Taper time!

I am officially in the taper and madness has begun. I am in a bubble like John Travolta. If you sneeze don't be offended if I run in the other direction. I am officially neurotic. I walk on the roads and sidewalks with a shuffle to avoid rolling an ankle. It's crazy!

I finished my training off in PA and NY. Home of snow and hills. PA got 16 inches of snow and I ran through it. Try going up steep hills through a few inches of snow. Quite the workout when you are used to the flat land of Illinois. I was supposed to do 10 and 20 back to back, but the snow and hills caused me to do 7 and 15.25. I called it good because I was freaking exhausted. More tired than any other training run all year even the previous 10 and 20 I did a few weeks before. I feel ready for the Goofy and really can't wait to get there.

For now,

Adding to the Adventure Book!

9 more days until we leave for Disney and The Goofy Challenge!

Cold weather training stinks!

I made it through my first 10 mile and 20 mile back to back runs. I did the 10 mile outside and got frostbite. I was pretty miserable. The next day was supposed to be even colder so I decided to do it on the treadmill. 20 miles. Oh my. I was on the treadmill for 4 and a half hours! That is just not right! I actually felt fine physically. I could have gone longer. Mentally it was draining. The weather has been horrible. I haven't been outside since the 10 miler. All my training has been on the dreadmill.

Now we are leaving town again to head east to visit our families for Christmas. I have my last big back to back this weekend. Another 10 miler and 20 miler. It is much hillier in PA and NY so I'm a bit nervous. Also a big snowstorm is coming. I don't have a treadmill there so this could be interesting!

I can't believe it's only three weeks until the races. It is so close now. I can't wait.

For now,

Adding to the Adventure Book!

The final push!

We are back from vacation. We had a great time in Jamaica. The weather was perfect for once. We usually have nothing but clouds and rain, but had beautiful sunny days every day. I stuck with my running and I have to say I am quite proud of myself. I got up at 5:30 on five mornings! I ran two 10 milers and three 5 milers. It was so hard to get out of bed after being up too late the night before. But my plan worked. I got up and got it done and then had a great big breakfast guilt free and would nap on the beach. It can be done. Not my favorite thing but I did it!

Now it's time for the real mileage. This weekend I have my first of two 10-20 back to back runs. I'm pretty nervous. Due to vacation, even though I ran quite a bit I still feel like I lost some fitness. I'm sure it will be fine, but I'll be glad to get through this weekend. It is only going to be 20 degrees both mornings this weekend. So not looking forward to that.

I really can't wait to get to Disney and meet all of my Team All Ears teammates. My fundraising is going well. I have very generous friends and family and I am very thankful!!!

For now,

Adding to the Adventure Book!

Ready for a vacation

I can't believe we are at only 8 weeks to go! Time is really flying now. My legs are tired. I've been putting in some big miles and I'm still doing well. My pace is faster than when I trained for the other marathons so I'm hopeful that the races will go smoothly. We are heading to Jamaica on Saturday for a week and yes I am packing the running shoes. I have never run on vacation before so this is going to be tough. I built in two extra weeks into my training to compensate for this, but still plan a few 10 mile runs and some 5 mile mid week runs. I don't want to blow all of this training. I will get up early and then take a nap on the warm beach! When we get back it will almost be December. I really can't believe it!

For now,

Adding to the Adventure Book!

Training continues!

We are now just 9 weeks and a few days away. It is really going fast now. Training is really ramping up and I'm getting tired. I definitely need more sleep. I fell asleep last night at 8! I did an 8 mile on Saturday and 17 mile on Sunday. That was a big back to back to get me ready. It was a very chilly weekend and I was cold on the long one on Sunday. It's supposed to warm up this weekend and I'm looking forward to it. Maybe I can run in the shorts again?

For now,

Adding to the Adventure Book!!!

Race for the Taste Report

Hi all,

Success!

We are back from Disney once again and had a great time as usual. We spent Friday in the Magic Kingdom and then went to the Halloween party that night. A very long day. Here's a glimpse at what we did.

Saturday we hit the Studios in the morning and did all the big ones. Toy Story, Tower of Terror and Rock and Roller Coaster. We then went over to the Wide World of Sports Complex to pick up my race packet. Then it was off to the Food and Wine Festival for the rest of the day finishing up with Illuminations. Then back to the All Star for bed and what I called the "running of the children" . I tried to go to bed early but, the kids just kept running by the door, ugh!

Sunday morning came early-4:30 and we got ready to catch the bus to the start. I met Gordon from the Running to Disney podcast and it was great to meet him. I also met my fellow Team All Ears member Brad. Before we knew it, the start of the race was upon us.

The race was fun. It was very hot and humid though. Also very crowded in spots so I had to slow down my pace. It was good practice for Goofy because the end of the marathon and the half marathon follow this same course. It was fun to run around an empty World Showcase.

After the finish I met up with fellow Team All Ears member Tracy and Brad again. It was great to meet everyone. We got our free samples and then headed out to get some much needed showers.

The afternoon was spent in Epcot for more Food and Wine. The winner for us was the Tenderloin from South Africa. Yummy! I also loved the Frozen Mojito. We then headed over the Magic Kingdom to catch Wishes and then back to the resort so we could get to bed early for our early flight home.

It was a great trip and I can't wait to go back in January. My training is going really well. Knock on wood!!! I did a 15 miler on Sunday after a 7 miler on Saturday and my pace was really good. I felt great.

That's all for now.

Adding to the Adventure Book!!!