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I see I have more followers - Thanks and Welcome!Regular posting is apparently not my strong suit! I’m trying to find the time to write good posts, but sometimes a quick update will have to suffice. Since my last post, I’ve been continuing to train, although the time change at the beginning of November put the kibosh on my after work training runs, as it’s dark by the time I leave work. No worries, though, the elliptical downstairs has been a faithful training companion of mine for the last four years. I still get outside for the long runs I do on Saturdays, though. I have been fortunate that our Minnesota weather has been pretty good so far.
Yesterday I did my first 20 miler (the second is in 2 weeks) and it was the first day outside that it was flat out cold. When I started at about 5:45 am, it was 17 degrees with a wind chill of 11 degrees. At least there was no snow on the ground worth mentioning. It was a tough run, though, because I had layers on (as I should) that got soaked with sweat and froze, so I was carrying extra weight over the course of the run. I walked a lot more than usual, in part due to the cold, in part due to the fact that I went out a lot faster than I should have for a long run in that weather. I still finished in 4:11, but my pace was horrible compared to the last few months. I’ve learned to start out slower and be more careful with my pace for the run in 2 weeks, so we’ll see how that goes.
We went to WDW Oct. 11-17 and had a great time. I was able to do three 3-mile training runs with my good friend Gordon from Running to Disney. Both of our families were staying at Pop Century, so it was a cinch to get together and go for some quick runs. Of course, I needed to get up at 5:30 three mornings on my vacation, but well worth it. Good company and good conversation on a run make up for the early mornings. We were down during the Epcot Food and Wine Festival, too, which is always a good time. I had heard a couple of reports on various podcasts about the food kiosks, so I knew what I wanted to try, both because I'd heard they had good food and because I'd heard the food was less than optimal (non pun intended, sometimes I'm a glutton for punishment!). The rice pancake at China was indeed not that great. The beef spareribs in mashed potatoes at France were awesome! We learned a few lessons on this trip, too.
First lesson, the days of not planning what we'll do on a given day are pretty much over. We found out we need to have at least a general idea of which parks we're going to and when we need to try to take a break. Our son is starting to want to ride certain rides at the parks and we have to make sure we're getting those parks in at least once during the trip. Also, the pool is popular with him, but we have to make sure we allow enough time before bedtime for him to be able to play long enough.
Second lesson, character meals are starting to be a favorite for our son (and his parents)! We did Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary for breakfast and it was a lot of fun. The characters interact very well (as expected) and the food is pretty darn good, too. We will probably make sure we do at least one character meal each trip now.
Third lesson, sometime our son needs to just play - anywhere that is practical. He likes to have time to play either with us or by himself, but with us in close proximity. I think we'll be okay in January, because for the last three years, we've let our son play while we went to packet pick-up at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex. There's plenty of space to run around and he should be fine. We'll still make time each day, but that play time at the expo and packet pick-up is really great.Training update: I've been able to run outside more than once each week so far, much better than last year, when I was only doing the long run outside by now. I've felt faster and I've lost 10.5 pounds since late July. I'm also amazed how much of a difference not being stressed out by a job I didn't like or trying to find a job has made. I haven't even stressed about the weather on the long runs, which i've done the last three years. Of course, it's really helped that, so far, I've had great to decent weather for the long runs. I'm hoping to lose more weight and get a little faster so that come January, I'll feel really good about my preparation.More to come as I try to get more regular with my posts.
Ran 12 miles this morning, which isn’t bad anymore, but we had a light dusting of snow last night. It was a bit chilly this morning, the wind was just strong enough to provide somewhat of a wind chill. After four years of training for the WDW Marathon in the fall and winter, the weather was not a problem, especially since I saw the sun rise, which made the run that much nicer. I’ve been more free-form with my routes, too. The Garmin keeps me updated on my miles, so I don’t worry too much about where I’m going. I know the area I run in well enough to be able to change the route on the fly, which is definitely a nice change of scenery.
While I was running this morning, I listened my good friend Gordon Harvey’s Running to Disney podcast. He has a new episode that he uploaded yesterday before hitting the road to go to WDW for the week. He had a great interview with Lou Mongello of WDWRadio fame and Gordon also kindly mentioned this blog (which is giving me the impetus I needed to post much more often now!). Gordon’s a great guy and I’m excited to have the opportunity to meet up with his family and him next week while my family is at WDW. In fact, Gordon and I are staying at Pop Century and are planning to go for a run around the resort one morning (early, I suspect, so we can get to the parks!). I hope to have a trip report when we get back and until then, thanks to everyone who reads this blog and, if this is your first time reading it, welcome!
Marathon training continues. I’ve been able to get outside more the last few weeks, which is always good. I’ve also started eating better again and I’ve lost 7 pounds since early August. Not great, but a steady loss is best for me so I don’t feel deprived and end up snacking or slipping backwards into bad eating habits. I have found I have gained speed (not much, but still an improvement) and I seem to be enjoying my training again. For a while it was not fun to run, but a duty, a chore to check off the to-do list. Now I get excited about running outside, even in the drizzle like last Saturday morning.
Next week we’ll be in WDW and I plan on running at least twice, if not three times, while we are down there. We’re staying at Pop Century and I’ve run there several times before. If you run around the outside of the resort, which is a loop of Memory Lane (the back walkway by Hourglass Lake), the outside of the parking lots and part of Century Drive, and then along the bus stop side of Classic Hall, it’s about 3.5 miles. I’ll do that loop twice two days we’re there and possibly once one other day. I’ll walk around the parks enough to be able to indulge a bit at the Food and Wine Festival booths at Epcot, so I’m not too worried about that. We’ll have a great time as usual.
Boy, I’m glad I’m not getting paid to do this! I’d never make any money if I was supposed to be timely. For those that read this blog, thank you. I hope to be more consistent in posting now that my training for the 2010 Walt Disney World Marathon will officially begin on Monday (Labor Day). I spent much of August in recovery from the Urban Wildland Half-Marathon (see last post) and maintenance running to keep some semblance of a base. I intend to post on my training here as I prepare for the marathon in January, but with a bit of a difference. I’m planning on posting pictures (finally!) of the running routes I have. I think it is very interesting to see where people run because it helps me visualize what other people face during their training. I figure that if people are willing to read this blog, I could at least break up the text with photos now and then.
I am having a bit of a mental crisis, though, concerning my participation with Team AllEars. I am really excited about the team and the opportunity to be a part of something bigger than my running at WDW, especially when the group is raising money for such an important cause in fighting breast cancer. I am committed to raising the money that team members are asked to raise, although in all honesty, asking for donations is outside my comfort zone. That is one reason why I asked to be a part of the team . My whole life as been spent in or around my comfort zone, something I freely admit. Last year’s months of unemployment certainly took me out of that zone and I learned much about myself that made me proud and, at times, made me sad. Finding a new job in a role I never imagined, in an industry I never thought I’d work, and without help from a network of contacts showed me that I can step up to challenges that really test my belief in myself.
How does that thought translate to Team AllEars and raising money? Asking folks to help me has never been a strong suit of mine (ask my wife, who’s been with me for 22 years). I have a plan to raise money, which I think will work, but the back-up plan is to move outside the comfort zone. The help I am now asking for is advice. What has worked for you to overcome doing something outside your comfort zone or new to you? I’m very interested in hearing any ideas anyone has and I appreciate the time you take to read my blog and follow my progress as I work toward another marathon.
So much for timely blogging! Although, to be fair, not much has happened since the last post in late June. I ran the Urban Wildland Half-Marathon in Richfield this past Saturday. My training was a bit unusual for me in that most of the days I ran, I did it on the elliptical. I have yet to figure out how to get a run done at work, either before or after work. This means that I get up early-ish during the week and go downstairs to the elliptical and do my miles or splits. On the weekends, I get my long runs done outside, but it is not the same as last year when I was outside almost every day I trained (of course I was unemployed most of last year). I’d really like to get a routine figured out to run outside more during the week, especially since I’ll be starting my training for the 2010 Walt Disney World Marathon on Labor Day.
To go back to the Urban Wildland Half-Marathon, the race itself was fine. I finished in 2:30, which is about what I expected. I felt good for almost the whole race, although I did walk a good chunk of the last couple of miles. The course is fairly flat and goes through Wood Lake Nature Center, as well as several parks in Richfield. There were about 1100 runners who finished the race, so a small-ish race, but the widely-scattered spectators kept us pumped up and excited. The water stops usually feature area schoolkids as volunteers, which is always fun. I like seeing the kids get into shouting “Water! Water!” and “Good job!” I always thank each one I take water from and hope that they feel like they helped me finish.
After the race, I realized that in the roughly 12 month period from the 2009 to 2010 WDW Marathon Weekends, I will have run 2 marathons, 3 half-marathons, a 10k and a 5k, in addition to training. Sometimes the elliptical doesn’t look too bad!
So, we have our reservations for October and for January, too. I’m excited to go, although I’m a bit sad that we going down the day of the Race for the Taste 10K. It will be nice to be at WDW without trying to get a race packet, arrange to get to the race, or do anything racing-related. Plus, the Food and Wine Festival will be underway at Epcot. I’ve been at WDW during Food and Wine several times and I love it. It is a great opportunity to experience food you may not have a chance to try at any other time.
We may also go to Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party while we’re down there. Our son will be 4 by the time we go. He went to MNSSHP when he was 2 and seemed to enjoy it, but he was very young. I’d like to see if he would go again, as we’ve always had a good time when we gone in the past. Just can’t wait!!
My good friend Gordon at Running to Disney interviewed Michelle Scribner-McLean and Mike Scopa, the co-captains of Team AllEars on episode 23 of the Running to Disney Podcast. He mentions me a few times, which is really nice and very generous of him, as other listeners of his great podcast are also team members (and I can’t wait to meet them!). The team is really supportive and a great group to be associated with as I get ready for the 2010 Marathon. As a reminder, I (and the rest of the team) are raising money for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. Please support us as we help this cause at a great event. I’m honored to be a part of the team and to have friends like Gordon help out by publicizing our efforts.
My family and I will be back down at WDW in October. Usually, I would try to finagle an entry into the Race for the Taste 10K, but I decided that a trip to WDW without a race would not be a bad thing (this time!). We’ll just miss the race, but that’s okay, since we’ll be back down in January. We’re really looking forward to this trip, which will be my son’s 7th time. He turns 4 in September, so he is a seasoned veteran already! Also, Food & Wine will be going on while we’re there, which is always a good thing!
My wife and I will both be training while we’re down there in October, which is fine. I’ve been in WDW while training for races before and it is a good chance to get used to the weather you may face on race day. Currently, we’re staying at Pop Century, but we may be moving to a DVC resort (not sure which one yet) instead. So, depending on where we stay, I may get to run a familiar route or create a new one. It’s all good if you’re running at Disney!
A quick note here – I have joined the Team AllEars running team for the 2010 WDW Marathon weekend. Part of our goal is to help raise money for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. Please consider helping out this fantastic cause and supporting Team AllEars as we train for our half-marathons, full-marathons, and Goofy Challenges. I’ll have more information on the team as I continue to train. Thanks!!!
. . .going okay, although I’d like to get outside more than once a week. I’m trying figure out how to be able to run at work, at the end of the day more than likely. I really need to lose some weight and I’m not sure why I’m having so much trouble getting back into the right mindset to eat better.
WDW in October – no Race for the Taste, but I think we can go to MNSSHP (I should probably mention it to my wife!).
Got the second issue of twenty-three, the Disney D23 quarterly magazine. It is good so far, but I still need a really good reason to join D23. Haven’t gotten it yet.
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