Rocketman Training: Week 8

This week really flew by.  After the 101 Mile ride on Sunday, you bet your bottom dollar I was going to take a rest day on Monday.  

I had very low expectations for track practice Tuesday morning, but I was pleasantly surprised when Jenny and I both rocked those reverse Indians -- maintaining a 9:30 average pace.  I should have swam on Tuesday afternoon, but I didn't.  I did see the trainer and he kicked our butts as usual.  

Wednesday VQ was very difficult, but it I tried my best and was content with it.  My left hip was definitely irritated from Sunday, but the arch in my left foot started hurting too.  Brian, my massage therapist, had been booked on Monday and I didn't have any time until Thursday after swim.   

Thursday, Marianne and I road from the lake to the airport and back.  It was a nice loop, my legs were still sore, but felt way better than the day before.  My swim was okay.  It was HARD the whole time.  You know why?! Because the last time I swam was one week prior. 

After swim, Brian came to my house to give me a massage.  Brian focused on my left leg the whole massage.  He said it's the tightest I have ever been.  The pressure he was applying felt 3x harder than he normally uses, but it was the exact same.  My left hip and hamstrings were the worst.  I mean tears in my eyes, squirming, and clenching my fists hurt.  He spent the whole hour working on my left leg.  The arch pain pretty much went away before he even made it to my foot  -- so the tightness in my upper leg was causing lower leg tightness.  I always feel 10x better after Brian works on me.  I highly recommend him.  He really knows his anatomy, techniques, and always listens to your feedback.  

I started feeling like I was going to get sick on Wednesday.  I just felt tired and my throat felt like it does right before I get sick.  Thursday I was okay, but Friday morning I woke up and I didn't feel 100%.  I made plans with Marianne to meet me at my house to run -- so I sucked it up.  We ended up having a great tempo run, ran 6 miles @ 10:00 min/mile average.  I am having a hard time slowing down after the speedy 9 minute miles in the middle of the tempo run.  I'm not sure if that is such a bad thing.  My leg was 75% better and I had no left arch pain.  Brian, thank you.  

I wasn't feeling great at work, but I was excited to meet my fellow Buckeyes to watch some basketball Friday night.  As I was getting ready for Saturdays ride/run, I felt really fatigued all of a sudden.  I decided to skip going out -- and fell asleep at 7:15 instead.  I was SICK. Ugh. I had to REST. Ugh.  REST is a FOUR LETTER WORD.  I slept for a long time and woke up Saturday morning feeling like I should give my workout a try.  I took a hot shower to break up the congestion in my head and I did feel better!  I headed out to Clermont and had plans to take it easy.  My legs were like "what is going on? Why doesn't this burn?" while the rest of my body was like "I am so tired."  I was fatigued.  I did about 20 miles, my throat started hurting and I was getting the chills.  I was done.  I tried, but I need to R***.  I slept until about 3pm and I started feeling a lot better towards the end of the night.  

The next morning a few of my teammates had plans to run at 7:30am.  I decided to set the alarm and see how I felt in the morning.  Well, I actually woke up before my alarm and felt energized.  My head was still heavy from congestion, but again I took a hot shower -- the magic weapon.  Because I didn't ride yesterday, my legs were FRESH.  I could have run faster than I did, but I wanted to take it easy and not stress my body too much.  We finished 11 miles with an average 10:38 min/mile pace and I felt fantastic.  We ran around downtown Orlando, to Winter Park, through Mead Gardens.  It rained a little bit.  We had good conversations.  It was beautiful.  :) 

My goal last week was to make sure I was better about using sunscreen.  I applied sunscreen every time I was outside and even wore long sleeve shirts to cover my skin on my arms.  This week my goals are:

1) Re-dedicate myself to swimming.  The past two weeks I have only swam 1x.  I know that consistency is important in training.  I am very consistent with running and cycling and I definitely have seen improvements because of it.  This week I will swim 3x.  

2) Stretch more.  I will stretch at least 15 minutes after each run and bike.  I will do at least two 30 minute sessions of yoga this week.   

"Believe you can and you're half way there." Theodore Roosevelt 

Rocketman Training: Week 7

RECOVERY WEEK.  Ahhhh yes.

After 6 weeks of hard work, we get a recovery week.  I was extra busy at work so it was perfect timing.

Overall, running has been getting faster.  I averaged around 9:30 pace for both of my runs this week (Thank you recovery week!!).

I am slacking with swim aka only swam once this week.  However, I felt so good by the weekend I decided to do the 101 ride instead of the 70 mile ride for the Tour de Cure.  I would call that a successful recovery week!  Recap here: Tour de Cure Recap

Cheers! :)

Tour de Cure

Tour de Cure is an event that Coach Sway had on our calender since the beginning of the season.  I debated on which mileage I should do, I knew I could do more than 50, but didn't think I would be ready for the 100.  I was just getting back into cycling regularly after the Marathon and I decided to do the 70.  The event is to raise money for the American Diabetes Association.  I set a goal for $500, reached it and continued to raise money until I raised $946!  I gradually got motivated as more friends donated.  It just so happened the week leading up to the event was a recovery week from half Ironman training.  My legs were fresh, people were donating, and I got inspired.  I had a few friends doing the full 101 route and I decided I was going to go ahead and do that distance with them.

Race morning I woke up and felt great.  I woke up early enough to make myself some espresso which I drank on the way there and kept me warm as I was getting my bike ready for the ride.  I met up with part of our Tri with Sway group to take a quick photo.

Took some solo shots before heading to the finish line. I am going to use them in my thank you cards I make for everyone who donated!

I met up with my "crew" Jess, Jason, Mike, Jenny, Chris, and Jenn.  It was really crowded at first, but after about the 7 mile we were able to form a pace line, which we stuck to the majority of the time.  We got lucky and had two very strong cyclists with us -- Jason and NooNoo (who joined us later at mile 33).  Jason actually races in cycling events and placed 2nd at his race the day before, averaging 26mph.    NooNoo is a machine and has the sexiest bike I have ever seen with the ugliest bento box I have ever seen. ha.   The rest of our crew was lucky to have these two fast cyclists with us, because they pulled us the whole way.  We averaged more than 19 mph while we were riding.  It felt amazing!!!  

The course started at the UCF Medical Campus at Lake Nona.  I have done some riding here a few times so I was familiar with the beginning of the course.  The route took us through Kissimmee, Poinciana, Davenport, Celebration, Williamsburg, and then back towards the Airport, leading us back to Narcoossee and the Medical Campus.   It was mostly flat with a few small rolling hills while we were in Polk County.  

The first 33 miles flew by -- literally felt like 5 minutes.  To be honest, I was nervous.  I get nervous around cyclists I don't know especially when there are several hundreds of them!  We picked up Lorri around mile 28 and she quickly jumped on our pace line.  She had been pulling some random dude.  We stopped at the second rest stop.  I took off my long sleeve T and put it in my bike jersey.

NooNoo joined us and it made our 9 member crew complete.  My bike computer quit working for about 13 miles, but I finally got the sensors to reconnect -- by that time we were almost at mile 50.  Half way.  

We seperated a little after mile 50.  Chris, NooNoo, Jenn, Lorri, and I went a few miles and stopped at the next rest stop to wait for the rest of our crew.  Jason offered sunscreen to me, but for some reason I denied it.  Then, a guy from the rest stop offered spray sunscreen, again I denied.  I should have took that as a sign, but I didn't!!!!!!!  

I was feeling great at this point.  I had a clif bar, half of a pb and J, and 2 bottles of eload (and more water!).  I had a couple handfulls of pretzels at each rest stop.  Miles 66-80 were probably my least favorite because of the traffic on the road, but otherwise I loved the course!  It was so nice not to have to ride in circles and have NEW scenery.  

The rest stop at mile 80 was the best.  They had a DJ who was making jokes.  I was still feeling good, but my left iliotibial band was starting to feel tight.  

Kristen and Mike Blue Steel Version

At this point, we only had 20 miles to go.  There were quite a few lights and we hit some tourist traffic, but we hit the airport section pretty quickly.  NooNoo, Lorri and I ended up in front of the rest of the crew, because we made it through a light that the rest didn't.  We waited and met up, but we never got our pace line back up and running.  The last 2 miles were the WORST.  The most WIND we had all day.  NooNoo and Lorri gave me some words of encouragement and I pushed through the wind. The three of us finished together, side by side, at NooNoo's suggestion.  It was so cute, I wish I had a picture.  

We didn't stop for a picture at the finish line or drop our bikes off.   I was so shaky, I needed to eat something STAT.  They had Tijuana Flats for us and I scarfed down a chicken soft taco and some chips and salsa.  I got a free massage and headed home.  

I am so glad to have completed my first century at this event.  It was well organized and I can't think of one complaint about the event! I really felt lucky to be raising money for a good cause -- and for seeing many "Red Riders," cyclists with Diabetes, out there.  

I also really enjoyed the time on my bike and just being outside.  I think sometimes we are so concerned with pace, distance, and overall performance that we forget the beauty of it all.  I loved every minute of this ride and I feel so blessed to have found a group of friends that share the same interests as I do.  It was fun to take a "trip" around Orlando with my crew.  This will be the first of many LONG rides as we train for our Ironman together in November.    

Here are my final thoughts from Sunday:
1) I am never leaving home without sunscreen on if I will be outside longer than 15 minutes.
2) I will never turn down applying (or reapplying!) sunscreen when I will be in the sun for 6 hours. (If you haven't figured out, my arms are BURNT CRISPS.)
3) I love bike jerseys!!!! I love the pockets!!!!!! Must get an Ohio State one soon!
4) I need to be better about my nutrition on the bike.  I did not eat nearly enough calories.
5) I LOVE RIDING MY BIKE!
6) I LOVE LIFE!

Motivation

Desire is the key to motivation, but it's determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success that you seek. -Mario Andretti

Motivation

Rocketman Training: Week 6

I am kinda sad to see this week go.  It was an awesome week for me.  I would like to thank coffee for  3 out of those 7 days.  Ha.  I have a little problem.

Monday I met Marianne at the airport and the wind was probably the lightest I have ever felt there.  It was a great ride and we kept an 18mph average pace for 26 miles.  It felt great.  

Tuesday at track we did "baby" ladders.  Faith, who is has come to track twice in several months and is still fast, pushed me.  It felt great and I was even pumping my arms like her at the end..  I kept my running jacket on and zipped up because it was cold -- and I didn't have any difficulties breathing.  Yay!!!!  

My swim and pumps were pretty uneventful.  Maintaining good pace with my swim and being consistent with my pumps.  

The new Vision Quest series started this week and it's the "climbing" phase.  I wasn't able to test last series, because the Disney Marathon was 4 days later so I was ready to see where I was.  I really thought in the beginning of the series I was not at the level of my last test number from the last series I took in October.  I ended up testing at 186 watts, which is one point higher than my personal best.  It felt awesome to get up there again, I was actually shooting for 170-175 so I exceeded my expectations. I was pumped up after that too.  Thursday morning I woke up and I was pretty sore, but somehow I busted out a fast 6 mile tempo run.  We were supposed to run 60 minutes to 75 minutes.  I felt bad for cutting it short at 63 minutes.  Sway said she only ran 58 minutes after VQ testing Wednesday, so that made me feel better. :)

Fun after VQ :)

Saturday Morning

Since I am doing the 70 mile Tour de Cure next week, I wanted to get in 60 miles this week.  Jess, Jenny, Lorri and I all wanted to get in the same amount which was perfect.  We did one medical center loop and then headed out on Narcoossee.  Lorri educated us on how to do a proper pace line and we did pretty well once she put us in check.  We maintained a 19.4mph pace for 60 miles.  Man did that feel great.  I was struggling towards the end, but I pushed through.  

We headed to the lake to meet the rest of the team for a swim.  It was cold.  Ha.  Had a great breakfast at the Conway Cafe after with some of my teammates.  

Saturday night I didn't sleep well and we lost an hour with daylight savings time.  I was dragging and did not want to run.  I don't know what happened, but I got a little angry and then I pretty much just forced any negative thought out of my head.  I just took off.  And thought about coffee.   My first three miles were @ 10 minute miles and I felt great.  I felt good maintaining that pace so I kept it up for 10 miles and ended up running an average of 10:12 pace.  

I have been feeling super fast this week.  When I am running, I feel like my legs are strong and are really pushing me forward.  Thank you strength training.  On my bike, I believe I have consistency and time on my hands.  Coach Sway always said that over time you will get better and after this week I believe it.  It only took me 7 weeks to improve my VQ number to the number I worked 10 months for last year.  It also helps that I have teammates who are supportive and push me when I need to be pushed.  

Jenny and I were talking about how training doesn't seem as difficult this time around.  It doesn't.  There are so many things that are different and I believe it has to do with experience.   I can see why people believe experience is important before attempting an Ironman.  

I continue to focus on my goals and on the Ironman finish line.  When I want to give up, I picture myself running, music blaring, smiling, hands up in the air crossing the Ironman finish line.  A few months ago, at the goal planning session Jess arranged for us, one of her Lululemon teammates said something like:  "Everything I do, all my choices, I think about my goal.  Will this bring me closer to my goal?"  I have learned that consistency is key.  It's not perfection, but commitment to make as many decisions as I can that will help me achieve my goal.  

This week is rest week and while my body feels great, I know I need the recovery.  Your welcome muscles.  :) 

The BAD Workout

Last week, my teammate texted me after track practice and said "I wish I had a blog so I could complain about my crappy run.... something about how not every training is supposed to be awesome." That got me thinking.  What is the best way to deal with bad work outs?  Why do we have bad work outs?  

I believe bad workouts happen to every athlete, but let me put this in perspective in terms of our normal triathlon schedule.  A triathlete's weekly training schedule consists of AT LEAST running 3 times, swimming 3 times, and cycling 3 times PER WEEK.   Yes, that's right.  7 days.  9 work outs.  One rest day.  Oh yeah, we also try to squeeze in strength training 2-3 times per week and yoga 1-2 times per week. It's a lot.  

Let's also factor in other aspects of our lives.  You know our jobs, children, significant others, other responsibilities.  Did your child keep you up last night?  Did you have to work late?  Was your day extra stressful at work?  

.....And we wonder why every work out can't be AMAZING.  

I asked Coach Sway this morning what she would say about a "bad workout."  She said that it prepares us for race day.  It makes us stronger.  

It didn't really click for me at that moment.  We work so hard to achieve our goals.  Having a bad work out just stinks.  It makes me feel weak, like I am not getting any stronger or faster.  It's disappointing when you feel bad after a work out.  

.....And then she sent me this: 

DING DING DING! It was perfect.  We have bad workouts because it does make us stronger.  It forces us to continue through the work out when we are tired, our quads are so sore they feel like they could burst, and when mentally we have checked out.  We have no choice, but to continue to try.  It's practice for race day.  It MENTALLY prepares us for race day.  The bad work out is NOT to make us feel physically weak, it's to build our mental strength.  

During a race, we give our all -- we push ourselves to go as fast as we can and it is HARD.   We are doing an endurance race which can take up to 8 hours  17 hours.  17 HOURS! 17 HOURS to go as hard as you can.  To have the strength to keep moving forward.  To keep going.  To keep believing in yourself when things get tough. 

Lesson learned: let's not forget the mental "workouts" we need to do to get prepared for our race day.   When you are having a bad day, except that it won't be an amazing workout, but continue to push forward.  Do your best and know that this bad workout is useful.  

When you chose to keep going forward, you are improving your ability to fight against any negative thought that will come in to your mind at race day.  Except the fact that sometimes workouts can be labeled as  a "mental strength" workout.   Fight though it.  Push harder.  Do your best.  Don't punish yourself for a bad physical work out, instead be proud that you had a mental feat.  

When you chose to keep going forward, you are improving your ability to fight against any negative thought that will come in to your mind on race day.  These bad "mental strength" workouts make you a better athlete -- and believe it or not, this practice will make you more successful on your race day.  

"Don't give up.  Don't ever give up." -Jimmy V

Motivation

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Rocketman Training: Week 5

After the long weekend with my family here and running the Princess Half Marathon, I needed Monday as a rest day.  I was exhausted.    Oh, rest day, I love you (sometimes).

Tuesday at track we did a heart rate test.   I really don't like the way the heart rate monitor feels on my skin.  I have sensory issues and also sensitive skin that chafes easily.  Monitoring heart rate is a useful tool in training -- it ensures you are working out at the proper intensity.  I will try to wear my monitor for tempo runs to start with and see if I can get used to it and start wearing it regularly.

My place was a mess (when isn't it? #triathleteproblems), so I spent time cleaning Tuesday after work.  On Wednesday and Friday, I did a swim and pump workout. There is a guy that has been at the pool this week who is pretty fast, but he doesn't glide at all.  I thought about telling him, but then I'd have no chance of beating him.  Both of my swims this week were faster and it had something to do with competing with him.  ;)  My 600's on Friday were very fast all thanks to high stroke count dude.  I have been focusing on total body strength training, usually doing super sets, with 30-60 seconds recovery time.  It's feeling really great and I am noticing improvements in my strength since I began strength training regularly.  My trainer got in a motorcycle accident so Jason and I weren't able to see him this week.  He is okay, thank goodness, but please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.  

I thought VQ on Wednesday would be a test day, since it is the last week of the session.  Instead, we did a hard workout with 2 minute intervals @ threshold power keeping 50-60 cadence, 1 minute recovery.  Most of the time I kept my power at 165 and did the last few 175-180, which made me happy because it showed me that I have had made progress with VQ this session.  It was really nice not to have to take a test two weeks in a row.  Last year, it did bother me that I was always having to take the test twice (last week of session and the following week when the new session began).

Thursday I met Jenny, Jess, Marianne, and Lorri downtown for a 6 mile tempo run.  It was a beautiful morning and a great run.  I got a nice runners high from that run!
These were our splits:
1) 10:39
2) 10:52
3) 10:28
4) 10:08
5) 10:11
6) 10:54

Thursday after work I headed out on my bike.  It was really windy and it was starting to get dark, but I got a ride in.  Plan to meet Marianne and other teammates once a week to get a ride in.  It's been hard at times riding solo.  The time changes next week so it will be much easier to get rides in after work.

Saturday I made the trek to Howey in the Hills to ride Dewey Robbins.  Hills. Fun. Party. YES.

I felt kinda like my tank was on empty during the ride, so I decided to take my time and pace myself.  It was freezing and windy.  My feet were frozen, cramping, and painful.  My back was sore.  I did everything to not focus on these thoughts and focus on good thoughts.  Heather (my fellow fugitive) caught up to me and we finished together.  It really helped to have her with me so we could motivate each other.  After 40 miles, we dropped our bikes off and headed off for a quick run.  Our feet were frozen, it literally felt like they were rocks and almost like we were bouncing off something because we couldn't feel our feet hit the ground.  Heather kept a good pace at first and pushed me to keep up with her -- we ran the first mile in 10:34.  I started feeling really good and my legs felt like they wanted to go fast.  We picked up our pace and ran the second mile in 9:24.  It felt amazing and felt good to do some training with one of the three fugitives again.  Last year when I was training for the Florida 70.3, Heather, Muki, and I got named the three fugitives.  We trained together and were all about the same pace.  We had a lot of fun.  Muki is currently side lined with a Achilles tear and we miss her.  Get better Muki!!!

It was really hard for me to keep my eyes open on the way to Howey and on the way home.  I needed to sleep.  I ate, showered, and got in bed.  I didn't wake up until after 1 and swim practice was at 2pm.  I was still tired and didn't feel like rushing to get up so I listened to my body and slept some more.  I felt much better after.  It's really important to listen to your body when it needs rest -- it's really a learned skill.  It's difficult at times and easy to make yourself feel bad for missing a workout.

Sunday morning I woke up and decided to get my grocery shopping done instead of running first.  It was overcast in the morning and windy -- I wanted to wait for it to warm up a little.  It was cold and windy, but the trees on the trail blocked most of the wind so it ended up being perfect running weather.  I was able to take my Singulair (to help with my exercise induced asthma) pill 2+ hours before and it seemed to help.  I didn't feel like it was very hard to breath -- even when I was pushing myself the last few miles I was breathing HEAVY, but it wasn't catching.  I still haven't made the appointment with the asthma doc.  That's first on my list for Monday.  Well, actually second after my SWIM and PUMP.   I ended up running 10 miles with an average pace of 10:30.  Mile 8 and 9 were the fastest, 10:13 and 9:54 respectively.  It was nice having a great run after having a not so fun bike on Saturday.

Since I skipped swim practice Saturday, I had to swim after my run.  I ate and showed up at the pool to this:

It's always nice to have an empty, calm pool.  It's just you and the water.  Nice and relaxing.  I was tired and wasn't going my usual speed, but I completed the work out.  I came home and did yoga.   I have only been getting yoga in one time a week, but plan to add a second day next week.

My coach made a big announcement this week that Ultraman Florida was approved!!!!  This is something that I have hard Sway talk about for awhile and I am very happy that she is reaching a goal she set for herself.  The Ultraman is 3 day, 320 mile event consisting of 6.2 mile swim, 261.4 bike, and 52.4 run.  It will be very exciting to volunteer and also cheer for my teammate, Lorri, who registered for the race today.  :)  Lorri has always been someone I look up to.  She is a great athlete, never complains, and is always working at 100%.  I (along with all my other teammates) are very excited for this event.

Overall, training has been going great.  Not every workout is the best, but I am being consistent and I am starting to feel how much better my body feels with the strength training.  It's hard at times, because it makes me sore and might slow me down for a workout, but I try to focus on the main goal (finish an Ironman)!  Next week is our last week before we get a rest week.  Recovery week will motivate me to push myself at each workout this week.

Disney Princess Half Marathon

Saturday night we got back from Epcot around 7.  I laid my stuff out and got ready for bed.  I think I fell asleep around 9.  Another Disney race, another 3AM wake up call, but this time it was my Mom telling me it was time to get up.  My sister and I got ready and ate some fuel.

It is really nice to stay on property, because you walk out your door, wait a few minutes, and a bus will take you right to where you need to be.  We made it to the finish line/bag check, made a stop at the bathroom, and headed to the starting line.   I think my sister used the bathroom again on the way to the starting line and I was starting to feel like I was with Marianne.  

I was really excited for this race, because I knew we would have a lot of fun.  Disney races are fun, entertaining, and filled with high energy.  It is crowded and I would never chose a Disney race to try to PR!  I was proud of my sister for training in the below freezing temperatures and snow in Ohio so that she could come run this race with me.

After the 20 minute walk, we made it to corral "C."  Music was playing, the announcers were doing interviews, everyone was getting PUMPED UP.

Before Race Photos

My sister liked this shirt!

The Fairy Godmother officially started the race for each corral.  A cute touch for the Disney Princess Half Marathon!

The start went by quick.  The set up was the same as the Disney Marathon so I knew where my Mom would be.  In the beginning, we ran on the left side and kept yelling "Linda" to try to find her.  We finally saw her and she was holding up a sign.  It was good to see her since at the Marathon we missed Marianne's parents.  It was really crowded and we did our fair share of dodging.  I originally thought we could take pictures at the mile markers and with the characters like Marianne and I did 3 years ago, but it was way too crowded and had significantly more runners this time around.   We did stop at mile 1 for a picture, but it was clear to me that if I stopped every mile to take a picture it would take FOREVER to finish.  

We came up to the pirate ship with Jack Sparrow and the line was so long.  We just took a few pictures to the side.  We didn't want to wait for a long time to get a picture.  

 Carrie had to use the bathroom again.  I think Marianne and Carrie would be really good at running together.

It was hard to get pictures.  Carrie really liked holding her thumbs up. 

We ran under the bridge at the ticketing and transportation center, where the music was blaring and a guy was dancing with huge Mickey.  I tried to get a picture, but it was blurry.  I wish I stopped.  He was my favorite part of both the Marathon and Princess Half.  We did get a cute picture with the Lumiere. :)   

We made it to Magic Kingdom and we were glued to the left side again.  I was a little worried, because we didn't see my Mom as we made our way up to the castle.  We stopped to take a picture and Carrie spotted her in front of the castle!

 We had a guy right next to Mom take a picture, but I wanted to take a self portrait with the castle in the background.

 Camera was zoomed in. Ha.

 There we go!!! :)

We then saw BUZZ!!!!

(No she isn't using the bathroom again!) ;)

 We made our way behind the castle and stopped to take a photos with Minnie and Mickey in the background.  I didn't get a picture of the castle, but there were two guys playing trumpets.  Its so fun to run through the castle.

Close up in front of the castle :)

I did not eat enough in the morning and didn't bring enough gu, so I was really looking forward to the Clif station.  Unfortunately, they didn't have chocolate which is the flavor I like.  But, they did have mocha, which made me excited given my new love for coffee.  It wasn't that great, but it served the purpose.  

The race went by very quickly for me.  It was fun to run again with my sister.  I ran with her at her first half marathon in Cleveland in May of 2011.  

We are NOT princesses. :)

View from the bridge up above.  Lots of pretty pink and purple princesses!

Increda-Mom! :)

We didn't run through Epcot the way I thought we would, we entered from the side and ran down the midway, turned around and came back to the front.  The choir was there again, we made the turn, and saw the finish line.  We crossed at 3:16:19!

We accomplished our goal: have fun!  We were not able to get pictures like Marianne and I did in 2010.  It made me feel really lucky to have run that race before it got popular.  We headed back to the hotel to relax, we ate sweet tomatoes, and roasted marshmallows at the hotel.  It was fun :)

My first one caught on fire and I was not happy.  I had to roast another one.

There we go!

We are all wiped out from the fun, jam packed weekend.  It was really nice to have my Mom and sister visit!  They will be back in July with the kids + TOM! :)