The Rum Runners: A Pre Trip Report - UPDATED: 8/2/10

[Lady Lallie]

Congrats! I had been wondering where you've been, glad it was for something good.

 

[Tinkerbellarella]

Yay for you Tink! Congrats!!!

Congratulations Tink! I'm glad that your missing for such a good reason.

Congrats, my dear. Well deserved!

Thank you all. Long story short, I knew it would be happening. It's been in the works since LAST May. I was just taken by surprised it all happening in the past week!

Congrats! I had been wondering where you've been, glad it was for something good.

Yes, and now that that's all dealt with I should be able to figure out when the two of us can do that August 5K!

 

[Lady Lallie]

Yes, and now that that's all dealt with I should be able to figure out when the two of us can do that August 5K!

I'm in panic mode this week about my training for October. With the heat we've been having, I've been nearly dying when I'm working out and it hit me that I'll be doing 3.1 miles in Florida in October. What was I thinking?

 

[TarzansKat]

I'm in panic mode this week about my training for October. With the heat we've been having, I've been nearly dying when I'm working out and it hit me that I'll be doing 3.1 miles in Florida in October. What was I thinking?

On the glass half full side, it may not be that hot. October is a tricky month in Disney, sometimes you can get cooler weather.

 

[Lady Lallie]

On the glass half full side, it may not be that hot. October is a tricky month in Disney, sometimes you can get cooler weather.

I need that glass half full side, so bring it on.

 

[TarzansKat]

I need that glass half full side, so bring it on.

And furthermore, it's highly possible that there won't be a lot of humidity.

Okay, I may be stretching the truth with that one, but we're going for positive here.

 

[MRYPPNS]

I need that glass half full side, so bring it on.

I'll give you some half full.....when we were there in October 2008....Orlando had RECORD LOWS for 3 days! The rest of the time it was only warm enough in the afternoon to go in the pool.

 

[Lady Lallie]

And furthermore, it's highly possible that there won't be a lot of humidity.

Okay, I may be stretching the truth with that one, but we're going for positive here.

I'll give you some half full.....when we were there in October 2008....Orlando had RECORD LOWS for 3 days! The rest of the time it was only warm enough in the afternoon to go in the pool.

You guys are the best!

 

[Pollito916]

Congratulations on the promotion Tink - that's awesome news!

 

[Tinkerbellarella]

I'm in panic mode this week about my training for October. With the heat we've been having, I've been nearly dying when I'm working out and it hit me that I'll be doing 3.1 miles in Florida in October. What was I thinking?

Honey, you'll be fine. That's what training is all about. It's conditioning your body to do what you'd like it to. And really, training in the heat and humidity is hard but it will have you well prepared in case it IS hot and humid come October.

But I, like the others, think you'll be ok in that dept. On our late Sept. trip in 08, it was only humid the first day and then it was just hot. And even that was manageable.

Congratulations on the promotion Tink - that's awesome news!

Thanks!

Update today!

 

[TarzansKat]

Update today!

WOO HOO!

 

[pooh'smate]

Hey guys!

I haven't forgotten or abandoned you! Work got crazy again last week. More changes, and this time I was one of those effected - but in a good way! We're talking promotion, salary increase, etc. so I spent the week dealing with everything that comes with that.

Hoping to update today or tomorrow! Sit tight and thanks for your patience!

Congrats on the promotion.

Update today!

I am looking forward to it.

 

[Tinkerbellarella]

I know I had promised an update last Sunday, but after spending the WHOLE DAY working on my trip binders, I was ready to just be a vegetable.

Vegetative state = SUCCESS!

But Tink, you might be saying, it’s now TUESDAY. You mean you couldn’t yet give us the Sunday update sooner than nine, count ‘em, NINE days later?!

No.

Because on Monday there were more work changes. But not for Jill. Or anyone else. For me. Yours truly.

But, I’m happy to report these were GOOD changes! GREAT changes! Changes that bode well for my time, my sanity and, especially, my bank account. : On Monday I was promoted, something that is more than 13 months in the making! It was so satisfying to the soul to finally have that achievement under my belt. With the promotion came a change over to salary (I was hourly), a nice little increase and, and this is almost the most important piece as it relates to this PTR, the ability to have more flexible hours! My hourly schedule will no longer be the driving force behind the amount of time I have available to train. I can set my training schedule and work my work schedule around that.

So, the past week and then some have been spent in meetings, schmoozing with some VIPs, organizing some work stuff and adjusting my budget. And this morning was the first time I actually have had the opportunity to sit down and write a lil’ sumpn’ sumpn’ for this here PTR.

As promised, this chappie will address my training program for the next 9-ish months. I’ll also show you some of the tools that I’m using to track my training and keep me on the up and up.

First things first – how does one get their body to accept the challenge of traveling 13.1 miles by foot in 3.5 hours or less?

Begging, borrowing and stealing.

Just kidding. With careful planning and preparation. (And probably a wee bit of whimpering.)

Assuming the Princess ½ Marathon is set up with the same rules as all other Disney ½ marathons, I’ll have to finish the race in 3.5 hours or less. That’s a 16 minute mile or better. For 13.1 miles. I gave a lot of thought to what my goals would be insofar as pace and finishing time. I decided the following:

I want to finish. In 3.5 hours. Or less. LOL

I don’t care if I’m the last person crossing that finish line. I just want to cross it.

I’ve decided to complete the race using a combination of walking and jogging. I’m thinking what I would ultimately like to be able to do is three sets of 30 min. of jogging. This should put about 9 mi. under my belt. That would be interspersed with walking the remaining 4mi. I’m not married to that schedule. I’m open to shorter distance/time running and a little more walking. Whatever it takes to get me across that finish line in the time given.

To get to that point…well, I’ve got a lot of work to do. I walked a 5K (3.1mi.) on Saturday the 12th and while it was doable, and I easily could’ve done a little more, I couldn’t have repeated it another 3+ times! My biggest roadblock is my weight. I’m a good 80+ lbs. overweight for my height and while I thankfully don’t have any heart or respiratory problems, it’s still a lot of extra weight for me to be lugging around. My endurance isn’t all that hot either. Stairs wind me pretty easily. And while my pace isn’t exactly speedy, it’s decent.

In other words, I do ok, but sometimes I feel like one of the chair people from the AXIOM. Septuacentennial cupcake in a cup, anyone?

I’m not going to get deeply into my dietary program but will sum up by saying I’ll be tracking what I eat every day and following the Weight Watchers points program. My goal is to lose about a pound and a half a week. From past experience, I know this is a realistic goal for me.

As far as the training goes, I’ll be doing it across 4 different programs in the following order:

1. 5K Walk Training – this program is normally 8 weeks in length but I’ll only be following the last 4 weeks of it. I’m doing well enough that I won’t need the whole program. It consists of 3-4 “short” walks during the week (25-45 min.), a distance-measured walk on Saturdays (gradually increasing each week until you hit 3.1 mi.), and a “long” walk (45-60 min.) on Sundays. Once the 4 weeks is completed I’ll have one “rest” week where I’ll only walk 3 times during the week for 30 min. each.

2. ½ Marathon Walk Training – I was excited to find this program! Most of what I was coming across was running training only. Since I’m not planning on running the whole thing, these weren’t exactly helpful and I wasn’t sure what the “right” way to change them would be to incorporate the intervals I’m planning for. What I found is a program similar to the 5K walk program in that it combines shorter walks during the week at specific paces (i.e. stroll, easy), a distance walk (increasing to the 13.1 mi. weekly) and then a longer walk. The THIRTEENPOINTONEMILES is really what’s intimidating me the most, so I thought this would be a great program to acclimate me to such a long distance. Again, at the end of this program, I’ll have one “rest” week with just 3-30min. walks before starting Phase 3.

3. Couch to 5K Program (C25K) – Many of you are very familiar with this program, so I’m not going to into too much detail about it. If you’d like more info, check out the Cool Running website. I’m choosing to do this program after the ½ marathon walk because I want to have shed a good amount of weight before I start running. I figure, the less pressure on my knees, the better. And while most of the walking programs will likely be done outside, I’ll probably do my running on a treadmill at the gym, at least to start. It works out well, as this is also when we’ll be starting to get into the colder New England Winter months. With one week of rest at completion, this program will take me up to the 8-week mark prior to the actual ½ marathon.

4. Custom program – Because I can’t really predict yet how well I will be doing/will have done, this part of the training is still a little up in the air. The current plan, however, is to combine the distance walking I’ve done with the C25K so that my training becomes more like what I’m planning on doing the day of the event. It’ll be distance walks on the weekends and interval training at the gym during the week. The week of the race, I’ll likely bring the intensity down a little bit so that I don’t overdo it and can mentally prepare.

And that brings us to RACE DAY! A few of you have contacted me with your intentions to try to be there, either to participate in some of the events yourself, or to be cheering for me at the finish line and I have to give you all a big THANK YOU!!! It really means a lot to me that you are all willing to lend your support. This is such a huge, life-changing experience, and I realize that a little more than every day. While I know, in 9 months, I’ll still be me, I think I’ll actually be more me than I have been in a long time.

Now, just how am I keeping all of these little details in order? I have a confession to make. You may want to sit down. It’s slightly shocking. If there are small children reading with you, you may want to cover their eyes.

I’m addicted to organizing.

I KNOW?!?! I know.

Whoulda thunk it?

I wish I could claim it was simply a love of lists (NOLL) or coordinating colors and such. But…well you should see my kitchen cabinets. My closet. Even the cleaning supplies.

Office supply stores are like my own personal Eden.

It’s a disease, albeit a highly organized one.

I knew that if I was going to be successful in training, I’d need some sort of organizational tool to stay on track and to visualize my progress. Hence the creation of the 2011 Princess Half Marathon training and trip binder:

It is organized by month of training. Each month has a calendar with all sorts of info. Each calendar also has a theme, taken from a Disney movie, with motivational quotes and lots of fun decorations. Since I’ll be updating you on my progress month to month, I won’t show you all the themes now. Here, however, is June:

Really, could it be any more appropriate than to start with the mischievous fairy we all know and love and whom some of us emulate?

June’s quotes read:

Disney Quote: "You're probably the most important one there is. Without you, no one would have any magic! Why, your talent makes you who you are. You should be proud of it!" ~ Tinkerbell

Inspirational "Running" Quote: "Whatever you can do, or think you can, begin it. Boldness has power, and genius, and magic in it!" ~ Goethe


The calendar tracks all of my training days. As I complete them, they get marked off with a star sticker. At the end of the month, I’ll track my number of completed days. Obviously my goal is to have a 100% success rate every month.

I’m happy to report that so far in June every training day has a sticker on it! I need to work on my pace a bit, as I’m not happy with it, but I also didn’t want to push too hard in the first week of training and get discouraged when I couldn't stand up the day after trying to walk for 25 minutes at a 10 minute mile pace. (I get this picture of Speedy Gonzalez as a “mall walker” in my head when I try to visualize that pace! LMAO)

The calendar also tracks my weekly weight and has a spot for my starting weight for the month, ending weight for the month and the total gain or loss. Normally I address my weight in terms of my overall goal, but I wanted to give it a shot and see how successful I was in breaking it down into smaller chunks of time.

I’ve noted any special events happening during the month too so that I can be aware of potential “roadblocks” to my training and can plan for and around them.

There is also a section behind the training tabs for tracking trip info. As those sections are currently empty, there’s nothing to show you yet. However, as things are booked and those areas are expanded, I’ll be sure to share them with you.

The back cover:

Finally, here is the food journal I’ll be using to track what goes in my mouth. I’ve had some trouble sticking with this in the past. Usually it’s a combination of avoidance behavior and just plain forgetting to write stuff down. While, in the first week of training I’ve been concentrating more on just the habit of sticking to a schedule, by weeks two and three I want to be using this journal every day:

So there you have it, folks. If you have any questions or would like any more information on the training programs, tools, etc. just let me know. I’m happy to share.

I’m going to try to do two more posts this week, since I owe you this week’s and I need to do next week’s since I will likely be DISless while we are in rural TN visiting with BFs family. I suspended my training for that week since I’m not really sure what we’ll be doing each day but believe me I’ll be trying to get out there and walk if I can!

Stay tuned for more!

 

[If U Had Wings]

I'm in panic mode this week about my training for October. With the heat we've been having, I've been nearly dying when I'm working out and it hit me that I'll be doing 3.1 miles in Florida in October. What was I thinking?

Remember too that you'll be doing the 3.1 miles early in the morning. It's usually much better then.

I'm going to make another recomendation that's a bit hard to start doing, but it really helps with the heat. I know it's tough getting up in the morning, but it's really worth it sometimes to get up and do your miles before work. Much less humid and hot, even in the middle of July and August. I need to get back in the habit of it myself. I'm not a morning person at all, but I'll take the better humidity at 5am any day. I lay everything out the night before, and stumble out the door at 5am half out of it most mornings.

 

[Tinkerbellarella]

I'm going to make another recomendation that's a bit hard to start doing, but it really helps with the heat. I know it's tough getting up in the morning, but it's really worth it sometimes to get up and do your miles before work. Much less humid and hot, even in the middle of July and August. I need to get back in the habit of it myself. I'm not a morning person at all, but I'll take the better humidity at 5am any day. I lay everything out the night before, and stumble out the door at 5am half out of it most mornings.

With the exception of any Tuesday on my training schedule (which is my early morning at work), I'm up and out the door walking by 5 a.m. the latest, even the weekends. It's a huge help. AND it's much more peaceful.

This past weekend I saw a whole bunch of bunnies and a family of geese - mommy, daddy and 4 goslings. So darn cute! And it was on a morning I DIDN'T feel like being out there. That helped make it worth it.

 

[Lady Lallie]

I want your binder. I totally need something like to keep me on track. I think you should start marketing them. At the very least, I may have to copy you.

I'm seriously impressed by your organization. I feel a little bit all over the place with my weight loss and my training so this post of yours has inspired me to get back on track!

You can totally do this.

Remember too that you'll be doing the 3.1 miles early in the morning. It's usually much better then.

I'm going to make another recomendation that's a bit hard to start doing, but it really helps with the heat. I know it's tough getting up in the morning, but it's really worth it sometimes to get up and do your miles before work. Much less humid and hot, even in the middle of July and August. I need to get back in the habit of it myself. I'm not a morning person at all, but I'll take the better humidity at 5am any day. I lay everything out the night before, and stumble out the door at 5am half out of it most mornings.

You are so right about the mornings. I have a hard time getting up in the morning though because I don't feel safe outside. Is that silly? I just get freaked out moreso than I do in the evenings when I get home. Maybe I will try it though and see if I don't get as freaked out.

With the exception of any Tuesday on my training schedule (which is my early morning at work), I'm up and out the door walking by 5 a.m. the latest, even the weekends. It's a huge help. AND it's much more peaceful.

This past weekend I saw a whole bunch of bunnies and a family of geese - mommy, daddy and 4 goslings. So darn cute! And it was on a morning I DIDN'T feel like being out there. That helped make it worth it.

I saw a bunny on an early morning walk on a Sunday. It reminded me of the disney bunnies.

I think I will try the early mornings during the week. On the weekends I can be up and out walking by like 7am which isn't as scary to me as 5:30am.

 

[If U Had Wings]

But, I’m happy to report these were GOOD changes! GREAT changes! Changes that bode well for my time, my sanity and, especially, my bank account. : On Monday I was promoted, something that is more than 13 months in the making! It was so satisfying to the soul to finally have that achievement under my belt. With the promotion came a change over to salary (I was hourly), a nice little increase and, and this is almost the most important piece as it relates to this PTR, the ability to have more flexible hours! My hourly schedule will no longer be the driving force behind the amount of time I have available to train. I can set my training schedule and work my work schedule around that.

Thats fantastic! Woo Hoo for a flexible schedule! It must be a relief to finally have the promotion they had promised you. 13 months is a long time to have to wait.

Assuming the Princess ½ Marathon is set up with the same rules as all other Disney ½ marathons, I’ll have to finish the race in 3.5 hours or less. That’s a 16 minute mile or better. For 13.1 miles. I gave a lot of thought to what my goals would be insofar as pace and finishing time. I decided the following:

I want to finish. In 3.5 hours. Or less. LOL

I don’t care if I’m the last person crossing that finish line. I just want to cross it.

That's a great attitude.

To get to that point…well, I’ve got a lot of work to do. I walked a 5K (3.1mi.) on Saturday the 12th and while it was doable, and I easily could’ve done a little more, I couldn’t have repeated it another 3+ times! My biggest roadblock is my weight. I’m a good 80+ lbs. overweight for my height and while I thankfully don’t have any heart or respiratory problems, it’s still a lot of extra weight for me to be lugging around. My endurance isn’t all that hot either. Stairs wind me pretty easily. And while my pace isn’t exactly speedy, it’s decent.

Stairs are evil for me too. I hate when the escalators are out at Grand Central, because I'm always gasping for air half way up on the steps.

I know what you mean about the weight too. I'm about 20 lbs heavier now, than when I started running last year. I can feel every one of those lbs when I try to run.

As far as the training goes, I’ll be doing it across 4 different programs in the following order:

It sounds like a great plan of attack.

I’m addicted to organizing.

I KNOW?!?! I know.

Whoulda thunk it?

What????

A Disser addicted to organizing?????

I'm shocked. I don't think I believe it.

Office supply stores are like my own personal Eden.

It’s a disease, albeit a highly organized one.

What about The Container Store? That one makes me a bit weak in the knees.

Love it!

I’m going to try to do two more posts this week, since I owe you this week’s and I need to do next week’s since I will likely be DISless while we are in rural TN visiting with BFs family. I suspended my training for that week since I’m not really sure what we’ll be doing each day but believe me I’ll be trying to get out there and walk if I can!

Have a wonderful vacation!!

 

[If U Had Wings]

You are so right about the mornings. I have a hard time getting up in the morning though because I don't feel safe outside. Is that silly? I just get freaked out moreso than I do in the evenings when I get home. Maybe I will try it though and see if I don't get as freaked out.

I'm okay as long as the sun is up, so I'm good for the rest of the summer. I started to get a bit antsy last fall when it was dark when I left the house. It's just so quiet then. What I hated most was running across skunks. Luckily I always so them when they were pretty far ahead of me so I could avoid them, but it did make me a bit of a paranoid runner.

 

[All7OfUs]

WOW!! I am duly impressed, and I MEAN IT! Totally WOW!

I love both of your journals, and since they reflect your gumption, you have no reason to fail. You're on your way!

 

[TarzansKat]

I would walk five hundred miles and
I would walk five hundred more
just to be the man who walks a thousand miles...

I'm sorry. I had a Benny and Joon Johnny Depp moment going inspired by your walking / running.

I'm super impressed with your binder. It's so pur-dee. I love it!

It seems like you've got an excellent action plan for your training and your weight loss. I'm certainly going to be coming to you for tips when I decide to do my first half marathon! I'm really interested in trying a 5K at home, and I don't mean to make light of it, but I didn't realize how short they were in comparison to a half marathon. Seems like a wonderful starting point and I'm glad you were able to do one with success.

I have every confidence in you. I think you're ready to make a change (I've been listening to too much Man in the Mirror lately) and that this will be awesome for you.