moinab

Todd won a small clear ball with a wrapped gift, this morning, as I was driving home from work! Can't wait to see what he got!

Don't think there's any chance we'll be awake in 5 hours.

Todd's in line, now. I don't recognize anyone around him.

I really wish we could both do Savannah, but we don't have anyone to watch the kids.

I think I'm going to try for the Tri-2-B-Tuff Challenge, here in Jax, this fall. The Jax Marine Corps Half Marathon in October, the Outback Distance Classic Half on Thanksgiving morning, and the Jacksonville Bank Marathon in December. My husband wants to try for the inaugural Savannah Rock and Roll Marathon in November. There are a bunch of races we want to do, but they're all clustered around the same times. I'd like to do the Richmond Marathon, but it's the week after Savannah. I'd also like to try Miami, Melbourne Beach, and Myrtle Beach, but they're all within two weeks of the 26.2 with Donna, which I hope to do every year. Within the next two years, we're probably going to go back to homeschooling, which means we can plan more destination races, without worrying about school schedules.

I missed Dave's report, before I posted! Great job! My 3 year old loved the Mickey's Kids' Fest race, too. She wore her medal and was showing it off all weekend! I would love to get the Coast-to-Coast medal, but I don't think it will be for several years. Too expensive to fly all 5 of us to CA, again.

I didn't intend to try for a PR (out of two marathons, ) but I was feeling so good, I decided to see what I could do. Next time I'll try to get more pictures! I know you like to do all the Disney races, but you should consider the 26.2 with Donna, sometime. They have a 5K, half, and full. It's a really great race - very, very well supported, and you can't beat the emotion of the streets lined with people in pink, thanking you for running for their sisters/mothers/wives/daughters/friends. Plus, you get free food and coffee before the race, and free beer and food after it! It's infinitely better than the Princess Half!

Sad to say, for the second year in a row, the tree is still up, well into January. Last year, I didn't have time to take it down before our SoCal/Robb's Birthday Cruise trip. This year, I haven't had time to take it down, in between our two week trip to MA, and WDW Marathon Weekend. Had to work, last night. Recovering, this afternoon. I'll tackle it tomorrow.

Thanks, Renee! I wish we could have met up, but it was a crazy four days! Even your "awful" times are awesome! Our 5K time was around 42 minutes. I ran it with my whole family - my husband, 10 year old son, 7 year old daughter, and I pushed the 3 year old in an umbrella stroller. Because of the stroller, we had to start in the very back of the corral, with the walkers, which meant we were boxed in for much of the race. That was ok, though, because it was just about the experience of running together. It was so much fun! I ran the half with my friend Chris. It was his first half marathon, after taking up running last spring. I'm so proud of him! He set this crazy goal for himself, and he pushed through and got it done, even when both of his quads and one of his calves seized up, just before Epcot! Our time for the half was 3:18, so I felt great at the end. I think I could have done an ultra at that pace! I'm so glad that I ran the half with him, because it set me up for a great full marathon. My pie-in-the-sky goal was to break 4:30. I just wanted to beat Oprah's marathon time! I tried at the Space Coast Marathon, but discovered early on that I didn't have a chance, and then I hit the wall at 20 miles. For the WDW Marathon, I started out way too fast - I think I ran a 9 minute first mile. After that first mile, I settled into my pace, which I was able to keep ridiculously consistent throughout the rest of the race. I never lost it or hit the wall. By the time I made it to Studios, I was consistently 5 minutes ahead of a 4:30 pace, and I felt great. Just before that, at the turnaround by WWOS, I saw the 4:30 pace group. I caught up to them on World Drive, right before we turned into Studios, and finally passed them for good, just before Epcot. This was a particular thrill for me, because they started in D corral (I started in E!) I finished in 4:24, and could not be happier about it! My ultimate goal is to qualify for Boston, but my next goal will be to break 4 hours. No idea how long that will take me! My first Disney race was the Princess Half, last year, and I was NOT impressed. I thought that race sucked. I liked the Wine and Dine Half, in spite of it's shortcomings, but the WDW Marathon was completely awesome! I was never, ever bored out there. In between texting my splits to my husband, all the entertainment and water/nourishment stops along the course, and the WDW scenery, the miles seemed to fly by for me. The mile markers always seemed to pop up before I was expecting them! I thought I would just do it one time, for the medals, but now I definitely am considering Goofying again! We didn't spend much time in the parks. It was a challenge, wrangling the kids with the race schedules, and battling the omnipresent Brazilian mega-tour groups. Oh yeah, I can't leave out that I ran the 100 meter dash with my 3 year old at the Mickey's Marathon Kids' Fest, too! Don't know what my time was for that, though! I only stopped for one photo. I couldn't resist Phineas and Ferb - we love them! I have the 26.2 with Donna National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer, coming up on February 13th, here in Jacksonville Beach. This was my first half marathon, last year. I'm running the full, this year, (which goes, in part, along my regular training route, right by our neighborhood!) It's an incredible, very well supported race. I will try to put together a good trip report for it. Hope you're knees heal quickly, Renee! My quads and calves were pretty sore, yesterday, but I felt them easing up, throughout the night, at work last night. I'm going to try an easy 3 miler, this afternoon. It would be cool if we could put together a TPR runners' group for the WDW Marathon Weekend, next year! ETA - it may be the lactic acid build-up in my brain, because I suck at fund-raising and I have no idea how to go about something like this, but I think it would be really cool to organize a "Team TPR," and we could raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Just throwing it out there!

Holy crap! I had no idea the rooms were that expensive!!!! (Obviously, we don't spend a lot of time pricing resorts. ) Loved your report, as always. I suspect we'll be doing some resort-hopping trips in the next year, after our passes expire this month.

I'm so sorry for your loss, Benny. Glad to hear you are getting out more, now. Loved your team marathon report. WDW Marathon weekend is looking good, so far. Ten day forcast is showing lows around 50 and highs of 74 that week. Might actually be a bit on the warm side! I've only run three times in the past weeks, and I haven't had a long run since the Space Coast Marathon on November 28th, so I'm going to be a bit sorry for the Goofy. I'm not going for any particular times, though. Just going to have fun and focus on finishing!

And Slim Jims! No entries from Robb's Birthday Cruise?

Every time I think I've narrowed down a favorite, somebody posts another awesome one! Great work, everyone! This is, hands down, the best photoshops contest EVER! LOVE Prince Desmond in the Brit Crew!

That depends on what you mean by "cooler." I can handle 40's and 50's, but this 20's and 30's crap (plus wind) that we have right now has got to go!

I think Galloway's formula is to add 30 seconds per mile, for every 5 degree increment over 60 degrees, so you definitely would have hit that PR in cooler temps! Since adding in cross-training and revising my diet in August, I've finally lost 12 pounds, after not losing anything for the first 10 months of running. I thought that I hated running in the heat, but I've decided that I prefer heat to windy cold. I haven't done a damn thing since Saturday. I'm really going to have to dig deep for motivation to get in my 20 miler this afternoon, after only a couple hours of sleep. Still not sure what I should do. I'm terrified of turning this little head cold into bronchitis, but I don't want to lose all of my conditioning, either. If I don't run today, I'll have to run in MA on Sunday, with predicted temps from the teens to the low 30's, with snow flurries. Maybe I could split it up - 5 miles on the treadmill, 10 miles outside, and then finish it up on the treadmill. I really can't tolerate more than 5 or 6 miles on a treadmill, at a time. But hey, three weeks from tomorrow, we'll be heading to WDW for Marathon Weekend! I just printed out all of our waivers, with our bib numbers. Just hope the weather is better than last year!

^^Florida is experiencing a nasty cold spell, right now. I tried to experience this once, but the crowds freaked me out. I didn't even get halfway through, before I started clawing my way backward to get out of the mass of humanity. I much prefered the Wine and Dine Half Marathon version.

Nice work, Chuck! I went minimalist, this year, since we will be in MA for two weeks. I just put up the tree, let the kids decorate it, and called it a day.

My adductor strain is better. I've started doing some yoga poses for runners, this past week. My hamstrings are ridiculously tight, and I think that's what has been causing my random aches and pains, this past month. Hoping the yoga will loosen me up, again. I'm trying to squeeze in workouts and runs, where I can. I need to get in a 20 mile long run, before we leave for MA, next Thursday. As cold as it is here in NE FL, I really don't want to have to run 20 miles in 20 degree weather in New England! I was looking forward to running all the hills around my mom's house, but now I'm not so sure about the cold. I may wuss out and hit the dreadmill, while I'm there. Enjoy Club 33! I totally pigged out at the Space Coast pre-race pasta dinner. I did pay for it a little bit in the race, but it was worth it!

IKEA Rattas!

Excellent! I could never figure that out. Thank you!

Thanks Hanno!

Thanks! I'm fine with it staying where it's at, as it is probably only of interest to runners. Is there a way to link to that particular post, so I can direct facebook friends to it, or do I just link to the page?

I posted a report on my Space Coast Marathon experience in the Running thread, on the Random board, but it turned out to be a lot longer than I realized. Now I'm wondering if I should have posted it as a separate thread, or if it's ok where it is?

We had a great time at the Space Coast Marathon. Started out not so great, though. We drove way out of our way (20 miles further south,) to go to the Running Zone (sponsoring store,) for the meet and greet with Dick Beardsley. That was a bad call, on our part, because after 3 hours in the car, Charlotte (3 years old) was an out-of-control animal, inside the store. After being asked more than a dozen times (no exaggeration) by 5 or so different employees if they could help us, we just left, without ever getting to meet up with Dick. Frustrating. After a quick lunch, we drove another half hour back north, to the Expo at Kennedy Space Center. We arrived a couple of minutes after noon. Since my husband had signed up as a volunteer from noon to 3PM, he had to check-in and get right to work at the race shirt distribution table. I walked around the expo with the kids. For a small race expo, it had a good variety of booths with lots of freebies. I saw a couple of Christmas ornaments I really liked, but they were gone, when I went back to buy them. After an hour of poking around, I left with the kids to go check in to the hotel. Didn't realize how far away we were - it took us 40 minutes (had some bad directions) to get the the Best Western Cocoa Beach. The hotel room was ok. I wouldn't have chosen it, though, if it weren't for needing the shuttle to the race. They provided breakfast, but not until 7AM. I suggested (nicely) that, as a host hotel for the marathon, they should have at least provided bananas, yogurt, bagels, etc. for the runners, who had to leave well before the 6:15AM race time. After settling in at the hotel, putting Charlotte down for a nap, and getting everything ready for the morning, we drove back to KSC to spend some more time at the expo, and get in line for the bus to the pre-race dinner at the Apollo/Saturn V Center (it's a restricted area, so they have to bus everyone in from the visitors center.) The dinner was supposed to begin at 6PM, but we didn't even get in until 6:30. Because of that, they ended up having to cut the speech by one of the Space Shuttle pilots, because we had to catch the bus back to the visitors center at 8PM. As cool as it was to have the dinner there, the staff was horrible. It was a buffet, and they kept running out of food, which would take at least 5 minutes to replace. So you are standing in a buffet line, and the salad runs out, holding up the line for 5 minutes, until they replaced it. Then you move up to the pasta, and the ravioli is out, and it takes another 5 minutes to replace that, and then the bread was out! It was ridiculous. The food was ok, but you had to pay for beverages, other than coffee, and they never refilled our water. Pretty crappy for $50 per person. The speech by Dick Beardsley was great, however. If you ever get a chance to hear him speak, don't miss it. It was a particular thrill for me, because I vividly remember watching the 1982 Boston Marathon "Duel in the Sun" between him and Alberto Salazar, and rooting for Beardsley the whole time. I barely made the 4:30AM shuttle to the race, the next morning. I was surprised that it was almost completely full. The staging area and starting line are in Cocoa Village, which a quaint little town center with artsy type shops. Very cute. They had just had the tree lighting ceremony in the park, (where the race was staged,) the previous night, so the whole park and all the shops had Christmas lights on. I loved having the staging area/finish line in a park, as opposed to a parking lot/empty field, which has been my experience in previous races. It was especially nice for my family, while they were waiting for me to finish, because there was nice playground and plenty to do to keep the kids occupied. Very family friendly. I loved the size of this race. They had 2700 registered runners, but only 800 were running the full marathon. The starting corrals were divided down the street, with half-marathon runners on the left, and full marathon runners on the right. After the first block, the half runners turned left, to head down the south out and back part of the course, and the full marathon runners turned right, headed for the north out and back, before returning through Cocoa Village and continuing on to the south. I was never alone on the course, but there was plenty of space. It was never crowded, and you could keep to your own pace. I was plagued by some bathroom issues, unfortunately, during the first half. Usually, I can easily run 20 miles without needing a bathroom break, but by the second mile, I knew I was going to have to stop. They only had two porto-potties at each water stop. I was trying to wait for an open one, but by mile 6, I was decided to stop. I waited for a minute, before giving up. Seriously - what are people doing in there? Putting on make-up, or what? I was not happy that I wasted a minute and didn't even get to go. Finally found an open one at mile 8, and then another at mile 12. I was good, after that. The first out and back was very pretty, right along the river, as the sun came up. The terrain was gently rolling, the whole way. No big hills, but a lot of little ups and downs. I was able to keep a good pace, other than my potty breaks, and was still feeling ok by the half, when we headed down the south out and back. By mile 14, the wind started kicking up, off the river. That took a lot out of me, and after a few miles, I was begging for the turnaround, which was between miles 19 and 20. It was a rude awakening, however, once I hit the turnaround and discovered the wind was even worse, going back. I wanted to cry. I had been able to hold my pace until then, but after 20, I started losing steam, and had to incorporate more walking throughout the final 10K. I was originally hoping for a sub 4:30, but was happy with my official 4:44:51, and I was especially happy that my knee didn't bother me at all! There were very few spectators on the course, and it's an open course, but that didn't bother me. I encountered only 2 or 3 cars, and it was nice to see people walking their dogs or riding bikes along the way. All of the water stops have various space themes, and are manned by different groups. There is a ballot at the end, to vote for your favorite, and the winning group gets $1000 donated to their cause. I thought that was a great touch. Toward the end, though, the volunteers enthusiasm was waning. Instead of handing out GU, they just left them in baskets or boxes on the table, and I missed several stops, because they weren't prepared or paying attention (standing around talking, rather than holding the cups out for you, etc.) After 4 hours, though, I can't really blame them. They should probably work in shifts, or something. After crossing the finish line and getting your medal, you get a Space Coast Marathon logo beach towel, instead of a mylar blanket. That was a very nice touch. They also had beverages in ice filled kiddie pools. By the time I finished, they were out of bottled water, and only had Diet Coke left, but that's what I drink, so I was happy. I managed to get my free pizza before they ran out, but missed out on the eggs. They did still have pancakes and sausage, but the bananas were all gone, too. There was plenty to completely stuff myself with, though! Although it may seem like I'm complaining a lot, I thought it was a great race and my family had a great time. Best of all, I finished my first full marathon with a semi-respectable time, and I didn't hurt myself! (Sorry for the crappy photo quality.) With my family, at the pre-race dinner. Dining under the Saturn V rocket. Crossing the finish line about 15 times, while walking warm-up laps, before the race. Medal area, after the finish line. Medals. The end of the race was running around the park on that walkway, into the arches, to the finish line, behind the pavilion. Post-race beverages. Setting up the post-race breakfast tent. Walking through Cocoa Village, to the starting corrals. That was my goal. lol Looking toward the jumbo-tron, at the starting line. This was around mile 2 or 3. This was after the north turn around, mile 7ish. Pretty. This house made me laugh. If I look kind of crazed, it's because I was, at that point. I made it! lol Lots of space theming, everywhere. I love my medal!

Sorry to hear you were hurting. Hope you recover quickly! Yes, Space Coast is on Sunday. Unfortunately, my knee decided to start acting up, this week, for the first time. It's a bit loose and crunchy, and is a little achey with deep bends or stairs. I haven't run since a quick 3-miler on Saturday. Just going to keep resting and icing it, and taking ibuprofen. I was aiming for a sub 4:30, but now I'm just going to hope for a sub 5:00, and hope I don't have to walk a majority of it. As long as I don't end up really injured, it's probably best that this happened, to slow me down. I was getting overly ambitious, I think. I'm doing Space Coast, then the Dopey at WDW, and then the 26.2 with Donna on February 13th. Pushing myself for a time goal in my first full marathon, and then stacking all of these other races after it, is probably not in my best interest! Do you think you'd do Philly again? I'm tempted to do one of the Runner's World Challenge races, and Philly is going to be one of them, next year. Richmond would be more convenient for me, though. We're also looking at the Savannah Rock and Roll Marathon, next November. So many races, so little time and money!