Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I will be spending the holidays enjoying time with my family, wearing festive clothing and sparkles like they're going out of style, and stuffing my face with lots of yummy goodies :-) Hope you all enjoy this time with your family and friends, and here's to a happy and healthy 2013 with lots of exciting new things to come!

First Half Marathon... Check!

Hey everyone!

So this weekend, I finished my first half marathon! It was the Detroit Free Press Half Marathon, and it was so much fun! Part of me still cant believe i did it! I was nowhere near as well trained as I wanted to be, but I signed up for it back in May or June, and there was no way I wasn't going to do it!

Throughout much of the summer, my training was right on track and i was increasing my mileage according to my training plan. Then fall came, and I had two months of busy surgery rotations, and my training was completely derailed. I tried to keep doing some long runs and increasing my distance, but there were times where I would go 2+ weeks without running, and then even when I did it was jus to do a long run. I eventually worked my way up to 10 miles, which I ran about a week and a half before the race. That run was done using 2:1 walk:run intervals, which was was what I planned to stick to during the race too.

On Friday night, we drove in from Buffalo, and went straight to the expo so I could pick up my race packet. I got there about a half hour before it closed and was surprised to see that it was still packed with people! Of course the packet pick-up area was in the very back, and you had to wind your way through all the vendors to get there. I went straight back without stopping to pick up my stuff. This went smoothly but unfortunately I realized when i got home later that I was given a marathon shirt instead of the half! They are still working to get them exchanged for us do hopefully it will all get worked out!

On my way back to the front of the expo I found the runRisney booth and of course had to stop and take a look at the medals! They were so much bigger and more substantial that I thought initially, which made me even more excited for the PHM in February!


I also did a little shopping along my way to the front. I of course had to get a few 13.1 stickers for my car (because it totally makes sense to have more than one sticker for one car...). There was also a section for overpriced official merchandise, but I rationalized that this was my first half, and got myself a nice pink running jacket!





That night I went home laid out my gear and tried to get some sleep, which wasn't easy!




RACE DAY

I woke up bright and early at 5:00AM on race day. Some roads were closing at 6, so we wanted to get into our parking spot and make our way to the start early enough. We parked and walked over, made a quick pitstop at the bathroom (cant run with a full bladder!) and made my way to my corral. I was in J and it was a long way back.






The first group went of around 7, and it was a wave start so each additional group went every 2 mins or so. Each group was sent off with a countdown and a buzzer.





Finally it was our turn, they counted down, the buzzer went off, and we were off! My thoughts as I crossed the start line, "Wow, I'm really doing this... What did I sign myself up for??"


The first couple miles felt awesome. I really had to fight myself to not keep running and to stick to my 2:1 intervals like I trained for. The adrenaline took over, and I was feeling great. First thing we did was run to the ambassador bridge. There was a huge wind up to get to the bridge. I felt a little like I was running in circles.








Running on the bridge was one of my favorite parts of the race. The sun was just coming up, and there was a mist over Windsor. It was absolutely beautiful to see! The hill of the bridge was not bad at all. It was gradual enough, and My legs were fresh enough that I didn't really notice too much. There was one lane of traffic going on the bridge while we were running, and all the trucks were honking and cheering us on which was great!

When we got into Canada, I shed my outer sweater (they collect, launder and donate everything along the course). We looped around from the bridge to run along the river. Another amazing view, this time of Detroit.


There were so many people along the streets in Canada cheering us all on it was great. There were even a group that had some cut up oranges outside of their house for the runners! Even though I didn't stop, it was great to see, and so nice of these people to do for us! As I crossed mile 6 in Canada, I was feeling great. I actually couldn't believe how good I was feeling.

Just as mild 7 ended, we entered the tunnel to head back to the US. This was the part I was most anxious about before the race. The thought of running under water for a mile was just a little unsettling. So I originally had this plan to run the whole tunnel, so I could get myself out of there. That was a mistake. I set off at a much faster pace than I was used to running (although I have no idea what my pace was since gps service was cut off in the tunnel obviously). It seemed like the tunnel went on forever. I also learned what happens when you try to take pictures while running:


Eventually I gave in around the halfway mark and had to walk and get back into my intervals (which I really should have stuck to from the beginning). Finally I reached the end of the tunnel, and after I got back to the main street just after finishing mile 8, I saw my mom and the BF who had come to watch, cheering me on! I was feeling pretty crappy at that point after my self-sabotage in the tunnel, but I kept going!

The next few miles were a little tough. We ran back towards the bridge and through Corktown before heading back to the finish. The cheering people really kept me going through those last few miles.

Finally I rounded the corner and there it was! The finish line! I kept up my intervals for one more round before breaking into my final run to the finish! I threw my hands in the air as I finished. I did it! My mom happened to catch this great shot of me coming across the finish.





After I finished I got my finishers medal and kept walking. There was a huge area I still had to get to until I could meet up with my family. They had free massages (wish I would have done this!) and we're giving out chocolate milk (absolutely delicious), bananas, apples, pretzels and hummus.





Overall, I had such a great time, and felt awesome about this race. I am so happy with how I did, and so proud to finish under my goal of 2:45, at 2:42:25! And I know I could probably have even been a little faster if I had stuck to my intervals. Lesson learned, stick with your training!


It was such a great experience and I really hope to be able to do it again next year with better. Training and go for that PR!

XOXO Jennifer

Finally some results... And other news

So I have been running consistently about 3x per week now for around 2 months. While I do not have a ton of weight to lose, it is still a goal of mine while training to do these half marathons. I had about 15-20lbs to lose when I first started, and was starting to get very frustrated with the fact that my weight really wasn't changing much. When I first started a few mints ago I was looming around 143-145, and after the first few weeks, started hanging around 140, where I seemed to have become stuck. I understand that when working out, even running, you build muscle, and that can cause you to weigh the same or even gain some because it weighs more than fat, but i thought i would has seen something sooner. Well finally this past week, it started to change. Yesterday after my short 2.3 mile run, i weighed 137, and again this morning. In total so far I have lost about 5-8lbs since starting, and it feels great. It may not be a ton, but relative to the total amount I want to lose, it's a good chunk! I'm happy with this result, and hope it will continue.

In other news, today I also officially registered for what will be my first half-marathon, which will be in Detroit on October 21st. Its a very cool race where you actually run over the bridge into canada, and then back into the US through the tunnel. Im slightly concerned about anxiety and becoming a little claustrophobic when running through the tunnel, but its about a mile, and I can always plan to step it up that mile so I can minimize my time in there :-) I think I'll be okay though. I'm still a little concerned that over the next 3 months when I start working crazy hours for school that ill fall off the wagon, but I feel like running has now become a good part of my routine, and I'm used to running 3x per week, so I'm hoping it will stick! Wish me luck in these next 3 months in terms of pushing through and running even when I feel very tired!

Another princess update, I now have a running buddy!! A friend of the BF's wife has decided to run with me :-) They have two young children who have never been to Disney, and will be taking them there for the first time! I am SO excited that they will be joining us, and even more excited to be a part of their kids first trip to Disney. Now the fun of planning with a buddy begins, although all that's really left if getting an idea of which parks to go to on what days, and where to make dining reservations. So exciting!

Until next time!

XOXO Jennifer

Princess Costume Planning

So I decided quite some time ago that my costume for the Princess Half Marathon would be Cinderella. I've been looking at pictures online for awhile, and coming up with ideas, and today I finally did my first sketch of the costume.

The sketch is a little boring right now, as I don't have colored pencils, but, it gets the point across of what my plan is, and at some point I'll make a nice pretty drawing that is in color :-)

The outfit will consist of a blue running tank, which I will attach the puff sleeves to. I plan to use either white sheer fabric or tule to make the sleeves, and will probable add small scattered rhinestones to add some sparkle to them. Cinderella's outfit has a seem down the middle of the bodice, so if I can't find a running tank that has this, I will use a sewing machine to make a simple straight stitch down the middle.

For the skirt, I will be using my light blue team-sparkle skirt, which I already have. I wore one to the race for the cure earlier this summer (hot pink of course), and received many compliments. It seemed to hold up well, so I have no doubt my blue one will make it through the princess!


On the top of the skirt I will be using the same tule or sheer while fabric adorned with small rhinestones to create the peplum look Cinderella's dress has. Not exactly sure how I will attach this, whether it will be physically attached to the skirt, or something I just put on that will lay over it. Under the skirt (since it clearly needs something) I was thinking about wearing a pair of my favorite lululemon shorts in either a white/grey stripe, or black. Another option is just to wear a pair of black or white spandex shorts, but I think the lululemon ones will be more comfortable.

That's the majority of the costume, and then it just comes down to the tiny details. My hair is blonde so I plan to just wear it up in a bun, with a blue headband, and a little crown on a comb in my bun. To complete the look I also plan to wear some pearl earrings, a black ribbon around my neck, and white gloves or sleeves.

For shoes i will probably end up just wearing whatever I've been training in, and wont be getting anything special. The only thing left, is deciding if I want to carry around some sort of little "mascot" like a plush fairy godmother, or one of her mouse friends... I haven't decided on this yet. Part of me things this is just more trouble than it's worth, and that I will quickly grow sick of carrying something around with me, so I might nix this idea. What do you think? Have you started your costume planning? Are you going to make something or just buy a costume?

I am so excited for this race! It's going to be so much fun!

Have a great evening!

xoxo Jennifer

The Color Run

So this weekend, I partook in "the happiest 5k on the planet," The Color Run, which is currently sweeping across the nation going from city to city. If you've never heard of it (see here), it's a 5k, where you wear a white shirt at the start, and as you run, at each kilometer they toss colored powder (I'm told it's corn starch based) at you, a different color each kilometer. By the end, you are colored in "Willy Wonka colored goodness!"

The run is untimed and it was absolutely huge. There were around 15,000 people, many of which were walking. Among the "color runners" was people of all age, including some little children being pushed in strollers! They say it's safe, but many of us were joking that 10 years from now, they will come back with some study saying it causes some disease... Hopefully that doesn't happen, lol. There were many people that wore bandanas or some type of face shield while running through the "color zones."

I was doing the run with a family friend, and we met there around 7:30am. We made our way to the start line which was already packed with people.





There was music playing, and everyone was excited to start. We stood there waiting until finally around 8:10, when they sent the first wave of people off. They were planning on sending about 1,500 people off every 2-3 minutes. Obviously this was a rough guesstimate, and they used an area that was roped off, and whoever fit inside, went in the next wave. We went off in about the third wave I believe. Each new wave, they counted down like it was the beginning of the race. We reached the start line, they counted down, and we were off with the huge wave of people.

At first everyone was jogging, and then the fun of snaking through the walkers began. Some areas were easier than others, but in my opinion, they should have had the course divided in half, and one area for runners, the other for walkers. A natural divide of this sort was somewhat created with walkers toward the right, runners on the left, but it was not maintained. I know it was supposed to me about the fun, and wasn't officially timed, but, I think it would have been safer IMO for everyone involved. Besides, some people get the most fun out of it by running their brains out the whole time, but that wasn't really possible here.

The route was kind of like a cross shape, with 4 spokes. We were running a few minutes when we came up to the first color zone... Yellow! You could see the zones coming from a decent amount away by the huge cloud of smoke created by the powder. as we got to the first color zone, we realized that the only way to really get a good amount of color was to walk in the lines that formed along the sides. There were volunteers lining the size, with bottles full of colored powder that they squirted at everyone . I quickly learned how necessary having sunglasses was. While there's some dust that can still get in your eyes, its MUCH better to have them. As I mentioned before, some others also had a mask or bandana of some sort to cover their nose/mouth. I didn't think it was necessary. While my mouth felt quite dry after this first station, I didnt think my breathing was inhibited or altered in any way from it.





We kept running through the rest of the course, weaving in and out of people, going through the orange, then pink then blue color zones before reaching the finish.

I had brought my phone with my in a plastic baggy with headphones attached, and timed myself since there was no official time. Came in at around 33 minutes, which wasnt bad considering the crowd.

After you finished, they took you into a park nearby, where every 15 minutes you would throw your color packet you received at registration. We made our way into the park, and shortly after, where there was a DJ on a stage, with tons of people below. They counted down, and told everyone to throw their color in the air.








Now this was the truly crazy part. We threw our color packets in the air,and you could not see a thing! Everything was just a huge cloud of color dust, and we were only on the edge of this massive crowd, which was probably a good thing because I started having a difficult time breathing, and had a mini panic attack and had tote tout lol. I don't think it was really that bad, but at the time, I freaked out abut. Not enough tour in the fun though!

We then met up with our families where we took our "after" picture.


Then we walked to our cars and headed home. I had brought towels which was a must. I brushed off all the color i could, and lined the seat of the car with the towels before getting in. The boyfriend almost didn't let me get in his car, but I didn't really give him an option lol. Fortunately he doesn't yet have his new car which is coming in a few months. If he had, i might have been in trouble. The run was still going on, and traffic to get out wasn't bad to get out of there.

When I got home, the fun part began, which was the task of getting off all the color. I was most worried about my hair, as they said that sometimes it can stain hair temporarily, especially if it's blonde/highlighted, both of which mine is, so I thought I was going robe in trouble. Luckily, after some intense sudsing, all the color came out of both may hair and skin.

Overall I thought this was a GREAT run and would highly recommend doing it if it comes to your area! It fills up super fast, so keep that in mind and sign up quickly, even if you don't run it, you'll have a blast!

(some of the images were taken from the Facebook group and other people that ran this weekend)

Have a great one!
XOXO Jennifer

Battle scars...

Well, I wish I had a really great story to tell for this one, but unfortunately I don't, just a somewhat silly one.

So today it was very hot and humid, so I walked the 1 minute walk to my apartment complex's gym to run inside on the treadmill (which I really hate, but that's another story...). I finished my 30 min run, got off the treadmill, headphones still on, phone in hand, and started on my short walk back home. I was texting my mom to tell her that I had run, or something of the like, and came up to the edge of the sidewalk, which was a curb, and wiped out...

After falling to the ground, the first thing I did of course was look around to see if anyone had seen. After all, isn't that the most important thing? There was a kid and their parent at the playground a few hundred yards away, but nah, I don't thing they saw, ok, it's safe to get up... Then I look down and my knee, and find this:




Really?? I didn't fall that bad now did I? I felt like a mess, so I trudged home, them of course the next step was to stop and take a picture because I of course had to show and tell everyone all about it... Lol then finally I cleaned it up and jumped in the shower.

So that's my eventful evening. At least I'm okay, and this is the only part that got hurt. I'm sure it will be sore tomorrow, I took some Motrin to try and fight the inevitable inflammation, and maybe I'll ice it a bit later. It really doesn't hurt too much, just don't want it to get all swollen or something and have it interfere with my next run on Wednesday, where I will be staying upright...

Motto: Don't text and walk! (yea right, do you really expect me to listen to myself here?)

Have a good evening!

Jennifer

One Step Closer

So last week was a big week. I signed up for the PHM. This of course sent me into a tizzy of figuring out where to stay and planning everything else. I certainly didn't waste much time, because the day after registration opened, I reserved my room.
I decided to stay at Disney's newest resort, Art of Animation. After finding out that the cancellation policy at Disney is pretty good, I put down my $200 deposit, and can cancel my room with no penalty up until 5 days prior to arrival. How great is that? I can also make any changes to the reservation, in terms of switching to another hotel, or changing the dates, so I figured, why not. After all, there really is no harm in booking it at this point!
I ended up just booking through the normal website and not through runDisney. I called afterwards to compare the price, and it was $79 more to stay there through them. Ummmmm... Aren't you supposed to be offering us a discount? Guess not. Oh well, no commemorative item or mini gold for me (which you get for booking through them). I'll gladly take that extra money and spend it on something nice at the expo :-)
It's definitely a themed hotel, like all Disney resorts, and sure some might say its a little childish, but hey, I'm just a big kid as it is anyways, so that's really no big deal after all :-) I chose to stay in one of the standard rooms, which are Little Mermaid themed. That was one of my favorite movies growing up, so childish as this room may look, you bet I'm pumped to go stay in it :-)






Now all that's left is to buy the tickets and flights! I keep looking at the flights, but at this point I'm not exactly sure what dates definitively I'll be going (although my current plan is to fly in Friday night, 2/22, and leave sometime the following Wednesday, 2/27), which is also why I have yet to purchase my park tickets.
I am so excited for this trip, and cannot wait until February to go. It's been 4 years since I was last at Disney, and while I said I wouldn't go back probably until I have kids, I thought this was a good excuse to make a premature return. Plus I'm excited to see the new Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom, and am even thinking about taking a day and visiting Harry Potter Land at Universal as well, which I have yet to see :-)
Have a great day and happy planning!
Jennifer

Officially Registered!

Well, registration OFFICIALLY opened today for the Disney Princess Half Marathon, and of course I did not waste any time in getting myself registered! I'm am all set and ready to go as far as the race is concerned, now the fun of planning the actual trip begins.

There seems to be a pretty decent discount they offer participants for park tickets, and we supposedly get a discount on host hotels as well, although from what I've heard, it's not much. I definitely plan on staying at one of the host resorts, because I really don't want to have to worry about getting to the race on time the morning of, because my goodness does it start early!! I'll most likely just go with the cheapest I can find, because I don't know about you, but when I go to Disney, I barely see the inside of my hotel room so it's just not worth it to spend more.

I decided to estimate my time as the lowest possible without needing proof of time, which is 2:46. I plan on doing another half marathon this October and a 10K in November, so I'm hoping to be able to submit a good time from one of them for better placement!

I am looking so forward to going to this race. Still trying to figure out how long I'll be there, but I'm hoping to stay for a few days after to enjoy the parks! I was just there 4 years ago, but I definitely will not mind a return trip. Plus, if like to go off site and take a visit to Universal to see Harry Potter land! That is one thing I have yet to see, and I just have to!

As for my training, it's been going pretty well lately. I've been good about running a few times a week, and this past weekend I ran 5.5 miles which is the farthest I've gone yet. I walked about 0.25 miles of it, and did the second half on the treadmill after running outside, but I'm proud of it overall! Now I just have to keep it up and keep training!

My next race I have planned is the Color Run. If you haven't heard of one of these you have to look it up! It sounded like so much fun so I just had to sign up. The registration filled up so fast. A family friend recently decided to run it with me, but it was already filled. Fortunately though, there is a Facebook group that had plenty of people willing to give up their spots so I was able to find him one. It's an untimed 5k fun run, and at each kilometer they toss colored powder at you. You start off wearing a white shirt, and by the end you end up all colored! It's in a week and a half, and I'll definitely report back afterwards about it!

When does it get easier?

Hey everyone,

So I've been in this current training cycle for about a week now. So far it's been going good for the most part, until yesterday... Yesterday I hit a bit of a road block. I got home from the hospital (where I "work") and had a bit of a migraine. So I didn't feel like doing my run right then and there. I decided to take a nap, try and make the headache go away. I didn't wake up again until around 8 when the boyfriend got home, and still had the migraine. I kept thinking to myself, that I should really just go out and do my run for the day... It was only going to be a mile, I could do that, right?

Well this is where I decided to listen to my body over what my mind was telling me. As I mentioned before, I am participating in Runners World's run a mile a day challenge. I had been doing SO well, and that was the main reason I REALLY didn't want to skip yesterday. I could have just shoved through a run, but would it really have been worth it? Most of the time starting the run is my biggest issue, but I do not thing that strategy would have worked yesterday. If you've ever had a migraine, you can relate to how I was feeling.

I'm very glad I decided to listen to my body and not go for a run. Although I'm a bit disappointed that I broke my run streak, if I would have ran, I think it only would have made me feel worse, and in the end, I don't think I would really have been pushing myself to do it for the right reasons.

After all, aren't you supposed to run because you enjoy it? For the high it gives you? For the chance to clear your mind, and just run? For how awesome you feel afterwards?

Today I got back on the running wagon. I did a 30 minute run, and ran about 2.81 miles, so a pace a little over 10:30 minute miles. It was a tough run. I started feeling really tired, but I pushed through, and felt great when it was all over. That is when you need to push yourself. When the running gets tough, you push to keep going. Push the time, push the distance, whatever is right for you at the time, listening to your body.

While I now feel great after tonights run and feel this newfound energy (one of the reasons I love running, the burst you get after), I can't help but realize, this is not the first time I've run this distance or this length of time, yet it felt harder than any other time I've run this long/far. Shouldn't it be getting easier?? I know some people in the past have mentioned adapting a run/walk method when they feel like they are hitting a wall, call me stubborn, but I just don't want to do that right now. I know I can do the distance, I know I can do the time. So why did this one feel so much harder?

Yes it could have been that my pace picked up a bit, especially in the beginning, maybe I'm just trying to push too hard too soon, but I'm impatient, and know I should be able to do this, and it's very frustrating to me. I had this goal of making my race in under 30 minutes this weekend, but at this point I'm not quite sure that's going to happen, and I guess I need to be okay with that. I guess it all comes back to listening to your body. If you're pushing it too hard, and not able to improve at the rate you think you should be, it's time to turn it down a notch.

I've come up with a new goal for this weekend, and that's just simply to get through, push myself and do the best I can.

How's your training going? Any upcoming races for anyone?

Until next time!

Jennifer

7 Days...

Hey everyone!

Today I completed day 7 of my runners world challenge... It felt good to be able to think about the fact that I had ran at least a mile every day for a week. Most days, I've been able to stay pretty motivated to run, which for me, is quite surprising.

Yesterday I did the longest run I've done so far in this training cycle. I ran with one of my good friends at a local park. We ran about 3.5 miles. It felt very good and I was able to maintain a pace around 11 minute miles for the whole run. She definitely tried to push me at the end, as I myself had already kicked up the speed a notch, but in the end she left me in the dust lol. However, it still felt like a great run, and I'm so glad I have her to run with to push me! It will be great for my training!

Today's run I decided to focus a bit more on my speed. While I'm not planning on going crazy fast to will any races or anything, I would like to keep getting faster and pull in a time of around 2:30 at the Princess half. Usually my pace has been around 10-11 minute miles. Today I kicked it up a bit and did one 9:30 mile. It was definitely by no means easy... But, I did it. I felt good that I set a goal and was able to meet it.

Next weekend, I have my first 5k of the year. It's on Saturday and is my local Susan G Komen race for the cure. I'm hoping to get a PR this weekend. My best 5k so far has been around 33 minutes. This weekend I'm hoping to do it in around 30 minutes, which is why I'm planning on trying to maintain a pace of around 9:30 for all my runs this week. We will see how it goes, and hopefully I'm able to accomplish it! This is one of the first races I've actually had a decent amount of training before (and yes, I know it's only going to have been 2 weeks, that's how sporadic my running was before), so I'm hoping that will help me run a PR.

I've been thinking a lot about the princess half marathon in February, and am getting really excited for it! There are times when I wish it was sooner, although I know I'm going to need all this time to get myself ready. I have read a lot online and have learned a lot of great ideas! One of my favorites is to put aside a $1 for every mile you run to save up for the trip. This is such a great idea! Money for me with being in med school and mostly living off loans is tough, so this will be one great way to try and put some aside upfront. Someone else also suggested cutting out things like buying your daily coffee in the morning and instead making it at home. Another great tip. Something else I thought was very motivating was to keep track of where your longest runs each week would have gotten you to looking at the route map. This sounds great! It is such a great way to look at how far you have come and what cool things you would have already seen with that run distance.

I recently heard about a whole new fantasyland that is in the works at Disney world set to open later this year. How exciting is that! I'm really hoping they incorporate it into the route so we can see the new stuff while running. Anyone know anything about this?

I'll be back next week to report again on how my trainings been going and to recap my race! Have a great week and happy running!

Jennifer

Girl on a Mission

Hello everyone!

Welcome to my new blog! Some of you may already know my from my Confessions of a J.CrewAholic blog about fashion and such, and to others I may be completely new. I'm Jennifer, currently finishing up my third year of medical school. I have ran on and off for many years since I was younger, but just recently started doing organized races in 2010. I've done 3 5Ks since then, with fairly little training. My running schedule had always been very sporadic, running for a few minutes here and there, nothing ever very consistent.

Within the past week, that all changed. A friend of mine mentioned to me a challenge that she saw on Runners World. The challenge was that from memorial day to the 4th of July, you run at least a mile every day. I decided sure, why not. A mile a day isn't so bad, I can do this. So far I have been going strong for 5 days and excited to keep going!

For quite some time now, I have thought about doing some longer distance races including a half marathon. I actually even went so far as to sign up for one last May, but didn't end up training for or doing it (oops...). Last week, a friend of mine mentioned something about the Disney marathons. I had known about them previously, but this conversation sent my head into a tizzy. If I was going to train for and run a half marathon, why not make it one at Disney, the happiest place on earth?? Since then, my thoughts became completely consumed with figuring out which race would fit best within my schedule, and figuring out how to do it.

Initially, I was thinking that the Disney Half Marathon in January would be perfect. It was right at the end of a month off school, and I had plenty of time to train before then so that wasn't an issue. Then I realized that interviews for residency (which I will be undergoing this fall) can span up through the end of January, even though most are finished by the end of December. I didn't want to risk planning to run this half marathon, and then having to turn down an interview for a potential residency spot.

Then I stumbled across the Princess Half Marathon, which is at the end of February, and should definitely be after my interviews are over. Then... I saw the finishers medal...

photo courtesy of google

I just about died and decided that medal just had to be mine, haha. No, that is not my only motivation for doing this run, as I mentioned, I've been wanted to run a half for quite some time now... but I think its not bad motivation either :-)

So here I am. Join me on my journey to the Disney Princess half marathon, and wherever it make take me from there!

Jennifer