Look out castle, here I come!

clemsondisneygirl

Mouseketeer
Joined
Oct 4, 2008
So here it is! My first official training journal! Quick info about me:

My name is Ashley, I live in Maryland and am a first time mom to an adorable 1 year old little boy. My husband is a PT/ATC for a football team so we are entering our busiest time of the year. And now I have started training(ish) for another half marathon! :eeyore: I've considered myself a runner for about the last 4 years. I had done a few races and runs prior to that but it wasn't until about 2014 that I got serious about it. I have done 3 previous halfs: Rock-N-Roll Nashville 2015, Star Wars Dark Side 2016, and Wine & Dine 2017. Other Disney races include the inaugural Princess 10k and an Expedition Everest Challenge.

I am now signed up for the Princess 1/2 in February, which is both a bucket list race for me and a redemption race. Bucket list because I have always wanted to run through the castle! and redemption because last year's Wine & Dine did not go the way I planned. I significantly underestimated how difficult half training would be post-partum... oops!

So here we go! Thanks in advance to this community as it is full of people who support runners and who understand running is both a way to have fun and a way to be competitive and that it almost never has anything to do with who wins!
 
Our Trip:

I forgot to add the details of our trip which we just solidified yesterday!!!

February 19-25 @ Coronado Springs

I haven't stayed at Coronado maybe ever, or if I did it was so long ago that I don't truly remember. But there have been so many great reviews that have come out about this resort recently that I wanted to give it a try. The renovations that are going on should hopefully be completed by our visit and I can't wait to see it!

I also am running with a friend who is from AZ and her family has always been big DL people. They will also be coming to WDW for the week to see it for the first time and cheer her through the race as well. It's interesting to plan coinciding trips with someone without planning a trip "together" per se, as her family will obviously want to see and do as much as possible, where my family a)has a toddler and b)are WDW vets.
 
Princess is on my bucket list too!!! Can’t wait to read all about your training and journey!
 
Welcome Ashley! Looking forward to hearing about your Princess training. That run through the castle is pretty magical!
 


Training update:

My attempts at mid-week runs last week were thwarted by rain and life but I did get in a 5k Saturday morning with my dad. This was the most I’ve enjoyed a run in a while! With my parents in town I didn’t have to push the stroller which increased my pace and let me use my normal form. I actually felt really smooth. We did 30 sec run, 30 sec walk intervals with a few extra walks uphill. I feel great about where I am with building a comfortable base, but hope this week I can do better about getting in some more frequent running.

Still trying to decide if I should do a 10k in October for POT. I’m not sure my pace is fast enough to make a difference but the race I’m looking at is the Marine Corps 10k which I’ve heard great things about!
 
Still trying to decide if I should do a 10k in October for POT. I’m not sure my pace is fast enough to make a difference but the race I’m looking at is the Marine Corps 10k which I’ve heard great things about!
If anything, committing to a 10k in October will help keep you focused on training. :)
 
Off topic but OMGoodness your baby is ridiculously sweet looking.

Also sign up for a 10k, I agree with @jennamfeo it will keep your commitment up.
 


Yeah! Another journal for me to read instead of adulting! I’m running the Princess 1/2 too.

I’d sign up for the 10K for motivation. The 10K POT cutoff to get you out of the last corrals is 1:14.
 
Yeah! Another journal for me to read instead of adulting! I’m running the Princess 1/2 too.

I’d sign up for the 10K for motivation. The 10K POT cutoff to get you out of the last corrals is 1:14.

Funny, I decided to write a journal instead of adulting ;)
 
Indoor bike today for a quick ride while the baby napped. Training has once again been tricky this week due to hot/rainy weather. Hoping to get the bubs out for a 5k push tomorrow morning though!
 

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Running Update:
Sat 9/8 - 3.2 miles from my house to the Farm Museum and back. A fun run with a pause for the national anthem before the start of the tractor show :rotfl2:like my dad said, nothing like patriotic music to get the blood pumping!

Tuesday 9/12 - I have come down with a cold so I tried to get my heart pumping but only made it 1 mile on the tread before it was too much for my stuffy head/nose. But I did do some lower body strength stuff so better than nothing.

Goals for the rest of the week: hit the gym today and tomorrow for more strength training and elliptical/treadmill, whatever I can tolerate to get some miles on my feet this week. Then this weekend, assuming we are not under water from the hurricane (we are in northern Maryland so shouldn't be too bad) I'd like to up to 4 miles as the 5k distance has been feeling really good.

Question for the Group: shoes, shoes, shoes! I have been running in Brooks Adrenaline GTS-15s which don't have too many miles on them in comparison but are getting somewhat old age-wise, plus who doesn't love new shoes?! Anyone have thoughts on the new Brooks Levitate2??? I have had many Brooks and liked them, also had a pair of ASICS that I enjoyed. I'm pretty open to anything new but I want them to look good/my style!
 
Goals for the rest of the week: hit the gym today and tomorrow for more strength training and elliptical/treadmill, whatever I can tolerate to get some miles on my feet this week. Then this weekend, assuming we are not under water from the hurricane (we are in northern Maryland so shouldn't be too bad) I'd like to up to 4 miles as the 5k distance has been feeling really good.

Pushing distance sounds good. Did you decide to do the 10k?
 
Got my 4 miles in today! It always amazes me how my body reacts to an increase in mileage that doesn’t seem like that much! The run felt fine, though a little warmer than I would have liked. But by the afternoon my hips were stiff and I had a splitting headache.
Anyone else get post-run headaches?
I get them pretty frequently but I can’t fogure out the cause...I of course always rehydrate with H2O and electrolytes, try to eat within the hour and usually have caffeine with that meal... ‍♀️ And yet a few hours later I’m hunting the Advil! Any tips or suggestions appreciated!
 

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Oh no. Are there other good options around you?

Not that I have found before proof of time is due...which I'm not sure that would matter anyway because it doesn't seem like I'm really running fast enough for a PoT to matter. So maybe I'll be looking just for some racing experience in Nov/Dec instead of trying to squeeze one in in Oct. Between my own traveling and my husband's work travel its looking less and less like I'll be able to get into one and find that magical balance of time and childcare...

Oh well, still enjoying training so far and trying to be positive!
 
Ok story time:

So my last half marathon was Wine and Dine 2017, and I think I mentioned before that it was ROUGH. I was significantly undertrained and was only about 4.5 months post-partum so had spent a lot of “self-care” time in survival mode. First time moms you know what I mean! Anywho, about mile 6 of W&D is when it started to feel bad and mile 10 is when the wheels really fell off. I cramped with every attempt to pick up a jog and limped when I walked FOR 3 MILES! I recognized that my previous running experiences (and math) would help me finish. There is definite truth to the mental fortitude necessary for 13.1 and having completed that distance a few times before my brain knew I could get to the end. But that was the first time I truly understood the importance of lower body strength beyond what you need to just stand up from a chair or the floor. Running that many miles means you really need to have not just the cardiovascular training but also the strength training to get through without pain or injury, and that more than anything I think was part of my downfall. I know that if I had trained appropriately I would have gained some strength just from putting in the miles, but also I have vowed for this training cycle to really commit to strength training regularly.
This is really a roundabout way to get to my update...the day was Tuesday, I walked in the gym with a Pinterest “lower body for runners” workout on my phone and walked out with legs of jello. Wednesday morning I woke up more sore than I have been in a long time! Like hurts so good but also squatting for the potty is hard kinda sore. It took 2 full days to clear. So I’ll be repeating that workout at least once a week until it’s not so hard anymore. Yesterday I got back to the gym for upper body and while I’m not as sore I can definitely tell I worked. My goal is to keep up with strength training at minimum 2x/week to really help me be not just a runner who finishes but one who finishes strong!
 
Saturday’s run:

Set out to do 4 miles but wasn’t feeling great so when I got back to my neighborhood and could either turn in or go past for a little extra mileage, well...

But as they say, “A little bit of something is better than a whole lot of nothing”. It’s cloudy and off and on raining today so it doesn’t look like I’ll be hitting the trail. If it was just me I’d probably enjoy running in this weather but because I’d have to take the babe it’s home workout instead.

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