Dec 7, 2013

Christmas Town Postponed == No Race for Me

Unfortunately, my race this weekend is not to be. I received an email from the race team today.

Runners,

Due to the inclement weather approaching the area and the priority of runner safety, Busch Gardens and Flat-Out Events officials have made the decision to postpone the race scheduled for Sunday December 8, until next Sunday, December 15. We have determined that with threat of frozen precipitation, the race course inside the park would not be safe. We will follow up with further information regarding next week’s schedule, but anticipate all times to be the same. Thank you for your understanding. Your safety is our first priority.

Thank you,
Race Team
Flat-Out Events

Seeing as I drove 3 hours to get here, and my sister even more, postponing a week just won't work. I'm really bummed out over it. I was looking forward to the race, the Christmas lights and my first medal. I guess maybe I'll get to run the race next year.

I'll still be hitting the gym in the morning to get a run it, but won't be the same.

Dec 6, 2013

Racing Back on Track

I can't believe I'll be running a half marathon in just 36 days! I'm so excited. Dopey Dave even has his bib number. I'm not so lucky, but can't wait to be getting those emails. My training hasn't been great (November was an almost wash, oops) but I'm still feeling good. I'm working my way back. I had a good 3.6 miles last weekend after having not at all in a while (and even in beat up sneakers, not my good Asics). I'm pledging now to get back to regular updates on here (as well as backfilling some posts).

Running, Santa style
I have been up to a couple things. I have my first race in a while this Sunday. I'll be running the Christmas Town Dash 8K at Busch Gardens, Williamsburg, VA. There's a couple fun points to this. First, it's through Busch Garden's Christmas Town, and I love Christmas, so I'm excited to see it. Second, I'm running it with my sister Stacey. We've been running to run a race together, but haven't been able to work it out yet. She's run a couple of 5Ks, so this will also be a personal long distance for her, which is cool. Lastly, but not leastly, my wife and daughter will also be running their first races together. They'll be running the Running of the Chick-fil-A Cows family fun run. They'll even get their own finisher medals for it. It should be a fun race day for everyone.

They next thing race related I've been up to is registering for the lottery for the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run this spring in DC. It's capped at 15,000 participants, so they do a lottery system to give a fair shot at running. They also do a "team" system allowing you to register a group together so you can have an "all in or noone in" so you don't have to worry about running alone if you want to run with someone. It doesn't increase your odds of getting in, but sounds like a nice system. They also do the registration in tiers. You can pay for the race fee, add the shirt, make it a tech shirt, add a medal, all a la carte, allowing you to keep the cost down if you want, or add it all in and still be comparable to other race fees for everything. So far, one of my coworkers has joined in for signing up for the race. If you're interested, let me know and I'll give you the team name. Or if you want to register yourself, just go to http://www.cherryblossom.org/ Just register before December 13th to be eligible. I think it'll be a good run to do. It's DC, so it'll be nice and flat and it'll be hard to beat the view of running through the cherry blossoms. I've gone into DC for them before and they are beautiful.


Image credits: christmastowndash.com, cherryblossom.org

Oct 15, 2013

(Non-) Progress Update

Lately hasn't been a very good time for my training. In fact, it's been completely lacking. I haven't written my round up for last week, because I didn't do anything. I may not bother to write it, but I wanted to at least provide some sort of update. I have a draft post or two that I'll look to get out soon. My content here has been lacking lately.

Any way, why haven't I been training. Last week ended up being a washout. Tuesday was raining, so I took it as an easy excuse to push my run to another day, thinking of just putting on the shift again. Not a good thing to do, but at the time, no ill intent. I'm not proud of myself taking the easy way out, but I did intend to run that week. However, it decided to keep raining the rest of the week... and the weekend. I ended up not running my other training sessions, because of the rain. I reasoned, with the rain and the cooler temperatures, I did not want to risk getting sick. The reason being my wife is going to be traveling this week into next week, so I couldn't be sick when it'd be just Daddy and daughter time. That was less easy way out and more legitimate reason. Now, if I had run, would I have gotten sick? Probably not. Did I hedge my bets on the easier side? Yes. If I had gotten sick on Thursday, would I have been healthy again in time? Most likely. Could I have squeezed in a run Sunday when the rain was more misty and been ok? Yeah, probably. But I didn't.

The important thing though is it's in the past and I can't change that. In the words of Pumba
you need to put your behind in your past.
The point of this post wasn't to dwell on it, but to be honest about it and share it. Part of this blog was to make myself write and be accountable, so I'm being true to that. It was not a good week for me, and that's hard because it was after training was starting to get pretty good for me again.

Then there's this week. This is a week I knew wouldn't be very good for my training going in. With my wife gone, obviously running before my daughter wakes up or after she goes to bed doesn't work by myself. With no gym at work yet (still not in our new offices that have one), I'm pretty much s.o.l. So at least today's run should have been ok. However yesterday, I was home playing around and running around on the carpet in the afternoon, since daycare was closed, after which my knee was sore. In a specific spot and down around a little bit on the side. Not a good feeling, in a spot where a ligament is. I don't mean I think it's anything serious. I think I just strained or pulled something a little. By the time I went to bed it was hurting down the side all the way down. Still feels that way now in the morning. So no morning run. We'll see if we feel any better by tonight. I'm trying to be hopeful though I'm not sure I believe it will feel better.  I'm going to need to find some alternative stuff this week to do to at least feel a little good about myself. Just making for a down two weeks of training. Couple that with the continued barely progress, up-and-downs of my weight and you get not a high point right now.

What have you done to pull yourself out of some down times in your trainings?

Oct 6, 2013

Weekly Roundup: October 6th

Eat Me
Well, if you insist.
We're already through the first week of October. Moving fast. The half marathon is fast approaching. I've been looking into getting a race or two in between now and then. This past week has been hectic getting ready for my daughter's 2nd birthday party. It caused some flux in the scheduled, but in the end, all my runs were in.

One Word to Describe the Week

Busy

Training

Weekly Total:
Miles: 12.64 miles
Time: 1:18:48

Sunday, September 29: Distance Run
Where: Outside
Distance: 7.02 miles
Time: 2:46:36
Average Pace: 12:50 min / mile

Summary: This run was my distance run from last week, that I pushed to Sunday night. I almost didn't go out, and then almost didn't run the full distance. I was tired and unmotivated but got myself out the door. When I started running, I told myself that I would see how the first mile went to determine how I would run and how far I would go. I was ready to throw in the towel and skip out but then my first mile came in at 13:58. My goal on longer runs is now 14 min / mile, not 15, so I had hit my goal and decided to keep going. I'm glad I did. It was an interesting run. I've learned where the limits of street lights are and my confines for distance evening runs will be. In the end, I did a long down and back with some side loops to get in the full 7 miles.

Monday, September 30: Rest

Tuesday, October 1: Rest

Wednesday, October 2: Maintenance Run
Where: Outside
Distance: 2.19 miles
Time: 27:06
Average Pace: 12:20 min / mile

Summary: I took a quick little run Wednesday while working from home. It was nice to run in the sun light but it ended up being hotter than I expected. I had a good quick pace, but my shins were a little tight. In the end, I was a tad shy of my 30 minutes.

Thursday, October 3: Rest

Friday, October 4: Maintenance Run
Where: Outside
Distance: 3.44 miles
Time: 42:52
Average Pace: 12:26 min / mile

Summary: Friday was back to an evening run. A friend of Steph's was over, staying the night while she was in town, so I left them to their bottle of wine and went out for my run. It was a little humid but not too bad. The run itself felt nice and easy despite the quick pace.

Saturday, October 5: Rest (Distance on Sunday)

WeightWatchers

I had a good week for my eating and weight. I ate pretty well and lost 1.3 pounds. Well, I ate pretty well except for Saturday. Saturday was the party and I'm not really sure how much I ate or drank in the end. The problem was I got small amounts (which was good) but didn't track it as I was going along. After the party, I snack a good bit more (which was not good). In addition I had some beers as well, but I was drinking draft, so I'd often top off my glass, so don't even know how much of that to track my points. In the end, I didn't track anything on the weekend, which has been my m.o. lately. The weigh in on Friday was good, but we'll see if there is any backtrack next week with the weekend eating.

Thoughts on the Week

While this week was all over the place, I was glad to still get in all my runs, even shifted from their normal days. I also got in my run on today, though not reflected in the round up. My runs felt good, which is really building my confidence. The Tower of Terror 10 miler was this weekend, which my cousins ran, which just increased the runDisney excitement. They look like they had a good time too. October may not be my best month for staying on track with all my trainings based on my scheduled but at least I got a good start to it.

Oct 4, 2013

runDisney: Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10-Miler 2013

Credit: http://www.noahslightfoundation.org/
This weekend is the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10-Miler in Walt Disney World. This is a cool race event for several reasons. First, the race starts at 10pm at night and goes from Disney Hollywood Studios (you'll always be MGM to me) to ESPN Wide World of Sports and back again. With it being nighttime and October, the race also has villains throughout, which makes it a little more unique. If that's not enough, there is also a villain bash afterwards, letting you stay in the park until 4am. Not a bad deal at all.

At the risk of sounding like a infomercial salesman or Steve Balmer selling Windows in the 80s, "but wait, there's more!" While there is a separate Wine & Dine Half Marathon in November, named for the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, the festival has already begun. So not only can you experience the villains and Halloween vibe, you can also get your food and alcohol fix at the same time. Not a bad package deal at all.

This is one of the runs on my planned to do list. All runDisney races are really on this list, but this is one that I already have planned out. We plan to take a trip to Disney for my daughter's 4th birthday. Her birthday is in October, so why not line it up with the race so we can kill 2 birds with one stone. She'll be old enough to do some of the fun runs or even the Happy Haunted 5K Trail Run herself as well, so everyone can get in on it. Tower of Terror 2015, look out.

This time I wanted to give a shout out to some people I personally know that are running the race. I have some of my relatives running the races. So Rich and Don, best of luck in the runs. They're doing both the 5K and 10-miler, so they're pulling the all day split half marathon and going for 2 medals.

Good luck to everyone running. Run hard, smile, don't get lost in the dark and most importantly have some Disney FUN.

Sep 29, 2013

Weekly Roundup: September 29th

Credit: http://oilersnation.com/
My training has found its way back on track. We're rolling again, with no missed runs, some good paces and some weight loss. It felt good to have a more sense of accomplishment this week. One week is just one week, but one good week is something.

One Word to Describe the Week

Improved

Training

Weekly Total:
Miles: 5.96 miles
Time: 1:18:48

Sunday, September 22: Rest

Monday, September 23: Rest

Tuesday, September 24: Maintenance Run
Where: Outside
Distance: 3.70 miles
Time: 45:41
Average Pace: 12:18 min / mile

Summary: The legs were still a little heavy as I headed out for this run but I decided to push through it and go for a faster run. In the end I had a nice quick pace for me and was happy with the result. The one thing I learned on this run is that 123 is not lit for night running. I need to save that for daylight.

Wednesday, September 25: Rest

Thursday, September 26: Maintenance Run
Where: Outside
Distance: 2.26 miles
Time: 33:07
Average Pace: 14:39 min / mile

Summary: I took this evening run a little easier. The reason being is I planned on having a race on Sunday. Now, to make a long story short, apparently when I registered online, it never went through, so I had no race on Sunday. I still pushed my distance to Sunday, and actually ran a tiny bit farther than I would have otherwise at the 10K.

Friday, September 27: Rest

Saturday, September 28: Rest (Distance on Sunday)

WeightWatchers

While my month hasn't been what I've hoped, I did have a better week for my weight. I was down almost a pound from last week on my weigh in day. I'm also unofficially down a little more than that today as well (weigh-ins are Fridays). I ate pretty well this week and have been trying to cut back my caffeine some too. Those that know me, know I could drink coffee all day or hook and IV in if given the chance. I know it's better to have less, so I've been trying to cut back, but not out because I'm realistic.

Thoughts on the Week

This week was a stronger week than some have been lately. While this doesn't show it because of the structure of the roundup, I did have all my runs in this week, just with my weekend run bumped to Sunday. Looking ahead, the time improvement plan does look aggressive in its distances, so I need to keep up the good work.

Sep 22, 2013

Weekly Roundup: September 22nd

This month may have started good, but has been bumping since then. Last week was a little sidetracked by work. This week has been working to get back on track. While things are a little more lined up, they aren't fully upright yet. This did mark official week 1 of the time improvement training plan.

One Word to Describe the Week

Slug
Credit: http://spreadtheslug.tumblr.com/
Sluggish

Training

Weekly Total:
Miles: 7.18 miles
Time: 1:48:02

Sunday, September 15: Rest

Monday, September 16: Rest

Tuesday, September 17: Maintenance Run
Where: Outside
Distance: 2.17 miles
Time: 32:59
Average Pace: 15:09 min / mile

Summary: Starting this week off did not feel as good pre-work trip. My legs felt heavy and sluggish. It just felt like a lot more work to run and get the legs going. Sometimes I feel like this when I start runs and it shakes off but this continued the whole run, which lead to the shorter end of the run window duration.

Wednesday, September 18: Rest

Thursday, September 19: Missed Maintenance Run

Summary: I missed my second weekday run. Not going to make any excuses. On the slight positive I did walk about 1.5 miles with Steph and Sam after work (and then again on Friday). Not my run / walk, but still activity for being healthier.

Friday, September 20: Rest

Saturday, September 21: Distance Run
Where: Outside
Distance: 5.01 miles
Time: 1:15:03
Average Pace: 14:57 min / mile

Summary: The first distance run of the time improvement plan was a 5.5 mile run. My plan was to get up just early enough to get my run in (giving me 15 min / mile in time), get home, showered and breakfast before heading off to gymnastics for Sam. My legs felt sluggish again today. At times during the run, it was a little better, but there was a degree of sluggishness through the run. Early, I was just over a 15 min pace, which was not making me happy. My goal is always 15 minute miles on my long runs, to be sustainable for whatever distance and still "have something in the tank" to be able to push when I need it. Before my week in Florida, I was doing that and then some on my 9 mile run which gave me great confidence. Unfortunately, this Saturday I did not have that. In the end, I did get my pace just under 15. However, I arrived back home a half mile short and stopped. While 5 miles is good, I'm mad after the fact of missing that little extra half mile.

WeightWatchers

I had done a little damage while away. Trying to get back into things went pretty well. I ate ok. Not great though. I had some cake here and there from the cake made for Steph's birthday as well as some ice cream with it. While not good, I did eat much smaller portions of it then I normally have in the past, so it is an improvement. In the end, my weight was unchanged from the last week.

Thoughts on the Week

I hate to of started off week 1 of the new plan with a miss. When I miss, it's usually in the same way, the same pattern for 90% of the cases. I hoped to start the new plan better than this (and the month) but you don't always achieve everything. Unfortunately, this was from a lack of trying, so I am at fault. I have a race coming up next week, the Perfect 10 K, so I need to be on my game this week and finish the month strong.

Sep 15, 2013

Weekly Roundup: September 15th

Clearwater, Florida
Not a bad view for work.
Wouldn't have been a bad place to run either.
This week ended up with some misses. Unfortunately that meant failing my goal of no missed sessions. This week I had some travel for work to Florida and unfortunately I let myself convince myself to sleep in instead of getting up early. I gave myself various excuses in my head at the time, justifying it, but in the end I chose sleep over running, so noone to blame but myself.

Training

Weekly Total:
Miles: 2.41 miles
Time: 33:57

Sunday, September 8: Rest

Monday, September 9: Rest

Tuesday, September 10: Maintenance Run
Where: Outside
Distance: 2.41 miles
Time: 33:57
Average Pace: 14:05 min / mile

Summary: This run went well. It was a good send off before flying to Florida that evening. I felt good running, took it easier but still put in a 14 min pace. I had a shorter run, knowing I was going to work all day then have to travel to Florida in the evening, I didn't want to over tire myself or be sore for flying.

Wednesday, September 11: Rest

Thursday, September 12: Missed Maintenance Run

Friday, September 13: Rest

Saturday, September 14: Missed Distance Run

WeightWatchers

With the traveling, my eating wasn't as good as usual. I pack a very healthy, low points lunches for myself most days. With traveling, my lunch options and choices were limited. I tried to pick healthier options when available, but it was definitely far from perfect.

Thoughts on the Week

My week was a good week. I really enjoyed the time in Florida. While it was work, it was work in Florida. Unfortunately, it was not a good training week for me. This week was my last "off week" between my training plans, so I just need to rebound next week as I start week 1 of my time improvement training plan. The steps towards Disney are getting closer!

Sep 8, 2013

Weekly Roundup: September 8th

First week in a new month, a new page. Trying hard to keep improving and keep on track. I think this first week in September was a pretty good start. My running stayed energized and felt good this week. I put in some good distance this week, including a long run on Saturday. The was week 1 of my 2 off weeks before the start of the new training plan that will lead all the way into WDW Half.

Training

Weekly Total:
Miles: 16.11 miles
Time: 3:42:31

Sunday, September 1: Rest

Monday, September 2: Rest

Tuesday, September 3: Maintenance Run
Where: Outside
Distance: 3.11 miles
Time: 41:16
Average Pace: 13:16 min / mile

Summary: I felt really good out running on Tuesday. I decided to go a push for 3.1 miles again and have another 5K maintenance run. I was energized and pushed a good pace for myself without really needing to try. I was not far over a 13 minute split just going out and running. It gave me some good confidence.

Wednesday, September 4: Rest

Thursday, September 5: Maintenance Run
Where: Outside
Distance: 4.00 miles
Time: 50:54
Average Pace: 12:41 min / mile

Summary: Thursday ended up being another great evening run. I started out feeling ok. I wasn't overly motivated or unmotivated, just ok. As I started running, it felt good and I decided to try and go for a full 45 minutes. As I was running, I was covering good ground, enjoying the cooler temperature, enjoying my music, enjoying my run. When I reached the point about where I should turn around timewise, I saw I was nearing 2 miles. I decided, why not, let's make it 4. I pushed my run out to the next stop light that put me at 1.95 miles, turned around, knowing I'd get 4 miles in to get home. In the end, I turned in a really great split and put in 4 miles. Ok, yes, I cheated and went a little over my 45 minutes on the plan, but so worth it.

Friday, September 6: Rest

Saturday, September 7: Distance Run
Where: Outside
Distance: 9.00 miles
Time: 2:10:21
Average Pace: 14:28 min / mile

George Mason statue
Mornin' George.
Summary: For the first of the 2 off weeks, I scheduled myself a 5 mile run. With having such a good week, I thought of pushing for longer. There was also some guilt of missing my long 13 mile run 2 weeks ago playing into it. I set out to get at least 5 miles in, but geared up with my water belt and some GU Gels in prep to run longer. On a side note, I recently picked up a couple different flavors from PRR. The espresso and peanut butter flavors... awesome. At first my legs felt a little tight but loosened up. Before I new it, I reached George Mason University. I felt great. I was trying to take a slower pace, knowing if I was going to run longer, the pace from my week day runs wouldn't be sustainable for me at this point. After the first mile at 14:27, my app stopped giving me my splits every mile. It was a good / bad situation. Good, because kept me from overanalyzing, bad, because I wanted to know and would end up trying to do some close math to figure out my average anyway. I looped half the campus, then decided to cut through campus to go by the George Mason statue instead of continuing to loop around it. I learned my mental map of campus is not quite as good as I thought, which my split times will concur with. In the end, I made it back home and with a little hook around stopped at 9 miles. The crazy part? I wasn't too tired either. Sure, my legs were a little tired, but they didn't feel like dead weight or anything. Other than the bottoms of my feet a little, not sore either. I hooked off at this point though so I could grab a quick shower and catch up with the wife and daughter at her gym class, to check out a new place we were trying. The main downside to the run? Missed out on bagels with my wife and Dopey Dave.

WeightWatchers

This week was much more positive than the last. I forgot to weigh in until Sunday, but I dropped almost 2 pounds, getting back what I gained the previous week. I ate pretty healthy, cutting back on some of the less healthy stuff I was fitting into my points. Just because it fit into the points doesn't mean I should always have it. I need to make more of those right choices. It is still ok once and a while, just not as often as I've allowed it. This week will be a little more of a challenge, however, because I will be on a work trip which means eating out more often. I just need to convince myself of more of the healthier options than those that are not to come out not too damaged.

Thoughts on the Week

Training went well. Eating went well. Sleep... could use some improvement. The week, and especially the weekend, were busy but good. I hope the energized running feeling will continue to last. I'm hoping I just found that sweet spot of enjoying running. I know it can't always be there, but I hope that becomes the rule, not the exception.

Sep 2, 2013

Monthly Roundup: August

I can't believe it's already September and that the summer has already come and gone. It went by so fast. August was an interesting and busy month. It included vacation, some heat and humidity and a new job. My training and weight loss had some ups and downs during the month, but still moving forward.

Trainings

Not a bad place for a 14 mile run.
My training this past month wasn't great. It included a lot of missed sessions. In fact, I missed more times than I actually worked out. I'm not happy with that. I'm not happy with myself. I expect more from myself. With that said, it was not all bad. I did have my longest run to date: a 14 mile run that I did on vacation none-the-less. That did in fact save my monthly total miles to look better than it should have likely been. I have started to bounce back from the missed sessions as well and have a renewed drive to get all my runs in. As I've mentioned before, my biggest hurdle is wanting to sleep for morning runs and just plain forgetfulness for evening runs. But I only offer that as explanation, not as an excuse. I cannot let myself make excuses and expect to improve.

Races

I had no races in August, but I think the 14 mile rhn should count as a psuedo-race. September has the Perfect 10 races, where I plan to run the 10K. They offer a 1.0 mile, 10K and 10 miler. I'd want to try the 10 miler, but the 10K fits better with my training schedule.

Some Monthly Stats

Geeky stats time for the month of August.

Running the Roads
Total Distance: 24.19 miles
Total Time: 6:13:02
Average Pace: 14:49 min / mile
Best Pace: 13:34 min / mile
Best Split: 12:59 min

Total Distance Year to Date: 117.52
Monthly Distances Chart

Do you see that? I have run 117.52 miles since April. That's just on the road, nothing in the gym counted. Going from nothing, that number is hard to fathom for me. Then, I start to think what that number would be without all the missed training sessions and it's just so hard to take in. I can't even believe that number is real, for me to have done all that already.

Looking to September

Set Goals
Credit: austincc.edu
We're already fast into September. I thought a good way to look at the month is to set some goals for myself. Some will be more difficult to others. I will strive to accomplish them all. But goals should stretch you, so I'm not just picking things I know I can accomplish.

  • No missed training sessions
  • Add 1 non-running training session per week
  • Run 40 miles total
  • Lose 5 pounds
I think these are good starting goals. The first, no missed sessions is obvious. It is how things should be every month, but have not been yet so far for me. The second is something I want to add to increase my overall health and compliment my running. Ideally, I want to add yoga, weight and other cross-training activities to my workouts. I think I'd like to do yoga once a week to increase my flexibility and joint strength, weight train one day to work out other muscles and another day just doing other exercises, such as for my core. That is obviously a lot to add in, so I'm going to pull out the developer in me and apply the iterative approach. I'm going to start with one extra session a week, then come back and add more. Right now, with my new job, I don't have a gym. In our new office, we'll have one to use again, but for now that means my extra sessions will be something I will do around home. One extra time a week will be good for me I believe.

The next goal is to run 40 miles. My largest has been 30 outside, so I wanted to step it up from there. In addition, looking at the training plan for this month, this requires some of my week day runs to put the 45 minute side of the 30 - 45 minute window because I will need more 3 mile runs than 2 mile ones to meet this total. Lastly, I want to kick my weight loss up a gear. It has done ok, slowly losing a little with a slight setback recently. That is a change I really want to see that I haven't yet, so I want to push myself on that as well this month.

I've also decided to give the Nike+ Running app a try this month. We'll see how it goes. If you're on Nike+, look me up and add me. I used the screen name WickeeWickee.

What will September hold? More work, more progress, more success.

Sep 1, 2013

Weekly Roundup: September 1st

I've been working on getting back on track. This week, for training, was a step in the right direction. For the eating and weight loss, I think I need to step it up some. Though I believe this week might more likely be the lingering effects of the off weeks I've had.

Training

Sunday, July 25: Rest

Monday, July 26: Rest

Tuesday, July 27: Maintenance Run
Where: Outside
Distance: 2.19 miles
Time: 31:34
Average Pace: 14:26 min / mile

Summary: This was my first run out in 2 weeks. It felt pretty good considering that. I got up and out early, starting to run before the sun even came up. It was a pretty good way to start the day. My first split was a little slow so I pushed myself a little more the second mile and took over 2.5 minutes off my split. In the end, I was happy with my run.

Wednesday, July 28: Rest

Thursday, July 29: Maintenance Run
Where: Outside
Distance: 3.10 miles
Time: 45:12
Average Pace: 14:34 min / mile

Summary: For my Thursday run I ran in the evening as opposed to the morning. I was tired and couldn't get myself out of bad. One of the hurdles I have. I decided I wanted to push myself a little more for my run, so I decided to take the upper end of my 30-45 minute run. I wanted to get 3 miles in, which would mean a 15 min / mile split. Not too fast, but my current goal for the long distances so trying to find that pace. In the end, I was successful. I ended up running in the twilight into the evening, but the path I run has street lights, so lit enough to run just fine. I do need a reflective belt or something to wear all the time, to be safer. I ended up having my own personal 5K run that evening, getting my 3.1 miles in at the 45 minute mark. Goal accomplished.

Friday, July 30: Rest

Saturday, July 31: Missed 3 mile run

Summary: No real excuse here. With the holiday weekend, I was enjoying relaxing, didn't make myself get up early but didn't remember or push myself out in the evening. I'm still working on this.

WeightWatchers

I did a pretty good job on my food again this week. I'm doing a pretty good job of tracking, just occassionally needing to go back to put in dinner when I forget in the evening. I've had more sweets than I probably should have, though they all were within my allowance. I think the problem I have is the points allow me to cheat a little too much, when I have very low point lunches. I also feel like my daily calculated target is higher than in needs to be, allowing more than what I feel like I should be, but I can't give a real reason as to why. I also put on over a pound, but I think this is largely the effect of my non-training recently catching up to me. I've often seen positive effects lagging a week or so behind, so I could see negative going the same way.

Thoughts on the Week

In the end, a week with any training over no training is an improvement. 2 of 3 isn't bad, but it's not good. I need to be better. I have to be better. I will be better.

Aug 30, 2013

Wish I Was Here - Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend

Disneyland Dumbo Double Dare
Credit: http://runningatdisney.com/
This weekend is the Disneyland Half Marathon weekend. It's not only that, but it is the inaugural Dumbo Double Dare Challenge. How cool would it be to be a part of an inaugural race like that, and get the first ever of those medals? So cool, I think at least. Maybe someday when they add one I'll tackle one of those challenges and be one of the first. I do want to run the Disneyland Half Marathon someday, take on the Dumbo Double Dare challenge and of course earn my Coast-to-Coast medal. Next year, I'll be doing my first half at the Walt Disney World Half, but I won't be going for my C2C. I just can't afford the trip cross country to follow it up. But oh well. I will earn that medal eventually. I'm determined. Of course, first step comes in January. For those in California now, though, I'm sure they'll have a great time and they're part of something special.

Any hoo, I just wanted to wish good luck to all those participating in the festivities this weekend. Good luck to all the bloggers I follow there, such as Pam and Christine of We Run Disney, Heather (and her husband Bobby) of Through Heather's Looking Glass, Jenn of Eat. Sleep. Run. Disney, Greg of Why I Run Disney and of course all the members and friends of Team #runDisney. Of course, also good luck to any of you running other races this weekend, like Lacey and Meranda of Fairytales and Fitness, running the Rock n Roll VA Beach Half Marathon.

Good luck to everyone. Run hard, smile and most importantly have FUN.

Wish I was there.

Aug 29, 2013

Back to Blogging and Running

After a short time of some personal transitions, I'm getting myself back into routine (in a good way). I recently had vacation followed by turning in my notice at work followed by starting a new job. Couple that with the start of school and band camp for my wife, needless to say, it's been a busy time in our household.

This week I was back out running for the first time in two weeks. It felt good to get out there. While I was out running, I realized I missed it. I missed getting out there, music in my ear, just running and letting it all go. While I was running contemplating this, I think I realized why I've been having trouble getting out. It's all about timing. I enjoy running in the morning. This comes with the problem of fighting my love of sleeping and my non-willingness to go to sleep. It's not as much trouble falling asleep, but trouble going to sleep. When I don't get up early to run, this leaves running in the evening. On these days, I go to run after Sam goes to sleep. This comes with its own set of problems, mainly getting hungry and forgetting. I'm either really hungry by the time I go out and get back or I get hungry, forget and eat dinner, which makes then running in this heat and humidity a poor idea.

I'm working on doing better on both of these fronts. My work schedule has evened out that I can run in the morning before work if I want to, even with still going into work after if I need to. I'm also working on doing better if I need to run in the evening. Today I had one of my Clif energy bars for "dinner" when eating with Sam so I had something in my stomach to help with the hunger while still being a part of family dinner.

Credit: Amazon.com
I've been doing an ok job of counting my points. I've been using weekly extra points (which are there for that purpose) but at times it just feels like cheating too much. As long as I'm within my points I have to let some of that guilt go. I also want to try and do a better job of not over indulging too much. I often have a low points lunch with a salad, yogurt, carrots and an apple. With lunch that low, I end up having extra indulging points, which while may meet the levels of my plan, don't completely meet the spirit. Just another thing to keep improving on.

While running, I have Rocky Balboa: The Best of Rocky as part of my playlist. The album as a Gonna Fly Now remix, that includes some quotes from the various movies. So I'll leave you with one from there, that I do quite enjoy
But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!

Jul 29, 2013

Recipe Roundup: Chicken Poppers

Cornmeal chicken
Tasty chicken served up healthy and home made.
I wanted to share a recent recipe we've tried. It turned out so well we've made it twice back-to-back weeks. It's a recipe from WeightWatchers, so it's a good healthy option. For the full recipe, see the WeightWatchers site. I'm highlighting it here, for your consideration.

Ingredients

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 cup fat-free egg substitute
1/2 dried bread crumbs
1/4 cup uncooked cornmeal
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Place egg substitute in a shallow bowl. In another bowl, combine bread crumbs, cornmeal, garlic salt, salt, paprika and pepper.

Dip chicken in egg then mixture. Turn and coat. Place chicken on baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes, flip and bake until cooked, about 5 minutes more.

Thoughts

I love this recipe. It works well to make popcorn chicken, or if you want to do as we did this past time, chicken strips. The strips took a little longer to cook, but still quick to cook. I think the corn meal gives is a unique flavor over other breading mixes. You can premix up the breading as well and keep it ready to go for a quick meal. On the plan, it makes 4 servings at 6 points.

The recipe comes with a dip to make as well, and you get 6 poppers and 2 tablespoons of dip. I personally feel they serve really well with Kraft Fat Free Ranch Dressing (1 pt; 1 tbsp).

They even reheat well. Today I had one on top of my salad and it was quite tasty.

Rating

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Jul 28, 2013

Weekly Roundup: July 28th

I can't believe July is almost over. It has flown by. I finally got a new CPAP machine, so things have started to right themselves. I've started getting some more sleep, better sleep. With that in mind, I resumed training this week. It started well, but tapered to end the week.

Training

Sunday, July 22: Rest

Monday, July 23: Rest

Tuesday, July 24: Maintenance Run
Endomondo stats
Where: Outside
Distance: 2.57 miles
Time: 39:41
Average Pace: 15:27 min / mile

Summary: I tried something a little different with this maintenance run. I was feeling really good at the start, so I kept going. I ran the first mile at a jog with no walk break. This may not sound like much, but since beginning my training plan, I have done the run / walk ratio on every run. I took this first mile without breaks, at a slower pace than my run intervals, but still jogging. As I went up the hill, my legs really called for a break but I pushed through. My first mile was at a 13:39 pace. While I've run faster splits, this one felt good to do. It may not have been a blazing pace, but frankly, it's faster than I used to run a mile during gym class, so no reason to not be happy with that.

Wednesday, July 25: Rest

Thursday, July 26: Rest

Friday, July 27: Maintenance Run
Where: Outside
Distance: ~2.42 miles
Time: 34:56
Average Pace: 14:26 min / mile

Summary: I pushed my second run to Friday night, after not running on Thursday. I didn't want to miss my run. I had a good 35 minute run, but after just 0.4 miles, my GPS was lost and never came by. I played with the route builder on Endomondo to get the estimated 2.42 miles. The run felt good. Not too hot. Relaxing.

Saturday, July 28: Rest

WeightWatchers

I did a pretty good job on my food again this week. I did go over my daily target of points on several days by a little, but I didn't use up all my weekly points or any of my earned activity points, so I was well within my set parameters. In addition, I've lost 4.4 pounds since starting this blog and trying to get healthy, so it has been helping. I have a long way to go, but it is definitely going in the right direction.

Thoughts on the Week

While not a perfect week, I got started by into my training. Not noted on here because of the way the days fall is that I missed my weekend run that I pushed to Sunday night. I planned to run after putting Sam to bed, but instead my wife and I sat down to watch a movie right away to squeeze it in before bed (2 hour long movie) and I never made it outside. This week I need to pick it up because I have a 14 mile run on the weekend. I'm not confident going into it, but I will give it my all.

Jul 21, 2013

Weekly Roundup: July 21st

This week became an off week given a bunch of unrelated items to my training. I've been having trouble being really tired since my CPAP machine died and have been fighting with the medical equipment company getting it filled. Just them taking their damn time and never following up with stuff themselves.

Training

Sunday, July 7: Rest

Monday, July 8: Rest

Tuesday, July 9: Kinect: Your Shape Fitness

Summary: I missed my maintenance run on Tuesday. My wife had to be to work early, so I took Sam to daycare, so I couldn't get my run in like I normally did. I intended on running after Sam went to bed, but remembered that 3/4 of the way through dinner. And unfortunately what I was eating wouldn't go well with a run in the humidity. So, to have something instead of nothing, I did some kinect. I did a half hour of Your Shape Fitness, and got a pretty good workout in. Not the same as a run, but stuff that got a sweat working, knee lifts, squats, etc.

Wednesday, July 10: Rest

Thursday, July 11: Off

Friday, July 12: Rest

Saturday, July 13: Off Distance Run

WeightWatchers

I've been doing good this week on my healthy eating. I used to turn down the points more than what they give me, because it seemed like such a high number, and I could eat bad for me things without penalty. They calculate them based on your weight, so each week when you weigh in, it gives you a new number. I was too lazy to turn in back down some again the last time so I left it. I've actually done pretty good by the plan this way. This past week, I never exceeded the daily points I was given, never needing to touch the extra weekly points you get that allow you to indulge on occasion. So with that, I call that a success. I also lost some weight, but we're unsure if our scale is accurate (at least in its current placement) because my wife was 10 lbs less at the doctors office than at home, and one would assume their scale more accurate.

Thoughts on the Week

As I mentioned in a previous post, I took this week off, given everything that was going on. I'll be getting back into it this week. I need to get back into training in force. Time to pick it up.

Jul 20, 2013

Vote for PRR

I just want to throw out a request to help vote for my local running store: Potomac River Running. They're a local chain of running stores that have offered me great help personally and run a great set of races. They've actually been a part of both the 8K and 10K I've run so far. They've been voted one of the top 50 for the past 7 years in this list by Competitor. The nominations / votes are now, so I ask for help to put them in there again. And, you have the opportunity to put your local store in there as well. If they've helped you, put their name in the running to help say thanks.

Vote PRR

Vote now. That is all.

Jul 19, 2013

Off Week = Check Off Side Items

Refresh
Time for a refresh & reboot
This week has been an off week. Off in the terms of what I've gotten down, in the way things have been done and my training. In the end, I am taking this week off because my body just needs it. The largest contributing reason is my lack of a CPAP machine. I'm not sure if I've mentioned previously, but I have sleep apnea. I was diagnosed several years ago with it, and have used a CPAP machine since then. I'm overweight, which is the likely (and most common) cause. My dad does have sleep apnea so there is a chance it could just be genetic, but he's overweight as well so it could likely just be the same cause. Anyway, my machine broke and no longer functions. To make a long story short (that I started typing and deleted) I've been going on two weeks trying to get everything worked out and a new machine from a medical equipment company. Without the machine, sleep apnea kicks in and I sleep like crap. So I'm exhausted going on newborn with reflux territory. It's only building each day. As it's compounded, I've also begun getting more sore; both muscles and joints aching. Couple that with my wife getting pretty sick for the past week, it's been an off week in our household. I need a bit of a refresh.

What to do with an off week (or weekend?)

So I've been contemplating what I can accomplish with this off week that I've had to progress my overall training, even if I'm not doing something physically. Or in this case, what I can do this weekend before resuming my training next week. I've come up with a couple.

  1. Playlist

    I've been looking for several weeks to update my playlist. Lately, I've been seeing a lot of posts around playlists on blogs I follow. My current playlist consists primarily of songs from an album of "running music" I purchased on Amazon when I started training as a base to work from. I have plenty of other music that I'd love to plug into the list that I just haven't yet. I even have a note on my phone to add songs to when I hear them or something comes to mind. There's more music I own and want to purchase over time to round it out. For now, I just want to start with getting my music off of my old laptop that I've been putting off doing for quite some time onto my computer so I can easily get it onto my phone. I have plenty there that my playlist would benefit from. That would be a good start.
     
  2. Off day exercises

    One of the things I've wanted to augment my training plan with is going to the gym an extra day and doing some weights and other exercises to provide a more rounded workout regimen. I haven't gone yet, but it'd be good to have a plan going in. I've been meaning to look up some plans and exercises I can do, so I don't just go in there and do a bunch of random things that may or may not help. Yes, anything is better than nothing, but target something is better than random something. I have one I got in an email the other day, that looks promising as something to do at the gym or at home on off days: The Crunchless Core Workout For Runners. I'm open to other suggestions as well.
     
  3. Gear

    I've been meaning to put together a wish list of gear I'd like for training. Stuff that I need and stuff that I'd like to get. WIth that comes some research that I just haven't been doing: looking into brands, pricing different sites, finding stores to try them out in, etc. I'd like to try and get a rough list together to start my research from. Plus, it's always fun to go browsing around for stuff to buy, even if you can't right that second. Or at least it is for me.
If I can even manage to come close to these items this weekend, it will be a victory in my book. Time can be fleeting, especially with an almost 2 year old at home. And without a new machine, my evening hours become self limited. But here's to making progress. One more day forward! One more day towards my goals.

What non-exercise things do you do for your training?

Jul 17, 2013

Princess Half is Going Going...

Want to see this?

Princess Half Marathon start.


Considering registering for the Disney Princess Half Marathon? Well you better not think much longer. The race is at 99% capacity! It is all but sold out. So if you want to race in Disney come February, you better jump on this now. I can't wait to race in January, and wouldn't mind running this too, if I could afford the registration and the cost to travel. I can't but you still can. And if you do, you have step one down for this swanky new pink coast-to-coast medal. So why not make that leap?

Pink Coast-to-Coast
Get the pink bling!

Jul 14, 2013

Weekly Roundup: July 14th

Time for a weekly roundup. This past week wasn't my best week, but not my worst. Still room to improve, but there always is.

Training

Sunday, July 7: Rest

Monday, July 8: Rest

Tuesday, July 9: Missed Maintenance Run

Summary: I missed my maintenance run on Tuesday. Mostly just on account of being really tired and forgetting. Been exhausted lately.

Wednesday, July 10: Rest

Thursday, July 11: Maintenance Run
Endomondo Stats
Where: Outside
Distance: 1.41 miles
Time: 21:26
Average Pace: 15:12 min / mile

Summary: I was highly unmotivated and stressed going into this run. Usually running helps me to relax and forget the stress but that was not the case this day. Because of that I ended up cutting my 30-45 min run short. Not my best day.

Friday, July 12: Rest

Saturday, July 13: Distance Run w/ Magic Mile
Endomondo Stats
Where: Outside
Distance: 3.68 miles
Time: 54:04
Average Pace: 14:40 min / mile
Magic Mile: N/A

Summary: So I was to have another 4 mile run with my second Magic Mile. It was a very muggy morning. And unfortunately, I didn't check my calendar to realize that I was supposed run a Magic Mile. Because of this, I did not run my MM. My run went pretty good, I ran my mile down the road and back then circled the lake. With all the rain recently, you could see that the lake had flowed over the path in the corner. It was still wet and squishy in this area, which is important. First time around, no problem. Second time around, some problems. Needless to say, I ended my run up a little early and had some tightness in my right knee. I thought maybe a nice shower would help but it only increased in tightness as it went on. Luckily, there was no swelling and resting it during the day resulted in it feeling much better by the next day.

Thoughts on the Week

Muggy run
Not quite bright and smiling
As I started, this week was an ok week. Not my best, not my worst. I'm disappointed to miss another training day, and need to get back on my regular schedule. I need to start hitting all my trainings to unlock my full potential. I need to really get cruising.

On unrelated to training, but related to getting healthy, my eating and staying on Weight Watchers has went well. I've done a good job sticking to my points and trying to track everything I eat. I'm hoping to see some increased results from it. The key to eating healthy for me is to have a variety to it. That keeps me happy and content with my eating.

Everyone else stay healthy while training?

Jul 13, 2013

180 Days Out == Disney Dining

Disney Dining
This is just a friendly reminder: we are 180 days out of the Disney Family Fun Run 5K. That means time to book your dining reservations. Specifically, this is important if you're participating in the Walt Disney World Half Marathon weekend. This information is still important to Disney dining in general.

How it works

In addition to the reminder, I just wanted to go over how it works, for those that don't know. For Walt Disney World restaurants, you can book them 180 days in advance. However, if you stay on Disney property, you can book for the length of your stay starting from 180 days from the start of your trip. That can give you a tiny edge for the end of your trip.

The Disney dining experience, like everything at WDW is unique to anywhere you'll go. I love eating at the parks, but also at the resorts. In fact, a large majority of my favorite places to dine are at the resorts. Like anywhere when you go away, some can be pricier than others. I feel they are worth it. For our trip in January, we are not eating at Disney places the whole trip to save money, but we still have a couple booked. I am excited for those meal.

One last thing, if you're staying on site and want to eat like a king, I recommend the Deluxe dining plan that comes with 3 table service meals every day. You'll eat until you explode, but it is so worth it. I won't go into detail here on how it works, but you can also drop a comment if you'd like to know more.

Jul 8, 2013

Weak Day, But Being Accountable

I had a weak day today. I've been trying to eat well, not eat too much, not eat horrible snacks and just do a better job all around. Unfortunately, today wasn't one of those days. I wanted this blog to keep me accountable, so I wanted to write about it.

So what happened?

My daughter has been fighting a fever this weekend. Sunday, she had a fever over 100 all day long, even with Tylenol. Overnight, she had a temperature of 102 at 4 am, so we knew she wasn't going to be going to daycare. So I took the day off to take care of her. When it got to be lunch time, nothing looked appealing. I didn't feel like the yogurt in the fridge, not a salad, not a sandwich, none of it. I had found some money in my work bag, from what I don't know, so I ordered a pizza from Papa Johns. Not healthy, shouldn't be spending the money on it, not a good decision. I ate too much of a food I shouldn't be having. It's not the way to lose the weight I need to.

What am I going to do about it?

Weight Watchers
There is nothing wrong with treating yourself to a special treat now and again. There's nothing wrong with a little indulgence. But the time and the way I did it were not right. So, tonight, I took care of something I've been meaning to for quite a while. I signed back up for Weight Watchers. I've used it before, to great success, when I fully used the program and track diligently. I used it when I lost weight for our wedding. Later, I had continued it, but I wasn't tracking diligently, so it wasn't worth paying for the program. Now, I plan to use it again, to track all that I eat and keep me on point. I'm not being paid to endorse it or anything like that. In fact, I just paid them for 3 months up front to avoid the starting fee. I'm telling you all this because it worked for me before and I hope it will work for me again. It will help keep me accountable, and hopefully help me push my weight loss to go with my training. I think it will compliment my training well for my overall plan.

Jul 2, 2013

Tinker Bell 10K Officially Announced

As promised, I want to write more about runDisney events. runDisney has officially announced the Tinker Bell 10K as part of the Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend. The Tinker Bell Half Marathon is a race on the west coast at Disneyland. While I have no plans to attend this year, it is one I'd love to do in the future. Yes, it is primarily a women focused race, but mean can run it. Frankly, I want to eventually check all the runDisney races off my list. In addition, the Tinker Bell Half Marathon is a race you can use to earn the Coast-to-Coast medal.


I think it's cool for them to add another event to expand the weekends to have more offerings. Having run a 10K, I know it's a good length race to feel a big accomplishment without something as long as a half marathon. I'd have to say the one thing I'm disappointed is that they simply named it the Tinker Bell 10K to go with the Tinker Bell Half Marathon. I would have rather them named it something to theme with the weekend, but not the same. I've heard some worry over it being too much of a good thing, diluting the runDisney overall, but I don't think it does. I like the expansion, that opens the doors for more people, not just for the sake of expansion. I think this does that for the west coast. In the end, I think it a good addition.

Registration opens July 9th at 12:00 pm, so mark your calendar if you want to run in the inaugural Tinker Bell 10K. (Or, you are an annual pass holder, Disney Vacation Club Member or Disney Rewards Visa Card holder, register early like you get to.)

Monthly Roundup: June

The month of June is complete. It's already halfway through the year, 3 months into training and just completed week 11 of my half marathon training plan. The weather is warming up, but I'm trying to still train strong.

Trainings

Call Miss Utility
Call Miss Utility
I had good month of training. Like all, it had its ups and downs. I missed 3 training sessions, one of which was an 8 mile run. I was bummed after missing that one and not getting my run in. I did bounce back two weeks later, with my longest run to date, a 9.5 mile run. I tried to shift more of my running to outside instead of in the gym on the elliptical while the weather's nice. My training included over 30 miles on the road running. In June, I also set my best average monthly pace: 14:18.

Races

June did not come with any races. I'd like to run one every month, but time doesn't always allow for it. June held a lot of traveling, so the weekends were spent in various places, not conducive to running. I currently don't have any scheduled for July, but you never know if that will change or not.

Some Monthly Stats

Avg Pace: June
Geeky stats time for the month of June.

Total Distance on the Pavement: 30.35 miles
Average Pavement Pace: 14:18 min / mile
Best Pavement Pace: 12:52 min / mile
Best Split: 12:37 min

Total Distance in the Gym: 2.50 miles
Average Pace in the Gym: 7:04 min / mile
Best Pace in the Gym: 7:04 min / mile

What's Next?

Next month is July. It'll likely be a hot one. I'm going to try and keep up my running outside instead of in the gym while I can. I'm not looking forward to when the winter months roll around. July will have an 11 mile and a 12.5 mile runs. It'll be tough, but good. I'm also going to try and push myself and work hard on losing weight. That is one area I've been struggling with. I'm going to keep myself more accountable and strict. 

What will July hold? More work, more progress, more success.

Jun 30, 2013

Weekly Roundup: June 30th

Lake Barton
Gray day around the lake.
Time for another weekly roundup, this time for the final week of June. This week featured two runs at home as well as one on the road.

Training

Sunday, June 23: Rest

Monday, June 24: Rest

Tuesday, June 25: Maintenance Run
Running Statistics
Distance: 2.28 miles
Time: 33:29
Average Pace: 14:39 min / mile

Summary: I decided to try and make the most of the summer and try and run as much as possible outside while it is nice enough to do so. With this in mind, I decided to do another work from home day on Tuesday so I can then run in the morning before starting my day. I did a nice run around the small lake near by which was a nice change of pace.

Wednesday, June 26: Rest

Thursday, June 27: Maintenance Run
Running Statistics
Where: Outside
Distance: 2.45 miles
Time: 35:03
Average Pace: 14:18 min / mile

Summary: Tuesday's run around the lake was so nice, I decided to do it twice. I decided to run my Thursday around around the lake as well. I like to run counterclockwise around the lake, because everyone else seems to go clockwise. Some people will say good morning and smile, others won't even look you in the eye when you pass them. The weather was nice again, though a little gray.

Friday, June 28: Rest

Saturday, June 29: Distance Run w/ Magic Mile
Running Statistics
Where: Outside
Distance: 1.86 miles
Time: 26:48
Average Pace: 14:24 min / mile
Magic Mile: 11:31 min

Summary: This week, Week 11 on the Jeff Galloway "To Finish in the Upright Position" WDW Half Marathon Training Plan called for 4 miles with a Magic Mile (MM). This was my first MM. The idea behind the MM is you run all out for the mile and the time helps predict the time you can expect to finish the half marathon in, with the run-walk-run method. The goal time is 12:15 to finish in 3:30 for the marathon, which is the time limit. Using the factor of 1.3 gives you the expected fastest pace, which then gives you a total time. My first MM gives me an fastest pace of 14:58 min / mile. That's not as good of a pace as am hoping for, but it was my first one. My MM did not go as well as I might have hoped. The plan is you are to warm up then run the mile. You're supposed to do it on a track, so it is level and accurately measures. I was in New Jersey, so I just ran down the road (not level) and used my phone to measure (pretty accurate but within trees). During my run, about 2/3 of the way through, the inside of my right thigh started to get tight. It didn't hurt but was tight. I pushed through the rest of the mile, but by the end, I had a very weird gate. It ended up causing my left ankle to hurt by the end of the mile because of the way I was running. After that, I decided I would call it early, without finishing my 4 miles to avoid further straining anything. I walked back to the house, giving me the 1.86 miles. It wasn't ideal, but I keep hearing "trust your body" on blogs and Team runDisney so I did just that.

Thoughts on the Week

In the end, I felt the week was pretty good for running. I could have done a better job eating. I ate ok on lunches and dinners, but was not great on the snack side of things. In addition, we were in NJ for a birthday party, so I had picnic food and cake. This coming week may not be the best either. With the combination of my anniversary and holiday, I'm sure I won't eat great, but I'm going to try and not go too overboard. I do feel that all things considered, it can be allowed for the week. Afterwards, I'm going to try and be much stricter and accountable on my eating.

How was your week? What are your plans for training around the upcoming holiday?