Happy Easter, Happy Birthday to me, oh and...

Well, it's been longer than I had intended, but honestly, not much to report. Am just trucking along, doing my weekly runs and increasing distance on the weekend. Nothing rigid, nothing fancy as far as training, I am just trying to keep up with my yoga and my maintenance runs so when the actual training takes off, I can literally hit the ground running.

Well...except for one thing that happened that was so horrible I am still having trouble coming to terms with it. I'll post some disgusting pictures soon, but in the meantime try to guess based on these clues...

1. It was like something out of a horror film

2. It officially makes me a Real Serious Runner

3. It eliminates most of my summer shoes from wardrobe contention this summer

4. I hope I get to enjoy a discount the next time I get a pedicure

Any guesses?

Badass Mudders!

It's that time of year again...the clocks have spring forward, the days are getting longer, bunnies are trying to jump over each other but not quite making it and the urge to run outside gets overwhelming.  Today's forecast called for 12C, sunny and windy like the bejesus so I was just itching to get outside. Princess Chris and I made plans to run at lunchtime and I asked Lindsay, who I had coaxed into registering for the Seawheeze to join us.

The weather did not disappoint. While windier than I like (and it changed directions on the way back so it felt it like whole run was into the wind) the sun was shining and it was WARM out...not just a Chinook, it definitely felt like spring, and man, it felt great. I was wearing my new Mickey running shoes for the first time, and kept squealing when i looked down at my feet. But I quickly remembered the one thing I don't love quite so much about spring running...

MUD.

Ohh maaaaah laaaawd, the mud.  

Within 5 minutes of leaving the building, my gorgeous new Mickey shoes were covered in so much mud I bet they were 5lbs heavier. And even running through patches of (rapidly melting) snow couldn't rinse 'em off. A quick rinse when we got back to the office did little to restore their glory and to be honest, a quick whiff made me worry it wasn't all mud. I opted to wrap then in paper towels and stick them in my bag to let them dry out and hopefully clean them off later....

This was after the FIRST cleaning attempt. sorry Mickey!

Well, might as well break them in sooner or later, and a 5K didn't give me any trouble, hurray! It was windier than we would have liked, but overall a gorgeous day, great company and a pretty darn good run. We even spent the rest of the afternoon on a bit of a runner's high!
Plus, it was our first trio run. Next thing you know, we'll be running the Seawheeze in August!

Shoes + Disney = AWESOME

Now, I know I've written of my love of shoes before, but I think this bears repeating. I LOVE SHOES. It's usually the first part of someone's outfit I notice. I have shoes in my garage, storage room, front hall closet, spare room closet, linen closet, bedroom closet and in my filing cabinet at work. Obviously, if I could stand it I would always wear 3 inch heels (hey, is only way I don't have stumpy elephant legs, plus it lowers my BMI into the normal range, hahaha!) but I can't last all day even in the comfiest of heels. Oh, plus I run kind of a lot, and with a "heavy footfall", which I think is the running store saleperson's nice way of saying "like a fat kid", but I'll stick with the scientific term, heh. So when I find a good pair of running shoes, it's time to shout it from the rooftops...errr....Internet.

This year, Disney teamed up with New Balance to create a pair of Mickey and Minnie inspired running shoes for their RunDisney program. The men's shoe is based on Mickey in his classic tuxedo and the ladies Minnie shoe draws from Minnie's polka dot dress and yellow heels look of yesteryear. As soon as I discovered they existed, I was smitten! Behold how cute they are!!!

Mickey on the left, Minnie on the right...LOVE THEM!

So it was very scary to further read these babies were limited edition and only available at Run Disney expos. How handy that I was heading to one of those in a few weeks! And even handier that I have giant man feet and might be able to scoop up a pair of men's shoes at a women's run! Never had I been so excited to have big feet...with any luck, there wouldn't be many ogres registered in the run who might also be interested in the size 11 women's shoe because we weren't going to be able to be at the expo when it opened.

Long story short, we waited in line for probably 20 minutes to get a pair to try on as people around us lamented the sizes they were already sold out of. Like the clever princesses we are, we researched the model # of this shoe and tried them on here at home ahead of time so we knew just what size to ask for. I had decided I liked the Mickey ones better for running, but quickly got caught up in the hype at the expo and asked for both gender shoes. We waited with baited breath as they searched....and returned with boxes of shoes!!!! I was able to snag both a Mickey and a Minnie thanks to my big ol' feet, but Christi being the daintier princess was sadly only able to get a pair of Minnie shoes. Nonetheless, we fought off the women desperate to grab our shoes if we didn't want them (seriously, this shoe buying experience was cutthroat! I could NOT let those Minnies go) and gleefully bought our shoes before heading over to....pick up our race packs. That's right, we went for shoes before checking in for the race, we were already hours late! 

Now, the first rule of running a half marathon is don't talk about Fight Club  don't wear new ANYTHING on race day. Not headband, shoes, pants, socks, anything you haven't tested for chafing first. But Christi decided her shoes matched her Snow White dress perfectly and decided to throw caution to the wind and wore her brand new shoes on the race....

In 21K and over 22000 runners, we didn't see a single other person wearing these shoes.

But GUESS WHAT?!

She loved 'em! No problems at all and she looked every bit the princess at the finish line in her gorgeous new shoes!  A few blisters, but she always gets them after a half and these were way less problems than she's had in the past with tried and tested shoes. Don't try this at home folks, it was a Disney Miracle!

The second miracle is that I've now worn my Minnie shoes for a 6K and a 5K this week...both on the treadmill thanks to the dump of snow we got on the weekend, but I also love them! I figured I would use them for crosstraining instead of running, but they matched my outfit better those days. They are comfortable, well fitted and have just the right amount of support I need, which I wasn't sure of the first time I tried them on. Plus anytime I started getting annoyed with the treadmill, I just looked down at my feet and felt all happy again! Thanks Minnie!

One Week Later

OK, so I still feel like I haven't recovered from the Princess on Sunday. I still feel tired and achy...like I fell out of a tree or something. Plus, darn it, I deserve a bit of a break. So I haven't run once since then, or even been to the gym in the past week. That's fine, I think a few days to fully recover is a good idea. So in the meantime, please enjoy our before and after pictures from the race:

Why are we smiling? We're about to run 21K in 25C!

Note we both have a touch of the crazies in

our eyes...we're dazzled by the new bling!



Also, a friend sent me this, but I'm thinking it's a pretty good idea....might give this a whirl the next time I'm downtown...DANCE WALK BABY!!

Princess 2.0

Well, it's been over 6 months since my last post. I have no excuse other than sheer laziness....On writing, that is. I have been running. Last year we did the Stampede Half and the Seawheeze. I did them and didn't write about it. I feel like I let myself down there...so let's acknowledge that it happened and move on.

Happy 2013! 

This is gonna be the YEAR I RUN AND WRITE ABOUT IT. 

I like having the record of it to track my progress and setbacks. I'm kinda funny sometimes. And a few pictures too. I'm kinda funny looking ALL the time, heh!

So what has 2013 brought so far? Well, get this. On Sunday, Princess Chris and myself completed the Disney Princess Half Marathon. That's right...the race that got us started on this whole running thing. Nope, we didn't write about the training. Yep, I will post a few pics this week. And I promise to start writing again, even if it's just for me. And I should have something to write about...we are registered for the Seawheeze again in August and the Disneyland Half again in September. We even have a new recruit for the Seawheeze running her first even half marathon! We are also planning on running the Stampede half again this year. And I promise there will be posts and pictures all year long!