2014 in Bling

It's the end of the year, so what better way to cap it off than to show off all the bling I earned this year. It wasn't as many as last year since I didn't sign up for as many half marathons, but still plenty.

Polar Dash 10k

Wisconsin Half Marathon

Chicago Spring Half

Soldier Field 10 Mile

Ragnar Madison to Chicago

Rock and Roll Chicago Half

Dances With Dirt Devil's Lake Trail Half

North Country Trail Half

Wine Country Half

Urban Hoedown 5k

Chicago Fall Half

Chicago Half Series

Chicago Marathon

New York City Marathon

Rock and Roll Las Vegas Marathon

December Training

This December has been a little unusual. Last year I was recovering from injury and decided to take nearly the entire month off. I wound up totally just 5 miles with a couple short runs down in Florida while on Vacation. This time I am once again heading down to Florida, but a bit later this time around as I won't head down until the 6th of January.

After completing the marathon in Las Vegas I threw myself into recovery and then reverse taper mode. My mileage went 15, 25, 35, 55, 50, and 31 miles as I started tapering  back off again. I had doubts about being able to ramp up so quickly, but have had no ill effects other than wanting to nap more than usual. The reason for the crazy ramp up was some last minute training and prep to get ready to take on the Dopey Challenge. The penultimate race coming 2 weeks from today.

I've logged 170 miles this month and should log somewhere in the neighborhood of 180 before New Years. That is certainly an improvement over last year's 5. I'll likely fall 20 miles short of the 1500 annual miles due to a tracking error I noticed a bit too late. 1480 is still a huge jump from the 1060 I ran last year. I'll also be at 1000 miles for the last 6 months which shows how consistent I've become in my training over the latter half of the year.

Hobbit Vs The Dwarf

In just 4 weeks from today I will embark on my next running adventure. I will be heading down to Orlando, FL with my pals Jennifer and Vijay in order to run at Disney. This has been a trip that has been over a year in planning. None of us has ever run a race at Disney before so that makes it all the more exciting. The unique thing about this particular race weekend is that there are actually 4 races that if you run them all it is called the Dopey Challenge.

Of course I had to sign up for the challenge since I'm a masochist. Although what once seemed like a daunting feat doesn't scare me as much as it did a year ago. After tackling the 3 marathons in 6 weeks I feel like I will be able to handle the 48.6 "magical" miles in just 4 days. That is of course as long as I don't decide to go all out for any of the races. I could feasibly run one of them for time if I wanted to endure some pain, but it's a vacation in Florida in January at the most magical place on Earth and I would like to enjoy myself. As for my companions, Jennifer is tackling the 3 shorter races, including her first half in a couple years, and Vijay is just doing the half.

The other fun thing about this trip is that the marathon falls on my actual birthday. I'll have to decorate a shirt for the race or wear one of the Disney celebration buttons and see what magic ensues from there. I know that by just wearing the race medals to the parks you get all sorts of congratulations, so celebrating a birthday on top of that? I can't wait. I made sure to book reservations that evening at one of the top recommended Disney restaurants - Ohana. It is a Hawaiian restaurant where the food is served rodizio style like the Brazilian steakhouses. There are of course drinks served in pineapples as well.

Recovery the day after the marathon and belated birthday celebration will be attempting to drink around the world at Epcot.

This might be tougher than finishing the marathon. Let the countdown begin!