And we're changing again...

Well, I was sitting around online, minding my business on Thursday, when I got an IM from my little (ok, so he's 22 and has a good foot on me) brother, David, saying that he was thinking of coming along to WDW and doing the full marathon. Awesome. We discussed it for awhile, and in the end he did register, along with booking 4 nights at the Pop Century Resort. This is so cool. My brother and I were always really close growing up, but because of distance (he lives in Calgary and I live in Southern Ontario) and just generally having our own lives, I see very little of him anymore. However, it is going to change our trip a little bit.

We have decided that we're still going to stay at the Wilderness Lodge. James was reluctant to spend that much money at first, but now I think he's really looking forward to staying there; he loves camping and national parks, and I really think this is going to be the ideal Disney resort to introduce him to the magic. I even gave him an out, mentioning that David was staying at POP, which I had said before that I will look forward to trying once we have kids, and that it is a third of the price of WL, and it would be easier to coordinate meeting up with Dave. He seemed disappointed and finally, after some prodding, out and out told me that he wanted to stick with WL. Wooohoo!

And also, we are going to have to change our plans to include the Sunday in our stay. We were planning on leaving for home on Sunday, but now that Dave will be running the full marathon, we're going to have to stick around to cheer him on. So, unless we can find a late Sunday flight, it's going to lead to us booking another night at the WL. We might cut Thursday from our plans, though, and have a Friday-Monday trip instead. I'm really gunning for the Thursday to Monday, but James really doesn't have a lot of holidays right now and every day counts. We'll see how it turns out; I'm loathe to even look at flight times as anything approaching concrete right now, with all the turmoil the US airlines have been going through, so I can't make the changes yet.

In running news, I'm staying at home today with what looks to be a mildly sprained ankle. I knew I did something to it on Saturday's run, but I went with the "it'll fix itself!" mentality and continued to run on it. Yesterday, with a golf-ball-sized lump of swelling, I finally had to admit that something was wrong. So, I'm taking it easy today and tomorrow I may try running gently on the treadmill and stopping if it doesn't seem ok. It's not too bad right now, but I don't really want to make it worse.

The challenge is on...

Well, I'm into month two of my training, and the challenge is on. I challenged my boyfriend, James, to run more miles than him during the month of April; I've already doubled his mileage. I have this one in the bag.

Yesterday was the first day of the year where I could comfortably run outside. It was absolutely beautiful out and I made the calculated decision to run out to the Elsie Perrin Williams Estate on the Windermere hill. Shhhh, don't tell James, but we're getting married there. *grin*

This week I'm going to be starting with 12 minutes run/1 minute walk for 30 minutes, working my way up to 15 and 1. This doesn't scare me, anymore. I ran three miles easily yesterday, with only two 1-minute walking breaks.

Training Data

Oh, and if you're interested, I'm logging my training at mapmyrun.com. Check out my training log!

Mile 30.25

I had my first really exciting moment today.... and no, it didn't have anything to do with pace or distance or heart rate.

I bought a new spring coat with a belt and buckle around the middle last month to wear during my trip to Seattle. It had been too cold to wear here, but I finally took it out today and put it on and tightened the belt to where I had been wearing it last month. Surprise! I've lost 2 inches off my waist in the last 3 weeks. Awesome. We don't currently have a scale here, but I'm using how my clothes fit as a gauge for how my fitness is increasing and this is a good sign.

I'm currently running at a 12 minute average pace, with 5 sets of 5 minutes running and 1 minute walking. It's tough, particularly in the last couple sets, but it's getting better over time.

Mile 13.75

Well, week 1 is done, and i'm still feeling pretty good. My legs are beginning to cope with the extra activity and I'm feel pretty strong. My appetite has also been increasing quite a bit, which has been kind of strange to deal with. I'm not used to craving red meat!

Tomorrow my runs go up to 20 minutes running, 10 minutes walking, which should be interesting. I'll likely have to decrease my running speed, though; I had been running at 6 MPH, but I think it'll have decrease it to 5 MPH just to make sure that I don't push it too quickly. We'll see. I also picked up a Polar HRM watch that I found on sale yesterday, so it should be fun to play with.

In the Disney part of the marathon planning, I called Disney Sports today to book our hotel. We'll be staying 3 nights at the Wilderness Lodge, which is awesome; i've never stayed at a deluxe resort before so I'm pretty excited. I love calling to talk to Disney people.... I got told to "have a magical day" three times today! And it was awesome when I was put on hold because the music was Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah! Oh, Disney.

Mile 6.87

I'm a bit stiff. My legs aren't quite sure what's going on. Overall, feeling good so far, but I think I'm going to need to increase the amount of sleep I'm getting to be able to really work.

I had to shell out for a new sports bra last night. Actually, 2, with a nifty buy one get one half off deal. My upper body is already thanking me.

Getting Started

I'd like to say that this all started 4 days ago, when in reality it has been in the back of my mind for several years.

I thought I had resigned myself to always being overweight, when one day in freshman year of university something just snapped. I started using my parents' treadmill, eating healthy, watching my portions, and actually caring about my appearance. And slowly, the fat began to disappear. Within a year, I had went from a size 14 to buying size 4 board shorts to wear over my first bikini. For the first time in my life, I enjoyed exercising and could actually run without being out of breath; it was wonderful. It was this year that I first noticed the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend and decided that I could probably do it. However, other life commitments were always in the way, and the idea of the marathon fell to the back of my mind.

Fast forward seven years.

Though I have mostly managed to keep the weight off, I have noticed that I've slowly been gaining back about 5 pounds a year over the last 3 years. Not enough to cause panic right now, but a dangerous trend. Like many people, I keep meaning to get back into a fitness routine, but haven't had the motivation to stick to it. And then Sunday happened.

Four days ago, I was talking to my boyfriend, James, while skimming the usual Walt Disney World websites. I saw mention of the 2009 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend, with the statement that the registration for the half marathon was nearly full. I mentioned it to James, stating that I'd always wanted to do it... and he responded with a joke at Disney's expense. But the more I talked about it, the more I realised that this is the perfect time to do it... and suddenly James surprised me and agreed. I was nearly shaking as I filled out the registration forms and paid the fees. We're really going to do it.

I have no excuses now. I haven't ran in nearly five years, but I need to get myself in shape. There's no way I'm going all the way to WDW just to get picked up by the pacing van. Here's the plan:

March - June: Following Runner's World 8 Week Beginning Runner Training Program to get me from a healthy walking pace, to being able to run at a comfortable pace for 30 minutes. Hopefully.

July - September: Running 4 days a week, working to increase my pace and stamina. Any suggestions?

October - January 10: Half Marathon Training Plan, gradually increasing the number of miles ran each week.

I'll keep you updated on how it goes.