Where to Begin?

I have so many things I'm excited about right now, I don't even know where to begin!

First, RunDisney revealed the new 20th Anniversary WDW Marathon medal today!  It's in color, it spins, and it has two great Walt Disney quotes etched into it.  I CANNOT wait to get my hands on this thing!  I'm already anticipating bawling like a baby when I cross the finish line and receive the medal.  So many of my ROTE friends are running Mickey this year, too, so we're basically planning one big rolling party at the "back of the pack."  It's going to be epic.  Only 152 days to go!

 As an additional bonus, they also updated the RunDisney website - go check it out!  The new pages are much better organized and intuitive, with all the info you could want/need within a few easy clicks!

Second, Marine Corps is now only 75 days away.  10 weeks from this Sunday.  I have to admit that my excitement over this one is definitely heightened by fear.  The time requirement is still scaring the bejeezus out of me...  But when I start freaking out about it, I try to calm myself down by repeating the mantra of the marines "Earned Never Given."  And I know that if I can stand in front of a marine at that finish line then that will be a defining moment in my life.  That knowledge makes me excited for a weekend that also terrifies me - oxymoronic, I know, but hey - that's pretty typical me.

Third, my online running group, Running of the Ears, just made a "gear" order, and I bought a new tech shirt, a tech tank, and a logo Tshirt.  They look so great!  I took the new tech shirt on a 9 mile test run on Saturday and it felt comfortable and wicked wonderfully!  Looking forward to being part of the "sea of red" that ROTE promises to be at all the Disney races this year! 

Lastly, I still have a little bit of a "happy hangover" from San Francisco.  Rather than hanging up my two half medals and the "Half It All Challenge" medal on my medal rack, they are still sitting out on my kitchen counter, where I can see them and smile every day.  I'll even pick up the challenge medal and spin it a bit and it gives me the warm fuzzies.  Can't believe it's been two and a half weeks already!  And yes, I know I still need to do a race report - I'm using waiting on pics from my mom as an excuse.

And, oh yeah!  Training's still going well.  Nine miles last Saturday morning (should've been 8.5 per the map, but we missed a turn and had to backtrack a bit...ooops).  Last week I got in 3 bootcamp strength training sessions, my two short runs, and my long run.  This week I seem to be on track for another successful completion of my weekday training plan.  And...Saturday has a 19-20 miler on tap.  Whew.  That'll be a big hurdle to get over!

On & Off the Wagon

It will come as news to no one that I'm not so great about sticking to a training plan - especially those weekday runs - I've posted about this before...

TWO WEEKS straight of no weekday runs this time!!!  Ugh.  I'm so disappointed in myself.  Working late almost every night recently and general laziness have been my downfall.  I did manage to get in one day of bootcamp each week, but that was it.  So time to get back on the wagon.  It's a good thing that I have an annual pass to ride this wagon, because that means on/off privilages are included!  LOL.  Even though I missed my weekday runs, I did get in both weekend runs: two weeks ago I ran a 6 mile taper run and last week I ran a half.

Yes, I ran the San Francisco 2nd Half Marathon this past weekend.  Yes, the race went really well, I had a great time running with a good friend, and I earned two new medals.  At some point this week or weekend I'll get a chance to sit down and write a full race report about it.

I put off yesterday's short run because my feet were still just the tiniest bit tender - and I wanted to give the two small blisters I got during the race one more day to heal.  I did, however go to boot camp yesterday.  Today I missed bootcamp because I forgot to pack pants in my gym bag (doh!) but did get in a short interval run on the treadmill at home using a 60:30 interval at 5mph:3pmh just to do a slow shake-out run after Sunday's race.

Today:

• 2.17 mi; 0:30:00; 13:49min/mi

Boot Camp, Skirt Converts, and Galloway

Skirt converts!

I had a great training week.  I got in both of my short weekday runs on Tuesday and Thursday, and I started a 6-week indoor bootcamp that I got through Groupon on Wednesday.  It felt really great to get those short runs in, and bootcamp is going to be hard work, but hopefully will be rewarding!  When I follow my training plan, I get enough cardio from running, so this bootcamp will be focusing on strength training.

I've been pretty successful in starting to get some of the girls in my Galloway Group to "convert to skirt" and start wearing SparkleSkirts.  Here, S, L, and I are all in our cute and comfortable skirts after our group run on Saturday morning.  As we pointed out to the other pace groups, we may not be fast, but we ARE fashionable!!!

"Lost in Pace" girls with Jeff Galloway

Speaking of Galloway, the man himself, Jeff Galloway, was doing a Meet & Greet at one of our local running stores here today, so a lot of us came to hear him speak and ask questions.  It was a relaxed and informative session.  He and I even got to have a short and fun conversation about Disney racing!  I asked if he had any insider info on the 20th Anniversary stuff.  He said he didn't know anything about the surprise at Mile 20, but he had been taping spots for a new promo video that RunDisney is putting together that will have hints in it - yay - and will be released in another 3-4 weeks.  Also, he said that the anniversary medal is going to be "SPECTACULAR."  I am SO excited!

Week in Review:

• Tues - 2.2 mi; 30 min; 13:57 pace (2:1,2:1,1:1 interval spacing)
• Wed - 30 min strength bootcamp circuit
• Thurs -
• 2.7 mi; 41 min; 15:01 pace (4x800 speedwork)
• 30 min strength bootcamp circuit
• Sat - 5.81 mi; 1:31:50; 15:48 pace (1:1 interval)