Wordless Wednesday: Social Media Disney Memories

So this "Wordless Wednesday" isn't going to be very wordless... Social Media is to thank for all my amazing runDisney friends!

I joined the "For the love of Disney running" immediately after registering for 2013 Princess Half on Labor Day, and then jumped head first into registering for the 20th Anniversary WDW Marathon that same week. This wonderful Facebook page is run by Erin, who encourages and supports runDisney participants virtually. Erin even tracks everyone's training miles, which is really cool to see how all the miles add up leading up to race weekends. During WDW Marathon weekend, Erin held a meet-up at Beaches and Cream Soda Shop, the ice cream shop at Disney's Beach Club Resort. Abigail and I joined the fun! It was great to finally meet Erin and others who would be running that weekend. I got to see Marcia again, and officially meet Katie, Joe, Adam and Kira...all of whom I ended up running with during the WDW Marathon! Oh, and if you've never done it before, I highly recommend getting a few friends together and indulging in The Kitchen Sink! It's such a fun experience I cannot wait to repeat during 2014 WDW Marathon week!

Leading up to the WDW Marathon, I was nervous and to say the least. I had been following along the #CorralG chat Linzie and Marcia had going (probably others were chatting too but since I had only met Marcia before this race). I knew I needed others to help encourage me for 26.2, and that was my absolute best decision I made. We have become the best of friends since, and the miles we have between us hasn't stopped us from encouraging and supporting each other when we are running, and even when we aren't running! These people are flat out amazing.

Somewhere along the way I also joined "Team #runDisney", a group on Facebook for runDisney enthusiasts. Runners try to meet-up before races, not just runDisney events. The Publix Georgia Half Marathon is where I finally met some local Atlanta runDisney enthusiasts. It's been fun to have local running friends, even if we don't actually run with each other very often. Brandi, Jen and I are registered for lots of the same events and even though we all run at different paces, it's chatting before/after races and seeing a familiar face during the race on out and back courses. Through Twitter the three of us have also become good friends with Ramona, and are looking forward to her running Disney with us in 2015!

Training Recap: July Week 2

I was a little worried about getting back into a decent routine after all the Forth of July fun last week, but it turned out to be an excellent week of training! I'm a little bummed I didn't make it to one of the Power (weight) classes at the gym this week so I'll just have to coordinate a bit better next week.

Monday
I decided it'd be best to take a rest day since I did my first 13mi run (even if it was broken up) on Sunday. It must have been a bit of a lazy day because I cannot even remember what we may have done.

Tuesday
After Abigail's swim and dance classes we headed to the gym so I could get in some indoor miles. I ran Brewer a lot through our neighborhood during the Runner's World Summer Run Streak that I was curious to get back in a controlled environment and test myself a bit. My plan was to get in 5mi with the mid 3 at race pace. I had my training plan with me so I could do my normal over-analyzing.

I have Jeff Galloway's Training Programs all transferred into my planner. The Dopey Challenge training is 28 weeks long, and officially started last week, so this was Week 2 of Dopey Training. The Wine and Dine Training is an 18-week plan for time improvement, and training began this week. Jeff's plans all include 30-45 minutes on Tuesday and Thursday, then there is a Saturday assignment. I am using these training programs as a guide and have two others I am also incorporating into the mix but am intending to write an entire post just about my training plan...so let's see if that happens sometime in the near future.

Wednesday
For the last few weeks, social media has been exploding with chatter, reviews and giveaways for the new Mizuno Wave Sayonara shoes. They look pretty snazzy, in pink and in white! I got to check them out a bit at The Peachtree Road Race Expo last week, they are very light weight and airy. When I saw West Stride would have the Mizuno Rep out to let runners test run the Wave Sayonaras, I knew I really wanted to attend. I had never been to West Stride before for a group run so I opted for the 4 mile (instead of the 6 mile). This also turned out to be a good choice since I was testing out the Wave Sayonaras. While they were great to walk around, I think I over thought the running portion. I was too attentive to ever little feel and possible quirk of the shoe, so I'd like to give them another go. Luckily there are a couple other dates upcoming where the Mizuno Rep will also be appearing for future group runs. Hopefully I'll be able to test them again.

Thursday
I ended up taking a Rest Day. Abigail attended her swim and gymnastics classes and while I was hoping to take Brewer for a much needed run, I ended up in the kitchen cooking up another huge batch of Beef Pasta Bake. It's my go to meal of choice when it comes to loving on a family. My mom's group organizes meal calendars when new babies are welcomed home, it's a simple dinner on my part and really is appreciated by friends during their times of transition. I freeze the Beef Pasta Bakes and then can pull them out when it's time for me to deliver.

Friday
Abigail and I met up with some friends to see Dr. Seuss's Cat in the Hat at The Center for Puppetry Arts in the morning. If you live local to Atlanta, I highly recommend attending a show as we have loved ever performance we have attended.

We ran some afternoon errands before heading to the gym where I knocked out 4 quick miles on the treadmill. I'm glad I was only running 4 because I was super hot and sweating so nasty, but maybe it's me and not the gym (yuck!).

It was also "Cow Appreciation Day" at Chick-Fil-A and if you dress like a cow, you get free food! A couple years ago Matt got the genius idea to cut holes in an old undershirt and wear it over a black shirt. Abigail sported a white tank with black running shorts and an "Eat More Chicken" sign. Abigail was super excited when the little girl cow was greeting families because she has never met her before. Honestly, what's best about this event is people watching.

Saturday
We headed to Newnan, GA to celebrate our nephew's 4th birthday party. Abigail had lots of fun playing with her cousins outside in the pools, sliding down the slip-n-slide and in the crazy water sprinklers. It was a fun afternoon!

Sunday
I headed out early to run the Summer Steamer 10K in Kennesaw. My first ever 10K was the Possum Trot on June 1st and I ran it in 01:03:59. I felt good during that race but knew I had a little more and could definitely sub-60 soon. I had wanted to reach this goal at Peachtree last week, but after my trail run, I knew it was going to be very unlikely. The course was packed and I was prepared for rain. My time was consistent with 01:04:06 and with the hills of Peachtree, I knew I had improved. I ran hard today, maybe a little too hard because I had forgot my Nike+ watch and was relying on the RunKeeper App to give me updates every 5mins. I knew I had a good time buffer during my last mile and mentally gave into run/walking uphill after the Mile 5 marker. Once up the hill, I had recouped a bit of energy to sprint to the finish. I crossed the finish right as the finish timer clicked to 58min and I was thrilled! The final time came in at 00:57:34. I couldn't be more happy with this time, but I will continue to be a bit hard on myself about walking a bit up that last hill. Oh well, I just keep reminding myself that I will only continue to improve.

QUESTIONS:
-Are you doing anything fun and different this summer to occupy your days?
-Do you like to dress like a cow to get a free meal?

Peachtree Road Race Expo

Abigail and I arrived at 2013 Peachtree Health and Fitness Expo at the Georgia World Congress Center a little after initial opening on Tuesday morning. Most large events are held here but there's a $10 parking fee, and I'm pleased that both Expos I have attended here have offered coupons for discounted parking. Once inside the Expo, there was a giant road carpet with each corral having individual diagonal booths on the left side of the "road". This made for very easy retrieval for packet pickup as there were two volunteers at each booth so lines moved very quickly. I picked up four different packets, for runners in four different corrals and it was quick and painless.

Once we picked up our race packets, you proceeded through a huge Reebok booth and then landed upon all the Peachtree Road Race merchandise from Atlanta Track Club. I had joined ATC to get pre-registration without having to enter the lottery for the Peachtree Road Race.  My race bib had an extra "ATC member" line on it and I was given an red ATC tech shirt. While chatting with some of the ATC volunteers,  The ATC also had tables set up for other race registrations and to sell previous race merchandise. One of my friends mentioned that the super cheap previous race merchandise would make excellent "throw away clothes" for future races, so I'll have to keep that in mind in the future.

Somehow we ended up walking through the Expo opposite than I think it was intended. The aisles were very spacious allowing me decent room to weave my stroller with Abigail in it around other Expo visitors. I wanted to get a good idea of all the different races and vendors at the Expo before I bought anything.  That is until I saw the NUUN booth. For those of you who are not yet aware of my love for NUUN, it's an electrolyte tablet that transforms your water into a flavored sports drink. The tube of 12 NUUN tablets normally retails aruond $6-7 and the Expo special was two NUUN tubes and a water bottle for $10 (a value of $17). I ended up purchasing 6 tubes of Watermelon since I haven't been able to find it locally!


After wandering the aisles, collecting free snacks along the way, I found a pair of running sunglasses and a white hat I was hoping to find a good deal on both at this Expo. Eventually, I finally found the runDisney booth. If you register for a race on site, you get a complimentary backpack. I am already registered for the Wine and Dine Half and will have accepted the Dopey Challenge as a St Jude Hero, but I wanted the backpack. Then I remember I still hadn't registered Matt and I for The Jingle Jungle 5K yet, score! Now we have two backpacks, and I know they will be used during future Disney and runDisney trips!

I found a vendor selling iPhone armbands that can fit my Otterbox Defender case. I was really hoping to find a better armband than what I've been using. I had been searching online and reading reviews but was hesitant because I wanted to touch and feel and try to shove my iPhone into it to really make sure it was going to work. I have since worn it for a few runs and have really liked it.

Of course I had a few unplanned purchases too. I bought two "Running Girl" tanks, they were 2 for $25. Another vendor was selling Feeture socks Buy One Get One and I got a free shirt with purchase. These are my favorite running socks but the price is a bit high (normal for quality running socks). I also made a $15 donation to The Waffle House Foundation and received a tech shirt (will be Matt's for softball practice because they only had Men's Large). I remember seeing runners pictured below in The Adaptive Learning Center photos as I was running The Georgia Half Marathon in March. I had posted on Twitter trying to learn more about the runners to no avail.

While I was wondering through Expo, Abigail got bored and took a snooze. Don't let that completely fool you though, she had plenty of fun getting freebies and taking a photo with the giant Olympic torch. She even got to play tennis! Many vendors must be used to families visiting their booths because Abigail acquired a lei, a tiara and she ate a couple chocolate dipped marshmallows.

  

I got to chat with US Olympian Jeff Galloway at his Phidippides Expo booth, and it was pretty amazing to see all his Peachtree Road Race shirts framed on he wall next to a photo of him winning the very first Peachtree Road Race and his trophy! All Peachtree finishers receive a t-shirt and this shirt will award you discounts and freebies throughout the city on race day.


Probably the craziest part of the Peachtree Road Race Expo, is I registered for not one, but TWO marathons. Maybe I was had gone a bit delirious after being at Expo for two days? After the WDW Marathon, I swore I would never do another, unless it was Disney again. Now here I am only 6 months after finishing a marathon, and now I find myself planning and researching training plans for THREE upcoming marathons. The first will be at the end of October, it's The Atlanta Marathon. The course looks amazing, running throughout the city! This marathon will be more for training than for time, so I can have two months before I run The Dopey Challenge to tweak any training. I also registered for 26.2 with Donna, which is held annually at the end of February in Jacksonville, FL. I will be running Donna with two of my amazing friends made from the WDW Marathon, Marcia and Linzie! Although we are all miles apart, I know we'll continue to encourage and support each other virtually during training. There will be much more talk about these marathons over the next few months, yikes!

QUESTIONS:
-Do you like attending these type of Expo events?
-What is the best item you think you've ever purchased from an Expo?

Training Recap: July Week 1

Monday
Abigail and I enjoyed a fun morning at a local playground with friends then met up with my in-laws for lunch. With some rain coming down and us stuck in the mall without an umbrella, I decided to let Abigail play in the little indoor mall playground area for a bit. This is NOT a usual occurrence for us, but to entertain myself I started making random observations on Twitter. I ended up providing lots of entertainment for many Twitter friends...if you want to check it out yourself, search for #indoorplaygroundobservations on Twitter. Brewer and I got our run in, we ran 1.85mi in 19 HOT minutes.

Tuesday
I knew with our full afternoon and evening, I had to get my run in first thing. I parked Abigail on the couch with cinnamon toast and strawberries while I took Brewer for a run (Matt was home!). We ran 1.51 in 17 minutes. Abigail and I then packed up to head to the 2013 Peachtree Health and Fitness Expo at The Georgia World Congress Center. To read all about the Expo, click HERE.

The Expo was excellent, especially since I was reunited with Marcia! She drove into town to work Expo as the social butterfly for the 26.2 with Donna event in February and it was so fun to have her in town, especially since the last time we briefly saw each other was during Princess Half Marathon weekend. After the Expo we met up with a few other friends at Gladys Knight & Ron's Chicken and Waffles. It wasn't my restaurant as another local friend made the suggestion as a "must" for friends coming from out of state. The food was good, but the company was even better! Abigail even found ways to amuse herself.

Wednesday
Another early morning run with Brewer to start another full day. We ran 1.25 in 14 minutes

And just like that we are carb loaded!

Cheers! with Cami Cupcakes

Thursday
After months and months of anticipation, the Peachtree Road Race was finally here! This is the largest 10K in the US and it's known as an Atlanta tradition, and I had been very much looking forward to this race! To keep it short and sweet, I finished and am happy with my time...and that it didn't rain during the race! I'll be posting my entire race recap separately. Forth of July also ended my Run Streak! I had been running at least one mile every day since Memorial Day.

Friday
The fun had to come to an end, so we went to Waffle House for a couple free waffles with Marcia and Katie before Marcia had to head back to Florida.

Matt, Abigail and I headed to Studio Movie Grill for a family fun afternoon. We walked around NorthPoint Mall a bit while waiting on our movie. This was our first visit to Studio Movie Grill, instead of watching


Saturday
What a lazy, rainy day! During the rain, Matt and I caught up on a few shows we haven't had the chance to watch over the last couple weeks (The Glades, Royal Pains, Franklin and Bash, Necessary Roughness). I finally decided to make a run for it, pun intended, and try to get my miles in before the rain started back up. Brewer and I trucked through some rain but the bottom completely dropped out right before we hit 4 miles. I'm very happy we got these training miles in today with all the rain (3.97mi/41mins).

Sunday
Matt and I serve during with the youth's church service once a quarter, and July is one of our months. We went to lunch after church then it was time for my long run. Today called for 13 miles, and I'm pretty sure the last time I ran 13mi was at Auburn's Finish on the 50 event in April. I broke up today's miles, ran the first two with Brewer, went to the treadmill for the next 9 (until gym closed), then finished up the last two with Brewer back in our neighborhood again.

QUESTIONS:
-Have you ever participated in the Peachtree Road Race or a race that's an annual tradition to your city?
-Are there any summer TV shows you like to watch?

runningMix: Top 5 Songs

I recently plugged my iPhone and was adding a recently purchased song to my runningMix folder and realized a few songs have been played way more times than others. Usually, I select the runningMix and hit "shuffle" so I'm not sure how these songs get played 3-4 times more than others. While this isn't the music you'd find me listening to in my car driving around town (with Abigail in the backseat), I do LOVE jamming out my runs and other group fitness workouts to these uptempo beats!

Florence + The Machine: Shake It Out 1803

Pitbull: Shake Senora 1793

The Black Eyed Peas: The Time (Dirty Bit) 1299

P!nk: Blow Me (One Last Kiss) 1277

Pitbull: Give Me Everything 1091

QUESTION:
-What are the songs that get the most play during your runs or workouts?

Yurbuds Winner

I'll make this short and sweet, for the few of you who even read this sentence... :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you didn't win, I do hope you'll check out Yurbuds when shopping for your next pair of running headphones...because those of us who already own Yurbuds already know, if you aren't running in Yurbuds you'll be shopping for your next pair pretty soon!

Wordless Wednesday: Disney Days of Summer

Last summer we got to experience breakfast at Cape May Cafe, located at The Beach Club. The food was delicious, especially the Mickey waffles! We were even visited by a few Disney pals. Abigail sure loves her character meet and greet opportunities AND when she knows they'll be visiting she always eats extra well!

Yurbuds Celebration Giveaway

One year ago yesterday, I started Couch to 5K. This was a big deal for me, as I'm pretty sure I had failed and quit the program at least 3x before. I was more determined this time around and I had registered myself for my very first 5K in August 2012, having paid money to participate was a real motivator for me. Four weeks into the eight week program, I went with a friend to get fitted for a proper pair of running shoes. I learned all about my arch and stride and that I should wear a neutral running shoe. I don't recall now if it was week 4 or week 5 that I had to repeat, it was rough, but I know I repeated one of them. I finished Couch to 5K and "ran" my first 5K. Well, I ran most of it. I walked a couple uphill portions since I had not trained for hills. When I saw Mile Marker 3, I was determined to sprint to the finish. I had been holding my iPhone (in the Otterbox Defender) the entire race and dropped my phone just as I started sprinting, causing one of my headphone ear pieces to pop right out of my ear. I had been fighting the silicone ear pieces the whole race, just like I had been fighting them every training run. I finished the race, and I was finished with those headphones! There had to be a product that would stay put during sweaty runs.

It was around that same time I started hearing about Yurbuds on Twitter. A few of my Twitter friends seemed to swear by the product but I was skeptical. They were over double the cost of most headphones, I didn't want to waste money on another product that wouldn't satisfy. After going over their website numerous times, and continuing to hear positive reviews I bit the bullet and got myself a pair as I was about to run my first half marathon in November 2012. I kick myself now for not picking up a pair sooner! The pricetag is only $30 and they are worth every penny. 

Just as the packaging describes, these sport earphones were 'developed by athletes for athletes'. I love the twist lock technology, so the ear pieces never fall out. Even in the sweatiest conditions these bad boys stay in place. Why in the world did I ever wait so long to get a pair!?!

I decided to get the Inspire Yurbuds, which are the most basic. I purchased my pair at a sporting goods store with my 4yo in tow and completely forgot the is also a women's fit which is slightly smaller. I have since decided to put the Inspire Talk Yurbuds on my wishlist, because sometimes you just need to take a call during a run. Good luck entering this giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Chobani Flips Winner

I'm sitting here enjoying my Key Lime Crumble and have selected a winner, congratulations...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget to keep an eye out at your local Target and your favorite grocer, or harass them both until they stock their coolers with every Chobani Flip flavor!

Check back tomorrow morning for another new celebration giveaway!

Training Recap: June Week 2

I am so happy I am writing these weekly training recaps! While it's to help hold me more accountable, even if only to myself, I also use it as a weekly recap of life. I tend to not write in detail as much about what Abigail is doing day to day, so I know looking back months or years from now I will really appreciate the little daily write ups. Honestly, each week I want to start every recap with "I cannot believe how fast last week flew by"...which carries over to months disappearing too. And in similar fashion, we're now halfway through June. Wow.

Monday
Abigail had an amazing swim lesson, it actually looked more like swim team practice in comparison to a lesson for a 4yo. She is becoming such a good swimmer! When I swam in high school, I never cared for backstroke but Abigail seems to favorite it.

Abigail wanted to go for a run, but I talked her into riding her bike thinking she'd be faster on the bike. We also were going to deliver blueberry muffins to the sweet elderly couple we met last Monday, so the basket on her bike was needed. This bike ride was not ideal, I ended up walking the majority of the time, pleading Abigail to keep pedaling. When we chatted with Mr Charlie, I forgot to stop my GPS watch, but he seemed so happy that we remembered him and brought him Abigail's Blueberry White Chocolate Chip Muffins.

I ended up taking Brewer for a real run once Matt finished up work, we finished 1.3mi in 14.55mins. Brewer was very distracted this run, wanting to stop for every car or squirrel. He is very strong, pulling when we get started on our runs or pulling in the opposite direction when he hears another dog barking. I keep reminding myself he is ONLY 6mo old.

Tuesday

Abigail and I met friends at an indoor playground before her swim and dance classes. It was nice to chat and have some adult conversation while our kiddos played together. In the evening we met up with Matt, another friend and her kids at Food Truck Park. It was extra hot while we ate and played, and I still hadn't gotten my run in yet.

I decided to try to run a different path, instead of just running in our neighborhood. It's an extra wide path for walkers, runners and bicyclists and the landscaping is beautiful. The path is even off set from the road so you don't have to smell car exhaust the entire time. Most of the path can be seen easily from the road so I felt safe, until I entered a portion completely hidden from the road. I was running completely alone and while it's a safe neighborhood, I started panicking and questioning my decision to run alone. I finished a 1.5mi run in 13:44, but will have to revisit the 'how to be a safe runner' topic sometime soon.

Wednesday
Abigail and I visited with MOPS friends for a pool playdate in the morning. Abigail had lots of fun swimming and playing in a shallow kiddy pool with lots of friends. She wants to swim all the time but we don't have a neighborhood pool so our options are the swim lesson pool or waiting for invites from friends.

Brewer and I headed out in early evening for a run through the neighborhood. Before our usual first turn, I saw what looked to be a deer down the street, so we kept running. It was a deer! I couldn't believe it, we live in a very residential area but other neighbors confirmed this doe has been feeding regularly one street over. I forgot to pause my Nike+ so I ended up restarting after a good few minutes admiring the wildlife. We completed a total of 3mi but only have accurate time for 2.6mi, which we finished in 29min.

Family photo, Brewer thinking he's a lap dog!

Thursday
Our morning was a bit lazy, the Sweaty Bands giveaway had ended Wednesday night and the Chobani Flip Giveaway officially started (ends June 18th so there's still time to enter!). After Abigail's swim and gymnastics, it was time to get my run done. Abigail insisted she wanted to come with, so I decided to take her first then I would take Brewer after. Maybe it would have been better if I had tied her to me, and just drug her along. Yes, it was that bad. She ran past the first few houses, then walked and ran very minimally after that. I kept running, at the slowest pace possible and would run to the next mailbox then turn back and run back to Abs and repeat. It was painful but we finished 1.35mi in 29min. I'm going to have to figure out a "solution" for us running together. I do want her to run with me if she'd like, but I want her to actually run if she is coming with me.

I went back out with Brewer and he didn't pull like he usually does the first mile. I knew I wanted at least 1.5mi since my mile with Abigail was at a walking pace (after all the stopping) and Brewer and I were enjoying ourselves. Slowly I started noticing the clouds were darkening and there was a nice breeze, well right before our last turn back towards the house tornado sirens went off. The clouds were moving fairly fast so we ran faster to get home. I wasn't aware we were in for bad weather and immediately turned the news on when we got home. There were tornado warnings issued until 8pm the sky turned super dark and the winds were being reported over 80mph. Very scary! We ended up with some branches in our yard but were fine otherwise.


Friday
Matt took a vacation day and we spent the day with our nephew and niece. While our niece took a nap, I took Brewer for an afternoon run. It was 85* out but felt much hotter when we were not shaded by trees. We finished 2.8mi in 33 minutes (11:44 pace), I wasn't thrilled about our pace but know runners should keep a slower pace in hotter weather.

We took all three kiddos and met up with Matt's parents for dinner at one of our favorite pizza places. I completely devoured some garlic rolls, BBQ Chicken pizza and shared a pitcher of sangria with Matt. I was SO hungry....maybe RUNgry and enjoyed every bite!

Saturday
After the kids had their bacon and pancakes, I took Brewer out for a run through the neighborhood. It was a beautiful morning! I could tell Brewer was getting hot, as his pace slowed. When we came upon a neighbor watering his lawn I asked if he would water Brewer. Brewer loved the mid-run drink and walked all through the water, I decided maybe our run should be done so we headed home. We finished a 3.78mi run in 43min (11:16 pace).

Abigail and her cousins were playing outside when we got home and Brewer decided he was going to cool off in the pool and the kids had fun spraying him too.

We spent the afternoon at Turner Field watching the Braves host the Giants. We went with Matt's family, to celebrate June birthday's (my sister-in-law, Matt and mother-in-law all have birthdays in June) and to celebrate Father's Day. This was the 4th Braves game this season for Matt, Abigail and I and we have been loving the Club Level discounted tickets from Goldstar.com. This was the first game we were in direct sunlight the entire game (we have always been shaded) but were able to walk into the air-conditioned club area to cool off when needed. I highly recommend checking out Goldstar if you plan to purchase tickets for any upcoming games or shows (Atlanta has so much offered on Goldstar).

Sunday
I took Brewer for his longest run to date! We finished 4.15mi in 45:49 minutes. Ideally, I would love for him to be able to run 8-10mi with me as I continue to add more and more mileage to my runs training for runDisney's Dopey Challenge (January'14). As I mentioned above, I will be revisiting 'how to be a safer runner' topic and I do feel more safe running with Brewer than alone. It would be great if I could run with a friend but it's not always easy matching schedules, and honestly a bunch of my running friends and I all run at different paces. So I will continue training Brewer to be my running partner, and it serves as a dual purpose since it exhausts some of his crazy puppy energy!

Questions:
-Do you get distracted by wildlife while running?
-What makes you feel/keep you safe when you are running, or doing things alone?