RunDisney 2019
Jan. 17th, 2019 10:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pshaw_raven We've been back home since Sunday afternoon and today I feel pretty damn good - in fact I'm going for a short jog once this is posted. The muscle soreness was gone by Tuesday, though I'm still sleeping a lot. I've been routinely heading to bed around seven or seven-thirty. Anyway, it was a great weekend, and the Dopey Challenge is the highlight of my running year.
This year was rough - not that marathons are ever easy, exactly. But the warm Sunday just seemed to take a lot more out of people. By mile 14 I had stripped out of my tech shirt and was running in my sports bra. No shame on race day - I also put vaseline between my boobs because the zipper on said sports bra chafes, and at one point I smeared Biofreeze on my butt. My ah ... lower glutes ... ached. But between miles 16 and 17 I was dragging badly - I wasn't even walking, I was shuffling. I didn't really start to get my mojo back until between miles 19 and 20, so the slog through ESPN's Wide World of Snorts was hard-fought and miserable. I even tried keeping up with a Galloway pacing group but couldn't quite manage. Speaking of Jeff Galloway, he was at the end of the course encouraging people as they came into the finishing chute. I didn't really realize this until I saw I was at the finish line spectator stands, which meant the finish was close, which means for me it's time to burn up all the fuel I have left and go as fast as I can. And he saw what I was doing and said, "That's what I like to see, I like that spirit! You've got this!" Senpai noticed me!
My strategy that day was to do positive splits. Early in the day it was still cool - downright cold in some areas. So I pushed myself to get through as much as I could before it started getting hot. Even with slowing down significantly in the second half I still shaved 12 minutes off my previous marathon time, so I was happy about that. And on Saturday I'd been deliberately trying to keep my pace lower in order to conserve energy for Sunday, but I still PR'd, taking nine minutes off my previous half marathon time. I am still considering signing up for the Jacksonville Marathon this December - the timing will give me a month between it and Dopey 2020, and depending on my finishing time, I might be able to finagle my way into a better starting corral. Fox and I are also looking at probably doing the Gate River Run this March, which is "only" a 15k, but is also a lot of fun and this year has a gorgeous finisher's medal design.
Turkeys on the course, signage and rides from the Disney Archives, and more shenanigans can be found Right Here.
Maybe next year we'll learn our lesson about running around in the parks too much before running, but I kinda doubt it.
This year was rough - not that marathons are ever easy, exactly. But the warm Sunday just seemed to take a lot more out of people. By mile 14 I had stripped out of my tech shirt and was running in my sports bra. No shame on race day - I also put vaseline between my boobs because the zipper on said sports bra chafes, and at one point I smeared Biofreeze on my butt. My ah ... lower glutes ... ached. But between miles 16 and 17 I was dragging badly - I wasn't even walking, I was shuffling. I didn't really start to get my mojo back until between miles 19 and 20, so the slog through ESPN's Wide World of Snorts was hard-fought and miserable. I even tried keeping up with a Galloway pacing group but couldn't quite manage. Speaking of Jeff Galloway, he was at the end of the course encouraging people as they came into the finishing chute. I didn't really realize this until I saw I was at the finish line spectator stands, which meant the finish was close, which means for me it's time to burn up all the fuel I have left and go as fast as I can. And he saw what I was doing and said, "That's what I like to see, I like that spirit! You've got this!" Senpai noticed me!
My strategy that day was to do positive splits. Early in the day it was still cool - downright cold in some areas. So I pushed myself to get through as much as I could before it started getting hot. Even with slowing down significantly in the second half I still shaved 12 minutes off my previous marathon time, so I was happy about that. And on Saturday I'd been deliberately trying to keep my pace lower in order to conserve energy for Sunday, but I still PR'd, taking nine minutes off my previous half marathon time. I am still considering signing up for the Jacksonville Marathon this December - the timing will give me a month between it and Dopey 2020, and depending on my finishing time, I might be able to finagle my way into a better starting corral. Fox and I are also looking at probably doing the Gate River Run this March, which is "only" a 15k, but is also a lot of fun and this year has a gorgeous finisher's medal design.
Turkeys on the course, signage and rides from the Disney Archives, and more shenanigans can be found Right Here.
Maybe next year we'll learn our lesson about running around in the parks too much before running, but I kinda doubt it.
