Running to Disney

A Disaster

2009-05-11T12:01:00.004-04:00

Saturday was the Run Wild for a Cure 5k at the Cleveland Zoo. We ran this race last year and it was quite good, though a bit odd that miles 1 and 3 took place on the same paths in the park. This year was the same thing, except part of the zoo was closed off due to construction, so the mile 2 route was to be different from last year. It is still a very challenging course as there is little flat ground and a hill which is nearly 100 foot elevation change.

The race, however, ended up being a disaster. The course should have been as follows...
Mile 1 - Run through the bear section
Mile 2 - Run up and back down the big hill
Mile 3 - Run through the bear section again

Rather than letting runners continue to the second mile hill, for the first several minutes of the race they routed runners back to the bears. To further complicate the problem, at a different intersection they were directing runners toward the finish line who had only run about a mile.

Kristin ran pretty close to a 5k. She got sent back to the bears too soon, but within about 50 yards of turning around found out she shouldn't have. She got back on track and ran the proper course from there on. She ended up finishing right about 32 minutes...which is her best 5k time ever and she did it on a very challenging course. Great job!

I didn't fare too well. Things went well the first mile -- which I completed in 7:35. I was in a group that was directed back around to the bears shortly after mile one. As I was approaching them the second time, another set of volunteers tried to direct me toward the start/finish line. But at the same time the runners who were errantly sent to the finish line were coming back to the main path and warning me and other runners not to go that way.

I ran the bear section again, then up and down the big hill. When I got back to the intersection with the start/finish leg, the volunteers tried to route me through the bears a third time, but I refused and headed toward the finish line, knowing I had run more than 5k, but hoping that I could get a fairly accurate time. I crossed the line at 28:03. With the help of MapMyRun.com, it looks like I ran about 3.4-3.5 miles, which means my pace would have put me right around a 25 minute 5k (which would have been my second best ever).

I wish we would have gone to the awards ceremony. I can't imagine they actually gave prizes since the fastest runners were the ones that got screwed up the most. The slower runners would have run a perfect 5k course.

Talking to people afterwards, we had a guy tell us that his Garmin recorded a run of 4.6 miles (likely what I would have run had I ran the bear section a third time). No race results were posted online -- just an apology and a statement that we would get free registration at next year's event.

Here's hoping that next year works out better...

Update (great post title, huh?)

2009-05-05T18:01:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to throw a few words out there...

Looks like we will indeed be able to make it to the World for a few days in late October and we will be running the Tower of Terror 13k. More details to follow as we actually start making some plans.

Zoo race is tomorrow. I ran 2.9 miles yesterday in 25:30, which including a bit of walking warm up at the start. I haven't really timed myself since the half marathon, so wasn't too sure how I was holding up pace-wise. I should be good to go for our race at the zoo on Saturday. This was my worst 5k last year at about 26.5 minutes. It is a crazy tough course, so I will be happy with a similar time again this year.

Lapu Lapu

2009-04-28T18:01:00.006-04:00

What better way to cool off after a run than a nice, refreshing adult beverage served in a pineapple?

I have no idea what goes into a real Lapu Lapu, but this concoction was a blend of dark rum, pineapple rum, coconut rum, triple sec, fresh pineapple juice, fresh pineapple, and a splash of orange juice.

I must say that prepping the pineapple was a pain in the butt! I wonder how Disney does it. My guess is that they scoop it out rather than cut it out and then use the scooped pineapple in other menu items where the pineapple will be blended/cooked in rather than used in chunks (pineapple bread, anyone?).

On an even happier note (yes there are things happier than adult beverages served in pineapples), I think we will be going back to the World this year. AND -- yes there's more -- running the Tower of Terror 13k! Kristin's sister is getting married on a cruise ship stop at St. Thomas. We are joining them for the cruise and wedding. I had the brilliant idea of visiting WDW for a couple days upon return to land, only to discover (thank you, Lori!) that the day we would arrive would be the day of the race. Things are still in the planning stages, so nothing definite yet, but the excitement is mounting.

Anyone else planning to be there?

Additionally, we are signed up for the Cleveland Zoo race that we ran last year. Tough, tough, hilly course. The worst I've ever ran. But the whole course is in the zoo so you get to see the animals as you run by. Plus admission to the zoo and rainforest is included in the cost.

We also have plans for the Akron marathon. At this point, Kristin plans to run the half. I am working to get a relay team together at work. We are one person short...still have a 10k leg to fill. My leg will be the longest one -- 12.25k. This is the leg that Kristin ran last year.

D23 - a complaint

2009-03-30T16:02:00.003-04:00

So here we are just a couple weeks into existence of D23 and I have a complaint. The magazine is awesome. The charter member lithograph is beautiful (and huge).

But I just hate Spam. You heard me right...a big pile of Spam.

As soon as I signed up for D23, I begen receiving multiple e-mails per week from Disney Shopping. My instinct is to just unsubscribe, but the following tag is in the e-mail...

If you decide to unsubscribe from this communication, you will also be unsubscribed from D23 member communications, which include announcements about D23 special events and promotional codes that are only available via D23 email communications. To unsubscribe from all types of future commercial email from Disney Shopping, Inc. regarding its products and services, and from all types of future D23 communications click here.

So they are forcing us into Disney Shopping Spam if we want to receive any relevant, membership-related communication from D23.

I am not a fan of this.

I'm 23

2009-03-19T19:56:00.003-04:00

I haven't posted in a while and I've decided that I need to get back to some regularity here. I'm going to try for at least once a week.

Thought I'd share the good news. My D23 membership card arrived today. I'm 23. Are you 23?

Getting in My Head

2009-01-29T11:58:00.003-05:00

January 10, 2009...

3:30 am: I'm nervous. I'm excited. Did we forget anything? I'm nervous. I'm excited.

4:15 am: It is cold out here.

4:30 am: Nerves are calming. Excitement mounting. It's great seeing everyone before the race. Chris is in my corral...it will be nice having someone to start with.

5:00 am: Time to walk to the corral. Anticipation is creeping in. The next 45 minutes are going to be so slow. How long will this race take me? I have to get under 2:10. I need to do it for myself and for Dave's Challenge. I would love to be closer to two hours flat...but realistically I've never held that pace in any of my 10+ mile runs.

5:45 am: Shouldn't we be starting? That announcer needs to quit gabbing and let us run. Chris has finished two half marathons in the past -- both in 1:56. His goal today is loftier than that. My running pace is about the same as his, but I'll need to slow down occasionally. I've never run more than five miles without a short walk break. I should be able to keep pace with him for a few miles.

5:55 am: Here we go. Look I'm up on the big screen! Here comes the start line.

Through Mile 1: This is a lot of people running. I wish I didn't have to keep running on the grass to get around people. Hey SpeedWalker: How did you get into wave 1?

Mile 2: I'm starting to settle into my pace. Thank goodness I have Chris to run with. Time is flying by having someone to chat with.

Mile 3: We need to quit gabbing and get running. We've been over 9 minute pace the first two miles.

Mile 4: I'm feeling great today. What a day for a run. The cheering crowd is awesome. "Git 'r done!" Someone just yelled "Go Craig!" Oooh...she's cute. I think Chris is jealous.

Mile 5: I'll probably need to slow down soon. I've never tried to run farther than 5 miles without a break. Oh no...we're about to run under water. This is going to be steep...wait...that wasn't as bad as I thought. Hold on a sec...I always pictured running through the Magic Kingdom in daylight. It's still dark out. This is going to be awesome.

Mile 6: We're backstage. The best part is about to come. The lights are on down Main St. Look at all the people. The castle is lit in purple. It looks awesome. This is going to pass too quick. I think I'm running too fast. But I'm too excited to get back on pace. "Now approaching Rocket Tower Plaza." There's Alice. High-five, Piglet! Check it out, the rides are all spinning. Look at that girl running in the grass skirt ahead of me...that has to itch real bad. I hear trumpets sounding. They're up in the castle! The view back down Main St. is great. Oops...sorry Chris....didn't realize you were that close...didn't mean to cut you off in front of the cameraman. It's western Donald, Mickey, and Goofy...and there's Big Al.

Mile 7: So long Magic Kingdom, but hello Captain Jack. Awesome pirate ship. Whoa...what happened to the course? This road is much too narrow for all these people. Guess I'll run in the grass some more.

Mile 8: There's Mary Poppins and Bert. And there's still a lot more road ahead of me...I'm getting a bit tired. I've never run this far before without a break.

Mile 9: I can see the food station ahead. I better hurry up and eat these Clif Blocks so I can wash them down up there. Maybe Chris wants the second dose. What? No drinks at the food station? Maybe I shouldn't have eaten those yet.

Mile 10: Where'd Chris go? I would have taken a break miles ago if I hadn't had him to run with. What a motivator it has been to run with someone who had a faster goal time than me. I'm lucky to have started with him. Oh good...he's still really close, just 20 yards behind me. Ahh...there's my water. But, I still have four miles left to run. Maybe I should take a walk break starting at this water stop? I really am pushing my body harder than I ever have before. No...You can't stop. You've done so well. You are doing fine physically, it's just mental strain at this point. OK OK. I'll try to keep going. Now my left ankle feels a bit weird. There's nothing to look at. I've still got to run for half an hour!

Mile 11: Only.....5.....k....left.....to.....go. You can do this. Don't stop. Think of your training, three miles is a walk in the park. Just keep it up. Need to stop. Just keep running. Need to stop. Just keep running. There's been nothing cool to look at this mile or the last one -- Boring! Just keep running.

Mile 12: Two miles left. This really is a breeze from here on out. Think of it. You're about to finish. Finish strong. Confidence builds. Excitement mounts. Two miles is nothing. Hard right turn. Here comes that big ramp I've heard people complain about. This thing is sloped oddly to the side...nowhere near flat. OUCH!!! Sharp pain in my left ankle, shooting up through my calf. I've never had pain like this before while running. It must be the slope. Just slow down. Get to the outside, it looks flatter over there. I don't want to have to walk the last mile and a half. But can I still run? Not if this pain persists. Just try. OK...here goes. Very stiff, but manageable. Just try not to think about it.

Mile 13: Did my eyes deceive me? The Mile-12 marker had a time of 1:49:00 when I passed it. I'm going to finish in under two hours! I have 13 minutes to run 1.1 miles. That's plenty of time. Head high...you are crushing your goal. Into Epcot. Around the fountain, then looking over at the other path to find Chris. He had to have caught up when I slowed down back there. But I don't see him. I guess I'm going to finish alone.

The Finish: Look at all the characters and the gospel choir. I'm so close to the end. I see the clock. 1:58. What about Dave's Challenge. Think...what was the time for the under 9 minute pace? Crossing at 1:58:20. I think it was after two minutes on the clock when I crossed the start. That means I finished under 1:56! I beat my goal by 15 minutes! I snuck into the next rung on the Challenge ladder! I can't believe I ran this whole thing!

The Aftermath: Medal? Check! Picture? Check! Drink? Check! Food? Check! People to celebrate with? No check. Let's go find people. There's Mike and Chris. Mike smoked us all. Chris finished only a minute behind me. Talk about being consistent. Good ol' Mr. One-Fifty-Six. New goals: Congratulate the team, find Kristin, give her a big hug, hit the hot tub :)

Disney World!

2009-01-02T22:43:00.006-05:00

It's Disney World day. Today we put our mileage over the edge and we have finally reached Walt Disney World. We also had a mad dash of last minute to-do's and packing because we are leaving in the morning.

Here's what our schedule looks like right now:

Saturday: Check in to Port Orleans French Quarter. Going to Magic Kingdom. It is the only day that Splash Mountain will be open. Will end the night at MK or the Studios.

Sunday: Going to Animal Kingdom to catch the last performance of the Jingle Jungle parade. Then off to either MK or DHS, whichever we didn't go to the night before. This is also the last day for Osbourne lights.

Monday: Might go to Blizzard Beach, otherwise, don't know. Dinner at Ohana with a coworker and his family.

Tuesday: Our third anniversary. Going to Jiko for dinner.

Wednesday: Backstage Magic Tour. Wedding rehearsal at the Grand Floridian. Then possibly hanging out with friends afterwards.

Thursday: I'm in a wedding. Don't know what the plans are after the wedding.

Friday: Relax day. Pickup our race packets. Maybe go to the grocery store to refill the food or do some laundry (sounds like fun, eh?).

Saturday: Half Marathon at 6:00. Lou's meet at 2:00. Illuminations meet at 8:00. I have heard talk of Jellyrolls after, but we'll have to see how tired we are. (I had to cancel my Le Cellier reservation to go to Lou's meet <sniff, sniff>).

Sunday: Dole Whip meet at 3:00. Otherwise no plans.

Monday: No plans. Will end the night at either MK or DHS, whichever we did not do on the first Saturday. These are likely the only two nights we will be able to catch Wishes and Fantasmic.

Tuesday: No morning plans. Lunch at Yak & Yeti, then hanging out at Animal Kingdom for evening EMH.

Wednesday: Fly home :(

I can't wait to meet everyone. We will see you on Saturday if not before!

Happy Birthday!

2008-12-05T09:38:00.006-05:00

Two men -- each of importance to this blog -- were born on this day, though there were 79 years between them.

Happy Birthday, Walt.

Happy Birthday, Craig.

Kristin, this picture is for you!
I know you love it.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Mine is shaping up to be full of fun, food, friends, and family.

I'm a big slacker

2008-12-03T22:08:00.003-05:00

I can't believe I haven't posted in a month. It just keeps getting pushed aside...and now here I am with a full month of no posts. I'm not too proud of myself right now.

A lot of things have happened in the last month. Kristin and I have both been doing well with two short runs and one long run each week. I set a personal best with 70 miles last month. Our map now has us in Florida. We have just about 100 miles left to go. We should not have any problems reaching by the end of the month.

We both purchased new shoes a couple weeks ago. We went to Fleet Feet and they measured us up and we both ended up with Nike's. For both of us, it is our first departure from Asics for running shoes. I'm not quite used to them yet, but they have been doing well. These have more arch support than I am used to, and they hug my feet a bit more than the Asics did. But overall they are rather comfortable.

I went back to Boston a few weeks ago with three of my buddies...the "mancation." We stayed three nights downtown. It was a blast. We did two brewery tours -- Harpoon and Sam Adams. We did a historic pub crawl visiting Bell in Hand, Green Dragon, and a few others all near Faneuil Hall. Did a tour. Went to a Celtics game (they lost to the Nuggets! which is good for the Cavs). And found some good restaurants. I'm in love with Boston. I could do an annual trip there.

We've had some changes in our Disney travel plans, though nothing major. As we get closer to departure, I'll post some details. Hopefully all the other Team Voicers do the same so we'll all have an idea of where/when we might run into each other. I know some of us are down for just a couple days while others are staying 10+ nights.

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving went well and that you are having fun with all the holiday preparation and gift shopping. We got our outside decorations up last weekend and our tree and inside stuff done on Monday. Shopping, however, still has a lot left to be done.

Before I depart, I have a trivia question...
Whose birthday will we be celebrating on Friday? Think hard and post your answer in the comments. Be honest and don't change your answer if you see someone else has answered differently. I'll answer the question in a post on Friday. Until then, I bid you adieu.

Did you hear?

2008-11-03T12:17:00.004-05:00

So I must ask you all to take a listen to The WDW Radio Show episode #91. Lou has a very special guest this week.

I did my long run for the week last night. I had planned to be at the recreation center by 8:00 and run 8 miles. Plans went awry...but not in a bad way. I didn't get out the door until 8:00. Then I ran my 8 miles and felt great, so I plussed the plan and did a 10 mile run. It took about 103 minutes. I am hoping to be under a 10 minute pace for the half marathon, and this was about 10:18. I was pacing rather slow (for me) from the start, though. I typically pace between 8:30 and 9:10 for most of my runs. But I was pacing between 9:40 and 10:00 for most laps in the first 8 miles. Miles 9 and 10 were better with most laps pacing under 9:30. I walked 6 of the 100 laps around the track during the course of the evening (which is how my average got pushed above 10 minutes). I actually considered trying to leg out a full 13.1 miles, but two things held me back. 1) It was already after 10:00 pm when I finished the 10 miles and 2) I don't want to overstress my body and hurt myself.

Overall I felt great. No leg pain, breathing was fine through the whole thing. I was, however, very stiff when I finished, and am still a bit stiff today. And I got chafed...bad. It has never happened to me before. My inner thighs and underarms are on fire. I wore the same clothing as normal. I have run several 8-9 miles runs and never had even slight chafing...so I don't know what made this 10 mile run so bad. Plan is to do a shorter run tomorrow, but I may push it back if the chafing hasn't healed some.

Kristin has been on a short break. Knee pain has kept her off the road for the past five or six days. I think she plans to get back out today and test it out.

Georgia (and a trip update)

2008-10-28T12:27:00.003-04:00

Hello Georgia. Sixty-five more miles and we are in Florida!

Thought I'd put up some of the details for our trip.

We arrive on Saturday, January 3, staying at Caribbean Beach for 11 nights. Plan for the first day is to stop at the Magic Kingdom and visit Splash Mountain. It goes into refurb on the 4th. Sunday morning is breakfast at Kona. Can't wait to try the Tonga Toast! The only other definite park plan we have for the first couple days is to see the Osbourne Lights -- last day is Sunday the 4th.

Tuesday is our anniversary, and we will be having dinner at Jiko. Thursday my friends Kyle and Carly are getting married at the wedding pavillion at noon, with reception to follow at the Grand Floridian. I think they were planning a bridal party get together after the reception, so we will probably be partying all day.

Friday is relax day. Likely do some resort hopping and just taking it easy. Also have packet pick up that day.

Saturday morning, up bright (um...dark???) and early for the race. We have a 2:50 reservation at Le Cellier for an early dinner. And later on we will be meeting up with Team Voice for Illuminations. Saturday we will be at the Team Voice Dole Whip gathering. Maybe we can do Dole Runners???

Monday we have Yak & Yeti ressies. Tuesday will be our last day in the parks. We fly home Wednesday.

Sixty-seven days and counting!

Lonesome Ghosts

2008-10-18T15:25:00.003-04:00

I just finished the October virtual race -- Disney's Lonesome Ghosts. My time 1:14:45 for a 13k run. It was a very rough race. I was tight through the whole thing, likely because I haven't run since last weekend, aside from frisbee last night. Kristin's work schedule prevents her from running today. She'll put a time up early next week.

I was in New Orleans for work this past week. I've never been there before. It was a lot of fun. There was tons to do in the evening (dining, Bourbon St., music, casino), so I kept staying out late and then didn't have the motivation to get up early to run. Monday night was watching the Browns stick it to the Giants on Monday Night Football, followed by the casino. Tuesday was dinner on Bourbon St. then just wandering around the tourist shops and poking our head in some bars. Wednesday was dinner at Emeril's then out to a bar with a 70's and 80's band playing.

So now I've got to make up my miles this weekend. Having the 13k scheduled this weekend worked out well since I needed to get a long run in anyway. Four more miles left tomorrow, and I will have reached my goal for the week.

Where we are at now, we need to finish out the year with Kristin averaging about 13 miles per week and myself averaging about 14 miles per week. That will get us to our goal of Running to Disney!

Three Months Left

2008-10-10T21:37:00.002-04:00

So we are down to three months of training left before the race. Kristin and I are less than one mile away from 700 total. Our hotel and airfare are booked. And I am getting excited for the trip.

I just got back from Cincinnati today. I had to go down for work. It turned out that Sarah Palin was at our hotel. We caught a quick glimpse of her last night as she exited to get on the campaign bus. It is the first time I have randomly seen a celebrity. The place was crawling with secret service guys with their little earbuds. And I've never seen so many police and state troopers in a single block.

I leave Monday to go to New Orleans (another work trip), and I will be back late Thursday night. So it looks like more treadmill miles next week. The last time I was on a treadmill was back in April and it killed my knee. I did it today and yesterday without issue, though. Hopefully nothing springs up next week.

Akron Marathon

2008-09-28T18:24:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was the Akron Marathon. Kristin ran on a 5 person relay team. She had the finishing 12.2k leg. She finished her leg in 1:28:54. The team time was 4:36:39.

I must give a shoutout to a couple other friends. My buddy Flash (yes that is his real name...one of his three middle names) finished the marathon in 4:53:15. It was his first marathon. His girlfriend Kelly, who will be running the full marathon at Disney World in January, finished the half in 2:00:16. There were also at least three teams from Smucker's that ran, but I don't know their team names and can't look up their times. Great job goes out to all the runners!

Today was Kristin's rest day. I went out planning for a nine mile run. I ended up at 7.5 miles. I had some pain in my left shin that wouldn't go away, so I stopped a bit short. I'll be icing it as soon as dinner is done.

Sore

2008-09-23T20:24:00.003-04:00

I typed up my last post right after running my longest run ever - 15k. As soon as I stood up, I realized that I had blisters on the arches of both my feet. I was fatigued the rest of the day, but not too bad.

I got a call that evening about an ultimate frisbee tournament at the university on Sunday, and I had to join. We got the best players from our Friday game for our team, and named ourselves The Elderly 7. Most of us were in the 25-30 year old range, and we were playing against a bunch of college kids. Needless to say, most of our opponents were in better shape than us. But we held our own and got third place out of six teams. Not too shabby.

After frisbee, it was off to the bar to watch the Browns game. The Steelers were playing at the same time, but were not televised in the area, so there ended up being more Steelers fans at the bar than Browns fans so that they could watch their game on satellite. Browns got blown out, but it was still fun: the Steelers lost!

My legs were screaming at me on Monday for running Sunday after the long one Saturday. I took it easy yesterday, but had to run tonight because I will be in Cincinnati the next to days and likely won't have time to run. Today's run didn't go so well. My calf muscles have never been so tight. They never loosened up through the 4.5 miles. Oh well...two days of rest ahead. It is definitely needed.

I'll be up bright and early tomorrow. Wheels up on the jet at 6:30...so I'll probably leave home around 5:45. The forecast calls for two long days of meetings, learning about Folger's current business processes so we can begin to develop plans to get them up on our processes and systems.

My next update likely won't be until the weekend. At that time, we'll have results of Kristin's relay team.

Michigan Apple Fun Run

2008-09-20T14:23:00.002-04:00

Today was the Michigan Apple Fun Run virtual race organized by Deb from Michigan. I ran the 15k, and Kristin opted for the non-advertised 12k course.

I finished my run at 1:29:51. Kristin ran hers in 1:17:00.

She chose 12k because it is about the distance she will be running next Saturday in the Akron Marathon relay. The relay is a five person team - two 5k, two 10k, and one 12.5k. She was chosen by her team for the long leg since she was the most experienced runner.

Quick Update

2008-09-18T20:24:00.003-04:00

Kristin has done great with miles so far this month. It is the 18th, and she is past 30. She will most likely set a personal best.

We both ran tonight, and we were stopped by the dark. My run was the best I've had lately as far as stamina, breathing, and just plain feeling good. Had darkness not set in, I probably would have gone another mile or two beyond the five I had planned.

Michigan Apple Fun Run is this Saturday. I plan to attempt the 15k. I've never gone past 7 miles, so I don't know if I'll be able to run the whole thing. But I will go as far as I can. I believe Kristin plans to do the 10k.

Race for the Cure

2008-09-13T11:40:00.003-04:00

Kristin and I ran the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure today. It was not great weather for a race, but we made it through. It was pouring on the drive up to Cleveland, and there was a steady sprinkle/rain the whole time pre-, during-, and post-race. The course was largely the same as last year, but they modified it slightly and made the end even worse than last year. Last year, the last couple tenths were a fairly steep uphill. This year, they routed it so that you had an even steeper uphill just before the one we had last year. I think it was almost a full half-mile of uphill to end the race. The one thing better this year is that they had a water stop half way through. But still no mile markers or people yelling times.

For the most part it went well. I had a bit less stamina than normal, but I think I paced a touch too fast at the start. I typically start fast to get past the crowd, then get into my pace. I think I took longer than normal before settling in to a steady run today. I was able to maintain a decent pace for the rest of the race, but it took a lot of mental toughness to keep going. At about two miles, I really wanted to take a quick walk break...but I didn't give in. With less than a mile left, I had to stop to tie my shoe. Makes me mad, because I could have come in under 26 minutes had I not done that...instead, I finished at 26:01.

Kristin said she was not feeling well through the whole race. She went and immediately sat down when she was done, which is not characteristic of her...especially since she had some friends waiting toward the finish line that she wanted to go meet. She crossed the finish right at 36 minutes.

Last year was cold; this year was rain. We'll have to wait and see what Race for the Cure has in store for us next year.

On the road again

2008-09-08T14:17:00.001-04:00

Running recommenced on Friday at ultimate frisbee. I ran about 3/4 mile before the game and it felt really good. Then frisbee for about 2 hours. I felt great through most of it. There was some stiffness in my right hip, but never any pain or anything that slowed me down.

I ran three miles yesterday. Overall the run went well. It was obvious, however, that I had lost some of my stamina during my two week hiatus. I had more stiffness in the right hip during and after the run. As of this point, it is nothing I would consider pain but I'm definitely concerned that there is a hitch in the hip that was causing problems before. We'll ride it out for a few more runs and see if it stays or goes. At this point, I'm a bit concerned that this will turn back into pain and I'll be visiting the doctor soon. We'll just have to wait and see.

We are scheduled for the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure 5k in Cleveland this Saturday. It was a great event last year, and should be again this year. Assuming we can avoid rain, the weather should be great for a race.

Bring in the third string...

2008-08-28T09:11:00.004-04:00

I am currently out of commission. I have been complaining of pain since late July and it got worse last week. I could usually run through it, but my stride would be totally off and the stiffness and pain wouldn't ease until about two miles into my runs.

Two clues it wasn't just something little... 1) I was limping while walking and didn't realize it. Two people at work noticed and asked about it, which is how I found out. 2) I quit half way through ultimate frisbee last Friday. I wasn't willing to run for a game that I love to play.

Kristin and I had a chat about this Saturday and determined I need to see a doctor. My thought, though, is that I don't want to go the doctor route until I have properly tried to rest it. So I have decided to take two weeks off. I took off one when this pain first started, and it obviously wasn't enough. So I'm taking two, and if there is any pain at all when I try to start back up then I am going to the doctor.

This is totally going to throw off my mileage. I am going to be struggling to hit my mileage goal for the year after this hiatus. It will be a steeper hill to climb, but definitely not impossible. If I can stay healthy, then I can do it. I will just have to work harder than I thought I would.

To make matters worse, Kristin was out on a run Friday and ended at the frisbee field. By this time, I was already sitting out, so we stayed and watched everyone finish their games. We started to walk home afterwards, but a friend that was meeting us at our house drove by. So I hopped in the car, and Kristin elected to run the rest of the way home. Just before she got home, she ended up stepping on a rock that was in the middle of the road and she slipped and hit the pavement. She hurt her foot in the process.

She was limping around that day and for the next couple days, but decided not to go to the doctor. I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV, but I would diagnose her as having a mild sprain.

She wanted to try a run on Tuesday, and she did well. But her foot was hurting worse on Wednesday. I'm not sure at this point what her plans are to rest it further. I haven't updated our mileage on the site recently, but when I put it up you will see that she has been doing great lately. I hope her injury doesn't slow her down too far.

We are both signed up for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5k in Cleveland on September 13. And Kristin is signed up for the 12.5k leg of the Akron Marathon relay on September 27.

The Plan

2008-08-20T12:19:00.004-04:00

The burn is getting better. There is still a bit of pain at times, but it never got as bad as I had expected. After Sunday's post, I realized that even the tops of my feet were burnt. The only other time this happened was at Nassau when I was on a Disney Cruise. Too bad I wasn't in the Bahamas this past weekend. That would have been much more fun than swimming in Ohio.

I devised a plan to get to 60 miles this month. I needed about 34 miles and I had between Aug 19 and Aug 31 to complete them. This is more than I have ever run in this short a time frame, and I figured it would be less stress on my body to keep the runs shorter and throw in a couple extras than to just make all of my runs longer. I realize I should be increasing mileage, but to meet my goal this month, I am going to hold mileage increases for September.

I have 13 days available, two of which I know I won't "run" because we'll be playing ultimate frisbee. That game is constant sprints mostly ranging from 10-30 yards. I usually credit myself with 1-1.5 miles for a full evening of play (I won't bore you with that calculation unless someone asks) plus the .5 mile round trip run to the field. So let's say that ends up being three miles for the two nights. That leaves me needing 31 miles in 11 days.

The rest of the plan involves eight 4-mile runs and three days of rest. It is a busier schedule than I am accustomed to with only three rest days mixed with 10 running days, but it's what I need to do. Also, if I mess up somewhere, I can always make one of the runs longer.

The plan was to start last night, but that didn't go to plan (I know what you're thinking...but don't worry). We got our last delivery of dirt, so we spent about two hours after dinner shoveling and moving four yards of top soil. It was nearly dark when we finished and I was very tired from the work. I was ready to get in for the night, but decided that I could manage a short run. So I went out for a quick 1.5 mile spin around the block.

I think rather than losing a rest day, I will just up some of my runs to 4.5 miles to make up for the couple miles I missed last night. So with that in mind, I've still got three days I can rest until the end of the month. Tonight will not be one of them.

If it isn't one thing...

2008-08-17T20:20:00.003-04:00

I'm still on my goal of reaching 60 miles this month, but it's not going well. I feel like I'm entering excuse mode, but I'm trying to avoid it. I got through the major leg pain, though I am still having minor problems with pain. Mostly better, though, and usually eases after I get warmed up.

I ran 14.7 miles through the 9th, so I would need to average just over 15 miles per week for the balance of the month to meet my goal. This week started good. The plan was runs on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Tuesday's run went well. I planned 6 miles, but went off of my regular courses. I realized that I ended up at 5.65 after I got home and mapped my path. Thursday's run didn't happen. I had a buddy over helping set up for a party this weekend...and long story short he needed someone to talk to. Not wanting to kick him out, he ended up not leaving until it was nearly my bed time. So no run. I couldn't make up the miles Friday because of existing plans right after work that didn't get me home until about 11:00.

Saturday, I ran as long as I could given what still needed to be done with the party. 4.5 miles. Not too bad. That left me needing about five miles for the week. The plan was to just throw in the extra run today.

After we cleaned up from the party this morning, we went swimming. I had promised Kristin about a month ago that I would take her swimming one weekend, and this is the one that worked out. We spent about three hours at a local watering hole. I burn easy, so I sunscreened twice. But after I got home, it was obvious that we missed a couple spots. First was the back of my arms. My back and shoulders are fine, but the tricep area is burnt. And my legs are burnt for about six inches above my knee caps. I didn't put sunscreen there as it is covered by the swim shorts, but when we were sitting out of the water, apparently the shorts pulled up a bit and exposed that skin.

I tried to run today, but the sunburn is killing me. I was fine to start, but the further I got, the more the clothes rubbing on the burnt skin was causing the pain to intensify. I just couldn't go any further. This may have been a willpower issue that I could have worked through, but all I kept thinking was how this was probably just going to make things hurt worse tomorrow.

So now here I am needing to average about 17 miles each week through the end of the month. I don't plan to run again until Tuesday. Hopefully at that point the sunburn pain is manageable during a run. If not, then I will cancel my golf plans for Wednesday and get a good run in then. I missed my mileage goal last month, I really don't want that to happen again this month.

Kristin is out running as we speak. She said her plans were for six miles. I wish her well. It is insanely humid out compared to what we have had the past few weeks.

Cornfest!

2008-08-09T12:18:00.005-04:00

Jeff from the Snowy Tundra had the brilliant idea of having a virtual race today, Cornfest...both 5k and 10k distances. I celebrated the event by signing up for the Green YMCA Caribbean 10k. This was my first 10k and I am glad to say that I did a bit better than I expected.

The course was mostly flat. It was a 2.5k out and back track. The 5k racers ran it once, and the 10k racers did it twice. My only complaint about the whole thing is that they didn't do a good job of yelling times through the course. The only time I heard was at mile 1 -- 8:32.

I did a great job pacing myself from the start. I ran past the 5k finish line at about 26:30. After that, I thought I felt myself slowing down. At approx mile 4 and mile 5 I slowed to a walk for about 30 seconds as I grabbed water, but that was the only slow down I had. Final time: 53:37 -- a pace of 8:38 per mile.

I was hoping for under an hour, and expected my final time to be closer to 56 minutes based on my time for the first half and that I thought my pace was slowing. I feel great knowing that I was able to maintain a very steady pace through the whole race.

Weather was great. It was in the upper 60s at race time with partly cloudy skies. The course was almost completely flat. I heard someone say that they didn't like the course because you went through the same scenery four times. I think it helped for pacing. Mile 1 was marked, and then on the second time through the course, mile 5 had been marked. In the few races I have been in, it has been rare to see mile markers. So knowing where that single marker was on the first lap and then being familiar with the course really helped you to know approximately how far you were at any point in time.

I have been having leg issues the last couple weeks. I am mostly better, but still have some pain in my hip. I was dying to play ultimate frisbee last night since I didn't play last week and won't be able to next week. But I erred on the side of caution and only played three games...we normally play 8-10. My hip was hurting when I finished playing, so I was worried about today, but it felt great through the whole race.

Also, with my run today, we are past 500 miles on the year, into South Carolina, and only a couple miles away from the half-way point to WDW!

Congratulations to everyone who has finished Cornfest, and good luck to those of you still waiting for your time to start.

Better...

2008-08-06T22:34:00.002-04:00

But not great.

My leg is much better now, though I do have some stiffness/mild pain in my hip while I run. It was not as bad yesterday as it had been on Sunday. I think I am going to sign up for a 10k for this Saturday.

Painting is moving along. The den is done. We need one more coat in the dining room. The hallway still isn't started, but it won't be nearly as big of a project.

Kristin has put in two 6 mile runs so far this week. She is off to a great start to the month. My goal this month is 60 miles. I plan a short run tomorrow if I finish painting in time and then the 10k on Saturday. That will put me at 15 miles in nine days...which is a 50 mile pace for the month. I'll need to make sure I get at least one long run in per week moving forward. And hope that my leg doesn't act up again.

Back in the Saddle

2008-08-03T20:39:00.004-04:00

Timeline of the last week...
Sunday: 4 mile run. Felt great.
Monday: General pain/soreness in my right leg from my hip to my calf. Definitely different from the left joint pain I had had in the past.
Tuesday: Blog post complaining about pain, though it wasn't as bad as Monday. Tried to run, but I was hobbling after only going about two blocks. I stopped to stretch some more, then picked it back up. The pain just got worse. I ended with only 2/3 of a mile for the day.
Wednesday: Limping all day. Very bad pain.
Thursday: Still a decent amount of pain; limping gone.
Friday: Just a bit of tightness.
Saturday: Leg felt great.
Sunday: Leg felt great. Ran 2.9 miles. Leg feels good in general, though a lot of tightness in that hip and in my lower back on that side. We'll see how tomorrow feels.

I'm tired of my body playing games with me. It makes me feel old.

On the home front, we've started painting. We are doing our den, dining room, and a hallway. I've never done actual painting like this before. It amazed me how long all the prep work took...moving things out, taking everything off the walls, taping, etc. We did the prep and bought paint yesterday. Today we worked on the den. Two coats on the ceiling, the primer, and we got as far as doing trim work with the paint. We couldn't devote all day because Kristin had a bridal shower to go to and I had to do some office work at home in order to meet deadlines we have at right now at Smucker's. It has been terribly busy at work, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.