Garmin Piece of Junk

The last time I ran was the Disney Princess Half Marathon in February. That would also be the last time I wore my Garmin Forerunner 230, the "trusty" running watch I got for myself shortly after I decided to take up heart rate training in 2015.

Man, has the watch been a disappointment this year. The day before the Princess 10k, I put my watch on and the little band that holds the excess watch strap broke. Luckily, I was able to improvise using a Disney Annual Passholder 2014 band decoration for the race.

But then I quit running after that race. I'm not really sure if I'll ever be able to take it up again because I'm just so freaking uncomfortable right now. I have tissue expanders in the place where my left breast used to be. My plastic surgeon and breast surgeon operated on me the same day back in July - the whole procedure, which I refer to as "demolition" and "reconstruction," took about six hours. Apparently, I had to be intubated and was given a catheter. Anesthesia is a wonderful, wonderful thing.

So since July, I've had the tissue expanders in place, and have had to go for a few "fillings." This will create space for the plastic surgeon to give me an implant after I'm finished with chemotherapy. You can imagine this is not a very "comfortable" process.

I don't know if running will ever be a part of my life again. The TE is extremely awkward, and I just generally don't feel good most days while on chemotherapy, so running is right out. I also need to avoid gyms and other places that are germ breeding grounds since my immune system is compromised.

While I'll be able to go back to the gym after chemotherapy is over, I doubt I'm going to feel any more comfortable and excited about running after having an implant.

Meanwhile, I can't just sit around and be inactive, even during this trying experience that is going through chemotherapy. So I've been trying to get at least a walk in daily, and I was reminded yesterday that my Garmin could keep track of my step count. I thought it might be best for me to try to get 10k steps in every day.

So I charged up my watch, put it on, and then this happened:

Cheap watch strap snapped right in half. You can also see the Disney Passholder charm I was using to hold it together before this happened. 

I just can't catch a break. Going to see if I can buy a replacement watch strap now.

Episode 3: Return of the Blog

I'm a glutton for punishment.

Running and I are still not friends. But the Princess Half Marathon is on my bucket list, and next year is the 10th anniversary of the race, which means it's going to be a pretty big deal. It's also the 5th anniversary of the Fairy Tale Challenge. I can never sign up for just one race knowing doing two in a row gets you an awesome third medal.

I'm still mad at Running, though. Waiting for my apology. You've got a little time to think it over, Running, because the race isn't until next February. But you should know that this means I'm going to do whatever is in my power to also register for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon at Disneyland next May so that I can get the pink Coast to Coast challenge medal. So... you better start kissing up to me real fast.

Not a lot has happened since I shut down in January. My new project didn't take off the way I had hoped it might, although I did win a short story contest last week which gave me renewed hope in my writing ability. There's skill there when I really want there to be. But I have no expectation of Running this half marathon in under two hours. I've been sick for most of the month of April. Not like confined-to-bed sick, just lousy enough that it ruins any motivation I have to workout. Once my current cold clears up, I will still train as if I am aiming for sub-two, but there's a decent shot I'll be Running the Princess Half with a few friends of varied ability. I'll know more on Tuesday when general registration opens for the race.

Oh, I got to register early because I have a Walt Disney World Annual Pass. /bragging. But man, the process was super stressful today. The Annual Passholder site wasn't linking correctly to the registration page. And there is only a limited number of early registration slots, so when it didn't work, I got really agitated and immediately called runDisney. They tried to walk me through different options for 45 minutes (clear cookies, try typing in this URL, are you SURE you logged into your MyDisneyExperience account, etc.). I tried it on three different computers - my work laptop, my personal laptop, and my husband's laptop - to no avail. Finally, the customer service associate was informed that the link was broken (thank you, Captain Obvious), and asked me to try to register again in 30 minutes.

A brief moment of clarity came over me when I hung up the phone and I remembered I had bookmarked the early registration website after I had registered for the Infinity Gauntlet Challenge last year. My bookmark worked! Registration complete. Thank goodness, because as of 2 hours after registration opened, the Passholder website still wasn't updated, and the early registration slots for the Fairy Tale Challenge appeared to be sold out. After perusing the runDisney Facebook page, I saw the rumor that the early registration sites were up for Disneyland Annual Passholders and Disney Vacation Club Members, which is quite the scandal for Disney if this is true. Disney's gain from blocking out WDW Passholders: Disneyland Passholders will have to spend more money for park tickets and hotels, and DVC members have already promised their first borns to Disney to pay for their membership. And it's not like anybody at the call center was telling callers what the actual registration link was - they were just redirecting us back to the site with the broken link. Whether this was intentional or not, a lot of WDW Passholders were left out of registration, and are really unhappy. I would hope they'd offer another shot to their most loyal customers, but more than likely, they'll have to register on Tuesday with everyone else. And it's going to be tough... this is Disney's most popular race, and to be the 10th anniversary makes it even a bigger draw!

But I've got my spot and I'm committed. So it's time to change the rules to ensure I've got a better shot at improving - no more backsliding. After all, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results = insanity. Here are my new rules:

• I eat what I want. (Granted, what I usually want has changed very recently.)
• I exercise how I want. (This includes walking, jogging, speedwork, crossfit, and spin class.)
• I write when I want. (No more compulsive daily posts.)  

Sound good? Good.

Undercover Boss

Today marked my first attempt at running since the Star Wars Half. It didn't go very well. Although there's no longer visible bruising on my right foot, there's still pain. It's been almost two weeks since I ran last, and really would have expected to be healed by now. So it will be a while before I'm going to attempt running again - I can't risk further injury, as I'm going to need all the time I can get to be ready for the Avengers Half in November.

I'm wondering if I might have been better served going back to work instead of going on a cruise right after the race, as at least I'm keeping weight off my feet when I'm working. Most people equate cruising with putting your feet up by the pool, but I get way too excited about all of the activities onboard Disney Cruise Line so I usually end up running all over the ship. Rest assured... there was plenty of hot tub time too... I just ended up being on my feet more than I usually am during a typical week.

So let's get to costumes from the race, since that was one of the highlights I mentioned yesterday. I have two favorites, but let me be clear - I respect anybody that can run these races in costume. It's hard enough to run 13.1 miles to begin with - but to run holding lightsabers and wearing face paint? No thank you.

Unfortunately, Disney banned full masks this year, so no full Chewbacca costumes were seen on the course. But I saw plenty of Ewoks, Jedi, and even one Darth Maul.

My two faves:

1. "Matt." I saw my first "Matt" while waiting in line for the bathroom before the 10k, but I didn't really scrutinize his costume all that closely. Just looked like a dude in a blonde wig and orange security vest. My husband started laughing and pointed the guy out to me, saying "I just figured out his costume." That's when I took a good look and recognized the Kylo Ren Undercover Boss SNL parody. So clever.



2. Barf. While I saw quite a few "Matts" over the course of the two days, I only saw one Barf during the half marathon. Bravo, friend.

Maybe after I hit a sub 2 half, I'll think about running a race in costume. But no fun allowed until I reach my goal.

Today's exercise: 4ish mile painful run

The good

I've gotten the bad and the ugly out of the way. Back to regularly scheduled programming.


Even though I have to live the rest of my life with a new worst half marathon record, I can’t say I didn’t have fun during the Dark Side Challenge. So here are the non-running related highlights. Some of these photos are going to be Disney watermarked, but #sorrynotsorry... not paying an arm and a leg for really unflattering photos of me.


Tangent: Anybody else think it should be a crime to take photos of people running a half marathon? I mean come on. Really.

• Running with my husband: It’s so rare that I run with him. I’m much too competitive. We stopped for photos at a few of the mile markers, and hammed it up as much as we could for the course photographers. I think he appreciated having the company, except when he’d suggest a walk break and I’d push him to run just a little farther than he wanted.

At Mile 2 during the 10k

• Disney's attention to detail: Even the mile markers were way fun, although I think they really had to reach for 13 villains to display for the half marathon.

We will finish what we started.

• The costumes: I could probably dedicate an entire post to this. In fact, I will at some point.
• Meeting Phasma… I’m convinced Gwendoline Christie was in this suit. And if it wasn’t really her, this WDW character should get a pay raise. Spot on.

I'm a little short for a stormtrooper.

• …and Darth Vader. The original baddie. Space Lord Voldemort.

This will definitely make an appearance as our family Christmas card in the future.

I have a few running related highlights, but saving those for another day.

On pride

"This is not how I thought this day was going to go."

Sorry Han. Here's hoping it doesn't get as bad for me as it got for you.

In less than one week, I will have completed the Star Wars Half Marathon. And it's not going to go how I thought it might when I started the blog back in September.

I will not be doing it in under 2 hours. In fact, it's likely I'll be recording my slowest race time ever.

Between preparing for my upcoming race and hearing that I have a lot of work to do if I wish to keep my front teeth, I'm taking a lot of blows to my ego this week... which was fragile enough to begin with.

But you know what? I have NO regrets. Bring it on, public failure.

You think failing privately would have made me feel any better?

Imma survive this. Every day, I actively make a choice to post. I choose to share this. I could have kept it all to myself. I could have never started the blog. And I could have stopped writing when I knew I wasn't going to achieve my goal.

The truth is that I've realized everyone is starring in their own movie, and I'm just an extra. Does anybody care if the extra runs a sub 2 half marathon? Hell no.

There was never a real risk to my pride, right? And look at everything I gained out of putting myself out there. A Jedi Master reached out to coach me off the run, eat, repeat cycle. I have six months worth of detailed notes that can help me figure things out for the next half marathon. And I started out thinking I'd have to quit running at some point if I ever wanted to get healthy, and learned that just isn't true.

Oh, and for those who have been with me for a while, remember this post? The one about New Year's Resolutions and having more fun? I think my real failure here is lack of keeping up with the fun.

So I'm going to do whatever it takes to have fun at my races (remember, there are actually two, even though I've been so focused on the half marathon only) next weekend.

And then I'm going to have to figure out what I want to do with this blog afterwards. I'll be taking at least a week off for vacation, but it's TBD what happens after that. I know I'll have to update my "Start Here" page. Not sure what else the future holds in terms of updates.

Today's exercise: Rest

Back to normal-ish

Per my promise to myself yesterday, I did get up bright and early for a run this morning. It's the first day I've felt really energized and motivated in over a week. I cranked out my 4.5 miles at a sub-optimal pace, but it didn't dampen my spirits. I may still have just enough time to get to a spot where I don't have my worst half marathon ever. My slowest half marathon was the runDisney Wine and Dine half in 2013 at 2:10:12. That's 9:56 min/mi, so I have some work to do if I'm struggling right now with only doing 4+ miles at a 10 min/mi pace.

Still wishing I could go *this* fast.

I hate thinking that my new goal is just not to have my worst race ever. That's not very inspirational.

Part of me thinks I just need to give myself permission to be right where I am today per these wise words.

Another part of me hopes that I could at least improve over my 2015 Star Wars half. That would still be moving the needle in the right direction, but means I need to be faster than a 9:42 min/mi pace. Keep in mind that I also raced the 10k the day before, and will be doing so again this year.

Although 44 days sounds like a good amount of time to pick up the pace, I have to factor in tapering time. Meaning I really shouldn't be running the week before the race. But... I've actually never tapered before a half. I might have taken a day or two before a race off from running, but never a full week or more. I've been doing all kinds of things I have never done before this go-round, so maybe we'll throw a taper in there too.

Today's exercise: 4ish mile run w/ core work:
M1: 10:05
M2: 10:17
M3: 10:09
M4: 10:06

Blogroll the Fourth

11 miles yesterday left me a little more sore than I thought it would, so I took a break today. Gotta go help my mom figure out how to install a new TiVo tonight (yes, I'm pretty sure she's their only customer), so here's another roundup of all the stuff I thought was relevant this week.

Train Like an Athlete:

You have another shot at getting one of these medals...

• Disney re-opened registration for the Star Wars Dark Side Half. So now you have another opportunity to join and see me revel in sub 2:00 glory or wither under the crushing agony of defeat. 
• The running trifecta - more about food, training pace, and stress.
• To-do's if you are chained to a desk all day like me.
• Good advice from a first-time half-marathoner. Except for #5 - I ran my first half without any fuel, you can do it too.
• Why Some Runs Just Suck. Spoiler alert: Warming up and recovery are important.
• The Biggest 10k's in the country - I did the Inaugural Across the Bay 10k (#6 on the list) a few years ago, big thumbs up.
• 10 Tips for Becoming a Morning Exerciser - I made the transition from evening to morning training a few months ago and have less stress because of it. Hoping I can continue once Daylight Savings Time begins.

Think Like an Athlete:

• Why everything is my husband's fault. Not really.

Eat Like an Athlete:

• 9 Ways You're Sabotaging Your Weight-Loss - with a nod to getting enough sleep.
• And another article about losing weight that leads with the importance of getting sleep.
• Why having more fun may end my emotional eating problems.
• It's ok to eat the same thing every day - which is why you see a lot of eggs, chili, and tuna in my meal logs.

Sleep Like an Athlete:

• See what happens when you don't sleep.

54 days left.

Today's Exercise: Rest

Breakfast	Lunch	Snack	Dinner
3 Eggs w spinach, coffee	Chili w/ guac, TJ's Kraut	2 tbsp coconut butter, EPIC bison bites	chicken apple sausage, cauliflower, mint tea

10k's

In honor of my fellow Star Wars/running enthusiasts out in California today beginning the first leg of the Rebel Challenge, I decided to run a 10k myself... with a little extra thrown in for good measure... and then went to Hollywood Studios for the new Star Wars Experience. 

I may not be doing runDisney today, but doing a run AND THEN Disney is just fine, too.

10ks are not a distance I race frequently. I noted yesterday the Star Wars 10k was not my personal best.

That honor goes to the "Run from Winter," a 10k I did at a park in NJ about a month before the American Odyssey Relay in 2013, in 54:07:

The thing I most remember about this race is that it was called "Run from Winter" and it was officially spring at this point - but it was about 23 degrees outside. 

It probably holds my best time because I really was trying to run from winter. Did I mention how happy I am to live in Florida now?

Then there was the George Washington Bridge run in June 2014. At first, I thought it might be kind of a lame race when I found out we'd be running the lower level of the GW, but it actually turned out to be pretty awesome. The upper level kept the sun from scorching me, and it still provided some great views. Did that one in 59:31.

Apparently, I also took a swim in the Hudson. Methinks Map My Run had a little trouble getting satellites on the bridge.

My husband did the 5k, and my bestie did the 10k with me.

In October 2014, I did the Runner's World Five and Dime in Bethlehem, PA. It's a 5k immediately followed by a 10k, so I'm not sure I want to count it as a 10k. And Bethlehem... holy hills, batman. So yeah.. my time of 1:06:42 I'd rather forget. But still a cool race though.

Apparently I did not use Map My Run for this, as I have no data on it. 

FYI - Runner's World also sponsors a half marathon the day after the Five and Dime, and doing all three races is called the 'hat trick.' I don't think I could ever do a half marathon there - the hills are killer.

Another bridge run I don't have data for is the inaugural "Race Across the Bay" Chesapeake Bay Bridge Run in Maryland. This was on November 9, 2014 - just a few weeks after the Five and Dime. Did much better there in 57:25.

So that brings us to my last 10k, last year's Star Wars 10k, 59:23, not awful for me considering I stopped for a picture and was trying to hold back a little knowing I had a half marathon the next day.

And here I am one year later running a 10k in like 90 minutes. 

And, more likely than not, I'll be running April's Dark Side 10k in about 90 minutes. 

The half is just too important to me.

91 days left

Today's Exercise:  Bayshore Blvd Run:

M1: 15:40
M2: 16:06
M3: 16:31
M4: 16:21
M5: 16:15
M6: 16:03
M7: 16:25

Breakfast	Lunch	Snack(s)	Dinner
Beef stew, coffee	HB Egg	N/A	Something at Hollywood and Vine