Three Things Thursday

1. I've ran for 20 minutes this week. That's it. It's not that I'm not motivated, I was LUCKY enough to contract the zombie bird flu plague that's been going around. Outside of the time I've been at work, I've been under a heated blanket (I cannot believe I didn't own one until this week. It might be my favorite purchase EVER) in my recliner. I even slept in my recliner for a few nights. And by "sleeping," I mean passing out from taking so many medicines. I'm ready for this to be OVER.

2. I maybe, kinda, sorta have a plan. Not enough of a plan to go into any detail since it's just imaginary in my head right now. But maybe my mojo is back. And I'm excited.

3. The best "exercises" of the week:

An hour of YOGA!!

A new plank record!

Bonus musings:

• If you missed the announcement on Twitter, I threw out my shoes from CIM. They were still in the plastic bag. I didn't open it, I'm not sure if they were still damp and/or moldy. I'm ashamed it took me two months to do this. I'm the worst.
• No more half-assing costumes for Disney! My shirt arrived on Tuesday for one of our Dumbo costumes. SO EXCITED ALREADY. I should probably contain myself a bit since it is 7 MONTHS AWAY (FROM TODAY!!)
• A is on this kick where she is reading "Made In" labels on EVERYTHING. Toys, clothes, etc. She wants to know why EVERYTHING is made in China. I say, remember that awesome brand INKnBURN? THEY are made in the UNITED STATES. She says, "I need something from them, I don't have anything made in the United States." Kinda sad.
• For the first time in longer than I can remember, I didn't drink a soda. (Yesterday). This wasn't really intentional, and it is certainly not going to be a trend. Just weird.
• Re: weight loss/nutrition. Apparently the zombie bird flu plague can help! I am down a few pounds this week as a result of my soup diet. WHEEEEE!
• I'm supposed to be running a half on Sunday. Wow. I'll probably die of exhaustion. I'm the most tired human EVER this week. And I don't even know what I'm going to wear!! The race is called the "Super Half" - because it is on Superbowl Sunday. Not sure if it is themed race. Since the Broncos aren't going, I don't care who wins, although I really like the name Flaccccccco. Just sounds fun.
• I need help/ideas for fundraising. I'm guessing my constant tweets asking for "just THREE DOLLARS A DAY" aren't doing the trick. Not sure I can pull off another awesome giveaway. My singlet for Lazarex already came in the mail so I guess I'm officially part of the team! You can donate HERE of course.
• Did I already mention I'm hatching a plan? If the stars align...

Super Exciting News!!

If you don't currently stalk me on Twitter or Facebook, you may not have heard that I was one of the INKnBURN ambassadors chosen on Friday. WHAT. I feel like I won the lottery!!!

I'm so incredibly honored and excited to be part of the INKnBURN team. I can't wait to see what is in store for me this year! If you aren't already familiar with them - check out their website!! There is so much awesome there, and it is all made right here in the USA!!

INKnBURN ambassadors

With that said... being accepted as an ambassador finally seemed to "mentally" get the motivation going. I'm part of a pretty amazing group of people! And then... I came down with YET ANOTHER cold over the weekend. So instead of getting out of my lull I've been in, I was coughing and sneezing and in bed pretty much the whole weekend. Is it my imagination or does it seem like there are WAY MORE SICK PEOPLE this year??

In other random:

• I had another massage yesterday. Again, I was told I'm incredibly tight and that I should foam roll more often. WHY AM I SO LAZY ABOUT THIS?
• I'm supposed to be running a 1/2 on Sunday. I guess I'm glad it was not this weekend, since I can't even breathe right now.
• I registered for the Colfax half marathon. It is one of the bigger half marathons in Colorado, and I've never run it, so I'm pretty excited to be in town to run it this year (at the expense of NOT doing something elaborate for my birthday this year).
• Remember all the Disney madness with the Dumbo challenge selling out in less than an hour? I'll be posting my fundraising link on a pretty regular basis. This time, I'm raising money for Lazarex - you can read more about what they do on my donation page - HERE.

Three Things Thursday

1. Disney

OH. MY.

If you at all had any interest in running the new "challenge" for Disney, the Dumbo Double Dare or the Disneyland half marathon, chances are you pre-registered at WDW or Tink. Or you were sitting at your computer waiting for registration to open on Tuesday morning.

If you have no idea what I am talking about, THIS WAS PURE CHAOS.

The challenge was more than 50% pre-sold due to the ability to register at the expos. The RunDisney website got completely bogged down and many people got locked out when trying to register. Dumbo sold out IN LESS THAN AN HOUR. What.

I had been hemming and hawing about whether I was going to do it, at a $280 price tag, it was... expensive. The 10k sold out shortly after the Dumbo challenge, and the half marathon sold out in 26 hours. I did NOT get in to register. Who knew that it would sell out so fast??? However... I did want to run. So, I signed up to raise money for charity again! This time I will be fundraising for Lazarex Cancer Foundation. Please check out my fundraising page here. I have a goal of $950 (which means I have a daily goal in the $3-$5 range). Anything you can contribute, as always, would be GREATLY appreciated.

2. Calves

If I go back and scan my race recaps, I have been having the "tight calf" issue for over two years now. I cannot seem to figure out the cause of it. I *do* stretch, I am lazy about foam rolling and I definitely have been watching how much water I drink. Still can't seem to fix it.

This past weekend at Tink, they were just as bad, if not worse, than ever. Since I had a short day on Monday, I went to get a deep tissue massage. They only had time to squeeze me in for 30 minutes, so I didn't get THAT much accomplished. She did say my calves and thighs were tight, and immediately asked if I had IT band problems.

I think I need to be more diligent on this. I am scheduling a longer massage for this weekend. I don't want to have to stop running/racing because I am too lazy to get it taken care of.

3. NKOTB

I know it is not running related. But I love me some NKOTB, and they announced a new tour, The Package, on Tuesday! They will be touring with 98 Degrees and Boyz II Men. WHAT. Bummer that they are not coming to Colorado though :(

Maybe LA??? (J says I'm crazy for even CONSIDERING traveling for a concert).

Related:

A says to me last night, "Mom, there is a One Direction concert. CAN WE GO??" Yes. Yes we can. 

Tinker Bell Half Marathon (Race Recap)

Sunday, January 20
Anaheim, CA
Half Marathon #75 (!!)
California Half #4
Weather - Chilly at start, mild, sunny

Friday

Because I'm weird about not missing work if I don't have to (I KNOW), I scheduled the latest flight out. Which meant I did NOT leave work early. I picked A up at gymnastics, stopped and picked up Subway, and met my dad at my house, who then drove us to the airport. The terminal was the craziest EVER. Like 6 flights leaving all at the same time, billions of people, and all the agents talking over each other. Flight uneventful, A passed out.

Our flight landed around 10:30. I think we pretty much went right to bed? Well, after watching some bizarre show called "Lost Girl" - has anyone seen it? WEIRD.

Saturday

The kids actually let us sleep until like 7:45. CRAZY. Lounged around, had delicious waffles and coffee for breakfast. We decided to expo early, maybe around 10. Only Heather's oldest wanted to go with us, everyone else stayed home. Parking wasn't too bad and expo wasn't too crowded. There was nothing I saw to buy (a first).

Headed back to the house after a stop at Trader Joe's (can you believe I had never been to one?) We watched Catfish (BEST SHOW ON TV) and then had Chili's for lunch. We had to head back to the expo/Downtown Disney area so that I could pick up my bib for Team AFSP.

While waiting for the kids to eat cupcakes, I spotted Dave!

Downtown Disney was a zoo, and after a quick trip to Build-A-Bear, we headed back to Heather's. She made delicious mac and cheese and BACON. Then we finally decided to tackle our race outfits. After you see it, I know you will be STUNNED to know that we didn't really do so great in the planning department.

So I bet you are wondering...

1. DID YOU REALLY WEAR LONG SLEEVES? Yes.
2. DID YOU REALLY WEAR LONG PANTS? Yes.
3. DID YOU REALLY WEAR A SKI HAT? Yes.
4. WHAT ARE YOU??? Um. I was Adorabeezle and Heather was Swizzle. We did the best we could. (We ran with our friend Krissy, who was Vanellope)

So lights were out... early-ish. I think we had plans to be in bed by 9 or something, but I think I was still awake at 10:30.

Sunday

Alarm goes off at 3:13. 3:13!! Disney fun started at 5:00, and we still had to drive to Anaheim, park the car and get to the start. I think we were out the door just after 3:30. We made a very important stop at Donut Star, where we picked up donut holes, coffee and diet coke. Yep. 

Parked the car... um, around 4:10? Then walked (FOREVER) to the start area. We used the bathroom. Well, we had to wait a bit longer than we needed to because a girl CUT IN FRONT OF US. After Heather confronted her, she said "but my line wasn't moving." WHAT.

We saw Skinny Runner and Sandy on our way to the start line. Pretty much walked into A corral right as the gun was going off.

Goal? Fun. All of the pictures. Possibly go for a Disney PR??? Heather and I joint running Disney PR was currently 3:20ish at Tink 2012. We had warned Krissy that we were SLOW and "FUN" (her marathon PR is something insane like 3:42 - which is practically what we ran WDW half in...)

Neither Heather nor I wore a watch, so I have no clue what we ran pace-wise or where the pictures were on the course. We stopped for every single one.

MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE RACE PICTURE.

We had been leapfrogging with Dave - and we finally got a picture with him (and Nadia - who is ALSO a speedy fast runner):

Heather suggests we do yoga poses... and then only I do... 

It's a Small World LOOKED AMAZING

And then the magic stopped. I think we left the Magic Kingdom around mile 6. We had a quick run through Downtown Disney, where I had to stop and use the bathroom again. We ran past the red hats - who were the CUTEST AND MOST FUN EVER.

Then it was ALL running until we finished. Boo. Other than having to stop and stretch my calves somewhere around mile 7, we actually ran the whole course. Arguably, faster than I wanted to. The second half of the course runs through Anaheim and is under-whelming. Somewhere around mile 8 or 9 I was sure I was going to spontaneously combust or burst into flames. Why on earth I was wearing so much clothes, I will never understand.

The finish this year was WEIRD, we had a weird out and back through the parking lot. LAZY COURSE PLANNING, DISNEY. And then high fiving (Daisy?) at the finish with a finish line jump that I do not think was caught on camera. (Edit: See below)

I DIE.

We collected our food boxes and then headed back to the car.

My 100th race of 13.1 or longer (and 75th half marathon) - was a success.

Run in memory of Bob (1974-2012)

Bib #2102
Overall Place - 7225
Division Place - 1381
Official Time - 3:11:22 (Disney PR for Heather/Becka!)
5K Split - 44:17
10K Split - 1:52:20
15K Split - 2:28:35

Tink and Coast to Coast Medal

• FUN FUN FUN
• Costumes are the best, but man, I need to plan accordingly. I have never even worn that much clothes to race in Colorado. I was the sweatiest human ever.
• So glad Krissy ran with us and didn't give us a hard time for being slow. She was FUN!
• The course is... just ok. The first half, in the park, is GREAT. The part not in the park? BORING.
• Fueled on gummy bears and one Clif at mile 9ish. I think I'll continue to fuel with candy, although I haven't tried it in races where I actually have to RUN.
• Disney races are really organized, we didn't run out of water, powerade and there were potties at all the aid stations. 
• Did not have the over-crowding issue we had at WDW. Even though we were SLOW, the course is not as narrow and it was not as frustrating to navigate.
• Donuts as pre-race food is great. Again, I think we will continue to do this.
• Not wearing a watch is pretty great. I kinda wish I had used mapmyrun just to see my splits though.
• Our pictures are The Best.
• Final fundraising amount - $651.00. THANK YOU EVERYONE.

After the race, we stopped at Souplantation for breakfast. Wearing bibs and medals and everything. We are hilarious. We got back to Heather's, showered, and took the kids to the pool. Then we picked up Krissy and her mom and sister and met up with #vanawesome (minus Sandy) for Heather's first trip to Pho.

It was so nice to see all my friends out there. Food and company was GREAT! We stayed a few hours, then dropped Krissy and family back at the hotel. Dinner was ordering in pizza. I can't remember the rest of the night, but I think we went to bed early, like 9:00.

Monday

Up stupid early for 7:05 flight out of Orange County. The end.

Random lessons learned:

• I don't want to fly out late Friday night for these races. It is worth taking that whole day off and coming in late Thursday.
• I also do not like flying OUT early. That was stupid. 
• I have not slept in weeks. I'm exhausted and I should sleep more.
• I'm sure there are more lessons, like not wearing ALL OF THE CLOTHES, but I can't remember what they are.

I'm totally running this one again.

TGIF and Preparing for Tink!

I know that I just got back from Disney, but I'm headed back! Tonight, A and I head to Orange County for the TinkerBell half!

I wanted to thank everyone that donated for Team AFSP, I ended up raising $551.00!

Also, I realized just the other day that Tink will be my 100th race of 13.1 miles or longer. Say what??

WDW Marathon (Goofy Challenge, Part 2) - Race Recap

Sunday, January 13

Orlando, FL

Marathon #18

Weather - Most humid and hot EVER

Saturday, Continued:

We went back to the hotel and showered. Then we set out for our very important objective of LUNCH. We took a ferry to the Polynesian where we had delicious grilled cheese, and then we set out for objective two - the cupcake tour! Don't worry, we split these all three ways.

Chocolate Beer

S'mores

Pineapple Rum & Red Velvet

We headed back to the expo since Heather hadn't been, and also because we really didn't have anything else to do. We finally got back to the hotel, and there was a surprise waiting for me! I had forgotten to stop by Lynn's hotel to get the bow... and guess what was waiting for me in my room??

I vaguely remember having dinner... we were full enough from the cupcakes that we had mac n' cheese kids meals at the hotel. Made sure to pack a variety of fuel for the marathon:

Lights out was even earlier, and the alarm was set a whole EIGHT minutes later.

Sunday:

Alarm goes off at 3:11. We seem to be moving even MORE slowly than the day before. We magically get on the bus at 3:59. Close call, the last bus is at 4:00. Everything seemed more crowded than the day before. We hung out in the starting area to meet our Twitter friend (@DeeFSU) who gave us cooling towels (that probably saved our lives). We had to wait a bit longer for the bathrooms, and we did not have nearly as much time to kill in the corrals before the start.

Like the half the day before, no real goals other than to not die or get swept. We had decided to not do any repeat character pictures and to get as much running done as possible while it was still dark. I was not feeling great. My IT band started nagging a bit and the bottoms of my feet hurt. I've been giving the PureFlows another chance. I am not sure if it is the general lack of training or the shoes, or the fact that I have not worn them for longer than a half. Anyway, I was tired.

Once there were new characters, I had a new lease on life! Definitely revived and ready to break up the monotony of running. We were REALLY looking forward to Animal Kingdom - and I happily got to pet a pig and saw a goat in a coat :D

Country Bears = THE WEIRDEST EVER

Heather doesn't like Nutcrackers???

This stop took a while since we waited for Meeko to use the bathroom

The pig - Emmy Lou

A GOAT IN A COAT!!

Then, the best part, hands down, was we got to ride Expedition Everest. All we had to do was show our bibs, and the ride attendant let us fast pass. We probably waited less than 3-4 minutes. The roller coaster was AMAZING. So fun! The wind cooled me down a bit. We bought soda and kept on running. We ran into Little Fruit Fly, got some pictures and headed on. Probably about mile 14 or 15 is when I started to give up. It was SO hot and I was SO tired, and my feet/IT band/hip were just not feeling right.

Yep. We are ON Expedition Everest.

We were dying to rest

Once we left the characters and headed into the most boring 4 miles of the course (ESPN was the LAMEST), I was having trouble staying motivated. L and Heather were running ahead of me and I was sort of dejectedly "chasing" them. I can't remember when I started walking, but I got tired of weaving in and out of all the walkers (all of our photo stops - 20 total on the course, plus the ride, had put us WAY IN THE BACK again). I'm guessing the walking started sometime in ESPN. 

 

ESP-Lame

I was really looking forward to the Mile 20 "Spectacular." It WAS spectacular, and I'm annoyed I didn't get any pictures of it. We did wait and get a good picture with Goofy, Mickey and Donald.

The rest of the course was a struggle. I enjoyed the "Neil Diamond" mile around mile 21? 22? And then we got into Hollywood Studios, and there were some more pictures. Headed onto the boardwalk, a jaunt through Epcot, and then, suddenly, we were heading toward the finish line.

After feeling drained all day, I was actually able to "sprint" to the finish. Wahooooo! Heather claims we were running just over an 8 minute pace? I find it hard to believe I still had that in me. I was dying from The Hot.

Official Time - 6:45:58
Official 5 Mile - 1:06:43
Official 10 Mile - 2:27:45
Official 1/2 - 3:29:19
Official 20 Mile - 5:17:37
Overall Place - 17614/20679
Gender Place - 8595/10618

Marathon Medal

Goofy Challenge Medal 

Collected medal number one, then headed to the Goofy tent to get our second medal. CLANKETY, CLANKETY.

• Like I said, I love Disney races. I like that I can get excited about pictures with cartoon characters.
• Again, running with L and Heather is the FUNNEST.
• Aid stations, well stocked, but again, the first (of two) Clif stations was out of gel. BRING YOUR OWN GEL.
• ESPN was the lamest of the lame. Why were there no characters there? Narrow and boring. These miles were NOT magical.
• I don't know why there was a Neil Diamond "Sweet Caroline" mile, but I loved it.
• Listening to "You're the One That I Want" while running through Animal Kingdom was also great.
• If you plan on having ALL OF THE FUN, also plan on having ALL OF THE FRUSTRATION if you choose to actually run at the end of the race. The field of this race is HUGE and the course gets pretty narrow at points. There was a LOT of weaving and it was really hard to get around people. Many people walked in packs - like across the entire width of the course. So annoying.
• EXPEDITION EVEREST IS THE BEST. IF YOU RUN THIS MARATHON YOU MUST RIDE IT, THE END.

The only MAJOR disappointment is that we apparently missed the "bacon challenge" at mile 24. Eat three pieces of bacon and earn a medal with Three Little Pigs that said "I run Disney so I can eat Disney." Three pieces of bacon is not even a challenge, and the medal is the cutest ever. SO BUMMED.

Heather's parents live near-ish Orlando and came down to get her, so after she left, L and I went to get burgers (and a pumpkin muffin and carrot cake) for lunch.

We decided to relax and watch tv for a bit. Apparently I fell asleep in the middle of a "Snapped" marathon. Woke up after 6 pm!

Dinner was pizza again, and a key lime pie. I think we were in bed again before 9.

Monday:

Had to get up at 5 am to head to the airport. After having leftover pizza for breakfast, the magical express got us there just before 7. We stopped and got a donut at Krispy Kreme (seriously, I cannot figure out where those extra 10 pounds came from!) and then at 7 am on the dot we went to Build-a-Bear to get the girls special "EXCLUSIVE" animals. L's daughter got an alligator, and I got A this flamingo:

Security was the longest and most annoying EVER and by the time we got through, we were boarding. Our flight left early, I watched 4 hours of tv, and we landed early. Uneventful. (SHOCKING).

Verdict: This was a pricey race in terms of registration - $320? We got an amazing deal on airfare, just under $200 each way. With three of us sharing a room, it was about $140 each for three nights. And then, of course, food every day was a bit pricey. We did not go to any parks though, so I guess we "saved" money there. But, if you are traveling from out of state, be sure to budget that all in, most meals were in the $10+ range. However, it was SUPER fun, and I recommend, especially if you you have Disney crazy friends to share the experience with!