Running in the Mitten & Beyond!

[jmasgat]

Thanks for the info! I want cold weather (although not freezing rain - who wants that? but I'll take my chances), which is why I was looking in Michigan. For a marathon, I'd actually love mid-40s F for a race, but 50s F will do. By mid-April in the DC area, it's likely going to be warmer than I want.

I've done this half a few times....it's my PR. It can be anywhere from 30-50F, so IMO great weather. It's an out and back and the majority is on Hines Dr, which can flood sometimes (okay often), but oddly I have never had an issue. And this section is a closed course. It's flat and fast. As mentioned, Running fit organizes a lot of races and does a good job. I have actually volunteered to blow up green aliens for this race!

 

[michigandergirl]

November Update

I took about 10 days off from running after Chicago. I then spent the rest of October running a few short runs, some elliptical, but mostly lots of yoga. I am now 4 weeks into my Goofy training plan. It's going fairly well despite the crap weather we've had over the last 6 weeks, which has included tons of rain, high winds, and snow. I've been forced onto the treadmill far more often than I would like this time of year.

I had a trail race earlier in the month - the Dirty Duel. We chose the short & brutal course this year (3.1 miles), which lived up to its name - massive, steep hills! It was a bizarre blend of fun & torture.



The last quarter mile was through a corn maze.


To wrap up November, here is a pic from yesterdays run:


And the here is a pic from today's run - hello December!


In other news, I've been working on my run outfits for Goofy.

This first one is Tink inspired, with a light-up tutu.


Then my Maleficent outfit. I love the dragon on the back of the tank!


I am getting super excited for this trip!!

Right now we are leaving in a few minutes to go see Frozen 2.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

I love the Tinkerbell outfit! That trail run looks challenging, but the scenery is beautiful.

 

[michigandergirl]

I love the Tinkerbell outfit!

Me too! I was originally going to wear it for the half, but now I'm thinking I might want to save it for the full.

 

[StacyStrong]

Those are super cute running outfits!

 

[KSellers88]

You are my hero for running in those conditions!

 

[Jules76126]

Ugh I feel you on the snow in December. We got over 12+ inches between Sunday night and Tuesday and they are talking more snow Friday. This is early for us in the Northeast. It is going to be a long winter if this keeps up. Jealous you are heading to warm Florida in a few short weeks.

 

[michigandergirl]

You are my hero for running in those conditions!

And you are my hero for running in the heat & humidity!

It is going to be a long winter if this keeps up.

I know, ugh...and spring never seems to come early.

 

[michigandergirl]

December update

This month's weather has been strangely tranquil. We received 6 inches of snow on Dec 1, which quickly melted, then we got another 6 inches of snow last night, but everything in between has been dry and great running temps (mid 30's to mid 50's). We even had a record high of 61 on the 26th!



So yeah, great for running, not so great for skiing/snowboarding.

Just a few days left on my Goofy training plan and I'm proud to say I've only missed two runs in this training cycle.
December running total: 109.6 miles

2019 Summary
Yearly total: 965.2 miles

Overall it was a great year of running. I didn't have any injuries, so that's a win. I occasionally had a few familiar aches & pains crop up, but nothing major though, thankfully. And while I didn't snag any race PR's this year, I did have a couple of course PR's and I did successfully venture into the world of trail running by completing 5 trail races.

Race totals:
1 - full marathon
4 - half marathons
1 - 25K
1 - 10 Miler
1 - 15K
1 - quarter marathon
2 - 10Ks
1 - 5 Miler
6 - 5Ks

For 2020

I haven't come up with specific goals yet for 2020. I'm too busy trying to get my house in order after the holiday madness. I do have a few races booked though:

Winter Trail Fest 5 Miler
Groundhog half
Gazelle Girl half
River Bank Run 25K
North Country Trail half

But first....



I hope to see some of you there! Happy New Year!

 

[Jules76126]

Good Luck

 

[michigandergirl]

Marathon Weekend Recap

Day 1 - Expo and Hurricane Hannah’s

First off, I was super excited to be doing MW again. I love the runner energy over the entire weekend and in one of my favorite places. This was my third MW - in 2016 I ran my first marathon and in 2018 I ran Dopey. I seem to be on an every/other year plan, but I really would love to go every year.

Secondly, I was super excited to share this experience with Angie (my friend/coworker/running partner). Angie has been to Disney many times with her family over the years, but had never run a runDisney race. Neither one of us had enough vacation time to do Dopey, and Angie originally just wanted to do the marathon only, but I kinda had my heart set on Goofy. Angie was hesitant, so I had to break it down for her and asked, "do you want to come home with one awesome finisher medal or three?" No brainer!!

We flew down Friday morning and were on the Magical Express by noon. Our room wasn't ready yet at Caribbean Beach, so we ditched our bags and headed over to the expo.

First stop - hydration: I had a Bell's Oberon - a little taste of home.


We picked up ours bibs and wandered around the expo.




I have to say, I was disappointed in the race merch. I wasn't digging the colors of the shirts and I was perplexed about the lack of Goofy merch. The only thing I really wanted to buy was a Goofy magnet, but they were all sold out - major bummer. I did buy a pint glass, which turned out to be just another disappointment as it didn't hold up well in the dishwasher (even though my 2016 pint glass still looks like new 4 years later).

One more quick pic before hopped on a bus to the Beach Club.


We were running late to the HH meet-up, but I was relieved to see there was still quite a crowd there when we arrived. It was nice to see some familiar faces that I had met before: @DopeyBadger , @sourire , @mrsg00fy , @Mickey Momma , @rteetz , and @FFigawi .
And, of course it was great to finally meet so many people in person: @Bree , @croach , @Princess KP, @lhermiston , @mrdrauer, @TeeterTots , and last but not least, my fellow michigander @Baloo in MI. I'm sure I'm probably forgetting someone, but it was really nice to put some screen names to faces.

I wish I had taken more pictures, but I just have this one with coach, @sourire and @TeeterTots :


We were finally notified that our room was ready, so we hopped on the SkyLiner back to the resort. Love the SkyLiner!!! It's so convenient and fast.


We ate a lovely pasta dinner at Maria & Enzo's in Disney Springs and then called it a night.

Before going to bed, I took this picture for my daughter because she's the only one in my family who calls & texts me regularly when I'm gone. She's also they only one I bought gifts for.


Next up: Half Marathon!

 

[FFigawi]

Jealous of the Bells. They weren’t serving it when I was at the expo.

 

[garneska]

Am sorry i missed you. I saw you and wanted to chat but got caught up with others.

 

[michigandergirl]

Jealous of the Bells. They weren’t serving it when I was at the expo.

Weird! It happened to be at the first cart we stopped at.

Am sorry i missed you. I saw you and wanted to chat but got caught up with others.

Bummer Kris! Next time!

 

[Baloo in MI]

After toeing the line at the same races a few times here in the Mitten State, but not meet, it was really cool to finally get to meet you in person! Looking forward to the rest of your report!

 

[michigandergirl]

Day 2 (part 1) - Half Marathon

We were up bright & early and on the first bus. Unfortunately we had the worst bus driver ever. He stopped and waited at every stop at CB even when there were no lines and even when there were already buses waiting. He drove exceptionally slow. It took us 40 minutes to get out of resort and then another 30 minutes to get to Epcot. This stressed me out big time! So we missed the Dis meet-up. It was so crowded by the time we got there that I couldn't tell where anything was, couldn't even see where the walk to the corrals started.

I tried not to completely freak out because I didn't want to ruin the experience for Angie, but in the 3 runDisney weekends I had done, I had never had busing issues like that (even though I knew others had). I calmed down after we hit the potties and made it into our corral.

We had a great time running the half. Overall the heat didn't affect us too much, but I was very thankful for the breeze and cloud cover later in the race. We just took it slow and stopped for a ton of pictures.


Next up: An afternoon at AK and an evening at HS

 

[StacyStrong]

Love your costume! Mind if I ask where you got the pieces? A friend of mine is looking for maleficent running pieces!

 

[michigandergirl]

Love your costume! Mind if I ask where you got the pieces? A friend of mine is looking for maleficent running pieces!

I bought the tank, skirt, & headband from 3 different shops on Etsy. I was a little worried the headband was going to bother me after awhile, but it was so lightweight that it didn't bounce or bother me at all.

 

[SheHulk]

You guys must have practiced posing for pictures beforehand! Perfect!

 

[michigandergirl]

You guys must have practiced posing for pictures beforehand! Perfect!

Ha! I swear we didn't! Trust me, we had way more bad pictures than good.