Tower of Terror 10-Miler!

On Saturday night, Team Daaaaaamnnnnn!! showed up for Disney's Inaugural Tower of Terror 10-Miler! The Expo was fantastic as ever and our old friend Jeff Galloway was there offering words of wisdom. We bought matching team headbands and I bought a ridiculously expensive new running skirt. The race started at 10pm so we got there at 7pm to get on the bus nice and early...

 ...and enjoy the amazing pre-race party. There were over 10,000 people there - it was such a blast!

Life has been incredibly hectic lately and I haven't been getting my minimum three runs a week in regularly enough. I have been able to kind of stay in with weekly long runs though, so we decided to: shoot for 5:1 intervals, start in the last corral, stay together as a team and just focus on having a great time :). At about 10:20pm we were off!

There was a beautiful full moon and I started out really well. At about Mile 4 however, it all started to fall apart :(. Firstly it was really hot and humid which always makes me miserable. Then, I made the silly mistake of wearing clothes that I had never run in before for the first time. My skirt was weighed down by my camera and gu chomps and once it was completely soaked with sweat, it kept falling down which was very annoying. Then my ipod died. Then, for some reason, I completely lost all confidence and just wanted it to end. My "I love running, I hate running" headband came true:(. Lu was a fantastic coach, however, and really helped me to refocus, and Mike ran behind me for moral support (and he said he liked the view ;)). And just over 2 hrs after we had started, thankfully we were done!

The medals were adorable!!

 

And after a beer and some ice on my head, I started to feel a bit better...

 

 

I felt pretty sick for the rest of the night and not so great the following morning either. On the positive side, my body felt fine during and after the race. It could have been worse I suppose - I didn't even have a blister! That said, I'm really happy that this one is behind me and recognize that running twice a week just isn't enough to stay in the game for long races like this one. Hopefully things will settle down a bit after the move and I can get back into my running groove and back on the training plan for the Space Coast Half. And for now, I'm so glad it's over! We did it!!!!



Rock 'n' Run 5K!

We haven't done a regular 5K since July and one of my favorite races - the Puzzle Run - was cancelled on Labor Day weekend :(. It was a bit of a hike out to Casselberry but this one looked like fun so Lu and I decided to do it! We have both been struggling a bit with keeping up the 'love of running' so our goal today was just to have a great time!

 

The bands were a bit serious for us but we had a great time anyway!

 

My time was 31:17 which was faster than the 911 race this time last year:). I haven't shown any improvement on pace through Summer so I was pleased to see that all of the hard work with my long runs is paying off now that the temperatures are a little cooler. I was also pleased that today was probably the first race that I didn't lose sleep or get nervous over! It's crazy that I still have such low confidence and it's taken almost 3 years to believe in myself that I can actually do this now! However, the Tower of Terror 10-Miler is coming up next on the schedule and for that race, I am genuinely terrified...

More AMR!!

The photos came in from last weekend and they are great! Can't wait until the next one!!

Team Daaaaamn! looking good before the race...

 

Yep - that's as far as I made it on the monkey bars!

 

 

The cargo net was huge!

 

We all made it!!

 

Mike loved the slide at the end :)

 

The big finish!

Exhausted and exhilarated!!

Love my team!

American Mud Race!

It seems like forever since we had a race and I haven't been running nearly as regularly as I was a couple of months ago:(. We had registered for the American Mud Race in Orlando in response to a fantastic Groupon deal ages ago so despite the fact that Lu and I both have rotten colds we decided that we were too cheap to do the sensible thing and rest:). We started to feel a bit more ready after our medicine...

 

 

So nice to have my Lu back from Brasil...

 

And we can get back into the swing of posing for photos competing again!

 

Mike was so excited - he loves the mud races - it's a boy thing :)

 

We realized when we got there that we had inadvertently signed up for the competitive wave so the other 'athletes' were a bit more, well, athletic-looking than usual. But Team Daaaaamn!!! doesn't worry about stuff like that and we refused to be intimidated!

 

We all agreed that the course was more challenging than the one at Mud Crusade and there were more obstacles that got the better of me this time. That said, I was very proud that I did the massive cargo net! The mud was crazy and at one point we actually had to swim through the forest which was interesting!

 

The whole event was well-organized and we loved the spirited spectators - particularly the kids who lined up to high-five us about 2 miles in. So sweet :)

 

After what seemed like a very long time we were done! They had a slide and water tank at the very end which was a perfect way to finish!

 

Team Daaaaamn!

 

I missed you Lu :)

 

Another amazing experience!  I did really well with endurance overall during the race but my biggest area of opportunity is still the monkey bars. I need to do some serious work on my guns so that I can complete them without falling into the mud pit one day :). For now, I'm going to celebrate the fact that this is the first year that I've managed to do an event right through the Summer months! And it's September next week which means that running season is officially here!!

CROW!

Canoe Races of the World, also known as C.R.O.W., is a beloved annual Disney Cast Member event that dates back to 1963. Scores of Cast Members arrive at the Magic Kingdom before sunrise each July to participate. About 80 teams (each has 10 people on board) compete on the Rivers of America in the Magic Kingdom before the parks open in canoes that were part of the original Davy Crockett’s Explorer Canoes attraction. Teams that row around Tom Sawyer’s Island with the best times, averaging around five minutes, advance to the finals and get a chance to race against the clock in a championship round.

I signed up for this active and totally not running event this year and had a total blast! I loved my team - they were so much fun - even at 6am...:)

Magic Kingdom is so pretty at sunrise...

We wore 'Brave' shirts for the final qualifying day...

And our time was just over 7 minutes for a mile - about 3 minutes off our initial qualifying time!!

But nowhere near the top 4 who went through to the finals unfortunately....maybe next year :)

video here!

Watermelon 5K photos

The photos are in. I told you I had a tough time. Big baby..:)

It could be worse. Watch out Mike, that 8 year-old girl with the pink socks is about to take you...

4th July Watermelon 5K

I secretly think that running in extreme heat is only for 'real runners' and I'm not a real runner yet :). I do the majority of my training runs very late in the evening or very early in the day and for the last couple of years (since I started running), I have seriously cut back on miles between May and Labor Day. Last year I promised myself I'd sign up for a race in June and took full advantage of the fact that I happened to be in NY to make it happen ;). This year I have been determined to keep up with running (and activity in general) right through summer with a view to starting out the season much stronger than ever before in the Fall.

I ordered 'Run Free - in miles we trust' shirts for the family to benefit the USO - an organization that serves military families...

So happy that Lu is back! She is very excited to get her bib and packet :)

And even happier that the shirt is so cute...

And it's a small :)

Mike is a bit more sedate when he's registering...

There was a watermelon eating contest scheduled after the race. This guy wore his on his head...

And this guy had painted himself blue for some reason...

There were about 4,000 runners which totally blew my mind! I can't believe how many people in Orlando don't use the heat as an excuse! Way to represent - O-Town!!

I've missed my Lu...

Now we are both rocking the sleeveless shirts - how'd that happen?

Today was tough for me and I just wanted to know that I ran the whole thing. I spent most of the race doing endless math to figure out how much longer I had to keep going! I tried to focus on celebrating the day and having an appreciation for the fact that we live in this amazing country where we can run whenever, wherever...and even painted blue with a melon on our head if we want to! And I made it through!!

Happy Birthday America!!

Juneathon - the verdict!

Juneathon is finally over!!!

Juneathon, "the annual festival of activity and excuses" is an event within the blogging community where you commit to working out (and blogging about it) every day for the entire month of June! Since this is usually the month that my activity levels seriously slow down, I signed up to see if it would help me stay on track during the hot, hot season:). My goal was to work out every day for at least 20 minutes and 'eat clean' for the whole month...and here's how it went...

In the first week I managed to miss a couple of days so I changed the rules and gave myself the opportunity to make missed sessions up on other days (because bending the rules is how I roll). I realized pretty quickly that making up sessions was far from ideal and did pretty well at staying on track for the rest of the month! The eating clean thing was more of a challenge though and I counted 8 days during the month where I just didn't :(. Here's what I learned:

* The days when I didn't eat clean were generally the ones when I didn't work out, primarily due to poor energy levels :(
* Even though I only technically had to do 20 mins activity a day, I actually did an average of 35 mins per day :)
* I ran over 41 miles during the month compared to 17 for last June and worked out for an extra 7 hours too!

So it was a huge success! My triathlon training is right on track and I only have two more months until the temperatures are a lot more bearable!! I feel healthy and strong and even ready for something I've never tried before - a race in July!! Thank you Juneathon for keep me on track:).

And my goals for July? I'm going to stay on top of the triathlon training program (here!) and cut down in half the average number of days that I don't eat clean which will give me 4 'off' days for the month :).

Juneathon is here!

So it's June 1st and this is the month that I traditionally slack off a bit (OK a lot) from running. Thanks to Denise at Run DMT, this year I've found Juneathon (see link on RHS) - a virtual, international network of people who are committed to working out (and blogging about it to stay accountable) every day for the whole month of June! This is exactly what I need, particularly now that Lu is not in town for a month and I feel lost without her all of a sudden! I'm prepared to commit to a minimum of 20 minutes a day (with longer sessions for training days) - and while I'm in the spirit of making commitments I'm going to shoot for eating 'clean' for a whole month too after reading this inspirational book:

I'm still going to shoot for running 3 times a week - but hopefully the regular, daily workout will help me stay motivated overall. I may even get used to the heat a little? I wonder how I'll feel in a whole month's time?? Wish me luck!!

Day 1: Ran 4:2 Sprints: 2.5 miles, 24:00 mins

Day 2: Weights: 20 mins

Day 3: Ran: 3.0 miles, 32:09 mins

Insanely hot. But totally my fault - I had to run in the evening since I didn't get my arse out of bed this morning at 6 liked I'd planned after staying up chit-chatting until nearly 2 a.m. But still - crazy hot. But I'm not whining. Because nobody likes a whiner. Not even other whiners...

Day 4: Bike: 8.0 miles, 48:58 mins
Day 5: Ran Treadmill: 4.4 miles, 40:00 mins, Weights: 20 mins
Day 6: Bike: 10.40 miles, 49:36 mins

Had a bit of a slip on the clean eating front today and had two (yep that would be two) protein bars and a piece of cake today. I had a ton of 'safety fruit' to hand so I have absolutely no excuses. I can't even say that I didn't enjoy it or felt guilty:)

Day 7: Gym Bike: ?? miles, 45:00 mins

Very lame workout after a horrendous eating day too. I can't seem to decide on my next event or which training to focus on. Feeling lost to be honest. A good night's sleep will help for sure...

Day 8: Nothing
Day 9: Nothing
Day 10: Nothing

Oops :). Well it looks like pesky Juneathon has gotten the better of me after only 7 days! This weekend was horrendously busy and I have been so exhausted. I feel like I've been lurching from one place I had to be or task I had to do to the next. In short, life got in the way. And I let it happen :(...So what now? Well, I was thinking that maybe I can rewrite the rules a bit and give myself credit for 'doubling' up sessions? So basically I can 'buy back' a missed day if I do two different activities on one day?? It's worth a shot...now I really want to see if I can do that! And there's that 'eating clean' thing that I haven't stuck to...Juneathon - I'm coming BACK!

Day 11: Swim: 11.5 laps, 20:00 mins, Ran Treadmill: ?? miles, 25:00 mins

Great workout and one session bought back. Two more to get back on track...:)

Day 12: Gym Bike: ?? miles, 40:00 mins
Day 13: Nothing :(
Day 14: Gym Bike: ?? miles, 45:00 mins

OK so I'm still 3 sessions behind so I'm going to need to step this up if I'm going to be able to claim victory over Juneathon!! I have nothing major scheduled for this weekend so I have a perfect opportunity to catch up completely if I can just stay motivated! This 'daily' thing is so much tougher than I thought:).

Day 15: Ran 5:1 Intervals: 6 miles, 1:06:06 mins

I was totally dreading tonight since I haven't ran 6 miles on my own for a very long time and I've really been struggling to stay on track. It's often on nights like this that the Running Gods intervene and I see something really special and tonight was no exception. I've lived in Florida for nearly 15 years but I've never seen a Scarlet Kingsnake before...

OK so that's not my picture but mine looked exactly the same! I nearly stepped on him and for a second I wondered if I would be able to run to the hospital before certain death. Then I remembered 'If red touches yellow, it can kill a fellow. If red touches black, it is a friend of Jack' and realized he was harmless. And he didn't bite me anyway :). About 10 minutes later I caught the Epcot fireworks too. Florida is certainly hot but you get to see some amazing things when you're out for a run. Lucky me..:)

Day 16: Swim: 19.5 laps, 35:00 mins, Bike: 8.1 miles, 38:46 mins
Day 17: Swim: 13 laps, 20:00 mins, Ran Treadmill: ?? miles, 25:00 mins
Day 18: Swim: 13.5 laps, 20:00 mins, Bike: 7.5 miles, 33:18 mins

All caught up now:)

Day 19: Swim: 18.0 laps, 30:00 mins
Day 20: Run: 5.0 miles, 54:11 mins

Virtual run tonight for Emmett Sebright - a little boy with Craniosynostosis, a defect of the skull that inhibits brain growth. On June 20, 15 month old Emmett had his scheduled surgery - a cranial vault reconstruction. During the 7 to 8 hour surgery, his mother, Kathy planned to run on the treadmill at the hospital the entire time Emmett was in surgery. She pledged that she would not stop until he was out - even if it took the full 8 hours. Emmett's (virtual) Endurance Event was organized on Facebook as a show of solidarity and support.

Day 21: Nothing

Day 22: Gym Bike: ?? miles, 45:00 mins
Day 23: Swim: 15 laps, 25:00 mins

Just one more week to go and one session to catch up!

Day 24: Nothing
Day 25: Ran Treadmill: ?? miles, 45:00 mins

Great run tonight after a lethargic weekend. Feeling really motivated to catch up the two sessions I've fallen behind on and end the week strong :).

Day 26: Swim: 13 laps, 20:00 mins, Gym Bike: ?? miles, 30:00 mins

Just one more session to catch up and 4 days to go :)

Day 27: Ran: 3.0 miles, 32:25 mins
Day 28: Nothing :(

Day 29: Ran: 7.0 miles, 1:19:68 mins
Day 30: Swim: 12.5 laps, 20:00 mins, Ran: ?? miles, 20 mins, Gym Bike: ?? miles, 25:00 mins

All done...Juneathon verdict to follow...!