A little about me.

I started running consistently in January of 2012.  I had run prior to that, but never anything overly serious or consistent.  But in January of 2012 I decided to make a new year's resolution: I would run everyday of 2012, even if it was just a half mile.  Well, 751 days later my streak is still going.  I now do at least a mile a day.  My highest mileage per week has peaked at 70, and I like to be in the mid-50s on average.  Many people look at me and tell me that I'm setting myself up for injury by not taking breaks, but frankly my body is thriving.  I have less aches and pains now than I did before I started running so I don't see any reason to stop.  Plus I need it as a form of therapy- its how I blow off steam.

I've become quite obsessed with half marathons.  I ran my first one in May 2012.  I ended up doing three total in 2012 and have done 4 so far this year, with one next weekend and at least three planned for the fall.  Three of my half marathons have been in Disney- what a great excuse to go, right?  I've always been a big Disney fan.  I've done the Wine and Dine in WDW in Nov 2012, Tinkerbell in DL in Jan 2013, and the Princess in WDW in Feb 2013.  It is this obsession with Run Disney that has lead me to get the craziest looks from people.

I had decided that my first marathon was going to be Disney in Jan 2014.  I don't know if that distance will appeal to me, so I want to do it right.  And I decided why not do a half marathon the day before, AKA the Goofy Challenge?  I got a lot of raised eyebrows from that one.  Is it a good idea?  Maybe you should just stick with one race?  But I brushed off the skeptics and anxiously awaited registration.

Then BAM!  Run Disney announces the Dopey Challenge-adding a 5k and 10k on the days preceding the half and full.  That's right- 4 days and 4 races.  One being a measly 26.2 miles.  No biggie, right?  I got A LOT of people actually telling me I was nuts for considering it.  But i ignored them and signed up anyways.  If I was going to go big, I may as go REALLY big, right?

I then decided to do a full marathon before Dopey.  There's a big one, The Wineglass Marathon, only a few hours from where I live in October, so I added that one to my running schedule.  I trained hard using the Hanson Method, but the weather was in the 70s and like 99 percent humidity (yes, that's in Upstate New York in October- normal highs are in the 40s) when I lined up to start.  The end of the race was 80.  It was rough and I went out much too fast, and I ended up walking a fair amount at the end due to severe cramping.

I continued training right after the marathon, giving myself a week of easier runs to recover.  I headed down to Disney for the Wine and Dine Half (love that race!) and trained through the busy holiday season.  I plan on doing a few posts on the Dopey Challenge, so I'll save that discussion.

Now I am looking to improve my race times, particularly my 5k and Half Marathon, in 2014.  I know, two very different race distances, but I love them both.  We'll see how this year pans out, and what new goals may pop up along the way.  :)