Disney Wrapup

I have been home six days from the trip. I ended on a bit of a bummer, knocking my head on a bus and getting a concussion. But, before that it was a great weekend! So, let's talk about that ...

Disney race weekend is a busy "vacation". There was the expo...sorry Mickey. Not the best planned expo ever. Lots of cool things, but setup was bad and had huge lines of people lining up to buy merchandise. I felt sorry for the vendors who had their booths blocked by these lines. Not fun. And I love an expo!

They had several awesome speakers while I tried to locate my firstborn child. Jeff Galloway and Tara Guidner. At least I think thats her last name. She is the Disney nutritionist and also the same for the Orlando Magic (boooo....) . Good speaker though and while I didn't get a lot of new info for me, it was interesting in the presentation. And I learned some good techniques from her perspective. I had my "bridge" snack a little while ago, Tara!

The downside about Disney is the miles and miles of walking that are not counted for the race. I have never done all of that before as my butt was "on a bench" as I mentioned in the previous post. But it was nothing I wasn't capable of...which was awesome!

I attended the Test Track and had a first! You climb in and proceed up the track and then an employee checks your seat belts before the ride can proceed. WELL : At the belt check, the lovely Disney employee yelled across, " Ma'am ! Your car car can't go on until you take all that slack out of your seatbelt!" Yeah, that's right...read that again. I tightened it down and smiled...:)

The Saturday race with my daughter was fun . Like a back lot tour by foot. Employees out cheering us on, places to stop for pictures. And Disney peeps pouring us big cups of water from Dasani bottles. Yes, they treat you well there. Oh and our corral sang " Don't Stop Believing" before the starting gun. Damn, I love a sing a long in a big crowd.

Was my daughter's cheerleader on Sunday for the Princess Half. Her third, but first at Disney. And it was hot all day. Very proud of her.

Looking forward to doing another. In fact I think we are going to do Marathon Weekend in January!
I only want to one Half...it is a redemption of sorts. I started a Half two years ago and failed after slipping and jacking my ankle. And even if I walk the whole thing, it's important to me that I complete it. I just CAN'T leave that undone.

Disney Off the Bench #1

So Blogworld , I am on a long awaited vacation. As far from my everyday routine as I can get. I you see, am at Disney World.

I have been here many times before. Never at my current weight. So it should be quite different.

I have spent most of my time here sitting on benches. And eating while my family attended rides I didn't fit, or stood in lines I couldn't bear. Our lives are shaped so much by our poor choices. But CHANGE is what we are about, right?

This is a different trip for several reasons:
1. I brought protein powder and a shaker.
2. I actually drank soy milk and ate a banana at a Disney food court.
3. I ate the Tie Dye Cheesecake , but had TWO bites and shared with two people. WTH?
And I will NEVER get tired of this:
Skinny chicks may not get it. But it's an airplane seatbelt that closes without an extension , and a lap that the tray table fits with room to spare.
Oh, and check out that cheesecake :)

Something About Mary...

Hello Blogworld!
This past Saturday I participated in the Biggest Loser Run Walk. I originally had planned to attend with a woman doing her very first 5k after losing over 200 pounds...but she had surgery that week. So I went by myself!
As the race weekend approached I was looking forward to it. I read online about so many people doing their FIRST race here. I remembered my own first race and how excited I was. And how many victories have followed.
The morning arrived and I made the long drive to the site ,124 miles to be exact. The weather was gray, dark, and it started to rain... Ugh. I parked and walked into the packet pickup area. The place was teaming with a lot of people...all sizes, shapes and ages. It wasn't hard to overhear " I'm so excited" over and over. The gun started us and it was on... I was doing great and made a turn and hit MUD. I slid and was reminded of an ankle I have a love-hate relationship with.. So I slowed down and moved onto the grass as much as I could. A little mud and rain didnt dampen the enthusiasm of the runners... People sang along as they passed the speakers . A little FloRida does a body good it seems.
I passed families, moms and daughters, single runners and an awesome kid named Colton, dressed up like a midget Rambo with a bandana headband tied on. Colton's claim to fame was the moment he realized he had left his parents far behind, ran back to a marker and yelled " Run Like Hell!!!" OK , so slightly inappropriate , but very funny at that moment. I am sure Mom had a conversation about Colton's race strategy with Dad later.
I kept plodding and finished ok. Not fast really , but uninjured which is Goal#1 with me EVERYDAY. If you must know the results say 127th of 416. Not that shabby, LOL.
The Finish Line was fun as usual, full of balloons, cheers, and spectators. It was filled with people posing for their photos sporting their medals and hugging loved ones. Very inspiring to see how hard people tried. The finish line seems to be the same whether you finish in 30 minutes or...1 hour 37 minutes and 52 seconds....

That brings us to the Mary in the post title.
I was driving out when I saw Mary. Walking, fast and crying. The final finisher.
About 40 minutes after me. She had the bike patrol behind her with a flashing light on. The struggle on her face was painful to witness. And made me cry as I turned onto the highway. But Mary FINISHED. And I hope she is proud as hell.
Run on Mary, you are one bad-ass Momma!

Week One

Well here we are on day 7. Day 7 of my Gold' s Gym 12 Week Challenge.
I have no numbers to report as I have not been on the scale. Yes, that's how damned well adjusted I am. Ha! In truth that plan did  not work for  me  this year as some pounds managed to creep back on after losing them. They found me.
I still contend that I am stronger and more able....but whatever.

My week has gone well I guess. I have  done well with respect to food, water and supplements, which by the way you have to SWALLOW to make  them work.

I have  done 5 days of workouts. One of them was a Half Marathon Relay...I have  done one before that was the  lopsided 8.1/ 5.0 kind. So 6.5 is a big deal for me.
And I teamed up with my daughter,so that' s amazing...
I identified some weak spots on myself on my relay portion, ( those were the parts hurting). I am working on a plan to correct them. My  portion was like 6.5 miles on
 the incline trailer...yeah,I think we can do better.

I also have a calendar/journal I am tracking workouts, and writing about my day. So much of this stuff is psychological.....

I recently saw a poster that said:
"I lost weight and found I still had the same problems,I just wasn't fat".

Yeah, that's deep. I can actually think of a few people that reminds me of, . not just me .
 That being said, my life is pretty good right now. And I am working on me. From all angles..... I have a few surprises in store for everyone this year to be sure.

Here We Go....

Day 1 of the 12 week challenge !
We are off to the races on the Golds Gym 12 Week Challenge.
I hope to have a productive 3 months and surprise even myself.
Looking ahead to success and getting much farther down the road of this journey I am on.