Dopey Challenge Training Week 15

Friday! Another weekend is here and that means we are one week closer to our next Disney Cruise! It's been rather quiet around the blog here over the past week, mainly because I've been hit with this sinus mess that's going around. Here's hoping it clears up soon!

 

Currently Training For:

• Dopey Challenge 2018 - Walt Disney World
• Rock n Roll New Orleans Half Marathon 2018 - New Orleans, LA

Saturday - 12 mile run (as part of a back-to-back)
Sunday - Rest day
Monday - 3 mile run
Tuesday - Rest day
Wednesday - Unplanned rest day due to sickness
Thursday - Squats/Lunges/PT with cross training
Friday - Rest day 

This week was super disappointing in terms of how my running and workouts go, especially after having such a great week last week. Even though the weather is changing, it's not happening fast enough and sinus problems are affecting almost everyone. Along with sinus trouble came a little difficulty breathing, so I decided to take an extra rest day this week. I'm definitely hoping to feel better by tomorrow!

On Saturday, I completed a 12 mile run as part of my first back-to-back for Dopey.

The morning was peaceful and serene and it left me wishing for a cool, less humid Saturday of October. I know (really hope) those are just around the corner and I can't wait!

Monday evening, I took Brayden out for a quick 3 mile run. Somehow, he managed to take both shoes off along the way. At least I noticed and was able to rescue both of them. I mean, shoes...why do we wear them anyway?

After dinner with my parents on Thursday night, I was feeling a little better so Brayden and I returned home for a little cross training and PT. He loves doing squats with me, although they are getting a little harder since he's weighing 26 pounds now! I started putting him on my back instead of holding him in my arms and he just giggles and giggles!

Sudafed and benadryl have both been my bff's this week. I'm hoping the weekend will bring around less sniffles and easier breathing! 

Last but not least, I was watching a favorite show of mine last night and something one of the guests said really stuck with me...."Never loose the want to always get better". This can apply to so many areas of our lives, but especially with our goals and dreams. I needed the little reminder and it did my heart good to hear it! That quote was mentioned on last night's episode of Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making The Team - it's one of my FAVORITE shows and I've been a devoted fan ever since season 1! Anyone else??

I hope you all have a marvelous weekend!!

Back-To-Back

Better late than never, right?

Two weekends ago was supposed to be a back-to-back training run for Dopey Challenge. With my son's sickness and a big lack of sleep on both of our parts, that obviously didn't happen.

Instead, my back-to-back training runs took place this weekend and although it was super hot outside, they went fairly well!

Friday's run was a scheduled 4 miler and I decided to run as much as possible while waiting on my father in law to bring Brayden to me. He arrived just as I reached 3 miles, so Brayden and I ran the last one together. My heart decided to jump into its crazy PSVT rhythm after the run, but it didn't take long to return to normal, thankfully!This hasn't happened in a long time and usually only happens when I'm stressed out or overheated. Hello "feels like 98 degrees"!!

Friday was supposedly the first day of fall, right? Well, Southwest Louisiana did NOT get the memo!

Our local news station put this out and I definitely found it fitting!

Saturday morning was beautiful and I loved watching the sun rise over the lake!

The humidity was a little high which made it somewhat difficult for me to breathe. I also forgot how heavy your legs feel after running the previous day! Needless to say, this run was slow going at times!

Around mile 5, I also encountered a 5K that I forgot was taking place! I ran on the sidewalk as not to be in the way. It did feel weird to be "in" a 5K that I wasn't actually running, so I got out as soon as I could.

 

Whew! I was so glad that was over! By the end of 12 miles, I was drenched from head to toe!

Although I had difficulty breathing with the humidity, my IT bands and hamstring never bothered me during the run! Yay!

Breakfast was (of course) from Starbucks! I tried their new iced Maple Pecan Latte and it was delicious! I also had the egg white and turkey bacon sandwich to go with it.

The first back-to-back of Dopey training is complete and I love the confidence boost this weekend's miles have given me! 

What do you think of back-to-backs? Love them or hate them?

Dopey Challenge Training Week 14

Currently Training For:

• Dopey Challenge 2018 - Walt Disney World
• Rock n Roll New Orleans Half Marathon 2018 - New Orleans, LA

Saturday - 5 mile run
Sunday - 3 mile walk
Monday - 4 mile run
Tuesday - Rest Day
Wednesday - 3 mile run
Thursday - Squats/Lunges/PT with Cross Training
Friday & Saturday - Back to back run

This past week was a great one as far as workouts and mileage goes! 

Despite the fact that Brayden wasn't feeling well this past weekend, we HAD to get out of the house. After several stir-crazy days, we headed out for a late Saturday morning run. It wasn't what I'd planned as Friday and Saturday should have been my first back-to-back for Dopey, but it was better than nothing!

Starting a run at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday morning probably wasn't my best idea ever heat-wise, but we made it work! :) 

It was definitely a slower run, but I was having trouble breathing with the heat and humidity. Oh well. 

By Sunday, Brayden was feeling MUCH better and really wanted to go outside, so we headed out for a 3 mile brisk walk.

On Monday afternoon, Brayden and I set out for another run. After struggling through a heat index of 100+ degrees all summer, I've come to appreciate the value of the Bob. Not only can I carry my water along with me, it also has a place for my house key, gatorade, and any other necessities I might need along the way.

This time however, I wasn't very prepared and I didn't bring enough water with me for a 4 mile run. Brayden had plenty of water, I did not.Whoops. 

A super sweet couple that passed me in their car saw me struggling along (it must have been written all over my face), so they turned around, went home, got a fresh cold bottle of water, and brought it back to me! I was SO shocked at their generosity and kindness! I still had about a mile to go until I was home so their timing was impeccable! I also don't believe that things like that "just happen". :) Nice people do still exist in this world!

My goal for this run was to finish under 10 minute miles and I made it!

On Wednesday afternoon, I was in desperate need of a run, so I headed out solo. While I missed having a spot for "everything", I also loved having the chance to run as fast as I wanted and not have to lug a stroller around! It felt amazing to simply run!

Today and tomorrow, I have a make up back-to-back run. Here's hoping all goes as scheduled! Have a fabulous weekend!!

When Disney Cancels Your Vacation

Happy Wednesday! This week is halfway done and it's almost time for another weekend! For us here, that means another weekend closer to our next Disney Cruise!

Yes, I promise to stop harping on our canceled trip after this post, but I wanted to share the details of all that went into our cruise that was canceled by Disney Cruise Lines.

For starters, we were booked on the September 9 sailing of the Disney Fantasy, Eastern Caribbean itinerary. As Hurricane Irma grew closer and closer to the Caribbean islands, we all knew that some sort of change with our cruise was going to take place. There was no way we would be able to safely sail into the port of St. John or Tortola and my heart went out to all of the people of those islands. The devastation Hurricane Irma left in her wake was so incredibly sad to see.

At this point, my mind didn't begin to compute the possibility of a canceled cruise. I kept saying that I didn't care where we sailed - if we just got on the ship and sailed into nothingness for 7 days, I would be fine.

On Tuesday September 5 at 12:30 p.m., Disney Cruise Line released their first official statement regarding the storm and their upcoming sailings. In that statement, DCL mentioned both our sailing and the Disney Dream, saying both were still on as scheduled.

That evening around 7:30 p.m. however, another advisory was released, stating not only were the Fantasy and Dream cruises cancelled, but the current cruise ship out at sea would be returning to port 2 days early.

Was I sad? Yes. Did Disney Cruise Line try to make up for a decision that was completely out of their control? YES again. 

In that statement, they also graciously agreed to refund our trip by 100% and they offered us 25% off a future booking!

Considering the fact that I didn't have trip insurance...whoops...I was incredibly grateful for DCL. On top of the 100% refund, they also took the safety of their guest, cast members, and the ship into consideration. After hearing horror stories about things that happened with other cruise lines, I was definitely happy with the decision made by Disney (although not right at first).

On top our cruise, we also had a one night stay booked at Caribbean Beach resort for the evening before our cruise. We planned to spend the day in Pandora and the evening at Food & Wine for dinner. Although I stayed on hold with Disney for a little over an hour, I was able to cancel my one night stay and receive a 100% refund on this as well, without penalty!

What about airfare? Well, Southwest was just as amazing. Since Orlando was in a high alert travel zone due to the hurricane, Southwest allowed us to change our itinerary over to new dates without any penalty at all, although our new projected dates cost about $300 more than we initially spent!

After scouring Jason's work schedule, we picked a new cruise date for October of this year and went with it (also WITH trip insurance this time)! We have a few friends sailing with us and we are so excited to share in our adventure with them!

Everything is booked as before minus Remy brunch (which we will try to book once we are on board the ship if possible).

I was excited about our original cruise for three reasons - Disney Fantasy, Halloween on the High Seas, and an Eastern itinerary - none of which I'd done on past cruises. I'm happy to say that our re-booked cruise has at least two of the three, although I'm not sure an Eastern itinerary will be doable for a long time and we will be on a Western itinerary for this sailing. We will continue to keep these guys in our thoughts and prayers.

So, despite the crazy situation, I feel as if Disney did everything in their power to take care of us and ensure our safety. Our 10th Anniversary cruise is still on, although not in the way we initially planned but that's ok with us!

Have you ever had to change travel plans due to a storm or event?

Sick Weekend

My weekend...how did it go you might ask?

Well, it was mostly spent with a sick toddler and I felt so bad for him. My kid has never spiked anything more than a very low grade temp so on Thursday when he ran fever of 101+ degrees and was downright miserable, I knew something wasn't right. I evaluated and debated his symptoms all afternoon and came to the conclusion that his teeth were bothering him since rotating schedule of tylenol and motrin made a VERY cranky child almost back to his normal self.

On Friday morning, his temp was almost back to normal (in the 99 degree range), but my coworkers talked me into calling for a doctor appt, just to make sure all was ok before the weekend. Imagine my surprise at the appointment when they opened his mouth to check the back of his throat (HELLO why didn't I think of that) and it looked awful! When a quick swab to check for strep came back negative, it was determined that Brayden had contracted Hand, Food, and Mouth Disease and the only treatment is symptom management with things like tylenol, motrin, and cold foods/beverages. Say WHAT?! 

Seriously. My child goes to Mother's Day Out one day a week for 5 hours, mainly for child interaction and he somehow contracted this crazy disease. (Please note I'm not blaming our Mother's Day Out as it's a wonderful program and we love them!) Stuff like this just happens and can't be helped sometimes.

Friday night was miserable. He woke up at midnight and wouldn't fall back asleep. He was miserable and restless and just couldn't get comfortable. We went from his bed to the rocker to my bed to the couch, back to the rocker then finally back to his bed. He wanted to suck on his pacifier so bad, but every time he tried, he would scream.

The only thing that made him finally settle down was the Hot Dog Song. On repeat. For one hour. Did you know that an hour long video of the Hot Dog Song on repeat exists on YouTube? Well, it does. You're welcome.

At 5 a.m. on Saturday morning, he finally fell back to sleep. Usually, Jason and I would rotate and take turns with something like this, but Jason was working nights all weekend so he missed out on all of the fun!

Do you think I was up at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday morning for my usual long run? Negative. I slept until 8:30 a.m. when Brayden woke up. Around 10:30, I decided that I couldn't sit in the house any longer so I headed out for my run. I only made 5 miles and totally didn't complete the scheduled back-to-back for Dopey's Challenge but oh well - there's always next weekend.

By the time I set out for the run, it was already 93 degrees and super hot outside. I wasn't sure how long I would be able to run, but when I hit 5 miles I knew I was done. Running on very little sleep is never a good idea for me. I called it quits and decided that 5 miles was better than nothing!

By Saturday evening, Brayden seemed to be feeling a little better, so we met up with my friend Kim for dinner. Yep, when you feel horrible and can't swallow real food, you get frozen yogurt for dinner! He ate it up!

Thankfully, Saturday night was peaceful for all of us! We went to church on Sunday morning, but I decided to hold him out of the nursery as I didn't want to be the reason another kid caught this awful virus. Instead, we sat in the hallway, listened to the service overhead, and ate goldfish. Whatever works, right?

By Sunday evening, he wanted to be outside again, so we went for a 3 mile brisk walk. The sunset was gorgeous and although it was back to being humid again, we had a great time!

Although it wasn't a glorious weekend nor was it spent the way I originally planned, I'm glad that Brayden seems to be feeling a little better although the rash from the HFM looks awful. Hopefully it clears up soon and he's back to normal in no time!

How was your weekend? If you have a kid, have they ever come down with HFMD?

Dopey Challenge Training Week 13

Currently Training For:

• Dopey Challenge 2018 - Walt Disney World
• Rock n Roll New Orleans Half Marathon 2018 - New Orleans, LA

Saturday - 10 mile run
Sunday - Rest Day
Monday - 3 miles
Tuesday - 4 miles
Wednesday - Rest Day
Thursday - Squats/Lunges/PT with Cross Training
Friday - 4 miles

This week has been another interesting one over here.

As you may know, Saturday's run was unplanned but went well minus the IT Band issue with both knees. Both knees were still bothering me the next day which really alarmed me as I don't want to walk down that road again. So, I decided keep my main focus on icing and foam rolling this week.

I also decided to take it easy with Monday and Tuesday's mileage. There are no pictures from either day, but I completed the mileage with my friend Melissa and her husband and we had a blast!

Thursday's run was nixed because Brayden ran fever all day and after I returned home from work, all I wanted to do was lay on the couch with him.

He also discovered a new "toy"...the button on the digital thermometer! This kid LOVES buttons and toys that make noise/light up!

After I put him down for the evening, I completed a Tone It Up arms/abs workout as well as my usual squats/lunges routine.

My parents also brought take out over for dinner on Thursday night and I thought the fortune was kind of unique!
 

Another yummy find from the week was this taco salad from a local Mexican restaurant. It was too much for me to eat in one sitting, so I saved the rest for lunch the following day!

The remainder of the week was spent trying to figure out when to reschedule our cruise and what excursions to take! No matter what happens, I know we will have an amazing time!

This week was kind of boring but given the fact that I technically wasn't even supposed to be here, I guess it went ok! I'm debating on what mileage to run for the weekend. If my IT Bands hold up, I might even try a back to back!

I hope you have an awesome weekend! Any fun plans?

Ten Take 2

Ice, stretch, roll, squat, lunge, repeat...

That's what my week last week looked like. I was worried that I over did it with my left hamstring during the previous week's 6 miler because it bothered me all week.

When I woke up on Saturday morning, I wasn't sure what was going to happen. My running group was meeting up again for the first time in weeks and the temperatures out side were perfect. I technically wasn't even supposed to be here this weekend and wasn't planning a long run because I wanted to give my hamstring some rest while on our cruise. So....what to do?

Well, after going back and forth in my head, I decided that I would KT Tape my hamstring properly (for the first time) and go out to meet my running group. If I only made a few miles before stopping (because I'm trying not to overdo it), then so be it. There were no preconceived notions about distance or time in my head - I just wanted to get out and enjoy the fresh, cool air and our first cool front of the season!

The sunrise was just beginning as I reached town.

Also, we couldn't have asked for better weather! When I first started running, I was really cold and wondered if I should have worn a long sleeved top. It didn't take long for me to warm up, though.

This route was also one of my favorites - it led us down River Road where we truly had a chance to experience the gorgeous sunrise!

During Harvey, this area was impassible for a while due to high water and the signs still remain...

At this point, I was about 2 miles into my run and my hamstring felt AMAZING! I seriously couldn't believe it as I didn't think I'd even make it this far while running.

So, I kept on. The entire route around the river is almost 8 miles out and back which was perfect for me that morning!

At this point, both IT Bands were starting to bother me which is incredibly random. I think my socks were too thick and my shoe laces were tied too tight. It's incredibly random, but it happens sometimes. I decided that since I know how to deal with IT Band pain, I would continue to push on to finish at 10 miles. I said I wouldn't run a 2 digit run again until it was cooler outside and somewhere along the river, I decided that today was that day!

The last two miles turned into a run walk due to my IT bands which didn't make me very happy but that's ok!

In the end, I was still happy with the mileage for the day and incredibly amazed that my hamstring held up just fine. So, from here on out I'm going to ice, roll, stretch, and KT Tape my hamstring along with my physical therapy work and see what happens!

 Did you run this weekend? How was your run? Have the temps cooled down in your area?

Jamaica Me Crazy & College Football & Movies!

9/11 - a day that will remain in the hearts and minds of Americans for eternity. It's hard to believe it's already been 16 years! Where were you? I was a sophomore in college, driving to class. I remember sitting in nutrition, unable to focus at all, looking at the world through completely different eyes. What a sad sad day. Let us never forget.
---------------------------------------------------------------

For a weekend that was supposed to be spent out at sea that wasn't, it actually turned out to be a pretty decent weekend!

On Thursday afternoon after work, Jason and I were invited to the annual American Cancer Society's Jamaica Me Crazy event. We didn't have tickets initially since we weren't supposed to be in town, so being invited at the last minute was a fun surprise! This would have been my first event to miss in years so I was happy it all worked out!

Totally nerd alert here - but I was so excited to see that the colors used at this year's event were my wedding colors (teal and pink)!

When you can't physically be out in the Caribbean on a cruise ship as planned, you take out some of your pre-packed dress clothing and attend a Caribbean themed event instead!

The food was AMAZING as always.

So was the dessert! YUM!

It was so much fun spending the evening with my friends and parents! Can't wait for next year!

On Saturday morning, I woke up to amazing weather and headed out for a long run. I'll share more on my long run in a later post this week!

After the run, Jason and I made breakfast.

Again, I'm sure you can see a theme here...we pretty much decided to do as many Disney-like things we could this weekend!

This turned into more of a "brunch" since we were eating closer to 11 p.m.

Jason's parents were also gracious enough to watch Brayden for part of the day, since they were supposed to have him anyway! 

One of the things we were saving for the cruise ship was movie watching. We didn't go see Guardians, Cars 3, or Spider-Man in theaters with hopes they would be available on the ship. Well, we decided to Red Box Guardians 2 and watch with our surround sound that we hardly ever get to use! We also blacked out as many windows as possible and loaded up on the snacks! No, we didn't eat ALL of that in one sitting! (I bought the Ghirardelli chocolates because they reminded me of Disney Springs and the Pineapple Fanta reminded me of Club Cool in Epcot!) 

After the movie, we met up with Jason's parent's in town and picked up Brayden for his first football game of the season! Our hometown college team is the Cowboys, so Brayden was decked out in Wranglers and Cowboy boots! :)

He did REALLY well for the first part of the game but started getting restless closer to half time. Our team was winning, so after half time and watching the band, we decided to leave. (They ended up winning in the end!)

On Sunday morning, we went to church and had lunch afterwards with my parents.

Brayden fell asleep on the way home and he seems to transfer really well from the car seat into his bed....so once he was sound asleep, I began the fall decorating process! I was going to wait until we returned home from the cruise but since that didn't happen, I decided with the gorgeous weather all weekend, I might as well!

Fall is one of my favorite times of year!

We spent the remainder of the evening in the pool! Perfect end to a great weekend!

For the record, my comments about a cancelled cruise are seriously tongue in cheek. I know Disney made the right decision and I'm not upset at all. Yes, I'm sad we didn't get to go on our cruise for now, but I feel worse for the people on those poor islands who had their homes destroyed by Hurricane Irma. 

So there you have it - for a weekend that started off with cancelled plans and ended with a lot of fun, I'd say it was a success!

How was your weekend? Any fun plans?