It's Time to Stop Talking and Start Doing

One of my biggest pet peeves is people who are all talk with no action behind it.  Lately, I have been guilty of that because I have been saying for months (literally) that I need to start my fundraising for M2M3.  I am egregiously behind, but that all ends today.  I have updated my online fundraising page and I'm open for business!

When a friend first told me that he was doing this relay and asked if I wanted to join, I thought he was crazy.  4 days on an RV with a bunch of strangers sounded awful.  But then I saw the runners coming back into Mobile and I heard their stories and I thought "well... maybe."  Then I signed up for last year's run, and I thought that it would be a cool thing to do but really only thought of it as a one-time thing.  I was only into the first day of the relay when I realized there was no way that I wasn't coming back.  I was hooked.  I will admit that there have been more than just a few times over the last few months where I considered not doing it again this year because "fundraising is a pain" and "4 days is a long time to take off work."  But then I realized that would be taking the easy way out, and I remembered the kids at St. Jude's who don't have an easy way out.

So here I am, officially kicking off my fundraising.  I've looked back over the pictures from last year, and remembered the hospital tour, the sleep deprivation and the crazy roadside dance parties (which were probably a direct result of the sleep deprivation) - and I'm ready to do it all again!  Our legs save lives!

Daylight Savings has kicked my butt

Note to self:  Maybe signing up for a race the first morning of daylight savings is not the best idea, especially one that's 45 minutes away.  This morning Heather & I rode over to Robertsdale to do the Leprechaun Chase 10k.  It was a fun race and a lot of good company.  :)  The course was a little hilly and challenging, especially with the headwind on the way back.  Afterwards we ran an extra 4 miles so this counted as a long run too.  Tomorrow night I will be loving the DST when there is still daylight for me to run after work.

However, early wake up - 1 hr of sleep + 10 mile run + 100 loads of laundry = Long Day.  I'm just going to finish watching GCB and then I'm crashing out!

February Recap

February went by like a blur.  A marathon, a half marathon and Mardi Gras... It was a lot of fun and exhausting!!  Unfortunately, I only got in 111 miles in, so I am a little behind on my goal for the year.  I took it easy last week because my knee wasn't been feeling 100%.  I sprained it 3 years ago and every so often it gets a little unhappy.  The rest was good though because this week felt much better.  It's funny when you take some time off from running to recover from a big race or rest from an injury - I like to call it a run-cation.  The first couple of days are kinda fun and I'm like "ooh I have all this time on my hands" but after that I just have this nagging feeling that I am forgetting something.

Last Saturday I had another fun surprise... my washer decided to die on me.  As much as I would love a laundry-cation, it is a necessary evil.  I had to make a quick decision and had the new washer delivered earlier tonight!  FYI, shopping for laundry appliances is nowhere near as much fun as shopping for a new outfit.  It's an HE washer which means I need special detergent which means I cannot avoid a trip to Walmart.  I also need groceries.  And toothpaste.  Oh wow that's going to put a damper on my Saturday.

I'm going to do a new (to me) race on Sunday in Robertsdale - the Leprechaun Chase 10k!  It should be fun!

(Heat) Pumpin' it Up!

I am a self-admitted control freak, but I also know that sometimes it's nice when other people make decisions.  Like, where we're going for lunch or what movie we're going to see or what the run route is.  What's not fun is when home improvement decisions are made for you.

A few weeks ago when my mom & I were traveling to Birmingham for the Mercedes Marathon, we were talking about my next big project at the house.  I was trying to decided between tiling the kitchen or making some changes to my bathroom.  Unfortunately, when I got home I was greeted by the smell of gas in the house.  We looked at the furnace and the pilot light looked ok, so we decided it was probably nothing.  Not long after she left, the heat kicked on and made a funny noise, which I later discovered coincided with what looked like a mini explosion.  Scary.  I turned the unit off and called someone to come look at it Monday morning.

Long story short, I got two opinions that basically said the furnace is older than I am and fixing the problem will be more expensive than it's worth, and I should consider getting a new unit.  So, that's what I decided to do.  I also decided to go with a heat pump because I hear that it's more energy efficient.  Fortunately it hasn't been cold since my furnace died so not having heat has not really been a big deal.

I took the day off while the work was being done at the house.  I worked on catching up on some paperwork, and clearing off the DVR  (otherwise how else could I justify taking a day off work to watch TV?).  Still, it was not the most exciting way to spend the day and I didn't even get to take a nap.  But I do have a brand new Heat & AC system.  Sometime soon(ish) I will replace my gas water heater with an electric, and then my house will be all electric.  Yay!

Here's a picture of the 30+ year old furnace:

It's About Time Someone Recognized My Princess Status

Last weekend, I ran the Disney Princess Half Marathon!!  I have been wanting to run this race for quite some time.  Duh, a princess *needs* to run a princess race, right?

My friend Cassie & I left Mobile Friday mid day for the 8 hour drive (and a time change) to Orlando, FL.  We got to our hotel around 10:30 pm (bedtime - haha).  Then Sunday we went to ESPN Wide World of Sports for the Expo.  I had registered for this race several months ago (while the registration fees were still "cheap") (quotation marks are my best effort at writing in sarcasm) so I had forgotten that they ask you what your favorite Disney Princess is.  I chose Aurora so they gave me a pink race bib.  Yay!!!!  Also, I love when they put your name on the race bib.  It automatically goes to the top of my Favorite Race Bib list.  Double Yay!!!  Therefore, imagine my excitement to get a race number with "Princess Joy" printed on it.  Triple Yay!!!  Jackpot of race bibs!

The rest of the expo was pretty standard.  I think it was smaller than the Marine Corps Marathon expo but it was also less crowded which is a good thing.  I didn't spend too much money - bought some mouse ears to wear during the race, a new pair of Nike running shorts (I don't have a problem, I can quit any time I want) and a super cute new 26.2 magnet for my car.

Because we had only a half a day left, we decided not to go to one of the amusement parks.  Instead, we decided to go to the giant outlet mall we saw as we were driving in the night before.  For these two girls, an outlet mall of that size is our Disney World.  Probably not the best way to rest your legs for race the next day, but it was fun.  :)

Thanks to having read Skinny Runner's recap of the Tinkerbell Half Marathon, I kinda knew what to expect.    Especially the part about the pre-dawn start time.  Race instructions advised us to be parked by 4 am (Eastern Time) so we set our alarms for 2:30 am.  Which means I went to bed on Saturday night early even by my standards.  haha  I wasn't crazy about the timetable for the race start.  We also spent a lot of time standing around (waiting in the potty line, walking to the corrals...) and it was a little chilly out.  When I had looked at the weather I thought it would be warm enough that I didn't need to bring extra clothes.  But standing around before the race, I was really wishing I had brought something to wrap up in before the race.

The start of the race was pretty awesome.  It was still dark out, and they shot off fireworks at the beginning of each corral start.  It seemed like no time when I got to the first mile marker/water stop.  There was so much excitement and so much to see along the way that the miles seemed to tick off pretty quickly.  However, I also know that as far as pacing goes, I was doing a pretty crappy job.  All along the course there were Disney characters and you could have your picture made with them.  I wasn't inclined to stop and take too many pictures, although I did stop for a picture of Cinderella's castle.

I finished the race with a pretty good time; better than I expected actually.  It was a pretty big race - approximately 20,000 people, and it's hard to navigate through the crowds at times.  But the medal is so pretty!!!

After the race, we went straight back to our hotel to get cleaned up and check out.  We got back to Mobile around 7:30 and I went to bed as soon as I could, after having been up for about 20 hours.  It was a really fun race and weekend away.

Shoe of the Day

I ran across these super cute shoes at Shoe Station last weekend!  At first I thought they were peacock feathers but now I'm not so sure.

I can hardly keep up with myself

Another Mardi Gras has come and gone.  The last few days were jam-packed - Joe Cain 5K, IM Ball and Fat Tuesday wrapped up with the KOR Reception.

The Joe Cain 5K was awesome.  After we had a tropical storm come through on Saturday, the weather for Sunday was dry!  We had an amazing turnout.  For both races this weekend I worked at the finish line and it's pretty cool seeing all the runners as they come though.  It was a little cloudy and windy, but that didn't stop us from dancing in the street until the widows arrived!  If that doesn't make any sense to you, our post-race party is across the street from Joe Cain's house and we party until Joe Cain's Merry Widows come by and visit the house.  It's always a great time and I love my running club!

Fat Tuesday was another crazy busy fun day.  I spent the same amount downtown as I do on a regular work day, but I was probably twice as tired.  Of course, I had twice as much fun so that explains it.  :)  However, as with every year I'm glad to see Mardi Gras come to an end and for life to get back to normal.

Of course we can't forget that today marks the beginning of the Lenten season.  I have decided that I am going to give up fried foods for Lent.  I do love me some french fries and chicken fingers so this will be tough!!!  On Sunday at church we talked about the purpose of Lent being to regain control.  I definitely need to regain control of my eating habits, especially now that I am not training for a marathon.

Confession: tonight was the first time I have ran since last Thursday.  Crazy!  It was great to get back to regular routine of changing clothes in the office bathroom and rushing out the door to go run.  Heck, I was even happy to be out there doing hill repeats!!!!

Tomorrow is my Friday!  I am taking Friday off because my friend Cassie & I are driving to Orlando for the Disney Princess Half Marathon on Sunday.  I am so excited!!!  This will be my first Disney race, and my first time at Disney in over 10 years.  It's going to be a quick trip and another busy weekend.