Hiii Disney....it's me again...

So just to recap-last time we talked I was nursing an injured hip and was in poor spirits. Sadly, I must report that not much has changed. Hip is still hurting-although I am able to hobble around easier at this point. And I have been upset that I haven't been able to run. Very upset. So upset that long lost baggy sweaters and stretchy pants have surfaced from my closet this week to fully sell the "woe is me" look that I'm trying to pull off.

As fate would have it, the Disney gods knew of my pain and decided they needed to throw me a bone. 30% off room discount was opened to this public yesterday. I, in a fit of hysterics, called sil at work to tell her. This was happening. We were booking. As any Disney lover knows, resorts are a very personal and important part of a trip. Hubby and I started our Disney vacations together staying at Pop Century. Bright, fun, lots of energy. Rooms, however, were a little tight with a pack n play. We still managed to make it work one more time there but spent the vacation getting very little sleep. DD is a kicker and hubby fashions himself as a modern day Gaston (roughly the size of a barge) and I sleep quite awkwardly spread out like a starfish. Long story short, double beds were not an option anymore.

We knew we needed a hotel with at least 2 queen beds, which we knew put us at a moderate. To be honest, we weren't overly thrilled with the online pictures of any of them and I spent days reading every review I could get my hands on for all hotels. The deciding factor was when we heard the news that POFQ was getting a refurb-new queen beds, new carpet and bedding etc. Refurb coupled with our love for the new movie Princess and the Frog and we had ourselves a decision.

I cannot say enough good things about our stay at POFQ. The room was wonderful, beds comfy and enough square footage to spread out. Having two sinks was a life saver and the curtain separating the beds from bathroom area came in handy. The grounds were well kept with fragrant, blooming magnolia trees round every bend. Soft jazz music played throughout the resort and beautiful fountains complete with benches to relax were placed all throughout the grounds. For the first time while vacationing at Disney we actually felt like we had a bit of "ahhhh" time.

 

Unfortunately, POFQ is never included on the discounts Disney releases so I was not surprised when it wasn't offered with the new 30% off. We decided to go with Port Orleans Riverside figuring it should have a similar effect being sister resorts and that if we get a little homesick we can always take a boat ride over to the French Quarter.

 

I am so excited to say we booked a Royal Room!!!!

What could be more fitting for the Princess Half Marathon than a room inspired by princesses???

I am ecstatic!!!

 

I am sorry for no recipe today!!! Hubby and I have been on vacation and have been trying to pack as many fall family activities in as we can! Just got home from seeing Brave at the dollar theater (I cried!!) and need to get some sleep! Waking up very early tomorrow for a college football game. Special for us since I've never been to one and hubby played football for them!

 

GOOD LUCK TOMORROW, SIL :)

 

Sad I won't be there, but I know if there's anyone who could handle a zombie apocalypse it would be you!!! Get it girl!!!

 

 

~J

Oh, hey Fat Friday!

Happy Fat Friday! So happy that it's friday.  This has been a pretty tough week.  Sil got injured, I got a sinus infection and we only ran once.  I am so upset that I only got one run in.  Who would have thought that I would be getting upset about not running.  Running has really changed my life.  I feel happy and healthy again.  This week was a little bump in the road but we will be on the right track next week and back to our routine.

Zombie 5k is tomorrow!  I am so excited.  I'm not sure what to expect though.  Zombies have always freaked me out.  But, in a way I guess that's a good thing, it will make me run faster!  I am doing this 5k with my cousin.  She has just recently joined Sil and I running.  She was going through some tough times just like we were.  So the three of us together are going to run for our happiness!  If feels very strange though to not have sil running this race with us tomorrow.  But, I know that she is healing up and is on her road to recovery!  She will be there in zombie spirit!

Having this sinus infection this week I really haven't had much of an appetite.  For whatever reason today I am starving.  Maybe my body knows its fat friday.  So this fat friday I am going to be sharing a super yummy but very unhealthy recipe.  Butterfinger cookies :)

Butterfinger Cookies

Prep time: 45 mins (30 mins for chilling dough)
Bake time: 11-12 minutes

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temp.

1/2 cup of granulated sugar

1/2 cup (packed) dark brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups, plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

1 1/2 cups of crushed butterfingers (3 regular sized chocolate bars)

1. Using electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars in large bowl until well-blended.  Add egg and vanilla and beat until fluffy.  Beat in flour, salt and baking soda.  Stir is butterfingers (dough will be moist).  Chill cookie dough at least 30 mins to an hour.

2.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  Using a small cookie scoop, drop cookies onto baking sheet, spacing about 3 inches apart.  Bake cookies until golden brown, about 11-12 minutes.  Transfer parchment paper with cookies to cool on rack.

These are my husband's favorite.  He says they are great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Enjoy :)

Samantha

Ugh. :(

What a difference a week can make.  We went from the high of getting ready for our first 5k, being super nervous excited and finishing our very first 5k! Being sooo super happy and proud of ourselves to sil getting an injury (:( ) and me getting sick.  I feel so bad for sil.  I know that it is only temporary set back but I am sad she has to take a few weeks off.  But, I guess it's better (well, not better) that it happened now and not two weeks before the half marathon! 

Being sick is no fun. I love my 6:00 a.m. runs but the weather recently has been making it very difficult. Cold, dark, damp, wet and rainy. I am pretty sure I got sick from running (sweating and only wearing a long sleeved shirt) in the cold air and rain this week.   I really tried my hardest to get out of bed this morning to go on my run but I couldn't move.  I felt horrible because I am sick but also because I knew I was not going on my run (not to mention feeling horrible that sil wouldn't be running with me). But I know my sil and she is very determined to get healed and get back to running.  Hopefully in the coming weeks we will be better and back in action!

  I signed up for a Zombie 5k this weekend that I fully intend on running in.  So I think I am going to take the rest of the week off to rest up and prepare for the Zombie Apocalypse.

Riding the Pine

I'm benched. For at least a week. Following my 5K on Saturday, I've had pain in my right hip/groin that progressed from a dull ache to barely being able to walk without a limp. I tried running on Monday (stupid, I now realize) which further aggravated it to the point of tears. I'm dealing with pain from my interior groin and hip shooting down through my knee. Hurts to walk, hurts to lift my leg, hurts to roll in bed at night. I've Dr. Google'd it and come up with the diagnosis of hip flexor strain, likely grade II. I'm icing, resting and using ibuprofen sparingly.

It is KILLING me not to be able to run. This morning, I woke up at 6 am without an alarm clock. Remembered I was injured and wouldn't be running and could not get back to sleep. There are many things I miss: the fresh air, the sweat, feeling accomplished before half the world even wakes up, chatting with my sil. I am praying to high heaven that this injury hurries up and heals. I also feel an incredible amount of guilt for leaving sil hanging. I know I need this rest if I'm going to be able to run at all but I still feel like I'm letting her down.


So for now, I sit at home. With one leg perpetually frozen by ice packs. Pouting like a toddler. Reading about fellow princesses in training tackling their training runs hoping I can be out there again soon.

~J

We officially completed our first 5K!!!! I had a hard time sleeping the night before the race-almost felt like it was the day before the first day of school. I had my clothes set out, had taken a shower and blew out my hair so I wouldn't have to worry about that in the morning. My jet pack and sneakers were waiting by the door. I was lying in bed, begging my mind to stop running through worst case scenarios and to go to sleep. My biggest fear was forgetting my pants. Ridiculous, you say? Read on.

I finally was able to get some sleep, only to wake up at 5:30 a.m. in a panic. I wanted to text sil but didn't want to wake her if there was a chance she was still sleeping. Hubby was beside me fully prepared to sleep through the Bombing of Berlin. He was tired-had spent the day before dutifully making signs and t-shirts for the race. Yes, my 6'5" 260 lb husband likes to craft and will use any excuse that won't challenge his masculinity to do so. His excuse was being a sweet, caring husband. Earlier in our marriage, I would have believed him. Now I know, he just wanted to get his manly hands on some fabric markers.

With no one available to listen to my toddler sized tantrum about my race day fears, I decided I could do nothing else but get ready. I had bought a new pair of compression pants for the race that felt like a seal suit and made me feel like a boss. I also had a black and hot pink t-shirt for breast cancer and hot pink ribbon for my hair to match. After putting the finishing touches on my mascara (a girl's gotta have her mascara :) ) I was ready. And it just wasn't right.

I had flashbacks of Curly Sue, after being scrubbed to high heaven and given a nice, expensive new outfit to where to dinner. Standing in the middle of the bathroom, arms crossed and pouting muttering, "I feel like an idiot."

Just when I was about to lay down on the floor and begin scratching incessantly at my legs (compression pants are itchy...) I received a text from SIL. She was on her way.

Time to buck up. SIL was in my driveway in 6 minutes. It was go-time. I gathered all of my supplies, hopped into her car and we were off.

After a quick stop at McDonald's (nature called) we were finding parking by the race.

Conditions were sub-par. 45 degrees, had rained all night, presently drizzling and 16 mph winds. The race was being held on a peninsula that jets out into the lake.

The parking lot was completely flooded and it was a feat in and of itself just to make it to the road without soaked sneakers.

We finally made it to the race area. A DJ was there playing inspirational music. We looked around and felt like amateurs. Not quite sure why, there were people here who clearly looked more out of shape than we did. Plus, we had jet packs. Wait, we were the only ones with jet packs. Which was a surprising point since they were clear in the race packet there would be no water on the course. I'm pretty sure a couple people got a chuckle out of our packs for a 5K but we didn't care. How else was I supposed to transport my Minnie Mouse chappy, pack of fruity gum or my 20 oz bottle of water? I'm dedicated to this running thing, but not at the expense of dry, cracked lips or less than fresh breath.

Lining up for the race was a bit disorganized. We tried to place ourselves in the middle of the pack towards a side-there were no "corrals". Last minute, they told everyone we were facing the wrong way and there was a lot of frantic pushing and shoving while people tried to get where they thought they belonged. Then, suddenly, a horn blared. Was that it? I thought. Surely that was a false alarm. Nobody said ready, set, GO!

The people in front of me started shuffling there feet and within seconds they were moving. Apparently that horn was it. No, good luck ladies! Start your engines! 1,2,3! Nope. I was somewhat disappointed but started pounding the pavement. The first mile was spent dodging our way through and trying to find an area where we could settle into our pace. We PR'd that first mile-10 minutes! It felt great. We kept on running seeing friends and family cheering us along the way!

Suddenly around 1.5 miles my compression pants were less than "compressiony". I spent the last half of the run desperately trying to keep my pants covering my donkey butt. This was, after all, a running race, and I didn't remember reading anything about bonus points for nudity. Keeping those bad boys hoisted above "see" level, gave me side cramps and made me lose focus. I developed major pain in my right hip flexor around mile 2. Cold weather? Didn't stretch enough? Then became dizzy around mile marker 2.5. I didn't eat anything in the morning since when sil and I run in the morning I never do. Difference is we usually run at 6:30. This race was at 9:00. Next race, I think I'm going to try an english muffin with PB and skip on the compression pants.


Depite first race blunders, we pressed on and made our way to what promises to be only the first of many finish lines!

WE DID IT!

 

 

~J

We did it!!

We did IT!! We finished our first 5k today!!! andddddd we were not last!!! Yippee!! We placed 59 and 60 out of 91 in our age group! Not bad!  I honestly can't even control how excited I am and the way that I feel!! It is such an amazing feeling to have accomplished this 5k!  Everything went great today, except the weather wasn't the best. 49 degrees, 14 mph winds, super cloudy and wet.  But we were not going to let that slow us down.  Actually, half way through the race I welcomed the wind! Today has been such an amazing day!  I ran my first 5k for my mommy in honor of it being her 50th birthday (if you look real close on my bib I wrote her a lil message ;))  YAY!

 

We trained hard and did an awesome job! I couldn't be more proud of Sil and I!

YAY!! I can't wait for the next 5k!!

Samantha

What's up Fat Friday?!

What up Fat Friday, we meet again!  Today has been an amazing fat friday! Had the day off work, went shopping and picked up my race packet for my first 5k tomorrow!! YAY!!  I am so super nervous but so suppppper excited!! 

Seriously, not even funny how I excited I was to pick up my race packet!!

Sil and I met for lunch today to discuss of pre-race jitters at our most favorite place in the world (also known as our kryptonite) Panera! We had a light healthy lunch. We don't want to be bloated or weighted down for our big race tomorrow! I had a delicious greek salad (no feta for me though) with a french baguette. So this fat friday I encourage a light, healthy meal in light of it being race weekend! So go have yourself a delicious salad and get your run on, I know I will!!

-Samantha

'Twas the night before the 5K....

Talk about pre-race jitters...this happened during a shopping trip this afternoon. I tend to regress in maturity level when under stress. Don't judge. Also, pay no attention to the split ends. Clearly I haven't for the past, oh...3 (cough, cough) months....Yikes. Must. Make. Hair. Appointment.


I did, however, despite mental breakdowns and split ends manage to make it to pick up my race packet this afternoon.

BOOM.

 

That's a race number. MY race number. That's going to be pinned to the front of MY shirt tomorrow morning.

 

Hubby is working on posters for the race with M, (5 year old adorable daughter) and I'm trying not to drown my anxiety with the platter of no bakes sitting within arm's length. Oats and peanut butter are good pre-race, right? No? Sigh. Instead I'll be having pork chops and risotto tonight. Which, on the topic of food, it is Fat Friday!

 

Tonight I'm going to direct you to a tried and true Pinterest recipe in the interest of time :)

 

Beer and Brown Sugar Kielbasa

 

This Kielbasa is ridiculously easy, perfect for a fall game day and totally rocked my world. That Brown Eyed Baker knows her stuff!

 

~J

 

I love Race Week!

Happy Hump Day! Today was the last run before our big race Saturday and we killed it this morning! Even though it was wet, rainy, foggy and humid (and we were so sweaty gross) we still did it.  Just goes to show even if the circumstances aren't the best, with hard work and determination you can do anything. So all and all we feel great and are so super excited for our first race!! :)  So glad we are on the right track to our Big Big Race :)

-Samantha

Last Run Before the Race!

Sil and I just finished our last run before our first 5K! The running felt good, but the weather was no bueno. It was 65 degrees, high humidity with a misty drizzle. Needless to say, I was soaked halfway through my run. Race day weather looks to be 45 degrees and clear-hope it stays that way! I'd rather be cold than hot when I'm running!

Lately, I have to admit, I've been seriously doubting my abilities to run a half marathon. I'm totally confident with the 5K, which I know I would have never been able to do 2 months ago, but I still have my doubts. I'm trying to stay positive, and take it one run at a time.

I found this picture this morning-isn't it beautiful?!

 

I think I may have it framed as a reward to myself for the half marathon. Can you find the hidden Mickey??

Packet pick-up is Friday, I cannot wait! So exciting! Expect to see lots of pictures this weekend on the blog :)

~J

Yay! Race Week!

Happy Monday!   It's race week! Sil and I's first official 5k is this weekend! Yipppe!! We had a fantastic run this morning.  I couldn't be more excited for our first race.  We trained right, completed 3 practice 5k's and having been eating right.   I am a little bit nervous because I really don't know what to expect but I am more nervous excited!  Even though we had an amazing run this morning we ran into a problem, literally. 

 An unleashed dog was charging right at us.  I told sil to stop running because the dog would be provoked to attack us.  When we run we only have our jet packs (hydration belt) with us.  So, if we were to be attacked by an animal, what do you do? Do you bring a stick? Mace?  Don't get me wrong I don't want to have to mace a dog (I am the BIGGEST animal lover you will ever meet) but if it's coming at me I have to do something.  The owner of the said dog told me "Oh don't worry, he won't bite you" as the dog is circling me and barking like CRAZY.  Lady, you don't know what your dog will do.  Do everyone a favor and put the leash that you are carrying in your hand on your dog where it belongs!!  I just don't understand some peoples logic. 

But, other than that we started off race week with a fantastic run and high spirits!  I am more than confident that we can do this 5k this weekend.  I will be running my first 5k for my mom in honor of her 50th Birthday saturday!  I couldn't be happier to be making such a wonderful accomplishment on such a special day :)

Have a great week! Just keep running :)

-Samantha

Race Nightmares, anyone?

So it's about 5:50 am and I've just woken up panting, heart racing and in a cold sweat. No, I'm not ill (despite spending the past 48 hours having all forms of human germs and excrement propelled at me in varying fashions working in the ER).  I've just awoken to what I hope isn't the first of many race nightmares.

See, SIL and I have our very first race coming up this Saturday, a 5K, and while we've done 3 practice 5K's and admittedly feel pretty confident, my subconscious isn't letting me off the hook so easily. My subconscious is basically the equivalent of the power and cruelty of a high school bully mixed with the criticism and crooked eye disapproval of an Marie Barone, the overbearing mother on Everybody Loves Raymond. So, in normal fashion, my subconscious is a little pissed I've gone cocky and think I am going to be able to complete a 5K in less than a week. And is now going to use every opportunity it can to knock me down a few pegs.

To set the scene for you, I was getting ready to race. My husband, daughter and I had driven our Escalade with our large yacht hitched on the back (maybe we were boating later? also, I have money in my dreams) to the scene of my first race at my old high school. It was a madhouse. They were reconstructing the stadium so parking was near impossible and there was loose ground everywhere. It had recently rained, so much of the ground had turned to mud. There were people everywhere. And nobody was hustling. Think Woodstock.

After fighting our way to the starting line, they began a countdown for the race...3 minutes. You've got this, I thought to myself. You've trained properly, you've completed 3 of these. I shifted my weight from foot to foot in nervous excitement. This was it, my time to shine. 1 minute. I began going through a mental checklist in my head. Jet pack (aka hydration belt) check. Chappy (chapstick) check. Tissues, check. IPhone, check. Laces tied....laces tied...(Bueller? Bueller?) Apparently when remembering to pack my yacht, I forgot my sneakers.

I began running back to the car with a 50 lb backpack on my back, literally. For this, I have no explanation. Except perhaps the correlation between being at my old high school? Needless to say, I wasn't running fast and at times felt like I wasn't running at all. Treadmill to nowhere. I finally got to my sneakers and was making my way back to starting line, desperately trying to squeeze my way through the crowds. I never did make it. I woke up.

Anybody else have running nightmares? This is new for me. Hopefully it goes away!

SIL and I also recently have been switching up our run/walk intervals. We use Galloway's method and were originally running at a 4:1 but I noticed us to not be able to carry on conversation and, to be honest, I was starting to not have any fun. We dropped to a 2:1 which wasn't working well for SIL, so today we upped it to 3:1. We weren't winded and definitely had energy to go faster and longer. I think we'll stick with it for now.

Hope everyone has a great week! Anyone else running a race this weekend? Or have tips for first timers?

~J

Happy Fat Friday!

Hi everyone! Welcome to Fat Friday! Sil and I are so excited to be sharing some super yummy recipes with everyone.  All week long you eat healthy, you get your runs in and avoid all of those tasty treats but Fridays are that one day you get to indulge a little bit.  Personally, I only eat one bad meal of Fridays.  Everyone needs a cheat day, it wouldn't be right if you didn't!  So this week I will be sharing with you a not so healthy meal but an oh so yummy one.  I got this recipe from mom. Having come from a long line of Italians, I don't think my mom has ever made a bad meal.  She is such an amazing cook.  Having not ate meat in 15 years and being Vegan was a huge challenge for my mom when I was growing up.  I was the only one in the family who had to have the "special meal" because my family loves creamy meaty goodness.  But, she would never let me go hungry and would always make sure i had my "special meal".  I know now just had hard it was to make so many different meals all the time. 

My husband is by NO means a Vegan.  He loves his bacon! So i am always making two different meals.  It can be a huge struggle for me to make him his meals that have meat but I do my best because a man has to eat! So when I first made this meal for him he was in creamy meaty glory! Claims it was one of his favorite meals he has ever had. 

Chicken, Ham and Rice is something my mom came up with one day.  She is so creative in the kitchen.  Never used a recipe, just  saw what she had in the fridge and went from there.  This is a great meal for those cold nights when a good hot creamy meal is just thing to warm you up. Enjoy! Happy Fat Friday :)

Chicken, Ham and Rice

Prep time: 20 Mins
Bake time: 1 hour 15 mins

1 16 oz Sour Cream
1 stick of Butter (melted)
1 16 oz can of Cream of Mushroom soup
1/2 lb of Sliced Virginia Ham
5 boneless, skinless Chicken Breasts
sliced french baguette
3 cups of white rice

Pre-Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine butter, sour cream and Cream of Mushroom soup together. Mix well.  Spoon half of the mixture into 9 x 13 glass baker.  Take sliced ham and arrange on top of mixture.  Spoon remaining mixture over ham.  Place chicken breasts over mixture.  Add salt, pepper and garlic salt to chicken breasts.  Cover and bake. Have rice prepared 10 minutes before. Serve hot over white rice with a french baguette. Enjoy :)

Welcome to Fat Friday!

Every Friday on the blog, sil and I are going to be sharing a recipe with all of you! To keep it balanced, we'll have one recipe for those of you wanting to indulge a bit and one recipe for those trying to maintain a healthy diet. Personally, I like to indulge a bit on Fat Friday. Usually one meal (often times dinner) I'll make something that is a complete no no during the rest of the week. It helps me to avoid a complete break down in will power that would render me helpless in the kitchen eating spoonfuls of peanut butter and nutella in complete darkness. Don't judge. If the light's not on the calories don't count...right?

So to start things off, I'm going to share a recipe that has been adapted a bit from my Grandmother's for health purposes. I come from a long line of Italians and we LOVE our pasta. It's been hard to curb that while trying to shed weight, but I've found in moderation (and with running!) carbs are ok to have in your diet!

Pasta e Fagioli (pasta and beans) is a dish that is well-known to Italians. I've found that different families (often times in relation to where in Italy they are from) have different variations of this recipes. Some add chicken, some add beef. My grandmother's recipe was basic, no meat. However, with exercising and dieting I have really discovered the importance of protein. It helps me feel fuller longer and I also feel like I've had more of a substantial meal. So I've added some turkey sausage to the recipe. If you are vegan or vegetarian you can absolutely leave out the meat-it will not change the consistency of the soup and will taste just as yummy!

I hope you all enjoy! This can't be beat when the weather starts getting colder and is really easy to whip up!


Pasta E Fagioli

■1 15-ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

 ■1 pound ground turkey sausage, you can also buy links and remove sausage from casing

 ■1/2 medium onion, diced (I love the sweet Mayan onions, they give great flavor!)

 ■1/2 medium carrot, diced

 ■3 tablespoons olive oil

 ■2 garlic cloves, minced

 ■1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes

 ■1 15-ounce can tomato sauce

 ■1 6-oz can tomato paste

 ■1  tablespoon basil

 ■ 3/4 tablespoon oregano

 ■salt and pepper

 ■1 cup ditalini pasta (can substitute for the whole grain pastas if you want! Just looking for a small pasta here)

 ■grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Romano cheese

In a large pot, brown the sausage.  Remove from pot. Add onion, carrot and olive oil and sauté for 2-3 minutes until soft.  Add garlic and sauté about a minute more.  Add the tomatoes, basil and oregano, salt and pepper to taste, the drained beans and the sausage and cover the pot. Cook for an hour over low heat, at a gentle simmer. This allows all of the flavors to come together.

Add the pasta and cook, uncovered, until the pasta is tender.  Check the seasoning and add more salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with grated cheese on top.

Mangia! Mangia! As my grandma would say! Eat! Eat!

 

~J

I hate you running.

I am not sure what is going on this week but these past few runs have been horrible. Absolutely horrible!  It's almost as if my head and body are in two different places.  My mind is telling me that I want to run but my legging are telling a different story. Maybe its the shin splints or maybe my body is just telling me it needs a tiny (a nap).  But, regardless of how much pain I am in, my mind keeps telling me go and I push through and keep running.  It may not be my fastest run but it is still a run that I finished and finishing something from beginning to end is an accomplishment in itself.  So even if your body is telling you that you should stop running your mind is always going to tell you that we need to finish what we started. Just keep running, just keep running, just keep running, what do we do we RUN! :)

Samantha

Sucky Run Days

So the past three runs I've done have been miserable. From the first pound of the pavement, to the last stride I can muster to hit that 30:00 goal have been been balls to the wall painful. Shin splints have hit hard and I just feel like I can't catch my stride. I usually catch it about 6 or 7 minutes in but these past 3 runs have felt like having bad sex. Looking at the clock every 10 seconds while being jostled around in no particular rhythm, thinking the entire time, I am never doing this again.

But I do. And while I can honestly say this was a sucky, sucky running week I am so proud that I finished it. I didn't throw in the towel and I didn't cut myself any slack and shorten any of my runs. And for that my ass is thanking me. We had a slight slip up yesterday involving some no bake cookies and manicotti. I won't go into the gory details, but let's just say I viewed the scale wincing this morning preparing for impact. To my surprise, I was cut some slack. No gain. An episode like that prior to running and I'd be up 2 lbs without a doubt. I heart you, running. I really do.

So, moral of the story. No matter how shitty of a run you're having...finish it. You owe it to yourself. And your ass.

-J

My Quarter Life Crisis

I was in a bad place in the beginning of this year.  I found myself to be depressed, extremely moody, anxious at all times and irritated at anyone that said anything to me.  I had just turned twenty-five and I felt like I was stuck in a dark place that I could not get myself out of.  I hated my job, I felt like I was trapped and that this is the best it was going to get.  I felt like I should have done more traveling before I had settled down, got married and bought a house. I had no motivation or ambition.  Some days it was hard to just take a shower and get myself ready for the day.  I didn’t care about anything or anyone. Nothing mattered to me.  I realized I needed to make a change in my life when I told my husband in the middle of an argument that I hated him.  As soon as the words came out of my mouth I knew that I had found my bottom.  My husband is the most gentle, caring, loving man.  I didn’t hate him, I hated myself.  I needed to make a change and it had to happen fast.

            I reached out to my Sil (sister-in-law) Jackie to tell her that I think I reached bottom and was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.  To my surprise, she felt the same way!! I couldn’t believe that all this time I was struggling; she was in a struggle of her own.  We both decided that at that moment that we were going to make a change in our lives and get out of our quarter life crises!

            Disney has always been something that makes both of us so happy! My husband proposed to me there.  We are the happiest when we are in Disney. So when we found out about the Disney Princess Half Marathon, it only took a second for us to realize that this is it, this Half Marathon was going to help us!  So.... we started running.  Running became an outlet for us to take out our aggression, get fit and be happy again. 

We started interval training three days a week.  It was probably the hardest thing we had ever tried. We could barely run for 60 seconds without being completely out of breath. Everything hurt.  But I noticed that even through all the physical pain, my mental pain started to subside.  I was feeling better and I felt like the fog that surrounded me was lifting.  Running became so enjoyable that after a long hard run I couldn’t wait until the next one! Running can certainly be a struggle at times but with hard work and dedication it can truly make a difference in your life.

Plus, getting to wear a tutu and tiara (and getting to go to Disney) is motivation enough for me.  Disney and running brought me back to happy place and made me feel normal again.  I couldn’t have asked for a better person to go on this journey with, my sil. :)

Samantha

Quarter Life Crisis

I spent the first few months of my 25th year questioning every decision I had ever made in my life and coming to the conclusion that I messed up every single one of them. No amount of reasoning could quiet the voice inside of me that was constantly telling me I was done. I felt that my life was over, and unless I made a drastic change I would eventually end up on the 5:00 news being extricated from my house that I hadn't left in years.

So I did what any rational person would do. I applied for a new job. In Florida. And South Carolina. Clearly what was missing from my life was a beach and a southern accent. I always thought of Paula Deen as my adopted grandmother and that's what I needed. Paula to wrap me in her arms with that southern drawl, tell me everything was gonna be alright and shove my face with biscuits and sweet tea. Hey y'all. I became infatuated with moving. That's what I desperately NEEDED, to get out of my hometown and start brand new! My unhappiness wasn't my fault-it was my surroundings! To my great disappointment, none of the jobs panned out. And back to self loathing and the inability to face the light of day I went. I was never going to have the ability to be happy if I couldn't move.


During one of my hour long Pinterest sessions, I stumbled upon this gem.

And it clicked with me. Time to wake up and look at all the opportunities around me that I was missing because I was too depressed to see them. It was time to stop chasing an imaginary perfect life with a white picket fence and start appreciating the great things that were in my life presently exactly where I was.

I was lucky enough to have a great friend that was going through her quarter life crisis at the same time. My adopted sister-in-law or "sil" was having all the same doubts and feelings about her life. We had been in "funks" before, but nothing like this. Even shopping wasn't making us happy. That's when we knew. Something had to be done. We began changing our eating habits through a challenge which eliminated all processed foods and gained a ton of energy and lost a large amount of weight and inches. We felt better than we had in a long time.

One night, I remember thinking I'd like to go for a run. Now, running and me were not friends. I had never "gone for a run" in my life. I called my sil, "Wanna go for a run? I'll pick you up in 5 minutes." She got ready, and we drove to a local school track to run for 30 seconds at a time with long walk intervals in between. We sweat like whores in church, cursed until we couldn't breathe and practically passed out. It was disgusting. It was invigorating. We kept with it following the Couch to 5K plan and with each run we gained strength, confidence, endurance and lost weight, inches, and that black cloud that was our quarter life crisis that we couldn't seem to shake.

Elle really knew what she was talking about...

I didn't want to kill my husband! I was getting out of bed! And not just to go to the couch! I didn't want it stop. We needed a goal. We needed something to hold us accountable and to challenge us. We wanted to really accomplish something amazing. So we combined our new love with an old love and signed up for the Princess Half Marathon in Walt Disney World. What could be better than running in a tutu and being in the happiest place on earth? Follow along with us on our road to our very first half marathon! We could use all the support we can get and promise to share what we've learned along the way :)

~J