Spring has arrived, I think.

Beautiful weather this weekend. Took most of yesterday off and got in a run in 60+ degree weather. Ended up getting an 8.25 mile run in, longest since the Disney run in January. Felt good, a little sore afterward, but since it has been a while since my last long run it was to be expected. Right around 8:55/mile average which pretty good in my area with the hills.

Down a solid lb on the weight front (probably 2, but I'm being conservative....I'm sure some of you are shocked...at the conservatism thing ;-)).

The question now is, when will the next "race" be....

It's Amazing...

With the blink of an eye, you finally see the light.... Any Aerosmith fan's out there?

Anyhoo, so I heard the song this morning on the XM radio (ch 41 old rock songs, very cool) and thought, yeah, I think I finally have seen the light at the end of this bad cycle tunnel! Only a couple of days since my declaration of weight loss and turning around the traning, and I feel great. Ran 4 miles yesterday (all I had time for) and progressed throught the run very nicely. Started off around 8:54 for the first mile, then down to 8:45 on the second, took a hill route on the 3rd but still made it in under 9 (8:53). The last mile felt really good and the legs were moving fairly effortlessly (8:30). I'm over 41 miles for the month (already 3 miles more that each of the last two months) and while that is good, I'm still not back up to speed or on track to put in 70+ as I had been doing in 2008. That will come soon though.

Like an AIG Executive....

I'm getting fat! I've been gaining and losing the same 5 lbs over the past couple of months and it's killin' me. So it's time to put the ol' stake in the ground and put a goal on the books. I'm currently 198 and will be down to 190-192 (and will maintain at this weight) by the end of April. Why so long? Well, for me, I've been maintaining at 195 for 3 or 4 years now so my body is really used to this weight. I'm okay with that, but would like to be leaner for the summer running season and in prep for the marathon come Oct. I'd like to run the marathon at 188 or less, but will see how the summer goes.

I know it doesn't sound like much and y'all are like "you're complaining about 5 lbs?" but I tell ya, it's enough to scare me into changing my habits before the 5lbs turns into 10-15 lbs cause I'm starting to see that trend forming.....

Anyhoo, as always, thanks everyone for your support! I'm going to get this thing done and back on track!

WDW Annual Report..

Not sure how, but I talked my MBA group into breaking down the WDW 2008 Annual Report for our financial accounting class. They asked if I had an idea, so I said...take a wild guess....all together they were like "uh, I don't know, Disney?" Apparently I'm out of the Disney closet now...LOL They said they were cool with that, so I'm pretty psyched. Downloaded it during out diner break last night and began to skim through it. Cool stuff...lots O' big numbers in that balance sheet...like a small country's GDP, yeeesh!

Working from home today and just got back from a good run. 4 miler with all mile times under 9min each.

Mile 1 : 8:35 (some downhill)
Mile 2: 8:42 (nice and level)
Mile 3: 8:57 (some uphill)
Mile 4: 8:56 (more uphill)
.10 Hill sprint

Nothing stellar yet, but feel like I'm starting to get back a tiny bit of what I have lost in the past couple of months. I'll be shooting for a longer run on Friday after work as long as my meeting schedule doesn't get out of hand. I'll let y'all know how it goes, of course...

Niet on the D23 ehh... Interesting, but I see Mike and Rae's point. I'm not opposed to Disney trying to make money in this market though. They have shown in the past to create a good amount of value for the dollars spent. It might not be worth the 75 now, but I'm guessing if they get a luke warm reception that they'll up the ante. Too good of a demographic data pool for them to give up. Wondering if they'll ever extend offers to make some of the unofficial podcasts official? Or create their own? I think they should leave that arena alone, not their core competency for sure (although there is alot of media expertise in the company...). Not to mention that for every negative thing being said, there probably 10 positive things being said....

Anyhoo, run, run, run!

Solid Run...Lots of work to do

Got outside yesterday for a 5 miler. Took the "hill" route and it kicked my rear end. Still, I was able to bring my mile times down to the low 9's by the second mile (after the major hills) and just enjoy being outside for once. The weather appears to have broke and forcasts are looking good, for at least this week. Should be able to post another 2-3 outdoor runs this week. It's critical that I get out as I haven't been doing such a great job as of late. As I've mentioned, work has been insane and school is ever present. No Rae, not done with the MBA yet. Not till June of 2010. It's an intensive cohort program where we go 9hrs once a week for five weeks and then move on to the next subject (only one class at a time). The amount of reading per week is just nuts....but I'll be done in a bit over a year, so I'm looking foward to it.

My sister in-law was all excited yesterday as she thought WDW tickets had gone down in price, but it turns out that it was a DisneyLand deal. LOL Haven't checked out the new D23 yet, but from what I have read I think it might be something we could subscribe too...we'll have to check it out and see. :-) If any of you have done this already I'd love to hear your review.

Mmmmmmenucia

Sorry for the lack of posting as of late guys/gals. Work has kicked it up a notch and ask that I take over some new high profile projects that have seriously timeline issues. Lovely, just the thing I want to be associated with... I suppose it's sort of like an underhanded compliment that they think I can help...

Anyhoooo, I've only been running 3x's a week as of late and not loving the minscule numbers. I did finish my sixth MBA class and on to finance/accounting next.

Gotta catch up on all the blog activity as it seems like there's alot going on and I want to make sure I'm supporting y'all!

Mike, that surgery is coming up soon, right? Yikes! I'm sure they'll be over you saying "we can rebuild him...better....faster...stronger..." Okay, maybe not faster....I mean, honestly, what's after going plaid? BTW - I've got an intro to pitch to you and Jeff....hopefully will get a chance over the weekend to write it up. Thought of it while running on the mill last night.

Congratulations to all the Princess finishers!!!!

BEHOLD MY MARCH SNOW-MELTAWAY-ANATOR

If it were only that simple Dr. Doofenshmitz...if only it were that simple....

Nothing really new here in CT, just bitterly cold, like 8 degrees or minus something or other with the wind chill. Does it really matter what the wind chill is when they state that it's 8 degrees...I mean, C'mon, it's 8 DEGREE'S PEOPLE!!!!

We did purchase a new elliptical machine the other day, so it appears that my cross-training efforts will have a new option pretty soon. They need to get it from the warehouse and such, so it's going to be a couple of weeks. And yes, Mike, it has the speed and distance readouts on it :-) As well as a bunch of other crap as well. Looks like it has space invaders on there too...ya know, in case you get bored with the workout and all.... My take is that they should invest that money into building a better product! If people are bored on your machine then perhaps they aren't working hard enough... Just say'n...

Treadmill and bike training this week, that's about it... Hoping to pick up the miles to over 15 (weekly total) and see how the foot will handle it. Right now, the left foot feels like it has the sesamoiditis and the right one is horrid when I'm not wearing shoes, but feels fine with sneakers....ugh.

Spring is ...No wait...More snow...

Ugly. That's all I can say about this mornings commute and my loathing for winter at this point in the year. Took me an hour and a half to get in to work due to the lovely little snow storm that dumped a large amount of snow on us last night. I'm just done with all of this stuff.... Of course, that means that running more outside just took a break as well. :-(

In any event, I was able to get another 3.1 on the mill yesterday and rediscovered a little more speed. Not too much, but was able to push it a bit more and could feel my legs and lungs coming back, so perhaps all is not lost on that front.

Totally missed the AATM live show yesterday and was pretty bummed out! By the time I got the kids bathed and to bed, etc, etc, etc... It was after 9pm. Ugh, and I wanted to call in and at least congratulate the guys on their 100th show. That stinks...will have to leave them a v-mail I suppose. Just a failed weekend all the way around I suppose. Thankfully the Vern Week-Team Voice challenge was the one bright spot.

Is it okay to just "maintain"?

That's what I'm asking myself this month where my running is concerned. It could just be a knee jerk reaction to not being able to run all that much with the foot issue or the insanity brought on by the winter (and cold lung syndrome...), but I've been pondering this. Should I just do this year what I did last year in order to maintain my running pace or try and commit more time to it in an effort to reduce my pace. I feel it's a legitimate question as I'm actually happy at the moment with a high 8 minute pace and running sub 2hr 13.1 mile runs. Right?

The real question here is the time to commit to training. In order to reduce that overall time I need to spend more time out running as well as adding in serious cross-training. Between the work and home schedule last year I eek'd all I could out of it to just get in 3-5 runs a week. When the heck am I going to do the other stuff! And that's the problem I'm having as I don't like the word "maintain" or "sustain"....it feels alot like "settling" or "giving up"....

Perhaps I'm just thinking about this too much due to the reasons above and need to get back on my running schedule before figuring out when I'm going to squeak in the other stuff. I'm sticking to my goal of running the Hartford marathon in under 4hrs as I think I can do that without too much more speed tranining. As for other speed goals, I'm going leave them alone for now and wait till my head is a little bit clearer before setting them. Focus right now needs to be on my job, family, and school as there are major transistions happening in all three at the moment.

What do you guys think? Being hard on myself? Not hard enough?

Musings and Tidbits

Check this out.... one of the possible exam questions in my Management Process MBA class is the following:
Disney’s theme parks outside America have incorporated unique features that meet the special needs and interests of local customers. Disney is responding with what strategy?

What would your answer be? Granted, it's kind of a dated question, but thought this crowd would enjoy the topic. :)

So Rae, I finally registered for the 2010 half, you happy now? ;-) ..... Did they charge us a $10 processing fee last year? I don't recall paying it, but could be losing my mind... Also, these pins better be something special for nearly $12!!! Last years were 8.95 I believe. Man, I'm getting crabby and cheap in my old age, LOL.

Was going to try and brave another outdoor run today as I'm working from home, but chickened out due to the weather station reading 28 degree's....and with the wipping wind, I decided to keep it on the treadmill. Another 3.2 miles for the month of February brings me to 25.81 running miles, 850 push-ups and a mere 430 sit-ups. Really slacking on the sit-ups this month... I'm okay with the mileage being so low as this foot thing is still present. It feels just fine when I run, but I can feel it walking barefoot in the bathroom when I get into the shower and such. Also, it appears that my left sesamoids have joined the inflamation party. Again, nothing that is really killing me at this point just wish it would go away already.

That's all for today! I noticed that Jonathan didn't pass the torch for the weekend challenge....probably need the rest anyhow!

Building Steam

Another "quality" run today on the treadmill (4.1 miles). I've learned that my lungs just are not well at adapting to weather under 40 degrees, so I'm not going to press it too much at this point. However, I'll be keeping an eye on the weather and seeing where I can sneak an outdoor run in prior to spring moving in. Bummed, yes, but health is my primary concern. Perhaps I'll check with my doctor or a specialist to do some further testing. Right now, I'm chalking it up to the asthema.

Still holding out in registering for the half, although I'm ready to pull the trigger. Just figure that the money is better sitting in the bank till the registration starts to fill up more. Every dollar counts in this economy... Airfare is booked and I'm starting to think about lodging, but figure I have some time for that as well. I'll most likely renew the annual pass for next year so I might just call and see what I can get from an AP discount perspective as we get closer. Would love to stay at the Beach Club (or anywhere on the Boardwalk) again, but we'll see.

How's everyone elses trip plans? Is the economy impacting your trip planning at all?

Another quality run...

Albeit on the treadmill last night, but for a run that was planned for 1.5 miles it went 3 miles...

and Deb, to answer your question about how I run outside during February in CT.....very carefully! Between the piles of left over ice/snow/muck and the inch of sand on the street where I'd normally run, it's dicey to say the least.

Going to get another run outdoors this weekend somehow. Probably just a 3 miler, but it needs to be outdoors. I'm losing my mind and will to run on the treadmill without that outdoor air every now and then.

Great news, we're in for next Jan! I'm going to register the wife and I and get the airfare thing going in the next week or so. How cool is that? A little boost for me as it's been tough with the foot and all as of late.

On the Road Once Again...

First run outdoors since the Half Marathon down in Disney and it was a good one. My goal was simply to get some miles in outside and live to tell about it. Speed was not on my mind and it showed in the outcome. I'm happy about the distance and the fact that my feet don't feel any worse for the wear.

Mile 1: 9:34
Mile 2: 9:40
Mile 3: 9:44
Mile 4: 9:53
Mile .81: 8:06

4.81 total and a couple of big hills in there as a reroute due to a road closure. The speed will come as the workload increases I'm pretty sure, just happy to get out for once!

Looking at airfare and thinking about hotel or renting DVC points for next January....could that mean that we'll be there for the half in 2010?????? These questions and more on the next episode of Stoller Boy - Wheels of Action!

3 Miles and running

3.2 on the treadmill last night and I felt just a little bit better than I had a couple of days ago. Which is the idea of rehab, right? Speed was about the same as last, somewhere in the 9:30ish range per mile, just enough to work up a little sweat. Progress.... Foot feels good although I'm feeling it in both "sesamoids" now. Nothing horrible, but can't walk barefoot on the hardwood floors anymore. Probably shouldn't be doing that anyhow.

How's everyone else doing? All you DVC owners....and the one wannabe...me! ;-) Seems like TeamVoice communications have slowed down a bit after the initial January surge.

Foot and such..

Hey all - Was able to try out the foot again last night on the treadmill. Ran 2.5 miles at around a 9:30/min pace. I had installed the footpads the doctor game me into my running shoes and they apparently did the trick as I didn't feel any pain in the sesamoid area. Not out of the woods yet as I still have to wear shoes around the house, but it felt good to get a run in. The downside is that I'm clearly out of running shape after taking a month off. Felt good at the 2 mile mark, but started to tire out quickly after that. Will start to get some more short runs in to build up the stamina again and then see where I'm at. So far, so good.

Anyone see the article in the WSJ about Dreamworks looking for a deal with Disney? Sounded more like a monetary deal than a creative partnership, but that might prove interesting, yes/no?

All About The Wife...

Today is to give a shout out to my wife Lorraine who has battled injury after injury to a point of total frustration and discouragment.... A month ago she was pondering whether she'd ever run again after months of barely being able to walk up and down the stairs. The other day she said to me "I'm going to try and run a half this year...." Totally threw me off! She's been rehabbing tendonitis in her knee for the past couple of months and has made great progress there and is very close to testing it back out on the road. This all after spending a couple of months on and off with plater fasciitis, or however that's spelled.

Just really proud of the work she is doing as we both set out last February with the 2010 Disney Half Marathon in mind (I just couldn't wait that long...apparently I'm an impatient person..who knew) and it is looking more and more like a reality from the running standpoint. Now, all we need to do is to stay injury free, find someone who will take the kids for a couple of days, save the money....hmmm, I suppose there is still some work to do, but I'm feeling pretty positive about it now.

I'd love her to join us on Team Voice pretty soon (more formally anyhow) as she's been joining into the challenges and I know this group would really help her toward her goal. :-) Perhaps she'll read this and join... I'm pretty sure she doesn't read the blog anymore as she gets the blow by blow Team Voice and AATM stuff from me directly, lol.

Okay..I cheated...

Yeah, went for a 2 mile light treadmill to test out the foot as it has been feeling a little better as of late. Great for 1.5 miles (10min/miles..nice and easy) but could feel it the last .5. Nothing lingering afterward though, so I think I'm clear there. Will keep up with the doc's recommendations and try to throw in a short mile or so here and there for the next couple of weeks. Just felt like I HAD to at least jog a little, you guys know how it is... The one thing I didn't do is put one of the pads my doc recommended into my running shoe yet, so I might try that and see if it helps as well. Either way, I'm not going to push it any more than the 2 miles more than once or twice a week for at least another week or two.

J. Wasowski - I said I was going to do 8 by the end of Feb for the virtual run...well...I'm not sure that's realistic at this point, but I'll let ya know if we need to modify it. :-)

On the school front, I finished a hellish Probability and Statistics class for the MBA program, woohoo! The final and final project/presentation were brutal, but it's over now and I'm on to Business Management (more my current work speed).

The Final Verdict...Sesamoiditis....

Had my orthapedic appointment yesterday and found out from the x-ray that the sesamoid bones beneath the big toe joint are inflamed. The good news there is that they are not fractured, so no need for a cast or surgery. The bad news is that the Doc wants me to take at least 4 weeks off from running. He gave me a special pad for the shoe that should help relieve the stress from that area of the foot, but the sure way to heal would be to not stress it. So I'm going to give it a couple of weeks and see how I feel, and will then figure out if I can get going again. The pic above shows where/what the sesamoid bones are.

So, for the near future I'm bike bound! I suppose it could have been worse...

Random Pics

Foot-loose..

Although its feeling better today, the foot is still sore with some fleeting pain. Sort of looking forward to my appointment on Wednesday just to figure out what the deal is. Have my annual physical on Tuesday and the orthopedic appointment on Wednesday, fun week for me. Hoping to run the O'Hartford 5k again this year in Mid-March, but won't risk it if the Doc says I should be resting for a while. Marathon goal trumps 5k run for corned beef and beer ;)

Still, I'm able to use the bike and do sit-ups/push-ups, so at least I'm able to do something.

On the Disney front, I'm just about closed on renting some points for a 3 day extension for our late 2009 trip. Going back to the Beach Club Villas for 3 days and then will stay off site for seven more days. As for marathon weekend 2010, we're still batting it around. For one, my wife still isn't able to run yet and haven't really gotten the vote of confidence from the rehab folks as to when/if she'll be able to get out there. So it's kinda driven by that and whether or not it makes financial sense since we'll be there for 10 days at the end of 09. Will probably make the decision late Feb as I'm pretty sure registration will be open through then.

Pics from trip are on my other computer, so I'll post a couple more when I hit the bike tonight.