stayathomehero
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2015
Hey there DisBoards!
My name is Rob! I’m a father of two, husband, Disney fanatic, former wannabe blogger, sometime wannabe actor, and now, a wannabe runner in Queens, NY. I joined DisBoards a few years ago to get information about when Free Dining was going to drop, and the info here led to family trips in 2015 and 2017 (the latter being the Ultimate Disney Road Trip...I almost made a trip report about it back then, and wish I had, but I digress).
After lurking the RunDisney page for a couple years, I’m going to finally jump in with my own training journal -- use this to keep track of my training and improvements in running with give me the incentive to achieve what I’ve been wanting (on and off) since 2017, and that is running in my first RunDisney race. So without, further ado, here is some of my background.
-My low point, or, it can only go up from here-
This is me in August 2009 when I was 26, I had hit my highest weight at 260. This is me in April 2019, 36, at the same weight as I am now, at 190.
I have ran 3 Spartan races, have ran a 10K training run, and see Disney Gold in my future!
At the age of 28, I was a new father but the fitness was so low that I was constantly lethargic and would fall asleep almost every time I went in the car with my wife (don't worry, she was the one driving). I would get winded walking to the car, and ate and drank nonstop it seemed like. I had a serious soda habit, and would drink a 2 Liter of Pepsi every day. Want to know what the saddest part was? I prefer Coca-Cola.
Around the summer of 2013, I got into the website Nerd Fitness, and used tips of there to turn my personal health around. I’ve been chipping away at the weight by making a combination of diet changes and adding exercise.
After jumping in to simple changes like cutting out daily soft drinks, adding some body weight exercises, and being less lazy, I’ve slowly leveled up to feel at my physical peak as I head toward 40. The best part is is that my older daughter sees me as an inspiration and exercises on her own.
One thing that I thought I knew when I started doing bodyweight workouts was this: Running stinks. Running is the worst. There is no reason to spend hours and hours and hours of your life running. Lift weights, do pushups, eat better, and that’s it. Besides, I have, I don’t know, weak lungs or something. Yeah that’s it. That’s why I huff and puff every time I speed up past a walk for more than 10 seconds. Running just isn’t in the cards for me.
-2017 Ultimate Walt Disney World Family Vacation, research galore, and the seeds of RunDisney-
My wife and I
Me and the older one (back when she was an only child)
So, I had mentioned the Ultimate Disney Road Trip. This came to pass after first getting hired at my last job. During the off time (which there was a lot), my wife and I had the idea of going on trip #2. I spent my free time at work researching new restaurants, fast pass options, and entertaining myself by reading hours and hours of trip reports. I also read reviews and reports of Disney Tourist Blog. It was there that I first read about the Walt Disney World Marathon.
I loved the idea! I wanted in.
But, uhnhhmmmm….weak lungs.
Regardless, I did plenty of reading on RunDisney by devouring some trip reports, which I have read and reread: particularly @Ariel484 and @rteetz. If you have noticed my name stalking if your profile over the past few years, I apologize -- it’s just because I am obsessed with y’alls trip reports and read them several times. In fact, I read them earlier today before attempting this one on my own.
But again, weak lungs and I went off to Disney as a family and had the ultimate trip. I also ate so much that I started gaining the weight that I had lost over the last few years. If only there was something that could inspire me to get back into shape...
-Spartan Race & Medal Bling Love -
My wife’s cousin had purchased a Groupon for the kid’s Spartan Race at Citi Field in Queens, NY as a gift for my daughter. Looking into this looked fun, and my cousin-in-law wanted me to join him. I went again and signed up, not realizing that several things would change over the course of this year.
In March, I found out that I was going to be a father yet again! I resolved to get back into shape (again).
In April, I ran the Spartan Race. I did horrible! Absolutely terrible. In the second obstacle, which was a sandbag carry throughout the upper decks of Citi Field, I had to sit down due to heavy breathing multiple times. It took about 10 minutes to complete this one obstacle. Luckily, cousin-in-law coached me through it and didn’t leave me in the dust.
It must have been those weak lungs.
Despite me almost calling it quits 5 minutes into the dang thing, I pushed through and completed the race. And I absolutely loved it! It was so much fun, and there was something about the glint of light in the medal that caught my eye. It was almost like I had caught Gold Fever like one Scrooge McDuck!
I wanted more. I wanted to actually complete a Spartan Race without completely collapsing next time. How would I do this? Improve my cardiovascular fitness. But how?
Well, uh, running. You all know this. So what did I do?
I tried a couch to 5K program for a couple weeks. I would run for a minute and then huff and puff. Not for me, I guess. Failed. Gave up. Quit.
Say it with me: weak lungs!
2018 was a whirlwind of a time, and my new daughter was born in October 2018. About a month later, Thanksgiving weekend, my cousin-in-law asked if I was interested in the Spartan Race for 2019. Sure I said! But I wanted to improve from 2018. I wanted to carry a sandback through Citi Field strongly, and the only way to do this would be to increase my cardiovascular strength.
Time to run.
During this time, I mentioned to my wife that I wanted to get back into running and really give it a go this time. For Christmas, she bought me an under layer and gloves so that I could go out and run in the cold. Between her support, and wanted to not always be a blamer and quitter for my girls, I ran out in January 2019 and ran.
-2019 Becoming a Runner-
Throughout January to Easter, I started my own version of the Couch to 5K program. I would run a little bit at a time and increase my time. I went from being able to run a couple minutes at a stretch, to 5 minutes run and 5 minutes walk. To 6 minute runs. 2 sets of 7. 2 sets of 8. 2 sets of 9. A 12 minute mile. An 11 minute mile. Two sets of 11 minute miles.
In April, I ran my first 3 miler. That became my go to length. By working out a few days a week, slowly increasing my time until I hit that three miler, my weak lungs became….strong lungs? How about that.
When I started to falter, I would reread the DisBoards RunDisney trip reports. I watched RezRuns and Joyful Miles on youtube. I continued reading NerdFitness and Spartan Race blogs. My new daughter made me a morning person, and that morning person would run in the dark at 5am so I could shower and wake up my older daughter to drive her to school in the mornings.
After a lull in the summer, I increased my runs and on Thanksgiving day ran a 10K distance. Gobble Gobble!
But then I stopped running! I used Thanksgiving to Christmas as an excuse (rather than using Advent as a ramp up to Christmas).
-2020 Running Goals, And the Ultimate 2021 Goal-
After a month of cookies, and a lot of red wine, I jumped back into the running game. Back where I was a year ago. This time, I could go three miles at a stretch. In the dark, in NYC winter, I ran and loved it.
SETBACK 1.0
I was carrying my one-year old up the stairs to bed one night, and the ball of my foot just started hurting terribly. For a couple of days, I was limping around, worrying that I broke my toe. I took a month off of running as it slowly got better.
At the end of February, I took up running again, and since then have ran 50 miles.
I had started a long run once a week, increasing by half a mile one day a week over the last few weeks. This morning, I was supposed to run a 5 miler, on the way to a half marathon length by mid July...however, I was met with:
SETBACK 2.0
On April 19th, I was walking through my house doing absolutely nothing, and my foot started to hurt. Uh….what. After miles of running, box jumps, pull ups, burpees, and pushups...I was done in once again by just….walking. Now, earlier I had done a few high vertical jumps (barefoot on a wood floor). Could that have done something...I don't know.
So now, I’m rereading those RunDisney trip reports, and looking toward the future once my foot heals.
I would love to hit that half marathon length sometime this summer, if I can run and put in the miles soon.
Assuming Covid-19 doesn’t stop the 2021 Disney marathon weekend from happening, my goal is to run the 2021 Half Marathon.
If I can hit a half marathon length in a training run (or a local race), I would have the go ahead from the Mrs. to take the journey to the WORLD and race 13.1 miles, meet some characters, get a bunch of pictures for home, and ...plan for the next one? Eeek.
++This would probably be a solo trip and not involve a park ticket. I’ll delve into that next time, as well as post some of my Endomondo stats. Hopefully, I can use this journal as a way to get my thoughts down and keep track. I hope that some of you will read along, and if you do, that I won’t bore you to death. ++
My name is Rob! I’m a father of two, husband, Disney fanatic, former wannabe blogger, sometime wannabe actor, and now, a wannabe runner in Queens, NY. I joined DisBoards a few years ago to get information about when Free Dining was going to drop, and the info here led to family trips in 2015 and 2017 (the latter being the Ultimate Disney Road Trip...I almost made a trip report about it back then, and wish I had, but I digress).
After lurking the RunDisney page for a couple years, I’m going to finally jump in with my own training journal -- use this to keep track of my training and improvements in running with give me the incentive to achieve what I’ve been wanting (on and off) since 2017, and that is running in my first RunDisney race. So without, further ado, here is some of my background.
-My low point, or, it can only go up from here-
This is me in August 2009 when I was 26, I had hit my highest weight at 260. This is me in April 2019, 36, at the same weight as I am now, at 190.
I have ran 3 Spartan races, have ran a 10K training run, and see Disney Gold in my future!
At the age of 28, I was a new father but the fitness was so low that I was constantly lethargic and would fall asleep almost every time I went in the car with my wife (don't worry, she was the one driving). I would get winded walking to the car, and ate and drank nonstop it seemed like. I had a serious soda habit, and would drink a 2 Liter of Pepsi every day. Want to know what the saddest part was? I prefer Coca-Cola.
Around the summer of 2013, I got into the website Nerd Fitness, and used tips of there to turn my personal health around. I’ve been chipping away at the weight by making a combination of diet changes and adding exercise.
After jumping in to simple changes like cutting out daily soft drinks, adding some body weight exercises, and being less lazy, I’ve slowly leveled up to feel at my physical peak as I head toward 40. The best part is is that my older daughter sees me as an inspiration and exercises on her own.
One thing that I thought I knew when I started doing bodyweight workouts was this: Running stinks. Running is the worst. There is no reason to spend hours and hours and hours of your life running. Lift weights, do pushups, eat better, and that’s it. Besides, I have, I don’t know, weak lungs or something. Yeah that’s it. That’s why I huff and puff every time I speed up past a walk for more than 10 seconds. Running just isn’t in the cards for me.
-2017 Ultimate Walt Disney World Family Vacation, research galore, and the seeds of RunDisney-
My wife and I
Me and the older one (back when she was an only child)
So, I had mentioned the Ultimate Disney Road Trip. This came to pass after first getting hired at my last job. During the off time (which there was a lot), my wife and I had the idea of going on trip #2. I spent my free time at work researching new restaurants, fast pass options, and entertaining myself by reading hours and hours of trip reports. I also read reviews and reports of Disney Tourist Blog. It was there that I first read about the Walt Disney World Marathon.
I loved the idea! I wanted in.
But, uhnhhmmmm….weak lungs.
Regardless, I did plenty of reading on RunDisney by devouring some trip reports, which I have read and reread: particularly @Ariel484 and @rteetz. If you have noticed my name stalking if your profile over the past few years, I apologize -- it’s just because I am obsessed with y’alls trip reports and read them several times. In fact, I read them earlier today before attempting this one on my own.
But again, weak lungs and I went off to Disney as a family and had the ultimate trip. I also ate so much that I started gaining the weight that I had lost over the last few years. If only there was something that could inspire me to get back into shape...
-Spartan Race & Medal Bling Love -
My wife’s cousin had purchased a Groupon for the kid’s Spartan Race at Citi Field in Queens, NY as a gift for my daughter. Looking into this looked fun, and my cousin-in-law wanted me to join him. I went again and signed up, not realizing that several things would change over the course of this year.
In March, I found out that I was going to be a father yet again! I resolved to get back into shape (again).
In April, I ran the Spartan Race. I did horrible! Absolutely terrible. In the second obstacle, which was a sandbag carry throughout the upper decks of Citi Field, I had to sit down due to heavy breathing multiple times. It took about 10 minutes to complete this one obstacle. Luckily, cousin-in-law coached me through it and didn’t leave me in the dust.
It must have been those weak lungs.
Despite me almost calling it quits 5 minutes into the dang thing, I pushed through and completed the race. And I absolutely loved it! It was so much fun, and there was something about the glint of light in the medal that caught my eye. It was almost like I had caught Gold Fever like one Scrooge McDuck!
I wanted more. I wanted to actually complete a Spartan Race without completely collapsing next time. How would I do this? Improve my cardiovascular fitness. But how?
Well, uh, running. You all know this. So what did I do?
I tried a couch to 5K program for a couple weeks. I would run for a minute and then huff and puff. Not for me, I guess. Failed. Gave up. Quit.
Say it with me: weak lungs!
2018 was a whirlwind of a time, and my new daughter was born in October 2018. About a month later, Thanksgiving weekend, my cousin-in-law asked if I was interested in the Spartan Race for 2019. Sure I said! But I wanted to improve from 2018. I wanted to carry a sandback through Citi Field strongly, and the only way to do this would be to increase my cardiovascular strength.
Time to run.
During this time, I mentioned to my wife that I wanted to get back into running and really give it a go this time. For Christmas, she bought me an under layer and gloves so that I could go out and run in the cold. Between her support, and wanted to not always be a blamer and quitter for my girls, I ran out in January 2019 and ran.
-2019 Becoming a Runner-
Throughout January to Easter, I started my own version of the Couch to 5K program. I would run a little bit at a time and increase my time. I went from being able to run a couple minutes at a stretch, to 5 minutes run and 5 minutes walk. To 6 minute runs. 2 sets of 7. 2 sets of 8. 2 sets of 9. A 12 minute mile. An 11 minute mile. Two sets of 11 minute miles.
In April, I ran my first 3 miler. That became my go to length. By working out a few days a week, slowly increasing my time until I hit that three miler, my weak lungs became….strong lungs? How about that.
When I started to falter, I would reread the DisBoards RunDisney trip reports. I watched RezRuns and Joyful Miles on youtube. I continued reading NerdFitness and Spartan Race blogs. My new daughter made me a morning person, and that morning person would run in the dark at 5am so I could shower and wake up my older daughter to drive her to school in the mornings.
After a lull in the summer, I increased my runs and on Thanksgiving day ran a 10K distance. Gobble Gobble!
But then I stopped running! I used Thanksgiving to Christmas as an excuse (rather than using Advent as a ramp up to Christmas).
-2020 Running Goals, And the Ultimate 2021 Goal-
After a month of cookies, and a lot of red wine, I jumped back into the running game. Back where I was a year ago. This time, I could go three miles at a stretch. In the dark, in NYC winter, I ran and loved it.
SETBACK 1.0
I was carrying my one-year old up the stairs to bed one night, and the ball of my foot just started hurting terribly. For a couple of days, I was limping around, worrying that I broke my toe. I took a month off of running as it slowly got better.
At the end of February, I took up running again, and since then have ran 50 miles.
I had started a long run once a week, increasing by half a mile one day a week over the last few weeks. This morning, I was supposed to run a 5 miler, on the way to a half marathon length by mid July...however, I was met with:
SETBACK 2.0
On April 19th, I was walking through my house doing absolutely nothing, and my foot started to hurt. Uh….what. After miles of running, box jumps, pull ups, burpees, and pushups...I was done in once again by just….walking. Now, earlier I had done a few high vertical jumps (barefoot on a wood floor). Could that have done something...I don't know.
So now, I’m rereading those RunDisney trip reports, and looking toward the future once my foot heals.
I would love to hit that half marathon length sometime this summer, if I can run and put in the miles soon.
Assuming Covid-19 doesn’t stop the 2021 Disney marathon weekend from happening, my goal is to run the 2021 Half Marathon.
If I can hit a half marathon length in a training run (or a local race), I would have the go ahead from the Mrs. to take the journey to the WORLD and race 13.1 miles, meet some characters, get a bunch of pictures for home, and ...plan for the next one? Eeek.
++This would probably be a solo trip and not involve a park ticket. I’ll delve into that next time, as well as post some of my Endomondo stats. Hopefully, I can use this journal as a way to get my thoughts down and keep track. I hope that some of you will read along, and if you do, that I won’t bore you to death. ++