My Journey to 50 miles (2nd attempt)... (comments welcome)

Just remember that as the temps continue to climb your paces will fall. And that's ok. You're ok on this one, because it was consistent. But if you notice a fade, then be sure to adjust for the next time out.

Will do!

BTW the plan is awesome! Challenging but fun!!
 
Saturday 3 miles @ EA. Nice easy run, felt good!

Sunday, was supposed to have another run today, but I have a weird achy feeling in my left ankle. What's really weird is that it felt fine until I laid down to take a lazy Sunday afternoon siesta. My plan was to rest a bit and then get up and stretch, then go do my run. When I woke up my ankle was stiff as heck and when I went to stand up it actually hurt, like maybe a 5 out of 10 on the pain scale. Thought maybe I could walk it off, so I started walking up and down the hall to see if it would loosen up, but after a few minutes it wasn't getting any better. Decided running probably wasn't a good idea. Hobbled around most of the afternoon and evening then went to bed. Woke up this morning.... still stiff and sore. What the heck??!! I didn't even run yesterday.

Now I'm at work, I've got my work boots laced up around the ankle and it's feeling ok ish. Still a little achy, but nothing like yesterday. My plan is to go ahead and run Sunday's run this afternoon, if it continues to feel the same as it does now. If it hurts while running, I'll stop and go see the doc at urgent care.

This is not a great time for an injury. I was really enjoying my runs again!!
 
So, Monday turned out to be a pretty good run. The ankle still feels a little wonky. Not painful but not exactly right. Felt fine when I was running and there isn't any pain today. Just feels like I need to "pop" it. Like an annoying knuckle. Run itself was good! Tons of people on the track today which was a surprise. There isn't usually more than me and one or 2 others. Lot's of walkers that like to walk side by side in the middle of the track and then another couple walking there 3 dogs! Sigh... I liked it better when it was just me running down there.

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Pacing was a little fast for the first 1000m. And the second two were also on the fast side just not quite as bad as the first.

I really try to give myself permission to run on the slow side of my paces, but there is something wired internally that makes this difficult for me to actually do. It was on the warmer side yesterday and I told myself my goal was to be closer to 9:01 than 8:41. But then when I start to run, I just can't seem to slow down, just a tiny bit is all it would take. You probably wouldn't even notice the drop in pace if you were watching.

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Consistent pacing may always be my problem. I've been working at it ever since I started and still can't seem to get it right. I'll just keep plugging away at it.

@DopeyBadger Billy, since I slid Sunday's run to Monday, should I take tonight off and run Wed and Thur? Or can I just do the EA run tonight and get back on track?
Or does it matter either way? Thanks!!
 
Consistent pacing may always be my problem. I've been working at it ever since I started and still can't seem to get it right. I'll just keep plugging away at it.

Give it time. It took me years, and even still on some runs I don't nail it down.

@DopeyBadger Billy, since I slid Sunday's run to Monday, should I take tonight off and run Wed and Thur? Or can I just do the EA run tonight and get back on track?
Or does it matter either way? Thanks!!

Definitely slide to Wed/Thurs. Don't want the 5k workouts only one day apart from each other.
 


Wednesday's run. 3 miles @ EA. Nice and easy run. It was a great day for a run, low 60's and mostly sunny. Not gonna be that lucky tonight I'm afraid.
I haven't run the big long hill in awhile, so I decided that I would last night. I really focused on trying to stay at the same effort while running the hill. I managed pretty well I think. Pace slowed down quite a bit, but I wasn't winded at all and only raised my HR a little while running up. Quickly recovered after the hill, back to EA pace and effort.

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Looking forward to tonight's run. Should be a little more challenging and hopefully with the crappy weather tonight, there won't be a ton of folks at the track.
 


Thursday's run. Whew... this turned out to be a good one! It ended up being fairly sunny and warmish up here. Not so hot I couldn't keep my paces but definitely on the warmer side. Happy that there weren't others walking their dogs on the track tonight. Just me and one other runner.

Actually pretty happy with my pacing last night. I kept all of the intervals within +/- 10 sec of my pace and was relatively consistent during each interval.

I've really been trying to concentrate on my form for the last week or so. Ever since my upper body was tired after running. Caught myself scrunching my shoulders last night and bringing my arms out away from my body. Not a great way to run. Fixed it and kept it in check last night. I wonder if I was doing this without noticing before?

I'm not gonna pretend that these interval runs are easy, cause they aren't and I'm not exhausted when I'm finished. But, I definitely feel them! I'm still totally digging this training plan!

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One thing that could probably use a little work is my WU/CD. I'm in the ballpark, but maybe in foul territory sometimes.

Just for future reference for me.... As of today, I have 1,492 days until I'm old enough to retire!!
 
Weekend update! Our county entered phase 2 this weekend. Kinda nice to get out and have a normalish day. Went downtown and did some shopping. Got a yummy salted caramel cupcake, walked through the antique stores. Tried to grab a bite at a local eatery. But, it was a 30 min wait for a table. Decided I couldn't wait that long.

Runs were good. Saturday was 3 miles @ EA. Interesting to note. I ran the exact same route Saturday as I did on Wednesday. It was 20 degrees cooler on Saturday and my avg HR and max HR were 7bpm lower on Saturday. I know there are other factors, including time of day, rest, etc. But I'm certain that the cooler temps contributed to the lower HR. Saturday, I ended up running pretty much in a downpour. I actually kinda enjoyed it. Once I got going and got warm, it was kinda pleasant.

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Sunday. Whew, this one was kinda hard. It was cloudy and coolish when I left the house so I was a little overdressed when the clouds blew away shortly after I started and the sun came out. It got warm quick! It was 3 x 1200 intervals. The last 200 of the last interval was a gut check for me. I really wanted to slow down and I kinda felt like I did. But with a little pep talk to myself I managed to finish fairly ok.

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Pretty happy with these paces. I was pretty close on everything. Other than it being pretty dang hard to finish the last interval. I'm pretty happy with this overall.

Work just announced that there are going to be layoffs in my job code. With nearly 30 yrs, I'm confident I'll be ok. But, it's going to hurt some of the younger folks. If they would offer a bit of an incentive package, I would take a voluntary layoff. We'll see. Maybe a little golden handshake and I can go.
 
Well.... I tried to register for Princess today. I was logged into my wifes profile and thought that I was ready to go. But, alas I guess I didn't have something right. I never got a register button. Can someone please explain to me the process for registration as an AP holder? I clearly didn't do it right. @rteetz Ryan, can you help me out here?

Monday I got new shoes! Decided to try the Brooks Ghost 12. I knew going into these that they weren't as cushioned as the Glycerin so I kind of expected a different feel to running in them. So far, I have to say that I really like the way they fit. I've only run 7 miles in them so I can't be to harsh on the feel. But, things are definitely different. I'll give them a few more runs before I say thumbs up or down on them.
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Tuesday's run was 3 miles @ EA in the new shoes. Felt good. Decided to run the big hill today and no problems. Kept my paces decent ish for me.

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Wednesday's run 7 x 400m @ 5k. I definitely feel the 5k pace. I wasn't completely beat when finished like I was last week when I did 9 x 400m.

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Not completely unhappy with my paces. A little too fast on most of them. I hope I can do better when it comes to the "race" that I have planned for myself.
I have the next couple days off from running. Then a "fun" run coming up on Sunday. Looking forward to see how I do with the ladder run.
 
Well.... I tried to register for Princess today. I was logged into my wifes profile and thought that I was ready to go. But, alas I guess I didn't have something right. I never got a register button. Can someone please explain to me the process for registration as an AP holder? I clearly didn't do it right. @rteetz Ryan, can you help me out here?
So for AP registration there are two ways you can go about it. You don’t go to the login on the RunDisney website.

The first option is going to the WDW website and go to the Passholders section after you login and then go to Passholder perks or extras (I forget which exactly it’s called). Scroll down and you will find RunDisney. Fairly simple after that point. The link doesn’t go live until it’s activated though so sometimes it’s 10AM and sometimes it’s a bit before. That takes you to the queue.

The other way on the RunDisney website is go to the event you want, stay on the event overview page and scroll down

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click Passholder and it takes you into the registration page. If you’re not signed in to the WDW site it will prompt you to do that so it makes sure you have an AP.

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Thanks Ryan! I found it! I had it all screwed up. Guess I should have asked earlier! Thank goodness I have another chance on Tuesday. I appreciate the info!
 
Weekend update.

Saturday was 3 miles @EA. Nothing out of the ordinary. Shoes are feeling better. Definitely not as cushiony as the Glycerins though.
Paces weren't horrible. Got up early and ran so that it wouldn't cut into our date night on a weekend I had to work. Felt good to get up early and get the run in. I'd forgotten how peaceful the world is at 0330. Just as I was finishing around 0400 the sun started to peek over the mountains and the birds lit up with some songs for me. Gotta remember to appreciate things like that. Especially with so much insanity in the world right now.

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Sunday was the LADDER.... I've been looking at this on the calendar with both fear and excitement.
This was not easy and I know it wasn't supposed to be. I managed to run all the intervals with the exception of the 1600m interval. I ended up walking for a short distance during this interval. Maybe 40-60 seconds. Overall I know it helped me. But I would have preferred to be able to complete all the intervals without stopping.
I knew going into this training plan that I was pushing it the limit of short training plans. I have travel plans coming on the 25th, so it was important for me to try and complete this before I left.

I've been debating whether to try and reschedule the run at race pace or go ahead and run it next Sunday as planned. I think I've decided to go ahead and try to run it and just see what happens. If I don't make my goal it won't be for lack of trying.

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You can see when I walked in the above graph. It definitely hurt my lap pace.
I feel like it helped me finish. Unfortunately it also put a little bit of doubt in my head about being able to do the 5k at my 5k pace.

I may have also have to work this upcoming weekend. If I do, I may slide this weeks runs by one day so that I can get up early on Monday and run my 5k race pace.
If I work the weekend I'll be in for 12 hour days and that just doesn't seem to work with trying to run at race pace.
 
This was not easy and I know it wasn't supposed to be. I managed to run all the intervals with the exception of the 1600m interval. I ended up walking for a short distance during this interval. Maybe 40-60 seconds.

Ask yourself, why did I walk? Mental, loss of breath, legs were burning, etc.?
 
Ask yourself, why did I walk? Mental, loss of breath, legs were burning, etc.?

It was loss of breath. Just didn't feel like I could get a rhythm going at that point. The short walk was all I needed to get things under control. And I finished up pretty well. I didn't try to make up the lost time. I just tried to run at a decent pace for the last portion.
 
It was loss of breath. Just didn't feel like I could get a rhythm going at that point. The short walk was all I needed to get things under control. And I finished up pretty well. I didn't try to make up the lost time. I just tried to run at a decent pace for the last portion.

So something to keep in mind, force that rhythm breathing early and often. In the beginning of the interval (or the 5k race itself) you won't feel like you need those deep rhythmic breaths. But they aren't for right now, they're for a few minutes from now. So the earlier and more focused you can be on the breathing early on, the easier (not easy) the breathing will be. If you do the 5k right, then you should feel pretty breathless and legs burning at the end. Don't give in mentally. It won't be easy, but it'll be worth it.
 
Don't give in mentally. It won't be easy, but it'll be worth it.

The more I thought about it yesterday, the more I wondered how much of this was mental...… How much of it was just me wanting(not needing) a little break? My legs felt fine, and I wonder if I could/should have just pushed through the feeling.

Still a work in progress. I'll keep working on it!!
 
I have found for myself that the largest part of my running is the mental training. It is a daily practice that should not be underestimated.
 

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