Tag Archives: Run Disney

RunDisney 2016 – Training Week 4

4/20 = a fifth of the way through our training!

Following last week, we’ve noticed a significant increase in our pace, which is great news! We did a 5 miler to finish the week in just over an hour, which included a few quick walking breaks, but if you extrapolate that pace out, it looks good for our aim of completing a half marathon in under 3 hours and Dad’s looking into races we can do this year for practice.

Another thing I spotted earlier today is some noticeable definition in my legs where muscles are starting to fight through, which is doing wonders for my self esteem as its proof I must be losing some fat around my body!

From here in out, our end of week runs alternate 3 miles with increasing distances of 1.5 miles each fortnight; we’ve just done 5, so its 3, 6.5, 3, 8, 3, 9.5 etc.. The plan is to be smashing the 3 miles out every other week, getting quicker and quicker each time. This is great as well for my 5k practice, as I want to complete Race for Life in under 30 minutes this June.

Just keep running, just keep running..

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RunDisney 2016 – Training Week 3

I can’t believe we’ve been at this for 3 weeks already!

Today was a first for us: the first time we’ve ever run in rain. Normally we would use the weather as a reason to put off a run, but today that wasn’t an option; we’re half marathon running wannabes, and the weather is no longer an excuse for us. And the best part?

Today was the fastest pace we’ve maintained. Ever.

Our distance was 2 miles today, which we completed in 20 minutes, which means we kept a steady pace of 6mph (just under 10km/h). I don’t know if it was the weather keeping me going, or the fact I was managing to keep going that was keeping me going, but whatever it was it worked for me because that felt like the easiest run we’ve done both physically and mentally; my muscles weren’t screaming for me to stop and my stitches weren’t unbearable, and I didn’t have that little voice in my head telling me to stop and walk for a bit.

This week I bought a Joni Vest from Fabletics to add to my warm running attire. I’ve been looking at getting one for a little while, but hesitated because I was a little concerned that it would be too bulky to run in, but I figured I could always return it if it wasn’t to my liking, so I went out on a whim and ordered one. When it arrived, I was then a little concerned that it was so lightweight I wouldn’t actually be kept warm, but it was just right! My fitness wardrobe is generally blacks, blues and purples, so the colour fits right in, and the pockets are surprisingly deep.

With any luck its going to start getting a little warmer soon, but this is England so there’s no knowing really!

Next stop, week 4!

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RunDisney 2016 – Training Week 2

We’ve survived another week of running, yay!

So this week saw the Disneyland half marathon weekend registration open, and Dad and I used this as a sort of test run for the application process. Race registration opens at 12pm EST, which is 5pm in the UK, so we sat online and waited for the clock to tick over and the page to update, before having a sneaky peak at the application forms and watching the race fill up over the rest of the evening. To our surprise, the shorter races filled up much quicker than the half marathon, so we’re pretty confident in getting our places sorted as long as we’re online at the right time!

On top of running with Dad, I’ve been doing some different run training on the treadmill at the gym. Despite the fact the race will be almost entirely flat, I’ve been doing a little bit of incline training, and also building up my speed; short bursts for now, but with the hope of being able to hold out to complete a 5k in 30 minutes for when I do Race for Life in June. I’m also trying to practice running without my dad; at the moment we pace each other nicely, but I don’t want to become to reliant on his pacing as he won’t be running with me during Race for Life.

Its getting a little warmer in Bournemouth, although its still very nippy in the early mornings. I suppose the challenge this week for us has been route planning, as we’re tending to do very similar routes day in, day out. We did 4 miles this week, so just under 1/3 of our final distance, and we’re keeping good time and I think we’ll comfortably finish on the day in under 3 hours as long as we keep up at this rate!

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RunDisney 2016 – Training Week 1

As I announced last week, me and my dad are hoping to be lucky enough to take part in not 1, but 2 RunDisney events at the beginning of next year; running a half marathon at each. We started running together last year, going from total inexperience to finishing the year with a 10k, so a half marathon is a total step up for us.

For us, the most sensible way to train was to use the training schedule designed by Jeff Galloway, the esteemed US athlete and trainer used by the RunDisney gang. Its a 20 week programme consisting of 3 runs a week: 2 x 30 minute runs, followed by a run of a set distance.

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So the running this week hasn’t been too difficult; just a case of building up the muscles and getting back into it. The real challenge has been running in the chilly temperatures of an English January, and dressing suitably for it; we did all our running last year in slightly warmer temperatures! I’ve been wearing full length running leggings, and a vest top underneath a fleece jumper, which is working quite well for me, but as I only have the one fleece I’ve got to look into a bigger range of options to avoid smelliness!

Just 19 weeks to go..

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RunDisney 2016

Right, so one of the items on my Disney Bucket List is to participate in a RunDisney race. These event weekends happen about 3 times a year at both Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California, and each weekend consists of a marathon, half marathon, 10k, 5k and a selection of races for kids.

I’m not a professional runner, but Dad and I took up running last year with the target of running a 10k, which we did back in October in a very respectable 1 hour 7 minutes. So I got a little excited when the first races of 2016 were announced, and the Disney World Marathon Weekend and Star Wars Weekend at Disneyland fall just a week apart, and a crazy idea popped into my head.. Why not do both?

I mean, if I’m going to fly out for one, I might as well.. I proposed the idea to Dad, a 10k at each weekend, and rocking the parks in between, and he’s in, but today he offered an alternate plan..

A half marathon at each.

That’s right 13.1 miles, twice in two weeks. That’s a whole marathon altogether, and the longest we’ve ever run to date is 10k.

There is a little method to the madness; first of all we have 11 months to train, which is plenty of time (RunDisney provides training programmes, and to go from beginner to half marathon takes 20 weeks), and second, and more importantly, it means we complete the Coast to Coast Challenge; completing a half or full marathon at both Disney World and Disneyland in the same calendar year gets us an extra medal!

The race entries don’t open til later in the year, so our plans aren’t 100% finalised, but we start training next week, and I’m going to be starting a new series following our journey.

Wish us luck!

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