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

[azrivest]

2024 Princess Fairytale Challenge

As I wrote, I was feeling really sick after coming back from WDW, so I took a few more days off than planned. Also the fact that we had the aforementioned 20 inches of snow and running conditions have not been great outside. I won't be able to hit any of my prescribed paces if I can't run on asphalt. I'll just go by perceived effort. I still only have 6 weeks to get ready for the challenge, so I went out as soon as I felt decent.

Weekly Summary:

• Running = 2:45
• Strength Training (Lifting & Yoga) = 0:00

I'm going to reuse the same DopeyBadger plan he built for me in 2022 for the same challenge. I was planning on jumping right back in - if I can do a marathon I can do a 14k long run right? I quickly realized my body was not having it last week. It was a combination of having run Dopey and being sick (probably more the latter) so I ended up doing only easy runs. My HR stayed high all week, a strong sign that my body wasn't in top shape.

Wednesday

• Planned: 1.25 km WU + 5 x 1.5 km @ HM Tempo w/ 1.5 min RI @ WU + 1.25 km CD
  • Completed: 3.28 km ~ 28:09
  • Avg HR 141 bpm
  • No HM Tempo intervals for me. My body was not going to be able to handle it. Did 30:30 intervals really easy on packed snow.

Thursday

• Planned: 5 km @ EA
  • Completed: 4.87 km ~ 40:02 (8:13 min/km)
  • Avg HR 146 bpm. I did spend 10:32 minutes in zone 4 with a very slow pace, so yeah again, Anne still sick.
  • Ran this on the treadmill while listening to Lilo&Stitch with my baby girl

Friday

• Off

Saturday

• Planned: 5 km @ EB + Strides
  • Completed: 4.48 km ~ 36:56 (8:14 min/km)
  • Avg HR 164 bpm <-- ouch
  • Fartlek style, running when I wanted, walking when I felt like it. This did not feel easy.
  • One of the coldest days of the year in Montreal so far. I had two leggings on, including a pair of thermals, and my thighs were cold after my run anyway.

Sunday

• Planned: Cr Hld Long Run
  • Completed: 7.02 km ~ 59:49 (8:31 min/km)
  • Avg HR 156 bpm <-- again too high
  • Went out with my running group
  • Cold again today, with a temp of 7F feels like of -11, or in celsius it was -12 feels like of -23.

I don't feel in great shape post Dopey and the coming weeks are supposed to be super busy life-wise. Since I don't want to wake up at 4am to run, especially when it's freezing cold out, I don't know if I'll manage those 5 runs a week. I'll have to rely on 3-4/week to maintain my base in time for Princess.

I'd also appreciate any motivation for strength training you guys could give me, since right now I have none. I have to admit, I am kinda enjoying having my evenings to myself. Less running and no strength training has freed up so much time in my schedule!

Happy running!

 

[Herding_Cats]

i 100% agree that the feel of the MW races (and the marathon in particular) are what keep me coming back. I also know that "I want to be at the meetup, but I also want to be in my corral" feeling and when you get into your own head. Oh yes. I definitely know that feeling. Kinda wish my training hadn't gone off the rails in December, because I totally would have attempted to keep up with you for the full! Running buddies really help for the marathon.

 

[GollyGadget]

Give yourself some grace with training (especially the next few weeks). You just did a really hard thing and your body is still recovering. In general, the rule is easy running for equal time to what you took off. I think that’d be two weeks in your case. Then you can reintroduce longer/harder stuff but still listen to your body and back off when needed.

Honestly, you could likely finish the Princess challenge if you didn’t run at all between the two weekends so just think of any miles you do cover as bonus.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

I don't feel in great shape post Dopey and the coming weeks are supposed to be super busy life-wise. Since I don't want to wake up at 4am to run, especially when it's freezing cold out, I don't know if I'll manage those 5 runs a week. I'll have to rely on 3-4/week to maintain my base in time for Princess.

I'd also appreciate any motivation for strength training you guys could give me, since right now I have none. I have to admit, I am kinda enjoying having my evenings to myself. Less running and no strength training has freed up so much time in my schedule!

I feel like "post-marathon blues" (or "post-Dopey blues") gives a misleading impression of the challenge of coming off of a marathon. It makes it sound like an emotional issue when in reality, it's a huge physical struggle! Especially when you combine it with not getting enough sleep the whole race weekend and then getting sick afterwards. It took me 6-7 week to go from marathon back to normal training. So like @GollyGadget said, give yourself a break, and if you don't feel like running, don't worry about it

If you want to make sure you maintain some fitness though Princess (though you'll probably still be okay without doing anything), maybe consider some alternate activities. If it's a not-quite-as-cold day, could you go for a walk or hike with your family? Or maybe try an exercise class with a friend? Sometimes changing it up can help bring back that motivation.

 

[flav]

I'd also appreciate any motivation for strength training you guys could give me, since right now I have none.

If you find the recipe, please pass it along… I have been looking for it for many years.

 

[azrivest]

Give yourself some grace with training (especially the next few weeks). You just did a really hard thing and your body is still recovering.

So like @GollyGadget said, give yourself a break, and if you don't feel like running, don't worry about it

I also realized last night and this morning that I have another good reason to take it easy. My week at WDW did wonders to my hamstring injury. I've done so much rehab and strengthening in the past year and nothing has worked: the pain was not intense but always there. When I came back from vacation, the pain was almost gone, even though I had run Dopey! It's probably from spending all that time on vacation on my feet and not on my butt in front of a desk at work.

I'm feeling it again in my hamstring this morning. All I did last night was a 45-minute easy run on the treadmill. So my goal for the next few weeks will be to do as little as possible to see if it helps continue healing my injury.

Thanks for the validation to do less

 

[DopeyBadger]

Can anyone guess what we were dressed up as? I don't think most ppl correctly identified it, but some parts of our costume (like our duck feet) didn't get delivered in time.

Ducktales! WooHoo!

I had to stop so many times to pee during the races, which I usually never do. Last year for my first marathon, I didn't have to stop once.

Pace related? I find that my urge to urinate has to do with pace a lot of time. Slower pace increases the odds of the urge.

Awesome recap, and congrats on another successful weekend!

 

[azrivest]

Ugh I am really kicking myself in the behind now... I didn't know how I would attack the Princess Half on Sunday, since I was tired and had leftover fatigue from the marathon. But halfway through I was still feeling good so I decide to go for it.

I finished in 2:23:25 thinking that I would be good for the Marathon 5:00 equivalency, but seems Luke Humphreys and Greg McMillan don't agree. If I had known the cutoff was more 2:22 than 2:23 I wouldn't have stopped for as many characters

I still have a 2:16 from a May 2022 Half local race, so hopefully I can use that instead. But dang. Dang. Dang that tired race brain that can't calculate worth a d!

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Ugh I am really kicking myself in the behind now... I didn't know how I would attack the Princess Half on Sunday, since I was tired and had leftover fatigue from the marathon. But halfway through I was still feeling good so I decide to go for it.

I finished in 2:23:25 thinking that I would be good for the Marathon 5:00 equivalency, but seems Luke Humphreys and Greg McMillan don't agree. If I had known the cutoff was more 2:22 than 2:23 I wouldn't have stopped for as many characters

I still have a 2:16 from a May 2022 Half local race, so hopefully I can use that instead. But dang. Dang. Dang that tired race brain that can't calculate worth a d!

So close! But hey, you can only get Disney character photos at Disney, so I think you still come out ahead!

 

[azrivest]

So close! But hey, you can only get Disney character photos at Disney, so I think you still come out ahead!

yeah I had such a blast. I stopped for another #pelkeyselfie which was worth the missed POT

 

[azrivest]

2024 Princess Enchanted 10k Recap

My brain is mush from being so tired these past few weeks so I already forgot most of the race I'll just drop a couple of pictures.

For this weekend, I was finally able to submit a POT and be placed in corral B, which was perfect for me. This was my 3rd Princess weekend in a row, and the first time in 3 weekends I wasn't racing the 10k. Both previous times I had tried to go under 1:01 and missed by less than a minute. But now that I already had my POT, I could slow down a bit I approached the 10k as a tempo run more than a race. My goal was to try to stay under 7min/km for each kilometer, but not push more than that.

This 10k course is one of my least favourite (if there is such a thing at runDisney), so I had planned on running the first 3 miles just to get the highway miles over with. I didn't stop for as many characters either. I had done Dopey just 6 weeks prior, and the characters at Princess tend to be the same ones again and again.

My first photo stop was Maleficent, which was also my longest wait (2 minutes). My split for this km ended up being 7:45, but considering I waited two minutes for Maleficent, I'm really happy.

Maleficent and myself trying to do a Wanda "magic" pose


Hey I had a good idea for a PP pose, so let's overdo it!

I was disappointed that I missed Merida in Epcot. She would switch out with another character (Jasmine I think?) and it was the other character that was out at that moment. So I didn't stop. Anyway I was betting on seeing her the next day since I was going to dress as Merida for the Half.

I love that the walls at down at Epcot, which allows for a funner race course and nice pictures.

Jump shot in front of the EPCOT ball


Getting down to business before the finish line

I wanted to get a selfie with the announcers at the finish, but since I was so early Carissa and John weren't there yet. Oh well.

I finished in a net time of 1:06:57. Such a different experience from the Marathon 10k in which I finished in 1:52:26.

I took my time in the reunion area and stood in line for ~20 minutes to get a medal picture with Rapunzel and Flynn.

Back at Pop, the CMs had rolled out the red carpet, literally, and were waiting for us with a bubble machine and different buttons. Pop Century is the best race resort, change my mind

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Great job and great photos!

 

[NYC_MW]

That EPCOT ball jumpshot is great!

 

[flav]

Congratulations

 

[azrivest]

Hey, I haven't posted in more than 2 weeks but I'll come out of my cave soon. I've had a lot of to deal with at work and this has made my running totally erratic. In February, I would come home from work completely exhausted, physically and mentally, and could barely run more than once a weekday and concentrated my runs all on the weekend. I'm amazed I got through Princess in such great shape as I did.

Good news is that I'll be able to have more time to myself after Easter, so I'll get back on the running bandwagon. I'm aiming for a June 2 HM race. The timing isnt great, as June can be pretty warm, and the course is hilly (it finishes with an uphill climb in the last kilometer). The finish line for this race is literally 500 yards from my house so it'd be a shame not to do it though. I'm aiming for maaaaaaaybe a 2:15, but I won't put pressure on myself. I managed a 2:16:20 when I ran this in 2022.

I've been dealing with a sinus infection since last Tuesday so I've been trying to take it easy. Running outside in the coldish air actually helps clear my sinuses so I have been a few times, just really easy. But as soon as this is cleared, I'll be back at it!

 

[azrivest]

Seeing everyone talk about their POTs... I'm signed up for a Mother's Day 10k (my PR from last year) which offers the 15k as well. Should I try to sign up for the 15k to aim for a Marathon POT? it's a distance I've done only once pre COVID.

Based on the McMillan calculator, it equates to a 1:39:04


Seeing that I ran a 1:00:09 10k in October, an equivalent race should surely be attainable?

 

[Herding_Cats]

Seeing everyone talk about their POTs... I'm signed up for a Mother's Day 10k (my PR from last year) which offers the 15k as well. Should I try to sign up for the 15k to aim for a Marathon POT? it's a distance I've done only once pre COVID.

Based on the McMillan calculator, it equates to a 1:39:04
View attachment 843226

Seeing that I ran a 1:00:09 10k in October, an equivalent race should surely be attainable?

I would 10000000% email trackshack and make sure they'll accept a 15k if you're planning on using it for the full or challenges. Heck, I'd even check about the half because I can see them not looking at the distance, seeing it end with a K and saying "nope. too slow." assuming that it was a 10k and not a 15.

 

[GollyGadget]

I would 10000000% email trackshack and make sure they'll accept a 15k if you're planning on using it for the full or challenges. Heck, I'd even check about the half because I can see them not looking at the distance, seeing it end with a K and saying "nope. too slow." assuming that it was a 10k and not a 15.

In addition to this open question on if a 15K will be accepted, Mother's Day is quickly approaching. ~7.5 weeks. You have a good base to work from but it would be a tight turnaround. Certainly not impossible, just something to keep in mind.

 

[azrivest]

In addition to this open question on if a 15K will be accepted, Mother's Day is quickly approaching. ~7.5 weeks. You have a good base to work from but it would be a tight turnaround. Certainly not impossible, just something to keep in mind.

I asked Billy for a training plan for my HM on June 2nd, incorporating this race into the plan (which is still a 10k as of now) I don't think it's impossible, as the training plan I've used for my last 10k was 8 weeks. But yeah you're right, it's quickly approaching.

Good thing is, starting on April 5th, I'll be off work for 3 months so I'll have nothing better to do than run and strength train And as I said, I'm approaching this race very serenely. I already have a 2:16 HM I can use as a POT, so this would be to improve it. I won't put unnecessary pressure on myself.

I like having a challenge, something to motivate me, otherwise it's too easy to stay on the couch

 

[GollyGadget]

I like having a challenge, something to motivate me

Then go for it!