201 Days Left

The Newport Princesses all met at a track on the Naval Station for a group run/walk/crawl/however you can get around the track.  I got up (before the alarm!), picked up two other princesses and off we went.  We met the other two members of our royal court at the track.  I promised myself that I wouldn't do a whole bunch of complaining about the weather, but I will say that it was a another sticky day in Newport.  It was hard to run. I am going to need to get over this.  One week from today, I will be running in Virginia.  In August.  The heat and humidity in Newport can't hold a candle to Virginia in August.  The humidity is going to become my friend.  All of that moisture in the air has to do something to keep me hydrated, right!?!?!!?
Anyway,  My friend Jen stuck with me for the whole three miles.  She slowed down with me when I couldn't keep up the pace we had set.  I will say that we had a pretty good first mile - 12.08.  It went downhill from there.  She had to do 5 miles today, so I kept walking.  I got in another mile to her 2.  All in all, I did 4 miles in 60 minutes.  That's 15 minutes per mile.....one minute BELOW the required pace for the Princess Half Marathon!  At that pace, I will avoid the slow bus and I will be able to finish the race!

I did notice a few things this morning:
1.  I need to work on the post-race hair situation.  I looked in the mirror when I got home for my shower and I was a fright.  My new plan is to experiment with hair products (mostly hairspray) so that my hair is ready for the finish line photo.  (Hey, if you can't run fast, you might as well look great!)

2.  Running on a track is an experiment in torture.  At least when I am out on the road, I can run out and then I know that I have to get myself back.  There is a little motivation.  On the track, it's just circles.  I lost count of my laps.  The scenery never changed.  The NAPS kids kept staring at me.  I'm thinking that track runs will not become an integral part of my training at this point.

3.  Everything is more fun when there are people out there doing it with you.  The promise of breakfast with these wonderful people is even better!!

4.  I am going to have to start adding some distance in the next few weeks and the thought of that scares me to death.  I have never run more than 3.2 miles in my life.  Ever.  In two weeks, I am going to have to run 4 miles for my long run. 

5.  It's almost time to start making dinner reservations at Disney!  That means this race is real and it's closer than I think!

6.  Running makes me stupid.  I took the water bottle out again today.  (See how proactive I am!!)  I put my keys in the front pouch.  At the end of my run, I was noticing that the bottle was still heavy.  It was even sloshing a little bit.  But no water was coming out.  I figured something was wrong with the bottle.  So, during a walk, I popped open the top.  The water was gone.  I had forgotten about the keys.  They added the weight and they were moving around making the sound.  Way to go genius!

Today's Stats:
3 miles in 42.50 (14.2 minute miles)  Have to figure out a way to get faster. I need time to stop for pictures along the race course!

206 Days Left

Spring weather made an appearance on this Rhode Island summer day!!  I woke up (at 5:40ish), got dressed in my cute skirt and my butter yellow shirt, grabbed my new hand-held water bottle, and headed outside to get my shoes on.  (A few notes - first, YES, this is the same running skirt that caused me some wardrobe issues last week.  Never fear, I bought some BodyGlide this weekend to help with my wardrobe malfunctions.  Second, I bought one of those handheld water bottles...more on that later.)

So, I shook of the chill and got a little excited that it would be a good running day.  I didn't let myself down.  With my legs gliding smoothly with each step instead of sticking and rubbing (thanks Body Glide), I was off on my 2 mile run.  Because of the cool temperatures, I wasn't willing my watch to beep for the entire run.  It wasn't easy just yet, but it wasn't painful.  I could feel that I wasn't slowing down at the end of the run. 

BUT, let's talk about this water bottle.  It seemed like a great idea.  You just slip it onto your hand and off you go....water whenever you need it.  Nobody told me that the water sloshes when you are running.  Nobody told me that the water in the bottle gets hot from the heat in your hand at the end of the run.  Nobody mentioned that the stupid bottle is kind of heavy.  Today, I don't like my bottle so much.  I will try it again on Wednesday.  Maybe I will like it when it is warm again and I really want a sip of water on my long run.

This evening, I went to the top of the hill to walk a mile with another princess.  She is at the beginning of her journey to the castle.  I am honored that she let me take the first steps with her.  She did great and we are doing it again tomorrow! 

My new focus (nope, not the distance, not the speed, not the training) is my playlist.  I need about 4 hours of music......30 - 45 minutes of pre-race music and 3 1/2 hours of running music.  I am going to throw in some Disney favorites for the race because that's fun.  I am open to suggestions for songs to go between the Disney ditties.  What's your favorite running song?


Today's Stats:
2.2 miles in 27.40 minutes (12.5 minute mile)