2017 10K Panther Run

On Saturday, I decided to participate in a local 10K instead of running my planned 6 mile run. Local 10K's aren't very popular here, so I jumped on the chance to run this one. Also, this isn't a race I've participate in before, so I thought it would be fun to run a new one!

I woke up to really cold temps on Saturday morning. Basically, fall decided to visit for a hot second, then winter popped right in!

I hadn't registered for this race prior to Saturday morning, so I arrived early and told Jason to meet me with Brayden closer to the end of the race.

My plan for this race was to just enjoy it and not worry about a PR. In fact, I didn't even check my 10K PR until after this race was over and I was honestly shocked - my PR is a 51 minute 10K. How in the world I did that, I'll never know. 

This race offered a 5K, 10K, and 1 mile color run. The 5K and the 10K races started together first at 7:30 a.m. followed by the color run at 8:30 a.m.

My friend Lisa and her daughter Megan were participating in this race, so I met up with them before the start for a quick hello. Megan was running this as her first 10K for a time placement for Princess in February!

Before we knew it, it was time to start the race.

We lined up beneath the chute and after a quick prayer, we were off!

The 10K route led us down my favorite running route! It was an out and back which I loved!

As we turned past the lake and onto the next road, I was so grateful that I remembered my sunglasses! The sun was BRIGHT and shining directly at us.

At this point, we were close to mile 3 and I felt as if I had a lot left in my tank. I decided if I was feeling that good at the halfway point, I could pick up the pace a little bit. So, I did just that and was able to pass the two runners that were directly ahead of me.

We approached the turn around and I began counting runners as I usually do - that's when I realized something crazy....I was the second female! Whaaaaat!!

After seeing I was that far ahead, I decided to keep it up and continue my current pace. Although a head wind off the lake on the way back threatened to slow me down, I tried to push through as best as possible. I knew once I hit mile 5, I could do anything!

Just like that, the final turn was ahead and so was the finish line! I saw Jason and Brayden there cheering me on so I gave a little wave and crossed over the line. 

My finish time was right at 55 minutes and I came in as the second overall female! Yes, it was a very small 10K, but we won't talk about that right now....

Megan crossed not long after, and it was nice chatting with her and her mom!

Results were posted after a few minutes, so I walked over to make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me...

Sure enough, they weren't!

Ok, ok...so this was a REALLY small 10K but yeah...I'll still take it!

Brayden wasn't thrilled about the cold, but he enjoyed people watching!

We hung around for the awards ceremony, but they completely burst my bubble as awards were only given to the overall top male and female in the 5K and 10K. Whoops. Guess I should have read the fine print a little better...

After a banana and a few bites of food, we decided to eat a real breakfast at a local diner!

It was delicious as always!

Not long after being seated, my "Goofy" buddy from my running group came walking in with his wife! He ran a different 5K that morning and because we had on the same shirt, we had to take a picture! Fun times!!

Overall, it was a great morning and an even better race! I loved the course and enjoyed the atmosphere! This is definitely one I'll run again in the future!

Dopey Challenge Training Week 18

How is it already Friday again?! I honestly can't believe how fast this year is going by! Each passing day draws us closer and closer to Dopey Challenge and I cannot wait!

How did this week go? Let's take a look and see!

 
Currently Training For:

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

Saturday - 14 mile training run
Sunday - Rest Day
Monday - 3 miles
Tuesday - Squats/Lunges/PT with cross training
Wednesday - Rest Day
Thursday - 4 mile run
Friday - Rest Day

This week has been a good but busy one! Along with work, life's daily duties were busy as well. We had dinner with Jason's dad one night followed by dinner with my parents the next. Add in a trip to the pumpkin patch as well as a couple of World Series games and well, there you have my week! A cold front also came through this week which felt incredible and I loved every minute! It's supposed to rain again today to cool off for the weekend! Here's hoping!

Saturday's run was the longest one of this training cycle yet! I ran 14 miles and shared my experiences on Monday. 

One of the best parts of recovering from that training run was a soak with this amazing bath bomb! I definitely need more of these!

On Monday after work, Jason, Brayden, and I completed three miles. I didn't have a chance to take any pictures as we were pressed for time a bit.

Thursday after work, Brayden and I went out for a four mile run. It was a great one with awesome weather! I'm seriously loving it!

Friday will be a rest day since I'm planning on running a 10K on Saturday. I'd planned on running 6 miles anyway and this 10K is one of the only ones in my home town, so why not?! I'm not attempting to PR or go crazy - I just want to run it and have fun!

As I mentioned, we also visited the pumpkin patch this week, so I have to leave you with one of my favorite pictures from our trip!

He LOVED playing at the pumpkin patch - we will have to visit again soon (maybe even today if it's not raining)!

Last but not least, I'm SO excited for the Astros who are holding their own in the World Series! Wednesday night's game was amazing and I can't wait to see more! I've been sporting Astros gear to work all week! :)

Go 'stros!

Have a fabulous weekend!!

5 Marathon Training Truths (I Forgot About)...

So, most of you know it's been 4 years since I trained for and completed a full marathon. I've run 5 full marathons so far, so I felt like I kinda knew what I was doing when going into this training cycle (although I'm not going to lie - I definitely felt rusty)! Well, as I was out for my long run this past Saturday, I realized that there were SEVERAL things I somehow forgot about while training for a full.

#1 The amount of GU/Chomps I go through in a training cycle

I mean, really...who thinks about these things? I hardly use these guys while half marathon training but during my long runs lately, I've been eating them up! Guess I should have bought them in bulk over the summer as I've already made two trips to Academy this fall! 


#2 How much a long run truly is a mental game

On Saturday, I realized how true this statement really is. It's crazy how we train our minds as runners to distract ourselves from whatever mileage we are running at the time. I realized at one point on Saturday that I had completely distracted myself from what I was doing! It reminded me of a quote I'd read recently that said something along the lines of how a long run doesn't really start until the runner forgets they are running! All. Mental.

#3 Sore. Muscles.

This one explains itself - along with aching joints, etc. My foam roller and heating pad have become my BFF's here lately!


#4 Confidence Boost

When training for a full marathon, a few longer runs are a necessity and boy are they a confidence boost! I feel like once you pass that half marathon threshold (13+ miles) in training, everything starts to click into place and come together. It sure gives a boost of confidence on race day, too!

#5 Satisfaction knowing I just ran a REALLY long way

Ya know, there's just something about that feeling once a really long training run is over - your muscles ache, you have to limp a little to walk, and those endorphins are off the hook! Yes, I just ran 20 miles because I wanted to and yes, I might be a little bit crazy...but who cares! I feel amazing!


What are some things you learned while training for a race you'll never forget?

10th Anniversary Vacay - Day 2 Boarding the Disney Fantasy

When I left off with our recent Disney adventure, we had ended our travel day which also included a full day at Animal Kingdom and Epcot.

For recaps of our trip (which will be updated as the posts are written), check out the links below:

• Day 1 Animal Kingdom and Epcot & VLOG
• Day 2 Boarding the Disney Fantasy & VLOG
• Day 3 Day at Sea with Remy Brunch & VLOG
• Day 4 Cozumel & Chichen Itza & VLOG
• Day 5 - Grand Cayman & Sting Ray City & VLOG
• Day 6 - Jamaica & Ziplining & VLOG
• Day 7 - Second Day at Sea with Palo Brunch & VLOG
• Day 8 - Castaway Cay Day & VLOG

The first thing I noticed when I woke up that morning was the countdown on my Disney Cruise Line app! After so long, I couldn't believe it was finally here!

We'd received a letter the previous night, asking to have our luggage ready to go by 8 a.m. (a bellhop was there promptly at 8 a.m.) and pickup for ourselves was set for 11:30 a.m. I had no intention of waking up before 8 a.m., so I packed as much as possible the night before and just let the bellhop take my luggage when he arrived. Everything else (like PJ's and my toothbrush) was shoved into my carry on bag instead!

After getting ready, we made our way over to the temporary setup at Caribbean Beach for breakfast.

I'd honestly forgotten about the extent of the construction here, so I was surprised by the breakfast setup.

The fact that food was being served out of food trucks and a temporary tent kind of shocked me but as expected, Disney had the flow going well and all went smooth!

There were a few options for breakfast - menu items which were served out of the food truck and a breakfast buffet which was served inside the temporary tent.

For the space provided and what they had to work with, Disney did a good job continuing along with the Caribbean Beach style themeing.

After breakfast, we walked around the resort for a few minutes to snap a few pictures, then we headed back to our room to pick up our carry on bags.

Here's where my qualms with Caribbean Beach resort came into play. We left our room around 10:45 for the bus stop. There, we had to wait on the internal bus for the lobby. Although there was a bus times board behind us, it did not include a time for the internal bus, so we had no idea when it would arrive. We seriously sat for a good 35 minutes waiting on the internal resort bus and made it to the lobby with minutes to spare. The fact that I couldn't simply walk to the lobby myself kind of irritated me and I could see how having a private vehicle for a vacation stay here would be helpful.

The Disney Cruise Line bus pulled up at our resort just moments after we arrived at the lobby (perfect timing)!

 It didn't take long to drive to the port as DCL kept us entertained the entire way with a video and trivia.

Before long, the Fantasy was in view and everyone on the bus was beyond overjoyed!

We breezed through security and quickly made our way through the Castaway Club check-in line!

After checking in, we noticed that the line for Captain Mickey wasn't terribly long, so we decided to join in! This quickly became one of my favorite photos from our trip!

By the time we finished with our picture, we were able to board the ship!

Another favorite from each cruise is our boarding photo. I'm kinda obsessive about coordinating our looks! :)

Not long after boarding the ship, we went upstairs to talk to someone about purchasing an internet package for our cruise in order to keep up on the occasion with Brayden back home. We decided to go with the medium package which was $40 for 300MB and setup was super easy (all online).

We waited a few moments for our friends to board the ship, then we headed to Cabanas for lunch!

Our lunch was delicious as always and we didn't leave disappointed!

By the time we finished eating, our room was ready so we walked over to check it out!

We didn't stay in our room long because we had the emergency drill to attend followed by the Sail Away Party.

Hearing the ship's horn for the first time is seriously one of my favorite parts of our Disney cruise vacations!

We also spent a little time checking out the Halloween tree as this was our first Halloween on the High Seas cruise!

Being on the second dining rotation meant that we had to watch the evening show before dinner. This night's show was Aladdin and it happened to be playing two nights in a row on our cruise! 

In between Aladdin and dinner, we listened to the story teller inside the main lobby as this was one of the special Halloween events taking place during our cruise.

 
Dinner on our first evening was in Enchanted Garden and we were happy to see that our table was just a four person table. Although we enjoy meeting other couples and fellow travelers, we were looking forward to spending time with our friends as we only get to see them while on vacation! 

Dinner and dessert was delicious as always!

I love the atmosphere inside this restaurant and I think it's one of the coolest restaurants on the ship!

After dinner, we played Disney Tunes Trivia and for the first time ever, WE WON!

Yes ladies and gents, we became the proud owners of two Disney Cruise Line key chains!

...and with that, our first day on the Disney Fantasy had come to a close! We had an amazing day and enjoyed spending time with our friends!

Stay tuned for more from our Western Caribbean itinerary including Cozumel, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Castaway Cay!