Getting Back Into Training Mode

Dopey is almost exactly 7 months away and it is time to get my body and mind back into training mode. I haven't been there in that proper mind/body space for probably the whole month of May, getting just over 90 miles for the month, not quite where I wanted to be.

Yes, my mind has been on other things and things have been pretty hectic here, but I can't let that be an excuse. I am still able to get out there and run and it helps with the stress, so there's always that. To be completely honest, I'm surprised I got in as many miles as I did this past month.

But here we are in June and although it's a very exciting time, buying a house has proven to be a very stressful experience. Between the financial side and the packing of everything (and wondering how we accumulated so much stuff in such a small space), both Patrick and I are on edge. The next two weeks are going to be a mixture of excitement, fun and exhaustion. We have a tight schedule to stick to in regards to painting and it is going to be a difficult few weeks owning our house but not actually living there for 10 days.

It will all be worth it though.

Last month I allowed myself to do the bare minimum and although it was nice to not have to stress about the miles, I know that there was a difference in my mood and my body. I just feel better when I am able to get in a good run.

I have decided to loosely follow the Jeff Galloway training plan for the Dopey Challenge and will be starting on July 1st. Until then I'm going to give it my all for June to build up those miles and to enjoy the Mammoth half marathon. Communication is going to be key over the next 6+ months with training taking over a large part of my life. A lot of miles will be happening and I know from experience that without communication it's not going to be a good experience.

Unfortunately with all of the running goals I am currently working towards (running 1250 total miles for the year, completing 14 half marathons in 2014, running 500 days in a row, and completing the "Dopey Challenge") I have a tough decision to make regarding the pain I am feeling in my hip. It's been getting worse and I am feeling it on a daily basis. It's usually fine until I sit for a long period of time (for example, at work) and try to stand up, but once I get started it feels fine.

I have to stop being stubborn and just make an appointment with a doctor. I need to stop thinking the worst and not allow the fear of being told to stop running keep me from making sure I'm healthy. That needs to take priority over running...

In regards to training- schedule to come soon. I'm still going to move forward with my plans until I am able to see a doctor.

Dopey Challenge Accepted! Sort Of..

The runDisney website has finally updated the dates of race weekend for 2015.

It is starting to get real. Unfortunately, so is the decision that I had to make.

I want to put out there that this decision was made solely on my own, however I had the support from my husband, my mom, my sister and my best friend. Throughout the course of the past few months I have been having an internal debate as to whether or not I should do the Dopey Challenge at Disney World. The pro and con list has gone back and forth and it's taken a very long time to make the final decision.

As much as it pains me right now, I know that the mature/adult decision would be to not participate in the Dopey Challenge and so that is what I have decided.

It was difficult, and I'm allowing myself to take a day or two to be sad about the idea of not actually running the race and then I'm going to get over it. In fact, I'm still going to train for it and I still plan on running all four days, all four distances. I'll just be in California running by myself instead of in Florida running with thousands of other runners.

It's not the same, but I know that in the long run it is the smartest decision for myself and for my family. And I know that with the support of my friends and my family I will be able to make it through the mileage with or without a medal at the end.

I've been looking into a training plan and the Jeff Galloway training plan on the runDisney website is the one I am leaning towards. For the most part, the training plan is three days a week. It's manageable and I'm fairly certain I can adjust it slightly in order to fit in my scheduled half marathon races that I'm already signed up for and still be able to run the same weekend as the real race.

I was also able to use mapmyrun to plan out a course for all four races. I tried to make them all a little different so that I won't be running the same course each time, but it's a little difficult when you're running in the same city four days in a row. I think it's going to be okay though. I also like the fact that I am able to be in control of where I'll be running and I know the hills that are a part of the course. In all honesty, now that I know that I am still going to run the distance and I have a visual of where I will be running I'm getting excited about it and less disappointed.

It's going to be a test of my mental and physical abilities. I'm sure I'm going to have to continue to tell myself over and over that this was the correct decision. I know that it is though..

Let the training continue!

Disneyland Half Marathon- Race Recap

I had been looking forward to this race since we signed up for it. It's by far the most expensive half marathon that we have signed up for and it was also our first Disney race.

We hadn't heard many great things about this race, mostly about the course and about how little you run through Disneyland compared to how much you run through industrial areas. I'm not going to lie, we were pretty sure we wasted our money on this race. To be honest, we spent the same amount of money on this half marathon that we did on the full marathon.

Rachel and I drove to Anaheim Saturday afternoon in order to check into our hotel for the night and attend the expo. I must admit, for a race that had over 17,000 people enrolled I was highly impressed with the expo. I never once felt overwhelmed or crowded. There was a lot to see and a lot to do.

 This was my first time inside the Disneyland Hotel.

This was also the first expo that I have purchased something at as well. I bought a t-shirt that says "If you see me collapse, pause my Garmin."

I also liked this one:

We also got to see Jeff Galloway again. He gave us some great advise and suggested instead of us running 45:1 we run 30:30. I froze again. I wish I could tell him all of the amazing things he's done for me and that if it wasn't for his program I probably wouldn't have stuck with the training and I wouldn't have made it across the finish line. This is the second time I've talked to him. The second time that he's made me feel like I'm the only person in the world. And the second time that the only words I can get out are "Thank you."

Sunday morning came early. We went to bed early Saturday night, however it didn't feel like enough sleep for either of us. Rachel had trouble falling asleep in the first place and when she did she got woken up by the fireworks from Disneyland. I woke up at 12:44am wide awake and ready to go. I ended up falling back asleep but had some difficulty staying asleep. I had a dream about the race, so when I woke up I thought it was over..

We got up, got ready and made the 1.32 mile walk over to the starting area. Out of 17,000 people we were lucky to find the other members of our running group. We said good morning, wished them luck, then made our way to our specific corral to get ready for the start of the race.

It didn't feel like we had been there that long before the National Anthem was sung, complete with red, white and blue fireworks. Then each corral was given it's own send off, Disney style. Complete with Minnie and Mickey waving to us as we started our 13.1 journey.

The first mile brought us around Downtown Disney to the outside of California Adventure in order to bring us into the amusement park. We ran by the roller coaster, through the new Cars Land, by the Tower of Terror and out to make our way to Disneyland.









We started our run through Disneyland down Main Street and started the character sightings then as well with Princess Tiana. At the end of Main Street was Princess Jasmine, Aladdin and the Genie. We turned to run through Frontierland running by Thunder Mountain and making our way to Sleeping Beauty's Castle. We passed the carousel with Peter Pan and Wendy on it, along with a few pirates.

After making our way through the castle we turned to head to Tomorrowland, passing Darth Vader and a few Storm Troopers. After passing the Matterhorn we saw Ariel, Snow White and Cinderella on our way past It's a Small World and into Toon Town where we left the park.

This is when it got difficult for me. There wasn't a lot to distract me from the fact that we were running a race. There were a lot of cheerleaders and a lot of bands, which helped. There was also about a half mile of old and restored cars. It was amazing and I will always be grateful to the volunteers and to the people cheering on the side line. They always help push me through.

It wasn't long before we could see the "Big A" in the distance. It made me really excited and I couldn't wait to get to the stadium. I was under the impression we would be running through the stadium, however I was very excited to find out that we were able to run on the warning track and actually be on the field. There are no words...

It was shortly after leaving Angel Stadium that Rachel was having difficulty catching her breath. There's no wonder it didn't happen sooner for either of us considering it was extremely hot outside, add to that running it seems like a crazy idea.

We did more walking than running the last 3 miles, but we made it to the end and that's the important part. Our original plan was to finish the race in under 3 hours. We crossed the finish line in 3 hours 3 minutes, which considering we stopped a few times for photo op's isn't a horrible time for us.

I am highly impressed with the organization of this race and the price is actually worth what you get. I'm glad we had the opportunity to have this experience.

I'm planning on running this race again, in 2015. The Dopey Challenge is in January 2015,  and if I also complete the Disney Half Marathon at Disneyland that year I will receive two more medals. One for completing the half marathon and the Coast-to-Coast medal. A medal for completing a Disney race in both Florida and California in the same calendar year.

I am not obsessed... I'm dedicated. 

I'm not sure if I have to tell other people that to make them believe it or if I'm trying to convince myself. Either way I guess there are worse things in life to be addicted to.

Meeting Jeff Galloway

I will never be the type of person who can run 26.2 miles straight. I just don't have the body that can do something like that. I will always be amazed by people who can run that distance, hell any distance straight through. I can't even go half a mile without thinking I'm going to die.

And yet I have completed 26.2 miles. Twenty-six point freaking two. It's not something that I thought I would ever do because I never thought about doing it. When Rachel mentioned running a marathon and I decided to join her I didn't really have a plan on how we were going to do this. She wanted to join a running group, I did not. I was afraid that my running style would be something people would make fun of. I thought I'd slow people down. I thought too much.

Rachel quickly found a group and went to a meeting. She asked me to join her for one meeting, just one. If I hated it I didn't have to come back. She got her way. I loved the group and loved the people and loved the method.

The Galloway Method. It's fairly simple. It focuses on intervals. You run for a certain amount of time and then walk for a certain amount of time. You repeat these intervals for your planned distance. Rachel and I started with running 45 seconds and walking 1 minute. There is a formula to these intervals and a way to help you reach your goals, however I have recently been upping my running time based on how I feel.

To me, Jeff Galloway is amazing. His method has helped me to not only become a runner, but it has helped me fall in love with running. Before joining this group I never considered myself a runner, even on the rare occasions that I got out and did it (usually with my iPod on because it was the only way I could make it through a run). I would run a song, walk a song and repeat. I hated every moment of it. I would have a set course and end up taking a different course in order to go home early.

Now I only listen to music on runs with distances longer than 13.1 miles. Now I tend to see someone running down the street and I look with envy, wishing I too could be out running. Now I have more drawers in my dresser dedicated to running attire than I do every day clothes.

It's an addiction... There is no cure. And yet it's also my therapy. Hell, it's cheaper than therapy.

Thanks to our running group we had the opportunity to meet Jeff Galloway at the running store we meet at for our long runs. He also held a class in the morning, however due to some financial difficulties at the time I chose to not partake in this (I highly regret this decision). The meet and greet was free and I couldn't pass up meeting the man that taught me to love something I despised so much only a year ago.

I had so much I wanted to say to him. I wanted to let him know that he has changed my life this past year. I mean, up to this point I had completed 1 marathon, 4 half marathons, a few 5K and 10Ks thrown in there, a mud run and many hours of training runs. I had also PR'd my 5K time, my 10K time, my half marathon time and I had made multiple goals for the future.

When it was my turn to meet him I froze. I think the only things that came out of my mouth was my name (so he could sign my book) and a thank you after we took the picture. 


My training shirt I received when joining the group.

 



Jeff Galloway and me.