But now having something tangible to look forward to - even if it's a will-they-won't-they situation with RR or a virtual event like Princess - is more motivating than you can imagine. Even if I haven't actually run in months and it will be probably be really hard to start from scratch, I'm looking forward to figuring out a training plan and putting those goals on my calendar again.
If I'm being honest, I would rate my summer running as decent enough even though a major piece of July was lost to long work hours and August was a near disaster between record breaking heat waves and the wildfires that followed immediately thereafter wreaking havoc with nightmare air quality for weeks. Knowing that I tend to find more motivation with a race, I signed up for this year's SF Giant Virtual Challenge which entails running the 10K (or half) followed by the 5K right afterwards. Honestly, I liked the medals and that pushed me over the edge. I really enjoyed race day. While my route was very similar to what I've been doing all summer long, I found that having some sort of purpose to that run felt really good. With this week's virtual races, I knew they would be a good idea for me.
Speaking of which, any ideas on how to adjust the existing rD Challenge training plan to include the 5K on Friday? Also, what strategies do you use come race time? Do you walk the 5? Jog the 10? Save everything and go all out for the Half? Run all three? I know you're all way more advanced than me, but I'm still interested in what you all do so I can eventually figure out a plan of how approach a 3-race weekend.
For what it's worth, I'm slow. My half PR is 2:58 and my marathon PR is 6:58. Half PR was set at the 2019 San Francisco Giant Race and the marathon PR came at the 2019 Walt Disney World Marathon, complete with photo stops, et all. For whatever it's worth, I have finished 4 Star Wars Challenge 10K/Half Marathon, 1 Star Wars 5K+10K/Half Marathon, 2 Dopey Challenges, one Half Marathon (where I set my PR) immediately followed by a 5K (which I took very easy and walked with my dad and sister, and one virtual 10K immediately followed by a 5K. When properly trained, I run between 13-14 minute miles if I'm giving it my all. Depending on other races, I may take certain races more slowly to stay healthy for a major goal race.
When the 5K is part of my race weekend plans, I have always taken the 5K slow. Stop for as many pictures as I feel like, very liberal walk breaks, forcing myself to slow down if I feel like going fast, etc. My normal Disney 5K times come in around 90 minutes because of the photo stops. Once a challenge comes into play, I treat the 10K very easy as well. A lot of walking, minimal running, and if I feel myself working hard, then I'm probably going way too fast and need to slow down. If starting from the last corral, I will pay attention to the balloon ladies and anything I hear from race officials about where I stand in relation to a sweep point. I've never been swept. I've been close enough to actually witness the sweep occur, but I was a few minutes ahead of the sweep. I don't want to be swept, but I don't want to leave my legs out on the course when I'm about to ask a lot more of them in the next day or two so if hanging with the balloon ladies is good enough to not get swept, I will do so, although that has yet to happen to me.
I try to conserve as much energy as possible for the longest race. For Dopey, that means a virtually identical strategy for to the 10K strategy including seeing one of my worst half marathon times ever and knowing that means I did it right. For the longest race, I push myself. More running, more willingness to forgo longer walk breaks, et all. Oddly enough the extra time also gives me a better cushion for photo stops in the half or full when compared to the 10K. I should note here that I do not stop for every character. If the line is too long, I will skip it. If I don't care about the character, I will almost always skip a short line regardless of 10K, Half, or Full.
As for training, I just incorporate at least 3-4 back to back to back running days when doing a 10K/Half challenge or even Dopey. My shorter runs on Thursdays, medium runs on Fridays depending on the challenge, and long runs always on Saturdays. With proper training, your body learns to adapt to the frequency. Recovering from runs is much easier if you take them easy. Go all out on race day when you want to give it your best and revel in the soreness knowing you did it.
). When everything was cancelled my motivation tanked and I completely stopped running.
Thank goodness for the 35% off promo and Disney Visa rewards dollars!
