Weekly Workout Wind Up (4/4-10/13)

As you can see the tapering has begun... :( It is an evil necessity! :P

Thursday, April 4: Rest Day

Friday, April 5: Rest Day (knee pain emerged and I wasn't about to risk injury)

Saturday, April 6: 3.51 Mile Run

saturday

Sunday, April 7: 5.49 Mile Run

sunday

Monday, April 8: Rest Day

Tuesday, April 9: 4 Mile Run

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Wednesday, April 10: 3.3 Mile Walk With The Pups

weds

And Monday is the BIG DAY BABY ... The Boston Marathon!!

I'm Dopey!

I'm far beyond crazy that I've actually gone DOPEY!!

dopey

On April 2 - yes one week ago - I registered for the Run Disney Dopey Challenge.

What is that you may ask?

Oh just this little thing the great minds at Run Disney created where you compete in four races over four days:

January 9 (Thursday) - Disney Family Fun Run 5k - 6:15 a.m. ET - EPCOT

January 10 (Friday) - Walt Disney World 10k - 5:30 a.m. ET - EPCOT

January 11 (Saturday) - Walt Disney World Half Marathon - 5:30 a.m. ET - Start/Finish: EPCOT

January 12 (Sunday) - Walt Disney World Marathon - 5:30 a.m. ET - Start/Finish: EPCOT

Thankfully I was a math major so I can quickly add that up for you! That is 48.6 miles in a four-day span.

Saaayyy wwhhhaaa???

I somehow have lost my mind and think this is a totally okay thing to sign up for. Let's also place some of the blame on my dear wife who okayed the $495 charge that the Dopey Challenge runs. Ouch!

BUT there are SIX medals. SIX! How amazing is that?

We all know I love my race bling. ;)

bling

After running the Walt Disney World Half Marathon on January 12, 2013 (recap), I knew I wanted to give the Goofy Challenge (Half Marathon on Saturday and Full Marathon on Sunday) down the road. Originally I had planned on tackling that feat in 2015, which is the 10-year anniversary of the Goofy Challenge.

I think the Run Disney folks figured out that a TON of people would be doing the same thing - skipping 2014 to wait for 2015 - so there came the Dopey Challenge this year.

Once the news broke, the wheels started turning in my head. Maybe I could do it? No, that's crazy. Who do I think I am? I can't run that type of distance in four days and for that much money.

But, then I remembered. I am capable of much more than I think I can so the more I thought about registering for the Dopey Challenge the more I wanted to do it.

jessie

Can you tell I had fun during the race?

So last Tuesday, April 2, I saw there was an early opening to register for the Dopey Challenge and all of a sudden I was signed up. (Proof at the top of the post) So the wife and I will head back to Disney in January 2014 as our big racecation for the year.

Now that the registration is complete, what's the next step?

Well, figuring out my 4 costumes of course. I think Jessie will have to make a return appearance!

cow

***

Are you going Dopey as well? Have you ever participated in a Run Disney race?

Weekly Workout Wind Up (3/28-4/3/13)

Another week of marathon prep in the books... :)  

Thursday, March 28: 4.5 Mile Run

thursday

Friday, March 29: 4.5 Mile Run

friday

Saturday, March 30: 10.1 Mile Run

saturday

Sunday, March 31: 2.5 Mile Run, 30 Min Stairmaster, 30 Min Elliptical, 12 Min Walk Home From Gym & Family Walk

sun-1

sun-2

Monday, April 1: 4 Mile Run & 50 Min Spinning

mon-1

mon-2

Tuesday, April 2: 30 Min Run (3.63 miles)

tues

Wednesday, April 3: 5k Run

weds

 Artwork in final collage from Chronic Positivity Project

T-minus 12 days til The Boston Marathon!!!

Weekly Workout Wind Up (3/21-27/13)

Coming at ya with my latest weekly workout wind up...  

Thursday, March 21: 5-Mile Run

thursday

Friday, March 22: Rest Day & Leisurely Walk With Joanna

friday

Saturday, March 23: 21-Mile Run

saturday

Sunday, March 24: 65-Minute Recovery Spinning Ride

sunday

Monday, March 25: 4.25-Mile Run & 50 Min Spinning Ride

mon-1

mon-2

Tuesday, March 26: REST DAY

Wednesday, March 27: Hill Repeats (1 Mile Warmup, 6xHill, 1 Mile Cooldown)

weds

I am definitely upping my weight training once I finish the Boston Marathon...

Socks, Socks, Socks...

It's funny to be recognized at races by your socks ... but for me it has become a staple. :) And I love it!

I tend to wear the same running tops, singlets and pants at most of the road races I participate in so I tend to let my socks do the talking!

Here are a few of my favorite pairs of socks I've rocked...

BATMAN

batman

Available Here

CANDY CANE

santa

Available Here

COW

cow

Currently Unavailable

POLKA DOTS

polka dot

Bought At Target For $2.50

SHAMROCK

shamrock

Bought At Target

SUPERMAN

superman

Available Here

And I just purchased these awesome socks for my Memorial Day races!!

flag

Available Here

I can't wait to break them out...

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Do you have any other suggestions of fun socks for me?

How do you make your running outfits stand out?

Weekly Workout Wind Up (3/14-20/13)

My second installment of Weekly Workout Wind Up... Thursday, March 14: 5-Mile Run, 30 Min  Stairmaster and 15 Min Elliptical

thurs-1

thurs-2

Friday, March 15: 5k Run

friday

Saturday, March 16: 14-Mile Run

saturday

Sunday, March 17: One Hour Spin

sunday-1

sunday-2

Monday, March 18: 5-Mile Run

monday

Tuesday, March 19: Rest Day

Wednesday, March 20: 6x800 speedwork on the treadmill

speed

How did you sweat this week?

Weekly Workout Wind Up (3/7-13/13)

Well it is finally time that I put all of my workouts in one post to make it easier for you all to see what I'm doing and for me to keep my week's straight. :P So let's get this party started...

Thursday, March 7: 4 mile Run

Friday, March 8: Rest Day

Saturday, March 9: 2 hours of Spinning while at a Spin Instructor Orientation

Sunday, March 10: 10 mile Run

Monday. March 11: Ran 6.2+ miles And 45 min Spinning Class

Tuesday, March 11: 30 min Stairmaster

Wednesday, March 12: 45 min Tempo Run

Would you all like me to add my Plankaday Streak to this roundup as well?

Boston Marathon & Tedy's Team Update

I can't believe there are a mere 78 days remaining until I run The Boston Marathon with Tedy's Team!!

I am excited ... anxious ... nervous ... pumped ... and overall honored to be able to run on April 15, 2013 for such a great cause.

Tedy's Team is a group raising money and awareness on behalf of the American Stroke Association:

Tedy asked the American Stroke Association to work with him to create “Tedy’s Team,” a group of runners raising money for the American Stroke Association and training to complete the Boston Marathon® and the Falmouth Road Race.  Their participation supports Tedy Bruschi’s fight against stroke and honors both the survivors and the loved ones lost to America’s No. 4 leading cause of death.

In addition to the dollars being raised, an equally important issue for Tedy's Team is the increase in awareness of stroke and recognition of its warning signs. Tedy’s Team is striving to reach as many people as possible in its message of recognizing the warning signs and acting appropriate when seeing them -- calling 9-1-1 immediately.

I am running in honor of my Stroke Heroes - my grandparents - who both survived strokes. Unfortunately on December 27, 2012, we lost my Grampa suddenly from cancer so this race is especially in his honor.

I keep him with me on all of my runs on the inside of the Sparkly Soul headband I wear on all my training runs and I will wear in the Boston Marathon itself.

There are two main components to preparing for the marathon: fundraising and training.

Fundraising

In order to run with Tedy's Team, I needed to raise at least $5,000 and as of today I am at:

Woo!! I am wicked thankful for such a kick ass support system. My friends and family have truly risen to the occasion. I thankfully also raised $1,000 through my 30th Birthday 5k.

If you are interested in donating, you can do so here.

Training

For the most part, I am using the same training schedule that I used for the Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon in November, which was a success. It is a combination of a few different websites and help from my friend/pseudo running coach Sarah.

It is a great mix of running and cross-training. I have really been working on incorporating more Spinning into my routine, which really helps on the hills. I've also wanted to increase my speed work as I am trying to (possibly) one day qualify for Boston, which means I need to take at least 24 minutes off my current marathon PR. So cross training is a MUST...

I am LOVING the group run components to this marathon training schedule. Every Saturday Tedy's Team has a group run out of the FitCorp gym on Beacon St. The run begins at 7:50am and is designed for a certain length, but you can always add or subtract depending on what your personal training schedule has you at.

Since so many of my Savannah runs were done alone, I love having teammates to run with on Saturdays. My teammate Meg lives right by my house so we can carpool in together, which is wicked fun. It is also a nice bit of accountability especially on wicked cold mornings. :)

My group run times and paces have been amazing. I think the group, and Meg in particular, are helping to push how far I can truly go.

But, I missed the last two training runs - the first because I was running the Disney Half Marathon (where I got a new PR) and the second because of sickness - so I wasn't sure how yesterday's 10-mile run would go. Since I had been sick, I didn't want to risk trekking in to Boston and not being able to finish the run so I stuck around my house to complete it.

This was definitely my slowest long run pace since starting Tedy's Team on December 1, but today was really about the mileage, getting back to running after being sick and battling the snow/cold weather than time.

So I was proud of myself for getting out there ... even with all the salt on the ground. ;)

But just as important as the running and cross training are, is the refueling of the body!! Especially on long run days.

I make sure to end all of my long runs with some low-fat chocolate milk!

According to the Got Chocolate Milk:

Lowfat chocolate milk contains the right mix of carbs and protein scientifically shown to help refuel muscles. Chocolate milk helps restore muscles quickly to their peak potential.

Yesterday, I paired it with a banana and an english muffin with peanut butter. Mmmmm...

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After my training schedule was thrown off for the last two weeks due to being sick, it is time to get back into full swing and get back to my groove. We have 10 group runs remaining until the Boston Marathon and I cannot wait to take full advantage of the group experience.

So Boston Marathon prepare ... I'm coming for ya!

WDW Half Marathon - 1/12/13 - 1:48:09 (8:15 min/mile)

Boy does 2am really creep up on a person!!

Even when you DO go to bed at 7:15pm the night before.

But that first 2am alarm went off and I SHOT out of bed.

Maybe it was excitement ... maybe it was adrenaline ... maybe it was that I was scared shitless I would miss the bus thus missing the start of the race thus missing the race itself.

Yes I was freaked out by past participants' blog posts about crowds that I made sure our butts would be on the first bus out of our hotel come hell or high water!

So I was out of bed and prepping quickly. I was looking forward to this day for so long.

I rarely dress up for races (more than just the fun knee socks I wear) so this was out of my usual realm, but I was excited for it. I was loving how the Jessie from Toy Story costume had turned out and couldn't wait to see what spectators thought too!

I was ready! Needless to say the wife wasn't moving quite as quickly or as happily as I was ... she was none too pleased with the start time. :P

We headed out of the hotel room by 2:45am and as we turned the corner to the bus stop saw 7 completely empty busses sitting there with 0 people waiting to get on them.

Oops! :P

Well at least we guaranteed we would get to the Start area on time and we would get a seat. :)

As we sat on the bus, I was posting pictures, tweeting, etc and all of a sudden my phone rang - it was Suzi Storm. She didn't believe I was actually up and en route to a race so she needed actual proof ... my voice. :) It was nice to chat with her and maybe that chat played in to my awesome race - maybe it now needs to be a pre-race tradition. Suzi, thoughts? ;)

We idled for awhile while more runners loaded on to the bus. Yet as runner after runner got on the bus not that many were dressed up and for some reason this worried me. Like I would end up being the only person dressed up, which in the deep part of my head I knew was incorrect. It still had me freaked for a minute until a couple Tinkerbells got on the bus and I felt more at ease.

The busses rolled out and we were off to the Start area, which was set up in the Epcot parking lot. The busses dropped us off and we all made the trek over to the party area with the usual bathrooms, bag check, port-o-potties, etc.

It was amazing standing around and checking out the costumes people put together for the race. Talk about great people watching!

We hit up the port-o-potties and headed over to get a pic in front of the official 2013 Walt Disney World Marathon logo.

There was a DJ on hand as well as a camera catching some runners' sweet dance moves on the big screen. Oh watching some people try to Gangnam style never gets old. :P

As we did some laps around the Start area (since we were there so early :P ) checking out merchandise and just people watching, we spotted Sarge from Toy Story!!

He said: "It's my old friend Jessie. How are things around the toy chest?"

Awesome. :)

After snapping a pic with Sarge, we ran into Kat. Yes 23,000 runners and Kat finds us. Good work Lady!

Isn't she the cutest Piglet?

The organizers started asking everyone to get on the other side of Bag Check, which was the holding area before the walk to the Start Line. So we headed over there thinking we would then immediately head to the Start Line, but nope. We just all kind of stood around looking at each other for what felt like forever.

But, finally we got the go ahead to start the 20-something minute walk to the Start Line. Of course we hit the port-o-potties one final time before we did. :)

Thank you Disney for having PLENTY of port-o-potties that I barely had to wait in line even with 23,000 runners!

The walk was lengthy but the time passed by chatting with the wife and Kat and listening to the DJs along the way.

It was pitch black along the walk so I spent most of the time looking down at my feet since the last thing I wanted to do trip mere minutes before the race!

Then I saw it...

Blurriness means action shot :)

At this point, the three of us turned left towards Corrals A-E, while some kept straight for Corrals F-H.

Kat actually ended up being in my Corral so we bid the wife farewell at Corral C and headed to Corral A (yes still in shock at being in that location).

But it ended up being the best place for us to be!

Such a cool experience being up with the elite runners. They are amazing to be around.

And look how close we were to the Start Line!

I was finally able to meet Kelly from (@According2kelly), who I've been following for ages. She was running the Goofy with a friend dressed as Goofy. Great costumes by both (you can actually see her in right corner of pic above). She pointed out that Drew Carey was on the sidelines so Kat and I saddled over to snap a pic.

He was supposed to run, but got injured unfortunately.

We then tried to photobomb the interviews that were happening next to us in order to get on the jumbo screens set up near the corrals. Hoping that maybe the wife or a friend would notice us. :P But I don't think they did.

We then saw Carissa and her cohosts take the stage!

Sorry for the glare but Carissa is second from the right!

Kat actually knows Carissa so it was nice to finally meet her in person - even briefly - after following her online.

She rocked her interview with Joey Fatone ... again I tried to get my Jessie hat on the screen in the background as much as possible.

Thankfully having Kat with me really helped pass the time. :)

Because before we knew it it was time to send off the wheelchair runners, which meant we were up in 5 minutes!

Goofy, Donald and Mickey came out to count us down!

As the characters counted us down, I reminded myself I was there to have fun. I didn't care about the time or the pace or the finish. I just wanted to soak up the sights and sounds of Disney.

Then ... the fireworks went off and so was I!

It was 5:35am and freakin' dark!! Thankfully they brought in lights to help along the highway, but I still made sure to keep an eye on the ground since I had no desire to fall.

I was really impressed with the number of spectators that were lined up along the left side of the highway at that time of day.

I started out at my 5k pace and quickly had to slow myself down and remind myself that we were running 13.1 miles NOT 3.1. I was getting swept up with the other - faster - runners and I had to bring it on in.

There were marching bands and spectators all along the 5 mile stretch of highway AND the first character stop - Pirates Of The Caribbean!

It was at this moment that I decided I would stop at as many characters as I could. If there was a lengthy line then I would reconsider depending on the character.

But do you know what I found out? Most elite runners weren't there for pics with the characters so there was barely a line while I ran.

Yes I know this was EXTREMELY lucky compared to many of the runners in the later corrals who had much longer lines.

But I took advantage of my location and posed. Instead of fumbling with my iPhone, I just went with the professional photos and prayed they all came out afterwards.

All of this happened as we headed toward the opening of Magic Kingdom.

Not too shabby for an action shot

We were going to run right through the Magic Kingdom - how cool is that?

As we went through the parking lot near the test track, we got to see our first character stops!! YAY!

Chip And Dale

Nightmare Before Christmas

I had to stop and snap a pic of this awesome sign hanging above one of the overpasses as it read: "Quackin' Up Your Pace" But of course you can't see that part in my iPhone pic. Harumph!

Then we entered the park itself.

Spectators were amazing!! People lining the streets calling out "Hey It's Jessie" ... "Go Jessie Go" ... "Awesome costume Jessie" ...

It was amazing. I honestly felt like a Rock Star! I wanted to high-five every one of those people for how early they had to get up to be there.

All of a sudden there it was Main Street USA. I was running down Main Street USA towards THE CASTLE!!

I even saw Robin waiting to cheer on her husband while I was running!!

We were only in the Magic Kingdom itself for maybe a couple miles but it was amazing.

Best part? Besides all of the character photos of course.

Running THROUGH yes THROUGH the Castle was out of this world!

Can you still believe how dark it was?

After we left the Magic Kingdom it was a lot of highway time as we headed back towards Epcot for the Finish. I wasn't prepared for so much highway time so I was a little disappointed on that, but of course it is to be expected with how far the parks are from each other.

But Disney did a great job of loading the course with characters!!

Check out the rest of my in-race photos here:

As we approached Mile 10, I started to realize that my time and pace was faster than I had anticipated. The whole race I felt as if I was just sprinting to the next character rather than running a Half. We can maybe call it lengthy interval training?

There was a little loop/turnaround to point us towards the Epcot parking lot/entrance just before Mile 11 and there were some announcers there yelling out where people were from so I proudly shouted "Boston" before someone behind me yelled "Mars." Okay not taking it seriously. :P

But as I hit the Mile 11 marker, I realized I could PR. I had to do some calculations in my head, which always help to pass the time, and figured that I might just do it. It would be close, but if I put the pedal to the metal I could do it.

So I just let loose. I skipped the final 2 character spots, which was okay because it was Stitch (I had already gotten one with Lilo) and Phineas and Ferb (who I got the day before).

I gave it all I had in that home stretch. I think you can easily figure that out in the pictures below:

All that was going through my head was keep moving forward! People had started to slow. It had started to get warmer. There were people walking. I just had to keep running.

Then it was there ... the Finish Line!

I had never been so happy to see because I KNEW I did it ... a PR! Which was great, but the real excitement was how much stinkin' FUN I had during that race.

You think I liked it?

Could you tell I was on my way to clicking of my Garmin Forerunner 110? ;)

Unofficial PR via my Garmin. Previous PR had been 1:48:16. I then awaited official results...

Catching my breath was #1 on the priority list after finishing.

#2 - grabbing this sweet medal of course!

Shiny

#3 was heading to the medical tent to try and find out if they had cough drops since I couldn't get the darn cough to stop. Interesting fact - they had none. I just started downing water to see if that would help.

(Lesson it turned into bronchitis by the time I got home)

I was able to spot my parents at the Finish Line before heading to grab my professional Finish Photo and much needed FOOD!!

Yeah this is why I don't normally run in cotton shirts - ew!

I made my way back to my parents to hang with them while we waited to cheer on the wife to finish.

Before settling in with them to wait, I quickly headed over to have my medal engraved as a keepsake and on my way I ran into Robin (again!) :)

Thanks for snapping this pic Robin

We got the text that the wife finished in just over 3 hours (brutal brutal heat) so we headed towards the Finish Area to meet her. While waiting, I had to snap one last pic with the ears.

After meeting up with the wife, we headed over to the busses to head back to the hotel to shower, grab some breakfast and prepare for a day at the Magic Kingdom.

I made sure to include some low-fat chocolate milk as part of #myafter! It is one of the best ways I have found to Refuel after a grueling long run or race!

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Thankfully my parents had the tracking so we had my information pretty quickly for the official time and I had gotten the PR by 7 seconds. HEY, a PR is a PR, right? :) I was pleasantly surprised since I was just hoping to finish sub 2 with all the stopping I had planned (and did) do!

The official official stats still shock me. I mean these numbers are really mine. Wow!

CRRAAZZYYY!!

I wonder what the time would've been without the character stops!

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OVERALL, this was one of the funnest races I have done.

Were there things I would change? Sure. I wish there was more time in the park itself. Maybe weaving through the different lands, etc. But I know logistically that would be tough.

So I think Disney knows what they are doing and pump up the time on the highway with marching bands, characters, DJs and FANS!!

Would I recommend this race to a friend? In a heartbeat because magic happened that morning and I want everyone to experience it!

See ya for the Goofy Challenge in 2015! :)