Love Me Some Disneyland

I know my blogger friends will understand the love for Disney parks, even if my other friends don't. Now that I run Disney races, I'm rarely at Disneyland or Disney World unless there is a race going on, but it's always fun. Races just make it that much better.

Anyway, like all of the other people in the blogosphere, I'm getting super hyped for Dumbo Double Dare. I'm not really sure why there is such extreme excitement over this race more so than the other runDisney events, but I'm just as stoked as everyone else.

Since there's two days of racing and the expo, my trip is 5 days long. The great thing about giving yourself that kind of time is that you don't have to rush to do everything. It also gives you a chance to check out some stuff that you might otherwise bypass in favor of the faster "adult" rides, such as Indiana Jones, Space Mountain and Radiator Springs Racers.

I know several people have written posts about their Disneyland favorites and must do's, but there's several lesser known attractions that are pretty cool, too. And there's definitely a few that I'd like to check out.

The first one is Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sully To The Rescue. I love this ride. It's so cute and if you go at night, there's rarely a line. I didn't even discover it until a couple of years ago. It's hidden in DCA in the back in Hollywoodland. It's a kids ride, but really cute. The details are really cool, as well.



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If you want a good laugh and want to experience some very vintage Disneyland, hop on the Disneyland Railroad. It's loops the park beginning and ending at Main Street, USA, with stops at Mickey's Toontown, Tomorrowland and New Orleans Square. I really recommend riding the whole loop at some point, not because this is the greatest ride ever, but because some of the scenery is so out dated, it's funny. You'll see what I mean if you check it out.

 

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Another ride I love that masquerades as a kiddy ride is Goofy's Sky School in DCA. It looks like a little kid coaster, but it's pretty fun. It's certainly a lot more fun than Gadget's Go Coaster in Toontown.

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Another ride that is easy to skip is the Storybook Land Canal Boats in Magic Kingdom. Sometimes there's a long line, so I don't always ride it, but if you happen to walk by and the line is short, give it a try. You ride through different miniature towns from old Disney movies. It's pretty cute.



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I think I want to check out the Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island this year. I haven't gone to Tom Sawyer Island since probably the 90's. Back then, it was just Tom Sawyer Island. I think it might be fun to do something I haven't done in a long time.

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And if you're dying to have a Dole Whip, I'll tell you where to find it. You need to go to Magic Kingdom and visit the juice bar right outside of The Enchanted Tiki Room. I don't know if I would recommend actually going into the Enchanted Tiki Room, but that's where you'll find the magical Dole Whip.

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And of course, don't miss any of the main attractions, like Indiana Jones (I think this is probably my favorite ride of all time).

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I'm so ready to go, I could leave right now! By this time next week, we'll have our 10K medals around our necks. See you there!

Oh, and if there are any other hidden gems you think I should check out, let me know!

Sunrise Saturday

Being as how I just recently remembered that I am a runner and a blogger, I deemed it necessary to actually do a Saturday long run. I know, right? Shocking. Plus, I will be at a horse show next weekend and even though I will easily be walking a ton of miles, I know I most likely won't get any running in.

My alarm went off at 4:15 this morning. It was surprisingly...not terrible, temperature-wise, outside. It was about 80 degrees and still dark, but there have been times when I've gotten up at 4 and it was already over 90.

I headed out to meet my friends, Lara and April, at Reach 11 Sports Complex. There's a wide desert trail that looks like it's in the middle of nowhere...until you run under the freeway. Anyway, they are zippier than I am, so I let them take off ahead of me.

Yes, I know. Terrible quality. But I wasn't awake, yet.

The good thing about starting so early (aside from the cooler temps) is getting to watch gorgeous Arizona sunrises. Seriously, Arizona has the most amazing sunrises and sunsets.

Usually, I lose some of the color in pictures,
so just imagine how bright this was in person.

And here's my Instagram version.

I won't lie. This run felt tough. It's not surprising since my training has been somewhat sporadic. The weird thing is that I had a really hard time keeping myself at a slower pace, which sounds awesome, but I ended up walking more than I wanted to. I'm not sure which is better: to run faster and walk more or to keep it slow and steady. Someone once told me that the only way to get faster is to run faster (duh) so I'm hoping it'll work out in the end. Also, dropping a few more pounds couldn't hurt, either. Damn happy hours...

At some point in my run, I got passed by a pack of high school cross country runners. I often see them out running on Saturdays and honestly, they make me feel so old! I admire that they get up so early on the weekends and they are so young.

And WOW, are they fast. Those kids can run.

At this point, I was getting burnt out, sore and bored. I was about 6 or 7 miles into my run and all alone. So, of course, I did what any serious athlete would do: I took a picture of myself! I can not take a good photo of myself to save my life, so I will distract you with colorful stars.

Nerd alert!

By the time I was 9 miles in, my hips had stiffened considerably. I need to break out the Stick and get to work. Stretching would help, too. Need to hit up Master Google for some stretching ideas...

When I was finally close to my car at about 10.5 miles, I could smell breakfast. I was starving and all I could think of was getting some food. The Gu and Sport Beans just weren't cutting it at this point. My stomach was literally growling when I got to my car and I could not figure out where that amazing smell was coming from. Seriously, there's nothing quite like the aroma of cooking bacon.

And then I saw it.

A food truck. In the desert. Shit just got real.

All I wanted to do was scramble over and stuff my face full of eggs and bacon. Honestly, I had burned enough calories (over 1000) to justify a couple of eggs and a few pieces of bacon, but you want to know what stopped me?

The teenage track team that also happened to be stretching in the parking lot. I simply was not going to drag my aching chubby ass over to the food truck in front of those teenagers and their short shorts. Just couldn't do it.

In all of the times I've run at this particular trail over the last few years, I have never seen a food truck waiting for hungry runners. Well played, food truck. (Except for me. I'll shovel food into my face in private, thankyouverymuch.) It would have been way funnier if I wasn't so incredibly hungry.

Oh, and I just discovered that I have Showtime on Dish Network. I've been paying for a premium movie channel for a year and a half and had no idea. Genius at work, folks. Watch out.

Twenty One Days Until Dumbo Double Dare

Holy cow, I can't believe there's only 3 weeks until I leave for Dumbo Double Dare! It seemed like an event waaaaaay off in the future and now suddenly it's almost here!

I wish I could say I've been a rock star in my training, but that would be a lie. I spent two weekends in a row on vacation drinking beaucoup vino, one of which was in Las Vegas.

There's champagne in those coffee cups. Great way to smuggle booze into a restaurant.

Anyhoo, I dragged my sorry ass back onto the wagon and ran the mountain on Tuesday night. It was not pretty.

I'm pretty sure I was sweating out booze. Regardless, I did a very sweaty 5.5 miles. When I was done, I was feeling pretty good about it, though.

The sunset was gorgeous.

I planned on doing it again last night. I got dressed, filled up my camelbak, got in my car and...dead battery. C'est la vie, right?

I'm planning on doing a pretty long run tomorrow- at least 10 miles. I'm away at a horse show next weekend so I need to cram in as many training runs as possible before heading off to my favorite of all Disney race weekends.

I also need to get my costumes figured out, too. I haven't quite decided how much effort I want to put in. We'll see how that shakes out.

Who else is super stoked about Disneyland Half Weekend? Woot!

How Not To Train For A Marathon

Anyone reading this blog has probably figured out that they should not follow my example...on pretty much anything. I'm like a little kid that runs around and runs around until I come to a screeching halt and pass out wherever my gas tank ends up empty. 

I'm currently on a 5 hour flight from Baltimore to Phoenix. Did you guys know that Southwest Airlines offers free Dish TV episodes for their passengers? I knew some of their flights had wifi, but free TV? Yes, please! However, after my one hour flight from Albany to Baltimore and an hour into my second flight, I was a little burnt out on old episodes of 30 Rock. I had to break out the Visa and splurge to pay for wifi because I still have 2 plus hours to go.

I'm blogging from the sky because not only have I been a lazy blogger, but I've been a lazy runner. And I must share my vast wisdom with you all because a certain friend of mine ( although she's from Delaware and when she says " mine", it sounds like "Mayan") thought it would be awesome to take lots of pictures of me while I was stupid drunk. 

Everyone needs pictures of themselves passed out in a chair...wearing rain boots, no less, without there being any actual rain.

I'm very proud of these boots, by the way. On the way to purchase obscene amounts of booze, we stopped by the shoe store. Leave it to the girl from the desert to insist on buying rain boots. I may not have done any training, but I did wear my Disneyland Half 2011 gear, so I figure that counts for something.

 

In my defense, we had some extreme flash flooding last weekend in Arizona, hence my need to purchase rain boots. 

Okay, so polka dots may have had something to do with it, as well. These boots are adorbs.  

Anyway, I met up with friends from all over the country for a 4 day vacation in Amsterdam, NY. I half assed brought some running clothes, but I knew there was no way I'd be running. I think I was supposed to do a pretty long run on Saturday in my training for NYC Marathon - like something over 10 miles - but that just wasn't happening. I really should have considered taking advantage of running in that area because, holy shit, do they have some hills I could have trained on. Instead, I trained my liver. And my stomach, because the food was beyond amazing.

I'm guessing I consumed approximately 10,000 calories a day while in NY. I'm really scared to get on the scale when I get home. It was totally worth it, though.

I better get serious, because Dumbo is only a month away. Oh, and that little thing called the New York City Marathon *chokecoughchoke* is getting dangerously closer. I think the weekend before I left for Disneyland last year, we did a 15 mile run. 

The gist of this long, rambling post filled with narcissistic drunken photos is, don't do what I do, kids. I'm a lousy example of an athlete. 

Yes. Yes, I am.

Mumbo Jumbo and Dumbo

Man, I feel like my life has been a nonstop whirlwind of activity. And that activity has included very little actual running.

First, I had a birthday. I'm getting way too close to 40 for my liking. I still have a few years, but I'm not comfortable with the idea of turning the big 4-0. 

I celebrated the week before with a friend who also has a birthday the week before mine, so we had a dual celebration. This is my dairy free, gluten free, soy free, calorie free, kosher cake. 

My actual birthday was a week and a half ago and I spent it packing up the horse trailer for a horse show. We showed up in the mountains in Flagstaff and had a great show. 

We show on an old racetrack, which is pretty cool...unless you have a horse that used to be a race horse like I did in high school. Then it's a bitch because horses never forget being on a track. 

On Sunday, I got my highest score ever. Louie was perfect. The whole barn did well. 

I won't bore you with the details of the truck breaking down on the way home pulling a trailer full of horses. It was nerve wracking, to say the least. We didn't make it home until well after midnight.

The other thing going on is that my horse trainer is fostering a litter of kittens and their mom. Originally, I planned on taking two of the kittens, but the mom is at my house right now so the kittens can be weaned and I'm sort if in love with her. This is Chloe.

I'm pretty sure she's going to end up mine.

Lou hurt his leg, so I have to trek up to the barn twice a day. Doesn't he look pitiful? I'm icing his leg and he wasn't too happy about the process.

See? Equine athletes need icing, too.

Anyway, I did finally remember that I was a runner and went running this morning at 5AM. Wow, was it humid and hot. I do not understand how anyone can survive in the humidity. I tried to keep myself going with thoughts of DUMBO DOUBLE DARE!!! Can not wait. So I pounded out a very sweaty and disgusting 8 miles.

 It can't get here fast enough. I'm already excited about the cute Dumbo shirts I can get at the expo. Seriously. Could he be cuter?

It's no wonder I can't get stuff done. I feel like I'm spinning in circles. I'm leaving Thursday for Albany, NY, and I'm pretty excited to be going on a trip that doesn't involve running around like a maniac.

How is everyone else surviving our national heat wave?

Dumbo Double Dare, NYCM, Horse Shows and Kittens. Oh My!

Things have been pretty busy 'round these parts. Training for the NYC Marathon has officially begun, and I have to give a shout out of thanks to my friend and barn mate, Lara.

Me, Tara and Lara last weekend at the Scottsdale green belt.

Lara is pretty hard core. I don't know if she'd agree with that statement, but trust me, it's true. She's been dragging my butt out on all sorts of crazy hill runs on very rocky, mountainous terrain, and while they suck at the time, I have to say that I appreciate the fact that she doesn't let me make excuses to bail. Not to mention, we live in Phoenix and since running the mountain path isn't possible in the dark, we do it at about 6:30pm, which is still incredibly hot.

Yesterday, she also met me for a long run at another, much more flat, desert park to get in 9 miles.

I got up at 4:00am to meet her and a coworker (who is also running the Disneyland Half and possibly Dopey in 2015) at 5:00am.

My Long Beach Marathon visor is my absolute favorite.
Feel free to ignore the bags under my eyes.

I stayed out a little later than I probably should have (I believe going out for sushi is an acceptable reason) and I may have had a glass of wine...but only one. Those 9 miles felt a little tough. It was in the 90's even at 5:00, so that's my excuse. The good news is that I'm definitely keeping a faster pace when I'm running, but the bad news is that I seem to be taking more walk breaks than I would like. I'm going to blame that on the heat.

Anyway, thank you, Lara, for helping me train for NYCM- especially considering the longest race she has planned in the near future is a half marathon (although she has already done a couple of fulls).

This summer will be the fourth year I run the Disneyland Half Marathon. This is my favorite of the Disney races. I know a lot of people like the WDW races better, but for me, DL Half is the best. It was my very first half and is currently my PR. The course is so much more entertaining than WDW races.

 I'm super excited to be doing the Dumbo Double Dare. I know it's going to be a blast.

Me with my sister, who did the 5K, in 2012.

I don't have a specific plan for training for Dumbo, but it overlaps with NYCM training, so I'm just trying to fit in some back to back longish runs as training. Since I've already survived Goofy, I don't feel too worried about doing Dumbo.

Plus, I'm super excited to hang out with these awesome ladies again...

Abby, Fruitfly and Me after the WDW Marathon in January.

And, of course, by trusty running partner in crime, Tara...

Tara and I don't have similar schedules, so it's really hard for us to meet up for training runs. Not to mention, we live a bit of a ways from each other. Hopefully, we'll be able to plan some long runs during NYCM training.

In other news, I also leave for a horse show on Thursday up in the mountains and I can not wait to get out of this heat. We're also going back in August. Louie has been awesome, so I'm hoping that streak continues through the horse show. He's such a great little horse and I'm having a blast riding him.

I'm also most likely going to be adding to my animal family very soon. Both my dog and cat passed away in the last two years and I think it's time to adopt some new furry friends.

My horse trainer is fostering a mama kitty and her kittens for the Humane Society and I could play with these babies all day long.

Seriously. How cute are these kittens? I don't know how I'm
going to pick out just two. I love them all.

Oh Em Gee

Whew! What's new with everyone else?

Be Kind...And Be A Kind Runner!

Need something to do with all of your old running shoes?

When I first started running, I certainly didn't have a bunch of running shoes. Once I wore out a pair of shoes to the point that they were no longer good for running, I designated them as barn shoes. I would happily break in my shiny new pair of running shoes and keep my old shoes for barn chores or washing my horse. Seemed like a good way to get the most use out of my shoes.

At least my feet are comfy while I clean stalls, right?

After awhile, though, I had way too many old running shoes (some not so old) to use at the barn and so they ended up tossed into the back of my closet.

Well now I've got something to do with them! Kindrunner is an online shoe store. But not just any store. Kindrunner offers a new and unique shopping experience for their customers. I've recently been given the opportunity to work with Kindrunner, and I'm really excited about this opportunity.

First of all, they offer free three way shipping.

1. Free Shipping of all the products in your shopping cart to you.
2. Free Return Shipping of any products you want to return.
3. Free Shipping of your old shoes to us in exchange for Kindness Cash Rewards.

Once, Kindrunner receives your used shoes, they give them to their donations partners, who in turn, donate them to the countries (United States included) that are most in need. In return, you receive Kindness Cash Rewards.

From their website:

For every pair of running shoes you purchase, Kindrunner will accept a pair of reasonably-worn old shoes and issue a credit equal to $10 (ten dollars). This credit may be used for any future purchases at Kindrunner. We include a Free Kindness Cash Rewards™ return-shipping label with your new shoes so you can send us your old shoes.



Kindrunner also offers an in-depth gait analysis from the comfort of your home. In addition, each of their products has an expert product review video and approved alternatives. I figured I would check it out, so I researched the shoe I currently wear-  the Asics Kayano 19. I ran the Goofy Challenge in these shoes and I love them, so it was great to hear an expert opinion.



 

Pretty cool, huh? I really love this feature.

If your closet is overflowing with a bunch of worn shoes, but you are not in the market to purchase anything at the moment, then Kindrunner will accept them for donation. This is a great option for someone that simply wants to donate shoes and make a difference in struggling areas.

I really like the drive behind this company. It was founded by runners and I like the idea of others benefiting from my old shoes rather than having them collect dust in my closet. I'm excited for Kindrunner and can't wait to watch them grow. Maybe I'll see them at an expo one day!

So go check them out! What runner girl doesn't want new shoes? Or runner guy, for that matter? (C'mon, guys, you know you love your running shoes, too.) I gotta go. I have shopping to do. I think I'll stick with my Kayanos but I need a better color...

I can't resist the black with hot pink. You will be mine.