Double digit miles of indecision

OK, I know ya'll are getting tired of hearing about this particular subject...changing my race schedule. Yes, I've done it yet again...actually I've changed it about 3 times since last night!! lol! I just keep adding more and more to the schedule. In fact, I've added my first full marathon to be done in October, just three weeks before my MUST DO half marathon (the WDW Wine & Dine) so that I can get my coveted Coast to Coast medal...which signifies that you have completed a race at Disneyland and a race at Walt Disney World in the same calendar year. I also plan to add the 5K  that weekend, which will have to be renamed due to the change in dates...it used to be the Disney Halloween 5K. Since the race was changed to early November maybe they'll rename it to the Thanksgiving 5K? This will be a prolific running weekend because I would, hopefully, be coming home with three medals at once!! :D

Anyway, I digress. So after thinking about it a little bit I've registered to do a virtual half marathon on Tuesday...For the Love of the Kids Virtual Run. As long as I finish the run I'll earn a finishers medal to add to my medal rack which is looking a bit barren right now with only 3 medals on it. I already had a 12-13 mile training run planned for tomorrow in honor of Sherry Arnold that I'll knock down to a 10 miler to rest a little for Tuesday. Then I've potentially added the Disneyland Half Marathon to my schedule for September which also means that I might as well add the 5K run in there as well!

I've also added the Wounded Warriors HM in Las Colinas, Texas on June 10th as yet another half marathon. I have a cousin, actually a few, that live in the Dallas area and one of the girls said that I'm welcome to stay at their house. I just have to figure out whether to drive or fly down there. Hopefully I can find a cheap flight and car rental...that'd make life so much easier!

Finally I've also decided to train for my first full marathon in Albuquerque on October 21st...both my choices are on the same day so I just have to decide which one I want to do. The Duke City Marathon is almost completely flat and follows the Paseo del Bosque Recreational Trail which is a beautiful piece of running/biking path. It's basically an out and back route so there's no chance of me getting lost when I'm the last runner coming in...hopefully before the cutoff!! lol! My other choice is Day of the Tread. This is a fully costumed race (from what I can tell from pics) versus what seems to be a conservative Duke City Marathon. I think that DoTT is probably the funner of the two but it also comes with a 400' change in elevation and a time limit of 6 hours versus a 7 hours time limit for the DCM.

Now, with all the additions I may have to take away a few races. My sprint duathlon and the metric century ride are first on the chopping block for potentially being put off until next year. I may replace the Firecracker Run 10 miler with a local 5K. Finally, if I do end up doing the Disneyland HM the Turtle HM, which was my very first race last year, will be chopped as well since they are on the same weekend (Labor Day) and I won't be home in time to do it. I've also decided not to do the Dirty Dash in Albuquerque as it is 2 weeks before Wine & Dine and I don't want to risk a major injury that would prevent me from participating in that race!

One of these days I'll come up with a final schedule but until then you can see what I have planned in the race schedule widget in the right sidebar along with a countdown of the next 3-4 upcoming races. So please, bear with me...I'm just a little addicted now to a sport I've literally hated for most of my life!! LOL!

100 Days Challenge:

• Day 41
• 30 minutes PT exercises

What I Ate Today:

• 60 oz G2
• 1 pack chicken ramen with 
• 1 small, shredded chicken breast 
• 1 cup mixed vegetables
• 1 full rack of BBQ Baby Back ribs (oink!)
• 1 scoop coleslaw
• 1 scoop potato salad
• 1 slice Texas toast
• 24 oz Pepsi

Alkalete Review Day 4:

A little sore today from yesterday's run. Tomorrow's run should be interesting. The soreness is uncomfortable but not painful. I really can't tell any significant difference. Still had to take a couple of short naps today because I was so tired. I was just advised by my distributor to take extra doses since I'll be running so much the next several days with longer miles than usual so maybe I'll be able to make more of a judgement after my HM run on Tuesday. There are still other forces at nature that might be influencing the fatigue and such so I'm really trying to give this stuff a chance.

Shakedown ride

In preparation to begin training for the Santa Fe Century ride, I decided to teach myself how to change my bike tires and inner tubes. Now, I know how to change a car tire, but I've never had to change the tire on a bike myself. It was much easier than I had thought and within about 20 minutes and only having the old man double check that I got things right I managed to change my rear tire and inner tube. The next step was to go out on a ride. I had initially thought about taking the big grand pup out with me, holding on to his leash as I rode but technical problems came up and I took so long troubleshooting that I gave up getting him on a run. I'll try to take him out for a long walk tomorrow instead.

After about 20 minutes of troubleshooting, myself and the old man working on the problems, we were finally able to take off. It was half a mile into the ride before I realized that I had forgotten to start the GPS app so we had to stop to do that. We went on, down the bumpy road (why when road crews do patches, can they never make them level?) past one house with 2 German Shepards who were locked safely behind a wrought iron fence but barking their heads off. We turned the first corner, crossed a main road and passed another house this time with a Border Collie who was barking and chasing until it reached the wire fence around it's property. As we turned onto the next road is when this American Bull Terrier mix came chasing after us. Since I was in front it came at me first nipping at my heel before finally catching my ankle. I didn't thin that it broke skin, but there is a slight surface break with minimal bleeding but some bruising and a smaller, red area from the bottom jaw. Like I told the old man, it's a good thing I'm not afraid of dogs! That will teach me though to take pepper spray or a water pistol with my for protection. We went by one more house just down the road where the owner was out on his ATV and was able to control the dogs...when I ran this route the dogs were locked up but barked like crazy at me. Thankfully, after that no more dog adventures. The rest of the trip was pretty much uneventful.

Things I learned during this ride:

• My bike needs a serious tune-up (minimum cost $140)
• Definitely need slick tires (around $55 for a pair), too much drag with MTB tires
• Need toe cages since my feet keep slipping off the pedals
• Carry pepper spray or a water pistol
• Need to study up on gearing (bike has 18 gears)
• We're gonna be in a world of hurt if the 1,150' elevation gain is fast!
• Do not ever wear jeans for a long ride! Body Glide and bike shorts to prevent chaffing!
• Would love to get a lighter road/hybrid bike sometime this year
• Definitely need one of these so that I can ride and the grand pup can run:

Walky Dog Hands Free Bicycle Leash

100 Days Challenge:

• Day 12: 8+ mile bike ride over 1:02 hours

What I Ate Today:

• 5 slices of thick cut smoked bacon
• 2 fried eggs
• 1 slice whole wheat toast
• 2 cups Land O' Lakes Supreme Hot Cocoa with Reddi Whip
• 24 oz low fat chocolate milk
• 4 oranges
• 1 banana
• 1 3/4 cup shrimp etouffee
• 2 cups white rice
• 12 oz non-fat, lactose free milk
• 20 oz G2

Santa Fe Half Century ...yikes!

Yeah, well, the website for the Santa Fe Century Ride has finally gone live (a few days later than expected). I was able to take a look at the course for the half century (50 mile) loop finally. The distance isn't what scares me most, it's the ascent! You'd think that they'd make things just a little more pleasant by doing a descent at the end of the ride, but no...there's about a 1,150 foot ascent in the last 20 miles of the ride. My quads are already hurting!! lol! I've already committed myself, in my head, to this ride. I will do this although I will have to figure out how to get the hill work in since there are basically no hills here. Looks like 2012 is going to be a year of firsts as I plan to do my first sprint duathlon about 15 days before this ride. As soon as I'm back for Tinkerbell cycling training begins in earnest...after I get some slicks to convert my mountain bike to more of a road bike. That surely will make the ride just a bit easier!

The hubs and I are doing a dog rescue transport this weekend to Santa Fe...I guess we'll take the extra time to drive the route just to see how terrifying the ascent really is. Of course, it'll be a totally different aspect from the inside of an Explorer versus being on a bike, but at least we'll know somewhat what to expect.

Santa Fe Half Century Ride

48.5 miles / 78.053184 km

Created 01.11.12 by MouseRN

Course for half century ride. Looks like a 1000' descent in the 

first 20 miles and ~1150' ascent in the last 30 miles.

100 Days Challenge:

• Day 11:  55 minutes at PT - 8 mins recumbent stepper, 10 minutes treadmill (0.73 miles), Bosu ball stability/balance exercises, jumper machine, stretches/exercises
• 5 mile treadmill run in 1:11:37

What I Ate Today:

• 12 oz non-fat, lactose free milk
• 2 oranges
• 1 3/4 cups Rosemary potato soup
• 1 cup Jambalya Combo (chicken, shrimp, sausage)
• 1 ½ cup white rice
• 1 3/4 cups Texas style beef chili
• 2 Tbsp Fiesta blend shredded cheese
• 20 oz G2

Running is so NOT cheap

After adding up all the registration fees for all the races that I had planned for 2012...one race a month, I was flabbergasted when the total just for the registrations came up to just shy of $1,000 for one person. The old man wants to run all the same races that I do so that would have doubled the registration costs. Well, in our current economic situation that became a stumbling block when you added in the cost of travel and hotel rooms. We could cut down the lodging by using our travel trailer...something that I had already considered; but still there was a lot of extra travel and distance to be covered. So, yet again, I've pared down the race schedule to something more affordable with mostly in-state races. The Wine & Dine HM at Walt Disney World is a must so that I can get the Coast to Coast medal, but 2012 will probably be the only year that I do two out of town races so far away from home. I am still getting my first sprint duathlon and half century ride in so I'll be a two sport athlete...whoa!

Jan 29th - Tinkerbell Half Marathon (13.1 miles), Disneyland, Anaheim, CA (TNT)
Mar 11th - Shamrock'n HM (13.1 miles), Sacramento, CA (tentative if I have to go to CA for reunion planning, $65)
May 5th - Atomic Man Duathlon (Little Boy - Sprint, 4K/15K/4K), White Rock, NM ($55)
May 20th - Santa Fe Half Century (50 miles), Santa Fe, NM ($20 + t-shirt)
Sept 28th - Oct 1st - Wine & Dine HM (13.1 miles, night run), Disney World, Orlando, CA (~$130)
Oct 27th - Dirty Dash 10K (6.2 miles, mud run), Albuquerque, NM ($35)
Nov 9th - 10th - Wine & Dine HM (13.1 miles, night run), Disney World, Orlando, CA (~$130)
Nov 22nd - WTRC Turkey Trot 12K (7.3 miles), Lubbock, TX ($20)

Now, in addition to the race fees, travel and lodging I haven't even considered the shoes, clothing, gear, etc. I'm sure that we've spent a couple of grand getting the clothes and gear we need (trust me, running is way more comfy with the technical clothing rather than with cotton clothing). Thankfully, I think we have everything we need as far as gear so hopefully our spending is done in that area. This new schedule has decreased race fees to a max of $355/person and since most are within a 4-5 hour drive we'll only need to stay one night at an RV park or hotel. So much for an aggressive running year. *le sigh*

UPDATE: Well, runDisney has added a new race at Walt Disney World and changed the date of the Wine & Dine Half Marathon. so it looks like I'll end up going 4 months without a race. I may throw in the Turtle HM in Roswell on Labor Day to break up the open dates. That's only $20/person registration if I remember correctly.

Future plans for century rides

In 2012 in addition to trying to do a race a month, I plan to do a sprint duathlon and hopefully at least a half century ride (50 miles). Now, my bike is a cheap bike from Walmart. I'm not ready to go out an buy a new bike so I think I'll just have to bring the bike to the local bike shop and have them do an overhaul/tune up. Hopefully that'll be enough to at least get me through training and the initial ride. Of course, that'll have to wait until next month when I have some spare cash again. At least I don't need any extra equipment...I have all the tools, helmet, padded shorts, etc. so all I really need is to start training. I probably will eventually get a bike stand so that I can train indoors during the cold weather. I'm kind of excited because it'll also be a good cross training exercise as well.

The cycling events I'm planning are the Santa Fe Century (doing the 54 mile ride) in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Hotter 'n Hell Half Century ride in Wichita Falls, Texas and the Big Sky Duathlon in Bennett, CO. I won't begin really doing any training until after I run/walk the Tinkerbell Half Marathon at the end of January. My main thing now is to decide whether to do the Santa Fe Century with Team in Training (TNT) or not. I had planned to take close to a year off before doing another TNT event but the chance to do the training with them is very appealing. I've got about 6 weeks to decide whether to do it with them or not. If I do it would mean more fundraising...for a goal of about $1,500 or so. So many things to take into consideration. Well, I guess I'll just sleep on it and think about my options more tomorrow.