Those three little letters are making me feel a lot of ways this morning. First, let’s talk about my training for Disney marathon. I totally meant to train, but you know, life was busy. I think I got a solid four double digit long runs in, up to 17 miles. Not ideal, but I thought finishing would be doable. The night before the race, I got an email that we had yellow flag conditions due to high heat and humidity. On race morning, I met up with Stacy and we waited together patiently for almost two hours until Aaron showed up just minutes before the start and we all started the race together. Miles 1 & 2 - 10:06 & 9:30 I had a hard time getting to my pace due to course congestion. I was trying not to weave, so just slowed down a little bit. I also didn’t know exactly what “my pace” for the day was going to be, just trying to settle into anything that felt easy. This part of the course is dark and fairly uneventful other than a few characters. Miles 3-6 - 9:32, 9:29, 9:34, 9:31 MAGIC KINGDOM!! I have a hard time putting this part of the course into words, but I think magical works well. The crowd support and the views, and oh that turn onto Main Street USA when I can finally see the castle all lit up with Christmas lights. I just love this part so much! I was surprised the characters only had a handful of people in line for them; knowing now how my race turned out, I regret not stopping for some character pictures! Mile 7 - 9:54 Already feeling tired, and forced myself to slow the pace down. We ran past Grand Floridian, then Emmy and Jamie were waiting for me outside our hotel, Shades of Green. I gave that girlie the biggest kiss and kind of thought about how convenient it was that I could just stop right there and be done already. But I continued on. Mile 8 - 10:00 My knees were hurting and my right foot felt a little numb and I overall just wasn’t feeling it, especially since I knew the next few miles were a little boring. I stopped at a med tent for Tylenol, and received my first X on the back of my hand in almost a decade (for medics to track the number of doses I got on the course). Miles 9-11 - 10:04, 10:00, 10:28 All I kept thinking about is how I would rather be having fun with Emmy. I did some soul searching for what I was really excited about during the course. Magic Kingdom, of course, but that was already over with. I’ve already run the Boardwalk and EPCOT in other races. I realized what I really really wanted to do was run through Animal Kingdom for the first time. I stopped for a walk break and texted Jamie to alert him to my new plan and asked him to check the course map for the first med tent after DAK. He texted back immediately with a super supportive message and 14.4 - my finish line. Mile 12 - 10:48 I actually thought I walked most of this mile. I texted a couple friends to let them know my plans, and was blown away by the support I received for the decision. Miles 13 & 14 - 11:14 & 10:51 Running through Animal Kingdom was even more fun than I had imagined! The spot where we entered backstage was the same place we entered for our wedding! There was tons of crowd support and we got to see the tree of life, expedition Everest, and the kids’ section of DinoLand. It was oh so much fun, especially knowing that I was almost to the end of my race. The sun was just starting to come out, and even though it was a beautiful morning, it was warming up very quickly. The med tent in the Animal Kingdom parking lot was listed on the map at 14.4, which means I did a really terrible job of running the tangents, since I was .38 ahead. It turns out it’s really hard to quit a Disney race! The med tent told me that if I wanted to stop, I actually had to sit and wait until the sweepers come through since it wasn’t an emergency, which was still several hours away. I took a bottle of water and thanked them, and pretended I was going to continue on longer, then snuck through the Animal Kingdom parking lot to the park buses. The first one that came was to TTC, so I hopped on, then walked back to Shades of Green from there. What an adventure that turned out to be! Total 14.78 miles, 10:07 average pace
I can’t truthfully say I’m upset with the way this race turned out. I didn’t really train for it, and honestly I’ve never had a marathon go well for me yet. But I just had so much fun during the almost 15 miles I did run! Disney races are always so magical and I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of running down Main Street USA. I’m so happy I finally got to run through Animal Kingdom - that was super fun! And, most importantly, Emmy was definitely ready to go to Magic Kingdom when I got back. Her favorite things were It’s A Small World, the parade, and of course her new bubble wand. Yesterday turned out to be the best day ever!! Even though I didn’t go back to the finish line for the medal, I did technically end up with 26.2 miles on my Garmin from all the walking after the race, so I just may wear my shirt :)
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Well I guess things have been a little busy in my life! Traveling, a teething baby, wedding planning....
I took a full 12 days off of running and skipped a couple long runs, but I am back at it now! Yesterday I ran 15.20 miles at a 9:31 pace. Luckily I had my BRF Aaron along with me for most of the miles. He's the absolute best, and filled the miles with talks of positive thoughts, Disney plans, and wedding details. Those miles flew by and I'm glad I'm still where I need to be for marathon training. I'm still nervous about this whole marathon thing, but I'm doing my best to make it happen!!! it turns out I don't really have time for blogging and may not have weekly updates. Writing this as I play with Emmy and wait on some laundry to finish in the dryer. Emerson is starting to crawl and I can tell it won't be much longer until I'm spending my days chasing her around the house! xoxo Sunday - 1.05 warm up, 10:14 pace
3.12 race, 8:39 pace Wednesday - 5.03 miles, 9:28 pace Thursday - 3.11 mile easy run with Emmy, 9:59 pace 50 minute yoga class Saturday - 14.01 long run, 9:28 pace First 6.5 with Andy & Aaron, last 3 with Emmy Running totals - 26.32 miles, 9:28 average pace Another successful week! I should have done an easy run on Monday, but it's not the end of the world :) Emmy and I felt like switching things up this week, so we ran at a park I've only been to a handful of times! I don't even know how to explain how perfect my long run was. Maybe it's the cool weather or training is going really well, or maybe just good luck. I had 12 on my plan for the day, but I wanted to try to go a bit longer since I did 12 last week. I started with Andy and Aaron (I used to run with them in my pre-pregnancy days!) and I didn't think I would be able to do more than a couple miles with them! I stuck with them the entire first hour, then ran a little further with Andy and made a new friend, Kelsey! Jamie and I planned on me pushing the stroller for the last bit so he could do a workout in his long run, so I ran almost the last 3 miles with Emmy. Overall, a much better run than I could have imagined for the day! After two years, it's time to add my favorite Hercules song back onto my running playlist. I am on my waaaaayy |
Hello, my name is Alyssa!I'm a momma to Emerson Lilly and two fur babies, a distance runner, and just a girl full of sparkle and quirks. I love traveling to races and exploring new places to run! I started this blog in 2014 as more of a journal to keep track of training for my first marathon, and I've continued to post about training, races, and other things happening in my life. Also, I'd like to be your best friend. :) Categories
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