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

[DopeyBadger]

Ok, squad. I'm playing with the idea of doing the Disney Marathon in January. It'll be my first marathon and I really want to hit the proof of time requirements to get into corral D. I'm thinking a 10 miler might work best for me, rather than aiming for a really fast half marathon, especially with the time frame I have right now. Any advice?

So based on my estimates that would be a 1:46 10 miler or 2:22 HM for corral D of the Disney Marathon.

How feasible is reaching my goal of a fast enough 10 mile race for proof of time for the marathon?

Can you run a mile in 8:54? That's about the pre-requisite speed of a 1:46 10 miler. If you can run a mile in 8:54, then you've got the speed and need the endurance. If you can't run a mile in 8:54, then you need to work on speed and endurance to be able to hit a Corral D placement.

The question comes back as, "How bad do you want it?"

 

[xjillianpaige]

So based on my estimates that would be a 1:46 10 miler or 2:22 HM for corral D of the Disney Marathon.

Can you run a mile in 8:54? That's about the pre-requisite speed of a 1:46 10 miler. If you can run a mile in 8:54, then you've got the speed and need the endurance. If you can't run a mile in 8:54, then you need to work on speed and endurance to be able to hit a Corral D placement.

The question comes back as, "How bad do you want it?"

It's that fast?? I thought it was more of a 10:30 pace. Right now my fastest mile is just over 10 minutes. I think I could get there if I really dedicated the time and energy to it... the real problem now is going to be finding a race that happens before proof of time is due.

 

[DopeyBadger]

It's that fast?? I thought it was more of a 10:30 pace. Right now my fastest mile is just over 10 minutes. I think I could get there if I really dedicated the time and energy to it... the real problem now is going to be finding a race that happens before proof of time is due.

Yea, they moved the POT requirements up a corral. But a 1:46 10 miler is 10:36 min/mile pace and a 2:22 HM is 10:50 min/mile pace. At this moment in time, I'd agree that finding a race before the cutoff is probably going to be the hardest part. Fingers crossed for you!

 

[xjillianpaige]

Yea, they moved the POT requirements up a corral. But a 1:46 10 miler is 10:36 min/mile pace and a 2:22 HM is 10:50 min/mile pace. At this moment in time, I'd agree that finding a race before the cutoff is probably going to be the hardest part. Fingers crossed for you!

Thanks! Crossing my fingers!

 

[xjillianpaige]

Fairytale Challenge 2020
Race Recap Part 1​

Okay friends this is long overdue (3 months overdue, technically, but also March lasted a full year...) so let's talk about the race a bit. I left off with a photo of the flight, so I guess I should kick this off with the expo? This can be half race recap, half trip recap.

Arrival & Expo​

I flew from Boston to Orlando on Wednesday night, leaving work early at around 2:00 for an arrival in Orlando around 7 something. Jenna was taking a flight from LA that had her land shortly before me, so she was waiting with her luggage. I got mine off the belt and we headed out to insane humidity to catch a Lyft to the Swan and Dolphin, then we walked over to the Yacht Club where my parents were staying (and we were crashing with them for the night). This humidity and heat was not an omen for the next few days... it was one of the hottest days we were there, and we were there after sundown!

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The next morning we woke up and grabbed breakfast... I assume? I have no recollection of eating but we must have eaten... I think my parents had some snacks in the room that we ate. Yeah, that sounds vaguely familiar. We boarded the bus and headed over. Bib pick up was a breeze, then I grabbed the spirit jersey of my dreams (it's the runDisney one that fades from pink to white - I wore it so many days of my trip). We then went to the vendor hall to check it out and grab our shirts, which were a hot topic of conversation. They're not as soft as the 2018 shirts, but I've run in them since and they get the job done, I suppose. The half and challenge colors were... bright.

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Last up was the merch! Again this year I had pre-ordered the jacket (which was WAY too small - had to exchange it for a larger size which I was lucky enough to be able to do). One of the benefits of pre-order is that you're able to go in early. Jenna and I showed our pre-order receipts on our phones and since my parents were with us, they let them come in as well. When you first go into the preorder line, they have a space for photos and other stuff on display, so we wandered that quickly then went into the march area to get in line for our jackets while my parents went and started their shopping. My family got the 4 pins, plus the weekend pin and my mom got a tank top. I honestly think pre-ordering something is worth it for this perk alone. No line twice in a row! And I feel like they have the line to check out down to a science - it moves quickly.

After the expo, we went back to the Yacht Club where Jenna and I began to sew the 5k costumes (kakamora faces onto brown shirts). We finally got the notification that our Pop Century room was ready, so she and I hopped into another Lyft and met Bridget and Eric there (they had landed, dropped their bags off, and gone to the expo while Jenna and I had a light lunch and sewed). The next and final stop for the night was Disney Springs for dinner at The Edison!

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Edit • Images are working and added to the post!

 

[xjillianpaige]

Fairytale Challenge 2020
Race Recap Part 2​

Last time we talked about my flight and the expo! And now... it's 5k time! Before we start, just a reminder that I feel weird about putting photos of my friends/family on here without their permission so sorry for all the photos of my dumb face. Now on with the show!

5k​

We got back from the expo and finished sewing and cutting our kakamora 5k shirts and went to bed later than we wanted, but still on the early side considering we were in Disney. Our alarms went off at 2:00 and we began to get ready!

Like I said, we went as kakamora! These costumes were super simple to make. I bought us 4 brown t-shirts off amazon. Then I went to Michaels and bought tan, red, white, and black felt and some fabric glue. I used a bowl or something to measure the circles for the faces and then each of my friends told me what they wanted the faces to look like. I cut the felt to make eyes and "war paint" and mouths and glued it all on! Once we got to Florida, I sewed the circles onto the middle of the shirts and we each cut our shirts up (well, the girls did, I don't think Eric cut his).

So, we stayed at Pop Century and were in the 50s building so it was a short walk to the buses. I was COLD out and none of us were well prepared so we were cold. The buses were warm and dropped us off in no time. We met up with my parents and headed to corral A. Guys. It was so cold.

Anyway, the race started and we all stayed together in our group of 6. We did :45/1:00 walk/run ratios as that is how my parents trained and it took us maybe 45 minutes to finish? I wish we had stopped to take more photos with characters and enjoy the course more, but did I mention it was cold? Maybe in another 2 years we'll do it again and take our time more.

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The next stop was Animal Kingdom for the day to hang out (I think my parents went to Magic Kingdom for the day with my niece and nephew and their parents and grandma.

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Animal Kingdom was a ton of fun, as usual. The only problem was that it was a bit rainy and gloomy. The past two years that I've been in Disney in February the weather has been gorgeous - shorts and t-shirtst/tank tops and a sweatshirt for at night. This was not that. And I didn't have great shoes to walk around in after since I didn't bring sneakers, just sandals, and it was chilly.

I'll make this a partial trip report. While at Animal Kingdom we...

• Stopped for Starbucks and I got a HOT drink in Disney (a toffee nut latte - normally this is on the sweeter side since I hate the taste of coffee, but the flavor of the espresso was VERY strong here)​
• Found a snipe​
• Went on a safari and saw lots of animals out and about​
• Traveled to Mount Everest and saw a Yeti​
• Ate Pizza​
• Traveled back in time to try to steal a dinosaur​
• Had delicious dinner at Yak and Yeti​

FINAL TIME: 48:30 (unofficial)​

 

[xjillianpaige]

Fairytale Challenge 2020
Race Recap Part 3​

After spending the cold, rainy day at Animal Kingdom, we headed back to our room at Pop and went to bed, later than we had planned, but still early by Disney standards! I also failed to mention that our room at Pop was haunted, so before I tell you about the 10k, I'm going to tell you about our ghost host.

While Jenna, Eric and I went to Animal Kingdom right after cleaning up post-race, Bridget decided to stay back at the hotel because she had been recovering from shingles and a nasty cold that was either a mild flu or misdiagnosed as a mild flu. Point being, she wasn't feeling great and wanted to rest before coming to the park with us. As she laid in bed, she kept hearing a noise like a zipping bag over her head and something tapping against the door. She checked outside the door to see what it was and saw/heard nothing from outside the door or next door to our neighbors. She didn't mention this until checkout... and I'll explain why when I talk about the half marathon... (cliffhanger ending!)

10k​

Okay, so morning of the 10k we woke up nice and early again and got into our "colors of the wind" costume. Basically we all picked a color shirt (Eric in blue, Bridget in green, Jenna in pink, and me in purple) and then I printed out some leaves onto iron-on transfer paper and created a shirt.

It was another cold morning but this time we had our mylar blankets to keep us warm. I also layered up by putting on my pre-ordered weekend jacket underneath my shirt AND a black hoodie that my mom bought as a throwaway layer and let me wear (I think she wore a pink hoodie she had brought over her costume).

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For this race, Bridget was in B while the rest of us were in D so she went ahead so she could get a head start on us. Again, she was still recovering from her illnesses and we figured we would catch up. This allowed her to feel like she wasn't holding us back and let us all run our own race. We didn't feel held back by her and were glad to modify pace to all stay together. In the end, my parents ended up ditching us at some point so Jenna, Eric and I ran together, then my parents, then Bridget was way ahead of us.

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We did reconnect with Bridget shortly after taking this photo. As you can also see, it warmed up enough that I took off the sweatshirt over my t-shirt but kept the long sleeve under (I didn't want to lose the hoodie so I could use it as a throwaway the next day). For the record, I hate how I look in literally every photo from this weekend. I don't remember if I mentioned this, but the day of my flight I woke up at 3 am with a kidney stone pain that completely disappeared around 6:00 am while I was brushing my teeth and getting ready for the day. A few days prior, I had woken up with pain and took a narcotic in order to fall back asleep (and that took almost 3-4 hours to kick in). I was drinking a ton of water and holding most of it since this stone had my bladder all sorts of blocked and I was bloated beyond compare. It's a miracle I made it though the week. So I look super heavy and tired and just blah in the photos from this trip.

Anyway, that was a heck of a tangent about my own body dysmorphia... let's get back to the race. I forget what the ratio we used was, maybe :45 to 1:00 or 1:00 to 1:00. No idea. The plan was to take it easy again since Jenna and I had the half the next day. I think this race was about 15-20 minutes slower than normal since we were taking it easy. We caught up to Bridget around the last mile in Mexico and all finished together as the sun was rising.

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After the race, my group did not have park tickets, so Jenna went for lunch with her grandparents who live in Florida. Bridget and Eric went exploring on the skyline and at Downtown Disney. My niece and nephew were at Magic Kingdom with their parents, so that's where I went after breakfast at Pop Century and a shower. One of the bright sides of taking a race easy - my hair was pretty clean so I didn't wash it - just some dry shampoo and some twisting.

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I met the kiddos (Miss M and Buddy B) and their parents and grandmother on Main Street, USA. Somehow I beat them to the park. Also... can I just reminisce on how amazing the feeling of going to Magic Kingdom for the first time on a trip is? I just love taking in Main Street - the sounds, the sights, the feelings, the smells. I felt home. I almost cried.

Anyway, the kiddos and the fam met me on Main Street and we went to our first ride - The Jungle Cruise. This is my favorite ride, guys. I just find the jokes to be hilarious. After that, they went to do dumbo and I went to meet my girl, Tink. She loved my medal and told me about the "fast flying thing" that they used to do that was all about her and how if it ever came back I had to do it. So I promised I would.

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I met back up with the kiddos and found that Buddy B and his dad were in line for 7 Dwarves and he wanted me to joint them in line. It twas over a 2 hour wait, guys. And I would have to be the jerk who pushes through the line to "meet my family." And I had a FP+ for it the next day AND later that week. And the girls were going to do fun girly things. So I tried to lie my way out of it but they insisted.

So I became that person who pushed her way through the line to meet up with my family and when I was in line parallel to Buddy B and his dad, his dad calls out "Hey lady, you can't cut the line like that." Always making a scene. I'm laughing thinking about it. Anyway, so we waited and it was a blast and worth it and then afterward we got lunch at Pinocchios and Buddy B let me try his slush because I told him he's way nicer than his sister (which can be true, she's 3 so she can be mean).

Anyway, this is going on longer than I thought it would. To wrap it up, we all met back up in front of the castle as the parade was going by and then wandered out and to the Beach/Yacht club where they and my family were staying. My family talked to the guys at the gate to the pool who informed them that, as immediate family, I could use the pool even though I wasn't staying there. So I went in and sat with my parents and cousins who were ALSO there for the weekend. Finally I took the skyliner from Epcot to Pop Century and met back up with Eric and Jenna for dinner and early bed. Bridget was out at Magic Kingdom since she's an annual pass holder. Next up... the half!

FINAL TIME: 1:27:10​

 

[xjillianpaige]

Fairytale Challenge 2020
Race Recap Part 4​

It's ghost host story time friends. I left yesterday with us going to bed before the half marathon. The alarms went off at 2 am again and Jenna and I got ready while Eric and Bridget slept. Suddenly, while we're getting ready, the hotel phone rings. So I run over and answer it and no one is on the line. I hang up and walk away to continue getting ready. It rings again. I run over again. No one is on the line. So I left the phone off the hook for the rest of the time we got ready.

It had to be a ghost. It had to be. Pop Century is haunted and I LOVE IT.

Anyway, let's talk about the half now!

Half​

No costumes this time, just outfits that were on theme. Jenna wore a blue shirt that said "Sorry Charming, Gotta Run" with a cinderella-style skirt from Etsy and I wore a blue sparkle skirt with a white tank that said "Race You to the Castle."

The first 5 miles were just that - miles. I feel like the first 5k goes by really quickly and then all of a sudden it's mile 5 and you're on Main Street.

During that time we stopped for a long line to take a photo with Lady Tremaine, Drizella and Anastasia (a.k.a. the evil stepmother and step sisters). Honestly, Disney should have someone who stands at the back of a line with a sign that indicates who the line is for and calling it out. We spent so much time calling back and forth to people running by to tell them who we were in line for. We got in line after running far enough ahead that we saw who the line was and then doubled back to get in line. It's little, but could make a big difference.

As we were running to Magic Kingdom, Eric and Bridget woke up and said they were on the way but they were too far away and we would get there first, so they swapped to an Epcot monorail so they could meet us at the finish instead.

Anyway, we got to Magic Kingdom and ta da! Photos!

The sky looks like cotton candy and I am here for it.
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In Magic Kingdom we stopped for castle photos and then backstage we got a photo with some of the gorgeous parade vehicles. Then we were out of the park and back to Epcot. I just want to reiterate how much this course sucks. During the pre-race interviews, they asked a woman about this race and why she comes back and what she likes about the course and she said, honest to God, "I hate this course." On camera. Into the microphone. To the interviewer. And SAME. I love the castle and going through it but my god there is so much time on the highway and it was HOT. So much for those cold mornings. This was one of the only warm days of the entire trip.

I got a photo with the Hun from Mulan. Then I kept running.

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Not much to report, really, except that it was hot and hard to run the rest of the time. Somewhere before this next photo was taken... maybe mile 11 or so? Somewhere in Epcot, I had my first asthma attack while running in many years. It happened folks! I stopped breathing! It was awful! Thank goodness I had my inhaler on me because I was able to stop and take it and get my breathing back under control and finish the race.

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All right now, finish time. We crossed the finish line, got our medals, got pixie dust (MY FAVORITE PART) and grabbed mylar blankets as a keepsake. Also grabbed gatorade and water and a snack pack and got our post-race photos. Then we met up with my parents and Bridget and Eric where my mom had glasses of champagne for us to celebrate with! We hung out for a moment and then all went our separate ways so we could go to the parks.

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I got myself some of Gaston's buns. My favorite post-race treat is ALL THE CARBS. And sugar. YUM! Also a quick story: we got to Magic Kingdom after showering and getting ready at the hotel and when we got to the line it was INSANE. Us girls had bags so we waited in the bag line and sent Eric ahead to let the line attendant at 7 Dwarves know that we were running late but JUST outside and to please let us in (we were cutting it close and potentially later than the 10 minute grace period for a FP). Problem is that Eric hadn't been to Disney in 8-ish years and had no idea what he was doing or where he was going.

"JUST RUN TO THE CASTLE AND ASK FOR HELP! GO GO GO!" We told him. He made it successfully and we got onto our ride. We had a few other FP, one for Space and the other for Thunder. My feet were KILLING me - way worse than 2 years ago so when we decided to leave my friends went to Hollywood Studios and I went to our new room at Caribbean Resort (goodbye Ghost Host - I'll miss you) for a niiiiiice nap and time off my feet before our dinner reservation at Via Napoli.

Not too much to report about that, I caught the skyliner over to Epcot (I love the skyliner SO much) and wen in. We were meeting my friend Devin and her friend Julie (they both also ran the half) and my family was also all at Via Napoli for dinner. They had an earlier reservation because of the kiddos. It was so nice to see my kiddos in Disney again and I REALLY want to be back there. Miss M (3 years old) often talks about going. To be fair, when they left the house and got to the airport, she thought that was Disney...

I'll leave you with the note that the pizza was delicious. We skyliner-ed back to the hotel and got a great night's sleep. I'll recap the rest of the trip in another post (or two). Here are two final medal photos!

FINAL TIME: 3:26:47​

 

[xjillianpaige]

Fairytale Challenge 2020
Race Recap Part 5 (Trip Report)​

Oh hey there, I still exist. It's been a minute since I finished the race part of the recap, so now it's time for a quick and dirty trip report post. Let's see how much I can fit in here.

So, the next morning we slept in a tiny bit, then hopped on the skyliner for our day at Epcot.

A quick glamour shot from outside of our room.​

We were super annoying and dressed matching, each of us wearing one of the 4 race shirts and our medals. (Jenna and I wore the challenge medals so we weren't clanking around/hurting our necks with all four on, but we brought them all with us in our bags).

Let's see... what did we do that day? (This is what I get for recapping... 6 months later). According to my google doc we had a 9:25 fast pass for "Space" - likely Spaceship Earth. Then a 10:25 Frozen, followed by a 11:40 Living with the Land. Let's assume all that happened. Test Track was closed... Okay... looking at my photo album, we entered through the International Gateway and grabbed a passport for the last day of the Festival of the Arts. We also saw Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy! Eric stopped for a photo with Goofy on the bridge between France and England.

We then walked toward England/Canada and stopped for some fun photos as we were on the way to Spaceship Earth for the first ride of the day.

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Then after that we got Spaceship Earth done and started heading back to World Showcase for Frozen, but first we needed to stop at these pretty butterflies.

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After Frozen it was time for Drink #1! A margarita from Mexico. Here are our four beautiful drinks.

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I have posted photos of every drink from our drinking around the world extravaganza in a food pictures thread in the food boards of this forum. (Post #1, #2). Okay... so after drink #1 we brought our Margaritas with us to make art. This is is a really cool project and I think they should do stuff like this more often. One of those fun + rare "free" things you can do in the park.

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After painting we went to the Land for Living with the Land and then I think I was able to get us a fourth FP for Soarin'. Then it was off to Japan for drink #2 and I got a sushi donut. Then drink #3 in the US plus the s'mores brownie thing from the Regal Eagle. It was a really good sweet treat, but I was expecting it to be warm and it's a cold treat. Still delicious. I think we then went to Mission Space. We were all over the map.. huh. I could be totally wrong about the order of things here.

After Mission Space we went to Italy, China, Germany and Norway for four more drinks. Then we met Pluto and Minnie!

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While we were in the area we went on Figment and met Joy afterward. She was joyful. Did lots of running just like we did. Then we went back to World Showcase to finish off our drinking with Canada, Morocco, France, and the UK. I think we had like, 2 hours to drink all that. We watched the fireworks (the drone things with the lights and the flags were cool) and then headed to the skyliner for bedtime.

BEFORE YOU GO. Let's talk about sleepwalking and Eric's vacation/drinking alter-ego JIMBO. It turns out that, after lots of drinking, Jimbo sleep walks. Or at least he attempts it. Prior to our trip he warned us that he had a history of sleep walking/sleep talking/just doing things while sleeping in general. He once showed us a terrifying photo he took of his room in the middle of the night. Anyway, I'm lying in bed next to Jenna, Eric and Bridget next to us, and all of a sudden I hear Eric say "I'll see you guys at the finish line."

Well, Jenna BOLTS up and says "What did you say?" This causes me to look up at her and over to him and he is SITTING UP, feet ON THE FLOOR, phone IN HIS HAND. Like, where did he think he was going? The dang Epcot parking lot? At midnight? Oh no, sir. Oh no. Jenna yelled at him to get back in bed and go to sleep and he sort of woke up and put himself back to bed. But we almost had a scenario where Jenna couldn't let him live another day.

And that is where I will leave you. Next time I'll do a super fast Universal/Rest day recap. Then a Hollywood Studios. Then Magic Kingdom and home.

 

[xjillianpaige]

Fairytale Challenge 2020
Race Recap Part 6 (Trip Report)​

Before I start... I forgot to share this photo from the end of the night at Epcot. I love Peter Pan and Tinkerbell and the UK and holding lanterns at night for photopass photographers at Disney.

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The next morning we woke up and called a Lyft to take us to Universal. We had no issue with using Lyft on property, I highly recommend it for those Universal days and if the buses aren't going yet and you need to be at a park early. Anyway, let's have some fun at Universal! We did the two park pass so that we could take the Hogwarts Express between them. We started on the Hagrid Motorbike Adventure side and got in line for the new ride. Then we got out of line when we learned that the line was going to be 3+ hours because the coaster wasn't working. The ride will still be there the next time we go.

Instead, we dipped out and we rode the Hogwarts Express to the Diagon Alley side and rode Gringotts. We got butterbeer number one of the day and went to explore the rest of Diagon Alley. Oh, also! We all wore different house shirts. I'm Ravenclaw. Eric is Gryffindor, Bridget Hufflepuff and Jenna Slytherin. The shirts were super cute, but the Etsy store isn't operating anymore.

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While on that side of the park we also did the Shrek 4D show, Rip Ride Rocket (SO FUN!), The Mummy Ride, and. Fast and Furious (hilariously bad). I think we left for a minute for lunch at Margaritaville (it was not great) and then headed back to the Hogsmeade side on the Hogwarts Express and rode the Forbidden Journey. We left to do some other rides, including the King Kong ride, met the velociraptor, and did the Jurassic Park ride (turns out this ride gets you very wet).

We then went BACK to Diagon Alley and I got butterbeer ice cream from Florean Fortescue's and Jenna and Eric rode Gringotts again.

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Now, normally I would end this here, but instead I'm gonna tell you that we got a Lyft back to Caribbean Beach and went to bed AND I'm going to tell you about the rest day. Instead of doing these two days in two posts I did them in one. Wild.

So, next morning was the beginning of a cool down weather-wise and our pool day was a half of a day at the pool. We got breakfast at the welcome house of Caribbean beach, then swam for a little bit before going back to the room to get ready for a day at Disney Springs. It was super rainy, but it was okay because I got my J Jungle Cruise mug (obsessed with this one) and some pins. Jenna also got an ornament from the Christmas Store for the race weekend. While we were there, we also got dinner at City Works

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And then!! We got this delicious cookie dough/cake/milkshake concoction. Delicious.

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Finally, we ended our night at the Boardwalk. We walked around a bit and then went to Jelly Rolls to watch the dueling pianos. It's a cover to get in (21+ folks) - maybe $5 or $10. The drinks are expensive (duh, it's Disney). Mine tasted like a jolly rancher and came in a souvenir cup, which I hadn't realized (that's part of the big cost for the drink), but I do use the silly cup a lot as a water bottle. This is definitely the type of place for someone who has spare $, because the only way your requests get played is if you add cash to the napkin you write them on. We did not have that money, so we just hoped people had some of the requests we had, which they did.

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The pianists are fantastic and I think if it weren't for the fact that (a) my friends and I are poor or (b) there was an obnoxious group of drunk men we would have stayed longer. Oh, and because the next morning was an EARLY one for Hollywood Studios!

 

[xjillianpaige]

Fairytale Challenge 2020
Race Recap Part 7 (Trip Report)​

On this early morning, we were up at the crack of dawn because we had to rope drop Hollywood Studios. We went to the bus stop, but it was going to be awhile until a Hollywood Studios bus came by, so we called a Lyft instead and it dropped us off easy peasy. We got in line for the Rock 'n Rollercoaster and this was a super smooth start to the day. We hung out in line and were slowly walked to the ride. While we were in line, the boarding passes for Rise of the Resistance opened.

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Group 35! Not bad! We rode the coaster and then hopped over to Tower of Terror. After Tower of Terror we grabbed donuts at the Joffrey's Cart for breakfast. Our next stop was on the other side of the park as we had a FP for Toy Story Mania - one of my favorite rides! Right after that was our FP+ for Star Tours and meeting BB8, then the Muppet show, which I promptly took a nice nap during.

From there we went to Star Wars Land! Now... I am not a huge Star Wars fan. I have watched the movies. They're fine. But walking into this world... I get how cool it is. This is what I wish Universal had done for Harry Potter. I would LOVE to have Hogwarts students walking around Hogsmeade and for them to be truer to the books... there is no Olivanders in Hogsmeade!

Anyway... we had a FP for the Millennium Falcon ride, which I had a GREAT time at.

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What I remember most is that Eric and I were pilots, then Bridget and Jenna were the people in the middle seats. Not pilots. It turns out I am terrible at being a pilot. I didn't know where I was trying to go or what I was trying to do. I just was hitting buttons and THEN all of a sudden we got the directive to "fire the missiles" and if you were on the internet in the early 2000s then you remember the End of the World video and Jenna and I both yelled out "FIRE ZE MISSILES" and that cracked me up. Jenna lives in LA so she had done this ride at Disneyland and it never occurred to her to yell that until I rode it with her and we both just... yelled it.

Anyway, we had a reservation at Ogas at just about the same time as we were expecting our boarding group to be called, so I went to the guy at the line and told him. He said that he was going to let us in, even if we showed up after our hour check in time was past, and that we should make sure we didn't miss our Ogas reservation. I believe that we had left Star Wars land and had gone back to the Muppets area for pizza lunch, so I had run ahead to get these deets.

Anyway, we went to Ogas and checked in and we got 5 drinks. We. Were. Ready. We got the Fuzzy Tauntaun to share (the foam at the top sort of makes your mouth feel like you've had novocaine) and then Bridget got the Jet Juice (this is a small drink, it's mostly hard liquor), Eric got the Bespin Fizz (weird to drink something bubbling... which it does the entire time), Jenna got the T-16 Skyhopper, and I got the Outer Rim (essentially a margarita).

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And then we went to join our boarding group for Rise of the Resistance! We had to wait about an hour to actually ride it which is fine. I think the technology is fantastic and once you get past the line, it's the most immersive (and longest) pre-show I've ever seen. It definitely gave me some... 1930s-1940s Germany vibes...

ANYWAY. After that Eric built a droid that he named JMB-0 (Jenna joined him). While he did that, Bridget and I rode Alien Swirling Saucers. We also met up with Eric's friend Jess (she had joined us the other night at Epcot for a drink and some pictures with Minnie and Pluto) and Jess's boyfriend. While we were hanging with them I enjoyed a delicious Mickey Premium Bar.

​

After that we went to Indiana Jones and Jenna was picked to be part of the show! We ended our night grabbing quick service and then heading in to watch Fantasmic!

From there it was back to the hotel for a good night's sleep before our final day in Magic Kingdom.

 

[xjillianpaige]

Fairytale Challenge 2020
Race Recap Part 8 (Trip Report)​

Who am I? I went from barely posting to churning out the last few days in a few days. All right, let's recap the last day of our trip, our day at Magic Kingdom. Gosh, I'm getting weepy just thinking about Main Street, USA...

Anyway! We had an 8 am dining reservation at Crystal Palace, so we were able to get into the park nice and early. This was perfect because we were able to have a photo shoot. And honestly... Disney... call me anytime. There are some great behind the scenes shots of Jenna and I setting up and taking these photos. Influencers in the wild, truly. Alas, you won't see them because it has my friends faces in them and we all know how I feel about posting people's faces on the internet without their permission.

​

This is my third time doing an early Crystal Palace reservation - my family and I did one in 2016, then I went again in 2018, and now in 2020. I love the Pooh-rade and the characters and that puffed French Toast... I'm drooling, I swear.

​

After meeting the many residents of the 100 Acre Wood, we headed to Main Street for more photos with our medals. Guys... I hate literally every photo. Remember that kidney stone the few days prior to and the day of my flight? Well, I hadn't passed it yet, so I was super bloated and had to pee every two seconds and it was a miracle I survived this trip at all. I look at these photos and all I can see is how sick I am, even though I hid it well from my family back home and my friends I was with. They knew I was peeing a ton and trying to pass a stone, but they didn't know just how poorly I felt. Oh, also all the medals overwhelmed my tiny neck/body and I look like my neck is made out of medal straps and my arms are made out of medal. Just a mess all around.

Next up we went to meet the man of the hour himself, Mickey! The lighting in this room saved me - I look tan and almost healthy and I sort of have a neck and arms. It's salvageable.

​

Once we finished at our Mickey FP, we had a FP for Splash Mountain! On the way we stopped at the Tiki Room for a delightful show (Bridget and Eric did not appreciate this ride enough). The Splash ride photo is hilarious, Jenna and I hid under our bags so we wouldn't get too wet (we were having flashbacks to the Jurassic Park ride) so you can't see us at all. After splash we attempted to get a photo of the Cinderella medal in front of her wishing well, but couldn't get the angles right so it looked like the crown was on her head so we gave up. Then we had a FP for Mine Train. From there... I was the FP queen. I don't even know what I got us FP for, but I was checking over and over and just kept getting good ones.

We met Ariel and went Under The Sea (one of my favorite rides). We also got Dole Whips... This was my FIRST dole whip ever! I'm NOT a pineapple fan, so I was nervous about getting one. Luckily Jenna got the gorgeous kakamora one and Eric got the regular one, so I was able to try both and it turns out I LOVE them! It's not too pineapple-y so that helps.

​

I wish I had a better idea of what we did throughout the day. It's been so long that I can't remember and my spreadsheet/photos only tell so much of the story. Let's see what I do remember, we did Mickey's Philharmagic, It's a Small World, Winnie the Pooh, Carousel of Progress (I took a nap), the Peoplemover (Space Mountain was down while I was on the peoplemover and I think this is the third time that I've done the peoplemover and seen Space Mountain with all the lights on), Haunted Mansion, Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor, and we ended our day with Pirates of the Caribbean. Pirates was one of the rides I got us a FP for, but it went down right as we got there. My friends used the anytime FP for Buzz because Space Mountain was still down, but once Pirates came back up and we rode it, Space Mountain came back up and they wish they had saved the FP. Who'd have known?

We also did watched Happily Ever After and got a gorgeous photo with Cinderella's glass slipper. And I got my favorite thing in the world as my dinner... an ice cream sundae from the Ice Cream Parlor.

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So delicious. I got this while my friends were all scattered to the winds to get different snacks/meals before the fireworks. I grabbed us our spot to watch from and ate this and chatted with my mom on the phone.

As we were on the way out, the Villains After Hours party was starting, which I think Bridget is dying to attend sometime. We got a bus back to Caribbean Beach and rested up. The next morning we brought our bags down to be checked in and then went to the Boardwalk via skyliner for breakfast at the bakery and post-breakfast dessert at Ample Hills (RIP Ample Hills).

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Finally, we got the Tragical Express back to the airport for our 5-something flights (I'm pretty sure Bridget, Eric and I got delayed because I always get delayed when I'm at MCO) and listened to the dulcet tones of Judi Dench... wait this isn't Spaceship Earth... oh right. We listened to a toddler scream bloody murder. A few hours later we were back to my house and my friends were being picked up by their parents and vacation is officially... over.

 

[xjillianpaige]

Okay! Double posting for the day because I want to give you a preview of what is to come on this training journal:

1. I am going to outline all of the runs I have completed since the race in February. Two weeks after coming home the world shut down, which was great for my running. I also joined an all women running group which has also been great for my running.
2. I am going to outline what is coming up next because I am registered for marathon weekend to run my first ever marathon.
3. I am going to recap an IN PERSON race I ran about a week and a half ago. Wild. I'll probably run another one sometime this or next month, hoping for Proof of Time but being realistic that it might not happen and that's ok!

Keep an eye out for those things in the next few days!

 

[xjillianpaige]

Disney Marathon 2021 Training Journal
​

We're going to start with a bit of a life recap.

I ran Princess in February and came home on February 29. The next two weeks were pure insanity. I started back at work on Monday, March 2. I took that week off running and that was when there began to be some rumblings about this Coronavirus thing. It had made its way to the west coast, but hey... that's the west coast. It wasn't a threat in Boston yet... until we learned that someone at the BioGen conference had it and infected a ton of people.

Then the next week, well... suddenly it was HERE; there was very little traffic driving to and from work and there was talk of major shutdowns. I went for a run on Tuesday after work and everything seemed mostly normal but it was far from that. Then on Thursday I didn't run after work because we left at noon as our office announced that we would be going remote starting immediately. So a group of us went to get lunch and drive home and the next morning I was working from home.

Then it gets even more wild. My grandfather went on hospice on Friday morning. I found out when my other grandfather called me so I could pick up some groceries for him (this was at the height of panic shopping and the beginning of fear of leaving the house), so I called my mom to see if I should reach out to my grandma and see if they needed anything and she said not to because of hospice starting. Needless to say, I went from being worried about coronavirus to literally not caring that it existed. I did end up picking up a few things for my grandmother, so I went to see my grandpa once he was settled into the hospital bed and the nurse had left for the day.

I had joined a women's running group, so on Saturday I ran with them for the first time and then went to my new condo (surprise I bought a condo) to do some painting. On Sunday I spend the entire day with my grandfather and cousin who flew up for the day from Georgia. on Monday morning he passed and that morning we were thinking a limit of 25 at the funeral. By the day of the funeral it was only immediate family and some people couldn't attend because of the COVID risk. The lockdown had begun.

March 10: 3.04 miles • 34:06 • 11:12 avg pace
Boston run, super fast because running in the city makes me anxious and when I'm anxious I run fast?
March 14: 3.28 miles in 45:08 • 13:46 avg pace
I joined an all women's running group when I got back home, so this was my first run with them.

The first week of quarantine I didn't run - that was the week my grandpa passed and we had his funeral. I started running again a week after his funeral... and then I was working from home and settled into my new routine and suddenly I was running like crazy. My running group also had cancelled in person group runs and had announced the April running/walking challenge. It was super simple - record all your distances of any walks or runs you took each week and submit it and it would be totaled over the course of 4 weeks and you could get badges for the various total distances you hit. I went for lots of walks these weeks. I would run 3 times a week and walk 3 or 4 times. I won't share all the walks with you.

March 28: 3.10 miles • 36:30 • 11:46 avg pace

March 31: 3.08 miles • 37:32 • 12:12 avg pace
April 2: 3.07 miles • 37:32 • 12:14 avg pace
April 5: 6.01 miles • 1:12:17 • 12:02 avg pace

April 7: 3.12 miles • 36:21 • 11:39 avg pace
April 9: 3.10 miles • 35:05 • 11:19 avg pace
April 12: 5 miles • 56:56 • 11:23 avg pace

April 14: 4.01 miles • 45:31 • 11:21 avg pace
April 16: 4 miles • 45:40 • 11:24 avg pace
April 18: 6.2 miles • 1:10:34 • 11:22 avg pace

April 21: 3.87 miles • 45:35 • 11:48 avg pace
April 23: 4.01 miles • 47:02 • 11:43 avg pace
April 25: 2 miles • 21:07 • 10:32 avg pace

April 28: 4.07 miles • 52:56 • 13:00 avg pace
April 30: 4 miles • 46:46 • 11:41 avg pace
May 2: 6.09 miles • 1:12:33 • 11:55 avg pace

May 7: 4.10 miles • 50:13 • 12:15 avg pace
I believe that this was the day that the marathon went on sale and my friends and I all got in for the marathon! This will be my first marathon if it goes on, and so this was the day that we realized we needed to get our butts in gear and start looking into a training plan and, God willing, a proof of time race. I also bought my marathon entry while I was sitting in my car in the parking lot of the hospital my mom works in while my dad was in for an appointment. This was RIGHT after the Massachusetts spike was starting to go down and appointments were becoming a thing again.

May 12: 3.62 miles • 43:4 • 12:06 avg pace
May 16: 3.34 miles • 41:11 • 12:21 avg pace

May 19: 4 miles • 53:49 • 13:27 avg pace

May 26: 3.7 miles • 44:33 • 12:03 avg pace
May 28: 3.67 miles • 45:32 • 12:30 avg pace
May 30: 6.01 miles • 1:23:13 • 13:51 avg pace
This is week 1 of the training plan I created for the marathon. I wanted to start it early so that we could get a few 13 mile runs under our belt before going for longer distances. I thought it would also help us if we were able to miraculously find a 10 mile or half marathon that was happening, we would be trained for it.

June 2: 3.64 miles • 43:25 • ? avg pace
June 4: 3.06 miles • 38:53 • 12:42 avg pace
June 6: 4.02 miles • 52:52 • 13:10 avg pace
I was having some watch issues this week so I don't have all the details on my phone since it didn't sync.

June 9: 3.28 miles • 38:43 • 11:47 avg pace
June 11: 3.26 miles • 38:53 • 11:55 avg pace
June 13: 7.03 miles • 1:33:57 • 13:22 avg pace
This long run was a run with the group, we were given the OK to start organizing group runs.

June 16: 3.13 miles • 37:28 • 11:59 avg pace
June 18: 3.25 miles • 40:08 • 12:21 avg pace
June 20: 4 miles • 52:33 • 13:08 avg pace
Happy 30th Quarantine Birthday to me! Started 30 off right with an easy 4 mile run.

June 23: 3.08 miles • 38:03 • 12:21 avg pace
June 28: 6.66 miles • 1:31:18 • 13.42 avg pace (This was supposed to be 9 miles but Eric and I got caught in a thunderstorm and thought it prudent to stop)
I do not remember why I skipped the run on June 25, but there must have been a good reason.

June 30: 3.05 miles • 36:07 • 11:52 avg pace
July 2: 3.04 miles • 38:34 • 12:41 avg pace
July 5: 9.11 miles • 1:56:21 • 12:46 avg pace
Since we didn't finish the 9 miles the week before, I gave it another go and felt great.

July 7: 3.04 miles • 34:31 • 11:22 avg pace
July 9: 3.08 miles • 38:10 • 12:23 avg pace
July 11: 11.01 miles • 2:43:06 • 14:49 avg pace
This long run became unbearably hot. I had my mom leave waters for Eric and I at my grandpa's grave and then we spent about a mile walking through the cemetery looking for some of his relatives, then we ran as much as we could but petered out and walked most of the end. Props to Eric for his first double digit run on this day!

July 14: 3.05 miles • 32:53 • 10:46 avg pace
July 19: 4.01 miles • 51:07 • 12:45 avg pace
This Tuesday run was my first time running 3 miles straight in a LONG time. It was a nice night run with the running group. We rewarded ourselves afterward with pizza and drinks on the patio at the restaurant where we start the run. I woke up the next morning with 40 bug bites on my ankles/shins and that is NOT an exaggeration. I skipped the Thursday run because I couldn't wear shoes. I was so uncomfortable.

July 21: 3.08 miles • 38:21 • 12:27 avg pace
July 23: 3.04 miles • 37:10 • 12:13 avg pace
July 26: 13.03 miles • 2:50:56 • 13:07 avg pace

July 31: 3.04 miles • 38:02 • 12:30 avg pace
August 2: 4.93 miles • 50:03 • 12:24 avg pace

August 6: 3.02 miles • 36:58 • 12:14 avg pace
The long run was cancelled this weekend because Jenna was in town and we were too hungover. Just being honest.

August 11: 3.06 miles • 38:17 • 12:32 avg pace
August 13: 3.05 miles • 36:12 • 11:52 avg pace
August 16: 7.01 miles • 1:29:22 • 12:44 avg pace
The 11th would have been my grandpa's 95th birthday. I talk to him on a lot of my runs. I also run to his grave during a lot of my long runs and sit with him for a few minutes. He was always SO supportive of all my athletics. He didn't miss a single one of my field hockey games in high school. He had to learn the game to know what was going on and he hadn't driven since his stroke in 2000 when he was 75, so he needed a ride when my parents were working, but he made it to every game. He's why we call it The Greatest Generation.

August 18: 3 miles • 33:43 • 11:46 avg pace
August 23: 4.06 miles • 49:14 • 12:08 avg pace
I rearranged my runs a bit because this was supposed to be a 9 mile run, but I had a race the following weekend and wanted to give my legs a little break.
August 25: 3.03 miles • 36:29 • 12:03 avg pace

And that is where I leave you because I ran a race on August 29!! Let's see how it goes when I post tomorrow! Sorry for this wall of text. I deleted all of my selfies from my runs! Part of my running group's virtual engagement while in quarantine was to post a selfie after our runs on Thursdays and Saturdays. I won the raffle one week and got a gift card! Lucky me! Wait... let me see if I can find one of those selfies...

Found one! With my running buddy (sometimes - it's my brother's dog and he slows me down to sniff things)

​

 

[jmasgat]

So just popping in to this journal for the first time. Always interested in any MA runners (being a Danvers born and bred girl). Given that I'm behind.....

--Good luck with the marathon training!
--I did one race that Mystic Runners put on when I was visiting home in 2013--but that was the Swimsuit Classic (which some people actually did run in swimsuits). Still use the beach towel I got as AG award in my car (in a futile attempt to help avoid dog hair)
--Happy 30th Birthday!
--Your grandfather sounded like he was a wonderful man.

 

[xjillianpaige]

So just popping in to this journal for the first time. Always interested in any MA runners (being a Danvers born and bred girl). Given that I'm behind.....

--Good luck with the marathon training!
--I did one race that Mystic Runners put on when I was visiting home in 2013--but that was the Swimsuit Classic (which some people actually did run in swimsuits). Still use the beach towel I got as AG award in my car (in a futile attempt to help avoid dog hair)
--Happy 30th Birthday!
--Your grandfather sounded like he was a wonderful man.

Hey!

Thanks for popping in! I grew up in Woburn!

- Thank you!
- I don't think they do that run anymore, but a former colleague of mine often does an "undie" run in the winter and she wears her skivvies. Not for me. Ha!
- Thank you!
- He was! 10/10 one of the best

 

[xjillianpaige]

Disney Marathon 2021 Training Journal
Millennium Running Allen Mello 10 Miler Race Recap
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I swear, I suddenly spend 99% of my day procrastinating work by logging on here and FINALLY posting about my training and races. The nerve I have to disappear for months then post sporadically and then post almost every day for a week.

I had been watching a few 10 mile races over the past few months, both were in New Hampshire. Massachusetts races can't resume until... phase 4? I'm not totally sure what phase we're in, to be honest, never mind what happens in other phases. Millennium Running is a fairly large running company that has a club and a store and hosts lots of races in New Hampshire. Since their race was still going on (and the other one was cancelled) AND because I figured I had a better chance of getting marathon Proof of Time with a 10 mile race versus a half marathon, I signed up about a week before the race.

Racing in the time of Coronavirus
​

I want to begin by saying that they did an awesome job with holding this race. I felt super safe the entire time.

Two days before the race, they e-mailed out your bib assignment. At registration, they asked what your expected pace and finish time would be. They used that information to place you in your group. For this race, there were 7 groups with 99 people in each group. That's how you get your bib number - I was group 7, number 2, so my bib number was 702. With your bib assignment, you were given the time you could arrive to park, check in, go to the warm up corral, go to the starting corral, and start. One person would cross the start line every 10 seconds.

Here's a photo with me at the check in with my bib visible and my mask on.

Yes, that is a Minnie Mouse mask. It was free. I will not buy a mask. You can see my bib, with the group number and "cone number" separated.​

Here are the corona rules:

1. Face masks on when for arrival and check in​

2. Face masks on while warming up IF you can't maintain distance​

3. Face masks on in the starting corral IF you can't maintain distance ​

4. Face masks not required when running​

5. Face masks back on when the race is finished​

Eric and I were literally seconds apart for all of our times, so we drove up and parked around 7:20 for a start time of 8:40. Check in was super easy, I told them my bib number (Group 7, number 2) and then we waited around in our masks until it was time for us to go to the warm up/starting corral. Eric was one group ahead of me, but he was number 96, so he only started 50 seconds before me.

So the way this worked is I hung back under a tent (it was raining) until it was time for me to go to the corral where people warmed up. They had tiny cones with numbers on them all spaced 6 feet apart for people to stand at/warm up at. You went to your "cone number." This area was pretty spacious, so lots of people remained outside of the corrals and warmed up there, and you could easily maintain space (to be fair, this was after the first 5 groups had already left... so that might be why).

When it was time to get started, I went directly to the starting corral and stood on my cone, which was 6 feet apart from all others. I did some dancing-in-my-space warming up and then they announced that it was my turn to start the finish line.

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You can see in that photo the lines of people waiting to start (my row was 1-20, then 21-40, etc. through 99). They had the nice red carpet and they announced your name as you started. I'm leaving my hometown there because I don't live there anymore! Now, even though I did not need to be wearing my mask at that point, I chose to leave it on until I had gotten started.

From there, I ran! I definitely passed people and people passed me. There were some very small clusters of 2-4 people running together, but for the most part I had my space. I also am a firm believe that you do not get coronavirus from passing someone on the street, especially when you're in a fairly rural area of New Hampshire. So, I kept my face mask off. Also because I didn't want to waterboard myself.

​

Awwww, what a cute race photo. I did it! I took a flattering photo!

I guess it's time to talk about the course. This was a HILLY course. Now, I did say that this was potentially a proof of time race. I went in without expectations of hitting that proof of time. It would have been nice, of course, but I knew I wasn't there yet. With that said, I am so proud of my time.

Mile 1: 12:21
This had the sliiiiighest incline to it. It also wasn't pouring yet! Just a nice, steady rain.
Mile 2: 11:55
We ran over a bridge! This was all along a fairly busy local turnpike, but we had a line of cones to run inside of. I think the photo above is around mile 2 somewhere.
Mile 3: 12:54
Mile 4: 12:22
We sort of veered away from the lake here and went into... town? We can call it that.
Mile 5: 12:12
Ooooooh! We're halfway there. Ooooh! Livin' on a prayer!
Mile 6: 11:34
This is where we headed riiiight against the lake and it sort of went downhill a bit. I felt really good right around here, and you can see I sped up as it's my fastest mile.
Mile 7: 11:40
Contining downhill, slight slowdown
Mile 8: 12:28
Mile 9: 11:56
Mile 10: 11:59
The last mile or so was on a trail and it got MUDDY. I might have been the crazy one yelling obscenities as I tried to avoid it.

I wish I had better details about the race. It was SO rainy - at one point it was down pouring. I had water dripping from my hat. My mask was soaked so I stuffed it into my pocket (pro tip, bring a second mask in a plastic bag). My shoes were soaked. My watch was soaked. My arms and hands were soaked. I would wipe my hands on my clothes (soaked) every so often so I could use my watch and that did not work. They did not dry. I was so focused on getting through the rain that I didn't pay as much attention to my surroundings or what was happening with the course. It was just one foot in front of the other.

With that said, running in cool temps was so nice, and probably why I felt so great the whole time. I probably could have pushed myself a little bit and been faster and gotten closer to that Proof of Time, but those hills were still pretty killer and probably the reason why my first few miles are slower than my last few. Those hills in heat would have been bad bad bad. Anyway, I loved this race so much that I signed up for their half marathon on October 11! This course is DOWNHILL!! Hoping for that POT!

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That's not a terrible finish line photo at all!

FINAL TIME: 2:01:40​

 

[xjillianpaige]

Disney Marathon 2021 Training Journal
New England Half Marathon Training Journal
​

About that marathon...

I am sad. I am not surprised. We are going to pivot real quick here and rename this to reflect that the new focus is going to be building speed for 5ks, 10ks, and half marathons. Let's try again in 2022. Moving on...

After the 10 miler, it was back to training. Millennium running is also hosting a half marathon on October 11, so I decided to sign up for it. Especially since I loved their 10 miler so much.

I took off the first week of September to "recover." (Thats a fancy way of saying I don't run the week after a race because I'm lazy.) Also because I had just moved into my new place and was still settling in. Then it was back to my twice weekly maintenance (in a new neighborhood!), one long.

September 8: 3.05 miles • 39:02 • 12:47 avg pace
September 10: 3.04 miles • 44:42 • 13:02 avg pace
September 13: 4.02 miles • 50:38
The new neighborhood I'm in is a main road, so I ran straight for a long time and it was fairly hilly, especially compared to my parents' neighborhood. The second run I did in the more residential neighborhoods across the street from my complex and it was also very hilly. Finally, the four miles was from my parents since I had stayed with them on Saturday night after my nephew was in an accident - he's ok!

September 15: 3.04 miles • 44:42 • 14:41 avg pace
September 17: 3.02 miles • 37:48 • 12:30 avg pace
September 19: 13.05 miles • 2:35:24 • 11:54 avg pace
The first run was with my run group. I went out for 3 miles with a woman who averages a 14:00-15:00 minute pace, but I don't care how slow I go, as long as I get the miles in. And by running with me she ran her fastest mile yet! Thursday I went back into exploring my neighborhood and its hills. Saturday's run is complicated... I did not run it in 2:35:24, something went wrong with my app and it stopped for a little bit, I think I did the math based on when I started and when I texted my friends that I was done, and the actual time was around 2:38. Still really good for a training run! And my fastest since I ran the Martha's Vineyard half in 2018. I'm hoping this is a good sign for my upcoming half... and a sign that I can hit my proof of time goals if I really focus on that in the new year. Silver linings of the cancelled marathon.

FUTURE
30-45 minute maintenance runs on Tuesday/Thursday
Long Run 9/26 - 4 miles
Long Run 10/3 - 6 miles (originally 15 miles)
Race Day 10/11 - 13.1 miles

Run a Faster 5k
I'm doing a run a faster 5k program! My running group is hosting a 6 week program that started on Sunday 9/20. I love it already! The first day was a 10 minute light jog to warm up, then some drills (high knees, butt kicks, grapevines, lunges, etc.) and then we ran 3 miles to get our baseline. The 3 mile was an interval run of sorts, with a .75 easy pace and then we kicked it up a notch for .25 and repeat. My final time was 34:15 and the goal will be, in 6 weeks, to be faster! I have run faster than 34:15 this past summer, but that was with someone else pacing me versus me having to figure it out myself. Also this baseline had us run all our "fast" intervals on hills! Go figure.

 

[xjillianpaige]

Disney Marathon 2021 Training Journal
New England Half Marathon Training Journal​

September 22: 3.03 miles • 35:24 • 11:41 avg pace
September 24: skipped
September 27: 3.15 miles • 35:02 • 11:06 avg pace
Tuesday was just an easy maintenance run up and down the Main Street I live on. Last time I did this route I turned at one point, this time I went straight and explored the town center a bit. Skipped Thursday because it was hot and I could. Then instead of 4 miles this weekend, I did my faster 5k workout since Saturday was an apple picking adventure with friends.

FUTURE
30-45 minute maintenance runs on Tuesday/Thursday
Long Run 10/3 - 6 miles (originally 15 miles)
Race Day 10/11 - 13.1 miles

Run a Faster 5k
Today was Week 2 of the run a faster 5k! We started with a 10 minute light jog to warm up, then did some more drills with mini hurdles, plus some of the same from last week (skipping, high knees, butt kicks, etc.) before getting into the workout. This week's workout was 5-4-3-2-1... so we started out by running easy to warm up for 5 minutes, then we did 5 minutes at "marathon" pace (we could maintain that pace for an hour), then a 3 minute recovery. Next was 4 minutes at "half marathon" pace, then 3 minutes to recover. Next was 3 minutes, faster again, around a 10k pace, and then 3 recovery. Then we did 2 minutes at a 5k pace followed by our 3 recovery and ended it with a one minute all out.

For fun, here are my splits:
5 minutes: 10:40
4 minutes: 10:33
3 minutes: 10:50
2 minutes: 8:48
1 minute: 9:49

I've said it before, I'll say it again. I am awful at pacing myself. I just don't have a great sense of how fast I'm going. I know when I'm running fast and I know when I'm running slowly, but I don't have a gauge of exactly what that means. This is why I struggled with this, I should have been getting progressively faster, and I did to an extent, but my 5 minute should have been the slowest with my 1 minute being fastest. The reason my 2 minute was SO fast was because I was running with my coach for that and I was talking to her because I am a chatty runner and then she reminded me that if I was able to converse then I needed to kick it up a notch! But this is interesting to see and hopefully will help me with pacing. Next week is hills.

 

[xjillianpaige]

Disney Marathon 2021 Training Journal
New England Half Marathon Training Journal​

September 29: 3 miles • 34:03 • 11:21 avg pace
October 1: 3.01 miles • 32:48 • 10:51 avg pace
October 4: skipped - hill workout
I have no words about that Thursday run. No idea how I did that. I did pause my run at stoplights, which I usually don't do... so maybe that's why?

FUTURE
30-45 minute maintenance runs on Tuesday/Thursday
Race Day 10/11 - 13.1 miles

Run a Faster 5k
Guys. Hills hurt. My glutes are SORE today. We started with our usual 10 minute warm up jog and some drills, then we went to the hill. The workout was pretty simple. Run up the hill as far as you can for 1 minute, then walk back down, 5 times. Then again for 30 seconds, 5 times. Then the last one was for 15 seconds, 5 times, but with a jog down so we could work on downhill form. I don't have any details about splits or anything, but I know whatever we were doing worked because I can feel my muscles.