Life After Marathons: A Running/barre3/Coffee/Life Journal

[ZellyB]

Oh, I do that too. I keep telling my coworker that I buy the chocolate for him, but then I eat it all.

---

PTO situation is all worked out. I haven't made the impulse purchase yet, but ... if all goes as planned, I'm going to get to see the newly refurbished rooms at Pop Century in July!
... and not much else, because the crowds will be insane.

That's awesome! Have fun! I'm hoping July isnt too bad since my fam and I will be there too. Enjoy!

Hey we're going in July too! But not until the 13th. so exciting though and I hope you have an amazing time!

 

[Capang]

Hey we're going in July too! But not until the 13th. so exciting though and I hope you have an amazing time!

We fly in the 15th. Have a great trip!

 

[SarahDisney]

Hey we're going in July too! But not until the 13th. so exciting though and I hope you have an amazing time!

Thank you!

 

[amazingact21]

Hooray for the upcoming Disney trip!
I've stayed at All Star Sports twice before and was happy with the resort. It's been 5 years since my last stay there but I remember my room there was cleaner than ones I've gotten at Pop and All Star Movies. So hopefully that still holds true!
I'm sure being there for the 4th celebrations will be a fun experience!

 

[SarahDisney]

Hooray for the upcoming Disney trip!
I've stayed at All Star Sports twice before and was happy with the resort. It's been 5 years since my last stay there but I remember my room there was cleaner than ones I've gotten at Pop and All Star Movies. So hopefully that still holds true!
I'm sure being there for the 4th celebrations will be a fun experience!

We stayed at All Star Sports a few years back and I didn't love it (we actually found it to be not very clean), but it'll do. I'm definitely excited to be there for the 4th!

 

[SarahDisney]

It's Sunday morning. I should be blogging. Instead I'm looking at all the Disney things I don't need to buy.
(I will probably stop by Uniqlo on 34th St to see if they have cute lightweight shirts, but I go there anyway for work clothing, so that's only lightly Disney shopping)

 

[SarahDisney]

I'm Going To Disney World: Part 1 - How It Happened​

Bear with me, because to tell this full story, I have to go a little far back.

The Beth Part:
As some of you know, my sister Beth is in optometry school in Pennsylvania. As part of her schooling, she has to do a number of clerkships in optometry offices (including actually working with patients). Ideally she would want to do these in NYC, where she has a number of contacts in the optometry world (and can stay at the house), but New York state law doesn't allow out of state optometry students to work with patients in a New York office. Sigh.
The next best option would have been to do something in Pennsylvania (preferably somewhere where she could stay at her apartment), but since a lot of the people in her class are from either PA or NY, there was going to be a lot of competition for not a lot of spots. So instead she got in touch with an eye doctor she knows in Florida and arranged to do her clerkship at his office.
And so it was determined that Beth would be spending 3 weeks in Florida in June.

My first thought was "send her to Disney World!", but ... she's in West Palm Beach, and that's just too far to go to Orlando for a day. So no Disney for Beth.

The Sarah Part:
I'm not going to go super far back on this one, just to Tuesday. But as an introduction ... most of you know I've been struggling a lot with my motivation to run lately. I've also been struggling to come to terms with some aspects of my life. Basically, I've just not been in the best place, and I really could use a pick me up.
I've been trying to eat healthier, so it's probably not great that one of the ways that I try to help myself feel better is by eating chocolate. Right now I have some Dove chocolates on my desk, which have messages on the wrapper, and I unwrapped this one on Tuesday ...

I was already listening to a Disney Parks playlist on Spotify, so ... I was basically sitting there wishing I could book a trip to Disney. Sigh.

In other news ... I had been planning to write a post about the significance of Global Running Day in my life, and Tuesday night (actually, this may have been Monday) I sat down to write that post, figuring I'd fill in the stuff about this year after my run on Wednesday morning.
Here's what I wrote:
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2015.

I had recently heard about something called “National Running Day,” so with that in mind, I went out for my run with a new but achievable goal – my first hour-long run. My previous “long” run, which was about 59 and a half minutes (back then I used to add a minute or so to every run to increase my time/distance), was 4.84 miles long, and I was expecting this run to be somewhere in the 4.8-4.9 mile range. I was getting close to my first 5 mile run, but hadn’t hit it yet.

Early in the run I realized that my pace was faster than it had been in a while. So I thought … what if I try to get to 5 miles? I kept pushing, and this was the result:


My first National Running Day brought me two PRs – my longest distance and my longest time. When I got home, I posted on Facebook and Twitter about the run. This was one of the first times when I publicly shared my running accomplishments and I felt like I was part of something bigger than myself.

I was thinking about my runniversary a few weeks ago. It’s sometime in July (I don’t know the actual date) … but that date really doesn’t mean anything to me. My National Running Day accomplishment is something that sticks out a lot more in my brain. So I decided that from now on, I am going to celebrate Global Running Day (because it’s no longer just National) as my runniversary. It’s the anniversary of one of my most memorable training runs.

I actually haven’t run on Global Running Day since then. Either I’ve had other plans or it was a rest day. This year is the first year I’m running on Global Running Day, and I wanted to make it something special.

But then I realized … why? My runniversary is just the anniversary of a good run. Yes, I happened to have two really big accomplishments on that run. But at the end of the day, it was just a part of the progression of my running journey. And what way to better celebrate my running journey than by sticking to my plan and going out for a regular training run, the same training runs I do several times per week as part of my journey. And after all, it’s not like this run would be completely devoid of anything special … it’s my first time running with the new Vivoactive3.

Global Running Day ended up being a huge let down. It was just a rough run and didn't at all help with my running funk. I packed an extra set of running clothes and took them to work, hoping to maybe try a second attempt at Global Running Day after work.
But then I got to work ... and things got worse from there.
The project I'm working on involves writing some code and then letting that code do it's thing. So while the code is running, I sometimes have time to think. And on that particular day, I was thinking about how much I dislike running right now. And I realized ... I don't want to run a marathon when I feel this way. I could probably either survive running or walk most of my shorter races. But a marathon ... that's a lot of running if you don't enjoy running. I would be miserable. And it's not that I couldn't physically run (or walk) the marathon ... it's that I didn't want to be so miserable in a place I love so much.

After that realization ... I made a mistake. I posted something here without the full context. Which isn't to say that I wouldn't have gotten the same response had I mentioned that the reason I was thinking about not running the marathon was because I would have been miserable, but ... I think it would have made a few people see the situation a little differently.

To tie all this to both Global Running Day and how my life has been lately ... between thinking about what's happening at work and seeing the responses on here to the idea that I might not run the marathon, I kinda realized that I feel like I'm not in control of my life. A lot of the things that were bad about work when I first started have gotten better, but I don't like the project I'm working on, and I'm afraid to take other assignments because I'm the only one on this part of the project. Outside of work, I feel like everything I do is just trying to make the rest of my family happy. And with running ... I set all these goals for myself, and I told people about them (a trend that started with my first National Running Day back in 2015), and now I can't back off of those goals, even if they feel wrong, because there are too many people out there expecting me to do certain things and run certain races. So really, I feel like I have no control over my own life.
But I need to try to take control of my life back.
With running, that's going to be doing things my way (I think I'm going to follow the times/miles laid out in my plan, but may end up skipping some tempo runs if I'm just not feeling it) and trying to make races fun no matter what - whether that's a fun costume, or a new playlist, or just trying to stick to races I'm already interested in.
With life, it's a little more complicated. I'm starting by trying to change my attitude towards work and the project I'm working on, and once I'm done with my current project, I'm going to try to get myself assigned to projects that I find more interesting.
With other life things, well ...

The Both of Us Part:
For the past two weeks, Wednesday Night has been American Ninja Warrior night for Beth and me. We watch the ninjas, we root for the ones we don't like to fall (preferably early), and we chat.
I don't remember how it came up, but I asked Beth when she was coming back from Florida, and she said she had the hotel room through July 1st, but didn't have a flight back booked. And then I thought ... what if she flew back out of Orlando? After a Disney trip?
But first ... we had to figure out how to get her from West Palm Beach to Orlando. I asked some people in a group chat, and someone suggested Amtrak. So I looked it up, and Amtrak was mad cheap.
The next step was looking up hotel/ticket packages (yes, I know, packages aren't always the cheapest, but they're easiest for us). There's a package offer available right now, and prices were not bad. So I looked at flights for me ... not great prices, but not terrible either. So ... the trip planning started to really happen.
(We also looked at a week in August at either WDW or Disneyland, but doing it in July when Beth was already in Florida was just a smarter and easier option)

At one point in time Beth said, "Are we really going to Disney World?"
My response was ... maybe. I still had to get approval for time off. And since I was pretty sure the project I'm working on was launching in either late June or early July ... I wasn't sure I'd be able to get the time off. I didn't think my dad would be thrilled about me going away over July 4th, when we traditionally go to a baseball game to see fireworks.
But I really wanted this. And for once I wanted to do something I wanted and not just go along with what everyone expects of me.

Thursday morning I had another crappy run and didn't really feel like hustling to get to work. But I got there at a decent time and my scrum master was already in, so I dumped my stuff and went to talk to her. She said that we're planning to launch in mid to late July ... so I thought the idea of a vacation in early July was off the table. But she said it wouldn't be a problem. Especially because the office would be closed July 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, so I'd only be missing a day and a half (we have a half day on Fridays during the summer). And so my PTO was approved by my scrum master.
Now that my scrum master had approved my PTO, I needed to find out who else needed to approve it, especially because my direct boss wasn't in. Long story short ... several hours and a few conversations later I discovered that my scrum master was the only person who needed to approve my PTO. So really ... my PTO had been approved since 10 minutes after I got in. Sigh.
This is where we made our first mistake. Instead of giving Beth my credit card number and having her book the trip while I was at work (I don't like using my CC on the office wifi and we were almost over our data for the month ... I don't want to talk about it), we waited until I got home from work to book.
We booked flights and Amtrak first, and then the hotel/tickets. By the time we booked, the hotel we wanted (Pop Century), was no longer available, so we ended up at...


That's from our last trip to All-Star Sports. AKA Our first runDisney trip, in February 2015. It feels like a lifetime ago.

Anyway ... that's how this trip came together. Stay tuned for our plans so far, which I hopefully will be posting later this week.

(Oh, and to tie up one loose end ... maybe it was because he was at a baseball game when I spoke to him, but my dad actually seemed happy about our trip to Florida. So apparently I didn't even have a reason to be worried about that.)

 

[Capang]

Enjoy your trip! It sounds like a much needed getaway. I get where you’re coming from with the making everyone else happy thing. When that involves work or family it gets real tricky and can be a huge weight.

And there’s nothing wrong with taking orders from dove wrappers. Those things are pretty smart for candy wrappers.

 

[SarahDisney]

Enjoy your trip! It sounds like a much needed getaway. I get where you’re coming from with the making everyone else happy thing. When that involves work or family it gets real tricky and can be a huge weight.

Thank you! I definitely need the getaway right now ... I'm glad I was able to make it happen.

And there’s nothing wrong with taking orders from dove wrappers. Those things are pretty smart for candy wrappers.

That's certainly true ... sometimes those chocolate wrappers are smarter than I am.

 

[rteetz]

Awesome sauce! You guys are gonna have a great time.

 

[SarahDisney]

Awesome sauce! You guys are gonna have a great time.

Do people actually say "awesome sauce"? Is that a thing? I feel so old ...
But ... I'm still excited for the trip. It's gonna be a lot of fun.

 

[rteetz]

Do people actually say "awesome sauce"? Is that a thing? I feel so old ...
But ... I'm still excited for the trip. It's gonna be a lot of fun.

No people don't but I do.

 

[ZellyB]

I love that the trip came together for you. I think a lovely vacation with your sister to the happiest place on earth is certainly in order!

 

[SarahDisney]

I love that the trip came together for you. I think a lovely vacation with your sister to the happiest place on earth is certainly in order!

Thank you!
(Also ... Disneyland is the happiest place on earth. Magic Kingdom is the most magical place on Earth.)

 

[SarahDisney]

Interlude:
I have barre3 class tonight and I just realized that the capris I brought may have a hole. Yikes.
I hope I'm wrong about this one...

 

[SarahDisney]

Update:
The capris did not have a hole. Or if they did ... I didn't notice and nobody said anything.
After today's class, I bought a 10-class package. I'm already signed up for the 18th and the 25th (I figured I'd do once a week), and I'll sign up for the week after I get back from Disney as soon as it's available.

Also ... I'm unhappy with INKnBURN right now. According to UPS, my return arrived a week ago, and I haven't gotten my refund or heard from them at all. It says on their web site 3-5 days to process the return and 5-10 days for the refund, but ... I wish they would just confirm that they got the return and are working on the refund. I feel like if I wait another 10 days and the refund never hits, at that point it's too late to start dealing with something that may have gone wrong. I think I'm going to email them just to check if they got the return. Worst case scenario ... they respond with something nasty and I don't buy from them again. I know most likely my email will go unanswered but ... I have to try.
I know it's a small business and they're busy, but one of the reasons why I like supporting small businesses is because they do often make an effort to go the extra mile, and I haven't gotten that from InB at all. Seriously, I just wish they had sent me an email that "we received your returned package and will process the refund in 5-10 days." That can't be that hard ... just copy and paste a template.
Whatever. Hopefully they'll respond to my email, tell me they're working on it, and the refund will hit my bank soon.

 

[jennamfeo]

No people don't but I do.

I really can't wait to meet you in person.

(Also ... Disneyland is the happiest place on earth. Magic Kingdom is the most magical place on Earth.)

Amen!

And hey, about the Marathon thing. You know we are just a bunch of pushers and enablers around here. We will always encourage the most out of people and still root for them when they choose to do what's best for them. We are always on your side!

I am super excited and jealous about your WDW4OJ trip! While you are there having so much fun with sister, I will go ahead and hit up a few baseball games for you.

 

[rteetz]

I really can't wait to meet you in person.

Lol, I am rather shy in person.

 

[rteetz]

I thought I would leave this here for you...

2018 Fourth of July fireworks and entertainment line-up

 

[SarahDisney]

I really can't wait to meet you in person.

I recommend going up to him randomly, not introducing yourself, and just yapping incessantly. That's what I did.

Amen!

And hey, about the Marathon thing. You know we are just a bunch of pushers and enablers around here. We will always encourage the most out of people and still root for them when they choose to do what's best for them. We are always on your side!

Thanks for saying that. It's kinda hard for me to balance encouragement from others and doing my own thing ... I'm working on it.

I am super excited and jealous about your WDW4OJ trip! While you are there having so much fun with sister, I will go ahead and hit up a few baseball games for you.

I'll make sure to think of you during the Frozen Sing Along (kidding!)
I'm actually going to be hitting up a few games before I leave - Yankees on Thursday, Mets a week from Sunday, and maybe even something this coming Sunday. Plus a minor league game two days after I get back.
Baseball games are awesome.

I thought I would leave this here for you...

2018 Fourth of July fireworks and entertainment line-up

Thank you!
I already knew some of this, but it's good to have it all in one place.
Plus ... characters in Independence Day attire ... I gotta talk to Beth about this. We need to factor this into our Epcot plan.