Any runners out there?

[mattsdragon]

So about a month or so ago, I signed up to run the half marathon in January. Any other people out there who have decided to jump in up to their necks and abuse themselves like me?

Oh, I should say I'm VERY excited about the prospect of running my first half marathon six months after my 40th birthday.

 

[billybobblockhead]

Present. Done too many 5k's to remember, a couple of 10k's, eight 15k's (Biltmore 15K in Asheville; great race around the estate, but no longer there), one 20K, 1 half, 2 fulls, and 4 sprint triathlons.

You have plenty of time to get ready for this. Whatever you do, DO NOT do too much too fast. You'll get hurt and totally mess things up. General rule of thumb is to increase your mileage by no more that 10% per week. While that doesn't seem like much, you will get to a 10 or 12 mile long run pretty quickly, and that is more than enough to complete a half. Also, go to a running store to get fitted for some shoes that fit how you run and walk. Properly fitted shoes will do wonders for your feet, ankles, and knees.

 

[IamTrike]

I ran the half this past January and I have never liked running. I really wanted to do Goofy this year, but I just can't justify it financially. I think you will really have a blast. What hotel are you going to stay in? Are you involved on the WISH Events subforum on this board. There is a lot of great advice for people that are going to run disney races there.

 

[unclescrooge_0707]

Okay, don't tell anyone, but I ran for the first time (in a long time) on Monday morning. I do NOT want to be one of those guys that ALL i talk about is running. It annoys me.

BUT, I am too cheap to buy clothes, and my pants no longer need a belt. I ran for 15 minutes, and plan to do that until my pants are loose again. I'm not running for money, or whales, or time. I just don't want my wife to be married to a slob, that's all.

15 minutes every other morning for 5 months, I'll get there.

 

[mattsdragon]

Okay, don't tell anyone, but I ran for the first time (in a long time) on Monday morning. I do NOT want to be one of those guys that ALL i talk about is running. It annoys me.

BUT, I am too cheap to buy clothes, and my pants no longer need a belt. I ran for 15 minutes, and plan to do that until my pants are loose again. I'm not running for money, or whales, or time. I just don't want my wife to be married to a slob, that's all.

15 minutes every other morning for 5 months, I'll get there.

That's kinda how I started, gotta remind the wife why she married me, but now after about 8 months, I'm up to easily doing at least 35 minutes a day (slightly over 4 miles on those days).

I actually used to run a lot, but injuries and not taking care of myself caught up to me, and I hadn't done it in years. Now I'm just back to enjoying it.

Billybob, great advice on the shoes, I'm going to need to go do that one of these days. I've got about 200 miles on my current pair, so I'm thinking pretty soon it'll be time for a new pair.

We'll be staying at SSR, just using points, it'll be our first trip where we aren't going to any of the parks. But we're going this August, and on a cruise in 2012, we don't need t spend money on tickets too.

 

[IndyDisney]

Don't want to hijack, and if I am, let me know, but I was about to post something after my workout. Any of you DIS Dads Beachbody nerds also? About a year ago I, like others, decided I was "too big to fail". I did 2 1/2 rounds of P90x and am currently doing a round of Insanity. I've basically lost 3+ pant sizes, about 15 "real" pounds (up and down, but hovering 15 lbs less than I was this time last year) and have the best blood work of my life. I ran my first 5k last year, have started playing soccer, and this all in a former offensive lineman's body. Looking to maybe start putting on some miles, but I have a mental block when anyone says "six" in front of "miles".

Cheers,
Indy

 

[woodinvilleguy]

I did a similar think this year (not Disney) I'm 44 and last October I hadn't ran more than 5k and my friend convinced me to run a 10k on 10/10/10. That night I signed up for a half marathon in February. I joined a running group at my local Ymca and they helped me train and stay motivated. I finished it strong.

the point of my story is to find a good group that will help keep you motivated when you really don't want to do it. They will also give you your workouts so you train correctly.

YOU CAN DO IT!!!

 

[PirateLass]

Yea it's time to get new shoes, if the shoes get too worn down it can actually cause knee and lower back problems What I do as far as a running schedule is a short run Monday and Thursday (3-5 miles), a medium run on Tuesday and Friday (6-8 miles), and a long run Wednesday (9+). Then I take the weekend to recover : You're already off to a really great start

 

[FreezinRafiki]

Oddly enough, my wife and I just finished day 1 of the "Couch to 5K" program last night. I too am a former offensive lineman, but about 3 years ago I lost 40 lbs. Since then, about 15 of it has crept back on. DW was inspired by some of her friends running 5Ks so we decided to do it together.

 

[RodBelding]

The Disney half is a great one to run. I've run a bunch of half marathons, including the 2005 Disney half, as well as the past 2 Disney full marathons. Disney puts on a good show to help distract you, and plenty of water and food stops along the way to help fuel the run.

Billybobblockhead's advice above is spot on. Don't over-train or push yourself too hard! Its way too easy to both injure yourself, and burn out mentally by doing that. Take your time with the training, and enjoy it! Finishing that race and getting the Donald medal is a tremendous achievement, you're going to have a blast!

 

[afwdwfan]

Don't want to hijack, and if I am, let me know, but I was about to post something after my workout. Any of you DIS Dads Beachbody nerds also? About a year ago I, like others, decided I was "too big to fail". I did 2 1/2 rounds of P90x and am currently doing a round of Insanity. I've basically lost 3+ pant sizes, about 15 "real" pounds (up and down, but hovering 15 lbs less than I was this time last year) and have the best blood work of my life. I ran my first 5k last year, have started playing soccer, and this all in a former offensive lineman's body. Looking to maybe start putting on some miles, but I have a mental block when anyone says "six" in front of "miles".

Cheers,
Indy

Yep, I've got P90x, as does Don (Emma's Dad). I started it in January and didn't ever do a full, uninterrupted round. I started having knee issues as a combination of playing basketball and doing the P90X leg workouts this winter. I do the P90x workouts in conjunction with other workout activity and really have seen some good results. I've lost about 16 pounds myself since the first of the year. The best product I've purchased from them though wasn't P90x, it was the recovery drink.

I live on a farm and we've got a hillside and woods on our property. A local high school has been using our hill for practice for the cross country team the past few years and they're going to set up a course and host some meets there this year. I've never been a runner, but I might have to try this course out myself once they get it marked.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Oddly enough, my wife and I just finished day 1 of the "Couch to 5K" program last night. I too am a former offensive lineman, but about 3 years ago I lost 40 lbs. Since then, about 15 of it has crept back on. DW was inspired by some of her friends running 5Ks so we decided to do it together.

My wife and I are doing the same program. Not because I have any desire to run a 5K or that I enjoy running, but I do want to live past 40 and be able to see my shoes when I look down.

 

[scott2997]

All this talk about fitness and running makes me want one of these.....

Yes that is a wonderful burger from the Water Street Grille complete with Bacon, Blue Cheese, and a Fried Egg......

 

[Turkey Lurkey]

A friend of mine ran the Grandma's Marathon up in Duluth, MN, and when she was done, she had a blister on the bottom of her foot that basically was the entire bottom of her foot. One look at that put me off of recreational running forever. Now I only run if I'm being chased by a bear, the mafia, or Jason Vorhees.



TL

 

[RodBelding]

A friend of mine ran the Grandma's Marathon up in Duluth, MN, and when she was done, she had a blister on the bottom of her foot that basically was the entire bottom of her foot. One look at that put me off of recreational running forever. Now I only run if I'm being chased by a bear, the mafia, or Jason Vorhees.



TL

Ha! A good pair of socks and the right sized shoes will eliminate any blister concerns... But there's not much advice I can give for avoiding the mafia or Jason Vorhees...

 

[tutter99]

I did the Expedition Everest Challenge at Animal Kingdom last year and had a blast. Couldn't do it this year but want to make it an annual event starting next year. Perhaps we can get some teams (you can run it solo or in teams of 2) and turn it into an annual DisDads getaway weekend.

If you haven't heard of it before, the race is a 5k but they scatter obstacles though the course (balance beams, cargo nets, hay bales). Once you complete the 5k they hand you your fist clue to start a scavenger hunt where you solve clues to get to the next checkpoint. Your time for the race is not until you cross the finish line of the scavenger hunt.

The best part is that they run the race after Animal Kingdom closes for the day so you are running through AK at night with most of the lights out, they have mood lighting, music, and smoke machines on the course as well as cast members cheering you on. And the after party goes until 2am. If you have never ridden Kalli River Rapids in the dark you need to put it on your "must do" list.

 

[IamTrike]

I did the Expedition Everest Challenge at Animal Kingdom last year and had a blast. Couldn't do it this year but want to make it an annual event starting next year. Perhaps we can get some teams (you can run it solo or in teams of 2) and turn it into an annual DisDads getaway weekend.

If you haven't heard of it before, the race is a 5k but they scatter obstacles though the course (balance beams, cargo nets, hay bales). Once you complete the 5k they hand you your fist clue to start a scavenger hunt where you solve clues to get to the next checkpoint. Your time for the race is not until you cross the finish line of the scavenger hunt.

The best part is that they run the race after Animal Kingdom closes for the day so you are running through AK at night with most of the lights out, they have mood lighting, music, and smoke machines on the course as well as cast members cheering you on. And the after party goes until 2am. If you have never ridden Kalli River Rapids in the dark you need to put it on your "must do" list.

When we ran the the Castaway Cay 5k one of the couples running had on their EEC shirts. It seems like a fun race.

The shoes comments made earlier is spot on. Get your pronation checked and get good shoes. Go to a real running store, not foot locker or Dicks. It will make running much easier. If you are going to be running longer distances, get some body glide. Good socks are important too. They make a dual layered sock that is supposed to eliminate any kind of blisters. If your going to run longer distances, bid your toenails farewell.

I posted this on the DDC 8 but Disboards has an association with running warehouse (a discount seller of good shoes) http://www.runningwarehouse.com/ if you use the code WISHD you save an additional 15%.

 

[RodBelding]

I did the Expedition Everest Challenge at Animal Kingdom last year and had a blast. Couldn't do it this year but want to make it an annual event starting next year. Perhaps we can get some teams (you can run it solo or in teams of 2) and turn it into an annual DisDads getaway weekend.

If you haven't heard of it before, the race is a 5k but they scatter obstacles though the course (balance beams, cargo nets, hay bales). Once you complete the 5k they hand you your fist clue to start a scavenger hunt where you solve clues to get to the next checkpoint. Your time for the race is not until you cross the finish line of the scavenger hunt.

The best part is that they run the race after Animal Kingdom closes for the day so you are running through AK at night with most of the lights out, they have mood lighting, music, and smoke machines on the course as well as cast members cheering you on. And the after party goes until 2am. If you have never ridden Kalli River Rapids in the dark you need to put it on your "must do" list.

That sounds like a blast. I had heard of the event before, but didn't know what it entailed. I'll def be looking into doing that in the future.

 

[mattsdragon]

I did the Expedition Everest Challenge at Animal Kingdom last year and had a blast. Couldn't do it this year but want to make it an annual event starting next year. Perhaps we can get some teams (you can run it solo or in teams of 2) and turn it into an annual DisDads getaway weekend.

If you haven't heard of it before, the race is a 5k but they scatter obstacles though the course (balance beams, cargo nets, hay bales). Once you complete the 5k they hand you your fist clue to start a scavenger hunt where you solve clues to get to the next checkpoint. Your time for the race is not until you cross the finish line of the scavenger hunt.

The best part is that they run the race after Animal Kingdom closes for the day so you are running through AK at night with most of the lights out, they have mood lighting, music, and smoke machines on the course as well as cast members cheering you on. And the after party goes until 2am. If you have never ridden Kalli River Rapids in the dark you need to put it on your "must do" list.

That sounds like it would be an awesome thing for Dads Club weekend. We could conclude it all with beers. mmmmmm. . .beer.

This is all great advice I'm getting. I've been working myself up slowly. I used to be into weight lifting, and then started getting more into the cardio workout because the Coast Guard changed it's weight standards. Now I'm back into it like I was, well, a long time ago. I've change my routine every month or so keep improving my stamina and strength.

I've lost about 25 pounds in the last 8 months, the wife seems happy so far.

 

[IndyDisney]

Yep, I've got P90x, as does Don (Emma's Dad). I started it in January and didn't ever do a full, uninterrupted round. I started having knee issues as a combination of playing basketball and doing the P90X leg workouts this winter. I do the P90x workouts in conjunction with other workout activity and really have seen some good results. I've lost about 16 pounds myself since the first of the year. The best product I've purchased from them though wasn't P90x, it was the recovery drink.

I live on a farm and we've got a hillside and woods on our property. A local high school has been using our hill for practice for the cross country team the past few years and they're going to set up a course and host some meets there this year. I've never been a runner, but I might have to try this course out myself once they get it marked.

Congrats on the results. +1 on the recovery drink. I've been using Shakeology for a couple months now and can really see a difference in my workouts/everyday life. I thought it was bupkis at first, but DW wanted it as a meal replacement at work. Obviously, she bailed on it and I used up the rest of the bag. After two weeks of using it I didn't need a 20 ounce coffee every morning, I slept better and just felt better all around. As soon as I incorporated Insanity and started eating better, I started seeing my most recent results.

As for the P90x hybrid dealie - I'm doing the same thing this summer. I have 4v4 soccer on Thursdays, Flag football on Saturdays through June, and plan on supplementing a 3 day-a-week gym routine with the cardio P90x workouts. I'm hoping to do at least 1 5k this summer, and *gasp* maybe even a 10k, though that's a lot of K's for this Lineman-at-Heart.

As an aside - I picked up some Body Glide this week . . . . where has this been all of my life? How is this stuff not marketed to fat, sweaty people like myself. It's like freaking heaven to not chafe when working out/walking a lot in the summer. That was one of my major worries about our WDW trip this summer. Now, that's checked off the list!

Cheers,
Indy