Hanging up my running shoes

[rteetz]

You're going to love BCV! I stayed there this year in a lagoon view room and loved it. Glad the request came through for you.

 

[ZellyB]

Wahoooo!! That's gonna be so much fun!

And ma'am-you just started icing your knee?!? I hate icing, but my booboos feel so much better after it's done. Here's hoping you heal up fast!

I'm so excited about it!!!

And, yes, I just started icing. I know. I know. I've been more consistent about it the last few days and it is definitely helping some, so I'm going to be more faithful about it.

Aw man, the knee!! That stinks that it's still bugging you! Do you think it's time for new shoes or something?

I actually do think my shoes are contributing. So, while I was complaining about it one morning, Chris went on line and ordered me a new pair.

The location of the knee pain is weird. It definitely doesn't seem like IT Band pain to me if it's on the back/inside part. I hope it's feeling better!

It is definitely doing better. It's not back to normal, but improvement is there which is good. I'm also confused about the pain. I did some google searches to self-diagnosis (cause, ya know, google is always your best source of medical advice ) and the description for popliteus tendonitis sounds like a possible culprit. Although there are various tendons that run back there, so who knows. In general I do think it's probably tendonitis of one form or another.

In better news...you know I love the dog pics. Such cuties!!

And WOOHOO for a possible Wine & Dine trip, and for your point rental coming through at the Beach Club! How awesome is that?! You guys NEED to try Beaches and Cream. The burgers are good but I really love the grilled cheese + tomato soup the best. And the No Way Jose...OMG. Maybe I'll see you guys at some point since I'll be right across the lake!

My sweet dogs. I do think after the initial madness of considering a W&D trip, this is just not the year for us to try and cram that in. Boo. But, we will likely be back for it another year.

And, I'm so stoked about Beach Club. It'll be tight in there for the four of us, but truthfully, we don't spend much time in the room anyway. I'm planning on trying Beaches and Cream this time. I had a lunch ADR there for W&D weekend before we bailed on staying at Beach Club, so I'm going to be sure we hit it this time. I'm looking forward to exploring the Boardwalk area as we have never really spent much time there in the past. We'll look for you across the lake.

You're going to love BCV! I stayed there this year in a lagoon view room and loved it. Glad the request came through for you.

Thanks! We just have a standard view, so probably will be looking at a parking lot or something, but I don't really care too much about that. I enjoyed seeing the pictures you posted of the resort on your thread and it has me really excited. I've been stalking and starting to read the BC/YC thread as well to get all my intel in place for the stay.

 

[ZellyB]

TRAINING WEEK 3/6 - 3/12
​

SUNDAY 3/6 - Planned rest day.
MONDAY 3/7 - SPRING BREAK!!! Chris and the kids are out of school this week, so I took a week of vacation. We've got a list a mile long of chores to do (with some fun things tucked in there as well). Circuit training for the day. I upped the weights just a bit and went through the circuit twice today. Everything felt pretty good. I'm still taking it very easy and just planning to gradually increase weights. I was joined by another woman that Chris knows through work. She's an avid runDisney runner, so we talked about various races. She's running Wine and Dine this year, so she was the one that clued me into the delayed registration and potential changes to the run. I jumped in and read the official thread on here to get the full scoop because Disers always know what's up.
TUESDAY 3/8 - Planned a 4 mile run, but it was raining. SERIOUSLY!! I'm on vacation, people. Can't we get a break from the rain?
WEDNESDAY 3/9 - Circuit training. A repeat of Monday with two circuits. It's all feeling pretty good for now. I had time to kill again, so I hit the treadmill again this time taking it a bit slower to see how my knee would feel. I just ran about a mile or so, but overall no major problems. The knee is still not 100% but it's not horrible either.
THURSDAY 3/10 - Just shy of a 4 mile run doing 90/30 intervals. Again we ran a bit slower to try and protect my knee some more. In general it was a decent run. Still feeling the knee which makes me a bit nervous knowing we have some races coming up and the true beginning of training season. Luckily, the knee really didn't feel any worse as the day went on, so I felt like that was a good sign.
FRIDAY 3/11 - Planned rest day.
SATURDAY 3/12 - Shamrox 15K run. Several people from our running group were doing this run, so we met up with them prior to race start for a group picture. I was rocking my Irish Lass sparkle skirt. It was raining until shortly before start time, but then the rain stopped and while it was overcast it was around 50 degrees which, to me, is perfect running weather. The route was pretty good, although it had some rolling hills in the last 3 miles or so that I did not enjoy! My knee held up pretty well, although on the hills it started to cause me some grief. I didn't really have a major goal time for this race, but wanted to end up somewhere around an 11 min/mile pace. We were actually running around a 10:30 or so at the beginning, but I slowed a lot at the end. Per my garmin, I finished at 10:59 min/mile pace, so right where I wanted to be. No medals for this run, but we did get a customized beer glass and some free beer to put in it at the end.

After the race, we got home and had some breakfast while I iced my knee and then we sat in the hot tub for awhile. So nice. I was worried the run would aggravate my knee, but it actually felt about the same after the run, so another . All in all, a pretty good week and I'm feeling much better about my recovery.

 

[Ariel484]

Sounds like a good week despite your knee issues...2 days of circuit training and a good race (with booze...woohoo!).

Hope the recovery continues to go well...how's the Whole30 going?

 

[ZellyB]

Hope the recovery continues to go well...how's the Whole30 going?

Oh yeah, forgot to update that. It's going well (although drinking the beer at the end of the 15K was a total cheat...shhh...don't tell anyone). I'm not losing any weight to speak of, but I am feeling good and I've lost some bloating that I had in my stomach, so that's a plus.

I made some homemade tomato soup this weekend that turned out AMAZING!! I'll most certainly be making that again and it was super easy to do.

 

[ZellyB]

To be a Fanatic or Not to be a Fanatic
​

That is the tough question of the day. In my intro to this journal, I had laid out a tentative plan to achieve half fanatic status this spring. The first race in that quest has been set for some time and is coming up in a few weeks, the Bentonville Half Marathon on April 2. The medal from last year.

BTW, if you shop at Wal-Mart much, you might recognize that little symbol in place of the "." in 13.1. That's the Wal-Mart symbol (or as we like to call it, the Golden Sphincter) because Bentonville, Arkansas is the headquarters for Wal-Mart and they are obviously big sponsors of the event. Anyway...

This half was going to be followed by two other half marathons that are close to home. However, one of those falls on April 30. We just found out from Chris' best friend that he is being promoted to a GENERAL in the national guard and the 30th is the day for his promotion event and a party they are having to celebrate.


He is our friend that lives in Bentonville, actually. Here he is with us, Chris' sister and BIL before running Bentonville last year. Far right. He's really a terrific guy and a dear friend, so we wouldn't think of missing out on this big moment for him.

We debated trying to run the race in the morning and then heading down to their place for the event (they live a couple of hours away) but we think it will just be too crazy and hectic to attempt that.

I also mentioned in the first post that another option for getting fanatic status would be to run a second half marathon the weekend following Bentonville that is in Kansas City and is called the Rock the Parkway Half. So, we could conceivably do that run. Chris' parents and brother live in KC, so it's an easy trip for us with a built in place to stay.

BUT...my knee is still being cantankerous and I'm already a little concerned about the half in Bentonville since my long runs have been lacking. Now adding on a second half in just one week seems like maybe not the smartest thing to do, right? But, I hate having just made these goals to give up on them. Yet, if I really screw up my knee or something else by pushing too hard, I could mess myself up for weeks or months. So, yeah, what to do?

It's funny too because when I was off work last week and moving around a lot I felt like my knee was improving. This week I'm back to work and sitting a lot and the knee feels worse, so it could be the stationary and bent position of my knee that is making it slower to improve. Or, it could just be from running that 15K on Saturday and then a 4 mile run this morning that's the culprit.

Anyway, we need to make a decision fairly soon as the KC run usually sells out. Chris did say there's no reason to run either Bentonville or KC fast (even though I was hoping for a half PR this year) and he's absolutely right about that. I'm just torn. I know the prudent thing to do is just take it easy on my knee the next few weeks and run Bentonville easy and not worry about fanatic status this year...but I'm stubborn and hate to give up on one of my goals this early in the year.

 

[Ariel484]

YOU CHEATED ON YOUR WHOLE30?! GASP! Cheating for a post-race beer seems acceptable to me!

Your tomato soup looks incredibly delicious!! Recipe please?!

As for your Half Fanatic question...I am not a good person to weigh in on that, because personally...I don't get the appeal of becoming a Half Fanatic. And I think this is why it's sometimes hard to set running goals like that, or like running 1,000 miles in a year - because if you get injured, then you get down on yourself and feel like you messed up, which stinks.

But maybe in this case it's not you messing up...it's you being smart and taking care of yourself? I mean, I can relate - I had the Pink C2C goal for this year and that was out the window, like, 2 weeks into 2016! But the year is young for you, and if you can't get Fanatic status just yet, maybe you can wait and do it later this year, once your knee stops being a PITA? So you're not giving up on your goals...you're just prolonging them a little bit. Maybe?

Sorry, I'm zero help. That's awesome about your friend's promotion though!

 

[ZellyB]

YOU CHEATED ON YOUR WHOLE30?! GASP! Cheating for a post-race beer seems acceptable to me!

Yeah, Chris was going to be strong and not cheat, but I was like - free beer!!

Your tomato soup looks incredibly delicious!! Recipe please?!

It was so good! Recipe is from this site http://nomnompaleo.com/ and here's the link to the soup recipe. http://nomnompaleo.com/post/2825821540/quick-cream-of-tomato-soup
Mine didn't come out as creamy as her picture looks because I used light coconut milk and I think she used a heavier, creamier version, but it was still delicious. Actually a lot of her recipes are really good and many of them are super easy to make. Her spicy tuna cakes are another favorite of ours.

As for your Half Fanatic question...I am not a good person to weigh in on that, because personally...I don't get the appeal of becoming a Half Fanatic. And I think this is why it's sometimes hard to set running goals like that, or like running 1,000 miles in a year - because if you get injured, then you get down on yourself and feel like you messed up, which stinks.

But maybe in this case it's not you messing up...it's you being smart and taking care of yourself? I mean, I can relate - I had the Pink C2C goal for this year and that was out the window, like, 2 weeks into 2016! But the year is young for you, and if you can't get Fanatic status just yet, maybe you can wait and do it later this year, once your knee stops being a PITA? So you're not giving up on your goals...you're just prolonging them a little bit. Maybe?

Sorry, I'm zero help. That's awesome about your friend's promotion though!

No, you are a help! And the more I have thought about it, the more I'm inching away from trying to push for fanatic status right away for exactly the reasons you said. It's not like Half Fanatics are going away and I'm not going to suddenly quit running after this year, so I can always pursue it later. My biggest goal for this year really is getting a sub-5 hour marathon and I need to keep my eye on that prize and be healthy and strong to train for that (and, of course, following that up with a great Goofy run).

No final decision yet, but I'm leaning in that direction.

 

[pxefig]

Geez, you and I have been bouncing around on the same boards for so long that I can't believe I have never read a a running report of yours! I'm chiming in on this one now so I can be a part of it as it develops, and am happy to have a whole slew of finished ones to catch up on in my free time!

I was wondering if you could answer my question of what the draw of being a maniac or fanatic is for you? I know since this is written you don't know my tone, so let me tell you it's not baiting or rude. I am genuinely curious about it. It seems so cool that you have made it a goal (AND am able to tie Disney races into the deal). I have qualified for a couple of different levels for the half fanatics and when I looked into it I never signed up for it because I wasn't sure exactly what I was getting for the cost. If the answer is bragging rights to be in these clubs that physically ask a lot of you, that's pretty darn cool.

 

[ZellyB]

Geez, you and I have been bouncing around on the same boards for so long that I can't believe I have never read a a running report of yours! I'm chiming in on this one now so I can be a part of it as it develops, and am happy to have a whole slew of finished ones to catch up on in my free time!

Welcome aboard!! Yeah, I know what you mean about bouncing around and then suddenly discovering running reports. I'm constantly stumbling across ones that I've missed.

I was wondering if you could answer my question of what the draw of being a maniac or fanatic is for you? I know since this is written you don't know my tone, so let me tell you it's not baiting or rude. I am genuinely curious about it. It seems so cool that you have made it a goal (AND am able to tie Disney races into the deal). I have qualified for a couple of different levels for the half fanatics and when I looked into it I never signed up for it because I wasn't sure exactly what I was getting for the cost. If the answer is bragging rights to be in these clubs that physically ask a lot of you, that's pretty darn cool.

No worries on concerns about baiting or being rude. I've been around message boards long enough to know that tone can be easily misinterpreted. I like to think I seek to clarify before getting offended. Anyway, yeah, it's basically bragging rights - and access to shirts I can't get otherwise. Probably a silly reason, but, heck, I pay money to run races for shirts and medals all the time, so I figure this is just one more of those achievements. I don't see it being something I press on for advancing levels but rather a one-time goal to cross off the list. I'm somebody that needs goals to keep me interested and motivated and I felt like establishing these goals would give me a great framework to create a year-long program of training while still allowing me to hit some goals along the way.

Glad to have you here!!

 

[DopeyBadger]

My advice on half fanatics and pushing two halfs in two weeks with an aching knee:

You have to choose potentially which goal is more important to you for the year - either half fanatics or marathon under 5 hours (sounds like the marathon). Given the situation, I would say you might increase your risk of injury with the back-to-back halfs and might knock out the chance for the 5 hr marathon. However, if the half fanatics is the "A" goal for the year then it might be worth the risk of injury. If it were me and given these two options I'd go with try to get healthy and be ready for the training for the 5 hr marathon later this year. Hope this helps!

 

[ZellyB]

My advice on half fanatics and pushing two halfs in two weeks with an aching knee:

You have to choose potentially which goal is more important to you for the year - either half fanatics or marathon under 5 hours (sounds like the marathon). Given the situation, I would say you might increase your risk of injury with the back-to-back halfs and might knock out the chance for the 5 hr marathon. However, if the half fanatics is the "A" goal for the year then it might be worth the risk of injury. If it were me and given these two options I'd go with try to get healthy and be ready for the training for the 5 hr marathon later this year. Hope this helps!

Thank you! For sure the 5 hour marathon is my number one goal and I'm going to keep that as my focus. While I *think* my knee would hold up okay, I just don't really think it's worth the risk. Still not 100% decided, but feeling more certain every time I run.

 

[pxefig]

Welcome aboard!! Yeah, I know what you mean about bouncing around and then suddenly discovering running reports. I'm constantly stumbling across ones that I've missed.



No worries on concerns about baiting or being rude. I've been around message boards long enough to know that tone can be easily misinterpreted. I like to think I seek to clarify before getting offended. Anyway, yeah, it's basically bragging rights - and access to shirts I can't get otherwise. Probably a silly reason, but, heck, I pay money to run races for shirts and medals all the time, so I figure this is just one more of those achievements. I don't see it being something I press on for advancing levels but rather a one-time goal to cross off the list. I'm somebody that needs goals to keep me interested and motivated and I felt like establishing these goals would give me a great framework to create a year-long program of training while still allowing me to hit some goals along the way.

Glad to have you here!!

Yay! Especially since it is the first time I've responded to your board specifically, I wanted to be sure to not give the wrong inpreession right off the bat. Let me comment on a few things before you realize what a terrible person I am! Andi totally get the wanting bragging rights and extra shirts and bling- isn't that at the core of what distance running is about?! I guess I hoping you would say that once you sign up you get super secret races no one else knows even exist with major discounts to every other race in existence- since that is what I am secretly hoping for I'm sure no reality will measure up!

 

[ZellyB]

Yay! Especially since it is the first time I've responded to your board specifically, I wanted to be sure to not give the wrong inpreession right off the bat. Let me comment on a few things before you realize what a terrible person I am! Andi totally get the wanting bragging rights and extra shirts and bling- isn't that at the core of what distance running is about?! I guess I hoping you would say that once you sign up you get super secret races no one else knows even exist with major discounts to every other race in existence- since that is what I am secretly hoping for I'm sure no reality will measure up!

Wouldn't secret races be the best?!? Ya know, they could exist. After all, I'm not a member of the society yet, so who knows what amazing things await me should I ever actually, you know, qualify.

 

[Ariel484]

I know Nom Nom Paleo (I mean...I know OF her)! Her Cracklin' Chicken and Bacon Brussels Sprouts (because, come on...BACON) are soooo good. I definitely need to try that soup recipe!

 

[ZellyB]

TRAINING WEEK 3/13 - 3/20​

SUNDAY 3/13 - Planned rest day.
MONDAY 3/14 - Back to work this week. That means the wake ups for working out have to be earlier and combined with the daylight savings time change...that alarm went off really early!!! We get up at around 4:30 so we can be out and exercising by 5:00. It's barbaric I tell you. Still I did make myself get out of bed and head off for circuit training. Bumped up the weights just a bit and did the circuit twice. Everything felt good and went well. I kept it pretty easy for this week with a plan to bump weight up next week.
TUESDAY 3/15 - Planned a 4 mile run, and actually ran it!!! Woohoo. Finally no rain. We ran this one a bit faster and finished with a 10:49 pace overall. My knee felt pretty good during the run, but once I went into work as the day wore on it got worse. I think it's the amount of time I'm spending at my desk (I have a very sedentary job) with the knee in a bent and fixed position. I really need to make an effort to get up on a regular basis and walk. My iWatch actually prompts me every hour to get up, but I often ignore it.
WEDNESDAY 3/16 - Circuit training. A repeat of Monday with two circuits. Felt good. This day at work again really had my knee irritated. Boo!
THURSDAY 3/17 - The plan was 4 miles, but I decided to rest the knee. We are getting close to the Bentonville half and I just felt like missing another maintenance run wouldn't hurt me, but resting the knee might help.
FRIDAY 3/18 - Planned rest day. Turns out that resting the knee may have helped. It definitely seems to be improving. Still not back to normal, but far better. I still seem to have the most problem after I've been sitting for awhile.
SATURDAY 3/19 - Plan was for a 6 mile run. We got a message earlier in the week from one of the women in our running group. She is just a great person and fun to run with, although she's a beast when it comes to running. She's fast and strong and can go forever. She is planning to do a 50-mile run on April 30 (the same course we were planning to run a half on). So, she had run 24 miles the day before and needed to get in 16 for this day. Chris was up for running 16 with her (I was not!), so I mapped out an 8 mile loop for us and I ran 8 and Chris ran 16 with her. We ran a bit slower since it was clear she was pretty fatigued and running on tired legs, but we ended with an 11:33 average on my 8 mile loop. It really was a good run. Weather was a bit cool, but once we got moving it was perfect. After the run we had a loooong meeting with our Galloway group leader to start discussing the plan for the training season. We start up on April 30. YAY!!! Once we finally got home and ate something, I was pretty tired, so we were pretty lazy the rest of the day. We watched this great miniseries (just 2 parts) called "And Then There Were None". It's based on an Agatha Christie story by the same name. I know I read it back many years ago, but couldn't remember a lot of specifics. Highly recommend if you like suspenseful shows. It was excellent and the costumes and cinematography were great. It's a BBC production, but was recently aired by Lifetime. I found it on demand.
SUNDAY 3/20 - Planned rest day. We took today easy again. We had a bit of a cold snap come through and so it was just a good day to hang out inside. The good news? My knee felt really good even with the 8 mile run the day before. Things are definitely improving!!!

Sorry for the lack of pictures. I'll finish up with an RDP...

Well, hello there, Miss Giraffe!! @rteetz trip journal got me looking at safari pics over the weekend.

 

[rteetz]

Awesome picture of the giraffe! He or she was really close.

 

[Ariel484]

Sounds like a great week! You are being super smart with your knee, I'm glad it's feeling better.

50-miler?! YIKES!!!

 

[roxymama]

Just catching up on journals little by little! I see you did a 15k last weekend and that distance race is my eventual goal for the fall. Your times seem to be right in my wheelhouse...any tips for the 15k distance?

Also I did not know half fanatics was a thing so I cannot speak to it, but it sounds like Dopey...a bad idea on paper...but a motivating thing that after completing feels pretty amazing in reality. Not that I would know (see above as my goal distance.)

And finally, I agree that there should be no rain on vacations. I endorse that idea.

 

[ZellyB]

Just catching up on journals little by little! I see you did a 15k last weekend and that distance race is my eventual goal for the fall. Your times seem to be right in my wheelhouse...any tips for the 15k distance?

Also I did not know half fanatics was a thing so I cannot speak to it, but it sounds like Dopey...a bad idea on paper...but a motivating thing that after completing feels pretty amazing in reality. Not that I would know (see above as my goal distance.)

And finally, I agree that there should be no rain on vacations. I endorse that idea.

I was just trying yesterday to read yours. I'm trying to read more journals to help my motivation and just to get to know everyone better! I've only made it to page 9 so far, but what a great year it looks like you had!!! Congratulations on all the goals you achieved.

I'm not sure I have any great tips on running the 15k. It's not a lot different from the process you use to build to a 10K. Just gradually work on increasing your distances and don't push it so much that you end up hurting yourself. That was actually my first 15K race and I will say I thoroughly enjoyed that distance. It was more of a challenge than the 10K, but not as taxing as a half. I'd definitely consider running that distance more. Given what I've read in your journal thus far, I can't imagine that you won't be successful at that goal. And besides, you know at some point you're going to end up running a marathon right? It happens to all of us it seems.