See You Later Alligator

I had a nice taper run around the neighborhood I just moved into. This afternoon's run was actually my first since moving into my new house. It was quite nice and I got to see a few of the other neighboring housing tracks.

While on my run I ran past one of the many small ponds that speckle Florida. I thought nothing of it until I was turning around the edge of the pond and noticed a nose and two eyes sticking up in the middle of the pond.

Yup, an alligator was resting in the pond. He didn't seem to mind me running by and I just kept an eye on him. It was a nice understanding and I was able to move past the lake quickly enough.

Who knows if the alligator will still be there when I run by on Friday... If he is, our agreement better still be in place.i just have one more run before the Half Marathon. I'm hoping for another 5k or 4 miles, but I won't push it now.

1 Week!

Today marks 1 week from the Princess Half Marathon. Actually, I would hopefully be at mile 2 by now but you never know the exact timing. Either way, the race is almost here as the excitement is still building.

In the last week, my running partner, Carrie, and I have been discussing a few of the smaller technicalities... Mainly looking at what shirts we could possibly wear and what other things we can do to accessorize. Now we aren't planning on going all that crazy with costumes but we'll do something...

We've also been planning our actual weekend. We're picking up registration on Friday, as well as doing Aqua Tours that day. Aqua Tours is a tour over at Epcot where you get to swim in the aquarium! Saturday we're taking it easy for the most part. We might head over to the Family 5k to cheer on some of Carrie's friends... Then Sunday is te big day! After the race we'll get cleaned up, have a final lunch with some friends, and then spend the evening at Magic Kingdom with dinner at Narcoossee's.

This is going to be a fun weekend!

So check back on Friday for more details. Right now I'm not sure when pictures will be posted (my home Internet has yet to be connected) but I will be posting reports of the expo and race!

Finally, It's Cold!

All December and January, I was running in shorts and t-shirts because it was so warm.  Just a week or so ago I was actually cutting a run short because I didn't have enough water!  Then, a cold front comes in and while it's not as cold as some areas up north, it's cold to this SoCal/Florida Transplant Girl.  I'm used to warm weather... I don't do cold.

I applaud those of you who get out there and run in snow and freezing temperatures. Of course you guys also have all of the right gear (gloves, hats, etc), but still that takes a lot.  I don't know if I would be able to  get out there and run or if I would hibernate through the winter.

I did get out of comfort zone today and sucked in a cold breath before starting my run... Luckily I do have some cold weather running clothes, and I actually should have worn some of my heavier items.  I did get to wear my new capris from Nike and they are awesome!  I'm even thinking about wearing them for the Princess Half in a few weeks!  I wore a long sleeve tech shirt and while it was ok, I should have worn my thicker red cycling shirt because it is that much warmer.

Although the nice thing about getting out there and running this morning, I was able to run through this stupid cold. I think yesterday was the worst of it.  I felt it all day and people even noticed I wasn't my normal bubbly self.  I'm feeling a lot better today and the run just helped push this cold out.  Yes my throat is still a bit sore and I'm still coughing, but overall feeling a lot better.  My other secret weapon... TheraFlu.  I swear, I just need 2 packets of this stuff and I'm feeling almost 100% better.

2 Weeks Out

We are officially 2 weeks out from the Princess Half Marathon... 14 days!  It's kind of crazy considering I've been focused on this race for so long!  I can't wait for the race, especially for all the fun that weekend entails.  In fact, last night I planned the actual details with my running partner for the race.  We are definitely going to have a busy, but exciting weekend!

Thanks for Amy at Pumpkin to Princess and a few people on some forum boards, I have been able to figure out my corral for the race.  I'll be starting in Corral C, which has become my home at the starts of these races.  We'll be starting right around 6:00 and should be done before 9. 

New Running Clothes!

You know what can be great inspiration to run again?  Getting new running apparel!  Now I didn't go crazy with a whole new workout wordrobe, but I did get a few new things...

There's a Reebok and Nike outlet close to me and I had already fallen in love with the Reebok store as I could get their Easytones pretty cheap there.  I was looking for running pants, and while they had some decent yoga pants, capris, and shorts, I was just looking for something a bit tighter.  So I headed over to Nike where I found running Capris and running shorts at Nike, along with some new socks.

So guess what I'm doing tomorrow... yup, going for a run in my new Capris!

While I didn't get any shirts I was looking at some shirts from one of my favorite brands, One More Mile. I bought one of their shirts at my first Half Marathon and wore it last year at the Princess Half.  The front said "I Thought They Said Rum?"  I can tell you, the Pirates on the course really loved that shirt.

This year I found a new shirt I might be interested in.  We'll see if I actually get it, but check it out (and check out One More Mile!

Losing the Urge to Run (Temporarily)

This seems to always happen right before a run.  I decide I would rather sleep in than get up and decide to go for a run or workout.  There have been a few mornings when I have given in and just went back to sleep or read until I finally got out of bed.

I really don't like these times because they do make me feel incredibly lazy and it's harder for me to stay on my diet.  Yet, I know I will always have these times and I'm guessing that I'm not alone in that.  Obviously, my favorite times to run are when I have the itch to run and I'm feeling awesome.  Good days are also when I get to run, even if I don't have the itch, but I definitely don't mind running still.  Plus I always like to remember this:

Now even though I am feeling like this, I am determined to get a few more good runs in before the Princess Half.  I'm thinking about a run tomorrow or Saturday and a long circuit on Sunday.  

Final Race Instructions Are Out!

Today I had a lovely email from runDisney waiting for me in my inbox.  There wasn't too much I haven't already found out... waivers, race program, weather, tips, travel details, and more ads.  However, there was one interesting thing... a virtual gift bag.

There wasn't really anything too big in the goodie bag, but it did have some offers from some of the sponsors.  There were also a few drawings you could enter.  The one I entered was for $150 to use for ifitness merchandise.  It's a nice idea, but I think there should be more coupons or vouchers for booths at the expo.

I don't expect anymore details to really come out about the race.  We have our route, we have our bib numbers, we know what to expect, and princesses, I think we're ready!

Adding Hand Weights

I've started to pull back from some the really intense circuit workouts as the first step to prepare for the Princess Half.  I love my hard circuits and feeling sore, but I need to start focusing on preparing for the race.  I've run sore before and I don't feel like doing that for 13.1 miles...

I found a new set of daily circuits that aren't too hard, but still get the point across.  The funny thing is, I actually found these workouts on Pinterest (one of my new interests).  I've pinned them on my Health and Fitness board along with a bunch of inspiring quotes and pictures.  If you want to take a look click here.

Anyway, while the circuits are pretty good, I decided to add in some hand weights.  It was just a little something to add that much more to my workout.  As Jillian Michaels always says, you're working out multiple body regions at the same time which is creating a better workout.  Most of the exercises I added weights to were actually in some of Jillian's workouts and so I was familiar with the addition and I trying something totally new (which as we all know isn't always a good idea...).

So, I ended up doing 2 rounds of the circuit (they take anywhere from 10-15 minutes each round) with the additional weights.  It really did feel good and I did get that shaky muscle feeling afterwards for a bit.  Do I expect to be sore tomorrow? No.  But that's a good thing since I'm planning a run in the morning.

Bib Numbers Are Out!

I've been seeing some people mentioning their bib numbers and I finally found mine.  Since I'm running this as a team, my number is in the 20,000s... to be exact it's 20850 (my teammate is 20851).  The arrival of the numbers means the race is only getting closer.

In fact, the race is 3 weeks out!  This time in 3 weeks I should be finishing the half marathon and getting back to get cleaned up.  Each week gets more and more exciting!

I was able to get a nice 7 mile run this morning. I did run into this little turtle who was hanging out next to the nature path.

Outside Factors

When we think about our runs, a lot of the time we think about how we feel, how our legs feel, how sore we'll be, how hungry/thirsty we are, etc... but have you ever thought about the outside factors that might be affecting your run or how you feel?  I took time on my run to think about what I was doing that might be affecting my run.

On my last two runs I've noticed my lower back and butt were really sore and originally I thought it was the circuits I was doing.  I still think those played some part to the soreness, but then I realized today that wasn't the only factor.  The bed I've been sleeping on recently apparently hasn't been the best and I've been waking up with a sore back.  Yoga really helped loosen my back yesterday so today wasn't too bad, but the soreness was still there.  I felt it on my run today and it did continue to hurt more and more with each mile.  I'll definitely be working on yoga before my long run this weekend so hopefully my back won't be bugging me.

Then there are generic factors that will change from day to day and route to route.  Things like the temperature or weather and even the roads or trails we're running on.  Some people might run better in the cold than the hot (that would be me) or you might run better in warmer weather than in cold weather.  There's rain, snow, humidity and pretty much every other type of weather mother nature could throw at us that can affect our runs.

Hard roads, crumbling asphalt, muddy, or dry trails can also change our runs.  I've noticed that trail running tends to my ankles sore, but then again I have weak ankles and running with all those hidden holes and what not tends to be hard for me.  Plus it just seems like it takes more energy to run on trails or bad streets where you're constantly aware of pot holes or cracked asphalt.

So maybe next time you go out for a run, think about everything else that's going into you're run.  There really is a lot that affects our runs, whether we want to admit it or not.