It’s been a pretty good week of runs/workouts. I’ve been adjusting to the warmer weather and the non-stop wall of wind. I also started up with hill repeats again – which means track work is soon to follow…So, good times?
Ha, in other good times, I was able to join TNSR for a run too. Only problem was the SWARMING TARANTULA ATTACK!
Our runs are so dangerous!
OK, maybe “attack” is an exaggeration. There was just one fuzzy little guy on the trail.
He’s not so bad.
I actually see those suckers fairly frequently on my runs. They won’t bother you, and they eat a lot of bugs and things that I don’t like, so we’re cool. All you have to do is hop over them and continue on your way!
After all, there’s a margarita at the finish…
Even the margarita has bunny ears this close to Easter.
Now for the marathon news!!! I’m very excited for this! VERY! This will be my 5th full marathon. Every other one I’ve done was at Disney World. And while they’re a ton of fun, man, that humidity just takes it out of you.
After the Disney 6 Dopey Challenge last year.
I’ve also made some training mistakes in preparing for those marathons. That’s ok, you learn and move on. And now I hope to take that knowledge (and hopefully lower humidity) and finally have a good showing in a 26.2 mile race.
My shoes and socks after my very first marathon. Told you I made some mistakes. Try not to barf.
But which marathon is it? Well, you’ll have to wait a few days to hear that news (I need to prepare a few things first). Sorry to be a tease. 😉
I will give you a few hints: It’s in the USA. It’s in the Fall. I may or may not celebrate afterwards with a billy goat.
Can you guess which marathon I’m going to run? What’s something you’ve learned from running? Ever jump over a tarantula?
-Scott
PS – COME BACK IN A FEW DAYS TO HEAR ALL ABOUT MY NEW MARATHON!!!
When I trained for and ran first marathon back in 2007/2008, I didn’t really know what I was doing. This is evident by the horrible IT Band issues I suffered. As a result, come race day my feet were left bloodied as I limped across the finish line.
My shoes and socks after the race. Try not to barf.
Since then I have learned a ton about how to stay healthy when running all these miles. Today I will share one – Yoga. Yoga is excellent for runners, in my experience.
At a recent practice at Lululemon. Cat, cow, whatever.
Strength – Runners need to cross-train so they can exercise muscles other than the ones they use when running. You don’t want to create any imbalances and luckily Yoga works out all the muscles. From toes to brain. In particular, it works the core, which you need to do everything from grabbing a jar from the cupboard, to running a marathon.
Flexibility (Letting go) – Most of us could use some more flexibility. Our muscles get tight, not only from running, but also from life. This can lead to injury. Yoga helps stretch us out. As one instructor put it, “We are not creating flexibility, we are letting go of tension.” Good way to think of it.
Breathing – Yoga is all about your breath. As one instructor told me, “Breath is life, without it there is no life.” Besides different breathing techniques, I’ve learned how important my breath is in yoga, and how many different parts of the breath there are. I apply it to my running – when things get tough, I try to calm my breath.
Endurance – Runners are supposed to have endurance, but I’m reminded each practice that we could always gain more. Tell me to run 5 miles, fine. Tell me to hold an up-on-toes chair pose for 45 seconds, we may have issues.
Mental – Runners are mentally tough, but yoga helps our wills get stronger. At a recent practice we were in a difficult pose and everyone was shaking and falling out of it. The instructor said, “When you lose your concentration, that’s when you fall.” This totally applies to running. Focus, Danielson!
In the Moment – To me, this is the hardest part. In yoga you’re supposed to stay in the moment. You’re not supposed to be thinking about what you’re going to do after class, your grocery list, etc. This helps me in running, when things get hard, I remember to take it one step at a time. You don’t want to be thinking how much further you have to go!
I’ve done yoga at different studios, gyms, living rooms, sporting goods stores, and even one time in a train station. I mentioned earlier how I’ve been going to Lululemon yoga sessions – well the other day I saw this written on the store window…
Yes, yes it is.
So there you have it, a quick overview of one of the ways I stay healthy for running – Yoga.
How bout you? Do you do yoga? For yourself or for running (or both)? Did my shoes/socks make you barf?
So I’m not sure what’s exactly wrong with my knee. I so know it is not IT Band Syndrome, as I have had that before….bad. My first marathon, I picked it up pretty early in my training. It was awful. I couldn’t bare to run most days, but did find that it didn’t really bother me on the elliptical machine. So I’d do three hour sessions on that thang to get my miles in. Only thing that kept me sane was the Saved By The Bell marathons that were usually on at the gym Saturday mornings.
The problem was that on an elliptical, you don’t get the pounding on your feet that you get on the streets. So when I showed up for the marathon, not only was my IT Band killing me, but my feet got all bloody from blisters, and chafing, etc. Here’s what my shoes and socks looked like after the race…
But hey, I still finished, right? Haha. After that experience I got smarter. I edumacated myself on how to do these distances safely. And I’ve been pretty diligent about trying to do all the right things, because I never want to go through that again!
That’s why this injury is so frustrating. I thought I was being smart. Cross training, yogaing, foam rolling, proper eating, stretching and a bunch of other thingings.
I don’t think this is Runners Knee, as I consider that a gradual injury you get, and this one happened all of the sudden. One day I ran and felt great, the very next day I ran and it hurt. I want to say I over exerted it landing too hard going down hill, but I can’t say for sure. I must admit though, that after looking up the symptoms, I seem to have some of them – it gets stiff after sitting too long, hurts to walk down stairs, etc.
As for now, I’m hoping it’s still just an overexertion that needs a short time off to heal. Of course I’m going to RICE, and do other good things like up my dosage of fish oil. And so I’m going to rest some more, and if I still have issues, I will go see a professional.
In the meantime, I have to make a choice. I can wallow in a tub of french onion dip, or I can stay positive and send good energy to my parts that need it. I think I’ll choose the latter.
So here’s something positive. My 4 year old asked me to make Mickey Mouse waffles. Here he is enjoying the original thang in Disney World…
And here’s the “healthy” homemade version I made for him. I used whole wheat flour, local unfiltered honey, coconut oil, cinnamon, organic milk, free range chicken eggs.
More of a pancake than a waffle, but whatevs.
So as much as I wish I was running right this moment, I’m not going to complain about it. I’m going to look at the positives and hopefully be back sooner because of it!
What about you? How do you stay positive? Ever recreated a favorite dish from someplace at home? Which Saved By The Bell character would you be, and why?
This weekend I am about to headbutt my third marathon in it’s face’s mouth. I’ve been training for months, and I feel that I will have my best ever showing at 26.2 miles. All three marathons have been the Disney World one. I figure that if I’m going to go through the pain of a full marathon, I may as well do it someplace somewhat somescenic. It doesn’t hurt that it’s pretty flat and they have pretty decent weather in Central Florida either. But my theory is that that miles go by faster if you have pretty stuff to look at – and since Hawaiian Tropic Calendar Girls Marathon doesn’t exist to my knowledge, then a magical place like Disney will have to do!
Feeling like a princess coming out of Cinderella’s Castle with my sis in 2012.
I’ve always been a runner – I was a 4-year letter winner and honorable mention All-Conferance track athlete in high school – and ever since then I’ve run around three times per week and countless 5k’s.
Smokin’ fools in the 400 in high school.
However, I never felt the urge to run longer distances. That was until I ran my first marathon. It got addicting, kind of like golf, as you keep learning and thinking that your next outing will be better than your last. And let me tell you, ANY race after my first marathon would have no choice but to be better. You see, I didn’t know what I was doing. I printed some training schedule off the internet and just went for it. I didn’t know how to stretch right, eat right, cross train right, or even what to wear. I ended up getting horrible IT Band Syndrome, which relegated my training to the elliptical machine. And since I wasn’t used to the pounding of concrete, my feet bled like a hemophiliac for most of the race. It wasn’t pretty. I had to walk most of the way cause it hurt so bad to run.
I think the looks on our faces capture the feels of our bodies in 2008.
My shoes and socks after the race. Try not to barf.
But then I got smarter. I took four months off to rest my IT Band. I added yoga to my multiple weekly workouts. I started building the miles back up slowly. I listened to my body. I got support from friends and family. I got better running equipment. I read tons of articles on running. I took the right supplements. I started going to a chiropractor. I wore out one foam roller and got a new torturous one. I kept and keep learning. So much of this lead me to give Disney another go – four years later. It went much better.
Disney 2012 – much better, but I should’ve photoshopped out the photobomber.
It was better, but I can do better. I didn’t time my training right and peaked a month too early. I also started getting the old IT Band issue back toward the end of my training. That said, I was able to run this race, which was goal #1. Though I hit the wall starting at mile 18 and had to take walk breaks the rest of the way. Plus the IT Band flared up some – not so much that I had to quit, but it was noticeable and affected my run. But like I said, I was able to get it done!
Despite my finger I didn’t actually finish in first place.
Here’s a quick video of me during the 2012 race – I felt like was going much faster than I look.
Which leads me to 2013. I’m taking on the Mouse once again. I couldn’t help myself. Besides wanting to run the whole way strong and reach my goal time, they also suckered me in with this year’s race plan. It’s the 20th anniversary of the Disney Marathon and they’re pulling out all the stops, and the go’s too for that matter. They redesigned the course, and I like the changes a lot. New this year we don’t have to run a lap around Epcot to start the race, we get to run on their auto racing track, we get to run through the sports complex (spring training baseball fields, etc.), and they have a special celebration planned all along mile 20.
If you watched that video, you saw a glimpse of the medal. That is always a draw for me, and this year’s looks to be baddbutt! Two spinning elements? Yes please!
The 20th anniversary medal is 20% more awesomer.
In addition, this race is cool because all along the course they have characters, props, entertainers, volunteer cheerers, etc. so that you never get bored. And if you’re not in it for a PR, then you can stop and have your picture taken with the characters by an official race photographer. There’s also some celebs set to run this race. Joey Fatone, Sean Astin, Drew Carey, etc. I also found out that I have some friends running it, so it will be fun to see them! Not to mention I’ll be running with my sister again!
One cool thing is that this will also be the first time that I actually get to watch a race – the day before the marathon they have a half marathon, which my moms and other peeps are running. I can’t wait to see what it’s like from the spectators perspective, and I especially can’t wait to make some funny signs!!!
Anykitandkaboodle, I probably won’t be posting any blogs the next week or so as I’ll be enjoying sunny Florida after the race. But as soon as I get back I’ll write up a full recap of the 2013 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend!
Piratebobcat 