2020 Dopey Challenge: 23 Days Out

Day by day, the Dopey Challenge inches closer, and my excitement grows! This week was especially exciting, because I got to head to Disney World with my family for a Christmas trip - I had never been to the parks in December before, so I was really excited for this trip!

After another weekend of back to back runs, my knee was sore on Monday. I decided to start my week with a ride on the trainer, so Monday morning I got up early and selected a workout on Zwift. The one I picked was a 55 minute ride that included hill intervals, so it was a little rough at times. I was dripping with sweat by the time I finished the ride, and hopped in the shower before work.

Tuesday morning I once again managed to get my butt out of bed early, this time with a run planned. I drove over to my parent’s house to meet up with Dad, since it was an unseasonably warm morning for December. I got there around 6:30, and Dad pulled his bike around to the front of the house… but then discovered that he had a flat tire as we went to hop on. Not an issue though - he had a spare. We headed into the back yard to pop it onto the bike stand to change the tube…. only to have the second tube to refuse to fill with air. Upon closer inspection, we realized that there was a burr of metal near the stem, and without another tube the bike wasn’t going anywhere that morning. Womp Womp.

So, instead of a run/bike Dad cooked some eggs and bacon for breakfast, I used the stim machine on my knee, and cuddled with the cat for awhile. I texted Mike inquiring about his plans for the night, and he agreed to head to planet fitness with me after work to get in some treadmill miles.

Before running, I headed to the nail salon with my Mom to get pedicures, a pre-vacation ritual. She was heading to Florida on Wedensday, before the rest of the fam, so Tuesday was our best bet. Then I changed quick before meeting Mike, and we met at the gym. We even managed to find treadmills next to each other, and got to chatting as we started our miles. I started at an easy pace, but was feeling really good as I got moving, and after the first half mile kept turning the pace up. Mike and I were both planning to participate in the weekly BibChat session that BibRave hosts on twitter, so at 8:00 we hopped on twitter while we were running. Over the course of the subsequent four miles I upped the pace from a 10:30 to an 8:00 mile, and held that for about a half mile total before slowing down to cool down. I totaled five miles of running, and then walked on the treadmill for a few minutes while Mike made his way to 5 miles. Once both of our runs were complete we headed into the basement, where our planet fitness has their strength training equipment, and did about 20 minutes of mobility work, since both of us had knee pain over the weekend.

Since I ran Tuesday night, I wasn’t going to push it by running again Wednesday morning. Plus it had snowed a little overnight, so that made running a less of a choice anyway. So I had a lazy morning, sleeping in a little and then working on packing for my trip. My plan was to workout after work, and swap one of the five mile runs on my training for a swim. I had my company’s holiday party after work, and planned to head from there to the pool to meet up with some of my teammates from the Merrick Bicycles Tri Team at the pool - until I wound up with a flat tire. That, unfortunately, changed my plans. Instead of heading to the pool I got my car to the shop, where I hoped they would be able to fix it the following morning. I thought about running when I got home after, but my knee was aching so I figured it would just be better to call it a wash.

When I woke up Thursday though, my knee was still aching. I weighed my options, feeling guilty at the idea of not running another day in a row. Ultimately I decided to take another day off, reminding myself that the goal was to make it to the start line, and be able to participate. So I listened to my body, and once again took it easy. At least it gave me time to finish packing, and pick up my car, which had thankfully been repaired by my local mechanic.

Friday after work I headed to Disney with my family, for a Christmas trip! I was traveling with my husband Dennis, my parents, my Aunt Karen, and my cousin Ryan. We spent a total of four days in the park, taking in the new attractions and enjoying all of the holiday decorations. We even went to Mickey’s very merry Christmas party, which was a first for me!

Since we had Christmas party tickets for Sunday night, we weren’t heading into the parks that morning. So, I took advantage of the time I had and went for a run around the resort. We were staying at pop century resort, which has a shared running path with the art of animation resort. I got in a total of 6 miles, and my knee felt foot throughout, which I was really thankful for. My original intent had been to run 12 that day, but with the pain I had been feeling throughout the week, I figured it was a safer bet to keep it short, since I would be walking around the parks for the next few days. I explored the hotels as I ran, checking out all of the decorations that they had around.

I stayed in Florida with my family until Tuesday night, when we headed home. It was a great little trip, and we even got to meet up with our family that lives in Florida. I’m the “planner” for my family, so these trips can get a little exhausting at times, but at the end of the day I’m so grateful that I have the chance to spend time with the people I love, especially at Disney!

2020 Dopey Challenge: 30 Days out

Two weeks in a row - the blog is back to active status guys! I am excited that I am finally starting to be able to train consistently again, and I am getting excited as the countdown grows smaller and smaller, and my trip to Disney for the Dopey challenge approaches!

Monday we got the first snow of the season in NY, and while I had originally planned to meet up with my brother at the gym after work I got a text from him asking to reschedule to the following day, so I agreed to meet him on Tuesday instead. Which made Monday a total rest day, which I think are good sometimes. I stayed home relaxed, and it was a relaxing way to start the week. Plus, my throat was a little sore, which for me usually means a cold is coming on - so I hoped that it wouldn’t mess up my plans for the week.

Tuesday morning I totally had intentions of getting on my bike trainer for a ride, but was exhausted when I woke up and just didn’t manage to get myself out of bed -these things happen. But Tuesday night after work I did manage to get to the gym with my brother Tommy, and we did a chest workout. I like that when I go to the gym with Tommy I get to just play follow the leader, as he likes to set the workout. Today’s set included chest presses, flys, and tricep pull downs, among other things. Once we were done lifting I found a free treadmill and hopped on, needing to get a five mile run in. I had kind of been dreading the treadmill, but when I hopped on and started a show on Hulu, and knew I just had to get through one episode and I would be done. The miles slipped away, and I even managed to increase the pace as I progressed through the miles. The gym that I go to recently remodeled, and I have to say I am a fan of the new treadmills.

Since dealing with this knee injury, I have been swapping some of my “easy” runs for swims or bike rides, and on Wednesday I did just that. I was supposed to run 5 miles, but instead I planned to swap it for a swim. First, I headed to the gym with my brother and we got in a leg workout. He was working on maxing out his leg press, so we wound up doing 7 sets on that machine, which was a lot for me! We also included squats and some calf raises, which I was sure to feel in the days that followed.

When we finished with strength training I headed to the pool and met up with a few members of the Merrick bicycles Tri team. Our coach, Jackie, had assigned us a workout. I was a little nervous about it, since when I go to the pool I usually just swim laps without any real goals. The workout was a long one for me -

Swim workout - concentrate on EVF (early vertical forearm)-

w/u 200 easy

4x75 (50 catch up drill, 25 free) rest 10' btw. each

2x200 bilateral breathing rest 30' btw each

4x75 (50 fist drill, 25 free) rest 10' btw each

2x150 - concentrate on your pull rest 20' btw each

8x25 (follow below)

2x25 - free fast 5' rest

2x25 catch up drill

2x25 - free 5' rest

2x25- fist drill

*add in optional:

2x300 for endurance- rest 30' btw each

I teamed up with Ken, and we split a lane for the workout. We swim really similar paces, so it was nice to have someone to swim with throughout the whole thing. It took us about 50 minutes to get through it all, and I was pooped and starving by the end! But I was glad I got in the pool.

Thursday was listed as an off day on my schedule, and I needed it! I headed to the doctors office on Thursday morning, as my sore throat had evolved into a cold. I’m asthmatic, so when I feel a cold coming on I have to be on top of it, or I wind up down for the count. Leaving the office I was on a steroidal inhaler, prednisone, and antibiotics, plus a recommendation to use my nebulizer a few times a day. I headed to work after the doctors appointment, and took it easy Thursday night. Instead of workout out, I headed to the fabric store and grabbed some supplies to start on my costumes for the Dopey challenge!

I did have intentions to run Friday morning. I even laid out clothes on Thursday night. But when Friday morning rolled around my body refused, feeling the full cold symptoms. I rolled over and got an extra hour of sleep, thinking maybe I would try to get in some miles after work.

But of course, I wound up having to stay late at work, and missed out on having a real lunch during the day, because I was just so busy. So by the time I got home, dinner was my first priority. My mileage for the weekend was planned to be 18 miles on Saturday and then 9 or 10 miles on Sunday. So I was worried about running too late on Friday, and not giving my knee time to recover. So instead of the 4 miles that I planned to run, I hopped on my bike trainer. I figured that way I would still get some cardio in, but it would be lower impact on my knee.

Saturday morning was a little rough when it arrived. Was it really 6 am already? Because it felt like I had just gotten into bed. I grabbed my gear bag, which I had thankfully packed the night before, and got dressed in some cold weather running gear and drove to Mike’s house. From there he drove us into Central Park, where we were planning to get our long run done. Mike was running the ted Corbett 15k, but I had hesitated on registering, and missed out. It was one of the last NYRR events on the year, and since I had already completed more than 9 events, I didn’t want to take a spot away from someone who needed this event to qualify for the 2020 marathon.

It was a chilly morning in central park, and I was glad that we took the approach of booking a parking lot right near the entrance of the park that was closest to race day central. We started our run as soon as we got into the park, and ran right to the porter potties - gotta have your priorities in order! We found Carson shortly after, and were on our way to 18 miles.

So, I carried my own water and tried to stay out of the way of the runners and organizers of the event, as I started my Central Park run that morning. Mike and I started on our loops, and were very relieved that Harlem hill was not a required part of our day. We proceeded to run loops of Central Park for a little over the next three hours, first following the race course and then exploring other routes. Around mile 16 the hills started to bother Mike’s knee, so we eased the pace as we finished up. Despite the pain we managed to finish the 18 miles, feeling strong overall. I really love running in Central Park, there is something going on to focus on between the people in the park and the scenery, and it makes for an interesting long run, even if the hills can be difficult at times.

As is the catch of dopey training, our weekend runs weren’t over after completing our 18 miler - we still had another 9 to run on Sunday! The original plan had been to do the long run Sunday, we we decided to swap the distances, as we were attending a holiday party Saturday night, and didn’t want a late night to impact our long run.

As is the theme of dopey training, we had a second long run planned for that weekend - a 10 miler a little closer to home. We were both registered for Race Awesome’s jingle all the way 5k at cedar creek park. Mike and I met at the park about an hour before the race, and we headed out to the trail that leads towards jones beach. We kept the pace easy as we chatted, and when it was time to line up to start the race we had run just over 4 miles.

We met up with my friend Allison who was pushing a stroller with her 11-month-old in it during the race, and we stuck together for most of the race. it was an out and back course with a loop of the park, and when we were on the “back” part, just around mile 2, Mike’s knee started to hurt again. We took a walk break, and after a moment of stretching we were on our way again. We finished our loop around the park, and headed towards the path again.

As we reached the path, Mike’s knee started to hurt again. It reached a point where we were walking more than running, so we decided to switch to walking after a total of 7.5 miles for the day. We both felt like we would rather cut the mileage a little short rather than wind up injured. Plus, it was nearly a mile walk back to the car, which was still distance under foot! We had a fun time at the race though, and were still able to snag some hot chocolate and bagels when we finished our miles, which was really good.

All in all, I felt good about the mileage that I got done this weekend, and am really trying to listen to my body. My knee was sore after the long miles, but I was so happy that I was able to get through them feeling strong. 30 Days between me and the Dopey challenge!

The John Theissen Freaky 5k

As a lover of Halloween, when I started seeing ads for this local race, I was intrigued. A skeleton tech tee, trick or treating, and only 3 miles from my apartment? Well, I was sold. So I texted some friends to assemble a crew, and both Mike and Carson agreed to join in. 

Mike was just two weeks away from the NYC marathon, and I was trying to get on track with training for dopey in January, so we had more miles on our schedule than a 5k calls for. So, we decided to take advantage of this being a local race, and run there and back. 

I rolled out of bed just before 7 am on race morning, and Mike ran to my apartment from his house - he had to get in 12 miles, and I had to get in 9, so the little extra distance would bring him to his goal. It was the first cold morning of the season, in the low 40s, and I was excited to pull out some of my favorite cold weather gear. Since it was a Halloween race, I also pulled out my x-wing pilot costume as well, and used it as my top layer. 

Mike got to the apartment just as I stepped outside, and after a quick stretch we were on our way. We chatted about life, the dopey challenge, and how Mike had done so well with training for his first marathon, which was fast approaching. I kept an eye on my watch as we went, as Mike had to sign up for the race when we got there, so we needed to be there before 8. 

Once we arrived, we were able to get Mike all registered, then we stretched out as we waited for Carson to arrive. When she got there I passed her a race bib and shirt, as I had been able to pick up her race day gear. While there was day of registration and bib pickup, they also offered advance bib and shirt pickup, so Den had swung by the John Theissen store front the day before to pick up Carson and my bibs, since we had pre-registered. I quickly used Carson’s car as a changing room, and lost some layers before it was time to start the race. 

The three of us headed towards the start line, stopping and putting our raffle tickets into various bins before the race - they had some great prizes, from sporting events and concerts to headphones and Apple products. As we prepared to get moving I told Mike and Carson I was gonna try to really race this one, since my knee had been feeling better. I put on my headphones, and when the start horn went off followed the crowd to see where it would lead me. 

My first quarter mile clocked in faster than expected - I hadn’t been looking at my watch, and as the crowd thinned out I checked my pace, and it was sub-7. Whoops. I governed my speed a little bit, and settled to a pace right around an 8-minute-mile, since that was what I was hoping for. The course was easy enough to follow, and my first mile rang in at 7:57. My stomach was a little knotted, but I felt good otherwise. 

There was a water stop just after the first mile, and a candy stop during the second mile. We were running through residential areas, and it was cute to see kids outside in their Halloween costumes, spectating the race. Mile 2 came in at 8:14, and while the pace was hard, there was only one more mile. I could push it for one more mile. My knee felt good, even if my stamina was feeling like it had faded a little. 

One mile to go, and I was going to try to keep pushing it. I turned up the volume on my headphones, and followed the beat of the songs that were playing. I had made a short playlist on Spotify the night before to get me through the race, and I was glad I had it playing. There was another water station in the third mile, and as it came to a close I could spot the train station in the distance, which was right near the finish line. Two more turns, and I would be able to see the race awesome finish line. I kicked up the pace a little, and pushed it as I finished the last bit of the race - 3.1 complete, in 25:35, at around at 8:09 pace. 

I was really happy with my finish time, thrilled that my knee felt fine, but mostly glad that they were handing out water at the finish line - I needed it! I walked towards the runners that were turning the final corner and plopped down on a curb, to watch for Mike and Carson, as I figured they would be coming around the corner soon. When I spotted them they were all smiles as they headed for the finish line. 

The three of us reunited, and headed towards the post race refreshments- they had quite the spread! Bagels, hot soup, candy, cookies, brownies, breakfast bars, and more! I opted for a banana and grabbed some Halloween candy for later. We were waiting for the race results to be posted, so our next stop was to look at the raffles, which had been pulled while we were running- and to my surprise, I won an iPad mini! I collected my prize, and then headed to the soup line. 

When the race results posted, the three of us crowded around the lists- Carson and I had both placed 3rd in our age group, and Mike had placed 5th in his! Woo hoo! 

When the award ceremony started, we learned that the awards went five deep in each age group, so we would all be getting medals. When they announced Mike’s age group, it turned out that he had actually came in fourth! We were all excited to have placed in our age groups, and once we collected our awards it was time for Mike and I to start running home. 

We took it easy as we finished up our miles, three more for me to make it to 9. The one eventful part of the run home? Mike spotted a frame that he wanted, so we called Carson with a mission to retrieve it since she had her car. 

By the time we made it back to the apartment I had totaled about 9.6 miles, and my knee felt relatively normal - my legs were tired, but more from being less used to long distances that I normally am. 

All in all, it was a great morning for a local race, and I had a great time spending Sunday with my friends. 

Gear Roundup: BUFF® Tech Fleece Headband

Disclaimer: I received a BUFF® Tech Fleece Headband to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!

As the temperature drops and we head into winter, I add layers to my running outfits. I move from shorts to leggings, from t-shirts to long sleeve shirts, and then start adding a vest or a jacket to my ensemble as the winter gets colder.

But before I even increase the length of my pants or transition to long sleeves, I pull out my two mandatory pieces of winter gear – a headband that covers my ear and a pair of gloves. My current favorite running gloves, which I have mentioned in blog posts before, are a pair of brooks gloves that have a mitten option that pops out of a pocket (they are an older model, but closest to the “nightlife” glove that they currently sell). 

As for headbands, I have a little more of a collection. My go to has been a newbalance one that I bought with the NYC marathon logo on it in 2017, and then I have two other ones that float around. Point is, I am a fan of headbands that can keep my ears cozy when I run. 

When BibRave opened up an opportunity to test a Buff tech fleece headband, I signed up to give one a try. My headband arrived in the mail about a week later, and I was excited to try it out! The first things that I noticed about the headband were that the material was much thinner than other headbands I have, and the inside was so soft! The headband is supposed to be wind resistant, and since I was set to volunteer at a race that was going to be cold and windy I thought it would be perfect to try out the next morning.

The Buff website lists the product details for this headband, and it includes that the headband is made of stretchy polyester elastane with a soft brushed fleece inside. It is also moisture wicking, quick drying, and breathable – I have had issues with other headbands winding up soaked through with sweat in cold weather, so this was another feature I was looking forward to testing. 

The first day I wore the headband, it stayed in place and kept me warm as I ran around performing various volunteer duties. It was so windy that day that the finish line chute had to be assembled last minute so that it wouldn’t blow away, and despite all that windiness my ears stayed warm – which I took as a “check” in wind resistant column. 

About a week passed before it was cold enough on a morning run to warrant a headband, but was soon as the temps dropped into the 40s, I put my new headband on as I headed out the door.

The headband was so comfortable, that I almost forgot I was wearing it! With other headbands I sometimes have the issue that I sweat through it, and then I am very aware of how cold the air is as the white headband sits on my ears. But with my new buff tech fleece headband I never had that issue. I am looking forward to more miles with my headband as the winter continues to get colder. I am confident it will keep my ears warm and keep me comfortable for many miles.

If you’re interested in trying out your own Buff Tech fleece headband, head to www.buffusa.com/bibrave and sign up for their emails for a 15% off coupon code! Let me know what you think of your new headband too – because I am guessing you’ll love it as much as I do once you feel the softness of the fleece.