Wow, August already?

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!

Team AllEars on Running to Disney podcast

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!

Goofy Challenge training update, part 3

Started the actual training program last week. I’ve decided to follow Hal Higdon’s Intermediate I Marathon Training program to see if I get in better shape for the Goofy Challenge. I’ve tweaked the schedule to accommodate the days I typically run. Counting the Goofy Challenge runs, I’ll do over 600 miles for this training, which is more in an 18-week period than I usually run in 7-8 months. I feel that I can do this, though, because I’ve been getting bored, basically, with the training program I’ve used for the past two marathons. It will mean a lot of running in November and December, but hopefully, the winter weather will be closer to 2006, not last year. Two years ago, I ran in the snow twice, I think. Last year, I ran in the last five weeks of the training, including a couple of snow-ice storm type days that drove me inside after several miles.

I’m also trying to be much, much, MUCH better about food and eating. I gained a bit a weight, 5-7 lbs, over the summer as I continued my job search (still looking, but I did get a short-term contract job), so that should help with the predilection to graze a bit in the afternoons. If I could just lay off the Starbucks!

We also booked our DVC rooms for January and we’ll be staying at Saratoga Springs Resort for the first time. That should be interesting. We did cut one day off the trip, though, in hopes that I’ll have to take time off from work, just like my wife will have to do.