Well I bit the bullet and decided to sign up for a coach. It wasn't as expensive as I thought it would be (6 months cost me less than a runDisney challenge registration! ). He has encouraged me to pick a goal race or two in the next six months, so I have signed up for a half marathon here in Australia and another in Switzerland (I was going to Europe anyway in a few months and managed to find one that worked with my dates after some serious internet sleuthing). I am pretty impressed so far, he has asked a lot of questions about my life (to work out when the best times are to set long runs and speed work and things) and he is building mileage in a way that works with being ready for both races (and respecting when I am on holidays and traveling for work and may not be able to get training in). My hope with having a coach is that I can get faster and stronger. I put so much effort into getting myself to a point where I could run 21kms (14 months ago I could barely run 200 meters without stopping!) that I didn't know where to take it from here.
I am still hoping to do W&D again this year (I really want to be able to say I have done that race, and given 2015 was my only attempt I feel I need to do it again) so hopefully these two races in the first six months of the year, with the help of the coach will give me a great POT for W&D (assuming registration is not insane again in March and I miss out!).
I did the marathon this past weekend and that thread will unfortunately die down so I think I will jump in here and see how things go. I would love to the do the marathon again next year (maybe even Goofy or Dopey) but at this point it isn't definite I will be able to.
I will do a few local races again this year. I want to focus more on my cross training this year in an attempt to lose a few more pounds and to try and improve my time.
I find that triathlon is a great way to stay healthy...my body loves having three different disciplines to train for as your muscle groups get some time to recover even though you are still training. Good luck!I'm bowing out for a bit after the PDC in May. The friend a run with is getting married so she won't be able to afford Disney and I only have a few more years of travelling internationally before I really settle down so for now I'm going to go back to local for a while. Maybe learn to ride a bike that's actually fitted to my body and train for a tri.
I'm trying to get back to the cross training while I train for a 12k. I skipped a lot of that when I trained for the 10k I did in December. When I first started going to the game in 2012 I was good about doing it all but even before I started training with any race in mind I had started slacking on cross training, mostly because I don't like how crowded the gym gets and having to wait for things. My old gym was better in that way.
I'm bowing out for a bit after the PDC in May. The friend a run with is getting married so she won't be able to afford Disney and I only have a few more years of travelling internationally before I really settle down so for now I'm going to go back to local for a while. Maybe learn to ride a bike that's actually fitted to my body and train for a tri.
I find that triathlon is a great way to stay healthy...my body loves having three different disciplines to train for as your muscle groups get some time to recover even though you are still training. Good luck!
I would love to do a triathlon but I have never been a good swimmer so the idea of swimming a mile or more is not all that appealing. I think I would be exhausted after the first leg of the race.
Yeah, the swimming portion of a tri scares me too. I've been running outside with my training for the March Rock and Roll half in DC and it's been going ok but the really cold temperatures this week have made it tough. I'm still enjoying the gym for cross training with body pump. I definitely feel like I'm getting stronger and hopefully that helps with the running.
A lot of triathlons will offer a duathlon as an option as well if you want to give multisport a try...a Du is usually a run/bike/run and is a great way to get into the sport without the anxiety of the swim
Well I thought I wasn't doing a runDisney event this year haha. I ended up signing up for the Dark Side Challenge. I'm a few weeks behind in training but am starting again very soon.
I would love to do a triathlon but I have never been a good swimmer so the idea of swimming a mile or more is not all that appealing. I think I would be exhausted after the first leg of the race.
A lot of triathlons will offer a duathlon as an option as well if you want to give multisport a try...a Du is usually a run/bike/run and is a great way to get into the sport without the anxiety of the swim
Look into a sprint distance tri. The swim leg is usually 500-750 meters, a much more doable distance for novice swimmers than the ones required for an Olympic or half iron race.
I think what you meant to say was "Rack bike, helmet off, change shoes, and run like your legs are Jello"No, you don't need anyone to watch your bike for you. All of the bikes are guarded overnight by security guards or volunteers for races where you have to check them in the day before. For those races where you check in that morning, there are volunteers watching the transition area all day long. In transition, the only help you might need is getting your wet suit off, and there are volunteers to help with that too. The rest is pretty straightforward - bike shoes on, helmet on, sunglasses on, grab bike & go. Coming back from the bike is the reverse. Rack bike, helmet off, change shoes, and go.