Kelly's Goofy Plan: Week 5

Dennis and I flew home from NY the same day that I ran the Wine and Dine half. While I was disappointed to miss the after party, I was happy to be home and back with our cats after a week in Florida.

Monday morning came like a rude awakening, with a return to work after a week and a half off. Since we had been away from home for so long I didn’t manage to make time for a workout that day, as I had to grocery shop and set myself up for the rest of the week.

But I got to work on Tuesday, which was both my birthday and election day. Kasey, Dad, and I met up and ran to the polling place that we all were assigned, doing our civic duty bright and early. We may have gotten some funny looks for our athletic wear while voting, but it was well worth it to have our voices heard. I ran a total of 6.28 miles before heading to work, and then celebrated my birthday with family that night, going out to dinner at seasons 52. After dinner I had an unplanned visit from Kasey and her family with Emily at the apartment, and it was nice to be reminded that I am loved.

I wasn’t scheduled for any miles on Wednesday morning, but it was so beautiful out that I was itching to get moving. So, I texted Dad and since he was awake as well, we met up for a short journey around the neighborhood. We were rewarded for our morning miles with a good sunrise, which would be a part of our morning routine for a little longer since the clocks went back an hour the weekend before. Emily and I headed to a yin yoga class after work, and in the spirit of overbooking myself, I went right from Yoga to LA Fitness, to meet up with a co-worker for a swim. We got in 1000 yds, and then I headed home, VERY ready for bed.

Old habits died hard Thursday morning, since my run ended with a waffle at my parents house. I headed out and quickly found Kasey, and we ran the usual route together until she was finished with her miles. Dad rode along with us, and when Kasey finished her miles we continued for another three, and were done early enough that there was time for breakfast. So like I said, we finished the morning run with a big plate of waffles, and Dad gave me a ride home so I would be able to get into work on time.

I actually managed to swim two nights in a row this week, since after work on Thursday I met up with Allison at LA fitness, and we swam just over 1000 yds and then called it a night.

For the weekend, my running calendar said that I should run 7 miles Saturday and 7 miles on Sunday, but since I had gotten in an extra three miles earlier in the week, I opted to consolidate the runs into one longer run, since Mike was planning an 11 mile run for Sunday.

We headed out just before 10 am, starting the run with some Gu, that way Mike could get used to fueling for longer runs. We stayed local for this one, since Mike had to get to work around 1 pm, so it would save us some travel time to stay local. As always, the miles with Mike slipped by in no time, chatting as we went. From just a few weeks ago, when we ran 10 miles together, mike has gotten so much stronger - it is always amazing to me how much stronger runners get as they build up their training mileage. On our last long run, he was struggling to hit that 10 mile mark, but this time he soared right to 11. We made one pit stop for water at my parents house, but other than that it was non-stop mileage.

It felt good to get back into my regular routine, and it was nice to finally be beyond the stress of wedding planning. We had so much fun on our wedding day, but all of the planning was stressful leading up to the big day.

Kelly’s Goofy Plan: Week 4

Week four of training for the Goofy challenge brought Dennis and I to Florida, since we were honeymooning in Disney World!

I mean, are any of you surprised by this?

We were staying at the beach club resort, tucked away just behind Epcot, with one of my favorite running trails on Disney property, so of course I managed to sneak in a few training runs during the week, when Dennis was opting to sleep in.

On day three of our honeymoon, I got up a little earlier than I needed to to get out and run. I had finally gotten used to the nice, fall weather in NY, and Florida was a little bit of a rude awakening, still warn and humid.

Den and I had reservation at Le Cellier in Epcot at 11:15, so I figured I would get some miles in and let him sleep. I had 7-8 miles on my schedule that were meant to be speedwork intervals, but I decided to take them easy and save the speed work for the wine and dine 10k, which I would be running on Saturday.

So I laced up and began running loops- around the board walk, then to Hollywood studios and back. At first it wasn’t too hot out, but as the sun rose higher into the sky, the air got thicker and I was glad that I had used my inhaler that morning.

There is a ton of construction going on near the entrance to Hollywood studios due to the new gondola system, so I wasn’t able to run all the way to the front gate like I usually do when running in the area of this resort. Instead, I turned around when I reached the construction fences, as it was too crowded to continue to the bus area. I was feeling good on this run, and it was my first run since getting married! It was nice to not feel stressed out about the wedding while running, for the first time in a long time. As I finished a loop I was just at 6 miles, and considered calling it a day, but committed to finishing the full distance, and got in one last loop.

I was sweaty and happy as I finished this run, glad that I can finally focus on running again now, without having to make as many sacrifices for other things that are going on in my life. Plus, I knew I had a yummy lunch ahead of me at Epcot, so that was a mood booster in and of itself.

On Halloween Den and I had tickets to a nightmare before Christmas Halloween party at the Edison in Disney springs, so it was a late night for us. We had a great time though, and I even won a nightmare before Christmas vinyl in the costume contest they hosted, for placing in the top 10!

We didn’t set any alarms Thursday morning, since both of us wanted a chance to sleep in - and we were rather successful! I didn’t wake up until 10:30, and I honestly can’t tell you the last time I managed to sleep in that late. Den was still fast asleep, so I took this as an opportunity to get the run in that my schedule called for - 4 miles. The weather wasn’t too bad, which was a relief. High 70s and low humidity.

The disadvantage of running this late? Lots of foot traffic on the boardwalk. But all in all it was still a good run. I had a podcast to listen to - the wine and dine preview from not real runners - and just settled into a easy pace and got moving. At first my body was a little hesitant to be out there, but I told myself that if I wanted to stop after one loop, I could, but I needed to get through at least one loop.

But sure enough, once I was through one loop I had found a groove, and was enjoying my podcast enough to keep moving forward. I was listening to the wine and dine preview episode that not real runners released a week before the event, and I hadn’t found the time to listen to.

The loops slipped away and I reversed the last one to keep the run to 4 miles. When I was done I was once again very sweaty (thanks, Florida), and very happy to hop in the shower. The plan for Thursday? A quick trip into Epcot to grab some lunch and our annual pass holder cutting boards, then we would head over to the race expo!

The rest of my honeymoon running was in the form of races, so make sure to check back later this week to read my recap of the wine and dine 10k.

Kelly's Goofy Plan: Week 3

On Monday night, I was in the midst of wedding preparation, and knew that I needed to be up past my normal bedtime. So, instead of subjecting myself to a torturous morning, I texted mike to see if he was down to run Tuesday night, and he agreed.

A storm was rolling in as we headed out to run, and we spent a large part of the run talking about wedding plans. He’s engaged to be married next July, so is just beginning to plan as I rapidly approach the big day. Before the run was done the skies were starting to open, and we sprinted the last block to get back to the apartment before we were really soaked. My legs did not want to be running that day, but I got out there and got moving.

Tuesday was my last day of work for the week, and the plan was to do lots of wedding prep with the two days I had off before the wedding- and boy, were those days filled up.

I didn’t get out to run again until Thursday morning, when Kasey and I headed out for a slightly later than usual run- no work and no school meant we got to sleep in a little. The weather was crisp, although a little windy.

Kasey even chatted with me again, something I am more than happy to get used to. With all the time we have spent planning for the wedding in the last two years, it was surreal that it was this week at long last. When Kasey had finished her three miles I headed home, to get in a yoga class with Rachel, Liz, and Emily before beginning a jam packed day full of pre wedding activities.

The first item on the itinerary? The last mile before the aisle. I had most of the bridesmaids plus my brother Kevin and a few of the guys assemble at my parents house, and I decked out myself in some bride gear for the occasion. We were just doing a one mile loop near my parents house, and I was so happy to be out there with so many of my people. About 3/4 of the way through the loop dad rolled up on us in the car with Den, Emily and Tommy on board, holding a speaker out the window and pumping the rocky theme song- this may have been the best part of the whole event. And of course, there was a sprint to the finish line as we rounded the last corner to my parents house. Greg won, but in my defense he is almost a foot taller than me.

That was all the running a got in this week- definitely a bit lower than my usual weekly mileage, but I did get married, so I think that’s a pretty good excuse. Now, we’re off to Disney world to honeymoon, and I mayyyy even be sneaking in a race- the wine and dine two course challenge.

Race Recap: RunDisney Wine and Dine Expo

Did I manage to finagle our honeymoon being the same dates as a rundisney weekend? You know it! It truly wasn’t intentional as well, we just headed out for a week after our wedding, and the first weekend of November is the same weekend as Disney’s wine and dine half marathon weekend. 

Now, everyone on planet earth (basically) told me that I shouldn’t run a marathon the week after my wedding- which is why I didn’t register for the NYC marathon this year. But no one said a thing about half marathons! Or rundisney challenges for that matter.... so when registration opened up, I registered for the two course challenge- a 10k on Saturday morning, and a half marathon on Sunday morning. RunDisney races are always very early, so Den would even be able to sleep through the whole run. So, totally fair game in my book. 

I didn’t need to go to the race expo Thursday, but I was excited to check out all of the RunDisney excitement - so we planned to go Thursday afternoon, to avoid the opening crowds but get there before the locals got out of work that day.

We headed out to the bus stop at the beach club resort just after 2 pm, and after waiting for about 20 minutes, an expo bus pulled up..... and promptly left without stopping. Come on! After speaking with another runner who was waiting for the bus, who told us the last bus did the exact same thing 30 minutes before this bus, I headed into the resort and spoke to the front desk, who started to call the bus operators to see what was up. We had fastpasses that evening I’m Hollywood Studios that we didn’t want to miss, and she offered to call us a complimentary taxi to take us to the expo, so we wouldn’t loose any more time. 

So a few minutes later, we were in a cab and on our way. When we arrived at the ESPN wide world of sports, our first stop was the arena, where the official rundisney merchandise was housed, as well as the bibs. I headed into the merch area first, as I had read online that things were already selling out - apparently there was an extremely limited number of pins made for this weekend, and I wanted to make sure I got one for my backpack. By the time we arrived, all of the medal replica ones were already sold out, but I was at least able to grab the logo pin and an “I did it” pin for the challenge. 

I picked up an assortment of merch other than pins- a hat, a travel mug, a wineglass, a jacket, a magnet, a half marathon “I did it shirt,” and a shirt for den that reads “I support my wife’s runDisney obsession.” What can I say, I’m milking this newlywed thing. 

I don’t normally buy the “I did it” shirts that rundisney sells, but I have one from this weekend two years ago, and somehow managed to stain it recently, so I wanted a replacement. Plus, this year they were tech shirts, rather than cotton shirts, so it’s something I can actually run in. 

When we went to check out Den surprised me and took care of all my purchases for me, as my birthday is next week. We may be home by then, but at least I’ll have a little Disney Magic to look forward to. 

Once we were done with the merchandise, we headed into the bib pickup area, which was also in the arena this time around. There were no crowds, and I was able to walk right up to my designated pickup location. I missed the first corral by 30 (!!!!) bibs, but was kind of excited that my number fell into the first range of pickup line numbers. I’ll just have to work harder next time, corral A is so close!  As always, they were taking photos of runners who were signed up for the challenge, so that they can be verified at the finish line of the half.

Once we had checked all of the required boxes and snapped a few photos, I hopped in line to get a photo with chef Mickey before making my way over to the visa center, where I would be able to retrieve my race shirts. 

Again, there was no line to get into the visa center, so we walked right in and headed through the vendors to shirt pickup. I did buy one thing at the expo, but it’s a super secret surprise for Mike, so you’ll have to wait for the big reveal on that one. 

When I got my shirts I made sure to try all three on, and they were a good fit. I am a big fan of both the colors of the shirts and the art style that they used. I was hopeful that it would be cool enough in Florida to wear them around the parks after the races, as they’re all long sleeve shirts. 

Once we had all of the goods we left the expo, and had time to head to Disney springs to grab earl of sandwich, before making our way to Hollywood studios. We had fastpasses there to ride slinky dog dash for the first time, and the crowds were even light enough that we got onto toy story midway mania and alien swinging saucers. 

All in all a successful day, both in the parks and at the expo, and I was feeling excited for the race weekend ahead!

Kelly's Goofy Plan: Week 2

Week two began with a family affair – my younger brother, Kevin, graduated from the Police Academy and officially became a member of the NYPD. It was a busy morning in the city, and then my family headed back to Long Island to celebrate, so it was a rest day well spent.

Over the weekend I had gone to Runners Edge to get a new pair of running shoes, and they sold me a pair of Brooks Levitate 2. I had completed my run with Mike on Sunday wearing them, and wasn’t sure that I liked them. I had a week to decide if I wanted to exchange them, so I was excited to run in them this week.

So the week started on Tuesday, with an early morning run with Kasey. We agreed to an early start time, and upon stepping out my front door and feeling the weather, which was sitting cool in the 40s, I ran back inside to grab a pair of gloves and an ear warmer. Perhaps overkill, but it is still early in the season, so chilly mornings tend to catch me by surprise. By the time I had located these accessories, I was 10 minutes behind schedule, and when I reached Kasey she was nearly at the apartment.

Kasey pulled off her headphones as she approached me, and told me that she was beginning to be concerned that she had taken a wrong turn when she hadn’t found me that far into the run. To my surprise, she didn’t snap the headphones back on, as is standard, but instead began asking about wedding plans (she is, naturally, one of my bridesmaids), and that conversation turned into talk of the family affairs, and we actually wound up carrying on conversation throughout our entire run. Something that is a rare occurrence but was very welcome.

The sun wasn’t quite up when Kasey finished her run. I was at about three miles at that point, and had another 4 to get through before I could call my run complete. It was a really good run all in all, and although I was cold at the start, I settled in, warmed up, and was glad that I got out of my warm bed to put in work.

Plus, Kasey admitted something to me that day – she had ACTUALLY enjoyed our run.

On Wednesday I headed out for a quality run – this weeks foal was for four 1200 m repeats, at a 7:29 pace. Dad agreed to meet me at the track so I would have some company, and again is was a cold fall morning. I woke up to find out that Dennis had turned on the AC, despite the outdoor temperature being in the 40s, so it was even colder than it needed to be in our bedroom. The cold made me entirely not want to get out of bed, but I did, pulling on layers of running gear to an excessive degree.

I wasn’t sure of the shortest route to the track via side roads, so I went out to the main road that the school is on, and ran down that to get to the track. The one creepy part? Running an old grave yard that is NOT well lit when it is dark out. No thank you.

When I got to the track it was still dark, and I couldn’t see dad walking laps. I ran to where he chains up his bike, and saw that it was locked in place, so I dumped some of my layers and took off my light up vest. It was dark, but that was overkill on a track that was blocked off from traffic. I did keep on my hand lights though, and just as I was about to begin my laps saw dad approaching – he was dressed in all black, which was why I hadn’t been able to spot him earlier.

The run to the track had been about a mile and a half, so I deemed that an adequate warmup and got right to work. For some reason, the song “American Girl” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers was stuck on repeat in my head as I looped around the track. The 7:29 pace was a challenge for me, but I pushed to keep as close to it as I could. The first repeat rang in at 7:34. Not too shabby, a little slow, but I was happy with it. One recovery lap, then right into the second repeat. I counted down as I finished each 100 track segment. An extra push in the last 100m, and the second repeat was complete in 7:32 – still a little slow. The sun was starting to come up now, and I made a put stop to use my inhaler before continuing on to the third repeat.

Third set. Holding the pace was getting harder. I focused on pushing on the straights, and just getting through the curved areas of the track. 7:35 pace. Not bad, still moving, still pushing. Only one more repeat to go, and then I just had to finish an easy cool-down run to get home. I finished my recovery, and took off at the start of the fourth repeat. The pace was taxing, and despite giving it my all, the last repeat was my slowest – 7:44 pace.

It was time to leave the track after that, so dad hopped on his bike and ride with me as I ran back to the apartment. I was proud of myself for getting out there and doing track work, even if I hadn’t perfectly hit the numbers. I still showed up, and that counts for something.

Thursday morning I managed to get moving before Dad arrived at my apartment on his bike, and shortly after we found Kasey as well. I was surprised to see that for a second time this week Kasey pulled off her headphones, and started chatting with me as we ran – she started wearing contacts this week, so maybe the process of putting them in before running is waking her up enough that she can tolerate me that early in the morning. Just a theory.

I wasn’t planning on getting too many miles in that morning, as I had plans to run with Mike after work. Once Kasey had finished her run I ran a little more around my parent’s house, instead of running back to the apartment like I normally do – as we were running Dad’s bike brake started acting up, and he didn’t want to risk going out on main roads. So, we finished the run at my parents house, and he gave me a ride home. I had stuff that I needed to pickup from their house for the wedding anyway, so this plan worked out.

That run after work? Yeah, it didn’t happen. By the end of a busy work day, I was feeling overwhelmed and had about a million wedding things on my to do list, so I had to be a jerk and bail on Mike so that I could focus on getting a few things done. I reminded myself that in less than two weeks the wedding would be a thing of the past, and I would no longer have to be a flaky jerk.

By the time the weekend rolled around I was less than a week away from the wedding, and that to do list felt like it was getting longer rather than shorter. My to do list felt like it was 10 miles long on Saturday, and that wasn’t including the run that I needed to squeeze in. I managed to get some last minute supply shopping done in the morning, and agreed to meet Kasey around noon to get some miles in. The air was on the cooler side, but the humidity was back and kicking.

The Merrick bicycles Tri Team had gotten new gear, and my Half-zip had finally come in, so I of course suited up with that for my run. I was excited to get to wear it for the first time! I also wore my new sneakers, which after giving them several chances throughout the week, I was not in love with. This run was their last chance, and if they didn’t wow me, they were being returned and I was coming home with the newest ghost model instead (spoiler alert - the sneakers got exchanged, and I went back to the “ghost” line that brookd makes).

The run with Kasey wound up being riddled with walk breaks, because we both kept winding up short of breath – the air was not our friend today. We slowed the pace and kept it  casual, once again chatting through the miles. Once Kasey had finished her miles I ran towards my parents house to see if my mom was home, so we could establish a plan of what we needed to get done in terms of wedding stuff that day. After the pit stop, I made my way back to the apartment, getting in a total of 6 miles. The shoes were still feeling very ‘meh,’ so I made the decision that they would need to be exchanged. Womp womp. I was glad that I was able to sneak a short run in, despite the fact that it was a little bit overwhelming to find the time.

I closed out the week with a 5k with Jennie – the McVey 5k! Jennie and I have known each other for as long as I remember, and we attended elementary school together at McVey before my family moved in the late 90s, so when we discovered this race, we knew it was something we wanted to complete together.

Jennie had been on top of things and signed up for the race in advance, but I somehow never got around to registering. Lucky for me there was on-site registration, and they even still had my shirt size available. After we registered we pinned on our numbers and hung out in the school gym, since it was a bit chilly out, and the start line was right in front of the school anyway.

Originally I had figured that I would race this event, but as soon as the start horn went off, I realized that I really wanted to complete this event WITH Jennie, it was my last race before the wedding, and it was something special for the two of us - so off we went, and we stuck together the whole way. The course even took us past Jennie’s parents house, and her Dad came out to cheer us on. When the finish line was in sight Jennie surged, and I had to chase her down as she flew through the finisher’s chute.

We hung out at the school for a little bit upon finishing the race before moving on to the rest of the days activities - which mainly consisted of assembling wedding centerpieces for me! But as always, I was glad that I found time for a run.

Kelly's Goofy Plan: Week 1

Apparently for me, marathons are events that happen in threes. In January of 2017 after completing my first marathon, I rolled right into training for my second – the long island marathon, and then shortly after completing the long island marathon, I managed to get a late entry into the NYC marathon through New Balance Rewards. Three training cycles in a row, three very different race experiences, each unlike the other.

My body and mind told me to take a step back after NY, and although I registered for the 2018 Disney marathon, I didn’t even make it to the start line of the race, after a bad asthma flare up that left me light headed just walking around. So in early 2018, my weekly mileage decreased, and I focused more on half marathons – managing a PR at the NYC united airlines half in March.

I ran quite a few halfs early in the year, but eventually wound up with the marathon itch, and picked out the Wineglass marathon in the fall of 2018. But before the race had even been run, I decided to sign up for the goal that would follow: The 2019 Goofy Challenge.

So after wineglass I took a super lazy week, relaxing and recovering from my 26.2 mile journey. But when the second week of October rolled around, I was ready to get moving again, and start working towards my next goal.

With the million different training plans out there to get you ready for race day, I poked around online to explore some options. I ordered a copy Hanson’s guide to marathoning, and started my training schedule using one of their plans, as I began to read the book. With my last cycle I ran a less than ideal number of “quality” runs leading up to race day, and that is something I need to rectify this time around.

So week one, day one I headed out into the neighborhood with Dad on his bike. It was too nice of a morning to constrain myself to the track, but I committed to getting some speedwork done anyway. After taking it easy with a warmup for 1.5 mi, I began one of the workouts from Hanson’s book – 5x1 km repeats. I pushed, and you know what happened? I didn’t die. It actually felt good to get moving like that.

So, I did it again. And again. I somehow managed to make my way through them, even if I did have to stop and cough at times during the recovery between the repeats. The faster portions of my run fell in the range of 7:50-8:10, but according to Hanson’s should have been closer to 6:50 based off my previous race paces. Yowza. I was happy regardless, and told myself that with some work, I would get faster times. I was happy that I pushed myself to hit these paces at least, even if it wasn’t exactly what the plan called for. Perhaps not the best thing to do on the first day of a new cycle, but I was happy.

I continued to motivate myself that day, getting in a leg workout after work with plenty of squats, and then finishing the day with a 1000 yd swim.

On Wednesday I opted to sleep in, as I had plans to run with Mike after work. He was waiting at the apartment when I got home, and after a quick change we were out and running. We began our loops about the neighborhood, discussing the trip that we will be taking to Disney in January for these races – Mike and I are going to be running the half together, and it will be both his first half and his first RunDisney event! My legs were fatigued, but we got a few miles in before I headed to a nice Yin Yoga class, my favorite recovery. The class focused on hips and hamstrings, so I was a happy camper.

On Thursday I actually managed to get myself the door at 6:10 – the time I always tell Kasey and Dad, but that always winds up being closer to 6:15. But this time I managed it! It was more humid than I expected it to be, considering it was October, and I had really been hoping that the soupy air of summer was behind us.

When Kasey and I found each other around the half way point, we took a moment to commiserate about the lousy air quality before running up the one hill of our route. It was dark out, in a way that made it feel like the sun was just never going to rise. It was one of the first mornings on the season that I was reminded of just how dark it gets in winter. Our pace yo-yoed, each taking turns to lead the run. Once Kasey had finished her miles, I pushed myself to pick up the pace a little, figuring it would get me home and off of my sore legs sooner.

By the time I was home the sun was up, although the sunrise never really presented itself. I was a puddle of sweat, and questioned if this was really appropriate October weather.

The rest of the week slipped by, filled with the craziness that is preparing for a wedding – at this point, there were about two weeks to go before the big day. But Mike and I kept each other accountable on Sunday, agreeing to head out around noon. When he arrived at the apartment we set up our watches, and got moving – Mike had 9.5 miles on his schedule, and you better believe I pushed that to 10, getting him into his first ever double digit mileage.

We chatted as we ran, largely about weddings, as mine is quickly approaching, and Mike is in the process of planning his for next summer. Mike had decided that as we ran he wasn’t going to check his mileage or pace, as to not psych himself out. I stopped us briefly at the halfway mark to refuel – Gu and water – and I have to say Mike is the first person that I have seen try running gels for the first time without getting completely grossed out by the texture of it. Note to self – when having people try Gu, give them sweet flavors instead of fruit ones!

After the pit stop we headed on an out and back path, that would get us the rest of the mileage. We were both feeling fatigued, but just kept moving forward. Before I knew it, we were almost back at the apartment, and my watch said we had run 9.7 miles. Since we were so close to 10, I encouraged Mike to take an extra loop around the apartment to break into double digits, and he agreed.

Simple as that, our long run was done. Did Mike text me the next day letting me know that his legs were dead? Yes. But that is certainly a part of any runner’s journey.

Intro to the next cycle: Training for the 2019 Goofy Challenge

If you’ve done a RunDisney event, your first question here may be “Kelly, if you’re going to do Goofy, why not run the extra 9.3 miles and just do the Dopey challenge?!”

Simple: Vacation time.

In May while celebrating Emily’s birthday, I convinced mike to come into the city to meet us at barcade…. and then proceeded to talk him into running a marathon

Don’t you love grown up jobs?

Anyway, I did manage to rope two of my friends into traveling to Florida with me - Mike and Jennie. While you have heard of Jennie before (she ran in the Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon weekend with me in 2018), Mike is new to the blog, and while we have known each other since the third grade (about 20 years now), he is the most recent victim of, as Dad calls it, my run-bullying.

Back in 2016 when I was a new runner, Mike was the friend that agreed to sign up for my first New York Road Runners race with me. Since then, we have done a few races together every year, and one drunken day in NYC later, I had talked Mike into the 9+1 program that the NYRR offers - with the ultimate goal of running the NYC marathon in 2019. So the disney half is a step on his path to the NYC marathon, and will be both his first half-marathon and his first RunDisney event.

Jennie will be along for the ride this time, hitting up the Disney parks with us and acing as the captain of our cheer squad. Don’t worry guys, I will make sure that she gets a full lesson in acting as captain from both Dad and Emily.

Anyway, Mike started training using the plan that RunDisney offers on their website, and after taking a solid week off of running post wineglass marathon, I began to roll right from one training cycle into another. I am starting to get my mileage back, and once the wedding is over at the end of October, I will be able to shift my focus fully to training for these races.

The best part about this training cycle so far? Fall weather. Here in NY, we seem to have finally broken through the humidity barrier, and settled into cooler temps nicely - Here’s hoping that this training cycle goes a little more “according to the plan.”

The 2018 Wineglass Marathon

Honestly, I am not sure where to start with this post. I feel like I should feel disappointed after a less-than-stellar marathon time at the Wineglass Marathon, but honestly, I’m not. I’m quite the opposite - I am elated, I am inspired, and I am ready to marathon again. And that is kind of exactly what I hoped I would get out of this weekend.

So, I suppose we will start at the beginning, heading to Corning on Saturday morning. We live on Long Island, so it was going to be about a 5 hour drive north to Corning. We had a hotel booked in Bath, near the start area of the marathon. Dennis and I set our alarms for 5:45, and were out the door by 6:15. The first stop was at Emily’s house, to grab the last member of the race support crew, and then after a quick starbucks to meet our morning caffeine needs, we were on the road. We drove through the sunrise, crossing bridges and counting clouds as we went. When we hit about the halfway mark, we made a pit stop at McDonalds to grab breakfast, and were quickly back on the road. We made good time, and before we knew it we were pulling into the Museum of Glass in Corning, NY, where the race expo was set up.

It was around 11 am when we pulled into the museum, and we headed right to the expo when we got there, following the signs along the way. There was so much to look at as we walked through the building, that I nearly missed the bathroom that I so desperately needed to visit - by the time Dennis pointed it out, I had one foot on the escalador about to follow Emily to a lower level, when I quickly bailed. She looked at me with betrayal in her eyes as she considered running backwards up the escalator to not move on without us, but ultimately she took a full cycle down and then back up, meeting me on the main level again. I mean, she knew she was going to be chasing me around when she agreed to come along this weekend! Right Em?

Anyway, once that was taken care of we made our way into the expo, and it was quick business to get my race gear. The swag for this race was great - a red, embroidered quarter zip, a stemless wine glass, a drawstring backpack, and a single serving bottle of champagne. The expo was on the tinier side, but we still took a lap around, checking out the various booths as we went. I picked up some new Gu flavors to try, and a spectator map for Emily and Dennis to follow the next day. I spent the most time in the “official race merchandise” area, deciding if I wanted to make any extra purchases. Ultimately I bought a travel mug, a normal mug, and a zip up performance jacket. I am a sucker for race jackets, and wanted one to commemorate the marathon. The marathon nerves settled in as I purchased the jacket, a superstitious part of me fearing that I wouldn’t earn it.

Once bib pick-up was complete, we decided to explore the museum of glass, as one of the race perks was reduced admission cost for runners and their guests - $10 a person for a two day pass, a great deal! We spent a few hours exploring the museum, seeing art made of glass, a live glass blowing demonstration, learning about the history of glass, and even saw a few optical illusions.

When our stomachs started to call for lunch, we decided to check out the food court, and they had a surprisingly large selection. I was able to get a baked potato and some pasta for lunch, and get a few last minute carbs in. We had to be at the museum at 4:40 for a glass blowing workshop that we were signed up for, but I needed to run to a thrift store that was closing at 5 to pick up a throw away morning for the following day - the forecasted temperature had dropped throughout the week, so now it was looking like a warm layer would be necessary.

So, after eating we made a quick run to goodwill, which luckily was less than 10 minutes from the museum. I was able to find a coat for $4, that would ultimately be donated again the following day, but would do the job with keeping me warm. Did I walk up and down the aisles for 20 minutes making this choice? Yes. In retrospect, this doesn’t make much sense, as I re-donated the coat, but at the time I really felt like I had to assess all of my choices.

The final activity that we had planned for the day was a glass blowing class back at the museum, so we completed our circle journey and were all excited to try our hand at it. The project that we would be working on was wine glass tumblers. Once we were all checked in, we were handed safety gear - an apron, goggles, gloves, and sleeves, and told to pick the color that we wanted our glasses to be. Then we got a walk through with the instructors of the process that we would be going through, before trying out hand at it. Realistically, the instructors were doing the more complicated parts, with us acting as helpers, but it was awesome to see the process up close, and help in little ways. We each got to help shape our glasses, and the three came out different shapes, colors, and sizes, and are a really great reminder of the weekend we had together.

Once that was done we finally made our way to Bath, and checked into our hotel - Vinehurst inn and suites, which was less than 10 minutes from the bus drop off spot for the following morning. We settled in, I set up all my gear for the next morning, I checked the weather for the hundredth time - low 40s at the start, cloudy day, high temp in the 50s.

Once we were all settled in, we turned our focus to dinner - our first choice was a local italian restaurant, that toted “make your own” pasta on the menu, but when we called to inquire about wait times, there was over a TWO HOUR wait. It’s like runners like carbs before a race, or something. So, we settled on a small restaurant called Timber Stone Grill. I had a corn and crab chowder, to help with my sore throat, and a chicken sandwich with mashed potatoes on the time. Did my nerves start to control my personality at this point? Yes. To a point where I was on edge, and I put Emily and Dennis on edge (sorry guys, my bad).

I tried to take some deep breaths, reminded myself that I had put in the mileage for this race, and decided before bed that tomorrow would be great.

My plan for race day was simple. I was going to start with the 4:20 pacer, who would have an average pace of 9:54, and just see how I felt as the race went on. A 4:20 would be a great finish time for me, but at the end of the day, I wanted to feel happy and accomplished at the end of this race, and I was really feeling like that wasn’t going to be a feeling that was tied to pace. It was either going to be a good day, or a bad one.

I managed to go to bed early enough, and woke up a few minutes before my alarm was set to go off. I was feeling congested, and checked my weather app as I laid in bed…. AND IT WAS RAINING.

Cool weather, cool. Thanks for the super accurate forecast, I appreciate it so much. But, it was only a 30% chance of rain, and it was only supposed to last until 8 am, so it should be done and over by the time the race started. So the hard part would be staying relatively dry until it was time to start running, but I was prepared, with a poncho loaded into my race day bag (thanks, Dad).

Once I was all dressed for the race Emily and Den were starting to get moving, so I slipped on my Vans and walked over to the hotel lobby, to grab tea for me and coffee for Em. I figured that I may as well try to keep my running shoes dry for as long as possible, and I had to go outside to get to the room that the hotel served breakfast in.

A short mile later we were all ready to go, and we loaded into my car and Den drove me to the bus drop off location, where I would hop on a bus and get a ride to the start area. They headed to get gas, and then find a spot between mile 2 and 3 to cheer at.

I was layered up with my coat and all, lugging along assorted gear in the bag I planned to check at the start area. There were some porter potties at the bus area, and I decided to use the bathroom before getting on the bus, as the bathrooms at the start area would likely have a longer line. Only had to wait a minute, and as I stepped into the bathroom I looked down, and REALIZED I HAD NEVER CHANGED INTO MY RUNNING SHOES.

Yup, you read that right. I was waiting at a bus area to be taken to the start area of a marathon that I was meant to run, and I was wearing slip on Vans. And, incase you were wondering, I did not have running shoes in my checked bag. This was entirely unintentional, and I went into a full blown panic spiral, picturing myself trying to run in these no support, slip on shoes.

I immediately began calling Em and Dennis, and both of their phones went to voicemail. AAH. Thankfully, Em picked up on the second call attempt, and I panic-explained that I needed them to stop what they were doing and double back to the hotel ASAP to grab my running shoes, and bring them back to the bus area. It was a little after 7, and buses ran until 7:30, so we had a little time, but I sat there waiting, playing through the worst case scenarios in my head, and checking their progress on find my friends almost every minute. I texted Dad, panicking, how could I be this stupid?!

But then I took a step back. I had told myself I was going to practice positive self talk. What would I say to my best friend in this situation? What would my best friends say to me? Well, that was an easy question to answer - when I told Emily that I was so stupid for this, she responded “You are not stupid. You are a graceful honey bee.” And you know what Jennie reminded me? That something was bound to go wrong, and it was better to get the bad thing out of the way. Dad told me not to sweat it - because he knows I always worry a little too much. By the time I finished considering all of these things, Emily and Dennis were pulling up to Putney square and coming to my rescue, running shoes in tow. With just five minutes to spare, I was climbing onto the school bus at 7:25, crisis averted, changing into my running shoes as I finally made my way to the actual start area.

On the short ride to the start line I pulled myself together. I changed into my running sneakers, Brooks ghost 10s, filled my SPI belt with Gu and my inhaler, stored my headphones in the pocket of my running jacket, and unfolded the poncho that I had in my race bag, and pulled it on.

The bus driver advised us that the tent right next to the start line was pretty full, so if we wanted to wait for the race start in a dry environment, we were better off heading to the bus shed that  was open, just a little further from the start line. I had to check my bag, so I headed in the direction of the crowded tent to get that out of the way. I managed to squeeze into the tent, which it turned out was heated too, and found that there were plenty of open chairs further away from the entrance. After 15 minutes or so of waiting around, I decided to try to squeeze in one more potty stop before race time, and headed over to the porter potties. The lines were quick moving, and I was in and out in no time.

I walked back towards the start line, and people were starting to gather, as the start time was less than 10 minutes away. I easily found the 4:20 pace group leader, Mike, and introduced myself. I chatted with a few other people who were planning to run in his group, as we waited for the race to begin.

Now we have gotten to the race, and I feel like even though it was only three days ago at this point, I am struggling to have a lot to say about the race itself. It is kind of just one big mush of positive emotions. I don’t know the area of Corning well, so it is hard for me to take you through the race step by step as I sometimes do. So once again, we will just have to start at the beginning.

The crowd started to shuffle ahead of me, and I quickly pulled off my throw away layer and made my way to the side of the crowd to drop it out of anyone’s way. The race was using the “raceJoy” app to track runners, so I crossed the start line holding my phone, and then spent the first few minutes of the race working on storing it away.

My legs were hesitant as the run first began, wanting to run faster to express their race day excitement. But I stuck to the plan, and stuck with the pacer. I spent the first few miles chatting with a runner who had also had an injury during her training cycle - she was doing box jumps and managed to rip her shin open, yikes! We commiserated about our marathon cycles not going exactly to plan, talked about why we started running, and were both just generally happy to have made it to the starting line. We lost each other at the first water stop around mile three, but it was nice to have someone to chat with for a bit. Emily and Dennis were waiting for me right around the third mile, and I smiled and waved, and threw them my jacket, which I was already too warm for. Down to a t-shirt, capris, gloves, a hat, and a buff after that, and I was ok for the most part.

The first ten miles or so just flew by, at a steady pace thanks to Mike. He occasionally chatted with the group, regaling us with stories of some of the 60+ marathons he has run. It was still raining, and it seemed like it was going to keep raining for the rest of the race at that point. The views were beautiful despite the overcast skies, and while I had heard that this course was “net downhill,” it had its fair share of little rolling hills throughout.

Around mile 11 the pace that had felt comfortable rapidly started to feel taxing, and I could feel my heart rate climbing. I made it a point to start taking a little more water at the aid stations, thinking I just was not doing a great job of fueling. I knew Dennis and Emily would be around the halfway point, and started focusing on getting to see them again. Right around this point I also managed to drop my inhaler, and in my haste to pick it up and put it back together, had snapped it together in the wrong direction, such that it was not functional.

Thinking I may be able to pass it off to Den so he could pull it apart and then hand it back to me later in the race, I ran with it in my hand for a bit, until spotting them in one of the spectator areas. But alas, they were behind several layers of police tape that had live road between me and them, so I wasn’t going to risk trying to throw it and losing my inhaler.

It was just after the 13.1 mile mark that I started to yo-yo with the 4:20 pace group. My IT band was starting to freak out a little, and I fell into a cycle of dropping back, and then surging to catch up to the group. But you know what? I didn’t beat myself up for it. My IT band hadn’t caused my any issues during my training cycle this time, but here it was being a nuisance. Over the course of the next two miles I eventually lost the group, so I pulled out my headphones and took my race day experience into my own hands, and just focusing on making it to the finish line, and feeling good about that.

So, I went onward and found my groove. It kept drizzling, but I wasn’t bothered by it. The hills kept rolling, and the views kept changing, and I was loving it. Don’t get me wrong - it wasn’t easy, and I was a little frustrated that my hip hurt, but I was moving forward, and closer to the finish line. Each mile got a little harder, but I moved with joy. I was going to finish my fourth marathon, and damn it, I was going to be happy.

The on-course fuel was Gu, which was good for me. It meant that I had to carry less fuel on my person. The aid stations were set up well, and they were all paired with a water station. I had a new flavor of Gu with me - Birthday Cake! I had wanted to try this flavor, but did not want to commit to a whole box of it. Lucky for me, I had been able to pick some up at the expo, and I am happy to report that it tasted surprisingly like frosting, and I am a fan! I started to do some intervals as the run progressed, walking when my IT band started to hurt too much. I hate to admit that, but it was what I needed to do to keep moving forward. By the time I got to mile 21, where Dennis and Emily were spectating again, I was in the pain cave, and Em could see it on my face, and shouted our favorite Kasey quote at me -

“I am LITERALLY dying right now!”  (march 2018, Run rock n’roll washington D.C. Half)

I have to admit, this picked me up more than I expected it to, and moved onward chuckling. We Headed into a more residential area of the race for the last few miles, with spectators sprinkling the streets here and there, despite the rainy weather. I was struggling, but I was still so happy, to my own surprise. I had kept telling myself that my goal of this race was to fall in love with the marathon again - I was heartbroken and defeated after NY, and I wanted my groove back, and it was somehow happening, despite losing my pace.

When there were five miles to go, Jennie started sending me mile-by-mile countdowns, which I loved. Jen was encouraging me from GA. Dad was texting and reminding me that I could do this, the end was in sight. Mom was using the race joy app to send “cheers,” and sent me the song that my brother and I were obsessed with after it appeared in the power rangers movie when we were kids - “Kung Fu Fighting.” That one may have made me happy cry a little. Before I knew it, I was right by the museum of glass again, and I recognized the town that we had visited the day before. One final climb up a small bridge, and then I turned the last corner, and could see the finish line in the distance, and felt an indescribable amount of joy. The emotion that I feel in marathons is like nothing else, and as Jen and I often discuss, something that occasionally moves me to tears even when I am not running. Just thinking about it or reading about marathons sometimes makes me a little teary eyed.

The finish line got closer, the announcer even called my name, and I crossed that finish line. Marathon 4, complete in 4:44:37. I got my medal, I got my heat sheet, and I progressed through the finished chute with a full on post marathon shuffle. Hands full, heart full, head spinning, I eventually managed to plop into one of the seats they had set up just before the exit, and Emily and Dennis managed to find me there. They took the million things I was holding, and tolerated my slug pace as we began our trek back to the car. Did I have to stop and squat several times over the course of the walk back to the car? Yes. Was I stinky and sweaty and ready to get out of my rain soaked running clothes? Yes.

But guys, I was so, so happy. So happy to have my people, cheering near and far. So happy that I made it through my 26.2 mile journey with joy. So happy with my brand new glass medal. And so happy that I reclaimed the marathon on my terms.

This time, I am ready to go again - and that’s a good thing, as I’ve got the Disney Marathon on my calendar, just a few months away. So, here we go again!