i want adventure in the great wide somewhere - running journal! (comments welcome)

[xjillianpaige]

Week 3 of Training
14 Weeks to Half Marathon​

Guys. I ate so much food yesterday at Friendsgiving Round 1 and I have another Friendsgiving today. Running more = eating more, right? Anyway, let's get into training progress:

Week 3 Plan:
Tuesday, November 14: 30 minutes
Thursday, November 16: 30 minutes
Saturday, November 18: 5 miles

Week 3 Actual:
Tuesday: 2.80 miles • 34:20 • 12:15 avg. pace
Thursday: 2.81 miles • 34:37 • 12:19 avg. pace
Saturday: 5.24 miles • 1:04:29 • 12:18 avg. pace

So, I was pretty nervous about my 5 mile run this weekend. My first 5 mile run in August was tough, to say the least. And my last one was okay, but I faded toward the end. I think I got it into my head that 5 miles was a difficult distance to run because of those two runs. So on this weekend run, I had to switch that mindset and decide that I was going to feel good during this run and not run out of steam during that last mile/uphill. And I gotta say that I did much better this time around! I shook that mental "I can't do it - it's too hard - I'm not good at this particular distance" mindset and finished strong!

Funny story about my run, too. I was on my way home from the pond I run at (it's about 1 mile from my house to the pond, 3 miles around the pond, and then 1 mile back - just gotta make sure I take the right trails/paths) and I stopped because there's this gorgeous spot of trees that are evenly spaced and I wanted to video them on snapchat (next time I'll take/save a photo). Anyway, I stop and take the video and notice someone running behind me out of the corner of my eye. I put my phone down and start running again, and now I can tell that the person is running behind me, just a little bit back. I anticipate that whoever it is will pass me, because I'm used to being passed and I always make sure there's room to go by me.

The seconds tick on and this person isn't passing me, and now I'm getting nervous. The pond is VERY busy, but this trail back to my house is significantly less so. I usually see a few people on it when I run, but sometimes it's empty. Luckily I saw someone ahead of me with their dog, and I am literally ready to yell for help if I need to. My app goes off and tells me it's time to start walking, so I slow my pace. Now I'm SURE that this person will finally pass me, but they start to walk, too! I look to my side as they walk next to me and it's an older gentleman who tells me that I'm around his pace and invites me to join the local running club!

I spent a solid 3 miles sure that I was going to be killed a mile from my house without ever getting my Princess medal, and instead I might go check out the running club (I had looked into it, but never thought it would work for me).

So there was that. Other than that event, my run was uneventful. I think it's time for new shoes, so I might go shopping at some point. Especially since my new training plan never dips below 4 miles on the weekends.

Coming Up:
Tuesday: 30 minutes
Thursday: 30 minutes
Saturday: 6.5 miles

 

[xjillianpaige]

Oops. They’re beautiful. My old ones were Nike flex experience rn 4. These are Nike flex experience rn 6. I’m wearing them around Friendsgiving today to warm them up. First spin will be Tuesday!

 

[ZellyB]

New shoes!!!! YAY!

Glad that you conquered that 5-mile mental hurdle and had a good strong run even if you were scared the older gentleman was stalking you. That was really nice that he invited you to join the group. I love our running group!

 

[FredtheDuck]

Nice job with the five miler! I had a really rough go with my first seven miler and for some reason it still kind of sticks with me, even though I've run further than that several times now. So good on you for shaking that mindset quickly! Hooray for new shoes and a potential new running club too! (Random side note - I love your nail polish in that pic!)

 

[xjillianpaige]

New shoes!!!! YAY!

Glad that you conquered that 5-mile mental hurdle and had a good strong run even if you were scared the older gentleman was stalking you. That was really nice that he invited you to join the group. I love our running group!

Thank you! I’m thinking of waiting to join the group until after the half. I have a few social connections to the group, so I’ll probably reach out to them with questions.

Nice job with the five miler! I had a really rough go with my first seven miler and for some reason it still kind of sticks with me, even though I've run further than that several times now. So good on you for shaking that mindset quickly! Hooray for new shoes and a potential new running club too! (Random side note - I love your nail polish in that pic!)

Thanks! This mental stuff is so crazy. I’ve run 6+ miles a few times but 5 miles had me scared. The polish color is called We the Female!

 

[xjillianpaige]

Week 4 of Training
13 Weeks to Half Marathon​

I officially retired the pink Nikes. I'm excited to say that I did the #math to figure out how many miles I ran in them (obviously this doesn't count all the times I wore them and didn't run, so there's definitely lots of extra, uncalculated miles). From July to November, in my pink Nikes, I ran...

160.01 miles!

I'm excited to see how many miles I clock in with my white Nikes.

Week 4 Plan:
Tuesday, November 21: 30 minutes
Thursday, November 23: 30 minutes
Saturday, November 25: 6.5 miles

Week 4 Actual:
Tuesday: skipped
Thursday: 2.79 miles • 34:14 • 12:17 avg. pace
Saturday: 6.81 miles • 1:23:37 • 12:16 avg. pace

I started to feel really sick on Sunday during friendsgiving, so when my alarm went off on Tuesday morning, I decided to give myself one more day of rest. Then on Thursday I got to go for a later run because of Thanksgiving and no work, so I got my extra sleep AND my run, which felt really good. Saturday I REALLY didn't want to go for my run because I'm still not 100%, but it was an absolutely gorgeous day and I couldn't let it pass me by.

It was low to mid 50s, so I put on cropped pants for the first time since October. I ended up even taking off my long sleeve layer and running in a tank top and there were moments where I still was too warm! Other than that, there's nothing much to report about the run. I more or less felt good. There were some moments where I struggled; mostly up hills and at one point I forgot to take a walking break so that tired me out. Maybe my body is used to the cold, too, so the mild warmth threw me a bit. I also didn't really break in the white Nikes, so there was some rubbing against my ankle and at one point it felt really weird under my foot/arch that I had to work out. It almost felt like there was something rolled up underneath my foot around where my pinky toe is. I'm not sure if that was muscular or something else. Either way, it went away after a walk break.

Coming Up:
Tuesday: 30 minutes
Thursday: 30 minutes
Saturday: 4 miles w/ magic mile

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Thanks for following along to my rambles about my running! . . .We're starting to plan our trip, too! I might start a pre-trip report... Not sure yet. Right now our plan is to fly in Thursday for the expo, do an easy run at one of the resorts (maybe the boardwalk or our home resort) and then grab dinner at Downtown Disney. For park days we're thinking Friday AK, Saturday HS, Sunday None (though I might want to do a park day this day), Monday MK and Tuesday Epcot. Fly home Wednesday. I'm considering doing a five day hopper, though, because I think I'll want to do an extra day in the parks versus relax after the race. I want as many photos of myself post-race with my medal as possible!

For ADRs, we're thinking of breakfast at the Crystal Palace and Cinderella's Royal Table (has anyone done that breakfast - how is it?). We also plan on lunch or dinner at Beaches & Cream or Be Our Guest and dinner at Rose & Crown. Last day is possibly breakfast at the Trattioria on the Boardwalk. I'm kind of funny in the way I like to plan my eating at the parks. There are certain snacks/foods I know I want to find time to eat (ex. mickey premium bar, mickey waffles) and other than that I'm not really bothered by where I go. Finishing my day at the World Showcase at Rose & Crown (pub or dining room) has been a bucket list thing for me recently - it reminds me of my semester abroad in London. Devin likes to plan each of her meals, whereas my family and I just pop onto the app to see what we can find that day. With that said, I'm excited about our planned ADRs for this trip!

Right now, we're also planning on staying at Port Orleans Riverside. Anyone stay there before? Thoughts?

WOW. That was a lot! Thanks for reading all of it!!

I'm late to this report, but I wanted to comment on your possible room and dining options. I stayed at Riverside this past April for Dark Side and loved it. I thought it was laid back and most important much, much quieter than All Star Sports. Almost chose to stay there again for Dark Side, but went for French Quarter instead because I wanted to try something different, but loved the feel of the Port Orleans area.

As for dining, I've never done breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table, but I have had dinner there. In my opinion, you dine there because you want to dine in the castle. The food tastes fine, but is nowhere near as good as the other similarly priced restaurants in Walt Disney World. In terms of food quality versus price, I can't recommend it. Restaurant Akershus in Epcot is a less expensive character meal and features Belle in the lobby with the other princesses coming to visit your table. That said, dining in the castle is dining in the castle, so I'll describe my experience there from 2012.

You meet Cinderella in the lobby before you're seated and then other princesses will visit your table. When I dined there in 2012, they were giving wands or swords to the children dining there. Even though I was by myself, they offered me a sword saying it would be great for photos. Considering my favorite animated film, I had to take the sword. And it did make for a great photo.



Even as a single guy, each princess visited my table and spent time talking to me. At no time did I feel like they were trying to rush me. So if you're the least bit concerned about being adults without children at a character meal, don't be. The characters will treat you the same and without children, they can show you why they really are that character.

I'm with you on post race photos in the parks. As a slower runner, I have to skip at least some if not all in race photo ops because of time concerns and long lines, so I try to make up for that after the race in the parks. I also recently discovered the fun of taking photos of just the medal(s) in front of different places in the parks including park icons. My trip report has some of my during and post race photos from Disneyland. I will get to the Disney World side of things eventually.

 

[xjillianpaige]

I'm late to this report, but I wanted to comment on your possible room and dining options. I stayed at Riverside this past April for Dark Side and loved it. I thought it was laid back and most important much, much quieter than All Star Sports. Almost chose to stay there again for Dark Side, but went for French Quarter instead because I wanted to try something different, but loved the feel of the Port Orleans area.

As for dining, I've never done breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table, but I have had dinner there. In my opinion, you dine there because you want to dine in the castle. The food tastes fine, but is nowhere near as good as the other similarly priced restaurants in Walt Disney World. In terms of food quality versus price, I can't recommend it. Restaurant Akershus in Epcot is a less expensive character meal and features Belle in the lobby with the other princesses coming to visit your table. That said, dining in the castle is dining in the castle, so I'll describe my experience there from 2012.

You meet Cinderella in the lobby before you're seated and then other princesses will visit your table. When I dined there in 2012, they were giving wands or swords to the children dining there. Even though I was by myself, they offered me a sword saying it would be great for photos. Considering my favorite animated film, I had to take the sword. And it did make for a great photo.

Even as a single guy, each princess visited my table and spent time talking to me. At no time did I feel like they were trying to rush me. So if you're the least bit concerned about being adults without children at a character meal, don't be. The characters will treat you the same and without children, they can show you why they really are that character.

I'm with you on post race photos in the parks. As a slower runner, I have to skip at least some if not all in race photo ops because of time concerns and long lines, so I try to make up for that after the race in the parks. I also recently discovered the fun of taking photos of just the medal(s) in front of different places in the parks including park icons. My trip report has some of my during and post race photos from Disneyland. I will get to the Disney World side of things eventually.

Thanks for stopping into my report! I'm definitely excited about Port Orleans Riverside. It'll be a new resort to me and I feel like the moderates at Disney are VERY nice. As close to deluxe as I'll be getting for some time (unless I go with my parents again - they stay deluxe).

Thanks for your CRT review! I've also heard that it's about the experience. I'm sure this will be a one and done for me, but I think breakfast is probably the best option (and we got a breakfast res!) and I can say I've eaten in the castle. I find that the characters do a great job with adults-only parties! I feel like a kid again when I go!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Maybe someday I'll stay in a deluxe resort. Probably the Star Wars resort.

CRT is definitely about dining in the castle. It's a pretty small dining room too. When I dined there, I had a window seat so I could look out over Fantasyland. That was pretty cool.

If your reservation is after any race, be sure to wear your medal(s). The characters will often reference that. After this year's Star Wars 10K in Disneyland, Cinderella remarked how impressed she was that I ran. She commented that she hates running, but the one time she did it worked out pretty well for her after she lost her shoe.

 

[xjillianpaige]

Maybe someday I'll stay in a deluxe resort. Probably the Star Wars resort.

CRT is definitely about dining in the castle. It's a pretty small dining room too. When I dined there, I had a window seat so I could look out over Fantasyland. That was pretty cool.

If your reservation is after any race, be sure to wear your medal(s). The characters will often reference that. After this year's Star Wars 10K in Disneyland, Cinderella remarked how impressed she was that I ran. She commented that she hates running, but the one time she did it worked out pretty well for her after she lost her shoe.

After the race we have Le Cellier (that night), CRT and BOG the next day, & then rose and crown the following night and our last day is breakfast at trattoria. We'll be sure to have our medals for them!

 

[xjillianpaige]

Week 5 of Training
12 Weeks to Half Marathon​

We are officially three months away from the half! Running is just part of the routine now. I'm starting to notice a difference in my body, as are the people around me. It's kind of crazy. I definitely want to continue running after the race. It's addictive. Also, here's that picture of the beautiful spot on my long-run trail.



Anyway, here's how the week went.

Week 5 Plan:
Tuesday, November 28: 30 minutes
Thursday, November 30: 30 minutes
Saturday, December 2: 4 miles with magic mile

Week 5 Actual:
Tuesday: 2.76 miles • 33:53 • 12:17 avg. pace
Thursday: 2.78 miles • 34:08 • 12:17 avg. pace
Saturday: 4.31 miles • 49:14 • 11:25 avg. pace (skipped the magic mile)

I'm pretty excited to see that my 30 minute morning runs are all around the same exact pace, 12:xx. I feel like I could train a bit faster, but I'm happy with my current pacing.

So, let's talk about why I ran so fast on Saturday.

My baby brother Jared!

He came on my long run with me. He kept to my ratios and I clearly slowed him down but he sped me up. My splits were: 11:49; 11:04; 11:22; 11:14. I felt good considering. No pain then and no pain today.

I'm not sure where my run will be next weekend. I have a conference Friday into Saturday. If I get home in time I'll do 8 miles around the neighborhood, if not then I'll go on Sunday. Maybe Jared will come along with me.

Coming Up:
Tuesday: 30 minutes
Thursday: 30 minutes
Saturday: 8 miles

 

[JulieODC]

Your training is going so well - great job!!

So glad your shadow runner ended with a running group invite

Confession - I never did any of the magic miles when I followed the Galloway plan. Oops!!

 

[ZellyB]

Great job on your training and loving that photo of all the trees along the trail. How nice to have your brother run with you and that he stuck to your ratios.

 

[GollyGadget]

Great job on the training! I find this to be the most difficult time to get it done. Between limited daylight, the weather, and holiday travel it can be difficult to squeeze in. Way to keep at it! It'll all pay off in February!

 

[xjillianpaige]

Your training is going so well - great job!!

So glad your shadow runner ended with a running group invite

Confession - I never did any of the magic miles when I followed the Galloway plan. Oops!!

Thank you! I'm glad that's how my shadow runner ended. Boy was I nervous. I found the magic miles helpful when training for the 10k where time was important to me - I'm less concerned about them since my race isn't about time and is about the fun and the experience. If it strikes me down the line, I'll do one just to see if I've improved since the last one.

Great job on your training and loving that photo of all the trees along the trail. How nice to have your brother run with you and that he stuck to your ratios.

Thank you! The run around the pond is so beautiful! As far as brothers go, I have a pretty good one.

Great job on the training! I find this to be the most difficult time to get it done. Between limited daylight, the weather, and holiday travel it can be difficult to squeeze in. Way to keep at it! It'll all pay off in February!

Thank you! I'm definitely finding that in the next few weeks I'm going to have to do some shuffling to make sure I get my runs in! I've got holiday parties and a housewarming and this conference. I'll have to squeeze the runs in where I can. I'm a perfectionist, so I try not to mess with the schedule because it'll bug me!

 

[xjillianpaige]

Week 6 of Training
11 Weeks to Half Marathon​

And snow the snowy weather begins. I skipped my Thursday this week not because of snow, but because I had some late-night tummy issues on Wednesday night and found myself tossing and turning around 3:00 a.m. and I just needed that extra half hour. On Sunday I cut my run in half because of the snow, but all of my pre-first-storm anxiety is now gone because I had my first snowy run!

Week 6 Plan:
Tuesday, December 5: 30 minutes
Thursday, December 7: 30 minutes
Saturday, December 9: 8 miles

Week 6 Actual:
Tuesday: 2.89 miles • 33:56 • 11:46 avg. pace
Thursday: skipped
Sunday: 4.24 miles • 51:29 • 11:08 avg. pace

I walked into the house after my Tuesday run in a huff because I'm too fast. I complained to my Dad that I need to adjust my route because my 30 minutes is over halfway up my street instead of at the bottom of my street and now I'm not getting that cool down. My plan this Tuesday is to adjust my route a little bit so that I get that cool down back in. I guess it could be a good thing that I've gotten faster?

I skipped that Thursday run, as I mentioned, due to some sleepless-ness and tummy issues.

Saturday I spent my day at a conference and that's the day the snow came down in Bahstahn (FYI, my conference was held by Harvard Medical School, so I'm pretty sure that means I can tell people that I went to Harvard Medical School #wickedsmaht). I pushed my run to Sunday (today) but had plans to babysit from 11:30-4:30 so I had a few options.

1. Run before babysitting on a treadmill at the gym
2. Run before babysitting outside on the snowy roads
3. Run after babysitting on a treadmill wherever I could find one
4. Run after babysitting on the roads in the dark

I decided to go with running before babysitting on the roads and hope for the best. My plan was to hit all 8 miles, so my mom would start with the baby and then I would go relieve her when I was done running/showering. I hit the road and should have known how it would go when I got to the path out of my street and it hadn't been plowed yet. My dad saw me turn around and start walking down the street in the opposite direction so he plowed that out for my return. #bestdadever I started running on the sidewalk and noticed that while some people had cleared theirs/were working on clearing it, lots hadn't touched anything yet. So I was doing a lot of hopping from road to sidewalk and over big mounds of snow and trying not to slip.

At the first intersection, the plan was to run on the shoulder, which I assumed would be cleared. Nope! More jumping on and off the sidewalk and trying to not be in the middle of a main road. Turning onto the first side road it was more jumping. I finally hit a side road that was perfectly clear and I could run in the middle of it without fear of being hit - there was plenty of space for cars to go around me.

The next two side roads weren't clear of snow, they still had a fine layer, but running on them was preferable because at least there was space to run and cars could go around me instead of me jumping on and off of sidewalks.

When I realized how unsafe the main roads were, despite being plowed, I decided to cut this run in half and go for 4, then hit the 8 next weekend. At least I went out there and saw what conditions will be like post-snow so that I'm well prepared next time.

Coming Up:
Tuesday: 30 minutes
Thursday: 30 minutes
Saturday: 8 miles

The morning runs should be fine. I'll adjust my route. This weekend is another tricky one. On Saturday I have a housewarming brunch in Boston around 12:30 and then Sunday is family Christmas around 1:00. Right now I'm leaning toward a Sunday morning run with my friend Jenna who is also training for the half (and is a member on these boards, though I don't think she's particularly active).

 

[GollyGadget]

Running in the snow can be frustrating when nothing is consistently cleared. I have the same problem in my neighborhood and usually just opt to run in the street. Luckily, there isn't much traffic.

We haven't got any snow yet but might get some flurries this afternoon. I already told my boss if it starts snowing I may leave early to run in it.

 

[xjillianpaige]

Running in the snow can be frustrating when nothing is consistently cleared. I have the same problem in my neighborhood and usually just opt to run in the street. Luckily, there isn't much traffic.

We haven't got any snow yet but might get some flurries this afternoon. I already told my boss if it starts snowing I may leave early to run in it.

Definitely frustrating! I figured the snow would have melted by now, too, but it's still here and some parts of the sidewalk are still blocked or icy.

 

[xjillianpaige]

Week 7 of Training
10 Weeks to Half Marathon​

Let's jump right in!

Week 7 Plan:
Tuesday, December 12: 30 minutes
Thursday, December 14: 30 minutes
Saturday, December 16: 8 miles

Week 7 Actual:
Tuesday: skipped
Thursday: skipped
Sunday: 8.21 miles • 1:46:42 • 13:00 avg. pace

Let's quickly talk about Tuesday and Thursday... I skipped both runs this week. Time is starting to shift already and now when my alarm goes off at 6:30 it's dark! I just cannot get out of bed when it's still dark out. My body won't allow it. So I skipped these runs. Interestingly, I noticed that my hips hurt this week and I think it's from not running, because now that I've gone for a run, my hips aren't bothering me anymore.

So, Jenna came to my house this morning for a 9:30 start time and we hit the road around 9:40. We did lots of loops through my neighborhood. The sidewalks are more or less clear with some chunks of snow still piled up at intersections or corners of driveways and the occasional slippery spot of ice. Side roads are totally clear with plenty of space to run.

Jenna does a 1:1 ratio (1 minute : 1 minute) so I went with her ratios. There were a couple of minutes in there that dragged on. I think we accidentally ran through one of the walking minutes because as we turned a corner she told me that her app told her to start running and we had been running. Oops.

I felt really good after the 8th mile and started talking about doing 9.5 miles next week. For some reason I had my mileage mixed up for each week. I was working under the assumption that every other week was a 4 mile run w/ a mm and that I had switched those due to the snow last week and thus would be doing 9.5 next week, but in reality the weeks go 8 mile, 7 mile w/ mm, 4 mile w/ mm, 9.5 mile. So, we'll see what happens! I'm going away for New Year's Eve so will likely have to run 9.5 miles before driving on Saturday.

Coming Up:
Tuesday: 30 minutes
Thursday: 30 minutes
Saturday: 4 miles w/ mm

 

[xjillianpaige]

Week 8 of Training
9 Weeks to Half Marathon​

I'll be better next week.

My excuses are as follows:

• It's too dark when my alarm goes off.
• And cold.
• And I'm tired.
• Work is too busy.
• I'll just do a long run this weekend - it's fine.
• It's too slippery - I'll die.

To be perfectly honest, I did plan on going for 4 miles today with Jenna. We had a time (8:30) and a spot (the pond). My alarm went off, I went downstairs to have a quick breakfast. I ate it. Jenna and I texted about where exactly around the pond to meet and then we looked outside and it's still a slippery, icy mess out there (it snowed again on Friday and then freezing rains Saturday). We talked a little more and justified skipping. The two reasons were (1) we know we can run 4 miles and our training at this point is mostly about building mileage before the race and less about speed and (2) we would rather skip a run than slip on ice and get injured. So! I vow to get back on it next week. I'll do my weekly 30 minute runs. I'll do my long run. I'll start going to Yoga. I guess these are sort of like resolutions?

Merry Christmas! ​