Hanging up my running shoes

[ZellyB]

Hopefully the sun in shining for you now and the river is going down! Great week of training

I love those jackets! Cute cute! I think it's nice that rD is giving people a post-race option- they might be onto something there.

I was pretty excited to see it. I spent at least some of marathon weekend upset with myself for not ordering the jacket. I worried a bit if I'd like the rain jacket style of this, but I absolutely do!

SO cute. You wear it adorably : )

Thanks!

And this is why it sucks to disappear from the DIS for awhile. I wish I had known this, I never actually made it into the Expo for the lines-and would have loved one of these jackets.
Congrats on a well executed training week in the rain-yuck!

Bummer that you missed out on it. That'll teach you not to disappear from the DIS again.

 

[ZellyB]

It's Really a Kind of Obsession

But one I know all of you will understand
​

We might be planning another trip to Disney sooner than expected.

Sophie and Paige were riding with me in the car last week and we were talking about this summer and their birthdays, and Sophie pipes up with, "You know, it'd be nice if you took us back to Disney this summer." And, yeah, that was all it took to get the wheels turning in my head.

Was it possible we could go back that soon? The last time we went in the summer, the girls were 4 years old and the heat was insane and crowds terrible, and yet....

I'd read recently that summer crowds have actually been better as Disney has successfully tempted people to come at previous slow times. The appeal of a trip that doesn't involve any race planning and a guarantee of warm (HOT!!!) weather after our last two trips was also there. Not to mention the longer park hours, and going in July would mean the new Toy Story Land would be open as well. So, yeah...

But, I figured that no way Chris would go for it. But, I also knew, we could manage for a better price point with maybe flying Allegiant Air and staying at Shades of Green. With a rental car we could eat more offsite and save money as well. We still had the availability for 4 more of the cheap military park passes too. So, off to the computer I went to calculate costs...

And, I sent him a text saying basically, so...Sophie said this...and to my surprise, he was sort of on board.

So, we are a long way from solidifying plans, but stay tuned for potential Disney trip planning.

​

 

[run.minnie.miles]

It's Really a Kind of Obsession

But one I know all of you will understand
​

We might be planning another trip to Disney sooner than expected.

Sophie and Paige were riding with me in the car last week and we were talking about this summer and their birthdays, and Sophie pipes up with, "You know, it'd be nice if you took us back to Disney this summer." And, yeah, that was all it took to get the wheels turning in my head.

Was it possible we could go back that soon? The last time we went in the summer, the girls were 4 years old and the heat was insane and crowds terrible, and yet....

I'd read recently that summer crowds have actually been better as Disney has successfully tempted people to come at previous slow times. The appeal of a trip that doesn't involve any race planning and a guarantee of warm (HOT!!!) weather after our last two trips was also there. Not to mention the longer park hours, and going in July would mean the new Toy Story Land would be open as well. So, yeah...

But, I figured that no way Chris would go for it. But, I also knew, we could manage for a better price point with maybe flying Allegiant Air and staying at Shades of Green. With a rental car we could eat more offsite and save money as well. We still had the availability for 4 more of the cheap military park passes too. So, off to the computer I went to calculate costs...

And, I sent him a text saying basically, so...Sophie said this...and to my surprise, he was sort of on board.

So, we are a long way from solidifying plans, but stay tuned for potential Disney trip planning.

​

You can only go if you do a trip report for the rest of us...

So exciting!!

 

[michigandergirl]

It is definitely an obsession. How exciting for you all!

I just realized that in April 2019, Dark Side falls within our Spring Break...the wheels are turning in our house too...a family vacation and a runcation!

 

[rteetz]

Disney trip planning!!!

I leave in a couple weeks and low and behold I just submitted a deposit for wine and dine weekend. Something is wrong with me.

 

[SarahDisney]

Yay for planning another trip!

 

[ZellyB]

You can only go if you do a trip report for the rest of us...

So exciting!!

It is definitely an obsession. How exciting for you all!

I just realized that in April 2019, Dark Side falls within our Spring Break...the wheels are turning in our house too...a family vacation and a runcation!

Disney trip planning!!!

I leave in a couple weeks and low and behold I just submitted a deposit for wine and dine weekend. Something is wrong with me.

Yay for planning another trip!

This is why I post these things here, because you are all a bunch of enablers!

 

[FredtheDuck]

HOORAY DISNEY PLANNING! Hope it comes together and you guys are able to go!

 

[ZellyB]

Another good week in the books

Training update 2/26/18 - 3/04/18
​

Monday 2/26/18 - Easy 4 miles at LR pace. Overall pace 12:01. This seems to be more where we settle in on these easy LR runs. I just need to work more on slowing down just a touch. Pretty straightforward run. We did find that we have to slightly adjust our route due to some construction going on, so that means either going up a big hill or getting on a busier road for a short time with no shoulder. This day we went with the busier road and then decided that was a bad idea , so subsequently I guess this route now includes an extra big hill. It's already a hilly route, so what's one more right? It's good training after all. I guess...

Tuesday 2/27/18 - 4 miles. 1 at LR pace (as a reminder for us that is :60/:30 intervals) and then 3 miles at an easy continuous running pace. That is supposed to be 12:29, but we just can't seem to manage to run that slowly, so we are a bit faster than that. Average pace 11:20. Uh oh. Billy, again this felt really easy to us, so I hope that's not screwing up the plan too much. This week represented an extra mile at the continuous pace, but no problems with it although going up that big hill wasn't especially fun.
Wednesday 2/28/18 - REST DAY!!!

Thursday 3/1/18 - YAY, it's March. It always feels like it's almost Spring once we get to March. I can definitely tell days are getting longer and we are starting to see more consistent mild temps. HOORAY!!! 4.5 miles today. 2 miles at LR pace and then 2 miles at 10k pace + 0.5 mile cool down. STILL too fast on the 10k portion. I was really trying this time too. Chris is tracking current pace on his watch and giving updates as we run and we are really trying to get a good "feel" for what a 9:00 mm pace feels like. I finally decided on this one that 9:00 is right at a gear change for me.

When I would try to settle into what felt like a fast but relaxed pace, we would be around 9:10, so then I would push what I thought was just a bit faster and next thing we are running 8:30. Sigh. Clearly need more work on my pacing with this. Of course, this week, I think our faster runs move to HM Tempo instead, so we'll have to circle back around to this at some point I guess.
Friday 3/2/18 - Blessed rest day.
Saturday 3/3/18 - HEY! I saw daffodils blooming today. SWEET SPRING!!

7 miles at LR pace. We ran one of my favorite routes that takes us around a beautiful park. Loved it! Overall pace 12:02.
Sunday 3/4/18 - 10 miles today at LR pace. We ran the same route again with some added on mileage. It's a really awesome trail that is easy to run and pretty and very easy to adjust miles. Overall pace 12:13. Hey, that's pretty close to target pace! I did start having some left groin pain later that day though while I was at the grocery story. It's nothing too major, but did worry me a bit. I had a major groin pull a couple of years ago that sidelined me for several weeks, so I'm just trying to be very cognizant of any potential injuries.

So, that's it for this past week. It was a good one!

Oh, and I forgot to add, we did yoga two nights this week as well. Really wanting to get back into a regular routine doing yoga again!!

 

[FredtheDuck]

FWIW, I'm on my THIRD DB plan and I'm still AWFUL at pacing. I try, too, I swear. You'll settle in and start to get closer, I'm sure.

Great week of training, and keeping my fingers cross that that groin niggle turns out to be a non-issue.

 

[ZellyB]

FWIW, I'm on my THIRD DB plan and I'm still AWFUL at pacing. I try, too, I swear. You'll settle in and start to get closer, I'm sure.

Great week of training, and keeping my fingers cross that that groin niggle turns out to be a non-issue.

Yes, me too. We actually ended up not running this morning because it was still bothering me when I woke up. We may get out this evening and give it a try instead.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Tuesday 2/27/18 - 4 miles. 1 at LR pace (as a reminder for us that is :60/:30 intervals) and then 3 miles at an easy continuous running pace. That is supposed to be 12:29, but we just can't seem to manage to run that slowly, so we are a bit faster than that. Average pace 11:20. Uh oh. Billy, again this felt really easy to us, so I hope that's not screwing up the plan too much. This week represented an extra mile at the continuous pace, but no problems with it although going up that big hill wasn't especially fun.

No worries. Sounds like you're capable of doing some really easy continuous pacing. 11:20 is estimated to be your continuous long run pace (so still 100% aerobic in my book). If I remember correctly, this would also be about 50 mile race pace per McMillan.

Sunday 3/4/18 - 10 miles today at LR pace. We ran the same route again with some added on mileage. It's a really awesome trail that is easy to run and pretty and very easy to adjust miles. Overall pace 12:13. Hey, that's pretty close to target pace! I did start having some left groin pain later that day though while I was at the grocery story. It's nothing too major, but did worry me a bit. I had a major groin pull a couple of years ago that sidelined me for several weeks, so I'm just trying to be very cognizant of any potential injuries.

Glad to hear you didn't run this morning if things didn't feel right. Things calm down for several weeks until the peak of the plan 3/26. So hopefully this planned back off on the mileage will help things feel better. If you skip today, go ahead and plan to drop the durations of this weekend down to 60 min each.

 

[jennamfeo]

Yay for planning a Disney trip! I am still trying to figure out when I am can get in my Disneyland trip this year. It was supposed to be this month but I didn't wanna go with all the construction.

Sounds like you had a good week of running! I am trying to get my motivation going for my new DB plan. Reading everyone's journals definitely helps!

 

[ZellyB]

Yay for planning a Disney trip! I am still trying to figure out when I am can get in my Disneyland trip this year. It was supposed to be this month but I didn't wanna go with all the construction.

Sounds like you had a good week of running! I am trying to get my motivation going for my new DB plan. Reading everyone's journals definitely helps!

We actually were debating about doing DLR this summer instead of WDW, but ultimately it's cheaper for us to go to Florida, so WINNER!!

My motivation is improving as the weather improves.

 

[ZellyB]

UPDATE ON TRIP PLANNING!!

​

Chris and I went through this weekend and really hashed out plans for our summer trip, so it's looking more and more likely!

The girls turn 15 on July 17, so we decided to plan on being there for their birthdays. Looking at Allegiant flight dates, we decided on leaving on Friday, July 13 and returning Saturday July 21. With that in mind, I went ahead and booked our room reservation for Shades of Green.

YAY! We're also going to rent a car for the simplicity of getting around. SoG buses are kind of a pain in my recollection although we can walk to the Poly to catch the monorail - but in the heat of July? Not so sure we will want to do that.

My plan right now is to hit the parks hard early and late in the day with a mid-day break when it's blazing hot outside. We'll see how that goes, but it's been a long time since we've gone not having to work around races, so it's fun planning just for the parks.

Chris had to keep reigning me in as I started looking at on-site hotels and thinking, hey, maybe we stay a bit longer and also go to Universal, and, and, and... But, thankfully, he got me settled down and so the plan would be to go for those dates and do 5-day park hopper military tickets. That would give us 5 park days and 2 days for things like Disney Springs and resort/pool time.

So, since we are already in the 6-month window, I did some looking at posted park hours and events and locked in some dining plans.

We are not going to go to a park on our first full day. It's a Saturday, and we figure maybe a busier day at the parks potentially, so we are going to head for Disney Springs that day. So, I booked us for dinner at Art Smith's Homecoming. I had originally planned to eat there when we were there in January, but we ended up canceling it, so I really want to get there this time! Fried Chicken time!!

Sunday plan will be to go to Hollywood Studios. I want to do Brown Derby dinner Fantasmic package again, so that's booked and Sophie begged to go back to 50s Prime Time, so for the moment anyway, that is also booked for lunch.

Monday will be Animal Kingdom day so I went with a Tusker House Rivers of Light Dining Package. I might end up dropping this one though and we just eat quick service for dinner. It seemed like it wasn't that tough now to get good seats for RoL, but I really do like the Tusker House buffet.

Tuesday is Epcot and I got dinner set up for Via Napoli - Chris and Sophie request. I swear I'm finally going to stay and watch Illuminations!!!

Wednesday is Magic Kingdom day. We love Crystal Palace for breakfast, so I scheduled a late breakfast for 10:30 to get us a sort of brunch approach.

Thursday will be resort/pool day and Friday not sure yet what park/parks to do. I think we'll likely do some hopping but we've got some time to decide for sure before FP+ day arrives.

YAY! I'm in my happy place again planning a Disney trip!!

​

 

[run.minnie.miles]

Ahh!! I love planning- sounds like a fun trip so far!! I love the mid-day swim break. It makes the trip way more enjoyable

(Also great week of running and stuff... )

 

[KSellers88]

UPDATE ON TRIP PLANNING!!

​

Chris and I went through this weekend and really hashed out plans for our summer trip, so it's looking more and more likely!

The girls turn 15 on July 17, so we decided to plan on being there for their birthdays. Looking at Allegiant flight dates, we decided on leaving on Friday, July 13 and returning Saturday July 21. With that in mind, I went ahead and booked our room reservation for Shades of Green.

YAY! We're also going to rent a car for the simplicity of getting around. SoG buses are kind of a pain in my recollection although we can walk to the Poly to catch the monorail - but in the heat of July? Not so sure we will want to do that.

My plan right now is to hit the parks hard early and late in the day with a mid-day break when it's blazing hot outside. We'll see how that goes, but it's been a long time since we've gone not having to work around races, so it's fun planning just for the parks.

Chris had to keep reigning me in as I started looking at on-site hotels and thinking, hey, maybe we stay a bit longer and also go to Universal, and, and, and... But, thankfully, he got me settled down and so the plan would be to go for those dates and do 5-day park hopper military tickets. That would give us 5 park days and 2 days for things like Disney Springs and resort/pool time.

So, since we are already in the 6-month window, I did some looking at posted park hours and events and locked in some dining plans.

We are not going to go to a park on our first full day. It's a Saturday, and we figure maybe a busier day at the parks potentially, so we are going to head for Disney Springs that day. So, I booked us for dinner at Art Smith's Homecoming. I had originally planned to eat there when we were there in January, but we ended up canceling it, so I really want to get there this time! Fried Chicken time!!

Sunday plan will be to go to Hollywood Studios. I want to do Brown Derby dinner Fantasmic package again, so that's booked and Sophie begged to go back to 50s Prime Time, so for the moment anyway, that is also booked for lunch.

Monday will be Animal Kingdom day so I went with a Tusker House Rivers of Light Dining Package. I might end up dropping this one though and we just eat quick service for dinner. It seemed like it wasn't that tough now to get good seats for RoL, but I really do like the Tusker House buffet.

Tuesday is Epcot and I got dinner set up for Via Napoli - Chris and Sophie request. I swear I'm finally going to stay and watch Illuminations!!!

Wednesday is Magic Kingdom day. We love Crystal Palace for breakfast, so I scheduled a late breakfast for 10:30 to get us a sort of brunch approach.

Thursday will be resort/pool day and Friday not sure yet what park/parks to do. I think we'll likely do some hopping but we've got some time to decide for sure before FP+ day arrives.

YAY! I'm in my happy place again planning a Disney trip!!

​

Are we the same person?! We just got back and did Homecoming, Crystal Palace, 50s Primetime and Via Napoli! LOL. It was our first time at Homecoming and that chicken and macaroni and cheese do not disappoint!!! This is so exciting!

 

[SarahDisney]

Hills ...
I actually added a "bonus" hill to my te.po/long run yesterday ... not sure what has a thinking. I guess it's good training...

I hope the rest helps with the groin issue and you're back to 100% soon!

Yay Disney planning! Everything looks great ... and yes, you should stay for Illuminations
Also ... any chance you want to take me with you? My birthday is only a month after the girls'...

 

[ZellyB]

Ahh!! I love planning- sounds like a fun trip so far!! I love the mid-day swim break. It makes the trip way more enjoyable

(Also great week of running and stuff... )

We've really not done mid-day breaks since way back when we took the kids for the first time, so I'm actually pretty excited about that part!

Are we the same person?! We just got back and did Homecoming, Crystal Palace, 50s Primetime and Via Napoli! LOL. It was our first time at Homecoming and that chicken and macaroni and cheese do not disappoint!!! This is so exciting!

You have excellent taste in dining venues! I can't wait to try that fried chicken. YUM!

Hills ...
I actually added a "bonus" hill to my te.po/long run yesterday ... not sure what has a thinking. I guess it's good training...

I hope the rest helps with the groin issue and you're back to 100% soon!

Yay Disney planning! Everything looks great ... and yes, you should stay for Illuminations
Also ... any chance you want to take me with you? My birthday is only a month after the girls'...

It's hilly where we live, so honestly, there's no avoiding them, but I still don't love adding a new one onto our normal route, but oh well.

I'll sneak you in!!

 

[rteetz]

Great plans! Homecomin' is the awesome. I will be there in just two weeks. The rest of the dining plans all are great as well. It is definitely hard to reign in on Disney trip planning sometimes.