WE DID IT!!!!!!!

Another successful Disney run DONE! And finally, some pictures to go with the blog...

We arrived in Anaheim last week and since our hotel wasn't ready for check-in, we went straight to the expo to pick up our race packs. We were delighted to find the unisex shirts were actually quite nice, bought some cool new headbands guaranteed to keep sweat out of our eyes, and won Angels ballcaps.  After the expo, we headed to Jack in the Box and Target to stock up on delicious food and buy bottled water and cute new clothes.

And they'rrrrrrre OFF!...to the Expo

After a false start, we end up in the right line and pick up our bibs!

On Saturday, we headed to Disneyland for a half day...checked out the new Star Tours (awesome) and went on a bunch of rides before heading back to the hotel to relax by the pool, then head to Cheesecake Factory for a pre-race dinner of pasta and...cheesecake.  We also decided that CF would be always our new pre-race dinner since it's worked so well for us the past 2 times.  Since we had to get up at 430, it was lights out at 8pm...

I photoshopped out the beer and cheesecake, suckers!

RACE DAY!!!!!!!!

We jumped out of bed and dressed quickly, shrieking over how cute we looked in our outfits. We headed over to the starting line, where after some confusion, we got into the correct corral and....waited.....to....start....after the anthem and some fireworks, and the first 3 corrals, we were OFF!!!  We managed to snag pictures at EVERY mile marker too! Here are some of the best pictures from our run...

Feeling good...for 5am

Minnie Mice at the Castle

Does this make out butts look FAST?

We're only smiling because it's almost over...

I can't move out of the finish chute quickly, I need a picture.
And some aspirin please

COAST TO COAST BLING!!!

Final time was 2:35:32, which means we were 12 seconds faster than Disneyworld and proves that when I say I only have one running speed, I ain't kidding. I am nothing if not consistent. Plus, since we had run a race at each park, we received the Coast to Coast medal, so we had very satisfying clinking noises as the two medals clanged together on the walk back to the hotel.

Post race, we had a quick soak in the hottub before heading to the Angels game for hotdogs, beer and relaxing in the sun. Angels win, and we head back to the park until midnight...then the next day we were at the park from 8am-midnight. Squeezed out every drop of fun, but maybe was a bit too much...I was so sore on the flight home the next day, I had to take the Folkswagon from the gate to customs because I didn't think I could handle the 6 minute walk...




Post race beer and chili cheese dogs at the Angels game...Angels win!



Actually, yes, we DID plan the outfits--Twins game, get it??

Fairy Godmother flies coast to coast too!

Best. Day. EVER!!!!!

We had an awesome time, the weather was great, and all the new stuff at Disney was amazing (World of Color, Star Tours, Little Mermaid, Captain EO coming back) and the race was great.

Our New Years resolution was to complete four half marathons in 2011, so we have one to go...

Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to Disney we go!

It's the glamour life for me...I returned home from Mexico late last night and today I'm doing laundry and repacking my bag for Disney leaving tomorrow morning, HURRAY! Am already checked in and since half my travel stuff was already packed, I basically have to just swap out beach coverups for running shoes and make sure I remember to pack painkillers and bodyglide (which isn't as creepy as it sounds).

Just don't call me Dopey!

In case you're wondering, I did not get to enjoy any sunrise running along the beach on this trip to Mexico. But the schedule did call for "tapering", easily the best part of training for a long race. Tapering means total rest for your legs, no running at all for the week before a race because the rest will get your body all ready for a long run. And, oh, how I tapered in Mexico! Now, I don't think the athletic community means "sit your Hawaiian Tropic bottom down on a lounger for 8 hours a day while sucking back any blended drink that wanders by" and ending every day with room service club sandwich with fries please regardless of whether you were actually hungry or not. But I think every athlete is unique and requires slight modifications to best suit their lifestyle and this was definitely mine! Hopefully my diligence pays off on Sunday!

The Work Song-based on a true story!

OK, it took a few hours, a paring knife, 2 needles, and quite a few pokes in the thumb, but we now have two (hopefully) awesome running tanks with Minnie Mouse sleeves!!!

As the mice would say...

She goes around in circles Till she's very, very dizzy

Still they holler Keep a-busy Cinderelly!

We can do it, we can do it

We can help our Cinderelly

We can make her dress so pretty

There's nothing to it, really

[Gus:]

I'll cut with these scissors!

[Jack:]

And I can do the sewing!

[Girl Mouse:]

Leave the sewing to the women

You go get some trimmin'

And we'll make a lovely dress for

Cinderelly!

(Thanks for not suing Disney!)

Now we just have to wait for the skirts to be ready and we're off to the races!

How to break a seamstress's brain

We have two weeks to go from today!  So yesterday was our last run...we ran around the reservoir to get our 16K in. Gotta say, it sure felt a lot easier than the last time we did it! Not only did we chirp along letting our mouths run the whole time, but when we were done we felt great instead of like curling up in a ball and dying like in January. True, it was 25C warmer and no snow to navigate over, but I think the "less is more" approach we tried this time around actually worked! (that's right, it wasn't laziness, it was a technique!) Plus, when we got to the hill at the very end and were about to give up on our chugging up the hill, a group of strangers we passed starting cheering for us..."eyes on the horizon, head up, chest out ladies, keep that form up, YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!" Sure enough, we could! Plus at the end, we thought another 5k would be no problem.

We headed to Christi's for quick showers, then over to the alterationist who would turn our child's size 6 dresses into Awesome Minnie Running Outfits. We thought it would be simple enough...chop the skirt off to make a tutu, and remove the puffy sleeves to make new ruffled sleeves on our black running tanks, an effect that would keep us cool, look awesome and not be too pricey.

As it turns out, we know nothing about sewing. Our Lady fretted and clucked as she stretched what she had to work with and measured our adult Canadian bodies. She was worried the dress would be too short and the top would be too tight, and we were having trouble conveying what we wanted done. At one point, she was going to build us elastic blouses to wear over our tanks, and we started getting nervous about how much this was going to cost. We kept insisting we just wanted to basically baste the sleeves onto our tanks for a one-time wear in a warmer climate and she kept insisting it wouldn't work.

She kept getting more and more agitating as we kept trying to explain they just needed to be worn for 3 hours as we sweated all over them, saying it wasn't going to look good. Now, she knows her stuff and we trust her implicitly, but I think she was trying to make us sturdy lifetime garments instead of cobbling a dress into an adult skirt and sleeves like we wanted. Eventually, after 45 minutes in the shop, we ended up taking the sleeves ourselves and leaving her with just the skirts to make. This afternoon, I'm going to take the sleeves and hand stitch them to the tanks and see if it works like I hope it does...like I said, it doesn't have to be fancy or permanent, just hold up for 3-4 hours around Anaheim!

Oh, Ebay, is there nothing you can't do?!?!

Last week, we RAN TO WORK. Gotta say, it was pretty keen...bright and early the morning after a rainstorm as the sun came up on a cloudless day was pretty great. Plus, since my desk faces downtown, I spent all day gazing at it and thinking "hell ya, I ran from there this morning!!" Much better than out and back, I'd say!  Plus we did our 18k with no problem and felt great all day. We're back in top running form, I'd say! (and not a moment too soon, have you checked our countdown? eeek!)

Like I said, we were starting to panic about our running outfits. We had our headwear and our plan, but that's it. So, last Wednesday I do another desperation fueled search on Ebay for what we were looking for and lo and behold...the company I bought my Belle dress from had another match. This time, for $5.99 I could get a kid's Minnie Mouse dress with matching headband. SOLD! And I mean sold, they even let me buy two so Princess Chris could have the same one. Check it out!

It IS as short at it looks!

So, dresses bought, and after a brief conversation, the rush shipping charge of $22 is paid, to ensure they arrive within 3-5 business days instead of 10-15 days. Totally worth it, since I leave for a week to Mexico and didn't want Christi to have to take care of everything while I was away.  Plus, it keeps our dresses under $20, which I'm guessing is less than we'd have paid for fabric.

Now, I pay my invoice last Thursday, and get a notice Friday that my item is shipped. On Monday night I'm puttering around the house when a truck pulls into my driveway.

It's a DHL truck.

I skyrocket off the couch and down the stairs to the front door, flinging open the door with a shriek to find a cowering DHL lady meekly stating I have a package. I respond by shouting "IS IT FROM HONG KONG!?!??!!" and when she replies yes, jump up and down clapping and then reward her speediness by breaking her electronic signing pen in my haste to snatch the package out of her hands. She's just happy someone is home to sign and drives away as quickly as she can (side note, I notice our stolen tree has been replaced with a new, non-dead tree. HURRAY!)

I rip open the package with my teeth in the front hall and dance around with joy at what a wonderful world I live in where with a click, a $6 dress can come from the other side of the world to my house in less than 2 business days. Amazing!  And the dress exceeds my expectations, it's quite a quality garment!  I am slightly concerned as the dress is stretchy on top and snug on the bottom unlike my princess dress and it will definitely require shorts underneath. But combined with black tanks, we can add the puffy sleeves to make cap running sleeves, plus the skirts will be more like tutus, which is sort of what I was hoping for in the first place.

In short, Best. $22. EVER. And if you're EVER in need of a child's costume, please visit this ebay seller because they are AWESOME. Am already searching for  Halloween costumes for my niece and nephew (and, ok, for self) and will get that started once these outfits are all set!

18K is A-OK, Hip-hip-HOORAY!

Well, I know my last post was about being terrified, and we still don't have costumes figured out (essential!), but we've had two great long runs in a row. Friday we were supposed to run 16.5K and met at work at 530 to head out in (accidentally) matching outfits. We ran from work to Hooters (heh!) over to 16th Ave and Deerfoot and then back to the office. It was a glorious morning where the temperature was just right, the air felt fresh and the sky was shining. We had our Gatorade and our GU just at the right time. As we headed back up the service road, I suggested we cut back across the temporary running path and then loop back.  See, last week we ended up being a bit short and had to retrace a bit to get our 15K in, which feels a bit sad to be so close to the finish and then realize you're not quite done...

No problem, we cut back to the running path while fighting off a mosquito parade and head back. As we head to the 4 way stop, Princess Chris pulls out her iphone to check our time and our distance---turns out I had forgot to hit start on mine, so we hadn't been checking our distance or pace at all during our run...good thing there was a backup!

She punches me in the arm and shrieks.

With excitement!

Turns out, we had accidentally shot past the 16.5K we were aiming for and had already passed 17.5K in the same amount of time. Figuring we had nothing to lose at this point, we kept running for another few minutes to make it an even 18K in just a smidge over 2 hours. So, not only did we run too far, but we had done it much faster than expected. And felt great about it!

In short, we arrived at our desks Friday morning shrieky with excitement and incredibly proud of ourselves.  Anytime we saw each other throughout the day we highfived and shrieked. Saturday rolls around and I'm only a teensy bit sore.  Short story long...I'm suddenly feeling a lot more confident about this race now!!

Running out of time

So, in just over 5 weeks we'll be leaving for Disney.

HURRAY! 

Um, at which point we'll need to run another half marathon.

CRAP! 

I'll be honest, we're not quite as prepared as last time. We're finding summer is actually tougher than winter training and man, do we miss that snow (for running! We still love summer!) There are more bugs, more sweat and less time to do things like...well....run 15 or 20km at a time.

As far as the trip, we have booked our hotel, we're not renting a car for this trip (Disneyland is so easy to get around, we figured there's no need) and our flights look fine, so that's good.

Ummm....we don't have costumes yet either, and this is just as stressful as the lack of training.  We know what they're going to look like, but haven't gotten around to buying/making them yet.

Never fear, the upside is that we still have 5 whole weeks to get back into shape and whip up some snappy running outfits. We're starting with tomorrow's 15k run at 545am...yeah!

Cancel that miracle!

Well, I guess a few days of rest and Stampede DID make for an improved run last week, but I should have known it wouldn't last. Another week goes by complete with a zillion beers, more mac and cheese pizza (carbolicious!!!) and more cowboys than you can shake a stick at.  I didn't run once (chasing the bus doesn't count) and as far as nutrition went, only deep fried things fueled me and only beer hydrated me.

These were full length jeans a week ago??

So, it should come as no surprise that I've gained a few pounds and gotten a little slower.

Nonetheless, I LOVE Stampede, and while my body could sure use the break, I'm going to miss it. But back to training! It was warm this morning (already nearly 20C at 6am) when I headed out for a 5K. My only goal this morning was to run the whole 5K without walking. I had put some new music on my ipod and was ready to go!  Sure enough, I felt great. The sun rose as I ran out on the usual airport path, and there were no bugs. AND sure enough, I was able to run the whole 5K without much trouble. In fact, I felt pretty good and darn fast, in spite of the bowl of jelly I seemed to be carrying around my midriff.  As the ipod announced I was done, I eagerly grabbed it, sure I had broken records or at least come close.

The ipod said it had taken me just over 34 minutes. I checked again...surely that couldn't be right??? I had been awesome! I felt good, my music was awesome and I thought I had really booted it the last half km, surely today was the day I had finally broken the 30 minute mark I've been striving for. But no, I guess when I run alone I'm lazy as can be and will be as slow as a turtle!

Nonetheless, I did what I had set out to do by running the whole thing with no breaks, so whatever, I'm back on track with a mere 40-something days left.

Oh, and yesterday I started the Insanity regime, diet and all. So, I dryheaved through the Fit Test yesterday and did the first workout today...I bet my body is totally confused by all the lean protein and vegetables I've eaten and I'm pretty sure there's no more beer or fried food residue in me anymore based on the amount of sweat I lost in the past 24 hours.

Stampede Miracle!

I spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth which was awesome. Not only did I get my rodeo and beloved chuckwagons in, but I was able to be Second Greatest Show on Earth...me pigging out on the midway for 3 days. Here's but a mere  sampling of what I enjoyed on the weekend...

Maple Bacon Ice Cream = Delicious? Who knew???
The good people at McKays, that's who!

Donut burger....MAPLE GLAZED donut burger..mmmm

Deep fried poptart goodness=breakfast of champions

Mac and Cheese Pizza---Carbo-licious!!!

Ummm...there may have also been corndogs, mini donuts, poutine, deep fried cheese, sausage rolls, smokies, deep fried mac and cheese and a few beers thrown in for good measure, but a girl can only document so much shame.  So, YES, on Monday I felt like a giant bag of horse manure.  And barely managed 30 minutes on the elliptical at the gym, a run was out of the question.  I ate nothing but vegetables and grilled meats and drank endless cups of green tea in hopes of soothing achy liver.

Tuesday rolls around and Princess Crys and I head out for a morning 5K, both dreading what is sure to be a slow and painful run. In the rain.

It is our fastest run since March.

It felt OK. Actually, a bit better than OK. I felt good and like I could have run more. More like I used to feel in the winter when our training was umm...a bit more structured.

In short, now I'm somewhat convinced my all-deepfried weekend only enhanced my running performance!   I celebrated today's findings with not one, but TWO pancake breakfasts. YAHOO!!! 

Be nice to me, I gave blood today!

After my soccer practice was cancelled last week, I opted NOT to be lazy instead and rallied one of my buddies to go for a run with me at the Reservoir. We headed out around 730, and it was (once again) GLORIOUS. The sun was shining, everything smelled great, and it was just awesome. Plus, my buddy hadn't gone through the Weaselhead before, so I was able to point out all my previous victories (beating Sinewy legs, peeing in the snow, running up THAT hill) as we went.

About halfway out, we started noticing the bugs were bad.

Like...really bad.

Like, REALLY REALLY bad.

By the time we realized we were getting lightheaded from blood loss, we were already 3.5K away from the car and there was nothing we could do but bravely huff back, slapping each other on the shoulders and arms as we went. We were much faster coming back in an effort to outpace the skeeters. At some points, a slap would kill 5-6 bugs at a time.

By the time we got back to the car, we were both covered in bloodsmears and carcasses. I'd hate to say it ruined an otherwise great run, but I think we can both agree it was the most memorable part of a 7k trip. I had to take a picture before bed so that I could remember yes, they actually WERE that bad!

Not chicken pox, but just as itchy!!!

At my soccer game two nights later, I was able to refresh them with a whole new batch of bites, particularly on my legs,  in spite of slathering self with bug spray. Let's just say, my increasingly pudgy body isn't the only reason I'm not baring much skin at Stampede this year!

BARNACLES!!!!

You won't like me
when I'm angry

Now, this is totally going to sound like I'm making excuses, but I swear I'm not! It's Sunday at 2pm and I'm not very confident I'm going to get the weekend long run in today. I'm supposed to run 14K this weekend. I tried to do it yesterday, but I'm still having tummy troubles and wasn't sure I wanted to be more than 5 minutes away from a bathroom at any point. This morning I crawled out of bed at noon (and only because someone had brought home Timmies breakfast, YAY!) and spent 30 minutes on the patio enjoying the sun and my steeped tea....until the wind started blowing and the clouds blew in. The Internet says the temperature dropped 8C in 30 minutes and now there's a severe thundershower warning. In short, it's not looking great for a run this afternoon.

Still, the day is young, so it could happen. Who knows, Calgary weather changes on a dime, so it could clear up in the next 10 minutes...then again, my brunch date is running a few hours late, so I might get waylaid by an early supper instead. And ribs trump long runs pretty much ALL the time, even when you only have 8 weeks of training left...

Mexico Runs

dónde está la playa?!

Now, before you jump to conclusions...I'm talking about sunrise beach jogs during my trip to Cancun last week, people. Man, I don't think I'll ever grow weary of running somewhere I can see the ocean. I woke up at 6am last Thursday for a 5K run along the beach. Now, you may remember I've gained some notoriety for getting lost, but this time I was ready! Well, sort of...I turned on my trusty Nike Plus and started jogging along the edge of the pool towards the beach, what should have been about a 2 minute walk. Well, I was at nearly a kilometer before my feet touched sand, but no worries, I made it! 

I turned left and started running, making notes of my surroundings to ensure I wouldn't have to try and learn Spanish should I get lost. Happily, the resort I was staying at had the only long dock around, so I had a pretty good marker even from a distance. I had hoped for a sunrise run, but was about 20 minutes too late (damn you, snooze button!!) Nonetheless, I happily plodded along the sand, occasionally misjudging the waves and soaking my feet and even tripping once when a tiny (but surely bloodthirsty) crab popped out of hole at my feet. Now, did I mention it was June in Cancun? Even at 615 in the morning it was already nearly 25C, and the sand running wasn't helping me either.  Long story short, I ran out nearly 3k before turning back and then quit at 4K instead of the five I had planned...I was exhausted and slow, but still happy with the run and totally proud of myself for doing what I did (not get lost, get up early, run in tricky sand).

Next day, I head out at 515 to try and catch the sunrise. Big mistake...while jogging in the dark along the edge of the pool, I missed the last step and landed nastily on my left ankle. I shrieked and stopped short, and in a panic over ruining the rest of my trip, walked for a few minutes. The pain subsided, but I was now leery of it happening again. Nonetheless, I walked out to the beach and up about a kilometer before meeting up with a few coworkers where I opted to quit and watch the sunrise from the beach loungers they had set up. I figured with 22 hotel inspections in 3 days, I would still get plenty of time on my feet!

Our last day was the only day we had any free time, so once again, the trusty alarm was set for 7am for a12k run along the beach...I woke up to buckets of rain and monsoon-like wind. After quelling my disappointment over not getting any beach or pool time on the last day, I went back to bed for 2 hours of well deserved rest (did I mention 22 hotels in 3 days??)  I did sort of make it up this morning out at the airport with a solo 10k route though, so I did get a long run in this week, even if it was a bit short and super slow.

PS...for the record, it turns out the port-o-potties at the construction site by my work running route aren't locked, which really came in handy this morning around the 9k mark when I wasn't quite sure I was going to make it back to the office in time to avoid a "Bridesmaids" type disaster. Crisis averted thanks to the good people of YYC, whew!


Funny in movies, not in real life



Really need to start documenting this...

That's right, still not photographic evidence that we are actually doing any of this, but trust me, we're sticking to our program, we only have 11 weeks to go!

This is how I waddle

So, we're a few weeks in and yesterday was our first official "long" run...we did 9k on Sunday morning. We were going to do it Saturday after work, but when 5pm rolled around it was pouring and so windy it looked like our cars were going to blow away, so we pushed it back.

I'm really glad we did.

Now, I don't mind running at the airport, but there isn't much to see there. And we sort of do it a lot, so while it still beats the old treadmill, it can get stale running the same route, particularly since there's only one now with all the construction.

Anyway, yesterday 9am rolls around and it is clear skies for the first time in a week. It's roughly 13C out and the sun is shining when Princess Chris and I meet at the Weaselhead for a 9k run around the reservoir. It was pretty great. The leaves were rustling, the grass was green and the air smelled amazing, all fresh and with a hint of lilac on the breeze. Plus, since we were running towards the same route as the nearby Running Room morning run, we passed dozens and dozens of runners who cheerfully returned our hellos.  We had both worn the same shirts (not on purpose, but I guess great minds think alike!), so they probably thought we were our own race or something.

We had planned to run 5-6K out and then come back, but at around the 4.5k mark, we hit a puddle so deep we couldn't go around it (even though it was sunny, I guess 2 hours can't erase a week of torrential downpour?) so we turned back (umm, wait, where did all those Running Room people come from then??). We had to double back just a bit, but it was still pretty great---instead of running through the cool, sun-dappled shade, we were running along the edge of the Weaselhead overlooking the water and it was glorious!

We're still not in the shape we were in at the beginning of the year, but we finished up our run in one piece. Then maintaining our winter tradition, we headed to the Pannenkoek Haus for an amazing breakfast served by the friendliest folks in town.

Tomorrow might be our last run as a trio for a while...I leave for Mexico on Wednesday and Princess Chris leaves for a Europtrip soon after, so hopefully we can get in a few blogs on the road in the next few weeks!

I remember this part...

When it's game time, it's pain time!! WHOO WHOO!!

Week 2 and I remember something that really sucks about re-starting running. EVERYTHING hurts right now. My toes, heels, feet, ankles, calves, knees, thighs, bottom, hips, and lower back are all fighting for attention this week for who hurts the most. Plus, I fell on the weekend (in a non-booze related incident, I swear), which probably didn't help.  I even ran out of Aspirin this morning.  Now, I'll be honest, we aren't stretching that much (OK, not at all) before or after we go for a run and that is going to change, we swear, but in the meantime we're going to gripe non-stop about our aches and pains.  We're also started back in on some general cardio and strength training on non-running days so the muscles that have been asleep since February just got a nasty wakeup call.  Seriously, the only situps I've done in the past four months were when I was reaching for the chips when I was watching TV and unfortunately, they don't want to snap back into shape.

So, the bad is that this readjustment back to a highly active summer lifestyle has been a bit tough. We're tired, achy, and I'm pretty much starving all the time.  The good, of course, is that we've been training together, sticking to our schedule and having some fun doing it!

We're Back!!

Here's a quote that I saw on the RunDisney Facebook page this morning from famous running author John "The Penguin" Bingham that sums it all up for many: "The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start." Or in our case.. start again! It's been a very long 3 1/2months of excuses, half hearted attempts at restarting training and life getting in the way.. but we're back and if what they say is right and it takes 21 times to start at habit.. we now have five less days to attain our new habit goal!

This week was a lot about just 'doing it' aka.. re-starting the morning workouts and re-start we did. All three of us are complaining about aches and pains and lack of lungs while running.. but you know what? It feels so good to be back at it and the pains are more of a reminder that we are making a difference and if feels REALLY GOOD.

For example, today Felic and I did our first run from our new running plan courtesy of Jeff Galloway to increase our speed (well actually it was more that it only contained three running days a week and we like that!)

**Sidebar: Now if you are looking at our countdown, you'll notice that we only have just over 80days left before our next Disney Half Marathon so mathematically & judgmentally speaking, yes we are currently behind 5 weeks and starting our training in week 6 .. YIKES!! Oh well.. like I mentioned earlier.. it's about the courage to start.. right?**

Ok, back to today.. we did our first "Speedwork" day for this Half Marathon. We did six 700m repeats. We mapped it out and did all six repeats on goal time. We were pretty happy with our time, the fact that we did it AND this new method to our training. Both of us experienced a kind of runner's high after we got back to work and are looking forward to running that method again!

Back for real. No, really this time!



This morning the three princesses went for our first run together since...well...our Princess Half Marathon. We've each had the odd run here and there, but it's been a while since we were a trio! It was really great to run with the ladies again, I've missed it.

What's up, you ask?



My toes look prettier, but the idea is the same

-Princess Fliss and Princess Chris have registered for the Disneyland Half Marathon in September, which means we get Coast to Coast medals for extra blingy glory on race day!

-Princess Crys wasn't able to commit to the race before it sold out (back in March, guess we aren't the only ones who want the Coast to Coast) but has promised to keep up the race training with us

-Nobody's running pants fit quite as nicely as they did when we were running 30-40K a week.

So, we have a PLAN and we're sticking to it! Disney was kind enough to even make one for us and while we're starting a few weeks behind, I think this one will work nicely. We have the basics under our (stretched out, in my case) belts and hopefully the flexibility of this plan will help us stick to it.  We were a bit slower today that we used to be, but I think everyone felt good about the run.

As for our paths, the airport construction is in full swing but they've been kind enough to add an actual running route back in for us that's a near perfect 5K, thanks YYC!  Plus, if we run after 7am, the mosquitos are so thick out there they keep us running away from them.

What wears a tiara, has two thumbs, and sucks?

Yeah, there's a plate of poutine just out of the shot

 I gotta say, since our half marathon, I've really fallen off the running wagon. In my defence, I got kicked REALLY hard during the last 10 seconds of my last indoor soccer game this season. A few x-rays and a set of crutches later, I wasn't doing any running for a few weeks. Well, at least it hadn't happened a few weeks earlier. I used that time wisely to sit around "resting" my bruised foot and eating as much poutine as I could. I also went to New Orleans, where it turns out, it's extremely easy to scarf 5000 calories a day thanks to a strict deep fried seafood diet washed down with so very many tasty Miller Lites.

Long story short, this means I gained nearly 10lbs in April and totally forgot how to run. Last week I did my first 5K in 5 weeks and it was almost like I'd never run in my life. It took me 40 minutes, not including the time I spent lying on a bench near my house trying not to vomit, and every step was like torture.

Short story long, tomorrow I'm doing the Mother's Day 10K which I am totally unprepared for, and just might kill me, since I've also had a cold all week. But it should be a good chance to get on with training...more on that later!

PS, if you're wondering WTF are the photos from the Princess Run we've been promising since, oh, March, they ARE still coming, I just don't really understand how to use Flickr.

Princess Expo

OK, we're working on a slide show so you don't get overwhelmed by giant posts...that's why there's no pictures to go with the story below...but we're working on it, stay tuned!

Every Princess needs a show, right? Well, the day before our race, we headed over to the ESPN Sports Zone at DisneyWorld to pick up our race packs. We got there before it started, and it was already so busy we had to park on the grass and pack sandwiches for the hike into the expo.  The line looked huge, but it was mostly because they weren't letting anyone in yet.

While we waited in line, we were able to hop into Guest Services and pick up our park passes, (big time saver the next day) and chatted with the ladies around us in line. We were in a perfect spot to see the Fairy Godmother make a speech and with a burst of streamers, the expo had begun!  We could choose the "express entrance" and go straight in, or opt to wait for a photo  with the Fairy Godmother herself. Since we were all practically crying with excitement, we naturally chose to wait and say hello to the FG. She called us all her darlings and with a smile and wave of her wand, we got some pictures with her and the footmen before heading into the expo itself...

Just inside the door were greeters with magic wands to sprinkle us with Pixie Dust!  Bibbity Bobbidy Boo...may all your race day wishes come true!  With a wave of the wand, we were all showered with green glitter (good luck which would serve us all well over the next 3 days). After all getting dusted up (and the shrieks of excitement had died down), we headed down to pick up our bibs.  Since we had registered minutes apart and they were organized by bib number, we were all in the same line, yay! Bibs were colored by the princess we had chosen during signup and all labeled with our Princess names.  Pretty sweet!  We were also pretty excited to see were were in Corral D, not F (the last one) like we had assumed, so we would be leaving 15 minutes earlier than we thought.  We walked across the marker that activated our race chip and head over to pick up our swag bags.  The bags were awesome lime green drawstring mesh backpacks and the race shirts were adorable!

After we picked up our shirts, we searched for water to begin the pre-race hydration process...only to find that in addition to bottles of water and Powerade, the Expo was kind enough to have FROSTY MILLER LITE BEER FOR $3 a pint!!!!!  YES PLEASE DISNEY!?!  We drank our 1030am beers as we wandered the expo and felt as gleeful as frat boys in Vegas!  We checked out the medals, the merchandise, and entered draws and grabbed freebees like pace bracelets and fridge magnets before heading back out into the sunshine.

We spent the afternoon relaxing- tanning and hanging out at the awesome pool at our condo, resting up before the big race while drinking plenty of water.  The weather throughout the trip was unseasonably warm, so we were treated to glorious blue skies with fluffy clouds and perfect 30C temperatures.

For dinner, we headed out early to the Cheesecake Factory, confident their giant portions would carb load us up before our race.  Naturally, it did not disappoint, in fact, the servings were so huge we ended up bringing home most of what we had ordered (even though it was all delicious) and we all took our cheesecakes (2 red velvets, a chocolate mousse and a peanut butter cup, mmmmm!) to go.

We were home around 830, spent a bit of time getting ourselves all organized, and it was lights out around 9pm for the Princesses....I think we had 4 alarms set for our 3am wakeup...

WE DID IT!!!

Thank you to all our friends and family for following and supporting us through this journey. We're too busy hanging out with Mickey and Minnie right now to update the blog but here are a few photos of the race. More to come when we're back home!

"Journey to a New World"

It wasn't as easy as we originally planned but overall, we think it worked out better than planned! It all started on Thursday afternoon when we noticed there were 11 seats left on the Red Eye and we were counting 9, 10 & 11. Quick action... change to 6:15pm which meant Crystal leaving work early to go home and pack, Felicity staying at work (thanks to her great thinking and bringing her suitcase) and Christi picking up Crystal once she was done packing to race for the 4:30 bus to get to the airport.

A few hiccups, Felicity forgetting her WJ pass on the bus (quick run to grab it from the bus driver before he drove away) and wearing her big down coat to the airport (quick fix with a drop at airside arrivals). Went for a quick bite and a couple of drinks at Milestone's then to the boarding lounge.



This is proper hydration before a race, right?

 We head through security with barely a hiccup, and headed down to our gate, hoping we wouldn't have any seat issues. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, we received our boarding passes....hurray!

 
We board the stuffed plane and are seated like ducklings all in a row...24, 25 and 26B.  We have a lengthy delay, our TVs don't work, and Christi gets her ear talked off by Chatty Charlie until she fakes sleeping, but we're in seats and on our way to Toronto!  Now, with the last minute change to our flight, we were looking at a 10 hour layover in YYZ and all our calls to nearby hotels were coming back with regretful no vacancies, so we were getting worried...a princess doesn't sleep on cold marble airport floors if they can help it.

Luckily, Crystal is well connected and she called a friend who not only offered us a place to stay, but also picked us up and booked us a fancy town car back to the airport in the morning. We didn't get much time there, but we all gave the Casa St Clair full marks on Trip Advisor!

Our dashing footman picked us up promptly and we were whisked to the airport in sweet comfy leather. Our driver pulled some impressive and questionable manouvers, including uturns, triple lane changes, and edging through 4 lanes of traffic to make left turns and all with a smile and a dapper black hat. He gets us there so fast, we have time for breakfast pizzas at Wolfgang Puck Express before heading through another completely painless security check AND customs check. YAY!

Airport woes..

Well the countdown is almost over and the real thing is almost here. Just a couple of last minute ‘minor’ things like.. well, booking flights, paying for flights, etc. Seems simple enough... Call the Call Centre, and book the flights.. check! Catch the 11:30 shuttle to go to the airport to pay for said tickets.. uh.. well .. here’s how THAT went.

Princesses Crystal and Felic came to my desk with 8 minutes to spare. We then jumped on the shuttle and we were starting the journey.. so to speak. We got to the airport and the Disney magic seemed to start as there was no line. After asking a wonderful WJ ambassador to take our photo we were quickly ushered to Eric who was more than happy to hear our story .. the whole story. Another photo op of the three of us and our separate payment methods… ooooh this is were it got more than a little sticky.

Eric was efficient in our first payment, then mayhem. The quote for the day is now.. “How many CSA’s does it take to check three princesses in on one PNR?” The answer.. 4, almost 5 but the fifth was dealing with the line up that started after we started our payment process. Luckily, number 4 Jeremy was able to sort us out and we were on our way to get lunch at Chachi’s!

We ordered quick and Felic suggested we head down as it was getting close to pick up time. Uh.. yeah.. we watched the bus go by as we hit the bottom of the escalator. Crystal with her lightening speed called the driver and we asked him to wait. With Felic running down the escalator at this point and the bus waiting for us at Tim’s, we sprinted down the concourse and hopped on the bus with apologetic faces. Our only worry now is how tired we were after our 200m sprint .. our next run will be 20.8km longer!! It's just gotta get easier from here!!