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

[azrivest]

Back to Princess!

We're here! And it's super humid, but I'm not complaining to finally be enjoying summer weather



Monday

• Planned: 30-45 minute Easy Run
  • Completed: 39:45
  • Got up at 4am to do this on the treadmill while watching Raya.

Tuesday

• Planned: Off, Cross-Train or Easy Run for 30-40 minutes
  • Completed: Nothing
  • Got up at 4am anyway. Race practice
• 45 minutes of recovery yoga during lunch time. I was too excited to actually relax

Wednesday

• Planned: 10-20 minutes Warm-Up + Fartlek Workout: 6 to 8 times 1 minute at slightly faster than 5K effort with 1 minute recovery jog + 10-20 minutes Cool-down
  • Completed: 44:59
  • Got up at 4am to run this on the treadmill (anyone sensing a pattern?)
  • Have no idea what my speed my intervals were really at since the tread hasnt been calibrated. But isnt that what fartlek is anyway? Random fun bursts?

Thursday

• Planned: Off, Cross-Train or Easy Run for 20-30 minutes
  • Completed: 20:01
  • Went out just to scope out the resort and to get a feel of the temperatures.

Only thing left now is to run 36.5k in 3 days, no sweat. (Like, literally not because I will be sweating so hard the whole time.) Glad I brought my Skratch for my bladder.

See you soon maybe everyone!

 

[striker1064]

Have fun! Wishing I could be there this time.

 

[azrivest]

Have fun! Wishing I could be there this time.

Yeah we'll miss your jokes at the meetup another weekend soon hopefully

 

[azrivest]

I don't know if I'll write a full recap of Princess Weekend. In the meantime, here are my favorite 5k pics

 

[azrivest]

This would also have been a great picture but because of the crowds they had to crop A's face to get all of us in

 

[Baloo in MI]

Beautiful family! Looks like you had a great time.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

yay!!! Great pics. So nice to meet you!

 

[AZMermaid]

awesome pictures!

 

[azrivest]

Some pics from my 10k experience. Not surprisingly, I struggled and didn't meet my first race goal, which was to finish in under an hour. I did meet most of my second race goal, which was to smile the whole way.

Before the race, Billy had warned me that with a T+D of 130, pace adjustment was around 3% so I knew it wasn't going to happen.

Started out too fast, which I always do. At the 3 mile mark, I was at 29:27, which was pretty decent. At that point, the heat was starting to get to me. You can see on the pics that I am drenched. I knew with the course running a little over 10k (I ended up with 10.24k) there was little chance I could hold out. If I did, I would end the race completely spent. And in the end, I wanted to also enjoy the rest of the day with my family in the parks.

So after the overpass that leads into HS, I decided to pull back a little and enjoy the race a bit more. Then my brain kept telling me that I was a quitter and I wasn't good enough, but at the same time: ooh Ariel, picture time!

I ended up with a net time of 1:05:27 which is much slower than last year's 1:01:37 but I finished with a big smile on my face.

I have two main takeaways from this race:
1) For future races, I know I have to work on my physical game yes, but also on my mental game. I had to negotiate with myself SO MUCH during the race. So many times I wanted to quit or slow down because it was hard. I feel that as long as I don't win the mental game, I'll never achieve my time goals.
2) I cannot arrive to the races as tired as I did this time. The combination of a new very stressful position at work + the pressure of performance + my hamstring injury exhausted me in the weeks prior.


(why am I doing this to myself)


(oh right, I love runDisney and princesses)


(I'm lucky enough to be able to run and at Disney moreover)



(That medal is beautiful)

 

[striker1064]

Great job! A T+D of 130 is brutal, yeesh.

 

[superchime]

Congrats from a fellow 10k Ariel runner! Good job adjusting for the temp. The mental game is so hard! I'm always arguing with myself over whether holding back is me being smart or lazy.

 

[AZMermaid]

Great job!!! I love Your outfit!

 

[DopeyBadger]

You made the most of the day you were given. Sometimes that's all we can ask of ourselves.

 

[azrivest]

And finally my HM pics.

The Half was really difficult. Ironically, my pulled hamstring kept getting better and better throughout the week. Maybe standing and walking all the time (compared to being at my work desk all day) really helped. But otherwise, I was fatigued even on Saturday night. Racing the 10k in the heat + two days of park time + the meetup at HH got to me. For the first time in 8 rD races, I wasn't looking forward to toeing the starting line. I didn't feel like I had the energy and my feet were killing me. @Naomeri is completely right. It's not the physical shape or recovery. I'm not used to doing 20k+ steps a day. But dunno how I could train for that.

Thankfully, I had a great time at the pre-race, thanks to @DopeyBadger and @lookingforsunshine. We walked the long mile together from the DJ area to the starting line and it felt so nice to talk amongst friends. Thank you to the both of you for that

This race was the first time I had a very unpleasant encounter with the pace groups. I started at the front of Corral C with the 2:15 pace group. I figured I'd stay with them a bit and then slow down once we reached mile 2. My Half PR is 2:14, but I wasn't aiming for that at all this time. A couple of minutes after starting, we reached a bunch of walkers, which were probably in the back of Corral B. We also reached a soon-to-be momma with a "Baby Bump" sign on her back (she was walking in the middle of the road, not on the right, but okay) That pace group was not gonna slow down for anybody, not even that momma. They powered through, even if it meant passing ppl left and right. It was not safe and disrespectful. Come on Anyway, that's my editorial for this post.

The whole stretch from EPCOT to MK was just myself convincing me I could continue. Once I got to MK and there was more PhotoPass and characters, I readjusted. It wasn't easy but I knew I could finish.

Entering back into EPCOT, I had the best character interaction. For the first time, DH and DD came to see me on course in the EPCOT parking lot. It made the last 2k so effortless. They then moved to the finish line but I didn't see them. It didn't stop me from feeling so happy, knowing they were out there to greet me after the chute. This is my face at the finish line.


(My baby girl)_____________________________________________________(My happy face at the finish line)

Ironically, I had a Disney Half PR this time, finishing in a net time of 2:45:49. But that's only because I stopped for less characters



(rare character, yay!)


(I managed to get a non-photo bombed pic coming down from the castle, yay!)


(Elsa had to stop for an Elsa picture)


(I'm upset about this picture, only because the medal is showing Maui and not Moana )

 

[Naomeri]

I’m trying to ramp up my daily steps before Springtime Surprise. Obviously, I won’t be getting 20K+, but if I can get closer to 10K, even on non-running days, I have to believe its going to be beneficial.

 

[HangWithMerida]

Great pictures! Your family’s wreck in Ralph costumes were really cute.
I definitely agree with you and @Naomeri about the time on feet. Just the bare minimum of getting around WDW is a ton of walking. I have just accepted that race weekends are primarily recovery/resort time and I wait on parks until after races are done. I know it’s different when you have your kids along. They usually don’t tolerate rest when at WDW!

 

[azrivest]

I have just accepted that race weekends are primarily recovery/resort time and I wait on parks until after races are done. I know it’s different when you have your kids along. They usually don’t tolerate rest when at WDW!

I'm thinking that if I sign up for Dopey next January, I might not even visit the parks until after I finish. Would that be blasphemous?

 

[SheHulk]

I'm thinking that if I sign up for Dopey next January, I might not even visit the parks until after I finish. Would that be blasphemous?

Nope, that’s how I would do it.

 

[GollyGadget]

I'm thinking that if I sign up for Dopey next January, I might not even visit the parks until after I finish. Would that be blasphemous?

My current plan is to arrive in the Orlando area on Jan 2, run the marathon on Jan 7th and then visit the parks on Jan 8th or later. With the school holidays as they are, those days pre marathon are going to be PACKED.

 

[striker1064]

I'm thinking that if I sign up for Dopey next January, I might not even visit the parks until after I finish. Would that be blasphemous?

I'll likely head home the Monday after the marathon, so I might not visit the parks at all. True blasphemy!