Thursday, March 02, 2017

Princess Half 2017

Well I did it. I finished my 9th half marathon. This was my 4th at Disney. I had been training for about 6 weeks before Thanksgiving, but quit after that. So I went in cold.

I still finished in just under 3 1/2 hours. I lucked out and ran/walked the first 7 miles with a pacer--a team of two people who keep you on pace to finish in a certain amount of time. This pacer was doing a 3 hour 15 min finish, which consisted of 15 seconds of running and 30 seconds of walking, equaling about 14 min/mile.

Around mile 6.5 you hit the Magic Kingdom and it gets really congested and hard to stay together. So I had a hard time keeping up with the pacer (she held a sign so I could keep her in my sights, and she would yell "run" and "walk" when it was time to switch intervals). I had to run for half the walk breaks to catch up, weaving through people. And by mile 7, I was out of gas and was done with the pacer.

So for miles 8, 9, and 10 I ran/walked my own intervals, which were around a 15 min/mile pace. Then I walked the rest of the race. My last mile was slow--19 min. I was cooked.

But I never saw a Balloon Lady--those dreaded women carrying balloons who maintain the 16 min/mile minimum you have to maintain in order not to be swept from the course. I started in the 2nd from the last corral, so I had an additional 6-10 min cushion. Plus the fastish miles of the first 7 miles. And I knew I'd be ok if I walked the last 3 without killing myself.

No blisters, no knee pain, no damage. Normal soreness which I'd have had even if I'd trained. I am beyond lucky that my body still cooperates with me. Especially at my age and at my weight (174--the heaviest I've ever done a half).

We rested and got ready after the race for about 2 hours, then went back out to the Parks. Had dinner at 9:45pm at O'Hanna's at the Polynesian. Got back to the hotel at 12:30 am. I was up for over 20 hours (woke up at 2:15am to catch a 3:15 bus for the 5:30 start).

We walked another 8-9 miles in the parks that day. Walk=hobbled. But it worked out the lactic acid and Monday was better soreness-wise and Tuesday was even better.

It was a great trip. These are four of my oldest and closest friends that I never get to spend time with. It never rained; we had sunshine and warmth every day.

Mark and the kids did fine while I was gone. I of course had everything "idiot proofed" for Mark--left him 5 pages of notes and had the kids lunches pre-packed in lunch sacks. He still had a new appreciation for how much work it is to get the kids ready in the morning and at night. I am glad to be home with them all again. 6 days is a long time to be away.

I am back to being abstinent. I am on day 16. I am doing an intensive 12 step workshop with my friend Amy (she's in the black t-shirt beside me in the pic) through a workbook. I've done steps 1-3. Now starting step 4. That's where I got stuck last time. So this will be new territory. I'll keep you posted.

7 comments:

Jill A said...

I'm so glad you were able to get away with your friends for awhile. I hope you felt renewed and recharged after that!

So good to hear from you. You're on my mind a lot and I'm glad you pop in once in a while with a post. :)

xoxo

Vickie said...

So glad you had a good time and nice weather. My husband is running into injury after injury. (So I appreciate how lucky you were). Good to hear from you.

This school year will be done in a blink.

My youngest is moving almost everything home over Easter break, because her finals are soon after that. She is still trying to figure out summer plans.

Bookmark this for your daughter. Have her glance at it now just so she sees what is out there.
https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/index.jsp

Vickie said...

End of school year fast approaching. Just looked at the calendar and it is sliding away.

My youngest just moved home for part of the summer. Her online summer school starts this coming Monday. She is here for just over a month, then away at summer school for a month. Then a few weeks after that we move her back to college.

Middle just has a couple more weeks with her preschool kids. Her summer school starts this coming week too.

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Vickie said...

How are you? (It's been a while.)

Vickie said...

College -
One thing we do differently, than most families, is sign up for 18 hours of classes, every semester.

If you sign up for 18, rather than 15, it leaves the option of dropping a class.

It also gives the option of taking 18.

When classes start, syllabi are in hand, informed decisions can be made.

Kids who sign up for 15 and then drop a class, are down to 12. And 12 for several semesters leads to falling behind the rest of the people with your same major, and a late graduation. Even one semester of 12 can be a problem.

And 18 a semester if it can be done well, means the flexibility to take advantage of programs. There is room in the schedule.

And sometimes a busier schedule means they are more focused and have less messing around time.

Vickie said...

How are you?
Home for the holiday weekend?