Life After Marathons: A Running/barre3/Coffee/Life Journal

[hotblooded]

Outfit for tomorrow's Mad Tea Party Virtual 5K -
Black and white capris
Red skirt
Black top (actually my 2016 10K top, but that's not relevant)
Yellow headband

Any guesses who I'm DisneyBounding?
Hint #1: It's somewhat related to the theme.
Hint #2: If I had a heart sticker, I would put it somewhere on the outfit

Don't worry if you can't get it. It won't make any more sense once I explain it.
This was all thrown together last minute with whatever I had while I was drinking.

Very cute outfit. I’m jealous of all your running clothes!

 

[SarahDisney]

runDisney Virtual Series: Mad Tea Party 5K​

Remember that really awesome Queen of Hearts DisneyBound? Yeah, I made it sound better than it was. Here's the actual outfit:

(Don't worry, I wore shoes for the actual run)

My goals for the race were:
1 - Don't pause the watch (I want an accurate race experience here!)
2 - Alice in Wonderland statue
3 - Alice's Tea Cup (cafe/tea shop about a mile from me) awning.
No time goal on this one, because it's a Disney race and I don't do time goals for Disney races.

Anyway ... race day. I set off from my apartment around 7:05 AM. The Alice in Wonderland statue is on the east side of Central Park and I'm on the west side, so I got to run on some of the less crowded paths to get there. I was feeling pretty good and managed to not get lost, and I made it to the statue around 7:20ish. I took a bunch of pictures:




I considered getting up closer and sitting on one of the mushrooms for a more fun selfie, but in the days of COVID, I'm not really into touching things.


There are a bunch of these plaques with quotes from the book (I believe this is from the Jabberwocky poem, not sure if all of them are because I haven't read that book in a very long time)

After I took all my pictures, I went for a lap around the pond near there before heading back west. Eventually I made it to my second stop, Alice's Tea Cup:

Like so many other restaurants, it is currently closed. Also ... it was too early in the morning for it to be open (I think it opens at 8 or 9).

From there I made my way home. I made a few turns based on people traffic which extended my route. I stopped my watch once I hit 3.15 miles (which was about 2-3 blocks from home).

Official Time - 43:34

After the race, I showered, ate breakfast, did some meal prep (mostly roasting vegetables and spinning lettuce), and went to work. Because Monday.

The tough thing about the medals not being here is no chance for post-race medal celebration. Once my medals arrive, I want to go back to the Alice in Wonderland statue for medal pictures (maybe I'll do a seated mushroom picture then).

Next Race: Space Mountain 5K, some time in July
Still working on my plans for this one...

 

[hotblooded]

I love Central Park for the ability to get lost no matter how many times someone has run the main loop.

 

[col1]

Love this awesome job keeping it on theme

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Remember that really awesome Queen of Hearts DisneyBound? Yeah, I made it sound better than it was.

That's much more elaborately themed than any of my virtual race runs.

 

[SarahDisney]

I love Central Park for the ability to get lost no matter how many times someone has run the main loop.

I love that you love that. That's actually one of the things I used to hate about Central Park ... but I'm starting to be more okay with it.

Love this awesome job keeping it on theme

Thanks! I'm trying to bring as much of the Disney into the runs as I can.

That's much more elaborately themed than any of my virtual race runs.

Hey, we all do whatever works best for us. I'm sure whatever you've been doing has been awesome. (I'm also guessing your runs have included more Yoda than anything I've done, which automatically makes them awesome, because Yoda awesome is).

 

[SarahDisney]

COVID-19 Wellness Focus - Week "Beginning The Return To Distance" - June 8th - June 14th, 2020

Monday:

• runDisney Virtual Mad Tea Party 5K - 3.15 miles, 43:34 minutes, 13:49 min/mi avg pace (that's without pausing for "character" stops - running pace was probably closer to 13)

Tuesday:

• barre3 with Jess Livestream - 60-minute class

Wednesday:

• 8.59 mile run, 1:56:20 hours, 13:32 min/mi avg pace

Thursday:

• barre3 with Kelly Livestream - 60-minute class
• 43 minute walk (2.17 miles)

Friday:

• 2.12 mile run, 30:01 minutes, 14:11 min/mi avg pace (but I didn't stop until I actually got to my apartment because I was at 29 minutes and wanted to hit 30, so that pace includes being in the elevator)

Saturday:

• barre3 online video with Christa Joy - 30 minutes
• (today was originally scheduled as a rest day but I was kinda in the mood for barre, so I did it)

Sunday:

• barre3 with Vicky Livestream - 60 minute class

Total Running:
3 runs, 13.86 miles, 3:09:55 hours

So ... with my relationship with running hasn't been the best lately. For a number of reasons, one of which is that everyone I'm exposed to runs longer and faster than I do. I can't do much about the faster (I've attempted it previously and it somewhat worked but I just didn't love it), but I can do longer, so I'm trying to get back to running longer distances, because I do love long runs. Goal is to eventually top out at 13-14 miles. 8.59 miles was my longest run in a few months by about a mile and I felt pretty good throughout, so that was a nice confidence booster.
... And then a bunch of my run crew people did 10 or more miles this weekend, so I'm back to feeling like garbage.

Total barre3:
3 Livestream classes
1 Online class
Total time: ~ 3.5 hours

Total Walking:
1 walk, 43 minutes

Healthy Eating:
Meh. I gotta do better, but I also could have done worse. I got 2lbs of grapes in my fresh direct order this week, so that'll be a good work snack for a little bit.
Good news is I'm almost out of beer so I'll be cutting down on the carbs for a bit. Or buying more beer. Probably the latter.

Life:
tbh, I'm not doing great right now, but I know that this will pass. Just trying to let go of the things I can't control, take things as they come, and just do the best I can. Trying to focus on small positive changes that I can make and push off dealing with the negative stuff for as long as I can.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

8.59 miles was my longest run in a few months by about a mile and I felt pretty good throughout, so that was a nice confidence booster.
... And then a bunch of my run crew people did 10 or more miles this weekend, so I'm back to feeling like garbage.

It's not easy to get out there when the world is normal, let alone right now. And yet you are out there doing what you can, so let any competition be against yourself. And that one should be more about engaging in fitness goals that work for you with where you are right now.

tbh, I'm not doing great right now, but I know that this will pass. Just trying to let go of the things I can't control, take things as they come, and just do the best I can. Trying to focus on small positive changes that I can make and push off dealing with the negative stuff for as long as I can.

I've always appreciated your honesty. It is far too easy to look at smiling, happy photos of people on social media and not have any idea about how everything around them may be complete and utter chaos. Like you said, this will pass. But that doesn't mean you won't struggle to get through this period.

In running terms, we see the grinning from ear to ear with that medal photo and/or read the race recap about how amazing it felt to accomplish that goal, but without the full story, we might not know about the injuries that were dealt with, the personal trials that came up during training, and even in "ideal" cases, all the times where the now happy runner questioned why they signed up for a race in the first place.

Or as my very wise old friend Yoda once said "Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter."

 

[SarahDisney]

It's not easy to get out there when the world is normal, let alone right now. And yet you are out there doing what you can, so let any competition be against yourself. And that one should be more about engaging in fitness goals that work for you with where you are right now.

Yeah, I'm trying not to compare myself to others, but a few people in a run group chat I'm part of have been working on this same goal of increasing distance, so it can be hard for me to not compare myself to them. But I'm trying to be better about just focusing on setting small goals and reaching them, so hopefully that will help.

I've always appreciated your honesty. It is far too easy to look at smiling, happy photos of people on social media and not have any idea about how everything around them may be complete and utter chaos. Like you said, this will pass. But that doesn't mean you won't struggle to get through this period.

Thanks. I'm really trying to remind myself that just because this is temporary, that doesn't mean I have to grin and bear it. I can struggle. I can be frustrated at the fact that I'll be working from home for another 3 months. Just because something is temporary, doesn't mean it can't be difficult while it's happening.

In running terms, we see the grinning from ear to ear with that medal photo and/or read the race recap about how amazing it felt to accomplish that goal, but without the full story, we might not know about the injuries that were dealt with, the personal trials that came up during training, and even in "ideal" cases, all the times where the now happy runner questioned why they signed up for a race in the first place.

This is a great comparison - thanks for sharing. The snapshots we see of people's lives right now definitely don't show everything going on behind the scenes.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Thanks. I'm really trying to remind myself that just because this is temporary, that doesn't mean I have to grin and bear it. I can struggle. I can be frustrated at the fact that I'll be working from home for another 3 months. Just because something is temporary, doesn't mean it can't be difficult while it's happening.

Jeffrey R. Holland once said that we are not shallow people if we struggle with the deep trials of life. One thing I feel that I've learned from so many African-Americans right now is what it means to truly mourn with those that mourn. It's nice to help encourage and hope for better days to come. But if that's all we do it's not enough. It's important to try and understand why someone is mourning and what they've lost, regardless of what that is. We can still be grateful for what do have and also struggle with our challenges. That does not mean we are suddenly ungrateful.

 

[SarahDisney]

COVID-19 Wellness Focus - Week "What Open Container Laws?" - June 15th - June 21st, 2020

Monday:

• 3.35 mile run, 42:23 minutes, 12:39 min/mi avg pace
• barre3 with Jenna #1 Livestream - 60-minute class

Tuesday:

• barre3 with Vicky Livestream - 60-minute class
• barre3 online - 10-minute class

Wednesday:

• 6.20 mile run, 1:21:02 hours, 13:04 min/mi avg pace

Thursday:

• barre3 with Kelly Livestream - 60-minute class

Friday:

• barre3 with Amanda Livestream - 60-minute class
• barre3 with Babette Livestream - 60-minute class

Saturday:

• Rest Day!
• I was considering doing a nighttime online barre3 class like I did last week, but I went to Central Park to hang out/drink with my friends (socially distanced and mostly masked) in the afternoon and ended up getting home fairly late, so I wasn't really feeling it.

Sunday:

• barre3 with Vicky Livestream - 60 minute class

Total Running:
2 runs, 9.55 miles, 2:03:25 hours

Total barre3:
6 Livestream classes
1 Online class
Total time: ~ 6 hours

Healthy Eating:
Not terrible but not great. I'm just frustrated that I can't be more consistent about this.

Life:
It's rare for me to feel like I had a good day, but I had that on Saturday. Which was so refreshing. I'm still far from 100%, but if I can have more days like that, just spending time with people, I'll come out of this okay.

Also ... looking forward to getting a haircut this week! I just have to get around to actually making an appointment...

 

[SarahDisney]

COVID-19 Wellness Focus - Week "Long Run, Short Hair" - June 22nd - June 28th, 2020

Monday:

• 3.11 mile run, 41:26 minutes, 13:19 min/mi avg pace
• barre3 with Jenna #1 Livestream - 60-minute class

Tuesday:

• barre3 with Vicky Livestream - 60-minute class
• 40 minute walk, 1.98 miles (yes it bothered me but I had to get back for a meeting)

Wednesday:

• 2.53 mile run, 34:11 minutes, 13:32 min/mi avg pace

Thursday:

• barre3 with Kelly Livestream - 60-minute class
• 305 Fitness Live on YouTube - 25 minutes - this is a dance cardio class that I've been meaning to check out for months and finally got around to. It was fun but probably not gonna be a regular thing for me

Friday:

• 9.31 mile run, 2:08:04 hours, 13:46 min/mi avg pace

Saturday:

• Rest Day!

Sunday:

• barre3 with Vicky Livestream - 60 minute class

Total Running:
3 runs, 14.95 miles, 3:23:41 hours

Total barre3:
4 Livestream classes
Total time: ~ 4 hours

Walks:
1 walk, 40 minutes

Other Workouts:
Dance Cardio - 1 workout, 25 minutes

Healthy Eating:
Still could be better.

Life:
A lot going on this week. A lot more will be going on next week. So it goes.

 

[col1]

Wow Busy Week indeed, Solid 9 + miles long run WTG

 

[SarahDisney]

Wow Busy Week indeed, Solid 9 + miles long run WTG

Thank you! I wasn't sure I'd be able to get in a long run since I delayed it to the end of the week, so I'm glad I was able to get in such a long run.

 

[SarahDisney]

Minor league baseball is canceled and ... yeah.
I know there are bigger issues going on in the world, and that has been where I try to focus most of my attention, but minor league baseball has been a huge part of my life, particularly in the last few years, and this could have an impact well beyond this year.
Yeah.

 

[FFigawi]

Minor league baseball is canceled and ... yeah.
I know there are bigger issues going on in the world, and that has been where I try to focus most of my attention, but minor league baseball has been a huge part of my life, particularly in the last few years, and this could have an impact well beyond this year.
Yeah.

Yeah. This is likely the end for many minor league teams in small towns all over the country. MLB has been trying to find a way to reduce the number of teams and bring them more under their control for a while now. The pandemic handed them the perfect cover story to do just that. Really sad for the sport.

 

[SarahDisney]

Yeah. This is likely the end for many minor league teams in small towns all over the country. MLB has been trying to find a way to reduce the number of teams and bring them more under their control for a while now. The pandemic handed them the perfect cover story to do just that. Really sad for the sport.

Yeah. One of my favorite leagues is on the chopping block. And a lot of the teams being cut are in communities that don't have other baseball nearby ... this is gonna hurt the sport.
#FireManfred

 

[SarahDisney]

COVID-19 Wellness Focus - Week "Workaholic In The House" - June 29th - July 6th, 2020

Monday:

• 3.30 mile run, 36:47 minutes, 11:08 min/mi avg pace (yeah the GPS screwed that distance up but good)
• 48 minute walk, 2.58 miles (this is approximately what the run distance should have been)

This run/walk was a run to work to pick up some stuff and then walk home with the stuff.
Man, being in the office alone was weird...

Tuesday:

• barre3 with Jess Livestream - 60-minute class

Wednesday:

• barre3 with Lauren Livestream - 60-minute class

Thursday:

• barre3 with Kelly Livestream - 60-minute class
• 56 minute walk, 2.81 miles - walked with my friend later than I was super comfortable with

Friday:

• 6.31 mile run, 1:25:33 hours, 13:33 min/mi avg pace

Saturday:

• Rest Day!

Sunday:

• barre3 with Vicky Livestream - 60 minute class

Total Running:
2 runs, 9.61 miles, 2:02:20 hours

Total barre3:
4 Livestream classes
Total time: ~ 4 hours

Walks:
2 walks, 1:44 hours

Healthy Eating:
Getting better but I need to cut down on the snacks.

Life:
Busy week at work, and I didn't handle it super well. I'm pretty angry at myself for that. And then the end of the week wasn't great outside of work stuff. So overall not a great life week. Also baseball ... no MiLB, and at this point in time I'm not sure if I want MLB to play. It's gonna be a weird summer.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Yeah. This is likely the end for many minor league teams in small towns all over the country. MLB has been trying to find a way to reduce the number of teams and bring them more under their control for a while now. The pandemic handed them the perfect cover story to do just that. Really sad for the sport.

Sometimes I think MLB is working incredibly hard to absolutely destroy the future of the sport. They think that games are taking too long to play, but then come up with all sorts of dumb ideas that have done nothing to reduce the length of games.

Yeah. One of my favorite leagues is on the chopping block. And a lot of the teams being cut are in communities that don't have other baseball nearby ... this is gonna hurt the sport.
#FireManfred

Between the looming labor dispute after the 2021 season and everyone involved with MLB completely screwing up the resumption of the 2020 season, I genuinely question if the owners and players comprehend just how much damage they are doing to the game. The last time everybody let their egos get in the way of playing baseball, the 1994 season ended in August with no playoffs and the damage was devastating. Attendance was awful for years after that. Bud Selig noticed that the 1998 home run chase helped restore attendance numbers, so he decided to ignore the rampant steroid use fueling the home run chase.

Baseball literally fixed the damage from the 1994 strike by silently not worrying about rampant steroid use until the government threatened them. And then they ran a steroid commission chaired by a member of the Red Sox board. And guess which team was completely left off the Mitchell Report? Yes, the Red Sox. So baseball finally fixed steroids by adding severe penalties. How do they propose to fix the damage they're going to cause if another work stoppage occurs because the owners and players don't care enough to do what's best for the game?

Okay. Rant over.

 

[SarahDisney]

Sometimes I think MLB is working incredibly hard to absolutely destroy the future of the sport. They think that games are taking too long to play, but then come up with all sorts of dumb ideas that have done nothing to reduce the length of games.
Between the looming labor dispute after the 2021 season and everyone involved with MLB completely screwing up the resumption of the 2020 season, I genuinely question if the owners and players comprehend just how much damage they are doing to the game. The last time everybody let their egos get in the way of playing baseball, the 1994 season ended in August with no playoffs and the damage was devastating. Attendance was awful for years after that. Bud Selig noticed that the 1998 home run chase helped restore attendance numbers, so he decided to ignore the rampant steroid use fueling the home run chase.

Baseball literally fixed the damage from the 1994 strike by silently not worrying about rampant steroid use until the government threatened them. And then they ran a steroid commission chaired by a member of the Red Sox board. And guess which team was completely left off the Mitchell Report? Yes, the Red Sox. So baseball finally fixed steroids by adding severe penalties. How do they propose to fix the damage they're going to cause if another work stoppage occurs because the owners and players don't care enough to do what's best for the game?

Okay. Rant over.

This is a safe space to rant. I agree with all of this. The long-term effects of 2020 and 2021 will probably change the landscape of baseball forever. I'm not thrilled about that.