Up Where They Walk, Up Where They Run: Going the Distance with Disney & My Dissertation (comments welcome!)

[lookingforsunshine]

But selfishly... what I'm most interested in discussing is THE MOLE REBOOT! It's sooooooo good.

Between new Taylor Swift at midnight, her chaotic announcement at 3 am, and the Mole finale at 3 am, I think my run tmrw is going to be very sleepy… haha.

I had a guess on who the Mole was the second they were introduced and I’m still confident it’s that person so we shall see!

 

[LosAngelesRunner]

Between new Taylor Swift at midnight, her chaotic announcement at 3 am, and the Mole finale at 3 am, I think my run tmrw is going to be very sleepy… haha.

I had a guess on who the Mole was the second they were introduced and I’m still confident it’s that person so we shall see!

We are the SAME person. I cannot wait for the Taylor Swift drop and have already resigned myself to spend an ungodly amount of money on whatever tour she's bound to announce. I'm a few episodes behind on the Mole as I was traveling this week for work and I promised my fiance I wouldn't watch it without him - but we have all our weekend plans set. Sounds like we'll both need some pre-run caffeine this weekend. Eeeek!

 

[lookingforsunshine]

and have already resigned myself to spend an ungodly amount of money on whatever tour she's bound to announce.

I had tickets to Loverfest in LA but obviously that didn’t happen. I did see the Reputation tour on my bday though and it was AMAZING. I can’t wait for her next tour!!!

I love that we are twins

 

[lookingforsunshine]

Week 7 MW Training

MW Training Runs Completed: 31/34 (91%)
99.4 total training miles

September: 41.8 miles (10 h 25 m)
October: 57.6 miles (14 h 10 m)

Monday 10/17
Steps: 7,941
Sleep: 9 h 42 m

Planned: 2 miles easy/LR, 31:50, 75:30 intervals, 15:55 pace

Completed: 2 miles easy, 28:49, 75:30 intervals, 14:23 pace (T+D 71)
Had the day off work for fall break. Needed it for sure.

Kind of chilly/windy. I wore leggings, a long sleeve tech shirt, and a buff over ears and was fine. Ran with Rosie who seemed to want to get home quick. Was surprised at how okay my legs felt after yesterday (and the days before that— this was my fifth day in a row running).

Afterward I went to a deep stretch yoga class at my studio. It felt sooo good. I really need to do more yoga and stretch more.

Also finally went to the grocery store which was desperately needed.

Tuesday 10/18
Steps: 1,989
Sleep: 10 h 7 m

Planned rest day. I submitted a dissertation chapter draft that has taken me like 8 months which is ridiculous.

Wednesday 10/19
Steps: 12,941
Sleep: 7 h 58 m

Planned: 1 mile @ WU, 10x100m @ R (9:24) w/ 2 min RI, 1 mile @ CD (3.75 miles, 55:37)
Completed: Above workout. 3.8 miles, 53:47

Completed after work. It got dark during my run and with the impending time change I’m going to either need to become comfortable running at night (I have a headlamp but need some body visibility) or start running in the morning (which might still be dark, I don’t know). This run was hard but not terribly so. I did 75:30 intervals for the WU and CD, and then 30:60:30 walk/run/walk during the resting intervals. The only bad part is my knee (lower outside left) hurt really bad during the WU and the pain slowly dissipated throughout the workout.

Pictures aren’t working but my average 100m pace was 9:14 so not too far off from my goal.

Thursday 10/20
Steps: 4,401
Sleep: 7 h 57 m

Planned rest day.

Friday 10/21
Steps: 1,403
Sleep: 4 h 55 m

Planned: 3 miles easy/LR, 47:45, 75:30 intervals, 15:55 pace
Completed: Missed

I got very little and bad sleep the night before (blaming Taylor Swift for this one) and was also feeling terrible from the flu vaccine. After work I was just not feeling it and missed the run. I feel bad about it but am trying not to let it spiral and just move on.

Saturday 10/22
Steps: 12,354
Sleep: 11 h 44 m

Planned: 1 mile @ WU, 6 x 0.5 mile @ T (12:36) w/ 2 min RI @ WU, 1 mile @ CD (5.6 miles, 1:17:37)
Completed: Above workout. 5.5 miles, 1:19:43 (T+D 129)

I was nervous for this one. I slept so much last night and also took a nap during the day. I don’t know why I was so tired- I guess just stress from work, submitting a diss chapter this week plus two other anxiety-inducing things, and the lack of sleep the night before. My goal was to run the half mile repeats without walking and walk the resting intervals. I see now typing this up that I was supposed to do the RI at warm up pace. Oops. I was able to run without walking for the first three. I walked a hill during the fourth and kind of fell apart and took a few quick walk breaks during the last two. I am actually kind of surprised at how close to pace I was throughout the middle, although I was too fast at the beginning and too slow at the end. The cool down included a lot of walking. This whole workout just felt super hard which I think it was supposed to but also I looked at the T+D after which explains a lot. Pretty high, especially compared to what we have had for the past few weeks. My only other note on this is that I drank about 16 oz of water with 1000 mg Precision Hydration during it. Really less than that because I didn’t finish the bottle.

Pictures aren’t working but my .5 mile repeat average paces were 11:56, 12:38, 12:37, 12:39, 13:07, 13:14.

Sunday 10/23
Steps: 9,525
Sleep: 8 h 17 m

Planned: 2 miles easy/LR, 31:50, 75:30 intervals, 15:55 pace
Completed: 2 miles easy, 29:23, 75:30 intervals, 14:41 pace (T+D 127)

Mile 1: 14:51
Mile 2: 14:31

Ran with Rosie. It felt so hot.

Also went on a 1.7 mile hike with DH and Dozer afterward.

Total

Run
Planned Mileage: 16.4 miles
Total Mileage: 13.3 miles
Planned Time: 4:04:40
Total Time: 3:10:00

Other
Yoga: 50 min (1 deep stretch class)
Hike: 1.7 miles, 43 min

Overall I am feeling very tired so this is a short update. Kind of nervous for next week as it is the first week with consistently longer miles during the week.

 

[DopeyBadger]

I see now typing this up that I was supposed to do the RI at warm up pace.

Not necessarily. The goal is to be prepared for the next hard interval. So if you feel the need to walk between the reps, then I'm fine with it.

This whole workout just felt super hard which I think it was supposed to but also I looked at the T+D after which explains a lot.

Got to remember to make those T+D adjustments when they come up. Don't need to make the run harder than it already is.

Given the fade on this T paced workout, consider repeating this workout instead of moving to 3x1 on 11/2.

The only bad part is my knee (lower outside left) hurt really bad during the WU and the pain slowly dissipated throughout the workout.

Previously known issue, or something new?

 

[xjillianpaige]

Came for the run journal, stayed for the Taylor Swift discussion.

Midnight and the bonus 3 am tracks are so good.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

So if you feel the need to walk between the reps, then I'm fine with it.

Good to know!

Got to remember to make those T+D adjustments when they come up. Don't need to make the run harder than it already is.

Yeah, I didn’t even think to look for it bc I thought we were done with the heat and humidity. Next week might also have some hot days so I’ll be more aware.

Given the fade on this T paced workout, consider repeating this workout instead of moving to 3x1 on 11/2.

Will do.

Previously known issue, or something new?

I felt it a few weeks ago on a treadmill run but it went away when I fixed my form. And I sometimes feel it when I first go down my stairs in the AM. But it goes away pretty quickly.

Midnight and the bonus 3 am tracks are so good.

I tried making an anti-hero video where my “problem” was not knowing how to pace myself in intervals but I couldn’t make it work haha. The music style is different than what l usually like but I still love the songs! What’s your fav?

 

[xjillianpaige]

I tried making an anti-hero video where my “problem” was not knowing how to pace myself in intervals but I couldn’t make it work haha. The music style is different than what l usually like but I still love the songs! What’s your fav?

My initial faves were Maroon, Anti-Hero, Sweet Nothings, and Karma. Upon additional listening (the album is on repeat) I'm really liking Vigilante S*** and Bejeweled. You?

 

[HangWithMerida]

I’m going to either need to become comfortable running at night (I have a headlamp but need some body visibility) or start running in the morning (which might still be dark, I don’t know).

I recently got a nox vest for dark runs in the hill country, which has no sidewalks or street walks. I haven't quite broken it out yet, but I've seen some people using them in the past and they are mega visible. I may or may not use it at home since I am on the sidewalk, but maybe once my runs are totally in the dark. Right now I am mostly starting just before sunrise so the truly dark time is pretty limited and we have street lights.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

Last week was not great, and I just want to move on from it so this is a quick update.

Monday: Completed planned 3.5 easy miles.
Tuesday: Planned rest day.
Wednesday: Did not do planned 4.5 mile hard workout.
Thursday: Planned rest day.
Friday: Completed planned 3.5 easy miles. Did these on a trail (mostly just a gravel path. Basically flat.) Almost gave up with 1 mile left to the point where I was sitting in the car but then decided I would just finish the distance so I made my DH wait in the car and did the last mile.
Saturday: Completed planned 4.6 easy miles. Ran first 2 miles with Rosie. Someone shouted “you’re ugly” during this run and idk if they were talking to me but that’s how I feel lately and it got to me.
Sunday: Did not complete planned 8.5 mile long run (easy with last 2 miles at marathon pace I think). Mostly just cried and slept and felt bad for myself all day. Hooray for depression!

So I completed 11.6 miles out of a planned 24.5 miles. Not great. But nothing to do but move on.

Here’s 3 positive things just to try to trick my mind into feeling better:
1. I ran 71.3 miles this month/17 h 33 m plus 2.9 miles of hiking. This does not feel like enough but it is once again my highest monthly run mileage ever.
2. I was the “cool” house today because we had full size candy bars for the trick or treaters.
3. My dogs are cute and cuddly.
4. Bonus: My mom is coming with me on the Disney Wish instead of my DH. This is because my DH wants to stay with our dogs and we wanted to do something nice for my mom who works really hard. DH is paying for the cruise, and it is a really sweet gift. When I told my mom she seemed very happy and excited.

Marathon Training
Total mileage: 113.1 miles

September: 41.8 miles (10 h 25 m)
October: 71.3 miles (17 h 33 m)

Training runs completed: 34/39 (87%)

Feel free to leave inspirational Disney lyrics or quotes in the comments.

Also, I did my planned run today so that is good. It’ll be in next week’s update though.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

You?

I like all of them except Labyrinth but my favs are The Great War, Vigilante S*, Anti-Hero, Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve, Snow on the Beach, and Karma. Spotify told me I was in the first 1% of people to listen to the album, haha.

Also @LosAngelesRunner I was right about the mole. I had a gut instinct I suppose!

 

[SheHulk]

That is a very nice thing to do for your mom and I hope doing things for others (including being the cool house for Halloween) helps pick you up a little. I assume the shouter wasn't talking to you but it's really something how a thing like that can get to us.

 

[Baloo in MI]

Sorry that last week was difficult, don’t even sweat it. It is really easy for a missed run or two to add up and then you realize you missed a bigger chunk of runs than you would have liked. But it is ok, It happens to us all! Best part is you can just start up again, and it sounds like you already have!

Congrats on getting a chapter of your dissertation submitted! You are a step closer! When you are done we will have to refer to you as Dr. lookingforsunshine.

 

[GollyGadget]

I'm so proud of you for finishing your run on Friday! It's very difficult to get going again once you've stopped.

It's not a Disney quote, but wanted to share this comic anyway

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj-m9tkolVB/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

 

[garneska]

It's not disney but it is a great mantra and i think you should hear it (or read it in this case).

"I can do hard things" For me it just reminds me that i can do it. Does not make it easy, but you can do it.

 

[HangWithMerida]

 

[NYC_MW]

I am on my way/I can go the distance
I don't care how far/Somehow I'll be strong
I know every mile/Will be worth my while
I would go most anywhere/to find where I belong

I will beat the odds/I can go the distance
I will face the world/Fearless, proud, and strong
I will please the gods/I can go the distance
Till I find the Hero's welcome/Right where I belong

 

[lookingforsunshine]

Week 9 MW Training

MW Training Runs Completed: 39/44 (89%)
(It’s going to take me until 45/50 to get back in the 90s… ack.)
128 total training miles

September: 41.8 miles (10 h 25 m)
October: 71.3 miles (17 h 33 m)
November: 14.9 miles (3 h 33 m)

Monday 10/31
Steps: 9,021
Sleep: 8 h 19 m

Planned: 2 miles easy/LR, 31:50, 75:30 intervals, 15:55 pace
Completed: 2.05 miles easy, 30:00, 75:30 intervals, 14:38 pace (treadmill)

Mile 1: 14:29
Mile 2: 14:33

Happy Halloween! I did this run on the treadmill because of the Trick or Treaters… seemed like the sidewalks would be busy. I did a Peloton Halloween run and wore my Sally Crowned outfit which was fun. It was good to have a fun run after the previously bad week.

Tuesday 11/1
Steps: 4,181
Sleep: 8 h 3 m

Planned rest day.

Wednesday 11/2
Steps: 4,676
Sleep: 8 h 35 m

Planned: 1 mile @ WU, 6x0.5 mile @ T (12:36) w/ 2 min RI, 1 mile @ CD (5.6 miles, 1:17:37)
Did not complete. I need to get my act together on Wednesdays. In my defense both my DH and I were up very late on Tuesday night with food poisoning. He had it worse than me. Awful.

Thursday 11/3
Steps: 14,125
Sleep: 7 h 30 m

Planned rest day, but I did yesterday’s workout because I was feeling a lot better and am trying not to miss any miles in November.

Completed: 5.5 miles, 1:18:51, 14:15 pace (T+D 121)

In my plan this run was supposed to be 3x1 mile @ T but because I faded last time I did this workout, @DopeyBadger told me to try it again. I am happy to report that it went much better this time. I was able to sustain my 0.5 mile intervals with no walking during them and fairly close to goal pace. I think a high T+D last time also contributed to the fade, so it was helpful that it was a little lower today. Still not ideal, though— 121 isn’t nothing!

Part of my success with this run is that I did it with my neighbor who is a pretty good runner and also does the Disney races. I texted my neighbors and asked if either of them wanted to do a tempo run and to my surprise K replied that she did. I said I could be ready in 10 minutes, and she said me too! Turns out they had just run 2 miles, and she wanted to do more but her wife had a meeting. K drove us to the trail and helped me figure out pacing. I’m pretty sure this was an easy run for her haha.

We did 60:30 intervals for the warm up and cool down. Usually I do 75:30 but my watch doesn’t do interval alerts when I am doing a preprogrammed workout so I was using my Gym Boss and couldn’t figure out how to reset it. Our paces for the 0.5 mile intervals were 12:34, 12:31, 12:33, 12:28, 12:31, 12:19. The last one was a hit fast because we had to stop for a car, and I was worried that it would look like I faded and Billy would tell me to do the workout again I doubt he would do that if I explained but I was determined to be on pace and ended up being a little fast. For the RIs we walked the 2 minutes. I was able to talk normally during warm up/cool down and then a little bit during the intervals but was definitely more out of breath then.


At the end we saw an Old English Sheepdog! I was dressed like Ariel (just colors) so of course I had to say hi. I always had a sheepdog growing up so the breed has a special place in my heart. I think I probably weirded out the owners and K because of my enthusiasm but oh well.

Friday 11/4
Steps: 9,044
Sleep: 9 h 21 m

Planned: 3 miles easy/LR, 47:45, 75:30 intervals, 15:55 pace
Completed: 3 miles easy, 44:21, 75:30 intervals, 14:47 pace (T+D 118)

Mile 1: 14:46
Mile 2: 14:29
Mile 3: 15:07

I did this run before noon! It’s a miracle haha. (Literally did it at like 11 am so not much to be proud of there but it was at least in the “morning.”) Ran with my sweet Rosie. Last mile was slow because of a reason, but I can’t remember what that reason was now. My legs felt heavy at first but warmed up quickly enough.

After work I went to a 30 min vinyasa yoga class. I sound like a broken record but I need to be doing yoga more. My Achilles and calves (and hamstrings… and quads…) are all super tight. The flow felt good and included a balance sequence which is my favorite.

On the way home I stopped at the running store to return the Hoka Bondis. They were not the dream shoe I had hoped for and were giving me callouses or bunions on my big toes. I decided to order the new Altra Via Olympus which is advertised as being highly cushioned. My Altra Paradigms are what I have been training in. I get foot pain around mile 4 that has so far been manageable, but I’m always hopeful for something better. In any case, I’ll need an extra pair during MW so we will give these a try.
The store experience was not great. The salesperson was kind, and I’m sure well-meaning, but I hate when runners ask me what I’m training for. As a larger woman I always get either a weird reaction of disbelief when I say the marathon or like a condescending response. In this case, the guy was asking me a lot of questions about my training and told me I “had to” run at least 20 miles before the race. I was just like yeah yeah and tried to move on.

Saturday 11/5
Steps: 9,907
Sleep: 6 h 35 m

Planned: 4 miles marathon pace, 53:15, 60:30 intervals, 14:00 pace (12:36/18:00)
Completed: 4.3 miles, 1:00:00, 60:30 intervals, 13:59 pace (treadmill)
We have been under a wind advisory all day. I tried to wait it out but it never stopped. Things were literally flying around my backyard so I decided not to risk getting injured by a falling tree or something and did this on the treadmill. I did a 60 minute Peloton ride that was themed around the NYC marathon. I sent good vibes to @BalooinMI the whole time! The run went fine. I was sooo sweaty afterward. I guess my house gets warm.

Sunday 11/6
Steps: 8,695
Sleep: my watch says 14 minutes but that cannot be right. lol.

Planned: 2 miles easy/LR, 31:50, 75:30 intervals, 15:55 pace
Completed: 2.1 miles easy, 31:11, 75:30 intervals, 14:52 pace (T+D 116– dew was at 71%!)

Mile 1: 15:18
Mile 2: 14:37

My friend J who is running PW with me came over to run. He tried running on Friday but only made it 18 minutes before being too winded so I helped him with intervals and doing a slow pace. He did totally fine today— we were able to chat the entire time. Rosie ran with us. Afterward we went to brunch.

The extra hour of sleep was nice I guess but I still woke up really early for me though bc my DH is out of town so I had to do all the morning dog tasks he usually takes on. I have actually had a very productive day though.

This evening I also did two Peloton classes: a 10 min arm/shoulder class and a 15 min intermediate yoga flow. I really enjoyed both classes. I have been having a low body image lately so I want to incorporate more strength. It also just feels good after all the running— especially the yoga. I immediately loosen up.

Total
Run
Planned Mileage: 16.4 miles
Total Mileage: 16.9 miles
Planned Time: 3:58:30
Total Time: 4:03:00

Other
Yoga: 45 min (2 vinyasa classes)
Strength: 10 min (1 arm/shoulder class)

I have been obsessively following Wine and Dine all weekend on social media, which was fun. So proud of everyone! It made me really excited for MW. I am also getting nervous.

I am doing a virtual dissertation writing retreat this week (it actually started Saturday). We have writing blocks from 7-9 pm every evening which means I need to run at 7 am on Monday and Wednesday. If I don’t do it, shame me.

Thank you, by the way, for everyone’s kind support in my journal after last week. It meant(means) a lot to me. I had a much better week this week. A line from one of my favorite books: “your now is not your forever.” Both a reminder that the bad will end but also to be fully present for the good.


Sheepdog!!!


My dogs said you will have no personal space until you are happy!!!


Are Moana and Mickey okay?


I didn’t get a character stop picture with the Beast this weekend… but that’s okay because I have my very own Beast.

 

[garneska]

Your own beast is pretty cute and remarkably similar to the Beast.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

Your own beast is pretty cute and remarkably similar to the Beast.

I may or may not secretly be Belle