races

Hey everyone! Thank you so much for the good luck wishes for the half marathon <3

I DID IT!

(That’s my prince charming right there)

After a painful 4am wake-up call, the pilot and I drove down to the race where I met up with Kelly and Meara.

The pilot got this pic of the PINK fireworks they set off at the starting line:

He even saw me run past him! I was so excited

It was FREEZING outside and wearing the Wal-Mart sweats and chucking them before we started ended up being a golden plan.

Here are my splits for the race and how I felt:

Mile 1: 8:47 I was so cold, hating life and wondering why I was doing this…again.

Mile 2: 8:51 Started to feel much better and found a good pace to stick with

Mile 3: 8:54 My iPod died (even though I charged it for 6 hours yesterday). I was bummed out, but Disney kept the distractions coming with DJs, bands, characters and trivia on signs lining the race

Mile 4: 9:01 I attribute this mile to seeing Tarzan in his loin cloth glory (sorry, Pilot heh heh)

Mile 5: 8:59 FINALLY started to warm up and got some feeling in my legs

Mile 6: 9:03 Stopped to get my pic taken in front of the castle and messed around with the Flip cam. Runners who can film and run are extremely talented.. I am not one of those people

Mile 7: 9:02 Had a blasty running through Disney World, waving and slapping high-fives with the volunteers and employees

Mile 8: 9:00 Took 1/2 Clif Gel and started to get a little tired. Kept thinking of the pilot’s pep talk to keep going

Mile 9-11 (8:59, 8:48 and 9:30): Started to get extremely HOT (not seksi-wise, but temperature-wise) and my right calf started to cramp. Decided to take a 2 minute walk break to take my jacket off, which ended up being a crazy challenge since I had no feeling in my fingers and had to take off my race bib and re-attach it to the shirt I was wearing underneath the jacket. I also rubbed Biofreeze all over my legs

Mile 12: 8:48 Came back with a BANG

Mile 13: 8:37 (I saw Meghann!!! It was so lovely to see her and Derek cheering us on!)

I ended up finishing at 1:58:10 according to the Garmin –the race distance was a little over 13.1 and my final chip time was 1:58:38.

Not too bad

While I was running the race, I kept being tempted to compare myself to last year. It wasn’t until around mile 10 (when I took the epic walking break) that I realized that last’s years Princess Half and this year’s are totally different beasts. Last year, the pilot was deployed and I trained a LOT more. I was also spinning twice a week and teaching step (and insane? Hahaha). This year, the pilot was home, it was a much colder winter –I’m a Triple W (Winter Workout Wuss)- and I didn’t train nearly as much. I realized that all I could do today would be my best for *right now* NOT my best for last year. ****Lesson of the day: Compare yourself to YOURSELF! It doesn’t matter what your friend did or what you could do before—do what you can do at this moment, with this situation.

So all in all, it was an AWESOME race and I had so much fun (despite the pain) Disney knows how to put on an awesome running event and if you’re considering doing a half or full marathon, definitely check it out.

When we got back to my aunt’s, check out the extremely cute sign she had on the door:

Lurve.

I took a terrible ice bath –my left knee isn’t my friend right now- and then the pilot and I went out for bfast at our favorite spot, First Watch. Since the wait was pretty hefty, we stopped at Bizzle for drinkies. I had a Refresh tea and a plain perfect oatmeal

At First Watch, I had the usual Tri-Athlete omelet (egg whites, mushrooms and green chilis with salsa) with salad instead of the English Muffin and fruit.

Face was rocked.

We’re back home now and are going to chill for a while before heading to the kennel to get Viesa. Then, THE OSCARS! I love looking at all of the gorgeous dresses

Have a wonderful night and I’ll see ya in the morning with a giveaway!

xoxo,

Gina

CONGRATULATIONS to all of the beautiful ladies who ran the princess half this morning!!! <3

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