Disney Marathon Race Report (Part 3)

Onto Part 3, but first....

Did you miss Part 1? see it HERE

or, Part 2? see it HERE

Post-Race

Excitement. Overwhelming exhaustion. Confidence. Disbelief.

I am so badass! Did I really just finish that race?

I sat on the ground and peeled off my shoes & CEP socks to let my poor, swollen piggies breathe.

Soon the family came over for hugs and congratulations.

I convinced Kevin to peel me an orange since that was the only food that sounded good. It tasted amazing.

Not long after, we headed to the bus line, which thank god was way shorter than the day before. We headed back to the hotel, where my brother forced me to ice bath. Now, I've never taken a "real" ice bath. I took a half assed one once with a small bowl of ice, but this time I squealed and screamed as kevin dumped 3 trash cans full of ice into the tub. Then I sat for 12 minutes until I couldn't stand it anymore.

After the ice bath and a foot and leg massage from my number one supporter, I was feeling much better. I was still going through box after box of kleenex, and using Afrin like it was going out of style, but I was able to stomach a Click protein shake. After my brother was done with his ice bath, we headed to Magic Kingdom to celebrate thanks to my mom as our reward.

I wore my medal with pride around the park. We went straight to the Sweet Shoppe to get mammoth ice cream sandwiches, my first real solid food of the day. A showed me these sandwiches after Disney Princess last year, and I just knew I had to have one.

We followed Ice cream with rides. Space Mountain was closed, but we went on Buzz LightYear, The People Mover, Pirates of the Caribbean, and my favorite Haunted Mansion. Which holds a special place in my heart, since this was the ride I waited in line for when I first found out about the Disney Marathon, and began dreaming of completing it one day myself.

Part of the new Haunted Mansion Graveyard

We saw more construction for the new Fantasyland, which makes me want to come back as soon as its done of course. After rides, we headed to the Polynesian for dinner at the Kona Cafe. We had to wait a while for our reservation, so we enjoyed cocktails at the bar first. The dinner was the best one we'd had at Disney so far. I had a delicious shrimp and noodle dish, and finished up with Pineapple Whip for dessert in the Polynesian downstairs.

Kevin and I had to run to Downtown Disney to pick up my custom Disney Marathon ornament, before heading back to the hotel. We decided to sleep in and not set an alarm until 9. I think we ended up awake at 8ish or so, and I was so happy to have a full night's sleep. We checked out, and headed out to Port Canaveral to catch our cruise ship, the Monarch of the Seas.

I was still not feeling great, but the Marathon seemed to beat the worst of it out of me. Problem? I seemed to pass it along to S, then Kevin too.

Day 1 on the ship, my brother and I went for a quick 2ish mile jog around the track on the ship. My legs felt great, and it was nice to get moving feeling a little better.

Day 2, we all went to Spinning at 8am before docking at Cocoa Cay. We had a great day of snorkeling, sunbathing, relaxing, walking, drinking.

Day 3, we had to move rooms because our air conditioner broke. Our new room was right above the club, and all we could hear was music every time we tried to relax. We skipped a workout to move our belongings, and went to Nassau for the day. We enjoyed Conch fritters, crack conch, and plantains, and a few Kaliks. We relaxed on the beach and then hit Senor Frogs for a drink before heading back to the boat.

Beer of the Bahamas!

Can you tell I have a Sparkly Soul headband on? Its my new staple!

Lovin life at Senor Frogs!

We had one more day at sea on the boat. I skipped another workout to sleep in, which was amazing. I was still sickish, but feeling better. Unfortunately, now Kevin was feeling worse. We relaxed by the pool, lost at Bingo, and enjoyed some Red Velvet cupcakes that someone accidentally sent to our room. We also spent way too much time at Guest Relations dealing with our room issues.

yummmm

Last night at Dinner with Kevin, Jason & his girl

I have never been so happy to get home from a vacation. I think the combination of sickness and poor service made me long for my comfy bed and hours of sleep. I would not recommend the Monarch of the Seas to anyone. After a loooooong day at Orlando airport (11 hours before out plane left), we finally made it home after 12am, and crashed.

Kevin & I are both finally feeling better, and looking forward to our next vacation.... 

Whenever that will be!

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Weekend fun!

This week I have slacked majorly. Besides my one badass workout at bootcamp, I have been lazy. So today, I decided to hit the gym.  I had wanted to get a ride in, but the rain wouldn't let up. I did a little on the elliptical, then killed myself lifting weights. Arms and core. I killed it on the TRX (I am loving that thing), and now my arms feel like jello. Tomorrow I have a 13 mile run planned, so I'm glad I avoided lunging, squats and any sort of leg strengthening today.

Its restaurant week in Northampton! 

That means that many of the restaurants offer a small menu of 3 courses for $21. Last night, my girlfriends and I tried Pizzeria Paradiso which was actually 2 people for $21! This left plenty of money in our pockets for their delicious Sangria!

I had a veggie chop chop salad, which besides veggies had walnuts, gorgonzola, and other deliciousness. For dinner I had a Margherita pizza (and a piece of my friend's shrimp scampi pizza), then finished it off with a chocolate mouse for dessert. After a couple pitchers of sangrias, food, and laughs, we finally left and loved our new find!

Tonight, Kevin and I are headed to Mama Iguanas!

Neither one of us has been before, but the mexican menu looked delish, and they will be opening one in Springfield soon, so we figured we should check it out.

We finally decided on our summer vacation......

we'll be heading to San Juan then taking a drive to get on...

A cruise to the southern caribbean!

The 7 night cruise hits St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Aruba, & Curacao. We're planning to stay one night in San Juan before, and possibly one night after. I am soooo excited and ready for a vacation! Plus it will be after RnR Providence, so my long runs will be able to stay on a short hiatus, until fall racing and marathon training begin. We had such a blast on our last Royal Caribbean cruise, we can't wait to go again.

Has anyone ever gone to these places? Recommendations or thoughts?

Off to map my route for tomorrow!

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(Not) Working for the weekends!

Yesterday I got word from my boss that he was able to accommodate my weekend racing schedule.

wicked awesome.

Working at a hospital means weekends are required for me, and with 2 therapists leaving, and only 3 of us left, I was nervous. I decided on a whim to give him a list of my weekends I have plans for (one wedding, a few sox games, spectating my brother's first marathon, and a bunch of races for myself), and to my surprise, he was able to do it!

i wish!

Maybe its because I am being super flexible with my vacation week this summer. I am letting everyone else pick first, then picking from what is left. Maybe its because I told him I wouldn't work my per diem job so I could work when I'm free there (now that my pay rate is the same I really don't care where I work). This year we didn't have any solid vacation plans, but my weekends were most important to me. So I'm happy I got what I wanted.

So you know what that means??

I took out that race calender and started some planning. I registered for Susan G Komen 5K at Bushnell Park in CT that I run every year (although I'm disappointed that they are now charging $4 extra to get a D-tag & have your race timed). I reserved a hotel for Rock N Roll Providence (did I ever mention running that one?) at the Marriott downtown. The race I really am itching to sign up for is my first triathlon of the year, but I need my estimated finish time for the swim since that determines the order we start in. I want a little more practice before committing to that (skipping my swim workouts does not help).

My eating has been great, completely on plan with WW, but I have been so exhausted my workouts have been lacking. I was completely unable to get out of bed for a swim this morning, and could barely drag myself to work. I tried eating a little more protein today to maybe pep me up, hopefully it will work, if I keep it up. I got a fabulous shipment on my doorstep to help me with that, which means an awesome giveaway in the works for you!

Another early night to bed? I have a run I need to aim for in the morning!

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What I'm grateful for...

After my long run this past weekend I started thinking about how I've changed as a runner since my foot surgery 6 months ago. Before then, I frequently skipped my long runs that I scheduled. In fact, I've skimped on training for every half marathon I've done. I think when I trained for Disney last year, I did maybe 4 or 5 long runs total, 2 of them outside. I don't think I ran more than 9 or 10 miles. I was way undertrained, and it showed based on my decreased ability to walk up stairs or sit on a toilet for about a week after. After I went out for my long run sunday, despite the cold weather & lack of sleep, I was so proud of myself. I feel grateful that I'm able to run.

Years ago, when my podiatrist told me I'd need bunion surgery one day, I had a panic attack when he told me I'd be non-weightbearing for 2 months. I avoided the subject for another year and a half. Finally, my bunion pain got so bad, that after Disney I decided to get a second opinion from an orthopedic surgeon. He told me I could heel weight-bear right away, but it would be 5-6 months until I could run again. Slight panic attack. No running for 6 months??!! I imagined all the weight I would gain (and then gained some pre-surgery out of depressing thoughts of no running), the races I would miss, and all the free time I would have. Some of you may remember how stupidly I grinned when I jogged at 4.4 for the first time (READ HERE). My surgeon was impressed that 5 months after surgery I completed my first triathlon, and now 6 months later I am beginning training for 2 Half Marathons!

I am just so happy to be running, and having my foot feel good. I feel like I can really focus on my training, and give it my all. I'm loving the FIRST training program. I'm loving only running 3 days, and being able to cross train. I'm loving having these quality runs where I can really work at it, instead of just running.

In exciting news, I also booked our flights for New Orleans for the Rock N Roll Half! They dropped to $222 & we scooped up the savings. I'm excited several of you are running the Disney Princess Half too! What are your travel plans as far as days your staying or hotels your staying at? I think we are going to do a Vacation club rental at the beachclub or boardwalk resort. Now back to Biggest Loser before bed!

ooo! And I'm wicked excited because I won a giveaway for a Road ID certificate from 5K Rae!

And I'm also grateful for all of you new followers! Thanks for joining me along on my journey!

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It's official!!

Just a quick note to share the good news!

I have comitted to running the Disney Princess Half Marathon!! I bought my plane ticket tonight (a total of $110 thanks to the screwup with Delta in August), and after we get a total count of how many of us are going, we're going to figure out the hotel & ticket stuff. Sooo excited & wanted to share the good news!

Now I really have to be on top of my training so I can successfully run 2 half marathons in 2 weeks. yikes!

Off to bed so I can get my speedwork run in tomorrow morning!

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Travel Planning

I started peeking at airline prices a few weeks ago for the trip to New Orleans for the Rock N Roll Half Marathon. We are hoping to fly on delta, because we each have a $100 credit to use from the horrible problems we had coming home from cancun in august. Last time I checked they were around $250 & I thought "sweet! only $150 each for our flights!" Now they are up to about $322 on Delta, $290 on a few other carriers. grrrrr. Anyone have any tips? Did I miss the window for a cheaper flight? I thought under 3 months was the best time frame, but maybe I was wrong.

Next I starting searching for hotels. I went to the Rock N Roll site to see the hotels they recommend HERE. I am looking for one that is not too far from the start or finish. Although, I guess a cab back to the hotel from the finish wouldn't be a bad idea. Any recommendations based on places you've stayed? Also wondering if I can get around New Orleans enough without bothering for a car rental. I would LOVE to save some money here, if most of New Orleans is walkable.

What kind of travel tips do you have to save money when traveling for a race?

p.s. stay tuned for some awesome new giveaways in the works!

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Where to go next?

Yesterday I had a great run. I ran at 5.8mph on the treadmill, which is faster than my speed pre-surgery. Maybe my bad foot was holding me back before? I was wicked tired this morning & skipped my morning scheduled brick, which means I DEFINITELY have to get up tomorrow no matter how tired I am. I did WI today, at 185 again, no change from last week. After the foodie weekend I had, I'm lucky. I need to work harder this week.

Heres this weeks journal, didn't track every day....

Tomorrow, I want to talk a little about what got me interested in running and triathlons, since people have asked me a bit of that lately. Also a little about the race (where it will be, the distances, etc).

Kevin and I talked about our next vacation this past weekend. We both love to travel, our favorite places so far being our most recent trip to Cancun, Mexico & our Royal Caribbean cruise we took almost 2 years ago. What tops our list?

1. Southern Cali - we have a friend in San Diego we'd love to visit
2. Mediterranean cruise - LOVE to go to greece, italy, spain, turkey!
3. Australia
4. Aruba - Hoping on this for the Honeymoon
5. Another cruise to anywhere
6. Florida is always a cheap option for us

Hopefully we can save up a little cash & book a trip somewhere for this winter. We usually try to go away once in winter or once in summer. Last winter we went to Disney with a large group of friends for marathon weekend, where he cheered us on to complete the half & we all cheered on our friend Ashley who did the full. I love getting out of new england!

Kevin is making dinner now, Teriyaki chicken burger from Stephanie Cooks (a different Stephanie, not me!) check them out HERE . off to eat, YUM!

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Fake Eggs from China.

I know this maybe an old news but hey i just want to share something. My good friend went home from a business trip last week. He came from China, and told me some wonderful and odd things about China. There is just one story that i just can't get enough of it, i just kept asking him and got this information.

You probably heard about the Fake Eggs in China, but this is the first time for me so i was so surprised, yes FAKE EGGS, I actually believe that you can make fake things like cellphones and laptops and other techy stuffs, but EGGS?!!! oh my God!

Alright so here's the story based on my research these fakes eggs are dangerous because they are made out of chemicals, these chemicals may give you some health problems. and you might be asking how in the world can they make a fake egg, alright so i got these pictures and it's for you to judge for yourself, and yes it;s true their selling these eggs. I just hope that they don't export these eggs to other countries, or do they?!! I don't own these images so i don't take the credit. just wanted to share

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