More than 280 miles later...

Hello all! It has been way too long since I've posted an update here. To be exact, it's been more than 280 miles since the last post!

Things are going well and running is still very much a part of our lives. As a matter of fact, we just ran the Walt Disney World Marathon this past weekend in Florida. Training was tough considering that we live in Chicago and the average high in the winter is about 20-25 degrees (freezing!) But we managed to do it once again and finished with better times than our first. 4:35:50 for me and 4:32:18 for Calvin! The best part was around mile 10 or 11, running into the Magic Kingdom, down Main Street, around and then through the castle. I never would have imagined 10 years ago that I would be running 26.2 miles through the Disney Parks.
The wall did appear for me this time around though, and it was huge and massive. When I reached mile 21 or so, I thought there was no way I could finish running another 5 miles. My legs felt like rubber, the course had turned into an endless eternity of paved highway, Dinsey's bibbity-bobbity-boo song kept blaring through the on-course speakers (I've never hated that song more) and my left knee was not happy with my idea of fun being a 26.2 mile run through the parks. But thanks to countless words of encouragement from Calvin, I was able to pick up my feet and run some more. I'm not sure what would have happened had I not met up with him again at mile 17 (we split up between Epcot and Magic Kingdom), but never mind that, I finished!

Definitely not as sore as I was after Chicago so I'm taking that as a good sign. I am already itching for a new goal to keep me running through the rest of the winter months. Not sure yet what it will be but I don't think I could ever stop running at this point. I promise I will keep you posted!

Running with Harley = Fartlek

I am not a big fan of Fartlek, or Farltek as Calvin tells me that it is supposed to be called. Fartlek, as I will continue to refer to it as, are shorter running sessions made up out of fast running followed by a short jog or walk. Normally it takes about 20 to 30 minutes which includes 4 minute fast runs followed by a minute jog/walk. I really don't enjoy running fast if I don't have to. Why run fast when you can jog at a steady pace and actually enjoy it (sort of)? But apparently Fartlek is good for your heart and builds your anaerobic threshold, so it's part of the training plan. Yeah!

As of today though, I have figured out a new way to incorporate Fartlek into the training.... go for a run with Harley. For her age (4 1/2 months) Harley actually does a good job at running on the leash. Although she has the tendency to run a little to the left, thus slowly crossing into your path, she likes it and it wears her out. Which means more quiet time later at night! Her running pace is also faster than my normal jogging pace so it's a great work-out. And every so often, Harley's beagle instincts cause her to stop abruptly and start sniffing around for something she'll never find, giving me the chance to catch my breath. Now we just need to work on getting her to stop making sudden sharp right turns and tripping me up in the middle of the run.