Run Like a Princess

Here it is almost 2 weeks later and I'm still basking in the glow of my half marathon!

My partner in crime for this trip was Jessica. We got in late Thursday night and were up Friday morning ready to go to Animal Kingdom where it took Jessica a couple of rides to work up to the yeti, but finally she conquered her fear and after that she was ready to ride again! But it was time to head to the expo where I checked in for the race. And I was tempted by all the neat things to buy and ended up getting a tiara and another baseball hat. More options to wear for the race! We finished up the night at Epcot, as they had extra magic hours.

The next day was Hollywood Studios, where we saw Taylor Swift and her entourage being escorted to the super secret rock star entrance, before finishing up the day at Epcot, this time to see it in the remaining daylight hours. We didn't spend too long at Epcot. Back at the hotel, I put on a fashion show for Jessica so she could help me pick out my race outfit. I was in bed by 9:30 or so, but didn’t sleep all that well because I was worried I wouldn't wake up, even though we had set 4 alarms. Yup, 4 alarms! No way was I traveling all this way to sleep through the race! :)

Alarm #1 woke me up at 2:30 and it was time to start the day. Soon I was bundled up and on my way to the start line. Once the bus dropped us off, it was a decent walk to check in and then another 20 minute walk to the actual start line. Huddled in my corral, I tried to stretch and keep moving, partly to stay warm! It was a chilly morning!!

I was tearing up at the start as the Fairy Godmother counted down the first wave and the fireworks went off. I think the tears were the culmination of all that I had been working for over the past several months. The next two waves took off and then it was my turn! I crossed over the start line, discarded my gloves and sweatshirt and was off! I soon began wishing I hadn’t gotten rid of my gloves so fast as my hands were freezing!!

The first several miles were all about positioning – dodging runners and walkers left and right and trying to find a spot for myself. Sometime after mile 2, I finally settled into a decent pace and had even warmed up!

My original “mini” goal for myself was to run 4 miles before stopping for my first walk break. Somewhere between mile 2 and mile 3 I had to stop because the princes were cheering us on! I snapped a quick photo and continued on my way. I knew I was going to need to stop soon for a bathroom break as well. I kept passing the port-o-potties until I found one that had a short-ish line.

Before you knew it, we were entering the Magic Kingdom and running down Main Street and through Tomorrowland on our way to the castle. There were lots of opportunities for pictures with the characters. I had told myself at the beginning that I could stop for 2 pictures, so make them count. I passed by Cinderella and Prince Charming because they had a huge line and at this point I was still worried about time. I did stop for Princess Tiana & Prince Naveen (from The Princess & the Frog) because they had a short line. Coming through the castle, I saw the professional photographer was taking pictures in front of the castle – there was a long-ish line for that but I stopped anyway. I think by doing that I may have missed my chance for an action shot in front of the castle, but oh well. From there on out, I kept stopping for photos – not for everyone, but for a lot of them. They had people there to take your pictures, and the lines moved fairly quickly. Darn – I should have stopped for Cinderella! Next time!!

I didn’t actually take an “official” walk break until around mile 10. Don’t get me wrong – I walked through a couple of water stops and stopped several times for photos, so I did take rests, which is sometimes all I need before I can start running again. After mile 10, it was hard to keep running consistently, especially with climbing up the overpasses but I knew I was close to the end. A big smile was on my face - I was going to make it!

Epcot came into view, along with the mile 12 sign. Just one more mile – piece of cake! I made one more stop for a picture with the mice from Cinderella. And then it was mile 13! Only a little bit left! I would have stopped for one more picture had it been Minnie & Mickey, but I must have just missed them and instead it was Donald & Goofy at the finish – they weren’t worth stopping for being so close to the finish line! And there it was - the finish line! I made it!!

I got my medal, met up with Jessica, and switched my hat for a tiara for pictures! With that taken care of, we climbed on the bus and headed back to the hotel. One of the funnier moments for me was after we got off the bus and you could see all the runners hobbling as they started moving again. It made me feel better that I wasn’t the only one who was stiff and sore.

And just like that it was time to start the day over! I took a shower, got dressed, put my tiara on along with my hot pink compression socks and we were off to the Magic Kingdom! Oh yeah, I was styling – especially with the pink compression socks! ;) And while I was tired and stiff, walking around the park helped loosen me up. At one point I was behind a couple of girls who had also ran and we all groaned as we hit the first stair on our way to Big Thunder.

Monday we woke up early to ride the yeti one more time as Jessica hadn’t gotten to fully enjoy the experience the first time, being worried about the ride. We finished up the day with a trip to Downtown Disney before boarding the plane for home.

My official time – 3:08:23! I don’t know why I feel like I need to justify my time, but for whatever reason I do. Finishing in itself is a great accomplishment! And deep down, I am happy with my time, even if it was over 3 hours.

This was a great race – the entertainment was fantastic, the atmosphere incredible and the volunteers were amazing! And after all my declarations of this being my last half – well, I can definitely see myself doing this race again.

List #4 Why I Will (most likely) Run the Princess Half Marathon Again

So I'm still working on the actual race report, but in the meantime - a list! Leading up to this race I was so sure that this was going to be my last half for long time, if ever. I should know by now that generally when I say never, it pretty much guarantees that I will do it with very few exceptions. One exception would be a full marathon - I feel very confident saying no way will I ever do a full marathon. It is just way too long!! It was somewhere around mile 10 where I thought to myself, I could do this again!! Not necessarily any old half marathon - but specifically the Princess Half. And here are a few reasons why.

1. It takes place at Disney World!
2. I get to run through the castle!
3. Taking pictures with the characters (and I'm so stopping for Cinderella next time)
4. Wearing a tiara
5. Embracing my inner princess!
6. The bling!! (I HEART the medal!!)
7. Running with 13,000+ other Princesses (and a few Princes too)
8. So I can take pictures without my hat on (you'll see what I'm talking about once I get around to uploading my pictures)

Seriously - if you could sign up tomorrow for next year's race, I'd be all over it since I'm still on my post half high!

FINISHER!!!

I did it! I finished the half marathon in 3:08:23. More to come later...

List #3 Things in my carry-on bag

Thanks to Mandi for the great idea of a list of things to pack! So here is a list of common things you can find in my carry-on bag:

1. One set of clothing, including pajamas and shoes. This stems back from when my suitcase was lost and I had to go buy underwear and pajamas. Never again!
2. Plastic bag of my liquids/gels. This includes travel sized toothpaste, shampoo, etc. Really, losing the suitcase has left me with a permanent scar, or made me a better packer!
3. Hairbrush
4. Toothbrush
5. Books
6. Notepad & pen
7. Deck of cards. You never know when you will need to pass the time with a deck of cards.
8. Travel documents. How to get to the hotel, my itinerary, etc.
9. Travel pillow. I forget what flight it was where I finally broke down and got a neck pillow. And let me just say, even if I look silly, it does help!

Ready or Not!

Woohoo!! Tomorrow morning I will be boarding a plane for WDW!! And on Sunday I will be running 13.1 miles. Or you know - running interspersed with walking. Which is a different definition for me than it has been previously – walking interspersed with running.

So let’s see what is on the packing list:

• iPod (complete with half marathon playlist)? Check
• Icy Hot? Check
• Epsom salt? Check
• Running shoes? Check
• Race belt? Check
• Various running outfits? Check
• Compression socks (for after the race)? Check
• Bathing suit (to soak in the pool after the race)? Check
• Tylenol (for before the race)? Check
• Ibuprofen (for after the race)? Check
  

I think I’m ready! Or at least prepared! :) I'm still not exactly sure what I'll be wearing race day. I might be all in black. So much for the pink...

And FYI, while iPods are discouraged, they are not prohibited. So I am not breaking the rules by bringing my iPod, because after all I am a rule follower if nothing else.

My goals for this race? In order of how likely they are to occur:

1. To finish!!
2. To finish in under 3 hours and 30 minutes
3. To finish in under 3 hours (this would be absolutely amazing!! And would probably mean no bathroom or picture stops.)
   

Oh, and a final tally on Operation 5 to 10? I’m down about 4.5 lbs, which isn't bad and hopefully will translate into a few seconds off my normal pace!

List #2 Places I Can Visit Over and Over Again

Now don't get me wrong, I love visiting new places. But there are some places I love to go back to again and again. And thanks to Michelle for pointing out the error with my list - where is Disney World, because we know I that I can (and have) visited there over and over!

1. London
2. Disney World
3. Rome (plus it is only a short distance from Florence which almost made the list)
4. Paris
5. Lisbon
6. Prague
7. Maui
8. Krakow
9. Cannon Beach

14 Days to Go!

Only 14 days until the half marathon! I have one more long training run before a weekend off in Houston. What have I learned on these long runs? That I need to take along some sort of fuel.

Something else I have learned - I really like short distances. I am enjoying the challenge of the longer distance and it has been good to push myself, but I will happily go back to 10Ks after this! :)

My last 2 long runs have been 11 miles and I have finished in about 2 hours and 30 minutes. Which means with the time limit of 3 hours and 30 minutes, I should have around an hour to complete 2.1 miles, a bathroom break or two, and maybe even a few picture stops along the way!

Now comes the hard part - what to wear in the race? It is a princess race so I wanted to do something a little princessy. I have a tiara I can wear, I also have a baseball hat that just says princess. Somehow I think the baseball hat is going to win out. I have a couple different options - several different combinations of pink and black. I'll probably take a couple and decide on race day.

ETA: I got the 14 days from the race website, but then realized technically it is more like 16 days to race day, but 14 days to check-in day. So it's 14 or 16 days to go, depending...

List #1 Gold Stars I Deserve or things that I'm good at

Mandi has taken up a great project of making lists (via Hula Seventy who is doing a weekly list). I love lists, I really do. While I don't know how ambitious my list-making will end up being, I am going to give it a try. Right now I have several lists started, but none of them are feeling complete to me but Mandi's list of gold stars gave me a great place to start! Plus I liked that we had a few in common!

1. Laughing. I can laugh at a lot of things (including myself). And I’ve been told I have a nice laugh. In fact I also have a laugh that carries across the office.


2. Observation / Details. I usually pick up on the little things. I am great at sitting back and observing a situation.


3. Packing. It probably comes from packing my suitcase so often! :) I can usually look at a space and look at what need to go in the space and figure out the best way to cram it all in, utilizing all of the space.


4. Traveling. Maybe this is why I do it so often – because I’m good at it! :) And I’m becoming more proficient at map reading as well.


5. Remembering. Maybe this plays into the details one above. It isn't only elephants who can remember! Although lately, my remembering skills have fallen a bit off, perhaps because there is too much clutter in my brain. But I'm usually the person who can remember meeting someone after one time. And when people say, oh you may not remember me, inside I'm thinking actually yes I do remember you.

And there you have my first list! What are some other ideas of lists for me to make?

32 Things Update

6. Try out a new recipe. Mmm, Italian Stuffing and Black Beans & Quinoa.

10. Make it through a hot yoga class doing all the postures. You have to love the hour classes! I made it through a power class and several hatha classes (all an hour), starting every position. At times I may not have lasted through the entire posture, but I at least attempted each one.

15. Run (emphasis on run) a 5K. To be perfectly candid, when I wrote this goal, I wasn't sure I would be able to do it. It's interesting to think back to when I was running one song, walking one song and now I ran a 5K!

30. Go for a hot air balloon ride. We’re going to change this one to Ride Tower of Terror, because really that should have been on the initial list. And I definitely can check it off! Once with Jana at WDW, and twice with Michelle at DL!!

Valentine's Day Dash

Today I ran in the Valentine's Day Dash along with 2,000+ other people. Notice anything about the verb in the previous sentence? That's right - there are no quotes around the word ran! Yay me! And just like that #15 on my 32 Things List is done.

I started off slow amongst the hordes of people. As I came up to the first mile marker, I wasn't sure if I was going to make it, but I kept plodding along. Once I hit the second mile marker I knew I was good. After all, I only had one mile to go! The last mile went by fairly fast, and then the last little bit to the finish line. Woohoo!

I finished in 37.23 - which is pretty good for me.

My feet after the race

Black Beans & Quinoa

One of my goals (it even made the 32 Things List), was to cook more. Slowly but surely I am trying out new recipes. And after hearing from several people the benefits of quinoa, what better recipe to try than one that involves quinoa? I found this fairly simple recipe and it turned out pretty good. I topped it off with a bit of sour cream and salsa. Yum!!


1 teaspoon vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup frozen corn kernels
2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and saute until lightly browned.
2. Mix quinoa into the saucepan and cover with vegetable broth. Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes.
3. Stir frozen corn into the saucepan, and continue to simmer about 5 minutes until heated through. Mix in the black beans and cilantro.

There are no more bananas today

So in my last five senses, I talked about how I was excited to be eating banana mango salsa at Cafe Mexico on Saturday. Guess what? They changed their menu and one of the the things they changed was the banana mango salsa. It is now mango salsa with jicama instead of bananas. It was not as good as the old salsa. Boo.

Five Senses Friday #15

Seeing:
* A beautiful rainbow, although that might have been last week that I saw it...

Hearing:
* The benefits of quinoa - I have now heard from several people that quinoa is good for women runners. Hm, might have to try out a new recipe.

Tasting:
* I will be tasting some sweet potato fries & banana mango salsa on Saturday! And I'm not even going to think about how many weight watcher points they are! :)

Feeling:
* Ice packs - wow, anything over 6 miles and it is time to break out the ice packs for my knees and lately, my lower back. Only 27 more days until race day!!
* Hungry - I re-signed up for weight watchers to kick this weight loss into gear. I had forgotten how hungry I can get the first week until I get used to it. And of course most of my conversations revolve around food.
* Sore arms - I really tried to work on my chattarongas (sp?) at hot yoga the other day and I am feeling that effort.

Smelling:
* Popcorn - it seems to be the snack of choice this week and since I sit near the kitchen I have been inundated with the buttery popcorn smell.

The Happiest Place on Earth

Hi, my name is Emily and I think I might be addicted to Disney. Okay, okay - who am I kidding? I am addicted to Disney. After all, I'm attempting to run a half marathon because it gives me an excuse to go to Disneyworld (WDW), and I'm contemplating running one in Disneyland (DL) so I can get the special coast to coast medal. But in the grand scheme of things, that isn't too bad, right?

My original Disney friend, Michelle, was going to DL at the end of December with her family and so I decided to tag along. Mainly to see Michelle, but also because I'll take any excuse to go to a Disney park! :) Michelle was the one who introduced me to WDW for my 30th birthday. Wow, was that really almost 3 years ago now?

We met up at LAX (we being me and Michelle's family - Michelle, Jason, Bailey, Reese and Michelle's parents - Janette & Mark), caught the shuttle and were on our way! We were dropped off at our respective hotels with a plan to meet back up at California Adventures. This was going to be my first time at California Adventures! Surprisingly, I've only been to DL a few times and haven't been since CA Adventures was built.

First was lunch, followed by Mike & Sully's Adventure, Playhouse Disney and the end of the HSM3 Pep Rally. And then it was time. Time for what? For me to face my fear.

(This would be when the foreboding music starts playing)

Michelle's favorite ride is Tower of Terror and she has been trying to get me on it since our first trip together. This ride absolutely terrifies me!! I think it is more psychological than anything. Each time I've said, maybe next time, maybe next time. The cajoling of Michelle, my brother and Jana finally got to me and I rode it with Jana last time at WDW, knowing I was still going to need to ride it in DL with Michelle. Jason, Michelle & I headed over to Tower of Terror but before we got in line Jason & Michelle got fast passes. Me? No, once was more than enough for me on this ride. We stood in line with the dread and anticipation building and building. Finally we were there, sitting down, strapped in and ready to go. I closed my eyes, hung on the hand rail for dear life and screamed. And then it was over. My legs were shaking uncontrollably, but I did it!

I should have known once I definitively said, "There is no way in he$$ I am doing this ride more than once!" that I would ride Tower of Terror again. We finished and Jason gallantly gave up his fastpass so I could face my fears and go again. Note to self, always get the fastpass, even if you don't think you will ride it. The elevator door closed, I held on to the handle with all my might and we plunged. The second time was worse! But I faced my fears and lived through it, twice! Riding it with Michelle was (dare I say it) fun. And Michelle - I'm glad you made me ride it & I'm glad I got ride it with you! :)

We met back up with the rest of the group and started over to California Screaming, another rollercoaster which had me a slight bit terrified. But it was actually really smooth, and only had one upside down loop, which I shut my eyes for. California Screaming just might be one of my new favorite rides!

After that it was King Triton's Carousel, Mickey's Fun Wheel, Mulholland Drive, and Soarin' before ending the night eating a corn dog and watching the Electrical Parade. You know how every once in awhile a hot dog just really sounds good? Or is that just me? And a corn dog? But it was really good. After the parade was over it was time for bed.

The next morning, I met up with the crew at their hotel before we caught the monorail over to Disneyland!! Michelle, Bailey & I rode the teacups. Next it was Pinocchio, Pirates, Haunted Mansion (which was decked out like The Nightmare Before Christmas for the holidays) and lunch. Then it was time for Mark to leave (he was going to work on one of the floats for the Rose Parade). We did a little shopping, watched the Christmas Parade and went for a ride with Mr. Toad. It was then time to say goodbye and goodnight to Janette & the girls. Michelle, Jason & I headed back to the park.

One of my favorite rides at DL that isn't at WDW is the Indiana Jones ride. The line was atrocious, so we decided to brave the single rider line, which we were assuming would be much faster than the 110 minute line. We weren't in line for that long when the ride was shut down for mechanical issues. Darn! On our way out, we were given a magical fastpass!! Hm, what to use it on? We did Big Thunder and then opted to use the magical fastpass on Space Mountain. Note to self, when you are trying to get into your seat on Space Mountain fast, don't lower your lap bar until you are ready. This may or may not be from experience. I may have lowered my lap bar before I was fully seated and gotten my leg caught outside the bar and gotten yelled at by the ride operator. I'm not saying it did happen, all I'm saying is that here is a slight possibility it could happen! :)

Next up was the Matterhorn and Pirates before checking out the Indiana Jones situation. The line was operational and had about 105 minute line. We headed for the single rider line and were on our way in a lot less time than 105 minutes!

We finished up the night with the Jungle Cruise and It's A Small World, which was all decked out for the holidays.

What a great trip!! See ya real soon!

Check out more pictures here.

Operation 5 to 10 Update

We're about a month into the new year so it is about time to check in with the goal to lose 5 to 10 lbs by the half marathon! There have been some ups and some downs (possibly more ups than downs!) since I made this goal and I'm now at about a net 6.3lbs to lose by March 7th to get to where I want for the race.

I was at hot yoga on Monday and my favorite instructor (and she was my favorite before this!!) told me I looked like I was losing weight! So while it may not necessarily feel or look like it to me, perhaps there is some change going on. :)

Acceptance

Sometimes you can start a run and wonder how on earth you are going to make it but you keep going.

Sometimes you are going to walk more than you planned.

Sometimes you have to turn off the stopwatch, because it is going to take as long as it is going to take!

Sometimes you have to suck it up and use the icky, nasty port-o-potty and be very thankful it was there and had toilet paper and soap!

Sometimes a "good job" from a passing runner can motivate you from barely hanging on to run 6 songs to running 9 songs.

Sometimes a High School Musical walk song can put you in a much better mood and ready to tackle the rest of the run.

Sometimes you just keep putting one foot after the other and before you know it you are at mile 7.5 of a 10 mile run.

And sometimes you have to accept a run for what it is, not good, not bad, but rather a building block on the way to 13.1 miles.

The Best Laid Plans

Well, I had great plans to update pictures, write up my latest trip report, but it didn't happen. Instead I created this mosaic as a tribute to my Disney trips in 2009, since I visited 3 parks (yes you read that right - 3 parks!!). From left to right it is Walt Disney World, Disneyland Paris, and Disneyland. And if you look carefully - I think I am wearing the same shoes in each foot picture!!

Orange You Glad

I got my Teddy grahams! And more oranges and bananas. Sadly, we are out of Princess fruit snacks. This is our smorgasbord of snacks:

It is kind of a running joke how much liquid I consume during the day. And as you can see from the below picture, I can even drink different types of water, out of different containers at the same time (although I do have to say the Diet Dr. Pepper & the Propel were from yesterday - they just never made it off my desk).

Five Senses Friday #14

Apparently I'm doing theme Five Senses Fridays. Last week was my run at the park and this week's theme would be year-end. It will be a long few weeks, but then life will be back to normal...

Seeing:
* The four "walls" of my cube, spreadsheets, workpapers, numbers, and lots and lots of formulas! And I'm not just talking about at work, these things are invading my dreams!

Hearing:
* My & Jessica's "fun" cd's - we started this a year or so ago, but during a quarter end we each make a cd full of fun songs to keep us pepped up.
* "Dumbledore!" The song from Harry Potter's Puppet Pals & The Mysterious Ticking Noise. If you haven't seen it on YouTube, check it out. It's really funny, especially if you are feeling a bit loopy!

Tasting:
* Way too many snacks - satsumas, goldfish crackers, Princess fruit snacks (we even branched out to Tinkerbell snacks and Nemo snacks but obviously we stuck with a Disney theme!). But you know what sounds good? Teddy grahams! Hm, might have to pick some up tomorrow.
* Caffeine in many different forms - coffee, soda, chocolate

Smelling:
* Satsumas!

Feeling:
* I think I am balancing on the edge of tiredness / adrenaline.
* Let's add in loopy - I'm definitely feeling loopy!
*My quads, because we are taking breaks to walk up the stairs

Five Senses Friday #13

Wow - three posts in three days!! And this is the first post of the new year! But instead of looking back over the past week, it'll mainly be reflecting on my run today.

Seeing:
* Lots of geese and geese poop

Hearing:
* Several cheers: "Way to go!" "Good job" "You can do it"! I realized that there was some sort of race happening and the racers were giving me encouragement. How about that? They are in the midst of their own race, yet they take time to cheer me on. I love it!

Smelling:
* Car exhaust fumes

Tasting:
* Not an eggnog latte, but a caramel brulee latte which helped warm me up after the run.

Feeling:
* Fairly excited that I made it 3 miles today before my first walk break! I'm thinking I need to sign up for a 5K!
* Rain and wind. I woke up to the sound of rain and so I went back to bed and woke up to less rain. For most of it the rain was light, until near the end when the skies opened up a bit. But what is a little bit of rain?

2009 in Pictures

Here we are at the end of another year! Where the time goes, I'm not sure. Anyway it must be time for a pictorial review of the past year.

But before I get to the pictures, I need to make a complaint. It isn't even New Years Day and already Starbucks is out of eggnog lattes! Or at least the few I visited are. And this is why you can start drinking eggnog lattes before Thanksgiving - because before you know it, eggnog lattes are over and you are still wishing for one more.

And now on to the pictures!



From left to right, starting at the top row:

1. January - My first visit to what has become my new favorite store, Laura Bee Designs
2. February - Cannon Beach, OR
3. March - Snorkeling in Hawaii
4. April - Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
5. May - Relaxing in Firastefani (Santorini, Greece)
6. June - Race for the Cure
7. July - Cinderella's Castle (Walt Disney World)
8. August - Me & my sister at her wedding
9. September - Wieliczka Salt Mine (yes, it was salty, but no, I didn't lick it!)
10. October - Me & Jana at Animal Kingdom (Walt Disney World)
11. November - Newgrange (Ireland)
12. December - Christmas

And there you have it. Happy New Year! Bring on 2010!

Operation 5 to 10

My "training" for the half marathon has begun in earnest. I have my long runs scheduled out, taking into account a few weekends I will be out of town. The plan is to do a couple of short runs during the week and a long run on the weekend from now until March 7th, slowing building up the long run to 12 miles. I figure if I can do 12, I can do 13.1!

And what is my "worry" for this race? My concern is all about the 16 minutes per mile requirement. If you can't meet the requirement, my understanding is you can be swept from the course which means no finisher medal!! My first half I came in at over 17 minutes per mile, but that was walking only and 5 years ago (the beginning stages of my racing career). Lately I've been fairly consistent at around a 14 minute per mile pace (14.22 for the Tower of Terror 13K and 13.45 for the 12Ks of Christmas). The question is, can I keep up the 14 minutes per mile for the whole race and not get swept?

I was reading an article about running and one way to shave time is to lose 5 lbs. Okay then, it is (almost) the beginning of the year, perfect time to try and lose 5 lbs. But we'll say 5 to 10 lbs to add some leeway for the Christmas cookies and other goodies that I have consumed over the past week. So, starting January 1st (because what better time to try and lose weight?) I will be attempting to lose 5 to 10 lbs by March 7th.

Why am I posting this for the world to read? Well, mainly to keep me honest. And to, nope that is it - to keep me honest. Watch this space for updates.

Mele Kalikimaka

As Christmas Day draws to a close, I'm watching one of my favorite Christmas movies - White Christmas. Diane & I share a love of White Christmas and saw the musical earlier this week. I enjoyed the musical, but the movie is still my favorite.

Christmas morning began at the reasonable hour of 7 a.m. My brother had been threatening 5 or 6 a.m. so I was happy with 7 a.m. Chloe was very excited and enjoyed helping everyone open their presents. Her favorite? A stuffed Husky dog, which was actually one of my presents until Chloe got hold of it. For the brief seconds the Husky was mine, I named him Jake Locker. My favorite gifts - an alarm clock for my iPod, Up on DVD, and a painting.

With presents done, I braved the cold-ish weather and headed for the park. While we did not get a real White Christmas, the frost on the ground gave the impression of a White Christmas. The park was fairly active for Christmas morning. I even saw a few muskrats enjoying the sunny Christmas morning. The sun was so bright - who would have thought I would have needed sunglasses?

8 miles later it was time to head home for what has become a Christmas tradition for my family - heading to the movies. On my way, I stopped at an open Starbucks on the way home to get a hot drink to help warm me up! In line, I decided it was a good day to buy the coffee of the person behind me in line.

The movie we saw was The Blind Side, which was very good.

One of my co-workers made a really good sausage stuffing for Thanksgiving and an early Christmas dinner and brought in the leftovers. It was so good so I attempted to make it for Christmas dinner. While it was not as good as my co-worker's it didn't turn out half bad! And it also fulfils #6 on my 32 Things list! Woohoo!!

And there you have it - Christmas 2009! Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Two Turtle Doves / Two Miles Run

It's Christmas time, which also means it is time for the 12Ks of Christmas run! I really enjoy this race, it is very festive with all sorts of costumes, both on people and dogs. One of these years I should run with a Santa hat.

I woke up to rain, but at least it wasn't snow! Fortunately the rain tapered off. It was getting close to the time to start and I was still in line for the bathroom, which is so unlike me. I'm usually in line waiting and waiting. I don't leave things to the last minute. Not to worry I thought - this race never starts on time! Except of course today. But I managed to get through the bathroom and to the start chute before the race actually started. I started back in the 12+ minute section, because that is my pace. However not everyone lines up according to their pace. And I had to run over a few people. Not run over literally, but dodge slower runners until the crowd thinned out. But I felt like running over them literally! Especially when it was a group of 5 that was spread out across the road.

My goal this time was to see if I could once again run 2 miles before my first walk break. I began to doubt as I ran up the first hill. But I kept putting one foot in front of the other and soon I was passing by the 1K sign, then the 2K sign, and the 3K sign and finally the 2 mile sign! Nice! And just in time to walk up the giant hill. From there on out it was run 5 songs, walk 1 song. That's right, I have improved to running 5 songs!

I have always known there are people who walk faster than I can run. And today I had it demonstrated to me. I was plodding along when a woman power walked right on by me. While I never caught up to her, I did keep her in my sights for the remainder of the race.

In some ways the race passed by quickly, in others not so much. But I kept passing by the K signs and then I was crossing the finish line! My goal was to finish in under 1 hour 45 minutes. Mission accomplished! I finished in 1 hour 42 minutes and 28 seconds!

They had a booth giving free 5 minute massages so I hopped up on the table and had a brief massage. Hm, I'm thinking Christmas present to myself might be a massage.

Twas the night before the 12Ks of Christmas

So I thought I was done Christmas shopping. Yay me! Time to pour some eggnog and sit back and watch Christmas movies! And then I went to wrap presents and realized I was not done. Two more presents were left to buy. Back out I went into the throngs of Christmas shoppers. At times I felt like a salmon swimming upstream, fighting against the masses of people. A few parking lot skirmishes - mainly conducted in my mind because let's face it I am not usually the confronting type. I survived the parking lots, the packed aisles with barely any room to maneuver, and the checkout lines that were miles long and how is it that I always choose the slowest line? And now I am officially done - well done with the shopping. Bring on the wrapping!

Tomorrow is the 12Ks (approx. 7.46 miles) of Christmas race! I love this race. It is so festive and a good length. Time to go lay out my clothes for tomorrow!

I Love Roundabouts!

One of my brother's graduation presents (from a few years ago) was enough miles for a trip overseas. Earlier this year he decided he was ready to cash in the miles and asked if I wanted to go to London. London? Are you kidding me? I'm so there. My brother loves London probably as much as I do. We decided to go to Dublin first, and then spend a few days in London.

The plane ride over was fairly uneventful, despite the pilot warning us it was going to be a bumpy ride. We landed and several hours later we boarded the plane for Dublin. If its possible to get seasick on a plane, it was on this flight. It swayed from side to side, especially on the take off and landing. But finally we were on the ground, with our luggage and making our way to the rental car. The rental car was a Toyota Corolla, so much for a European car. At the last minute, we decided to get a GPS unit which was a fantastic decision. A few roundabouts later, John was comfortable driving on the wrong side of the road.We got to the hotel just in time for the rain to start pouring. After getting situated, we set off in search of food. Fortunately the rain had subsided and we walked into town, and discovered Trim Castle was literally across the street. We ended up at a Chinese restaurant, which served margherita pizza. I didn't chance a margherita pizza at a Chinese restaurant, and instead had sweet and sour chicken.

We woke up the next morning after having listened to the wind howl all night long. After breakfast, we walked over to Trim Castle and explored. Next we set the GPS coordinates and made our way to Kells to see the High Crosses. We tried to find another castle but it wasn't in the listed in the GPS so we continued on to Newgrange. However the GPS had the wrong coordinates for Newgrange so it was back to the map. Finally on the right track, we ran into a detour. The road was flooded. But we arrived at Newgrange just in time for the tour. It started to pour as we arrived at Newgrange. Stepping inside the narrow pathway, it was amazing to think this was built prior to the Great Pyramids. And the ceiling, which was over 5,000 years old had never leaked. The ancient people (as the guide called them) had even carved gutters on the roof to drain away the water. Amazing!! Lunch was at the Newgrange visitor center cafeteria. Leaving Newgrange, we missed the detour sign and ended up going through the massive puddle of water covering the road. And then we came to the next giant puddle. Not sure if we could make it, we waved the people behind us through. They pulled up and told us they thought we could make it. After watching them go through (and their car was about the size of ours) we decided to chance it and made it through. Whew. Our next stop was the Hill of Slane, where St. Patrick lit a fire to celebrate Easter which reportedly ushered in Christianity in Ireland. Quickly running out of daylight, we hit two more ruins - Mellifont Abbey and Monasterboice, which had several high crosses. It was then time to head back to Dublin. Finding the car rental return was a bit challenging but we made it. We caught the bus into Dublin, getting off right near our hotel. Due to the late hour, we ate dinner at the hotel. I had Irish stew, which was quite yummy!

We set off the next morning, making our first stop at Christ Church Cathedral. In the crypt, there was the mummified remains of a cat and a mouse. The cat had been presumably been chasing the mouse when they got stuck in the organ and were mummified. From there we went to Dublin Castle. One of my favorite rooms was the Ladies Drawing Room, which was gorgeous. During a ball, the single ladies had to hang out in the Ladies Drawing room until they were asked to dance. We also learned about the whistling corridor. They were worried about servants stealing food and so between the dining area and the kitchen they had to sing or whistle to prove they weren't stealing. We had lunch at a pub near Trinity College. I was all set to have a traditional pie, but then I saw they had a cranberry and brie sandwich. Once upon a time, when I was working in London, the cafeteria had a fantastic cranberry and brie sandwich. This one wasn't as good as I remember the other one, but it was still good. John had corned beef and cabbage which made him quite happy. After lunch we headed over to Trinity College and saw the Book of Kells, which was neat, after having been in Kells the day before. Next up was St. Patrick's Cathedral before making our way over to the Guinness Brewery. At Guinness, besides learning about beer, we were able to learn how to pour a glass of Guinness from the tap. Dinner was in Temple Bar - we found an interesting place - it had a little bit of everything, including margherita pizza. This time I did have it! It was good, not the best, but still good. And after dinner? Why gelato of course, even if it did feel like it was two degrees outside!

We started off the day making our way over to Number 29, a town home decorated in the Georgian style. On our way over we passed by numerous dissenters who were on strike. We got to Number 29 and had a few minutes before it opened and so I was able to walk around the square and take pictures of doors! Not every door, but a lot of doors. The tour was interesting and on it we learned that the style back then was fairly uniform and the place where people could express their individuality was on the doors. Finishing up the tour, we walked over towards the Natural History Museum only to find it was closed for renovations. By the number of strikers around the nearby buildings, it was doubtful we would have been able to see it anyway. John wanted to have lunch at the self proclaimed "oldest pub in Ireland" so we walked towards it, doing a little shopping on the way. After lunch (of stew) we headed towards the Jameson Distillery where John volunteered to be a taster. On the tour we learned that one of the important distinctions of Jameson Whiskey is that it is distilled three times. One of things I had wanted to do was to go to one of the suburbs outside of Dublin and walk along the cliffs. Not knowing if we'd have enough time, we left it as a possibility. Coming out of Jameson, we were nearly blown over by the gust of winds. It was probably a good thing we didn't go out to the cliffs as we might have been blown over! The last thing on our list was to visit Kilmainham Jail. Deciding to chance that it would be open, we set off. The jail was outside of the city center and a bit of a trek. As we started out it started to absolutely pour down rain, along with big gusts of wind. We were almost there when we passed by another closed museum, with the now familiar picketers out front. Still holding out hope, we went to the entrance and were greeted by a locked gate, but no picketers. Our hypothesis was that the picketers were at the museum across the street as it was on a bigger street, and had some cover from the elements. Oh, well. We stopped back by the hotel to change out of wet clothes before heading out to dinner. Since it was our last night in Dublin, I had Irish Stew. Yum! And after dinner, even with the rain and the cold I stopped for gelato.

We woke up to a bright, beautiful, but very windy morning. We checked out, caught the bus, and were on our way to the airport. Heathrow was backed up, so to avoid circling endlessly, we sat at the gate. But finally we took off, you could definitely feel the wind as the plane swayed from side to side. Even with the precaution of waiting in Dublin, we still circled several times around Heathrow before landing. We checked into our hotel and headed for one of my favorite places in London, The Muffin Man, for a late lunch. Then we headed over to Buckingham Palace before going to the Cabinet War Rooms. And then it was on to the London Eye. They added a 3D show to the beginning, which was a little random. And then it was time for our flight. I love the London Eye! It's like the Peter Pan ride, only better! :) Dinner was at a pub where I had steak and ale pie and sticky toffee pudding for dessert. Yum!!

We woke up to a sunny but windy day. Breakfast? At the Muffin Man, of course! And then it was off to Dover Castle. We arrived at the bottom of the white cliffs of Dover and began the climb up. Hills, stairs, and more hills and we were finally at the entrance. We had lunch at the cafe before exploring the grounds of the castle. The Great Hall was really neat! It was decorated in medieval style. We toured the secret wartime tunnels, which are not so secret anymore. These tunnels were originally built for the Napoleonic Wars, and then were remodeled to be used for WW2. Operation Dynamo, to rescue the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk, was directed from the secret wartime tunnels. After the tour, we finished exploring the castle, visiting the remaining lighthouse from Roman times and the church originally built by the Saxons. Back in London, we finished the day by visiting Harrods, which was all decked out for Christmas.

Another sunny, windy day and the Muffin Man for breakfast (sound familiar?). And then it was off to Stonehenge! We alighted from the train and caught the bus to Stonehenge. If I thought windy before, it was nothing compared to the wind at Stonehenge! Bone-chilling wind! What was interesting was seeing Stonehenge after seeing Newgrange as they were built in similar time periods (5,000 or so years ago). The rocks are so immense, it boggles the mind how these stones got here. Finishing up at Stonehenge, we got off the bus at Old Sarum, the original town of Salisbury which was abandoned. Not much was left as the stones and other building materials were re-appropriated. Back in Salisbury, we walked around the town and the cathedral. The cathedral has one of the tallest spires in Europe. It also houses one of the original copies of the Magna Carta. Back in London we visited King's Cross and platform 9 3/4 before heading back to the hotel to pack.


Last day, last breakfast at the Muffin Man and then it was time to leave. Farewell London, I'm hopeful I will be back soon.

Three French Hens

I am thisclose to being done with Christmas shopping!! I have a few more gifts to buy before I can move on to Christmas wrapping and Christmas mailing. Some of my Christmas shopping was done online and are supposedly on their way. Although they don't always show up on the various trackers. Not that I'm checking.

No, I'm not checking every hour to see where my packages are now.

Well maybe I am a tad bit curious as to where my packages are.

Where are they you ask? Well, 1 came yesterday (but never did show up on the USPS tracker), 2 left Earth City, MO this morning at 3:36 AM, one isn't in the system yet and another says its shipped but I got nothing - no tracker or anything. Who doesn't offer tracking on packages? Don't they know I need to know!!

Let's see, what else is going on besides calmly awaiting packages? My office feels as if it is at the North Pole, or the South Pole, whichever is colder. The windows that suck in the heat in the summer, suck in the cold in the winter. And while I know there are much colder places than Seattle, it should not get this cold in Seattle!! Isn't this supposed to be a mild temperature zone?

The treadmill and I are in a love / hate relationship right now. But I'm feeling fairly good about the 12Ks of Christmas (a week from Sunday!!).

Mickiewicz & Mickey Mouse

My dreams of every writing up my trip to Krakow and Paris are going by the wayside. But I did want to at least post a few pictures and commentary from the trip. So here we go - in pictures rather than words this time.

Main Market Square - we spent a lot of time here. Krakow was a very charming city.

We weren't sure what the purpose of the animals were - we started calling this ferret square.

After pouring rain, the sun came out at Wawel Castle.

Kazimierz - the former Jewish community. During WW2, Nazis destroyed the cemetery and gravestones. After the war, remnants were pieced together to form a mosaic wall.

Oskar Schindler's factory

Auschwitz - the sheer size of Auschwitz & Auschwitz II is absolutely overwhelming. At Auschwitz I there were rooms filled with eye glasses, suitcases, and shoes of the victims. At Auschwitz II, the rows of barracks seemed to go on forever. I thought it was a little more clinical than my visit to Dachau, but still very moving.

If you look closely, you'll see the "B" was welded upside down, a small piece of rebellion.

Wieliczka Salt Mine - I felt a little like Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs, deep in the mines. Lots of statues and chapels carved out of salt. Below is the Chapel of St. Kinga which was incredible!

A different view of the Main Market Square, from the top of St. Mary's Basilica (239 stairs up)

From Krakow, we flew to Paris.

Inside Notre Dame

We took the bus out to Malmaison. Josephine bought the house for herself and Napoleon. She kept the house after their divorce and lived there until her death.

Orangerie Museum

A trip to Paris wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Eiffel Tower! We were in line when the sparkle lights went off so did not get to enjoy the sparkle lights fully. Overheard while we were in line - Pilier Est? Is that estimated?

We were so close to Paris Disney, so why not visit?

The roller coasters (specifically Rockin' Rollercoaster & Space Mountain) were 14 times scarier than Walt Disney World, if by 14 you mean 1,000,000 times scarier!!

And we finished up our trip to Paris, wandering around the Latin quarter. We visited the Pantheon (below), which houses Foucault's pendulum and the resting places of a number of famous persons (Alexander Dumas, Victor Hugo and Marie Curie to name a few).

And a stroll along the Seine to visit my favorite pont (bridge) in Paris - Pont Neuf.

Our last night we had dinner in a super tiny restaurant, which was so good!!

A little different, but hopefully it gives you a flavor my trip.

Five Senses Friday #12

Seeing:
* Chloe in a new sweater. I'll see if I can get a picture of her and post it.

Hearing:
* Christmas music! It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Deck the halls!

Smelling:
* Nothing is coming to mind or to nose as the case may be.

Tasting:
* Thanksgiving leftovers - the downside to being away during Thanksgiving is no Thanksgiving meal. But my mom saved me a plate. Thanks Mom! And then a co-worker brought in leftovers as well to share. I love when she brings in leftovers because she is such a good cook!

Feeling:
* Cold - wow the temperature dropped! Time to dig out the winter coat! That and buy a portable heater.

Five Senses Friday #11

Seeing:
* New Moon on opening night, which means I went to the midnight showing last night (early this morning?). I had been resisting the Twilight craze for awhile but then finally started reading the books and to my surprise, I enjoyed them. And somehow I got caught up in the excitement and decided it was a good thing to go to the midnight showing. The movie was fine - cheesy, but cute. The book was way better, as is usually the case. In fact the only time I have ever come across the book not being the better one is Wicked. I tried to read that book but after the first chapter I could not force myself to read anymore. The show on the other hand? Rocks!!
* I also went and saw 2012. I can't tell you the last time I saw 2 movies in one week! 2012 was better than I thought it would be but it was extremely stressful. I think I sat tensed up for the entire second half of the movie.

Hearing:
* Myself in a video at work. Why is it that the sound of your own voice can be so foreign? And notice this is not in the "seeing" section. That would be because I averted my eyes so I didn't actually have to watch myself. Sometimes I can watch myself on video, but this was not one of them.
* My name over the PA system as they were able to get me a window seat after all!!

Smelling:
* Coffee and lots of it!! Did I mention I went to the midnight showing of New Moon last night?? And then got up early for a sample sale at work.

Tasting:
* Jessica, Nilufer & I went to Mexico for dinner. Banana mango salsa, sweet potato fries, and fajitas - need I say anything more???

Feeling:
* Super tired. Are we sensing a theme here? :)
* Excited to be back in London! It's Thanksgiving which generally means time for Emily to hop across the pond. My brother and I are leaving tonight for a few days in Dublin before heading over to London for another couple of days.

You're a Nice Vampire

So I was really hoping to finish my Krakow & Paris (otherwise known as Parkow) pictures and report before the latest Disney one, but it was not meant to be…

Great motivation for going to the gym? Signing up for a race! Great motivation for signing up for a race? Why a Disney race of course! Jana & I were already thinking about going to Disney and the race gave us a great excuse - I signed up for the 13K while Jana signed up for the 5K.

I arrived late Thursday and due to a plane issue Jana arrived early Friday morning. After some sleep, we were up and off to Animal Kingdom. It was hot, but not super crowded. We were able to do most of our favorites and took advantage of the extra magic hours before heading over to pick up our race packet. I do have to mention that after we rode Expedition Everest both of us looked at each other and said "It wasn't as scary as I remember. Stupid Paris!" The Paris Disneyland roller coasters were a bit more intense than their Disneyworld counterparts.

After picking up our race packets and shirts we headed over to Downtown Disney for dinner. Oh my word, dinner took forever! We were wandering through the stores afterwards when Jana glanced down at her watch and realized it was after 11. Both of us deflated after that so we caught the bus and headed back to the hotel.

This entire trip we didn't set the alarm, which was really nice! Not that we slept super late, but it was nice to take it easy in the morning and not rush. Today's agenda was Hollywood Studios and tonight would be the race! It was getting close to time to leave Hollywood (to get ready for the race) and we headed over to Rockin' Rollercoaster to use our fast pass. Afterwards, we had the same feeling of Paris was scarier. Don't get me wrong - it's still scary, it just wasn't as scary as it was pre-Paris. Walking away from Rockin' Rollercoaster we passed by my nemesis, Tower of Terror. I have been too scared to ride it in the past, but that was all about to change. It must have been the adrenaline, or Jana was really persuasive, or something, but before you knew it I was standing in line for Tower of Terror. Our ride operator was perfect - he had the creepy voice and movements down pat. Which resulted in me being scared out of my mind even before the ride started. Oh my word! Well, I did survive. Although I was ready for it to be done and it dropped us two more times. I immediately texted Michelle to let her know I had finally, finally, finally ridden the Tower of Terror. (Don't worry Michelle - I'll still ride it at Disneyland in December. You just might have to hold my hand!!! Hopefully it won't be scarier at Disneyland!!)

We finished up at Hollywood, went back to the hotel for a quick, light dinner before the race. And just like that we were back at Hollywood lining up to start the race. I said goodbye to Jana as the 5K started first. And then finally it was time for the 13K! I don't know if it was the leftover adrenaline from finally doing the Tower of Terror but I ran the first 2 miles, with just a brief water stop! That is definitely a first for me. Could I have pushed myself to 3 miles? Possibly, but at that point I had 6 more miles to go so I settled back into my run 4 songs, walk 1 pattern. I got to mile 7 and basically fell apart, I'm not sure why. Fortunately I only had a little over a mile to go and was able to run 1 song, walk 1 song until I saw the finish line which spurred me on. The park was still open so after drinking water and stretching we went to do a little Midway Mania. By the time we finished the ride and ate it was 2 a.m. and time for us to go home!

Magic Kingdom day! We had tickets to the Not So Scary Halloween Party later that evening so we packed our "costumes" and set off. The park was fairly empty, which was fantastic!! Most lines were 10 - 15 minutes at the most. We were walking back from Pirates when a very large, tall man passed us. It was Shaq himself! Enjoying some family time before basketball season. Pretty soon it was time for the Halloween party. We didn't go all out for costumes, we just got shirts that said "Princess" and a tiara and called it good. A lot of people really dressed up. A girl in front of us waiting to her her picture made with Cinderella's carriage was dressed up just like Cinderella! A little girl waiting in line with us informed the vampire behind us that he was a nice vampire, but then she looked at us gave us a disgusted look and told us we were not wearing costumes. Oops! We tried to time the Dumbo ride so we would be on the ride when the fireworks started but we were one ride off. We were getting into our Dumbo when the fireworks stopped. Oh well. We didn't stay to the end of the party as the combination of the late night and the race had us losing our magic before the clock struck midnight.

Epcot day! The park wasn't super crowded, but it was very hot! And there isn't a lot of shade in Epcot. As part of the food & wine festival, they have different acts come to sing and Boys II Men happened to be there when we were there so we got our Motown Philly on! There were also lots and lots of characters out, with short lines. We finished up Epcot and decided to head back to Magic Kingdom for extra magic hours. Unfortunately Toon Town was closed so we missed out on one of our favorites, Goofy's Barnstormer. Something for next time!

And just like that it was time to go back to reality. See ya real soon!

Five Senses Friday #10

Seeing:
* Christmas lights on the trees outside my building!! I love Christmas lights!

Hearing:
* Drip, drip, drop. I hope the rain subsides a little by Saturday morning so I can go for a run and not get completely soaked!!
* Hey I got your postcard! Yes, it only took 2 months, but my postcards from Krakow finally made their way across the pond. I really liked Krakow and one of these days I'll get around to finally posting some pictures.

Smelling:
* Someone's very strong perfume when I got into the elevator.

Tasting:
* New York cupcakes! We had a baby shower at work and what better excuse to get some New York cupcakes!

Feeling:
* Tired, and somewhat in disbelief that it is already the middle of November. Where has the time gone?

Five Senses Friday #9

Seeing:
* Lots of yellow and red leaves. I love fall!!

Hearing:
* "Great job, keep running" - I don't know how people know that I need lots of cheers, even when I'm just out running at the park, but this came when I was just about to start walking and I was able to keep running for another song.

Smelling:
* Purell as I continually reapply - I am trying to ward off any and all germs.

Tasting:
* My first eggnog latte of the season! I feel a little guilty about this as I am usually a purist and don't drink eggnog until after Thanksgiving. But I couldn't help myself, it was calling to me.

Feeling:
* I normally don't have a problem with this category but I'm not coming up with - oh, got one! I am trying acupuncture (for headaches) so I am feeling the slight "pinch" of the needle.