Wife Mother Runner Goofy Challenge Archives

How To Train for Running Injury Free

August 13, 2017

Antonio Williams, M.S., NASM, P.E.S, Case Management Specialist, Health Educator at Cigna has very helpful information to help you avoid injuries when training for races. I made many of these mistakes when I was an early runner.

Cross Training

A mistake some runners make is not including strength training in their training program. That’s why I shared why cross training is important in my more recent post. It is important to include this because the continuous pounding on the pavement fatigues your muscles. Over time and as you increase your distance, this will force other muscles in your body to overcompensate. When this happens, you can injure those muscles because they are doing work that your other muscles should be doing.

Running is primarily a workout that uses your lower muscles like your legs, glutes, and hamstrings; but it is important to have a strong upper body as well to help you maintain good posture when you run. This will ensure that you don’t injure your lower back and that your upper body can also help you run faster as you swing your arms to help move your legs faster. Running is more of a muscular endurance than muscular strength, so that is why it is important to include strength training into your routine.

I have been doing the Beach Body exercise videos for a year and I have been very happy with the mixture of strength training with my running. It also helps break up the week for me and I don’t feel guilty if I am not doing something on a day that I am not running.

Stretching/Yoga

Antonio says,

a lack of flexibility is the most common cause for injuries. Tight calves, hip flexors, IT bands (side of thigh), quadriceps, lats (back) and adductors (groin) all will put the runner at risk. These muscles are usually tight for people who have desk jobs or sit a lot.

I know this is the case for me because I sit often for work, I sit in my car to drive to and from work and when I am at home I try not to sit as much and get more motion and standing in for the day to make up for all the sitting I did. I was doing yoga for a while and I found that every helpful. I loved it for the meditation aspect just as much as I knew I was helping my body become more flexible.

Lack of flexibility affects speed

Antonio also states that a lack of flexibility may also alter proper running mechanics. When this happens it will cause them to slow down because your muscles aren’t working with the efficiency needed for speed. A lack of flexibility will cause certain muscles to work harder than others.

Strength Training

To help your body with the pounding on the pavement, Antonio recommends doing strength training two or three days a week. Over time, your muscles won’t tire as quickly. You’ll be able to run further, faster and for longer durations.

Specific Stretches from Antonio Williams

Antonio has listed the following exercises as important to your fitness and training routine to help keep you limber:

Calf stretch

Put both hands against a wall with arms extended. Lean with one leg bent forward and the other leg extended back. Keep your knee straight and foot positioned forward. Push rear heel to floor (toe pointed straight ahead) and move hips slightly forward. Hold stretch. Repeat with opposite leg.

Back stretch

Kneel in front of a chair or stable surface. Place one hand on the surface and slowly lower chest toward the ground. Feel the stretch in your upper shoulder area around your armpit. Do not arch your lower back, and tighten your core as you lower your chest. Repeat on opposite side.

Quad stretch

Kneel with one knee on a padded mat and your other foot positioned forward. Place back foot onto a stable surface like a bench. Slowly drive hip forward and squeeze glute on the same side as the quad being stretched. Hold stretch. Repeat with opposite side.

Groin stretch

Stand next to a stable, knee-high surface. Place your foot on the surface and slowly reach your hand toward your feet. Feel the stretch in the groin area of your leg on the surface. Keep both toes straight ahead, as feet may have a tendency to point outward. Do not shift hips toward leg on the surface. Repeat on opposite leg.

I hope these fitness tips will help you as you are getting closer to the Disneyland Half Marathon weekend. But you can also use this tips for all races you are doing. If you are training for the runDisney Dopey Challenge, Goofy Challenge, full marathon, half marathon, 10K, or 5K in January of 2018 these tips will also be get to know as you prepare for these much longer distances.

Dopey Challenge – The Half Marathon

January 24, 2015

Day 3 of the Dopey Challenge and I was feeling so strong! I can’t remember now what time I woke up, but I think it was around 2:30. I had tea and cinnamon toast for breakfast and my dad left a note for me near my tea cup that morning. It was cute! The night before I had a turkey sandwich rather than Raisin Bran so I didn’t anticipate any intestinal issues during the race.

It takes me about an hour to get ready, just so I can wake up and get my body going. I planned to leave the hotel by 3:30. I wasn’t sure how traffic was going to be for the half and the full because these were bigger races and the Event Guide said that some areas will be more congested. Going into it knowing to anticipate traffic, I had allowed myself enough time. I arrived in about 12 minutes after leaving the hotel. I sat in the car for a few minutes and contacted Diana to know where to meet. I walked to the runner staging area and met up with Diana and Mandy and we made a smart move to use the porta potties (with the shorter lines) and head down to the corrals.

We got down to the corrals early and had plenty of time there to wait for the race to start. We were excited for this race. I think more so than the marathon because it was “just a half” and everyone was feeling good so far. This race allows you to run through the Magic Kingdom so I was excited for it. This was my first time that I would be running the first part of the Goofy Challenge also! I feel like my first Goofy was overshadowed by my first Dopey Challenge for sure. But I am still excited that I did get my first Goofy nonetheless.

It was a great race! I saw many friends wile out on the course, got emotional as I ran up Main Street and finished strong. Mandy and Kenn were planning on walking most of the race because Mandy’s IT band was giving her issues. Well their walk is equivalent to my run! So Diana and I stuck to a 15/30 type ratio most of the race. We did walk during many segments of the race because of crowds and also to make sure that we were saving our legs for the marathon the next day. As we were approaching the back of the race track Wreck It Ralph and Vanellope were out and Diana FREAKED out! We got in line for pictures and told Mandy and Kenn to go ahead and we’d catch up with them. It was great. Diana got some great pictures and she bascially floated for the next mile. We ran most of that area towards mile 3 and the next water stop then got to the congested area heading under the water towards the Contemporary. That’s one of my favorite spots. I don’t know what it is, but I love the DJ with the big hands and the energy that seems to radiate from going down the bridge towards the Contemporary resort area and into the side of the Magic Kingdom. I think for me, it is the excitement of getting closer to the Magic Kingdom.

As we ran down Main Street I was overcome with emotion. I think it was because of the music that was playing and seeing the castle there. To me it almost felt better than the first time I ran down Main Street for my first marathon. I think it had to do with doing my first Dopey challenge and feeling so strong. As we approached the castle I saw my friend Joe Pardo and we took pictures! Then I saw Mike and Michelle from the Mickey Miles Podcast! It was great.

The usual bathrooms off of Main street on the way to Tomorrowland were closed for refurbishment so we went to the bathrooms near Space Mountain. That was a good move. We were texting with Mandy and they weren’t too far ahead of us so I knew we’d catch up with them. As we were going through the castle I was surprised to see Elsa, Anna and Kristoff up on the castle. That felt wrong to me, because that is Cinderella’s castle. But they also couldn’t be on the ground or else no one would get through the picture stop; but it still was a little disturbing to me.

We went through the castle and headed towards mile 6 where we found Mandy and Kenn. Then we exited the park and went to Cone Alley towards the Floridian. Again I was feeling very strong and was enjoying this race, even in cone alley! As we passed the Floridian I saw more Mickey Milers on the course and grabbed pictures of them along the way. The sun was out that day but it wasn’t too hot for us. I felt that the temperature was just right for the race. I also thought there were a sufficient amount of character stops along the race, too. We didn’t stop at too many of them because I had to finish the race in time to go pick up my family to take the kids to ESPN for the Kids’ races.

We ran up the street that leads to Epcot and around the ramp and over the street that leads to Magic Kingdom and saw how far back the people were. There were plenty of people behind us even though we were taking the race slower than usual. We were in no danger of being swept. Just near the 12 mile mark Mandy and Kenn use a restroom stop and Diana and I continued on our way. I didn’t have much extra time to work with so I had to head to the finish. Close to the finish I ran into Eddie McCoy who was cheering us on! We ran through Epcot and towards the finish. We were pretty pumped up, too!

We finished the third of four races and were in great shape for the marathon the next day. I knew at that point that my Dopey training had been successful and that this Dopey challenge was not going to be my last.

After the race was over I rushed back to my car, went to my hotel and picked up the family to head to the Kids’ races. I will write a separate post to recap the Kids’ races, but in summary, they LOVED it! Before we left ESPN I went to the Expo one last time. I talked to Jeff and we took a picture, 3 race were done and I only had 1 left! I also picked up a bigger race belt to carry more things in the pouch for the marathon. I didn’t want to use my fuel belt and my spi belt wasn’t big enough. I found a great pouch with 48.6 on it that was the perfect size. We grabbed food on the way out of the expo to eat back at the hotel and made our way back home for a shower and some relaxation time at the pool.

That day we decided to spend some time at the pool since it was nice and sunny and warmer out. The kids couldn’t have been happier to finally get into the pool! I relaxed by the pool and cat napped for most of the afternoon. That was actually harder on me because my body was relaxing; but I wanted to go to the Magic Kingdom for dinner and to do a few rides. Sometimes it is better to not let yourself fall asleep.

We did go to the Magic Kingdom, rode the train to Frontierland and I grabbed a kid’s turkey sandwich from Pecos Bills for dinner. Then we rode a few rides and went back to our hotel early so that I could get to bed for the marathon the next day. I knew I was pushing it by being at the park that night; but I really wanted the kids to enjoy the vacation and I was feeling strong. My feet were a little achy; but I knew sleep would help and I’d be ok. When we got back to the hotel I managed to get my race stuff ready for Sunday and I don’t remember many of the details; but I was snoring in bed before everyone else was even ready to go to bed!

Next up… the last race of the Dopey Challenge!!!! I was so close to earning my Dopey medal! I was very excited!

Dopey Training and Philadelphia Training All At Once

July 27, 2014

As I am on out my long run this morning I asked myself, “Why did I sign up for Dopey?” I did a 5 mile run yesterday per Jeff Galloway’s instructions and my 16 mile run this morning. I felt ok considering I did 5 miles yesterday, but then I was doing the math in my head…5 and 16 not so bad, 13.1 and 26 the following day — kind of scary. 3.1 (5K), 6.2 (10K), 13.1 (half marathon) then 26.2 (full marathon)… WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING????!!!! Seriously, I had a bit of panic over the idea.

The back to back 5K and 10K races don’t scare me, but the “Goofy” part of the challenge, the half and full marathons do. I must trust in the training Jeff is setting up for me to prepare my body for this and hopefully not get injured during the training as well. I did as he instructed and changed my intervals from what I normally use (45/30) to 15/30. It slowed down my pace to 13 minutes/mile, but also having the shorter bursts of running and longer walking helped me to not be as sore and endure the distance better. Compared to my 16 mile run a few weeks ago, I did finish it 7 minutes slower, but that was mainly because I did the 15/30 intervals.

I set my alarm for 5:30 this morning. My kids tucked me into bed last night and I read my book and fell asleep rather quickly and relatively early compared to my usual bed time. I didn’t stall when the alarm went off, I got up, made some toast and tea and got my butt out the door by 6:20. I was concerned with the storms that were in the forecast on the news and it was still a bit more overcast at that time of the morning. But once I was out there it didn’t feel as dark. There was a point in time around 7:15 that the sun came out and I was worried because it was very humid already.

As usual, my iPod was loaded up with my favorite Disney Pod casts, Mickey Miles, Be Our Guest, The DIS Unplugged so I had my usual Disney magic in my ears. The Mickey Miles Podcast was talking about California and that made me a little excited about the Dumbo Double Dare coming up next month. I haven’t had been thinking about it as much lately with other events going on in my life right now. But the training I am doing now for the Philadelphia Marathon and Dopey is rolled in with that race weekend as well. I haven’t been thinking about Philadelphia as much either. It’s funny how you put your head down and push forward with what’s on the training plan without thinking much about where you are racing. At least that is how it is for me. November and January are a long time from now for these upcoming races, but the work needs to be put in now to build up to them.

So the lesson I took out of this weekend’s training routine was about being dedicated to get up early and hit the road in the early hours before it gets too hot and also so I can spend more time with my family. With the longer runs coming up on the training schedule and my work schedule I don’t know how I will get them all fit in so I may be using my weekend mornings like I did this weekend with early starts. In the winter, I have no clue what I will do when it is dark out so early. I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.

I was also very conscious of cars when I was on the main roads. I was thinking a lot about the poor young man who was killed recently in the town next to me, on the roads that I run on. I am a very conscious runner and did move to the side of the road a few times when I wasn’t sure if I was being seen. I pray that nothing like that every happens to me, leaving my family without a mother and a wife. I hate to think that way, but it has been on my mind a lot more lately. I won’t stop doing what I love, but I will be more aware and make changes accordingly (like choosing different routes to run on that are less busy).

Here’s to looking forward to a weekend of low miles and recovery in the next coming weekends and to an excuse to sit in the movie theater with my family this afternoon!

You Sometimes Have to Fail To Succeed

April 19, 2014

Have you ever been fired from a job? Have you ever not finished a race? Did you flunk out of a class? Have you ever had a business fail? I have experienced several of these situations. I was once fired from a job that I went to college to study for. I did open a business that I had to close because it was not making the money I had hoped for in this state. I have failed, but I don’t consider these things failures. I consider them learning experiences. Yea when they happen to you they seem like the crappiest things you can go through, but in reality they are building your character and making you see how strong you really are.

When I lost my job as a legal secretary at a very big law firm in Hartford, I thought I would never go anywhere in life, but I was fortunate to be hired back from the employer I left (who I still work for now). I had to start over in a different capacity there, but I moved into new positions and learned new things and ended up going back to school and got a B.S. in Computer Science with a specialization in web design. And I am much happier doing this creative type of work than filling in forms and pushing paper in a law firm.

I also took a risk and opened a business in 2005. I learned so much about how to open a business, the laws, the taxes, the fees associated with running a business and how you can’t make money when you own your own business. At least not in the way we ran the business. While it was a stressful time and a difficult decision to close the business 4 years later, it was a smart decision. Looking back, it still stings when we think about what we went through; but I do know that I have learned so much and can say that I was a business owner in my lifetime. I dealt with all of the aspects of owning a business from the finances, to payroll, maintenance, marketing, hiring personnel, purchasing and sales.

When it comes to the sport of running, I can say I have had failures. They haven’t come in the form of a DNF, but they have come in injuries from doing too much too soon. I have learned from some of my friends. My friend Laurel Moffit attempted to the Dopey Challenge in 2013 and was unable to finish the full marathon. She wrote a blog post about it at www.penniestoyennies.com after waiting several months after the event because she needed to process everything that happened to her. I am always writing about successes and goals and wishes, but there is something that we have to deal with when setting goals and attempting to raise the bar to harder and harder achievements. There are times where we are going to fail. And that’s totally OK.

I read Laurel’s blog again and how she admitted to being sore and under trained and cried when she had to be picked up the sweeper bus. But she also realized that she didn’t succeed because she didn’t put the time in that is needed for such a challenge. She took what she learned from that experience and spent most of 2013 training for the 2014 Goofy Challenge.

I have another friend who was a victim of the sweeper bus for the marathon in 2013. She also blogged about it and I found reading their articles were more helpful to me than reading articles from people who succeeded because I can learn from their failures and things they did wrong and also get inspiration from them; because both of those friends didn’t give up. They picked themselves up and tried again next year!

I have written about my other podcast that I listen to called Laugh or Go Crazy and they talked about redefining failure. It was great to hear a perspective that if you didn’t have a day where you failed then you aren’t succeeding because you aren’t learning from your failures.

Why are we so hard on ourselves when we fail?

Here’s what I know about failure. If you always do everything right and don’t fail, chances are you aren’t trying very hard. Failure does build character, and you should try new things. You can succeed in trying. I say this time and time again to my children. NEVER GIVE UP. They know it. My son was having a hard time with baseball and was throwing a fit in the driveway last weekend but I told him to NEVER GIVE UP. You may not catch every ball, but no one can.

I am registered for the Dopey challenge in 2015 which is 4 races in 4 days covering a 5K, 10K, half marathon and marathon. I hope I don’t fail at this major commitment I signed up for. I will be confident in my training. I WILL train. And if by chance I don’t finish, the experience of trying and working towards it is almost as good as the race weekend. Not quite as good, but almost.

Tag: Goofy Challenge