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

[Ariel484]

Alright, now that I'm out of my little injury funk, time to catch up!

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.

I agree with you. 1 minute seems like the sweet spot for me - not too short (so that you DO recover) but not too long that it's hard to get back into the running groove.

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.

Way to go on leading the run yourself! And holy cow - 150 miles!!! Seriously impressive!

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.

YES! that has got to be a great feeling!

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.

YAY! And then...really NOT yay!

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.

Good, good, I'm liking where this is going...

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.

Oh no!! I'm so sorry that happened!!

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!

That totally makes sense. I bet you are right. Really, I'm impressed you had 13 strong miles after having a colonoscopy the day before!

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.

That's great! especially since you seemed to feel better later in the run - definitely good Goofy practice.

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.

OOOH...can't wait to see your custom!!! I'm on the list for a couple of group customs (that I keep forgetting about), but other than that I'm putting myself in "Sparkle Jail" for awhile after my recent SparkleSkirts binging.

 

[ZellyB]

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!

It's going pretty well, honestly. It's just hasn't been what I had hoped for. But, I'm back to thinking I'll be okay for the full marathon here in November. Won't be great, but I feel confident I can finish okay. And, the ultimate goal is still Goofy and we are well on track for that.

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

They did! It is officially ordered and in the production queue. It's nothing too exciting honestly. But, it will be one I know that I can wear repeatedly after the race and I just decided if I was going to spend a bunch of money on something then I might as well be sure I could get good use out of it. I'll share pics once I have it in hand.

Alright, now that I'm out of my little injury funk, time to catch up!

So, glad you are on the mend!

I agree with you. 1 minute seems like the sweet spot for me - not too short (so that you DO recover) but not too long that it's hard to get back into the running groove.

Yeah, it has really felt much better on our maintenance runs doing the 1 minute rest. This week we've done a 3:1 and it has felt really good. Tuesday in fact was the fastest overall pace I've ever done, so that felt awesome. Perfect mental boost before our race on Sunday.

Way to go on leading the run yourself! And holy cow - 150 miles!!! Seriously impressive!

I know, right? Chris is a beast really when it comes to athletic events. He could blow me away on his run times. but he always stays by my side. He's a good one.

Oh no!! I'm so sorry that happened!!

That totally makes sense. I bet you are right. Really, I'm impressed you had 13 strong miles after having a colonoscopy the day before!

Yeah, in the realm of smart things to do before you have a long training run, I'm pretty sure having a colonoscopy would be near the bottom of the list.

That's great! especially since you seemed to feel better later in the run - definitely good Goofy practice.

Yes, I was so glad we went out and ran on Sunday. It really got me out of my funk after having such a disasterous conclusion to the run on Saturday. I feel better about Goofy already. Some of our first scheduled back-to-backs are coming up soon too, so I'm glad to have had a little bit of a practice run on it before hand.

OOOH...can't wait to see your custom!!! I'm on the list for a couple of group customs (that I keep forgetting about), but other than that I'm putting myself in "Sparkle Jail" for awhile after my recent SparkleSkirts binging.

Sparkle Jail!! Love it. Yeah, after this custom I'm doing the same. I have been sort of trolling the Sparkle FanZone page on FB and haven't seen anything go up for sale that I would have to have, but if something I really wanted came up, I probably couldn't resist. I think I have a problem.

There's a pattern on the custom page called Oops a Daisy that I absolutely adore. I guess it was a group custom at some point. Anyway, I want one of those in a slim cut really bad, so if one of those ever came up I know I would want it! Like I said...I have a problem.

 

[Ariel484]

They did! It is officially ordered and in the production queue. It's nothing too exciting honestly. But, it will be one I know that I can wear repeatedly after the race and I just decided if I was going to spend a bunch of money on something then I might as well be sure I could get good use out of it. I'll share pics once I have it in hand.

Even if you don't think it's that exciting, I still can't wait to see it!

So, glad you are on the mend!

Me too! Hopefully you and I can remain injury-free from here on out!

Yeah, it has really felt much better on our maintenance runs doing the 1 minute rest. This week we've done a 3:1 and it has felt really good. Tuesday in fact was the fastest overall pace I've ever done, so that felt awesome. Perfect mental boost before our race on Sunday.

That is awesome!! Way to go!

I'm hoping to get back up to 3:1 next week or the week after...ultimately I'd like to be up to 4:1 by Wine & Dine.

I know, right? Chris is a beast really when it comes to athletic events. He could blow me away on his run times. but he always stays by my side. He's a good one.

Adorable! ...

...and yet, isn't it a little annoying how much easier this kind of stuff is for men?! I think it is.

Yeah, in the realm of smart things to do before you have a long training run, I'm pretty sure having a colonoscopy would be near the bottom of the list.

NOTED!

Yes, I was so glad we went out and ran on Sunday. It really got me out of my funk after having such a disasterous conclusion to the run on Saturday. I feel better about Goofy already. Some of our first scheduled back-to-backs are coming up soon too, so I'm glad to have had a little bit of a practice run on it before hand.

I'm sure you will only get more and more confident as you go on. Thsoe back-to-backs will help a lot!

Sparkle Jail!! Love it. Yeah, after this custom I'm doing the same. I have been sort of trolling the Sparkle FanZone page on FB and haven't seen anything go up for sale that I would have to have, but if something I really wanted came up, I probably couldn't resist. I think I have a problem.

BUT REALLY!

I totally know what you mean about trolling that Facebook page. Every time a skirt in my size comes up it's all I can do to not buy it - even if it's one I haven't really had my eye on. The one I'm really interested in right now is Peacock Earth but I'm trying to hold myself back. No parole for me just yet. I'm afraid I'll see the skirts in person at the W&D expo in November, think to myself "OMG they look so much better in person!" and just go nuts.

There's a pattern on the custom page called Oops a Daisy that I absolutely adore. I guess it was a group custom at some point. Anyway, I want one of those in a slim cut really bad, so if one of those ever came up I know I would want it! Like I said...I have a problem.

Oh yeah, I've seen that one! Doesn't seem like many have been sold lately. It's really cute. Not sure if slim cut would work for me though.

 

[ZellyB]

Today we ran a half marathon in St. Charles, Missouri.



The race is called the Mo' Cowbell. They run a 5K, Half-Marathon, Half-Marathon Relay and a Marathon. We really need a new proof of time for our Goofy Challenge as the one I had that I could use was from a half marathon from last November where I had horrible IT band issues and ran a terrible pace. I spent some time trying to find a half course that would be a good course before October 10 deadline for proof of time updates and I found this one. They advertise it as a flat and fast course, so we signed up!

We drove up on Saturday to hit the ExMo and pick up our gear. As we were picking up our bibs we saw the race mascot.



We headed off to find our race shirts and gear bag next.



The Expo was a little disappointing, not really that much interesting to look at, so we picked up our bags and headed to the hotel. The items weren't too bad. A decent long-sleeve tech shirt, a drawstring gear bag, a 13.1 cowbell sticker and the miniature cowbell.



We headed out to drive over to the park where the start line would be and found it was less than 5 minutes from our hotel and parking looked ample. We grabbed a nice dinner and then headed back to the hotel early for bedtime. First I laid out my stuff for the race.



I wore my awesome Haunted Sparkle skirt. I brought a long-sleeved tech shirt to go under my shirt sleeve since the forecast was for mid-40's to 50's for race time.

We had a good night sleep and headed out to the race. It was dark of course and along the way, we drove through the old part of town. St. Charles is an old river town and the start line was down by the Missouri River. They have old gas lamps lining the road.



We found parking easily and walked to the start line. It was chilly!! We had both worn throw-down sweatshirts and had trash bags on. Right before the start of the race, they play Blue Oyster Cult, "Don't Fear the Reaper" and everyone rings their cowbells.



IN case you aren't familiar with it, the race name and theme is inspired by this SNL skit from years ago...
http://vimeo.com/91715361

Anyway, a nice rendition of the Star Spangled Banner and we were off...



Our goal for this race was to hopefully beat my previous PR which was 2:34. I was really wanting to get below 2:30 and a stretch goal was to hit 2:20. We headed out and were able to settle into a pretty good pace. The course was a bit tight at first and we had to work a little to be able to transition during our 3:1 intervals. The course wasn't too exciting for the first 4 miles or so. Lots of farm fields. At mile 5 they had a area called the High Five Zone with lots of crowd support, a band and plenty of high fives being handed out. It was a nice boost. Right before we reached this we ran into two of our friends who run in our Galloway group. So, we all joined up and stayed together the rest of the race.

Around mile 6 they had us run through this really cool planned neighborhood. It had some really neat houses and these canals running through it and some little stores and things. It was really neat.



Once we exited the neighborhood we were at about mile 8 or so. There was a section where you passed other runners who were behind you and I got a shout out about my Haunted skirt. The other runner was in a Sweet Skulls skirt.

The course had been very flat and fast just as advertised and we were hanging right around a 10:55 overall pace. Chris did such a great job of pacing us and keeping us going. At mile 10 was the only hill on the race. We knew to expect it, but it was relatively steep and very long (it took about a mile to finally get done with it). But, Chris kept us strong and we ran on. The last two miles were flat or downhill and even though I was flagging at the end, we kept up pace and finished strong. Finish time 2:25:11. PR for me. I was very happy. We got our medals and got a quick couple of pictures.





It really was a great race and we had a great time. Once we got home, I went online and updated our proof of time. With my previous proof of time, our estimated finish was 6:07. With the new time, it moved our estimated finish to 5:06.

All in all a really successful weekend.

 

[Brandi B]

Love it!!

 

[Ariel484]

Wow, Gisele! Great job to you and Chris with the half - a new PR AND knocking an hour off of your anticipated marathon time?! That is awesome!

Love your outfit, obviously. What do you think of SweetSkulls? I'm trying to reserve judgement until I see it in person, but the pics online done really speak to me. Good news for the bank account!

 

[ZellyB]

Love it!!

Thank you!

Wow, Gisele! Great job to you and Chris with the half - a new PR AND knocking an hour off of your anticipated marathon time?! That is awesome!

Love your outfit, obviously. What do you think of SweetSkulls? I'm trying to reserve judgement until I see it in person, but the pics online done really speak to me. Good news for the bank account!

Thanks, Shannon. I'm really happy with the way things turned out. I'm with you on SweetSkulls. It's okay, but not one I feel inclined to purchase. Seeing it in person didn't really change my thoughts on that one. There are still plenty of others I want though. LOL!!

 

[wellesleyprincess]

Love multi-race reports and pre-trips! Subscribing and wishing you best of luck with training!

 

[ZellyB]

Love multi-race reports and pre-trips! Subscribing and wishing you best of luck with training!

Welcome and thank you!!

 

[ZellyB]

Well, another week of training behind us. This week was the build up to the longest training run of the season before our local marathon the first weekend of November.

Since we ran the half marathon last Sunday, we took things pretty easy on our maintenance runs on Tuesday and Thursday. Both days we just ran 3 miles and took them at a pretty easy pace. Tuesday getting started was tough as the legs were still stiff and sore, but by the end of the 3 miles I felt pretty good.

I also had a massage on Thursday evening. One hour of heaven!! But she really had to work hard on me. She couldn't believe how tight I was. Eek! My hips and buttocks especially were bad. So, she worked pretty hard on them and I'm going back to her next Wednesday for another massage. I think I need to go pretty regularly until my muscles get a little more relaxed.

Today was our group run and we were scheduled to do 26 miles. If you are familiar with Galloway training, then you know he has the only plan I know of that actually has you run the full marathon distance in training. Yeah, maybe running a half the weekend before we are supposed to do a 26 mile training run isn't ideal. But, really, we had to get that proof of time in and it's just the way things worked out. I was really worried about the run. I mean this has been a bad training season for me overall. The longest run I'd done prior to this was 17 and it ended with me walking about the last 5 miles of it. So, in checking out the route, Chris and I drove in separately and I parked my car at the 21 mile mark figuring that I couldn't manage 26, but if I could do 21 then I felt pretty good about being able to finish the marathon in a few weeks. I never had done a full 26 before the two marathons I've done at Disney, so I knew it wasn't necessary for me to go a full 26 in order to be prepared for the race.

We all met up at 6 am for the run. The forecast all week had been calling for heavy rains for today, so we had been dreading that. Suddenly yesterday, the forecast changed to overcast, but very low chance of rain. It was cool, but not too cold. Upper 40s at start and the temp stayed pretty steady throughout the run. We got sprinkled on twice during the run, but overall we couldn't have asked for better weather for the run.

Here we were at about mile 5 or so.



The first 13 miles really flew by. It was a good route (in fact it is the race route for the half portion of race we are running), and the conversations were good. We ran the first 13 in just a little over 2:35, so our pace was good as well (for us ). We cruised on for a bit, although I started having a bit of a hard time around mile 15 or so and my IT band started acting up. By mile 16 I was really getting worried about finishing out my 21. But, we saw our Galloway leader at one of the water stops and she had some Excedrin and Icy Hot in her car. I've never used Excedrin before as I usually rely on ibuprofen or naproxin, but I was happy for something. At about mile 18, I suddenly realized my knee was feeling better and I was getting a second wind. Phew! I was really relieved. About there though, I was struggling to still keep up with Chris and Steve (the only other two left in our group going the full 26), so I adjusted my intervals and just dropped back some. I kept them in sight until I got to my car and mile 21. I was so happy. I climbed in my car and drove over to the final destination where Chris would finish. Once I got there, I realized I still felt pretty good and decided I would just take an easy run/walk backwards through the route and see if I could run back into Chris and Steve. I did find them and then finished out the run with them for a total of 23 miles today. I was really thrilled with the way the run went and I definitely feel ready for the marathon in a few weeks.

My knee is still pretty sore from the run, so I need to be sure and roll, stretch and ice this week to get it rehabbed, but overall it's not too bad.

And, I'm buying Excedrin on my next trip to the store.

 

[Ariel484]

You're starting to make me think I need to work a regular massage into my schedule!!

Wow, the first 13 in 2:35ish - awesome!! Great start! And what a great run overall, way to tough it out! Glad you found a magic pill for your knee - how is it feeling?

You are going to kill it in your marathon!

 

[ZellyB]

You're starting to make me think I need to work a regular massage into my schedule!!

Wow, the first 13 in 2:35ish - awesome!! Great start! And what a great run overall, way to tough it out! Glad you found a magic pill for your knee - how is it feeling?

You are going to kill it in your marathon!

I'm telling you, those massages are the best!!!

The knee is still a little bit irritated, but it's okay. I just need to be cautious about it. I did buy some Excedrin and it is working well, not quite as magical as it felt on the run, but still pretty good. I am optimistic that the marathon will go well. Just a little less than 2 weeks away!

 

[ZellyB]

This was a pretty easy week of training for me. We are in our taper for the marathon coming up soon, so not pushing too hard right now.

We ended up not running on Tuesday since it was raining and I was really sore. We did an easy 3 on Thursday which felt pretty good. I was feeling the IT band/knee pain a bit, but nothing too extreme. Still trying to be good about icing and rolling. Well, I actually don't roll it, but I do get Chris to use this massager on it that has the same effect. It hurts like a bugger when he does it, but it does loosen things up. I think I may run the next few runs using a knee band I bought last year for the same problem. I think it also helped with the pain a bit. Anyway, fingers crossed that it won't be too much of a problem during the marathon.

Saturday was an 8 mile run with our group. It was a great morning for a run. We had several work friends over to our house the night before for a little party though, and I over indulged a bit in the drinking department, so I wasn't feeling my best as we ran. But, overall I wasn't terrible. But around mile 5 I had some stupid GI issues again. Nothing horrible and I finished okay, but it made the last 3 miles unpleasant. But, nobody to blame but myself for that. Still, the legs felt pretty good. The knee and IT band were certainly there and I was aware of them, but nothing that was too difficult to manage.

So, another week in the books and feeling pretty good about things and anxious to get our marathon completed soon!!!

 

[annmarieda]

I love your race recap. Sounds like it was a great race. Congrats on the PR! That is awesome!!! Love your skirt choice for it, btw!

Your training run scares me! HOLY COW that is a lot of miles!!! Way to go! I am glad you were able to get a second wind and finish up like you did. I still in in awe of your mileage.

 

[ZellyB]

I love your race recap. Sounds like it was a great race. Congrats on the PR! That is awesome!!! Love your skirt choice for it, btw!

Your training run scares me! HOLY COW that is a lot of miles!!! Way to go! I am glad you were able to get a second wind and finish up like you did. I still in in awe of your mileage.

Thanks, Ann. The race really was fun. Chris and I may run it again next year, but Chris may do the marathon while I stop at the half. I think after I finish Goofy, I'll take a break from marathons for awhile and stick to halfs. Chris really wants to get a PR on a marathon doing run/walk. His previous PR was like 4:49, so no way he manages a PR if he's running with me! The nice thing about the Mo'Cowbell is that the full runs with the half route almost the entire way just spitting off with maybe a quarter mile to go to the half finish, so we could run together through the half and then he finishes off the marathon. But, we will see. That's still a year away.

 

[ZellyB]

Well, my report has been really short on the actual Disney parks portion of the trip. Shame on me for that!!! So, let's rectify that a bit with this post, okay?

We of course passed the 180 day mark quite some time ago and I did make some ADRs at the time. Since we are renting a house with a full kitchen, we do plan to eat a lot of meals at the house, but no Disney trip is complete without at least a few meals at Disney restaurants, right?

We arrive on Thursday and plan to hit the Expo and grocery store and hang out at our house that evening. Friday we are planning to go to DHS for the day. We will eat breakfast at the house and we will leave the park fairly early since the half marathon is the next day, so dinner will also be at the house. That left us with lunch at the parks. I debated just doing something easy counter service, but then thought a table service meal would be more fun. We've eaten at Sci-Fi before,



so I wanted to do something different this go round and we settled on...

50's Prime Time Cafe


Hopefully we will all enjoy it. I hear the milkshakes are great.

Saturday is the half-marathon and then we are just relaxing at the house for the rest of the day. We might go visit DTD, but we will still likely do all our meals at the house.

Sunday of course is the marathon and our plan is to head back out to Epcot after the run. After our first marathon, Chris and I ate at Biergarten and plan to head back there again. Looking forward to one of these.



Monday we are going to Animal Kingdom and just planning to eat at the house and counter service on this day.

Tuesday is Magic Kingdom and I really wanted to get an early character ADR to get into the park early. I wanted to get Cinderella's Royal Table, but they are closed while we are there. So, instead I went for Crystal Palace. We ate here before with the kids and enjoyed it a lot. I just love being able to get into MK early before it is open. So, we got an 8 AM ADR and I am looking forward to it.



For dinner, I was just planning on eating at one of the monorail resorts so we could leave early, eat dinner and then come back to the park. So, I got one set up for Kona Cafe. We've never eaten here, but I think it sound good. Hope it is.



So, I thought I had us all set and was pretty satisfied with what I had done. Then a few weeks ago, Sophie stars asking if we are going to eat at Be Our Guest. What??? I didn't think she even knew about that restaurant. Apparently a friend of hers at school was asking. Great. So, now I'm trying to get the most difficult ADR in all Disney. I've been stalking the reservations daily, but so far no luck. Sophie did say if we couldn't eat there it was no big deal, but it would be nice to get that for her. Chris and I ate there in 2013 and honestly, I wasn't that impressed with the food, but the atmosphere really was neat. So, fingers crossed to get lucky with a late ADR.

 

[annmarieda]

I love the choices of ADRs you made.

50s PT is very good. I was surprised by it. I have avoided it for many a trip and finally gave it a shot last january. The pork chop was amazing!!

Nothing can beat entering the parks early...especially entering MK early. I just wish that I could somehow get my travel companions to agree on this some time because I would love to go to CP again.

I will cross my fingers for you to get the BOG reservation. If not a reservation maybe you could just do the lunch counter service? Course I think you need a fast pass for that at this point. Or maybe not. I can't keep up with what standbys they did away with and what they didn't and if the ones they did stayed that way. Like... on our trip we had no fast passes for Toy Story mania and they had switch to a no standby line. So no fast pass... and no ride for us.

 

[ZellyB]

I love the choices of ADRs you made.

50s PT is very good. I was surprised by it. I have avoided it for many a trip and finally gave it a shot last january. The pork chop was amazing!!

Nothing can beat entering the parks early...especially entering MK early. I just wish that I could somehow get my travel companions to agree on this some time because I would love to go to CP again.

I will cross my fingers for you to get the BOG reservation. If not a reservation maybe you could just do the lunch counter service? Course I think you need a fast pass for that at this point. Or maybe not. I can't keep up with what standbys they did away with and what they didn't and if the ones they did stayed that way. Like... on our trip we had no fast passes for Toy Story mania and they had switch to a no standby line. So no fast pass... and no ride for us.

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed 50's PT. I love a good pork chop, so I may plan on ordering that one.

Yeah, who knows on BOG. Sophie seems okay either way, but she has asked a few times about it, so I know it's something she'd like to do. We will just have to see.

I had no idea you got caught up in the crazy TSMM mess. That stinks that you didn't even get a chance to ride it. They were just rolling out FP+ on our trip last year, and it was okay for us since it's a low crowd time of year, we managed without any trouble. They didn't have it at Epcot or DHS yet though when we went so that was still all legacy. Still it wasn't really a problem for us, but I wonder how it will be this year with it in full swing. The only one I'm really concerned about is 7DMT since we are off-site, we only have the 30 day window and I'm not encouraged by what I read here. But, I'm hoping with our CP early breakfast that we can hit it right after breakfast and be at the front of the stand-by if I can't get FP+. We will manage either way, I'm sure. From what I read, we wouldn't necessarily be missing out on that much anyway.

 

[Ariel484]

Woohoo for taper time!!!

I'm sorry you had GI issues during your run - that is NEVER a good thing! Great job getting through it!

50s is on my list of places to try some day, but it always gets pushed aside for something else. I'll be curious to hear how you like it!

About BoG - maybe you can try getting a FP+ for lunch if dinner doesn't open up. Keep trying, I'm sure you will find a timeslot! A couple of weeks back they were totally full for Wine & Dine and then BAM - a bunch of spots opened up. I'm not interested in going there for dinner (LOVE their lunch though) so I didn't get an ADR, but a few people on the W&D thread did.

 

[ZellyB]

Well, today was our local marathon that I've been training for with our Galloway group. It's been a tough training season, so I've been really worried about this run. But, we were committed and planning to make the best of it.

My two other marathons have been Disney marathons which are VERY SLOW since we stop for lots of pictures. My best time there was like 6:58 or something. EEK! So, I figured I was bound to get a PR right? My first goal was to beat 6 hours and a stretch goal of 5:30. I've been fighting this stupid IT band issue for weeks, but it's been feeling decent lately so I was hopeful it wouldn't cause me any problems.

We got our bibs and race shirts picked up yesterday and I laid out flat Gisele last night in preparation for the run.



Forecast was calling for a low 40s temp at the start and ending up in the low 50s, so I felt like I was okay to wear my sparkle skirt.

The race starts from the Bass Pro Shop store, and our Galloway group gets use of a meeting room before the start. It's awesome and lets you wait for the start of the race inside. Also time for pictures.







Also, a private bathroom. WOOHOO!

So, a few minutes before the start we headed out. Pretty big crowd.



A lovely rendition of the national anthem and we were off. We decided to run at a 3:1 to start. Things went pretty well early on, we were keeping a pretty good pace and sort of hanging with the 5 hour pace group. In retrospect, not a good idea. We really started out a bit fast. Around mile 7, my IT band and knee pain got really severe. I really started to worry at this point if I'd be able to finish. We had brought Excedrin, so I popped a couple and trudged on. After a bit the pain eased and I was able to settle in okay, but I did keep going slower and slower. Around mile 13 we switched to a 2:1 interval which helped me some. Sadly, Chris started having IT problems too. ACK! On we went, but I kept getting more and more worn out, so at about mile 18, we switched to 1:1 intervals. We finally got to mile 20 and I think for both of us it was just a mental hurdle to get over that. We were worn out, but we actually felt like we were doing better after that point.

Eventually we made the final turn toward the finish and ran across the line!! WOOHOO!! Unofficial finish time around 5:56. So, no 5:30 for me, but still under 6 and a full hour faster than my previous Disney races. I'm happy with that!



OH! One other thing. The temp was good for this run, but the wind was CRAZY!! Significant amounts of the race were into a strong headwind. Not fun. And as you can see from my hair, not good for finishline pics.

Love the race shirt and medal too!





The Bass Pro races benefit the MO Conservation Department, so every year they have some area wildlife on the medals. I have a Wolf medal and a Bear medal from previous years. This year was an eagle. I dig it!

So, that's it. I'm sitting home nursing two hurting knees and very sore legs and feet, but happy to have my third marathon behind me.

And in completely unrelated to running news, but fun regardless, we added a new member to our family.



Eight week old Yorkie puppy who is yet un-named. He's ridiculously sweet and cute.