1. I discovered after I signed up for the Philly marathon that it was going to be one of the 2011 Runner’s World Challenge races. In the last few weeks I started been thinking that it might be fun to take advantage of that. Not only do you get a training plan and online support from other participants, but you also get special race treatment like VIP porta potties. I did a little more research and found out that the Runner's World Challenge registration is packaged with the race fee. When I contacted them, they said that I can’t just pay for the training package (which I was hoping would be an option). Instead, they would have to contact Philly marathon officials to have my registration cancelled and then I could re-register through them. While this isn’t all that complicated, now I’m leaning towards not taking this step for a couple of reasons. First of all, it’s not cheap ($250) and I would essentially lose the discount that I got on the race registration by signing up at the National Half expo. While I don’t think the price is ridiculous, it is more than the free plan I was going to use. I also started looking at hotels for the Goofy Challenge weekend at Disney and realized that I should probably cuts costs where I can! Second, speaking of Disney it’s only 7 weeks post-Philly. I’m thinking that I may do a shorter taper for Philly so building back up is a bit easier. I also have a feeling that it might work better for me in general, though that is currently unproven. I also like that the Hal Higdon plans (what I'll probably use) have double long runs on weekends, which I need to get ready for Goofy. If I pay for the Runner's World training package then I want to follow as closely as possible and I'm not sure this is the ideal time to do that. Finally, I'm lazy and all those steps to de-register and then re-register might be too much for me. But if you've had an amazing experience with the Runner's World Challenge, please let me know!
2. I'm excited because I realized this week that now that I've figured out the shower situation at work (for bike commuting), with a little pre-planning (bringing in clothes the day before) I can run to work too. I've run home before a number of times, but without an option to shower, I never ran in. What this really means is that I can fit in longer mid-week runs during marathon training without having to get up at a really ridiculous hour! When I get ready at home, I need to be done with my run by 7-7:15 in order to get to work on time. If I shower at work, I could finish my run at 8:15 instead! I'm planning on following a training plan that will get me to higher weekly mileage this time around, so having that extra time to work with for a mid-week medium-long run is really going to come in handy.
3. I just got my race photos from Lawyers Have Heart. I look okay in the first one, but the second one is pure misery. That about sums up how I felt about the race by the end!
11 comments:
yeah for running to work in the morning!!! However, I half the time don't shower when I get to work even though I should.
The challange sounds fun, but if you are trying to save some money I would just stick to the regular sign up (that you got at a discount :)
Running to work is awesome! My work is less than 3 miles from my house so I sometimes do lunchtime runs to and from my house.
Also those pics do not look like you were miserable or anything!
Running to work is the best! Though since we've moved to VA, my run has gone from 4 or 5 miles up to 10 miles. It's a little too far to do very often.
Love the pics!
i say stick to the plan you've got! doesn't sound like the runner's world perks would be worth the $$ or hassle. running to work was one of the ways i bulked up my mileage when i was training for my 50mi and i've just started up again!
Yay!! I'm so excited you're doing Philly, too. Yeah I didn't realize it was part of the RW challenge until I saw it on twitter, too. Wow, is it bad that I am tempted to do it just for the porta potties? Hahaha. But yeah that seems like too much of a pain with the canceling and re-registering:/.
I did Hal Higdon Intermediate I for my first marathon, but I am considering doing the "Run Less Run Faster" (aka the FIRST plan, I think??) for this one. I'm not sure, though!
I love the race pics, I don't think you look bad at all!:)
I am jealous you have a shower at work. My office is just two miles away but with no shower. It feels ridiculous running 6+ miles and then getting in my car to drive 2. Anyway, great photos! The photograhers totally missed me!
Woot for Philly! I'll be there too! VIP potties are always nice but ouch on the $250, especially with Goofy coming up.
I was going to say that's a pretty steep price tag, but then I realized my two marathon clients are paying a whole lot less than that (I charge on a monthly basis and hadn't done the math LOL).
I'm doing the Philly half that weekend. BTW, are you doing Dash for Dad? I should be at the start/finish line volunteering with the Pacers medic if you are there.
I would love to try running to work but can't figure out how to do it without ending up on a highway (or going really far out of the way). And your pictures are not bad! The girl in orange looks like she's doing the robot so you're a big step ahead of her :)
PS. So great to meet you last night :)
Oh my goodness... I didn't really think but it's possible you know the girl in orange. Or she could be a blog reader. I have a collection of horrible race pictures that the robot would be an improvement upon. Ahhh. putting my foot right in my mouth. Girl in orange, I'm sure you would have kicked my butt in that race even with your awesome race pic :)
All hot, summer 5Ks = tragic photos. Oh well.
I'm with you on skipping the $250. That seems like an awful lot.
Post a Comment