In less than a week, we’ll be at WDW getting ready to run. I hope everyone running the half, full or Goofy has had a good training cycle for their respective races and that the holidays have treated them well. I have found that the lure of holiday treats has been a bit too much, but I don’t think I’ve gone overboard. I should be fine once the race starts.
If you haven’t been checking the weather forecasts for Marathon Weekend, it might be a good idea. Race weekend looks to be cooler than the past couple of years, which isn’t a bad thing. I encourage everyone to dress appropriately for the pre-race, race, and post-race. No point trying to be tough and be cold before the race, only to find out you could have kept that sweatshirt, jacket or those sweatpants on right up to race time. It’s a long few hours before the race starts, so make sure you’re as comfortable as possible!
If anyone wants to meet up before the marathon, I’m on Twitter (abramdf) and I’d be happy to meet up with you. I know that the Team AllEars marathon runners are meeting before the race Sunday morning, so I’ll probably be by “U” in the race start area. I hope to see you there!
Friday, January 1, 2010
Sunday, December 27, 2009
The Importance of Emotion in Running
Gordon at Running to Disney has posted a wonderful observation about the emotional side of running. I encourage everyone who reads my blog to take a moment, read Gordon’s thoughts, and then think about how emotions affect you during a run. If you aren’t a runner, but know one (or several), please read this to begin to understand what we go through and how you can better understand the emotions we experience during training or a race. If you don’t run or know any runners, Gordon’s thoughts should still resonate with you for any activity that you do passionately.
It is the kind of thought process like Gordon’s that make me proud to be a runner connected to a community that understands, on one or several levels, what it is like to train hard for a race and the emotional impact the training, preparation, and the running of the race has on each runner. It is different for everyone, as Gordon notes, and should be addressed as a unique response for each runner that can not be pigeonholed into neat categories. Nor should it. How I deal with a good or bad training run is going to be completely different not only from any other runner, but also from day to day, depending on my emotional state at the beginning of the run, during it, and at the finish.
I have had many training runs start out great and go downhill due to any number of things that still ended up being good runs because I pushed through the emotions that were threatening to make the training ineffective.
I have forced myself out the door, not wanting to run (certainly not outside), being in a terrible mood and during the run found joy or bliss at the fact that I was outside, getting exercise, training for a race.
Our emotional states are much more important than many people, including runners, believe. Telling ourselves that our minds have to convince our bodies that we can finish, find the strength to complete that last sprint, get up the hill, make it to the finish line, whatever the case might be is important, but the emotional toll that effort takes is rarely discussed, rarely considered.
How each of us faces the emotions that surface from our running helps shape how we train and how we run. It’s okay to take about it and we need to have that discussion more. You can bond through the miles on the road, but you can also bond through the feelings you have while on that road. Personally, I’m open to that talk anytime with anyone willing to listen and share. Are you?
It is the kind of thought process like Gordon’s that make me proud to be a runner connected to a community that understands, on one or several levels, what it is like to train hard for a race and the emotional impact the training, preparation, and the running of the race has on each runner. It is different for everyone, as Gordon notes, and should be addressed as a unique response for each runner that can not be pigeonholed into neat categories. Nor should it. How I deal with a good or bad training run is going to be completely different not only from any other runner, but also from day to day, depending on my emotional state at the beginning of the run, during it, and at the finish.
I have had many training runs start out great and go downhill due to any number of things that still ended up being good runs because I pushed through the emotions that were threatening to make the training ineffective.
I have forced myself out the door, not wanting to run (certainly not outside), being in a terrible mood and during the run found joy or bliss at the fact that I was outside, getting exercise, training for a race.
Our emotional states are much more important than many people, including runners, believe. Telling ourselves that our minds have to convince our bodies that we can finish, find the strength to complete that last sprint, get up the hill, make it to the finish line, whatever the case might be is important, but the emotional toll that effort takes is rarely discussed, rarely considered.
How each of us faces the emotions that surface from our running helps shape how we train and how we run. It’s okay to take about it and we need to have that discussion more. You can bond through the miles on the road, but you can also bond through the feelings you have while on that road. Personally, I’m open to that talk anytime with anyone willing to listen and share. Are you?
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Happy Holidays!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!! I hope you all have a great holiday and enjoy the long weekend! I'm hoping to be able to run outside Saturday, but we'll see if the snowstorm here in Minnesota is too much for holiday snow removal. If the roads or sidewalks aren't clear, I'll try Sunday. I'll get my 12 miles in one way or another.
Only two more weeks before we head down to WDW!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Only two more weeks before we head down to WDW!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
WDW Marathon Weekend interview pt 2on Running to Disney podcast Episode 42
Gordon at Running to Disney has posted part 2 of our interview about the WDW Marathon Weekend. It’s episode 42 and available at iTunes. Please let me know if you have any questions about the race weekend or anything else related to the race and I’ll be happy to help!
Monday, December 21, 2009
WDW Marathon Weekend possible meet-up
I think the second part of the interview with Gordon at Running to Disney may mention the possibility of having a Running To Disney listener meet-up. I’d like to see if any listeners are interested in meeting before the marathon on Sunday morning at some incredibly early time in the morning. If anyone’s interested, let me know and we’ll see what we can arrange.
WDW Marathon Weekend interview on Running to Disney podcast
My good friend Gordon at Running to Disney interviewed me last Friday about the WDW Marathon Weekend experience. The episode is out now and I’d recommend listening. If you are a first-time participant, we tried to give you a sense of what to expect as you prepare for the trip and the race. Apparently, we talked so long that Gordon had to split the interview into two parts. Please let me know if you have any questions about the race weekend or anything else related to the race and I’ll be happy to help!
Friday, December 18, 2009
Chatting with Disneyrunner
I had the opportunity to chat with Gordon this afternoon about the 2010 WDW Marathon weekend. He's hoping to post the episode soon. I'll post when it's ready.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Training Update – Early December
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.
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.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Trip Report and Training Update
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.
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.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Quick note before our trip
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!
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!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)