Getting In Character

I'm having a small dilemma when it comes to the Run Disney race!

What to wear!!

You don't have to dress up.....

But why the heck wouldn't you?!?!

I've been going back and forth on two different

characters and can't decide which I would rather do.

Do you have an option?!?

OPTION 1: 

Alice in Wonderland! 

This was my original plan. 

I've always liked Alice and we had maybe thought

of doing a group costume thing, with the white

rabbit, the queen of hearts an the cheshire cat! 

I liked the idea even more when I came across

this cute tutu!! 

And then I saw this cute top! 

I'm sure that if you know how to sew,

this wouldn't be too hard to make!! 

Why I'm worried about being Alice....

First.... I'm not blond! Will I look stupid

as a brunette Alice?

Second..... The theme of the race is Alice in Wonderland...

Sort of.

Everything I've read says something about

chasing Alice down the rabbit hole.

Plus, our medals have Alice on them.

So I'm kind of worried that EVERYONE will

be dressed as Alice!

But......

If they have the Wonderland characters out,

how fun would it be to get pictures with them while

dressed as Alice!!! 

Plus, my sister makes really cute bows and I 

could have her make me a black one for my hair!! 

Oh! And compared to option two, this outfit

is probably a lot easier!! 

OPTION 2:

Ariel, aka The Little Mermaid

I'm pretty sure The Little Mermaid was my 

very first favorite Disney movie! 

I used to sing Part of Your World

ALL.THE.TIME!!!! 

Then I came across this skirt....

Isn't it AMAZING!!! 

I would obviously have to do a modified 

version since having a full length skirt

would probably inhibit my running!! 

I was thinking of just wearing a purple shirt

for the top....

Or I could do something like this....

The plus side to being Ariel is that she

is a princess and who doesn't want

to be a princess for the day! 

The downside...

This skirt would probably be a little

tricky to make and might be hard to

run in....

And I wouldn't have a cute bow in my hair.

And I don't know how I feel about wearing 

a big old starfish headband..... 

So...

Any thoughts? 

Then And Now

Back in June when the doctor told me not to run, I was devastated! 

All that hard work for nothing.

All I could think about was the fact that I wouldn't be running for four

weeks. That put me at the end of July. Then I'd start thinking how

there was absolutely no way I'd be ready to run at the end of August.

That night at dinner, I didn't want to talk to anyone. And because my

mind kind dwelling on it, I would break into tears at any given moment.

I cried.... and cried and cried!! 

But I am lucky.

I have am amazing Dad and a fantastic Grandpa.

They gave me a blessing the night I got home

from my doctors appointment and after they

were done, I felt peace.

Even though I was still so upset, I didn't feel

so hopeless.

Not long after that I was looking over my blog and came across

a bunch of post that I never got around to finishing, and one 

of them was the post that I published a few days ago. 

I got to the bottom when I talk about the things I'd learned.

The very last one says:

"I KNOW that I will be able to run 6.2 miles by August 31st"

I cried again when I saw that.

Because at that point, I no longer felt like that would be 

a possibility! 

The doctor told me to wait.

So I had to be patient.....

And being patient is hard work!

There were so many days when I felt fine

and just wanted to go out and run! 

But I had to remind myself that if I went out

and hurt myself more, that running wouldn't

be a possibility AT ALL! 

So I waited.... and waited!! 

Finally, on July 19th I got good news at the 

doctors office. Things looked good and they

gave me the go ahead to start physical activity! 

So, at 5:30 IN THE MORNING, I went for

my first run. The date?

July 22nd.

Exactly one month from the day I fell! 

My heart was telling me to just get out there 

and run three miles.....

But I had to do the smart thing and take it easy! 

That day I took it pretty easy and went just under

a mile and a half. It was a short run, but my ankle 

and knee felt totally fine.

It's been two weeks since I started running again.

And guess what???

I can run 4.25 miles!!!!!

It's a miracle!

And I say that with all the seriousness in the world! 

I KNOW it's that blessing I got from my

dad and my grandpa!! And not old that....

But I KNOW the Lord is helping me run!

Last Thursday I went running and ran

my fastest 5k ever!!! It felt so awesome!!! 

It's still hard, that is for sure!! 

And I'm still not 100% I'll be able to actually 

run the whole race.

BUT............

Seeing what will be waiting for me at the finish line

is pretty great motivation!! 

That Time I Kept On Running

{{{Another disclaimer: This post was written months and months ago! I think I wrote it in May.... I never published it because I didn't have any pictures, and I know that reading posts with absolutely not pictures can be boring! 

Plus, I had a life altering event happen in May and that totally threw me off my groove!!! So, sorry again for no pictures! If you don't make it all the way through the post, I totally understand!}}}

Have I told you about my power pole?

When I very first started running last June, there was a power pole off in the distance that seemed pretty far away. I came to realize that just beyond that power pole was my one mile marker and I often repeated to myself “just make it to the power pole, just make it to the pole.”

When I started running on the parkway in March, I repeated the same thing to myself. In the beginning it was hard…. really hard!!

Have you seen those Quaker commercials? There’s one with a little boy who’s riding a bike and imagines he is biking up a huge hill, and another with a girl who is swimming and imagines pirates and whales.

I had to do the same thing. That power pole has become Sleeping Beauty’s castle. 

I also started to picture myself running past certain places in Disneyland to help the distance pass.... I imagine myself running down main street..... underneath the castle....... around the rivers of America..... past Splash Mountain! Whatever it takes to get me to that power pole! 

I also had to change what I was listening to. I started listening to a Disney station on Pandora and it was been great! All I listen to when I run now is Disney music!

Sound cheesy? Probably!!

But it seriously helps!!

For instance……

“I’ll Make A Man Out Of You” from Mulan is one of my favorites! I sing to myself “I must be SWIFT as a coursing river, with all the FORCE of a great typhoon, with all the STRENGTH of a raging fire…”

And I love it when Pocahontas sings “Just around the river bend”...... since I am running right along side the river!!

Or “Dig a little deeper, you ain’t got far ta go” from The Princess and the Frog or “When your miles and miles from your nice warm bed” from Toy Story!

They seriously motivate me!! I think my two most favorite though are “Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride” and “He Mele No Lilo” both from Lilo and Stich. I don’t know what it is about those songs but they just keep me going!!

I remember the day I ran two full miles without stopping!! March 2, 2013

 I had run more than a mile and a half and I was feeling great! I new I could make it to 1.75 miles! I made it to that point, still feeling awesome and a new song started on Pandora…… “The Gospel Truth” which is the opening song to Hercules. Do you know what one of the first lines in the song is…… “YOU GO GIRL”.

Awesome moment!! I KNEW I could make it to two miles and I did!!

On March 18, 2013 I ran 3 full miles without stopping meaning I had hit my half way point!

On April 11, 2013 I ran more than 4 miles!!

I think back to those not so distant days on the rec center track when I felt hopeless and realized that I’ve learned a few things:

1-       Some days will be easier that others. On those hard days, I have to remember that I CAN do it! I’m tougher than I think!

2-       I often have to remind myself, slow and steady gets you to the end of the race… eventually! It’s okay if I’m not super fast. It’s okay if someone can walk quickly and keep up with me. All that matters is getting to the end of the race!

3-       Running is slightly easier when you smile the whole time and keep your head held high.

4-       I KNOW that I will be able to run 6.2 miles by August 31^st ….. I can see myself making progress and I know that, with persistence, I will get there!

I still have a ways to go…..

My pace can definitely improve and at this point, each mile is still a challenge. One day I want to go out and run three miles like it’s no big deal! I still have days that I dread running, and there are times when I make excuses why I can’t go.

But slowly, and surely, I’m learning to love running.

That Time I Signed Up For A Long Race

{{{DISCLAIMER: I wrote this post months and months ago..... probably in May..... Oh...and sorry 

for the lack of pictures}}}

I don’t remember the first time I ever heard of the Disneyland half marathon.

I had a co-worker who ran it once. I remember thinking it sounded cool, but not giving it much thought beyond that because it was something I would NEVER be able to do!!

I casually looked into it last fall, right after doing my first 5k.

My endorphin's were kicking in and I felt invincible. OF COURSE I could jump from a 5k to a half marathon in only a mater of months!!

And then, I stopped running and thoughts of the half marathon went away.

In January I got on the Run Disney site again and found that registration for the 2013 race would open in only two days. I watched a couple videos online and my motivation was back! I wanted to do a Disneyland race so badly! But with only eight months until race day, I didn’t know if 13.1 miles would be feasible. Luckily for me, Disneyland would be hosting an inaugural 10k race.

There was a lot of scrambling, but in the end, my mom and two of my cousins signed up to up to run the Disneyland 10K with me.  That was January 22^nd.  There were 220 days to race time!

The only problem with signing up for a race in January, is that the next couple of months are FREEZING!! And it was especially cold this year!!! We're talking single digits!!! There was no way I could go outside and start running! So I went to Gold’s Gym almost every day after work to run on the treadmill! It was tricky in the beginning because I had let myself fall so far behind with months of not running. But I eventually go to the point where I was running three miles on the treadmill!! I was pretty dang proud of myself, especially since I was doing it at a slight incline.

In February, I decided I need to get some practice running NOT on a treadmill. I knew that running on pavement would be different from the treadmill and I wanted to see how I did. So my mom and I went to a rec center with an indoor track to run.

There was a sign posted on the wall near that track that said 10 laps= 1 mile.

I could do 30 laps no problem…. Or so I thought!

I started running and realized THE TREADMILL IS A BIG FAT LIAR!!!!!

There was no way in heaven or hell that I could actually run a mile on that dang track, let alone THREE!!!
I think I only ran about six laps before I gave up and walked.

It was bad…..

All the excitement and momentum I’d felt at the gym was completely gone.

I felt defeated

That feeling of “you’re not a runner” came back full force and I wondered what the heck I had gotten myself into!!

I knew standing on that track that there was NO WAY I’d be able to run the 10k…..
I wasn’t meant to run……

It was a few days before I finally went back to the rec center.

On that second visit I told myself I wouldn’t stop until I got to one mile….. even if my lungs exploded in the process.

By some miracle, I did it. That gave me a small glimmer of hope.

It also helped that I played Ke$ha's Tik Tok over and over and OVER? Why? Because the first time of the chorus says "DON"T STOP"!!

My running from the middle of February to the first part of March was pretty sporadic.

I didn’t really love the rec center and there was NO WAY I was getting back on a stupid treadmill.

I just had to make it to daylight savings on March 10^th when the sun would still be up after I got off work so I could go outside and run.