the tinkerbell half marathon race report.

a rundisney race was the second race i ever participated in and it changed my life forever:) now thats dramatic i know, but seriously disney knows how to put on a fantastic race. i started at disneyworld with the princess 1/2 marathon and have now completed 2 at disneyland. i cant lie, disneyworld set the bar high and has things california just cant compete with. keeping that in mind disneyland does an amazing job, its disney how could they not.

the tinkerbell 1/2 marathon was announced in april and the second i heard about it i called my mom and did the little bit of convincing i needed to have a partner in crime sign up with me. we decided to make it a girls weekend since it was an all-women's race and leave all the boys at home. it was a great decision and just what we both needed to get away. we stayed at a hotel just across the street from where we stayed the last time we did the disneyland 1/2 marathon a year and a half ago so we could take the shuttle back and forth, especially on race morning.

a 3am alarm is awfully early and loud. we had to be out the door by 345a so we could be at the shuttle 4a to be at the starting line in time. the shuttle dropped us off at the disneyland entrance meaning we had to get to the other side of downtown disney to drop off our stuff and get into the corrals. once we got to the pre-party we used the bathrooms, got our things together, and dropped our bag at the gear check then separating into our corrals. i had landed corral a and mom got into corral c! we were both wayyy excited about moving up for this race. they always want you to be in the corrals sooo early that there was a lot of cold standing around and waiting till we could get started. i ate my protein bar about 15 minutes before the start and was soooo ready to go.

at the pre-race party!

tinkerbell sent us off almost right on time. we headed around the park, did some weaving around the outside, then the inside, and finally got into the magic kingdom at mile 2. the best part of the race is getting to run through the park and see all the characters! its soooo cool and one of the greatest things about being in corral a is being in the front which meant much shorter lines at all the characters. i was pretty much able to walk right up or there was only 1 person in front.

the 1st stop was my favorite:)

heroes!

princess aruora and prince phillip.

captain jack.

pochontas!

we passed the 5k mark and i was feeling great. i was finally warm and super excited from all the character sightings. we made it out of the park and passed the 4 mile mark in downtown disney to round the corner by the disneyland hotel to be greeted by a huge group of ladies from the red hat society! they were cheering and clapping, it was so cool. finally out of the streets we weaved around the freeway and over to the ducks training center to find the 10k mark and i knew we were almost halfway. i was feeling good and loving the fact i had soo much space on the street after the packed vegas race. plus i had never seen so many tutus and wings in my life!

one of the greatest things about disney races is they always put cheerleaders/groups/bands near the mile markers so you can always hear when you are getting close and know you are about to check off another mile. after crossing mile 7 i knew all i had to do was run back to disneyland and cross the line. my hip started to hurt a little around mile 8 but i had a mental battle with myself to keep it in check till the race was over.

we headed around a corner to pass mile 9 and i was ready for some gu, i had started getting hungry just passed mile 7 but knew i had to be close. clif bar did a great job supplying plenty and having it very well marked instead of having people yelling flavors at you they had huge flags by each table with the flavors on them. i was super excited to grab the chocolate gu, gladly ripped it open, and quickly downed it. by mile 10 i had all the kick i needed to make it the last 5k. plus there was a dad cheering us on saying all we had to do was make it back to the park then we could enjoy churros! it was so funny and his 2 kids were very excited every time he mentioned churros.

finally we got to katella and headed down disney way toward mile 11. a girl caught up with me i had seen earlier in the day and we started talking about wearing the same skirt! she told me she was training for a 50 miler and i told her i was trying to beat 2:20. i was wayyy on track to beat the crap out of that time and it was great to talk to someone that late it pushed me to the end.

we headed into california adventure and i couldnt wait to see who was going to be out! i got so excited to see sully from monsters inc but the sun got in my picture and it didnt come out:( we weaved through the rest of the park and passed mile 12, embarking on the loooongest 1.1 mile ever. luckily we passed some pixar friends and got out of the back of the park.

i took this one just for richard:)

the army guys loved my green sleeves!

i kept passing spectators that said "the finish line is right around the corner." then there was another corner, and another one. finally i saw and heard the finish line! i threw up my hands and high-fived mickey mouse as i crossed the finish line! there were people and cameras everywhere but all i cared about was the time i saw on the clock while crossing the line. i knew i had beat my goal, actually i smoked it! 2:05:30:)!!

after grabbing my blanket and medal i stopped by the water tent to get something to drink and powerade. it was getting warm and there were people starting to flow in so i found a spot in the open area to wait for my mom. i started getting really hungry and uncomfortable sitting on the ground after a little bit. i tried to go get my phone out of my gear bag but had to get the whole thing instead (lame) and headed back to the open area to wait for her. luckily they now have runner tracking they can send to your phone so i knew when she would be crossing.

almost right on time, actually a few minutes early, i found her! she looked great and i was ready to get out of there. finally her time came over as we hobbled back down downtown disney at 3:14:31! she was going for sub-3:19, meaning she rocked it:)

we finished smoked it!

this race was seriously so fun! it was so women infused and celebratory. afterward we went to breakfast, took a nap, and headed to the park for the rest of the day. i wore my race shirt and everywhere we went we saw ladies with medals and people kept congratulating us on finishing. its a great spirit lifter! if you are a runner, this is definitely a race to put on your calendars:)

the 1 week to tinkerbell recap.

its race week! wow, i cant believe this is really my 3rd race in 16 weeks. i did it! i am really glad this one fell last because i think it will be the most fun. its not as serious as the others and i know that my last pr is safe for quite awhile. running through disneyland and stopping to take pictures with all the characters out for the runners doesnt really lend to a pr haha. which is perfectly fine with me, cause you know im going to stop at everyone of them:) so while i am off at the happiest place on earth check out how my last week shaped up!

sunday~rest.

rest

i really love my sunday rest days! richard and i went to meet a friend for her birthday coffee and that was the extent of our out of the house for the day. we stopped at ulta on the way home so i could pick up some nail polish for race weekend and spent the rest of the day on the couch watching things on our dvr. 

had to try them out;)
the funniest part is that i forgot to
take it off before work the next day haha!

monday~4-5 miles

5.12 miles = 46:30 minutes/9:04 min/miles

last time at my runners group for a couple weeks and there were only 3 of us. derrick just about killed me up the hill and then by the time we turned around to come back down i was spent. looking at my pace after i realized why! 

tuesday~4 miles

5.31 miles = 51:44 minutes/9:44 min/miles

my last run of the cycle! this one was all about getting the miles in. i was hoping for a little bit better pace, but after the run the night before i was happy with finishing haha. when i got home i realized the next time i would be running through the happiest place on earth!!

my prize for winning bingo at work!
i have a good team:)

wednesday~spin

6am spin class

the class before us of course ran long again and its starting to really frustrate my teacher i think. we had a good ride, mostly speedwork which is a big change for her. i liked it!

thursday~rest

rest

i am officially done with my training cycle! that means time to rest up and carb up for this weekend. i cant lie, i love this part of the cycle:)

a cupcake is a carb right??

friday~rest

rest/travel day

working saturdays at my job means you can shave off hours during the week. so i worked last saturday then worked a couple extra here and there to score friday off from work! that means i got to sleep in and hang out till my mom gets here so we can hit the road. this is the 2nd race in a row that i have taken the friday before off and i seriously dig it.

saturday~rest

rest/expo day        


the expo was amazing as always! all women and running focused, my kinda place. we made it there right after it opened and it was busy already. after wondering around for about a hour and a half we finished up and met kyle for lunch in downtown disney! my mom had a few things for him and we were able to make our schedules work. we ate at tortilla jo's thank goodness my family likes mexican as much as i do! 

at the expo with our bibs! before mom tripped
on the thing on the floor resulting in a huge
bruise and a night of icing before the race lol.

totals for the week = 10.43 miles + 1 day of cross-training

i am seriously proud of myself for sticking through my training for the last few months! it was pretty tough, i wont lie. the early mornings, the serious amounts of food i ate to keep myself fueled, and the support i got from the people around me was awesome! sitting here realizing that i am about to complete 1/2 marathon #7 is amazing. who would have ever thought 3 years ago i would finish 1 let alone 7?! it was definitely not me. or be blogging about it and all of the amazing people reading all about it every week?! again, definitely not me. this is a seriously cool journey and i am loving it! thank you for following along and offering words of encouragement:)

0 days till the tinkerbell 1/2 marathon!!!!

the 2 weeks to tinkerbell recap.

my last full week of training! wow, are we really here. this month has already flown by and i realized this morning that 1 week from today i will officially have some new bling:) but before we look too far ahead, lets look back at what happened this week!

and the 10 forecast came up for race day!
its going to be beautiful:)

sunday~rest.

rest

i was super glad i got up to do my run saturday morning because it was crazy windy here on sunday. i figured i pretty much done all my long runs saturday, why change it. glad i stuck with that plan!

monday~4-5 miles.

4.72 miles = 42:10 minutes/8:56 min/mile

my running partner was back this week and we even had 2 new people join us. i got to hear all about the goofy challenge which is freakin crazy. if you havent heard of it, its at disneyworld and runners do the 1/2 marathon on saturday then turn around sunday and do the full marathon! insanity. i mean its awesome, and i have mad respect for anyone that wants to do that, but dang. hardcore. so we got to talking about that and tinkerbell the next weekend i didnt even notice that we were motoring up and down the hill. it was pretty chilly and we had a good time:)

source

tuesday~4 miles.

5.31 miles = 49:55 minutes/9:24 min/mile

after a good run monday i was definitely ready to have another one tuesday morning. it was super cold, 28* when i headed out. i like this route and seem to have been running it a lot which is ok with me. felt really good the whole way, until the last 3/4s of a mile when my right hip started having shooting pain. we are talking to the point that i was almost in tears when i made it back to the complex. now i couldnt let myself slow down that close to home which im sure made it hurt more. but it was a good reminder that i definitely need some new shoes after tinkerbell!

wednesday~spin.

6am spin class

we finally got new music and the class was packed. we started almost on time haha, the class before keeps running over. i wasnt wild about the ride she gave us, but it was a good workout and i felt very accomplished when i got done!

thursday~body pump.

6am body pump class

it was my last official body pump class of my training cycle! which i think might be a good thing because our new release comes out next week i keep hearing its super tough. i felt like this week i conquered some new weight on the arms and shoulder tracks and was really digging the extra weight. until i came home and put on my jeans and noticed that they were a little tighter in the thighs and butt, the waist fit great. i noticed the same thing friday in a pair of dress pants. i also noticed my thighs are getting a little more muscular which should be a good thing, except i can add weight there sooo easily! i have battled with this pretty much my whole life. they are always bigger than the rest of my body and so pants are very tricky. since im done with body pump for this week im going to try and figure out what im going to do about this dilemma. go back to previous weight on leg tracks so i dont pack on the muscle or live with it and still add the weight on arm tracks? decisions, decisions.

how far is too far??
source

friday~4 miles.

6.2 miles = 55:43 minutes/8:59 min/mile

i woke up feeling really good and really ready to run. i wanted the 2 rest days this weekend so i made friday a run day and it was amazing. i was hoping for 6, but was going based off how my body felt. i felt sooo good the whole run and didnt really pay attention to anything but the road. i knew i was running even, but not at such a great pace. this was seriously one of the best runs i have had in a long while!

saturday~rest.

rest

already having decided to make this a rest day was perfect especially once i heard about the major wind advisory we were supposed to be having all day. and man did mother nature come through with that one! i gladly stayed in bed in the morning and inside at work instead of being blown all over the road. 

totals for the week = 16.23 miles + 2 days of cross-training.

this week i remembered the value of having training and a goal in my life. things at work have been really crazy the last few weeks and lots of changes are happening/coming. without having my training to get all of that out and know i have something to look forward to outside the office, i dont know what i would have done. yes it makes for early mornings. and yes there are days when i am literally hungry all day. but realizing i am about to put 1/2 marathon #7 under my belt in a week is seriously cool and totally worth it! i love having something that is totally mine and not dependent on anyone else:) 

7 days till the tinkerbell 1/2 marathon!!! 

   

the 2012 real life preview.

so after looking at my running preview for this year i got super excited. then i remembered all of the other things im also doing this year and had to share them with you of course:) now there are more things being added all the time for this list just like the running one. but here are the things i have so far!

3/17/12-3/26/12 : england!!

one of my best friends from undergrad is getting married! he traveled to england to earn his masters and fell in love with an amazing girl, whos name is also katie, she has to be cool then:) so we are heading across the pond to celebrate their wedding! i am seriously soo super excited. i cant wait to head back to england and do the tourist thing with friends from college. richard is unfortunately not going to be able to make it, but i am going to meet friends when i get there.

after getting married in a church,
this is where the reception will be!

source

3/30/12 : 1/2 way done!

i will be officially half way to my masters degree!! that will end my 5th class and i have ten total. oh i cant wait:)

4/14/12 : kristin and seans wedding : phoenix, az

my senior year i got to live the 2 best roommates, jessica and kristin. there was another one, but she was nuts, so we just talk about the fun things with the 3 of us lol. while distance definitely hasnt been on our side we have all stayed friends since. finally her awesome fiance sean popped the question and they are getting married! they decided to do a destination wedding to hawaii with just their immediate families and best man/maid of honor. but 1 month later we are all heading to phoenix(where they live) to have a big reception! i cant wait to see them and hang out with jessica for the weekend which also happens to be her birthday weekend! richard is for sure coming to this one and we have already booked our plane tickets to head to the party:)

standing outside san felipes at 530am for tequila sunrise!
homecoming 2007.

6/2/12 : andrew and stephanies wedding : reno, nv

i first met andrew and stephanie at mike and loras wedding in august 2010. they were so cool and live in reno. it was fun to have another couple around. soon we found out they were joining us on the hiking adventure to the grand canyon. they were coming 1 day after, but we would be able to hang out down there and head out of the canyon together. during their 1st day we hiked to a few waterfalls and they had a moment together right next to a beautiful waterfall. i look up in the next moment and andrew is on one knee with sparkly ring in his hand asking stephanie to marry him!! it was seriously so awesome to be part of that moment:) so we will be headed up north to celebrate their wedding!

she said yes!!

6/8/12-6/10/12 : san francisco, ca

the next weekend (tentatively) i will be heading to see my grandparents in benecia, ca just outside of san francisco. richard and his friends are going to this huge festival called edc here in vegas and i have been really wanting to go visit my grandparents on my own. so since its a 3 night festival and he will sleeping during the day/partying at night and i wont see him anyway, i think its the perfect weekend to get away:) they live in the cutest town and its only a ferry ride to the city. plus my grandma is a fantastic cook so i will be eating a ton while im there!

when richard and i visited them on our trip to
san francisco in 2009.
i was sooo sick in this picture haha.

new years-tba

after wandering the strip this year and seeing all the tourists here we started thinking about maybe going somewhere new. or at the very least doing something totally new. weve talked about warm places or even getting a room on the strip instead. definitely want to shake it up!

maybe here...

or here...

this is going to be a big year, i can feel it! there are so many exciting things lined up for richard and i this year:) i cant wait to share them all with you guys!

the 3 weeks to tinkerbell recap.

this week had crazy written all over it, and let me tell you it definitely did not disappoint. it was the first week of school at work, my midterm was do for my own class, and my highest mileage of the training cycle was on deck. told ya, crazy written all over it. i tried to keep it all together and almost did for the most part, but my all out crying mess to the past 2 episodes on greys anatomy on thursday night reminded me to take care of me a little bit sometimes. (seriously are you guys watching?! i havent even watched this weeks yet because i couldnt handle another roller coaster haha!) ok, back to the training. it was actually really successful this week. i also very much think this helps keep me sane most of time:)

sunday~rest.
rest

after a very long and super fun day on saturday capped off with an amazing date with my love, i was sooo ready for a rest day. apparently so was my body because i slept for 12+ hours and didnt wake up until almost 230p on sunday afternoon. i love my rest days!

monday~4-5 miles.
4.72 miles = 43:30 minutes/9:12 min/miles

this week felt soooo much better than last week. there were only 4 of us so reggie slowed down a little for me and i got to hear all the cool stories about the angel race over the weekend. my body felt normal again on this run and i wasnt struggling for every step like last week. it was also quite a bit chillier so we moved to stay warm hehe.

tuesday~4 miles.
5.31 miles = 51:10 minutes/9:38 min/miles

with such a good run monday i woke up ready to go tuesday for another one. i left my music at home partly because i wanted too and partly because i couldnt find my ipod anyway. i forgot how much that keeps you going and not thinking about other things. the cute guy hanging out the window giving my encouragement wasnt a bad deal though:)

wednesday~spin.
6am spin class

i found out in class that we ride an average of 20 miles! dang, in an hour. i was impressed. the class was much fuller this week with new faces. it was a good ride and i felt pretty accomplished after.

my little reward for finishing
all my homework wednesday night.
sometimes you just need a pick-me-up.

thursday~body pump.
6am body pump

our regular instructor was finally back and i think everyone knew it because the class was packed! she also informed us that a new release is on its way and its way tougher than this one. of course, since i just got this one under control haha.

friday~rest.
rest

i gladly took the day after my teary evening and crazy week with both schools just about over. i also only had to work a half day! so i came home and took it out cleaning instead. luckily had something super fun to look forward to that night...disney on ice, toy story 3 style! my friend vanessa had texted earlier in the week saying she had an extra ticket and i jumped all over it. heck yes i will go see toy story. i had never seen an on ice production and it was really good! sooo super cute we had a really good girly time.

the claw will save them!!

thats right we all went, and no
we didnt have any kids with us:)

saturday~11 miles.
11.3 miles = 1:48:46 minutes/9:37 min/miles

i woke up not feeling so great, my balance felt really off. i decided to try and get the miles in and just be happy with whatever that was. about mile 2 though my body figured out the right groove and i was able to pick it up. it was also my 2nd long run with my new stopwatch. nothing fancy, no gps, just a regular timer and i kinda dig it. i dont think i would have realized what my first 2 miles did to me if i hadnt had it help me even things out for the last 9. i was still a little off balance when i got home but felt better after a nap later on.

post long run/nap breakfast.
egg tacos with bananas and chocolate milk:)

i had to make sure i was better because i was meeting some girlfriends for dinner qdoba (i have been having a major craving lately) and then to see beauty and the beast 3d!! it is one of my absolute favorite movies of all time and i could not wait to see it in theaters! originally it was going to be a date night but turned into a girls night, which might have been a better thing anyway. it was sooo good and i only cried a little bit:)

totals for the week = 21.33 miles + 2 cross-training days

this week was pretty crazy and a bit of an emotional roller coaster between all the things going on. but through all of it i was able to keep my training on track and get everything done in all the other parts. i even able to get 2 girly nights in:) sometimes its all about the balance! plus my 2 nights of disney got me all ready and excited for tinkerbell in 2 short weeks!!

14 days to the tinkerbell 1/2 marathon!!!

the phantom date.

for christmas this year i was majorily surprised with 2 tickets to phantom of the opera at the venetian for saturday, january 7th!! i couldnt wait for the day as we had decided to make it a date with dinner before to really make it a date. originally i was going to be off that day so we could spend the day lounging around together and doing a few errands after my long 10 miler in the morning. then i my schedule got fuller and fuller with an open house in the morning and a hair conditioning in the afternoon. so the errands moved to sunday and the 10 miler became a super early 415a alarm.

the morning and afternoon seemed to fly by with an awesome 10 miler, successful open house, a lunch craving satisfied at jasons deli, i was falling asleep under the dryer at the hair salon. i knew a nap was going to be in order, just didnt realized it was that bad haha. so i curled up on the couch while richard was out with friends watching the football game.

we had planned to leave at 7p so we could make it down to the venetian to find somewhere to eat with plenty of time before the show. i had checked out a few places online and saw a few good places but wasnt sure was gonna dig them. hes more of a meat and potatoes guy, not so much the fancy food. i knew there would be somewhere no matter. we finally decided on the grand lux cafe and it was amazing! it had a wide selection, my meal was sooo good, and richard devoured/inhaled his. the cafe was right next to the theater so we didnt have to hurry.

delicious! and plenty for leftovers:)

the line really wasnt bad and i was getting really excited with all the people. we got into the theater pretty early and had fantastic seats, 7 rows from the front. i had seen phantom about 6 years ago in new york and richard had never seen it or anything like it. we werent allowed to take pictures in the theater, i tried to sneak one and this really mean lady yelled at me.

 the show was amazing!!! it was totally different then the new york show. there were fireworks and the chandelier came down on the crowd! i was super glad we werent sitting a few rows back haha. we headed home afterward, not before stopping at almost every sweet shop and bakery to find a delicious dessert for me to take home.

red velvet, one of my favorites!

it was a great night and we had so much fun talking together! we seem to be doing more grown up things lately, shows, new dinner places, group movie dates (thats this weekend), adventures on the strip for new years. i really dig it:)

the 2012 running preview.

2011 was a more amazing running year then i ever could have imagined. i never thought it would have morphed into something that cool and accomplished. if you havent read all about it, check it out here.

now after that kind of opening, how do i top it? i had been thinking about it for awhile and was even a little nervous because i didnt have a real plan. but when i actually started to look, i really did, it just wasnt the same as 2011.

this year, 2012 was going to be totally different. i found that i had things so many serious things scheduled out that i didnt get to some of the fun things others were doing. so that is my 2012 inspiration! here we gooooo...

1/29/12 : inaugural tinkerbell 1/2 marathon : disneyland, ca

i signed up for this race pretty much as soon as it came out. my mom and i are headed to the happiest place on earth on our own, no boys allowed for a girls weekend topped off with an all women race! i am getting sooo excited:)

2/25/12 : the color run : las vegas, nv

one of the girls i work with told me to go check out this website and i would instantly want to sign up. she was sooo right! this is going to be one of the funnest runs ever. its a 5k held in downtown vegas. its also going to richards first 5k ever! we are going to get to do it together:) words cannot explain this race fully, just check out this video...

4/28/12 : the warrior dash: phoenix, az

richard actually brought up that some of his friends wanted to do this race. i was all for being a spectator...until i watched the video and told him there was no way i could sit on the side! it looks sooo awesome. we are now heading to az 2 weeks after we are already going to be there for a wedding to do this totally sweet race. check this video out too!

10/14/12 : the nike womens 1/2 marathon : san francisco, ca

now after registering for tinkerbell, i had to promise my family i wouldnt race 1/2 marathons for at least 4 months. my mom headed this idea and tried to make it 6 months. this needs all of your hopes, fingers/arms/legs crossed, prayers so i can get in this year! its a pure lottery. there are roughly 40,000+ women that enter into the random lottery and only 20,000 are actually picked. i didnt get in last year, but did awesome at the long beach 1/2 instead. this year i want in even worse then last year! hopefully megan and i can get in together! nike is definitely more than 4 months, but now i have some options to through things in the middle it i want.

source (both)

11/2/12-11/3/12 : the ragnar relay : las vegas, nv

i missed out big time on this race last year and swore that i would participate no matter what this year! its a 195 mile relay with teams of 12 runners split in 2 vans of 6 each running 3 legs each. i have heard amazing things about this race and will not miss it this year. my runner group had 2 teams last year, so im hoping to have some options:)

source

now yes, there are some rather large holes in this schedule, and i kinda dig it. plus this gives me some time to plug other races if i want. and you never know what might pop up in the next few months;) this year its going to have a different feel, a freedom almost! i cant wait to see where 2012 will take me:)

the 4 weeks to tinkerbell recap

finally the 1st full week of january which means race month! the countdown is getting very real and i realized i only have 1 more long run after this week. i wasnt totally sure i was going to be ready, but this week proved no matter how it starts, its all about how you finish.

sunday
rest.

gladly! after a night on the strip i slept in till at least 1p and needed it. we spent the day grocery shopping and taking the christmas decorations down. then my brother and his girlfriend came over for dinner. it was a nice relaxing day.

monday~4-5 miles.
5.12 miles = 46:20 minutes/9:02 min/mile

i had been looking forward to getting back to my group run on monday after not being there for 2 weeks. we even had 2 new people this week! then we started actually running, and it was ugly. my body definitely still had the leftovers from the all night partying saturday night and it was loud and clear that this run wasnt going to be fun. my legs and body were heavy plus that hill kicked my butt. derrick and i hung back, both struggling to keep a pace. it for sure made me remember why i eat the way i do now. its hard to say no sometimes and stick to my guns, but this kind of run is not fun or something i want to do all the time. good thing i got to go home and have richard there! he was off for new years and made dinner:)

dinner and flowers??
hes the best:)

tuesday~4 miles.
5.31 miles = 51:20 minutes/9:40 min/mile

after my disastrous run on monday i was determined to make this better. so i had a great dinner with my love and a good night sleep to wake up tuesday. my pace wasnt as fast as monday, but that doesnt always matter. my body felt great! and i listened to an old playlist from my first training cycle which definitely put me in a good mood:)

wednesday~spin.
6am spin class

i went ready to throw elbows to get my bike and space with all the new years resolutioners. the class before us went long so i got to check out my competition and there wasnt much to be honest. the gym was packed in the cardio area and the weight section, but the class wasnt really. there were some new faces which was nice but it wasnt crazy at all.

thursday~body pump.
6am body pump class

with spin not being super crazy the day before i was hoping body pump would be the same way. turns out it was pretty empty! we had our regular sub back, thank goodness. i kept with my new weight and it felt really good.

a good workout in the morning and a super
cute new bag delivered to my front door
makes the middle stuff not matter.

friday~rest.
rest

i was glad to not be training and catch up on a little sleep after a crazy week of homework. plus i had to rest up for my long run on saturday!

saturday~10 miles.
10.15 miles = 1:38:14 minutes/9:40 min/mile

my alarm time kept getting earlier and earlier as saturday approached. i wanted to run saturday morning because i had a hot date with my love to see phantom of the opera late. i knew there was no way i was getting up sunday after. then i found out i had to work. and it was open house so i had to be there at 8a. that meant a 415a alarm! i was able to go to bed early friday night and was up pretty easily. this was one of those runs that just felt good. i had enough warm clothes, enough fuel, sleep, and carbs the night before. i tried out a new stopwatch and my mind was running just as fast as it was. around mile 8 though i started getting really hungry and was ready to go home for breakfast. made me remember why we have gu stations around that point in races. 

best christmas present ever!!

totals for the week = 20.58 miles + 2 cross-training days.

this weeks workouts went from one side of the spectrum to the other. im glad it ended with the good spectrum:) it also showed me the value of good food and keeping to my training plan. i also started to get really excited about disneyland! a friend was taking her boys this weekend so we talked a lot about it this week getting me ready for the race and the park:)

21 days to the tinkerbell 1/2 marathon!!!

the around the wold new years adventure.

living in las vegas, you have access to some pretty cool things, new years is no exception. every year they close down las vegas blvd from the stratosphere to mandalay bay and turn it into a huge party. the exits off the freeway are closed, side streets are parking lots, and hundreds of thousands of people all come together to ring in the new year. also many of the hotels launch fireworks off the roof that you can see all over the valley for like 10 minutes! they even have music playing to go along with it on the radio and tv stations. i have been down there twice, not in about 5 years, and it is a blast! you see the craziest things down there. richard had never been and didnt really want to, until this year.

source

after another house party last year i was really hoping to do something different to ring in 2012. a couple of the girls from work had told me about their new years and it was so different i hoped they would do it again this year. so in may i got a facebook invite (as did richard) for the around the world new years adventure. we would start in the afternoon in a bar/hotel/place that corresponded to it being midnight in that country. for example chinatown for new years in china, the paris hotel for paris, etc. i thought it would be a blast but richard wasnt quite convinced. after thanksgiving though he came to me and said, lets join the girls and something completely different, hell yeah!

here was the plan:
3pm- italy- venetian
4pm- ireland- o'shea's
5pm- FOOD/HYDRATE
6pm- faulkland islands- margaritaville (flamingo)
7pm- rio de janiero- pampas churrasciara brazillian grille (miracle mile shops @ planet hollywood)
8pm- FOOD/HYDRATE
9pm- new york- nyny casino
10pm- mexico city- diablos
11pm- strip 
12pm-midnight!- strip


saturday afternoon we decided to all meet at angelas so we could carpool and leave at 230p so we could get to the venetian on time. i had timed my run and nap to include food afterward to make sure we could leave at 145p to grab cash on the way. during my nap i head back from angela on some logistic things (jackets/purses/girl things) and found out that we were actually going to carry camelbaks full of our liquor of choice. this meant we had to leave a few minutes early to grab it at the store, but no big deal. the girls were also making t-shirts to wear, which richard was really not excited about, so we could find each other.

we showed up right at 230p afraid they would be waiting on us to find that they had just started on shirts. finally at 415p we actually left and sat in traffic to arrive late to osheas. i just wanted to drink at this point, but wasnt really sure what i was supposed to be doing. if we had these camelbaks full of alcohol we didnt need to buy a drink/shot at every place, so why were we going to all these places? the whole night was a little confusing so richard and i decided drinking was the way to go.

everywhere we went seemed to take forever. there were tons of people on the strip but once they opened the street it was sooo much easier to get around. we did go back to the car after eating at margaritaville to get warmer things and i dropped the camelbak. we werent drinking out of it and i didnt want to carry it anymore. for some reason the car stop was the longest break i have ever seen in my life and the rest of the group decided to make the night more about getting the t-shirts signed from all the people we were meeting rather than actually going to all our stops.

i should have known we were in trouble
when this was the 1st signature of the night,
on jodis dad by a super gorgeous girl!

our pitbull look-a-like at dinner!

as we started walking to nyny to celebrate at 9pm richard and i got separated from the group leaving us a great time to talk. they were walking so slow and stopping every 5 seconds that we just saundered on our own. we even discussed what we are thinking about for next year! definitely over the big house party thing, and probably not going to wander the strip all night next time. were actually thinking about going somewhere new or getting a room on the strip and having a late late dinner and celebrating in the hotel or going outside just for midnight. i like this new, we dream together thing:)

we found out later this is what the
rest of the group was doing haha!

once finally finding our group at nyny we decided it was time for serious drinks and the others grabbed some hot dogs. it got out of the street for awhile and some much needed aid haha. after leaving we headed up to the bellagio to meet one of our group members brother's. again nice to get out of the cold and sit for a little while. we made sure though to leave no later than 1115p to get outside to ring in the new year right! it was starting to get packed inside and outside so we knew we had to get going.

in las vegas serious drinks means these guys!

we weaved our way toward the paris/ballys so we could be close to our car so we could get out as soon as possible. it wasnt long before we were getting ready to countdown the last minute it was finally here! everyone joined in as we got to the last 10 seconds and then there was confetti and yelling and kissing everywhere! i got to ring in the new year the best way possible for the 3rd year in a row, with my love :) the fireworks were so beautiful and we could see them from a couple different hotels!

waiting...waiting.

the countdown!

next to paris.

over caesars.

once the fireworks were over it was time to go. they usher you off pretty quickly so they can clean up the street. the problem is you cant get into any of the hotels unless you are staying there. since we were parked at paris we tried though to get in the back way through ballys which only worked because dave had a membership card!! we were all exhausted at this point and tired of all the crowds. finally in the cars after our goodbyes to the other car we headed out of the garage to the back road to find it dead stopped. it took us almost 2 hours to get back to angelas!

as i stumbled to my car from the exhaustion with my extra layers i started to get hungrier and hungrier. now i know im in training and not supposed to, but we totally went to del taco on our way home and it was amazing! seriously its only that good when your up super late or have been drinking. that night richard and i actually fell asleep on the couch together after eating and woke up just enough to brush our teeth and actually go to bed together.

when i woke up the next morning i thought i would be a lot more sore than i actually was. i started thinking about the night before and all the things we saw with 300,000 of our closest friends on the strip. i realized it wasnt exactly what we thought or hoped, but we had a really good time! definitely something we can cross off our bucket list. and at the end of the night i got to kiss him at midnight, which is all i really wanted anyway:)