Walt Disney World Goofy Challenge Training Week 2: How I train

1v2 Happy Monday 1 week done and 17 to go!  This was a great week of training but I have to admit, it was weird week of training.  The family schedule took this week over and had to adjust my schedule and make some adjustments.  So my cross training on Monday was not done in the gym.  My lovely wife decided it was yard work day, so 4 hours of transplanting and digging holes, later, I considered cross training completed on Monday.

I was glad when Tuesday arrived and was thankful for the short 3 miles most of training leading up to the schedule has been 5-6 miles on a consistent basis.  I had a great early morning run on Wed. and was looking forward to the hills on Thursday.  Now I have never trained hills before, and the hill that was approved by my friend Jimmy is .3 of mile long and it is a steep grade, with a little extra angle at the top.  I knew it was going to be fun, I was excited to run them.  The excitement, quickly faded, and I mean quickly. In a word hills: suck.  I am glad I did them, but I am not looking forward to this Thursday, when I have to do them again.

When I asked Jim to remind why I have to do hills, his reply back was simple and to the point, BTW thanks for the continued motivation:

“You're doing it to get better so I don't embarrass you come January :-) “

imageSo after my hills, I was ready for my 10, which I had to do on since my cross training wife was headed out of town.  To be honest I was a little worried, it was my 4th day of running in a row, and my longest run in a long while.  I went running with a friend, Stacey, she showed me a nice 2.5 mile trail nearby (5 mile round trip).  So away we went.  Stacey ran the first 5 with me, and I went back out to finish my 10, which ended up at: 1:35:15.  I was very happy, and I had a negative split.  It was great day, and thanks to Stacey for showing me the route!

Overall a great start to my training.  I get a lot of questions on how I run and train, and after my run in 2009, I became a believer in the Galloway method of running.  I do the run walk interval, which simply has you run for a period of time and rest for a minute (usually).  Click here Run Disney Training Consultant   or on the picture to the right to hear from Jeff Galloway about this method.  As a FYI, I normally run the first mile, to warm then then transition to a 4-1 or if I am feeling good I will go to 5-1, which is what I did for the second 5 on Friday.   So why do I train this way there are few simple answers to that:

  1. Stay injury free
  2. Run Faster
  3. Recovery

The second one does not seem possible, but trust me, you will run faster times.  It seems silly, but I did not believe it until I did it, so next time you are going for a long run try it, from the very start, and see where you finish time wise.  I hope you will be surprised.  I have also found after a run I am not as sore for as long a time, as I normally would be.  So again check out the method, it may work for you!  So what is store for me this week, and no I am not happy about the hills on Thursday:

Monday

Cross Train/ Lower Body

Tuesday

3

Wednesday

5

Thursday

3 Hills

Friday

REST REST REST

Saturday

Core/Upper Body Lifting

Sunday

11

BTW, there is still room to join me if your up for the challenge as of today registration looks like this:  full is at 65%, the half is at 77% and Goofy is at 70% registration!