The Boys Do Disney

In some families, you get a car when you are 16. In our family, you get a Disney trip when you are 4. We will definitely bring the trip up if the issue of a car is raised later in life! When Noelle was in Pre-K, my mom and I took her to Disney World. That was before we were totally drinking the Mickey Kool Aid so we did the trip our normal way - value resort and as value a trip as is possible in the land of the Mouse. Kellen and Bryan got to experience some slightly fancier fun. We had some extra vacation club points so we booked a standard view Animal Kingdom studio for their 3-night, 4-day Labor Day week Tuesday-Friday excursion.

At about 3:30 am on Tuesday, we woke Kel up and about 5 minutes later, he realized what we were telling him and got showered, dressed, and grabbed food for the airport with more enthusiasm than I have ever seen. The 6 am flight was early, but for those that like to maximize southwest points for as many free flights as possible and time in the parks, it was ideal for the boys. Everything was going smoothly and the guys got checked in, upgraded to a savanna view, and to Magic Kingdom before lunch. With some time to kill before their first fast pass, Kellen suggested they go on Haunted Mansion. A hungry, exhausted Kellen burst in to tears a few minutes later, forgetting that the Haunted Mansion, while not terrifying, was a little too scary for his sensitive soul. Bryan quickly exited the line before they took their buggy ride and called home with a hysterical young man. We wondered if the trip would end before it really began for a moment, and then decided they should push onward toward lunch, some happy rides like the carousel and buzz lightyear, and see where things went. The tears ended and the joy was evident every time I talked to my boys the following three days. So tip to mommas and poppas everywhere - steer clear of the Haunted Mansion as your first ride!

The guys did their fast passes and headed back to the hotel for a much needed nap. That night they had tickets to the after hours Animal Kingdom party for DVC members. The park was open from 9-12, late for my little guy, but the nap worked its magic and they went over and rode the safari, ate some *free* cookies and ice cream, saw the lit up Tree of Life, and did a few more rides before bed.

On Wednesday, the boys slept in a bit (well, past the 5:45 Kellen normally gets up!) and went to Epcot. We picked the week based on the very low crowds usually at the parks right as school starts so they were able to experience almost everything with a low wait, including meeting Anna and Elsa in their new Frozen Norway home.

Thursday was Hollywood Studios day. Bryan forgot to pack Kel's new Kylo Ren outfit, but the plethora of Star Wars shirts in his luggage sufficed just fine. For the first time ever, Kellen was able to do the Jedi training. They also met Kylo and Chewbacca (who did not appreciate Bryan's Darth Vader shirt!). They did all the rides, many of the shows, and even made it to the awesome new Star Wars firework spectacular. I am not sure if Kellen has ever had a better day!

On Friday, their final day at Disney, they headed back to the Magic Kingdom. Haunted Mansion wasn't on the list but Kellen did successfully conquer some other "scary" rides like Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror (he is not a fan!), and the It's Tough to be a Bug show during his week in Disney. We'll finish Haunted Mansion next time! I am so glad my boys had an amazing time together and that we were able to do these special trips for both of our kids.

We are coming for Disney one more time this year. I'll be at a conference at Disney the first few days of November and then B and the kids are meeting me down there to enjoy some resort time before our 4 day cruise and then final night at MK for Mickey's Christmas party. The kids only have tickets for the party but B and I plan to divide and conquer to enjoy a last hurrah or two in the parks solo before our annual passes expire! We can't wait!

Here are some photopass pictures of my boys! I love that these are included in an annual pass purchase now!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lehigh Valley Marathon

2016 was supposed to be the year of the fun run for my running friends and I. Apparently at some point I decided that meant 26.2 miles was fun because I have now done that twice this year. Disney in January was no biggie. Ok, it was sort of biggie. 26.2 miles is 26.2 miles but I was doing it to finish, for the experience, to be in my favorite place, to see if I could do it. Afterwards I was tired, and on mile 23 I was hurting, but 3 hours later I was walking around Epcot and two days later I was planning my next Disney race.

Enter the Lehigh Valley Marathon. The race I never intended to sign up for but my running friends were doing. A memorial race on September 11th, that ended in Easton, PA, a town I spent several summers in as part of my CTY career. I knew I could run faster than my Disney pace fairly comfortably. I was pretty confident with proper training I could hit a sub four hour time without too much of a problem. So I signed up. And I started running more.

Running 12-20 miles on Saturday mornings isn't always super fun. Waking up at 3 am to get it in before a swim meet or before the sun comes up because it is forecasted to be 94 by 8 am is definitely not the best. But I did it. Week after week I got up at the crack of dawn every Saturday morning to get my long miles in. One week we couldn't run Saturday due to vacation schedules so we ran 18 miles Friday night between 8 and 11 pm. Yes, we were dedicated. I hit the track many Tuesday's to do speed work. Other weeks I did treadmill speed intervals. I did some hill intervals. Overall I ran 2-3 times a week between 3-9 miles each in addition to my long weekend runs. It was a long, hot summer but I was feeling strong and ready.

And then came race day. It was hotter than I had hoped but overcast much of the morning. And the race was basically flat which was super different than our hilly town. I went out fast. I cruised through the first 6.2 miles and was just under an 8:30 pace, already 3 minutes under where I needed to be to hit the 4 hour mark. 13.5 miles in, I was still doing great, finishing slightly more than half the race in just over 1:55. I wasn't about to qualify for Boston but I was looking great to beat my goal. At about mile 16 the heat and the course started to do me in. I wasn't mentally prepared for running four hours on my own after training with others. We ran along the water for most of the run on crushed gravel and it was inaccessible to fans. There was little to keep me going but at 17.1 miles I was still averaging about 8:37 per mile.  With less than 10 miles to go I had a decent amount of wiggle room to hit my goal but was starting to hurt.

While my left achilles tendon and foot have caused me issues off an on for the better part of three years, I haven't had knee, hip, or leg pain otherwise. Around mile 17.5 I could feel the whole upper part of my right leg starting to tighten. I began to do intervals where I ran about 5-10 minutes and walked 1-2. At mile 20, I had to stop running. I walked the entire mile. During this time, I was texting with Bryan. I wasn't sure I was going to make it to the end. He and the kids sent some encouraging words and I gingerly started running intervals again after a water stop a little in to mile 21. It hurt but didn't throb and I didn't think I was going to make anything worse. I could see my extra minutes ticking by and knew my goal of a sub-4 hour marathon had flown out the window but I was going to finish. My official time was 4:09:43, just over a 9:30 minute per mile pace. Considering it took me 15 minutes to complete mile 20, and about 12 minutes to complete several others towards the end, it was a pretty good average. And it was over 20 minutes faster than my Disney time, but it was still disappointing. With Disney I did a few long runs but otherwise followed no plan. For this race, I followed my plan as much to the T as I could, considering my job, my kids, etc. I did every single long run. Even when it meant doing 10 miles on the treadmill or in the middle of the night. I was ready but I guess with the weather and the course it just wasn't my day.

Will I ever do a marathon again? Not right now. I think about 16 miles is the most I can do without starting to hate running. I would love to qualify for Boston one day but after this race I am about 30 minutes away. If I had not started hurting I would have still been at least 10 away at the end of this race. I think when I am 40 and get 5 more minutes qualifying with some heavy training (that I would potentially have more time for with both kids in school all day Fridays) it might be something I'd do again. But I'm not doing another one right now. I downgraded to the Baltimore half and then am going to just run for fun for awhile. I still get up on Wednesdays at the crack of dawn to run 5.5 miles before work with friends. And on Saturdays I still plan to run 8-12 miles. For fun. But I need to get back to a healthier overall me. I have gotten back to the Y for strength training. Doing the glute elliptical workout and some stretching exercises has already helped my leg (which I realized soon after the race was my IT band yelling at me) feel better.  My body isn't meant for HIIT workouts. But I do need to build muscle, tone, and make sure that I pay as much attention to being strong as being cardio fit. So that is where I am. I am sure my competitive self will be back for marathon redemption at some point. Just not right now. And never in September! Late fall is the way to go if I ever train like that again!

Special thanks to my many running friends for joining me for the miles. You made them bearable at all times and even fun many times. To my husband for getting the kids to every swim meet warm-up this summer so I could fly in right before it actually began and not start my runs even earlier. And my kids, for thinking that me being out running makes me awesome and fast and strong and not a bad mommy. Sub 4, I'll get you some day. But not super soon!