Changes are working

So far, the attempt at weight loss is working fairly well. ("Official" comparison will be done on Sunday.) Which of the multiple changes I've made is contributing the most is a good question, and there's no way for me to reasonably tell. In rank order, I suspect these changes are helping with the weight loss:

1) Eating slightly less. I'm not starving myself in the least bit. The one main, consistent change on reduced food is the fact that I am no longer eating a portion of granola every morning. 270 calories isn't much, but every little bit helps.

2) Shifting my workouts to the morning. Given how I was staying late at work, thereby forcing my post-work workout to, say, 8pm to start -- and thereby pushing my dinner to about 9:30 or 10pm -- the late meal was certainly not a good thing for my metabolism. When I was working out starting about 5 or 6pm, I don't think this was an issue. But now that I've shifted my workout to the morning, before breakfast, even, my metabolism during the day is kicked into gear, I don't have the craving for "2nd breakfast" (see #1, above), and I don't have an excessively late dinner.

3) Spend 10 minutes in the sauna nearly every day post-workout. While I'm sure I'm not sweating out THAT much water, it helps remove some toxins and, apparently, does help burn 50-100% more calories than simply sitting outside of the sauna. From what I can tell, it's rather minimal.  But again, every bit helps. And it's both relaxing and speeds recovery from my workout.

Mileage totals

The question I get frequently from people when they hear about how many marathons I run in a year is "So how much do you run each week?" Well, it certainly depends on where I am in the training cycle, and how close consecutive marathons on my schedule are to each other.

Here's what my mileage is for 2021:

January    187

February  156 (1 marathon)

March    220

April    185

May    216 (1 virtual marathon)

June    155 (1 half-marathon, as the marathon was canceled)

July    200

August    226

September    225

October    172 (3 marathons)

November    174 (2 marathons)

December    188

Total: 2304

Drop that weight!

Those who know me, and anyone whose looked at my photos, knows that I am not overweight. While I've got a little bit of a "pot belly", it really isn't much of one. While I would certainly like to flatten my stomach more, what I really need to do is finish dropping approximately 15 pounds from where I was in the days following the Little Rock Marathon last month. All things being equal, and continuing to train to the levels I have been, the theory is that (at least while still maintaining healthy weight and nutrition) a runner will run a little less than 1 minute faster for each pound lighter that they weigh. Intrinsically, this makes sense, since you're carrying less weight with you on the run, you're expending less energy in the process. (Conversely, I used a LOT more energy when I did my (failed) world record attempt dressed as a chef and carrying an extra 3kg (6.6 pounds) was part of the challenge.)

So, if I can drop the 15 pounds -- and that being *pre* race weight -- I should be able to shave about 12-15 minutes worth of time. To date, I have dropped about 7-8 pounds. And my goal is to have the weight loss done *and stabilized* in time for my February race. I have two major obstacles in the way: 1) getting past the holiday season and 2) Disney Marathon Weekend. While the holiday season, so far, has been somewhat manageable (mercifully not too much on the order of snacks, cookies, etc. has been brought into our office, and I've limited my intake during any party setting), Disney -- like any vacation -- is always very difficult, mostly since I am not cooking/preparing the majority of meals for myself. So, sodium intake is skyhigh (water retention, anyone?) and the quantity of what I eat is much larger. Plus, I don't wind up preplanning my caloric intake in advance to know whether I have any "room to spare" or if I'm going over the day's calorie budget.

While achieving the weight loss should be doable, maintaining it will also be particularly challenging. Typically, my long runs are on Sundays. And I always get on the scale after I shower after my workouts. On Sundays, I am typically my lightest, since I'm expending the most energy. And while I do wind up eating more on Sunday, I can also control myself enough to be in a calorie deficit for the day. However, if I winding up doing a "splurge" lunch, it invariably is high salt, so it takes days to lose the additional water weight. And, just in general, with the lower mileage of the other days, it requires being much more disciplined to make sure I can have a reasonable calorie deficit but still keep up my energy and nutrition during the day. As a result, I usually creep up throughout the week, by as much as 5 pounds. Only to lose it again on Sunday and start the cycle over. I want to be able to either flatten out that trend or go even further with the weight loss so that when I start my day on Sundays, I'm at the weight I *want* to maintain, and then lose as much as 5 pounds during the run, which I gradually regain throughout the week, as per normal. Getting to that point? I don't think I've been down quite that low since high school.

Should be interesting to see where things go between now and February 12.

Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend maps are out!

In just over a month, those of us Dopey enough to run four consecutive days' races will be set on the course by some of our favorite characters. And just what will the courses be, especially given all of the construction happening in the middle of Epcot -- where all races finish? Disney has finally put out the respective maps:

5k: https://guide.rundisney.events/wp-content/uploads/2021-wdwm/5kcourse.pdf

Normally, we stay "on stage" in front of Japan and France, and make part of our way in the center of Epcot. This year, we will be diverting backstage of Japan and France, cutting over to Journey Into Imagination and past The Seas, to approach Spaceship Earth from the northwest side before making our way to the traditional backstage exit to the finish line.

10k: https://guide.rundisney.events/wp-content/uploads/2021-wdwm/10kcourse.pdf

For the first time since the 10k has been held, we will actually be running through a portion of Hollywood Studios. Interestingly enough, we will be entering backstage between Rock 'n Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror. During the marathon, for several years now, we have been entering backstage on the *other* side of Tower of Terror. This will be interesting to see what this portion looks like.

Half Marathon: https://guide.rundisney.events/wp-content/uploads/2021-wdwm/halfcourse.pdf

We barely touch any onstage portion of Epcot at the tail end of the half marathon. Huh.

Marathon: https://guide.rundisney.events/wp-content/uploads/2021-wdwm/fullcourse.pdf

The marathon course is HUGELY different compared to pre-COVID/pre-EPCOT-construction times. We actually enter Epcot by Mile 2 (rather than passing The Black Pearl just before the toll booths to Magic Kingdom right then) and exit before Mile 4 in the backstage area near Test Track, and make our way back to the same part of the course as has the start line, it seems. I have no idea how they are going to be working this so that the people in Corral A aren't hampered by the later corrals -- which won't have even started yet.

Where we used to enter Magic Kingdom somewhere around Mile 6-7, we will be entering around Mile 10. So Animal Kingdom will be later on the course than recent years -- around Mile 17. And rather than exiting AK by the front of the park and past the bus stops, we'll be doubling back, backstage of Expedition Everest. (!)

Where we had gone through the parking lot and a decent portion of Blizzard Beach in recent years, it looks like we won't actually enter in the park around Mile 21, before winding our way into Hollywood Studios through our recently usual backstage entrance on the northeast side of Tower of Terror (the opposite side than the 10k). We make our way from the International Gateway, around World Showcase from France past Mexico and making our way out of the park towards the finish line very differently than the past 10 years. We'll wind up exiting backstage above Test Track and behind Mission to Mars and make our way to the finish line. this will be very disorienting, because regulars know exactly where to expect the "Hallelujah Chorus" and know that it's Mile 26. But with this re-route, it will feel a fair bit further before hearing that choir and possibly a bit disheartening in the approach until finally seeing them.

This will be an interesting set of races with all of these changes in the route. 

Prepping / Planning next year's races

On Sunday (only 1 week after Little Rock Marathon), I just started my new training cycle, which works out perfectly timed for the Shamrock Marathon in March in Virginia Beach (at which I will attempt - again - to break 3 hours). Copying my last ful training cycle, my first two days were purposely difficult: 10k time trial (in under 40 minutes) and 5k time trial (in under 20 minutes). The 10k trial kicked my ass -- that's HARD at that pace for that length of time. I did it, but dang, was it brutal. The 5k was MUCH easier in comparison; not easy, but not overly difficult. 

Definitely looking forward to another full training cycle. That said, though, there will be several times where I deviate from the plan because of two marathons I will be running before then: one in early January (which I won't be doing for time), the other in mid-February (at which I will try to break 3 hours given the almost completely downhill course, which result will count for the Abbott Age Championships). 

As of now, I have 5 marathons set up for the spring schedule: January, February, March, and two (in 6 days) in April. Beyond those, I'm considering one in May and one in June, but will make a decision closer in time, once I have my result for my February and March races. Beyond MCM in October (which I will certainly run), I have no idea what my fall schedule looks like yet. Part of it depends on whether I can reliably travel to a couple of overseas locations to run and not worry about the protocol for returning to the US. We'll see. Heck, given the couple of other races that I'm looking at in October and November, I'd be able to do all of them. No decisions any time soon.