility that Tink and Princess would be my last races. The past year was so bad that I was really ready to just give it all up. It all started with Princess and the nightmare that it became. I finished that race solely because my husband was there pushing me along. I was able to figure out why it was so bad when I finally had a clear head to look back on it but it didn't change the fact that it was a horrible race for me.
I was determined to do better and improve my running as I began training this summer for the Tower of Terror 10 miler in October and the Rock 'n' Roll half in November. I found a new training plan that I really liked and it had back to back run days that would prepare me for Tink and Princess weekends. I felt really strong in my training and actually did the race distance in training for the first time and felt great. I had high expectations for ToT. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't the best and I screwed up and spent too much time on my feet before the race. Once again, my race sucked. I did ok for the first half and then my feet were just done. I ended up walking that last half of the race and I wanted to cry the entire time. I was so upset that training had gone so well but my race time was not going to show it. I finished the race in the worst mood. The hike back into the park to meet up with my friends just pissed me off that much more because all I wanted to do was SIT DOWN. It was bad and I was very disappointed in myself. I knew that it was really my fault. Even though the temps weren't great, I could have dealt with that. The fact that I spent too much time in the park the day of the race really bit me in the ass and cost me a good race.
A few weeks later I ran the Zoo Stampede 10K. My average pace for that race wasn't bad but I still didn't feel good. It was tougher than it should have been. I felt too hot even though the temps were lower that morning. The humidity was playing against me and sweating just didn't work. I also hated that so much of the course ended up being on concrete sidewalks instead of asphalt. Concrete is harder than asphalt and I try my best not to run on it. Even though I have a good fore foot stride that helps reduce impact, since I am still overweight, it is easier on my ankles if I choose a better surface than concrete.
Two weeks after running through the zoo, I did the Rock 'n' Roll half marathon. It wasn't a horrible race but it could have been much better. I started out too fast by running my fastest 5K ever but then the damn hills and the over 90 degree temps got to me. In the summer, I run when it is 90 all the time but this was November 17th and we had been having typical fall weather for a few weeks so the suddenly high temps took a toll on everyone. I saw so many paramedics helping runners and the residents of the neighborhoods we ran through were spraying everyone with water hoses as we ran by to try to cool us all off. Thanks to my fast start, I finished with a good time for me even though I walked at least 6 miles of the course. Because of the unusual weather that day I was actually happy with my race time but I knew it could have been so much better had the temps been better.
After that race, I had a hard time keeping my head in the running game. My family visited for Thanksgiving and it got unusually cold for our area. I don't run well in the cold. I would much rather run at midnight in the summer when it is still 90 degrees than to run in the middle of the day in the winter when it is 35 degrees outside. I had plans of several other races between RnR and the end of the year but one 5K was cancelled at the last minute while the others I never signed up for. I wanted to have a few people do one of the night 5Ks with me but no one else was really interested. Then there was the other half marathon I wanted to do mid December but then I found out Mac was going to be on the other side of the world and I would have no one waiting at the finish for me. It was going to be a two lap race in a kind of boring area so the thought of not having a familiar face to look forward to made the race sound less appealing so I decided to save the entry fee. I tried to get a few runs in but it just didn't happen like I wanted.
Finally the Biggest Loser Half rolled around. It was my final race of 2013. It was not a great race. I was actually shocked the other day when I was looking at all of my results on Athlinks.com and saw that the Biggest Loser half was actually my fastest half ever. It sure didn't feel that way. It was another case of starting too fast maybe combined with a hill that was more than I ever imagined. When I do my training runs, there is a hill that I purposely run on every lap. It sucks but I know it is good training. It didn't help with the hill in this race because it wasn't really a hill, it was a bridge, a big ass bridge. The race was in Panama City Beach and the bridges there are no joke. What made this one so bad was the fact that the half way point for the out and back race was the bottom of the bridge on the other side so you immediately turned around and went up it again. It killed my quads. I had kept a very steady pace for the first half of the race but once we hit that bridge, it just sucked all of the energy out of me. I ended up walking the last half. I considered lying down on the ground a few times and quitting here and there but I kept moving. Finally I finished the race but it wasn't pretty. Once again my feet killed me and I felt like I had never trained at all. I hated that feeling.
So as I forced myself to go for a run before Tink, I seriously considered hanging it all up. I spent so much time trying to train and prepare for these races and they all went to hell. I just didn't want to do it anymore. I prayed that somehow Tink would be better but I didn't expect much out of that race. I was so down on myself about the bad races that I slipped into old habits and regained a chunk of the weight I had lost. Things just didn't end very well in 2013 and I was glad to see the year go.
Tink turned out to be a pleasant surprise though the weekend had it's own bumps. I will post a full recap of it soon but I felt that you all deserved to read what 2013 was really like for me first. I've tried so many times to write recaps for each of the races during those last months but I just never could bring myself to do it. So these condensed versions of them will have to do because I don't know how much more I could say about them. I'm really hoping that things have turned around and that 2014 will be a much better year.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One good thing did come from the Biggest Loser Half though. This awesome pic of me running. I am not one to ever jump or smile or ham it up for a race photographer. I focus on my running and finishing the race. I really love this shot of me which is something I very rarely say.
Friday, December 20, 2013
Going through a valley
Any weight loss journey, like life, is full of peaks and valleys. You have your highs and lows with eating, working out, routines, emotions, motivation and confidence. Unfortunately, this valley in my weight loss journey has been deepened by an annual struggle. For close to a decade, I have dealt with seasonal depression. Every year, just before Thanksgiving I feel it start to creep in. In the past few years, I have been prepared for it and managed to deal with it pretty well. However, this year it has pulled me in to a darker place again. This darkness is where a lot of my weight struggles really began to get out of control. I've seen pieces of that old me and I don't like it.
I think a lot of it started with the huge disappointment I felt after the Tower of Terror 10 miler. I know there are reasons I should be happy with that race but the reality is, I was not happy with it because I knew I was capable of doing so much better. I was so incredibly frustrated with the fact that I was better trained and better prepared for that race than any other race I have done, yet I still struggled and almost quit.
I had been training all summer for that race and I felt like it was for nothing. I knew I was going to need a little break after the race but my disappointment with myself and the struggles of late fall turned that little break into a back slide I didn't see coming. There have been several times during the past year that I have either not run as regularly or not watched my nutrition as well and it didn't hurt me too badly. Typically if I let one or the other slide, I didn't really gain, I simply maintained.
Unfortunately, after ToT, I let both slide, and not just for a week or two like I had planned, but I have ignored them both for the last two months and that has caused some problems. I have still been running from time to time. Hell, I did a half marathon in November, but I haven't been running as much as I should. Couple that with eating whatever I wanted and you have a recipe for adding some pounds back on and it sucks.
At first, it was just a pound or two and I didn't really care. Then it was 5 and I still knew I could get back on track. Now it's 10 and I'm hating myself for it.(Which can be a formula for it to keep going up.) I recognize the problem, but I'm having a hard time fixing it. I know how, it's just hard taking that step. I feel so disappointed and ashamed that I have stumbled, and though I realize that stumbling is a natural part of this journey, I'm still having a hard time righting myself. I'm having a hard time pulling myself up from the darkness.
I know that if I get back into a good fitness routine, it will naturally help me deal with the depression. Unfortunately, the depression is sucking all motivation to do anything out of me. The holidays are so hard for staying on track anyway. Not because I am tempted by foods or anything, but because our daily lives are turned upside down.
For Mac and I to see family for the holidays, it requires us to drive the 15 hours home to visit everyone. It's hard to get in a workout before or after being in the car that long. And eating well on the road isn't easy. Then we are in a different environment. I don't have my usual running routes or the safety that being on post offers. I don't have the space or equipment to do the same things at my parents' house that I could do in my own home. Plus, we are driving here and there every few days to make sure we see everyone while we are there. It is utterly exhausting but our only option if we want to see people because they aren't coming to us. We will be home for two weeks this year and we will be going non stop the entire time. Finding time to work out or focus on eating better tends to go out the window. Because I know how hard this trip is going to be, I feel defeated already and like there is no point to even try until we get back to Texas in January.
But then I remember that while we are home, we are doing a half marathon and it freaks me out. Honestly, I'm not incredibly worried about it because it is the Biggest Loser Run/Walk Half so it has a very generous time limit and I know that if I had to, I could just walk the entire thing. I know that my body can do the miles even though I haven't done any double digits since Rock 'n' Roll. I know that I may be slower than I wanted, but I can finish.
I'm trying to get refocused for Tink. I have four weeks until those races and I know that if I focus, I can be successful there. I'm just having trouble getting out the front door to do the training I need to do. I'm fighting a lot of self doubt because of what happened in October.
I'm not looking for pity or advice on what I need to do. I know what I have to do and I know how to do it. The demons I'm fighting are of a personal kind and nothing any one else can say or do is going to change that. The only person other than myself that could possibly help is my husband because he goes on the runs with me and keeps me distracted but he has been gone for the past week and I hope to get that first longer run back out there done before he gets home tomorrow.
I made a commitment when I started this blog that I was going to be honest so that's what I am doing here. Things aren't pretty and happy right now, they are just real. I know that I will be successful again and that I will eventually reach my goals. However, right now, getting through this valley will take all of the strength I have and until I'm on the other side this is where my focus needs to be.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Missing Race Recaps
I know that I have 3 races that I need to write up recaps for but I just haven't had a chance to get it done yet. Hopefully I will find a minute to do it soon. I finished my 4th half marathon just a week ago and I need to talk about it, the 10K I did the week before and I still need to hash out everything that happened at Tower of Terror. I know I have talked a little about what the race was like but I haven't really gone through a true recap of it for you(and me).
I haven't been running quite as regularly because races mean a little break from training but I am hoping to do the Runner's World Holiday Run Streak and run everyday from Thanksgiving until New Year's Day to help me get back in the groove and to keep me going as I prepare for my next few races. I had big plans of two half marathons in December but the first one has been scratched from the schedule. For one reason, I don't need to spend the race fee for another, my husband will be on the other side of the world and I don't feel like being the last finisher at a small local half with no one there for me at the end. So instead I will do the free Holiday 5K that is on post the same day.
I'll try to get all of my race recaps done before then.
I haven't been running quite as regularly because races mean a little break from training but I am hoping to do the Runner's World Holiday Run Streak and run everyday from Thanksgiving until New Year's Day to help me get back in the groove and to keep me going as I prepare for my next few races. I had big plans of two half marathons in December but the first one has been scratched from the schedule. For one reason, I don't need to spend the race fee for another, my husband will be on the other side of the world and I don't feel like being the last finisher at a small local half with no one there for me at the end. So instead I will do the free Holiday 5K that is on post the same day.
I'll try to get all of my race recaps done before then.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Stronger
Did I really just do that?!?
I just ran for 30 minutes straight.
As most of you know, I always do run/walk intervals for my long runs and races(and basically every time I run.) I also haven't ran in a few weeks(since right after the Tower of Terror 10 miler) so I decided to go for a quick run tonight. I haven't been feeling well so I wasn't planning on doing too much. I have been very pleased with my new method of running for 10 minutes straight then walking 4-5 minutes at the beginning of a run to help warm up quicker and have a better run. Because I have done this with all of my runs lately, I knew I could run 10 minutes even though it has been about a month since I have done long intervals. I want to get back into doing longer intervals on my short runs to help my shorter intervals during races and long runs. So tonight, I set the intervals on my Garmin to 10 minutes running, 4 minutes walking.
We headed over to the PT track near our neighborhood to avoid the cloud of cigarette smoke I would have to run through if I stayed in the neighborhood. The track is a 0.4 mile loop so 5 laps makes 2 miles. As I was running my first 10 minutes, I started to think about how it would be close to a full mile so I might as well run the extra half lap to do a mile straight. As I approached the end of the mile I thought, "Why not just do 3 laps?" As I closed in on the end of three laps, I decided to try to run two miles straight. When I told Mac I was hoping to do two miles, he responded that he thought I was trying to test myself and see if I could run for 30 minutes straight. I had thought about it but I thought there was no way I could do it. I decided to see how I felt at the end of two miles and decide then.
I hadn't done an interval longer than 12 minutes since May which was the last(and first) time I ran 30 minutes straight. I had been working back up to longer intervals before Tower of Terror but I stopped after 12 minutes because life got in the way and I was frustrated that the Garmin won't let you set an interval longer than 10 minutes. So I was using the watch for GPS and my phone for intervals on any run with an interval longer than 10 minutes.
When I started running tonight, I knew I could do a mile without walking. As I ran, I felt like I could do two miles but I wasn't sure about a full 30 minutes. As I finished up the second mile, I saw that I was just over 24 minutes. If I wanted to run 30 minutes, I had to find 6 more minutes in me somewhere. Like I said earlier, I haven't been feeling well this week thanks to sinus pressure and pain. It hadn't bothered me too bad during the run but I was starting to feel a slight headache. With five minutes to go, I finally thought that maybe I could really do it. It was going to take a lot but if I kept pushing, I could make it through. At the 26 minute mark, I was starting to really feel it in my legs. I had not slowed down much in the last half of the run and I was afraid that if I eased up then, I would stop. Three minutes left, I knew I could do it, I just had to focus on one foot in front of the other. Two minutes to go, it hit me that I was actually going to finish the 30 minutes. With only one minute left, I turned the corner and set my sights on the other end of the stretch. I knew I should be able to cover it in a minute. Just as I was trying to find the power to keep pushing, "Stronger" by Kelly Clarkson came on Pandora.
For any of you that ran the 2012 Princess, you know that this was the mile 7 song. That day was the first time I had really listened to it and though the verses may not have much to do with running, the chorus is the perfect anthem to help you push through. As she sang, "footsteps even lighter" I fought back a few tears and picked up my pace. I only had 30 seconds left to reach a goal that at the beginning on the night felt impossible. As she sang, "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger," I started to cry and I stopped my Garmin because I had done it. I ran for 30 minutes straight. I looked down and saw that I had gone just over 2.5 miles. I was ecstatic and a little over come with emotion.
Part of me felt like I could have kept going. That maybe I could have done 3 miles, but part of me was spent. I walked a little while and then ran the last quarter of a mile to our house. When I got to our front door, I knew 3 miles was a challenge for another day. I felt good but I also felt tired. I came in, uploaded my run and fixed the map because it always has me running across a roof or two at some point. When everything was right, I had ran 2.56 miles in 30 minutes. I had an average pace of 11:43minute/mile. I decided to look up the last time I ran 30 minutes in May. I ran just over two miles with an average pace of 14:43minute/mile. I took 3 minutes off of my pace. That is HUGE for that short of a period of time.
It's crazy how much stronger I have become in the last year. I keep having new experiences all the time. I have had to buy new jeans a few times this year because I have dropped a size. Even though the scale is still around the same place, I have continued to see my body change. I look forward to opportunities to get dressed up and show off the progress I have made. I am realizing that even though I haven't stuck to my eating plan as closely as I should the last few weeks, I'm still doing OK. As I start getting back into a regular running schedule, I know the food will start to fall back into place as I begin to fuel my body for these runs. I'm excited about the prospect of shopping for a ball gown for the next military ball we have in December. I am finally realizing wholeheartedly that I can do this and that I am doing this and that I will succeed. No, the time line may not have been what I wanted or hoped but it is all coming together and I feel like I am unstoppable.
I think it is also kind of fitting that this is my 200th post. Seems like a pretty good line up of milestones.
I just ran for 30 minutes straight.
As most of you know, I always do run/walk intervals for my long runs and races(and basically every time I run.) I also haven't ran in a few weeks(since right after the Tower of Terror 10 miler) so I decided to go for a quick run tonight. I haven't been feeling well so I wasn't planning on doing too much. I have been very pleased with my new method of running for 10 minutes straight then walking 4-5 minutes at the beginning of a run to help warm up quicker and have a better run. Because I have done this with all of my runs lately, I knew I could run 10 minutes even though it has been about a month since I have done long intervals. I want to get back into doing longer intervals on my short runs to help my shorter intervals during races and long runs. So tonight, I set the intervals on my Garmin to 10 minutes running, 4 minutes walking.
We headed over to the PT track near our neighborhood to avoid the cloud of cigarette smoke I would have to run through if I stayed in the neighborhood. The track is a 0.4 mile loop so 5 laps makes 2 miles. As I was running my first 10 minutes, I started to think about how it would be close to a full mile so I might as well run the extra half lap to do a mile straight. As I approached the end of the mile I thought, "Why not just do 3 laps?" As I closed in on the end of three laps, I decided to try to run two miles straight. When I told Mac I was hoping to do two miles, he responded that he thought I was trying to test myself and see if I could run for 30 minutes straight. I had thought about it but I thought there was no way I could do it. I decided to see how I felt at the end of two miles and decide then.
I hadn't done an interval longer than 12 minutes since May which was the last(and first) time I ran 30 minutes straight. I had been working back up to longer intervals before Tower of Terror but I stopped after 12 minutes because life got in the way and I was frustrated that the Garmin won't let you set an interval longer than 10 minutes. So I was using the watch for GPS and my phone for intervals on any run with an interval longer than 10 minutes.
When I started running tonight, I knew I could do a mile without walking. As I ran, I felt like I could do two miles but I wasn't sure about a full 30 minutes. As I finished up the second mile, I saw that I was just over 24 minutes. If I wanted to run 30 minutes, I had to find 6 more minutes in me somewhere. Like I said earlier, I haven't been feeling well this week thanks to sinus pressure and pain. It hadn't bothered me too bad during the run but I was starting to feel a slight headache. With five minutes to go, I finally thought that maybe I could really do it. It was going to take a lot but if I kept pushing, I could make it through. At the 26 minute mark, I was starting to really feel it in my legs. I had not slowed down much in the last half of the run and I was afraid that if I eased up then, I would stop. Three minutes left, I knew I could do it, I just had to focus on one foot in front of the other. Two minutes to go, it hit me that I was actually going to finish the 30 minutes. With only one minute left, I turned the corner and set my sights on the other end of the stretch. I knew I should be able to cover it in a minute. Just as I was trying to find the power to keep pushing, "Stronger" by Kelly Clarkson came on Pandora.
For any of you that ran the 2012 Princess, you know that this was the mile 7 song. That day was the first time I had really listened to it and though the verses may not have much to do with running, the chorus is the perfect anthem to help you push through. As she sang, "footsteps even lighter" I fought back a few tears and picked up my pace. I only had 30 seconds left to reach a goal that at the beginning on the night felt impossible. As she sang, "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger," I started to cry and I stopped my Garmin because I had done it. I ran for 30 minutes straight. I looked down and saw that I had gone just over 2.5 miles. I was ecstatic and a little over come with emotion.
Part of me felt like I could have kept going. That maybe I could have done 3 miles, but part of me was spent. I walked a little while and then ran the last quarter of a mile to our house. When I got to our front door, I knew 3 miles was a challenge for another day. I felt good but I also felt tired. I came in, uploaded my run and fixed the map because it always has me running across a roof or two at some point. When everything was right, I had ran 2.56 miles in 30 minutes. I had an average pace of 11:43minute/mile. I decided to look up the last time I ran 30 minutes in May. I ran just over two miles with an average pace of 14:43minute/mile. I took 3 minutes off of my pace. That is HUGE for that short of a period of time.
It's crazy how much stronger I have become in the last year. I keep having new experiences all the time. I have had to buy new jeans a few times this year because I have dropped a size. Even though the scale is still around the same place, I have continued to see my body change. I look forward to opportunities to get dressed up and show off the progress I have made. I am realizing that even though I haven't stuck to my eating plan as closely as I should the last few weeks, I'm still doing OK. As I start getting back into a regular running schedule, I know the food will start to fall back into place as I begin to fuel my body for these runs. I'm excited about the prospect of shopping for a ball gown for the next military ball we have in December. I am finally realizing wholeheartedly that I can do this and that I am doing this and that I will succeed. No, the time line may not have been what I wanted or hoped but it is all coming together and I feel like I am unstoppable.
I think it is also kind of fitting that this is my 200th post. Seems like a pretty good line up of milestones.
Monday, October 14, 2013
Confidence dashed
I am feeling a little better now that I have gotten my first post race run in but before that, I was feeling like I really am crazy for the things I am planning to do. Tower of Terror did not go as planned and it made it really hard to look ahead to all of the races on my calendar and feel optimistic. Fortunately, I am pretty sure I know what went wrong with the race and I should be able to avoid it in the future. I will post a full race recap soon.
I think my biggest problem was it was a night race. I know that seems silly since I always run at night but when I know I have a long run, I try to go easy earlier in the day. That is a little harder to do when you are at Disney and you want to enjoy it during the short time you are there. Even though I didn't do too much on Saturday, I spent a lot of time standing and I knew the more I stood, the less prepared my feet would be for that night. We ended up waiting almost an hour for a ferry which meant standing and then we tried to hit Test track quickly before leaving(since we had a fast pass) but it broke down and we were stuck standing in line waiting on them to let us out. Plus all of the walking between the places we went meant I spent more time on my feet Saturday than I should. At least with a morning race, I spend 4-5 hours at least in bed before the race so my feet can rest. With Tower of Terror, I may have gotten a chance to sit for about an hour before heading to the race and then I sat in the corral as much as I could but it still wasn't enough. By about mile five of the race, my feet were done and the last half of the course was very painful.
My time ended up being about 20 minutes slower than the ten mile run Mac and I did here before I left. It really just disappointed and frustrated me. I knew I had trained better. I knew I had worked out my nutrition and I was better prepared for this race. But I did some stupid things during the day that made my race that night suffer. It was hard to face.
Last night I finally sucked it up and went out for my first run since being home. I wasn't sure how far I was going to go but it ended up being about 4 1/2 miles. My legs could have gone further but I hadn't eaten enough and I got really hungry so we headed home. It felt good to get it out of the way. It wasn't a great run since the humidity was around 100%(it rained off and on) but the temps weren't too high so it was bearable just not comfortable. We have a cold front coming through this week so I am looking forward to how it will feel next weekend when we tackle 11 miles. I have to keep moving forward because I still have a half marathon to run in 5 weeks and several more to run after that.
I think my biggest problem was it was a night race. I know that seems silly since I always run at night but when I know I have a long run, I try to go easy earlier in the day. That is a little harder to do when you are at Disney and you want to enjoy it during the short time you are there. Even though I didn't do too much on Saturday, I spent a lot of time standing and I knew the more I stood, the less prepared my feet would be for that night. We ended up waiting almost an hour for a ferry which meant standing and then we tried to hit Test track quickly before leaving(since we had a fast pass) but it broke down and we were stuck standing in line waiting on them to let us out. Plus all of the walking between the places we went meant I spent more time on my feet Saturday than I should. At least with a morning race, I spend 4-5 hours at least in bed before the race so my feet can rest. With Tower of Terror, I may have gotten a chance to sit for about an hour before heading to the race and then I sat in the corral as much as I could but it still wasn't enough. By about mile five of the race, my feet were done and the last half of the course was very painful.
My time ended up being about 20 minutes slower than the ten mile run Mac and I did here before I left. It really just disappointed and frustrated me. I knew I had trained better. I knew I had worked out my nutrition and I was better prepared for this race. But I did some stupid things during the day that made my race that night suffer. It was hard to face.
Last night I finally sucked it up and went out for my first run since being home. I wasn't sure how far I was going to go but it ended up being about 4 1/2 miles. My legs could have gone further but I hadn't eaten enough and I got really hungry so we headed home. It felt good to get it out of the way. It wasn't a great run since the humidity was around 100%(it rained off and on) but the temps weren't too high so it was bearable just not comfortable. We have a cold front coming through this week so I am looking forward to how it will feel next weekend when we tackle 11 miles. I have to keep moving forward because I still have a half marathon to run in 5 weeks and several more to run after that.
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