One week until vacation

Well, I made it through the holidays.  There were some points at which I didn't think I was going to.  We made quite a trek around the state of Connecticut before it was done.  And I am glad all of the driving is finished.  We had good food, a little booze and great memories with the family.

I am ready to get on with vacation now.  Only a week until we leave.  I can't wait.  Only four more days of work too.  I am in need of rest and relaxation.  Well and running a half marathon.  It should be a good one.  I am very excited to have my friends run with me.  I am very proud of my friend Amber Lea and her fiance Paulie for decided to give the half marathon a go.  They have trained so hard for it.  I am glad that I was able to inspire them to come down to Disney and run it. 

 Here is Amber Lea and I at the BridgeFest

Amber Lea and Paulie in Sarasota FL when the Disney 1/2 Marathon Plan was hatched

I love this pic of Amber Lea and myself.  I had way too many hurricanes that day.

As half marathons go it is a fast one.  The great state of Florida does not have that many hills.  And since we have all been training here in the New England area where hills are the norm, we should find the flat terrain of Florida a nice change. 

My outfit for the race is almost complete.  Santa brought me a pair of hot pink arm warmers for Christmas. 

I think that they are going to go great with the rest of my outfit.  My husband says I look silly.  But really that is the point.

Now all I have to get is a cheap sweatshirt at Walmart that I can toss right before the race.  It is going to be cold standing around in the corral waiting for the race to start.  I am getting super excited for the race.  I just have to get through the week until next Thursday and I will be golden.

Totally Not Into Christmas This Year

It has been quite the rough year for me.  We had a death in the family, my chinchilla that has been with my husband for 25 years also died and my brother needed to have major eye surgery.  It was a rough one.  Now Christmas is fast approaching and I just can't get myself to even want to be in the spirit.  I would love to just sleep through until it is time to go on vacation. 

I guess the light at the end of the tunnel is that this year is almost over.  It will be 2012 soon.  2012 will have to be better then 2011.  I just keep telling myself that.  I am going to start the year running a very fun race with some of the best friends a girl can ask for.  Then go on a cruise for 7 days and try not to think about work and all the stresses I am leaving behind.   I just need to make it through the next two weeks to get there. 

Man, what a week last week.  My half marathon is coming up quickly.  Three weeks until we leave for Florida.  I am definitely trained enough for the run.  I am hoping that I will beat my time from last year.  My friend Dave is going to run the entire way with me.  I have two other friends coming down to run the half also. 

Me and two of my friends running the 1/2 marathon last year.

I had a really low mileage week this week.  Only 15 miles for the week.  I am kind of disappointed with that.  I know, to some it feels like a lot but I did not reach my goal for the week. I had a small medical procedure on Wednesday.  Everything this is ok.  And it was planned but it really messed up my training for the week.  I didn't run at all on Thursday.  And I had a 18 mile scheduled for Saturday but only ran 6.24 of it.  That disappointed me.  My husband keeps pointing out that I ran after a medical procedure and that in itself is crazy. 

My girlfriends got me a tutu for the 1/2 Marathon for my birthday.   I am super excited about it.  I got it yesterday.

 Yes we have lived in our house for 4 years and there are still boxes in the corner we have yet to unpack.

It really brightened my Friday to get it.  I was super tired when I got home from work.  I don't think I even said hello to my husband before I fell face down on the bed for an hour and a half when I got home.

I think Santa maybe bringing me the arm warmers I have been eyeing. I bought some leg warmers that my husband said were ugly to go with the outfit.  They are from Team Sparkle.  They only cost 12 bucks so if I end up hating them no big deal.  And there was no shipping cost.

I think that they may work with the theme.

I also have a pink tiara that I bought around Halloween for only 3 dollars.  If it drives me crazy during the run I won't be so said if I have to ditch it. 

So only a few more weeks until the big day.  I am totally physically ready to run  it.  I really need the vacation.  I am super excited for the run and for the vacation. 

A 16 mile run

I did my longest run to date on Saturday.  A full 16 miles.  It took me 3 and a half hours to do it.  Guess I am never qualifying for Boston.  Lol.  Just glad that I was able to get through the run and still live to talk about it afterward.  There really is no place in my home town to run 16 miles safely.  So I ran the 3 and 3/4 mile loop to get to the river trail in the center of town and then ran up and down the trail until I had only 3 and 3/4 miles left to go and ran the loop back.  If there weren't so many interesting people and dogs to pass this would be incredibly boring.  I also listened to a book on tape while I was running.  This made it a bit more compelling.  On a side note, why do people let their dogs poop in the middle of the trail and just leave it.  Then I have to dodge the poop each time I run by. 

Anyway, after running the 16 miles, eating some left over Mac and cheese, getting a nice hot shower in and rolling out my muscles, I headed out to my friend Amber's house for some Birthday festivities.  My birthday was Monday and my girls and I got together on Saturday to celebrate.  We went Ice Skating, which my husband told me was crazy after running 16 miles.  I did not fall once even though it had been at least ten years since the last time I had been on skates.  It was a good time.  Took at least a half an hour before I felt like I wasn't actually going to do a header into the ice or run over some poor kid who just happened to be in the way.  We had Mexican food at Amber's house after and then just hung out.  My muscles got stiff if I sat for too long so I kept getting up and stretching. 

Sunday is my rest day so I accomplished the goal pretty well.  I was a little sore when I got up but nothing too bad.  We got our Christmas tree and decorated it.  Then watched football and then my husband took me to see the new Muppet movie.  I loved it. 

What a great weekend overall.  And now I know that I can run 16 miles straight and live to tell about it. 

Here is our tree.  He is a little short but it's ok, I think he's cute.

Scott and Amber got me Princess stickers for my keyboard.  I am obsessed with Princesses.  I have wanted a Princess keyboard forever but they don't make them.