Tag: challenges

#TinkRuns2024, challenges

The Marathon Vision

2chicksandapen

Month seven.

A deep breath after month six. 

The month started with a physical therapy appointment for knees, but one can consider that progress. Hoping the 10k is smooth this month or at least I’ll be there for the boom on the 4th of July.

I see the lucky 777 come up on the slot machine in my mind. Boy am I lucky to be where I am today. Happy. Healthy. Hopeful. I sure do hope this is the turning point month as I head into heavy training. Stay tuned!

I’m beginning the heavy lifting phase of my running training. The Marathon. 26.2 grueling miles. My race. My pace. My story. How I get there is up to me. How prepared I am rests on my shoulders. How I handle adversity is on me. That’s a big deal when you think about it.

Each month you will get a glimpse into not only my training but my mindset. Both of which are equally important parts of my preparation. I’ll be trying out clothes, fueling options, technology and gear. I’ll be thinking about contingency plans. One being the bathroom dilemma. This one sort of freaks me out and untiI I experience the full 26.2 it will be somewhat of a mystery.

Curveball alert! I broke my wrist. Yes that’s right. I do all my own stunts. Laughing as I type this. Seriously, a scaphoid fracture takes my forearm, wrist and thumb out of commission via a cast. We will now classify this as orthopedic visit one for the month.

It looks like Dr. and PT appointments now take up part of my valued training time. For a visual running in a cast is like moving with an extra 5 pounds of disproportionate weight you don’t know what to do with.

The 10k race is here. Day four of the month. A cast, physical therapy and a race oh my. I had no choice but to run in a cast. My fingers looked like little sausages by the end. No joke! I survived the course despite the extreme heat advisory issued just before they cut off the race. This was by far the hottest day in event history, and I had a cast as an accessory.  The race was actually shut down not too long after I finished. The sign had just switched to high alert at mile 5 and went to black while I was leaving. Such a close call for finishing.

As we enter the second half of training I opted for one photo from each of the first six months to post below. A glimpse of how far I’ve come and a little celebration of me and my progress. It’s been a journey so far. I also have an uphill battle in front of me.

Big race recap this month. A local event that attracts 50,000 runners and a lottery entry. The peachtree 10k. A little train ride downtown for this big race. I ran this race over 20 years ago in the mid 1990’s just to experience the hype. I ran it a couple times before the pandemic, consecutive years with my daughter. I see many friends each year as well. This year I even met up with a friend from Hawaii and her daughter. This race experience is one of my bigger races as far as people volume goes.

I was somewhat reluctant to sign up for this particular race, but when I did I had a goal in mind. See if I can beat my past best race time. Not a have to, but more like a little test of age, mindset, and overall circumstances. How did I fare? I survived that’s all. This was probably my slowest time for this race ever. The combination of the heat advisory, the cast and and and just all my body woes took their toll from mile 4-6. I did finish. That’s the main point. I never quit.

Takeaways: I showed up after a rough injury patch in prior weeks. I’m still going. These running lessons, sacrifices and challenges can be great life lessons to apply elsewhere. Life isn’t easy. One just has to attack each day with positivity and a will to get out of the hole one is in.

As I finish off this post for July it’s ending differently than what I would have planned. MRI results are in. I’ve been waiting restlessly for answers. Well, not good news. A patella fracture on left knee. That one I didn’t see coming but does explain the pain. A torn meniscus on the right knee, this I was expecting. So more rehab for this girl. Walking is not restricted but running is! My body can still move. I just need to modify movements for my situation. Below I am strength training though the weight is light.

If I follow instructions I can still have hope to run in late September. The training will be rough to cram in for the marathon but I will hopefully cross that finish line in November. Stay tuned for updates.

More walking miles than running in my future! And boy is it hard to see my training buddies pounding the pavement while I am sidelined.

challenges, fitness and nutrition

Summer Surprise

2chicksandapen

This summer I got a big surprise!

A red cast on my dominant arm covering my thumb following my forearm until two fingers from elbow. Talk about a major inconvenience for a busy girl. Brushing teeth now becomes a big effort. Just squeezing out the toothpaste and unscrewing the top of the tube is hard.

Reframing life in an instant is hard. Cutting up foods is not safe all of the sudden. Teaching yourself to eat with a fork in your non-dominant hand is comical and messy to say the least. Missing out on fun with friends is a big bummer, too. I figured I’d take this time to scribble my woes so I could giggle about them later. I do love a good reflection post.

My google search term has been “how to remove a fiberglass cast at home” on more than one occasion and that’s just within the first 24 hours. Pretty sad I know. I feel trapped in this thing. Sweating isn’t fun at all in a cast, but neither is showering. When I mentioned the toothpaste above I wasn’t kidding. However that is easier than soap in the shower, shampoo or even shaving. The list of oh craps could continue for a good bit.

The pickle I wanted from the jar today was soul crushing. The simple twist required sweat to drip from my eyebrow! I did find a good use for the cast at the grocery store…. Lining the plastic bags on the cast to carry to the car. It was like a coat rack for groceries. I did also break a nail at the grocery. That was just another item to log here as a big sigh moment.

The questions you get are also comical. Did you break your arm? No I casted myself for attention and inconvenience. I wish I was that talented or creative. The reality is I suffered an injury and the doc says the cast will help me heal. Time will tell.

My thumb is what I miss the most. From the selfie-pushing finger to gripping of the mouse for your computer. The thumb is what I miss the most. That thumb can grab your clothes when you dress.  It’s just a crucial piece of your day and you miss it when it’s not available.

Want to test drive what it feels like to be me sidelined, go a few hours without your dominant hand and thumb. It won’t be fun. Rather, it will be humbling. Of course you need to try all the hard things required to live each day.

Life is real. Some days it’s adventures. Some days it’s heartaches. Today it’s just hard.

And a bra is really the hardest part of my day at the moment. It’s very much a love hate relationship, use your imagination.

challenges, fitness and nutrition

Flying Pig Half Marathon

2chicksandapen

May’s choice for my year of race-cations was the Flying Pig Half Marathon.

Located in Cincinnati, Ohio, the Flying Pig was voted the #1 marathon in the US according to USA Today. I figured the half marathon, run at the same time, must be awesome as well. Leading up to the race, I joined a thriving online community that shared tips with racers, offered support, and went hog wild on the awesome theme. Needless to say, I was totally pumped up when I flew in to Cincy on Saturday.

This race is so big, there are even multiple Flying Pig welcome signs and structures in the airport. The 5k and 10k took place on Saturday, so traffic was already pretty gummed up on my Uber from the airport. In case you don’t know, Cincinnati sits on a river. I ended up staying in Northern Kentucky across the river, where the hotels were a bit more affordable. (I later learned that there were a ton of events in town that weekend, including a huge baseball series, that probably contributed to the extremely high cost of hotel rooms.) There was a welcome sign for Flying Pig runners in my hotel lobby. I dropped my luggage then made my way to the expo.

The expo was honestly amazing. Tons of vendors, balloon displays, pig statues, and amazing swag. For this race, half marathon runners receive a shirt, a commemorative item (this year it was an athletic duffle bag) and a race poster. There was also a huge line at the Proctor and Gamble (sponsor) booth where there is a famous freebie giveaway. From deodorant to beauty products and more, they give away bags full of full-sized items to runners. I wanted to see the city and not drag around a big bag of shampoo and razor blades, so I skipped this benefit of the race (sadly!) If I ever do this race again, I’ll plan better.

After I got my bib and swag, I hopped a city streetcar to the Findlay Market, a famous longstanding market in Cincy. I walked through the booths and took the recommendation of someone I met on the streetcar to get a breakfast sandwich from one of the booths. It was truly a gooey salty something special. I grabbed the streetcar back to the expo area to stop for Graeter’s ice cream, a local chain of creameries. I got the special Flying Pig flavor that they make each year. Awesome carb loading with local delicacies. I also walked through the Cinco de Mayo celebrations taking place on the square. I could have used another day in Cincy to enjoy all the murals, activities, and see the sign museum. It’s sort of bittersweet, but on the other hand I actually do like the feeling of wanting to come back for more.

After laying out my race gear, I set about my restless prerace sleep. I rose at around 4:30 am to get my caffeinated life together and start the walk to the start line. All the roads were already closed at that hour. I rolled into the lobby to piles of granola bars and racers bustling around. We all collectively started the mile or so walk in the dark to the start, which included crossing a beautiful historic bridge.

The start corrals were packed, organized, and filled with energy. Music was blaring. My nerves were definitely joyous. People of all shapes and sizes come out to walk and “Run the Pig.” People proudly wear walking club shirts. Women who appeared to be about 20 years older than me clustered in groups as we inched our way forward. Finally, after what seemed like hours, we crossed the start line.

I loved the first few miles. I was feeling good. The weather was still cool. We got to go over some great bridges back and forth between the states. I was smiling and my pace was solid.

Mile 5 is when things started to go off the rails a bit. I knew this race was described as hilly. But, reviewers had said Little Rock was hilly, but I didn’t find it troubling. But Cincy was different. It wasn’t really hilly so much as a single 4 mile long hill. Straight. Up. I guess I didn’t study the elevation of the race as well as I should have. The sheer length and relentlessness of this hill caught me completely off guard. I continued to run / walk as best I could, but my energy was completely wrecked by the time I got to mile 10. My pace had gone from the 13s to over 15 (even 16!) minutes per mile. In the mean time, the sun came up and I never recovered. Wearing full length pants was a huge mistake. I was overheated, legs were overtaxed, and I struggled to finish.

The crowd support was great. I had learned the trick of putting my name on my bib so people cheered for me by name as I shuffled by. I laughed at the signs and took the high fives. But honestly, I was fighting to get to the finish line. But, finish I did! As ugly as it was.

I physically sat down about 100 yards after receiving my medal. I NEVER sit down that soon. I couldn’t stomach the famous LaRosa’s pizza at the after party. I nibbled just the corner and hobbled to the shuttles back to the hotel. All I could think about was a cold shower and air conditioning.

At the time I said *NEVER AGAIN* to this race. But now that I’ve had some time to recover and get a little perspective, I can imagine myself seeking redemption someday. This may be a race to revisit once I am wiser about fueling and energy management (not to mention wardrobe!) I also have unfinished business with the city and the expo, so I won’t say never! When pigs fly!

June brings summer heat and shorter distances. I’ll confess I wasn’t totally sorry for a step back from the half marathon distance for a few months. Stay tuned to find out where my trusty Brooks will test themselves next.

#TinkRuns2024

I’m Doing It! June 2024

2chicksandapen

Month 6.

Half way.

Happy the way to somewhere or nowhere? That what’s been on my mind this month.

An MRI for the knees. A milestone I didn’t anticipate before I started this running project. Happy I can get up each day and go but frustrated I can’t go at full speed on anything. Unfortunately, injuries can sideline you when you least expect it. This pretty much describes my current stats: ongoing recovery.

This month marks another 5k that I was expecting to be special. Instead I did a park 5k solo and I’m opting for no races in June to work on my overall recovery plan and enjoy my travel without extra aches and pains. A personal choice. This was an easier decision after the 5k I wanted to do had a date change that conflicted with my travel and the course was going to change. All of a sudden I wasn’t destined to do this race!

It was a year ago I ran the 5k. My mental game probably wasn’t as strong as it is today and my body wasn’t as prepared for the run a year ago. To see the comparison in time and how I feel after this race was really something I’ve been looking forward to. A full circle vision of hard work. Did it pay off? I wanted to know. I won’t know exactly because I’m not repeating the race. I do know however my 5k time is almost 9 minutes faster thus I’ll claim winner on progress for year over year.

I guess it doesn’t matter that I couldn’t make the race. The hills were awful. The walk to the start line in the woods is a workout in itself. One could say you’re tired before you even start. This was more of a disappointment than my injuries to date. Go figure. For June I will add in hill training as a little nod to the race that wasn’t in the cards this year!

Not a ton of miles for June but I didn’t quit.

No stopping me now.

How will my second half differ from the first? 

Will my mileage pick up volume?

The half way point of the year is here. Holy cow. Committing six months to running takes dedication, time, and a can do attitude at the very least. Now it’s time to see what it takes to get to twelve months and really dial in on marathon training. We shall call this the building capacity phase. 

Will my mileage double by year’s end?

Will I get close to 750 miles?

Will I battle more injuries?

 Will I continue?

fitness and nutrition, travel

Hakuna Matata 10 Miler

2chicksandapen

And now for the April installment of my year of races. (For previous posts in this series, check out this, this, and this!)

I hadn’t really even considered including a runDisney race in my year until a friend at work told me she was signed up for a 10 miler in April of this year. Shockingly, registration was still open when I went to check. (Little did I know that most Disney races sell out in the first few hours.) I thought about it, loved the significance of a race celebrating the 30th year of the Lion King, and dove in.

One of the runners in our CrossFit friend group has done several runDisney races, including races from the Princess weekend and the Dopey challenge, which is four days of back-to-back runs, culminating in a full marathon on the last day. Her pics always looked so fun, filled wish costumes and glitter and runs through the iconic parks.

Little did I know what a wild, thriving subculture the runDisney community is. There are tons of online groups to discuss training and strategies for registration, entire companies devoted to specialized costuming for runners, podcasts all about the runDisney season, speculation about themes, medals, and on and on.

By the time I arrived at Walt Disney World in April 2024, my friend from work had decided not to run for family reasons. I was at Disney, alone, as an adult. Thanks to our generous extended family that lives nearby, I had brought our kids to the parks many, many times. Still, it had been many years since I stayed on the Disney property. I was so excited to be there I was about to burst. Armed with all my research on runDisney, I checked in to the Pop Century resort, ready to go.

This post is mainly to discuss the race. I will share a separate post about my time at Disney in the near future. After I left my luggage at the resort, I made my way over to the expo on the Disney bus.

The expo and swag pickup was as dazzling as you might imagine. A whole crew was waiting for runners with signs and cheers. All the signs were up for photo ops, not to mention characters. There were tons of great vendors at the expo. I bought my new racedots (bib magnets) and some scented cooling towels. I grabbed the bus back to the resort and checked into my room. I spent the rest of the afternoon resort hopping on the skyliner. I had some great food at Riviera and the Caribbean Beach resort, then went back to my room to get my race gear ready.

The first thing to know about a Disney race day is that it starts VERY early. The first bus left my resort at 2:45 am. Thankfully, I am an early early riser by nature. I was also super nervous and excited. I had read sad stories about people sleeping through their alarm and missing races. I set a Disney official wakeup call as well as multiple alarms. I get up around 2 and was on the bus by 3.

The ride to the start line dropoff is about 20 minutes. Then, you join thousands of other runners for the half a mile or so walk to the corrals. In the holding area, there are more characters to get photos with. There is also prerace entertainment. It’s an energetic atmosphere. Finally, you make your way to the corrals.

One of the challenges of these races for me is that they are not as “back of the pack” friendly as I would like. Unlike most of the other races this year, the runDisney races have a hard cutoff for pace and will sweep you off the course if you are too slow. There is all sorts of anxiety about falling behind, getting put onto the sweep bus, and so on. There are an infamous group of people known as the “Balloon Ladies” who are runners carrying literal balloons at the very back of the race. They maintain a 16 minute mile pace. Once they start, you cannot fall behind them or you will be swept.

There are a couple of other things to keep in mind: the 16 minute pace clock starts once the Balloon Ladies cross the start line, so if you are quite a bit ahead of them, you have a buffer. Normally, I wouldn’t worry too much about keeping that pace, but the other cool thing about Disney races is, of course, Disney being Disney, there are character stops on the course. These are mainly photo ops with little interaction. Each stop has official photographers as well as a couple of cast members whose whole job is to keep the photos moving as fast as they can.

I found an online source that leaked all the characters and their spots on the course, so I knew where I was going to stop. My goal was to stop for at least a couple of characters. I also had a chat that let me know where the Balloon Ladies were as well as my watch pacing. And, with the fireworks and a bit of fanfare, I was off.

This race wasn’t much about the pace (aside from not getting pulled onto a bus.) There was so much energy. I was running through Epcot World Showcase. Hollywood Studios. I stopped for photos. There was Disney music piped in. Video screens gave you hints of characters on the course. Cast members from the countries in World Showcase came out to wave hello as the sun rose. It was pretty surreal, actually. We ran through cast member areas, resorts, and parking lots. The course was sometimes packed, sometimes not.

The first character I stopped for was actually someone super new that I didn’t even know. But, the line was short so I just ran through the queue, stop, smile, snap and go. There were characters from old old films like the Rescuers (which had a long line early in the race so I didn’t stop, sadly.), and new characters I didn’t even know. I stopped for a few: Tigger, beloved by one of my running friends, Meeko the raccoon that we took as the name for one of our family cats, Abu from my daughter’s favorite princess movie, and my favorite Disney princess Mulan. I took side photos of other characters since I didn’t think I could wait in line. But I was proud to have stopped for those handful and stayed in front of my pace goal. Maybe the happiest moment was seeing Mickey himself, waving at the runners from a platform over the finish line. I totally felt like a little kid when I stopped for a pic with Mickey waving. I did it!

I will say, this race was hot and humid. I took my cooling towel and medal and snack then skipped all the other photo opps to go to the bus back to my resort for a desperately needed cold shower.

All I can say is I am such a fan of these races. To sum it up, it was totally overstimulating but I loved it. The vibe is positive. It’s a totally different group of people than other races. Many of these people are just casual runners or doing it as Disney fans. There are lots of walkers and run / walk / runners. People get excited about medals, themes, and registration. It’s a lot of fun! I plan to do this one again in future years, and hopefully even do a multi-race challenge for the Springtime Surprise weekend someday.