I Can Go the Distance!

Not a great start to the morning for me.  Just half a mile into today's long run I was thinking there was no way I could do another 10.5 miles, and was ready to throw in the towel.  As I was using a walk interval to contemplate how skipping this training run would affect my preparation for January, I realized that the song "Go The Distance" from Disney's Hercules, had started playing on my iPod, and these words were coming through my earphones, loud and strong:

I am on my way.
I can go the distance.
I don't care how far,
Somehow I'll be strong.
I know ev'ry mile,
Will be worth my while...
I would go most anywhere
to find where I belong.

It was like I had my own personal soundtrack telling me to keep going and that it would be worth it!  So I pushed on, determined to get those 11 miles finished.  And I did it!  Wuhoo!

Disney once again came through for me and provided some much-needed inspiration.  Funny, I have several times in the past almost deleted that song from my running playlist because it starts so slow, but stopped myself because it has such a strong finish.  Now I'm really grateful that I didn't remove it!

Today's stats:

• 10 min. warm-up walk
• 11 mi run; 2:25:28 time; 13:13 min/mi avg.

3 is not 5

I won't try to justify it.  I only did 3 even though 5 were on the schedule.  Oh well.  Still on for 11 on Saturday!

Today's stats:

• 10 min warm-up walk
• 3 mi run; 0:40:58 min; 13:39 min/mi

Gobble, Gobble! Turkey Trot Race Report

On Thanksgiving Day most families get up early to start the hard work of preparing the many dishes for their evening feast.  Not mine!  We were up bright and early, and we were working hard, but we spent our morning joining over 15,000 runners and walkers in the 20th annual Austin Turkey Trot.

We met up with family friends and my parents around 8:15 Thursday morning.  The Kids K started at 8:45, and the 5 mile race started at 9:30.  Before the race, we waited near the start line, chatting and catching up with friends - we even got to see the honorary mascot of the race - a real, live, turkey!  Around 9:15, we all split up to go to our "corrals" - I lined up  in the 13-14 min/mile pace corral.  Then at 9:30, we were off!  There were so many people participating in the race, it took me almost 10 minutes to get to the start line!

It was supposed to be a 5 mile course, but as I crossed the finish line, I looked down and my Garmin had only logged 4.55 miles...wait, what?  Had my Garmin malfunctioned?  Had I lost satellites at some point and not realized it?  What had happened?  After checking with my dad, whose Garmin had also only registered just over 4.5 miles, we realized that the course hadn't actually been the full 5 miles!  Later, we received an email from the race organizers apologizing for the shortened course, saying that the pace car had missed a turn, and the lead runners followed, and they were then followed by the other thousands of runners...what are the chances?

This year's trot was especially fun because I knew quite a few people running it.  As we saw each other while passing or being passed, we'd exchange words of encouragement, or use a walk interval to talk for a minute.  It was definitely one of the most fun non-Disney races in which I've ever participated!

 Race Stats:

• 4.55 miles; 1:00:09; 13:12 min/mi
• Turkey Trot Garmin Results

Back at it!

Well, after an awesome week with Mickey (which, unfortunately, meant over a week of not running), tonight was my first night back  it.  Between packing for Disney, being at Disney, and recovering from Disney, my planned runs for last week went completely out the window... On the other hand, it's not like I sat on my butt all week - because there's only one speed for my family while we're visiting The Mouse - and that's all-out-take-no-prisoners-full-speed!  So even if it wasn't actual running, there was plenty of activity with all the running around we were doing.  Speaking of running around WDW, it was amazing how many times  we found ourselves saying "In five weeks we'll be running through here..." or "This is where such-and-such happened last year..."  No doubt about it - we're definitely getting excited for Marathon Weekend!

Trying to make up for the week away, tonight was another late night at the office, and I would've loved to do nothing but fall into bed when I got home, but I told myself that that missing another training run was not an option.  So I quickly changed into my running gear and hopped on the treadmill just as Biggest Loser was starting, and lo and behold, it was the marathon episode - talk about motivation!  So, while the last 4 contestants ran their marathon, I did my 4 miles, and felt good getting back into the groove of things.

Today's stats:

• 10 min warm-up walk
• 4 mi run; 55:45 min; 13:56 min/mi