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
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
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 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.
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
Monday, July 23, 2012
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
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
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
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
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
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
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!
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!
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