On to the next goal: The 2018 Wineglass Marathon

As we progressed further into 2018, I started to get the Marathon itch. After running three in 2017, I was asking myself if I was really going to not run one this year. I had tried to run the Disney Marathon in January, but that dream had been squashed when my asthma flared up at the beginning of the year. Then I tossed around the idea of running the Long Island full, but as the race approached I found myself never really committing to a training plan, and ultimately decided to sign up for the half marathon. I thought, "Maybe this year I will just stick to halfs- work on improving my speed, and then bring the distance up again next year."

But then, a little holiday in the running community known as Marathon Monday happened. For most average runners like myself, the Boston marathon seems like an impossible dream, that only the “fast” runners manage to qualify for. I would be thrilled if I could manage to break the 4 hour mark in a marathon, and for my age the qualifying time is nearly a half hour faster than that. But as I followed the race day on social media, watching as runners braved awful weather and left all they had on the course, I knew that I needed another marathon to work towards, and that same day I found myself online, registering for the 2018 Wineglass marathon.

The Wineglass Marathon takes place on September 30, 2018 in Corning, NY. It is a point-to-point race in upstate NY, near the finger lakes. Being from NY, I have traveled to the area a few times, but I have never done any sort of running there – in fact, the last time I visited the area the focus was much more on wine than on any sort of wineglass marathon. Dennis and I did a little bit of hiking, and then spent a day checking out the local vineyards with some friends that live in Owego. It was a beautiful area, and I am hopeful that come fall it will be a run with some beautiful views.

So, what's my game plan here, and what have I been doing for the last two months, as this blog sat quietly? Well, in looking at my recent training, I have gotten better with cross training, usually logging 2 swims and 2 strength training sessions a week on top of running. I have been averaging about 20 mile weeks, mostly consisting of shorter mileage, as my weekends have been crazy busy for the last two months and not really allowed the time for long runs. The plan going forward is to start bringing my weekly mileage back up to around 35 miles a week, following a training plan from the Runners world “My Run Plan” app. After plugging all of my info into this app and allowing it access to my Strava so it could analyze all of my data, the plan that it spit out claims that I could run a marathon this fall in just under 3 hours and 50 minutes, running 4-5 days a week, with two days of swimming built in as cross training. I don't really believe that at this point that time is possible for me, so the “A” goal that I am setting is to break 4 hours – my current marathon goal is 4:13 and change, so while this is a little ambitious, I feel like it could be possible with the right training and a little bit of luck.

So, starting this Sunday weekly training recaps will be returning to the blog. You'll hear about familiar faces like my Dad and cousin Kasey (who currently is swearing she is never running more than three miles again), and a few new friends that have joined me during this journey. I will also have a few race recaps to post, as this year I have been loading up a little more than usual with shorter distance races. There may even be a few posts about (MAYBE) training for my first Triathalon, if I can manage to scrounge up a bike this summer.

You can follow my newest marathon journey on Instagram and Twitter, using the hashtag #KzrunsWGM, or just by following my account, @gokellyeli. As always, thanks for joining me on this run!

2018 Fairy Tale Challenge Training Week 10: The Sunshine Returns to Morning Runs

Weekly Mileage: 28 mi

Another Monday morning meant the usual debate: Orange Theory or Yoga after work? Usually this decision is simplified by Emily, who heads to yoga with me, but since she was unavailable I questioned my routine. After what was probably too much consideration, I decided to go to Yoga since my IT band was bothering me after the weekend's runs. The class focused on shoulder opening, but of course opened with a loooong knee pile, which is basically my arch nemesis. It was as if the instructor somehow knew I had complained about that pose to Em over the weekend.

The regular routine was back on Tuesday, and the day started with Kasey's arrival at my house. We griped about the return of cold weather after a mild weekend, but at least the sun is starting to rise earlier in the morning so we are less in the dark. Kasey and I got in about 2.5 miles together before her morning deadlines called, and then I kept running solo. I felt like i was dragging myself through mile 4, struggling to find joy in my run. My mental game was poor, and I started to question why I run - lately I feel slow, and like I have  lost so much work. But then a flip switched - why was I treating myself like this? I would never beat a friend up like that, when there were up early, running, and putting in work! So I challenged myself to pick up the pace for the last mile, fight when it got hard, and to finish my run strong. I looked at my watch - I was averaging a 10:07 pace. If I could drop the pace down to 9:30 for my last mile, I could bring the run down to a sub-10 pace. So I dug in and got going - that last mile was a challenge, but it was the breath of fresh air that I needed. I managed to run it in 8:27, bringing my average pace down to a 9:47, and it was just the pick me up that I needed. When I got home I squeezed in a quick Nike Training Club workout. I just set up a new program to follow in the app, so I got the "benchmark" workout done. I felt good going into the day ahead of me, and thank goodness I had that positive attitude because it was a busy day at work. So busy that I wound up leaving late, and just barely made it to swim on time.

It was a big night of laps at swim, and after a quick warm-up we started with 6x50m repeats. Once we finished those, we started the main set of the night, and it was a big one: 5x300m repeats - 300 m in the pool that I swim in is 12 laps. Twelve! That is super far for me! Each repeat had about 30 seconds of rest between sets, but it was still a challenge for me, and I was proud that I got through it. We got to take it easy for the rest of the session, wearing fins as we worked on drills. 

The weather warmed up a little for our Wednesday morning run, and I even got to break out my light jacket - imagine that! Kasey wasn't feeling great, but managed to make it though two miles, and was only a little dramatic with her poses at the end of her run. I appreciated it. I had plans for another five-mile morning, and picked up the pace as I ran off from Kasey's house. The workout turned into an unintentional progressive run, which I was really pleased about, and I even managed to get that last mile into the 8s again, which made me happy. I had planned to get in a quick strength routine when I got home, but I somehow totally forgot that part of the plan, and didn't remember until I was already dressed and ready for the day... whoops. There was no workout for me on Wednesday night, as Dennis and I had big Valentines day plans: to watch a movie (Mulan) and eat nachos. If that's not love then I don't know what love is.

There was some error on Thursday morning - as I waited in the kitchen watching for Kasey to arrive, the minutes ticked by. I had been texting Emily in a group chat that her, Kasey and I share, and there had been no answers from Kasey that morning - an uncommon occurrence. As it got later, I started to wonder if Kasey was awake. So, I texted her brother who I figured would be up and getting ready for school to see if she was up, and moments later got a text from Kasey - she had accidentally set her alarm for 6:55 instead of 5:55 - Whoops! By this time it was already around 6:40, and since Kasey needed to be home by 6:50, her run was lost for the morning. Lucky for me, it was above 40 degrees, so Dad agreed to come out on his bike for the first time this year. Since I knew it was going to be a shorter than usual run, and I had been feeling up to challenging myself this week, I decided my goal for this run was to finish it with an average below a 9 minute mile - and somehow pulled it off! I was pretty pleased with myself, and excited that I completed my self-imposed challenge. 

Thursday night did not go as well as Thursday morning - while I was at work my throat started bothering me. So I checked it out and after looking at it was concerned that I might have strep - it was not pretty. For fear of passing sickness on to other athletes at swim, I stayed home for the night and made a doctors appointment for Friday morning. It was a bummer, but now I will have the push to get to the Monday morning swim session that I keep telling myself I am going to get to, but have yet to attend. 

I considered going for a run when I work up earlier than I needed to on Friday, but my IT band has felt tight lately so I decided not to push things. Instead, I did one of the longer workouts that Nike Training club offers – crunch and burn 2.0. The explosive movements in that one kill me, and I hate but love the side plank leg lifts.

After my workout was done I headed to the doctor’s office before work to get my sore throat checked out – I was relieved that it wasn’t anything serious, just Thrush, which is a common side effect from one of the inhalers I take, and can easily be cured with a prescribed mouthwash.

Saturday was my big mileage day for this week. Kasey and I had plans to run 10 miles, and it would be the first time that she ever hit double digits on a run! In addition to my run with Kasey I had agreed to meet up with a few friends from the tri team for some shared miles, so it was going to be a busy day. Before my run with Kasey, I started my packing list for the Princess half weekend, and extracted my suitcase from the closet, which was way harder than it sounds.

I had most of my race outfits together, but still needed to pack standard vacation Disney clothes (yes, this consists of things adorning mickey’s face). Piles of clothing were established, and I packed them all into my luggage cubes (yes, everything goes into a bag before it goes into my suitcase – it makes it much easier to find things in the hotel room! I use these bags). I made my list of what needed to be replenished in my first aid bag, and packed up everything that I could think of. By the time Kasey texted me that she was ready to run, I had most of my packing complete – I just needed to put some finishing touches on my race outfits.

It was a nice day considering it's February in New York, and I was able to head out for my run without having to swaddle myself first. I just wore a long sleeve running shirt and my light running jacket, along with some leggings and my momentum jewelry trucker hat – it was bright out! I pushed the pace a little in the first few miles, before thinking logically and realizing that I should be a little more conservative with the pace if I wanted Kasey to agree to join me on future long runs. About 4 miles in we stopped for water and sport beans before continuing onward. The weather was beautiful, and the miles just slipped away on the sunny afternoon. It was odd to see so many people out and about in the neighborhood, when I am so used to running in the morning when we see the same four people out walking their dogs every day. We made one more quick fuel stop at mile 7, then pushed through to the end. Guys, believe it or not, Kasey survived her first 10 mile run – hell, I would even say she was pretty damn successful at it, managing to keep an average pace of 10:07 min/mi. So yes, I will be continuing to rope her into long runs (**cough** Disney marathon 2019 **cough**).

After Kasey and I finished up I ate a quick snack (consisting of a tortilla shell with peanut butter smeared on it) and then started heading to Norman J. Levy Preserve – or “Garbage Mountain” as my dad likes to call it, since it was once an actual garbage dump. I somehow always manage to forget that running there makes for a hilly run, as you gain elevation as you go along the path. I added another layer to my running outfit, as the preserve is right on the water, and it was likely a few degrees colder there.

I met up with Tara and Allison, and we got going. The miles always slip away too quickly when I run with these ladies, as we always have what feels like a million things to catch up on. When I was training for my first marathon Tara helped me through so many of my long runs, and then after the Long Island Marathon Alison helped me to find running inspiration again as we ran together as she trained for her first half iron man. We headed up and down the mountain, and looped around it a few times, went out and back on the dock, and even had to dodge a gender reveal photo shoot that was happening, as to not photo bomb them. We wound up logging just over 4 miles, and then decided to take a jumpshot before parting ways, which had us all cracking up.

I had planned to finish up the rest of my costumes on Saturday night, but I was just too tired after all the, literal, running around. Instead, I spent the night hanging out with Emily and my brother, Tommy, catching up on a new Netflix series.

Sunday somehow slipped through my fingers, with all of the errands that I had to get done. But on the upside, all of the dresses have now been picked out for the wedding in October, as we managed to find Jr. Bridesmaids dresses that everyone was happy with!

Now, since this is the last recap before the Princess half marathon weekend, I’m going to bring you up to date through Wednesday, since that was when I left for Florida. Then, the next posts will be all about the race weekend!

I managed to get things back on track Monday morning, when I headed to swim at 6 A.M. to make up for the class I missed Thursday night. I had off from work for president’s day, so I felt a little crazy setting an alarm for 5:30 when I went to bed Sunday night. The class consisted entirely of laps, starting with alternating between sets of 25m repeats and 75m repeats, eventually bringing us to the big set of 4x250 m repeats, before a quick cooldown at the end of class. There was a hard end to the class at 7:30, as there was an event going on at the pool. After swim I got breakfast with my parents, and then finally found the time to finish up all of my race outfits and get them packed away. I even managed to put together a few pairs of mouse ears, following a tutorial that Laura Bowers, from Joyful Miles, put together.

Emily and I still wanted to head to our usual Monday night yoga class, and I felt like that was a great idea, to take some time to slow down and stretch after the busy three-day weekend and before the traveling that would occur this week. Did I fall asleep in class? Yes. But can you really fault me for that - and I woke myself up before the class progressed too far without me!

We had a foggy morning on Tuesday, but Kasey and I didn’t let it get in the way of our run. I made sure that I was well-lit before heading out. I was more asleep than usual when the run started, but the mild temperature, despite the fog, had me in a good mood by the end of the run. Plus, Kasey felt that this run finally broke her streak of mediocre-to-bad runs that she’s had going lately! I only ran three miles, since race day is quickly approaching, and then did a few pop-pilates videos before heading to work.

The evening was busy, starting with a session at the yoga studio that I almost forgot about. At Emerge, they offer some therapeutic services in addition to yoga classes, one of these being the “biomat.” Emily had raved to me about it, so when she offered me one of her sessions that would expire before she had the chance to use it, I jumped at the opportunity. I had to use the session before leaving for Florida, but naturally managed to forget about it all weekend. Luckily, when I asked about availability after Monday night’s yoga class, there was a time slot open Tuesday night, so I could squeeze in a session between work and swim. I headed right from work to the yoga studio, and they brought me into the room with the biomat, which is basically a squishy, body sized heating pad, paired with an essential oil diffusor. It was a 30-minute session, but I set an alarm on my Garmin for 6:09 incase they let me run over, because I needed to check into my flight at 6:10 – and thank goodness I did, or I would have missed it! But the experience itself was great, and very relaxing. Plus, the heat of the mat felt great on my sore hip.

I went right from Emerge to Swim, and it was another night of mostly laps. For the most part we alternated between 100 and 200m repeats, focusing on consistency and making sure that the pace for the 200m repeats was the same as the pace for the shorter repeats. The last 20 minutes or so of class we spent doing drills, and then I headed home to triple check that I had everything packed for my trip to Florida (I didn’t… it took me 30 minutes to find my headphones, which turned out to be in my knitting bag…. Which was of course, in my carry-on bag for the plane. So I guess technically they were packed?).

I had one last run before vacation began, and it was again a foggy morning on Wednesday. Kasey wasn’t as happy with this run as she had been with Tuesdays, but we quickly ticked away the miles. After she finished her run I got another half mile or so in, and dropped my pace so that I could bring my average below a 10 min/mi. With the run done, my training for the princess half weekend was complete. All that was left to do was bring my luggage downstairs, so that my Dad could load it into the car- my parents were picking me up from work so we could head right to the airport, and begin our vacation.

All in all, I am happy with how training for this challenge went. I feel prepared to complete back to back races, and my biggest concern is the heat, which at the end of the day I have no control over. Training was derailed in January when I caught a nasty cold and dealt with asthma issues for almost a month, but now I'm back to 100%, and ready to hit the road in Disney!

2018 Fairy Tale Challenge Training Week 9: Training includes Running AND Sewing

Weekly Mileage: 27.2

After a quick weekend trip to Atlanta, GA and a not-too-late night flight home, I was back in NY on Monday morning, and taking a recovery day. Emily and I headed to our usual Monday night Yoga class, bend into bliss, and it was like Vanessa (the instructor) knew that I had run up one too many hills the day before. We spent the class really opening up our hamstrings, with a little bit of hip work as well. We left the class blissed out, and headed to my house to enjoy some pizza after – there’s a reason I don't blog about healthy eating - I suck at it.

Looking at the mess that is my training plan, with so many of its track days neglected after getting sick, I decided Tuesday would be a good day to do a progression run, something that I used to do once a week, but hadn’t attempted in months. I probably should have warned Kasey of this plan, but she caught on quick enough. Kasey ran to me again to start the run, and my first mile came in at 10:01. After that I knocked about 15 seconds off each mile, with my splits coming in at [10:01, 9:42, 9:26, 9:13, 8:56]. Kasey ran about half of the run with me, but had to bail before I hit 5 miles so that she would get to school on time. I got home early enough that I was able to get a quick core workout in, and completed the Nike Training Club video called “Quick Hit Abs.”

Tuesday night I had swim, and it was an exhausting session! When we started warmups the lane coached warned us to take it truly easy warming up, because there would be a lot of laps ahead of us, and no drills. Honestly, I left this class so exhausted that I wondered if my arms would ever agree to move again, and the only interval I can remember is swimming three laps on 1:30, and I remember this because it was too fast for me – usually I swim in lane one or lane two, but tonight the coach moved me up to lane three tonight, and the struggle was real. I survived the primary laps in lane three, but when we got to the last 20 minutes of class I dropped back to lane two rather than putting on flippers to keep up, so that I could really focus on my form as I swam.

The early morning wake-up that occurred Wednesday was aboard the struggle bus, and Kasey and I were texting each other, evaluating our life choices before we even got out of bed. It was just one of those cold mornings that had us questioning why we get up so early, and considering just staying in bed… but complaining to each other got us moving, and despite sleepiness I got dressed and began my run towards Kasey’s house. We kept the pace easy, and as always were glad that we dragged ourselves out of bed to get our miles in. Plus, the weather was tolerable, despite an impending storm. 

That night I worked on my outfit for the Disney Princess 5k, where I am hoping to pull together an outfit inspired by the floating lanterns in Tangled, since that is the theme for this year’s race. I purchased capris that have the lanterns going down the side, and am working on sewing and decorating a skirt to look like one of the lanterns – with any luck I will even be able to get it light up.

Thursday morning wasn’t so bad, and at least I got to lay in bed for an extra second since Kasey was running to my house. It was another morning that called for two pairs of leggings, and I was flip flopping between my medium weight and light weight coat. Dad pointed out that the “real feel” temp. was less than 20°, so I went with the heavier of the two. Despite it being cold out, I probably would have been ok with the lighter one, as there was no wind when I stepped outside. I even eventually wound up pulling my gloves off to cool myself down a little. The first mile of this run as a little difficult, and my legs just felt stiff and heavy. But eventually I settled into it, and managed to drop the pace down to a sub 10 minute mile. I kept waiting to see the sunrise, but instead just got a bright patch of sky under dark clouds. Kasey veered off at the usual time, but I kept going for another three miles, working some fartleks into my run. Fartlek is a Swedish word meaing “Speed play,” so this basically means that instead of keeping a consistent pace in my miles, I would spot a landmark and then pick up the pace until I got there. After completing some neighborhood loops I hit 5 miles, and headed home to once again and managed to get a quick core workout in. The tri team coach, Jackie, is always telling us to do more core work and to do more yoga, so I have really been trying to sneak in sessions of the two whenever possible. Today’s workout was a pop-Pilates video instead of Nike Training Club, and 10 minutes later I was moving forward with my day.

Turns out the second night of swim class this week would be just as challenging as the first, which is unusual. Most weeks one night is laps and the other is drills, and since Tuesday had been all laps I expected Thursday to be an easy drill day, but boy was a wrong! Maybe it’s just that I was placed in lane three again, but I suppose only time will tell what I have gotten myself into. The class started with the usual warm-up laps, easy enough. But then we started doing 25m repeats, that were a little faster each set (they were all fast for me, if we are being honest here). After each set of 25m repeats, we would get 1-2 easy laps to recover, but they basically went like this – [3x25 on 60s; 4x25 on 50s; 5x25 on 45s; 3x25 on 40s]. It may not sound like much to some, but it was a challenge for me! After the speedwork was done, we did a little bit of drilling, and then moved on to 200m repeats. By the time class was over, I was starving and looking forward to meeting Kasey and Emily for dinner.

I brought my gym bag with me to work on Friday, and headed right to orange theory when I got out. It was an endurance day, and I managed to start the class on a treadmill. They called the class an “Olympic” workout challenge, and while we warmed up at our base pace the coach split us up into groups of 4, and three members of the group would run at a push pace while one person rowed, and when the rower hit a designated distance the next person would move to rowing. Every time we completed a round of the workout we would increase the incline on the treadmill, and the row distance would get a little longer. By the end of the block I had gotten through 2 miles and 900m of rowing. The weight room portion of the workout had a good amount of upper body work, and left my arms a little sore all weekend.

The weekend started on a confusing note, as plans to run had been discussed in the tri team group all week, but nothing really ever got finalized, so I wasn't too sure of who I would see when I got to the hilly loop that we frequent. Kasey and Rachel had both agreed to come running, and we were tenatively thinking that we would run like 8-10 miles..... That was up in the air too. 

The first change in plans came when Kasey texted me upon waking up - she wasn't feeling well and had to bail on the run. I was a little bummed but totally understood, in all the months of Kasey and I running together this was the first time she ever had to tap out, so I knew she must really be feeling rotten.

I picked up Rachel and we headed to Old Westbury, and decided that we would only do one loop, and save longer mileage for Sunday that way Kasey would be able to join us if she was feeling better. When we got to the parking lot a few other people from the tri team were milling about, and we all headed out into the hills together. The weather wasn't too bad, and Rach and I stuck together uphill and downhill. When we finished the 4.5 mile loop we headed home, and met up with Emily to get some Saturday morning bagels. After we were showered Rachel and I headed to target to pick up shirts to use with our princess half outfits, and then her, Emily, and I hung out and worked on our outfits until eventually Dennis picked me up for our valentines date - he surprised me with tickets to see the Lion King on Broadway, and we headed into Manhattan for a great night out.

Since they were predicting rain from Saturday night to Sunday night, my hopes were not high for getting out to run a good distance on Sunday. So, when I got up and saw it was pouring, I headed to Orange Theory. It was a switch routine, so while I was on the treadmill multiple times, I only got about a mile and a half of running in. My IT band was bothering me when I was running on the treadmill, so I knew that I would be better off not attempting to get more miles in on the gym treadmill after class. So, after the hour was up at OTF I headed home to work some more on my outfits and hope that the rain would let up a little.

The rain did not seem to relent, so around 2 pm I decided to go out and just get a few miles in. With race day quickly approaching I limited my time running in the cold rainy weather, since I had already tempted fate the week before when I ran the Hot Chocolate 15k in Atlanta in downpour conditions. I got in a little over 4 miles, then headed home and got ready for the rest of the nights plans. I beat myself up a little bit for not getting a long run in this weekend, but at the end of the day I know that I will still be able to get through the glass slipper challenge.

When I went into this training plan, I had hoped that I would be able to race the 10k part of race weekend, and possibly even set a new PR. But then I dealt with respiratory issues for most of January, and the more I think about it, the more I feel like this is not an event I want to “Race” – it is more an event I want to savor every minute of, regardless of my pace. Do I still want to run a sub 50 10k? Yes, that goal is still on the table for me. But I think for this particular race, I just want to have a good time and get the full runDisney experience… after all, there are plenty of 10k’s that I can race right here on Long Island.

2018 Fairy Tale Challenge Training Week 8: Bringing the mileage back up

Total Mileage: 28.6

With each week of training being ticked off from my calendar, we get closer to the big event: The Disney Princess Fairy Tale Challenge! Well, and the 5k too because I just could not resist signing up for that one. Week 8 of training was eventful, and even included a weekend trip from NY to Atlanta to visit my cousin, Jen, and run the Hot Chocolate 15k with her.

Monday morning was slow moving, so as usual my workout was saved for after work. Since I had made it to yoga on Sunday, I decided to head to Orange theory on Monday night, as I was not sure if there would be any other chance to go this week. It was an endurance day, and I loved the challenges that this class presented. I started on the treadmill, and it was a run/row day, so we switched between blocks on the treadmill and the rower for the first half of the class. It was a distance challenge, so we had to see how far we could run in 5 minutes, then row for 600m, making sure to note how far we got. On the treadmill I made it to 0.661 miles before moving over. The middle block was a 0.5-mile run, with another 600m row. Finally, we had one final 5-minute run on the treadmill, with a goal of at least matching our distance from the first block, and I managed to squeak out just a little more distance then I had gotten the first time around. For the weight room, it was a total body workout, and we incorporated resistance bands for the first time at orange theory, and I liked the new variation to the workout.

It was supposed to snow a little on Monday night into Tuesday morning, so Kasey and I made plans to meet at the gym on Tuesday. We drove separately, as I wanted to get in 6 miles and that would take more time than she had to spend at the gym that day. We met at the treadmills, and I began the too-warm monotony that is running on a Planet Fitness treadmill. After 2 or 3 miles Kasey headed down to the weight room to get a core workout in, and I stayed on my treadmill, getting through the miles. I had just downloaded this weeks “Not Real Runners” podcast, so at least I had that to entertain me. If you are ever looking for a light hearted, humorous approach to a running podcast, I would 100% recommend not real runners, as Sarah and John crack me up every week. They also run a TON of races, so they always have a good race recap to listen to.

Tuesday turned into a rough day at work for me, and I just was not feeling up to swimming on Tuesday night. It’s not often that I decide to skip a workout, but I just needed some time to myself to mentally recuperate and recharge, and that was exactly what I did Tuesday night. The most responsible thing to do training-wise? No. But what I needed that night was to eat a burrito bowl and sit on the couch, and that was exactly what I did.

But the next morning I was back to business as usual and I dragged my butt out of bed for my morning run. I ran to Kasey’s house, and quickly became aware that this run was going to be a cold one. The weather – well, the forecast had claimed that it would be about 30 degrees when I checked the night before, but I woke up to discover it was 19° out – with a “real feel” temperature of ELEVEN DEGREES. E L E V E N. What is summer? Can someone please remind me? Also shake me if I ever complain that it is too hot to run. At least when I run and its hot my skin doesn’t dry out so much that moisturizing hurts….

ANYWAY, when I layered up for my run I added an extra layer to the clothing that I had laid out the night before and pulled a buff over my face. I only have one buff and have been washing it so much that I should really invest in a second one at this point. As usual, Kasey was not wearing a jacket, so that is also something we should probably look into getting (please, for the love of God someone talk this girl into getting a running jacket, she is giving me gray hair…or just send her one, I’ll be eternally grateful).

Regardless of the cold conditions, we survived another morning run and I got in a total of 6 miles on the last day of January. When I got home Dad agreed to make some tiny waffles for breakfast while I got ready for work. My total mileage for the month was 98 miles…. I seriously considered going out again at night to get those last two miles, but the cold weather and recent cold kept me inside – I didn’t want to risk getting sick! Can I just count a few of my swim miles towards the total?

When I posted my monthly mileage Kasey texted me asking how, when I was sick for half of the month, did I manage to do 20+ miles more then her, when most of our miles are done together. I actually had an answer for her – the one half marathon I completed I did solo, and that’s 13.1 miles right there, and the other 7 ish came from the short run to her house and home from it. So naturally on Thursday morning, the first day of February, Kasey ran to my house and we started our month of running together with her a half-mile ahead of me. We pushed the pace a little for the first run of the month, and when I finished I had just over 5 miles done.

Perhaps you have heard of the challenge some runners are taking on, to complete 2018 miles in 2018. To do this, you have to average about 5.5 miles a day. So, for the month of February I am trying to average 5 miles a day, to see how difficult a mileage goal like that would be, and to evaluate if it is something I want to attempt for the year. There would be a little bit of catch-up involved though, since I averaged about 3 miles a day in January.

Despite this goal, there were no miles completed on Friday or Saturday, since I was busy traveling to and enjoying a trip to Atlanta to visit my cousin Jen, and to run the Hot Chocolate 15k.

With just two more weekends to train before the Disney Princess Fairy Tale Challenge, I am counting down the days to Disney… Less than 10 days between me and Florida!

2018 Fairy Tale Challenge Training week 7: Back on Track

Total Mileage: 27.4

I came into this week feeling good, after having a great race at the Fred Lebow manhattan Half. I finally felt like I could start putting more into my training again and was ready to dive into some quality workouts.

As is often my plan, I took Monday for recovery and headed to a “bend into bliss” yoga class, which focused on easy movements, release, and ended with some restorative poses. It released a lot of the tension I had in my body from the weekends running and set me up for a solid week of training.

Tuesday came, and I was ready for a morning run. There was rain in the forecast, but Kasey and I managed to get out and all the way through our run before the sky started falling. The downside, it was very dark for the whole run. But we were decked out with blinking lights that my brother had gotten us for Christmas, and of course the usual reflective gear. My legs were heavy, but it was a good run. I did a Nike Training Club core workout when I got home, in an effort to work on a little strength training. Swim on Tuesday night was all about back stroke drills, building the foundation from the bottom up.

I wanted to start to get back into the habit of track workouts being a regular occurrence, as they haven’t happened consistently since I was training for NYC last fall. So Wednesday morning Kasey and I got up a little earlier than usual, and made our way to the local high school. Once we had a mile warmup done, we broke into 400m repeats. Normally I vary the distance of the repeats I do at the track, but I wanted to ease back into things. The sun slowly rose as we did our laps, and Kasey had to be home by 7:00 to get ready for work, so when it was time for her to go I ran her home and then headed to my house to try to get another quick core workout in. I pulled up the Nike Training club app and picked a workout I had never tried before called “core countdown,” and got that done before getting ready for work.

After work I decided to head to orange theory for a class, as I have trouble fitting their classes into my schedule lately, but still want to get as much as possible out of the membership that I pay for. Since I had already done a challenging run that morning, when I got there I asked the coach if it was okay if I just did the weight room routine twice, and since there were empty slots in the class, she said that would be fine. It was a routine with a lot of rowing, and by the end of the class I had rowed over 4000 meters.

Thursday morning we were running outside again, and while the weather had been predicted to be in the low 30s, it was actually in the low 20s with a “real feel” of 13 degrees. Needless to say, it was a two layers of leggings kind of day, and I completed the look with a buff over my face. My legs were feeling the previous days workouts, but I am glad I got in my miles. Thursday night swim was a combo of laps and drills. The set of laps were 2 x [1x300, 2x150, 6x50], and then the rest of the class was once again, working on backstroke.

I took Friday as a rest day, and was ready to get moving Saturday morning. I had made plans with Kasey and a few ladies from the Merrick Bicycles Tri Team to head to a local college to get a run in, as the terrain is much more dynamic and has a lot of rolling hills. Got to vary up that training, right? I picked Kasey up just after 7 am, and we drove over to the college to meet Sami and Laura. The roads were a little bit slippery, so we were careful to watch our footing as we ran.

We started with a warmup lap in the parking lot before moving onto the main loop of the campus, where we would encounter some hills that we would love to hate. I chatted with Sami and Laura as we went around, and Kasey only flipped me off one time for dragging her out to run hills – normally we run on the south shore of Long Island, which is flat as a pancake, so this was significantly more challenging. As we made our way around the campus we added a loop around one of the parking lots, and did a quick out and back before making our way into the lot we were all parked in to make sure we got a full 6 miles in. We all managed to avoid wiping out on the patches of ice that we encountered, although I had one close call as we did that last out and back. We were exhausted when we finished, but proud that we had pushed ourselves outside of normal comfort zones. After running I got breakfast with my parents at a diner, and then spent the rest of the day working on my skirt for the princess half marathon.

My original plan for the weekend was no miles on Saturday and then 10 miles on Sunday, but when I was invited to run hills Saturday I couldn’t resist. Since my training schedule has not exactly gone according to plan up to now, I figured another switch up wouldn’t really hurt me anyway, and decided I would just run 6 miles Saturday and 6 miles Sunday. Kasey agreed to run with me both days, but we didn’t make any solid plans for Sunday in terms of what time we would run, since it was supposed to rain all morning.

When I got up Sunday it was indeed raining, and I decided to make my way to Emerge for a yin/restorative yoga class, and the hour and fifteen minutes spent relaxing with yoga props was glorious. After the class I was ready to get moving, but the rain had not lifted. Eventually the sky cleared up a bit, and Kasey and I headed outside to get a 6 mile run in. I got to try out my new hat from Momentum Jewelry, which I won through a giveaway hosted by Carlee McDot, and I loved it. It was not only cute, but a totally comfortable running hat. Our legs were a little tired from the hills on Saturday, but we easily enough got through 6 miles, and the weather was much warmer than we had been used to lately.

The weekend ended with a taco night, where Dennis hosted Kasey, Emily and me, and we watched the first thor movie as we each ate our own dinner creations. There were only four of us at dinner, yet we wound up with 3 different protein options for the tacos – ground beef for Dennis and me, Chicken for Kasey, and tofu for Emily. It was a great way to end a busy weekend, and I even got some time to work on another skirt for the princess half weekend while we watched the movie.

So, with my mileage coming back up, I am starting to get excited for the races on the horizons. 

2018 Fairy Tale Challenge Training Week 6: Racing and Running and Swim

Total Mileage: 33.4

After an excellent long run with Kasey and Rachel on Sunday, we dedicated Monday to recovery. Rachel and I met up after work to get our legs moving with a few easy miles, and then met up with Emily at yoga. It was a chilly night, so we layered up and headed out. It was different from my usual runs in that we were outside at night, when most of my runs these days happen in the morning. But we both were decked out in reflective gear for safety, and chatted through the two miles that we got done. The yoga class that we headed to after was called "Bend into Bliss," which was a slow flow class with some restorative work. We left the class blissed out, and I was glad that I took time for recovery.

I had been house sitting for my Aunt through the weekend, and Tuesday was the final morning before I got to head home. Since I was too far away to get a morning run in with Kasey, I got a few miles in on their treadmill before taking the pup for a walk and heading to work. Tuesday night I had swim class, and we were going back to the basics with a night largely consisting of drills. It's still early in this session for swim, so we are foundation building to make sure that we are doing the strokes correctly, and this class focused mainly on back stroke, since we usually swim freestyle. 

On Wednesday morning Kasey and I had tentative plans to run outside, but knowing that it was supposed to be near freezing and raining, we set alarms and decided to make a final call in the morning. When our alarms went off at 6 it was raining, so we decided to not run outside andinstead headed to Orange Theory Fitness when I got out of work. It was an endurance day, and while the treadmill block was super manageable, the weight room session involved a TON of squats, and by the end of class our legs were burnt out and we definitely had that post leg-day limp by the end of class.

Thankfully the weather was more on our side Thursday morning, and we were able to get outside to run. Both Kasey and I regretted not just sucking it up and running in the rain, but after having a cold that is lasting for weeks I am trying to play it a little safer. I was able to get in some solid pre-work mileage, running 3 with Kasey and three miles solo before heading home. As is the usual Thursday routine, I headed to swim after work, and again it was a night full of drills, focusing on kicking and backstroke. 

On Friday morning, I woke up exhausted so decided to take a rest day. I'm still recovering from this never ending cold, with my voice being intermittent at best, so I listened to my body. 

Come Saturday I was feeling much better, so I was glad that I took it easy on Friday. I had plans to run a half marathon on Sunday, so Saturday's plan was to take it . Rachel needed to get 10 miles in since she is going to be out of town next weekend and unable to do a higher mileage run then, so I agreed to bike along with her after I had run 6 miles. Once she got to my house we headed out and got two miles done before running by Kasey's house so she could join us. The three of us then ran 4 shared miles, and I was struggling to talk through out the run as my voice is still not at 100%, so I played some music through my phone to break up the silence. Once I hit 6 miles we looped by my house, and I hopped on Dad's bike to chase Kasey and Rachel. A mile later, Kasey decided to join me on bikes, and we both cheered Rach on as she got closer to her goal of 10 miles - soon enough she hit her goal, and I was so proud of her for going strong through all of the mileage. Even though Rachel has finished marathons, this was the furthest that she had ever run continuously, and I am so excited to get to watch her grow as a runner. While on this run we used my house for the two fuel pit stops we made, and Dad was ready to check in and cheer us on as we got the workout done. 

Sunday was my big run-day for the week, as I was registered to run the Fred Lebow Manhattan Half Marathon. How did it go? Check back on Wednesday to read my race recap!

This week I finally felt like I was back on track with my running, after three weeks of missing mileage due to sickness. While my goals for the 10k portion of the fairy tale challenge may wind up being out of reach this go around, I am still going to give it my all, knowing that there will always be another race if I do not succeed this time. 

2018 Fairy Tale Challenge Training Week 5: Getting back on the wagon

Total Mileage: 19.9 

This week started in Disney World, which is a pretty great way to start a week. On Monday, Dennis and I were enjoying the last day of our mini vacation. In the morning we packed up our hotel room at Disney's pop century resort, checked our luggage with guest services, and headed into Magic Kingdom. We has fastpasses made there and the plan was to grab breakfast,  get in a few rides, then head over to Epcot to eat lunch before the dreaded magical express trip to the airport, and our flight back home to NY. 

I had seen people posting delicious looking fruit and nutella covered waffles on instagram that they got in Magic Kingdom, and that was the breakfast I was after! On the way into the park we stopped to watch the new muppet show in Liberty Square, and it was so cute! After we used a fastpass to ride haunted mansion, we got inline and my breakfast was secured. Let me tell you, this waffle was worth the wait. If you follow me on instagram, it is no secret that I am a big waffle fan, as Dad often makes them for me after my runs. This waffle was the perfect consistency, and the nutella was warm and gooey. The fruit on top included bananas, strawberries, and blue berries, all dusted with powdered sugar. Once my belly was happy we headed to tomorrowland, to get in rides on Space Mountain and the Tomorrowland speedway, since it is going to be closing to make way for a new ride. While waiting for our turn to drive I managed to make a new fastpass for test track in Epcot - score! Having only two people in our party made it much easier to make last minute fastpasses, and worked to our advantage a few more times that day.

After we had finished using our Fastpasses we started making our way over to Epcot. We hopped on a monorail which took us to the ticket and transportation center, and then moved over to the Epcot monorail track. The Monorail started moving, but they had to turn us around and send us back to the transportation center, as the station at Epcot was malfunctioning and would not be able to accept us. Instead, we had to get onto a bus that then took us to Epcot.

On the bus we decided to try the new "mobile ordering" feature that the "My Disney Experience" app now offers, and set up some burgers for pickup at Electric Umbrella. I know, I know - Who eats at electric umbrella when there is a whole world showcase!? Us apparently, because we were both craving burgers and did not have time to do a sit down restaurant. After eating our okay burgers, we headed over to test track and designed the most ridiculous car we could before getting on the ride. 

Then it was time for a walk around world showcase, and stops in the America Pavilion for a Red Stag Lemonade for me and in the France Pavilion for ice cream for Dennis. Then we headed onto The Land, which is Dennis' favorite ride at Disney. I managed to score fast passes first for Soarin, and then for space ship earth, so we rode one and then the other as we made our way out of Epcot, and over to the bus stop back to the hotel, to begin our long journey home. After a few flight delays, we eventually got back home to with winter chill of NY, and after de-icing the car at the airport got home around 2 am.... lets just say the next day at work was a little rough.

So, I took it easy Tuesday, went to bed early, and started easing back into training Wednesday. The doctor had said to take 5 days off to let all of my meds kick in, and Wednesday was my go day. As a new rule, Kasey and I agreed that for the rest of winter if the temperature is less than 20 degrees, we would take our run inside and onto treadmills, albeit a little begrudgingly. There was also still snow on the ground, so that was the nail in the coffin of running outside.

So, we started our morning a little earlier than usual, and I picked Kasey up at 5:50 to head to the gym. I hopped on a treadmill and got my music going. My breathing was better than it had been the week before, but I had to pause a few time for cough breaks. I kept the pace easy, and got in 4.5 miles. Thankfully later in the day it warmed up enough that the snow melted off most of the sidewalks, and we were able to head back outside on Thursday.

It was dark as usual when we started out Thursday morning. There was still a chill in the air, so I made sure to bundle up and cover my face with a buff to warm the air up a little while breathing. It was a pretty run, with the snow still hanging out in trees and on the grass. We got five good miles in, and then I headed inside to warm up. I was finally starting to feel better, but was definitely in my own head a bit, feeling like I lost a lot of fitness over the last two weeks of being sick. I was grateful that I could get out there and get moving again, but a little bummed out that I am not where I used to be.

Thursday night I got myself to swim class. It was a lot of drilling, so not the most challenging of classes - which I was glad for, as once again there were a few cough breaks. I made sure to use the nebulizer right before the class, and it felt like it helped! The laps were challenging, but we didn't spend the whole class just doing laps as we sometimes do, so it was manageable.

Friday I opted to take it a little easier, in the interest of not rushing back into things too quickly. I did a quick nike training club video in the morning, and the only thing I got up to after work was a craft night with some of the ladies from the tri team, which was a ton of fun! I love running with everyone, but sometimes it's great to just hang out and socialize.

Saturday morning I headed to an early spin class. With all of the swimming I have been doing the last few months, it felt like it was time to start adding some form of biking to my routine, and spin is the easiest approach to that. While I know it's not the same as being on a real bike, I feel like it's a step in the right direction. It was a good, sweaty class, done under hanging slinkys in a black light lit room. After spin I had a few hours of downtime before I was meeting Kasey and Rachel at Orange theory, so I headed home and had breakfast with Dad, who had agreed to make us some Egg Sandwiches with bacon. Orange theory was a good class, with some long rowing blocks, and a really solid upper body workout. 

The plan for Sunday was to get a long run in. I didn't want to push things to hard, so Kasey, Rachel, and I agreed to run 8 miles together. None of us had any real plans for Sunday, so we slept in a little and met up at 10:30 to get moving. We layered up for the weather, and headed out into the neighborhood. Since I was still a little under the weather, I wanted to stay close to home so that we could stop if necessary. Rachel met me at my house, and from there we ran to Kasey's. It was a quieter run than usual as I don't quite have my voice back, so chatting was difficult. I had my SPI belt on to hold my phone, so I played the soundtrack from "The Greatest Showman" while we were running, since Rachel and I have both been obsessed with it since we saw the movie a few weeks ago. The miles slipped away, and Rachel did great - she hadn't run this far since we did the Brooklyn Half back in May, so its been a hot second. Once Rachel and I hit 8 miles, we swung by my house and Rach headed home. Kasey had a half mile to go, so I decided to run her home and hit a total of 9 miles at the end of the run. Kasey and I picked up the pace for that last mile, and it felt great to get moving. I was more sore than I expected to be the next day, but it had been a while since I really pushed it. 

I was glad that Rachel was able to join us for our weekly long run, since she is going to be doing the fairy tale challenge with me next month! When RunDisney released the medals she loved the challenge medal, and we got lucky and were able to find a travel agent that still had race bibs available. Our plan for now is to each race the 10k alone, but then enjoy the half marathon together, and really take in the whole RunDisney experience - and even cross the finish line with a drink in hand if we can find one before the finish line!

Hopefully I will continue to recover from my cold, and be on the mend in the coming week. My plan for next week is to try to play catch up just a little bit, and make my way back to my usual mileage. How is your training going? Let me know in the comments below!

2018 Fairy Tale Challenge Training Week 4: The most lack luster week of training

Total Mileage: 3.6

So, I sincerely hope that this week turns out to be the low point for this training cycle... the cold that I came down with last week entirely knocked me on my ass, and destroyed any and all fitness plans that I had for this week. 

What this week was supposed to be: Some easy mileage early in the week, followed by the Walt Disney World Marathon.

What this week was: Minimal movement at the start of the week, and a snow storm.

Let's start with new years eve, Sunday night.  I had planned to hang out with Dennis and his sisters to ring in the new year, but wound up calling it a night by 10 pm, and when I headed home discovered I was running a fever. Thrilling. I started taking an antibiotic that my doctor had prescribed.

The next two days were spent on the couch, and I continued to run a fever. My asthma was so inflamed that I was getting lightheaded just moving around.

I was back to work on Wednesday, but still not feeling great. Coughing was attached to any movement or talking. We had a snowstorm coming in on Thursday, so when I got home from work Wednesday I really wanted to try to get out for a little run, to gauge how I was feeling and to try to determine if it was realistic of me to even think about still doing the Disney Marathon on Sunday. 

Kasey was around and agreed to head out with me. It was a cold night, 25 degrees, windy and dark. I felt sluggish as we moved, and every breath was a struggle. While my brain was happy that I was going for a run, my body was enraged that I dare make it move. We kept going to keep warm, and slowly but surely got through the run. Overall, not a good run. Breathing was very hard, and I was glad that it was over. It felt like I needed to start considering the possibility that I would not be participating in the Disney Marathon. 

So, naturally, I spent the snowday on Thursday entirely in denial of this fact, and instead of making the rational decision to not run the race, I made a doctors appointment for Friday and spent all day Thursday going through my running gear to pick a race day outfit. After sorting through everything, I decided to make a "Space Mountain" costume. I pulled out some felt and made the logo to sew onto my jacket and tank top, and made a ride car vehicle to attach to my hat. I was pretty happy with the end result!

Friday morning came with a reality check, in the form of a conversation with my dad - he sat me down and strongly discouraged me from even toeing the starting like of the full, bringing up how long it took me emotionally to come back from my disappointment after the NYC marathon. That was a race that I was fully trained for, where as this one I has signed up for last minute and was guaranteed to probably not run my best race even if I had not gotten sick. My fate was sealed at my doctors appointment later that day, where my doctor performed a lung function test, and basically laughed in my face when I told her that I wanted to run the race on Sunday. So, just like that, I was no longer running the 2018 Disney Marathon and I was instead on four new prescriptions.

The Silver Lining - Dennis and I decided to still head to FL, since our flight and hotel were already paid for. For the most part we avoided the marathon weekend activities, hopping between parks and always taking a mid-day break so that I could spend some times with my trusty nebulizer. Dennis and I had a really great weekend trip, and I am grateful that we were at least able to do that.

It was disappoianting to not run the race, but I know I needed to give my body time to recover. My doctor reccomended i take at least 5 days off from physical activity, so I did just that and I am finally feeling better this week and hopefully will be back to 100% soon.

Hopefully my next RunDisney event will go more according to plan, and I will get to the start and finish line of the Princess Half! Have you ever had to drop out of running a race?