2015 Goal Update with TOTR

The gals from TOTR had a great topic for today: 2015 Goal Update. Since the first half of 2015 is coming to an end, we though this topic was fitting.

I never imagined this year would go by so fast. I was just reading some posts from last year at this time to see what we had been up to. I was of course just coming off an injury but was able to run 4 pain free miles by this time. Looks like I was better off last year than I am this year. So where do I go from here?

Goals for the rest of 2015:

I am currently going to the PT workout center 3-4 days a week. I will continue to do that. In addition, starting in July I am going to try to go twice a day.

I got a massage last week and the lady I'm working with has been really good with her techniques and doing research to see how she can better help me. I have scheduled a massage with her once a week for the next three weeks and will continue to get them
once a week until I feel I am back to normal.

I am still planning on running VA Beach in September, whether or not it's the half marathon or the 5K is yet to be determined. I kind of feel bad that I even mentioned running the 5K because one of our friends will be running with us ( his first half) and now he thinks he wants to do the 5K if I do it. He is not injured. He needs to run the half....lol. He is just nervous about running 13.1 miles but I know he can do it ( YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE...lol)

I'd like to run our local Harvest Festival 5K this year with my dad. I didn't do it last year because I was already in marathon training mode and was training for longer distances.

If all goes well, I will spend the rest of the fall training for the WDW marathon again. If I'm still injured then I will just sit down with a box of markers and some poster board and make the best dang disney signs to cheer on the rest of you who are running!

As far as Lacey's 2015 goals: Her next race is also VA beach. She will definitely be running the half marathon (with a friend so it won't be a goal race). She may pick up a fall race too depending on what her schedule is like.

What are you working on for the rest of 2015?

Day In The Life Of A Flight Attendant Part 2

I had  a week off of work last week so I decided to spend some time  at VA Beach.  During my time there I went on a 14 mile run with a good friend Saturday morning. We had a lot of catching up to do so it made the miles go by fast.  

 

 

The following week I had to go back to being a flight attendant. This was probably one of the most trying weeks I've had in a long time. It was suppose to be an easy day with a show time of 12:45 pm.  I was to start in Philadelphia go Cincinnati then back to Philadelphia.  We then would have a 3 and a half hour sit before our next flight to Watertown NY, so plenty of time to get food. On our way back from Cincinnati there was weather coming into the Philadelphia area and we didn't have enough fuel to remain in a holding pattern so we had to divert to Norfolk VA to refuel and wait out the storm. We arrived at 7 pm. The passengers deplaned and I went inside to try and get some food. Because now there would be no time for food later. Of course the only place to get food quickly was closed. Guess I'm not eating tonight. And the weather never got better either. We didn't end up leaving Norfork until 12:30 am. 

What normally takes 40 mins to Philadelphia because of the weather took an hour and a half so we didn't make it in until after 2 am. Can you believe our company still wanted us to fly one more flight to Watertown NY? Luckily my Captain refused and said we are all fatigue we need a hotel.  It took our company another hour and half to find a hotel for us.  They said that the closest one was in Dover DE.  Really? Another hour and a half away. So we didn't get to a hotel until 5 am.  (That is not a typo). And we had to be up and back at it by 2 pm.  

Luckily we only had one flight to do so we were done by 7 pm. But the next day we had a 5 am van and worked all day. It just doesn't make sense. Get done at 5 am one day and the next day start at 5 am. 

We actually were on time that day so I got to the hotel around 1:30. I slept all day until 6 pm.  Woke up and ate dinner and still fell back to sleep by 8:30. Yes, I was exhausted. Had to get a good night sleep because our van ride to the airport the next morning was 4:30 am.

The next day we started in Rochester NY and fly to Philadelphia. Then we are suppose to do a St. Louis turn and be done for the day. We arrive in St. Louis with a maintenance problem and the flight cancels outbound.  We then have to ferry it (fly plane with no passengers because our restrictions are lower) to get it fixed to Milwaukee.  Luckily they didn't need a flight attendant to do this so I was able to take the next flight to Philadelphia.

Needless to say this work week has been very exhausting. With all these circumstances this has been the first time I can even remember going a week with out running/working out and I am not even injured. How long have you gone without working out?    -L

10 years ago

My how time has flown. I think we can all agree that time is going by way too fast. I thought it would be fun to take a look back at what everyone was doing 10 years ago and how things have changed (or stayed the same). I will admit that running a marathon or even a 5k wasn't even on my radar ten years ago!

Disneyland Paris Half Marathon

If you are a Run Disney fan then you probably already got the e-mail or heard about the exciting event going on in Paris in 2016.

We've heard speculation of this event for some time now but we didn't hear the official announcement from Disney until we were standing in the corrals during Princess this year.

I have always wanted to go to Disneyland Paris and running there sounds like a great opportunity but I'm still not sold quite yet.  Of course the distance thing gets to me. I'm very nervous about long flights, not to mention I don't speak a lick of French nor do I understand it. My sister has already done the Disneyland Paris thing and said it was only  so so and has no desire to go back. Well, there goes my run Disney companion!

For those of you who are not on the fence about it, here are the details:

Event dates :
 September 23-25, 2016

Events:
Sept 23: Expo starts
Sept 24: 5K race through Disneyland Park and Disney Studios, Kids race, Pasta Party
Sept 25: Half Marathon

Run Disney Packages will be available for booking THIS October!  (October 6, 2015), If I do make the leap to DL Paris this is the way I will go. DL Paris has several "Disney" Hotels.   Disneyland Hotel, Disney Hotel New York, Disney's Newport Bay Club, Disney's Sequoia Lodge, Disney's Hotel Cheyenne, Disney's Hotel Santa Fe, and Disney's Davey Crockett Ranch. They all look amazing with really fun themes! You can check them out HERE.  Of course there are some "Partner" or Good neighbor hotels too.

Actual race registration opens January 12, 2016. (hmm, I think I will be in WDW for Marathon weekend then).   Speaking of Marathon weekend. I hear there is going to be an additional medal given for folks who run a WDW half and the DL Paris half in the same calendar year!  I'm sure that will be a coveted medal and quite a beauty (seeing as it will be at Sleeping Beauty's Castle...hmmm)

If you want to keep up with the latest news about the DLP Half Marathon you can sign up HERE.

So now I want to know, Do you have or do you know anyone who has experience with any of the DLP hotels?  I am intrigued with at least that aspect of it!   -M

It's an Enigma!

I mentioned earlier on the blog that I wanted to start experimenting with different running shoes because I believed that it may have been the zero drop shoes that I have been wearing that were contributing to my injuries.  Last year I was given a pair of Mizuno Wave Rider 18's to try out and I really liked them so I thought I would stick with the Mizuno brand. After talking with a brand rep on what I really liked in a shoe (a neutral shoe that had cushioning), she suggested the Wave Enigma to me. Now at this time, all the Wave Enigma 4 's were sold out on the Mizuno website and the Enigma 5's were not released yet.  I scoured the internet up and down looking for a pair of these Enigma's in my size. I had no luck. I was told only certain "specialty" running stores would carry the Enigmas, so I check the stores near me. None carried them.

Now here is where things get interesting and things in the universe just sort of align. About a week after I searched all my avenues looking for these shoes, I got an email asking me to test out and review no other than the Enigma 5's!!!! I could not have been more excited!

From the Mizuno Instagram

After seeing Mizuno's Instagram post about all the new colorful shoes that would be released soon, I got even more excited and had hopes of receiving some bright pink, purple, or orange shoes!

Instead, I got the silver and blue pair, which I admit I DO like and remembered that I have been wanting a pair of blue running shoes for a while now.

Even thought these are cushiony shoes, my feet feel very supported. I did learn previously that wearing too cushiony of a shoe can have a negative impact on your joints. I think that may have been my problem in the other shoes I was wearing (they were too much cushion and not enough support). 

I felt that the toe box was wide enough as well. I get my running shoes one size larger than my normal shoes so that may help.  I've been wanting to wear these shoes ALL the time. I don't normally wear my Running Shoes for anything other than running, so this is becoming a problem...lol.  I've been wearing them to the gym lately, for walking, and for everyday errands.  I need to keep reminding myself that I need to save them for when I start doing my longer runs.  In the meantime, I'm going to pick up an additional pair of shoes just for the gym and for errands.  When I starting putting in those long miles again I'll come back and let you know how they handle!

The Mizuno Wave Enigma will be available in July ( and p.s I got a sneak peek of the other colors and there is a cool Purple pair)!

Have you ever went crazy trying to find a specific pair of shoes? M

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Mizuno. I love the shoes and all opinions are my own!

Things you'll want to know about the Disneyland Hotel

When we went to California for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon you may have seen us mention several times that we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel.  This was one of the best decisions that we made and I would not hesitate staying there again if we should decide to do another race weekend. Unlike Disneyworld, Disneyland only has three on property Disney resorts, The Disneyland Hotel, The Grand Californian, and Paradise Pier.  All are with in walking distance to the parks and to the race start and finish.

Transportation:
Also unlike Disney World, Disneyland resorts do not offer the magical Express. You have to arrange your own way to and from the airport. My mom and I flew into Sana Ana (John Wayne) airport which is actually the closest airports to Disney and when we arrived at Ground Transportation the Disney Express was already there waiting for passengers. We did not have to purchase tickets ahead of time. Tickets were $20 per passenger and the Disneyland Hotel was the first stop. The ride took about 20 minutes.  Lacey flew into LAX ( Los Angeles ) airport and she took Prime Time Shuttle which cost about $18.

Hotel/Room:
We arrived around 10:30 am and we figured our room wouldn't be ready yet and we were prepared to just check our luggage and go to the expo.  There were no rooms available yet, but as luck would have it the cast member worked his magic and found one. As we walked away, he whispered to me that he had upgraded us to a premium room.  This was our view!

The Disneyland hotel is divided into three towers. The Fantasia Tower (the tower straight ahead in this picture)which is the main building where the lobby, check-in and the gift shops are, the Frontier Tower (The tower we were in and where this picture was taken from),and the Jungle Tower (which would have been to the right of this picture).  Straight ahead and to the left would be the convention center where the race expo took place. In the middle is the swimming pool area with waterslides and a hot tub.

Isn't the Minnie Mouse shaped hot tub so cute? We also loved looking down at the Mickey as Daniel Boone (or perhaps Davey Crocket?) landscaping. I wonder if we can try to do that at home with our landscaping?

A peek inside our room. Even the carpet had hidden Mickey's on it.  The headboards had a castle carved in it.  The room was actually a lot larger than what is pictured. We also had a nice big closet and a desk area that we did not photograph.

And then of course with a flip of a switch the fireworks lit up and a lullaby could be played.  I hate to admit that we were so tired each night of our stay that we only remembered to turn the headboard on the last night to enjoy it.

There were even some Mickey touches in the bathroom.  We weren't loving that we only had one sink when most Disney World hotels usually have a double vanity, but for what it's worth the bathroom was nice.

Restaurants:
The eating options ate the Disneyland Hotel are excellent.  For sit down dinners there is Goofy's Kitchen  which is a character meal and Steakhouse 55 and Lounge.  There is a Coffee shop that was open during race mornings but the only real food they had were muffins (and a few power bars). Our favorite spot to eat was Tangaroa Terrace which was kind of like a quick service restaurant. Everything on that menu looked so good. I could have ate here everyday!  If for some reason you didn't care for any of the restaurants at the resort, you are only a short walk ( just across the walkway) to Down Town Disney  where you will immediately see Earl of Sandwich and Rainforest Café (and then many other restaurants).  FYI: Although there is a entrance to DTD from the Grand Californian, the Disneyland Hotel is actually closer to DTD then Paradise Pier.

                                                  Below are maps that you may find helpful.

This map shows the grounds of the Disneyland Hotel and where things are located.  We stayed in the Frontier Tower which is the most convenient location to the race staging area and finish line.  The brown hut near the middle of the map is Tangaroa Terrace

This map shows the proximity of each hotel to the Downtown Disney Area and theme parks. The darker blue boxes in the upper right hand corner are the Disneyland Hotel, the peach boxes are Paradise Pier, and the Green boxes are the Grand Californian!

The start line for the Pixie Dust Challenge races  was just north of that yellow section on the map, which is actually an overpass over Disneyland Drive.  In this instance, all three of these hotels have easy access to the start line.

I really like the convenience of where everything was located to the Disneyland Hotel. It saved us a ton of time getting around. Also, it made it easy to go back to the park  real quick if we forgot something (like we did twice).

Tell us what you look for in a Hotel? Is it convenience? Location? Theming? Something else?

Do You Want to Run a Race Challenge?

Over the past year or so our race calendar has revolved around race challenges.  We've done Disney's Glass Slipper Challenge twice, the Virginia Beach Remix Challenge, the Las Vegas Remix Challenge, Disney's Goofy Challenge, and Disney's Tinkerbell Challenge!  That's a lot of races.

To be honest, for me, running the challenge races wasn't so much of a personal challenge as it was a matter of convenience.  Yes, I wanted to run, and I was going to be there anyway, so why not kill two birds with one stone so to speak and earn the additional bling?  So really it wasn't suppose to be about "challenging" my body although for most of these races I ended up being injured, so yea, I guess it was kind of a challenge if you think of it that way...lol!

So now we plan our race calendar all over again and all those challenge races, well, I'm over it.  I kind of have the been there done that feeling about it.  And to be honest, with my current state of injury I really can't even see my running future past the races I've already signed up for. I am no longer setting lofty goals.

Currently I am signed up for the RNR Virginia Beach half ( no challenge). At this rate I think I may even drop down to run the 5K and if that happens, I won't be sad. That would give me a full collection of all the VA Beach medals. In the past I have done the mile, the half relay, and the half marathon. I have not done the 5K yet, so I might need this medal!

 *And don't forget, if you want to run any of the Rock n Roll races, use our code FAIRYTALESNFIT for a Discount!

The second race I am signed up for is the WDW Marathon 2016. I will be running the Marathon Only, not any of the challenges. Lacey will be doing the Goofy Challenge again because she will be running  the half with a friend for his first Disney race and then running with me again for the marathon.  I signed up for the marathon because I thought I would for sure be healthy again by next January! But at the rate I'm going, I may miss half my training which is not a good thing. If I am not 100% I will not run. I will come to cheer on everyone else, but I am not going to attempt the 26.2 miles if I am feeling the least bit of pain. My reasoning for signing up for the marathon again was to do better! I know, I know, it's not all about the time, it's the experience, but if I'm going to put the effort in to another marathon, I want to know that I ran it at the best of my ability! Overall, I am not disappointed in my 2015 marathon time, I just know that I would have been able to run it better un-injured.

So this brings us to the Disney Princess race! Last year after running the Goofy Challenge, and then the Glass Slipper Challenge (including the 5k), I was really left exhausted.  I told myself that I would not be doing BOTH races next year ( yes, I'm sure that had something to do with my injury too).  Since I already signed up for the marathon for 2016, I know its not smart to do Princess, but part of me thinks I should just do one of the races even if it's only the 10K! We've been doing the Princess races for 5 years now. I'd hate to miss that weekend. But then my voice of reason kicks in and tells me not to sign up for anything else until I'm back on track with my training and am injury free. Yes, that is the smart thing to do!


Why do you do the Challenges?  If you were me, would you sign up for Princess?  -M

Thank you to the lovely ladies at TOTR for picking this topic of Challenges this week.

*Some exclusions apply.