Holiday Reset...

With Thanksgiving behind us, it's time to reset and get ready for the year end charge at work as well as trying to find some peace with Christmas on the way.  And, oh yeah, there is this little race a couple of weeks after that, just 39.3 miles in like a 29 hour period.  (oh, and my b-day thrown in the middle there for good measure...woohoo)

As for work, it's going to be a nightmarish 3 weeks as we try to meet a deliverable for 17th.  The fun begins tomorrow with a packed meeting schedule 8:30 - 5 (maybe they'll allow me 15min for lunch...). 

Training.  Well, the leg has stabalized, I think.  Still a little hip soreness, but I'm starting to suspect that my shoes are in breakdown mode.  I have marked my runs with which pair I've worn, but haven't tallied the miles up to see.  I suspect that they are down, or on their way out.  New pair are in the mail though, so relief is on the way!  Think I'm going to buy another pair so I can use one for the half and one for the full.  The Asics GT-2150's are on sale this week for 69.99 down from 95. 

With a 4.5 miler today, on a very brisk day (low 40's, light wind), I'm over 100 miles for the month (101.2 to be exact).  With the crosstrain miles I'm at 155.2 total...pretty good month, heavier on the run, but alot more cross training than I'm used to.  December will bring even more of a mix with cross-training in an attempt to be balanced for January.

Stay healthy folks, we're in the home stretch!

Game On....

Back on it today and just completed 5.2 miles. The leg was still a little sore, but not in pain so I went for it. Run was good, kept it slow in the 9 min mile range and definitely could have gone for 1 or 2 more. Will try do duplicate the effort tomorrow in an effort to get back on track after a slow week. Going to be no small feat next week as the meeting schedule is murder....will have to do some creative thinking or I'll be on the mill after the kids go to bed, which is never fun..

Anyone notice how the room discounts go right around marathon weekend? I know in the past they offered pass holder discounts during that weekend and I'll bet the attendance was better in the past as well. Just find it weird is all. Wondering if I should downgrade myself to Pop or something given that I'll be solo and probably not in the Rooney all that much, I'll just have to think about it.

We got my son the dancing Mickey for his b-day and that thing is a hoot and a half! The thing moves even better than the old animatronics to boot. Saw the commercial for the new Mickey Wii game, looks kinda dark...cool..."Santa" is bringing e kids a Wii for Christmas, so I might have to run out and grab a copy :-)

Training On Hold...

Well, sort of. I did a back to back long run this past weekend and have been dealing with some leg pain ever since. I was able to get a 3 miler on the treadmill Wednesday, but it wasn't comfortable or pretty. Took yesterday off from running to rest it a bit (but did get 30 min on the bike). Not sure on today as the pain is still lingering, but a bit less than yesterday, probably just need to rest it. The weird thing is that it feels more like a pinched nerve or something.

I don't know what's going on, but will keep y'all in the loop.

November Miles
Run - 91.5
Cross-Train - 50

Running to Disney
Total Miles - 1123.22
Run Miles - 867.51

Just Plain Goofy...

Back to backed yesterday and today. No, nothing in the vincinity of Goofy mileage, but still pretty goofy in it's own rite. 13 today and 9 yesterday. Pretty much all I had time for with my son's b-day party yesterday and work today...on my day off... I think Amanda said it in an e-mail, but it's so true...we all gotta be better at being "off" when we're "off".... Failed on that one today, but what can ya do.

At 88 run miles for the month, 127 total with cross training mileage. Feel good overall, some aches and pains, but nothing that I don't feel is normal given the training uptick. I do feel like I need a stronger back to back to feel like I'm ready for this thing in January. We'll see what the schedule brings me, but it doesn't appear that will be doable till the week of Dec 20th when I'm supposed to be "off" again.

Mama Mia, That's a Big Party!

Some one eye'd cretin reminded me that I had this ADR for Mama Melrose in January and needed to update my counts! Okay, so he's got two eye's and promptly reminded me that it's "creetin" and if I wanted to insult him, I should do it properly.... :-)

Jeff sent me the update and we're down to 2 open spots folks, wow, that's a big party! Anyone know where we can add 2 to get us to 15? Anyone who's on the list and I've got the numbers wrong, please let me know.

What I've got:
Me
Amanda
Jeff +3
Rae +3
Justin +2


Traininig - I'm good there, I think. Not as many miles as I've wanted to get, but have been averaging about 30 for the past couple of weeks. Put in 23 run and 30 bike miles this week which has caused me some other issues which I won't go into here...might just be an uncomfortable long run tomorrow. Nuff said.

Gotta get another pair of shoes for breaking in late December. Any thoughts on Goofy shoe strategy? I was thinking about running the half in a different pair than the full to try and keep the feet as fresh as possible.

Still need to drop a couple of pounds prior to the run, but if I can get down 1 or 2 and maintain it through the holidays, then I'll be able to get where I need to be for race day I think.

Great Skype call today, got a chance to talk with Rae (Eric in the background :-)), Amanda and Richard. Actually was nice with only a couple of people as it was easy to work the conversation I think.

January is right around the corner folks, pedal to the medal! Scary, ain't it? :-)

Ain't pretty, but....

but I got the job done today. Goal was a 13.1 mile run and by golly, I went out there and got a 13.5 mile run today. Just a bit over 2hrs, but honestly, this was a survival run. Just needed it for my mental state in order to make a legitimate push at my Goofy goals. Next up, another long run next weekend. Was thinking 20, but might temper that a bit and escalate to 16 instead and then a 20 in the next week or two. May be working a bit late into November on back to back longer runs, but I think I'll be okay. Might just have to be as I really just don't have the time to spend on those, crazy, but true!

Great to hear a couple of friendly voices on the Skype meet yesterday. We have a lot of fun on those, don't we.... whether you're talkin' or typin', it's always nice to talk with friends. :-)

Just here...

Not much to say, working like crazy with "next month" always going to be better for personal time and training. Oy vey. Still getting in some training, but not the long runs that I know I need. I'm planning on a half tomorrow at some point and really need to do a 20 miler next weekend, gotta make that happen somehow..no excuses...

My thinking is this, if I/we don't pound the pavement in the next 3-4 weeks to ensure we have a training base, January will not go according to anyones plan. Rome wasn't built in a day, and a PR or surviving a Goofy is no exception. So let's all get out there and make the next 3-4 week really count, put in that extra workout a week or whatever. If we do I will guarantee there will be no dissapointment come January, only celebration for the "many goals" of Team Voice. :-)

In the immortal words of Joe Swanson "LET'S DO THIIIISSSS!!!"

(Will try to make the meet for a bit, but might not be able to...have to head out for b-day parties with the kids)

Congratulations Team Voice on WnD!

Hey folks - I wasn't tracking last night, but did check in this morning. Can't wait to hear the stories and see all the pictures. :-)

Princess Fee - 2:41:43 (great work!)

Matt - 3:12:59 (think of what you could do after dropping a couple more lbs and jogging some of it ;-), Great job!!)

Rae! - 3:25:17 (So where did E end up? by the finish?)

Amanda - 3:24:51 (I'm guessing you and Rae walked together... Bet it was a great time!)

Jeff W - 3:15:43 (Great work Jeff!)

Jonathan - Didn't show a finish time, thinking that toe caused some havoc on ya :-( Hopefuly it was just a computer glitch and I'll see a result later on.

Who did I miss? I thought that Justin was there as well, but didn't see a listing for him.

Great job everyone! Enjoy the rest of your time at Disney (not too much, Matt ;-)).

Here are some proofs from my 5k, they actually came out good for once...thinking about buying one, not sure which one...

Here's to October...

Since September was a bit of a regression month for me in terms of mileage. 65 run miles and 30+ cross train miles. The workouts weren't as frequent as they were the month prior, but this does tend to ebb and flow along with my work schedule, so I do what I can when I can. However, I did pull myself away from strictly running to do more biking and elliptical workouts, and I know they are just as valuable (even though it doesn't feel like it when I'm looking at the run miles..). Pretty much all the experts tout cross-traiing to keep the body fresh, but then again, they are probably still getting 30-40 run miles a week in addition to the x-training..

In any event, I did get my 5k PR, so goal met there. and I'm down 2-3 lbs when I was shooting for 1, so goal exceeded there. So, September wasn't really all that bad of a month I suppose.

For October I really need to get back to the mileage and get more geared up for the short recovery running. I haven't put the plan together yet, but the work schedule is starting to become more solid, so I should be able to do this soon. We're in that 3 month window to January, can you believe it?

2319!! 2319!!!

No wait.....there was no 2319....Although, coming into the 5k up in Providence I was dreaming a bit about running a PR of 23:19, how cool would that be, I thought, I could pull of the whole Monsters Inc. joke and be thrilled at a fast PR and some Disney humor.

Well, no 2319.... that's cause it was a 23:11!!!! I didn't have my watch, so I wasn't sure what I actually ran, though it was in the 23:20's, but wasn't sure.

Overall place : 614 (of 5977 finishers)
362/1471 (in the age group M30/39)
Clock Time : 23:28
Chip Time : 23:11
Average Mile : 7:28

Course was flat overall with one decent size downhill in the beginning and then of course the same hill, but up, for the finish. Did this sans headphones as I felt I could regulate the breathing and not throw myself into an asthma attack, yeah, I'm one of them loud breathers I think... Legs were definitley feeling it after mile two, but I kept pushing it and obviously happy with the result.

Yeah, I know it's only a 5k, but I'm darn proud of this 5k. Having said that, I think I could do a sub 23 minute run... If didn't have to deal with some cramping in the back toward the end, I think I might have been able to squeeze a little more out.

Okay, so, no more races planned, just some quality Goofy training to get ready for January.

Big Race Comin'....

Well, sort of. Funny how a 5k now isn't really a big race anymore...However, this one has a little more flavor to it being the national 5k championships. Sounds like there will be 4-5 thousand people there? Crazy stuff for a 5k.... I'm looking to PR and think I've done the work to do it, but we'll see. Different PR'ing on a training run (yes, did this the other day, 23:56) and doing it in that much traffic!

Not sure how the 2hr drive up there is going to affect me either, but planning on a comprehensive warm up run for the lungs and a good stretch before the start. Since it's a Team Pfizer run, they want us to wear the singlet, but I might just do it for the team picture and then throw on the Team Voice colors. :-)

My foot is back to 100% after a few days of being sidelined (those from the skype call will remember), so that's good. Plenty of icing and stretching really helped. That, and I haven't put on the evil shoes since...I might wear them for the 5k though...they are just so freakin' light and quick!

Trilicious....

Lorraine finished her Tri this morning 1:46:xx'ish (unofficially). Here she is after the finish with the kids, notice the lovely yellow shirt. ;-) Very proud of her, she worked extremely hard for this event.

Official Results:

Place Overall - 285
Total time - 1:46:42
Swim (half mile) - 23:29 1st transition 3:14
Bike (12 miles) - 45:43 2nd transition 1:51
Run (5k) - 32:27

More DVC?

Not sure if y'all saw this one or not...

Screamscape.com is reporting that the site of the former River Country waterpark may eventually be home to a new Disney Vacation Club resort.* According to their sources, the project would leverage some aspects from Disney's old Buffalo Junction project, and thematically mesh with both Fort Wilderness and the Wilderness Lodge.Click HERE to read the full story.Screamscape has also recently published reports indicating that the Grand Floridian and a site adjacent to the Blizzard Beach waterpark are being considered for DVC villas.

I guess they have mucho faith in the economic recovery.... Although, I suppose their numbers support such investments otherwise they probably wouldn't be taking that kind of capital risk.

Disney Advertising

Anyone notice how much more Disney has been advertising in running magazines for marathon weekend as well as the other races? Just goes to show you how bad the economy had taken a hit on the registration for these things.... I recall two years ago when the 1/2 for Jan. sold out in a month! Just amazing.

How are all the W&D folks feeling about their run/wog/walk coming up? Just don't go out there and try to cram for it folks, steady is the name of the game. If you didn't train for a PR the past couple of months this is definitely NOT the time to do it! We don't want any Team Voicers hurting themselves. Just do what you can in the time you have left and have a blast as you know you'll all finish, so just focus on the little stuff now whether it be losing an extra pound or two, or just staying consistent with your workouts to ensure a good finish. :-)

August Update - Final

Ended the month with the following...a couple more miles and pu/su's.

120.33 miles run
2 miles x-train.
Sit-ups -570 Push-ups - 802

September won't start as nicely as I've got to drive to PA tomorrow and head back home Friday (into a hurricane apparently...). Daughter's B-day Saturday, the big 6. Hopefully the weather will be clear by then so the pool party can commence. :-) Going to try and get a couple of miles in while on the road. I hear our office down there has a great gym, we'll see if I have time. I've got the mileage fever though, so I'm sure I'll figure out a way to get some in.

Yes Matt, it was ALL you buddy! Seriously though, talking about the daily plan definitley helped me execute.

August Goals...Achieved...

Quick update -
113.13 miles run (goal was 110 for month)
2 miles x-train.
Sit-ups -520 Push-ups - 757
Weight - 193.7 (goal was to maintain 194)

Best mileage month for me since I began running in 2008, so I'm feeling pretty good about it. Was a nice progressive increase in mileage from June to now and I'm injury free as a result. Goal for mileage running was 110 and it looks like I'll finish close to 120 (which was my Sept goal). So this is good, my body is responding well to the workouts, but now I need to get into the next phase and begin working on the short recovery running. The plan will be to start fairly small early Sept and then increase the B2B mileage. Since I haven't really trained this way before I'm going to take it fairly slow and see where it takes me. In other words, I'm not going to run a Goofy by the end of September...or probably not at all till January. Will plan one B2B that gets me close though as I need to understand how much fatigue I'm going to feel. Plenty of Endurox R4 will be used over the next couple of months! LOL

Swing and a Miss!

Due to the weekend schedule, I had to go for the long run today. Felt just alright about it, but figured I could muscle my way through it. Well, I guess I underestimated how much my legs needed the rest cause after mile 2 I was starting to get that whole body tired feeling... I lasted 6.31 and that's all folks. Really should have waited till tomorrow, but no worries, still feel great about this past week (will post the numbers, but think I was over 30 miles). If the schedule permits I might make another "run" for the 13.1 next Friday...

Totals for the month are right around 80 miles running, will check my spreadsheet and update later if need be.

Is everyone booked in hotels for January? I haven't done it yet, was waiting for annual passholder discount announcement for that timeframe, but hasn't come out yet. Should I just book the Pop or somethign and update it if the discount comes out? Far from an expert on this topic... I suppose an alternate would be to book a moderate and then downgrade if the dicount doesn't come through or isn't what I want it to be....Advice?

Updated: Yeah, I might have overdid it for me this week, just checked and put in 36.21 miles for the week. Probably about 12 miles more than I was planning, no wonder why my legs were spent today. :-)

Possessed..By the Mike-Speed...

I tell ya, I've been trying out these new Brooks Ravenna's and I'm not sure if it's the shoes or what, but I've been running like I stole something lately! Oh wait...maybe I did steal something...nah..or did I....nah...

Put in a 7 mile escalation run yesterday where you keep upping your pace every mile till you've hit the roof. I don't think I hit the roof, but I ran out of time... Anyhoo, I was running a 6:47 mile at the end and didn't feel bad at all. Of course, I probably couldn't sustain that at this point, but it was very encouraging to know I could get up there. I averaged right around 8 minute miles overall, still not bad at all and something I haven't gotten back to since January. Today I put in 6.35 and ran most of it around 8 or 7:50ish. The shoes are defintiely helping, they are much lighter than the Asics 2150's and more of a curve style at the toe. I'm sure there are technical terms for this, but you won't find that on this blog! LOL.

On the buddy front, Matt is doing great! He put in a monster 6 miler yesterday in the heat and has been pushing towards recommiting himself to weight loss. I'm darn proud of him. :-) He's got alot of work to do prior to December when he'll be sporting his thinner self down that aisle for graduation, but I've got a good feeling about it. Buddy or not, I'm going to be all over him like stink on a monkey till he achieves that goal for December, he deserves to succeed.

Might be off tomorrow or I might get my long run in, trying to work out the schedule with the wife....I'll post and let y'all know how it went. Would like to put a half in, but anything over 10 will do...depends on how much time I've got to do it (and partly the weather).

One more thing. Steph is back on-line so head over to her blog and give her some encouragement! http://theeyeofthetigger.blogspot.com/2010/08/back-to-start.html

Mid-August Report

Half way through the month and I feel pretty good about the mileage build-up, but something is still missing. Got an 8.7 mile run in this morning under cloudy skies with a temp of 77. Think that I need to get back to the gym for some weight training. When I started it up early November last year it really gave me a boost in my training as well as my overall per mile time. This week is going to be tough at work as I've got people flying in from a couple of places to be heads down in a conference room working, but will see what I can do.

Run miles for August thus far - 52.90 (might be off by a tenth) with a bit of swimming thrown in there. Haven't put in miles on the bike but will look to do more of that in the second half of the month to give the run muscles a rest. Goal is 110 miles running for the month, and get a 13.1 mile long run in. Shouldn't be an issue unless this week goes badly at work (not anticipating it though).

Been pretty quiet on the Team Voice front, hoping that everyone is just too busy running and no time for the computer. :-) I've been chatting with my buddy Matt who put in a nice 6 miler today, WooHoo! I know it's tough to get that kinda mileage down in that ridonculous heat, but he's committed for sure. Keep up the great work, Matt!

Ain't it funny....

How one minute you resign yourself to the fact that your body needs a day off from running and the next you're walking out the door in your tech-tee ready to roll! That's what happened to me today. Couldn't get the body to feel like doing anything, so I was going to rest, but Emeril rang my doorbell and BAM! I was out the door for close to 4 miles. Helped that the weather was overcast and low 80's....

Anyhoo, hope everyone is going through the same thing. Virtual 10k coming in a couple of weeks.... Is this the Corn-fest run part tres?