10/29/18 - 11/4/18
Another week of training done! Weather has been GLORIOUS!!! I’m making gains in the gym and feeling strong. I'm starting to have shoulder and arm definition again and I love it.
Monday:
Running: It was chilly this morning. My ears and hands were ice cubes by the time I got done.
- Plan: 4mi @ EA 12:25
- Actual: 4.01 @ 12:24
- Splits: 12:25, 12:24, 12:23, 12:21
Weights: I didn’t write it down...again. I know I did squats because I always do squats.
Tuesday:
Running: I just couldn’t find my groove today. I kept forgetting to push my lap button so my interval times are all screwed up.
- Plan: 2mi WU @ 13:15 + 12x150m @ R 8:12 w/ 150m RI + 1mi CD @ 13:15
- Actual: 5.31mi @ 12:31
- Splits: (13:07, 13:01) + ( :52, :46, :47, :50, :43, 46, :43, :43, :53, :42, :40, :42) + 12:39
Wednesday: Halloween! My neighborhood goes nuts. This year there was a haunted house for tweens/teens that scared the pants off them. I recycled my Dark Side Vader costume. Eliana was a Riverdale Vixen and had three friends over to trick or treat. I don’t know what happened to the photo I took of them! We went around the ‘hood with my neighbor, her family and their friends. Nick stayed home. Rob handed out candy. Me and the sweetest neighbor anyone could ever ask for!
Running: Off
Weights: I know what I did, but didn’t write down reps and weights. My trainer has it all so at least someone knows what I’m supposed to be doing!
- Squats
- Deadlifts
- Bench Press
- Dumbbell Chest Press & Hammer Curls
Thursday: Wine & Dine Expo Day! I hadn’t planned on going, but I wasn’t going to be able to fit it in on Friday after the 5K. I wanted a 13.1 magnet and sweatyband. It’s a good thing I went because the magnet sold out that day and sweatybands on Friday!
Running:
- Plan: 4mi @ EA 12:25
- Actual: 4.01 @ 12:23
- Splits: 12:24, 12:25, 12:21, 12:22
Friday: I volunteered to hand out medals to the 5K finishers. I was up at 1:30am so I could leave my house by 2am to get to Animal Kingdom by 3am. The medals are packed in bundles of 25 with 3 bundles to a box). As medal volunteers we had to unpack them, hang them on large wooden racks, cut the zip ties and remove the plastic sleeve from the medals. There 14 of us plus our team leader so it was fairly easy and we were done quickly. There was nothing to do between 3:30 and when the first runners started trickling through around 5:50. Saw rteetz and dis_yoda and a few other disboard runners. I just want offer my sincerest apologies. I am awful, awful, awful at remembering names. There is one woman who has been on my mind the most and I hope you are here reading this journal entry. I just want to thank you so much. I am very humbled that I can inspire you. Keep putting one foot in front of the other and you will reach your goals! When you do, I want you to message me and tell me all about it. I got to give the medal to a good friend and her 13yo son. I hadn't seen them over four years. This was the first race they have ever run! Another apology....I am a pro at getting medal ribbons caught on ears and glasses and I'm sorry if I injured anyone in the process. It was a fun experience and I'm looking forward to volunteering in December to prep stuff for Marathon Weekend in January. I made it home by 8:30am and I was so tired. I napped for two hours before I headed to the gym for personal training and back home for a run.
Running: This run dragged on forever. The effort it took to keep my pace steady was ridiculous. It was just an all around crappy run. We all have these from time to time!
- Plan: 4mi @ EA 12:25
- Actual: 4.01 @ 12:20
- Splits: 12:12, 12:26, 12:23, 12:19
Weights: I’ll try to be better at writing this stuff down.
- Squats
- Overhead press
- Lateral pull downs
Saturday: Ran nice and early! I had a busy day ahead of me.
Running:
- Plan: 2mi @ EB 11:36 + Strides
- Actual: 2.01mi @ 11:11
- Splits: 11:35, 10:46
I tried to get my packing done Friday night so I could rope drop Hollywood Studios. That didn’t happen. I got to the Dolphin around 9:30. My DH is Platinum with Marriott so he usually gets some good upgrades. They wouldn't have an upgraded room available until later that day so I just took the standard room that I booked. I really didn’t care for this stay because it was such a short trip. My only request was to not be near an elevator which they could do! I unpacked then made my way to HS. I got lucky this morning and scored a FP for Slinky Dog at 12:30. I also got a TOT FP at 10:30! I rode the boat over to HS and waited forever for TOT. The FP line was so backed up that they were having us skip the preshow. I made it to where the line splits off to the right and left and a CM was shouting for a single rider. Yay! That’s me! It was a spot in the front row! Yeah!
I had time to kill and I was hungry. I decided to check out the Baseline Tap House. I got a flight with three beers and one cider along with a giant pretzel. This pretzel was way better than a Mickey Pretzel! I brought my stuff outside and spotted a stool along a counter. As I set my stuff down I hear the stool that I was about to sit on being dragged away to the table behind me. I was pissed so I did the reasonable thing and gave the man my best stink eye and took the other stool that was at that table. The guy didn’t say a word and went and found another stool. He was by himself. He needed the second stool for his man bag. Yup. His man bag. He sat there reading a park map and ordered nothing to eat or drink in the 30 minutes I was there.
I made my way to SDD and as usual it was a blast. I really like this ride.
I walked over to the Beach Club for the Dis meetup. The bottom of my foot felt like it was being pinched. I dunno. Hopefully it will stop. Met up with a great group of other Dis runners and ended up drinking 3 Frose. I was invited to dinner with croach, rteetz, mrsg00fy, Princess KP & capang. We took the boat over to HS. My foot was pinching again. Dinner was yummy. I had Spaghetti with roasted garlic & tomatoes and added chicken to it. Walked back to the Dolphin with mrsg00fy who was staying at BW. My foot still had a pinching burning thing going on. I get to my room and take my shoe off and find I have a stupid blister next to the ball of my foot. It wasn’t very big. It was about the size of a pencil eraser. I have worn these sandals numerous times to WDW and never had an issue. I prepped my race gear, took melatonin, checked the clock a bazillion times, texted the family and was asleep by 8:30.
Sunday: Race day! Woke up 5 minutes before my alarm was set to go off. My blister had gone down and I didn’t have any pain. I wasn’t in a hurry this morning and didn’t bother going down to the bus until 3:30. There was a huge line. I didn’t leave the resort until 3:45. The wait time for characters was stupid so I skipped them. I used the porta potty. I ate my bagel with peanut butter and a banana. I stood around waiting for the corrals to open at 4:30. Used the porta potty again. I always pick the wrong line. I think people brought a flashlight and a copy of War and Peace with them. Went to corral C around 4:45. Hardly anyone was in there and I sat down towards the front of the corral. They began moving us towards the start line not long after 5am. It started raining, but not very hard. I’ve always been in corral D and even though I moved up only one corral it was a different experience! The course over the entire race was never congested, I didn’t experience any bottlenecks and after the first few miles the character lines were what I would consider short. Goal for this race was to run it at my Easy B pace 11:36. That didn’t exactly happen because I ran faster, but I wasn’t racing. I ran what felt good in the moment and didn’t bother checking pace on my watch. I was just having so much fun stopping for characters and just enjoying the course and the parks. It was the most stress free half marathon I’ve ever had. It wasn’t until I saw the mile 11 clock that I realized I was going to come in under 2:30 even with all the stops I made. No blister issues at all during the race.
9 Photopass Pictures
13 Mile Marker Photos
Walked two water stations to eat my Huma gel
RunDisney Time - 13.1 mi - 2:23:26 - 10:56 pace
Garmin Time 13.43 mi - 2:22:53 - 10:39 pace
Placed:
- 2355 out of 12,469 finishers
- 1142 out of 8519 women
- 161 out of 1186 in age group (40-44)
I’ll break up splits and pics in another post.
I crossed the finish line and met my DH. He got there just in time. We estimated with my EB pace and character stops that I’d have closer to a 2:45 finish time. Character lines after the race were still stupid. I really wanted a Mickey and Minnie pic. I decided to put it off until the after party which was a mistake. We went back to the Dolphin and I showered and we watched the NYC marathon for a little while. We went to brunch at California Grill. Um, when did they raise the price to $90 per person? It was so good though. I could have eaten my weight in deviled eggs. I got an order of the French toast (it’s a tiny portion) and asked for a half order of the steak and eggs (they gave me a full size). I was so stuffed. I couldn’t finish either entree. They boxed up the desserts for me. I would definitely book this again!
After brunch we walked to MK. We met up with the friends we haven’t seen since we moved to FL in 2014! I had a goal to visit all four parks to get a pic in front of each icon with my race medal. My plan was to go to MK, bus to AK, bus to HS, nap at resort then go to the after party at Epcot. The blister on my foot said otherwise. I limped back to the Contemporary. Rob dropped me off at the Dolphin. It started pouring out. I checked the weather and the forecast was dismal so I decided to just go home. Wet shoes and a blister sounded like a bad idea! It poured all night so I guess I made a good choice???