Disney Training - Week 1

This last week started my first week of sixteen for my Disney Dopey Challenge training! I cannot properly express how excited I am right now for this race. For anyone not familiar, the Dopey Challenge is 4 back-to-back days of running; 5k, 10k, half marathon, then full marathon. You run through the Disney World parks and there are tons of spectators and characters cheering you on non-stop. Supposedly during the marathon, there is a point you can hop on a roller coaster during the race. If this is true, I will definitely be taking advantage of this! In typical fashion, I'll be displaying my training in the same format I always do, but my focus will be on running.

Swimming
I had the Rock 'n Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon the prior weekend, so I decided I would hop in the pool Monday to get the blood flowing and loosen up. This worked out really well, as the rest of my week for running went really well. I will probably be pushing to swim every Monday. If possible, I will be shooting for Fridays as well, since that is my other running "rest" day.

Cycling
I had the City to Shore Bike MS 45-miler on Saturday. I really wanted to get in my run as well, but my legs were pretty tired from that ride. I am not sure how much riding I will be doing over the next few months. My plan is to get my trainer set up once I am fully moved into my new house. Then I'll shoot for 1-2 trainer rides per week as some cross training.

Running
I had five runs scheduled this week. I completed four of them, with the fifth not being completed because of my bike ride. Although my body was still a bit tired from my half marathon, I still felt alright completing all of my runs. The only issue I had is that my pace was definitely a lot slower than I would have liked. Hopefully I can get in some more sleep, an extra swim, and some strength training to help loosen, strengthen, and speed up recovery.

Strength
I didn't get any strength sessions in. I am still working on figuring out where to put them into the schedule. I will definitely be doing 2 sessions per week though, since the last time I did endurance training and skipped strength, I got some serious injuries.

Nutrition
I was able to find the time to log all of my food five out of the seven days. Overall, I ate alright, but still lots of room for improvement and I need to get myself off of the mindless snacking. Even though I try and keep stuff out of the house, I find myself grabbing a bag of chips or cookies when I am at the food market without even noticing until I home again. I will keep working on this, as well as logging my food. I need to set reminders with MFP so I log at the end of every day.

Final Thoughts
Overall, a really solid first week of training. I just hope my body keeps the quick recovery pace so I can keep getting in all of these runs each week. Hope your training efforts are going well!

Rock 'n Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon 2017

It's kind of nostalgic that the first race I run after more than two years due to injury, would be the Rock 'n Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon. My first half marathon I ever ran was this race. And aside from the last 2 years, I have run it every year since then. I completed the race, which I was very happy about. However, I did not train enough and suffered for it.

Overview

The race venue had three races; 5k, 10k, and half marathon. The 5k and 10k were both held on Saturday. There was a 30-minute difference between start times, so you could technically have done both, back-to-back. The half marathon was held on Sunday as usual. I did not participate in either Saturday race, so I'll just talk about the Expo and Sunday.



The Expo

The race expo was at the Philadelphia Convention Center as usual. And per typical Rock 'n Roll fashion, they had a great selection of vendors. This is an important thing to me, even if I don't buy anything. I really like seeing trending running gear and attire. I also use this opportunity to get additional discounts to sign up for upcoming races. Plus I just feel it makes the whole experience that much more well-rounded and enjoyable.

Some of my favorite vendors there were Jaybird and Garmin. I was a bit disappointed from Philadelphia Runner, as I was hoping to score some discounted On Running shoes. Oh well, maybe next time. I got to try out the upcoming Jaybird earbuds, the Jaybird Run, which were AWESOME! I will definitely be choosing these, once they are released in October, over than Apple wireless earbuds.

Other than this, the expo was typical and I score a lot of really cool samples and tried some awesome food.

The Race

The weather was a mixed bag depending on the person. For me, the temperature couldn't have been more ideal. However, the humidity was 80% and the dew point was around 70%. Therefore, it made it near impossible for my body to cool properly during the race. Thankfully the sun didn't pop out until the last mile of the race. Anyway, setup was good as always; plenty Port-o-potties, convenient location for gear check, easy entry into corrals. Some people complained about the port-o-potty lines back to the gear check. However, the grass was really wet and already fairly muddy, so I felt it was very thoughtful of the race coordinator to keep everyone from being covered in mud before the race.

There were tons of people as always, and the corrals were packed. They did a really good job at the staggered start, which is definitely an improvement from the last time I ran this race. Not only that, but for the first time in memory, I didn't experience pushy runners at all. Everyone was in a good mood and very courteous. This was very refreshing and helped keep me motivated as the race started.

The course had a few up and downhills. Nothing too crazy, which for someone who actually trained, would have made this a very fast course. I didn't train much, so all it did was tire me out more, haha. The route was really nice, with only one slight out-and-back, which kept the scenery constantly changing. Plus I love the Philly scenery for the races held here. Plus there was a good amount of bands along the way playing pretty good music.

My Race

I started off at what I felt to be a slow pace. I did this because I didn't want to spend the first couple miles trying to sprint around people. This strategy worked to my advantage, since I felt pretty good until mile 8. However, as I hit mile 8, my legs started to tire quickly. By mile 9 I was struggling. Once I hit 10 however, I was cycling through some of my motivational music, and was able to get myself moving. I still had trouble though because my longest run leading up this was 10 miles, but aside from that one run, I had only done one 8-miler, and then a couple 7's and 6's. Overall I didn't have a great base to handle the latter miles. I still pushed out a small kick at the end to finish as strong as I could.

The Finish Line

Even though I finished later than I wanted to, the finish line was very well organized. There was plenty of water, Gatorade, chocolate milk, and snacks. This was refreshing because so many times races will run out of hydration and snacks for the later finishers. There was free beer (1 per registered race participants over 21) and live music. I didn't stay to enjoy the bands playing, but I definitely got my snacks and drinks. I was bummed there were no food trucks, but that's alright, because I was so dead afterwards I just wanted to get home.

Final Thoughts

Overall a very fun race and I am so excited to officially be back to racing. I will be making sure I am properly trained for my Disney Dopey challenge in January. Hopefully my recovery doesn't take too long from this race, but I'll be tossing in some swimming to help promote quicker healing. Hope anyone else who raced had a great time!

Half Marathon - Week 11 & 12 Training

Another two horrible training weeks. On a positive note, almost have the painting done at my house that I need in order for us to move in! Aside from that, no time to workout at all.

Swimming
No time for sessions.

Cycling
No time for sessions.

Running
I got in two runs during this two week time period. Fortunately, I think it was just enough to allow me to complete my Rock 'n Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon. I had a 5 miler and 7 miler. Both felt pretty good, but were tough since I hadn't run much prior. Recovery-wise, I was completely fine after both runs. I definitely planned on a much slower half marathon than my goal was set for.

I completed my Rock 'n Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon. I definitely didn't come close to the pace I wanted even after I had adjusted due to lack of training. The worst part was how awful my lower body felt immediately after the race. My legs were shaking and I felt pretty awful. In addition my ankles and feet with swollen a bit. I did a lot of stretches once I was re-hydrated. This helped a little, but not as much as I had hoped. As I am writing this post the following day, my legs are still exhausted, knees a bit sore, and walking up stairs is almost a no-go.

Strength
Aside from a few stretches, I didn't get any strength sessions in.

Nutrition
In addition to not getting time to exercise, I didn't do myself any favors with my horrible eating habits these two weeks. With Disney training starting this week, I cannot afford bad eating habits. I will be working diligently, with my goal of logging 100% of my food for all 7 days.

Final Thoughts
Not happy with my training or mental discipline. I was very happy to get a lot of painting done and get a lot closer to moving into my new house though. Therefore, I will just have to be happy with non-workout goals completed and move on.

Half Marathon Training - Week 10

Another horrible week. Aside from a few strength sessions, I got in zero running and zero cardio. I had closing for my new house and my cat had a bunch of ER visits. Barely got any sleep either. Fortunately my eating wasn't too terrible, although I didn't log anything due to other higher priorities.

Swimming
No sessions.

Cycling
No sessions.

Running
No sessions.

Strength
I didn't have time to get in any structured workouts, but I made sure to do my stretches for my back and did core work almost everyday.

Nutrition
Overall I ate pretty well, even though mostly at maintenance calorie levels. I got very little sleep all week, however, and felt pretty awful and sluggish all week.

Final Thoughts
Not feeling too confident right now for a good time due to the amount of training I have missed. I know I will complete the half marathon, but I am not sure I will come anywhere near the time I wanted. However, life events were far more important, so I'll just have to make due and try to have a decent Week 11 if possible.

Half Marathon Training - Week 9

Not a good week at all. Many rush trips to vet hospital and a couple ER visits. Didn't really have time for any workouts. I was able to get in a ride though, and am feeling confident to handle the 80 miler, assuming my dad definitely decides against the 100 miler. Close on my house next week so I won't be getting a lot of training done then either. I am not expecting a great time for my upcoming half marathon, but at least I know I will be fine completing it.

Swimming
As usual, not time to swim.

Cycling
I got in my long ride and it felt really good. The weather was perfect and aside from saddle soreness, I was fine for the whole 3.25 hours. I am feeling pretty confident for the upcoming century, or 80-miler, depending on how my dad feels.

Running
I have no time to run, which was very frustrating, but family first.

Strength
I didn't get in any formal strength, but managed to do my stretching exercises on a lot of the days.

Nutrition
I didn't have time to log almost anything, and overall I did not eat the best. I wish I could get over stress eating.

Final Thoughts
Overall a very emotionally draining week. Next week will be just as draining, for good reasons at least. I just hope I can get more workouts in.

Half Marathon Training - Week 8

Another rough week, but I was still able to get in three runs and a long ride. So, I was pleased with my progression. I still am lacking consistency with getting everything done, but things are too hectic again for me to have the time.

Swimming
No time for swimming sessions.

Cycling
My goal had been to attempt to ride for 4 hours. My legs were extremely tired from the 10 miler the prior day. I still rallied up any energy I had to get in about a 2.5 hour ride. Overall I felt fine during the ride, but my body was so exhausted from lack of sleep and the run that I just could not seem to push myself any harder. I finally got to a point where I was so exhausted I could feel my muscles starting to actually hurt, so I called my ride.

The reason for this ride was to test my current cardiovascular endurance. I have a lot more training to go, but it was a great benchmark.

Running
I got in three of my five runs. For my weekend tempo run, I swapped it with my long run since I had to do a long bike ride on Sunday. My form is definitely holding steady and I am starting to be winded later in my run now. Very excited about my progress and hope to keep it up!

Strength
I didn't do any formal lifting sessions, but I did about 4 hours of super heavy box and furniture lifting. I also was able to get in a couple stretch sessions, which helped immensely.

Nutrition
I decided to quit chips and crackers cold turkey. This has proved to be amazingly difficult, because I guess I truly had an addiction to them. However, just cutting that out helped me lose a couple pounds in less than a week and overall, I felt a lot better throughout my day.

Final Thoughts
I have been struggling in dealing with my stress because I would usually binge eat chips or crackers. However, it feels awesome to have already lost a couple pounds just by cutting that out of my daily eating. I also find myself cooking more, which in turns has me more motivated to go workout. Sadly, life is majorly getting in the way and I am not able to get all of my workouts in that I want. However, as long as I can keep progressing, injury free, I'll take whatever time I can get. Have a good week!

Half Marathon Training - Week 6 & 7

And back to the cat not doing well again. What a roller coaster! Plus a lot of stuff in prep for closing for our new house. So, that's why I am behind on my training blog. Week 6 went alright, with me only missing 1 run and 1 strength session. Week 7 was pretty bad. I was able to at least salvage the week by getting in a training ride for my century event. I am not sure what new adventures this week will have in store, but as usual I will be doing my best to get in as many training sessions as possible.

Swimming
I did not get any swimming sessions in.

Cycling
I got in one training ride each week. Week 6's ride went well for the most part. There were amazing headwinds though, which I had to battle for over an hour of the ride. I was completely drained and exhausted, but wow was that a great training session. Yesterday I got in another ride, just under three hours. I will be shooting for a 4 hour ride this upcoming weekend as a benchmark for my endurance for my Ironman.

Running
Week 6 I got in 3 of my 4 runs. All went pretty well. My back was a bit tight though for my long run, the day after my intense bike ride. Since I didn't stretch enough, this run was a bit more difficult than I had anticipated. I still did fairly well considering though. I got in no runs for Week 7, which is definitely going to hurt my progress, but I will resume training this week and adjust accordingly.

Strength
I only got in one of two sessions for Week 6 and none for Week 7. My lack of consistency with strength is starting to show a lot in my training and day-to-day life. I will be incorporating daily strength sessions of about 5-10 minutes twice a day, in addition to my 2-3 strength sessions per week. I really need to build up my core to prevent injuries.

Nutrition
I tried logging my food as best as I could, but it was tough keeping consistent with everything going on. I did alright on nutrition overall though. I have a lot to improve on, which I will continue to make strides towards.

Final Thoughts
Overall a really rough two weeks. Week 6 was good overall from a training standpoint at least. In addition to everything else, I will be trying to my hardest to get more sleep, as my 4.5 hour average sleep time per night is really starting to weigh heavily on me. Good luck everyone!