I didn’t realize I was already in the high mileage portion of my marathon training when I finished the Tower of Terror 10 miler race on October 5th. But I was actually behind in my training. When I returned home I had to turn my focus on to the marathon training plan. According to the Galloway plan, I needed to do a 17 mile run on October 19th. I haven’t gone more than 10 miles in the past month and the last time I did 13 miles was Labor Day weekend. I knew I had to step it up; but I also had to do it in a way where I wouldn’t re-injure myself. So my plan was to run up to Kevin’s work and back. It was a 7 mile route each way. Then on my return trip home if I was feeling good I can add miles close to home or just do those additional miles as a walk instead of a run.
I got Kevin on the bus, brought Adrienne to school, came home, had some apple sauce and then hit the road. It was a beautiful day that day. I went up Cooke Road towards the vineyards and then to the reservoirs and through the back roads of Wallingford towards Meriden. The roads were pretty flat after I go to the lakes. I was really enjoying my route. My pace was good and my legs were feeling like new again.
I had my ipod loaded up with my favorite podcasts, my old nathan fuel belt with 10 oz of water and 10 oz of Gatorade and 2 Gus. I was on my way to a successful run. I left my house around 9:30 and expected to be at Kevin’s work between 10:45 and 11:00. I was close to my estimate and arrived at 11:00. I took a short break, refilled my water bottles and had a Gu. I visited with Kevin for a few minutes and knew I had to get back on the road for the remainder of the trip home which would take the same amount of time. I knew that I needed to get back home in time to shower and have lunch and get ready to pick up Adrienne from school. It took me about 90 minutes to run to Kevin’s work so it would take that much time or more to run back home if I wanted to add additional miles.
On the run towards Kevin’s work I had a little hidden Minnie surprise me on the side of the road. That was the little bit of Disney magic to help me feel successful with this run and to know I was working towards my end goal, the Walt Disney World marathon training.
The return trip home was just as nice as the first half of my route. I ran past the lakes and back up Northford Road towards our house. I took an additional detour which I knew would give me a total of 15 miles. I decided that instead of increasing my longest run by 7 miles, an additional 5 to total 15 would be a good compromise. Then on my 20 mile run I can increase by another 5 miles pretty safely. The last part of my run gave me a smile when I ran past these pumpkin people.
I am looking forward to another long run on November 8th and hope it is as successful as this one. I must admit that my marathon training seems to be going much easier than my Dumbo Double Dare training did and I don’t understand quite why. I am still training for a 10K and this time a full instead of a half marathon. My thoughts are that it is not the hot summer months that I am training in, I am no longer injured and going to physical therapy, and there are longer spans between long runs to allow for recovery. I was afraid for a while because I know what is involved in marathon training and wasn’t sure I wanted to commit to those long miles again. I was nervous because I had just come off of an injury with 2 months worth of physical therapy. But thankfully that therapy was successful and has also taught me what to do to help remain healthy.
How are you all doing with your WDW marathon training? Are you ahead of schedule, on schedule or behind schedule?
I did it! I finished my first Tower of Terror 10-miler and I LOVED it! It was my first night race and it was my first time running that race. I definitely will do it again. The distance was perfect. I enjoyed running at night despite my apprehension during the day that I wouldn’t have the energy to make it through the race so late at night. I figured that once I started running my adrenaline would kick in and I would be fine. The hardest part was sitting around prior to the race waiting to move to the corrals and then in the corral waiting to walk to the start line.
The morning of the race, I woke up when Kim got up for the 5K. I had a splitting headache so I took some tylenol and somehow managed
to fall back asleep until 9:00. I jumped out of bed unaware of what time it is, got in the shower and Kim came back from the 5K. We
got ready and then drove over to the Floridian for breakfast at the Floridian Cafe. That is a favorite place of mine! Once we were there and stepped
foot into the hotel memories of my wedding day came flooding to me as I could smell the special smell of the Floridian (more on my Disney wedding coming up in a future posting).
We took a picture with Richard the greeter there. Love him! We had a great breakfast of pancakes to load up for the day and have a big breakfast with plans for a later lunch to prepare for the race. We had a nice time eating breakfast and talking together.
After breakfast I dropped Kim off at Epcot and ventured over to my hotel to see if I could check in. It was noon, but my room was ready so I checked in, got my things laid out for the race and checked my GPS to figure out where I was in relation to Amanda and Sarah. I hopped in the car and went over to Amanda and Sarah’s place to pick up my bib. They had a great hotel. They were staying at the Nickelodeon World Suites. Those rooms were awesome! They had a three bedroom, three bath suite with a full kitchen, dining room and screened in porch. I believe the average price per night there is $175. A great deal for a group of people to share a place with! And it is only 10 minutes away from Downtown Disney tops!
After visiting with Sarah and Amanda for a while, I drove back to my area, grabbed a turkey sub from Subway, gassed up the car and bought PowerAde and water for the rest of the weekend. I went to my room, called home, ate my sandwich and tried to nap. No such luck but I did rest off of my feet for a few hours. Then I realized it was time to get dressed and ready to meet Kim at her hotel! I jumped into the car, and hit traffic at Downtown Disney, so I turned around and headed towards Saratoga Springs via the back roads. I am getting more comfortable finding my way around Disney on my own now. It is much better marked out than Disney Land is. I got to her hotel and we hopped on the bus just as it was about to leave. We got to Hollywood studios, took pictures of each other and others in costume and hung out to wait for the #teamRunDisney peeps to meet up. Come to find out we were split into two groups. We finally all came together and took a great group
shot!
The announcers started to get the crowd excited, and then the first group was off! They released each corral with about 2 minutes between each one. It moved along fast and before I knew it, we were starting our run. The first part was so cool with the laser light ceiling shining above us with the Twilight Zone music and fog. Kim and I intended on taking advantage of the character stops so that this run would be mostly about FUN, rather than racing, but once we stood in line for Jafar for 5 minutes to have him “take a break” when it was our turn, we bagged that idea and kept running. I was a bit frustrated by that.After our pictures we went to our Corral. I tried to get into the same Corral as Kim, but Disney was policing it very tightly. So Kim went with me to Corral F. That was a bummer; but not a big deal. As we waited in the Corral I was starting to feel that sleepy feeling I get at that time of night. I wasn’t moving around much and it was 9:30. Luckily, I didn’t sit there for long, and we started to walk to the starting line.
We continued on running, with a 2 minute/30 second interval. My legs were feeling great. All the work in physical therapy was finally paying off. I was running pain free. We continued through the miles towards the Animal Kingdom and near the 5K mark. We snapped photos of the mile markers and sites along with way without posing for the photos. It was late and we had early flights, so our mission now was to finish the race at an earlier hour.
I was really enjoying the race. Even though it was very humid and warm, my body seems to be ok with that when attending the runDisney races with extreme weather conditions. It was a lot of fun running at night, the entertainment on the course was great and there were plenty of water stations to keep us hydrated with the excessive heat and humidity. Towards the end of the race, Kim was overheating so I told her to take her wig off and there was immediate relief for her. We walked for about 1/2 mile towards the finish line so that she could cool down and settle her stomach. As we approached the finish line, Kim put her wig back on and we ran towards the finish line for photos.
I LOVED this race! I enjoyed the night race, the theme, the excitement and all the run that comes with a runDisney night race! I am planning on doing this race again next year for sure!
Prior to the race, during the weekend I had an awesome time with Kimberly Markey. Friday morning my flight was at 8:25 a.m. My husband sent me a text from work at 6:15 that said that there was an accident on the highway, lanes were closed. I checked the news and freaked out a bit. When my dad came he checked his phone and recommended I go up through Durham and hop on Rte 9. That was a success. I had some scary minutes there, but once I hit Hartford at it was 7:00 I was happy. I knew I’d be in the shuttle by 7:30 which was my original plan. Had I gone the normal route, there’s no way I would have made my flight. I met Kimberly Markey at the airport and we boarded the plane shortly after I arrived. The flight down was easy and fast. We chatted the whole time.
My plan was to arrive in Orlando, pick up a car, go to the Expo with Kim and head over to Merritt Island to visit my friend Shannon and spend the night there. When we arrived in Orlando, Shannon had sent me a text that her son was puking all over the place, so I decided to make other plans for that night. I was looking forward to seeing her and spending the day and night with her! Kim offered her room to me so I took her up on it. Thankfully I am good with going with the flow.
We picked up the car, drove over to ESPN WWS and got a great parking spot. We went to the merchandise area, found what we wanted to purchase and checked out. The line was long, but it moved very quickly. From car to merchandise and checkout and over to packet pick up was 30 minutes. Then we went to packet pick up which also moved very quickly. After getting the race materials we did some shopping around the expo. There were good vendors there that we were interested in. We got the chance to say hi to Carissa Bealert!
After the expo we checked in at the hotel, grabbed a light snack in the food court and drove over to the Polynesian to go to the meetup with Linda Bachand from the Endurance Sports group and had dinner at Kona. The meetup was a lot of fun and the dinner at Kona was delicious! I got the sushi and salad and Kim got the lamb and salad.
Next we hopped on the monorail and went to the Magic Kingdom for the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. I LOVE this party! My favorite part was the Dance Party in Tomorrowland. We got onto space mountain with no wait and also did some trick or treating. Then we hopped on the barnstormer, with no wait, the Little Mermaid and Kim’s favorite was getting our picture taken with the 7 dwarfs!
I never knew that the pumpkins along Main Street were carved in the theme of the store or location they represent. For instance the ice cream shop, or Casey’s Corner! That is just like Disney to do something so cool! We sat and watched some of the parade, found a good spot afterwards to watch the wishes show and made our way up main street so that would could be near the front for a quick exit after the fireworks. The day was catching up to us and we were getting tired so we left before the finale of the fireworks. We were back to our room by 11 and hit the sack.
Kim had to get up early for the 5K Saturday.
The Tower of Terror 10 miler race was FANTASTIC! With each Disney race that I run I am loving each one more and more. They all have their own theme and uniqueness to them. There are many first that you can do in Disney and I will be writing about those first in upcoming blog posts. It was my first Tower of Terror race, and it was my first night race. I had a very successful run and there were many factors that led to my success. I listened to the Mickey Miles podcasts in the weeks prior to the race and they had tips and recommendations from experts like Jeff Galloway about how to prepare for a night race. I believe I was successful because of the following:
I had a great breakfast.
I rested for the afternoon and stayed off my feet after 4:00
I had a light lunch around 3:30 which was a turkey sandwich from Subway with some baked chips
I hydrated myself a lot with Powerade and water during the day
While waiting for the line up to the corral I had an applesauce
Just before our corral was let out I had a Gu
During the run I took Powerade at most of the water stops instead of water
Stay tuned for part two the actual Tower of Terror 10-miler race!
So what have I been up to lately since the Disney Dumbo Double Dare? Well, I am preparing for my next Disney race. This race came up unplanned. When I was in California I met Amanda Tinney. When we were at the airport to fly home I was telling her how much fun I had and that I was so hooked on Disney races and would love to do another race before Marathon Weekend in January. Amanda told me she had access to two bibs available for Tower of Terror which is October 5. I told her I’d let her know if that would be possible. I had serious doubt that I would be able to do another Disney race just a little over a month after going to California for Dumbo. But I couldn’t stop thinking about it after I got home.
I researched the flights, hotel costs and contacted my friend Shannon who lives in Florida. Well, I am excited to report that a week from Today I’ll be going to Florida! So I get to do two things this trip, I get to visit my friend Shannon for more than 2 hours and I will get to run another Disney race!
After I returned from California I was pleased that my hamstring and IT Band pain wasn’t severe. I had general soreness from running a half marathon, with a little extra stiffness from not being able to take an ice bath and recover as I normally do since I was on a plane several hours after the race for the entire date into the night.
I continued physical therapy for the entire month of September and finally turned a corner. I changed to seeing Kelly exclusively. She seemed more knowledgeable about runners and my injury and did great (painful) deep tissue massage in my hamstrings and IT band and really broke the muscles loose for me. I did a 10 mile run last Saturday with normal stiffness the first 5 miles and then I was warmed up after mile 5. I recovered well and think I am not over the injury and will have success for my upcoming months of marathon training and long runs. I needed the peace of mind after the 10 mile run to know that I can do the Tower of Terror without issue.
I will be flying to Florida with Kimberlee Markey and I can’t wait to see Shannon, spend the night with her family and head over to Disney on Saturday; hopefully stop in to Epcot for the food and wine festival and check into my hotel, take a nap or rest off of my feet and get ready for the race which begins at 10:00 p.m. This will be my first night time race so I am a little nervous about it.
I am looking forward to adding another Disney medal to my quickly growing collection!
I am also looking forward to running the roads in Disney to help me mentally prepare for the marathon. The Osceola Parkway and ESPN were not my favorite parts of the marathon, so I am hoping I will enjoy them during this race. It seems like my brain isn’t preparing for the thought that I should be in the middle of marathon training season now. I have to get in some much longer runs from this point forward.
I am looking forward to seeing my runDisney friends again! I hope to connect with you again during this trip!
Some people get their energy from others. I was definitely energized this weekend by all of the people that I met and hung out with. I had socialized with these friends in the virtual world, but when we met in person I was happy to hang out, chat and got to know everyone. And everyone was so friendly. Because of that I felt energized. I was happy and look forward to meeting up with them again at future events.
I was telling my sister how much fun I was having even though I went on this trip alone and she mentioned that it is good to do something for myself as my own person, outside of being a mom and a wife and an employee. I needed this trip and need to make this a yearly ritual for myself each year. Outside of marathon weekend, I want to sign up for wine and dine in 2014. So when does registration open up for wine and dine?
The real reason why I went to California was for the races, the Dumbo double dare. This was a 10k on Saturday and a half marathon on Sunday.
The day I flew out was really easy. The kids were ok with my going on a trip and Kevin would benefit from having a weekend alone with the kids. When I arrived I picked up a rental car. I got a fiat! I loved it! When I pulled out of the garage towards the highway a panic set in. I thought I would have known easily where to go. But I had to pull over and get out my map and start up my GPS. So here I was on the side of the road at 5:00 on a Friday night on a holiday weekend while planes were flying in just over my head and landing. But I handled it. However, when driving on the highway there was traffic and I was hoping I wouldn’t miss any of my turns. The fiat has an option to shift or be automatic, that explains why the car was screaming in second gear at 50 mph and people were looking at me. I figured it out later when zipping around the streets of Anaheim doing u turns everywhere. Those roads are so strange!
I met up with Mandy and her family and we did the 3 pigs! Challenge and got our medal and piggie swag bag. Then we went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. It was delicious! I got the four cheese pasta and bread. Mandy and ken’s boys Isaiah and sack are so cute. Great kids. I talked to my kids before they went to bed and told them I left them notes under their pillows. They enjoyed that!
After dinner they went back to their hotel and I parked in the lot for downtown Disney, after 3 loops around the same area with multiple u turns. It’s all good. I wanted to visit the expo and get my coast to coast band. After some confusion as to where you actually pick it up, I walked the expo and found Jeff Galloway! I got his autograph and took a picture with him. I was elated. Again I was energized.
At this point it was 8:00 (11:00 back home). I was the least bit tired. Seeing Mandy and her family, meeting Jeff Galloway and zipping around in the fiat was way too much fun! I went to my hotel and checked in and asked where I could get milk. She told me there was a Wal-Mart a block away. I unloaded in my room and drove there for water, milk and coconut water. I felt like a country mouse stepping out into the big world being on a trip alone, renting a car for the first time in my life and being across the United States from my family.
I dumped out my race bags and checked out all the new things Mandy picked up for me and my race shirts. Then I unpacked and laid out my costume for Saturday. I got the coffee maker ready for my tea and oatmeal, but realized I forgot s spoon! I finally got ready for bed, set the TV on a timer, set my alarms and read my book. The fireworks started at 9:30 so I knew I wouldn’t be falling asleep yet. I think I eventually fell asleep around 10:30 PST.
I woke up at 3:30 and was on the bus to the race by 4:30. I hooked up Mandy and ken. I also met Jennifer Lazzario (eatsleeprun.disney.com) and Danielle Nardi (www.liverungrow.com). Finally we went to our corral. It was then that I spotted Sarah McGovern and she introduced me to Sid and Amanda. It took a trip all the way to California for me to finally meet her and she lives 20 minutes away from me. The plan for Mandy and I was to run then 10k, but to stop for pictures often. We did not have a time goal. You spend a lot of moneys for these races so you need to take advantage of the chance to get pictures of things you can’t always get when the parks are open. We had a great time. I loved the pictures we got of mater and lightning McQueen and cars land. That was my favorite. I enjoyed seeing the difference of Disneyland compared to magic kingdom in Orlando. One day I would like to bring my family to Disneyland.
After the race I went back to downtown Disney and bought yogurt and a bagel and went to my hotel for a shower. After that I took the bus back to downtown Disney and went to world of Disney to buy gifts for everyone. I had so much fun shopping by myself.
At 12:00 I went to the www.runningatdisney.com meet up and met Sarah McGovern. I had a blast. I grabbed an ice tea and chilled out there with Sarah and her husband Barry (great guy!), Sid, Amanda, Marc Acosta and the barefoot running guy and his wife were there. He wore the tie on sandals. We hung out and stayed off our feet. Then split up around 2:00. I wanted to go see the expo so I walked over to it and bought a raw threads castle to castle shirt that I wanted before the trip. There was a #teamrundisney meet up at 2 and the Mickey miles podcast at 3:00. On the way to the Mickey miles meet up I spotted Mandy and Kenn at the team rundisney meet up so I stopped in and met Matt, Krissy Murphy and Allie. I visited for about 20 minutes then went to Mickey miles with Kenn and Mandy. Kimberly Torres was also there so I gave her a big hug. Mike and Michelle were awesome! They are so welcoming and personable. I got pictures with them and I recorded an intro for a future show! Here again, my energy spiked from all the positive social interactions with great people and fellow lovers of running and Disney.
Kimberly and I
Kim, Mike and I
Michelle and I
After that I walked to the Disney Land hotel and had dinner with Mandy’s family. Thanks for having me tag along with you all weekend you guys! I got a great flatbread pulled pork pizza. It was just right. They turned in for the night and I had to walk across downtown Disney again to head back to my hotel, but it was only 7:30 so I stopped in the World of Disney again to get the sweatshirt I spotted the day before. I also wanted to get more stuff for the kids and Kevin. I had a lot of fun shopping again. I took my bus back and took the little fiat for a spin. I went to fill it up with gas for the return trip back. I totally loved motoring around in that car!
Back at my hotel I packed and sorted everything out, laid out my clothes for the race and the flight home and prepped the coffee pot, charged up my phone and figured out the map for the return trip to the airport. I knew the fireworks would keep me up so I waited till after to go to bed.
3:20 came quick, I turned off the alarm and climbed back to bed, thank god I set my phone alarm too cause I dozed off! I ate, got ready and left the room at 4:20. I walked to the bus stop across the street but just missed that bus. I was getting nervous cause it was getting late. I made it by 5:00 to meet ken and Mandy, used the porta potty and went to our corral. We ended up climbing a fence to corral E because d was full. Many people were still lining up when the race started. We crossed the start line at 6:00.
We started running early on and did a 90/45 pace. That worked nice for us. We did not stop for pictures for this race. The first 4 miles were slower because it was crowded in the parks and when you tried to run there was a lot of weaving and congestion. At mile 4 we climbed the overpass towards the sun, passed my hotel and ran the streets of Anaheim. From there we were able to pick up the pace. Miles 6-7 went by fast. Mile 7-9 were tough for me. Running in the sun was hard. I just felt like there was no reprieve. We ran past the classic cars and people were cheering “you are almost there!” But we weren’t and that was bothering me. We came to a dirt path for a bit and were coming closer to the stadium but not close enough. I had Mandy lead for a bit. The stadium was the boost I needed. There were Boy Scouts in the seats cheering and the jumbo tron.
Back out to the roads again we were coming up on the last 3.1 miles. Those are the hardest for me. Mandy and I were trying to avoid the negative thoughts and were chanting mantras. I put on my music. I thought I saw the 12 mile mark and told Mandy we only had 15 minutes or so left, until I saw that it was a parking garage sign. That deflated me. The last water ration had Ice bags out so I grabbed one and cooled off my body and gave it to Mandy. She said it made a big difference. We finally entered the back of California adventure and passed the 12 mile mark and I cheered out loud. We took walk breaks a bit longer and pushed on for that last hard mile. We were getting close and decided to walk until the sorcerer’s hat then we will run to cross the finish.
We did it! 2:51 was our finish time. I enjoyed receiving our medals and especially loved receiving the coast to coast medal.
Mandy found ken but he wasn’t looking too good. We rushed him to the medical area and got him bags of ice and made him walk to the shade. Then his sugar was dumping so he ate peanut butter and skittles. He was trembling but the sugar was helping. We were we able to get pictures and then I had to leave. I fast walked back through downtown Disney and got to my bus stop in time to stretch before sitting. I made good time to shower, have my ovaltine, eat my leftovers from cheese cake factory and drive to the airport. The drive back was easy and I made good time. I sat with Amanda at the airport then said our goodbyes until next time! I also met Kimberlee and her family on my flight back to CT and we talked before we boarded and then again when we landed in Dallas while waiting for the others to board the plane for the last leg home. I have her name so I can hook up with her on Facebook. So now I have new friends for January!
I want to make a weekend race getaway something I can do every year. Not necessarily to California, but to a race Mandy will be at. Probably wine and dine because that has a fun event and better weather. Plus it will be cheaper to fly. Like my sister said it is good to do something outside of being a mom, wife and employee. I really appreciate my husband for supporting me and helping me make my dreams come true! I hope my kids also learn what it means to me to do things for myself and participating in this sport.
My next adventure is going to be Tower of Terror in Florida on October 5th. I can’t wait!
I had a rough week, but a productive week. Let me explain. I went on two short runs during the week, but had a lot of pain on those runs. I had PT on Tuesday and Thursday and I ran on those nights as well. Tuesday’s run was worse than Thursday.
In my appointment Thursday I showed Lisa where the pain was isolating in my IT bands and told her that instead of just the exercises, I need to break up the muscle spasms and loosen them up. So she inflicted pain (good and bad pain), by using her elbows and digging into the IT bands along the sides of my knees and my thighs. I am still bruised from it, but I knew it was necessary pain to go through to regain my strength and pain free running. Thursday night’s run was better. Not perfect, but better.
On Friday when I got up I felt things that I knew needed attention right away, rather than wait until the following week’s appointment. So, I made an appointment and went to physical therapy. I showed them where the areas of pain were and did my exercises and then was able to benefit from the deep tissue massage.
This was good. My legs were feeling better Saturday and by Sunday morning I was nervous, but ready to go for a long run. I had hoped to get in a 10 mile run, but was open to the fact that I may not get past 6 or 8 miles. The weather was spectacular. It was sunny, mid 70’s and no humidity. I had a little pain; but was in a much better place. I enjoyed the run. I did not have any negative thoughts in my mind either despite some fatigue and pain I was experiencing around mile 7 and I knew I still had 3 miles to get me home.
Having a good 10 mile run under my belt, I am feeling a lot more confident about the 1/2 marathon in Disney Land. I was sore the day after and it took a lot of heat and rolling, Bengay and stretching to allow me to walk. Instead of running this week I made the difficult decision to take an extra day for rest and to also walk on my scheduled run day. I usually push through the pain. This pain has been something that I shouldn’t push through anymore. Especially with several PT sessions and slow progress. I would rather go to PT and have benefits of the therapy, rather than go there and do disaster recovery. It was a tough decision for me not to run, but then I realized that many times I had to not run for 7-10 days because of my back and I continued to get my alone time and training time by just walking instead, and according to Jeff Galloway you are still training for endurance by walking. So I realize I won’t lose too much of my training if I walk two of my runs instead of run them. Instead of hoping to do 13 miles this weekend I am going to hope for 5-8.
As for my packing and costumes, I am really happy. I have my 10K costume picked out and I think I have coordinated something good for the 1/2 marathon. I purchased this shirt from rawthreads.com and I love it! Their fabric is so nice! I will be sure to purchase more from them at the Expo. I started packing my bags and putting things aside along with making my lists of don’t forgets! Mandy and I have plans for me to join her family for dinner on Friday, we’ll participate in the Run Disney so I can Eat Disney event, and I am looking forward to the meet ups scheduled for Saturday as well. With all this fun, I still have to figure out time to go into the parks!
I got Kevin on the bus, brought Adrienne to school, came home, had some apple sauce and then hit the road. It was a beautiful day that day. I went up Cooke Road towards the vineyards and then to the reservoirs and through the back roads of Wallingford towards Meriden. The roads were pretty flat after I go to the lakes. I was really enjoying my route. My pace was good and my legs were feeling like new again.
