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!

>>>READ MORE

Vacation Replay

I left on saturday, August 20th early in the morning. It was looking like the hurricane was coming toward Puerto Rico, but we were trying not think about it. 

View from our fabulous hotel room

We stayed at the Marriott Stellaris Resort & Casino in New San Juan. We had a gorgeous balcony facing the ocean, and besides getting sunburt, we made sure to stock up on the necessities.

Stacys & Sunscreen!

The cruise was leaving Sunday, but before we headed to the ship I hit the treadmill for a long run. 8 miles in a killer 1:24, and 10:28 pace!!  We headed to the ship around 2:30. The weather was not looking great. It was starting to rain, and we knew that Hurricane Irene was coming through St Thomas & heading for us. Around 5:30pm, Kevin felt the boat moving. We weren't supposed to leave until 9pm, but the coast guard was forcing us out because of the storm. We left behind over 150 people in Puerto Rico, who didn't make the boat. That first night was the only time I felt slightly seasick, thanks to the massive waves, and our high speeds as the captain floored it to get us away from the storm. They swapped our itinerary to go to Aruba first to avoid Irene.

The first day at sea, we spent working out, sunning ourselves, and kicking butt at Bingo!

Me & the winning card!

I had to split my winnings with another winner, but walked away with almost $200! Enough to pay for our wine package, and a few cocktails, Sweet!! That night, we had our first formal night & got all dolled up...

Next up, was Aruba!

We spent the day relaxing at a Beach Club

Enjoying some yummy food & of course Mojitos!

We watched the Sunset from the Cruise Ship..

We made our way to the Crown & Anchor welcome aboard party. Best idea EVER!!! Pretty much, when you have already been on a Royal Caribbean Cruise, they invite you to a party with tasty bites & unlimited champagne. I definitely made the best out of the party, 5 glasses, score!

champagne? yes please!

We followed that by a night out to the club with our fabulous dinner friends for Karaoke & dancing!

Next up was Curacao, for a day at the beach, then a little shopping!

That night we played a crazy gameshow called Quest with our dinner friends. It was wild! We had to trade clothes, kiss strangers, and do other crazy stuff. What a blast! Then we went to to the late night buffet. I wasn't hungry, but had fun taking pictures of all the cool stuff!

Banana monkeys!

We had another relaxing day at sea, then...

The next day was our AMAZING Catamaran cruise in St. Kitts!!

One of our dinner couples ended up being on the same excursion as us, so we had a blast. We started off heading to an area to snorkel first. Alcohol was included in the trip, but we had to wait until after snorkeling. We saw some great fish, and other creatures...

me & the sea urchin!

After snorkeling, we started pounding drinks. Literally, they just kept shoving fresh ones in our hand. Well, it was hot & I was thirsty, what could I say?? I finished 2 rum punches and at least 2 beers before we got off the boat for lunch. Lunch was yummy chicken and salads. We enjoyed a few more cocktails including "Ting with a Sting", which was Ting (a fresca like drink) with either rum or vodka. Delish. Soon, we were back on the catamaran, passed out in the sun sailing around.

I woke up eventually!

Then we did some dancing all the way back to shore.

We enjoyed more cocktails on the way back to shore with our friends...

We eventually made it back to shore with a cocktail in hand. The fell into the tourist trap of adorable little monkeys wearing baby diapers!! So cute, we had to take pictures, and then they made us pay them, what??

After a much needed nap, some carbohydrates, and water, we headed to dinner. We were so thankful to have a late dinner time! Dinner was formal night #2, and the best towel animal ever arrived in our stateroom...

Our last ship day was shopping in St. Thomas. We bought me some pretty tanzinite earrings and a new watch and ate some local food.

That night we had one last dinner with our crew, then headed to Karaoke finals to watch one of our friends compete!

Our whole dinner crew!

The girls!

The next day we had breakfast with the Colorado couple, then headed off the ship. Since we were both staying an extra day in San Juan, we decided to go to the Bacardi factory and then have dinner after we checked in at out separate hotels.

Unfortunately, since we were staying in New San Juan, the taxi ride to Bacardi was wicked expensive. We were told it would be cheaper to take the bus. We waited, and waited, the bus wasn't coming, so we decided to walk. It ended up a 7 mile walk, in a little over 2 hours. Then a ferry ride and a short taxi ride & we made the last tour. Thank goodness!

YUM! Bacardi cocktails!

We had dinner at an authentic local puerto rican restaurant, then enjoyed some Churros for dessert! It was Kevin's first Churro experience. They filled them with cream cheese, chocolate or dulche de leche. I got a plain one, and Kevin a cream cheese one.

We spent the next day at the beach and lounging around, before heading to the airport. Our flight was delayed for almost 2 hours, but we finally got to bed around 2am, thank goodness I had the next couple days off to recover! We luckily missed Hurricane Irene hitting the east coast by flying home Monday instead of Sunday.

Vacation was amazing, but my expanded waistline due to extra alcohol, and lack of running is not welcome. I'm working hard at getting back to eating right and exercising, but it's tough to refocus! I have my first weight watcher meeting tomorrow, and I KNOW I will have a gain. I'm prepared, hopefully it won't be more than a few pounds. 

What are your tips to get beck on track for vacation?

I know the start of Marathon training in 2 weeks will help!

>>>READ MORE

My Triathlon at sea .... and a winner!

I am back from my amazing vacation!

We were lucky to avoid Hurricane Irene, and have absolutely gorgeous weather for 95% of the trip, which resulted in some beautiful beach days, shopping, and relaxing days at sea. We made some new friends, and enjoyed the time relaxing together.

My plan to workout religiously did not go as planned. While days at sea are perfect for getting a workout in, the days at port, we wanted to get out & explore the islands, which left little time (or desire) for the gym. I did manage to getting a little triathlon & running work in....

I had a killer treadmill long run last Sunday in San Juan at our hotel

I did a little recumbent biking since the spin bikes were full. And lastly, I even practiced some open water swimming!

Ok, it may have involved a life vest & a snorkel, but I was out there in the open water. I even did a few good strokes for practice.

I attempted another run on the outdoor track our last day at sea, but the heat & heavy winds (practically blowing me over), had me head inside after 2 miles, then at 3 I was bored to death and stopped.

I was very disappointed in the fitness offerings on the ship.  All the equipment was very "old school." They didn't even have any foam rollers, bosu balls, resistance bands, or (my favorite) the TRX. The classes offered were few, and boring. They did offer a bootcamp for $30/class (ridiculous!), but the moves looked not very intense. I had to make up my own strength training circuits with some handweights and other things I found since I HATE using machines for my strength training.

As far as my nutrition goes, I tried to stay smart most of the time, but lost resolve toward the end of the trip.

I promise to do a whole vacation recap soon!

While I was away, did you check out my amazing guest bloggers??

In case you missed them...

Monday was Feeding a Meat Eater

Wednesday was Running with Aches, Pains & Injuries

Thursday was my post on Endurance Racing & Body Image

Friday was 13.1 reasons to Run a Half Marathon

Sunday was Do you Need a Coach?

A HUGE thank you to all my amazing guest bloggers!!

And my Multivites gummy Vitamin & b12 giveaway winner??

Jen @ Eat, Sleep, Run Disney!

How have I not found her blog before today? Its fabulous, make sure to check it out!

Jen email me at sgrigely at hotmail dot com to claim your prize!

>>>READ MORE

Vacation!!

As you read this, I've piled all my luggage onto the airplane, and am heading to lovely San Juan, Puerto Rico! Unfortunately, the weather is looking like this...

I am praying that the showers are few & scattered, and we have mostly sunshine. There is a tropical storm potential on Sunday/Monday in Puerto Rico, but hopefully we will be sailing right out of it.

Sunday we are heading out on a Royal Caribbean Cruise to St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Curacao, & Aruba for 7 nights & 8 days of relaxation, and fun times. 

After the cruise docks back in Puerto Rico, we stay over 1 more night before heading home! I am really looking forward to this time for Kevin & I to relax, reconnect, and get some good workouts in. I'm excited to see what workout classes they'll have available, and plan on doing some running on the track on top of the ship and on the treadmills if I have to. I also plan on tackling the Runner's World Run Less, Run Faster book to get ready for Marathon training, which starts September 26.

While I'm gone, I'll try my best to keep you entertained! There will be guest posts from some of my favorite bloggers, and I have an awesome gummy vitamin giveaway going on until I get back HERE.

Have you ever cruised before? What's your favorite part?

What do you look forward to the most on vacation?

>>>READ MORE