I Just Wanted To Be Athletic - And Now, I Am! (comments welcome)

[corinnak]

Debra - Giardia is a really beautiful name for a nasty little bug, isn't it? The pup is doing well, thankfully. The medicine seems to really be making a difference for him, and he should be non-contagious this week, so unless something else happens, knock on wood, we should be OK for the trip.

I'm going to keep stretching and icing and doing as much running as I can - evidetly, if I do 20 minutes every other day, I shouldn't lose a whole lot of conditioning, at least more than I already have. I would love to get another long run in this week before the "taper" but realistically...we'll just have to wait and see. I would rather, as you say, be underprepared than overtrained. Or something like that. I'm off to do another ice bath for this foot. Just FYI.

Kim - yeah, if you start having giardia nightmares, give me a call. I'll talk you through it. And I think you're pretty lucky, having a run named for you. Not everyone is so fortunate. I don't know of anyone else with their own personal distance. Not that you didn't just do a DOUBLE Kim+, yourself! Not sure what a "Corinna" would be. Maybe if you ran farther than you meant to but you aren't really sure how far you ran. For me, a quick 2 miles is definitely NOT "only a Kim." It's more like a KIM!

 

[corinnak]

Oh my gosh - I just saw your ticker, Kim. And it is NOT 10 days, is it? Seriously? WOW. That's just crazy.

 

[kimwim8]

Well, today it's NINE!! But that's my countdown to next Thursday when we leave for Florida. The race is 11 days now. Can't wait to meetcha!

And I'd say a Corinna is a 6 miler. I strive for that kind of endurance and you rock those!!!

 

[Caitsmama]

Corinna -- he is soooooo cute!! (uh, the pup, NOT the bug!!) LOL That bug is actually really freaky looking!!! Yikes, hope the pup gets well soon!

And yes, it's 9 days!!!!!!!!!!

 

[postesf]

Hi Corinna! Just getting caught up here. Glad your puppy is feeling better!

Sounds like you are on the road to recovery! I'm so glad your foot is better. Just in time for the Minnie! Glad your "Kim" went well. That is good news!

Stacie

 

[corinnak]

And I'd say a Corinna is a 6 miler. I strive for that kind of endurance and you rock those!!!

Oh, funny. I think you might be right, if only because I have a great 6 mile loop to run. Well, it's too hilly to be truly great, but after that third hill, it settles down to pretty darned nice. You'll be running a "Corinna" before you know it, Kim.

Stacy - Thanks - Skippy is feeling much better already, though he doesn't enjoy one of the medicines very much. Time flies when you're distracted by other stuff, I guess.

Stacie - My foot is better every day, I think. The ice baths are helping, and I have hopes that I can still finish both of these races. Crossing my fingers, but not my toes.


I am going to run again a little tomorrow. I want to do a longer run on Thursday. I shudder to think that 7.5 miles might be my longest run in training for the Minnie, but I don't want to reinjure. I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but it's my journal, so I can go on and on with my continuing struggle to recover and train at the same time, right?

When do I start to taper? It's the week before, I know, and I was planning for a lighter week, doing a 6 for the LR on Sunday, but if I did something more than that on, say Saturday, would that be cutting into my taper? Probably not, I'm guessing. Maybe what I will do is a long R/W on Thursday with a cell phone so DH can bail me out if I end up too far from home with a sore foot. Big sigh. It's always something.

I really need to start thinking about packing!

 

[deekaypee]

I'm crossing my fingers that the ELISA test turns out negative on Wednesday!!! Do you have any other alternatives if it's not?

 

[postesf]

Hi Corinna. Just checking in. The Minnie is here upon us! How's your foot doing????

Stacie

 

[corinnak]

Woops - I wrote this yesterday and failed to post it.

Well, if you can believe it, my last two runs have been in SNOW. Not a lot today, but it was out there. How does this help me be ready for running in Florida? Hardly at all, I bet. Saturday was pretty brutal with the wind and everything and the dog and I ran 6 miles. Today was not soooo brutal, but still a little windy and flurries. 5 miles. I'll probably do at least one more run, maybe a Kim or a 5K on Wednesday. Dog's gotta run.

As I ran today, I thought about the races and how I'm going to have to approach them if I want to come through the weekend in one piece. I think I am going to have to abandon all thoughts of having an at all personally impressive time for either run - I'm going to do what I have to do to finish, and that's all. My foot is doing OK at this point - I still feel a little soreness around the back of the ankle bone, but it's not bad and it seems to not get worse if I take the rest days in between running. Of course this concerns me about doing both races, cause...no rest day. In fact, WDW is the anti-rest day. It feels so weird not to push myself, but I've been doing that since I got back into training. Walking up the hills. Skipping the speed work. Just trying to hold my own and not lose any ground, injury-wise. In fact, I am even considering renting a scooter to use in the parks to save wear and tear on the feet, though I am sure I'd feel a little weird about it. But if there is one thing I've decided about people using wheelchairs or scooters in the park - it's better to get over yourself and just do it than to soldier through out of pride.

As for the test to which Debra refers, the situation with the dog is very tenuous. For those not following along on the Ohana list, He was doing better for a while, then his digestion (ahem) worsened again. So that's when we ran the stool sample again and it was negative, but giardia is notoriously difficult to detect. It will show up in the regular test sometimes and not others, even within the same day. So there is a chance we aren't out of the woods, apparetly. The vet gave us more meds and wanted to test again in a week, but I said "Uh, we've got a trip" and she said "OK, Wednesday, but what are we going to do if it's positive?" And then she said we could essentially hospitalize him there, but they aren't around most of the day on Saturday or Sunday, so he'd be an awfully lonely pup for a while there. I hesitate to do that as he is such a social dog, but then it is an option anyhow.

The other option would be for DH and our older boy to take this trip and me and our younger boy to stay home with the dog and take our own trip in the beginning of June when the other two will be in rehearsal for The Merry Wives of Windsor. So we'll do the test tomorrow, I guess, and see how things shake out.

Thanks for checking up on me, friends.

 

[AmyBeth68]

Good luck this weekend C! I hope you are feeling good during the races...I've abandoned my pace and any hopes of a PR too. It's all about the fun now . Safe travels!

 

[corinnak]

Thanks Amy - safe travels to you too! Hopefully see you at the start. I'll be.....uh....the one in the lime green shirt and visor.

 

[corinnak]

So, the Giardia test came back negative. I'm in, guys. I'd better get cracking on that packing!

 

[kimwim8]

So, the Giardia test came back negative. I'm in, guys. I'd better get cracking on that packing!

YEAH!!!!

 

[corinnak]

Kim, if I didn't know better, judging by smilie density and font size, I'd say you're more excited about this than I am!

So after a VERY full day of running all over the place, running and then packing, I should just go to bed, I know. But I wanted to mention here that I got a last-minute lift tonight in a most unexpected place.

So there we were at dog class, and Skippy is a total basket-case of energy. Actually, he's been worse, but compared with how exhausted he's been the days he's come from daycare, I felt like he had a lot of energy spilling over and I probably had diminished capacity to cope.

So sitting there in the training corral, talking to the owners of two adorable puggles, I was explaining why it was that Skippy was so manic tonight - I'd run him for 2 miles that morning, but he's apparently come to expect more on a regular basis, and then he'd ended up having to spend most of the afternoon in his crate while I was out, so he was more than able to rest and recover during that time. And the guy - not at all an outwardly unfit-appearing guy - says "After running two miles, I'd need an oxygen tent." And we laughed, but it's made me remember and be grateful for how far I've come. No matter what pace I keep at any of these races this weeked, no matter how much of the course I end up walking out of a need for recovery, no matter how many people finish ahead of me or how few behind me, I will remember that what I can do really IS amazingly cool. I am past my first runniversary, but it really wasn't all THAT long ago in the grander scheme that I would also have needed an oxygen tent after running 2 miles. Now, if I end up in an oxygen tent this weekend, nobody laugh, OK?

 

[Caitsmama]

Hi Corinna! Safe travels to you! I am off to the airport about 3pm, See ya this weekend!

 

[Caitsmama]

Corinna, it was so nice to meet you and chat with ya this weekend!! It's great to put faces with names. You did great at your races, and i hope i can meet up with ya again...
Don't you hear that princess 1/2 bling bling calling your name???

 

[corinnak]

So, good news! There was no oxygen tent for me this weeked, though I probably should have gone to the medical tent after the 15K, but my kids were in the kids races and then we had to get some FP's for Soarin' etc. etc. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I have my photos uploaded and am going to write up a nice little report tonight.

Stacy, it was so great to meet you, too. I was especially glad to run into you again after the 15K - that was such a nice bonus! For now, regarding the princess 1/2.....I'm a little on the edge. My DH was saying that I might want to do that instead of the 1/2 in January. And I said absolutely not. I have been wanting the 2009 half-marathon since I started this, I'm registered and I'm going to run it - end of story...you know, barring broken limbs, giardia, ringworm, that kind of thing.

OK - I was going to post a teaser photo, but it turns out the email application is jamming up the works. I need to restart, but I will at least write up a little report on the 5K tonight. Back in a bit.

 

[corinnak]

I started this as a trip report, but ended up feeling like I was taking an awfully long time to get to the point, so let's just cut right to the race report. I'll preface it by saying that we had a late arrival at Old Key West on Thursday night, during which our room keys didn't work. We had had a full morning at DHS on Friday, and a nice rest, followed by dinner at Boma, and some more theme park after. Saturday morning, I woke up bright and early....or at least 5am. I had arranged a cab pickup for 6 am, and there was a cab out in front of our building - I still don't know if it was the one I had arranged or not - another cab was arriving in the parking lot as we were driving away.

I arrived at the Epcot parking lot and went and checked my bag right away. Then I wandered over to the cluster of green shirts and realized.....I don't actually know anyone well enough to recognize them. But I stood around and eventually saw some people I recognized. Stacy and Stacie, Anne and....who else? I know there were more but my brain seems to have misplaced that information - very unfortunate, but I guess my brain wasn't fully ON yet that morning. Next it was time for Porta-potties. Then Amy found me on the way back! Then a phone call from Kim and her BIL who were arriving! And back over to the group where we also met Scott and I saw Leana and her mom - who probably didn't know me, but I knew her from her reports from last year. And cause she had written to ask about my Tower of Terror clippie.
Leana and her mom and....#673, sorry I didn't catch his name.

Kim, Amy and Me:

And now onto the crappier pictures:

The start.....Oh, there's Minnie in the haze.....it was humid that morning, but not THAT humid.

Kim, your hair is looking good, but I have to think I was trying to take a picture of something else and moved the camera before it was done:

Another with Minnie and a bunch of running people:

I have too many photos and must continue in another post.

 

[corinnak]

I can't believe I didn't get a photo of the Epcot Shanty-town. All the food and wine shacks, lined up. I did get this brilliant one of the Epcot graveyard. That shiny thing back there is some sort of carnival type mirror imploring you to explore your inner pear or something like that. I thought "Great, a mirror to make it look like I have big hips."

Approaching the backside of Test Track. I checked the Garmin and told Kim what kind of pace we were keeping - something between 10 and 11. She asked if I was OK. I said I was, and then she sensibly reminded me that I had a 15K to run the following day. Thanks for keeping me grounded in reality, Kim! And for running slowish with me when you could have safely gone so much faster.

Too bad I couldn't be bothered to slow down and take a picture - I thought this sign was weird:

"Authorized vehicles beyond this point, no pedestrians (!) or bicycles. Truck Inspection Right Lane. Residents Only Left Lane." Residents? There are residents of Epcot? I thought that was an idea that had gone the way of the hydroculators.

This is the only picture I have of the mile markers that turned out halfway OK.

Kim, do you remember it wasn't long after this that someone said "Uh, we still have two miles to go!" or something like that....Of course, prior to this point, there had been a whole lot of parking lot and service-road on the route. The best two miles were yet to come. Not that I didn't enjoy the back-side of Epcot....

The Third Worst Photo Of Spaceship Earth Ever. At this point, the sweat had really kicked in, FYI:

On past the back end of Spaceship Earth....what are they calling that now? Something cool sponsored by Siemens.

Look! They had the torches lit up for us!:

China Pavilion:

I think this was the Mile 2 marker. But I moved the camera too soon. Look, Ma. A cone.

Bicycle medics....it's all a blurrr......

They did wave to us after I took their photo. Would have been nicer had I stopped and taken another photo, huh?

OK, onward to England. No photos of the "hill" between France and England. We've all seen it and climbed it, but probably didn't process it as a "hill" until that morning.

Almost back to Spaceship Earth - is it really possible?

OK, why is this one so much better than the first one? I swear, I didn't stop and set up a tripod....stupid camera...why...why???

I guess next we ran right out through the gates, didn't we?

At this point, the pictures get really bad. There was one of shadows and a couple of feet. There's this gem - very arty, eh? This simulates how the race actually FEELS at this point.

Again with the ART - check out the finish line and my awesome WISH shirt....yeah. I meant to do that. Stupid camera.

And now I am nominally in control of the photographing again, though I don't know why I took this one:

I was impressed that they had Chip & Dale's girlfriend, Clarice. Not impressed enough to wait in line for my own photo, but still impressed.

And then I couldn't find my race time...at all...thought there might have been an issue with my chip since this was the first time I'd used the Marathon Weekend 2009 chip. Fortunately, my results showed up online later on, but I did find Kim's results, and preserved that page for posterity:

Is this not the worst race report you've ever read? Marginal photos, very little "I felt this way here and this way there." It was a fun race. Great to run with Kim and her DBIL, great to meet some WISH friends, great to run through Epcot first thing in the morning. I'd do it again, if only that were a possibility. At least we have the memories. And these questionable photos.

 

[Caitsmama]

Corinna, great pics!! LOL you are up on me! I can't bring my camera - it's just too big and bulky.. so it's great to see pics that someone took!
I had no idea that Clarice was there!!! LOL Again, as you said, not impressed enough to wait in line, but pretty cool! However, i do think MINNIE should have been there --