The Raven's Roost

 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.

 I'm pretty pleased with the RedBubble sticker I got. I'm considering cleaning up a few drawings and posting them as stickers. But the one I bought has good color, good printing, and the sticker itself is heavy vinyl. 

This weekend, my training starts shaping up to look more and more like the actual RunDisney weekend. I did two (a whole two!) miles yesterday, seven today, and seventeen scheduled for tomorrow. The races are the first weekend in January, and the plan is to head down Wednesday - because I have to go to the stupid race expo to get my packet. FFS. Then after the marathon Sunday head back home. The cats will be fine with a weekend feeder set up and an extra litter box, though they may get a bit weird without their humans around. I wish I could have my packet sent registered mail or something, I don't want to have to go to the expo and shit. I'm also grouchy because Disneyland has canceled their races so my opportunity to get both the Coast To Coast and Dopey challenges in one year is gone. But that frees me to run some local races later in the year, like the St. Augustine half, Donna's Booby Trap, and the Gate 15k. 

It's supposed to be 86 here Wednesday. WTF Florida.

Monday I get to go to the doctor to see about my bum shoulder. My left shoulder has been hurting badly the last six months or so, going from a low-level dull ache most of the time to searing pain if I try to reach backwards or do anything over my head. I injured it over ten years ago by falling on it a couple of times, hard, but it never bothered me a whole lot until now. I'm hopeful that there's some physical therapy or something that can be done, but she's also likely to say, "Congratulations, you're old, have some Tylenol." 

I found that if I go make a loop starting at my road and the road to the hardtop, around by 315C, back down to my road and around, it's a four mile loop. So the plan for tomorrow is three times around the loop, and one diversion down to Mark Allan Road to do that one-mile loop, and I'm done. I'm taking one of Fox's big-ass 60 ounce travel mugs full of ice and water and leaving it at the telephone switches where my start-finish is. Each time around the loop I get to stop for a drink and a breather. I can walk there and back as a warm up and cool down. The time changes, of course, so I gain an hour in that it won't be hard for me to get up early. I'd like to be stretched and ready to roll by first light, but I really want to get up even earlier so that I'll have time for some coffee first. Since that's something I do anyway, I think I will. It's my routine now. Oh yeah, gotta take goo packets too. Mmmm, energy goo. 

Oh, and there are two - count 'em, two! - road kill deer on 315C. One is older and the coyotes have dragged it into the tree line, but the other looks like it was just hit last night so it'll be nice and juicy tomorrow. (barfing emoji) That's okay, I don't need to breathe for a couple hundred yards anyway.