On the road

I'm away on business this week but that hasn't stopped me from sticking to the program. The hotel I'm staying at has a couple of options for our run/walk program. The first is a little exercise room which amounts to a couple of standard pieces of exercise equipment in an actual first floor hotel room, complete with full-wall mirror. You actually need a room key to get in, which I found funny. Since there's only one key, how do multiple guests actually use the space at the same time?

A hotel room moonlighting as an exercise center. With mirrors!

In defense of the exercise room, the treadmill was quite sturdy and the belt never slipped (my usual treadmill nightmare). The second and much more preferable exercise option is a small road that circles the hotel. Two thirds of it is actually parking lot but who's counting?

The view from my room actually overlooks this scenic bit of road.

A bunch of fishermen were parking their boats around the hotel as I ran/walked my laps earlier this afternoon. Just seeing their fishing poles and tackle boxes made me think of lazy afternoons on calm, cool backwater inlets, as opposed to my usual routine trapped in front of a computer screen. Maryland weather is a fantastic 65-70°F this time of year, which really makes it ideal for exercising outdoors.

This week is our first duration increase, bumping our RWR from 5/55 to 10/50. Aside from the great weather, today was definitely the worst day of training I've had so far. My feet were truly aching, the worst I've felt in a while. I'm hoping a new pair of running shoes will fix things soon. Hopefully it wasn't so bad for everyone back home.

Cheers,
Peter

Picture Saturday

What up what up,

Today is picture saturday! I'll be putting up some pictures from our journey sporadically throughout the blog so that you can see what we see as we train. The photos will include shots of our runs or things that we think pertain to the blog. Some will be of things that we see as well as experience, like the sunset below. And some pictures will be random and hopefully hilarious. Well, they'll be hilarious to us anyways. I enjoy photography, it happens to be one of my favorite hobbies. The pictures below are taken with our iPhones, so judgment is not required you photography snobs, you. I hope you all like the pictures because each one of them is important and special to us.

Sunset over our neighborhood during one of our RWRs

I love a good sunset. Sunsets are so ethereal, so majestic. I can see God's handiwork so clearly in a glorious sunset. They serve as a point of inspiration for me to always seek out the best in this world, focusing my time on what is important and not what is trivial. 

Training has been going well for us lately. We upped the times of our RWRs this week while keeping the 5 second run, 55 second walk ratio. Personally, I've been feeling stronger lately and I think everyone else is as well. 

Today though. 

Today was our distance run of 1.25 miles and it was tough. Mom joined us for our run and let me tell you, mom can book it! She kept saying she wasn't in good enough shape to walk with us but she kept the fastest pace out of all of us. I am really happy she joined us, now all I need to convince is Hannah....

Here's a shot of the Maple Quinoa with Red Grapes mentioned in an earlier blog post.  It was delicious! 

Next week we bump up our ratio to 10 seconds of running and 50 seconds of walking. It's going to be a challenge, but I think we'll be up for it. We also have some room to slow down the pace if we need to as our race is still more than a year away. I also got some new runnings shoes (New Balance 1290's) and they are saweet. Can't wait to break them in and start using them on our runs. New shoes make everything seem better, ya know? 

Mickey shaped pizza we made on pizza night. This was totally random: we had a hard time shaping the first few balls of dough and this was one of the results of our handiwork. How could we not record this as we are training for a Disney marathon! 

All in all, it's been a good week. We are sticking to our schedule and learning to live better every day. Sometimes the road is hard, but in the end, it will all be worth it.

 I've included a widget that will allow you to sign up for email notifications of when we post to the blog. The widget should be at the top right corner of our blog so if you feel so inclined sign up and follow us!

'Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.' Hebrews 12: 1-2.


Tim

The Plan

One of the great things about runDisney is the amount of support they provide for new runners. Jeff Galloway, the marathon training expert for runDisney, provides plans and schedules for each Disney marathon event held throughout the year. As young men in various stages of heftitude, we have been following the Conditioning Program recommended by Jeff on his personal website. This program is an eight week course that starts runners off at a 5/55 second run-walk-run (RWR) pace for relatively short time periods, gradually increasing the pace and duration until the runner is ready to start "official" marathon training. Weekday routines focus on 10-30 minute run-walks, with a longer, mile-based exercise on Saturdays.

Over the past two weeks, we have focused on easing into training with Week #1 of conditioning. We try to run together (we find it boosts morale) in the evenings, run-walking up and down our street and driving over to the local community college track on weekends. We're moving on to Week #2 tomorrow, bumping up our exercise times but retaining the 5/55 second pace. As we progress, we'll evaluate how we're adapting to the increases and change our routines accordingly. I think doubling the repetition like we've been doing (i.e., do Week #2 for two weeks before moving on to Week #3) is a good way to go; Tim is more optimistic and thinks we can advance each week.

Week #1 (5/55 RWR)

Day	Duration
Monday	10 min. run/walk
Tuesday	15 min. walk
Wednesday	13 min. run/walk
Thursday	18 min. walk
Friday	OFF
Saturday	1 mile run/walk
Sunday	OFF

Week #2 (5/55 RWR)

Day	Duration
Monday	15 min. run/walk
Tuesday	20 min. walk
Wednesday	17 min. run/walk
Thursday	22 min. walk
Friday	OFF
Saturday	1.25 mile run/walk
Sunday	OFF

Finally, I'm going to look into adding (or writing) a Blogger gadget to track our training schedule on this blog. Within the next week or so you should hopefully see a banner or right-hand sidebar displaying what training regiment we're shooting for that day. This will be a handy reminder for us and would allow you to train with us, if you're so inclined.

Cheers,
Peter

On the Track and in the Kitchen

Week two has elapsed on our road to Wining and Dining and believe it or not, I think we're starting to see some results. We had our distance run this morning and we all agreed that we felt we had more energy in the tank than we did last week. I'm feeling really good about seeing results this early in our quest. It's keeping us positive which is great because our half marathon is so far away.

I tried a new recipe last weekend which was recommended on the runDisney blog by Tara Gidus, runDisney's official nutritionist. The recipe is Maple Quinoa with Red Grapes. I'll post the link on my twitter account as well. I've never cooked with quinoa (pronounced kēn-ˌwä) before and found it to be incredibly filling. Which is a good thing when you want healthy recipes that keep you satiated for long periods of time. the recipe is fairly easy, even those of you who are allergic to being in the kitchen could handle this one.

The quinoa is soaked in water with cinnamon and salt. Once the quinoa has soaked up all the water, you add toasted pecans, maple syrup and red grapes. I really liked the recipe but the only change I would make is to keep the red grapes separate and add them as you're eating the maple quinoa. I didn't like the grapes getting warm from the quinoa. That's just my personal preference. I highly recommend the recipe for runners of all kinds as it is incredibly healthy and easy to make. You could add most nuts and/or fruit to this recipe. The maple quinoa serves as a base for a multitude of flavor combinations. Go crazy and have fun.

I'll be posting more recipes as we go along in this quest. Fun fact about me: I love to cook and be in the kitchen. Preparing food for people you care about is one of the most fulfilling things you can do in my humble opinion. The ladies like it as well, guys ;).

Next week we up our R-W-R (run-walk-run) times so we shall see how we handle the increase in training. With how good we felt after our run today, I think we are ready for the challenge.

Tim

Fortune Cookies and Burning Calves

So the other day, we had chinese food for dinner (shameless plug for Hunan Manor, an awesome chinese food place in Columbia). After dinner, we broke into the customary fortune cookies and discovered some fortunes that were surprisingly relatable to our year long quest. My fortune was as follows, 'Never compare yourself to the best others can do, but at the best you can do.' I thought that was pretty awesome considering what my brothers and I are attempting to accomplish. Then, Peter told us his fortune which was, 'It's tempting to make promises, but can you fulfill them all?' OH. SNAP. We have struggled in the past to make promises to get healthier and this was one small reminder that our Disney marathon aspiration is more than a sneaky way to get back to Disney World. This journey is about becoming healthier and more active people.

I look for inspiration throughout the day as a way to keep my engines churning. I easily bore when my routine becomes stagnant and dull so these small reminders of motivation are welcomed as I find them. They don't happen often but I'm learning to look for them more fervently. They help me stay motivated when I'm bored or feeling lazy. What motivates you? I know this blog doesn't have many followers now but who knows? Maybe you'll come back to this one day and be inspired. You never know.

Training sucked for me today. The calves were definitely feeling it. Peter seemed to be...wait for it...enjoying training today! I knew he'd come around eventually. It was a good time cracking jokes and thinking about running when it's 20 degrees come december. I like the cold, but running in it? Not so much. Luckily, we have several weeks before that happens.

I would start a count down, but considering this blog has started more than a year before our half marathon, I don't really have an exact date to go by. So you can look forward to that in the future.

Tim

The Beginning

Welcome one and all to the greatest Disney marathon blog you will ever come across. We are three brothers: Jonathan, Peter and Tim and we, my friends, have tasked ourselves with conquering a Disney marathon! (cue trumpets). We have selected the Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon as our first target. We have selected the Wine and Dine simply because it's a half marathon and there's a party afterwards with food and libations.

Why are we doing this you ask? Well, simply put: we need to get in shape. We have struggled to stay motivated to live consistent healthy lives. And what better way to really get serious about exercise and proper nutrition than to have a goal in mind. Especially when that goal includes Walt Disney World.

We are training with one of Jeff Galloway's, Disney's running expert, training regiments. We started on Tuesday and have just completed our first distance run of one mile today. We are using the run-walk-run method to make sure we don't wear ourselves out too fast. I must admit, it is not as bad as I first thought it would be. Here's hoping it continues to be so.

I'll be using this blog to share our thoughts, inspirations, nutrition info we learn along the way, training info, and everything in between. I'll probably be posting pictures during our runs and stuff to keep everyone who checks out our blog in the know.

And to end with an obligatory Walt Disney quote: "If you can dream it, you can do it." And I'm dreaming of a finisher medal.

Tim