Another Wonderful Yoga Session

Today I attended a yoga session with Robert at Westside Yoga...for two hours, I worked on poses that help strengthen the spine and core. Absolutely exhausting but it left me with this incredible warmth. I was lucky enough to learn some valuable poses which should help improve my overall running by creating a stronger core and helping to reduce injury. Flying Pig look out - you might be my PR!

My New Guilty Pleasure

I'm hooked. I was referred to a new website which is most addicting! If you haven't checked it out yet, you must. Go to http://www.athlinks.com. You can search your name (or someone else's) and find out nearly every race, including triathlons, that you finished. Ahhh...I just love adding to my cool website list! Enjoy...I am :)

Interval Training is not for Sissies!

It hurts..can be devastating to look at your watch and see your splits...while at the same time feeling so worthwhile. I have never been a fan of interval training and, consequently, was never consistent (translation: did it one time, it hurt, I quit). That might explain my mediocre half marathon finish times. But this race training is different. I have made a date with myself (it's in my calendar!) and I'm not breaking my Tuesday "date" time. I can't wait to shed seconds from my 400s! I'll keep you posted...

25 Random Things About Me (Does this stuff ever stop surfacing?!)

So I've been tagged a few times for this and decided to give it a try. So here goes...hopefully there is something interesting in one of these numbers!

1. I love broccoli - always have, always will. I get excited in restaurants when it's the veggie of the day. My daughter calls me a "flexitarian" because I would eat broccoli before eating meat.
2. I am the oldest of 5 kids - three of us have red hair, my father has red hair.
3. I am a terrible rummy player, but that doesn't stop me from telling people I bring my "A game" when I challenge them.
4. I love puzzles and once came in first place in a puzzle competition. I found out recently that my family considers this an "embarassing fact" about me.
5. I keep a dictionary at my desk and try to learn a new word each day.
6. I love rap and hip hop music and my dream job used to be to work for Puff Daddy/P.Diddy/Sean John.
7. I am afraid of heights and even thought Alladin's Carpet at DisneyWorld was a bit risky!
8. I am a pisces and love to swim, but open water swimming freaked me out when I trained for a sprint triathlon.
9. Growing up, I wanted to be a lawyer for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Thank goodness that didn't work out!
10. I love cold weather vacations, yet I am lousy at cold weather sports (except snowshoeing).
11. My favorite vacation was a trip to Madrid and Seville Spain...amazing beauty of architechture, language and food.
12. I read trash magazines, but I like to think I read the "good/legitimate" ones - People and US Weekly lol
13. I like to see an author's picture before I read the book - fiction and nonfiction. I have to have a "connection" with the author first...an introduction, if you will.
14. I am rarely, if ever, on time. I can't explain this aspect of me. My husband considers this a serious genetic flaw (my father has the same problem, so it has to be genetic).
15. I own more running shoes than dress shoes.
16. I am still waiting for Thirtysomething to come out on DVD. I still follow Michael, Hope, Elliott, Nancy, and Ellen when they're in new shows.
17. I'm not a morning person and I hate being rushed in the mornings. This might explain #14...probably not.
18. I heart Lance Armstrong. I watch ALL the stages of the Tour de France (and TiVO each stage so I don't miss a single thing) and can hardly wait for 2009 Tour because LANCE WILL BE BACK!
19. I was at Stage 17 in 2006 - amazing experience and would do it again.
20. Halloween is my favorite holiday. While pregnant with Bridget, October represented by biggest weight gain month...might have been the overload of white chocolate reece's cups...yummy!
21. My dog is one of my running partners. He ALWAYS thinks I look wonderful in my running clothes...as long as I "accessorize" with his leash.
22. My oldest daughter and I are the original Gilmore Girls and we call my husband Luke.
23. I love yoga and consider this one of life's most wonderful, yet necessary, indulgence.
24. I can't walk past a Ms PacMan game without asking my husband for quarters...like a junkie trying to get a fix. He is my "enabler" since he always has (or will find for me) a miraculous stack of quarters.
25. I consider myself the luckiest girl...I have two wonderful daughters, a husband that not only loves me, but thinks I look good in my running clothes, and a dog that greets me each day as if I am a doggie size treat!

Disney Race Report - Part II

Disney's Happily Ever After Party at Hollywood Studios was a wonderful experience enjoyed by all four of us. We saw a great performance of Beauty and the Beast Live. Belle was my princess and was identified on my race bib. We also saw a live performance of The Little Mermaid. Greg and Megan got to ride the Aerosmith roller coaster without the lines. Meg and Bridget got to meet and pose with their favorite characters. Overall, it was a wonderful evening and one of the best family vacations yet!

My Disney Princess Half Marathon Experience

I have mixed feelings about my recently completed Disney's Princess Half Marathon. The vacation destination part was incredible. I mean how can you top Disneyworld for a family-friendly location?! But I don't feel the race lived up to the hype. So let's begin with the pre-race experience. I paid $120 for the race. When I picked up my "goody bag" at the expo I received a short sleeve technical t-shirt, a sample of Luna moons, a pink Sharpie marker and some race brochures. The expo was also pretty small. There a no race maps available for spectators...except the small 5x7 one in the race program. The map they did have was a bit deceiving. There was no mention that the majority of the race would be run on the highway and/or access roads. The map didn't even detail in writing the course or give elevation information.

The race day: I understand Disney can be difficult logistically. However, we had to arrive before 6am (5am was recommended). We then had to walk nearly a mile before actually beginning the race. Then the first 5 miles or so was all concrete highway - on ramps, off ramps, overhead passes, etc. Very few characters or entertainment could be found during this initial third of the course. We didn't have any real excitement until entering Magic Kingdom. Going through Tomorrowland and Cinderella's Castle was pretty sweet but then we quickly exited MK and found ourselves on back roads again. From miles 7-12 we ran on highway and more access roads. It wasn't until mile 12 that we came upon the parking lot of Epcot. We were ushered through the entrance of Epcot, ran around the big ball, then finished in the parking lot of Epcot. I was stunned that Disney charged families and spectators the full price to park of $12 even though the park didn't open till 11am (the race started at 7am). This also wasn't the original course which I signed up for. The course was changed a couple months prior to the race date. The water stops were plenty, but the cliff gels were handed out about a half mile or more from the water stop which was bad. I was happy with the abundance of biofreeze available. Another complaint was the lack of spectator opportunities. I'm sure that the race being mostly on a highway complicates the allowance for spectators.

Post-race: standard fare of oranges, bananas, bagels, and water/powerade. Nothing special or exciting. Disney could definitely learn from the amazing post race setup of Ann Arbor 10k or the Des Moines Marathon. Both were top notch race experiences.

Disney with the Family Was Wonderful

The short story: We arrived Wednesday, went to Magic Kingdom Thursday, enjoyed Epcot Friday, Character Breakfast Saturday and race expo, Princess Half Marathon Sunday with Happily Ever After Party on Sunday, arrived back in Cleveland Monday afternoon. I have so much to write about the trip and a separate entry on the Race (you know, my pros and cons list). I will do all that later, but till then...here's some wonderful pics of the FAM :)

Thursday at Cinderella's Castle - me and my princesses!

Spinning in the Tea Cups (my favorite ride)

Bridget enjoying a few laughs at Magic Kingdom

Megan and Bridget posing with Minnie Mouse at Epcot!

This is one of my many favorite pics of Megan. Goofy actually came up with the idea to pose with her pigtails and his ears!

Meg and Greg with Tigger at the Grand Floridian's Character Breakfast on Saturday morning - Meg must have made 4 trips to the buffet before coming back with ice cream - ice cream for breakfast...kind of calls into question my parenting & nutritional skills!



Greg with his little Princess at the Grand Floridian - both with beautiful smiles!

Meg and me at the Grand Floridian - it was 10 years ago that she & I made our last Disney trip - she's beautiful here.

I just finished the race and we all headed for breakfast. Pluto is Bridget's favorite character and she was so excited each time she saw him!

Greg actually rivaling Minnie for the sexiest character :)

Megan with the ugly stepsisters and stepmother from Cinderella at the Happily Ever After Party. She's quite the ham for the camera!

I'll post more as well as a link to our picasa page as soon as time allows!

Last Long Run Before the Race

Today I finished a 10 miler as my last long run before race day. This might have been the hardest 10 miles I've run yet...and I've put in a lot of 10 milers before. Not sure if it was the incredibly frigid temps or the fact that I read Orlando is having multiple days of 70+ degree weather or maybe I'm getting a bad case of vacation brain, but I felt today's run seemed like hard work instead of the enjoyable run that it usually is. Nonetheless, I got the run done and now I can focus on which pairs of shorts to wear when I greet MIckey, Minnie, Belle & Cinderella!