2018 Beer Drinker Appreciation Society - Always Open (Page 40)

Busy this weekend...spin class and some core work on Saturday, 1500 in the pool on Sunday while watching both my football teams (PSU and Ravens) get throttled.  This morning I struggled through an anaerobic workout on the trainer - probably a bad idea at 5:45 AM.  Traveling to Tampa this afternoon so some hotel gym time.

So...the Half Marathon didn't go all as expected.  I had a great time though.  The only thing that really went as expected? - no sleep the night before the race, due to 3am wakeup plus paranoia that I would miss my alarm

Wasn't really planning on a PR HM for myself, the plan was to pace my friend to his PR.  The kicker is, he's faster than I am in training.  Every single training run, every interval workout, every long run - he's faster than I am.  Yet when it comes to race day, he can't seem to do it.  Usually because he starts out feeling good, goes too fast with dreams of qualifying for Boston or something, then falls apart.  Sound familiar?  

So we start out, mile 1, 2, 3, 4 - and I've got us bang on pace.  Mile 5ish he stops to use the portapotty, and I slow down to wait.  No big deal, he can be speedy for a mile and catch me esp since I slowed up.  He caught me as expected, but then needed a walk break.  He said nothing felt good, and needed one walk break after the next.  We're approaching mile 6 of 13.1 here...  

The next walk break he drops back and doesn't tell me, and by the time I realize it and stop, I can't see him.  I start walking backwards for a while, and still can't see him.  At this point, any hope of getting him a PR is gone.  There's zero chance for me getting my PR, I've got like 9 minutes on him in that department.  So what do I do?

Well, it's a Disney race, so there are tons of character photo stops.  I decide to go for a PR in number character photos!  In my past 4 RunDisney races, I tended to not stop for character pics since there's a line of people, and I'm trying to PR.  Yesterday I was early out on course (Corral B, behind the elites and sub-1:50 crowd), so the lines were minimal.  So I'm thinking, instead of a PR, can I make character stops AND break the 2 hour mark?  Let's try!

I managed 6 character photo stops - Chip and Dale (dressed as dinosaurs in Dinoland in Animal Kingdom), the penguins from the animated part of Mary Poppins, Mr. and Mrs. Incredible, Sports Daisy near Wide World of Sports, Duchess from Aristocats, and the Dragon from Mulan.  Didn't quite hit the 2 hour part, though.  I was staying ahead of the RunDisney 2 hour pace group - however it was the one from the corral that started 4 minutes behind me.  I finished in 2:02.  Officially my slowest HM, but definitely the most fun (minus the business of losing my running buddy).

Sidenote - yes the characters are pretty random.  They do that on purpose, there is a whole slew of disney nerds that seek out 'rare' characters for photo ops.  So Disney pulls some out for special events like the RunDisney races, and the International Food and Wine Festival, which is what the HM was part of.  The one that I missed and am still mad at myself - Stitch dressed as sequin Elvis, dancing to Elvis tunes.

No RR for this one, as all of the questions are too much about trying for your own goals and why they did or didn't happen.  Instead of 'why did your running buddy fall apart, and you changed your goal to stopping for Disney characters' hahahaha.

John - now that is how to run a race!

Gretchen - your job sounds so metal when you put it like that hahahaha

I have no idea how you manage to run in those conditions!  Good on you!

Noooooooooooooo!!!!!!  Throat stuff is right up there with the worst.  Can't breathe, can't swallow, it sucks and I'm sorry you're going through it!  At the very least it's now, and not before your races...

John,

For the few Disney races I've run (at Disneyland) I've never worried about time and just had fun with it. For the Star Wars runs I made sure to get a bunch of pictures. Glad to hear you were able to make the best of it!

Over the weekend while visiting family in San Diego I managed a couple trail runs, one around a lagoon near the beach and the other in the hills above where I was staying. Lots of family activity so it was nice to get away for some peace and quiet on the trails. Looking at maps I found some fun stuff to explore on the hill trails next time I'm down there.  That's part of what I enjoy about trail running, exploring off the beaten path while getting some good exercise.