Weekend Roundup!

The weekend is flying by...

Friday night Kevin & I hit one of our favorite seafood restaurants, The Chowder Pot.

Amazing Lobster, honey glazed bread, and stuffed mushrooms + cocktails with my hunny = fabulous evening.

Saturday? 

Mostly a washout. I had to work all day, and didn't get home until after 5, and was wiped. We ordered pizza, got my favorite ice cream from across the street and stayed in watching movies.

Today, my brother was home for the weekend with his girlfriend. He ran to my house and we went for a 10 miler, which I felt pretty great on. Plus my pace wasn't too horrible! We followed the run up with breakfast out with our lovies at my favorite place, 3 cafe!

French toast with caramelized strawberries, blueberries, and plums, with fresh whipped cream. OMG I ate every.last.bite.

Now its time to clean, blog, and grocery shop!

How's your weekend going?

Do you have a favorite place to go out to eat?

(Long Overdue) My Brother's Goofy Race & a Half Race Report

Sorry it took me so long to post this! I know several of you asked to read my brother's recap of the races, here is the short & sweet of it.

This has been a long time coming. All the blood, sweat, and yes even tears have finally paid off.

It was almost a year ago when I decided I wanted to run the Goofy’s Race and a half Challenge. What’s that? It’s when you run the Disney World half-marathon on Saturday, followed by the Disney World full-marathon on sunday. 39.3 miles in 2 days.

Am I crazy?

Let me answer your question with a question: am I a runner?

When I decided this would be my goal over the last year, I immediately enlisted the help of my coach Sara Bernard (http://runninginpink.com) to help coach me through the process. Her words to me were along the lines of “You’re nuts, but if you really want it, I’ll coach you” and “You should really do a 26.2 first so you understand what it takes.”

Unfortunately I’d injure myself trying to do barefoot running too quickly and had to delay my first marathon which was scheduled for July, to October. I was heartbroken, but worse, I was starting to burn out. In August I just didn’t think I could run anymore. With the help of my amazing girlfriend, Annette, I managed to keep myself from falling apart and make it to Hartford.

Hartford was amazing. One of the best races of my life. For a full recap, check out my post on my sister’s blog (Couch Potato to Marathoner). I had never been in more pain from running in my life, but it was totally worth it. I was a marathoner (and earned my post-race beers)!

Now my training shifted focus to Disney. Finally, what I’d been waiting for, for as long as I can remember. It was finally coming. After a week break (no running allowed said Coach Sara!!), I was burning and ready to go! I started my back-to-back long runs and off I went. Nothing would get between me and my goal. I would train like never before, I would do whatever it took. I’ve never wanted something so bad in my entire life.

Not only did I get stronger, faster, but my recovery shot through the roof. I could run back-to-back with no pain, no weakness. I felt like I was becoming invincible. Eventually during my training runs I capped out at 13 and 20 miles back-to-back. At this point I knew I was ready, and my taper started.

1/8/2012 – The Disney Half-Marathon. Oh you cruel heartless thing. I had ran the same course 2 years prior and had never been more miserable in my entire life. I’d say this picture accurately describes how things went this time…

Easy, almost effortless. Oh, and I still managed a new PR of 2:23:50, a nearly 14 minute improvement over my old PR. This was at a comfortable pace I could have run for another 20+ miles, but I needed to save my strength for day 2. I finished the race and waited for my family. My mom had been running the race too in her first half-marathon. I was so proud of her. We hugged, she cried, I cried. “I did it Jay” she said. That was enough to make me break down.

The rest of the day I relaxed and mentally prepared for the 26.2 to come the next day (oh and I ate an entire medium pizza). My sister, poor kid, had been sick. She was worried about the race. She’d been feeling sick lately and I told her I’d run with her to make sure she finished. It was the least I could do for her, after she did the same for me two years ago in the 2010 Disney World Half-Marathon. She was worried about messing up her time, I told her, my time didn’t matter, there will be other races, and making sure she finishes is more important.

The race was very difficult for her. She felt ill nearly the entire race, and we had to stop a couple times for her stomach issues. Remember runners, rule #1, nothing new on race day (except stuff like my silly Goofy hat, the power-aide did not agree with her stomach). We chugged along and I felt great the whole time, pacing her out, telling her to shut up and conserve energy. Eventually towards the end my calves started getting a little tight, but not too bad overall. For the full race recap (she did a fantastic job), check it out over on her blog.

(home stretch!!)

While at Disney and on our celebratory cruise, I also had the chance to read “Born to Run”. Whilst running my races that weekend, it struck me, I had a huge smile on my face; I love running. The problem with running for many, is that they’ve forgotten how to love running. We were, in may ways, born to run, and it just feels so natural, but many have been conditioned to think of running as punishment, and that is truly unfortunate. While on the cruise, Coach Sara told me I could do anything I wanted to do.

I ran.

Not only did I run, but I ran about 10 miles total that week, doing laps on a cruise boat. I was just as happy running those laps as I am when I hit the Charles River during the Spring.

It’s funny because we were never a super athletic, or even healthy family. Now we’re a family of healthy runners, and even better, marathoners.

Disney Marathon Race Report (Part 1)

Lets break this into 3 parts, pre-race, race, post-race since there's so much to go over.

Pre-Race

We headed out Friday morning early for our flight, which was leaving at 6:30am. I was in a rush, even waking up at 3:30am. I didn't have time to make breakfast to bring with me, and after making a protein smoothie, I left it sitting on the coffee table. Thankfully I managed to get everything else I needed into my bags and the car, and we headed to the airport. 

I had a great Livingsocial coupon for airport parking (only $31 for a week), so we parked, then took the short shuttle ride to the airport, where we met up with my mom, sister, and her friend. I started with my choking problem here, managing to choke on my Dunkin Donuts breakfast sandwich (later the almonds made me choke uncontrollably).

The flight was uneventful, and we got to the airport and waited for my brother and his girlfriend to arrive so we could head over to the hotel. We were staying at Port Orleans French Quarter hotel, and took the magical express there. Unfortunately our room wasn't ready, but my mom's was. We dumped our bags in her room, then headed for the race expo.

It really started to set in as I picked up my bib. "I can't believe I'm running a marathon!" I told the woman who gave me my bib. Kevin and I made signs to cheer my mom, brother & me on during the race, then headed from bib pickup to the building for bag pickup.

Me & Mom at Bib Pickup!

Once we had our race bags it was official race merchandise time! I loved my sweatshirt I got for the half 2 years ago, and was really looking forward to getting one for the marathon. Unfortunately we found the merchandise to be a little lacking. The design on most of the items wasn't great, but I finally found a marathon jacket I love, and of course a wine glass. My brother was so upset because the Goofy merchandise was really lacking. He ended up with nothing.

my new marathon jacket

We made our way through the booths. My mom bought a stick after I told her how much I loved the one Kevin bought me for christmas. We got bananas, crasins, and even a picture of Tony Horton. Finally we hit the Nuun booth, where Nuun was 2 for $10 with a free waterbottle. score! My mom and I stocked up. We also grabbed my sister a couple new Bondi Bands.

After the Expo, we headed back to the hotel, only to find our room still was not ready. We were told that even though check in time is at 3pm, rooms are not guaranteed until 5pm. We finally got into our room at 4:30, only to find out that it was dirty (gross hair all over the sink). We left a message to complain, and headed to dinner at Portobellos at Downtown Disney.

We had made a reservation weeks ago for 12 of us. My Aunt, her husband, my cousin, and 2 others were joining us too. We were forced to wait over an hour past our reservation time to be seated, and the disappointment continued from there. The service was lacking, the prices high, and the food mediocre. Our eggplant fries came out cold and had to be sent back, the pizza was very bland and tasteless, and overall we were very disappointed. It was during dinner that my throat started hurting, but I guessed it was due to my frequent choking that day, and ignored it.

The next morning we had an early wake-up call to watch the Half Marathon to cheer my Mom & Brother on. I woke up feeling like death. My throat hurt so bad, I was convinced I had strep throat and would have to find a doctor later that day. I had to blow my nose constantly, and couldn't breathe. Luckily I had brought some Sudafed and Afrin, which I put to good use. Our plan was to get to the ticket & transportation center (around 4.5 miles), then take the monorail to the finish. My brother's girlfriend, Kevin & I staked out a good spot and settled in. It was freezing!! Soon the Wheelchair competitors were coming by. SO AMAZING. I love to watch the different kinds of chairs they have, watch the different techniques (crank vs. push-rim, seated vs laying), and cheer them on. Soon the elites were heading through, men then women. So fast.

We were trying to calculate how long it would take for my brother and mom. It was hard to find anything in the thick crowds. There were more people than I remembered from 2 years prior. We missed my brother, but caught my mom. I ran out onto the course and instantly started crying, telling her how proud I was of her, how much I loved her. She told me she was hurting, and I told her to push through it and pick it up a little, she needed to beat the time clock. Some woman nearby said I was going to make her cry too. I jumped up and down and cheered and yelled. I was so proud to see her out there.

Me & Mom on the course, ticket & transportation center.

After seeing her there, we got on a bus to get on the other side of the street to the monorail, then headed to Epcot. Remembering the course, I thought we should head to mile 12 just before they enter the park to give them that last little boost needed to get to the end.

We were really hoping to see my brother since we missed him at the 4.5 mile mark. We spent a lot of time near the Team in Training cheerleader, he was an awesome pick-me-up for many runners.

Finally we saw my brother! He looked great, like he was at an easy pace, having a great time. He ended up crushing the race with a great new PR for him at 2:23:50 (but I still beat him in half PR land haha).

My mom was about an hour behind him, so we cheered on the other runners as we waited. I saw some great things while we waited. Women and men of all sizes and shapes and abilities. People in incredible costumes. A man with his arm in a sling. A woman in a walking boot. Older runners running by themselves or with spouses, some with Goofy bibs on. Faces filled with pain, faces filled with joy, faces filled with determination. Spectating a race is so inspiring.

Finally my mom came through. We jumped up & down & cheered! She had made a new friend she was walking with. She told us she had even stopped to help a walker that had fallen. I told her to push it through to the end, she was almost done. She was limping, her recently injured hamstring was really getting bad, but I told her to keep going, she was almost there. 

We ran toward the finish, knowing we had about 16 minutes until she'd be there. We saw her heading down that last .1 miles into the chute to finish, so amazing! She finished in 3:34:25!

My mom, a half marathoner!!

hugging my brother

Mom is all done, and Jason is 1/3rd through his weekend mileage

After the race, we headed back to the hotel. I took care of my mom who wasn't feeling well. Her hamstring was developing a huge bruise and she was feeling nauseous. So like a good daughter, I got her ice for her hamstring and her aching Glute, made her a cold glass of Nuun and got her graham crackers to eat. Then of course we brought her Coors Light from the gift shop for once she was feeling better. I was starting to not feel well, so I laid down for a nap. Only an hour or 2, but it felt great to sleep. I woke up unable to breathe, my cold was getting worse. I stuffed kleenex into my purse and Kevin and I went to Downtown Disney to shop before dinner at Wolfgang Pucks with everyone.

I started feeling worse. Hazy, stuffy, sore throat, runny nose. I could barely eat any dinner, but drank some hot tea which was amazing. Finally, I just couldn't stand being out anymore, so Kevin took me back to the hotel early so i could get some rest before the morning's marathon. Unfortunately we had the longest bus ride back to the hotel, and I headed to bed ASAP after taking more medicine.

all my gear!

I called for a 3am wakeup call, then jumped in bed. I tossed and turned. I blew my nose constantly. I couldn't sleep. I'm not sure if it was a side effect of the medicine I took, but I couldn't sleep. I was exhausted, but just couldn't fall asleep. Kevin tried anything I asked to help, but it was impossible. I just kept staring at the clock. I finally got 20 minutes in between 2-3am. Not a good way to start off the most important day of my life.

Race Day will be included in part 2!

Spread the running Love

Todays Quote:

‎‎"My goal has always been to introduce other people to running. They might accomplish something they never thought they could." 

Grete Waitz, Norwegian marathon runner and former world record holder

A little over 2 years ago, I convinced my brother to try running.

I lured him and a few other friends in with a trip to Disney World and a shiny medal to hang on the wall. My brother was severly undertrained for the race, and I stuck by his side, helping him to push through and finish in the sleet, snow & rain that cold January morning in Florida.

Saturday, he ran his first marathon. I am insanely proud. I know when he first started running, he thought it was a crazy idea, but now he's basking in the post marathon glow & starting his Goofy training for January. Plus, he's lost another 20 pounds to push his total weight loss to 100+. amazing. Look for a guest post from him in the future.

Me, brother & mom, all post race!

Saturday, my mom walk/jogged her first 5K. My mom never thought she could do a 5K, but then she really wanted to come to Disney and join the fun. So she started training to walk/jog the Jeff Galloway training plan for the half. My mom, who has NEVER really exercised, now hits the gym 4-6 times a week for walking/jogging & strength training. She works out with a trainer once a week and loves it. She is looking fabulous, and I couldn't be more proud.

Who have you introduced to running?

My running buddy Shelley & I completed the Hartford Half on saturday. While things did not go as planned for me (the knee crapped out around the 10K), I finished and did not give up. Same thing goes for Kari @ Running Ricig.... we were supposed to meet up after, but she had a horrible vertigo attack hit mid race & did not give up. Please go send her some love HERE! I'm recovering well, I think I need to focus on more stretching & foam rolling.

Week 4 training recap

Monday- Speedwork. 5 x 1K @ 6.6mph w/ 400m RI. My knee was acting up a little, but I made it through strong.

Tuesday - Bootcamp. Outdoor for another cold morning doing sprints, slam balls, battle ropes & the TRX rip trainers.

Wednesday - Felling sore from tuesday's bootcamp, so I skip my tempo run.  I wonder if bootcamp is starting to affect my running training. No good when you're training for a marathon.

Thursday- Another skip. This time bootcamp. After feeling so sore from tuesday, I definitely don't want to get more sore for saturday's race.

Friday- Swim. An easy swim of 750m, mostly to test my H2O audio set. I haven't been swimming since my last triathlon Sept 11, so it was good to get in.

Saturday- Hartford Half Marathon. 2:36:22, not too disappointed for the trouble I faced during the race. I'm more mad at myself for not taking good enough care of the leg with stretching, rolling, and pretty much doing physical therapy on myself. recap to come later.

Sunday - Stretch & learn class @ Bia Fitness. Krystal got us a yummy breakfast (organic hard boiled eggs, whole foods biscotti, fruit, organic yogurt), and we stretched, had free chair massages, and talked about training. Why we train, how we should train, how to make fitness part of our everyday lives & improve our community with fitness. It got me excited and motivated to train again. I talked to her about switching from Bootcamp to TRX to improve my running.

Nutrition- Improving. Did not count my points again. Why am I struggling with this!? I need to reign it in! I definitely did better with making smart choices and decreasing the beer though.

How was your training week?

Don't forget my Sparkly Soul giveaway HERE!