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

[azrivest]

That yoga class looks amazing.

I agree with the difficulty though, crow pose usually has me flat on my face everytime

 

[lookingforsunshine]

I agree with the difficulty though, crow pose usually has me flat on my face everytime

I love crow! Here’s a picture of me playing with it from after one of my runs at the hotel gym. It took me sooo long to get it in my practice but now it comes fairly easily. And it’s the only arm balance I can do lol.

 

[Baloo in MI]

I would break in half if I attempted that!

 

[GollyGadget]

And here I am so proud that I can touch my toes!

(Not today though, everything is still a bit tight from the long run yesterday).

 

[Herding_Cats]

I love crow! Here’s a picture of me playing with it from after one of my runs at the hotel gym. It took me sooo long to get it in my practice but now it comes fairly easily. And it’s the only arm balance I can do lol.

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I could *almost* do crow once upon a time. Poses like that (and pushups AND planks) just kill my wrists. I don't know if it's a strength thing, a form thing, or just the fact that I have nearly child-sized wrists but not a child-sized body that does that. It's gotten worse as I've gotten older which makes me think it's at least partially a strength issue.

 

[HangWithMerida]

Poses like that (and pushups AND planks) just kill my wrists. I don't know if it's a strength thing, a form thing, or just the fact that I have nearly child-sized wrists but not a child-sized body that does that. It's gotten worse as I've gotten older which makes me think it's at least partially a strength issue.

Me too! And they always have. I do at much as I can of workouts like this one my fingers or fists. Even down dog gets to my wrists. Similarly, I can’t do poses that have me putting a lot of weight one a knee with my hip extended as it feels like my patella is about to pop out of alignment. Super weird feeling.

 

[kps7795]

I love crow! Here’s a picture of me playing with it from after one of my runs at the hotel gym. It took me sooo long to get it in my practice but now it comes fairly easily. And it’s the only arm balance I can do lol.

View attachment 722929

That’s really amazing!

 

[lookingforsunshine]

I taught yoga to my students yesterday and took this pic after since y’all liked the other one, haha.


(Image description: Me doing crow pose in front of a mirror with LED lights.)

Training is still going well. I haven’t missed any runs or miles. I am just not motivated to update my journal lately— overwhelmed with everything. I woke up at 5:30 on Wednesday to run 8.5 miles before work… who even am I??

A friend texted me the other day and said this: “Ps. You have a glow to you! Maybe it’s happiness/feeling rested idk but it looks so good on you!”

It was basically the sweetest message ever but also this “glow” is NOT from being well-rested lol. Must be from the miles! And happiness at actually committing to training and developing self-integrity.

Another small update is I got a dissertation coach to help me finish this darn thing and she happens to do runDisney! She did Goofy last year. How fun.


(Image description: Selfie from today’s 3 miles.)

 

[WillRunForPizza]

1. Crow pose continues to be impressive.
2. I love your nails!

 

[azrivest]

Yeah I was gonna ask how you manage to stay well rested with not missing any runs

Congrats on your training so far

 

[GollyGadget]

As long as you're doing the training! That's what's going to matter in a few weeks.

 

[striker1064]

God I would faceplant so hard if I tried a crow pose.

...However I think I have a new challenge in mind when the crew gets together for drinks again...

 

[Baloo in MI]

Great job, 8.5 miles in the morning, before going to work! That is dedication! It is going to pay off!

 

[lookingforsunshine]

Weeks 13-14 MW Training

MW Training Runs Completed: 63/69 (91%)
241.4 total training miles

September: 41.8 miles (10 h 25 m)
October: 71.3 miles (17 h 33 m)
November: 87.9 miles (21 h 38 m)
December: 40.4 miles (9 h 43 m)

Monday 11/28
Steps: 9,016
Sleep: 7 h 2 m

Planned: 2 miles easy
Completed: 2 miles easy, 30:00 (75:30 intervals)

Tuesday 11/29
Steps: 6,732
Sleep: 6 h 6 m

Planned rest day.

Wednesday 11/30
Steps: 17,010
Sleep: 8 h 12 m

Planned: 1 mile WU + 5 mile progression (15:00, 14:30, 14:00, 13:30, 13:00) + 1 mile CD
Completed: Above workout. 7 miles (1 h 40 m)

I did this on my treadmill after work. I forget why the tread but my friend in another state did it with me synchronously. We did 3 30-minute Peloton classes plus 1 10-minute class. Because I was on the tread and could see my average pace better I was able to do intervals. I was mostly on pace— the first and last miles were a little fast I think. I accidentally deleted one of the Peloton runs so I don't have the data.

Thursday 12/1
Steps: 5,247
Sleep: 7 h 11 m

Planned rest day.

Friday 12/2
Steps: 8,581
Sleep: 9 h 30 m

Planned: 3 miles easy
Completed: 3 miles easy, 43:17 (75:30 intervals)

I also went to a 30 minute vinyasa flow class that felt really nice.

Saturday 12/3
Steps: 12,882
Sleep: 7 h 37 m

Planned: 1 mile WU + 3 x 1 mile @ T (12:36) w/ 3 min RI + 1 mile CD
Completed: Above workout. 5.4 miles, 1:16:25 (no intervals during miles)

My mile times were a little fast (11:56, 12:15, 12:02). I didn’t walk during them but walked the RIs. I apparently PRd my Garmin 5k during this run (39:46) and mile (11:53).

Sunday 12/4
Steps: 8,408
Sleep: 8 h 6 m

Planned: 2 miles easy
Completed: 2 miles, 28:38 (75:30 intervals)

Monday 12/5
Steps: 9,954
Sleep: 6 h 53 m

Planned: 3 miles easy
Completed: 3 miles, 44:29 (75:30 intervals)

I ran these with my husband and one of my neighbors. It felt very easy. I did a 10 minute Peloton yoga flow that focused on hamstrings. It was much needed.

Tuesday 12/6
Steps: 8,045
Sleep: 7 h 32 m

Planned rest day. The neighbors and I saw Disney Princess in Concert that night, and it was sooo good. I would go again in a heartbeat. I think the tour is on a break now though. The audience was kind of rude though... there were two very small children behind us whose parents let them talk the entire time, as well as completely GROWN woman who was singing like it was the DHS Frozen Singalong. Like... I'm glad you're having fun, but I did not pay to hear you sing. The best songs performed were Shadowland and Colors of the Wind, I think. I also loved the Part of Your World Reprise, but I'm probably biased since that's my favorite Disney song.

Wednesday 12/7
Steps: 22,004
Sleep: 6 h 7 m

Planned: 1 mile @ easy + 6.5 miles @ 60/30 @ 12:36/18:00 + 1 mile @ easy
Completed: Above workout. 8.5 miles, 1:55:01 (60:30 intervals)

8.5 miles in the middle of the week!? And they’re hard!? What!! Your girl got her butt out of bed at 5:30 am to do this run before work. My neighbor did the first half with me but then she had to work so I finished the latter half by myself. Once again I am bad at pacing and did all the miles too fast. I could talk to her the entire time and didn’t fade at all though so hopefully it’s not that bad. I am so proud of myself for doing this.

Also I Garmin PRd the 10k during this run (1:21:05). This is less than a minute slower than my actual fastest 10k ever, which was in 2012 after my bike trip when I was like 50 lbs smaller. Wow!


(image description: Garmin splits from my run.)

That evening (after the longest day ever), I stopped by a woman's house who is going to try to help fix my 5k and 10k costumes so that they aren't quite so snug.

Thursday 12/8
Steps: 4,853
Sleep: 9 h 21 m

Planned rest day. I taught yoga to my students in the morning.

Friday 12/9
Steps: 9,425
Sleep: 5 h 43 m

Planned: 3 miles easy
Completed: 3 miles, 45:03 (75:30 intervals)

I met with my new dissertation coach. She seems very helpful. We will meet every Friday for 45 minutes. She does runDisney!

Saturday 12/10
Steps: 14,522
Sleep: 7 h 25 m

Planned: 4 miles easy
Completed: 4 miles, 1 hour (treadmill, 90:30 intervals)

I wanted to test my marathon “costume” and it was too cold to do that outside (plus I’m self conscious about running in my Dottie around my neighborhood if I’m going to be completely honest) so I did these on my treadmill. I did 2 30 minute Peloton classes with 90:30 intervals because that was easier for me to keep track of on the tread. I got sooo sweaty on this run. The costume worked out well except the tulle in the back slipped up under the waistband sometimes. I’m going to take the safety pin advice. I also tried my new SheFit bra and it does work pretty well. But I can’t tell if I had it too tight.

In the afternoon, I went to the park and hiked 1.5 miles with my husband and Dozer. Dozer thought it would be cute to use her freedom at the dog park to run away to the woods and hunt, so I had to chase her down.


(image description: I finally caught Dozer. She looks very pleased with herself... I am smiling and looking at the camera. So is she, but more mischievously.)

Later in the evening my friend and I did a synchronous foam rolling class from afar. It hurt lol.

Sunday 12/11
Steps: 27,487
Sleep: 9 h 32 m

Planned: 11 miles easy (2:55:06)
Completed: 11.5 miles, 2:51:51 (75:30 intervals)

I was slow to get up this morning but finally started my run. Nothing remarkable about it. I practiced my nutrition, this time upping it to one honey stinger chew at the odd miles and two at the even miles, plus two salt chews at the even miles. I drank 32 oz of water. Halfway through I stopped quickly at home to drop off Rosie, refill my bottle, use the bathroom, and eat an uncrustable. I wanted to try this bc I am thinking of carrying one during the marathon since I’ll be out there for at least 6 hours. I decided to add an extra half mile on at the end because I knew I wasn’t at the amount of time prescribed for the run and wasn’t sure what was more important. I was feeling good and my last two full miles were my fastest (the last half mile included an extra minute of walking at the end).

After I drank my recovery aminos and ate a protein bar. I ate a burrito and some ramen later but still have felt kind of nauseous all day. I wish this feeling would go away.

I am on my period and am kind of grateful for it because I will also be on it on race day. It seemed not too bad. Thursdays (the day it starts) are usually the worst and that’s just the 5k.


(image description: Garmin split times from my long run today.)

After the run I decided to gift myself my Club runDisney virtual 10k medal. Obviously I did more than a 10k, but I am just so darn proud of myself for finishing my peak week of training! That felt more meaningful to me than an arbitrary 10k. Also my friend Venmo’d me money to buy a Mickey balloon when I get to Florida to celebrate which I had mentioned wanting to do which was just so sweet!


(image description: Selfie with me post-run with my Club runDisney 10K medal!)

Total (just for week 14)
Run
Planned Mileage: 29.5 miles
Total Mileage: 30 miles (plus 1 mile walk and 1.5 mile hike)
Planned Time: 7 h 32 m
Total Time: 7 h 16 m

Overall, like I said, I am so so proud of myself! My legs are sore. Not debilitatingly so, but they definitely felt heavy during my run today.


(image description: A deflated Mickey inflatable I saw on my long run. Felt relatable for the end of peak week of training. Although I'm mostly just jesting... physically I feel relatively good. Mentally is another story but that's just my life.)

 

[GollyGadget]

Great job! You definitely earned that Mickey balloon!

 

[azrivest]

indeed, you are crushing your training right now!

 

[SheHulk]

Really great week. It feels good to stick to a plan!

 

[SheHulk]

Just wanted to add, whenever I finish a really hard workout or a run in terrible conditions, I tell my kids that I'm going to say, "Thank you, Former Self!" when I cross the next finish line. Just think what you're going to be able to say to Present You in the future!

 

[Baloo in MI]

Great job! Love the Dozer picture! She does look very pleased with herself!

 

[lookingforsunshine]

ummm look at this shirt I found at BoxLunch today!!! It’s about to be my official race weekend Dis meet up shirt:


(Image description: tee shirt with Eeyore and a butterfly on his nose. It says It Never Hurts to Keep Looking for Sunshine)