Running Renaissance: One Skip Ahead of my Doom

[GollyGadget]

Have you considered resistance bands? They can seem kind of cheesy (and there's a little bit of a learning curve), but you can definitely challenge yourself with those if you wanted to move beyond body-weight only exercises at some point.

I have used these in the past. I'm not above them, but I don't need another thing to pack. Bodyweight is sufficient for where I am right now anyway.

I think what I need is just a few bodyweight routines that I can do while traveling and some way to hold me accountable whether traveling or not. I like following programs but this becomes difficult when my supplies are different from week to week.

Speaking of cheesy, I have the ones branded Booty Bands, on recommendation from a friend! I like working out with them and they were a 4-pack with different levels of resistance. My other friend told me they are basically TheraBands with pink and purple coloring, Kardashian-style marketing, and a 200% markup. But hey, I'm worth it!

Agree, you are worth it! If pink & purple is what it takes, there's no shame in that.

 

[azrivest]

they are basically TheraBands with pink and purple coloring, Kardashian-style marketing, and a 200% markup.

I Googled the brand and yes, lots of pink and purple!


I honestly would love those barbells and I'm not a pink and purple kind of woman.

 

[striker1064]

Ok, that's pretty awesome.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

Okay first I need those barbells.

What app are you using? Does it require weights? I've found that I travel enough that I need body weight only options.

It's called Stronger by the Day. There's a gym track and a bodyweight track-- the bodyweight track though does use resistance bands a lot. Sometimes the resistance bands need to be attached to something, though, which I struggle with in my set up and end up doing dumbbells-- all of the exercises can easily be switched out with an alternative, which I am really liking.

 

[GollyGadget]

Okay, y'all are onto something. Those weights are way more inspiring than my black ones...

 

[GollyGadget]

Spring Training Week - Phase 1 - Week 2/13

Easy does it. Since this was only my second week of running after two weeks off, it was all easy again.

Monday - Easy 4 - I just barely missed the drawbridge. As I was on my way down, I could hear the alarms and the announcements. This was the highlight of the run and I'm totally okay with it. Sometimes it's the little things.

Tuesday - Easy 4 - I finally made it for a proper sunrise. It was already hot & humid. Does heat acclimation work in reverse? If I train in the heat will I be faster once I return to Iowa? I also did my short strength training session.


Wednesday - Off - really enjoyed sleeping in this day. I was still up by 8 for work but it was nice not to have to rush out the door for a run.

Thursday - Easy 4 - I didn't sleep well so I postponed my run until after work. It felt a lot easier than earlier in the week despite three afternoon heat.

Friday - Easy 4 - Did one more run in the nature center before leaving town. The southern loop is pretty much deserted and quite rough so not really my favorite place to run but it's nice for a change of scenery.

Saturday - Easy 4 - I struggled to get out of bed this morning which became a problem because I still needed to pack and bathe the dogs before we left at 11a. I was really excited it was only 70 for my run but realized I was in trouble when everyone was taking photos of the sky behind me. The sky opened up and it was raining sideways for my 3rd mile. Nothing to do but smile though because I had to get back and the only way was to keep running.

Sunday - Easy 4 - new place so I had to find a new route. Pretty boring suburbia run and I spent half of it needlessly worried that I wouldn't be able to get back into the gated community. Turns out, the gate wasn't locking but I was fully prepared to hop some bushes or run through backyards.

Total for the week was 24 miles in 4:19. I'm looking forward to and also nervous for my first speed workout on Thursday. Also, really need to figure out the strength thing again. I only managed one workout this week. I've got one more week and then I'll be back home with my weights so I'm thinking I'll just find something to fill the gap and then make a proper plan.

Happy running folks!

 

[GollyGadget]

Happy Saturday Dear Readers! I'm spending the next 10+ hours in the car which has resulted in trying to plan next year's marathon weekend trip. The conundrum at hand is best summarized in this conversation:
D - What race(s) are you running next year?
Me - I have no idea!
D - What if you just run the half and see if that's fun?
Me - I know that's fun but then I won't get any ears!


I'm trying to come up with pros/cons for each scenario.
1. Dopey - I will only do this if my mom is planning to run the 5&10K again. If I'm going to wake up and run on Thursday & Friday anyway, I may as well pay for those medals!
2. HM - less stressful, cheaper, easier in prep and recovery, no ears
3. M - tougher training & recovery, hyperaware of food & activity the week before, chance to prove I can run a fun marathon again, potentially earn new Mickey ears
4. M + 10K - similar to above but gives me the opportunity to "race" the 10K & focus on fun in the marathon. The question is, if I do the training, will I really want to take the marathon easy?


So what say you? What am I overlooking or overthinking?

 

[SheHulk]

I'm having the same issue, but really only deciding between the half and the full. I'm going to argue for you to run "just the marathon": It's a mental block but I'd never run more than one race in a weekend if I wasn't getting a challenge medal! So I And it's also just hard for me to not run the "biggest" race of any weekend. I figure if I'm traveling down there I'm going to want the big race. I'm not motivated by ears, but just that the event is bigger. Think all 4 parks instead of just 2. Mickey on the medal instead of Donald, the famously the second banana.

I've run Goofy for fun. It's possible to run the marathon for fun. I find with the training plans Billy makes for me, that I max out the same mileage whether I"m training for a half, full, or Goofy so the training doesn't matter. I'm not sure about your training though. You could absolutely train for a HM on fewer miles than a M no question, if that's your choice. When you truly do decide to take the races easy, you don't have to focus so much on self-care the week before. I wouldn't show up with a hangover or anything, but it's just much less pressure for a "fun" M vs a "serious" M.

4 wakeups for Dopey would be a big NO for me, unless of course you can do some races with your mom. That would be priceless.

So I guess my vote is, Dopey if your mom is running the shorter distances, M only if you are the only runner.

 

[Herding_Cats]

I feel the same way about the marathon ears and the wake-up’s for the 5k and 10k…may as well do them all!

I don’t race any of my Disney races, so if you’re ok with a not-serious marathon, that could be a fun way to experience the distance as part of dopey.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

Well, you look adorable in your hat so whatever you decide I vote that the hat is part of it

 

[GollyGadget]

I'd never run more than one race in a weekend if I wasn't getting a challenge medal!

So this comment made me realize I was missing an option I had not really considered…
5. Goofy - similar to M but includes challenge medal and would pretty much necessitate taking the M for fun

When you truly do decide to take the races easy, you don't have to focus so much on self-care the week before.

This is honestly one of my biggest concerns with the M. I have the time for the training but that week of self care while traveling is tricky. Not really difficult, but the sacrifices are very obvious.

4 wakeups for Dopey would be a big NO for me, unless of course you can do some races with your mom. That would be priceless

I totally agree here. Dopey is ONLY in the cards if my mom or other family member is running.

I feel the same way about the marathon ears and the wake-up’s for the 5k and 10k…may as well do them all!

Yes, I’m going to be awake, might as well.

Well, you look adorable in your hat so whatever you decide I vote that the hat is part of it

I’m glad no one here cares how ridiculous it is to partially base my decision on an accessory that I’ll wear for a couple of days and will spend the rest of eternity in my basement.


Thanks for all the input so far! I still have two months to decide so keep sharing your thoughts & experiences.

 

[GollyGadget]

Spring Training Week - Phase 1 - Week 3/13

This week featured the worst run that I can ever remember. Seriously. No exaggeration. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Monday - Easy 4 - Did this run just before lunch and it was a bit warmer than I expected. Did the first 10 min with my partner and I’m really hoping these continue. He’s a bit of a fair weather runner so I’m guessing it’s the last one for a while, but maybe not.

We went to Disney Springs for dinner but first took a little boat tour to POFQ so I could try the Mickey beignets. At the time, I thought they were just okay. Though I did appreciate how fresh they were! Now, nearly a week later, and I want more. Darn Disney and their monetization of nostalgia! Also, took a minute to dance with some gators



Tuesday - Easy 4 - I actually had to go work and be there by 8 so this was an EARLY run. I stayed close to the rental and did a 1.4ish mile loop 3x.

This week was actually for “work travel” so I thought I’d be encouraged to join for dinner at least one night. I wasn’t even invited. Probably because I wasn’t staying at the hotel with them, but I didn’t mind at all. With the free evening at hand, we headed to the poly to watch the MK fireworks and, more importantly, the Electrical Water Pageant. It was magical. Highly recommend to anyone with a free evening.



Wednesday - rest - was very happy to sleep in. Morning runs are not my favorite.

Thursday - R 87x200 - Here we are. The worst run ever. It was another early morning but I was excited to run something other than easy pace. I was a bit nervous about going out too fast but ended up being too slow! That was annoying but I did find the ballpark by the 3rd rep and was right on for the 4th.
Unfortunately, it became very apparent that I needed to find a bathroom and I was still 3/4 of a mile from one. I’ll spare you the details but I had to skip the last interval and the cooldown. I guess tacos & margs weren’t the best choice for dinner on Wednesday

Friday & Saturday - rest - no running these days. Spent roughly 11 hours in the car each day making the trek back to the Midwest.

Sunday - Easy 8 - I was curious how this would go since I hadn’t ran more than 4 miles since the marathon on January 8. Other than the fact that my typical route is still closed, the run went well. I used the 30 degree temp to finally wear my hard earned race shirt.


I’m happy to have ended the week on a high note. Just a smidge over 20 miles in 2:50. More nervous about my R reps this week, but it will be a fun challenge.

Happy running y’all!

 

[GollyGadget]

Spring Training Week - Phase 1 - Week 4/13

After ignoring my strength training the last couple of weeks, I decided that if I wanted to sign up for the WDW Marathon, I needed to get back on track. So I'm using the upcoming registration day as a "carrot" to keep me motivated. There's still no strict goal for this, but the plan is to do something 2-3x/week. It's been working pretty well so far and at this point it's safe to say that "don't ever let me do that again" was referring to running a marathon without strength training and not the running part .

Speaking of WDW registration, I'm going to be hiking around Yosemite with my mom on April 11th and I really hope the hotel has good wifi. I debated packing my laptop but I really hate carrying it so I probably won't. The library won't be open that early so I can't use their computers but the hotel website says they have one. Bottom line, I'll have my phone and tablet at minimum but I really hope registration goes smoothly.

Monday - Easy 5 - since my trail connection is closed, I ran the opposite direction and stopping at ALL of the intersections is annoying. I've ran in big cities before, so I know that if could be worse, but that mile on the sidewalk before I get to the river is not my favorite. However, I'll probably just have to suck it up because my typical route isn't scheduled to open until JUNE! I really thought it was just some winter maintenance that would be finished before spring, but apparently not .

Tuesday - R 10x200 - as mentioned, I was a bit nervous about this one after the disaster that was the week before. I tried to schedule this run at a better time so there would be no bathroom factor, but it was forecast to rain all day and when there was a brief break at 8:30a, I took advantage. Even though the park bathrooms were closed for the season, they did have a porta so at least I had non nature options . Anyway, it turned out to not be an issue at all. My goal was 51 seconds per rep and I managed 50, 50, 51, 49, 49, 54 (rain), 52, 51, 51, 52. Not too shabby. It's a bit of a struggle to find the right pace on such short intervals but I'd say this went well.

Tuesday was also Valentine's Day. I'm in love with love and love this holiday. I baked myself heart shaped beet biscuits which were delicious and festive. But the real reason I bring up the holiday is to show you a photo of my dogs who were not at all interested in having a photo shoot .


Anyway, besides dressing up my dogs, I also did a 30 min strength video. I was pretty into the DVD programs a decade ago and I have a few of those that I'll try to follow every once in awhile. I made it through and it was fine but not really enjoyable at all.

Wednesday - Rest

Thursday - Easy 5 - It started snowing around 5a and didn't stop for 12 hours so this was on the treadmill. Nothing notable about the run itself. However, since I was in the basement, I added my new medal to the rack and updated my PR board .





Friday - R 10x200 - I was happy that the sidewalks were clear and could go outside for this one without worrying about it being too slippery. I was having a really hard time finding the pace this time. At one point my watch told me my HR was 73 and my instantaneous pace was 5:xx. Both of these seemed highly unlikely so I assumed Garmin was having an off day. When I got home, I realized that I was recording a treadmill workout and not an outdoor run. That at least explains the pace problems. So I didn't really do the workout as described, but I did do 10 hard repeats which I figure is close enough, especially when the sidewalks could very well have still been snow covered.

I decided to go back to my Nike training club app and complete the 20 min glute and hip workout. This was tough, but in a good way. It felt like the workout was actually addressing my weaknesses and not just some arbitrary exercises so I plan to keep this one in the weekly rotation. Hattie was not impressed.



Saturday - Easy 5 - The weather was lovely and the run was as well. I took the stoplight route again but it wasn't nearly as annoying this time. Maybe because there are less cars on Saturday morning? Maybe my expectations were just more realistic.

Sunday - Easy 9.5 - I really didn't feel like doing this run. I was feeling sluggish all day but finally around 3pm I came to the realization that I was running out of sunlight and it was now or never. I decided to drive to a nearby lake trail for a change of scenery. Imagine my surprise when part of this trail was also closed! No big deal luckily as I was able to just turn around and run the loop in the opposite direction as an out and back. Once I got going, this run went very well and I felt strong throughout.

Because I was feeling so tired all day, I really wasn't sure if I'd do any strength but the run got me motivated enough to do a 10 min lateral training plus 10 min of yoga. The lateral training was okay. It wasn't working me as hard as I wanted, maybe because it was just 10 min. The yoga was purely mobility focused and my body really needed it.

All in all, a great end to week 4. My mileage this week jumped up quite a bit compared to last week, 35.7 miles in 6 hours.

Happy running folks!

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Many dogs and many medals!

 

[SheHulk]

I LOVE THAT PR BOARD!!!!! YES I'M YELLING

 

[GollyGadget]

I LOVE THAT PR BOARD!!!!! YES I'M YELLING

My sister made it for me for Christmas a few years ago. I'm a big fan.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

I'm in love with love and love this holiday.

aw. I love your dogs.

 

[GollyGadget]

Spring Training Week - Phase 1 - Week 5/13

Eight weeks until race day! It felt so far in the future earlier this week but then I received an email from the race director and two months seems a lot closer . It was good motivation to keep at it. The distance(s) themselves will not be a challenge but pacing will be. I’m excited to see what I can do and the only way to do that is to stay focused.

In other racing news, I think I have a plan for marathon weekend. While talking to my mom this week, she mentioned that she is not planning to run anything in 2024 but excited for a return in 2025. That means Dopey is off the table (unless she changes her mind which she is known to do). I told her that I was probably going to run the marathon and her response was “You’ve got to be kidding me!” . I guess she remembers how much pain I was in more than I do at this point. So that’s the plan for now, still a few weeks before I really need to finalize it.

We’re also returning to Florida as snowbirds and booked our Disney leg. We’ll be staying in Sherwood Forest again. While I prefer to stay onsite, it’s just not feasible with our dogs. This location is the most convenient that we’ve found and I’m excited to return.

So how’s training going? Let’s see…

Monday - Easy 5 - this was the second day in a row that I really didn’t feel like running but did anyway. Once I was running, it was fine. My quads were a bit sore from the wo the day before which surprised me but I was glad for it. Maybe that workout wasn’t a dud after all.

Tuesday - R 12x200 - I did not feel like running again. I had been managing the household without my partner for over a week and I was exhausted. I don’t know how you parents do it. The dogs, meals, laundry, and general organization was enough to wear me down. Anyway, running is not my profession. It’s something that I do for fun and if I wasn’t looking forward to it for three days in a row, I needed a break. Plus the inside of my ankle has been a little twingy so I thought the physical rest could serve me as well.

Wednesday - rest - I thought about running this day but it was my scheduled rest day so I kept it as such. The ankle did feel a bit better. I also snuck in a core workout that was waaaay to advanced for me despite being labeled as beginner. I couldn’t even do some of the moves which was disappointing. at least now I know to remove that one from the weekly plan!

Thursday- Easy 5 - it was cold outside so I used the treadmill nothing remarkable there except I did get a few visitors.



Friday - R 2x600 + 3x200 - I was a bit anxious for this one. It was my first time running more than 200m of R pace which meant it would be physically more challenging but I hoped easier to find the pace. For some reason I thought I had 3 longer intervals and was pleasantly surprised when the 3rd interval was only 200m . At one point I started questioning my life choices because I have no idea how I’m supposed to hold that pace for a mile straight but the workout went well so I have time to work up to it.

I also did the hips + glutes workout and it was still enjoyably difficult. Plus I threw in a few minutes of yoga because I’ve been neglecting it and my body was getting tight. The plan going forward is strength training on the hard run days and yoga on the easy.

Saturday - Easy 5 +.5 - my bridge is back open! I think it’s only temporary but I’m enjoying it while I can. I tried to make a loop but miscalculated somewhere and ended up with an extra half mile. Did a quick yoga session when I got back.

Sunday - Easy 9.5 - my partner was back and he’s currently training for a 5K so I ran the first 10 minutes with him. I love spending this time together, especially after being apart for two weeks so I hope he continues. The rest of the run was good as well. My ankle wasn’t hurting at all when I started but I could feel it after I was going for a bit . Did a quick plank challenge when I got home. Much more manageable and probably even more beneficial to my running than the other core workout so I think this one is another keeper.

Totals for the week were 30 miles in 5:10 plus three strength workouts! This coming week I have my first interval(I) paced run. Should be a fun challenge. Finding the right effort level is always a struggle for me when it comes to new paces.

Happy running y’all!

 

[striker1064]

I told her that I was probably going to run the marathon and her response was “You’ve got to be kidding me!” . I guess she remembers how much pain I was in more than I do at this point. So that’s the plan for now, still a few weeks before I really need to finalize it.

I'm also debating if I'm going to MW next year. I want to do it but I also don't want to do it. I keep telling myself I'll think about it over these next few weeks, but what's actually going to happen is I'm going to put it off until registration day, where I have FOMO and hurriedly sign up for Dopey, then question all my life choices for the next 9 months.

Friday - R 2x600 + 3x200 - I was a bit anxious for this one. It was my first time running more than 200m of R pace which meant it would be physically more challenging but I hoped easier to find the pace. For some reason I thought I had 3 longer intervals and was pleasantly surprised when the 3rd interval was only 200m . At one point I started questioning my life choices because I have no idea how I’m supposed to hold that pace for a mile straight but the workout went well so I have time to work up to it.

Woooooah you're going R for a full mile? Is this a Daniels plan? That is a long R interval! I think I only ever topped out at 400m.

 

[GollyGadget]

I'm also debating if I'm going to MW next year. I want to do it but I also don't want to do it. I keep telling myself I'll think about it over these next few weeks, but what's actually going to happen is I'm going to put it off until registration day, where I have FOMO and hurriedly sign up for Dopey, then question all my life choices for the next 9 months

I really dislike that the registration is so early. I know that a lot of the big races are this way but I don’t even know what I’m having for dinner tonight. How can I possibly know what my schedule will be like that far in the future?

However, if you have the interest and the means, you might as well register for Dopey

Woooooah you're going R for a full mile? Is this a Daniels plan? That is a long R interval! I think I only ever topped out at 400m.

I hope so! It’s a @DopeyBadger plan that is influenced by Daniels. I’ll only ever get up to 600m at a time in training but the R pace is pretty close to mile pace which is my big goal for the first half of the year.