What I love about running is that you can learn something all the time. Always growing. What I learned from this race also came from something Jeff sent me in my follow up email about the race. This past weekend I ran the Cox Providence Marathon with my friend Gail. Here’s what I learned from that experience.
Gail has done several marathons this year and is an experienced runner. So running together for this race was going to be easy for her (I assumed). What I learned was that when you are going to run a race together it’s a good idea to discuss the intervals that you plan to use for race day ahead of time so that everyone trains with the same intervals. Since Gail uses longer intervals, the frequent stop and starts of the 20/20 intervals bothered her legs and hips.
Jeff Galloway also asked me in my race recap email what her longest run was 3 weeks prior to the event. I don’t recall excatly what her longest run was, but this is good information to know to make sure that the person you are running with is sufficiently trained for the race you are running. Since Gail has done multiple marathons in the past few weeks that thought never crossed my mind. In my opinion, she is sufficiently trained. But what Jeff is referring to is for anyone. Be sure you talk to your running partner and make sure you are both trained equally if you plan to stick together for the entire race.
Something else that occurred to me is that we should talk about a bail out plan. If someone is on the quest for a PR and are running with a friend, you need to know ahead of time what the plan is if someone is falling behind or having trouble. When Gail began to hurt I wasn’t sure what to do. We tried to use different intervals to see if we could sync up where she could run her longer intervals and I could run using my shorter ones, but then we were pulling apart from each other. We found a middle of the road interval pace that worked for both of us. But I was on a quest to get a 5:30 marathon finish and she was doing an awesome job of getting me there. Then when things started to slow down we weren’t sure if we were going to make it. But I didn’t want to leave her behind. I am too loyal like that. I also didn’t want to run to the finish alone without her because she helped me get to where I was. So it’s important to talk about the plan of action ahead of time prior to the race and not when someone is having a hard time because honestly, it’s hard to think and make decisions like that on the race course and you don’t want to worry about hurting someone’s feelings during that part of your race.
Despite the rough patch we hit during mile 18 of the race, we found a plan that worked for us and we happily crossed the finish line together and I am so glad I had a friend there to help me and to also experience this special event with me! Thanks Gail! Looking forward to more races and more PRs!
I just learned this week that I was selected to attend the Disney social media mind celebration on the road in Philadelphia on June 19th. I am so excited!
I have been putting a lot of time and effort into my one word resolution this year to GROW. I have been growing my running skills by obtaining 2 PRs recently. I have also been focusing on growing my blog. So this event will hopefully help give me some more tools to learn about social media and how it pertains to Disney.
I researched into past year’s Disney Social Media Moms On the Road celebrations and saw that they have a guest speaker, so I am looking forward to hearing what will be presented this year and who will be presenting it. It also looks like a great place to network with other bloggers.
So I hope to GROW some more next month. Stay tuned for my recap!
While away at my race this weekend a few ideas came to mind for Mother’s Day gift ideas after talking to my friends who are also runners. In addition to the suggestions I gave last weekend, here are a few more your mother runners may like to receive! Magazine subscriptions to Runner’s World, Women’s Running, Running Times, Trail Runner or Ultrarunning Magazine. Most women like to thumb through magazines, why not give your runner mother something different from what she may be already reading! I know that I get Runner’s World magazine, but I would like to get Woman’s Running or even check out the Trail Runner magazine. I haven’t started trail running yet, but I have been thinking about it. A Fitbit. Moms are always on the go. Do you know how many miles you cover when you aren’t working out? Are you getting enough sleep? A Fitbit can tell you that kind of useful data to help you lead a healthy or healthier lifestyle. A Fitbit tracks your steps, distance, calories burned, and stairs climbed. At night it measures your sleep quality. There are several model to choose from. Some are wristbands, some can be clipped to your bra or clothing. The wristband model The Flex(TM) has lights on it to allow you to see if you are getting close to your personal goal. The price range for a FitBit is $99. Beecause charms. Add a little sparkle to your favorite running shoes. Or commemorate a special race distance with charms that you can string through the laces of your shoes. The price ranges from $12-15 for a set of charms. Well here’s a good list of ideas for Mother’s Day so you don’t have any excuses why you couldn’t think of something to get mom this year! What have you decided to give your wife or mother for Mother’s Day? Share your gift ideas with me!
I love to listen to podcasts when I run. As you know, some of my favorites are the Mickey Miles Podcast, Be Our Guest Podcast, Laugh or Go Crazy, Two Gomers, and the DIS Unplugged. I decided while on a run that since I listen to these people (friends) all the time in my headphones, I’d love to start more of a dialogue with them and learn more about the voices behind the podcast. I recently interviewed Mike Rahlmann and Rikki Niblett from the Be Our Guest Podcast because I know Mike attends the races, but learned via Twitter that he registered for the WDW marathon. That surprised me so I reached out to him and learned that he was bit by the running bug and Rikki is also going to run the 10K during 2015 Marathon Weekend.
I have had the pleasure to meet Michelle Scribner-MacLean and Mike Scopa at various meetups at runDisney races and they are the friendliest most welcoming, personable people to meet. I had never been to a meetup before, so my first one was in Disneyland during the Dumbo Double Dare in 2013. It was Mike and Michelle’s first time hosting a Mickey Miles Podcast meetup and it was a big success! There were a lot of people there and Mike and Michelle were so gracious to stand in the hot humid sun to talk to their fans! I also attended their meetup during Princess weekend this February also. And I ran into them one night in Epcot during marathon weekend in January. It’s nice to just run into people and they remember who you are! That means a lot to me!
Just a few weeks ago I went to the Boston Marathon as a spectator to cheer on Michelle and other friends. I like to support those who are reaching for their dreams. Unfortunately I had to catch a train home and just missed Michelle by about 20 minutes! I really wished I could have seen her!
I asked her and Mike if I could interview them for my blog and of course, they said yes! Here is what Michelle shared with me:
Have you always been interested in running?
Absolutely not. I have always been active. As a kid I did baseball and tennis and as a teen I did field hockey and was captain of my tennis team in high school. Running was a punishment or something I needed to do to get do the real sport that I wanted to do.
What was your first race?
My first race was a half marathon — Disney 2010 in January. It probably would have made more sense to start on a local race but Disney felt like a safe place to start.
What was your first non Disney race?
I did the Turkey Trot on my town (probably 2011)
Do you have a dream race?
In terms of location, running in Hawaii would be amazing. I’d love it if runDisney would branch out and do running vacations in different locations.In terms of my dream running team…any time I run with friends and family is the best.
You have been running with your son Liam lately. Do you think you will run a marathon with him?
I love running with Liam (and he’s signed up for some 10Ks this summer). His goal is to run a half in two years. He’s not great about practicing but he’s enthusiastic about running and loves running Disney.
Now that you have accomplished the Boston Marathon (yay!) do you wish to do it again?
As someone who grew up 10 miles outside of Boston, the marathon has always been something I’ve revered but never aspired to. The events of last year and the opportunity to run for my mom’s hospital (Spaulding Rehab, who did a lot of the rehab for the bombing victims) made it important for me to run this year. Doing the Dopey last year gave me the confidence to be able to do it. Boston was my third marathon and, by far, the most difficult. Having said that, I would do it again in a second. The crowd was amazing and the feeling of running down Boylston Street was really indescribable. I was very proud of my city.
Do you have a favorite moment from that day?
Seeing the crowds, generations of families, with “take back our finish line” posters was really cool. However, my favorite part of the day was the hugs and the look of pride that I received from my family and friends who were there to to cheer me on.
Do you listen to podcasts when running? What are your favorites?
I rarely listen to podcasts while I’m running (I usually listen to music). If it’s over 13 miles I’ll listen to WDWToday, This American Life, The Moth, and books on tape.
How did you and Mike become friends and decide to do the podcast?
Mike and I were both writers on AllEars.net. It turns out that we had a lot in common: running, teaching, and love of Disney. We also lived near each other and became friends. He coached me through my first half marathon and a few years later we started TeamAllEars to raise money for breast cancer research, help foster the love of running Disney, and to encourage new runners. We wrote many blogs about running and had lots of discussions with new runners. The podcast was born out of this and the desire to help folks learn about running Disney races.
I love new gear just like you do. What is your favorite gear you use?
I’m a “gadget girl.” I love my technology gadgets. My favorite is my Garmin 220.
I am also using Jeff Galloway for ecoaching. What was the most valuable thing you learned from him?
It was wonderful to work with Jeff. It was nice to have a “go to” person for my questions and he was so supportive.
I train teachers and he’s a born teacher. The thing I learned is that running, like teaching, is a craft. You can always learn more, always improve if you want to.
Thank you Michelle for answering these questions! I love it! I do wish I could have given you a hug that day in Boston! But I am very proud of you and so happy you enjoyed that special day and major accomplishment! Keep up the great work! You and Mike are doing a great job keeping us informed of runDisney events and also of running information that we can find useful and entertaining.
I am so glad I signed up for this race! I had a fantastic time and I got my PR!
I don’t know why I look like I am scared!
On Saturday I picked up Kim and we drove up to Providence talking all the way, as usual. We ran next-door to the convention center once we arrive in Providence and picked up our bibs then as girls love to do we hit the Providence mall for a little shopping. Non-running related for a change. After shopping we checked into our hotel and Kim turned on the TV for the Kentucky Derby pre-race shows. The excitement about the Derby was starting to build! The hotel was great! It is right across the street from the Convention Center and the starting line so we could walk wherever we needed to. The rooms were very large! We got the junior suite with 2 king beds and it was awesome. They were running a special for the race weekend, too so I highly recommend this hotel for next year.
Junior suite with 2 king beds
Junior suite with 2 king beds
We heard from Gail and then she picked us up at our hotel and we headed over to the Red Striper restaurant. This is where we watched the Kentucky Derby. That was a fun 2 minutes! I wish our race was that short! The food at the restaurant was great. I ordered the beet salad and a Grilled Pizza Margherita. This was definitely a great choice of restaurants for a pre-race dinner. Warning: if you eat the beet salad before a race, your pee will be red the next day, it’s not that your bladder got irritated from the marathon. (Runners, this is good information to know ahead of time because it could leave you with quite a scare!)
The Dorrance
After dinner we brought Gail up to the room and dropped off her things, then we decided to head out to a bar that her husband recommended called the The Dorrance (Dorchester to us). The concierge didn’t know what we were talking about so we took a walk down the street and found it on our own. It was a gorgeous building. The inside was spectacular, but it was closed off for a private wedding. So we walked back to our hotel and grabbed a drink in the bar downstairs. Then it was time to head up and call it a night. Staying at the Biltmore was great. The beds were big and comfortable, and because the location was right across the street from the starting line, we didn’t have to get up extra early to drive anywhere. The only downside was that because the building was so old, it was hot in the rooms because the heating system is set to hot for winter and cold for summer and we were in the season in the middle. If we had know that maybe we could have opened our window. But it was also not our own beds so we didn’t have the greatest night’s sleep but that happens usually prior to a race.
When the alarm went off at 6:00, that’s when I was really sleeping well. I was grumpy. I honestly didn’t want to run the race at that moment! At this point I was having so much fun having a girls weekend I really didn’t feel like running the full marathon that I have been training for. But once I had my tea and oatmeal and got myself ready it was okay. The girls made fun of me because I put on full makeup and earrings! It was a spectacular morning for a race. The starting line was set up across the street and the music was playing.
The starting line view from our room
I wasn’t feeling nervous, but I wasn’t all that revved up for it yet either. I reviewed my notes from my coach, Jeff Galloway about the paces that I should be doing for each mile. He said to use whichever intervals that I was comfortable with because I trained with different ones to see what I liked. I decided I wanted to do 20/20 and see how I do with that. This is what he told me to do:
Miles 1-5 12:45 – 12:50 per mile.
Miles 6-13 12:35 – 12:45 per mile
Miles 14-20 12:25 – 12:35 per mile
When I was reviewing that with Gail and Kim I was a little nervous. That seemed fast to me. When I did my training at home, I was going slower per Jeff’s advice. So to know that I had to go faster seemed intimidating.
At 7:10 we decided it was time to head over to the start line. We went downstairs I’ve powered up my Garmin watch to find out it was dead so I ran back upstairs grab my other watch and my gym boss timer and we started back downstairs again. Then we walked over to the starting line where we waited about 20 minutes because the race got off to a late start. It was a beautiful crystal-clear morning with brisk air perfect weather for running a marathon. The plan was to do 20/20 intervals and see how we feel throughout the race.
Miles 1-5 we were going at a consistent pace of around 12 mins per mile. I took a Gu at mile 5 because I wanted to stay ahead on my fuel.
Miles 6-10 were also similar. We passed Janice around mile 9. There were bananas at mile 8. I took a few bites and that was good. Since we had a banana, I held off on Gu at mile 10.
Miles 11-15 were good. There were a few rolling hills, but they were comfortable to run. We ran past a beautiful Country Club and golf course. I had a few bites of a banana at mile 15. I had to remember to start drinking more of my Nuun as well.
Miles 16-18 were harder. Because we were doing the 20/20 intervals it was beginning to take a toll on Gail. She is used to doing longer intervals so the start and stop was starting to bother her hip. At mile 18 she needed to sit down at a bench and really stretch out.
Miles 19-22 were very challenging for both of us. I was worried about the discomfort Gail was in and also concerned about our finish time. But I kept doing the math in my head and it seemed like we were still in pretty good pace to get in around 5:30. At that point we were around the 4 hour mark. Gail and I were talking and trying to figure out which intervals would work best for her so she wouldn’t be so sore. So we tried 1:00/30. I did that for a few reps but found it was harder for me to go longer because I didn’t train with that interval. So then I had her continue on with that and I would try 20/20 and see if we could keep up with each other.
We did that for about a half of a mile. Meanwhile we were in a very open area of the course on the water so the winds were howling and pushing against us from the side. I was feeling spray from the ocean coming up on me. Our pace slowed down to around 13 and 14 minutes. I caught up to her and we both decided to try 45/30 and see how that felt. But we would walk for a little bit to give our legs a little rest. We did pose for a picture with the official photographers so I can’t wait to see that picture. At mile 21 I had 2 bites of banana and that was the last of the food I had during the race.
Miles 22-26 we PUSHED to get to the finish. We walked more frequently but we kept pushing forward and our pace was 13/14 minutes per mile. There were a few hills towards the end (one very steep, one to an overpass, and one through town). We walked the hills and ran the downhills. The wind felt like it was getting stronger and stronger the closer we got to town.
During mile 23 we had to walk up a hill so we were talking about what the time was and I told Gail we were still on track for getting in just over 5:30. I think she was relieved at that because she wasn’t aware of what pace we were going and what our time was. She thought that because she had to take a stretch break and we slower our pace a little around 19-22 that we were not going to make a decent finish time. I’m glad she felt that relief. I didn’t want her to feel bad and I felt so bad that she was hurting because of the intervals I said I wanted to use.
At mile 24 we were walking through a park along the water and there were cobblestones… that was interesting for a race! Then we went under an overpass and the winds felt like they were blasting at us at 100 mph!!! We had to bend over and hold our hats so we wouldn’t get sandblasted on our faces! We recorded a video of the wind blasting us as we were at mile 25.5. We got a dermabrasion facial while finishing this marathon!
Mile 26 we ran into Janice. She told us she was very sick during the race and had a hard time from a little while after we saw her in the beginning to the end. We rounded the last corner and the finish line was right there. I was so relieved! I was afraid we’d have a far distance after we got around the corner. Gail saw the clock was 5:39 and said if we hurry we could get in under 5:40! I really pushed but I crossed at 5:40:03. The good news is, that was the clock time. Our actual finish time was 5:38:24.
As much as I wanted 5:30 my backup plan in my head was 5:45. I had no idea I had the potential to do a 5:30. If we didn’t have the wind to contend with I think we would have made it. I am so thankful Our consistency in the beginning really helped because we had put some time in the bank for the issues we faced at the end.
After some post race photos we headed back to our room, showered, checked out and Gail took us to an awesome Chinese restaurant called China Inn! It was sooo delicious! Then she brought us back to our car and said our goodbyes and Kim and I headed back to CT. The rain was just starting to come towards Providence so the timing for everything was perfect!
Leaving Providence as the rain clouds rolled in
I really enjoyed this race. The girls said they would do it again. Kim said she wants to run this full. This race was my first non-Disney marathon and it was much different. The support on the course for this race was good. They had sufficient water and food breaks. They did not have medical tents, which surprised me. I would have liked to have one because I was getting chaffing on my arms. But there was a woman on a bike helping someone and she had lip balm so I used that and it took the edge off for me. But overall, the organization of the race was great, the expo was very small, the hotel rates were great (especially when splitting it between 3 people). For my next marathon (Philadelphia in November), I am going to use it as a training run towards Dopey. I won’t do the 26 mile long run prior to the race.
Thanks for joining me for this race Gail and Kim! I had a great time! I am also thankful to my husband for his support while I take on these crazy adventures!
So what does a mother runner love for Mother’s Day? Here are a few ideas of what I would love!
A Disney gift card – always useful for the expo or race-related purchases like food during race weekend or towards a room.
Gear – moms always love new gear. A gift card to Amazon is a perfect idea. (See the trend here?)
Southwest gift card. No explanation needed.
Apple iTunes gift card for new tunes for long or short runs.
Registration to Jeff Galloway’s e-coaching. You can’t go wrong with that!
Jeff Galloway books or other running related inspirational stories. I am currently reading Stronger by Jeff Bauman.
Running jewelry or mother runner jewelry.
Massage – Nothing says I Love you Mom better than a gift certificate for a massage so mom can recover those sore hard working muscles!
Pedicure – Runner mothers probably don’t have the prettiest feet. So help her make them summer ready and give her some time to be pampered with a pedicure!
Being taken out for breakfast and flowed with a homemade card is always the perfect gift too!
Magazine subscriptions to 
