Countdown to Exhaustion

It's bad enough to speak exhaustion over myself for this race... I'm not going for the full reference in my title and counting down to extinction. That might actually happen. I am in no way fully trained for this race, but I am prepared enough to complete it without keeling over.

My sister and I leave on FRIDAY. Disney is kind enough to remind me of this every time that I absentmindedly visit their website.

Everything is basically in order. The waivers are printed, as well as hotel and dining confirmation emails. I've already done online check-in for us. All that is really left to do is pack and have my car serviced. I've even signed my mom up for runner tracking for both of us.

We're leaving Friday afternoon after my sister gets off of work. That will put us at Disney at approximately midnight. This hotel reservation seems somewhat ridiculous because of the way we planned our trip. We're staying at All-Star Sports (obviously - picture) for only one night. We'll be checking in at midnight and checking out the next day. We're driving home after the Villains Bash (technically Sunday morning) in order to be home for church. We're going to just load everything in the car before we check out on Saturday, race, party as long as we can stand it, and head for home. I realize the insanity of this plan, but we think we're going to have no problem accomplishing this.

Figuring that it will be best to have a large breakfast and then increasingly smaller meals from there, we have an 11:00 breakfast reservation at a location that will remain undisclosed for now. The location is a surprise for my sister, and while she doesn't read this that I know of, I'm not taking any chances. I also realize that 11:00 is pushing what is acceptable to be called "breakfast" but we will have a late night the night before, and the race itself isn't until 10:00, so we have plenty of time to space out our meals.

I am so incredibly pumped. Two more nights of work. Two more sleeps.

Failure Number... One Million?

Blah! I cannot blog consistently to save my life. What is the deal? I'm not going to lie - I also am wondering if I'll ever be able to run consistently again. I am just losing majorly.

I'm assuming that if you've been in a running lull, you know how hard it can be to jump back in and get a routine going. Combine that with adjusting to a new job (with a relatively random schedule) and the inability to sleep like a normal person, and running seems like a darn near impossible task.

I'm updating right now to say this, though... I AM ABOUT TO GO RUNNING. Right now. Believe it. I'm putting on my shoes and heading out. Ready, set, go.

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DONE.

Was it the best run? No. Honestly, I felt totally out of shape and didn't love it. What did feel awesome, though, was actually getting out and running. The awesome fall weather we are finally starting to have wasn't too bad, either.

OH! Also. When I finished running, my Nike app told me the sweetest thing... my pace was faster than my average pace for my past 7 runs. That's what's up.

I forgot to do my countdown earlier, but I need to add in the Atlanta Half Marathon on Thanksgiving because I finally registered for it.

8 days until the 10 miler! (just 8???? shoot!!)
62 days until the Atlanta Half!
114 days until the WDW Marathon!

Gah! Falling Behind!!!

I absolutely refuse to fall behind this time. I may have failed to update these last few days, but I'm not giving up! What a crazy weekend I had. I am sad to admit that I didn't run or do yoga on Saturday. That wedding wiped me out. It was awesome to celebrate my friend, but I just ran out of time to get any sort of a work out in. Plus, I was exhausted.

Sunday brought more bad news in the work out department. I woke up at 7:30 (got ready extremely quickly because I was supposed to wake up at 7:00), went to church, and did not get home until 9:30 PM. Rough. Sundays I have only scheduled morning and evening yoga for myself, but I couldn't quite bring myself to do either time slot. I was on my feet the majority of the time I was at church and jumped around quite a bit, so it's not like I was completely inactive. I still was bummed that I didn't do what I  was intending, though.

Which brings us to yesterday... I would like to report that yesterday I jumped right back into my routine, but that is not what happened at all. I slept much later than I have in quite some time. I was planning on working out anyway until I remembered that I needed to be downtown to help out with choir auditions. I could have easily worked out when I got home because it was only around 7:30, but I didn't. That is where the pathetic saga of my failure ends.

Today is a new day. I haven't actually run yet, so I can't say that 100% truthfully. I fully plan on it when I get home, though. I could have run this morning, but I didn't want to shower again. Normally that wouldn't be an issue, but I had a job interview today. Sweaty is not a good interview look.

Tonight I have a dinner with one of my church volunteer teams, so I will have every excuse to not run when I get home. It won't beat me today, though. I will run. I will do yoga. I will conquer Tuesday.

31 days until the 10 miler!
136 days until the WDW Marathon!

FOUR.

Four days into this third attempt, still going strong. I won't feel accomplished until I surpass eight, though. Today I started off with my morning yoga (which I like significantly less than my evening yoga) and then did 30 minutes of strength training. 

I definitely wanted to make sure I got everything in early today because in about 20 minutes I'm heading to a wedding rehearsal. One of my high school friends is getting married tomorrow (woo!) and she has been kind enough to include me in the wedding party. This also means I'm going to be getting up super early to get my run in tomorrow. I'll get over that, though. The 10 miler fast approaches, and I am determined to get myself back to 12:00 miles.

35 days until the 10 miler!

140 days until the WDW Marathon!

It counts because it's still Thursday!

It's late, but I made it! I actually almost updated quite a few times earlier today but wanted to wait until I had completed ALL of my daily goals. Normally I don't wait until 10:00 to do my evening yoga, but today choir rehearsal demanded that I do so.

This morning my run was consistent again! My pace was slightly faster than Tuesday (12:50/mile) which makes me super pumped. I am getting back to normal! Well, as normal as I ever am.

I had an incredible day that was productive, filled with Jesus, and filled with so many wonderful people I have not been able to see in quite some time. I'm so, so grateful but also exhausted. Bedtime is here and I am thrilled.

36 days until the 10 miler!
141 days until the WDW Marathon!

Day the Second.

Fact: I didn't come update after I went running last night. I ran at 8pm and it was glorious. It was the first time I've had a consistent pace since the stoner kidney chilled out. Of course, that consistent pace was 13-minute miles, but I'll take it. It also doesn't bother me because I'm only shooting for 12-minute miles for the Tower of Terror. That should be no problem at all. I even did my evening yoga after I ran. AND I busted out the foam roller. I was just Miss Productive. I was reminded that I certainly need to break out the foam roller a little more often than I have been doing because my leg was straight up angry.

Today, being a Wednesday, was a morning yoga and strength training day. I was feeling distinctly less like a slacker today, and I have already knocked out both of those things. Score. Now I get to continue to do productive things such as cleaning out my closet. I've been spending the week overhauling my room, and the closet is the last thing left. Time to throw everything in it away so that I can effectively use the space. Here's hoping I don't get lost in there...

37 days until the 10 miler!
142 days until the WDW Marathon!

Do-Over?

And there went attempt number two to successfully document my race training...

Let's just start over. Third time's a charm and whatnot, right? I'm currently between jobs and school has not started for me, so I have absolutely no excuses.

Unfortunately, I had to miss out on the Peachtree this year because I was borderline concussed (long story involving a rolling clothing rack covered in black fabric). I was sad to miss out, but the good news is that they will give me guaranteed registration next year. No lottery for this girl!

I would like to say that I am going strong in my Tower of Terror training, but I'm working back up to what's normal for me. Working at camp in the summer threw me off track a little bit, but what really killed me was the kidney stone that decided to make an appearance in my life at the end of July. Now that I'm jobless and my kidney is no longer stoned, I'm ready to rock.

I've adjusted the training plan I was using, because there is no way that it would have been a good idea for me to run 9 miles last Saturday. I did run a 5K, though, so that counts for something. Or not. I had an asthma attack the same morning which caused me to walk significantly more than I was planning. I haven't had an attack in over a year, and one pops up the morning of a race? Annoying. Oh well, such is life. It was still fun, I got a t-shirt, and the location was beautiful. It was the Run the Vineyard 5K at Chateau Elan in Brasleton, GA. The weather was gorgeous, and it was nice to have such pretty scenery to look at. It almost negated the fact that the second half of the course was almost all uphill. What did end up canceling out the negatives is the sweet t-shirt. It has an anthropomorphic wine barrel jogging on it. Hilarious.

In other news, a couple of months ago I officially registered for the Disney Marathon. It will be my third marathon (all 3 Disney) and I'm hoping to actually run it in around 5 hours this time. I would love to be under 5:00, but anything under 6:00 would be a triumph in itself. Marathon #1 was a nightmare time-wise. I'm proud that I finished because it was my first, I was undertrained, and I had bronchitis. However, it was definitely not my best finish. Marathon #2 was a significant improvement, but I was still over 6:00. I didn't account for the fact that I would be in choir at a massive conference (which means on my feet for the majority of the day) for almost a week leading into the weekend before the race. That will potentially happen again this year, but now I'll be ready. No sneaking up on me this time, Passion. I will have my recovery plan at the ready!

Of course, far before that is the Tower of Terror 10-Miler. My hotel room is booked, so now I am official. Which is assuming that the hefty registration fee didn't make it official in the first place. I guess I'm just doubly official now. I would love to run it in right around 2 hours. That would put me at a 12 minute mile pace, which seems attainable after the aforementioned training derailment. Plus, I don't want to destroy myself and not be able to enjoy the after party at Hollywood Studios. If I'm too exhausted or injured to ride Rock 'n' Roller Coaster a million times over I will be extremely disappointed.

Also happening long before January is the Atlanta Half Marathon on Thanksgiving Day. I ran it last year and really enjoyed it. The best part is definitely running underneath the Olympic rings. Well, that and the abundance of parking since it starts at Turner Field. I haven't registered yet (remember I have no job?), but I will soon. Especially since the price goes up on September 1. I really do need a job, just so I can support my race habit. I recently put out a lot of applications, so hopefully I'll find something soon. I'm not picky.

I'm already looking ahead to 2013 races. Again, I need a job. I've considered designating my Way2Save account as a Run Disney account. I'm planning on hitting as many Disney races as possible and throwing some local races like the Peachtree in there for good measure. Disney-wise I am planning on the Princess Half, the Tower of Terror (if it happens again), the Wine and Dine Half, and the Disneyland Marathon (Lord willing... I am aching for that Coast to Coast medal.) I'm also planning on training all year to do the Goofy Challenge in 2014. The jury's still out on that, though.

Well, that should cover just about everything. Maybe I'll actually blog consistently again so that lengthy nonsense like this won't have to happen again.

WRONG. I did not cover everything. The purpose of this blog is still for me to log daily workouts and I didn't even do that. Partially because it's Tuesday which is a running and evening yoga day, and I have done neither of those things. I'll just edit later when that happens. Fair? Fair.

38 days until the 10 miler!
143 days until the WDW Marathon!