Team 'Ohana--No One Left Behind: The Continuing Adventures

[tiberius]

Julie - The Wii Fit (we have the Plus version, too) is the one thing that the whole family does and enjoys here for fitness. My wife does not enjoy my fitness activities, but we both love the Wii Fit--and that's a good way to stay connected while doing a positive activity. Also, I feel much less bad when I have to miss a workout day if I can get in 20 - 30 minutes of Wii Fit time later that evening.

Maria - I didn't take offense to anything you posted. I feel like years of work have finally gotten me to the front of the back of the pack, and I am fine with that. I hope you recover well and avoid injury this week.

Nicole - ahh, yes, those other TV shows have been piling up on my DVR a bit. They'll get their time with me after this weekend.

Corinna - No pressure and no jinxing taken, you know I am all about enjoying myself on a run. At least weekend's half, there were a few volunteers offering donut holes at the last aid station, so (of course) I took one as I enjoyed finishing my race.

 

[princessbride6205]

Great, I managed to say the one thing I could to make people feel bad instead of good. I apologize profusely, and sincerely hope I did not make anyone feel bad, although I obviously was offensive in my post, and for that I do sincerely apologize. I clearly need to think about it more before I post on this thread. The last thing I would ever want to do is make anyone feel bad about any aspect of their training, I am an absolute back of the packer!

I hope everyone has a relatively speedy weekend --although I'm personally hoping mine will go slowly so I can recover from this ridiculously fast week.

Maria

NO no no! I don't think you were offensive at all. I think it's second nature to talk about ourselves as being slow. I know I've done it. And we are so-called slow compared to anyone faster than we are. But it's a cool idea to stop classifying ourselves as slow in a negative way. I hope you don't feel badly, what Corinna said just really resonated with me.
You know what was annoying? I was reading a few-months-old issue of Runner's World and in one of the articles the writer talks about how slow he is - averaging an 8 minute mile. From my point of view, that's really fast. What you said didn't bug me, but this article did a little.

Hello Cousins!

I know I haven't been very good about posting lately, just a lot of stuff going on IRL. We have so many new cousins and I am looking forward to getting to know everyone.

Does anyone have Wii Fit? Last night I bought Wii Fit Plus, so I'm hoping to use that as my cross-training. I haven't tried it out yet, but that's on the schedule for tomorrow.

Have a great week, everyone. I hope to be better about reading and posting!

I have a Wii Fit and the Plus. I like them but I've got to admit that I don't use them very often. I've been meaning to get back to using them more, but just haven't as much as I'd like.

Oh, Maria - I truly did not mean to call you out or single you out - so many of us have said something similar in the past - including myself. Goodness knows (and I know!) the last place you were coming from was a place of wanting to bring anyone down. I apologize if my tone was too chastising. It truly was not meant to be. I just want us all to feel GOOD about what we're doing without a need for qualifying our work.

Nicole - There are plenty of people who would LOVE to have your speed. You've come a long way in such a short time - you should be very proud! I think it is a cultural thing to downplay our abilities and achievements. How many times have people said to me "You ran a marathon!" And I say "Oh, just a half marathon" I did it at the airport in January, even! For some, a half marathon is such an unimaginable distance to cover, it might as well BE a marathon. So we gotta be proud of what we can do, because regardless of our speed or style, it's amazing that we can do it. Heck, for some of us (me) it is amazing that we even TRY to do it.

And as for being a dork in a running skirt - I don't know what you're talking about. I think running skirts are always a wise and fashionable choice.

I don't know about strollers on the Challenge Obesity course - it's in Como Park so they can't exactly ban them, I'm thinking. So long as you stay to one side so faster runners can pass easily, I would think it wouldn't be a problem, but it might be a good idea to email the race director. He's a really nice guy - I can write to him and ask if you'd rather. They have a kids event as well, so she would likely not be the only child present, by any means.

I did manage to talk myself into 5 last night on the treadmill. It's not an optimal long run with an hours-long pause in the middle, but I feel like it will be OK. Unfortunately, my knees were feeling a little creaky at the start. Not sure what's up with that. Makes me wonder if I am needing new shoes. Great timing, right?

Better get the kids to school!

I hope you don't need new shoes. I think it's impressive that you talked yourself into another 5 last night. And I think it counts.

I'll write to the Challenge Obesity guy - thanks for the suggestion. I didn't see anything on the site with rules or anything.

And thanks for the compliments on my speed. I plugged in my 8 mile time into the Runner's World calculator and it thinks I can complete the half in 2 hours 49 minutes. I was excited to see that, but also trying to be realistic that I haven't learned how to pace myself outside yet so I have no idea the speed I will be running and walking on race day.

 

[novafan]

Kerry - Welcome back! And good luck with your training plan. My plan for this year was to schedule races every month, so I'm always only a few weeks away from the next race. It does, however, make it difficult to figure out where you are in a pre-set training plan. I'm 3 weeks away from the next half, but 10 weeks away from the one after that. So which week do I follow?

Jackie

That was the hardest part - piecing it all together. I easily worked the 10 miler training plan into the marathon plan because, well, the 10 miler falls right about when I'd be do a 10 mile run on the plan. Currently I'm doing a 10K plan, but have to squeeze my "gentle half marathon" right into the middle of it. Someday, perhaps, I'll be at the point where I can just about go out and run any distance without a big ramp up.

 

[novafan]

I'll be kind of glad when the Olympics are done and I get to bed earlier . Now, back to watching the Games...

Ditto. I've been staying up way too late watching the olympics.

 

[novafan]

Just wanted to give you a shout out of thanks for the pep talk about our speeds. You're right about just comparing us to ourselves. And I appreciated your point: "Plus, it is bound to make those who are slower than the "slow" person feel even slower." Yup. I'm working on getting out of the habit of defending or making excuses for my times. Like when I tell people I'm doing a half marathon, I've been immediately following that up with, "But I don't run the whole thing. I walk too." Why do I feel the need to say that? I've trained, I'm going to show up to the start line, I'm a runner.

OMG, I do the exact same thing, telling people that I run/walk instead of just running. I really highlight the fact that I had to walk in there and then I make it worse by qualifying EXACTLY how much I walked by percentage of run to walk. NO MORE. If I start and finish a race, then that's all that matters.

 

[FFigawi]

I'll be kind of glad when the Olympics are done and I get to bed earlier . Now, back to watching the Games...

This is where I offer a shout-out to whoever the person is that invented the DVR. Yes, we end up watching things after the fact, but it takes half as long to get through the program. Plus, we can skip the sports we're not interested in and focus on the ones we like. I do miss being able to watch the CBC coverage, though. They show every sport live as it happens, or at least they did when I was living in Michigan and could pick up their broadcast.

 

[chimera]

This is where I offer a shout-out to whoever the person is that invented the DVR. Yes, we end up watching things after the fact, but it takes half as long to get through the program. Plus, we can skip the sports we're not interested in and focus on the ones we like.

DVR and digital photography...how did we ever get along without them?

I saw this website and thought of Corinna and Debra
Straight from the Farm
Looks yummy!

Maria...11:32 is still fast for me. I can do a sub 11 mile, but not for more than a 5K so far. I still fight the speed demon...I'm way too competitive and being 'slow' still...after 5 years...drives me a tad nuts. I'm not asking for a 5 min mile, but I wouldn't mind seeing some 10s occasionally. Most days, I see patients that make me glad that I can even be out there, but sometimes it would be nice if I didn't need to spend 2 or 3 hours on a Sat long run.

Team Ohana Meet for Princess Still 11:30 at Kona on Sat????

 

[tiberius]

...11:32 is still fast for me.

Me, too, Mel. Since I resumed running back in 2006, I have done exactly 1 long run faster than 11:32--and it was not that much faster. I have learned to be thankful for what ability I have and not to compare my running now to what I could do in my 20's when I actually had some speed.

Kerry - No need to explain your running in any terms than that you are a runner.

Nicole - You just have to find a way to make the Wii Fit a part of your regular routine if you want to take full advantage of it.

I hope all you Princess runners (and nonrunning cheer-ers) have a great time next weekend. I had hoped I could make it there but that was not to be for me.
Meanwhile, I will be working hard to lock down my schedule for the Disneyland Half. Next weekend I will be doing my volunteer time for the Get a Disney Day ticket to use at DL.

 

[corinnak]

11:30 Saturday - I think we were thinking Captain Cook's (for the dole whip and lack of reservations required)

Mel - what a cool website! Those onion rings look FINE. I agree it is tough to do those long runs - it's a huge time commitment, for sure. Especially on the TM, every minute on there feels longer than the last one.

John - Hooray for the DVR!! I love that thing.

Richard - it is too bad you can't make it to Princess this year. I know you'll be there in spirit. If you want to trace and color a "Flat Richard," we'll include you in the group photo.

Kerry - I too think it would be great to have a base such that you could just run whatever race you felt like at any point. I'm not sure when exactly that happens, though. I think I'd have to cover a lot more weekly miles than I am now.

Pace talk- I am at a place right now where I'm not really sure what I can do. My treadmill is a liar liar, pants on fire and the sidewalks are icy, so my pace is always a surprise when I actually do run outside this time of year. 11:32 is within the realm of comfortable but definitely not slow for me, I think! I think that's about where I ran the DL half, actually. A very good, solid pace. One of my personal favorites.


Oh man, I so should not have signed up for the Princess Half. First off, it's so close on the heels of marathon weekend and right in the middle of prime shoveling season, I have really struggled to get the runs finished. Not to mention how tired I am of being on the treadmill.

Logistically, it's a challenge. DH has a performance on the afternoon of the 7th, and we did manage to get a sitter for the kids, BUT today, of course, an invitation comes home for DS's fiance's gymnastics birthday party. Yes, this girl said she'd marry him. Yes, they are both 6. He's had a lot of girlfriends this year, it's true, and I don't expect the engagement to last long, but even so, I'm not sure it's realistic to think the sitter will take him to this party. Maybe it can be worked out, but yikes, it would be a whole lot easier if I were home to cover things as usual. Guilt. Guilt.

Yesterday was the day of XT INSANITY!!!! I had signed up for a free kettlebell demo before my "fit club" class, and when I showed up the instructor (who also teaches the fit club) said "Oh, you signed up for this? We're doing a kettlebell demo in fit club today, too!" Well, what else to I have to do? I went to both demos. You better believe I used the 10 pound kettlebell rather than anything bigger, though!! It was challenging at times. I am not in love with it - I don't like how the weight pushes on my arm in some of the moves. It's the little things, I tell you. If I'm going to sign up for one of these fancy extra classes, it's going to be the TRX, for sure.

After that, I had signed up for a pilates reformer training session. Yes, all in the same morning. Scheduling is my biggest challenge. It's an interesting machine, that is for sure, and lots of great core exercises. I am hoping it will help my posture, but that may be more than can be accomplished in a few sessions. I'm not sure it's actually any more effective than plain old regular pilates moves. Which I can do at home for free. Or at the Y for included.

Shockingly, even though that sounded like an extreme lot of working out yesterday, I am not feeling any post-workout muscle soreness today. This amazes me completely. I can't say I mind, it, though!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Mine is mostly going to be spent painting a large backdrop for a show called "Suburb: The Musical." I will have help. Which is nice, but more pressure in some ways than if it's all on me.

Happy weekend, Cousins!!

 

[IMGONNABE40!]

Things are so busy here I have no time to catch up with my cousins! I wanted to stop by, however, to give a big Thank you!!! to Corinna for a very generous donation to my 3 Day fundraising. Your contribution is truly inspiring and keeps me going in this journey.

I have managed to keep up with my workouts which I feel good about.

Hope everyone has a great and healthy weekend!

 

[novafan]

Corinna - I've never done a kettlebell workout, but I really want to. And another mystery to me . . . the pilates reformer. Although I've googled it and it looks interesting. A friend of mine actually bought one of those machines for @ home. Can you imagine? Treadmill? Check. Bosu ball? Check. Pilates reformer machine? WHAT? It looks like a torture device. Really though, I'm not making fun, it's just that I have no idea what it's all about and that machine scares me. My friends swears by it though.

Maria - At no point did anything you say offend me. If anything, I liked what you had to say. No worries here.

Today was my off day. AHHHHH!! I needed it. Of course what do I do on my off day? Take my 3 kids ice skating for 3 hours. Oh, my aching ankles. Ice skating is not my sport. The ice skating event was supposed to be followed by a 5 mile hike with the Boy Scouts (my day off?? what am I talking about??) but luckily, that got canceled. I got to come home, hang out with my kids, watch some college hoops and RElax!

 

[FFigawi]

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. I ran in the Rodeo Run 10k (nothing like a parade of horses and covered wagons in downtown Houston to make you know you're in Texas) this morning and am now getting ready to watch some curling.

 

[iheartdolewhips]

Aloha again!

Hope everyone's doing well! Things have been crazy at my house lately! I've suddenly had a burst in work that I've got to finish before we leave March 5, in addittion to everything I've been trying to do to get ready for WDW! Plus, we've been really sick! We usually don't get sick like this, but it seems like for the past month or more either my husband or I have been sick - ever since we signed up for the Princess 5K! We finally got over the stomach/head cold stuff we had, then I started having issues and had to go to the doctor. Now I'm on medicine that makes me feel bad for the next 10 days. Yep, I'll still be on it for the 5K. I'm sure I'll be fine enough to do it because I feel like if I can't do that, then I'm too sick to do Disney at all right now with all of the walking that requires. They think the medicine will fix everything, but I'm still waiting on bloodwork to come back to check my thyroid and hormones and all that good stuff.

I've got to get caught up on the thread! Hope everyone is doing well!

 

[FFigawi]

Happy Sunday cousins! I've got a race etiquette question for you. When you started running and entering races, were you given any information on how to handle yourself when you need to stop, slow down to walk, or otherwise abruptly change your pace? Here's why I'm asking. I ran a 10k with 13,000 people yesterday, and five minutes into the race, two people just came to a complete stop in the middle of the road when their watches started beeping at them to start walking. Those of us directly behind them had no choice but to run into them because they came to a stop so suddenly. This isn't the only time or the only race in which I've seen this happen. I find it happens way too frequently, in fact, which kind of surprises me. Every training program I've ever been involved with as a coach or as a runner has had some kind of seminar on how to slow down or stop during a race - look behind you, move to the edge of the course, and then do what you need to do. Is this what your training programs teach as well? Is this something that should be addressed in the race materials? I'm concerned that someone is going to get seriously hurt by getting run into or running into someone because they don't know how to conduct themselves on a crowded race course.

 

[laughinplace199]

I've only run 4 races (2 local Halfs (Halves?) and the WDW Marathon in '09 & '10). The WDW Marathon is the only race I've run that has provided info/instructions for what you described. Although I don't think many people read them because there were many times where I almost ran right into a person who abruptly stopped running and started walking or stopped running to get out their Gu, check their watch, etc. It's very frustrating, not to mention dangerous!

 

[MouseDogMom]

John - I do run/walk, and I do try to move over to the side of the road when it's time for a walk break. We've even tried sometimes to raise our hand to alert people that we're slowing down, but I don't know if that actually makes the point. I will admit that during the WDW races, it's often so crowded and there are so many people walking that it's either impossible to get to the side, or if you stop to walk you're already with other walkers, that I don't make as much of an effort to move over. In Richmond, we even told the people that we were around that we had a walk break coming up so they'd know what we were doing. We are acutely aware that what we're doing can cause problems for those behind, but I totally agree with you that not everyone is as considerate. Our Galloway director drills into our head that we have to share the road, more on our long runs than in race situations, but it carries over to any environment.

Jackie

 

[chimera]

John - I do run/walk, and I do try to move over to the side of the road when it's time for a walk break. We've even tried sometimes to raise our hand to alert people that we're slowing down.

Precisely. I have seen others in races who say walking before they start their intervals. Most of the time, I find myself in a pack also doing intervals so we kinda all know what we're up to after a few miles.

We just got back from a weekend at AK for DD7's bday. Too bad we couldn't just make a long vacation out of it, but I'm looking forward to going back next weekend!

 

[tiberius]

Rebecca – Crazy often seems to be the normality at our house, so I have some idea how you feel.

John – I know I have seen it several places, but can’t remember how often (if ever) I have seen subject of slowing/stopping covered officially. However, as a run/walker I do pull over towards a clear area and glance back before I stop running–I just wish more would do the same.

Corinna – A “Flat Richard”? What a fun and novel idea! I fear my artistic skills are quite lacking should I attempt such a feat, not to mention the time it would take to get my two-dimensional alter ego to you…plus, would I be jealous if he had too much fun? I suspect you may need to watch all those fast moving young girlfriends your DS has been cavorting with?

This weekend I had the opportunity to attend the barbeque cookoff competition for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo as an invited guest of 2 of the competing groups and had some of the best ribs I’ve ever had, plus some really good beef and sausage. The one thing I did not do was the Rodeo Run 10K, as it always seems that I have some conflict and this year was no different…maybe next year.

As February ends, I realize that I had a pretty good month. I came in over schedule for the number of training minutes I had hoped to log, I made my long sought after goal of a sub-2:30 half marathon, I got to order my oldest daughter’s college graduation announcements (a really big WOOHOO!!! for this one), and I lost a couple of pounds along the way.

My goals for March are simple: lose a few more pounds, keep ramping up my training for the late-April 70.3 in Galveston, buckle down on my diet and spend some time remembering a family friend lost to us last March.

I wish you all a good week and a good March!

 

[princessbride6205]

I got in an outdoor run here in MN today. I was excited that the temp was in the mid-30s, but did not take into account the windchill. Could have used gloves, but otherwise was comfortable. Anywho, my main discovery was that I run faster outside than I've been training on the TM. I have the low-tech version of pacing: I bought a $10 sports watch to keep track of my timing and I have a few songs in my running playlist that I know the BPM/MPH. And when I got home I used mapmyrun.com to confirm the overall mileage and speed. When my songs that are supposed to be 5.2mph came on, I felt like I physically couldn't run that slowly. This is great (I'm faster than I thought!) but has me nervous. All my long runs have had the run segments at 5 or 5.2 with some 4mph walking. My moderate and short runs I've done 5.5 up to 6. I think my run segments today were 5.6-ish. Can I sustain a faster speed on a long run, i.e. the Princess half? Of course, I can always slow down, but I'm trying to go with the strategy of doing the first few miles at a slower pace then building up. Maybe I'll start with slightly longer walk intervals.
I suppose unknowns are to be expected with my whirlwind training and all TM long runs. And I guess it's part of the excitement of my first half marathon.
I don't dread TM runs, but now I better understand why so many runners enjoy being outdoors so much more!

 

[Worfiedoodles]

I did 6M Saturday, an hour of incline walking yesterday and 4M this AM.

Yesterday we took ds to the Harry Potter exhibit at the Museum of Science. It was the last day, and we weren't the only ones who waited until the last minute.

I added three songs to the ipod shuffle -- Eddie Money's "I Think I'm in Love" and "Two Tickets to Paradise", and Beyonce's "Single Ladies".

I'm looking forward to less tv time and more rest since the Olympics are over.

Maria