Wk of Dec 4--2006 Disney Half-Full Marathon Info/Training

[keenercam]

Just one question! Why do official race pictures make me look like a cow?
Just got them in an email and when I saw them I .
Christa

You must be joking! You look gorgeous and fit! I cannot believe those pictures are after 13 and 26.2 miles. WHO the heck looks that good in the middle of a marathon, much less the end of one?
:thewave:

 

[MelRhoads]

I'm not sure where I am today! Did my 15 mile long run on icy roads, with snow falling in temps in the teens (farenheit - that's really cold for you metric gals, helen!). Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the 15mph winds! It was the worst pace ever. My 20 mile pace from last week was better even if you factor a 10 minute rest! I totally ditched the cold bath idea for a warm soak and a fire! I'm still numb!! When I thaw out, i think i'm really going to hurt. I was really thinking about you michaganders with the endless blizzard this year!

I did take my camera to get a pic of the pig and the donkey, but they were too chicken to face the cold. all i got were the goats!

Christa - you looked good. You are in awesome shape! I have the same pic issue with the hike-a-bike pics in adv racing. I am just too weenie to get my bike all the way up to my back/shoulder and I never look tough in those pics. One of my goals for the last race was to get a good hike-a-bike pic and I just ended up making faces like jim carrey and looking like a skinny weakling!!!! Maybe one day my h-a-b pics will look like all those tough girls in the race, but i'll definitely have to stop racing to pose to get one!

Here are some frozen pics from today that actually show our normal route for all long runs!

Sarah (EC - look at all the ice on her face and hair)

Me FREEZING!!! (i don't think i had developed boogercicles yet!)

 

[plutosmyfav]

Great Pics, Melissa!

Darn! I was so looking forward to seeing the pig! Sarah must be the EC? Now the EC has a name!!!!!

Snows coming tomorrow. Looks like i will be doing my first 14 miler on the TM this weekend I'm not sure which is worse, the actually time spent on the thing or watching the droves of people come and leave while I'm there!!!! I'll have to set up camp with my fluids and gels

Sunny

 

[MelRhoads]

Sunny - I was really bummed about the pig and donkey. They usually add some pleasure to to LR! Sometimes the donkeys act like they are going to run w/ us for a little bit, then they dont!

The gel/fluid camp is hillarious! I'd love to see some pics of that!!!!! The last time i did a TM run, I spent 4 miles (that's a long time for me) obsessing about them turning the fan in my direction!

 

[keenercam]

Great pix Melissa! I am hoping I'll recognize you without a hat in January, but that gorgeous smile is pretty memorable.

Looks like i will be doing my first 14 miler on the TM this weekend I'm not sure which is worse, the actually time spent on the thing or watching the droves of people come and leave while I'm there!!!! I'll have to set up camp with my fluids and gels

Sunny

Sunny -- You should check out the treadmill (or should I say DREADmill) thread. There are some funny stories there, including Lily's account of total orchestration of what it took to do 18 miles.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

CONFESSIONS OF AN OVERACHIEVER...

I have pain by the joint...WAHHHHHH!!!! Using ice massage (brrrrr!), but PT says b/c of the running. Aarrggghhh. I'm afraid to tell my coaches. I was doing so good. Boo hoo!

Anywho. Anybody think of what I can do. I had a friend suggest at one point some vitamins or pill supplements that help with the joints. Any thoughts?

 

[Rockclimber]

But I have no idea what I'm looking for in an MP3 player. Anybody have any suggestions on this topic? Ones that they like...dislike? Do you have trouble keeping the earbuds in while running?

I have a creative MuVo TX FM. I love it. It is a straight forward Mp3 player with a built in FM tuner. The one I have is 1 gig, which is plenty for me. I like the fact also that it comes with a belt clip, since I hate things on my arms. My mom just bought one for herself and said she found it online for $120. I personally find that earbuds don't stay in well. The faster I ran, the more they came out, but I also have little ears. (my excuse for not hearing/listening to my wife ) Now I use an inexpensive lightweight over-the-head kind. You can check out Mp3 player reviews on www.cnet.com.

Yeah, I still lurk every once in a while... Training is going good, normal aches and pains you get when you log 40+ miles a week, but nothing substantial. Looks like everyone is getting pretty excited and doing great on their own training schedules. Keep it up, we are almost there!!

Dave
www.thejacksonfour.com

 

[TiffJ]

Lisa-say it isnt so. You aren't hurt again? Be careful & get better! I know alot of people that take glucosamine condroitin (sp?) for joints. You should be able to get it where you get vitamins/supplements. Mom takes it & says it helps with her knees.

kaf- that story is sooo funny. I told DH about the powergel incident. I would have been a smart a*@* to the kid. Dont worry about others, you are a big endurance athlete!!! We will be at the 5k DH & DS8 are doing it along w/my dad & neices.

Sunny-you're just like those body builders with the veins. That's what happens when you become the big

Christa=You look awesome! I am jealous about the bike. I want to be a biker too. I'm hoping to get one after the first of the year. Then I'm going to switch over to Tri training.

mazzy-too tired to respond-that is hilarious! I want to do the 15k & am trying to talk my best friend into it so we can have a girls weekend. I think it would be a blast. If we cant get our friends to come, maybe we can just meet there & have a WISH girls weekend. I know there are others here doing it.

Did 3 miles on the TM. Hated every minute of it.

 

[TiffJ]

Helen=that is exactly what I have planned for my pre-race routine!

 

[wtpclc]

Lisa - Glucosamine & chondroitin are supposed to be great for teh joints. Good luck!

 

[MelRhoads]

Lisa - AGGKKKHHHH! So sorry to hear about the joint pain!!! I had a lot of knee pain (mine comes and goes) I took the glucosamine and that is also the reason I bought those CW-X tights. It stopped after I did both, but resurfaces on really uneven terrain like trails or bushwacking! I don't know if the tights and glucosamine helped or if it was just that I had to work through the pain as I built up muscles? Now i have it on the other side of my same knee! I'm thinking it is either related to excess use or just the same deal. I'm really knock kneed so I'm sure there is some anatomical prob, but I figure this high mileage is not an every day event, so I'm ingoring it! I hope everything is ok!!!!!

Great pix Melissa! I am hoping I'll recognize you without a hat in January, but that gorgeous smile is pretty memorable.

Cam - Now that you mention it, I guess I do wear a hat in every picture! I have hair and it's pretty long. I will probably run most of the 2 races hatless. I'm a little embarrased to remind anyone of this, but I bought one of those big billed goofy hats for when i hit the wall in the marathon! I recall however that I am not alone, b/c helen got a tigger hat. I'm not sure I want to be wearing the hat in my finish line pics, but I thought that the idea of running with goofy on my head would make me inwardly happy.

 

[princessmomma]

Melissa, great pics! OK, what is it about all you endurance athletes with huge smiles on your faces?? The only thing going through my head is left-right, left-right and breathe in-out, in-out. I should be able to muster up a smile at the finish line, after all it is Disney!!

Well, here I am almost finished packing, tomorrow morning we are heading out to DH's marathon at Kiawah. I have to say the last two weeks of his taper has been torture on me. I think the taper period does funny things to a person's head (his head, not mine) ! I am quite surprised at how he can feel like superman ready to save the world and then turn into the most pessimistic creature alive. I shouldn't be so critical because I am sure my mind will be playing games on me as well. I am really excited for him and DD6 and DS8 are excited about going too. I hope he does well. He should have perfect weather.

Heather, congratulations on all your accomplishments!

Again, so much happening on this thread today. I know there was more I wanted to say.

Thanks to everyone for your opinions on my hotel stay, right now I think I am leaning toward the Swan, but who knows.

Colleen

 

[gatorphipps]

OK, what is it about all you endurance athletes with huge smiles on your faces?? The only thing going through my head is left-right, left-right and breathe in-out, in-out. I should be able to muster up a smile at the finish line, after all it is Disney!!
Well, here I am almost finished packing, tomorrow morning we are heading out to DH's marathon at Kiawah. I have to say the last two weeks of his taper has been torture on me. I think the taper period does funny things to a person's head (his head, not mine) ! I am quite surprised at how he can feel like superman ready to save the world and then turn into the most pessimistic creature alive. I shouldn't be so critical because I am sure my mind will be playing games on me as well. I am really excited for him and DD6 and DS8 are excited about going too. I hope he does well. He should have perfect weather.
Colleen

Colleen - We just smile when we see someone taking a picture of us. We are really thinking right left...right left....
I want to see lots of pics of Kiawah. Lotts of to your DH! The taper does mess with you head! You feel like you will lose everything b/c you are not running as much. He will be fine! And will do great...enjoy the taper!
Christa

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Lisa - AGGKKKHHHH! So sorry to hear about the joint pain!!! I had a lot of knee pain (mine comes and goes) I took the glucosamine and that is also the reason I bought those CW-X tights. It stopped after I did both, but resurfaces on really uneven terrain like trails or bushwacking! I don't know if the tights and glucosamine helped or if it was just that I had to work through the pain as I built up muscles? Now i have it on the other side of my same knee! I'm thinking it is either related to excess use or just the same deal. I'm really knock kneed so I'm sure there is some anatomical prob, but I figure this high mileage is not an every day event, so I'm ingoring it! I hope everything is ok!!!!!

That makes me feel better. The PT didn't say stop running or Xtrain. I am sure if that was an issue--he would have said something. I did my run in the PT office today (on a treadmill of course. ) and stopped midway and had him look at my knee and he said it looked good.

He upped my strength training to 3x per week...now I just have to figure out how to squeeze all those in between rest days and such. It seems he wants me to do the strength training before a run if I do both on the same day.

I will get some glucosamine tomorrow. I'm afraid if I get one more gadget for my knee that hubby is going to go .

The PT didn't seem too concerned that I was doing new damage. A combination of factors--including not icing immediately post run. and forgetting to put compression back on post 8-mile run last week. So now it is carrying a cooler with ice when I go places to run so that I can ice immediately. And taking my Nabumetone (sp?)--anti-inflammatory plus pain relief pill that i have.

Thanks for all the supplement suggestions--any idea where I purchase this stuff?

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Melissa, great pics! OK, what is it about all you endurance athletes with huge smiles on your faces?? The only thing going through my head is left-right, left-right and breathe in-out, in-out. I should be able to muster up a smile at the finish line, after all it is Disney!!

Well, here I am almost finished packing, tomorrow morning we are heading out to DH's marathon at Kiawah. I have to say the last two weeks of his taper has been torture on me. I think the taper period does funny things to a person's head (his head, not mine) ! I am quite surprised at how he can feel like superman ready to save the world and then turn into the most pessimistic creature alive. I shouldn't be so critical because I am sure my mind will be playing games on me as well. I am really excited for him and DD6 and DS8 are excited about going too. I hope he does well. He should have perfect weather.

Heather, congratulations on all your accomplishments!

Again, so much happening on this thread today. I know there was more I wanted to say.

Thanks to everyone for your opinions on my hotel stay, right now I think I am leaning toward the Swan, but who knows.

Colleen

Good luck this weekend!!!!

At this point--pick a hotel that is available--that's my suggestion .

Swan would be very nice I imagine. I have heard wonderful reviews of that hotel

 

[TEK224]

Colleen - sending to DH for his marathon.

Lisa - Hope the knee is feeling better. Glad you didn't have to stop training.

I got in a decent workout today. Did the aerobic program on the exercise bike for 40 min. and followed with 30 min. on the treadmill (what torture!)

The thing I was happy with was I jogged practically the whole 30 minutes (except for a quick potty break ). The quad seemed to hold up fine. No pain.

If I can get to the gym tomorrow (through the snow), may try the TM again (yes, I'm a glutton for punishment ).

Terri

 

[littlegreydonkey]

It came, it came - I am complete with packet. Am also weeping again, I don't even know Todd on page 33, why should a picture of a woman holding up a sign telling him to run set me off again. Helen

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

It came, it came - I am complete with packet. Am also weeping again, I don't even know Todd on page 33, why should a picture of a woman holding up a sign telling him to run set me off again. Helen

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

Yay for the packets arriving.
Boo for the TM running, but I guess we must mustn't we... ug:
Good luck to the racers who still have events b4 our big one.
Loved all the pics.
What do you mean look like a cow?
Swan would be good, comfy beds for sure I am told. Not much sleeping will be going on that night/eve so shorter walk for later wake up might work, but I'm at BW, will wake early and enjoy the early wandering time and the "loo line."
Stop it with the injuries already! PD to everyone. No more aches.
Thanks to all the lurkers for coming over. I certainy love hearing from you and look forward to your support especially as this time is getting shorter.
Emotions are running up up and away...

 

[TEK224]

Woke up this morning and it's snowing like crazy! Roads are covered and the news is saying stay home if at all possible. I live in a somewhat hilly area, so any snow/ice means not much driving. Guess my exercise will be shovelling snow today

Double Ugh!!! Woke up this morning to quad pain. (Not pain really, but some minor discomfort, like I may have aggravated it on the TM last night. QUAD has become my four-letter word!

Stay safe today!

Terri