Life After Marathons: A Running/barre3/Coffee/Life Journal

Is it okay to name running shoes after a WDW attraction you refuse to ride? Asking for a friend.

(Also, am I getting ahead of myself naming shoes I haven't run in yet and don't know if I will like?)
I think it is fitting, hopefully the shoes fit, too.
I also think it is pretty funny.
 
So I’m thinking about getting a medal holder. Now I just have to decide how much I’m willing to pay and what medal holder I want to get.
I know it's not the price you want, but there's someone on Etsy who makes custom medal holders themed to Disneyland, Disney World, Disneyland Paris, and Universal Orlando. There are even some that are coast to coast or castle to chateau or Disney to Hogwarts.

I've been thinking about getting one of these for a long time, but haven't actually done it. They can also hold a lot of medals, which appeals to me on account of so many runDisney challenges.
The giveaway was - I kid you not - a jar of air. I got nothing to say about that.
What? No picture? :p

But seriously that sounds like such a minor league baseball promotion.

Last night the Giants held Star Trek Night so my little sister and I got Star Trek/Giants messenger bags, a Lou Seal as Captain Picard bobblehead, and a photo sitting in Captain Kirk's chair. In case anyone was wondering, I wore my Giants Millennium Falcon shirt for the photo.
Is it okay to name running shoes after a WDW attraction you refuse to ride? Asking for a friend.

(Also, am I getting ahead of myself naming shoes I haven't run in yet and don't know if I will like?)
I say yes. I named my Avengers training plan after a line in The Lego Batman Movie. "Who never skips leg day? BATMAN!!!" mostly because I only had 3 weeks to train for the thing so I knew my legs would feel it.
 


I know it's not the price you want, but there's someone on Etsy who makes custom medal holders themed to Disneyland, Disney World, Disneyland Paris, and Universal Orlando. There are even some that are coast to coast or castle to chateau or Disney to Hogwarts.

Hmm. Interesting.
Not sure if I want a themed medal holder, though, since my medals are a mixture of Disney and local.
Food for thought.

What? No picture? :p

I'm too lazy to take a picture, so here's a picture from the IronPigs twitter:
430182

The side you can't read says it's certified air from the park.

Last night the Giants held Star Trek Night so my little sister and I got Star Trek/Giants messenger bags, a Lou Seal as Captain Picard bobblehead, and a photo sitting in Captain Kirk's chair. In case anyone was wondering, I wore my Giants Millennium Falcon shirt for the photo.

See, normally I would complain about the Star Trek/Star Wars mixing, but you can never go wrong with the Millenium Falcon.

I say yes. I named my Avengers training plan after a line in The Lego Batman Movie. "Who never skips leg day? BATMAN!!!" mostly because I only had 3 weeks to train for the thing so I knew my legs would feel it.

Wait ... you name your training plans? Is that a thing? I usually just name mine after the race ... I'm so boring.
 
Hmm. Interesting.
Not sure if I want a themed medal holder, though, since my medals are a mixture of Disney and local.
Food for thought.
I think they have other ones that are more general. But yes, medal holders are a personal thing.
The side you can't read says it's certified air from the park.
That's pretty funny. The Giants sell certified World Series dirt.
See, normally I would complain about the Star Trek/Star Wars mixing, but you can never go wrong with the Millenium Falcon.
I totally understand that. I was truly conflicted about whether or not I should wear my Giants Millennium Falcon shirt or my Giants Starfleet shirt. My Star Wars geek won out, as it usually does. Some fellow Star Trek fans thought it was awesome and some Giants employees got a huge kick out of it. Plus my little sister had an ewok with her for the photo so it worked well. I truly love both stories. I just concluded that there would be something awesome about sitting on the Captain's chair wearing a Millennium Falcon shirt.
Wait ... you name your training plans? Is that a thing? I usually just name mine after the race ... I'm so boring.
Well, I think I only named my Avengers plan. That was my 3 week training plan so I needed something to laugh about every time I contemplated why I thought it was a good idea to register. Since Batman is my favorite superhero, I ran that race as Batman being trained by Yoda. Yoda was my tribute to the cancelled 2018 Star Wars Light Side race I was supposed to run. It got even better when a cheer station had someone dressed as Rey so I even got a Star Wars character photo.
 
Week In Review: August 19th - August 25th, 2019

Baseball - Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Phillies AAA affiliate). They were playing the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Railriders, the Yankees AAA affiliate (or as I call them, the Teenage Yankees), so we wore Yankees hats and sat on the visitors side. The giveaway was - I kid you not - a jar of air. I got nothing to say about that. Luke Voit (Yankees first baseman) was rehabbing, so I basically just took a million pictures of him because he’s awesome and I love seeing rehabbing major leaguers. Teenage Yankees lost, though :(.

Love the food at the IronPigs stadium. Their Three Little Pigs sandwich (Ham, BBQ pulled pork, & bacon) is a heart attack but so so worth it. A lot of other great selections too.
 


That's pretty funny. The Giants sell certified World Series dirt.

Note to Self: If I ever make it to the former AT&T Park (I never remember the new name), look for dirt in the gift shop.
My brother has dirt from the old Yankee Stadium, but he didn't pay for that, they just gave it to him in a cup that he found on the ground (he was at one of the last games at the old stadium and apparently if you asked, the grounds crew would give you dirt).

Love the food at the IronPigs stadium. Their Three Little Pigs sandwich (Ham, BBQ pulled pork, & bacon) is a heart attack but so so worth it. A lot of other great selections too.

I can't eat the food (kosher), so this isn't relevant to me, but ... good to know. Sounds very appropriate for Bacon, U.S.A.
 
So ... the Staten Island Half is sold out.
Not that I was going to run it, I was gonna take coach's temperature on the idea (since we're looking at a 13 miler that day anyway) and then probably decide not to do it no matter what he says, but ... now I don't even have the option.

What is with all of the NYRR races selling out super early this year?
 
Week in Review: August 26th - September 1st
Final Week of Pre-Marathon Training

Monday:
  • Scheduled: Run - 2.5 miles Easy, barre3
  • Actual:
    • Run - 2.50 miles Easy/LR, 33:28 minutes, 13:23 min/mi avg pace
    • barre3 with Amanda!
Run was okay. A little knee pain, but it wasn’t too bad.
Wasn’t feeling great going into barre, but it ended up being a really good class! I've had a lot of good barre classes lately, and it's kinda solidifying my decision to focus on barre instead of running after the marathon (plan is to continue running, at least through February, but it'll be more a matter of fitting my runs around my barre schedule, not the other way around).

Tuesday:
  • Scheduled: Run - 3.3 miles Easy
  • Actual: Run - 3.48 miles EC, 42:30 minutes, 12:13 min/mi avg pace
Took the new shoes out for a run. Felt the energy return on the first few steps - it felt great. A little knee pain early, but it was the same as Monday’s knee pain, so I knew it wasn’t shoe-related. So far all good on the shoes.
Still contemplating the name. Beth gave me an idea, but I then had a different idea that I just haven't run by her yet. So stay tuned.

Wednesday:
  • Scheduled: 6 mi Easy
  • Actual: Run - 5.89 miles Easy/LR, 1:21:42 hours, 13:52 min/mi avg pace
Well that was a bad run. I tried a new route and it was all hills. I started to get cramps in the second half. Made some route re-planning mistakes after making a hydration stop at NYRR. Overall just not a good run.

Thursday:
  • Scheduled: 2.5 mi Easy, barre3
  • Actual:
    • Run - 2.52 miles EC, 32:18 minutes, 12:48 min/mi
    • barre3 with Dino ❤ ❤ ❤
Run was unexceptional.
This barre class, though…

A few weeks ago I thought I heard one of the instructors mention something about taking over for Dino (the studio director). Then, last week/earlier this week, when I started signing up for some Friday classes, I saw that Dino wasn’t teaching Friday mornings (which made me sad, because that’s why I was so excited to not be running on Fridays and possibly be able to get back to barre3 on Fridays). And then I went to class … and Dino said it was his 4th to last class. I wouldn’t be back before he left (his last class was Saturday), so this was my last class with him 😭 .

After my first barre3 class, way back in May of 2018, I got an email from the studio director, some person named Dino, asking about my experience with the class. A few weeks later I took his class and was unsure how I felt about his penchant for four letter words. But over the past year-plus I’ve come to really enjoy (and feel motivated by) Dino’s classes (even if they were a bit too crowded for me some days). More than that, I’ve come to love the studio and while I’m not as close with the staff as some, I do feel like part of the family and I feel like it’s a warm and welcoming place for me. In fact, the day I signed up for my first monthly membership, Dino said “welcome to the family.” A lot to what makes the studio so special is Dino’s personality and dedication trickling down, and while I know the studio is still in good hands, Dino will definitely be missed.

So this was a bit of an emotional class (and that emotion lasted quite a while after class ended). But I know that Amanda (who is taking over as studio manager) will continue to make barre3 West Village a warm and welcoming place, and I’m excited for Dino to follow his dreams and hopefully I’ll get a chance to check out his next adventure (he told me he’s got something in the works).

… And to think, in the morning I was considering skipping today’s class.

Friday:
  • Scheduled: Run - 1 mi @ WU + 5x300m @ R w/ 300m RI + 1 mi @ CD
  • Actual: Run - 4.19 miles, 54:17 minutes, 12:57 min/mi avg pace
    • R Pace - 120s, 120s, 119s, 117s, 115s
Woke up super tired, so … that was interesting. Definitely didn’t feel like I was giving the effort I should have been. Sigh. Although the times aren’t really that much slower than last week, and I took fewer breaks, so there’s that…

Actually, I’ve been waking up super tired all week. Not sure what that’s all about, but it’s been rough.

Saturday:
  • Scheduled: Rest Day!
  • Actual: Rest Day
Movie Interlude:
Finally saw Solo: A Star Wars Story. Missed out on my opportunity to do a Disney Coding Challenge to watch it, actually (I had started the challenge, but then my parents said they were watching, so I stopped working on the challenge (once you start, you can’t pause)… it’s fine, I was having issues with data fetching anyway). I liked the movie, and I loved how Han and Chewie met, but now I want to know what happens to the girlfriend. Do they ever meet again? Inquiring minds want to know!
And that’s all I’m gonna say because I don’t want to get into spoilers.


Sunday:
  • Scheduled: Rest Day
  • Actual: Rest Day

Baseball - Hudson Valley Renegades! Game #19 of the summer. We haven’t been to The Dutch in a very very long time, so I definitely wanted to get up there this summer, and I’m glad we did (we were supposed to go in June but ended up going to a Mets game instead because it was rainy). Went into the 10th inning, so free baseball! But the minor leagues do this thing now where in extra innings, each half inning starts with a runner on second base, which I’m not really a fan of because it feels like amateur-ish. Whatever.
Also, I got a picture with the mascot, Rascal. Remind me to post it later.


Upcoming:
** FIRST WEEK OF MARATHON TRAINING!! **

Monday - Rest day!
Tuesday - 45 mins Easy (yes, the new plan is by time, not mileage … I thought it would be less GPS-stressful that way), barre3
Wednesday - 13 mins Easy + 35 mins @ M Tempo + 5.5 mins @ HM Temp + 6.5 mins Easy
Thursday - 30 mins easy
Friday - barre3 (my first post-Dino Friday 😭 )
Saturday - Rest Day!
Sunday - 108 minutes Easy
 
NYC Marathon Training: Plan Thoughts

Now that I'm officially "in training" for the NYC marathon, I wanted to talk about the training plan, but I don't really feel like writing in any sort of coherent way, so here are some quick thoughts:

Why The Short Plan?
This plan is 9 weeks long, which seems very short for a marathon training plan. What would I do that to myself, you ask?
Last marathon we did a 16-week plan, divided into two 8-week halves. The first half went well, but by the second half I had lost all interest in running, so I knew I couldn't do another long plan. I've found that I have the most success on plans that are 8-10 weeks long, so I figured that was the sweet spot.
Also ... I made the decision to not run on Sundays during the summer because baseball (worked out pretty well because we went to a lot of far away games ... I spent a lot of time in Pennsylvania this summer), so waiting until baseball season is mostly over to start long runs meant I didn't have to find time for long runs during the week.

Structuring the Plan
There were two absolute constants for scheduling:
- No Saturdays
- Long Run Sundays

Other than that ... it was complicated. My preference was for no more than 4 total runs per week (except during my highest mileage week, when we'd do 5), so that meant Sunday + 3 weekdays. I wanted to avoid Fridays when I could, but I knew that because of the way the fall Jewish holidays fall out that wouldn't be an option in October.

Coach took my scheduling requests and made a plan that seems to work really well - Fridays and Mondays off in September, all the holidays off (that one was non-negotiable), and nothing over an hour mid-week (I think). I also think Coach managed to get all of my long runs to be less than 50% of the week's total mileage (although they are hovering in the 45-49% range mostly), which is a nice bonus.

Easy vs. Hard
Most of the runs are fully easy, with one run each week with a harder component. Which is exactly how I like it.
For the first few weeks the hard runs are Wednesdays (mostly), but then in October they switch over to being part of Sunday's long run, which is always a fun change.

Time vs. Mileage
Lately I've been having GPS issues. When I do an out-and-back or a square, the out distance is different than the back difference. I don't know why it's happening, but I am done with that garbage, so I asked Coach to just give me times for runs and ignore the mileage. I do occasionally have to calculate mileage to figure out when to turn around if the run has multiple paces (and I can't expect to run the same distance in the front and back halves), but mostly I just think about time.
This also helps with the tempo paces because I do those as workouts, and since I can't do repeats for a particular mileage (I can only do number of repeats), the mileage never matched anyway because I never actually run the right pace.

Training Goals
I'm still not excited about this race. Sigh. I'm trying to not die during training, so I'm focusing on keeping training light and fun. Tuesday I attempted to take a selfie with a statue. Today I didn't do anything exciting, but I also laughed off some mistakes I made setting up the workout. The second I start to feel pressure in training, something needs to change. This plan will be all about keeping it light and upping the fun factor.

Race Goals
Coach and I are in agreement - the goal is to set a new marathon world record.
... Just kidding. Goal is sub-5:30. We'll see if it happens. Moving time for WDW was about 5:47, so I only have to shave off 20 minutes or so, but I also was slightly better trained for WDW and it had fewer hills.
 
I liked the movie, and I loved how Han and Chewie met, but now I want to know what happens to the girlfriend. Do they ever meet again? Inquiring minds want to know!
If they answer those questions, it will likely be in novel or comic book format. For a variety of reasons, the movie vastly underperformed at the box office and Disney/Lucasfilm are probably not interested in making more movies of that story.
The second I start to feel pressure in training, something needs to change. This plan will be all about keeping it light and upping the fun factor.
I find that training goes much better when I'm not applying excessive amounts of internal pressure on myself to get the run in. I find that the race is a much better experience if I'm not stressed out come race day.
 
If they answer those questions, it will likely be in novel or comic book format. For a variety of reasons, the movie vastly underperformed at the box office and Disney/Lucasfilm are probably not interested in making more movies of that story.

I don't know why they wouldn't make more movies about Chewie ... oh well.

I find that training goes much better when I'm not applying excessive amounts of internal pressure on myself to get the run in. I find that the race is a much better experience if I'm not stressed out come race day.

Yes! I've been realizing this a lot lately and I'm definitely working on not putting pressure on myself to run. Hopefully it will make for a good marathon experience.
 
Good news: I interviewed with a company that has two kinds of cold brew on tap
Bad news: I did not do as well as I had hoped in the interview. We'll see what happens, but I know I should have done better.
 
Tomorrow's run is my longest since Broad Street. And my first fueling run since then. I'm somewhat nervous, actually. That's weird, right?
Nutrition is laid out and post-run chocolate milk is made and in the fridge. Plan is to wear Mean Tink (the new Launch 6es) and run the streets. I have to put insoles in the shoes (will probably take them out of the Levitates, then put them back for next week's run since I think my plan is to rotate the two) and pick out my clothing, then I'm good to go.
 
Week In Review - September 2nd - September 8th, 2019 - Week 1 of Marathon Training

Monday:
  • Scheduled: Rest Day
  • Actual: Rest Day
Baseball - Game #20 of the year! Connecticut Tigers (our 2nd or 3rd time there, but last time before the change the name). Had a good time and even got to chat with CT the Tiger for a bit (as much as one can chat with a tiger mascot that doesn't talk).

Tuesday:
  • Scheduled: Run - 45 mins Easy, barre3
  • Actual:
    • Run - 3.32 miles, 45:06 minutes, 13:35 mins/mi avg page
    • barre3 with Jenna #2
“Did you just say ‘Abe Lincoln’?”
“No, I said ‘Hey Blinkin’”
… And that was my run. No really, Abe Lincoln.

20190903_075042.jpg
See my instagram for a failed attempt at a selfie with Honest Abe.

barre3 was kinda meh. Lately I’ve been feeling really strong during class and this class I just wasn’t. But I did my best, and that’s what matters.

Wednesday:
  • Scheduled: 13 mins Easy + 35 mins @ M Tempo + 5.5 mins @ HM Temp + 6.5 mins Easy
  • Actual: Run - 5.02 miles, 1:01:08 hours, 12:11 min/mi avg pace
    • M Tempo: 2.31 miles, 26:30 minutes, 11:28 min/mi avg pace (Goal Pace: 11:38 min/mi)
    • HM Tempo: 0.52 miles, 5:30 minutes, 10:35 min/mi avg pace (Goal Pace: 11:09 min/mi)
So … it turns out I set up the intervals on my workout wrong. So my M Tempo run intervals were only 60s when they were supposed to be 90s. I don’t think I can change that mid-workout (I know how to do it if I’m just doing run/walk alerts, but I don’t know if I can change a workout while it’s running), so I just went with it and let the M Tempo be shorter than planned. I added easy intervals at the end (which is easy because that just means unpausing the watch after the workout ends) to make up the time.

Thursday:
  • Scheduled: 30 mins Easy
  • Actual: Run - 2.39 miles, 30:05 minutes, 12:35 min/mi avg pace
Life stuff, so I was pretty angry going into this run and I was hoping to run off the angry (which has worked for me a few times in the past). Didn’t work. I probably should have run down the more crowded streets, that might have helped.

Friday:
  • Scheduled: barre3
  • Actual: barre3 with Jenna #2!
I think this was the exact same class we did on Tuesday (same sequences and everything), and at first I was frustrated because I struggled with some things on Tuesday and I was struggling with the same things this class, but then I decided to just focus on the movement and it ended up being a good class.

Saturday:
  • Scheduled: Rest Day!
  • Actual: Rest Day
Sunday:
  • Scheduled: 108 mins Easy (Fuel Practice)
  • Actual: Run - 8.62 miles, 1:48:04 hours, 12:32 min/mi avg pace
So … that was faster than it should have been. I think it was because I was running around people. GPS had a little nutty in miles 2 & 3, so it was hard to gauge anything … but that’s exactly why I wanted this plan by time instead of by mileage.
My ankle hurt a little at the end, but I don’t know if that was the shoes or the fact that my body just isn’t used to running these distances. These shoes will definitely get another try (I have until after the marathon to return them, I think), so we shall see what happens.
Overall not a bad run.

20190908_075201.jpg
I did not stop to go shopping. Go me*!
*Note: It was early. Macy's probably wasn't open yet.

Race Update:

So … today was the NB 5th Ave Mile (Jenny Simpson won again!), which I wanted to run but hesitated and by the time I went to sign up, I saw a lot of people wearing bibs from that (and from the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, which was also today) and it made me feel kinda crappy, actually. I know I want to run a race before the marathon, but I just can’t figure out what or when.
There’s a half in New Jersey next week (which would technically be a new state for me), but I’m only scheduled for 2:15 (which would be about 10ish miles), so I’d have to walk the last few miles (RnR Philly has the same issue, plus the fact that I don’t want to dump myself on Beth with no warning because she does have school to deal with).
Beth is doing a 10K in Philly on either the 22nd or the 29th, I don’t remember which one, but I don’t know that I want her to have to deal with having me for the weekend on top of race logistics.
Not sure what else is out there, but I really want to try to find something.


Upcoming:
Monday - barre3
Tuesday - 45 mins Easy
Wednesday - 13 mins Easy + 35 mins @ M Tempo + 5.5 mins @ HM Temp + 6.5 mins Easy
Thursday - 45 mins easy
Friday - barre3
Saturday - Rest Day!
Sunday - 2:15 hours Easy
 
Good news: I interviewed with a company that has two kinds of cold brew on tap
Bad news: I did not do as well as I had hoped in the interview. We'll see what happens, but I know I should have done better.

Bad interview >>> no interview. we can all always use the practice.

Tomorrow's run is my longest since Broad Street. And my first fueling run since then. I'm somewhat nervous, actually. That's weird, right?
Nutrition is laid out and post-run chocolate milk is made and in the fridge. Plan is to wear Mean Tink (the new Launch 6es) and run the streets. I have to put insoles in the shoes (will probably take them out of the Levitates, then put them back for next week's run since I think my plan is to rotate the two) and pick out my clothing, then I'm good to go.
So is this the shoe that may have been named after a ride you do not like? I assume you had a different possibility but I want to know what the ride is!
 
So is this the shoe that may have been named after a ride you do not like? I assume you had a different possibility but I want to know what the ride is!

Yes! I totally forgot to mention the whole naming the shoe thing.
So, it's the Brooks Launch and they have some green, so I'm using the green to identify them. The boring name for them that I would have used in the olden days is "Green Launch." I wanted something more fun, so I thought about it for a bit and came up with "Mission: SPACE Green Launch" ... but I don't do Mission: SPACE. The other name I was thinking of was "Sparkle Green" because they are a little sparkly. Beth suggested "Jiminy Cricket," which I wasn't sold on, but then I realized that pixie dust sparkles and Tink is green ... so I named them after Tink. And Mean Tink is the best Tink ... I'm not a huge fan of this new nice Tink from the fairy movies.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Latest posts

Top