Fitness Friday...February 27th Edition!

Thanks so much for being patient with my lack of posts on the blog! It was back to reality in a big way on Wednesday after returning home from Disney late Tuesday night. I had an AMAZING time in Disney and cannot wait to share it all with you! I promise I'll return to my regular schedule of posts next week...and those will include Disney recaps!

But this weekend I am focusing on another race! Yes...I'm crazy! I'm running the Seaside Half Marathon again! And my hubby is coming along on this trip with me so I'm super excited about that! I'm not sure how my legs will feel during this race since I ran those 19.3 miles hard in Disney. I just plan on running how my body feels...if it feels fast then I will run fast. If it feels slow then I will run slow. I'm just excited about the prize at the end...a Vera Bradley bag! :-)

Now it's time for Fitness Friday! I had some great runs this past week! How could I not when most of the days I was running in Disney World??? ;-)

• Friday- 1.56 miles in the hotel parking lot in Tallahassee, FL in 13:31 average pace 8:40

• Saturday- Disney Princess Enchanted 10K in 59:40 average pace 9:36

• Sunday- Disney Princess Half Marathon in 2:12:07 average pace 10:05

• Monday- 1.51 mile run in Port Orleans Riverside Resort in 12:50 average pace 8:30

• Tuesday- 2.05 mile run in Port Orleans Riverside Resort in 18:28 average pace 9:01

• Wednesday- #plankaday 1:05, 1.56 mile run in 13:21 average pace 8:33

• Thursday- 1.36 mile run in 11:39 average pace 8:33

My runs went great this week! It is SO MUCH FUN running in Disney World! All of my runs there were amazing! And the weather was warm and perfect! But then I came home to the cold! Brrr! I'm proud that despite how busy I was in Disney I still made time for my runs on the non race days. The streak is still alive!

Hopefully this weekend's race will be a good one! I'm praying for strong, injury free legs! And...I'm also hoping I feel well. I had some tummy issues on Thursday that made me feel pretty awful. Hopefully I will be feeling normal come race day. 

I hope you all have a great weekend!

QOTD: What was your best run or workout this week?

The Weekly Chase #111!

I'm having a blast in Disney! Really...who doesn't have a blast in Disney??!! Today we are spending all day in the parks! I have a feeling we will stay till they close too! It's our last day and Disney. We are traveling home tomorrow.

Thanks for being patient with me the next few days as I get back into the routine. I be back to regular posts soon I promise! And they will include Disney posts! ;-)

Now it's time for the Weekly Chase! It's a new week and I have new goals to achieve! I hope you will link up your own goals with me too! And feel free to use the badge below in your post too! You can grab the badge HERE! :-)

Here are my goals from last week!

• Goal #1: Run every day! Yes! I even ran on the days I wasn't racing in Disney! ;-)
• Goal #2: Roll, stretch, and ice daily. I did great with rolling and stretching. The icing was a little more difficult. It's hard to ice when you are staying in a hotel! I had disposable ice packs but they didn't work as well as my ice packs at home. 
• Goal #3: Maintain my weight by logging my calories. I logged as much as I could. I was in Disney so I will admit that I ate what I wanted! Hopefully the scale hasn't budged! Yikes!
• Goal #4: Finish sub plans for when I'm in Disney. Yes! Thank goodness I had last Monday and Tuesday off of work so I had plenty of time to get this done!
• Goal #5: Pack for Disney!!! I got most of this done last Monday and finished it all up on Wednesday!

Here are my goals for this week!

Goal #1: Run every day! I'm still planning on keeping the streak alive this week! Since I did so much running last weekend I plan on taking it pretty easy this week with mostly one milers. I'm going to try to slow down a little too. My next half marathon is THIS SUNDAY! Yes...I'm running back to back races. I'm running the Seaside Half Marathon!

Goal #2: Roll, stretch, and ice daily. Got to do well with the icing this week since I slacked last week.

Goal #3: Maintain my weight by logging my calories. I need to eat healthy this week since I splurged while I was in Disney.

Goal #4: Unpack from Disney! I need to get all my many suitcases unpacked!

Goal #5: Pack for Seaside! Some things I may be able to keep packed but I need to pack for my race this weekend! I'm excited because the hubby is going with me this race!!! :-)

Goal #6: Get lesson plans and my monthly calendar done. I need to get all of this done for next week so I can enjoy the weekend!

So that's the plan for this week! I hope you have a great week of accomplishing your goals too!

QOTD: What are your goals this week? Anyone running Seaside this weekend? 

Fitness Friday...February 20th Edition!

Well guys...I left for Disney yesterday afternoon! I'm so excited to be here! I will be going to the expo today and getting my race bib. My first race...the Enchanted 10K is tomorrow. Then Sunday I'll be running my second race...the Princess Half Marathon! It's going to be a great weekend of running!!!

I had a great week this week. Monday and Tuesday we were out of school for Mardi Gras. I got lots of things done in preparation for my trip to Disney. Truthfully, I'm not sure how I would have gotten it all done if I had to work those two days!

Wednesday and Thursday I was back at work. The days seemed to take forever since I was so excited about Disney lol!

Now it's time for Fitness Friday! I had another great week of runs! I finished off my Princess Half Training with a great 10 mile run this past weekend. And I kept the run streak going too!

• Friday- #plankaday 1:30, 1.36 mile run in 11:55 average pace 8:46

• Saturday- 10.05 mile run in 1:37:19 average pace 9:41

• Sunday- 1.56 mile run in 13:52 average pace 8:54

• Monday- #plankaday 1:15, 2.26 mile run in 19:33 average pace 8:40

• Tuesday- 2.06 mile run in 17:47 average pace 8:38

• Wednesday- #plankaday 1:30, 1.36 mile run in 11:48 average pace 8:41

• Thursday- #plankaday 1:05, 1.37 mile run in 12:07 average pace 8:51

My runs went great this week! I'll be doing lots of running in Disney! But the days I don't have a race will be a challenge. But I'm determined to run at least one mile to keep my streak alive!

Be sure to follow me on Instagram where I will be posting lots of updates from the weekend in Disney!

QOTD: What was your best run or workout this week?

Goals for the Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend!

Hey guess what???!!! This girl leaves for Disney today!!!! Can you tell I'm a little excited??!! We are driving about halfway this afternoon. Then we will drive the rest of the way tomorrow morning. That should put us at the expo in Disney tomorrow afternoon. I can't wait!!!!

I have run the Disney Princess Half Marathon two times before...so this will be my third time running this race. But it's been 3 years since I've run this race. The past two years I've run during marathon weekend in January. I can only afford one Disney race a year so I've had to choose which race each year. I'm excited to be going back to Disney and running as a princess this year!

First time running the Princess Half in 2011..and my first time running through the castle!

Second time running the Princess Half in 2012...and I got to run it with one of my good friends!

Highlights of this race:

• Course is pretty flat (there are a few overpasses)
• Disney character photo opps along the course!
• Huge expo
• Running through Disney World!
• It's Disney...so everything about the race is magical!
• Medals are GORGEOUS!

I'm running the Glass Slipper Challenge. That means I will be running the Enchanted 10K on Saturday and the Princess Half Marathon on Sunday! That means I get a medal for the 10K, a medal for the half, AND a medal for completing the Glass Slipper Challenge! That's THREE medals y'all!!! And Disney has the BEST BLING!

For those wondering, I'm in Corral C so come say hey if you can! :-)

So what are my goals for each race?

10K Goal: Run easy and have fun! I don't plan on running hard. These races are all about having fun! I'm not going to worry about my time at all. I plan on stopping for EVERY character stop and taking lots of pictures! And I need to save my legs for the half marathon the next day. 

Half Marathon Goal: Run easy and have fun! ;-) Yes I still plan on just running this one for fun! I will again be stopping for as many characters stops as I can! I have another half marathon next weekend so I don't want to push too hard. And I want to be able to walk around the parks for the next few days! :-)

My main goal of every race is to have fun and finish injury free and with a smile on my face! 

If you're interested in my recaps from this race the other times I've run it, here they are!

Disney Princess Half Marathon in 2011

Disney Princess Half Marathon in 2012

QOTD: Are you running in Disney this weekend? If you see me please don't hesitate to say hi! I love meeting new people! 

Princess Half Training Week 10!

Currently training for:
Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Half Marathon
Disney Glass Slipper Challenge
Seaside Half Marathon
Azalea Trail Run
Crescent City Classic
Biggest Loser Half Marathon

This week was the last week of training for the Glass Slipper Challenge! My last long run! And 10 miles was on the schedule. Andria and Jen came to run with me! We decided to run our downtown route again. It meant hills but I knew that was only going to make me stronger for my races.

We started at 6:30 am. And of course we were rewarded with seeing the sunrise before we began our run!

The temps were in the 30's. It was chilly but once we started running we warmed up pretty quick! I enjoy running with Jen because she likes to talk. So she kept us pretty entertained! Before we knew it we had made it to downtown and to our first water stop! I was feeling great which was a good sign!

After drinking our water we hit the road again. This part of the route was the challenging part. The hills were beginning. They were tough but we conquered them well! And talking while running always helps! Before long we were turning around heading back. We stopped at the same water stop one more time for a quick drink. We only had 3 more miles to go!

Usually the last 3 miles are the hardest because I'm ready to be done. But I was feeling great and knew I could keep going if I needed to. That gave me great confidence for my races in Disney. Although I will be running these races more for fun than time, I still want to feel good at the end.

Before I knew it we had reached 10 miles! I was happy with the run and happy with my pace!

And I'm always super happy to have friends to run with!

My last long run before Disney was a great success...yay!!!

QOTD: Who will be running in Disney this weekend????

An Afternoon in Montgomery!

This weekend we drove about 2.5 hours up to Montgomery. We had to be there for Sawyer's gymnastics meet. So we decided to spend some time there exploring. We visited the Rosa Parks Children's Museum. Then we walked around. We saw the capitol building and the first White House of the Confederacy. It was a fun family afternoon! Here are some pictures of our day!

Our first stop was the Rosa Parks Museum and Library. Unfortunately the main museum was closed. But we did get to visit the children's museum where we boarded the Cleveland Bus and learned some of the history leading up to the day Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus. It was like a ride...we sat on the bus and it "traveled back in time." It was pretty neat and the boys enjoyed it!

Next we started walking around and exploring on our own.

We came to this fountain! It was right across the street from the bus stop where Rosa Parks loaded the bus.

My engineer husband was in awe of the cobblestone street. And if you look in the distance you can see the capitol building!

The bus stop where Rosa Parks got on the bus that day.

We kept walking towards the capitol building. On the way we spotted the RSA Tower! We stopped for a quick picture.

And then we were at the capitol building! It's always so majestic looking! We took a few pictures. Sawyer wanted to mimic the pose Hayden had when he came to Montgomery on a field trip!

After walking around the capitol building we saw a white house. We learned it was the first White House of the Confederacy. We got to go inside and look around...it was really cool!

Then we headed back to the car and drove to our hotel so we could check in. Then we headed to get some dinner. We found a Jim 'n' Nix BBQ place. It was soooo yummy! I got the pulled pork, macaroni and cheese, and collard greens. I didn't feel guilty about eating it since I had run 10 miles that morning AND walked about 2 miles in Montgomery that afternoon!

Then it was back to the hotel for some relaxation before going to bed. We had a busy morning the next day...Sawyer had his third gymnastics meet!

And it WAS Valentine's Day! I'm so thankful for this man...he's my best friend and the love of my life! We didn't get to do any of the traditional Valentine's Day festivities but we greatly enjoyed spending the day with our precious boys and feeling so blessed and thankful for our little family!

It was a great day!!!

QOTD: Do you like to explore new cities?