I won't give in till I reach the end... and then I'll start again (comments welcome)

[striker1064]

So sorry for your loss.

 

[azrivest]

So sorry for your loss.

Thanks

As you said, she had a great 16 years and I could not have loved her more in that time

 

[DopeyBadger]

 

[azrivest]

Back to Princess!

The kids are out of school for two weeks, where I'm enjoying being on a semi-kind of vacation. I get to make my own schedule and I can go running when it's light out, which is great.

Weekly Summary:

• Running Distance = 37.14k/23.08 miles
• Running Time = 4:40
• Strength Training Time = 1:25

Monday

• Planned: 8k @ EB + Strides
  • Completed: 7.77k
• Strength: Run Fit Mama's Core Challenge

Tuesday

• Today was the day I had to say goodbye to my Zorro. Spent the whole day in bed cuddling with her.
• Squeezed in my Core Challenge + Pilates Lower Body just so I wasn't completely inactive the whole day

Wednesday

• Planned: 7k @ EA
  • Completed: 8.44k
  • Ran in ankle deep snow
  • Like lookingforsunshine, I was able to go out running the next day and I felt okay. Running always helps clear my mind.
• Strength: Run Fit Mama's Core Challenge

Thursday

• Strength: Run Fit Mama's Core Challenge
• Rest day
  • Completed: 3.88k
  • We went up to our cabin and I tried to go trail running. This time, I was in thigh deep snow in some parts where the trails hadn't been travelled, so I gave up

Friday

• Planned: 5k @ EB + Strides
  • Completed: 5.04k but no strides
  • Did this run at the gym. I'm so bad using the treadmill. Can you do strides on the TM?
• Strength: Various exercices with the gym machines + Run Fit Mama's Core Challenge

Saturday

• Planned: 13k @ LR (in 1:31)
  • Completed: 12.01km
  • Again, being at the cabin, I did what I could in the 1:31 timeframe. Garmin told me it was about 900ft total ascent during my run.
• Strength: Finished the core challenge with some ab slide exercices. Dang.

Sunday

• Total rest day. I enjoyed New Year's Day with my family.

I reflected on my running journey this year. I've learned so much in the last year, about strength training and training load. Strength training used to be a burden I had to endure to avoid injury. I'm now learning how to incorporate it into my routine without feeling like it's taking up what little free time I had left. WillRunForPizza had a great tip with Fitness Blender. I had a great time doing the core challenge, as it didn't feel impossible to only do ~10 minutes a day. And now that I've finished the core challenge, I've signed up for RunFitMama's Fit Fab Princess program. Not interested in following the Galloway plan, but she incorporates strength exercices + yoga for runners into the plan. It helps me when I've got a plan built rather than having to build my own. I feel more accountable when it's not just me.

My race plan for 2023 looks like this so far:
- Princess Weekend (Feb 25): 5k + 10k + HM
- Tamarack Ottawa (May 29): HM
- Jay Peak Trail Fest (Sept 2): 11mi trail

Our family schedule might interfere with the half in May, and I'm not-so-secretly relieved. I won't be sad to go back to base training instead of race training. My other goal would be to try for Dopey 2024. If I take a few months "off" after Princess, it will probably do me some good as I haven't had a long running downtime in quite some time.

 

[azrivest]

Back to Princess!

My training journal seems pretty inconsequential next to all the Marathon Weekend results I'm seeing. Hope everyone had a good time!

I've started another training plan to have something a bit more 10k oriented since my previous Princess plan was focused on the Half. I found a really cheap McMillan 8-week 10k plan on Final Surge on New Year's Day.

Weekly Summary:

• Running Distance = 34.26k/21.29 miles
• Running Time = 4:07
• Strength Training Time = 1:25

Monday

• Planned: 30-40 minute Easy Run
  • Completed: 40:12
  • Ran this at the cabin on very hilly and iced roads
• Strength: Strength in Stride - Stability A

Tuesday

• Planned: 30-40 minute Easy Run
  • Completed: 35:00
  • Same hilly and iced roads as the day before

Wednesday

• Planned: 15-25 minute Warm-Up + Stride Workout: 10 to 12 times 20 seconds starting at 5K and progressing down to Mile race effort with 1 minute recovery jog between + 15-25 minute Cool-down
  • Completed: 56:33
  • Intervals were: 6:57, 8:19, 8:05, 8:18, 8:21, 8:45, 7:47, 8:30, 8:02, 8:17, 8:40
  • I don't feel I did this right, as it said to go from 5k to Mile effort, but I assuredly did the opposite. Always start out too fast and slow down. Story of my running life.
  • I tried my new Endorphin Pro 3. Wow. Carbon plated shoes + running on clear asphalt again meant I ran at least 30 secs/km faster than the day before.
• Strength: Fit Fab Princess

Thursday

• Off or Easy Run for 30-40 minutes
• I was off from work and had the whole day to run, but we had freezing rain fall overnight, so roads were a mess.
• Strength: 20 minutes of runners' yoga

Friday

• Planned: 30-40 minute Easy Run
  • Completed: 38:17
• Strength: Fit Fab Princess

Saturday

• Planned: 50-60 minute Long Run
  • Completed: 1:17:02

Sunday

• Total rest day.

An 8-week plan feels so short, as there's already 1 week down and the last week is race week. Based on the guidelines DopeyBadger gave me to adapt my HM plan into a 10k plan, this plan seems spot-on.

Hard runs are:
W1 - Stride Workout: 10 to 12 times 20 seconds starting at 5K and progressing down to Mile race effort with 1 minute recovery jog between
W2 - Cruise Interval Workout: 6 to 8 times 800 meters with 200 meter recovery jog between plus 3 x 200m Strides with 200m recovery jog
W3 - Tempo Run: 15-25 minutes
W4 - Goal Pace Interval Workout: 2 miles (3 km) at Goal Pace, 5 minute slow recovery jog, 4 x 1 mile (1.5 km) at Goal Pace with 3-4 minute recovery jog in between
W5 - Speed Workout: 12 to 16 x 400m with 200m recovery jog plus 3 x 200m Strides with 200m recovery jog
W6 - Goal Pace Intervals: 2 x 2 miles (3 km) at Goal Pace with 5 minute recovery jog, 5 minute recovery jog, 2 x 1 mile (1.5 km) at Goal Pace with 3 minutes recovery jog
W7 - Goal Pace Intervals: 3 x 2 miles (3 km) at Goal Pace with 3.5 minute slow jog in between
W8 - Fartlek Workout: 6 to 8 times 1 minute at slightly faster than 5K effort with 1 minute recovery jog

I like that there are at least 3 goal pace interval workouts to really see if I can hit that 9:30 min/mi. I'm aiming for a little bit faster since last year's Princess 10k was about 6.31 miles, so I can't aim for 60 minutes on the dot.

So far, winter in Montreal has been pretty mellow, in the sense that we haven't had too many very very cold days or snowstorms that leave the roads unraceable. Fingers crossed it continues like that. If I want to be able to practice my goal pace, I want to do it outside cause my treadmill just isn't reliable.

I'm also working really hard on my mental game. I know that <60min 10k is a long shot. Seeing so many PRs this weekend on the main threads has me doubting myself. I'm no less a runner if I don't reach my goal, but it's going to be hard for me to let it go. Which is why I won't post my paces and focus on keeping my easy runs easy, and my hard runs hard.

 

[azrivest]

In costume news, the holidays have given me loads of free time to look at what we're doing for Princess.

We've found some fairy lights to sew onto A's Taffyta costume. My husband will glue LED lights into a toy hammer we painted with gold spray for J's Felix costume.

I've completely abandoned the idea of using my blue Dottie skirt for my Ariel costume for the 10k. It just doesn't fit the theme:


I'll stick with the red visor, purple tank and mermaid leggings. I'll be more comfy since I'm racing anyway.

Now what to do with that really expensive blue and purple skirt (with a huge coral-colored bow) for the Half? I see three options:
1) Try to go with a Aurora-ish theme
2) Stitch?
3) Drop the skirt entirely and go with a Pink Minnie theme. I have this Figaro Tsum Tsum I bought in Paris a few years ago that I could stick on my shoulder.

 

[Blue Caterpillar]

In costume news, the holidays have given me loads of free time to look at what we're doing for Princess.

We've found some fairy lights to sew onto A's Taffyta costume. My husband will glue LED lights into a toy hammer we painted with gold spray for J's Felix costume.

I've completely abandoned the idea of using my blue Dottie skirt for my Ariel costume for the 10k. It just doesn't fit the theme:
View attachment 730585

I'll stick with the red visor, purple tank and mermaid leggings. I'll be more comfy since I'm racing anyway.

Now what to do with that really expensive blue and purple skirt (with a huge coral-colored bow) for the Half? I see three options:
1) Try to go with a Aurora-ish theme
2) Stitch?
3) Drop the skirt entirely and go with a Pink Minnie theme. I have this Figaro Tsum Tsum I bought in Paris a few years ago that I could stick on my shoulder.

I love stitc. Also the fairy godmother is an option.

 

[flav]

I love

 

[Naomeri]

I love Stitch, but I think @Blue Caterpillar makes a good point that the skirt is very godmotherish.

 

[NYC_MW]

Can you tuck in the bow and go Elsa?

 

[Herding_Cats]

Trade the skirt for a different one, or sell it and get what will actually work for you.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

I had a moment of solidarity with your VO2max frustration from a few weeks ago - after I ran the marathon yesterday, my watch's estimation of my VO2max went down So either it's wrong or it's a stupid measure of fitness, because I just ran a MARATHON so I'm pretty sure I'm in good shape and getting better

Anyway, I rolled my eyes at my watch and just wanted to share that you're not the only one who was a little frustrated with that particular metric!

 

[azrivest]

I had a moment of solidarity with your VO2max frustration from a few weeks ago - after I ran the marathon yesterday, my watch's estimation of my VO2max went down So either it's wrong or it's a stupid measure of fitness, because I just ran a MARATHON so I'm pretty sure I'm in good shape and getting better

Anyway, I rolled my eyes at my watch and just wanted to share that you're not the only one who was a little frustrated with that particular metric!

Yeah good job on your marathon Come on Garmin, she ran for 26+ miles!

 

[azrivest]

Can you tuck in the bow and go Elsa?

I might actually go Elsa! One of my favorite Etsy designers has a purple Elsa top with blue accents, which would be great with the skirt. And I love Frozen 2.

Yeah, I'm excited now, my Half costume is in progress!

 

[azrivest]

Back to Princess!

So many thoughts have been going through my head with all that I've been reading for MW. I suffer from so much anxiety normally and social media just exacerbates that. But I like this forum and you guys so much that I can't help myself! (You can skip if you don't want to read my whining):
- Selfishly, it sucks how rD break down their corrals with the POT. Slower people shouldn't be put in the back, not at rD races: it's already hard for a lot of people to finish and they have just as much a right to take pictures and enjoy the moment as the speedy racers. So hearing ppl complain about corrals A vs B on the main forum really irks me. But I know I know, nothing's fair in life.
- I really really wanna do Dopey next year, but I really really need a running buddy. So many ppl on FB, IG or here that run in pairs or in groups make it seem so much more fun to handle the 4 days of early wakeups. Big Bro doesn't want to spend that kind of cash on races and he's the closest thing I have to a run+Disney fellow fan. Any volunteers? Maybe some of us 40-somethings will team up!

Training wise, it's going as good as it could be! I'm feeling pumped this week. Am I in one of these ~3 week peaks Billy? I feel I'm especially crushing my strengthening.

I'm still working mentally on using the same approach Billy did for your Madison marathon. If I don't hit my goal, that's fine. I'll just pull back and work on enjoying the race. I'll be at Disney, you can't have better and funner races than that.

Weekly Summary:

• Running Distance = 38.55k/23.96 miles
• Running Time = 4:33
• Strength Training Time = 2:39 (yeah baby!)

Monday

• Planned: 30-45 minute Easy Run
  • Completed: 40:00
• Strength: Fit Fab Princess

Tuesday

• Planned: 15-25 minute Warm-Up + Cruise Interval Workout: 6 to 8 times 800 meters with 200 meter recovery jog between plus 3 x 200m Strides with 200m recovery jog + 15-25 minute Cool-down
  • Completed: 1:15:40
  • I did this at 5am before the kids got up for school. The run was longer than I had planned so I had to cut the CD to get them ready.
  • Workout said to aim 4:40-4:48/rep. Splits were 4:43, 4:40, 4:39, 4:42, 4:41, 4:40, 4:43. Yes!!
  • Considering it was a FL of 5F, super proud of myself here.
• Went to yoga class at 8am and I felt dead tired. I should've skipped it.

Wednesday

• Planned: Off or Easy Run for 30-40 minutes
  • Completed: 37:30
• Strength: Fit Fab Princess

Thursday

• Off
• Strength: 20 minutes of runners' yoga

Friday

• Planned: 30-45 minute Easy Run
  • Completed: 45:05
  • Did this indoors following a 10 inch snowfall the night before
• Strength: Fit Fab Princess

Saturday

• Planned: 60-75minute Long Run
  • Completed: 1:15:00
  • The roads were yuck and hadn't been well plowed following the previous snowfall. It was a good workout for my stabilizers. I got this.

Sunday

• Total rest day.

Only 5 weeks to go of training!!

 

[Herding_Cats]

- I really really wanna do Dopey next year, but I really really need a running buddy. So many ppl on FB, IG or here that run in pairs or in groups make it seem so much more fun to handle the 4 days of early wakeups. Big Bro doesn't want to spend that kind of cash on races and he's the closest thing I have to a run+Disney fellow fan. Any volunteers? Maybe some of us 40-somethings will team up!

I have no idea if we are planning on going next year, but maybe me, if you more of a 13-14s person? (If the medals/theme is awesome I'll probably be swayed to sign up for something) The Expert and I pairing up was really just kind of serendipity last year and we really lucked out that our approach to the races matched up extremely well. I can say that it really helps to find someone with similar pacing and goals for the races. That doesn't mean just time goals (or lack thereof), but intervals, character stops, possibly bathroom breaks, epcot or ride stops. I ran the 5k and 10k with my husband and he's just faster than me and it actually bothers his legs to run as slowly as I want in order to keep those early races super easy. AND because he was "only" running those 2 races, he wanted to actually run them.

The pre-race meetups were great for calming nerves and having a good distraction from the feelings of "what have I done?!" And if you can't find someone for all 4 races, I think that prioritizing the marathon for finding a running buddy is the way to go.

 

[The Expert]

I have no idea if we are planning on going next year, but maybe me, if you more of a 13-14s person? (If the medals/theme is awesome I'll probably be swayed to sign up for something) The Expert and I pairing up was really just kind of serendipity last year and we really lucked out that our approach to the races matched up extremely well. I can say that it really helps to find someone with similar pacing and goals for the races. That doesn't mean just time goals (or lack thereof), but intervals, character stops, possibly bathroom breaks, epcot or ride stops. I ran the 5k and 10k with my husband and he's just faster than me and it actually bothers his legs to run as slowly as I want in order to keep those early races super easy. AND because he was "only" running those 2 races, he wanted to actually run them.

The pre-race meetups were great for calming nerves and having a good distraction from the feelings of "what have I done?!" And if you can't find someone for all 4 races, I think that prioritizing the marathon for finding a running buddy is the way to go.

I came here to say all of this!

 

[DopeyBadger]

- Selfishly, it sucks how rD break down their corrals with the POT. Slower people shouldn't be put in the back, not at rD races: it's already hard for a lot of people to finish and they have just as much a right to take pictures and enjoy the moment as the speedy racers. So hearing ppl complain about corrals A vs B on the main forum really irks me. But I know I know, nothing's fair in life.

Alright then, put your runDisney race director hat on and put me through the logistics of how you best think this would be accomplished. I totally get where you're coming from, but I see the logistics as difficult.

 

[azrivest]

Alright then, put your runDisney race director hat on and put me through the logistics of how you best think this would be accomplished. I totally get where you're coming from, but I see the logistics as difficult.

It's why I called it whining I know there's no perfect solution. And I'm not in a bad position myself at all. Unless I'm injured, I can sustain a 16-minute mile easily. I felt really bad reading about the DNFs last weekend, ppl that trained hard for months and started in the last corral with almost no room to wiggle the minimum pace requirements. But yes you're right. It's easy to complain without offering a solution to the problem.

 

[flav]

Alright then, put your runDisney race director hat on and put me through the logistics of how you best think this would be accomplished. I totally get where you're coming from, but I see the logistics as difficult.

Start the races at 2AM, space out the corrals over a couple of hours and make the pace requirement even slower… that gives plenty of time to all to finish before park opening and removes some bottlenecks.