A Pink Pixie Princess - Complete!

[roxymama]

Just coming over to say Happy Step-Back Week to you.
I'm in mini-taper town for a few days. Ain't life grand?

Let's ignore whatever long runs or races we have in the future for a few days shall we?

 

[Ariel484]

Just coming over to say Happy Step-Back Week to you.
I'm in mini-taper town for a few days. Ain't life grand?

Let's ignore whatever long runs or races we have in the future for a few days shall we?

Oh, step-back week got me like

Life IS grand! Happy Mini-Taper to you!

 

[FFigawi]

Yep, I felt MUCH better when I woke up on Sunday! What a glorious rest day it was.

All rest days are glorious

 

[Ariel484]

All rest days are glorious

Indeed they are!! etc.

 

[disneydaydreamer33]

So I always forget to plan a step back week in my training cycles . . . Do you find that they help more mentally or physically or both? I could see that being beneficial every few weeks!

 

[Sailormoon2]

Alright InB guru...is there going to be a special mystery drop for April Fool's (or other future date)? I need to know if I keep some money aside???

 

[Ariel484]

So I always forget to plan a step back week in my training cycles . . . Do you find that they help more mentally or physically or both? I could see that being beneficial every few weeks!

Both!! I think it helps to give my body a break and right now I really like knowing that my long run for the week is a 5K! Not that I have been dreading my long runs, but it sort of takes the pressure off for a week, if that makes sense.

Alright InB guru...is there going to be a special mystery drop for April Fool's (or other future date)? I need to know if I keep some money aside???

EEEEK...I'm guessing there will be, unless they decide they are too swamped from moving to their new location?

But I'd keep an eye out on March 31/April 1 (they've done April Fools stuff for at least the past 3 years) and on May 4th as well (they have done a May the 4th thing for the past 2 years!).

 

[Sailormoon2]

and on May 4th as well

I got last years land LOVED it!! Amazing, I thought that was a one off, was the previous year's a starwars mash up too? (was that your BB8 hoodie?)

 

[Ariel484]

I got last years land LOVED it!! Amazing, I thought that was a one off, was the previous year's a starwars mash up too? (was that your BB8 hoodie?)

Here's what they have done one so far:

2014 April fools: R2D2 (from what I understand it was $100 and included a tech shirt, tech tube and drawstring bag)

2015 April Fools: fish tank
2015 May the 4th: storm trooper/boba fett tech shirts (left over from some warehouse sale they had? Sold out immediately)

2016 April Fools: Fu track suit and BB8 hoodie
2016 May the 4th: Cinco de 3PO

All of the Star Wars stuff was mystery items...I think that's how they can legally sell it. They did say what the track suit was. I'm excited to see what they come up with this year!

 

[Sailormoon2]

OK, now I am really getting excited! I've seen pics of the R2 top and think it is adorable!! And I love my Cinco de 3PO (I know that was May 4) looks like I'll probably jump if they offer another mystery item tomorrow (or Sat)!!!

 

[FFigawi]

So I always forget to plan a step back week in my training cycles . . . Do you find that they help more mentally or physically or both? I could see that being beneficial every few weeks!

Both. As @Ariel484 said, your body and your mind both need time to rest and recover from the stress of training.

 

[evre13]

So, I've been lurking on your trip reports for years (and am only now starting to post because I have a trip in the works!), but I blame you for my stalking of the Happily Ever Tees Instagram. I want all of them, and I only have 4 park days. Maybe 5?

 

[Ariel484]

OK, now I am really getting excited! I've seen pics of the R2 top and think it is adorable!! And I love my Cinco de 3PO (I know that was May 4) looks like I'll probably jump if they offer another mystery item tomorrow (or Sat)!!!

Me RN:

So, I've been lurking on your trip reports for years (and am only now starting to post because I have a trip in the works!), but I blame you for my stalking of the Happily Ever Tees Instagram. I want all of them, and I only have 4 park days. Maybe 5?

thanks for reading and saying hi!

Hahaha...I'm addicted to HE Tees. It's bad. Did you order any of Star Wars wars tops? I've resisted...so far...

 

[Ariel484]

Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend Training

Week 4 (3/27 - 4/2): 13.1 miles completed
MO: 3-mile run/yoga
TU: lifting
WE: 3-mile run
TH: lifting
FR: 4-mile run
SA: rest
SU: 5K run/yoga

Alright, after a tough go of it last week, I'm happy to report that this week was better!

I was hobbling a bit after Saturday's 8-miler, but felt better and better as the day went on, and WAY better when I woke up on Sunday. So that set me up for a good step-back week!

On Monday, for some reason...against my better judgement...I decided to try to push the speed and effort a little bit and do a sort of tempo run. My aim was to run the entire 3 miles, building up to my peak speed a little over halfway in, and then come back down in pace to finish. So basically NOT what you should do during a rest week! But overall, this actually went pretty well! I did run out of gas for the last mile and ended up walking 0.05 miles/running 0.2 miles to finish, but I felt better than expected for the majority of this run. It was nice to sort of feel "fast" again. This is not something I will do for every short run, and likely not even once per week, but it was nice to mix it up a bit, if only for just this run.

On Wednesday, I decided to bag the shorter intervals and go back to the longer intervals that I had been doing a few weeks ago, wondering if that would leave me feeling less sluggish than I did during Saturday's run. Nope - still felt sluggish and was way slower! Sigh. Oh well. I did sort of overhaul my diet this week (long story short, trying to eat healthier) so maybe I need to adjust to that or something. But I do think I'm going to stick with the longer intervals for the forseeable future...I think adjusting from run to walk less is just better for my back right now.

After being frustrated with lifting last week, I had 2 really good lifting sessions this week - bumped up the weights and felt stronger, so that was awesome! Yoga was pretty good too...I was super busy on Friday with work so I didn't get to go to my normal Friday class, but I went on Sunday instead.

I totally cannot remember anything about Friday's run, except that it was weirdly foggy out and rained for the first mile.

Today's run was good! Pretty nice to have my "long" run of the week be a 5K - hooray for step-back week! I stuck to 3/1 intervals and had my fastest overall pace in a long time - almost 2:00/mile faster than last week's 8-miler. I'll take it!

Other things...

- I am watching "13 Reasons Why" on Netflix right now (never read the book). I'm not sure what I think of it...I didn't love high school and was glad to be done with it but boy, this show makes it seem pretty horrifying. Pretty intense show. Related Netflix note: I cannot bring myself to watch "Iron Fist." It just looks sort of dumb. I really liked "Daredevil" and "Jessica Jones" but thought "Luke Cage" was just so-so and have no desire to watch "Iron Fist"...so who knows how "The Defenders" will go this summer. Anyway...

- My birthday is coming up and I am starting to get free birthday items and discounts from mailing lists frequent shopper cards. So far I have gotten: free sandwich from Au Bon Pain, Victoria's Secret giftcard, Sephora VIB gift, bagel and cream cheese from Brueggers, free entree from First Watch, and free drink at Starbucks! Yahoo!

- Archie had his yearly check-up this week...he was due for lots of shots and we were out of some medications for him (he's generally very healthy but still needs monthly meds - i.e. anti-heartworm - and things like that)...good news is that he's in great shape. Bad news is that this visit was PRICEY!

- I was reading a TR and the writer (MarbleBob - AWESOME trip reports!) posted a link to the Trader Sam's playlist on Spotify, and it is my new obsession

- It's a new month, which means time for a new purse to come out! Last month's bag was Steamboat Willie, this month is Sorcerer Mickey! Harveys used to do the cutest lining in their bags (in picture below)...wish they'd go back to that!

- People on Facebook have been selling these fun Disney water bottles that are supposed to help you get to 68 ounces per day...I bought one for work and one for home. I am pretty good about drinking a ton of water on weekdays but not so much on weekends!

And that's that! 20 miles scheduled for this coming week...

Happy Sunday!

 

[Sailormoon2]

Those water bottles look great. Love the outfit in the photo and that you're feeling stronger. I can't believe how many birthday freebies you've gotten! Lucky girl!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Did you order the ink burn April fools day

 

[ZellyB]

Love those water bottles. I'm the same about being good about drinking water during the week (I keep a 32 oz tumbler on my desk), but bad about it at home on the weekends. Maybe one of those bottles would help.

I resisted April Fools, but am really fighting the urge to buy the denim skirt and matching shirt. So cute! But, I already have a Sparkleskirt denim and it seems crazy to buy another one. But that sarape design is really awesome and would be so versatile. Ugh. It got a bit colder here, so haven't run in the Bee skirt yet, so am worried if I'll like it well enough to want another. Decisions. Decisions.

Sounds like you had a good training week - step back weeks are great! You know, I hadn't thought about it, but I could absolutely see where changing up the intervals more often could aggravate your back more. Hopefully the longer intervals work well for you.

 

[Ariel484]

Those water bottles look great. Love the outfit in the photo and that you're feeling stronger. I can't believe how many birthday freebies you've gotten! Lucky girl!

Yeah, the birthday freebies are awesome! I guess it pays to be on email lists sometimes.

Did you order the ink burn April fools day

Yes I did!

Love those water bottles. I'm the same about being good about drinking water during the week (I keep a 32 oz tumbler on my desk), but bad about it at home on the weekends. Maybe one of those bottles would help.

So far so good today!!

I resisted April Fools, but am really fighting the urge to buy the denim skirt and matching shirt. So cute! But, I already have a Sparkleskirt denim and it seems crazy to buy another one. But that sarape design is really awesome and would be so versatile. Ugh. It got a bit colder here, so haven't run in the Bee skirt yet, so am worried if I'll like it well enough to want another. Decisions. Decisions.

I have the skirt coming! It's not due to get here until, like, Saturday though, since I picked the sloooow shipping. I think the shirt will be great to wear casually too! And I of course could not resist April Fools.

Sounds like you had a good training week - step back weeks are great! You know, I hadn't thought about it, but I could absolutely see where changing up the intervals more often could aggravate your back more. Hopefully the longer intervals work well for you.

Yes, I love step-back weeks! I think the longer intervals are just what I need to do for awhile...I really want the shorter ones to work for me, but so far they just don't seem to agree with me.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

If it makes you feel better - I made my first inknburn purchase yesterday too. Maybe I'll have a cute shirt for Wine & Dine 10K out of it! If not - well there's Facebook or eBay.

 

[SarahDisney]

Alright, after a tough go of it last week, I'm happy to report that this week was better!

Yay!!

But I do think I'm going to stick with the longer intervals for the forseeable future...I think adjusting from run to walk less is just better for my back right now.

This makes a lot of sense, actually. Sometimes the slowing/speeding up hurts more than the longer running, and it makes a lot of sense to minimize the transitions. As frustrating as it must be to still be trying to work things around your back, in the long run, I think that doing what works best for your back is going to be the best way to stave off all types of injury.

After being frustrated with lifting last week, I had 2 really good lifting sessions this week - bumped up the weights and felt stronger, so that was awesome! Yoga was pretty good too...I was super busy on Friday with work so I didn't get to go to my normal Friday class, but I went on Sunday instead.

Nice! Definitely important to have good non-running weeks sometimes to. And having it during a stepback week ... that's double awesome!

- I am watching "13 Reasons Why" on Netflix right now (never read the book). I'm not sure what I think of it...I didn't love high school and was glad to be done with it but boy, this show makes it seem pretty horrifying. Pretty intense show. Related Netflix note: I cannot bring myself to watch "Iron Fist." It just looks sort of dumb. I really liked "Daredevil" and "Jessica Jones" but thought "Luke Cage" was just so-so and have no desire to watch "Iron Fist"...so who knows how "The Defenders" will go this summer. Anyway...

I thought about watching "13 Reasons Why," but I feel like with the way my life is right now, I really don't need to be watching something that basically highlights the worst parts of high school (which was not a great time for me). I may watch it eventually, especially if I see/hear/read a lot of good reviews, but it's not on the top of my Netflix list.
In terms of Iron Fist ... eh. I don't want to bore you with the reasons I don't particularly like it, but ... I think it will be important in setting up The Defenders, but I don't know that it's definitely a much watch. I really liked the trailer, so I'm kinda disappointed that I don't like the show, but ... whatever. After loving the first few episodes of Luke Cage and hating the end, I'm actually kinda happy that I started off not liking Iron Fist ... is that weird?

- It's a new month, which means time for a new purse to come out! Last month's bag was Steamboat Willie, this month is Sorcerer Mickey! Harveys used to do the cutest lining in their bags (in picture below)...wish they'd go back to that!

That Sorcerer Mickey bag is adorable!! Inside and outside!