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

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 33

Today was a bit chillier than I’ve run in before, mostly due to winds at about 20mph. But I had motivation to get to the end of my 5K run, and it wasn’t just my Gourdy’s Pumpkin Run medal. I figured out in August when I ran a virtual 10K that almost exactly 5K from the place I usually start running on the Luce Line is one of our favorite local restaurants. So I had my grandma drop me off at my usual starting place, and had her and my grandpa meet me at the restaurant about an hour later.

The food was good, but it took a really long time because the kitchen ticket printer got jammed and all the orders got backed up. But we eventually got our food, and they comped us dessert. And my grandparents ran into one of their friends, so they got to have a quick catch up before we left.

The trail was pretty today, and the smell of the fallen leaves was nice (I don’t why it smelled better today than it did on Tuesday, but it did). It was almost deserted, except for 2 cyclists, which was also nice.



I’m not sure what happened on mile 3, but it was still a good run, and it was a nice change to do an end-to-end run, instead of my usual out-and-back.



I brought my medal with me so I could take a post-race selfie And I wore my Gourdy’s jack o’ lantern hoodie because it was too cold for just a t-shirt.



2021 workout data to date: 178h 28m 25s of exercise; 65,002 active calories burned; 82,541 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 34

I did 3 rounds of yoga tonight. I can tell that I’ve been neglecting it a bit; it took 2 rounds to get the muscles in my legs to stretch easily. Tomorrow is a 4 mile run, and I’m not planning to do it until the afternoon. I’m not quite ready for sub 40°F running quite yet

I got my new Apple Watch today, and I like it. We’ll see how it does on the run tomorrow.

2021 workout data to date: 179h 15m 21s of exercise; 65,328 active calories burned; 82,925 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 35

I can’t believe I’ve already finished 5 weeks of training already! Where is the time going?

I did my 4 mile run this afternoon and the weather was just lovely.



I really tried to slow down my running, because I know I’m not supposed to be training at my racing pace, and I swear I was running slower, but the pace does not reflect it at all The only reason the second half of the run was a little slower was running into the wind, especially in mile 4 because the trail went through wetlands so there weren’t enough trees to block the wind. My watch performed well and I love the battery life on this thing!



My project for this weekend is to get more medals hung up, so I added 2 more racks under my original one so I have lots of space for the future.



See why I need the rack space??



2021 workout data to date: 180h 29m 38s of exercise; 65,868 active calories burned; 83,597 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 36

Today I got to go outside and help clean up leaves before doing my half hour on the bike. We moved approximately 17 bajillion leaves, and there’s approximately 117 bajillion left to fall. Then it was back inside for 7.67 miles on the bike, which is exactly the same pace at last week. Yay, consistency!

2021 workout data to date: 180h 59m 47s of exercise; 66,025 active calories burned; 83,808 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 37

Today started out stressful! I had a few work things that were/are causing me extra stress and anxiety, and they came up right away in the morning, so I spent most of the day trying to recover from it. This mostly consisted of suffering through an upset stomach. I started feeling better after work was over. I sort of felt like going for a run, but I like my training schedule and didn’t want to mess it up.

So I stayed in and relaxed, and eventually did 3 rounds of yoga with 20 second poses. This was a real workout, adding the extra 5s to the poses. Also, my phone tried to kill me It lost wifi for a second, which popped a message up that I needed to tap, but I was stuck in frog stretch, facing the mat waiting for it to be over. For anyone who doesn’t know frog stretch, it’s like plank, but your legs are like <>. I’m not sure how long I held that pose before I looked up to see how many seconds were left, but it felt like FOR-EV-ER.



I’m really really excited for the Princess Weekend medals! I can’t wait to get my hands on them after I don’t die running 22.4 miles in 3 days I set my mother the task of getting me some kind of travel medal holder from Etsy (or elsewhere) for Christmas so I can safely carry them around the parks for photo ops. My goal is to get a picture in each park with all 4 medals (I paid for the PhotoPass upgrade to my AP and I’m darn well going to use it)


2021 workout data to date: 181h 57m 23s of exercise; 66,433 active calories burned; 84,280 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 38

Well, I managed to slow down a little on my run today. But I hated it and it made my legs way more sore than normal. So I think I’ll go back to training at the pace I was before, and just try not to add any speed.

It was another beautiful fall day, and I can’t understand why there weren’t more people out walking or running in the trail. There were a few people out with dogs, but all the other people I saw were on bikes.



Like I said, I was a little bit slower today. And not very consistent mile to mile. I really don’t like trying to run slow.



I decided to earn my Rocktober virtual 5K medal today, so I had to take the obligatory post-race selfie when I got home.



And the sky happened to be really cool while I was taking my medal pic. I’m not sure if I’m going to even make it to the end of Daylight Savings Time with after work runs though; I barely made it home before sunset today, and the Luce Line gets dark quick with all the trees.



2021 workout data to date: 182h 55m 39s of exercise; 66,939 active calories burned; 84,889 total calories burned

 

[SheHulk]

Yes when you run on wooded trails like that, the dark sneaks up on you quick! I've been caught out in the dark a few times and if you're skittish by disposition it's scary! I've run some of my fastest times that way, hurrying back to the car.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

I just want to say as someone who is also on a fitness journey-keep up the good work! A lot of mine has to do with food (severe acid reflux is the worst) but you got this! Keep it up!

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Days 39 & 40

I forgot to do yesterday’s journal because not much really happened. It rained all day and I just did a super short stretching workout to close my Watch rings.

But today, I got to go out for a run! Because of the rain, I drove a bit further to run on the paved trail. After Tuesday’s slow and painful run (which also made me sore all day Wednesday), I went back to my normal pace and it felt amazing!! Look at this great run! And I didn’t have to work nearly as hard to run at this pace as I did to run slower on Tuesday.


It was a cold (45°F) run, but it was really pretty on this trail. Having some water to look at, and a few less trees was a nice change.





2021 workout data to date: 184h 14m 38s of exercise; 67,501 active calories burned; 85,592 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 41

Just 2 rounds of yoga tonight. I wore a different pair of shoes for my run yesterday, and I guess I got a little blister on the inner edge of my right heel. I think my insole was slightly misaligned because of my orthotic, and I think I got it fixed. But for today, it was hard to do some of the standing poses.

Bonus cat picture!



2021 workout data to date: 184h 46m 38s of exercise; 67,719 active calories burned; 85,857 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 42

It was another beautiful fall day in MN (ok, I wouldn’t have minded if the temp had been 5 or 10 degrees higher, but 48° and sunny was totally acceptable). I decided to add a little variety into my run by skipping the rail trails in favor of the big 6.5 mile, moderately hilly, loop trail. My scheduled run was only 4.5 miles, so I just had an extra long cooldown to finish the loop.

The run felt good, and I really enjoyed not doing the same old out-and-back rail trails. And it really was pretty seeing the little lake, and running through a giant section of maples with the sun shining through the leaves.

I bet you can’t tell which mile had the most uphill sections









2021 workout data to date: 186h 28m 31s of exercise; 68,453 active calories burned; 86,773 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 43

36 minutes on the stationary bike tonight, and I made it 9.46 miles, which is my best pace this month.

I finally got my medals rehung this afternoon. I’m not entirely happy with it, but I don’t have any ideas on how to improve it. I have a little space for more at the top, but I have to fold the excess ribbon length up super short, so it’s difficult.



2021 workout data to date: 187h 4m 13s of exercise; 68,650 active calories burned; 87,034 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 44

I did 3 rounds of 15s pose yoga tonight. It felt pretty good, though I was getting a little unsteady by the last few poses.

I earned a new Yes.Fit medal last week, and it arrived today. And I thought the card that came with it was funny enough to be worth sharing.





2021 workout data to date: 187h 51m 9s of exercise; 68,976 active calories burned; 87,406 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 45

It was super super windy today, so I did my 3.5 miles on the treadmill. My average pace was 14m19s, which is obviously slower than I go when I run outside, but I’m just not comfortable running very fast on the treadmill. But it is easier to consistently walk faster, so the pace doesn’t suffer too badly. Instead of using time to decide the run/walk intervals, I used the treadmill mileage: running .15 miles, then walking . 10 miles.

After my run, I got cleaned up and went to see Dune.

I will also be running on the treadmill on Thursday, because it’s supposed to rain tomorrow and probably Thursday. But I’m going to try to do my Saturday run outside before we go to our family Halloween party.

2021 workout data to date: 188h 45m 47s of exercise; 69,402 active calories burned; 87,929 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 46

I did 2 rounds of my mid-level dumbbell workout, using my 3lb weights.

Southwest announced their winter airfare sale yesterday, and I was able to save $155 on my exact same flights for my December trip. Now I have a credit that has to be booked by June 10, 2022. So I guess I’ll try to plan on going down for Wine & Dine 2022, which would also let me get a 4th trip out of my AP. I hope rD at least announces the dates by June.

2021 workout data to date: 189h 26m 19s of exercise; 69,742 active calories burned; 88,313 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 47

I did not enjoy my treadmill run tonight. My legs were a bit sore before I even started, for no particular reason that I can figure out. But I completed my 3.1 miles to get my Haunted Mansion medal from Main Street Bella’s Magically Haunted 5K run (Facebook showed me an ad I couldn’t resist ) with a time of 44m 40s.

I was thinking about the airline credit I got yesterday, and since the only thing I can think of to do with it is to go down for Wine & Dine 2022, I went ahead and booked a room-only at Pop for the first weekend in November. I figure I can always cancel it if I need to, but this way I’ve got it locked in, and I can spread out the costs a little.

2021 workout data to date: 190h 16m 1s of exercise; 70,122 active calories burned; 88,782 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Days 48 & 49

I totally forgot to do my journal entry yesterday. It was pretty basic, just 2 rounds of yoga.

Today, I got to go run outside! It was about 37° when I started, so I had my new runDisney jacket on. The jacket ended up around my waist after about 2 miles though. It felt really good to get outside and run again. It felt so good, I ended up going a little fast on the first mile and getting a new fastest mile ever. And an overall fastest average pace ever. It was just a great run and I hope the snow and wintry cold hold off for a good long time so I can at least do my Saturday runs outside.



I got a new card from Yes.Fit yesterday that I thought was appropriate for today:




2021 workout data to date: 191h 53m 26s of exercise; 70,831 active calories burned; 89,638 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 50

I got my stationary bike workout done early today, because I had to run errand for my grandma and get home in time for the Doctor Who season premiere. And tonight is handing out candy to Trick-or-Treaters!! It’s one of my favorite things to do, and I love to dress up. This year I’ll be wearing my Minnie Mouse dress that I bought in Disneyland last month.

Anyway, I went 7.92 miles in 30m35s today, which is right around my average pace.

Happy Halloween!!



2021 workout data to date: 192h 24m 1s of exercise; 70,991 active calories burned; 89,853 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 51

Just 3 rounds of yoga tonight. I was feeling good, and could’ve done more, except that I was reading and lost track of time, and didn’t get started until a little after 11pm. Whoops!!

I’m really excited to run my virtual Wine & Dine 5K and 10K this week. It’ll be my first test of running on back to back days. The weather is looking good on Saturday, so I should be able to do the 10K on the park loop. Friday looks good too, but I don’t know if I can get out after work.

2021 workout data to date: 193h 10m 57s of exercise; 71,317 active calories burned; 90,225 total calories burned

 

[Naomeri]

Princess Half Training: Day 52

I did my 2 miles on the treadmill tonight, and actually got my Watch and the treadmill to agree on the distance for a change. I had a very frustrating day at work and I wish I’d been able to run outside, but it was just too late and too cold.



My day did start off really nicely though, with that late winter/early spring AP discount dropping. I switched my Princess Weekend resort from Pop to ASMu and saved $550! I’ll trade the skyliner for that much money any time.

2021 workout data to date: 193h 43m 6s of exercise; 71,568 active calories burned; 90,532 total calories burned