2013 was a good year – I managed to do a lot of rebuilding and get myself to a much better place running wise.
Totals for the year include a Goofy Race and a Half Challenge (including a half marathon and a full in 2 consecutive days), another full marathon and 4 half marathon races. Between training and running I hit 1400 miles for the year.
January 2013: 10 runs 78.07 miles // longest run = 26.2 (5:25:54) // fastest run 6.99 mph average for 3 miles
Goofy Challenge #3 in the bag – definitely did better than any other Goofy Challenge I had done up to this point. Times still weren’t great and I could tell I had a lot more work to do but the foundation was laid. Goofy Challenge 2013 collection
During the Goofy Challenge I hit upon the idea of wanting to carry along something on my races that would remind me of my wife and kids. I had a Pokemon card in my wallet from my son but I also needed something for my daughter. As my wife and I were wandering around the Boardwalk area at Disney we came across Disney Pieces of Magic – little coins in Disney type shapes with Disney thoughts on them. I picked up several of those and I have had them with me every race since (along with the now well traveled Pokemon card).
We also had a family vacation to Disney World start later in January where we stayed at Disney’s Beach Club Resort and got an amazing upgrade from a standard room all the way up to a 2 bedroom club level suite. It was awesome! A fantastic trip.
I started the month at 236.5 pounds and ended at 232.5 (lowest in the month of 230)
http://biggoofyrunner.com/2013/01/
February 2013: 11 runs for 60.41 miles // longest run = 11 miles (1:38:15) // fastest run 7.13 mph average for 4 miles
Mid month before the family vacation we started in January was done.
I talked a bit about my weight loss goals this month and tried to continue the plan. (Note: I don’t talk that much more about weight loss on the blog anymore but maybe I should get back at it as my weight has been steady for about a year now and I could stand to lose some more weight)
I did decide in February to do the Manitoba Marathon in June 2013 and updated my training plan accordingly to include the Winnipeg Police Service Half Marathon in May.
Starting weight for the month was 232.5 and ending weight was 232 (lowest in the month of 230.5)
http://biggoofyrunner.com/2013/02/
March 2013: 15 runs for 101.17 miles // longest run = 16 miles was also the fastest at an average of 7.26 mph (2:12:10 – on treadmill)
I was struggling with motivation at this point and was thinking that maybe I need new challenges. I didn’t figure out what that challenge might be at that point but I eventually did manage to get motivated again that summer.
Starting weight for the month was 232 pounds and ending weight was 234.5 (lowest of 231) – lack of motivation really was hampering weight loss this month.
http://biggoofyrunner.com/2013/03/
April 2013: 17 runs for 142.17 miles // longest run = 17 miles (2:47:40 – outside) // fastest run 7.52 mph average for 4 miles
I did manage to get more focused on the running this month and really increased the mileage – it was my mileage month since I started back into training.
I was able to run outside a lot more which might have helped the motivation a bit.
Turned 42!
Awful Boston Marathon bombing occurred.
Inaugural Dopey Challenge announced and fills up very quickly. I thought about it but decided not too put my name in the hat on that one.
Starting weight for the month was 234.5 pounds and ended at 232 (lowest 226.5).
http://biggoofyrunner.com/2013/04/
May 2013: 13 runs for 112.75 miles // longest run = 20 miles (3:36:36 outside) // fastest run = 7.28 mph for 5 miles
Had a very good day – Kevin McDonald from Kids in the Hall gave me a “I will crush your head!” while I was helping my wife maintain his pool. Complete with finger pinch and everything. Twas awesome.
Had fun running the Run at the Ridge 2km race with my son while my wife ran it with our daughter. It ended up being a good leg stretch the day before a half marathon race.
Another good day…I broke under 2 hours for a half marathon for the first time since 2005 – 1:56:13 – was 229 pounds that morning. The race was the Winnipeg Police Service Half Marathon.
I did start to miss some training runs after the half was done – not sure if I was starting to get complacent or what.
I started a sister blog site ( disney.biggoofyrunner.com ) to write about more Disney stuff than running specifically. The idea was about getting inspiration from Disney – both Disney World and the company mindset.
Started the month at 232 pounds and ended at 230.5 (lowest 226.5)
http://biggoofyrunner.com/2013/05
June 2013: 8 runs for 63.5 miles // longest run = 26.2 (4:40:09) // fastest run 7.43 mph average over 3 miles
Definitely missed some training runs – between that and actual taper I did not have huge mileage this month.
Manitoba Marathon 2013 – broke back under 5 hours for a full finally (not since 2006) – 3rd fastest marathon for me ever (at the time). Should have been faster but the missed mileage did not help.
Two pages of reports for this race – how I did and other thoughts and stories from the race
Starting weight was 230.5 pounds and ending was 229.5 with a low of 225.5.
http://biggoofyrunner.com/2013/06
July 2013: 15 runs for 75.57 miles // longest run = 13.1 miles (2:03:30) // fastest run was 7.82 mph average for 3.91 miles
Really had trouble motivating this month to run – but finally found a groove to get things going.
I signed up for 3 half marathons in September and October of the year.
I updated my training plan to account for the 3 half marathons in the fall.
Wrote up a blurb on the Disney Pieces of Magic that I use as memory tokens and motivation during my races.
Our backyard in-ground swimming pool was installed. And pretty much the whole yard was wrecked because of the equipment that had to come and go. Because of that we took the opportunity to completely re-landscape the backyard. In the end we are talking 9 cubic yards of 1/4 down crushed limestone, 10 cubic yards of 1.5 inch river wash stone, 10 cubic yards of top soil and 160 square yards of sod…all moved by shovel and wheelbarrow…in wicked heat. Also built a new 40 foot long decorate fence, put in a bunch of lighting and a hot tub during this time along with rebuilding a small deck and putting in a bunch of patio stones. Talk about a full body work – all day, every day for about 6 days to complete the full job.
With the swimming pool going in I started thinking about swimming pool resistance training as a cross training tool.
Started the month at 229.5 pounds and ended at 222 pounds (lowest for the month) – that physical labor paid off.
http://biggoofyrunner.com/2013/07
August 2013: 29 runs for 108.83 miles // longest run = 13.1 miles (x2 – 2:02:50 / 2:11:00) // fastest run 8.06 mph average over 4.03 miles.
Motivation is back – between the weight loss last month, lots of swimming and an increased focus on speed work for 3 half marathons in the fall, things started to click.
In August I signed up for Twitter (@biggoofyrunner)
I spent a bit of time thinking about what my running and weight loss goals should be.
Weight started at 222 pounds and ended at 225 with 219 as the lowest.
http://biggoofyrunner.com/2013/08/
September 2013: 27 runs for 162.75 miles // longest run = 13.1 miles (x5 – 2 of them races – best race 1:47:50) // fastest run was 8.32 mph average for 4.16 (managed that twice in the month)
I tried doing double run days / running streaks and lasted about 12 days – the issue was lack of sleep – I was trying to do a weekday run every morning before work on top of evening training runs. I ended up being so tired and short of sleep that I almost got sick one morning. I had to let that go – might revisit it sometime as I saw real improvements but will need to sort out the sleep issue first.
At this point I had been at running and getting back in shape for a year and I had some thoughts.
Freedom Financial Run For Diabetes Half Marathon in early September – 1:49:54 – 2nd fastest half marathon ever for me at that point. I had a good solid run but had someone try to run my race and hurt himself. (I was at 223 pounds for this race)
Fort Garry Rotary Half Marathon in later September – 1:47:50 – an improvement and a new 2nd fastest half marathon. Starting to hunt down my half PR of 1:46:11 at the time. (219 pounds)
Posted a video on YouTube for a point of view of running down Main Street in Magic Kingdom during the 2013 Disney World Half Marathon. Post link and direct video link is above.
Why do I run? runDisney was asking for submissions on why runners run but it was a tiny field where you couldn’t put a lot of info or tell a story. So I made a post to help me get it sorted out in my own head too.
Started the month at 225 and ended at 220.5 pounds with a monthly low of 215.5 pounds.
http://biggoofyrunner.com/2013/09/
October 2013: 24 runs for 162.04 miles // longest run = 17.4 miles (2:44:01 outside) // fastest run 8.28 mph average for 4.14 miles.
Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Services Half Marathon in mid October – 1:47:14 – keep getting better – another new 2nd best half marathon – only 63 seconds off the PR at the point. Was 217.5 pounds for the race.
Officially got into Half Fanatics – #5180
Signed up for the Winnipeg Police Service Half in May 2014 – figure that will give me motivation to continue after the Goofy Challenge is done in January 2014.
Started the month at 220.5 pounds and ended at 217.5 with a low of 216.5
http://biggoofyrunner.com/2013/10/
November 2013: 19 runs for 147.55 miles // longest run = 18.2 miles (2:50:36 outside in snow and ice) // fastest run was 7.82 mph average for 4 miles
Broke another treadmill…didn’t even get a full year. It was on warranty but had to wait for parts and the warranty installer to come. Great installer (Expert Treadmill Service here in Winnipeg). And the treadmill was good again after the new parts were installed.
Did result in more running outside and reduced intensity of speed work (ice and speed work = snapped limb)
Started the month at 217.5 pounds and ended at 222.5 with a low of 215. The reduced running intensity definitely caused some weight grief.
http://biggoofyrunner.com/2013/11/
December 2013: 22 runs for 191.19 miles // longest run = 20 miles (x2 – 2:43:52 / 2:51:03 both inside or mix of out and in) // fastest run was 8.23 mph average for 10 miles
Broken treadmill got fixed – I put up a post describing how the worn belt caused everything else to work harder and caused some electronics to burn out.
A year into the blog at this point.
I did a 2013 year in review post. And a post on my thoughts for 2014.
With the big push for miles in December I was able to get up to a total of 1400 miles for 2014. Pretty good!
Weight for the month started at 222.5 pound and ended at 221 with a low 217.