My Road To Running The Happy Haunted 5k

[Vickyrowe]

Hello All, Welcome ,

My name is Vicky

I am 26 , unfit, overweight , and never really ran anywhere in my life!

So you may ask why do I have this trip report?

Well 2013 started out as a really crappy year, and in June , I decided that my life had to change.

I needed to take care of my self a lot more!

If you haven't read my other trip report for 2014 yet , you can HERE

But I will give you a quick intro to Me and my world.

As I said above , I'm Vicky, I'm 26, and I am a full time carer for my DH, I used to work with horses, and they are still a big passion of mine but looking after my DH left me no time to continue looking after my own , so I unfortunately had to give them up in 2009.

My journey to a healthier me is well under way I have already lost 2 stone and I have gone from 17 stone 7. ( I know shocked me to when I got on the scales) to 15st 7lb.

Me at my biggest :


A recent photo:



So far my weight loss has been down to a calorie controlled diet , quite strict around 1200 calories a day , and increasing my exercise . I have been horse riding , doing jobs around the stable , walking more and using my exercise bike .

I have been looking for a new goal, and whist researching things to do for our September / October trip , I came across the Tower of Terror 10 miler event. I new that was probably out of my league, but I also saw the Happy Haunted 5k.

5000 meters , that's not far said my oh so naive brain , 3.1 miles

Running !!!

Then I watched some Youtube videos, and I saw that most people were taking it at a gentle pace , some walking and teeny weeny kids doing it .

That convinced me , even if I'm crawling round at the end I WILL finish this .

So please join me in my journey from a complete non runner to hopefully somebody who is fit enough to enjoy myself whilst doing the final run.

All cheerleaders appreciated

Vicky x

 

[sophia315]

This sounds great! I hope the community here can keep you motivated! Keep us posted on your progress.

 

[Vickyrowe]

Before the new year starts I have been looking at possible training runs around the area I live in , so i have a few planned out for variety.

I think this will be key in keeping me motivated , If I only ran the same route every day then I'd be bored .

I have about 4 routes all slightly longer than 5k ,

I will be going on my first route , in the next few days , I will just be walking 5k to get a baseline of where I'm starting from .

I have a training plan that includes running for 5/10 secs and walking for the rest of a minute, and building up the time you can run for .

I tried running around my Cul-de-sac yesterday and found this fairly easy at a 10 / 50 second intervals , but not sure if i could keep it up consistently yet for an hour or so .

I am hoping to start by running / walking 3 times a week and hopefully by the summer be going out nearly every day if I can manage it .

We will have been in Florida 10 days before the run, so I will be able to go for a few early morning runs around the Saratoga Springs Resort , to acclimatise .

My hope for this PTR is to use it like a diary to track my progress, improvements in my speed , weight loss and general health. I'm not sure yet if my friend Thom who is coming to Florida with us will be running too as he may have to stay with DH ( otherwise we will park DH at the finish and run together )

Thom will accompany me on some of my training runs, just for a bit of motivation

I will update soon with my first time .

Vicky x

 

[jockey]

Well done! I too have gone from a non runner to doing the princes half marathon in February ...oh and the family 5k. I participated in a few 5 and 10k races this year and I am hooked

 

[Vickyrowe]

Ok so week 1 of training has been a bit of a struggle , the weather has been absolutely rubbish. I have been using my exercise bike though so still doing some cardio.

Although I think We have found a handy solution to training in bad weather , We have a locals pass to The Eden Project

Which if you don't know is basically a giant green house. They have a Mediterranean Biome and A tropical Biome , Thom and I have decided that running in the Tropical Biome will help with acclimatizing to running in the heat and humidity of Florida.

We are not sure how long the actual path is but we think it is around 1000m around the whole of the tropical biome, so 5 times around will be about race distance.

We did 1 loop walking in 9mins 30. so Jogging / running will be within race pace.

It is mostly uphill and the race course fairly flat so if I can run at Eden the race should be a breeze

Hopefully the weather perks up in a few days so I can get out and walk/ run around the roads too .

 

[Vickyrowe]

Managed 3k today , but I was running at Eden again and there were 2 or 3 school trips in so by the time of our 3rd loop it was very busy and slowing our pace so we called it a day.
We walked down from the entrance as a warm up ( another Km ish)

Our 1st timed lap was 8 mins 13sec

2nd lap was 10 mins , but got stopped by a staff member asking about my tattoos and had to make small talk

3rd lap 9 mins 20 secs held up by pesky kids

very happy and both of us agreed it felt easier today than last time , and because of the weather outside , it was much more humid today .

 

[Vickyrowe]

This week it was much hotter , thanks to the sun making it's first appearance in a while.

Lap 1 was 8 min 4 secs

Lap 2 was 8 mins 40 secs , but again we were held up by a school trip

I also ran down to the biomes, and part of the way back up.

I am feeling fitter

I have signed up for the Sport Relief mile in March and I am planning on running the Race for Life in July .

 

[115belladonna]

I'm motivated to do the Haunted 5K too. I've never run. My first 1 mile walk today took me 25 minutes. This will be my first time to run/walk an event since college. I think the rundisney.com website is looking for 15 minute/mile pace or less. I need to work on that as my goal or I can't register.

Do you have a group of friends who are meeting up with you and doing it together?

We'll try to keep each other motivated

 

[Vickyrowe]

Well I've been MIA for a little while but i'm back, I had been struggling with heel pain in my right foot for a few weeks so took a break from running but kept walking.

Yesterday I completed the Sport Relief Mile, ( Charity run, if your not from the UK) my first run in 3 weeks so I wasn't hoping for much.

Well I managed to complete it in 15 mins , not bad seeings as over 1/2 a mile was up a steep hill on the side of a quarry!

So I'm under the minimum race pace for RunDisney and with the terrain at ESPN being much flatter I should beat that pace , I'm aiming for a 5k in July or August as a warm up so will keep up the training and hopefully improve.

Vicky x

 

[Vickyrowe]

Sad times , I've been really struggling with bad pains in my foot after every run.

I had my foot crushed by a horse when I was 16 and 10 years later I'm still affected by pain and damage to the nerves and ligaments in my foot and ankle. Walking is generally fine , and sometimes i get pain if I've been standing all day , but now I'm running I've been spending the next day limping.

So I think it seems like the only option not to enter the 5k for the sake of my foot and the rest of my trip after. The doctor has advised rest and painkillers when it hurts.

As I'm from the UK and cannot go to Florida every year , the option to defer isn't suitable for me .

I'm still going to be walking most days, and I'm still dieting and horse riding for exercise.

I'm quite sad I won't get to experience race day , but I'm hoping to continue to strengthen my foot, and maybe enter a 5k in the UK next year.

Thank you for the words if support I've received , and good luck to all those who will be running in and of the RunDisney races this year.

Vicky x

 

[irongirlof12]

Hi Vikcy

don't give up, I started doing the NHS couch to 5K a few months ago and my fitness level has improved so much, I am half way through and am doing the race for life 5k in June.

At first I really struggled with runners knee, I got some advice and pack my knee with ice after each run and do exercises and it works.

Ask your doctor about physio for your foot, don't give up on your dreams just yet

 

[Nicki10]

Hi, Try walking a 5k next time you go. I've walked the Tower of Terror 10 miler twice, The Princess 1/2 Marathon & did the Tink 10k & 1/2 in Jan this year.
I've booked to do the Wine & Dine 1/2 in November. Hope you have a good holiday

 

[tinks_1989]

I don't mean sound silly but have you got a decent pair of running shoes not just trainers. I have a bad knee from a swimming injury and when I trained for our 5k last year my knee would really hurt until I got decent running shoes.