Who did NOT die! The training journal of not-so-fast runner and costume addict (Comments welcome)

[The Expert]

After 23 runDisney races and six years in the neighborhood of this board, I'm finally starting a training journal.

A little about me... I'm 51, married, no kids but we have six cats and are currently between dogs. I live in Salt Lake City and work remotely (as I did pre-Covid) doing marketing for a national animal welfare nonprofit, Best Friends Animal Society. DH and I travel extensively, and took an epic 16-day trip around the world for our 25th anniversary in 2019 and visited every Disney park in the world. (We'd been to them all before, but never in one trip.)

How I got into running (and rD)... I was one of those kids who avoided running and hated that time of year in PE when we had to do track. I was active, played softball, did dance and cheerleading, but never had any interest in running. I vaguely knew about the rD races as we visited WDW over the years, but I wasn't a runner so I never bothered to find out any details. Fast forward to spring of 2015, wandering around MK and seeing all these women (mostly) with race shirts and medals getting photos all over the place. Cool!
We decided we liked visiting that time of year, so when our 11 month DVC window opened we booked that same week. A few months later, I discovered that the last full day of our trip was going to coincide with the 2016 Princess 5K. I popped in here and discovered you could WALK the 3 miles -- that was just a park day! So, I figured why not do one of the few Disney things I had never done before? Plus COSTUMES?! Okay, I'm in. I managed to sign up, found a cheap tutu on Amazon and a Tink-themed tank top. I didn't train at all and pretty much didn't think about the race again until it was time to pack.

We hit the expo the afternoon before the race, and when I found out how early I was going to have to get up, I nearly bailed. In fact, I almost turned the alarm off the night before, but something told me to just go for it. So I got up, ate half a bowl of leftover mac and cheese (carb loading, I thought LOL) and went to the bus. I was by myself, but among new friends. Everybody was so happy and excited, and the atmosphere was so much fun! I got so caught up in the whole thing that I ran probably half the race, and I know my etiquette was horrible. (Sorry if you were there!) The only disappointment was that dumb plastic medal we got at the end. Knowing what the other bling was, I decided then and there that I needed to get a "real" medal. On the trip home, I discovered the Kessel Run and that was it. I HAD to have that Millennium Falcon medal!
I had never even tried to run, so how did I know I couldn't do it? I started C25K two weeks later and morphed that into the Galloway training plan, did a couple of local races and ended up doing ALL THREE Princess runs in 2017, including my first Half!

tl;dr I saw the bling in 2015, got FOMO, did the 2016 Princess 5K cluelessly, and was hooked!

I've done 23 rD races (see signature) plus several local 5Ks and 10Ks and three RnR Vegas Half Marathons. My first full was at WDW in January 2020 (record heat), and my first Dopey was January 2022.
Though I've managed to get some family to do the occasional 5K and even 10K, I mostly run and race by myself. I've very much enjoyed meeting the DISboard folks during the last few weekends, and even ended up running two races this past January with @Herding_Cats when we connected in the corral before the Half. It was fantastic to have someone with similar goals and speed to pass the time with and encourage one another.

Where I am now... I've struggled to keep running regularly if I don't have a race training plan to follow, so I vowed to fix that after Dopey this year so I wasn't always starting over. I did manage to keep running 2-3 days a week through spring and ramped up to 4 days by the end of August. (It helps I have a treadmill with iFit, so I don't mind running most of my miles on it.) I'm consistent but not fast. I still do intervals for my longer runs, but go by how I feel on the shorter ones. I plan to keep doing Dopey for as many years as my body and schedule will allow it. We even bought more DVC points to cover the extra trip. As for the other rD weekends, scheduling and theming will likely determine what I do.

I've tried all kinds of training plans, from make-it-up-as-you-go to Galloway to random things I've found online. Last year I had a virtual running coach, but never felt much individual attention. So I'm going back to @DopeyBadger and starting his plan this week. My goal is to update once a week or so, and as things come up along the way. Comments, recommendations and questions are welcome. Thanks for being here!

p.s. I'm curious who can name the source of my training journal title. Bonus points if you know! It IS Disney related (or at least adjacent).

 

[Herding_Cats]

Yaaaaaay!!!! So excited to follow along.

 

[Naomeri]

After 23 runDisney races and six years in the neighborhood of this board, I'm finally starting a training journal.

A little about me... I'm 51, married, no kids but we have six cats and are currently between dogs. I live in Salt Lake City and work remotely (as I did pre-Covid) doing marketing for a national animal welfare nonprofit, Best Friends Animal Society. DH and I travel extensively, and took an epic 16-day trip around the world for our 25th anniversary in 2019 and visited every Disney park in the world. (We'd been to them all before, but never in one trip.)

How I got into running (and rD)... I was one of those kids who avoided running and hated that time of year in PE when we had to do track. I was active, played softball, did dance and cheerleading, but never had any interest in running. I vaguely knew about the rD races as we visited WDW over the years, but I wasn't a runner so I never bothered to find out any details. Fast forward to spring of 2015, wandering around MK and seeing all these women (mostly) with race shirts and medals getting photos all over the place. Cool!
We decided we liked visiting that time of year, so when our 11 month DVC window opened we booked that same week. A few months later, I discovered that the last full day of our trip was going to coincide with the 2016 Princess 5K. I popped in here and discovered you could WALK the 3 miles -- that was just a park day! So, I figured why not do one of the few Disney things I had never done before? Plus COSTUMES?! Okay, I'm in. I managed to sign up, found a cheap tutu on Amazon and a Tink-themed tank top. I didn't train at all and pretty much didn't think about the race again until it was time to pack.

We hit the expo the afternoon before the race, and when I found out how early I was going to have to get up, I nearly bailed. In fact, I almost turned the alarm off the night before, but something told me to just go for it. So I got up, ate half a bowl of leftover mac and cheese (carb loading, I thought LOL) and went to the bus. I was by myself, but among new friends. Everybody was so happy and excited, and the atmosphere was so much fun! I got so caught up in the whole thing that I ran probably half the race, and I know my etiquette was horrible. (Sorry if you were there!) The only disappointment was that dumb plastic medal we got at the end. Knowing what the other bling was, I decided then and there that I needed to get a "real" medal. On the trip home, I discovered the Kessel Run and that was it. I HAD to have that Millennium Falcon medal!
I had never even tried to run, so how did I know I couldn't do it? I started C25K two weeks later and morphed that into the Galloway training plan, did a couple of local races and ended up doing ALL THREE Princess runs in 2017, including my first Half!

tl;dr I saw the bling in 2015, got FOMO, did the 2016 Princess 5K cluelessly, and was hooked!

I've done 23 rD races (see signature) plus several local 5Ks and 10Ks and three RnR Vegas Half Marathons. My first full was at WDW in January 2020 (record heat), and my first Dopey was January 2022.
Though I've managed to get some family to do the occasional 5K and even 10K, I mostly run and race by myself. I've very much enjoyed meeting the DISboard folks during the last few weekends, and even ended up running two races this past January with @Herding_Cats when we connected in the corral before the Half. It was fantastic to have someone with similar goals and speed to pass the time with and encourage one another.

Where I am now... I've struggled to keep running regularly if I don't have a race training plan to follow, so I vowed to fix that after Dopey this year so I wasn't always starting over. I did manage to keep running 2-3 days a week through spring and ramped up to 4 days by the end of August. (It helps I have a treadmill with iFit, so I don't mind running most of my miles on it.) I'm consistent but not fast. I still do intervals for my longer runs, but go by how I feel on the shorter ones. I plan to keep doing Dopey for as many years as my body and schedule will allow it. We even bought more DVC points to cover the extra trip. As for the other rD weekends, scheduling and theming will likely determine what I do.

I've tried all kinds of training plans, from make-it-up-as-you-go to Galloway to random things I've found online. Last year I had a virtual running coach, but never felt much individual attention. So I'm going back to @DopeyBadger and starting his plan this week. My goal is to update once a week or so, and as things come up along the way. Comments, recommendations and questions are welcome. Thanks for being here!

p.s. I'm curious who can name the source of my training journal title. Bonus points if you know! It IS Disney related (or at least adjacent).

Exited to have another journal to follow. Love the Muppets Christmas Carol title!!

 

[The Expert]

Exited to have another journal to follow. Love the Muppets Christmas Carol title!!

Ding! We have a winner!!

 

[DopeyBadger]

Congrats on starting a journal!

 

[Cabius]

Excited to follow along -- good luck!

 

[The Expert]

This week's plan, for those following along:

Monday: Rest
Tuesday -- Cross train + 2 miles Easy (I have a standing hour-long strength workout with my trainer every Tuesday. My husband trains after me, so I jump on the treadmill.)
Wednesday -- 2 miles Easy
Thursday -- Rest
Friday -- 2 miles Easy
Saturday -- 3 miles Easy
Sunday -- 2 miles M Tempo


I'm excited not just to start this new plan, but also because I have NEW SHOES to try out this week! They're a new model in the New Balance FuelCell line. I trained for and ran Dopey last year in the FuelCell Elite v2 (rotated two pair), and this is a trainer version for the upcoming Elite v3. I've still got a pair of v2 with probably 100 miles of life left in them that I've been using in rotation with a pair of NB FuelCell Rebels until the Elite v3 come out, so this should be a nice preview of whether those shoes are going to work for me as well as the v2 did last year.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

Best Friends Animal Society

My Amazon smile donation goes to them I think!

ate half a bowl of leftover mac and cheese (carb loading, I thought LOL

Before my first 5k I got Mexican food and margaritas (I was in undergrad) and posted a joke pic on my social media that I was carb loading. This girl I knew who was a very serious runner didn’t get the joke and was offended by my post lol.

 

[The Expert]

My Amazon smile donation goes to them I think!

OK that is awesome! Thank you!!

And the Margarita thing is hilarious. Some people take things WAY too seriously. Thankfully it was just DH and I in the hotel room being clueless, but I do confess to it now.

 

[The Expert]

Dopey 2023 Training: Week 1
I started loosely following the Galloway plan on the rD site about a month ago, but this is my first week using my plan from Billy, so it's a good a place as any to start my first weekly report.
This week has been miserable weather for Salt Lake. We should be in the mid to upper 80s for highs and glorious 50s and 60s for lows, and our dew point is almost always super low. I look forward to September to start getting a few runs outside, but this is how our forecast has looked for the last five days and for the coming WEEK:



Granted, I do 90% of my training on the treadmill anyway, but suffice it to say that is not changing anytime soon!

Monday: Rest
Check!

Tuesday -- Cross train + 2 miles Easy (60/30 intervals at 14:20 run and 17:00 walk)
I have a standing hour-long strength workout with my trainer every Tuesday and have been doing this for at least the last 10 years. It helps me to have someone I'm accountable to. Typically DH and I go to the gym the trainer works at, but occasionally he comes to our condo building gym. This was one of those weeks where he came to us, so I spent an hour doing slow strength reps designed to fatigue the muscles and compliment the running workouts. If you're curious, I make them public on my Garmin account (link) for the trainer to track.

I usually go first, and then kill the hour DH is working out with an easy treadmill run. This time I did the same, but came back up to my unit to use my Proform and tick off an iFit run (#81 for the year! My goal is to hit 100 and get the free t-shirt.). With iFit, I find a trainer I like and a location I'm interested in, and watch the video but do my own thing with the machine. My treadmill is less than 2 years old and I'm diligent about service, so I do believe it's calibrated, but the speeds always feel faster to me than the math says. A 17-minute-mile should be around a 3.6 on the treadmill, but with my short legs I am over-striding to walk that speed, and find myself more in the 3-3.3 range for the walk intervals. For the runs, I'm at a 4.2 which is an easy jog, but not as slow as I could possibly run (that's closer to 3.7-3.8) so I do suspect my cadence is adding some speed to the belt somehow. I don't train enough outside to have any muscle memory for what those speeds feel like right now, but my heart rate says this is still in the easy range as I'm solidly in Zone 2 or 3.

Wednesday -- 2 miles Easy (60/30 intervals at 14:20 run and 17:00 walk)
Treadmill. iFit #82. Tried my new shoes! Super cush and springy, but the ankle collar comes up higher than on my other New Balance styles. I didn't notice any discomfort during the run, but afterward I had tender spots on the front of both ankles.

Thursday -- Rest
Check!

Friday -- 2 miles Easy (60/30 intervals at 14:20 run and 17:00 walk)
CRAZY week at work ended with the craziest day and I did not get my workout in. Ugh. I DID order from my favorite Mexican joint for lunch and walked the mile round-trip to pick it up at at 15:30 pace, so that will have to count.

Saturday -- 3 miles Easy (60/30 intervals at 14:20 run and 17:00 walk)
Treadmill. iFit #83 -- woohoo! Went with the NB Rebels.

Sunday -- 2 miles M Tempo (70/30 intervals at 11:55 run and 17:00 walk)
Welcome to the Struggle Bus! Again with the treadmill pacing math, I figured I needed to do the 70 second run intervals at 5.1. It felt challenging but doable for the first 10 minutes, then I started to notice my heart rate going up solidly into Zone 3 and 4. I strung two 20-minute iFit workouts together for this, and walked the entire transition between them with my watch paused (probably 2 minutes). After that reset, I made it about five more minutes before my heart rate was going up to Zone 4 consistently, and even peaking into Zone 5. So for the last 10 minutes, I started waiting until my HR crossed down into Zone 2 before I'd start the next run interval. That messed up my timing and overall pace for sure, but I made sure to do the entire 3 miles. AND I got in iFit #84 and 85!

I also wore my new NB FC Trainers with slightly higher socks. No ankle issues this time, but the more I walked, the more my Morton's neuroma on my left foot bothered me. I get numbness between my third and fourth toe if I don't have the right support under the ball of my foot, so certain shoes can really trigger it. I had to move completely away from Asics due to this issue. I do have inserts for this in my Elites that I guess I'll have to use in these, too. I'll keep rotating with the Rebels, and if they just aren't working after another couple of runs, I'll ditch them.

I know this was a Tempo run and supposed to be challenging, but I was surprised how hard it felt. I know some of it was mental. When I looked up the treadmill speed I felt like it had to be too fast, so I had myself psyched out from the start. I know I've gone faster than that on the gym treadmill and felt great! So it could be a calibration issue, being warmed up from strength training, or just mental state. If I'm supposed to be pushing that hard and into those zones, I can and will do it, but I want to be sure. @DopeyBadger please advise!

Thanks for reading!

 

[lookingforsunshine]

Way to go with your training!

I do have inserts for this in my Elites that I guess I'll have to use in these, too

What inserts do you like? My chronic foot pain might be from a neuroma but I don’t know. It usually doesn’t hurt until like 2-4 miles into a run and then it’s a sharp terrible pain.

 

[The Expert]

Way to go with your training!


What inserts do you like? My chronic foot pain might be from a neuroma but I don’t know. It usually doesn’t hurt until like 2-4 miles into a run and then it’s a sharp terrible pain.

Ugh, sorry to hear that. Mine starts as more of a numbness then turns into cramping and pain. It's no fun.

The key for me is to not have to much pressure on the top foot, along with extra support under the ball of my foot. Full size insoles create too much bulk, so I use these Dr Scholls ball of foot pads: https://a.co/d/16TBDX6

I also use a lacing pattern that creates less pressure on the top of my foot but allows me to still tighten down the ankles.

 

[azrivest]

Are those the NB SuperComp? I've heard great reviews about them

 

[The Expert]

Are those the NB SuperComp? I've heard great reviews about them

Yep. So far, I don't like them as well as my FuelCell Elite v2s but I think they just need a bit longer break-in period than those did. I've only done a total of five miles in them on a treadmill so far. I LOVE my Elites, and supposedly they are putting out a new version of those this fall. These "trainer" SuperComp definitely share DNA with that line.

 

[DopeyBadger]

I know this was a Tempo run and supposed to be challenging, but I was surprised how hard it felt. I know some of it was mental. When I looked up the treadmill speed I felt like it had to be too fast, so I had myself psyched out from the start. I know I've gone faster than that on the gym treadmill and felt great! So it could be a calibration issue, being warmed up from strength training, or just mental state. If I'm supposed to be pushing that hard and into those zones, I can and will do it, but I want to be sure. @DopeyBadger please advise!

The three miles of M Tempo should have been a little challenging, but not as challenging as you were describing. I'd be curious to hear how this run feels outside instead of the treadmill when you get a chance when it comes up again. Could just mean we need to tweak the pacing a little here (slower run pace for a little longer).

 

[The Expert]

The three miles of M Tempo should have been a little challenging, but not as challenging as you were describing. I'd be curious to hear how this run feels outside instead of the treadmill when you get a chance when it comes up again. Could just mean we need to tweak the pacing a little here (slower run pace for a little longer).

That's kind of what I thought. The weather is supposed to break toward the end of the week, so I could switch out Friday's easy 2 miles for this pace and see how it goes outside?

 

[The Expert]

I agree. Anything at marathon tempo or faster should have at least a six minute warm-up, and there's a physiological reason. The aerobic system takes a bit to turn on, so at the beginning of the run you are running way more in the anaerobic system. It's inefficient and you're digging yourself an early hole. So a proper warm-up helps all the systems be properly prepared for a good training run.

Spotted this over on @Cabius training journal and it rang a BIG bell in my head. I did rush the warmup for the run yesterday -- maybe 2 minutes. Could explain a lot!

 

[DopeyBadger]

That's kind of what I thought. The weather is supposed to break toward the end of the week, so I could switch out Friday's easy 2 miles for this pace and see how it goes outside?

Don't add in a new M Tempo. There will be more attempts coming up as written.

Spotted this over on @Cabius training journal and it rang a BIG bell in my head. I did rush the warmup for the run yesterday -- maybe 2 minutes. Could explain a lot!

Yea, if you've got time for 5 min of very easy running to start all the better. Especially since run/walk intervals start at a more aggressive pace right out the gate than average M Tempo pace.

 

[The Expert]

Looking at this week's plan, I have an 8-mile LR on Sunday. I think I'll participate in the virtual Finish Eliza's Run for that. Her usual route was 8.2 miles, so this seems like a sign to me.

 

[The Expert]

Dopey 2023 Training: Week 2
The horrible hot weather finally broke mid-week, but I've been so busy with work that I still did everything on the treadmill. I'm still playing with shoe rotation and deciding if I like the NB Comp Trainers.

I also discovered how to put workouts in my Garmin and schedule them this week! So I went through and put them all in and synced on Tuesday. It was super helpful when I got to the 100m interval workout, but I discovered on the other runs that it overrides my interval alert setting on my watch. So, when I choose to do the workout, I don't get interval alerts. Anybody know if there's a way to fix this? (Aside from looking at the workout as a reminder and then dismissing it and doing the same thing manually?)

Monday: Rest
Check!

Tuesday
Planned & Done: Cross train + 2 miles Easy (60/30 intervals at 14:20 run and 17:00 walk)
Went down to the bigger gym this week to meet the trainer, which means a better (and tougher) strength session. Details here if you're interested (link).
As a reminder, I train first for an hour and then kill the hour DH is working out with an easy treadmill run. I've settled on a treadmill speed of 4.2 for runs and 3.3 for walks, and that seems to come out about right pace-wise. It also feels right and my HR stays in the right zones (for the most part). iFit workouts #86 & 87!


Wednesday
Planned: 1 mile warmup, 5x 100m intervals at 9:00 w/ 90 second rest, 1 mile cooldown
Done: Nothing
CRAZY work day and we had a show that night, so I had no time to even attempt to get this in.


Thursday
Planned: Rest
Done: 1 mile warmup, 5x 100m intervals at 9:00 w/ 90 second rest, 1 mile cooldown
Okay, this was fun, even on the treadmill! I love speed work -- I think because it's nicely broken up and feels like it goes by super fast. I had to do a little math to make sure my pace and distanced were correct (landed on a speed of 6.7 for 33 seconds).


Friday
Planned: 2 miles Easy (60/30 intervals at 14:20 run and 17:00 walk)
Done: Walked 5 miles
I visited the state fair to see how my photography entries did (honorable mention). The fairgrounds are not far from my building, so I walked over there, all around the grounds and back home and logged 5 miles. Maybe it's cheating, but I counted this as my workout.


Saturday
Planned & Done: 3 miles Easy (60/30 intervals at 14:20 run and 17:00 walk)
Treadmill, no drama. iFit workout #88!


Sunday
Planned & Done: 8 miles Easy (60/30 intervals at 14:20 run and 17:00 walk) + Nutrition practice
Opening day of NFL football means I plan my run around when the Chiefs play. They had an afternoon game, which always works best for me. I can get up, have a decent breakfast, let it digest a bit, and jump on the treadmill for a few hours during the early games. I set my TV to the NFL Sunday Ticket Red Zone channel if I don't have a specific game I'm watching, then run iFit workouts on the treadmill screen and just set my own pace and incline. It looks a little insane:



I've been doing the Chicago Marathon on iFit and enjoy the trainer, so I had the volume up on that this time. The race is broken into six parts of 45-55 minutes each, so I did parts four and five with Ashley, then was able to add another short workout to fill in the cooldown. That knocked out iFit workouts #89, 90 and 91 for the year. Nine more to go for that 100 t-shirt! I did pull out my NB FuelCell Elite v2 that I got about a month before Dopey last year, as I knew they fit well and should be "safe" for my first run of this length in several months. My feet did hurt but no issues there. I did have some weird off-and-on pain at the top right of my right hip through the first mile or so. It went away, then came back for a few minutes about an hour in. Nothing feels off now, so I chalked it up to adjusting back to these shoes or just my brain trying to trick me.

Coming up this week is a work trip, so it could get tricky but I am determined to stick to the plan as much as possible. I specifically chose a hotel this time rather than my usual AirBnB with colleagues so that I would have a treadmill when things get busy. @DopeyBadger could use your advice on what to do with Wednesday if things get crazy.

Monday: Rest.

Tuesday: 2 miles easy. I fly out this afternoon and have a 2-hour drive, arriving at the hotel about 7:30pm. If I have time at home around working and packing, I'll try to knock this out before I go. If not, I'll use the hotel gym when I get in.

Wednesday: 1 mile WU, 7x100m at 9:00 w/ 90 sec rest, 1 mile CD. This one could be tricky as it's a VERY busy day, ending in a dinner with colleagues. Is it a good idea to get up early after running the 2 miles at or after 8pm the night before? Thursday is a rest day, but is equally busy. Also the Chiefs play Thursday night and I have to make the 2-hour drive back to the airport at 5:30am on Friday. If I had to shift this to Thursday, I could do it with the game pulled up on my phone.

Thursday: Rest, but could shift Wednesday's workout here if absolutely necessary. Super busy day, Chiefs game, need to get to bed early.

Friday: 2 miles easy. Early drive back, but I'm home by 10am local time, so I should easily fit this in on the treadmill in the afternoon.

Saturday: 3 miles easy. No problem. Hoping to maybe even get this in outside.

Sunday: 4 miles M Tempo. Again, no problem. No Chiefs game to work around. If the weather is decent I want to try this one outside to compare pace and effort compared to my last (awful) M Tempo on the treadmill.