Fun Runs under a Toronto Sun!

A lot of things have happened in the past month or so that I haven't had time to write about...the Alberta Floods devastated, and then united my city, I went to Jamaica, Stampede 101 went off with barely a hiccup, I went to Dallas for the first time, and I've been training like crazy for the Seawheeze next weekend. But before all that, I went to visit friends in Toronto and ran not once, not twice, but three times!

I left Calgary on June 21 in the pouring rain (it turns out I left just before the flooding got crazy) and overnighted at the YYZ Sheraton Gateway so I wouldn't have to take the red eye flight on Friday morning.  I had to get up bright and early because my training schedule called for a 15K run. May I say the Sheraton is GREAT because when I checked in I asked at the front desk if there were any running paths nearby and they gave me a fancy official Sheraton map with a 3K and a 5K loop right out the front door of the hotel and around the airport!

 

Gah! Why won't this rotate? Anyways, is neat, no?

Easy peasy, I crank out 3 loops of the 5K without getting lost at all. Not an official race, but I did have to get that done while I was there. I got texts throughout from YYC with updates on the flooding...it was crazy!  The sun in Toronto was already blisteringly hot at 7am plus the geese in Toronto are kind of jerks because when I stopped to take a picture of some cute goslings, I got chased by angry hissing parents! harumph.
 

Jerk geese

Sweatin' like a hog on slaughter day.

Run completed, I went back to bed for an hour, showered and took the train downtown to meet my friend at the Color Me Rad expo to pick up our bibs. Pretty exciting stuff as we picked up our shirts and awesome sunglasses and debated over buying cool Color me Rad swag like socks or 70's gym shorts. We grabbed some Red Bull samples and then headed to PF Changs for my very first visit and to carb up before our run (mint margaritas have carbs too, yes?). We then stopped in Unionville on the way home to pick up our second set of bibs, shirts and swag. This one was the Run for Women in Unionville, which we had heard was awesome and had something different than a medal at the finish line...plus had a kid race too so Kendall could run too!

RACE DAY #1

We had to get up at an ungodly hour (I had about 30 texts from YYC about flood, a bunch of my friends got evacuated) and all headed out to the race. The grownup race was first, so after snarfing some free snacks, listening to some motivating speeches from Olympians, and doing our group warmup, we were off!

Bibs on, now where's the lobster??

Unionville is an awesome wee Ontario "gem of a historic village" so the start of the race was right up Main Street which felt like we were running in the 50s with its brick fire station and City Hall and gazebos, sooo cute!  After that we veered off into a gorgeous park and looped around a shaded gravel path (it was close to raining but it was still HOT out so the shade was nice). It was actually a pretty great route, I would like to run it again sometime!  After the loop, we headed back and came back up along Main Street for a great finish with cheering fans waving cowbells and holding all kinds of fun signs! Then instead of a medal, we got these awesome bracelets from Foxy , just another reason why I love women's only runs...see how cute? 

Of course I love me some medals, but it sure is nice when you get something you can actually wear (and subtly let people know how awesome you are). 

After a few glasses of water and some more snacks, we went back to do the Kids run with Kendall...man, kids can MOVE, she went off like a shot and I could barely keep up with her! Good thing was only one kilometer, I could NOT have kept up that pace much longer. Super fun run though, watching all the little girls tear around the course.

I am at full tilt, and the kid is just cruising!

Success and triumph for everyone called for nonstop eating and drinking for the rest of the day (I had just discovered Glazed Donut Vodka existed and it needed to be tried in all its delicious forms) after we assembled our shirts for Color Me Rad...Team Betty White needed to have a shoutout to our favorite feisty senior celebrity!

RACE DAY #2!

Now, originally we had picked the Woman's run as a substitute for the Color me Rad run which wasn't being held in Toronto. Imagine our excitement when they announced TWO Toronto runs were being held, and THE SAME WEEKEND I WAS GOING TO BE THERE ANYWAYS! This is a lot of running in one weekend, but the Color me Rad is pretty low pressure (no timing chip) so we figured we could walk most of this one. So, we picked up Tracy and her daughter Paisley (at another ungodly hour) and headed out to the park where music was blaring and the energy was crazy!  We were in one of the first waves but there were already color bombed folks walking around showing off their new colors. After trying some Vitamin water samples and tatting up RAD-style, we headed into the corral and with a few color bombs to herald our start, we were OFF!!!

Team Betty White is ready to be RAD!

I was so excited to get color bombed I broke into a trot...which was not mirrored by the rest of my team (Tracy may have lit a cigarette at this point). I am ashamed to say when they told me to go ahead, I broke the rule of "no soldier gets left behind" and scampered off as fast as one could when it was already high 20Cs and about a trillion percent humidity and ended up doing 4.95K on my own.   I pirouetted through every color bomb station and when I finished I ran back to the parking lot to pick up camera (to amused cries from incoming new racers than I was going the wrong way or that I had already crossed the finish line)  I got back in time to take a few pics of them coming in and even joined them for another triumphant finish!

Hey, thanks Flo-Foto for not blocking your images?



Ain't nobody more RAD than us!

I've done races at Disneyland and World, in Vegas, in the snow, and one in Vancouver that had mermaids and drag queens cheering us on, but I think Color Me Rad is one of my favorites. It was low key and relaxed and totally fun and people were really getting into it. The white outfit before and afters looked so fun, and the energy before and after the race were pretty hard to beat!  I've read that this race is super popular because it isn't elitist and it brings out the kid in everyone and that was how I felt when we were there. I felt like it brought in a lot of people who wouldn't normally enter a 5K run of any kind, and I think it will help encourage people to have fun with running...because as much as I complain about how I hate running, I really don't...there isn't much that beats the excitement of race day :)

I feel bad that I didn't get to write about this sooner, I'm sure I've forgotten some things, but there was a lot on the go in the weeks following this trip. But I got to spend time with my dear friend and her family that I just don't get to see enough of, got to try 2 new (and very different) races, make some new friends and ate and drank from sunup to sundown. All in all, a great weekend, I hope I get invited back soon!

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!!

OK, I was out of town last week so I didn't get this live, but I can imagine the shrieking of my teammates was pretty epic???

Acceptance never felt so sweet!!!

Not sure if I can stress how exciting this is, this race is extremely popular, so popular they have to do a random draw from the 30K+ applicants they get for the 7000 or so spots available.  I have tried 4 times already, so I was starting to lose hope that I would EVER get in. And I had tried as a single and as a group, so I wasn't sure what I was doing wrong.

Anyway, we are IN and there are 5 of us on team Pardon my Fartlek (AHAHAHAA, I love run jokes) so we will have 5 lovely ladies running the hills of San Fran in October!

Bring on the Tiffany necklace, Mr Fireman!!!

Get Ready, Get Sweaty!

Some of the worst things about getting back from a week long vacation include:

-the insane credit card bill that even when I go over it closely proves was all me.
-buying/drinking whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. More eyeliner and beer for breakfast? Sure thing!
-trying to reduce calories down from the high school linebacker-style consumption I managed last week. Seriously, one day I hit daily calorific intake before I finished breakfast.
-getting back into a running schedule after a week off...feels like starting over.

But you know what helps offset the post-vacation blues? Coming home to this!!!

Sooooo much better than a bill!

HURRAY! My snappy Lululemon shorts had arrived while I was away!  And how cool is the shipping paper??

When I eagerly tore that off, there was ANOTHER cool pattern underneath on a zippered thing resembling a giant pencil crayon case.

Not sure what to use it for yet, but trust me, it'll be something cool.

OMG so much better than white.

When I opened that, the shorts were revealed in all their stripy glory. Hurray! They look just as good in real life as they did online.  Plus, they fit great!!!

No point of reference, but trust me here, they are TINY.

Wait...let me clarify. They are not too tight or too baggy, and they are comfy as heck. But, let me be clear, they have a TWO INCH INSEAM. You know what that means? Like, what it means with regard to PANTS? Well, the tag for the pants hangs 3 inches below the hem of the shorts. They are so short they require built in underpants. They are so short the underwear I was wearing when I tried them on was actually clearly visible above and below the shorts. I'm no seamstress, but I bet less than half a meter of fabric was used in their construction. And I can assure you they will NEVER see the light of day outside in Calgary. But I AM pretty excited to wear them on runs in other countries...I will be in Jamaica next month, so they won't have to wait too long to see the light of day.

Just in time too...Happy June 3......the Seawheeze Training Program kicks off today! And while I don't have a snappy iphone that I can download their awesome app onto, I am still able to follow along oldskool on the web!  

Day 1 started out with Vancouver-style rain at 5am which seemed fitting since the race will be there too. Undeterred, Princess Chris and I met at 530am and did the 50 minute run on the schedule and cheered as we checked it off on the app. Kind of rough after a few weeks off, plus the rain didn't make it easy to get up and out of the house, but it still beats the treadmill!

Yoga tomorrow...hurray!

Already got the wheezing part...

Check out our Progress! We've registered for the Lululemon Seawheeze, a half marathon in Vancouver that's only 95 days away. It does sound like fun and the route looks like it will be gorgeous. And while it's not an exclusively woman's race, I'm guessing it will be slightly geared towards the ladies, which is the kind of race I prefer….even the most unathletic of boys will probably pass me forever at some point. Plus the swag includes shorty shorts instead of a shirt! We registered too late to get the shorts ahead of time, but I understand they look like this:

Pretty sure I have undies with more coverage.

Yeah, short and white pretty much guarantees I will never wear these out of my house, but I have to admit they are totally cute and I would wear them if I had 32 inch hips. Pajama bottoms if I can even squeeze into the biggest size, I guess?

For the Stampede Half in a couple of weeks, I’m pretty sure our only goal is to finish the race upright (and then eat as many pancakes as possible), but I decided my goal for this race is to try to be 2:20 or under. I think because it won’t have quite as many photo ops as a Disney run and the race is in a sea level city, that this goal is tough, but possible.


Of course, this means I'm not only have to get my butt training, but I'll have to knock about 30 seconds off my typical per km pace in a half marathon. This doesn’t seem like much until you realize just how fast you have to go without breaks…and the breaks you do get have to be SHORT. Sounds like I'm really going to have to bump up the hill training and speedwork! We have had a couple of shriekworthy training runs where I think this pace could be possible…in fact, we did one 7K last week where if we could have maintained that pace, we would have come in UNDER 2 HOURS for a half…yes, it’s unlikely we could have maintained that speed for any longer than we did, but it gave us a good idea of what our pace should be like to set a new PR. I can already feel my legs getting sore....

Luck O'the Irish

We might have dropped the ball in 2012 as far as distance running, but St Patrick's Day 10K marked our first race of the year! It seemed like the perfect race for us  since it encouraged costumes, was sponsored by Steamwhistle beer, (the race included a random draw to win your weight in beer) as well as post race goodies by Cobbs Bakery. Basically, all the fun stuff that has nothing to do with the actual run itself.

Side note: I'd like to say I bulked up to increase the number of beers I could win, but to be honest, I just like pizza. At least I know how to motivate myself to run?

Anyways, St Pat's dawned sunny, clear, no rain/flurries like the forecast had called for and about 2C. I've discovered recently that 2C is probably my perfect running temperature; a bit chilly at the starting line, then nice and cool all the way through the run. We donned our green argyle socks, St Patrick's Day shirts, green boas, green wigs and shamrock headgear and we were ready to go!  Too bad neither of us had run more than 5K in the past 2 months...nonetheless, we were here to have fun and hoping only to finish in under 70 minutes.

The race started right on time without much fanfare---I guess this is why this race was a quarter of the price of a  Disney races.  To be honest, I was a smidge letdown at the starting line, I like me some pre-race fireworks, music and characters! Anyway, we thought we looked awesome and the crowds of people at the starting line let us know they agreed.

It felt like the the first and second kilometers flew by and my confidence grew. Training, schmaining, a 10K is easy I thought to myself as we easily kept pace. Plus I was all excited to see Daryl Janz at the Steamwhistle truck shouting numbers as people ran by (I never figured out what they were for, come to think of it?) In fact, the first 5K felt pretty awesome, the kind of run that makes me LOVE running. I started having fantasies of breaking an hour. By 6K, as the runners starting spacing out more, I was faltering a bit. I'm pretty sure they were spacing the markers further and further apart and I was getting a bit tired as we chugged past 7K. Somewhere around this point I started hating the wig as it filled with sweat and the boa as it kept flapping in my mouth or slithering off my shoulders. I think around 8K I started whimpering involuntarily and Christi was forced to dust off her Disneyland 2011 Mile 12 Peptalk (patent pending), bless her heart!! I cursed myself for double knotting my shoelaces so the stupid things couldn't come undone and earn me a quick "break".

We turned the last corner at about 9.5K and there it was...the finish line. Right in front of us. Like, just down the street. I knew we only had maybe 3 more minutes of running, but I was dying---I felt like my quads had been beaten with a cane and I SWEAR the finish line was actually getting further away instead of closer.Once we got close enough to see the timer and realized we had a darn good chance of breaking 1:04, I was able to finish in what felt like a pretty strong finish.

I didn't realize we got medals, so that was pretty exciting to see what was quite a nice 25th anniversary metal shamrock.  Post race, we were treated to Irish stew, CHOCOLATE CHIP MINT SCONES and Lucky  Charms, which I may have never tried before because I'm pretty sure I'd remember such tasty little sugar nuggets!! We didn't win our weight in beer, but the post-run awards and prizes were really fun. And those scones were too delicious to stick to just one.

Clearly this is the first half as I'm still smiling.

What next? Guess I'd better take this lesson to heart and start running more than 5K stints. And we're planning to register for a few runs this week to get us motivated and our training on track!!

In like a lion...

We're at the end of the first week and still totally keen!  We ran three times this week-once on the treadmill and twice outside...in the morning, in the dark, in the snow, by the airport...with a few walking breaks.  But we did it! Winter here in YYC has been unseasonably warm, but both runs this week were in -10C through icy shoulders of the service road or the unplowed running path of the NE. Chilly, but it sure felt nice to be back out there...

Yeah, but I'm still blowing him off this weekend...

Still, I'm heading to Palm Springs for the weekend to catch some REAL sun and enjoy the 25C they're forcasting for the weekend. I'm bringing my running stuff, so I'm going to get in at least one run somewhere warm, sunny and at sea level, which should certainly help with my training! Plus since I'll be near a Target AND an outlet mall, I'd say the chances of buying some snappy new running gear are pretty good...

Can't wait to see you Mr Sun!

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!

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!

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...

Test, Test!

This morning Christi and I did a practice run in our dresses (alas, Crystal was trapped in a tower by an evil witch. OK...she had to work late last night. But I bet she had to sweep chimneys or something while she was there). Since we live in Calgary and average temperatures right now are around -10C and our outfits are designed for the 20-30C we'll be running in at Disneyworld, we had to run inside.
We met at 6am at our work gym and spent about 10 minutes prancing and preening in front of the mirrors and giggling...it was the first time we'd seen each other in our princess gear and if we do say so ourselves, we looked fantastic!  When we were finished adjusting tiaras and bows, we headed out and hopped on adjacent treadmills. Before we even started moving, we had a few comments from other people at the gym who were feeling underdressed.  We smiled and did our best princess waves and we were off (well, not off, we were running in place).

We each ran 3K and figured that would be a good test of any outfit fails.  Christi's new top stayed up and didn't run (it was freshly dyed) but she wanted to ruch up the skirt a bit, and I realized immediately that the collar I had pinned on was going to have to be sewn into place. And it took less than 10 minutes before we had both worked up a bit of a sweat. Both valuable lessons that will be easy to fix, and other than that, it was fantastic!  We looked great and felt great, no chafing!  We especially liked running with the satiny skirts swishing around, and considered running in poufy skirts from now on! And even if we felt a bit silly, we brought smiles to everyone else at the (surprisingly busy considering the snow and time) gym.
We tried to get a picture, but we had a camera snafu, so no visual documentation of our awesomeness. So I'll leave you with these instead...click on the link for more lessons!

Lessons from a Disney Princess


if you don’t like how things are going, it’s totally cool to run away.



...especially if you don’t want a man to see you without makeup.

Pifff, I'd never leave a shoe that pretty behind!

4.5 Sleeps to go!

That's right...since we take the red eye flight on Thursday, I don't think it actually counts as a full night's sleep. We got a few more pictures from our practice half last week thanks to our Running Room buddies!

This is what the start looked like! Too bad we missed it!

Crowns still shiny on the home stretch!

A perfect princess wave, well done!

Princesses and our Ladies-in-Waiting! Thanks Jen and Cherie!

So much to do before we go...mostly deciding what shoes to pack and which parks to go to!

Hypothermic Half "Test" Marathon!!

Well here we are, 2 weeks prior to our race and our training schedule this weekend called for our longest run ever, 20kms! It just so happened that this particular weekend was the half marathon that the rest of our Running Room group was actually training for, the Calgary Hypothermic Half Marathon. We figured since we had to run 20kms anyways this weekend, why not join in and just run it? What's 1km more? We didn't register in time so we didn't have an official number on a bib or a chip but we were excited to run the course with other runners and get a taste of that 'race' feeling.

In the days before the race we made sure to 'hydrate, hydrate, hydrate'! And we all enjoyed a BIG meal the night before the race. It was early to bed and thankfully not too early to rise; the race was at 10am. Weather check in the morning and it was calling for a gorgeous day, sunny with a high of +6 degrees. We haven't run in temperatures that warm we almost didn't know what to wear and had to quickly confirm with each other on only 2 layers. Princess Fliss offered to pick Princess Chris and I up in the morning at 9:30 and head over to Eau Claire where the race started. We figured we didn't have to be there that early as there was no race package to pick up, we were just planning on blending into the crowd and hope no one noticed we were ghost running the race. I guess this is common in the running world and the path is still open to anyone to run on, but it was our first 'ghost run' so we felt somewhat like kids sneaking into a concert or an amusement park.

We got ready quickly after parking all with bedazzled tiaras (Thanks Felicity!) and headed to the start only to find it a ghost town! There wasn't a sole there! . We questioned if the race maybe didn't start until 10:30 or 11 but then we noticed the race clock just passing 5 minutes. We were late! We missed the whole start! So instead of taking off right then and there we had to of course get some passerbys to take our picture in front of the big inflatable Running Room start/finish sign. We then headed out at 10:07am onto the running route. We didn't see anyone that looked as if they were part of a race, just your normal Sunday walkers and joggers. Thankfully Fliss had looked up the route online and knew where to go. We had a good laugh at missing the race and were happy with ourselves for just being outside and about to run 21kms.

The run started off like any other, the first km or two feeling terrible as our bodies adjusted and got into a rhythm. We trudged along the river feeling a little disappointed to not be 'in the race' when all of a sudden we passed someone wearing a bib!! Then another, and another!! We were in it! Christi pointed out what looked like a larger group of runners and we could see them! We were catching up! This filled us with joy and accomplishment. We were now in the race and set our minds now on the long steady run ahead of us. As we crossed over the 14th St bridge we saw a familiar face signalling where to turn and it was Karen from our Running Room group. She snapped an action shot of us, we said a quick hello and ran on, finally passing the 5km marker. "Pffft, 5kms, that was easy! Want to do another 5km? Sure! Why not. Then maybe turn around and come back".

Feeling pretty good we slowly but surely passed people. It was an amazing feeling. We noticed lots of people running the other direction looking at us funny then remembered we were wearing tiaras. As we passed some of the race participants, they smiled or laughed and told us how much they liked the tiaras or said "Yay Princesses!". It was extremely uplifting and Felicity decided she is going to wear a tiara every time she runs which we agreed was a great idea. We did at one point get called a Stagette as one of the crowns was silver and the other 2 were pink and our outfits all coincidentally matched.

Christi's friend Anne-Marie had come out to cheer her on and when we made it to her she jogged along with us for a good little while like a natural runner herself! She was kind enough to take all of our gloves for us as it was just way too warm to wear them and we took a moment for a great photo op of us jumping, clearly showing just how excited we were to be there. AND she's the only person to have ever snapped one of our jumping shots on the first take!

As we neared the bridge at Edgeworthy Park we noticed a water station and 2 photographers. Even though we weren't registered we still smiled like Princesses should, hey, you never know! The volunteers cheered for 'The Princesses' and gave us water as we ran by. We began hitting icy patches along the path at which was the only point the shoe grips would have come in handy. No one fell and we kept on trucking along. We were now seeing racers coming back and were cheering them on. As more and more runners began running back the other way, more people cheered and encouraged and we really began to feel the energy of the race and get that 'Runners High' where you feel like you could run forever!

The half way point came, we stopped for a photo op again and heard someone say as we ran off "Love the tiaras Princesses, see you in 2 weeks!". We don't know who it was but it was pretty exciting. We refuelled at this point. The girls had Luna power bars and I tried out a Goo for the first time expecting it to be terrible, but surprisingly it was not bad! Now we were running back and passing people still heading in the direction of the turn around and more encouraging words and compliments on the tiaras pushed us through. I was nervously waiting for the pain in my knee that had almost made me want to cut my 12k run short the weekend before to start but it never did! Christi had lent me a knee brace and I think it worked like a charm.

We made it to the 15km marker, stopped for a picture (yes, we really do need to document as much of these runs as possible) and starred dauntingly at the view of down town Calgary that seemed so far away. It was only 6kms more but we were beginning to feel like muscles were slowly tightening up and our legs getting heavier. My ankle began to hurt and I noticed a cramp in my left shoulder. We shook out our arms and slowed our pace a little. Little by little the city seemed to get closer as we ran along the river.

We passed Karen again as she cheered us on and neared Eau Clair feeling like there must only be 500ms left. At this point we felt the only moment of despair as we were directed to run onto Prince's Island and around back into Eau Claire making it more like another 2kms to the finish. It seemed so close yet so far. I remember thinking at this point that I will never run a marathon because this wouldn't even be half way yet!

We rounded the last bend and corner and all of a sudden the end was in sight! Our plan had been to just veer off and not cross the finish line since we didn't have a chip but we found ourselves now trapped on the path in a chute of spectators cheering loudly for The Princesses! There was no where else for us to go other than the finish line. It felt great to be cheered on but we felt guilty for not being actual race participants especially when they tried to put medals around our necks! But WE DID IT!! We ran an actual half marathon and we all felt amazing! Our time was 2:18 which we were all very happy with considering how many times we stopped.

Back in the car again, into some dry shirts and chugging a 4L carton of chocolate milk like teenagers passing around a bottle in the parking lot of a school dance, we revelled in the afterglow of our accomplishment. Next stop was breakfast at Galaxie Dinner with a giant creamcicle shake and all you can eat hashbrowns! It was one of the best meals I have had in awhile!

I think all of us stayed on that runners high for the rest of the weekend and we all felt great with only mild soreness the next day! It was a good sign, a great day, a good race and just what we needed to know we'll be unstoppable in Orlando!!!

Three weeks to go!

23 more sleeps, Mickey!!!

It seems like only yesterday we were 200 days away from our race, but this time three weeks from now, we'll be arriving in Florida!   We still have one more week of running clinic, we have a 20K to get through in training, and I need to find some sweatproof mascara and eyeliner, but I've been compusively checking our flights, the weather, where the cupcake shops are and even had my first "Disneymare" last night...I dreamt we went for lunch in Toronto during our layover and missed our connecting flight.  Yes, I woke up in a sweaty panic today, but I guess if I'm still not too worried about the run itself, then we're doing OK!

Two very different 18Ks...

Part 1: 18 kilometer run



Sunday I woke up feeling lousy. My stomach hurt and I was kind of stuffed up. And really tired, in spite of a solid 10 hours of sleep. I didn't want to run 18K, I wanted to go back to sleep and then eat chicken noodle soup (laced with, um, Imodium). The great (and terrible) thing about training as a trio meant I couldn't do that, I had to get up and go. Still feeling lousy, I drove over to the Running Room to join the group and we set out on what I grudgingly acknowledge was a lovely sunny and warm (for January) morning run. We started out running towards the mountains, which was straight into a brisk Chinook wind, which means I was in trouble immediately. I find running INTO the wind means it sucks the air right out of me so the first 2K which are usually a treat before I get all tired were tough as I wheezed my way West. We wound our way into some pretty posh neighbourhoods and I eyed their 4 car garages nervously, daydreaming of what would happen if I knocked on their door and asked to use their servants bathroom should it be required. Running was NOT improving my tummy, but we kept on trucking. Crystal had brought her awesome marathoner buddy for the run and was wearing one headphone, so she stayed slightly ahead with the lead runners and entertained us with her random karaoke (run-eoke?) Christi was foolish enough to lag behind and both keep me company and force me to keep up with the group so I wouldn't get lost. This meant she had 123 minutes of me whining to look forward to!

Like the Evil Witch, this only looks good on the outside

 After a few KILLER hills, I was actually whimpering out loud. I didn't sign up for this!---wait, yes I did. After running up a dirt road hill, we reached what I can only assume was City limits, so we mercifully paused for a photo op. I made the mistake at this point of checking our distance, and was crushed to see we weren't even half way. We still had a few kms before we were even halfway. At that point, if a taxi had pulled up, I would have quit and gone home. I was tired, I wasn't feeling good, and at no point so far had I hit a running groove: basically every minute was feeling like torture and I was not having fun. But, no taxi (or bus, or rickshaw or donkey) came to save me, so on we went.

I'd like to say things got better at the halfway point, but they didn't. I whined for the next hour or so as we worked our way around Signal Hill and Richmond. Sorry Christi, and thanks for putting up with me! At one point, I got a stabby pain in my foot so sudden and severe I shrieked and dead stopped. I limped along for a few minutes until the pain subsided, and it hasn't come back since. We finally made it back to the Running Room only to realize we were still a quarter of a km off the finish, so we had to run over to the Best Buy and back, twice passing the others doing their cool downs. I was so relieved we were done, I wanted to lie face down on the icy pavement for the rest of the day. But then I would have missed what happened next...

Part 2: 18k....that's 18000 calories consumed, people

Now, the only reason I pushed through the run was under the promise of Pannenkoeks. We peeled over to the restaurant to get on the waiting list, stopping only to grab a jug of chocolate milk to fight off the post-run DTs. Noticing the "No Outside Food or Drink" sign on the door but not wanting to wait in the cold, we huddled around the curio cabinet, surreptitiously swigging and passing the jug around like bad high school kids at the mall with a mickey swiped from their parent's stash. When we were sat, we apologized to our server about the milk (we're not bad kids, we totally felt guilty!) and instead of being mad, she brought us sample sizes of their own chocolate milk which she claimed was the best in the city. After trying it, we couldn't argue. She also brought us extra cookies with our tea because "we looked like we needed them". HOOORAY!

Things only got better from there. We decided since 18k was so much more than 16k, we needed to split 4 between the 3 of us---2 savory and 2 sweet. We opted for their feature: grilled chicken, Anjou pear, maple glazed pecans and Gruyere, along with a repeat of the awesome one from last week: potato, bacon and cheese. Then we sat there unable to concentrate on a subject for more than 10 seconds until the sweet, sweet nosh arrived on our table. After some hasty pannenkoek math, we dived in to what can only be described as heaven on a plate. Not only was it excellent, but we were seriously tapping into empty carb tanks at that point. I could almost feel life and happiness flowing back into me as I alternated bites of each, pausing only to slather the potato one in sour cream.

No, I can't believe Crystal left a cookie either!

Before we knew it, we were staring at empty plates...but not for long. Moments later, our dessert pannenkoeks arrived. One was banana Nutella with ice cream AND whipped cream, the other was the cinnamon bun one (sugar and cream cheese frosting) with added baked apples and maple pecans. At this point, I was so excited, I had to put my head in my lap to avoid passing out, so Crystal and Christi divvied up the goods. Again, sweet sugary joy coursed through ourveins as we mainlined our dessert.

That's what I call a money shot!

Eventually we flatlined, so full we actually left traces of Nutella on the table. All we could do at that point was rush home for showers and serious couch time, both of which were well earned.

 

This folks, is what running is all about...through perseverance comes great rewards!

Note the crazy looks in our eyes...