Labor Day Road Race 2014

I traveled home to Georgia again to run the Labor Day Road Race in Macon. I made sure I was there in plenty of time this year instead of sprinting to the start like I did in 2011. I tried to warm up the best I could but the opening hill still killed my calves. They were so tight by the time I got to the top. I ended up stopping and pulling of my compression sleeves and trying to massage them out because the muscles were so tight they were restricting blood flow to my feet. I finally loosened up about half way in to the race. Everything was going ok but it was hot. The sun was killing me. It is one of the downfalls of running at night. The temps were actually about the same as when I run at night but the sun was baking me. I was feeling a little light headed as I got close to the 4 mile mark so I popped a couple pretzels in my mouth since I could see the next(and last) water stop at the bottom of the horrible hill at the end. When I go to the stop, they were out of water and I was livid. My mouth was so dry from running and then the pretzels made me almost choke. All I needed was a sip of water and they had NOTHING. I battled my way up the last hill, wanting so badly to just stop. I made it to the top and started taking advantage of the downhill for the last two miles. Every time I passed someone with a water bottle, I really wanted to ask if I could have some. Finally I reached the fire hydrant that they turn on for us and I took full advantage of it. I was SOAKING wet but I felt so much better. I finally felt good enough to really run the last mile or so and started passing several people that were loosing steam. I ran into the park and across the finish line with a time that was 10 minute better than in 2011. I really wanted an even better time and I know I could have ran better but things were just off that morning. It was nice to see that everything wasn't packed up when I finished this time and there were 10 people behind me instead of one. There was a group of girls handing out bottles of water with their church and I was very grateful since the race refreshments were no where near the finish. I grabbed the water and headed straight to the firetruck where they were spraying anyone that wanted it(mostly little kids). Rachel and I met back up, I grabbed a bagel, and we headed off to breakfast. Like I said before, it wasn't my best race, but I did improve from the last time I ran this race. One day, hopefully, I will be able to run it and feel great about it at the end of the day.

Finding a groove again

It has been a while since I have been running consistently. It has been hard with moving and losing motivation. Last week was the first time in several months that my RunKeeper log looked like this.

It felt good to be back out there. Now I just have to keep it up. I have a 10K coming up on Labor Day. I'm not expecting a great race since I got a later start than I wanted but I am hoping it will still be good.

I've let myself go too much in the last 7 months. I have regained more weight than I ever wanted to and I am trying to get it off again. I've been so disgusted and disappointed with myself that it has been hard to refocus like I should. I have had the old fears and doubts nagging me saying that it's just not possible but I know it is.

I think I am going to need to take a break from the weight lifting or at least scale it back. I really want my focus to be running again so that I can train well and succeed at Avengers in November. I keep going back and forth with what all I am planning to do. A while ago, I posted this pic on the blog's facebook page when I posted about getting serious.

I'm still using it to help me move forward, but there is a reason everything is on stickers. They are removable, so I can move them around or just throw them out if I find that it is just too much. Every time I open it up, I tweak something. But that is how I have found success in the past. Any time that I had something too rigid, I would get frustrated and just give up, but allowing myself to make changes and adapt has helped me move forward. I am trying to get back into eating the right things on the right days. I still need to get more protein but I'm working on it.

I'm hoping to post more again. I know I have said that before but I really do want to do it. I have just felt so bad about how things have been going, I felt like I had no right to post anything. When in reality, these are the times I need to post the most. So I can work through my struggles and stop just hiding from the world.

There is a lot of uncertainty around the next several months for us. Mac is applying to grad schools and waiting on answers so he can make a decision and let the Army know. Then we will have to figure out another move quickly. By the end of the year, we will no longer be here but I have no idea where we will be headed. Uncertainty is bad for me. It causes me anxiety and that leads to bad habits. I am trying to break through some of that by focusing on what I can control and what I do know. No matter where we are in January, I still have a 10K on Sept 1 and 14th, a half on Oct 18th and another in California on Nov 16th and I really want to be prepared for them. I really want to feel like a runner again.

But first, I need new shoes...

And that will be a post of its own very soon.

Weight Lifitng Stage One = DONE!

So I had plans for a big post at the end of stage one recapping the first phase of the program and telling you how it all went but then all hell broke loose. Well, actually just the tailgate to be exact.

I finished stage one while I was home in Georgia helping out a friend and visiting family. I was planning to write my post the week of July 4th which was my rest week between one and two. I never got around to it though because on July 2nd, as my parents were leaving North Georgia where we had been for a few days, the tailgate of my dad's truck fell open and my suitcase, containing all of my clothes for the two week trip, fell out and was swiped before he could stop and grab it. I was in my car on the way to Atlanta on a different road. My parents were taking my stuff with them so that I would not have a truck full of luggage to tempt thieves. Turns out some one is more likely to steal your suitcase on mountain roads in North Georgia. I was almost a week away from returning home so I had to start replacing clothes quickly, which included four of my beloved SparkleSkirt running skirts. Because of all this craziness, I never got around to writing my post. Now I am back with the hubby and pups and two weeks into stage two which means I am half way done with it.

Stage one was really great and a learning experience. I learned how to do lots of exercises I had heard of but never attempted. I learned that eating protein while weightlifting is VERY important. Days when I did my workouts but did not have enough protein, I would wake up the next day completely exhausted because my body did not have what it needed to rebuild my muscle. Stage one is six weeks long. It consists of two workouts that are alternated three times a week. You do each workout 8 times each and increase the difficulty every two weeks. The last week is filled in with two special workouts that include the same exercises you have been doing but you drop back to the original weight used and complete as many reps as possible to see how you have improved.

I really enjoyed the stage as a whole even though I did prefer one workout over the other. I had originally hoped to throw a few runs in there but I never was really consistent with that part. Instead I focused on my strength and developing a good base for the rest of the program. After the craziness that went on during my rest week, I had a hard time really getting motivated and getting started on Stage two. I also ended up leaving Georgia a day later than I had planned so that interfered with my MWF workout plan.

I finally got settled back in here and adjusted my calendar a little to allow me an extra day to get started but not throw off every stage after this one. One of the good things is that you don't have to take a rest week after each of these next few stages because they are much shorter, only 4 weeks. The break between 2 and 3 will be just a little shorter than the breaks between 3, 4 and 5. I must admit though, I am not loving the workouts in stage two. I have to start running this week to do the full training program for Avengers and this stage is VERY leg intensive. As part of the B workout, you are supposed to finish with 15 minutes of interval training, which would be fine but my legs are burnt out by the time I get done so doing a higher intensity interval run is tough. It got a little easier this week but it is still a tough set of workouts.

Tomorrow night will be my first training run for Avengers. It's just 3 miles but it will be my first real run in a while. I'm swapping my run and workout night so that I can take advantage of the awesome weather we are supposed to have tomorrow before it starts to warm back up this weekend. I'm still figuring out how all of this is going to work. I am definitely not going to over do it on my long training runs. They will be slow and steady to get the miles in. I am hoping the strength training will help with my speed even when I am not going fast in my running. I'm also trying to refocus on my eating because I have let that slide for way to long. I need to clean it up again and start focusing on good lean protein on my lifting days and smart carb choices for my long training runs without over doing it.

Mac and I are planning an anniversary trip to Disney this fall. I remember where I was when I went last year and I am hoping by some miracle, maybe I get get back there by the time we go this year. I hate that I have to do all that work again but I am also not surprised because some of how I got there was the wrong way and I am really trying to do it right this time. Either way, it will be nice celebrating my anniversary at California Grill with my husband this year instead of from afar.

Week One in the books

I have had a running theory in my life that if it feels like the devil/world is fighting you every step of the way, you must be doing something right. If that is in deed true, I must be on the right path with my current plan. This week has been a nightmare to get through and it is all because of annoying little things that can set you back. 

Monday was day one of my training plan using the New Rules book that I talked about in my last post. I had to get our workout space set up which meant I had to do some rearranging. We had originally planned to use the "sun room" as the spare bedroom and what would be the master bedroom normally as the workout room. Once we started moving everything in however, we decided to switch it around but the movers had already put the spare bed and most of our boxes in the sun room. So Monday night started with me clearing out the air mattress from the back bedroom and moving LOTS of boxes so that I could move the spare bed into the right room. Then I had to continue shifting boxes around to make room for the workout space. This, of course, was a pain in the ass. I got a little beat up in the process as well.(Moving a queen size bed alone can be dangerous.) I was frustrated and tired before I ever began my workout, but I sucked it up and did the first work out in the plan. I felt good but was really reminded of how far I really have to go in this journey of strength. 

The plan calls for you to do their workouts three times a week. I will be doing MWF  with some running on TTS. That means Tuesday night called for a quick run. Nothing major happened that night when I did my two mile run. I could have gone for more but I wanted to make sure I wasn't pushing too hard during the week since I really want to do the strength stuff right. 

Wednesday was my birthday and I decided I wanted to get myself a gift. that gift was a tiny barbell set from Academy so that I can start the program completely at home while I get comfortable with all of the moves and figure out how much weight I should/can lift. The thought of walking into a gym with NO CLUE how much weight to use made me want to stay at home. I had looked several places but couldn't find what I wanted. We finally hit Academy just before they closed and they had EXACTLY what I needed. It is a total 110lb set. It has a 5 foot,  25lb bar and 85lbs in discs(four 10s, six 5s and six 2.5s) It is perfect for a newbie like me. Once we were home, I still had a few more things I needed to set up. Workout A(Monday) didn't call for too much equipment other than a few dumbbells but for Workout B, I needed a bench. Luckily, I had picked one up for Mac's birthday last month but we had not put it together yet. After searching what seemed like forever for the tools needed to put it together, I finally located everything.(FYI: I HATE MOVING) The instructions said it was a two man job but I was on my own because mac had already gone to bed. It was all fine until  the wrench slipped and I knocked a huge chunk of skin off of the knuckle on my right pinky. It hurt like hell and bled like crazy. I had to get Mac up so he could put a band-aid on it because I couldn't control the bleeding and put on a band-aid at the same time. He helped me get the last of the bench put together. I was hurt and angry and really just wanted to go to bed, but I didn't. I grabbed my lifting gloves I picked up for cheap at TJ Maxx and decided to just get it done. My hand wasn't always comfortable but I made it through the workout. 

Thursday was the first day I was really sore. We were heading down to Fort Worth that night so I wasn't going to get in a run but I was hoping to get some time in the pool at the hotel. Unfortunately, we got there a little later than we had hoped and that wasn't an option either. It didn't end up being a total wash though because we were staying in the Stockyards area and did a lot of walking that night. I got a horrible night's sleep at the hotel and woke up feeling off on Friday. I just felt bad all day. I think something I ate Thursday night didn't sit well with me and I felt it all day. As the day went by, I wondered how I would be able to do the workout that night. Mac finally suggested that I start it, see how I felt and then either stop or continue. I ended up making it through the workout and only cut one set short but that was because I still have to work up to being able to complete it.

I was hoping to get a long run in this morning but running this weekend is going to be hard because we are supposed to have rain and thunderstorms every day for the the next few days. I am hoping I can at least get a short run in tonight if it holds off for a couple hours but we will see. In reality, at this point, if I can't do any of my runs, I'm ok with that, as long as I am doing the strength workouts. I have to get my body used to these new workouts first and the training plan I was hoping to use for Avengers, doesn't actually start until the end of July so as long as I can throw in some short runs here and there just to keep my legs moving, I should be fine.

I am considering doing the Runners World Summer run streak but I ma not fully committing to it yet. I will see how running a mile on my workout days feels and if I feel like my body can handle it, I will continue. If I feel like it is too much, I'll stop.

For now, week one is in the books. I did all three workouts and I am happy with it. I still have to tweak a few things to find the right amount of weights to use but I am getting there. I also finally have our workout space completely set up. The entire room isn't done because there are still boxes we need to deal with in one end but the  required area for everything else is cleared and set up. Take a look below. You can see my tiny barbell set in the corner. It currently has 10lbs on it and the rest of the discs are stacked in the corner. Hopefully, now that it is done, I will quit beating myself up and all of this will get easier. 

Here we go

So I have been wanting to blog more but just haven't done it. I try to blog during the day so that people will actually see my posts but now I think I am just going to have to start scheduling the posts because I always want to write at night, while you are all sleeping. I want to get back to sharing my story because even though it is not pretty right now, it is real and I think I need that to keep me accountable. I've let myself slip way too far and I really want to make a big change in the right direction during our short time here.

I'm finding myself feeling like I am starting over. I'm not, but I am just as scared as I was when I started all of this. I guess it is because I had done so well and come so far and then I let myself mess up and go backwards. Those fears that it just isn't possible keep creeping in. The reality is that it is possible, I just have to find the right way for me. A lot of the success I had last year was the result of the fear I had from the crazy medical stuff that was going on. When you are scared to eat anything, it is easy to cut back and lose weight. Now that I am not afraid of food anymore and not depriving myself, I need to learn how to eat what I like, feel satisfied and lose weight.  Mac and I have done way too much eating out for the last month or so with the move and I am really trying to get away from that again. It's still hard though because there are still so many boxes and we can't find everything we need. Plus the kitchen is so much smaller than our last one and it feels like there is no room to do anything.

One thing I have really wanted to do for a long time and been too scared of was weight lifting. I knew that I needed to do more strength training but I had no clue what to do or how to do it so I tried to find other ways around it. While I love Insanity and gained a lot of strength from it, I still wanted to do something more strength focused. I have toyed with the idea of getting a personal trainer but it is just so expensive. I have really been wanting to get to a point where I can do a pull-up and looked at a ton of different possible plans but they all felt overwhelming.  Last week, I noticed a blog post from a FB friend of mine that I found very interesting. She was reading a book about weight lifting for women and it sounded really interesting. I decided to do a little more research on the book and found a fitness blog with a review of the book. He loved it(and the others by the same author) and only had wonderful things to say. He is a personal trainer that doesn't treat his female clients like they are incapable of really working out and lifting real weights. So many times, you see stuff for women recommending 2 or 3 lb weights or doing lots of reps with basically no weight and these guys(the blog author and the book author) don't do that. They tell you to really lift real weights.

The book is called "The New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift like a Man, Look like a Goddess". I read a few sample sections and finally bit the bullet and ordered it on Amazon. I also had some credit on my Nook so I downloaded it there as well. I really like how it breaks it all down, explains the methods and thought process behind all of the rules and then gives you a training plan to follow. It also talks about nutrition as well. The full training plan consists of 7 stages with stage 6 being optional. If you complete all seven stages, it is a six month program. I am going to be skipping stage 6 for now so it is about a five month plan for me. Some of the workouts I will be able to do completely at home, like tonight, and other days, I will need to go to the gym. The awesome thing is that, on a military base, the gyms are free. I just have to get over my fear of them. I'm still self conscious but I am hoping to work on that this summer as well.

One of the other cool things that I found when I was looking up the reviews of the book was in the review I read by the personal trainer, he also mentioned his progression to pull-ups for women. I looked into them and really liked what I saw. One thing that I really liked was that his first stage incorporates a TRX for those of us that are really starting from scratch. I am going to be throwing some of those workouts in the mix as well but I will be taking it very slowly so that I do not over do it at all.

On top of all of this, I will be running and hopefully swimming. I will either do an easy short run on weekdays or maybe spend some time in the pool and then run my long runs on Saturdays as usual. I want to really have a nice solid base before my mileage starts going up as I prepare for the Avengers half in November. I want to be sure that I can get the miles in early in case things are really crazy right before the race with the possible move being around then.(Which seriously has me stressing over airfare. It's hard to buy a ticket when you have no idea where you will be flying from.) I want that race to be a really strong race. Lots of people talk about not trying to get a PR at a Disney race but I am really aiming to do just that. I don't stop for pictures and the DL courses are actually really good for having a faster race since the last half is spent on city streets so there is nothing to stop for at all.

I also want to possibly go home and run the Macon Labor Day Road Race again. I still have a bone to pick with that race and I know that it could be a great way to get a good proof of time for a future race. I'm not expecting the 10K at the end of May to be a great race but I will still do my best. I haven't been getting the right training runs in like I had hoped. The following weekend is a half marathon on post that I am considering doing(so I can check Oklahoma off the map) but it will be a slow race I'm sure. We got permission for Mac to pace me on his bike so that he can carry lots of water and some snacks for me since I am sure I will need them on June 7th. They were finally smart about it and moved the start time up to 6:30 so it won't be horrible, but it will still be hot by the time I am done.

I have lots of great plans, but I have had lots of great plans before. I just have to ignore the fear and do it this time. Mac is trying to help me stay on track and I am hoping to leave Oklahoma a new person.

Getting back to it

I just went for my first run in 4 weeks. The last time I ran was the day of the shooting at Fort Hood(April 2) and was my way to process the events of that day. Since then we have moved to another Army post in a different state. Tonight was sort of an exploratory run as I try to find new running routes. The route we used tonight will be good for long runs(even though we just did 3 miles) but I will have to find something closer to home with better lighting for my short week night runs.

It wasn't a great run but it was a way for me to shake out my legs and get ready for some upcoming races. I am hoping to do a 10K at the end of May here on post and possibly another race the weekend after. I know the 10K is completely doable, the second race I am not as convinced. We will see how my body feels and what the weather is like. I am going to be trying to get in some runs that are longer than a 10K during the weekends leading up to the race so that my 10K will hopefully be a little faster. I am hoping to have a good finish time to possibly use for race proof of time down the road. My goal this summer as I train for Avengers in November is to get faster and have a strong finish at that race.

I had made great strides last year but I let the disappointment at Tower of Terror get me down and I didn't continue training like I should have. If I had, my last few races would have been much stronger. I am hoping to be able to have a sub 3 hour half by the end of the year, but we will see how it goes.

I'm ready to refocus on  my training and get back into everything. I am going to start really trying to work on my strength training this summer as well, since my Avengers specific race training doesn't have to start until the end of July and if I am maintaining a decent mileage each week until then, it won't start getting hard until a few weeks later, giving me all summer to work on my strength.

We are only going to be at this post for 6-7 months and I am going to try to use that time to really buckle down and start making some progress with my running and my overall fitness. Mac will have a lot more time since he is in a school and no longer a commander so he will be able to help me work on building upper body and core strength. As long as I can figure out a good week night running route, everything should be set up for a successful summer.

Earning my Glass Slipper

This year was my 4th time traveling to Disney World for the Princess Half Marathon. This year was a little different because they introduced the new Glass Slipper Challenge which required you to complete the new 10K on Saturday and the Princess Half on Sunday to earn a third medal for the challenge.

Thinking back to my first attempt at Princess 2011, I could not have imagined taking on the type of challenge during that weekend. I had not trained. I was scared to death and I almost didn't start the race. But after 8 miles I had a new determination and desire to reach the finish line the next year.

Now three years later, this year's Princess was the 7th half marathon I have completed. One of the reasons I did all of the races at Tink was to prepare for the Glass Slipper Challenge. I'm glad I did not sign up for the 5K at Princess even though I REALLY wanted to once I saw a picture of the race shirt. I tried to be smart about how much time I spent on my feet before the races so we saved most of our park days for after the half.

Mac and I splurged on our hotel this year since he just recently completed his time as a battery commander. We used the trip as a celebration so we stayed at the Boardwalk. Saturday's 10K was a very new experience. I got up alone and headed to catch the bus. There were no spectator areas on the course, just at the start and finish. We have learned in the past that trying to see anything at the start is pointless and we had a breakfast reservation at the Dolphin right after so we could hit Hollywood Studios. Because there was no point in Mac and Rachel being at the start and I wanted them to be able to make it to the reservation on time if I couldn't so I told them both not to worry about getting up to go to the start with me. It was a little weird heading out on my own but it ended up being just fine. I went to catch the bus and was shocked at how long we had to wait for one. There was one there when I got to the line but it filled up quickly and there was no bus behind it. Every time I have caught a bus for Princess, there has been a line of them waiting. The person that was overseeing the buses and lines was surprised too. They immediately got on the radio and asked where our buses were. We had to wait a while but thankfully one finally came. While I was on the bus, I recognized the costume of someone I knew on FB. Jennifer and I have been friends on FB for a while but had never met in real life. This was her first time at Princess and it was going to be her first half marathon. When we got off the bus, I ran and caught up with her so that we could finally meet. While I was with her, she ran into some one she knew from another FB group, Tina, and her sister, Suzanne. Princess was going to be Tina's first half as well and Suzanne was doing her first 10K that morning. We talked and found out that Suzanne and I were in the same corral. She was worried about finishing and I was determined to make sure she made it to the end. I wasn't in a hurry since I had to run the half the next day so I told her I would help her through the race.

She didn't need much help, just some encouragement and someone to keep her distracted. We mostly walked the race but that was fine because she easily walks a 16minute mile, which is something I can't do on my own. Our first mile was a little slower but every Disney start is. The one mile mark was right before a U turn in the course so as we got closer to mile 2, we could see the end of the race and the balloon ladies. I pointed them out to her just so she knew what they looked like and being able to see them freaked her out a little. We decided to run a little after that to give us more of a buffer(even though we really didn't need it). By the end of mile two we had made up some time and did the second mile in 15 minutes. The third was right at 16 minutes and we were right were we needed to be as we entered Epcot. It's always fun being in there so early. We made our way around the World Showcase and out of the back gate towards the Boardwalk loop. Since we were staying at the Boardwalk, Rachel and Mac were able to just walk outside to see us go by. I grabbed a quick hug from each as we passed and we made our way around the Boardwalk. Every time we hit a new mile marker, it seemed quicker than either of us expected. As we were crossing the bridge towards the Yacht Club, I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I turned around and saw Heather, Amy and Jackie from Tink. Before long, we were back in Epcot and heading to the finish line. Suzanne was a little surprised that she had done it but I wasn't at all. After getting my medal, I had to head over and get my Glass Slipper wrist band so that I could get my extra medal the next day after the half. I said goodbye to Suzanne since I was already late for our breakfast reservation and ran to hop on a bus to the Dolphin. I tried to schedule the reservation based on when I expected to finish but I didn't realize how long they were going to wait between each corral so I ended up being late anyway. Fortunately, Mac and Rachel were already there and the server was awesome and gave me a hard time. He asked me why I was so late and held up my medal. He proceeded to give me a harder time and say I was making up excuses. The food was great and he was very funny.

Sunday morning, Mac got up and headed to the start with me. Rachel was staying at Art of Animation so she headed over a little later. It was mass chaos before the race as usual and I made my way out to my corral. Sitting in the corrals is when it sucks being on your own. I found a spot to sit and wait until the start. They surprised a runner with a video message form her deployed husband for her birthday and made everyone cry. The race started and we slowly moved up until it was our turn. I tried to keep it slow at first but even though there were crowds, I still started a little too fast. There is a turn not long into Tink that forces everyone to be slower but at Princess it is an open road at first so I was moving a little faster than I wanted. I did pretty well and stayed pretty steady for the first 5K. I kept waiting for my phone to go off saying I had a text from the runner tracking and it never came. I texted Rachel to let them know I was getting close because if I didn't get a text, I doubted they did. I saw them quickly and continued on to MK. I kept running into people I knew on the course which was nice. I always love entering Magic Kingdom. I love running down main street and this year was the first time I stopped for a castle picture. I had a volunteer take it right before turning off of main street towards Tomorrowland. The castle was crowded like last year but not as bad. When I crossed the 10K mat, I still did not get a text. I had my garmin so I knew how it was going but I was still frustrated that I wasn't getting the texts. I texted Rachel again since I knew they were waiting just before mile 8 again. After seeing them again, I had to take a picture of the 8 mile marker. I think that will always mean something to me. If it ever stops being special, I need to stop running.  I was starting to slow down thanks to the humidity and crowds but I knew I could make it to the finish. I was in some pain though thanks to busting my butt on the boardwalk the day before. It had rained a little and Rachel and I were walking out to the ferry to meet Mac and go to Epcot for the traditional Via Napoli dinner and as I stepped out onto the wet  wooden boardwalk, my right foot slid out from under me and I hit the ground HARD. I pulled something in my hip so by mile 9 I was feeling it.

I ended up walking mostly after the cliff shots stop. I was very disappointed that they did not have it set up like Tink where you got your cliff shot and then immediately went through a water stop. This makes sense because you are supposed to use those with water but they didn't do it this way at Princess. Which meat I held on to mine for almost a mile before getting to the next water stop. I was feeling light headed which is the same thing that happened at Tink but that is where the awesome people in the community provided us with animal crackers and pretzels. That's one thing that sucks about races at WDW. Since they are all on property, you don't have the chance to run past awesome people with snack s like in California. My legs felt fine but I was running out of energy. The energy shots helped but I needed something more on my stomach. The closer I got to the finish, the more light headed I became. I was starting to worry. Thankfully right before mile 12, I ran into Amanda, a girl I know from a few places on Facebook. She and a friend were doing 30 second run intervals with a minute walk(I think) and she told me I could hang with them. Staying with them is what got me through the rest of that race. Once I crossed the finish line and got my medal, I went straight to the huge mister fan they had out. It was hot and humid and we definitely needed it. I grabbed water and powerade before going to get my glass slipper challenge medal and special pink coast to coast medal. I grabbed some food and headed to the entrance of Epcot where I sat down as soon as I saw Mac.

I was hurting from the fall and very light headed. I drank some water and powerade and ate a little something before heading into the park for breakfast. This was the first time I was heading back in before the race was over so we had to go through the crowd control points and it took longer than usual. As we approached a very narrow walking path out to world showcase, it was blocked by a guest and a stroller talking to a cast member. He was causing quite a pile up behind him. Once he and everyone else finally passed by, we headed out since it was really only wide enough for one way traffic. As we approached the CM she looked up and asked if we knew where we were going. When we responded, "Yes" her reaction was, "Thank God" We couldn't help but laugh because we knew it had to have been tough. We saw the tail end of the runners on the course and tried to cheer them on as they passed. We finally made it to the restaurant and then waited for everyone else to arrive. We were cutting it close but everyone made it there before they switched from breakfast to lunch. We had our pictures taken with Belle and then enjoyed a great breakfast. I wore all 7 of my Disney medals from 2014 for the pictures with the princesses. They were SO incredibly heavy, haha. For the rest of the day, I only wore the coast to coast medal.

Over all, the weekend was great. I am glad I did it again but the WDW races are still proving to be brutal weather wise. I am hoping to do the new Avengers Half Marathon in California in November because I am sure it will be an awesome race and I love the weather out there. I am hoping Mac will be able to go and possibly do it with me but right now, I am not holding my breathe. It's crazy how far I have come in the last three years. Every time I do a race, I feel like I learn something. I will not do another half marathon without a bag of animal crackers in my pocket because by mile 8 or 9, I have to have something of substance to eat and keep me going.

And just so you all know, after telling me over and over she could never do a half, Suzanne is now signed up for her first half marathon. She is planning to run the Wine and Dine Half in November and I know she is going to do great. We all have to start somewhere but as long as you are determined and train, you can do anything.