Disney's Princess Half and my own progress!

Congrats to all of the Princesses who ran in the Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon this morning! I was on twitter all morning watching the pace times, the pictures from the course, and tweets from the spectators who were cheering them on. it's gotten me really pumped to not only keep up with my training for the 5K during wine and dine weekend but to also start thinking about doing a half next year! :) I don't think i'll be ready for the wine and dine half but I definitely think I can do either the princess half or the wine and dine half next year!

I've been making some serious progress in my 5K training. So far my best time has been 3.1 miles in 39:00mins. And I have a picture to prove it! (Yes I am that freak that you see at the gym that takes pictures with their phone) I had to push really really hard to get the 39:00mins but normally i'm always somewhere in between 39:00 and 40:00mins. For not being a runner I think thats pretty good! 

I've decided once I get comfortable with the 3.1miles I'm going to start doing the Jeff Galloway program for getting ready for a half. I feel like if I can do a half marathon, just one, I'll feel totally and completely accomplished. I will be honest in saying that sometimes I have a tendency to start things and not finish them. It's like the second I start getting into something, I become afraid of failure and just stop before I can fail. This is something i'm going to make sure I do, and see through! 

Again Congratulations to all the runners who made it through the Princess Half today! You are all a major inspiration!!

Hit a wall??

For those of you who don't know I have two dogs. I have my little man...

Duke

And my big man....

Toby

What I think is so funny about our dogs is that I was the one who wanted Duke, and Adam was the one who wanted Toby, however that is not who the dogs picked as buddies. Adam and Duke are like two peas in a pod and are happy to sleep in all morning on the weekends and watch pawn stars every night cuddled on the couch. Toby and I are up every morning together at the crack of dawn, even on the weekends, and we are both pretty easily amused. This bit of information is very important to the rest of my story.

There are so many TV shows and article written about people who have lost tons of weight and got healthy. I look at those people and they give me motivation to get out there and work hard to get the beach body I really want, and to not feel winded when walking up a flight of stairs. Shows like "I used to be fat" and "the biggest loser" show at least one mental breakdown where the person trying to get fit "hits a wall". They always have supporters and trainers and nutritionists who are there pushing them and motivating them to keep going. But what about the rest of us?

Last Saturday it was a brisk 45 degrees and I decided that instead of running on the boring treadmill I would brave the cold and run the beach. My brother in law went out with us on Friday night and spent the night at our home. So as quietly as I could I got up at 7am. The only other member of our little family that was awake was Toby. Toby is very high energy and would play catch with you until you ended up needing your rotator cuff repaired. I thought for a moment and decided that it would be better (and safer) to bring Toby running with me. I put on my running gear and loaded him up in his harness and off we went to the beach. 

I can't even tell you how bad of an idea this was. I couldn't believe how many people we on the beach boardwalk at 7am, on a Saturday, in JANUARY! Trust me when I tell you I love my dog and he is the sweetest thing in the whole world. Toby is my best friend and I can't imagine life without him. BUT, he  is a horrible running buddy! He is just too social! He wanted to stop and say hi to everyone we passed, had to sniff every dogs butt that he came in contact with, and then when he remembered we were running would take off at sprinting speeds. I must have looked like a fool trying to be all runner-ish and fit as I'm trying to pull by 80 pound dog along for the ride. 

I some how managed to run a mile but I was beat. I decided to turn back and run back to the car... at least I was getting in two miles right? On the way back we ran past an elderly women who had a tiny little white foo-foo dog with her. She took one look a my Shepherd/doberman mix and got very freaked out. I decided, against my better judgement, that the only thing I could do was to run on the actual beach. Everyone was on the boardwalk not the sand. This was horrible. Running in sand has to be one of the hardest things to do. On top of trying to keep breathing, Toby's new thing was "SEASHELL!" he stopped and smelled every seashell and every piece of seaweed that was in our path. I barely made it back to the car.

Toby jumped in the back seat and I got in. I looked at my runing app and I have only done 1.89miles and it took me almost 40mins! I felt so defeated, I was tired, sore, and frustrated. Toby, however, was grinning at me from the rearview mirror... he had the time of this life! When I got home the boys were awake and ready to go get breakfast. They both told me they were very proud that I actually got up and did it. This meant the world to me! I was feeling so bummed out that I didn't do the full 3 miles and that I couldn't even keep pace but you know what?? I made the effort! 

So to those of you who are training, trying to get fit, or are just trying to get motivated... even if you have a terrible day don't stop! Just the fact that you had a bad day means that you tried and that you aren't happy with the results and are going to try it again! Be proud of that bad day! 

xoxo

Busy Busy Busy!

Happy Monday!!

I've been pretty busy the past week and I'm going to continue to be busy for the rest of this week. I swear there are some weeks where nothing is going on, and other weeks I feel like I can't catch up! This will be a quick post but I will be posting more through out the week :)

I've been continuing my training for the Disney 5K and I'm doing really well! I'm up to running 0.75 walking 0.25, running 0.75, walking 0.25, running 0.75, and walking 0.25. So I'm doing the 3 miles and it's getting easier and easier! I'm getting so excited about running in Disney and I can't wait for registration to open.

I am also starting to think about booking our resort this time. Adam and I always rent DVC points and i'm thinking to decide which resort we should stay at. I'm torn between staying at Old Key West, trying out Bay Lake Towers, or maybe doing Kidani Village. What are your thoughts? Where should we try this year?

Oh and one more thing before I go inhale a quick dinner... On Thursday I am going with my office to a big conference in Boston. My boss signed us up for a course with, get this, THE DISNEY INSTITUTE!!!  It is a course that teaches how to bring the same level of Disney customer service into your own office. I can't wait to take the course and tell you guys all about. Have any of you taken any courses with the Disney Institute?

Alright thats my quick Monday night update! Have a great rest of the week everyone!

xoxo

I'm gaining on you!

Hey guys!

I am totally, super, crazy, excited about the fact that I am actually seeing results in my running. I had a major set back last week but now I'm back up and running. (Literally!) For the past six years I've needed surgery on my left foot. It is something that flares up on me if I wear the wrong shoes for too long, or if I do huge amount of walking in bad shoes. I looked into surgery and honestly the surgery isn't what scares me... its the recovery time. I would be on crutches for at least 3 weeks and in a boot for up to three months. I am far to active to be out of commission that long.. especially when its something that doesn't happen all the time. Lately I've been very lucky that I haven't had any flare ups until recently.

The past few times I've gone to the gym to run I've been wearing these...

When my foot was really giving me a hard time about a year ago I looking into the Vibrams five fingers. I'd heard that they were great for people with feet issues. However I just couldn't see buying them for over $100 when I didn't even know if they would work for me and lets be honest all of these shoes look a bit funny. My sister told me about the FILA Skeletoes and that they were only $38. I figured I would give them a try and I have to say THEY WORK! Its like you've got nothing on your feet and I have to say that running in these is a totally different and better experience.

If you follow my blog I posted about running around my neighborhood last weekend. It had rained the night before that run and there were some puddles. It also was only in the high 40's low 50's. I didn't really want to have cold , wet feet while I ran so against my better judgement I put on some regular sneakers. BAD MOVE! Not only did I feel a lot more strain on my shins (that shin splint pain) but the next day I had a massive flare up in my left foot to the point where I couldn't even put any weight on it. I was so bummed out. I still went to the gym and worked out my arms and back but, I couldn't help watching everyone else on the treadmills and actually missing it!

Over the past week I read a lot about the condition I have and about what I can do to prevent flare ups. One of the things they say is to get shoes like the ones I have. Specifically the Vibrams brand. So after talking to Adam I think I'm going to invest in a pair of the Vibrams. The FILA's were fine for a while but the material is starting to come apart from the sole and they do feel cheap in comparison. Regardless of whether i'm running or not, they are better for my overall foot health so I can see spending the money on the best of the best since I'll be using them on a more everyday use. The other thing I read about to help prevent flare ups is to ice after every run.  Even if my foot isn't hurting I need to ice it to stop any swelling. Thats easy enough!

My foot started feeling much better and by Saturday morning I was having no pain and I was feeling ready to get back to the gym. I got up early, put on my FILA's and hit the gym. I knew I didn't want to push it so what I did was jogged. I didn't want to focus on speed I wanted to focus on endurance.... I was so proud of myself! I told myself just to listen to my music and not even focus on how far I went. Which is something I torture myself with... I constantly look at how far I went and how long i've been running. I am so proud to announce that I wasn't even winded and I had already gone one whole mile jogging! I thought it would be fun to see exactly how far I could go! I went 1.75miles jogging! I power walked the rest of the 0.25miles to make it an even 2 miles. I was so proud. I know its not that big of a deal next to a half marathon let alone a full marathon but to me it was a great accomplishment!

Don't get me wrong I am pretty sore today but I feel great! I had so much more energy yesterday and I was in such a good mood. I started thinking that if I'm making this much progress in just a couple weeks and with a bum foot for a few days, How much can I do before the wine and dine in November?? Maybe I can convince Adam to start training with me and we can do the marathon relay! :)

How are you guys doing on your new years resolutions? If you're training for any of the Run Disney events how are you doing?

xoxo

Making progress!!

Good morning and happy Saturday everyone!! This weekend is Disney's marathon weekend in WDW!! Good luck to all the runners and I hope to see you there next year!
Just a quick post today since I have a major amount of cleaning and laundry to do. I got up this morning with every intention of going to the gym. I told Adam that I wasn't looking forward to the crowds and he suggested I just run around our neighborhood instead.
My issue with this is, how do I time myself? How do I know how far I went? Didn't know if that was the best idea... Then a light bulb went off..there must be an app for that!!! And sure enough there is! Lol
I downloaded the iMapMyRun app and hit the road! I found a perfect little circuit through my neighborhood that was exactly a mile from the end of my drive way and back. I am happy to report that I did a whole mile in 10 minutes and 46 seconds!! That's so much better than 12 minutes! Plus I ran most of if!
I am so happy with even that little bit of progress. If I keep it up I should be able to run a 5k sooner than I know it!
Have a great weekend everyone!