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Tag: night race

A New Beginning Is Coming

September 30, 2014

As I went out for my run this morning, I wanted to start off my week on a good note.  I wanted to get my run in early in the day and have a shakeout run from my Dopey training runs that I did last week.  I am beginning my new job on Wednesday and I don’t know what my time will look like after work to do any running outdoors.  I hate to say it, but I may need to begin using the treadmill indoors in the early morning or in the evening when I get home.  I don’t want to use the treadmill.  If possible I will try to do a run with lights in the evening, but I am resorting myself to the fact that the treadmill may be my only method of training for some time during the week.

foggyroad

I felt the anticipation setting in during the weekend, but I am not scared of my new job.  I realize that it is the place I need to be.  What I was mentioning to my husband was that I feel weird that I left a place that seemed safe and comfortable.  But he reminded me that they forced out the President of the company, who built the place with his father and ran it for over 30 years. No one is safe there.  That eased my mind.  I know that I was sought out by my new employer and my skills were very strong and just what they are looking for.  I just want to get my hands in the dirt and start doing “real work”.  I know that in the beginning sometimes it takes time to do that.

As the day went on today I received an email from my new boss with my agenda for this week and things are going to be fine.  I will sit in on a training class my first day and then work with my boss for my schedule for the month and housekeeping issues the following day.  Nothing to worry about.  I’m looking forward to it.

Lots of change is happening, I had to say goodbye to my old Jeep that I have had for 10 years.  I brought my children home from the hospital in that car!  It never let me down.  But I had to get a new car, mine was 10 years old, and I wasn’t going to be able to use my Honeywell discount anymore, so I needed to take advantage of it now before I lost. it.  I am starting my new job, and my husband also just learned that he was chosen for a different position within his company.  These are all good things.  They are just all happening at once! oldjeep oldjeep1 newjeep newjeep1 Then on top of it all, I have to fly out Friday on a 7:30 a.m. flight to Florida for the Tower of Terror Race!  I have to admit that what I am feeling most nervous about right now is the early wake up for the flight Friday, the race happening at 10 p.m. Saturday night, and then flying on a 7 a.m. flight back home on Sunday!  I have no idea how much sleep I am going to get.  I intend to sleep on the plane on both flights.  It’s just a little scary doing all this in the first two weeks of a new job.  I am making an effort to hydrate myself a lot to prepare for running in the Florida heat and humidity, even at night.  I am also working on my hydration because I don’t want to end up with a migraine from flying like I have experience the past 5 other times I have flown. totmerch I am looking forward to all my new things, running the Tower of Terror race with my friends, going to the Expo and checking out the merchandise, seeing Jeff Galloway and hopefully bumping into Mike Rahlmann and his BOGP Lizards! Change is good!

Training for the Disney Tower of Terror 10 Miler

September 17, 2014

totThe Disney Tower of Terror 10-miler race is the first night race of the Fall season.  It begins at 10:00 p.m. at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and runs toward the Animal Kingdom, back around to the ESPN Wide World of Sports and ends back through Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  I ran this race for the first time last year and loved it.  However, I did not understand with confidence, how to prepare for a night race.  Now that I have done it, I know what to do to prepare.

The mileage wasn’t an issue for me because I was preparing for the WDW marathon weekend.  But if this is your first time doing a night race, I recommend that you put in the miles prior to the race so that you don’t have to worry about running a night race PLUS running that distance for your first time.  Prior to the race weekend I had listened to the Mickey Miles Podcast Episodes 102 and 103.  Jeff Galloway had discussed with Mike and Michelle some tips on preparing for running a night race.  He did mention scheduling a long training run for the time of day similar to your race.  Where I live, it is a very rural area, and I just wasn’t comfortable doing a 10 mile run on my dark country roads in the open fields.  I also didn’t want to do a 10 mile run at 10:00 at night on my treadmill.  However, I don’t think it is a bad idea.

Another important element for preparing for the night race is your nutrition.  I feel that this is equally as important as the actual running mileage you put in for the race.  In my experience the third most important thing is resting prior to the race.  Last year, I made it a point to eat a turkey sandwich late in the afternoon and rested in my hotel room for several hours.  I could not fall asleep, but I was off of my feet and resting (not walking around the parks).

Hydration is also a critical component to having a successful race.  Even though the race takes place at night, it is usually still quite hot and humid in Florida.  We were pretty sweaty early on in the race.  So it is important to have a lot of fluids throughout the day and also during the race.

When it was time to head out to the race, we hung out in the corral area for a while prior to lining up in the corrals.  I had some apple sauce prior to the race.  Mentally, my challenge was realizing that it was 9:30 p.m. and I am usually getting my family and I ready for bed, and here I was preparing to begin a 10 mile race.  That was a little bit of a head trip.  Once the race got going, the adrenaline gets pumping and you don’t realize what time it is.  I really enjoyed the race and the location of it.  Running at night was really fun.  For some reason, I feel like I run faster in the dark.  I can’t explain it, but it is the way I feel.

I was hungry after the race.  That was weird, because by the time I got back to my hotel it was after 2:00 p.m. and I didn’t necessarily have “food” to eat.  Not to mention that I had to shower and get some sleep before waking up early for my flight home.

The points to take out of this when preparing for the Tower of Terror 10 miler is to be aware of what you eat the day of the race.  I had a hearty breakfast of pancakes the morning of the race.  During the day I made sure I wasn’t eating anything that would cause me any upset late in the day, and in the late afternoon I had a turkey sub with chips.  I felt successful with my food intake the day of the race.  In regards to resting, I also feel that I made smart choices by making it a point to be in my room, off my feet and resting.  If you make a priority to do these things you will be successful in this race.

Read my Tower of Terror Race Recap from 2013.