Spin bike: 60 mins
Burpees: 15
Sit ups: 70
Push ups: 21
Planks: 65 seconds total
Workouts were lacking this week because of me being sick so I’m hoping this week will be better. I’m still coughing a lot and my chest/throat hurts as a result. I’m hoping I can at least go to yoga tomorrow to get me moving again. At least I was able to keep up with #burpeefebruary and #fababfeb.
#FEBPHOTOADAY
2/1: Your view today
2/2: Words
2/5: 10 am
A big chunk of yesterday was spent with Becca while she made me a TinkerBell skirt for the Princess Half!
Don’t forget you can always keep up with all of my daily hi jinks on Daily Mile, Facebook, and Twitter! Enjoy your Super Bowl Sunday everyone!
1. Ever since I got my iPhone, I’ve become obsessed with Pinterest. I’ve started pinning recipes I’d like to try. And then, last week, Becca introduced me to Foodgawker and I found even more recipes to try. As a result, this past week I’ve made dinner 3 times (which is funny since I really don’t like cooking ha!) and I thought I’d share with you what I made. Lasagna Soup, Baked Cheesy Chicken Penne, and Mexican Lasagna. All of them were pretty good but I especially loved the Lasagna Soup, I can’t wait to have it again.
2. I just got back not too long ago from spin class. I LOVED the instructor. She was really tough and was even yelling at us at some points but that means I got a really good workout in. Legs and even arms felt like jello when I left, I’ll definitely be feeling it tomorrow. I also can’t wait to take her class again next week.
3. In case you were wondering, I’ll be in Disney in 24 days. I can’t wait! If you are going to be down there for the Disney Princess Half Marathon, let me know. I’d love to meet as many of you as I can.
The past few years I have done Princess with TNT so I’ve always worn my purple jersey but this year I’m on my own. This means I get to have a bit of fun with what I wear! My favorite Disney character is Tinkerbell and I’ve decided that my outfit shall be Tink inspired!! Here are the pieces:
1. Today is Christmas Cookie making day! Our favorite little 3 year old slept over last night and today I’ll bring over the kids I watch so that the 4 little ones, my sisters, my mom and myself can make and decorate Christmas cookies together. The kids are really excited and lets face it, so am I!
2. As I’m sure you already heard, yesterday Run Disney announced a brand new race and it is totally right up my alley! It is the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10 Miler! My favorite ride and my favorite distance all wrapped up into one! SWEET!
3. I want to say a quick welcome to all my new followers that I have gained thanks to the Christmas Card Exchanges I was involved in! Welcome and I promise your cards are on the way, hopefully you get them before Christmas.
When I create a training plan, I like to put down exactly what I’m doing on what day. For example, Wednesday: Spin Class 5:30 pm. I feel that if I plan it down to even the time, I’m much more likely to get it done and then I can put it on my calendar. BUT my schedule (work wise) is never the same from week to week so I’m trying something a little bit different going into training for the Disney Princess Half Marathon. I’ve decided that I’ll only be making my training plan in two week increments. I know my schedule at any given time for two weeks out so this seems much more manageable. I can plan my week to be much more realistic and set myself up for successful. If that week I’m working a lot of hours and have a test to study for then I know cut back on the cross and just get my runs in. Or say one week, I’m feeling especially tight I know I need to add in a yoga session or an extra rest day with lots of stretching and foam rolling. Make sense?
I’ve come up with my first two weeks. BTW, I plan to loosely follow Hal Higdon’s Half Marathon Training Plan. Here is what I have for this week (12/19) and next week (12/26):
Mon
Tues
Wed
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Sun
Rest
2 m run
Cycle 5:30p
3.5 m run
Yoga 2:15p
5 m run
Rest
Body Works Plus ABS 5:45p
3.5m run
Cycle 5:30p
3.5 m run
Rest
5 m run
Rest
What do you think? I’m really excited to start training and I think that this will end up working out really well for me and help me to be successful in February.
Nothing much to really report. I managed to stay off of facebook and twitter so far. I do feel very out of the loop and disconnected, sad but true. I’ve worked on a bit of homework today not as much as I should have but definitely more than I would if I were chatting it up on twitter. I’m thinking about having someone hide my Roku box for me because then I’d be even more productive but I don’t know if I can go that extreme. LOL The plan is to get at least 1 or maybe even 2 assignments done before I go to bed tonight. Tomorrow is the usual Saturday morning group run and according to the weather report it is going to be pretty decent around here after like a week of rain so I might have to take advantage and go for a bike ride as well. I have plenty to keep me busy between homework, cleaning, and Easter festivities so it should be easy to follow my plan.
The last of the clues have been “decoded.” I’ll say it again, who on earth could have possibly figured this out? I think Run Disney was just purposely trying to drive us all crazy.
1. Yesterday I spent a lot of time on twitter following everyone’s tweets about Boston. I follow several people that were running it, several that were there spectating, and then of course I followed Runner’s World and Boston Marathon’s tweets as well. Plus I was signed up to track several people via text (which of course didn’t work that well just like all other races.) By the end of it all, I was just so completely inspired! Beth at Shut Up and Run ran the race on minimal training since she had been healing from a hip fracture, Tall Mom Mel ran it for her dad, Sam reached his goal of a sub 3 hour marathon after 61 races last year for Jack, and Katye not only raised thousands of dollars for charity to get there but after mile 11, where she tore her calf muscle, did whatever she had to do to finish and thats exactly what she did!!! For some it might now have been their best race but who cares, you ran freaking BOSTON! I’m so incredibly proud and inspired. Maybe one day I’ll make there, even if its only to watch.
2. Run Disney finally officially announced their new race this morning! (although thanks to Stitch Kingdom, I already knew all about it on Saturday) On January 29, 2012 will be the first ever running of the Tinker Bell Half Marathon at the Disneyland Resort! If you know me not only am I obsessed with Disney but Tinker Bell is my favorite character Now if you remember a while back, you can find the post HERE, I made a few predictions about the new race. I would just like to say I was RIGHT well except for it being a half and a full. If you are curious as to what the clues meant follow this link and they have some pretty good descriptions. I know I never would have figure any of that out.
3. I’m a little under 2 weeks out from the Illinois Half Marathon. I’m completely under trained and unprepared so the plan is to just go out and have fun! Becca won’t be running anymore but will be there as our own personal cheering section. Even though I know I won’t get a PR or anything, its still gonna be a fun weekend of spending time with friends, making new friends, and just running! If you’re going to be in Champaign for Illinois Marathon weekend, be sure to check out my blogger meet up. Hope to see you there
1. Today I had a job interview and guess what?! I got the job! I start tomorrow! I’ll be working as an office assistant at a landscaping company. It works out perfectly. It is part time and I can work it around my class schedule plus no more working overnight. That is the biggest plus of all
2. I have it on good authority that the next RunDisney race (the one they keep releasing clues for) will be in Disneyland in January and it will be a half and a full. I can’t divulge my sources or how I figured it out but I bet I’m right or at least really close. I still have no idea what the theme will be though. Do you have any idea? I think the clues are really stupid but I probably already told you that.
3. I want to wish Becca and Jenn good luck this weekend at the Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon. I was originally suppose to be running it with them but decided to give my ankle the extra rest it needs and save it for the Illinois Half at the end of April. You gals are going to rock it and I can’t wait to hear all about it!
Saturday night after the TNT Inspiration Dinner, Aaron and I headed back to the hotel and got everything laid out for race morning. If you’ve ever run a Disney race before you know you have to board a bus in the middle of the night so best to be ready before bed. I’m not a morning person so this especially applies to me.
With everything laid out and ready to go, it was time to hit the hay. I think I finally fell asleep around 10 pm and the alarm started going off at 2 am! I took a quick shower and got ready to go. We left at about 2:40 am, picked up my friend, Lora, and then headed to the Boardwalk to meet the team for pictures. We got there right around 3 am and greeted everyone as they came down to the lobby. Of course plenty of pictures were taken!
HonorBib I had made in memory of my Aunt
Lora and I, we met doing Princess with VTNT last year
Kermit and I ready to race
The whole US VTNT team
After group photos in the Boardwalk lobby, we promptly boarded the buses at 3:30 am to head to the race start. The bus was very quiet compared to last year when we were blasting music and dancing. Ahhh the memories LOL
Boarding the bus. (Coach Joe takes lots of pictures!)
Before you knew it, we were at the start area. It was packed already with tons of princesses in costumes, a DJ blasting music, and more. We stood around for a little bit to see if we could find anybody we knew and then decided to head through bag check. I didn’t want to wait until the last minute to go through bag check because we did that last year and waited in line for FOREVER. After making it through bag check, we headed over to the porta potties and found the shortest line. Once we were done, they were finally letting the masses head to the corrals. It is a long, dark half mile walk before you hit the corrals. Once we made it to the corral we found a spot and sat. At this point, it was another 1.5 to 2 hours before our corral’s wave start. Aaron and I sat around for a while relaxing and eating our breakfast. I was pretty quiet at this point because my nerves were really getting the best of me. I hadn’t said anything to anyone but for a few days before hand my hips had really been bothering me and I was worried that it would keep me from finishing. (Obviously that wasn’t the case) When it was starting to closer to starting time I started stretching and while laying on the ground, Megan walked up!
Megan and her friends hung with Aaron and I until the race start. Before you knew it, the fairy godmother was wishing us well and the fireworks were going off for our corral! Aaron and I made sure to not go out too fast (I’ve done that many times and its always my downfall) and I kept an eye on my watch to make sure we were on pace. During the first few miles, my hips weren’t happy at all. Especially sometime during mile 2 or 3 when you are on an off ramp and it is slanted. UGH But I kept going and tried not to think about it too much. We passed several characters and potty stops. The lines were ridiculously long and I didn’t want to stop and lose time.
Once we made it to mile 4 and into the TTC, I was ecstatic! We were officially past the point were I had gotten pulled last year. There was no stopping us now! Once we were past the TTC, we spotted Coach Joe. He asked me how I was feeling and if I was doing ok, I told him I was doing good! He snapped our picture and since I wasn’t paying attention, I slammed into a lady in front of me. Oops! Sorry! She wasn’t too happy with me but we pressed on!
Next up, we headed towards the Magic Kingdom! Along the way, we passed another DJ blasting techno, men on a trampoline, and the Contemporary Resort. I couldn’t wait to finally be on Main Street USA. Not only does this part of the race really give you a boost but I really had to pee and I was determined to wait to use a real bathroom with no lines! LOL We entered Magic Kingdom from backstage and headed down on Main street. From there we headed to Tomorrowland and straight to the bathrooms. There was no line and I was grateful for a clean bathroom! Aaron on the other hand had some troubles. Seeing that this is a women’s race, women were using both bathrooms. He headed into the men’s bathroom and women told him to go ahead they’d close their eyes but one woman was very insistent that he not use the bathroom. Instead of arguing with her, he just left and ended up holding it until the finish line! haha I guess that is a downside of a man running a women’s race. From our potty stop we headed to Fantasyland and through the castle! This part of the race has probably the best race support, tons of characters, volunteers, and spectators! After that it was through Frontierland and backstage to exit the park. At this point we were between miles 6 and 7 so I ate my clif shot bloks. My feet and hips were hurting me but it wasn’t too bad and we were well on pace.
Mile 9.5
Around mile 9.5, I sent out my only tweet of the picture above. I was still feeling alright but that was about to change because right after the mile 10 marker was an on ramp that we had to climb and again it was on a slant instead of flat. My right hip didn’t like it AT ALL and I was on the verge of tears the whole time. At this point, Aaron took my spibelt for me to take the extra pressure off my hips. At this point, we also slowed down quite a bit because the pain in my feet and hips was worsening. But even by slowing down I knew we would still finish and not have to worry about being pulled from the course, we were well ahead of pace. Right after the mile 12 marker we entered Epcot and I couldn’t be happier to be almost finished. As we were leaving Epcot, we could see and hear the Gospel choir so cool! We also saw my tnt staff person, Bonni. And then finally the finish line!
WE FINISHED!!! We immediately got in line to collect our medals, sent a few texts/tweets, and a few phone calls to share our great news!
Yet again this was a completely AWESOME race and it was made even better by running it with Aaron! This was his first half marathon and couldn’t be prouder of him. He is already planning on doing more races with me this year and I’m so excited!
If you’ve made it this far into the post thanks for sticking with it. I’d also like to say thank you for all of your support and encouragement, I don’t know where I’d be without it!
2/1: Your view today
2/2: Words
2/5: 10 am
