moinab

That is beyond awesome!

Aww! That will teach you to not check the site more often! Touche.

So disappointed that I didn't see this until today!

Marathon weekend isn't bad, crowdwise, but you have to deal with road closures. MLK weekend is busier, but not horrible. Do avoid the cheerleaders, if possible. Be prepared for a variety of weather. Temps can range from 20's to 80's.

So, I ran the Subaru Distance Classic half marathon on Thanksgiving morning. I took a few cell phone photos, before and after the race, but they're not worth posting. It's a very low-frills race. They had a balloon arch and DJ at the start and finish, bagels, bananas, bottled water, and cups of Gatorade after the race. The medal is cheesy, but the Saucony Vizi-Pro tech shirts are nice. What this race does have going for it is that it is flat, (even by Florida standards,) shaded, and pretty fast. I heard a lot of people saying that they PR'd. I ran it hard, and made my goal of sub-2 hours, with 1:58:50, which is an official PR of 27 minutes. (Unofficially, I ran a 2:16 at the 2010 Wine and Dine, using my friend's registration. I also ran a 2:13 half, as part of the 2011 WDW Marathon, and a 2:07 on a 13.1 mile training run, in June.) I'm not in the best condition, right now, and I'm carrying some extra weight, after the TPR cruise, so I'm really happy that I made my goal. My ultimate goal is to qualify for Boston. I would need a 3:45 by September, to qualify for 2013. Not. Gonna. Happen. Fortunately, though, I bump up to the next age group, for 2014, so I'll need a 3:55. Yay for getting old! My goal time is 3:50. It won't be easy. My current PR is 4:24:31, from WDW, which I ran the day after running the half (slowly) with my friend. I think I can make it happen, within the next two years.

For the record, I was all set to lavish my praise upon the Skittles-loving iguana, before I saw the Talking Heads sign. This report is so full of win, it's actually making up for the less-than-spectacular time we had, trapped in the room with various sleeping children! By the way, don't know if you saw this when I posted it on my fb page, a while back. http://www.davidbyrne.com/radio/

As if I didn't already love you as the brother I should have had, Talking Heads FTW!!!!!

^^

Should be any time, now. They usually start getting freaked out by strangers around 4 months.

Looking forward to many more Bean adventures!

Bummer. Makes sense, though. I'll probably have to start looking at South Carolina for an April and/or September race, to extend my race season.

November - Subaru Distance Classic Half Marathon January - WDW Marathon Relay February - 26.2 with Donna National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer March - Gate River Run 15K I was hoping to run the Jetty-2-Jetty Ultra, (35 mile run on the beach, from Atlantic Beach to St. Augustine,) but they inexplicably moved it from March to May, next year, with an 8:30AM start time, which means 35 miles of full-on, hot Florida sun beating down. No thanks. So, I'll have to wait and see about the Guana River 50K Trail Run, which is usually in late February or March. I'd like to run the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati, in May, but I don't know if I'll be able to swing it. No idea what I'll be doing in the fall. Probably the Miracle Miles 15K in Orlando, in September, the Daytona Beach Half in October, and the Jacksonville Bank Marathon (my BQ goal race,) in December. I'd really like to do the One to Grow On Ultramarathon, which is a local 55-miler, in January, 2013.

I can't begin to express how annoyed I am that they announced Legoland Florida approximately 12 hours after we returned from Legoland California. Our kids are pretty much the perfect ages for it, right now, but I feel like we should wait a year or two for it to flesh out a bit more. Looking forward to further updates.

Sak pase! Haiti was absolutely our favorite part of the trip, thanks especially to Janice and Elissa, for watching the kids, so we could go on a relaxing beach excursion! I could easily have spent another day, there. I work with a lot of Haitians, and a lot of people who do mission trips to Haiti. I think I may look into doing medical missions, when the kids are older.

If I recall correctly, the cruise lines prohibit women from cruising past a certain point in pregnancy - I want to say 24 weeks. Also, babies have to be a certain age - I believe it's 4 months, before they are allowed. My older daughter was 5 1/2 months old, on our first DCL cruise.

I was just wondering if there was any way to time the race with the train schedule, to avoid that, but I suppose they are restricted by the city, needing to open up the roads. I'm looking forward to more of your race reviews on some of the smaller central FL races. I'd like to try Gasparilla, someday. I'd love to do the Florida 15K Challenge, but it would be tough, because Gasparilla and the Gate River Run are so close together, and fall right after the 26.2 with Donna, which I hope to run every year. I'm thinking about running Miracle Miles, next year. I'm pissed at the Rock and Roll series for scheduling the inaugural St. Pete half on the same day as the 26.2 with Donna, which will certainly siphon off some runners who would otherwise be here. The new St. Augustine Marathon was also going to schedule at the same time, but agreed to switch their date to November. The Rock and Roll group wouldn't budge, though. Race director politics - with more and more races popping up, there's going to be more overlap, unfortunately.

Rhiannon would LOVE to do this. Me, not so much. Maybe I'll have to send her with KT.

Thanks for the report, Dave! Definitely want to run this one, but I hope they fix the whole train thing! That would totally suck, to have to stop and wait for 4 minutes in the middle of a race! Are you planning on any races in Jacksonville, this season? I think I'm going to run the Subaru Distance Classic half marathon on Thanksgiving morning, as well as the 26.2 with Donna, in February, and the Gate River Run, in March (both of which are great races!)

You captured Charlotte's escape from Shrek! (The empty chair that everyone is looking at is because my almost 4 year old slid under the table, in order to avoid Shrek.

^^LMAO!

-Shannon's costume was awesome. -Boo to You automatically loops through my head, whenever I see MNSSHP photos. So sad we had to miss it, this year. -We are convinced that LEGO blocks have some sort of crack-like substance embedded in the plastic, that makes kids mental with addiction for them. -The Mickey plush photo is now my desktop, just in time for Charlotte's birthday. -That DD Pedo Parade creeps me out, every time we encounter it. -I want an Earl of Sandwich Caprese. Right NOW. -Stupid sexy Flanders.

Be prepared to be there VERY early in the morning! I left my hotel at 3:45AM, and promptly got stuck in a massive traffic jam that stretched from Epcot, all the way down World Drive to 192. After finally reaching the parking lot, I encountered a massive human traffic jam, heading toward the corrals. I think it was 5:25AM, by the time I made it to my corral. They ended up delaying the start of the race. Of course, if you stay onsite, it's not as much of an issue, but we got a great offsite hotel for $30/night, so it was worth it, for me. I left earlier the next day, for the marathon, but there are a lot less people in the marathon, so there were no problems at all. I prefer to avoid the bagcheck lines. I just carry my id, keys, and phone in my iFitness belt. I also try to bring a plastic bag (which also fits easily in my belt,) to hold all of the post-race goodies (bagel, power bars, gatorade, water, soda, banana, orange, etc.) Sometimes they have bags, but when they don't, it can be a challenge to carry everything (they hand all of this stuff to you before you go through the bag claim area.) They have cups of water available, before the race. They also have a concession tent, where they sell coffee, oatmeal, bagels, etc. Have fun!

So. Full. Of. Win.

^^What is your main objective? If you are primarily interested in maintaining/losing a little weight, then longer, slower distances are your best bet. Speed training is the more likely to get you injured. I was working on building speed, this past summer. I thought I was being smart about it, but ended up suddenly overtrained, and lost almost 2 months of quality training. My regular route is 6.1 miles. My pace is usually in the 9 minute range. I run that twice a week, and then have one longer run, each week (I'm currently at 8 miles, working back up to full marathon by February.) I'm older, so I need the extra day off, in between, for recovery. I'm trying to work up to 4 days/week. I do core work and strengthening, on my off days. Hill running is supposed to be great for building leg strength. I wouldn't know, as I live on the beach, with zero elevation! I try to do one run in the sand, every week or two, for leg strength. Trail running is also a great way to mix things up, as it is easier on the joints than pavement, and helps build up stabilizer muscles. I would suggest a couple of days on your regular route, at a comfortable pace, in addition to one longer, slower day. If you want, add in one speedwork day, and mix it up with trails and/or hills. One thing you definitely don't want to do is run hard, every day. Most of your runs should be comfortable, with only 1-2 hard efforts (long, slow runs count as "hard") each week. And consider signing up for some races - they're fun! Dave- can you switch your registration from the full to the relay? It looks like they allow switching between the half, full, and Goofy, but they don't mention anything about the relay.