Every Wish That We Put Into Motion.... (comments welcome!)

[jmasgat]

If anyone wants to join me, it's Caroline Girvan's Iron Series on Youtube.

As much as I suck at weight training and continue to look for things to motivate me.....the sight of a fully ripped tiny female and her rock hard abs just make me feel sad!

 

[The Expert]

I'm starting a lifting program on Monday. If anyone wants to join me, it's Caroline Girvan's Iron Series on Youtube.

I'm in! I know nothing other than what you've posted here but I've got a home gym and need to get back to strength training.

If anyone feels compelled to take a Northern Michigan vacation in August, it's a pretty great time of year!

Still considering this!

 

[The Expert]

I'm SO UPSET ABOUT THE LIONS! Ugh! I was realllly hoping for our Super Bowl matchup.

 

[Herding_Cats]

I'm SO UPSET ABOUT THE LIONS! Ugh! I was realllly hoping for our Super Bowl matchup.

I know. They just didn’t look good from the start and all those ints didn’t help. Oh well.

 

[Herding_Cats]

OK. It's been a week, and I've resisted talking about "the next thing" for long enough. After talking about it for 3 years, I finally registered for a local-ish ultra. It falls the day after our school's big XC invitational, so I can still work/spectate on Saturday, get a good night of sleep, and then do my own race on Sunday.

2025's goal is the North Country Trail Run 50k.
Website (scroll almost all the way down for the 50k)
Course map pdf
Strava Segment for the 50mi (I'm having trouble finding someone with Strava Premium that isn't a locked-down account who ran the 50k last year)
Previous Finisher's (with Premium) Strava of the 50k which that says just over 2300ft of elevation compared to the published 4800ft??
Slower Previous Finisher's Strava


18 weeks out from race day would be April 20.
20 weeks out from race day would be April 6.

We have Spring Break (driving to south-central FL for a 5 night stay at my parents' and then 2 nights at SSR for the "free" waterpark tix and a pool/DS/possible MK day before driving home) in the last week of March, so and April 6 start day for a training plan would be good from a "life" standpoint.

I'm not planning on working this summer (again) so I *should* be pretty wide open for training, and ideally DD and DS3 will be a bit more trustworthy this year.

Trails that are within a very reasonable driving distance for me to practice trail running are are this one and this one (Strava doesn't have the full loop, but has a bunch of weird short parts to the west of the ski resort). I could probably pick a couple of weekends to drive down to the actual course and run parts of it as practice.


I have 11 weeks until April 6th, and during that time I'm going to work really hard on re-incorporating weight lifting, and seeing if I can lose some weight. Refereeing will be in full-force through the first week of March, so I don't anticipate getting a lot of structured miles in until that wraps up. I am working YMCA-league Saturdays, which means I'll be working 5-7hrs worth of games with basically no breaks; this past race weekend has shown that this is a decent substitution for long runs, so I'm not going to stress out about that.

I'd like to get faster, and I feel like losing some weight could help that, but also recognize that doing some speedwork would be required. I also recognize that I can only [safely] fit so many things into the lead-up to an ultra plan, and that actively working on weight loss while in a training plan can be a very difficult thing to balance. I don't want to rely on losing weight as the means to faster paces.

-Hill training is going to be required.
-I'm 99% certain that ankle mobility/stability is going to be required.
-I *think* I have all of the "stuff" (hydration pack and belt as this is a "cupless" race, and light) and have inquired about the usefulness of things like trekking poles and gaiters as it's a sandy area)
-I will probably have to figure out a shoe with better tread than my 1080s....possibly the freshfoam more trail.

Please feel free to share your thoughts/ideas/feelings about my general first impressions and if there's anything big I'm missing.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Week 1 of 11 until serious training

This week's plan is to:
-Do the lifting workouts (shooting for 5 days/week...taking 1 midweek day and probably Saturday off)

-Referee 5 days: welcome back to me! I blocked out the remainder of the week when we came home from Disney, and I get to jump right back into things with M/T/W/F/Sat this week (about 16hrs total.) DH is "on-deck" if my legs freak out, but they've felt surprisingly OK. I'm sure I'll be telling a different story by Friday or Saturday though.

-Figure out when is the right time to bring up my Princess 2026 plan to DH. Or if I should scrap that and plan for Goofy 2026.
Princess could easily look like this:

	5k​	10k​	HM​
Me​		X​	X​
DH​	X​
DS2 (18)​			X​
DS3 (14)​		X​
DD (6)​	X​

Possibly see if SIL/BIL and their kiddos want to come too??? That's a lotta people though. Too many if their whole family comes.
But I think a 2br would be the best choice for "just" my family since it would allow non-runners to sleep in and people getting up early to run to have a place to easily get ready in the morning. It's soooo many more dvc points than January!! A 2br at Saratoga from Thursday-Sunday would be 135pts!

 

[The Expert]

As much as I'd like to push Goofy since I know for sure I'll be at MW, having your whole family participate in Princess would be so fun! When I first got into rD my mom, aunt, MIL and three of my nephews all participated in a Princess weekend with different races like this and it was a blast. I do think adding SIL/BIL would be a LOT to handle on top of a race weekend.

 

[Naomeri]

Week 1 of 11 until serious training

This week's plan is to:
-Do the lifting workouts (shooting for 5 days/week...taking 1 midweek day and probably Saturday off)

-Referee 5 days: welcome back to me! I blocked out the remainder of the week when we came home from Disney, and I get to jump right back into things with M/T/W/F/Sat this week (about 16hrs total.) DH is "on-deck" if my legs freak out, but they've felt surprisingly OK. I'm sure I'll be telling a different story by Friday or Saturday though.

-Figure out when is the right time to bring up my Princess 2026 plan to DH. Or if I should scrap that and plan for Goofy 2026.
Princess could easily look like this:

	5k​	10k​	HM​
Me​		X​	X​
DH​	X​
DS2 (18)​			X​
DS3 (14)​		X​
DD (6)​	X​

Possibly see if SIL/BIL and their kiddos want to come too??? That's a lotta people though. Too many if their whole family comes.
But I think a 2br would be the best choice for "just" my family since it would allow non-runners to sleep in and people getting up early to run to have a place to easily get ready in the morning. It's soooo many more dvc points than January!! A 2br at Saratoga from Thursday-Sunday would be 135pts!

I think Princess is the easier sell, especially because you can sell it as a whole family running trip. Just paint the picture of DD running the 5K in an adorable little costume

 

[Herding_Cats]

As much as I'd like to push Goofy since I know for sure I'll be at MW, having your whole family participate in Princess would be so fun! When I first got into rD my mom, aunt, MIL and three of my nephews all participated in a Princess weekend with different races like this and it was a blast. I do think adding SIL/BIL would be a LOT to handle on top of a race weekend.

Right. I've just been trying really hard to get SIL down for a race weekend with me! We were supposed to do the 10k in 2021 (covid-cancelled), we basically walked the 10k for the first year of SS because I had super bad PF (undiagnosed, just thought i had tendonitis) and then they had to cancel this year..... Plus their youngest is almost the same age as DD. I just don't know that her girls would want to do a race, and their oldest does hockey which is a huge time-suck. Lots of complicating factors outside of the chaos of adding 5 more people to the mix.

I think Princess is the easier sell, especially because you can sell it as a whole family running trip. Just paint the picture of DD running the 5K in an adorable little costume

Exactly. And DH is *terrible* at saying no to DD (or let's be honest....to me.)

 

[nancipants]

You are brave thinking about running with DD. My child would whine the entire time.

 

[Herding_Cats]

You are brave thinking about running with DD. My child would whine the entire time.

She's been running in the elementary xc runs since she was 2. We would drop her into the course with 200-400m to go the first year, a bit more the 2nd year, and she's run the whole mile for 2 years now. And she does intervals all on her own. I'm pretty sure she'll be faster than me at the mile this coming fall when she can finally "officially" be part of the program. And since the 5k is untimed and there's so much to look at, I'd honestly be more concerned with keeping up with her than her whining!

As an addendum, last spring she ran 5.5 laps on the track after one of DS2's meets, barefoot since she wore busted crocs, with almost no walk breaks. And every time she passed the team at the far turn (having their post-meet meeting) they would all cheer for her. Girl has no chill.

 

[sandam1]

You are brave thinking about running with DD. My child would whine the entire time.

My friend and I were in the vicinity of a mother with two young girls (maybe 5 and 6?) during the MW 5K and no one was having a good time. The littlest one was in tears, the older one was whining, and you could see mom thinking "I spent how much money to drag you two around World Showcase." And honestly, it wasn't a lot of fun for anyone around them either.

I know that every child is different - and there's no way of truly knowing how a child will react to the early wake-up, long waits in a very crowded area, and walking the 5K distance in one stretch - but this is something to consider.

 

[nancipants]

She's been running in the elementary xc runs since she was 2. We would drop her into the course with 200-400m to go the first year, a bit more the 2nd year, and she's run the whole mile for 2 years now. And she does intervals all on her own. I'm pretty sure she'll be faster than me at the mile this coming fall when she can finally "officially" be part of the program. And since the 5k is untimed and there's so much to look at, I'd honestly be more concerned with keeping up with her than her whining!

As an addendum, last spring she ran 5.5 laps on the track after one of DS2's meets, barefoot since she wore busted crocs, with almost no walk breaks. And every time she passed the team at the far turn (having their post-meet meeting) they would all cheer for her. Girl has no chill.

That’s so cool! My kid has SO much energy but no desire to walk or run longer distances. Even at Disney he’d rather be pushed in the stroller. I don’t blame him, tbh. I hope eventually we can do a runDisney race together, but it probably won’t be until he’s older.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Soooo yeah. It's become massively apparent how badly I've neglected strength training. But I'll get into that this weekend.

 

[nancipants]

Soooo yeah. It's become massively apparent how badly I've neglected strength training. But I'll get into that this weekend.

I'm just following a list of exercises I made in my phone notes, and yeah. Yeaaaaah.

 

[Herding_Cats]

I'm just following a list of exercises I made in my phone notes, and yeah. Yeaaaaah.

I was less sore after the marathon.

 

[accm]

I think having a race weekend with your whole family would be such a special experience (minus the extra DVC points). I always look forward to the 5k with my son. A couple days ago he asked me what I thought the next 5k shirt would look like, and it made me so happy to know that he also looks forward to it.

If you decide to sign your DD up for the 5k, the best advice I can give is get to the corrals early, and get comfortable. I've started giving my son my phone and shokz so he can pass the time. The hardest part is getting him out of bed, but once he's up, he's good to go, and loves all the attention he gets from the other runners

 

[Herding_Cats]

Week 2 of 11 until serious training:

This week was supposed to be my big return to refereeing post-MW. I was supposed to work a nearly absurd amount of games, but the weather had other ideas and it was 100% for the best (even though my wallet disagrees because of how much money I was supposed to make and did not.) We got somewhere around 2ft of snow this week, along with 4 days of sub-0 to single digit temperatures, which is about 15-20 degrees below average.

Monday: no school for MLK Day, was schedule to work 2 games. All of the games in our area were cancelled, and I started CG's Iron series on YT as planned. Day 1 was Legs. Yes. Legs. 1 week post-marathon. I was mostly things like squats, lunges, and some deadlifts in supersets (do the move for 1 min, 30 sec rest for a few sets in a row and then move on to the next movement.) I did the first lift (suitcase squats) with 8# dumbbells. I figured that's a smaller weight so I'm not over doing things the first week. I know I'm going to be sore, and I still have to function for all of these other games I have in the next 5 days. I used to squat 25s no problem. 8s will be fine. 8s were not fine. I used them for the first set and then didn't use them again until I got to deadlifts (because toddler-lifting muscles exist.) So essentially, I did the whole first workout with bodyweight.

Tuesday: Should have been a snow day because we had 171 kids out in our district, and that's enough that attendance was too low for the day to "count." And then the game DH and I were supposed to work was cancelled. Lifting workout for today was Chest/Back/Shoulders. I used the "pink weights" for this one because oh heyyyyy, why are my quads so angry at me? And I know from past experience that I'm more waking the muscles for lifting up the first week than anything else, and if I get too sore it'll mess up my motivation.

Wednesday: Snow day. The games I was supposed to work were cancelled. DH and I both opened our availability to include Thursday and Friday for both of us because trying to make up games this late in the season is difficult for the schedulers. Lifting workout was glutes. My legs were still sore/tired from Monday, but I knew that working through it smartly would help me get over the discomfort faster. This workout was done without weights, and with a lighter resistance band because I was supposed to work Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and needed to be able to function. Was everything shaking by the end of this workout? Yes. Yes it was.

Thursday: Oh look. Another snow day. Games cancelled again. And this was the scheduled rest day from lifting, for which I was very thankful. I was over the bulk of the soreness, but was happy to have a full day to just leave everything alone.

Friday: Finally! School! Even the kids were tired of being stuck at home. I was supposed to lift but didn't. I thought I had 2 games scheduled but only ended up with 1 (which also means that I showed up an hour earlier than I needed.) My left quad was a little grabby, so I feel like it was a good decision to lay off the lifting for another day.

Saturday: 4 games of YMCA-league boys middle school refereeing. The parents are always really obnoxious, and because they split gyms in half for these, they're right on top of you behind the baskets. My left quad was done with running by the end of the 3rd game, and I kind of eased through my 4th game so I wouldn't do anything bad to it. Figured another day off wouldn't hurt.

And that brings us to today. We don't have much going on, so I'll probably double up on workouts (as long as I feel OK) to "catch up" and be back on the normal schedule. I picked up games for 2 nights this week and now work 4 nights instead of 2, which will cover my cardio. But seriously. This week was a huge eye opener for how badly I've neglected strength training. I was significantly more sore on Tuesday and Wednesday than I was post-Dopey. I'm enjoying the workouts so far because they're really too the point, and while I sometimes enjoy the over-the-top energy of Autumn from 21 Day Fix or 80 Day Obsession, I also really like the fact that I'm not bouncing around doing complex compound movements. It feels more like a lifting to get strong program instead of a BODI lifting to look good/lose weight program. If that makes sense. Both have their place, and I have really like 21DF and 80DO in the past. I might even do a round of 80DO this summer if I feel like I have the time/commitment energy for it! But something new with no fluff is refreshing.

 

[Herding_Cats]

??? until serious training

I've been working an obnoxious number of games (14 last week, including 6 in a row with MS boys last Saturday and will end up with 13 this week....6 days in a row. Oof.) I also did something high hamstring or glute when I started lifting. Or maybe it was when I fell on the ice getting out of the car at school. Or maybe it's just the amount of time I've been spending on the court. Regardless, I haven't lifted in 2 weeks now because I *have* to get through the rest of this month healthy.

The good news is that with my schedule (I've been picking up 2-4 games/week with all of the rescheduling that's gone on from weather cancellations) my cardio base is going to be just fine.


in additional weirdness, i've had some swelling in my left foot, just below my 3rd and 4th toes this week. it's not painful, but it feels really weird.

 

[The Expert]

in additional weirdness, i've had some swelling in my left foot, just below my 3rd and 4th toes this week. it's not painful, but it feels really weird.

That's a classic neuroma location. Be sure you're not lacing your shoes too tight around the arch or toes. That's usually a trigger for mine.