Half Marathon Finished!

Its been a month since I have finished my half marathon. I jumped on a treadmill this week for the first time since, and when I was done, I got off and thought to myself I CANT BELIEVE I RAN 13.1 miles. Im so glad I had help from my hubby supporting me so I could even do all that training! So here are some pictures and thoughts of a small portion of it.

First of all the Disney Princess Half Marathon in Florida was such a wonderful race to be a part of for my first time. It was fabulous to run with 17,000 women, some of which were actually men dressed up as Cinderella or Ariel. Which add much needed humor on a self destructive run through untraveled territory for me. I was surprised to see SO many costumes. I had really no idea of what a part of that it would be. There were many hard core runners but there were many who were there just to have fun and have a chance to wear some pretty outrageous costumes. My running buddy, Dennese and I kept saying I can't believe people are going to run all the way in that. Many costumes did not make it, as there were several Tu Tu's along the course.

The corrals were just a big party scene, we had gotten up at 3:00 I think to board buses by 3:30. I'm not sure now the details are blurry. But we got up super early to catch buses to get there in time. We had to be in corrals by 5 for a 6:00 start time. It took 20 minutes to walk from the drop off zone to the corrals not because it was a long walk, there were just so many people you couldn't go any faster than a slug. Words cannot describe how many people there were. Endless people in front and behind just to walk to the starting line corrals. I was worried about the lack of sleep and the time change but that morning I felt really good.



Us trying to get a "good" picture before the race- hard to do that early.


Start time was exciting, there were fireworks with the start of every corral. We were in "D" Dennese was in a faster corral than me but she was kind and started in my slower corral. They started every 8 minutes i think, so by the time we went, the first runners had already been going for a long time.


We really started out strong. It was a comfortable pace, but faster that what I had been training. It was all adrenaline. I was okay with that. There were so many things to keep us entertained, we saw bands playing, drummers, characters, there was different music, like Elvis when we passed Lilo and Stitch, and pirates of the Caribbean guy I don't remember his name right now. That was a huge hit. We were surprised at the lines forming for runners to get pictures with the characters. We were a little more down to business, but it was really fun to see all these women so excited about it. It was very fun.


About halfway into the course we ran through the Castle at Magic Kingdom. People were lined up from the parking lot all the way through the park. That was cool to hear cheers and encouragements.

I would say about mile 9 or 10 we caught up to our own pace group. By then the people we were passing were decreasing and it was really getting down to work. At this time it was getting warmer with the sun up and being used to running in 46 degree weather and misty, it was definitely a different climate. I was wearing running pants, and i know I was the only one, but it was what I was comfortable in, and I didn't want to change it up last minute. I pulled off layers though and that helped.

Okay so we got through most of the course and I was getting into the uncharted territory. I hadn't gone on a run longer than 12 miles and we were nearing the end. I was hit by how difficult the last mile was. I had to start walking for a couple times just to catch my breath and change it up a bit. It really took a lot to get through the last mile. My legs were a little tired, but my side started to cramp, I think from water intake from the beginning. I was so worried about being dehydrated that I may have had too much water in the beginning. Anyhow It was SO hard mentally and the only thing that got me to keep going was that I had a friend to keep me going and the buses were there to take me back to take a shower. I literally remember thinking, there is no way I can finish, even though I was so close to the end. We were meandering through EPCOT and the crowds started cheering. Saying You are almost there, You can do IT! I was so thankful for those complete strangers! At one of the last bends I heard a gospel choir singing on risers. Complete with the choir gowns and the swaying back and forth. It was the most wonderful ending! Then you could see tons of people and the finish line. At this point I was thinking I better not trip.

My two favorite things I saw was a older man wearing a tshirt saying "pacing my princess" running side by side with his wife. Another was as we were approaching Magic Kingdom and there was a crowd gathering and we saw a husband there with his small children, they spotted their mom and said Mommy Mommy! she was on the opposite side of the course and crossed the thick traffic in front of us and was waving her arms so ecstatic to see them as the odds are pretty slim with such a large crowd. They were so excited to see each other gave big hugs and she went on her way.

Out of 13,000 finishers, I finished something in the 2500s I cant remember, but I'm not taking in consideration the men. I think i finished in the 2700s if you add them in. Anyways our finish time was 2 hours and 15 minutes, which is way below my 3 hour goal! I finished and a ran 99.8 percent of it. I could not have done it with out my friend Dennese and I definitely would have not done it in such good time.

It was such a great experience I'm so glad I did it. I don't know if I will do another one. Not any time soon though It is so much time to train when my kids are small maybe later in life with my hubby. Definatley will not do a winter run. Training here in the winter is brutal. I feel like I can do anything now, I learned a lot and it is an amazing feeling of accomplishment to set a goal work hard at it and do well. I will miss my Saturday quiet time even if it was in the form of hard labor in the cold weather.
The medal was pretty cool too!!

Ahhh the Sunshine !!

*BORING TRAVELOGUE WARNING* Don't say I didn't warn you! I italicized the interesting parts.

We recently escaped the grasp of the grey skies of winter here in the pacific northwest, by heading way way south to the sunny destination of Florida with some friends and Ryan's parents. I gotta say we really packed in a lot. I'm still processing it all and yes I am still recuperating from it all. We pulled our kids out of school for two weeks. Apparently one of my notes to the school didn't get received as I was answering a call at Harry Potter land at Islands of adventure from the school wondering why one of my children weren't there. I think she had a heart attack when I told her the estimated date of return was a good two weeks out, maybe it was the poor signal.

I didn't take a whole lot of pictures but I'll try to capture the trip as best I can.

Plane trip across country MIA THROWS up on our traveling buddy AND a business
man in a full suit, AND a grandma and a little on Ryan. Emma starts yelling: IT STINKS ITS STINKS. (Zachary had no idea she threw up *** gotta love modern convenience of Nintendo ***)

Islands of adventure. Okay we really went on some wild rides. I have forgotten the intensity of the incredible hulk. I don't think I got my equilibrium back until half way into the day. It was way fun though. Harry Potter land was pretty cool. It was a very hot day! We had movie day in the condo. The kids were settled in Daytona with friends and stay at an amazing time share place RIGHT ON THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. It was totally cool.

We headed up to St. Augustine which is the oldest settled city in America and has a really cool fort. Zachary was in love with this place and really enjoyed looking at the artifacts. We learned lots about military uniforms and the origins of many features of a soldiers clothing. There were actual artifacts from the original fort, including cannons, pistols, and the like. It was really cool. We found out it was snowing back home and the kids were mad they missed out on sledding and they had to make up the day at the end of the year.

We left Daytona for Orlando to spend the remainder of our days in Disney World. We had the dining plan this time around for the first time. We ate at some incredible places. The favorites were Teppan Ido a Japanese restaurant where they prepare the food table side. They rigged the chopsticks for us so we could actually use them. It was the best food I have ever eaten. NO joke. We also ate Mexican food, African food, Italian, we went to California Grill which was so good, had fillet Mignon at Le Celier, a Canadian steak house. I think that the food was one of the highlights of our trip. Having gone before and just eating on the go and just eating chicken nuggets and whatever is close, it was nice to eat so well. I found a new treat at Germany in Epcot. I enjoyed SEVERAL milk chocolate caramels. They were huge and just so dreamy.

The children enjoyed being with their friends and enjoying their company as we waited in lines, or were watching shows. They never got tired of each other and never fought. I was impressed with how well all the children did. We had 11 kids total and they really behaved well.

I really enjoy Disney. There is so much to do and you can really tailor it to your interests. Everything there is so well done. The shows are really really good, the rides are fun, they have playgrounds for the kids to unwind and get out energy, they have something for everyone. My favorites is Epcot world showcase, they highlight several countries from around the world and have performances, authentic food to try, people from those countries to talk to, its really fun. This year we set the goal to eat around the world. We got food from every land. Steak from Canada, fish-n-chips to die for at UK, french pastries, something from Morocco, not sure what it was, funnel cakes from US, bratwurst and pretzels from Germany, I don't know what we got at Norway or Italy, but it was way fun. My stomach did not feel good at the end of the day but it was awesome.

The kids wore t-shirts with the 7 dwarf names, reminiscent of the trip we took to Disneyland a couple years ago. We have had additions so one of the clever dads thought to make up names for the rest. We had a stinky, smiley, pinky. It was nice to be able to pick out the kids in a crowd and they got so many comments. It was a little difficult to keep track of them all when they weren't wearing their shirts.

Toward the end of our trip some of our crew got sick. Ryan had to take Marsh and Mia to the doctor. They both had ear infections. Getting to the doctor is not an easy process while visiting. In hindsight it would have been easier to catch a cab. we just didn't think of it since they have a "convenient" shuttle that takes resort guests to a medical facility. Then Ryan got sick. We still had so much fun and enjoyed the sunshine. It was hard to come back to solid rain. I had to force myself off the plane. Maybe they would just let me stay on the plane and take be back to the warmth.....they wouldn't notice would they?

No really, I so enjoyed this trip because I really escaped from it all. I didn't have to prepare any meals, I didn't have to clean up after my children, we didn't have to get in all the demands of being in school, we could just have fun. We had fresh towels every day, they made my bed for me. (And no I didn't opt to save my towels....so there) I thoroughly enjoyed just being there. I didn't care if we rode everything I just loved being there. I really hope everyone else had fun and enjoyed their experience. Plus seeing my father in law in a TU TU will be forever in my top 10 list of memories!

Pictures to come later. HOpefully.

Disney world

While we were on the East coast we took advantage of being 3 hours from Orlando. We made so many great memories as we watched our kids. We planned the first couple of days so they knew what was at each park. Then we let them each have a day and we would do whatever they wanted. It was a fabulous way to do it. We would go early in the day, go back to the hotel for a swim or nap, then go back out when it wasn't so hot or busy. We really had a great time even in the blazin' hot weather. And now Ryan is planning for when we can go back!


Rides!


This was at one of our favorite things to do, Blizzard Beach water park. We loved it here. We knew Emma would love it, but the boys did too. Zachary went on the Summit Plummet, and was proud that even dads were turning around because they were too scared... but not our Zach. You can see all of Disney world from the top of it. Talk about scary.


Mia's first ride: Astro blasters


Our little doctoring job to sneak Marshall on a couple of rides. He was so close that you could barely put a paper under his head, but his brother's shoes did the trick! He got to do space mountain, expedition everest, Mission: Space, test track. He is definately a thrill seeker.




Family favorite ride: Toy story Mania


It was my "honor" to ride the teacups with the kids. Ryan was really sad to miss out on that one.


This was the bumpiest ride in all of Disney World...Emma driving. She kept saying I'm sorry, I just dont know how to drive, Im not even 16.


Our family infront of Expedition Everest. It is a very fun coaster and I had a blast riding it with my big boys!


Kilamanjaro rapids was a really short ride but very wet. This is Ryan's 6th time in a row riding, hence the smirk. There was no line so the operators let them just stay on and ride over and over and over. Ryan is such a good sport.


Splash mountain! Ryan and I had to trade off with the boys and girls. The girls couldn't or wouldn't ride on the fast ones, so we would parent swap all the rides. It took a long time but the kids didn't complain, they got to do every ride at least twice while they would take a mom then a dad. They were so funny explaining everything to the second parent. Zachary was very concerned that we would lose sunglasses or phones or cameras so he would tell us to put them away. They would also tell us where to go, or where the scary part was, or how to load on to the ride. It was hilarious.

Characters!

We saw many characters we had never seen before, so that was fun. We were there during Star Wars weekend and saw Jedi Mickey, and Vadar Goofy, and Leia Minnie, we also saw tinkerbell and many others.


Jimminy Cricket hangs out in Animal Kingdom!


The reason I included this one, is because its one of the few we have of all our family. This is one of the fairies, she is a pal with tinkerbell, whom we also saw.


Buzz lightyear was Mia's favorite. He was my least because the stinker woke her up from a nap to say hi. Actually it was really cute it was one of her cute giggle moments at Disney.


The traditional pics with Mickey and Minnie.


A goofy picture is a must have at our house. Mia couldn't part with his ear.


Donald Duck- this was how Mia saw most characters- in her stroller because she was always sleeping.

Shows!


Emma is the the brave Sherriff at Hooptee Doo revue. She was all too happy to perform and chalked it up to being used to perfrom infront of people with violin recitals.


Zachary is "Gaston" in Story time with Belle. Many people through out the day would say, hey weren't you Gaston. I was floored when he agreed to go up on that stage.


Ryan as Sir Gallahad. Which was very funny at a British comedy street performance. It was a rendition of King Arthur and the Night of the round table. Funny! The kids enjoyed seeing dad "Goof" around!

LINES!
Of course what Disney Vacation would be without lines? The kids did pretty well but the camera was one diversion for the kids while they waited.