May The Force Be With Me…

Roughly 6 months ago, I posted that I had signed up for the Star Wars Dark Side Challenge (10K and 1/2 marathon) at Walt Disney World. Who knew the time would get here so fast, and in less than a week I will be there? And what was I thinking?

I have found that training “post 40” is much different than it was prior. The pace is slower, the injuries are more, and the weight just isn’t going anywhere.

Things were going rather well until early January, when my gall bladder decided it didn’t like me any more, and wanted to move out. Forming 30 stones was a good way to get evicted. The surgery went off without a hitch, but that was 2 weeks without training.

Not long after, my treadmill decided IT wanted out of my life, also (I’m starting to get a complex about this). After pricing many options, I decided it would actually be cheaper to join Planet Fitness, which actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise after the next issue started…

Shin splints. I’d had small bouts with them before, but this was something awful. It hurt just to walk. So, off the treadmill to give them a chance to heal, but thankfully I was still able to use the bikes to keep the cardio going.

Now, we are 1 week away from the 10K. 1 week from tomorrow is the 1/2 marathon. The big training is done. I’m as trained as I’m going to get. Disney requires a 16 minute mile pace, and I’ve been a pretty consistent 15 minute mile. I’ve got my gear ready (including Darth Vader shirts made by a friend of mine). Now I just have to keep myself injury-free, and healthy. And then finish the races. Here’s hoping the force is with me!

Half History (Edition 13.1)

For the umpteenth time in as many months, I am attempting to get back on a running schedule. Why, you may ask? Do I have a 5K coming up? No. Maybe a 10K? Yup, one of those. And a 1/2 marathon to complete the picture.  I have signed up for the Dark Side challenge at Disney in April, which includes a 10K on Saturday, and a 1/2 marathon on Sunday. I have officially lost my mind.

My first 1/2 marathon was in Disney in January of 2010. Did this one with a friend, and it was miserable! Going to Disney with my friend was great, but nobody informed us that it might snow in January. Yes, snow. And sleet. And freezing rain. We kept  up a pretty good run/walk pace, until about mile 9 when we couldn’t feel our toes anymore.  But, we finished and got the bling. And, prior to the race I had joined an online running group and “met” some of the nicest, most encouraging enablers…er, I mean, friends…that one could ever want to meet.

I then signed up for a local 1/2 marathon….but we’re not going to discuss the disaster of that one.

After that, in November of 2011, I ran the Rock N Roll 1/2 in Savannah.  Weather was great, and got to see lots of friends from the running group that I belong to. Spent about half with 2 of them, and then finished with another.

The last 1/2 marathon that I did was in 2012, the inaugural NC 1/2 marathon at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Spent the entire race with 2 friends from that same running group, and while the course was hilly, we all finished…and not last, either!!

Due to the prohibitive costs, I had not planned to run any other Disney races. And then, they made the announcement. The announcement I had been waiting a long time to hear. Walt Disney World would be having a Star Wars themed race weekend. Once the decision was made to sign up, I decided to go for the challenge. 3 shirts instead of one. 3 medals instead of one. It certainly seemed like a no brainer to me!

So now that I’m signed up, I see that I was a bit confused. I’ts not a “no brainer”…it’s that I had “no brain” when I was signing up! But I AM running again. Run/walking. Moving. I am moving…slowly.

This should be an interesting journey, as I’m already finding that training “post 40” is a lot different than it was “pre 40”. At least I have one thing to be positive about, as mentioned to me by The Boy “At least if it rains during the race, it won’t be freezing”!

Embracing My Inner Geek

I’m a geek. And, according to the quote above, David Tennant says it’s ok. And if David Tennant says it’s ok, then that’s all I need.

Growing up, and heck, even AS grown-ups, we are lead to believe that being a geek is not necessarily a good thing. It’s not the “cool” thing to be. Yet, some of us were just destined to be geeks.

My geekdom starts as a child with my 1st trip to Disney World. That geek obsession has now lasted me some 37 years, and has actually done quite well for me. It has provided me an income and introduced me to lots of friends with the same Disney obsession.

From the time I was a little girl, I can remember watching Star Wars with my Dad on TV. In fact, the original Star Wars was my first movie in the theater. I’ve always been slightly obsessed with Darth Vader (a fan of the Dark Side, I am)…although I’m sure his Imperial March had something to do with it, as music often plays a part. As I type, I am watching Return Of The Jedi on TV.

Speaking of music…hello? Band geek alert!

Up next…Harry Potter.  Midnight book releases, midnight movie showings, trips to Universal just to see Hogwarts in person.

And the latest? Doctor Who. I’d known about it for quite some time, and finally caught an episode on BBC America. Signed onto Netflix and watched 7 seasons in about 3 weeks, and then went back and watched some of the originals. Hence the David Tennant quote above. And the best part? The Girl is now getting into it! Got her hooked with the Weeping Angels, but who doesn’t love some Daleks and Cybermen, also?  And she walks up to me almost every day and asks “Are you my Mummy?”.

I’ve learned to embrace my inner geek, and rejoice in it. And if I do a good job, I’ll have another Geek following in my footsteps. After all, we geeks need to stick together!