Race Recap (Part 2)

After we finished the Tangled Family 5K run we headed back to the timeshare for a bite to eat and to relax for a little before the boys had their runs. They were slated to start at 11am. My mom and I wanted to check out the race expo so we decided to head over early for that. It was a lot of fun, I won 2 boxes of brown rice. We didn't buy anything but enjoyed checking out all the race gear and the 1/2 marathon shirts. It definitely got us excited about being able to buy some 1/2 stuff next year!

The Wide World of Sports was insanely busy between packet pick ups for the 1/2, other events, the Expo and the kid races so we called my husband to let him know they would need to leave earlier than planned to get a parking spot. We had parked so far back we joked that the walk up would be a 1/2 marathon! I'm ever so thankful I did because had they waited any longer to head over the boys would have missed their races!

My mom and I were anxiously waiting for them to arrive as we listened to them lining the kids up. Once we saw them walking up we raced back to grab the boys to line up. Nicholas (4) ran the 200 m and Bennett (2) ran the 100 m.

I lined up with Bennett and we watched as 3 or 4 waves went out ahead of us. I was getting worried he wouldn't be into it as he didn't seem to have any idea what we were doing. I kept showing him the finish line and telling him "you run there as fast as you can." Finally our wave came, they dropped the rope and we were off. I held his hand the first few feet but then dropped it fully expecting him to take it back. Nope he was off! I could see him smiling so big and running with all his might! It was ADORABLE! He knew to stop at the finish line and got his medal. He was beaming!

I'm the nutty looking one in teal and Bennett is the little man pumping his heart out in front of me!

Showing off his medal!

We found the family at the sidelines and waited for the rest of the 100 m and start of the 200 m kids to run. My mom and Nicholas were a few waves back but we spotted them easily once they got started. Nicholas started to stop a little before the finish line but my mom gave him a little tap on the back and he finished strong. When Nicholas' race ended Bennett asked if it was his turn again. He was very upset when I told him he was done running. Maybe I've got a budding running partner!

Nicholas with his medal.

I always get a little teary eyed watching the kids' races. I love the ones who lead the pack and look like they're running for Olympic gold! And the ones who cling to mommy or daddy. I love the ones who fall down and get carried across the finish line. But most of all I love the ones who finish despite overwhelming odds. Last year there was a little boy pushed across the finish line in a wheelchair by his brother. This year was a little girl with Rett Syndrome, held up by her family, who finished. She was last but she got the biggest cheers of anyone. You could tell every step was a struggle but she did it.

Afterwards we quickly headed to lunch. My mom and I were starving!! That's when the pain in my foot started to really act up. I was limping and my entire right foot swelled up. My Achilles' heals started to hurt as well, probably from over compensation. I guess it was just too much for my foot to take in one day. I have a call in to see a podiatrist because I really need to get this fixed permanently soon if I want to run that 1/2 next year!

Race Recap (Part 1)

This weekend was my 5K - The Tangled Family Fun 5K at Disney! It was a BLAST!!!

Thankfully my in-laws just happened to be down for the week and staying at their timeshare on Disney property. We were able to head over Friday, pick up our race packets and then spend the night at the timeshare. My parents were going to drive up early Saturday morning (which meant waking at 3am for them!) and pick me up at 5:30 am so my mom and I could run the 5K.

I set my alarm for 5am and attempted to get to bed around 9pm. Unfortunately my 4 year old had other plans for my sleep that night. My boys both normally sleep great all night but not that night. The 4 year old was awake coughing, moaning, complaining, rustling from about 10 pm until 2 am. He refused Motrin and just whined for hours. We finally all fell asleep at 2am, but I woke at 3 and 4 and 4:45. So at 4:45 I turned off the alarms and got up to jump in the shower, dress and eat breakfast. My parents arrived at 5:15 am so I met them, traded places with my dad and my mom and headed to Epcot.

A cold front decided to blow through that day so we were pretty chilly standing outside so early. We both brought light jackets to wear pre-race. The crowd was quickly filling up and we walked around checking out the awesome costumes people were wearing. We saw plenty of fairies, princesses, evil queens and even a few of the 101 Dalmatians! We vowed to come dressed fun for the 1/2 marathon next year! Disney had a DJ blasting music and the crowd was dancing and having fun.

The crowd in front of us. You can kind of see the start line.

Before we knew it we were making our way into the corrals. My mom and I lined up in the 11-13 min mile since we both run about a 12 min mile. In the end it didn't matter. It appears for the 5K nobody follows the rules. There were walkers and strollers in our corral even though there was a specific stroller and walker corral further back. It made for a frustrating start as we got stuck behind a number of slow walkers out the gate. The beginning of the race was basically a HUGE crowd of people herding like cattle down a tiny back road.

Mile 1 was a back street and took us about 14 minutes to finish since we were constantly weaving in and out of the walkers. The end of mile 1 brings you into the Epcot World Showcase. This was the fun part to run! Past the countries and the characters. We chose not to stop for the character photos but enjoyed seeing them all as we ran past. Before we knew it we were at mile 2! Disney employees were along the sidelines inside Epcot cheering us on. Next up was a spin around the famous Epcot globe and then out the park towards the finish line. I was in shock at how fast this race went by. It seemed like every time we looked up we were at a mile marker.

Once out of the park we headed towards the finish line. Here families were out cheering and we easily spotted our family cheering us on! It was great to see them out supporting us and holding signs. We felt great and both started to pick up the pace to the finish line. I couldn't believe how good we both felt and we agreed we could have easily run another 2 miles! We completed the race at about 44 minutes. Not a fast race but a fun one!

After crossing the finish line they funnel you out to get your "medal" and then a picture booth. It was a great race and I'm so glad we did it! We are both looking forward to doing the 1/2 marathon next year!!!

I'll post my Part 2 tomorrow. That will include my post race injury and the kid's races!

Progress

My last post was a vent about progress. About not making enough progress to satisfy myself. But I was basing that on other people's progress. What other people can accomplish in a year. Well I'm not other people. I have to compare to myself and only myself.

So I got to thinking about the very first time I tried to do Couch to 5K. My husband and I got it in our minds we'd start running so we tried it. I remember feeling like I was going to DIE that first day. It was 1 minute runs. I remember I could barely make it down one side stretch of our not-very-big-at-all neighborhood. I remember thinking I would NEVER run a mile without stopping.

I was quite thankful at that time to find out within a week or 2 of starting C25K that I was pregnant. So we stopped running and I enjoyed my pregnancy. First trimester sickness prevented my from doing anything more than laying around and binging on bland food.

That little baby is 2.5 years old now and I can run 2 miles without stopping, without feeling like I'm dying. I've completed two 5K runs and am doing my 3rd in a few weeks. I ran a mile today in 11:12 which was a PR. I know that is not fast to most but to me it was. It was the fastest I've ever gone. Now heading down one stretch of side street in our neighborhood is nothing more than a warm up. So those might not be huge accomplishments to some but they are progress. My progress and I'm proud of it. I hope to look back at this post next year and be in training for my 1/2 marathon but if I'm not that's okay to. As long as I'm pushing myself against myself.

Lessons Learned

After another week of not keeping a tight reign on my point count and very little exercise it finally caught up with me in my weigh in. I dropped .5 lbs. It's a loss but not much, I was really hoping to be down the next 2 lbs. The 2lbs I need to get to 20lbs total weight loss and 10lbs total for 2012. My husband hit his 10 lb goal today, got to color in the bar graph we made to keep us accountable. It was a wake up call for me though. No messing around. If I want this I have to WORK for it. Looking back at the past week I regret a lot of choices because a better choice here or there and I might be where I want right now. Okay, lesson learned. This week will be better. I'll have a great report next week.

As far as running goes I'm feeling slightly discouraged. I've been running since LAST January and still barely pushing 2 mile runs. I thought I'd be so much further along by now. Training for a half instead of barely surviving a 5K. I know that running is different for everyone and I know I've had to contend with multiple injuries but it still hurts to see little to no progress. My 5K is in 2 weeks. Last night I did a 2 mile run, my goal was 2.25 but I stopped at 2 miles because my foot was throbbing. I regretted stopping though as soon as I was done and back home. It was like in that moment I felt like if I didn't stop right then I'd never ever stop and I'd have to run forever........cue dramatic music. But really once I was done I realized it DOES end and now all I have is regret that I didn't push through a little more. No wonder I never get better! So another lesson learned. Push through because it will end and I'd rather be sore than sorry as they say.

Some runs I chant a little mantra of "I don't quit when I'm tired, I quit when I'm done." But for some reason that didn't come to mind yesterday. I just want to have a great 5K. I'm scared of getting sweeped in the race even though at my slowest I'm not even as slow as the sweepers pace. I'm hoping for adrenaline to keep me going through that final mile.

Surprising Results

So this week has been another rough one. My husband has had triple his usual work so he's hardly home. Not sure why but I seem to be incapable of making a regular dinner when he's not home. In the past that would mean I would go out for fast food. But this week I had eggs for dinner one night, leftovers another night and whipped up a pork tenderloin (something I've never made before!). I did forget to make any sides with it. Oops. In my defense I spend all day at home with our boys and then work from home at night so when I'm 100% in charge at night I let things slip. The boys enjoyed spaghetti two nights in a row which is the greatest thing EVER to them.

So between weird eating, going into the negative on my point count and lots of chocolate cravings (for which I satisfied with various things including mocha lattes and chocolate cake) plus a female thing that reared its ugly head this week I still managed to LOSE TWO POUNDS! I didn't work out once this week but I guess being 100% in charge of everything in our house worked it off. Just goes to show me how awful my eating was before I went on WW.

I'm feeling so much more energy lately. I still live in a state of perpetual tiredness (thanks under working thyroid) but before doing mundane tasks like emptying the dryer would take hours of working myself up to doing it. Now I'm like "oh dryer is done. Unload. Reload." I'm loving it! My house is looking better than normal and my kids are still getting plenty of 1 on 1 time.

Tomorrow night is the only night my husband will be home so I plan to get in a run. My 5K is in 4 weeks and I haven't run in the past 2 weeks. I need to get back into it! I am determined to make this my best 5K yet!