Is it really that time already?

It's that time of year again.

Where runDisney runners descend upon Orlando for the pinnacle race weekend of the year.

Marathon Weekend.

5 days of runDisney frenzy of expos, meetups and the 5k, 10k, half and full marathon races.  It's a crazy busy weekend, but one that runDisney enthusiasts look forward to every year.  The races historically sell out well before the race weekend arrives and people gather from far and wide to see the familiar faces of their running family.  To experience this race weekend is a real treat and truly showcases the runDisney ohana that has grown through the years.

I feel like a failure

Nice way to come back from a blogging hiatus, right? Well, unfortunately, this is how I'm feeling right now. I will be posting my race and Disneyland trip recaps soon, there is lots to report on that front and things are finally starting to slow down in my crazy world right now. So those tidbits are forthcoming.

So, now...what is going on?

Well, let me say that this year I had goals that I had set out at the very start of the year. I had made it very clear last year and throughout this year so far that I had the goal to get fit after the pregnancy, to run Dumbo again and to train and complete my first marathon in January 2015.

However, it seems that with every attempt I make to try and accomplish these goals I get more and more road blocks and encounter even more pitfalls.

It's Registration Day!

No, I'm not talking about school classes registration, I'm talking about WDW Marathon Weekend Registration! Though people do get schooled with the lessons learned from that weekend apparently. I wouldn't know, I've never been...until now!

I had talked about it during my post last week about how I registered for a big event during the WDW Marathon Weekend, but didn't go into much detail. Now that registration is opening today for the general public, I will talk about what it is I registered for.

Momentum Monday: Under (com)pression

It's Monday and 9 days until Christmas. I can't believe I just typed that, 9 days away from Christmas! Single digits people, SINGLE DIGITS!! Where has the time gone? I blame Thanksgiving being a week later this year for the sudden arrival of Christmas. We have had our tree up for over a week now, but it's still not decorated. It's got lights on it, but no decorations. Sad sight indeed. I need to remedy that today.

Along with the pressures and expectations of the quickly coming holiday, there are the changes that my body is going through for the last few weeks of my pregnancy. I am officially 34 weeks today, meaning there is only 6 more weeks until the baby is anticipated to arrive and that is just crazy talk, I tell ya! Along with the consistent movement of the pumpkin and new types of discomfort, I am now starting to experience swelling.

Oh yay.

As if I don't already feel uncomfortable in my own skin, my body has now decided to start retaining water with the main collection area being my legs, ankles and feet. Typical right? Most women that I have talked to have complained of  swollen ankles and feet through the latter part of their pregnancy. Mine becomes especially prominent due to the fact that I stand at work, so my feet and ankles definitely take a beating. So how do I combat this issue?

Compression socks!

Not just any compressions socks, but Pro Compression. I have been using these socks for over a year now for my running and recovery and they are the only compression socks that I will wear. I've tried Zensah and CEP and neither of those brands provide the same type of support and comfort as I've received from Pro Compression. Starting yesterday I've started to wear my compression socks on a more regular basis to help bring down the swelling in my legs, ankles and feet and increase the circulation that is needed for those parts.

So my Momentum Monday today is to do a lead up to Christmas with 10 Days of Compression!

"The Jam" Thursday

Okay, so I probably say this every week, but damn, Thursday is such a tease!! So close to the weekend, yet so far away! I get a three day weekend coming up because I took Monday off, woohoo! I get some time to recover from my weekend, which is always busy, and I get some time with my hubby because he has Mondays off.

Speaking of my hubby, can I just say how wonderful he is and how lucky I am? (okay, having a mushy moment here.) I came home last night and changed out of my work clothes to some house clothes, per normal routine and while I was doing that my hubby remarked, "I'm making dinner tonight, so we aren't having what is scheduled for tonight." (because yes, I meal plan for the week and buy ingredients during the weekend so there is no thinking when I get home, I just make dinner.) Okay, I thought, that's cool with me. So he showed me what we were having and got right to work on cooking because I was hungry already, or rather baby was hungry!

So while dinner was cooking, he had me lounge on the couch while he had some of my favorite music playing and some picture slideshows going on the tv while, get this, he gave me a leg and hip massage!!! I just stared at him for a while wondering, what is going on, is there something wrong and he's just trying to butter me up? But nope, he just wanted me to relax and take the time off my feet since I usually make dinner and cleanup the kitchen each night. Such a wonderful treat, it was fabulous and I'm such a lucky lady to have such a great hubby. Thanks sweetie!

So onto Thursday's business, sharing my favorite jams, the songs that get my legs pumping and my booty bumping. Today's jam is a special one, I've been holding onto this sucker for months because I knew the perfect week to post it and it's this week! This is for all my Team @runDisney family that is there or on their way to Disney World for the big Wine and Dine Race weekend. Tonight is a very special occassion for some of my BRF's, they are participating in the first ever night runDisney meet-up, so cool! I can't wait to see the pictures and read their tweets as this event officially starts the race weekend festivities and the events will go strong until the wee hours of the morning on Sunday. So jealous.

Dreaming of Wining and Dining

I wanted to start first off saying thank you to all that came by yesterday and read my blog post about my GD. It was a tough one to write but I felt that I wouldn't be honest on here if I didn't talk about that and how it affects my daily life. So thank you for all the kind words of encouragement and for people who shared their stories, it meant a lot to me.

On more upbeat news, the social sphere I'm a part of is swirling like CRAZY with talk about the runDisney Wine and Dine Half Marathon weekend coming up this weekend. I have wanted to be a part of this race weekend for the past two years and both years I've been sitting at home reading the posts, looking at the pictures and reading the blog updates on how much fun everyone is having. It literally is "the runner's night out", it looks like SO MUCH fun is had the whole weekend.

Training: Am I doing it and what for?

It's been a while since I posted anything about training for a race and if I had anything on the horizon. Between dealing with my back issue and not being able to run for over a month, my focus had turned to getting better rather than concentrating on my races coming up. So to answer the statement above, yes and yes. I am training and I have several things on the horizon.

Right now I am training for two half marathons with several smaller races mixed inbetween. Lets take a look at what I'm working towards.

My next race happens to be a 10K on June 15th. It's the Fall City Days Run, I will be running the 10K to try and get a new (and fast!) time for submittal to my half marathons for good corral placement. I have never run in Fall City before, however the website touts a flat and fast course, so hopefully that will be to my advantage! It will actually be my taper run before my next BIG race!

On June 22nd I will be running the Rock n' Roll Seattle Half Marathon.

Running Tip Jar: Revisited

One of the best motivators I used for myself with training for my first 1/2 marathon was the "Running Tip Jar".  I posted about this when I first started training for the Princess Half Marathon at WDW. I would pay myself for all the miles I ran in training for the PHM weekend.  I would contribute to the jar $5 for each weekday run I would complete, then $1 a mile for my long runs. I would also keep track on my print out of the training schedule I kept clipped to the front of my fridge!

First day of May and lots of news!

Sorry it's been so quiet here the past few days.  I did not intend on missing my regular Momentum Monday posting, but I was out of the area (cell & wi-fi reception) until 5pm PST on Monday.  So a late night post didn't make much sense when you wouldn't see it until Tuesday.  I had no idea I would be unplugged for so long, but my hubby whisked me away to a remote area for the weekend to celebrate my birthday and once I was there, there was no turning back.  I literally had to use a pay phone to make a call.  A PAY PHONE!!!  I haven't seen those in so long!!!  We couldn't even dial long distance from our hotel!  Talk about remote!  But I will go over that later this week when I give my trip recap.  Until then, I have some really exciting news!

runDisney does it again...let the anticipation begin!

Some interesting news surfaced and the runDisney groups I'm part of were blowing up like crazy yesterday. There was a leak of information about a new challenge being added to the WDW Marathon weekend in January.

The Goofy Challenge has long been reigning as the supreme runDisney challenge having runners run a half marathon on Saturday and a full marathon on Sunday. You get both of the race medals, plus the Goofy challenge medal.  Sweet, we all love our bling, right?  However, over the years people have been running the 5K that is held on that Friday, as well as the Goofy challenge, creating an "unofficial Dopey challenge". There is no extra medal from runDisney for doing this as this is not an officially sanctioned challenge, though individual runners have taken it upon themselves to create their own medal to commemorate their accomplishment.

However yesterday, pictures were posted of a pricing list for WDW Marathon weekend and along with the Goofy Challenge, an "official" Dopey Challenge and a brand new 10K race was listed.

::brain and wallet exploding::

Race Recap: Princess Half Marathon

Many months ago I started a long journey with a goal in mind and an ultimate destination of this race.  Right here and right now is the culmination of all the hard work, time spent and sacrifices that I made to train.  It all comes down to this point, these series of moments, this final delivery of the prize I've been fighting so hard for.  This is it.  It's go time.

The 2:30am wake up call is an ungodly way to wake up, but the race started in three hours and there was so much still to do.  The room was already buzzing with everyone up and about getting dressed and ready to catch the first buses.  I've seen pictures and heard hellish stories about the lines to get on the buses to get to the race and if you didn't have a car to drive yourself there, the bus was your only form of transport.  The buses started transporting at 3am, so it was important to get on the first couple of buses to ensure you made it to the start on time!

I've got my take on Cinderella running outfit on and I'm ready to head to the buses!

"The Jam" Thursday - What is blowing up my iPod

Oh Thursday, you saucy wench, we meet again.

I'm SO glad that today is my Friday (LOVE three day weekends!) because I would not be able to bear one more day of work.  This week has been quite trying and I'm looking forward to my run tonight and my long run on Saturday to shake off this stress!  Woo hoo!!

Since I'm on a Princess Half Marathon recap kick this week, I wanted to share that same love with my "jam" post today!

Today's "jam" is an oldie but definitely a goodie!  Anyone who was in Corral C (C stands for Courage!) for the Princess Half Marathon will know this song, as this was our send off song.  We sang along and almost overpowered the soundtrack at the start line.  Totally brilliant.

Today's "jam" is:

Race Recap: Royal Family 5K

I woke up to a quiet room on Saturday morning to get ready to run the Royal Family 5K.  None of my roomies were running it, nor were they waking early to come and see/cheer anyone on.

3:30am was far too early for this one to be awake, but I was and I was getting ready for my first runDisney race EVER!

 

I decided not to dress like a Princess for this race, but rather let my inner Winnie the Pooh come out!

I arrived via bus to the parking lots outside of Epcot where the drop off point was and made the walk toward the bag check area.  There were tons of signs and volunteers to help us sleepy eyed runners get to where we needed to be.

 

Got my picture taken before heading towards the corrals!  This is the first time I'd ever been to a runDisney event and was pretty happy with how smoothly the transitions were between locations.

PHM Weekend Day 2: Expo and Meet-ups!

An early morning for Marcia and I as we woke up at 6am to be dressed and at Coronado Springs resort by 7am for the #RunShopEat meet-up!

First, the run!  We had a few people that were interested in meeting up with us for this, well meet-up, but by the time the morning came it was just Marcia and I.  Oh well, it was fun still!

The Coronado property is really pretty and I would consider staying here in the future.  Expansive and quiet!  These are just a few of the vantage points from our run.  After we ran and were thoroughly sweaty (it was quite hot at 7:30am, lower 70's in the sun I would say) we went inside to get in line for the expo.

 

PHM Weekend Begins! Day 1

My journey to Orlando started in the evening hours on Wednesday night.  I was taking the red eye to Orlando from Seattle, leaving at 9:45pm and arriving at 8:35am.  When you travel cross country there is always time lost and I hate losing an entire day to flying, so I gambled on losing a night of sleep instead.  Good idea or bad idea?

My pre-flight ritual is the same.  I stop off at the airport bar for a little drink and my first dose of Airborne for the flight.