Okay ... so there has been a lot of goofing off with my running lately. If you missed it, on the 3rd of September I did the Star Tours 5K in Disneyland (I think jazz hands and laying on benches count as goofing off). (I can't stop typing "Goofying" instead of "goofing". I have Goofy on the brain!!) Then on the 4th I was 1/3rd of the raddest race team ever at the Disneyland Half Marathon -- Hello beautiful Coast to Coast medal! On the 10th I ran through fire, got kicked in kidney, bathed in mud and pretty much had a bad ass time at Warrior Dash (post soon to come!).
SO .... all of that fun has to end at some point. And I guess that point is now. On the horizon is the most important race to me - the Prefontaine Memorial 10K run. That is this Saturday at 10am. The nerves are officially here. I haven't actually had a "real" run since mile 1 of the half marathon, so I have my work cut out for me. But I'll be ready to just go, enjoy Coos Bay, soak up some Pre-ness and do the very best that I can that day. A few short weeks later is half marathon number 7 - the Portland Half Marathon.
And then it gets REALLY serious. I have a racing gap. There isn't one scheduled until Las Vegas Rock'n'Roll half in December. I want to work really hard to try to have an actually good finish time at that race. Naturally "good" is relative, and my definition of good is way slower than most. I'm totally okay with that!
Now, here is where I seek advice! One month after Vegas is the biggest physical challenge (OMG, remember Double Dare on Nickelodeon? I always wanted to get slimed!) that I've ever put ahead of myself. January 7th I run the Walt Disney World half marathon. Okay, no problem, right? BUT then on January 8th I am the second leg of my team in the Walt Disney World marathon relay. SO .... we're talking 26.2 miles over the course of two days. I've never done this in a week. EVER. But I will do it. I will finish. I will probably cry at times, I will laugh a lot. I'll take tons of pictures. I will rock those two medals!
Any advice for a back to back newbie? Suggestions on how to train for it? Don't even bother trying to talk me out of it 'cause it won't work. I've paid, registered, got my heart set on it. I just have no clue how to go about getting ready for this. The good news is I do really well in cold weather. I sucked ass at training during the summer, but we are quickly getting to fall and my body is so ready to get back out there and do what I know I CAN do if I just put my mind to it.
Whatcha got for me? I'm listening! Have you done back to back half marathons or anything close to that? Any advice from your experiences?
Just found your blog in searching for more information for the Prefontaine 10k. I'm all registered up, but am a newbie runner/jogger so I'll be run/walking it. This will be my first 5k/10k/anyk, lol. Maybe I'll spot you on Saturday!
ReplyDeleteThe two half marathons back to back in January sound like so much fun! As do all your races! I've read that when people do Goofy, they will pick one day to run hard and one to take it easy and enjoy the course/characters.
ReplyDeleteIve only done one back to back so far, but have another scheduled in two months. Honestly its not really something you train for- its more of how you treat yourself during that weekend. SO best advice is take it easy the first day, wear compression socks AFTER the race (you can do it during too if you want, but really important after as well) and stay off your feet as much as you can till second race to give your body a rest.
ReplyDeleteI would say ask Rebecca, but shes a beast and can just do things because haha.
Fly stay off her feet in Disneyworld...not happening.
ReplyDeleteWhen I did my back to back halfs, I took both of them easy. The second day was harder than I expected.
ReplyDeleteMake sure you get some good rest between both halfs, and wear your compression sleeves.
YOu know my advice: sleep in an ice bath.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I hear from the 2 people I know who have or are attempting to do the actual Goofy, you just train normally but have a couple of back-to-back long run days. . . maybe 10 on saturday and 10 on sunday to see how you do? maybe longer.
ReplyDeleteThat's my plan. . . along with literally getting the first medal, jumping in an ice bath and then going to sleep to start all over the next morning.
And yes, I was super inspired by your Disneyland Half, that's exactly what I want to do for the World Half. Fred said he would run the Half at my pace so we could goof off and take lots of pictures, so if you can handle both of us for hours, you know we'd totally love to hang out!
Abby - you might regret saying that ... that sounds like a total blast!! You two are so much fun together - so you might have a little blond tag-along on Saturday!
ReplyDeleteWhatever, girlie!! We adore you! Plus, we might need a referee or a witness. Haha! I'm really excited about this race now. Is it January yet?!
ReplyDeleteHm... perhaps I'll have to wear black and white stripes so that you two HAVE to respect the final decisions of the uniformed ref!
ReplyDeleteThis will be crazy fun!