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

[The Expert]

Dopey 2023 Training: Week 8

How are we already in week 8? How is it October and I go to WDW next week?! How am I already so far behind constructing my costumes?! ACK! These are all things that ran through my brain this week when I came up for air after a crazy few months at work. Thankfully training was pretty calm and on track.

Monday: Rest.

Tuesday: 2.5 miles easy.
Treadmill run along with Tommy Rivs at the Boston Marathon on iFit, AND MY 100th iFIT WORKOUT OF THE YEAR!!! Woohoo!

Wednesday: 2 mile warmup + 7x1 minute at 9:35 w/ 1 minute rest + 1 mile cooldown.
Much better this time with actually warming up and cooling down. I usually skimp on them big time, but I did one mile of each and I think it helped. This one was a workout!

Thursday: Cross train.
My first week moving this to Thursday from Tuesday, thanks to my trainer's schedule change. I've been doing this on Tuesdays for the last few years, and then doing a short run right after. It was strange to just be done after.

Friday: 2.5 miles easy.
I made sure to get this in before going for my Covid booster and flu shot in the afternoon, just in case. Aside form a sore arm after on the Covid side, I felt fine the rest of the evening.

Saturday: 4 miles easy.
Nope. I woke up with a super sore arm and achy joints, but we had two garden plots to clean out before our first cold storm was due in the afternoon. We also walked down to the Farmers Market for a few things (about 1.5 miles round trip). By the time we were done, my body was done. But I definitely got time on my feet!

Sunday: 8.75 miles easy.
Thankfully I was feeling much better today, and had a good breakfast. DH is a farm boy and big breakfast guy so we make a big homemade breakfast every Sunday morning. I jumped on the treadmill early enough to get this in before my afternoon Chiefs game. I did have some residual aches and pains, and a concerning twinge in my left hamstring that lasted six miles. I've never had an issue there before, and I stopped a few times to stretch it out, which seemed to help. I tried walking through some intervals, adjusting the incline/decline but none of that did anything. It just kind of went away around mile 6. Weird. After I finished, I popped my W&D 5K costume on and did a cool down walk just to test things out. Happy to report it's going to work fabulously (and I posted some preview pics on the costume thread)!

The coming week.
We leave Thursday for WDW and we come home on the 4th, after doing the W&D 5K that morning. I'm going to do my best to stick to my plan. We're at AKV the first half of the trip, so I'll be on the gym treadmill for those. Then we move to BWV, and depending on the weather I may actually attempt a few outside. I can also see myself blowing off the 2 mile easy runs if we have big park days, but that is NOT my intention going in. I've put all my workouts in Garmin so hopefully that'll keep me accountable.

 

[Herding_Cats]

WOOOO! 100! Great job!


And now I'm going to scurry over to the costume thread to see what awesomeness you're going to be wearing!

 

[The Expert]

Dopey 2023 Training: Week 9

Checking in from WDW this week! Though I'm seeing some folks in running shirts in the parks, and it is still several days away, I'm reminded how little the runs impact park atmosphere outside of MW, and how special that weekend really is. On to the numbers...

Monday: Rest.

Tuesday: 2 miles easy.
Treadmill miles. Nothing to report.

Wednesday: 2 mile warmup + 5x1 minute at 9:35 w/ 2 minute rest + 1 mile cooldown.
Did this on the treadmill and gave myself a decent warmup. The full minute was challenging but that rest period was NICE. I really do enjoy these speed workouts because my brain is occupied with the next change and not counting down long minutes (and hours) of just slow running.

Thursday: Cross train.
We headed to MCO on a 7am flight, so no training today. After a short delay, we arrived about 2pm, got the rental car, picked up our grocery order and our room was ready at AK Kidani! We went straight to Epcot for Food & Wine booths for lunch/dinner in hopes of beating the locals that come out for the weekends. Mission accomplished! MIL drove over to stay with us, and we hung out for a few hours at the Kidani pool bar. We've been coming in mid to late October every year for 25+ years and it's definitely more humid than normal for this late in the month. Thankfully I'm only doing the 5K at W&D but it's going to be sticky!

Friday: 2 miles easy.
We went ALL DAY at Epcot and put 7.5 miles on my Garmin so I think that's more than equivalent!

Saturday: 5 miles easy.
We went ALL DAY at AK and then Disney Springs (I know, Saturday -- not my idea). I logged 7 miles on my Garmin and proooooobably shouldn't count this but after going two solid days my legs were toast.

Sunday: 5 miles M Tempo.
DH's Broncos play this morning, we move from Kidani to BWV, MIL goes home and we have dinner at Citricos tonight so I'm just going to go ahead and move this run to Monday. My mom, stepdad and aunt don't arrive until Monday afternoon, so morning is free and clear to get this in.

I have an easy 2 miles set for Tuesday and a speed workout (same as this week but 7x repeats) on Wednesday, then the 5K on Friday. We fly home that afternoon. My family takes things a bit slower and we're at BWV with more options for running, so I don't anticipate any disruptions for this week's schedule.

 

[The Expert]

Dopey 2023 Training: Week 10
I'm back from WDW and Wine & Dine 5K! Will add photos from my phone once this is posted, but it is easier to type on the computer.

It started out well but then the wheels kind of fell off...

Monday: Rest. 5 miles M Tempo + Epcot for 11 total miles
My mom (DM), aunt (DA) and step-dad (DSD) didn't arrive until the afternoon, so I was able to jump on the treadmill at BWV and get this done. After they settled in, we walked over to Epcot and had late lunch/early dinner at the festival booths. I recorded 11 MILES on my Garmin for the day once the park walking was added in!

Tuesday: 2 miles easy. Studios: 7.7 miles
We walked over to Studios and did the park until late afternoon before walking back to BWV. I had 7.7 miles on my feet by then so I felt okay skipping the 2 miles to hang out with the family at the pool bar.

Wednesday: 2 mile warmup + 7x1 minute at 9:35 w/ 2 minute rest + 1 mile cooldown. Epcot + MK: 9.7 miles
I sincerely, honestly, REALLY wanted to do this one. Had EVERY intention of doing it. Then we went to Epcot because I wanted to visit Mexico for Dia de los Muertos and test out my temp tattoos for my race costume. That turned into lunch at the booths, monorail hop to MK and generally doing WAY too much eating, drinking and walking. I DID log 9.7 miles after all that AND it was crazy stupid hot and humid. I was SO tired at the end of the day!


Thursday: Cross train. EXPO + Fantasmic! 10.8 miles
I'm still traveling so no cross-training, unless you count the expo. I upgraded to Platinum Club rD, so I had lounge access starting at 8 and merch access at 8:30. I still got up and grabbed a VQ for DM and DSD (since he was doing the 5K with me). They got group 50 with an estimated return of 11am. DH dropped me at the Expo a little before 8 and the Platinum line was crazy long!


They had CMs checking IDs and ticking you off a list, then they would send in groups to go upstairs to the lounge. About 8:25 I was still outside the fence and they split the group so anyone who wanted to shop first could go directly there. After stopping for a minute for my wristband, I was in the merch area! It was way more crowded than I anticipated, since Platinum had until 9am before they let in Gold. I went to the 5K section to pick up "I did it" shirts for DSD and me, and a magnet for DSD. I grabbed a HM medal replica pin for Kerry1957 and then did a lap taking photos and checking out the generic rD stuff. I am not a spirit jersey person but loved the new rD one made of tech material, so I added that to my basket.

I did self check-out, got pics of the (empty) photo ops and headed up to the lounge to pick up my bib and shirt. They had Honey Stinger waffles out for the taking so I picked up a few of those, got a pic of the photo backdrop and headed back to meet DH (he waited in the car). I was done with the whole thing by 8:45! My only regret is I didn't end up going back with DSD when he got his bib, so I never went to the main Expo to see the MW medals in person.

Through a fluke of scheduling (and a "last minute" decision to add this 5K at the end of our trip), we had to be moved from our 2 bedroom into just the studio portion by 11am. DA wasn't doing any races so she headed back home, while DM and DSD packed up to move to their offsite hotel.

I had forgotten to grab an ear hat for my soon-to-be-born great-nephew when we were at MK so I headed back there solo while DH took DSD back to the expo for his bib and shirt. Success!


We had managed to snag reserved seating for the first Fantasmic show via a certain "club" thirty-something that we may or may not be part of for 8pm that night. Fantasmic is my FAVORITE so there was no way I was missing it! We had to be over at DHS at 6:45, so we walked, grabbed some food and checked in. They were already announcing that it was full and had started the line for the 9:30 show! It started right on time and was just as incredible as I thought -- so worth it!!


So at 8:30 we swam out of the park with the sea of people and DH ran DM and DSD to their hotel while I walked back to prep for the 5K wakeup.

I got out my stuff, photographed and posted my flat me, put my temp tattoos and attempted to go to bed about 10pm. HA!

Friday: Wine & Dine 5K and the flight home!
I "rested" until 2am and then got up. Garmin told me my sleep quality score was ZERO. I had "slept" a total of an hour and 39 minutes. I had an english muffin with peanut butter and some coffee, and finished my makeup for the costume. I dressed as the Haunted Mansion Bride (aka Constance Hatchaway), complete with lights and spooky veil over the whole thing. I added sugar skull makeup to go with the Coco theme. It was epic! It was also extremely easy and comfortable to run in. I worked with Cindy Copley of Copley Couture on instagram, for those of you who know her. It was such an amazing process!




Bless him, DH got up and drove me to the race! We had to pick up DSD at the off-site hotel and he didn't want me to have to stress over finding it and driving in my costume. We left about 2:45am and were at Epcot by 3:05. We had time for a character photo and met up briefly with @Naomeri before heading to the corrals. We grabbed water and porta potty on the way. I was in A but bumped back to B to stay with DSD. It was so much fun hearing everyone's comments about my costume and taking pics! I did manage to find Cindy as we were loading toward the start and she was coming the other way. I always hug the fence to see everyone's costumes!

We seemed to start really fast. We were toward the front third of B and my watch shows we started at 5:16am. I let DSD set the pace as he's a walker, and we did about 20 minute miles. I was disappointed in the on-course characters and didn't stop for any.I did stop for a few other pics with folks who stopped me and asked about my costume! We finished at 6:30, still well in the dark with everything still lit up. DSD was done by that point so we didn't go back for any other photos or stop for the medal pics. We grabbed a bus to BWV and I was back in the room about 7am. DSD got his car and drove back to his hotel.

We had a flight at noon, so I had plenty of time to clean my makeup off, pack up the costume and grab a quick nap. DM and DSD picked us up at 10am and we had a long but uneventful flight home.

Honestly I'm not a fan of doing a race at the end of the trip like this. I'm exhausted after a week at Disney and there's no time to enjoy the accomplishment. I realized when I got home and put my medal on the rack that I'd never even worn it! It was too cumbersome to figure out how to wear it with my costume, so I carried it and then packed it in my purse.

Saturday: 4 miles easy. Rest
I was completely exhausted when we got home and through all of Saturday. I also had a weird migraine and just felt off all day, so I listened to my body and rested up as much as I could around laundry and grocery trips.

Sunday: 10 miles easy (+ practice nutrition).
My Chiefs played Sunday night, so no worries about timing the 2.5 hours this will take me around that. We had our usual big breakfast, a little earlier than usual due to the time change, and I jumped on the treadmill about 11:30. I did 3 segments of the iFit 2021 London Marathon series while I watched football on the TV. I still did intervals and took it easy but it felt good to stretch my legs a bit after all the intense walking the week before. I used Tailwind in my water and supplemented with a few Brach's pumpkin candies (those horrible bright orange things) every few miles, which totally worked!


This week I am driving 5 hours for work on Tuesday afternoon and coming back Wednesday afternoon (if snow doesn't hit, which it looks like it might). But I can fit the workouts in even if I have to move them around a little.

 

[The Expert]

Dopey 2023 Training: Week 11

Monday: Rest.
My tiredness last Saturday turned into a recurrence of my cold this week. I felt fine for that 10-mile LR on Sunday but it must've taken all the energy I had left to do that. I really needed this rest day as I was all clogged up and coughing, ugh. I did work from home on the computer but took a break in the afternoon to try and rest up a little.

Tuesday: 2 miles easy.
I worked through the morning, still catching up from being gone last week at Disney. After lunch, I made the 5 hour drive and met up with colleagues to discuss my part of the event the next day. It was all I could do to grab a sandwich and get to the hotel before I crashed. Whatever my illness was definitely was lingering, so I fell asleep to election results on the tv.

Wednesday: 2 mile warmup + 5x2 minute at 9:35 w/ 2 minute rest + 1 mile cooldown.
I woke up to SNOW! My absolute favorite! YAY! Soooo beautiful in the red rock country of southern Utah.



I had the event this morning -- hosting a "game show" for the new staff to get to know the senior leadership team. I was still tired and nearly lost my voice, but managed to lay off talking and drink enough hot liquids for it to hold out. I grabbed a quick lunch with colleagues and then drove the five hours home, arriving in time for dinner and a hot bath.

Thursday: Cross train.
I was still feeling a little clogged up and tired, but my trainer came by to work out with my husband so we decided to see what I could do. I managed a decent 45 minutes of weights and strength without too much stress on the body. It felt good to move!

Friday: 2.5 miles easy.
I did this SUPER easy, mostly walking on the treadmill. My head was starting to finally clear -- yay!

Saturday: 4 miles easy.
We had a lot to catch up on, with laundry, swapping out the summer/winter stuff in my closet, grocery shopping and farmers market. I was finally starting to feel almost normal. I took this one extra easy again, mostly walking, but didn't want to push it since every activity was running me down so much this week.

Sunday: 6 miles M Tempo.
I can BREATHE and TALK and omg almost feeling human again! The Chiefs played early so I had to shift my run to the afternoon, which meant shaking up my nutrition a little. We had the usual big breakfast about 9:30am, so I had a snack around 2 before jumping on for the Tempo run. I did 45/30 intervals and was able to keep up just fine. It felt harder than my HR showed, but the paces looked good. I had a weird pain in my left kneecap a few times when going from run to walk, but nothing lingered afterward.

This coming week looks good for getting back on track. I think I've finally kicked this cold, and I'm home all week with no crazy days or work events to get in the way. And then we hit my Thanksgiving trip, but one week at a time, right?! 

 

[lookingforsunshine]

Glad you’re feeling better! Where are you going for Thanksgiving?

 

[The Expert]

Glad you’re feeling better! Where are you going for Thanksgiving?

Thanks! We're making a trip up to Jackson, Wyoming in hopes of catching some of the wildlife before full winter sets in. We made an impromptu trip up there this same time last year and had great luck with some bear sightings just as they were headed into den. We also saw lots of moose and smaller wildlife, so we're trying again to see if it was a fluke.

 

[The Expert]

I should also add that I've tested multiple times and it hasn't come up as Covid -- thankfully! I think I just wasn't getting enough rest days in around the travel schedule and my body made sure it happened anyway.

 

[The Expert]

Dopey 2023 Training: Week 12
My cold was still lingering pretty hard all week. I wasn't that stuffed up but woke up with a sinus headache every morning and just a bit of a cough. Thankfully it responded well to Excedrin but I still felt tired. I've been wearing my Garmin to bed since I got the FR255s a few months ago, so I dug into the data a little. I had noticed in my morning report that my HRV status was dropping even as I was starting to feel a little better (though my sleep schedule and other circumstances remained pretty consistent):



November 4 is when we got back from our WDW trip and my cold first reared its head. The 8th/9th is when it was at its worst (and when I made my 10-hour round trip for work) and there's a pretty significant drop starting around that time. I started to feel less congested around the 12th but was still getting the headaches until about the 18th, all of which shows as "unbalanced" in the chart. The night of the 19th I had a massive jump in my sleep score (91) and my HRV suddenly rebounded. No headache the next day or today (Sunday) and felt super strong doing my 8 hour LR, so I really, truly think I'm past it now. YAY!!!


Monday: Rest.

Tuesday: 3 miles easy + Cross train.
My trainer needed to change the schedule, so I swapped days and did my 3 miles on the treadmill afterward. I felt ok during, but that night I was for sure feeling extra worn down.

Wednesday: 2 mile warmup + 5x2 minute at 9:35 w/ 2 minute rest + 1 mile cooldown.
I could tell my recovery wasn't great after the double workout on Tuesday, so I gave myself another rest day.

Thursday: Cross train. 2 miles easy.
I wanted a bit of a test, so did 2 miles super easy (mostly walking) on the treadmill. Felt okay, but far more tired after than normal. I had a concert that night -- Jimmie Allen & Carrie Underwood, which was awesome -- but I did get to bed a little later than usual and didn't sleep great.

Friday: 2.5 miles easy.
Again, recovery was lagging and I hadn't slept well so I gave myself some extra rest.

Saturday: 5.5 miles easy. 3.5 miles easy.
We decided to decorate for Christmas before going on our Thanksgiving trip to Wyoming, so much of the day was cleaning, moving things, hauling stuff in and out of storage. I was feeling good after a GREAT night's sleep and finally no sinus headache, so I jumped on the treadmill for an hour. Took it super easy, with speed walking and slow walking intervals, and felt tired but not dead by the end of it.

Tried to watch Disenchanted. Ugh. Wow. I'm a huge fan of the original but I didn't even get halfway through this before bailing out. About 30 minutes in I turned to DH and said "Is it me, or is this really bad?" and he said "Yeah, it's bad." So we gave it another 10 minutes and then turned it off. I'll watch the rest at some point but Holy Disappointment, Batman!

Sunday: 8 miles easy (+ nutrition).
For the first time in more than two weeks, I felt GOOD and STRONG starting this run. I did the last two segments of the 2021 London Marathon on iFit using 45/30 intervals. I had some weird left kneecap pain about a mile in, and some left hamstring pain about five miles in, but both were resolved by walking through a couple of run intervals. I tried using RX bars as fuel and that's a big ol' NOPE. I have a very forgiving system but my body did NOT like those mid-run so I'll reserve them for post-run recovery instead. Thankfully I had Tailwind in my water to pick up the rest, but I had salt sitting on my skin at the end. Drank some pickle juice with my water and ate the rest of the RX bar after I got off the treadmill.

The Chiefs play tonight, and I'm showered, changed and ready to beat the Chargers in the white-on-white unis!

This coming week will be quiet at work with many people off all week. I'm hoping to make some headway on the sewing for my MW costumes before we leave for Wyoming on Wednesday. We're considering driving, as we do a lot of off-roading and sketchy roading and would prefer to have our own truck rather than be limited by a rental SUV. (Also, it allows me to bring more of my photography gear since I don't have to worry about what I can fit in a carry-on bag.)

If the weather holds up and looks clear for our driving days, we'll be canceling our flights and packing up the truck for the 5-hour-drive on Wednesday. It remains to be seen how much I training I can keep up with, but the days are shorter now and animals are less spread out, so evenings should be free. I'll need to take cold weather running gear, which I'm excited about needing! Hopefully I'll have lots of critter photos to share when I report in next week. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! 

 

[SheHulk]

Wow that is disappointing to hear about Disenchanted. When I heard they were making a sequel I was like, "Why?" But then the trailer actually made the concept look interesting! I'll have to try it but geez it's unfortunate if it's no good. Love the original.

 

[The Expert]

Wow that is disappointing to hear about Disenchanted. When I heard they were making a sequel I was like, "Why?" But then the trailer actually made the concept look interesting! I'll have to try it but geez it's unfortunate if it's no good. Love the original.

I watched the rest tonight and I'm happy to report that it gets better! So stick with it, but set low expectations. It's nowhere near as good as the original, but gets way more fun after the first 30-40 minutes.

 

[The Expert]

Dopey 2023 Training: Week 13

I'm a little behind last week and frankly, pretty disappointed in myself for how poorly I've kept up with my training this cycle. Even when I definitely have time, I find reasons not to do it or I get busy doing other things and completely forget. It's a little pathetic and entirely my fault. No excuses.

On the positive side, we had a great trip up to Wyoming over Thanksgiving. The weather was cold and snowy, which I not only love, but the polar opposite of last year, so the animal activity was also entirely different. No bear or wolf sightings, but thousands of elk were down in the National Elk Refuge, and the bison migrated down to Antelope Flats, along with at least a dozen bull moose that were there together. We had an incredible encounter with a coyote at Oxbow Bend with absolutely nobody else there, and spotted bald and golden eagles hunting along the roads. I'll pop a few teaser pics in here, and you can view my Facebook gallery with captions. I've also got some bonus photos and video at https://adobe.ly/3GGHSHl -- ENJOY!







Monday: Rest.

Tuesday: Cross train + 3 miles easy.
Still shifting cross training to Tuesdays for now, and we were packing up to hit the road early Wednesday, so I moved the run portion to Thursday (knowing I probably wouldn't get it in).

Wednesday: 3 miles easy.
I worked for a few hours in the morning, finished packing the truck, grabbed lunch and headed up to Wyoming. It had snowed a few inches in the morning but the roads were mostly clear. We made it to town just about sunset, stopped by to pick up our groceries. We had a room with a full kitchen at Homewood Suites and had planned to make Thanksgiving sides on Thursday evening. When we got to the hotel, we discovered a "full kitchen" does NOT include an oven! D'oh! SO we quickly Googled how to make candied yams, cranberries and green been casserole (DH's fav) with a two-burner stove, microwave, and limited pots and pans. Crisis averted, though I was glad we picked up fresh rolls instead of the Pillsbury ones we had planned on! After hauling everything to the room and unpacking, a run was not happening.

Thursday: 3 miles easy (diverted from Tuesday).
We got up pre-dawn and headed out to photograph wildlife. As you can see from the images above, we were successful in that realm. But driving around sunrise to sunset and then attempting to make Thanksgiving dinner in the aforementioned conditions put me in NO mood to run. Skipped it, as I suspected. Thankfully, dinner turned out okay! If you're curious, watch my Reel I posted to IG.

Friday: 3 miles easy.
Saturday: 6 miles easy.
See Thursday's notes, minus the Thanksgiving details. These are long, tiring days and when we're done, all I want to do is eat something that isn't a sandwich from the cooler and go through the thousands of images I've shot to see what's good. So no running.

Sunday: 6 miles M Tempo.
We went out at dawn again and shot for about an hour before heading home. We made it by early afternoon, listening to DH's Broncos play on the radio on our drive. The Chiefs played late enough we could unpack the truck and start laundry before settling in to watch. Between laundry, grocery run and making dinner, it was too late to start my run that evening so I pushed it to Monday.

So a completely CRAP week of training for me. And entirely my fault. I take ownership but am super disappointed in myself. UGH!

BONUS preview of week 14!
Monday: Rest. 6 miles M Tempo Easy.

I was determined to do this run, no matter what. So even though work was crazy catching up after the long holiday weekend, I blocked my calendar for 90 minutes in the afternoon and jumped on the treadmill. Knowing I hadn't run in several days, I decided not to push M Tempo, but even doing an easy pace I pushed my HR on a few intervals. I felt good, though.

Hoping to get back on track this week, since I have a work trip coming up the week of December 5th. At this stage, it's just about getting the time on my feet because I know I'm so far behind my plan I can't catch up. I'm doing things like walking to my dentist appointment that's a mile away, just to get in steps. I know it won't make up for it entirely, but it can't hurt.

 

[SheHulk]

I am very jealous of your moose sightings!

 

[The Expert]

I am very jealous of your moose sightings!

They are pretty easy to spot in this area, but especially in fall when they come up out of the riverbeds. It's so funny to see them in large groups like this, all together. They are normally pretty territorial and isolated during the summer months.

 

[azrivest]

That 1218 sunset picture is gorgeous

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Amazing photos!

 

[The Expert]

That 1218 sunset picture is gorgeous

Amazing photos!

Thank you!

 

[The Expert]

Dopey 2023 Training: Week 14

I'm a little behind last week and frankly, pretty disappointed in myself for how poorly I've kept up with my training this cycle. Even when I definitely have time, I find reasons not to do it or I get busy doing other things and completely forget. It's a little pathetic and entirely my fault. No excuses.

Monday: Rest. 6 miles M Tempo Easy.
(Reposting this day from my recap last week.) I was determined to do this run, no matter what. So even though work was crazy catching up after the long holiday weekend, I blocked my calendar for 90 minutes in the afternoon and jumped on the treadmill. Knowing I hadn't run in several days, I decided not to push M Tempo, but even doing an easy pace I pushed my HR on a few intervals. I felt good, though.

Tuesday: Cross train
One hour of strength training, done.

Wednesday: 1.5mi WU + 4x1mi(11:55)/3min rest + 1mi CD.
I had a crazy day at work, then a doctor appointment and we had tickets to a touring show. I did not get this one in.

Thursday: 3 miles easy.
YAY! Done!

Friday: 3 miles easy.
OMG two days in a row! What is happening?!

Saturday: 5.5 miles easy. 4 miles easy.
I ended up spending way too much time fighting with my sewing machine while attempting to make my marathon costumes, so had to cut this a bit short. But I did something.

Sunday: 8.5 miles easy + 1 mile M Tempo.
I honestly wasn't sure how this would feel with as much slacking as I've been doing. I had my usual big Sunday breakfast (eggs with cheese, a few strips of bacon, english muffins) and jumped on the treadmill about 20 minutes later. I normally give it a bit more time, but I really wanted to get started so I would be done and changed before the Chiefs played in the afternoon. I took the 8.5 super easy, sipping water for the first 90 minutes. Then I added Tailwind for the last few miles. When I hit that last mile and upped my intervals, I thought it would be hard, but it felt so good on my legs to switch it up! I think I actually enjoyed it!

This week
I am traveling for work again, so I know it'll be tricky. I'm in a rental, so no treadmill to fall back on and the weather looks rainy all week. I did bring the right gear for running outside. Thankfully Monday was my travel day, which is also my rest day. Tuesday is usually cross training, so while I'll miss my workout with my trainer, I was able to do an iFit yoga workout tonight when I didn't get back until after dark. I have a later start tomorrow so my plan is to head out before for a quick run if it's not absolutely pouring out. Wish me luck!

 

[The Expert]

I suppose this is good enough reason for a mid-week update. I'm traveling for work and actually did my 3 mile easy run today! OUTSIDE!
The weather was perfect for me -- 55 degrees, overcast and no wind. I went a little fast as I'm used to the treadmill, so more like 13 minute miles instead of 15, but I did stop for a drink on my way back and forgot to stop my Garmin, so my tracker shows an average of 18 minute miles. Oops!

I was able to snake around downtown Bentonville (Arkansas) and use a bit of a popular urban bike/pedestrian trail through a beautiful preserve. I even spotted a Cooper's Hawk hunting in someone's yard! Video of the hawk here on my Reel.

 

[The Expert]

Dopey 2023 Training: Week 15

I traveled for work this week, and was in a rental without access to a treadmill. The weather looked nice and cool (50s-60s) but also a lot of rain and a bit of a high dew point, so I packed accordingly and hoped for the best -- both for weather and time to actual get out and do my runs. I'm happy to report it went pretty well!

Monday: Rest.
This was my travel day. I worked in the morning, packed, had lunch and headed to the airport about 2. I normally fly from SLC to Tulsa direct and make the 2-hour drive over to Bentonville, Arkansas. But with weather being questionable this time of year, I flew into XNA (Fayetteville). The reason I don't usually do this is that it involves flying from SLC to ATL then all the way back to XNA. Even with a short connection, that's a good 10-hour travel day AND it typically costs about twice what my flight and rental car combined are in and out of Tulsa. BUT, growing up in the midwest and knowing ice is no joke, I'm playing it safe for this month's trip and January's.

Tuesday: Cross train.
After a full, busy day of work activity and no access to my trainer, I pulled up a yoga workout on my iFit app and improvised. I have done yoga MAYBE four times in my entire life, so this was nothing ground breaking, but it WAS cross training!

Wednesday: 1.5mi WU + 3x1.25mi(11:55)/3min rest + 1mi CD. 3 miles easy.
I had a lovely run around downtown Bentonville and part of one of their many trails. See my post and photos here.

Thursday: 3 miles easy.
The rain that held off nicely for my Wednesday run came down in force on Thursday and it POURED all day. On top of that, I was crazy busy and didn't get back to the rental until dark, so I skipped this one.

Friday: 3.5 miles easy. 3 miles airport walking.
Travel day, which meant flying to Atlanta to come all the way back to SLC, which took ALL DAY. But I did make it a point to get as many steps in as possible along the way. I got to the airport a bit earlier than necessary and did a loop of the entire terminal. In ATL, I walked between gates rather than taking the train and moving walkways. In SLC it's been a bit of a joke that our new airport is halfway finished but doesn't have a tram yet, so chances are you're going to walk between .5 to 1.25 miles from your gate to the curb depending on where you come in -- I clocked a good mile here alone. So I ended up not too far off my intended mileage!

Saturday: 5.5 miles easy.
Back home and on the treadmill! I was proud of myself for getting this one in around laundry, grocery shopping, wrapping all the gifts we need to ship this week, making homemade eggnog (OMG SO GOOD) and finishing the sewing portions of my MW costumes. We also went to dinner with a friend, so it was a packed day.

Sunday: 7 miles M Tempo + Nutrition.
We had company coming over for the Chiefs game at 2, so I had 2 scrambled eggs with a bit of cheese and a slice of eggnog French toast, OJ and coffee, then got on the treadmill about 45 minutes later. (Last time I did it this early I only waited 20 minutes and that was too tight). I just had a bottle of water during the run, and felt fine with all that fuel still in my system. I did 45/30 intervals and it was challenging but I was in the right HR zone, so I'd say I hit the target. Afterward (about noon), I had some gatorade and a bit of peanut butter and apple. We didn't eat again until almost 5 and I felt totally fine.

For this run, I did a costume test for the MW Half. This one is the Anger + Donald mashup. I have a poly blend sublimated dye t-shirt, my Brooks undershorts with pockets, my Etsy Donald tutu and feathered duck tail, yellow calf sleeves and a light-up Anger headband I found on my last trip to WDW.



Caption: Photo of my costume, including a second where you can see the tail better.

I was most concerned about the headband as it's hard plastic and made for kids (though I have a kid-sized head), but it was far more comfortable than I thought and did NOT move at all! I'm going to glue some padding to the bottom of the bands where it overlaps my glasses and a bit at the very top for the top of my head, but it should be good. It has three different light settings, and I think I like the second one best as it looks a bit more like actual flames flickering.

Video of the Anger headband going through the light settings.

The issue was the duck tail was hitting me in the small of the back AND shedding feathers like crazy. (My cats were loving it!) It attaches with a large pin and an elastic belt around the waist, so I'll just move it lower on the tutu and it should be fine. I did take it off about 30 minutes into the run just to preserve as many feathers as possible. I may very well end the Half with a naked duck tail!

The shirt is a bit warm, but it is breathable. And there's plenty of room on the back for my design.



Caption: Image of the design for the back of my Half shirt for Marathon Weekend.


This week
I am home this week and doing a lot of holiday prep, since we have a trip to NYC to see a few shows next week. This is my highest load in training, so it lines up well with my schedule.