Friday, February 26, 2021

Running Update: A change of plans & February training recap 🏃‍♀️

Helloooo, everyone! It's been a little while since I've updated y'all on how my training is going. Honestly a LOT has been happening in my running life lately so I thought I'd do a larger update encompassing everything for you instead of my usual training log style update (though if you'd like to see my training log, skip down to the bottom of this post!). Let's not waste any time and hop right into what's been going on!

1. Milwaukee Marathon Postponement & Change of Plans

My face after finding out about the postponement. :/

The biggest update that I have for you guys is that the Milwaukee Marathon - the race I've been training for all winter - made the announcement last week that they are postponing their race until October. I totally understand why they made the call and I agree that safety of the public is priority #1, but I was super bummed when the announcement came out! Training has been going pretty well this winter and I was excited to head out to Wisconsin and see what I could do after a year off of marathons. Unfortunately Milwaukee wasn't in the cards for me this spring, so I immediately went into problem solving mode.

My first instinct was to find a replacement race. There are plenty of April races that are still on the books (for now), but I didn't want to risk registering for another race that ended up postponed or switched to virtual. Additionally, I was looking for something in a state I haven't completed yet or do not already have a race I'm registered for. It was honestly slim pickings! However, I came across the Carmel Marathon in Carmel, Indiana which seems *very* confident the race will be going off without a hitch. It's the weekend before I was originally scheduled to run Milwaukee, it has full support of their local government, and it seems to have some excellent COVID-19 safety protocols in place as well. So I decided to take the gamble and register!



Luckily there were still some spots left in the marathon field so I was able to snag a bib. I've spent the last week planning my trip. I was able to switch my flights for Milwaukee over to Indianapolis, get a refund on my MKE AirBnB and find some accommodations nearby Carmel, and switch all of my PTO requests at work. All systems are GO for a trip to Indy this April and an official 26.2 is on the docket. Fingers and toes crossed that everything continues to stay on!

Now that Milwaukee is bumped to October, I am going to be a BUSY runner this fall. I'm not sure when in October Milwaukee will be scheduled as they haven't announced it yet, but I already have the I-35 challenge (Kansas City & Des Moines) on the calendar that month. I'm really unsure how I'm going to balance it all, but summer is going to be a TOUGH training season. It's going to be so important that I do everything I'm supposed to do in training so I can cross all three finish lines! Wish me luck 😅

2. Virtual Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend

A couple of weekends ago I participated in the Virtual Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend! Running these races at home was definitely not the same as running at WDW (for obvious reasons), but I did my best to make the most of it by dressing up each day, listening to Disney tunes, and trying to partake in Princess-like activities during my non-running time. I even had Snowy running with me most of the time! Doing these races has me so excited to finally return to a runDisney race, whenever that might be. I have my heart set on Dopey being my runDisney return, but I honestly wouldn't hate participating in another Princess weekend if that's the earliest we can get back to it! Anywho, here's some photos from the weekend:


5K flat runner! Reprising our Evil Queen/Snow(y) White costumes 🍎💀❆


Snowy having a blast running in her costume!


Finish line pics!


5K finisher certificate!



10K flat runner - wanted to go with a Rapunzel theme since the 10K was themed after her! 🌞



Finish line pic!


10K finisher certificate!


Half Marathon flat runner! Of course I had to wear my Belle costume again because the half was themed after her this year! 📚🌹


Found a "character stop" around mile 12! 😜


Finish line pics!
(I actually have 16 miles to run on this day, so I finished the half in a random spot on my route. Definitely needed to stop and commemorate the moment, though!)


Half Marathon finisher certificate!

And because the Fairy Tale Challenge was themed after Tiana, I wanted to do a Tiana-like activity and tried my hand at making beignets! They were a little on the cakey side and tasted more like a donut than a beignet, but they were still so delicious. I'll have to tinker with the recipe a bit to get the fluffiness down to a science, but I think Tiana would have been proud of me for my first try! Looking at these pictures seriously makes me want to whip up another batch right now. 🤤



I vlogged my entire Princess Weekend experience as well, so if you'd like to see everything
~in action~ take a look at the video below! 👑

3. Strength & Stretching (or lackthereof)

This training cycle my strength training and stretching game has been abysmal. I know this is going to bite me in the butt when April rolls around, so I really want to get back on the horse of being disciplined in this department. It's already starting to come into play for me - I did a 5 mile run on Wednesday and was randomly SO SORE yesterday? I'm still feeling really sore today as well. That's.. not normal haha. I really need to do better! So for these last few weeks I'm going to intersperse a bit of strength training (without going too overboard) and a lot of stretching. I also sit on my butt most of the day, so I need to make sure I'm getting up and moving around a bit more often throughout the day. Hopefully all of that helps and I'll feel good through 26 miles on race day!

4. Training Log!

As promised, here's all of my training data from the last month. Aside from 2 skipped runs, I've been VERY consistent about getting my miles in which I am super proud of myself for. There's been so much going on in my personal life that it would be so easy for me to skip out on runs in favor of other things, but I've been dedicated to this training cycle. I'm hopeful for a good race this April and to finish this training cycle strong. 💪

Week 6: January 25, 2021 - January 31, 2021

Monday, 1/25 → Rest
Tuesday, 1/26 → 1 mile walk + 5.19 mile treadmill run @ 11:34/mile
Wednesday, 1/27 → Rest
Thursday, 1/28 → 1.23 mile walk
Friday, 1/29 → 6.5 mile treadmill run @ 11:25/mile
Saturday, 1/30 → 3.08 mile run @ 9:35/mile
Sunday, 1/31 → 13.01 mile run @ 10:22/mile

Total weekly running mileage: 27.78

Week 7: February 1, 2021 - February 7, 2021

Monday, 2/1 → Rest
Tuesday, 2/2 → .37 mile walk
Wednesday, 2/3 → 7.51 mile treadmill run @ 11:15/mile
Thursday, 2/4 → 1.61 mile walk
Friday, 2/5 → 5.31 mile treadmill run @ 11:18/mile
Saturday, 2/6 → 14.2 mile run @ 11:03/mile
Sunday, 2/7 → 1.07 mile walk + 1.01 mile walk

Total weekly running mileage: 27.02

Week 8: February 8, 2021 - February 14, 2021

Monday, 2/8 → .68 mile walk
Tuesday, 2/9 → 1.65 mile walk + 7.5 mile treadmill run @ 11:19/mile
Wednesday, 2/10 → 1.8 mile walk
Thursday, 2/11 → 1.63 mile walk
Friday, 2/12 → Virtual Disney Princess 5K
3.21 mile run @ 11:05/mile + 1.5 mile run @ 11:52/mile
Saturday, 2/13 → Virtual Disney Enchanted 10K
1.41 mile walk + 6.27 mile run @ 10:27/mile
Sunday, 2/14 → Virtual Disney Princess Half Marathon
13.12 mile run @ 11:06/mile + 2.89 mile run @ 11:15/mile

Total weekly running mileage: 34.49

Week 9: February 15, 2021 - February 21, 2021

Monday, 2/15 → Rest
Tuesday, 2/16 → 1.66 mile walk
Wednesday, 2/17 → 5.05 mile run @ 10:40/mile
Thursday, 2/18 → 1.61 mile walk
Friday, 2/19 → 6.5 mile treadmill run @ 11:36/mile
Saturday, 2/20 → 4.18 mile run @ 10:07/mile
Sunday, 2/21 → Rest

Total weekly running mileage: 15.73

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