Good Golly Gawrsh! It's a 2015 10-year anniversary Goofy PTR

[ZellyB]

Finally! An update on my training.

I managed to run three days this past week, so back to my normal schedule. I ran on Tuesday for 3 miles and then again on Thursday for 3 miles. Both runs went well, but I took it pretty easy. Each time I had some soreness while running and then again after, but I made sure to ice while I was at work and stay on the anti-inflammatories, so the soreness quickly improved.

Yesterday was a Galloway group run that was scheduled for 11 miles. No way I was ready for that, so I ran 5 miles while Chris led the group for the 11 route. I will say that I struggled a bit for the last mile. My lack of conditioning for the last few weeks was showing, but I managed to finish it and feel pretty good. The leg really wasn't so much the problem as it was just lack of running lately. Hopefully that will come back quickly.

Next week I'll start back with the Firm training on Monday and Wednesday with 4 mile runs on Tuesday and Thursday and then yoga on Friday. The run on Saturday with the group is scheduled for 7, so I'll plan to do that full amount as I ramp my mileage back up.

Random Disney shot:


Lastly, we've been trying to think about finding a half marathon to run locally to use as a proof of time to hopefully bump up our corral placement. My injury threw us off the plan for one we thought we would run, so today we went online to do some searching. We found one that I think might be perfect. It's a few hours away, so we'd have to drive up to it and stay the night before, but the course is mostly flat and fast and very scenic. The race is October 5, so just in the nick of time before the cut off. But, I'm excited to have a good possibility for a fast race.

 

[Ariel484]

Finally! An update on my training.

I managed to run three days this past week, so back to my normal schedule. I ran on Tuesday for 3 miles and then again on Thursday for 3 miles. Both runs went well, but I took it pretty easy. Each time I had some soreness while running and then again after, but I made sure to ice while I was at work and stay on the anti-inflammatories, so the soreness quickly improved.

That is AWESOME!! I'm so happy for you! It sounds like you're being really smart about it too with taking things easy and keeping up with the icing/anti-imflammatories.

Yesterday was a Galloway group run that was scheduled for 11 miles. No way I was ready for that, so I ran 5 miles while Chris led the group for the 11 route. I will say that I struggled a bit for the last mile. My lack of conditioning for the last few weeks was showing, but I managed to finish it and feel pretty good. The leg really wasn't so much the problem as it was just lack of running lately. Hopefully that will come back quickly.

I bet it'll come back soon, especially now that you are getting back into your normal schedule. You got this!

Next week I'll start back with the Firm training on Monday and Wednesday with 4 mile runs on Tuesday and Thursday and then yoga on Friday. The run on Saturday with the group is scheduled for 7, so I'll plan to do that full amount as I ramp my mileage back up.

That sounds like a great plan! I hope the yoga and strength training help!

Random Disney shot:

Cute!!

Lastly, we've been trying to think about finding a half marathon to run locally to use as a proof of time to hopefully bump up our corral placement. My injury threw us off the plan for one we thought we would run, so today we went online to do some searching. We found one that I think might be perfect. It's a few hours away, so we'd have to drive up to it and stay the night before, but the course is mostly flat and fast and very scenic. The race is October 5, so just in the nick of time before the cut off. But, I'm excited to have a good possibility for a fast race.

Sounds like a plan. That should be plenty of time for you to train, too.

I just looked on runDisney.com...proof of time needs to be submitted by October 10. You weren't kidding when you said it would be just in the nick of time!!

 

[annmarieda]

I am so happy for you to be able to get back into it. I think it is wise to ease into it! Didn't the dopey/goofy training start today? Yeah! You are totally going to have plenty of time to get your training all in. Time to submit for marathon weekend is mid october isn't it? Weird... so many are "the first" not sure why they made it mid october.

Congrats again! So cool you are back at it.

 

[ZellyB]

I just looked on runDisney.com...proof of time needs to be submitted by October 10. You weren't kidding when you said it would be just in the nick of time!!

Yes. Definitely cutting it close.

I am so happy for you to be able to get back into it. I think it is wise to ease into it! Didn't the dopey/goofy training start today? Yeah! You are totally going to have plenty of time to get your training all in. Time to submit for marathon weekend is mid october isn't it? Weird... so many are "the first" not sure why they made it mid october.

Congrats again! So cool you are back at it.

Thank you. Yeah, I think it's a weird cut-off, but in this case I will happily take it since it will let us use that race for proof of time.

 

[ZellyB]

Well, I've gotten behind on keeping things updated here on how training and recovery is progressing. We've been really busy the last couple of weeks getting ready for family coming in to visit to celebrate my dad's 90th birthday. His birthday was on Sunday and we had a wonderful party for him!!

Training continues to improve and my injury is also getting better although still nagging and hanging on. It's frustrating, but I just keep hoping it will get better. If nothing else, I'll be satisfied if it just settles into something manageable and I'll wait until after Goofy to give it a good and thorough rest.

I'm back to running my usual two day a week 4 mile runs and then long runs on Saturday with the Galloway group. My 4 mile runs are going well and I feel pretty good on them. Conditioning is definitely back for these short maintenance runs. The longer runs are still a struggle though. Saturday before last, I did 7 miles with the group, but had to fight my way to the finish. This past Saturday the group was set to run 13. I had hoped to do 10, but by mile 8 I was flagging badly, so I called it quits at 9. It's incredibly frustrating. On top of that, it was a very hot and humid day and I started our group out too fast. Chris and I talked about the fact that on these longer runs when it's so hot we need to slow down on pace.

Ran 4 miles today again and felt really good on conditioning, but the leg started bothering me again. Boo! I'm icing it at work today and hitting the anti-inflammatories hard again and hoping that it's feeling better tomorrow. I told Chris that I think I may need to step back on running the marathon in November. I think if I continue to push on my mileage right now, I will jeopardize recovery. I hate to give it up, but it might be necessary. That leaves Chris in a bad spot as he really doesn't want to run the marathon alone and we've committed to leading the Galloway group in training. There's no group run this weekend, so Chris and I are going to run 10 at a nice slow pace and if I'm feeling okay extend it to 12 miles. Depending on how I feel during and after the run will likely help me decide what to do next. Injuries stink.

I'm going to post a separate trip planning update a bit later and that will be far more positive than this one.

Random Disney pic...



Paige with her uncle working on her driving skills!!

 

[Ariel484]

Well, I've gotten behind on keeping things updated here on how training and recovery is progressing. We've been really busy the last couple of weeks getting ready for family coming in to visit to celebrate my dad's 90th birthday. His birthday was on Sunday and we had a wonderful party for him!!

Woohoo!! Happy Birthday ZellyDad!

Training continues to improve and my injury is also getting better although still nagging and hanging on. It's frustrating, but I just keep hoping it will get better. If nothing else, I'll be satisfied if it just settles into something manageable and I'll wait until after Goofy to give it a good and thorough rest.

Arrrrg. That really stinks. I'm sorry it is still lingering. Do you have any more PT visits or massages scheduled?

I'm back to running my usual two day a week 4 mile runs and then long runs on Saturday with the Galloway group. My 4 mile runs are going well and I feel pretty good on them. Conditioning is definitely back for these short maintenance runs. The longer runs are still a struggle though. Saturday before last, I did 7 miles with the group, but had to fight my way to the finish. This past Saturday the group was set to run 13. I had hoped to do 10, but by mile 8 I was flagging badly, so I called it quits at 9. It's incredibly frustrating. On top of that, it was a very hot and humid day and I started our group out too fast. Chris and I talked about the fact that on these longer runs when it's so hot we need to slow down on pace.

It probably doesn't help that you're trying to get back into it just as it's getting warmer and more humid out. That can't feel good. But that's great that your short runs have been going well!

Ran 4 miles today again and felt really good on conditioning, but the leg started bothering me again. Boo! I'm icing it at work today and hitting the anti-inflammatories hard again and hoping that it's feeling better tomorrow.

Booooooooo

I told Chris that I think I may need to step back on running the marathon in November. I think if I continue to push on my mileage right now, I will jeopardize recovery. I hate to give it up, but it might be necessary. That leaves Chris in a bad spot as he really doesn't want to run the marathon alone and we've committed to leading the Galloway group in training. There's no group run this weekend, so Chris and I are going to run 10 at a nice slow pace and if I'm feeling okay extend it to 12 miles. Depending on how I feel during and after the run will likely help me decide what to do next. Injuries stink.

That stinks that you may need to miss your November marathon, but it'll be there for you to do some other time.

I'm going to post a separate trip planning update a bit later and that will be far more positive than this one.

Yay! looking forward to it.

Random Disney pic...



Paige with her uncle working on her driving skills!!

So cute! Love your random Disney pictures.

 

[annmarieda]

Injuries really do stink! I am so sorry that you are battling this one. January is a ways away though so I hope that will give you enough time to fully recover. If not, could you walk the marathon?

 

[ZellyB]

I have been a bad PTR-Disser haven't I?

Life has been hectic and blah blah blah, but I'll try to give an update about where things stand with training.

First of all, the injury is MUCH improved. Still a bit nagging, but for the most part it's very manageable and I feel like I can certainly get back on track. I suspect I won't get it to feel completely normal again until I can take some serious time off from running once Goofy is done, but I no longer feel like it will stop me from training and finishing the races I want to do. This makes me sooooo happy.

So, a quick run through of my mileage since I last posted.

7/15 - 4 miles
7/17 - 4 miles
7/20 - 12 miles - This was a run that Chris and I did alone as our group didn't have a group run this week. I was really excited thinking I could get close to getting back on track with the marathon training mileage of our group. UGG! This was NOT a good run for me. The biggest problem was that I had some GI issues during the run. That is very unusual for me. So, the first 5 miles were me fighting my way to get to a spot with a bathroom. We did finally make it to a gas station and I was able to get better, but that was NOT FUN. The finally 8 was better although I had to slow down and add in some extra walk breaks to finish it. Still, back up to 12 and I felt pretty good about that. The leg/hip was a bit bothersome, but not too bad really.

7/24 - 3 miles

It was raining on our normal Tuesday run time, so we skipped. Not to mention my legs were pretty sore still from the 12 miler.

We did find time on Friday night to hit our local fair. It's totally cheesy, but I love it and it always brings back great childhood memories. Fun to share that with my kids. Like the racing piglets...



7/26 - 13 miles. Yes, not ideal to run 12 miles on Sunday and then turn around and run 13 on the following Saturday, but I was determined to try and get back up to speed with the group. I was going to try and do 15 as that's what the group was doing, but the GI issues returned around mile 9 (what the heck???), so I went to yet another gas station and sent Chris on with our other group member and met up with them later. I abbreviated the route and just finished out 13. Again, not at the pace I wanted, but all things considered, I was happy with it.

I'm thinking the GI stuff could be that we've switched up our pre-run/run fuels with more natural foods (fruits, etc) and maybe that is causing me the problems. I'm going to try and go back to my normal fuels this week for the long run and see how I fare. I may just stick with more carbs/grains etc while doing long runs.

7/28 - 4 miles
7/30 - 4 miles
8/2 - 5 miles - This was another one that Chris and I did alone. We had friends visiting from out of town and were down at my parents' lake house.

View from the lake house.



The lake road that we ran on is just BRUTAL with hills. It is basically all hills and they are very steep. So steep that running down them is almost as hard as running up. Needless to say there was A LOT of walking. But, it was still a good workout for us just because of the hills.

8/5 - 4 miles and we skipped running on the 7th because of rain again.

That brings us up to speed for now. Phew.

We are scheduled as a group to run 17 tomorrow. I'm going to do my best to get the full 17 completed. That would get me back on track. Even if I don't get all 17 in, I feel pretty good that I'll be ready for the full marathon in November that we had planned.

I also got us registered for that half-marathon I talked about earlier that is scheduled for October 5. Just in time for the cut off for proof of time. I had to submit our last half-marathon time of 2:49 to Disney for Goofy. According to the site, that gives us an estimated finish time of 6 hours. That does not sound so good for corral placement. I was having major IT/knee pain on that last half, so my time really suffered because of it. I'm hoping for a much better performance on the half in October.

I don't remember if I talked much about the race, but it's called the Mo' Cowbell race and it's held in St. Charles, Missouri. Everything I've read says the course is flat and fast with only 1 hill to speak of. It's also supposed to be very scenic with good support, so I'm really excited about it. Aside from the medal, they also give all finishers on of these



How cute is that? I'm super-excited about this race. Mostly I'm just hoping for a PR which would be anything better than 2:34, but I really am wanting to get under 2:30 and 2:20 would be my ultimate goal. I think that one is pretty unlikely, but you never know. Regardless I'm very happy about doing this race.

I think that gets me all caught up with current training and I'm very obviously in better spirits than I have been in a long time.

In conclusion...Random Disney Pic Waiting for Fantasmic to start...

 

[Ariel484]

You're back!

First of all, the injury is MUCH improved. Still a bit nagging, but for the most part it's very manageable and I feel like I can certainly get back on track. I suspect I won't get it to feel completely normal again until I can take some serious time off from running once Goofy is done, but I no longer feel like it will stop me from training and finishing the races I want to do. This makes me sooooo happy.

YAY! That is awesome news, so glad to hear it! I was thinking about you the other day and how you hadn't been around in awhile, and I was assuming the worst... So glad that I was wrong!!

That's great that you got a couple of double-digits runs in...I'm impressed that you were able to go that far again so soon after some time off! But YIKES with the GI issues!! That is just the WORST. I hope you get that sorted out soon!

Lake house looks so pretty! Nice to get a change of scenery once in awhile. But hills...!!

Hope your 17-miler went well!! It's inspiring to read that you're doing these loooong runs already! I keep forgetting you have that November marathon coming up. I bet you will improve your half marathon time a LOT in October! I could totally see how IT band issues could mess you up, so it's great that those are gone now. How fun that you'll get a cowbell at the finish line.

So, so glad that things are going better for you now!!

 

[annmarieda]

I can completely understand being a bad diser. I swear I am going to get caught up and stay caught up and then... well, then life happens. I have been horrible with my TR and my PTR. I like to think it isn't so horrible and that we all have it happen from time to time.

I am glad your injury is doing better. Wow, you are certainly getting in the miles! Ug on the GI issues though. I have been having some of my own lately too. It definitely makes for some unpleasant runs.

I love the cowbell! How cool is that? I will be for you to get that PR!!

 

[Ariel484]

Check out these beauties!!

 

[annmarieda]

Oh my gosh! I love that image of goofy!!

 

[ZellyB]

You're back!

I came back and then promptly disappeared again.

YAY! That is awesome news, so glad to hear it! I was thinking about you the other day and how you hadn't been around in awhile, and I was assuming the worst... So glad that I was wrong!!

That's great that you got a couple of double-digits runs in...I'm impressed that you were able to go that far again so soon after some time off! But YIKES with the GI issues!! That is just the WORST. I hope you get that sorted out soon!

Still happy to report that the injury is all gone. Still working on getting caught up with mileage since my conditioning took a hit, but I feel confident about doing the marathon in November. I won't be in as good a shape as I was hoping for, but I feel like I'll be able to complete it fine.

Lake house looks so pretty! Nice to get a change of scenery once in awhile. But hills...!!

Yeah, it's beautiful there and we had a really nice time, but the hills are killers.

Hope your 17-miler went well!! It's inspiring to read that you're doing these loooong runs already! I keep forgetting you have that November marathon coming up. I bet you will improve your half marathon time a LOT in October! I could totally see how IT band issues could mess you up, so it's great that those are gone now. How fun that you'll get a cowbell at the finish line.

Well, the 17-miler became a 15-miler, but still I was pretty happy to finish it. I'll update more about it in a bit. Still really excited about our half in October though.

So, so glad that things are going better for you now!!

Thanks!!! Me too!!!!!!

I can completely understand being a bad diser. I swear I am going to get caught up and stay caught up and then... well, then life happens. I have been horrible with my TR and my PTR. I like to think it isn't so horrible and that we all have it happen from time to time.

Well, I've been bad again, but I'm planning to update in just a bit. I'm way behind on reading yours too, so I'm glad you've been behind in posting.

I am glad your injury is doing better. Wow, you are certainly getting in the miles! Ug on the GI issues though. I have been having some of my own lately too. It definitely makes for some unpleasant runs.

I love the cowbell! How cool is that? I will be for you to get that PR!!

Thank you!!! Luckily the GI issues seem to be resolved. So gald because that was miserable.

Oh my gosh! I love that image of goofy!!

Me too!!!

 

[ZellyB]

I'm back.

I'll do my best to get caught back up on the training reports. Things have been going pretty well, although I'm still struggling to get the long mile runs to be as good as I'd like them to be. That stupid injury really set me back and playing catch up is much tougher than I expected it to be. But I'm soldiering on.

So, when last I left off, it was the day before a scheduled 17-miler with our group. Well, it was all going pretty well, but around mile 12 or so, I was just finding that I couldn't stay up with our group. Most of our group is training for a half, so most had dropped out at mile 9. What remained were my DH, Chris, and two other men. So, I felt bad because I knew I was slowing down and holding them back. I told Chris to go on without me and that I would just finish out on my own. I slowed down my intervals considerably and managed to finish 15 miles at a much slower pace than I had wanted, but still I felt good at getting 15 miles under my belt. It was a beautiful day for a run. There's this great neighborhood we run through that has these small lakes in them. The swans were out to greet us.





I was pretty sore the rest of that day and the next, but the soreness was pretty well resolved by Monday. No sign of any reaggravation to my injury, so all in all, I was pretty pleased.

The next week was our normal 4 mile runs during the week. I felt really good during both of these and we kept our pace right on target. The next Saturday was a 7-miler and it was another good run for me. Then another week of normal maintenance runs and an 8-miler on Saturday. The 8-miler was really good, but summer finally decided to arrive here and it was HOT!!! The last mile was tough and I couldn't wait to get out of the sun. We did slow the pace down for our group a bit because of the heat, but again, a good run.

This past week was just another couple of normal maintenance runs with a lead up to another big training run on Saturday. The group was scheduled for 20 miles. I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to pull that off, but was hoping to get 17 miles done.

The morning had some storms in the near distance, so our coordinator held us off from starting for about 45 minutes. But, eventually we were headed out. It was actually great since we had a lot of cloud cover with an occassional sprinkle, but no heavy rains. Around the 4 mile mark, the sun starting to come up and we were treated to a pretty double rainbow.



A few miles later and we run across this old iron bridge over a local lake, so I gathered the group for a quick photo op.



I was starting to fatigue a bit and was really getting worried. We were only about 7 miles in and I was already tired. How was I going to finish 17. Well, I just kept getting slower and slower and had pretty much decided I was going to call it quits at 10 miles when the rest of the half-trainers were going to stop. Well, I was a bit behind the group, so when the half folks dropped off, Chris and Steve (the only other group member doing 20 miles that day) were headed back to me to start on the second 10-mile loop. Chris encouraged me and said they'd get me through 17, so I reluctantly turned around to follow them. It was apparent quickly though that I was holding them back, so I told them to go on with out me and I'd just do what I felt like I could do. I decreased my running intervals and trudged on. I kept thinking I would turn back, but then I'd think, "Oh, just get to this next point and then you can turn around." I just kept doing that until I reached the point that I knew turning around would get me to 17 miles. I knew at that time I had no choice now. I had to do 17 in order to get back to my car. I ended up walking pretty much all of the last 5 miles, but at least I got the miles under me and I'll hope for a better performance on the next long one.

This has definitely not been my best training season, but I'm sticking to it and hoping that by the time Goofy rolls around, I'll be in much better shape.

Last but not least, my boy (who is now a big 16 year old) with his favorite character, Pooh Bear.

 

[Ariel484]

Woohoo, you're back!

That is awesome that you are getting those long runs in - even if you still feel like you're getting caught back up from your injury, 15 miles already after having just recovered is so impressive. Way to go!!

You have such a scenic running route, it's so pretty!! Love the pictures.

The 8-miler was really good, but summer finally decided to arrive here and it was HOT!!!

GAH, I know what you mean. We've been having such a lovely, mild summer. Then those really hot days come along once in awhile, and BAM. Not good!

I knew at that time I had no choice now. I had to do 17 in order to get back to my car.

I do that sometimes too! Altough on my most recent run I just ended up calling my husband to come get me, so that strategy works MOST of the time, but not always...

This has definitely not been my best training season, but I'm sticking to it and hoping that by the time Goofy rolls around, I'll be in much better shape.

That injury had you out for a long time - and you're already back up to 17 miles. That is so great! You have TONS of time before Goofy.

Last but not least, my boy (who is now a big 16 year old) with his favorite character, Pooh Bear.

SO cute!!

 

[annmarieda]

Well, I've been bad again, but I'm planning to update in just a bit. I'm way behind on reading yours too, so I'm glad you've been behind in posting.

Well, I have been totally abscent since the DL half. I got home.. had to immediately hit work hard and have been going ever since. Now I am frazzled trying to get ready to go on the next trip all while also trying to get my lung crud under control. So nope..haven't been posting and am way behind. Yes you are welcome.

I'll do my best to get caught back up on the training reports. Things have been going pretty well, although I'm still struggling to get the long mile runs to be as good as I'd like them to be. That stupid injury really set me back and playing catch up is much tougher than I expected it to be. But I'm soldiering on.

Set backs can really be a pain not just in the physical sense. I mean... it really can play with your head. I know it is for me. I want to be where I was a year ago and I just can't seem to get there.... it is hard not just physically...but mentally. So I guess "soldiering on" is about the best we can do, yes?

So, when last I left off, it was the day before a scheduled 17-miler with our group. Well, it was all going pretty well, but around mile 12 or so, I was just finding that I couldn't stay up with our group. Most of our group is training for a half, so most had dropped out at mile 9. What remained were my DH, Chris, and two other men. So, I felt bad because I knew I was slowing down and holding them back. I told Chris to go on without me and that I would just finish out on my own. I slowed down my intervals considerably and managed to finish 15 miles at a much slower pace than I had wanted, but still I felt good at getting 15 miles under my belt. It was a beautiful day for a run. There's this great neighborhood we run through that has these small lakes in them. The swans were out to greet us.

15 miles! Any pace at 15 miles is a good pace!!! And it looks like it was an amazing day for it!

I was pretty sore the rest of that day and the next, but the soreness was pretty well resolved by Monday. No sign of any reaggravation to my injury, so all in all, I was pretty pleased.

That is excellent!

The next week was our normal 4 mile runs during the week. I felt really good during both of these and we kept our pace right on target. The next Saturday was a 7-miler and it was another good run for me. Then another week of normal maintenance runs and an 8-miler on Saturday. The 8-miler was really good, but summer finally decided to arrive here and it was HOT!!! The last mile was tough and I couldn't wait to get out of the sun. We did slow the pace down for our group a bit because of the heat, but again, a good run.

This hot summer has been brutal, but way to go on still getting it done!!!

This past week was just another couple of normal maintenance runs with a lead up to another big training run on Saturday. The group was scheduled for 20 miles. I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to pull that off, but was hoping to get 17 miles done.

The morning had some storms in the near distance, so our coordinator held us off from starting for about 45 minutes. But, eventually we were headed out. It was actually great since we had a lot of cloud cover with an occassional sprinkle, but no heavy rains. Around the 4 mile mark, the sun starting to come up and we were treated to a pretty double rainbow.

Don't you just love running outside...seeing things like this? I don't think running would be quite as nice without it. I am one who just can't manage the treadmills much.

[

A few miles later and we run across this old iron bridge over a local lake, so I gathered the group for a quick photo op.

What a great looking group! How fun to have them all together to run with!

I was starting to fatigue a bit and was really getting worried. We were only about 7 miles in and I was already tired. How was I going to finish 17. Well, I just kept getting slower and slower and had pretty much decided I was going to call it quits at 10 miles when the rest of the half-trainers were going to stop. Well, I was a bit behind the group, so when the half folks dropped off, Chris and Steve (the only other group member doing 20 miles that day) were headed back to me to start on the second 10-mile loop. Chris encouraged me and said they'd get me through 17, so I reluctantly turned around to follow them. It was apparent quickly though that I was holding them back, so I told them to go on with out me and I'd just do what I felt like I could do. I decreased my running intervals and trudged on. I kept thinking I would turn back, but then I'd think, "Oh, just get to this next point and then you can turn around." I just kept doing that until I reached the point that I knew turning around would get me to 17 miles. I knew at that time I had no choice now. I had to do 17 in order to get back to my car. I ended up walking pretty much all of the last 5 miles, but at least I got the miles under me and I'll hope for a better performance on the next long one.

See - mental game! I do that often.. I trick myself into going just a bit farther. Way to go in getting the miles in and WOW 17!!!

This has definitely not been my best training season, but I'm sticking to it and hoping that by the time Goofy rolls around, I'll be in much better shape.

I think you should be proud of how much you are sticking to it. May not be your best...but it is far better than a lot of people. I am impressed that you are staying the course when other may very well have just given up and used the injury as a reason to just stop. You will be in great shape once the goofy rolls around!!!

 

[ZellyB]

You have such a scenic running route, it's so pretty!! Love the pictures.

We really do have some great places to run around here that are pretty and varied to look at. It helps a lot, especially on those long runs!

I do that sometimes too! Altough on my most recent run I just ended up calling my husband to come get me, so that strategy works MOST of the time, but not always...

I guess that's the advantage (or disadvantage ) of having your husband run with you. I had nobody to call!

Well, I have been totally abscent since the DL half. I got home.. had to immediately hit work hard and have been going ever since. Now I am frazzled trying to get ready to go on the next trip all while also trying to get my lung crud under control. So nope..haven't been posting and am way behind. Yes you are welcome.

Well, I think you've managed to post more now and so I'm once again behind. But, thanks for at least some delay anyway.

Set backs can really be a pain not just in the physical sense. I mean... it really can play with your head. I know it is for me. I want to be where I was a year ago and I just can't seem to get there.... it is hard not just physically...but mentally. So I guess "soldiering on" is about the best we can do, yes?

Right. I was talking with a woman here at work recently who has just started running. She's doing C25K and is really enjoying it. We talked a lot about the mental game of running. It's almost always the mental part that I struggle with more than the physical.

What a great looking group! How fun to have them all together to run with!

I have really loved being part of our running group. I've met so many new people and it makes our long runs just so much more enjoyable.

I think you should be proud of how much you are sticking to it. May not be your best...but it is far better than a lot of people. I am impressed that you are staying the course when other may very well have just given up and used the injury as a reason to just stop. You will be in great shape once the goofy rolls around!!!

Thanks! It wasn't fun there for awhile, but I think I'm getting there again. That which does not kill us makes us stronger, right?

 

[ZellyB]

Apparently I can't seem to keep this thread current. But, there's not necessarily a lot that is that interesting to tell, either.

After the horrible 17 miler, the weather around here finally broke a bit and we got some nice cool down in our temps. I had some normal maintenance runs after the 17 miles and they went pretty well. Of course, I was pretty sore for the first one, but after a bit of running, the stiffness worked out pretty quickly. We've been doing all our training doing a 90 sec run/30 sec walk. Chris and I think this works well on runs under 10 miles, but once you get above that, the 30 secs just doesn't work as well for a recovery. We will stick out our training with our group doing that, but we think we may transition to a 3 min/1min ratio to finish out the training until Goofy. So, to start transitioning, we've been doing a 2.5min/1min interval during our weekly maintenance runs. So far so good.

The weekend after the 17 was an 8.5 mile run. It was a little rainy, but not too bad and the run felt great. I was so happy that I felt good through the whole run. Plus, I was on my own without my co-leader, Chris. He was riding in the MS150 bike race that weekend. Yep, 150 miles on a bike over 2 days. He did great and I was really proud of him.

We had another pretty normal week of maintenance runs and then last Saturday we had an easy 7 mile run. This was again another cool morning and I felt great during the run. The best I've felt all year. WOOHOO!!! I'm really hoping this means I've finally sort of caught back up in my conditioning and that this weekend will be another good long run.

Speaking of this weekend, we are scheduled to do 23 miles. ACK! I'm going to do my best to get at least 20 done and hoping that I can actually maintain decent intervals throughout the distance. I told Chris at the least I want to feel good through 13 since we have our proof of time race for Goofy coming up in just a couple of weeks. So, wish me luck!!!

Sorry for lots of blah blah and no pictures. Random Disney shot!



Hi, Goofy!!

 

[ZellyB]

Well, my 20 mile run was a bit of a bust. But, we tried to recoup and as it turns out, I feel pretty good about the weekend of running.

I was happy to celebrate my 50th birthday this summer! And, as one more of those rites of passage, I got scheduled for my happy 50th screening colonoscopy. Without giving a lot of details the prep for the procedure really depletes your fluids. So, I had the procedure on Thursday (everything looked good ) and spent Friday desperately trying to get my hydration back up. I ended up drinking about 64 oz of water, so I felt pretty good about heading out for our run.

The weather was pretty good, if a bit humid, but the run went pretty well early on. I had really been hoping to do well on the run through at least 13 miles since we have our proof of time half coming up in a couple of weeks. Well, sure enough, I felt pretty good through 13. But, after I hit the 13, I pretty quickly went downhill. My legs just gave out on me. I wouldn't say I was cramping, but my legs were just shaky and weak and honestly for the first time ever I just COULD NOT continue. So, I stopped at a gas station that was at the 14.5 mile mark and Chris ran back to get the car and rescue me. In retrospect, I think the problem may have been that I didn't have enough electrolytes. The procedure prep I think had depleted me and then in hydrating I just drank water and no electrolytes. Hard to know for sure, but this was a definite BONK!

Anyway, I was really discouraged and told Chris that I thought maybe I really did just need to drop down to the half-marathon in November rather than a marathon. I was just so upset. But, after some time to rest and talk, we decided that I still had time to decide if I thought I could be ready. Chris really feels like this was a physical issue related to my procedure and that I can still be ready. We decided that we would go out and run today another 6 miles so that I could at least get the 20 miles in over two days.

So, today we ran doing a 2 1/2:1 interval for a bit over 6 miles. It was good practice for Goofy since my legs were pretty tired from the 14 the day before. The first two miles were tough, but once we got those done, the remainder wasn't bad. The legs were tired, but it was manageable. So I went from feeling pretty crummy about things on Saturday to feeling more encouraged today. Ah, the ups and downs of this training season.

On a more fun note, I did order new shorts for Chris today as part of our race outfit for Goofy. I'm waiting for SparkleSkirts to open back up customs since I'm getting a custom skirt for the run. I also emailed the company we used last year for our custom tech shirts and started the process to get our custom shirts for Goofy. I'll update more on that as things progress. All in all, a productive weekend.

 

[annmarieda]

I imagine that would be kinda scary to hit that wall like that...but I really do agree it was the procedure and likely the electrolytes being out of balance. Other than that sounds like training is going well... I mean... your mileage is just amazing!

Oh..and ss... didn't they open up their customs now? You will have to share what you get.