Okay...I've got a theory going......I think there's a reason there are now Starbucks in those Super Targets......wow!  Target, I think, gets a lot more product sold to those who have a nice cup of Starbucks either before someone shops or while they shop....I'm a prime example.....if I have coffee before going  to or while in Target, I am guaranteed to buy twice as many items as  I originally intended when  I walked in the store.  Somehow that charge of caffeine makes you think you can conquer all these projects that you get inspired to do while walking around Target.  They do have a lot of fun stuff in that store, by the way.....I know, I went this morning.  And, yes, I did have a coffee before.  Oops!

Ran 6 miles this morning, before going to Target.  Hopefully I can get a nine miler in this week.  I'm gearing up to run with some of my running friends at a local half marathon in early April, so I need to start upping my mileage again after feeling pretty recovered from the marathon.  I was so glad when this morning it was closer to 40 degrees out than to the 20 degrees that I endured yesterday morning.  How DO you get that "degrees" sign anyway, Heidi?

I read a Psalm last night that I really like--Psalm 84.  Here's part of it:

"Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere;

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

For the LORD God is a sun and a shield;

the LORD bestows favor and honor;

no good thing does he withhold from those whose walkis blameless.

O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you."

Psalm 84:10-12

THE DISNEY MARATHON

HOORAY!!  I did it!!  A week ago Sunday I ran the Disney Marathon.....all TWENTY SIX POINT TWO MILES!!!

 

Here's me with me medal:

 

                       

 

The whole experience was AWESOME!!  I would highly recommend it!!

To catch you up, I went to Orlando with 4 other running friends and my husband.....well, I guess he's a running friend, too.  Anyway, Scarlett and Fida ran the HALF MARATHON on Saturday and then Juliette, Meredith and I ran the FULL MARATHON on Sunday.  David was there to be our support team!! Also, David and I were celebrating our 20th Anniversary! 

 

                  

We all stayed at the Grand Floridian and it was beautiful and wonderful and right on the monorail!

 

You may be wondering why I didn't post sooner.....I was a little slow all last week (tired) and also was thrust back into our somewhat frenzied lifestyle....all the while trying to get our family back on track after a trip and all four of my children staying various places while we were gone.  Quite a backlog of laundry!

 

Also, I wanted to post the Disney pictures....which I just got last night....the one above was taken as I exitted the long line of things you go through after you cross the finish line: walk, get your medal, walk, get your silver blanket (to ward off chills), walk, get your chip taken off your shoe - I skipped this as I bought a Disney chip to keep, walk, get your water or gatorade in the drink tent, walk, get your carbohydrate snack in the snack tent, walk, get a can of soda at the Coca Cola table, walk, get your icepacks and EXTRA STRENGTH TYLENOL at the medical tent, walk, get your picture taken, walk, get your bag at the bag check, walk to your meeting place and AHHHHH---LIE DOWN!!!!!

 

So that was the end of the race....here's the "blow by blow" account of the BEFORE AND DURING:

 

Arrived at Disney Friday afternoon with David.  Checked in at the Grand Floridian, went to the Race Expo to pick up my race packet and t-shirt, then David and I went to the Rain Forest Cafe in Downtown Disney for dinner.  Met up with our friends for dessert that night back at the hotel. Had trouble sleeping both nights before....nerves and excitement.  Went on Saturday morning to watch Fida and Scarlett run the half.....good practice in knowing where to go and how long it took to get there on the monorail......they did GREAT!!!  They ran the whole way.....only walking through to get water at the water stops.

 

Was careful about what I ate and drank all day Saturday.  Especially tried to drink water every hour.....we were going to be running in warmer temps than we were used to.

 

Sunday my alarm went off at 3:15am (after quite a few clock checks through the night).  Had everything all ready so just slipped it on.  Grabbed my cold oatmeal I bought on Saturday and was out the door.  Met Meredith and Juliette in front of their building for pictures taken by Fida and Scarlett (how DID they get up so early?)  Took monorail to the start.....DARK out....but lots of Disney lights. Tired, but kept getting constant shocks of adrenalin in my arms!

 

Ate my cold oatmeal (rather choked it down...it was awful and I had no appetite....but forced t down...ate a half of a granola bar, too.  Used the port-o-potty, sat about 15 minutes then we were off to the start....quite a walk to the start.....huge staging area(i.e starting line--there were actually 2 starting lines).  Did I mention that there were over 12,000 runners?!?! We all got into corral C.....I was a B, so I went back, which was okaywith Juliette and Meredith.  Sat about 30 minutes, then suddenly we were surprised by fireworks, the national anthem and we  started moving forward. We crossed the starting line after about 4 minutes.  VERY CROWDED.  (It was pretty crowded the whole way) A bit too slow....we wanted to do 10's the first 5 miles.....but we weaved and worked our way up the sides to stay on pace..... Ran on the freeway a while, then through Epcot.....great lights....got crowded and we slowed when the two starts merged at mile 3.......back by the start again and off toward the Magic Kingdom.....started getting a little light.  We had one potty stop around mile 7. 

 

We skipped the first water stop, but got sips of water at almost every other water stop (there were 22 water stops).  We generally jogged up to get the water, walk as we drank and then resumed running.  We passed the motor speedway and the Contemporary hotel .......it started get warm just before the Magic Kingdom.  Lots of people there....that was great.....ran up MAIN STREET, through Tomorrowland, through the castle.......waved to the Cinderella.  We were constantly struggling to stay together....Juliette got a cramp. 

 

Are you still with me??  Then over to the Grand Floridian where we saw David, Scarlett and Fida...that was great...they gave us some sport beans and water.  Tried to eat a pack of Sport Beans......That was mile 12...by Mile 13 we decided to each go at our own pace.......next 5 miles were fairly boring.... and the sun came out.....getting warmer......although they had a few signs to read, an occasional character grouping and speakers along the way with the music.....you never went too long without music.

 

Finally we got to Animal Kingdom....mile 17.....at this point I started getting two cups of water-one to drink and one to pour on my head and neck to cool off.......I was feeling pretty good and was passing tons of people......pretty much hit almost every mile marker on a 10 minute mile pace except the last 2 miles.....kept drinking water and eating a few Sport Beans before each water stop....  Long stretch that got very hot before and after Animal Kingdom.....Ate a granola bar around Mile 19.........thankfully, we got some cloud and it cooled slightly for the last 6 miles (at least my last 6 miles).

 

Suddenly there were only three miles to go going through MGM, along the Boardwalk and back around Epcot.....lots of people cheering along this whole stretch.

 

                          

I got emotional in MGM thinking that I was nearly finished and that I knew my brothers and sisters would be proud of me.....a couple tears ran down my cheeks....got though that pretty quickly.......with about 2 miles to go my right hip suddenly started hurting a LOT and I could feel my left calf about to cramp up with every step.  I'd run about a 1/3 of a mile, then stop and stretch my hip....it was rough....probably lost about 5 minutes here.....my breathing was fine......and then at Mile 26 there was this huge Gospel Choir which was highly inspiring and then cheering all the way to the finish!  I finished strong and it was grand!!!!!!!!!!

 

                        

 

                        

Could barely walk, however, to get my blanket, food, medal, photo, etc.....it's this big assembly line to get out.....I made a pit stop at the medical tent and got 2 Extra Strength Tylenol and 2 bags of ice....then limped over to our meeting area. 

 

                 

Emotional reunion with Juliette, Meredith, Fida, Scarlett and and David.......running Marathons is much more fun with friends.......

 

 

             

It was really an awesome experience, and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to take part, especially with friends and with David there.  Took lots of photos when we all got back together......and there you have it.  Thanks for hanging in there.

 

Chip Time:  4:27:53

Clock time 4:32

Placed 2866 out of 12,964 total runners

Placed 873 out of 6,204 female runners

Division Place 148  of 1018 (Women 40-44)

Half Split 2:13 (2 hours 13 minutes at 13.1 miles)

 

Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year.

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I'm off

I'm off to see the wizard.....uh, I mean I'm off to see Mickey Mouse a the Disney Marathon!!!

Well, I still need to put everything in my suitcase, but otherwise I'm ready!

Wish me luck....and I'll let you know how it goes when I return.

 

Idea

I had an idea that I would share in BLOGLAND the various books on the bookshelf in my room.....funny as that's sort of what my sister Heidi was doing today on her blog:

Everyday Cookies at Sweet Woodruff Acres

Anyway, I didn't want to have any big resolutions this year.  I thought I did pretty well with last year's PLAY A GAME EVERYDAY.....which I did do....although quite a few nights the games were handheld Yahtzee in bed....once I got FOUR Yahtzees!.....but my sister-in-law Elizabeth told me that was okay.  She had a game thing going on to and I think she reached her goal as well:

e.beck.artist

So I'll be choosing my first book to share, although you'll have to wait (all 2 of you who read my blog), because tonight I have to go to bed early in preparation for my marathon date with Mickey Mouse this Sunday!

Christmas is almost over here as I took the last of my Christmas company to the airport tonight.  My niece came down with the chicken pox and she couldn't fly until they were cleared up.  Now....do I count thank you notes as when Christmas is officially over?  Actually I'll be mailing Valentine's Day cards this year in lieu of the Christmas cards that I did not send this year....I did a lot.....but I had about 100 old friends whose cards are still sitting on top of my microwave.  I have an easy out though---"I was training for a marathon!"

 

In the home stretch

Walt Disney World® Marathon Weekend

Click here to see the countdown calendar for the Disney Marathon.....EIGHT DAYS to go!!  My two friends and I are taking it easy this week.  We just have a few more short runs to stay loose before we leave!

I've had a vegetarian guest in my house this past week, so I've tried a few new vegetarian dishes.  Here's one that was pretty good....I would make it again.

BLACK BEAN SALAD WITH CORN

1/4 - 1/3 cup Smucker's Simply Fruit - Apricot

the juice of one lime

1 tablespoon light olive oil

1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground chili powder

1 1/2 cups steam in a bag corn.....cooked just enough to get them to room temp (not frozen)

2 to 4 cups torn leafy green lettuce (bite size pieces)

1 medium red bell pepper

1 can - about 2 cups black beans - drained and rinsed

2 cups lima beans (I used a frozen bag that I war to just room temp from frozen)

1 jalapeno chile pepper --take the seeds out and chop finely

2 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

Garnish with Tostito round tortilla chips

In a large bowl, whisk together apricot preserves, lime juice, pepper, olive oil, salt, and chile powder.  Add lima beans, black beans, corn, lettuce, red bell pepper, chile pepper and cilantro.  Toss lightly to blend ingredients.  Garnish with Tortilla Chips and serve immediately otherwise the lettuce gets soggy. Serves 4 to 6.

I know it looks spicy, but it's pretty mild and the lime and apricot give it a slightly fruity taste.  It's pretty, too!  Give it a try!

 

Official countdown

Okay.....depending on how one counts....there are only ELEVEN days until our BIG day....the Disney Marathon!!  I'm starting to re-read the chapters in the Galloway books and others on tapering and race day prep!  I think I'm pretty set concerning food the day of.....I've been practicing that......a bowl of oatmeal and some water before hand and the Jelly Belly Sport Beans throughout hav ebeen working for me on our practice long runs.....on the 27 miler I think I ate 4 or 5 packs!!

I didn't run on January 1....but I DID run on the last day of the year.....6 miles.....and I also ran this morning in spite of the frigid temperatures.  I even splurged this morning on a pack of hand warmers I had in my car...."Heat Treats". 

Our Christmas stuff is all cleaned up...company all come and gone....although David's brother's family is coming back for 3 more days before they go home......it was a wonderful holiday....although I never did finish my Christmas cards.....I may have to figure out a New Year's card....

It was so much fun yesterday to tear off the cover pages of my new Mary Engelbreit page a day calender! 

......if you need one got to MaryEngelbreit.com.