In Every Run That Must Be Done; There is an Element of Fun (comments welcome)

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 85

Approximately 22,000 steps and 9.35 miles today

I was considerably less lazy today (though I still skipped rope drop). I left for Hollywood Studios at 10, and got there about 10:30. What is it about walking to HS that messes with my left leg? It makes no sense. I wandered through some shops, took pictures of the gold 50th statues, rode Runaway Railway and Star Tours, wandered through more shops, and then went back to the resort to eat lunch. I’m going back to HS tomorrow afternoon/evening, so I didn’t feel like doing more today.

I broke down and paid for an Individual LL for Flight of Passage at the end of the night at AK, because I wanted to make sure I was there well after dark, but didn’t feel like standing in another long line. Animal Kingdom was very pretty after dark, and not just in Pandora. I also rode EE as a single rider, and killed an hour before my Lightning Lane time waiting in line for Navi River Journey, which is always peaceful and pretty.





After AK closed, I hopped a bus to Epcot for fireworks. I wanted to get a straight-on view of the fountain barge thingies. I didn’t think it made a significant difference from my side view from the other day, certainly not enough of a difference to be worth getting there early and standing in a crowd.

Since I finished everything I wanted to do at AK this evening, I switched my reservation for tomorrow from AK to MK. I still have 4 of the 50th statues to find, and I really didn’t want my last experience of the Magic Kingdom for this trip to be Saturday evening’s disaster. Then it’s back to HS tomorrow afternoon for a Sci-Fi dinner. I’m going to try to get an afternoon Lightning Lane for RotR, but I really hate that you can’t pick a time window.


2021 workout data to date: 218h 18m 43s of exercise; 81,969 active calories burned; 103,293 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 86

Approximately 21,000 steps and 8.7 miles today.

I started today at Magic Kingdom and found the last 4 gold statues. But I have to tell a story about what happened before I got there. Sunday afternoon, when I went to the BC bus stop to go to Animal Kingdom, there was a doll on one of the benches. Once the bus came, and people started lining up to get on, it was obvious that the doll didn’t belong to anyone there, so I chose to miss the bus in order to deliver the doll to the front desk so she had a better chance of getting back to her family. I figured that was the end of it, because how would you ever find out what happened to something in the lost & found??

I got to the BC bus stop about 9:30 this morning, and happened to turn around and see a familiar doll, being hugged tightly by an adorable little girl. I said, “oh, is that your doll? I’m so glad she made it safely back to her family!!” I explained to the family that I had rescued the doll from the bus bench on Sunday, and they were very appreciative, and told me that “Samantha” had been left behind when they had to grab an Uber in order to make a dinner reservation at AK, and they realized it almost right away, but couldn’t go back. What are the odds that we’d end up at the same bus stop at the same time? I mean, there’s 4 different parks for each of us to choose from (plus Disney Springs and Blizzard Beach), and so many opportunities to catch a bus, but both they and I just happened to decide to go to MK at about 9:30 today.

Cosmic coincidences aside, I didn’t do much at MK besides finding the statues, eating lunch, and shopping, and actually buying this time! I got myself a new pair of charms for my Pandora necklace. I was just too hot and tired to stand in lines, and I had really already ridden everything I wanted at least once.



I went back to the resort to rest and pack () and then headed to Epcot at about a quarter of 4 to get in line for the 5:15 Candlelight Processional. I definitely almost forgot about the CP, so I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss out. After the show (which was wonderful!), I walked to Hollywood Studios for my Sci-Fi dinner and a couple more rides and pictures. I was able to do Tower of Terror and Runaway Railway before closing. I had thought about going back to Epcot for deluxe hours (since they just added Remy to them today), and I was going to kill time before 10 by waiting in the Frozen line, but it was down, so I abandoned that idea and just went back to the resort.

All in all, this has been a good trip. I don’t think I’d spend the money on a deluxe resort again, it just wasn’t a good fit for me. I hoped that having a sofa in the room would give me a more comfortable place to sit than a bed, but it really wasn’t a significant improvement. And sadly, the giant awesome SAB was completely wasted on me. I just couldn’t get myself motivated to walk through the whole hotel to get there.


2021 workout data to date: 219h 12m 33s of exercise; 82,221 active calories burned; 103,639 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 87

Approximately 7,200 steps and 3 miles today

Today wasn’t really much of anything, just traveling home, and dealing with the system outage the Southwest was having (which sounds like it may have been caused by the problems Amazon Web Services was having?) My flight from Orlando to Austin got stuck waiting to take off for about 20 minutes, which sucked. And then my flight from Austin to Minneapolis ended up being delayed a little over an hour, and they kept changing the departure gate. The worst part of the whole traveling thing was major ear problems during the descents. My right ear was killing me, and my hearing on that side was diminished after I landed at home. It was better when I woke up this morning, but now my whole head feels stuffy. I’m almost 100% sure I’m not getting sick, I have a history of non-illness-related fluid build-up in my sinuses. I did some stretching after I got home to fill up my rings and work out the kinks caused by hours stuck in airline seating.

Due to my suitcase being full, and the penguin not letting my carryon bag fit under the seat, he got to sit on my lap as my emotional support penguin (I’m not making fun of people with emotional support animals, it was genuinely nice to have something to cuddle while my ear was filled with stabbing pain)



2021 workout data to date: 219h 38m 9s of exercise; 82,383 active calories burned; 103,821 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Days 88 & 89

I forgot to do a journal entry for yesterday. I was pretty tired. We went to see Anastasia, and it was wonderful. Then I did 1 round of yoga to close my watch rings before bed.

The step and mileage totals for my Disney World trip: 161,407 steps and 67.8 miles over 9 days, averaging 17,934 steps and 7.5 miles per day. The averages are slightly lower than my Disneyland trip in September, but still considerably higher than any of my previous Disney World trips.

Today, I did my first run since returning from vacation, and it took a little bit to get back into it. I also had to remove the orthotic from my black New Balance shoes because it was killing me, which is why my first mile is so slow.



I got all registered for the Springtime Surprise challenge, and I’m very excited. I’ve already got my trip all booked, the registration was the last piece of the puzzle.

In other race registration news, I registered for a local 10 miler next May: the TC Women Run the Cities. It should be a pretty course, it runs up and down the Mississippi River. I also found a virtual half marathon for me to run with my Marathon Weekend 5K and 10K. I think it’ll be a real psychological boost for me to know ahead of Princess Weekend that I’ve already been able to do the 3 distances on successive days with no trouble. I’ve already done the 5K and 10K on back-back days for W&D, but I didn’t do the half until 2 weeks later.

2021 workout data to date: 220h 30m 8s of exercise; 82,771 active calories burned; 104,301 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 90

All of a sudden, it’s winter in Minnesota! It started snowing about 1pm and hasn’t really stopped yet. It’s just little fluffy flakes, so we’ve only gotten 4-5 inches, but I got to go out and shovel the patio off. After shoveling, I did one long round of yoga, with 25 second poses. I’m hoping the plows do a halfway decent job on the neighborhood roads so I can run tomorrow. Since I’ve only got 3 miles to do, it’s not worth driving anywhere.

I tried to take a night picture of our newly winterized wonderland, and mostly just got flying snowflakes




2021 workout data to date: 221h 4m 38s of exercise; 82,999 active calories burned; 104,590 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 91

Well, I did not get my 3 mile run in today. It was nice and sunny, and our cul-de-sac was reasonably clear of snow, so I figured I’d be good to run through the neighborhood. But once I got out there, there was just too much slop and potentially slippery spots, so I only made it a little over a mile before I switched to walking to head home. I was also having some foot pain because I forgot to fix the laces on my shoes after my trip (I had unlaced the top hole because it was more comfortable for walking, but not the right fit for running).



I also ended up walking a mile later in the evening because my grandpa decided he needed to go for a walk after dinner and my grandma really didn’t want him out walking in the icy dark by himself.

When I went out this morning to shovel the patio, I saw that we’d be visited by one of Mickey & Minnie’s little cousins I love how you can see where the little mouse tail landed in the snow




2021 workout data to date: 222h 3m 0s of exercise; 83,288 active calories burned; 104,980 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Days 92 & 93

I was really lazy yesterday, and ended up just doing yoga before bed, instead of my scheduled time on the stationary bike.

Since I did yoga yesterday, I did 43 minutes the bike today, plus walked 21 minutes on the treadmill, just for the heck of it. I got 11.27 miles biking, and 1.21 miles walking.

2021 workout data to date: 223h 53m 46s of exercise; 83,960 active calories burned; 105,807 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 94

Well, I only finished about half my run tonight. My right ear got all plugged up again and threw off my balance, and my knees starting aching, so I decided it was better to just stop and try again another day. It’s supposed to be extremely warm tomorrow (for December in MN, at least) so I might try a lunch hour run in the neighborhood to get the other half hour I missed today, assuming my body feels like it will cooperate.



I got a little bit of my space decorated for Christmas during a break today. We’ve got our first of several Christmases this weekend, so I’ve got to get ready.




2021 workout data to date: 224h 22m 5s of exercise; 84,192 active calories burned; 106,088 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 95

The weather and my body cooperated to let me go for a lunch run! In celebration, I decided to challenge myself and extend my intervals from 30/60 run/walk to 60/60. I was able to do it, but it got a little hard toward the end (also, my neighborhood needs to be flatter ) I think the next time I get outside to run, I’ll try 30/30 instead.

I got a new fastest mile!!



I decided to do some stretching in the evening, because my back was out of whack because of my office chair (well, my poor posture in my office chair—when I don’t have something to work on, I tend to slouch). My grandma and I got the rest of my Christmas decorations put up, which basically consists of various garlands that were originally purchased to decorate the lobby of the movie theatre I used to manage.


2021 workout data to date: 225h 7m 22s of exercise; 84,533 active calories burned; 106,509 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 96

I went to see Spider-Man tonight!! No spoilers but it was amazing!

Then I came home and did 45 minutes on the treadmill. This is the first time I’ve run three days in a row, and I’m feeling fine. Granted, it was just 2-2-3, but it was still three days in a row.



2021 workout data to date: 225h 52m 56s of exercise; 84,909 active calories burned; 106,965 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 97

We were supposed to have our first Christmas guest arriving today, but that’s been delayed until tomorrow, so we got to be a bit more leisurely about the last of our preparations, and decided to get some of the side dish prep/cooking out of the way tonight. And then I did some yoga.

Yesterday, I saw an ad (darn you, Facebook!! ::shakes fist in general direction of FB headquarters:: ) for a local 5 miler on January 15, so of course I signed up, because who doesn’t want to run along a river in Minnesota in the middle of January at 8 in the morning??

Also, I hit a new low for weight this morning, and have officially now lost one pound for every year I’ve been alive, and probably haven’t been this weight since high school.

2021 workout data to date: 226h 16m 24s of exercise; 85,072 active calories burned; 107,151 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 98

Well, the first Christmas of the year mostly went off without a hitch. One person didn’t show, and that really wasn’t cool, but we did OK anyway. Today should have been a running day, but because of stuff I couldn’t get 2 hours to myself to do it, so I did a little bit of yoga once everyone was settled for the night, and I’ll run after they leave tomorrow. I’m not entirely sad about the run being moved—it’s going to be about 10-15° warmer tomorrow


2021 workout data to date: 226h 33m 28s of exercise; 85,181 active calories burned; 107,283 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 99

After reading someone’s advice to someone else about not always moving runs to the treadmill just because of less than ideal conditions, I decided to suck it up and brave the cold and wind. Luckily, the wind had died down a bit from earlier in the day, when it blew our front door open I got a running light from Amazon, and today was the first time I got to try it. It worked pretty well, until I got it all screwed up after I tried to take off the reflective sash my grandma got me because it kept falling off my shoulder.



Other than fussing with the sash, and occasionally the light, the run was good. I ended up a little short of the 7 miles I was aiming for, I think due to the fact I couldn’t do the loops of the cul-de-sacs because they weren’t plowed properly and I was sticking to the dry parts of the road whenever possible. As planned, I tried the 30/30 intervals, and it worked well.

I got a new fastest mile again! That’s twice in one week. Actually, it was 3 times in a week, since I beat my fastest mile from Wednesday twice during tonight’s run.



I hit the segment every time I got back to the house, so now I know how far one trip through the neighborhood is. The slow down in the second half of the run is due to fussing with the light (it kept tipping to point more down than I wanted it to)




2021 workout data to date: 228h 2m 0s of exercise; 85,936 active calories burned; 108,193 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 100

It’s the 100th day of my training plan! I wish I could say I did something exciting to commemorate it, but it was just a yoga day. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it through the 2 rounds of yoga though, because all the fluid that was plugging up my ears on my flights home from Disney 2 weeks ago is now draining out my nose at a disgusting rate (sorry for the gross imagery ) I had absolutely no problem with it on my run yesterday, which was nice. Hopefully this won’t last too much longer, I don’t want anyone thinking I’ve got the plague


2021 workout data to date: 228h 34m 0s of exercise; 86,154 active calories burned; 108,432 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 101

Can someone explain to me why I can be drowning in crud all day, needing to blow my nose every 10 minutes, but as soon as I start running, my nose stops? And then starts running again as soon as I get off the treadmill? And how to I transfer that magic to the rest of my day?

Anyway, I didn’t get to run outside because we got a quarter inch of snow , so the unplowed roads are too slippery for me to run on. And it was blowing snow, which would make it hard to see through my glasses. Plus, my crazy uncle (yep, I get to live the stereotype) came for his Christmas, and didn’t leave until almost 9, so it was late. But I got on the treadmill, turned on The Mandalorian, and got going. I had a little leg pain in the 3rd mile, which led to a little slower walk pace and a little extra walking, but then it went away and I got back on track.



If the rest of the week goes as planned, I should hit 200 running miles for the year on Saturday

I got another Yes.Fit medal in the mail today, and it’s SO PRETTY! You can’t really tell with it laying on the table, but around the inner edge of the dreamcatcher, there’s multicolored clear resin.




2021 workout data to date: 229h 34m 12s of exercise; 86,642 active calories burned; 109,025 total calories burned

 

[avondale]

Princess Half Training: Day 101

Can someone explain to me why I can be drowning in crud all day, needing to blow my nose every 10 minutes, but as soon as I start running, my nose stops? And then starts running again as soon as I get off the treadmill? And how to I transfer that magic to the rest of my day?

Anyway, I didn’t get to run outside because we got a quarter inch of snow , so the unplowed roads are too slippery for me to run on. And it was blowing snow, which would make it hard to see through my glasses. Plus, my crazy uncle (yep, I get to live the stereotype) came for his Christmas, and didn’t leave until almost 9, so it was late. But I got on the treadmill, turned on The Mandalorian, and got going. I had a little leg pain in the 3rd mile, which led to a little slower walk pace and a little extra walking, but then it went away and I got back on track.
View attachment 632477


If the rest of the week goes as planned, I should hit 200 running miles for the year on Saturday

I got another Yes.Fit medal in the mail today, and it’s SO PRETTY! You can’t really tell with it laying on the table, but around the inner edge of the dreamcatcher, there’s multicolored clear resin.
View attachment 632478



2021 workout data to date: 229h 34m 12s of exercise; 86,642 active calories burned; 109,025 total calories burned

such a cool medal!

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 102

Today my mother flew in from Kentucky for Christmas, so that’s cool. We went out to dinner and then I did some yoga. I’m off work until next Tuesday, so I’ve got time to do some outdoor day running, and the weather looks like it’ll cooperate. I’m going to move Saturday’s run to Friday because I decided I really don’t want to run on Christmas Day, and I want to get some back-to-back run practice in.


2021 workout data to date: 230h 6m 12s of exercise; 86,860 active calories burned; 109,265 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 103

Well, I only finished half my run. I did one lap around the neighborhood, and it was really exhausting to have to dodge around various slippery spots that I couldn’t see when I was driving last night. Hopefully the above-freezing temps today will clear the roads a bit and make tomorrow’s run better. I still want to reach 200 miles for 2021 this week, so I might do a short run on Christmas after my longer run tomorrow.



2021 workout data to date: 230h 35m 55s of exercise; 87,110 active calories burned; 109,567 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 104

I got some antlers with my Run Run Rudolph 5K



Today was an all-around great running day. It was 45° and sunny, with minimal wind, and the neighborhood roads were almost completely clear and dry. I ran a new fastest mile (12m15s), a new fastest 5K (39m9s), a new fastest 10K (1h19m33s), and a new fastest overall pace (12m48s). I wasn’t trying to do any of that, but the new 30/30 interval is making a big difference.





Because I really like earning medals, I had 2 virtual 5Ks lined up for today, Run Run Rudolph and Run the Nakatomi (because Die Hard is definitely a Christmas movie ). The Rudolph medal actually lights up, and can even blink if you want it to.





2021 workout data to date: 231h 55m 28s of exercise; 87,847 active calories burned; 110,443 total calories burned

 

[avondale]

Princess Half Training: Day 104

I got some antlers with my Run Run Rudolph 5K
View attachment 633204


Today was an all-around great running day. It was 45° and sunny, with minimal wind, and the neighborhood roads were almost completely clear and dry. I ran a new fastest mile (12m15s), a new fastest 5K (39m9s), a new fastest 10K (1h19m33s), and a new fastest overall pace (12m48s). I wasn’t trying to do any of that, but the new 30/30 interval is making a big difference.
View attachment 633200

View attachment 633201


Because I really like earning medals, I had 2 virtual 5Ks lined up for today, Run Run Rudolph and Run the Nakatomi (because Die Hard is definitely a Christmas movie ). The Rudolph medal actually lights up, and can even blink if you want it to.
View attachment 633202

View attachment 633203


2021 workout data to date: 231h 55m 28s of exercise; 87,847 active calories burned; 110,443 total calories burned

Congratulations on your virtual races and the new personal bests! Cool medals. ...and my husband, me, FIL, and BIL+wife watched Die Hard last night (Christmas Eve).