Inspiration comes in the form of a sea of red!

This past weekend marked the 40th Annual Bellin 10k Run.  The first event was held in 1977 with a total of 881 participants.  Since then, the race has grown by leaps and bounds!  Over the years this has grown to be one of the largest 10k's in the country.  This year it drew in nearly 17,000 runners, including a field of elite runners from around the world!

One of the high point of the weekend was the Friday morning kickoff fun run.  Run with Greatness.  This event is a fundraiser for myTeam Triumph (mTT) and gives anyone who attends, the opportunity to run along side some of the greats, such as Meb KeFlezighi, Joan Samuelson, Uta Pipng, Risper Gesabwa and more.  Sometimes, running at a sub 8 minute mile is worth it, just to get that epic running selfie with and elite runner!

Although this opportunity was priceless, it was not what the weekend was about!  The best was yet to come!

This year, after several years of volunteering for mTT, I decided that it was time to step up my game.  I was going join the fleet of Angels and run at least a few events.  This year one of the events I chose to run was the Bellin 10k.  Shortly after I signed up to run, my friend Lisa decided that she wanted to join me!  We had been looking forward to this weekend since before Christmas!

We were selected to run as Angels for Captain Justice!  We were also joined by another new Angel, Krista on this epic adventure.  Because we all have busy schedules, the 4 of us finally got to all meet each other less than a week before race day - 3 days before in fact!  But that didn't matter, we came together for one reason...

To make Captain Justice fly!

Bright and early (6:15am) Saturday morning, a sea of red converged in front of the hospital to prepare for the days festivities! This was history in the making.  This year, mTT had a record 40 Captains running this event!  Yes!  40 Captains for the 40th annual Bellin 10k!  Combined with their 120 Angels and countless other volunteers, that was a lot of red!  

Everyone came together for a reason...  for a purpose... united together to run the streets of Green Bay on this HOT Saturday morning in June!  At the start of the race, it was already approaching 75 degrees and by the time we finished it was pushing 85!  

One amazing perk of running with mTT for the Bellin - our Captains get RockStar corral placement!  We start right behind the wheelchair division - in FRONT of the elite runners!  Most runners may never have the opportunity to "toe the start line" at a race, unless it's a small, local race with only a few hundred people.  With the way that we were lined up in the staging area, as the sea of red moved around to the start line, Captain Justice ended up right at the start line!  The best seat in the house!  So not only was he starting ahead of the elites, he was one of the 1st athletes to cross the start line!

When I said, sea of red, I was not kidding!  This picture only give you a glimmer of how much red was out on the course!  Unless you have your eyes closed, there is not way you can miss this flood of Captains and Angels crossing the start line!

We headed out, knowing that we were going to take it easy, walk when we had to, and make sure that we had fun!  Another cool thing about the Bellin 10k is the community support.  Since the course runs through both business areas as well as residential streets, there are people out lining the streets everywhere!  Almost the entire course is lined with spectators, chilling in their front yards in lawn chairs to cheer on runners,  putting out their sprinklers so runners have a chance to cool off a bit, and even handing out freezie pops!  Yup, right before we hit mile one, there was a mom and her kids on the sidewalk passing out freezie pops to any runners who wanted one!  It didn't take Justice long to say he wanted one!

For the next 5 miles, we ran, we walked, we laughed, we played in sprinklers, we say Green Bay Packer players (who were giving high 5's as we ran by!) and more!  We all agreed that the one thing that kept us all running - Justice's giggles each time we ran through a sprinkler!  This young man loves water and you could easily see that!  He would see a sprinkler coming in the distance, slide his CD player under his pad of paper and then cover the whole pile with his ziploc bag of markers!  He had this routine all figured out!  Before we knew it, we were at the park, meaning the finish line was just around the corner~

Huge perk again this year - FREE race photos!  Although we did not get many photos from on the course, finish line photos like this, are perfect to sum up what the weekend is all about!  Working as a team to make our Captain's fly!  Approaching that finish line with the massive crowds cheering and hearing Justice name announced over the loud speaker was one of the most rewarding moments EVER!

In the end, this experience was something that will never be able to be replicated.   No matter how many races I run with mTT, this one will always hold a special place withing, because it was the first!   I am already looking forward to training for the next one, but I am also not going to rush to put this day behind me!

3 rookie Angels and one amazing Captain!  Thank you Justice for being the one to encourage us, motivate us and allow us to be your wings!   The weather may not have been what we wanted, but that was a small issue in terms of the magnitude of the experience!

This right here, it why I do this!  Seeing that smile on Justice's face when that medal was put over his head was priceless!   Not too long before this photo was taken, Justice's mom made the comment that is is always so hard for her to get a picture of him smiling.   

Apparently it just takes a race medal to bring one out!

Thank you Captain Justice!

So, if you are looking for something to do that just might change your life, this could be it!  The amazing relationships that are created and built through this fabulous organization are tough to duplicate elsewhere! Offering your time, energy and legs to give athletes the opportunity to do something that they would otherwise not be able to do, is something thing that I don't think you can fully understand until you experience it for yourself!

Road Trip - Destination Indy!

When you get the call to work the race expo for the 2nd largest half marathon in the country, you don't say no!  After months of waiting, Tracie and I were ready to head to Indy for some fun!   6 hours on the road with this girl makes the time fly!  Listening to Beiber and Adele will never be the same again!

By the time we got to to Indianapolis, sleep was all that I had in mind!  But the Thursday morning, I was up early and ready to go, so I headed out for a running tour on the downtown area!  What an amazing, beautiful city!  I was out early enough to miss the crazy morning hustle and bustle.  Once I made it to the trail heading towards the zoo, it was just me, my thoughts and the small critters scampering around.  Next thing I knew, I needed to head back.  I had planned on 3-4 miles and by the time I got back to the hotel, I was at 5.5 miles.  One does not get "lost" on a run, they just discover new places to visit!

The rest of the morning and afternoon was spent  wandering around town, getting ready for the expo and all kinds of shenanigans in between!   The state capitol building, Memorial Circle and of course, No trip to Indy is complete without a stop outside Lucas Oil Stadium - of course the building was closed so we couldn't get a peek inside, but anything was better than nothing!

When we realized that we could actually visit the observation tower and get a birds eye view of the city, we knew where we were heading!  When we got there, we were greeted with 2 options.  1. purchase a ticket to take the elevator up 2. walk the stairs for free!  330 steps?  Game on!

OMG!  You don't realize how far 330 steps is until you start heading up them!  But we were not giving up the fight.  In the end, we made it to the top in less than 5 minutes!  The view was well worth it!  After we caught our breath, took a few photos and enjoyed the view, it was time to head back down!

One of the awesome things about working the race expos is the awesome people I see and meet.  This year, I got to see  Boston Marathon champion and Olympic Medalist Meb, as he was in town to run the Half Marathon.  This year he was running "with the people"... starting at the back of the pack, to give everyone a chance to run with him.  They even had a contest at the Expo - guess how many people Meb was going to pass while he was running his Half Marathon.  

My highlight of the weekend tho?  For all you American Grit fans out there, I had the opportunity to meet and chat with Brooke Van Paris (aka BeastModeBarbie) while she was shopping the booth!  What an amazing, down to earth, yet extremely inspirational woman!  Hearing her story, direct from her, is enough to inspire anyone!  This was her first road half marathon and she killed it!  Although I didn't get a chance to get a photo with her while she was shopping, since I was so busy (one of the downfalls of working one of the most popular booths at the expo), but she sent me this photo, wearing one of the BondiBands that she picked up from the booth on Thursday!  Since the day I met her, I've been doing some reading on more of her story and what it took her to get to where she is, I am more than inspired!  Her Never Give up Attitude is amazing!

Side note: I also just found out that Brooke just qualified for the 2016 Obstacle Course Race World Championships in Canada this October!  Way to go Brooke!!!

After the expo on Thursday, I met up with Tracie and we were on a mission to find dinner and then some sleep.  However, on the way to find food, we spotted a horse drawn carriage that we HAD to go take pictures of!  While Tracie was taking pictures of the carriage. I managed to capture this photo of a pup introducing himself to (hopefully) a new friend! 

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After working all day at the expo on Friday again, when the alarm went off at 5:15am for the race, I really just wanted to stay curled up in bed! I was tired!! But it was race day!  Before long, it was time to take the short walk to the heart of downtown to the start line!

After running the half marathon here last year, it was exciting to be back at the start line again this year, even if I was "only" running the 5k.  Tracie was going all out and signed up for the Mini Challenge - running the 5k and then heading straight back to the start corrals to run the half marathon!  For those of you that know me, this would be a challenge that I normally would be all over.  However, since I was working the race expo for 2 days and being on my feet all day, I was not sure how my legs were going to be. so I opted just for the one (short) race.

In the end, even tho I was running on limited sleep and tired legs, I was very happy with my race. I felt strong, the weather was perfect and I was running in a dress for the first time!  Just a week before this trip, I got my first dress that I ordered from Skirt Sports.  I was not sure how running in a dress was going to be and yes, I broke one of the cardinal rules of running - I tried something new on race day... running, wearing something that I have never worn to run in before.  

Thankfully my chance that I took paid off.  I think I was more comfortable running this 5k than I have for any other race!  Yes, I am a Ambassador Captain for Skirt Sports, because I love their products! I live in my SS whenever I can. I can tell that this dress is quickly going to become one of my go-to pieces of clothing this summer, both for running and every day comfort wear! 

Disney Dark Side Challenge weekend - Part 2

Of course, I couldn't go to Disney and just run one race!

I had to run all 3!

Day 2

(warning - this post is going to get a bit long, but I didn't want to forget any of the fun!)

Alarm set for 3:30am and after a quick shower to help me wake up, it was time to head to the bus... at 4:15am!

I was excited to see a bus pull in a few minutes after I was at the bus stop.  After just a few minutes, we had a full bus and were headed to the start line.  I would find out later, that some people, at other resorts did not have the same luck with early morning buses that I did. From the point in the Epcot parking lot where the buses drop you off, you have a short walk to get to the stage area, where again, there are characters out for photo ops, plenty of placed for you to meet up with friends before the race and grab some last minute breakfast or coffee (if you are one of those people that can actually eat before you run!).  Unfortunately, the start line for the 10k is NOT in the same place as the 5k!  This time, they herded us through the area behind the stage (ample port-a-pot's here in case you need a pitstop!) and along the road that was actually the beginning part ok yesterday's 5k.  By the time I arrived in my start corral (Corral B today!) I had walked almost 3 miles since I rolled out of bed!

I quickly was able to find Mary in the Corral - it was nice to have a friend to start the race with, in these huge crowds!  Remember, I live in Green Bay, I don't normally run in races that have 10,400 participants! (numbers courtesy of Disney Sport News)  Our local Cellcom Green Bay Marathon weekend usually sees a total of just over 8,000 runners between the Half Marathon, Marathon and Marathon Relay combined!  This was just the 10k and it was over 10,000 runners!

Disney starts off each corral with fireworks, not just the 1st corral of runners!  It's kinda nice to see everyone given the same start line fanfare, no matter what corral you are starting in!  At shortly after 5:30am we were off an running.  I lost Mary in the crowd after a few minutes but every once in a while I would catch a glimpse of her/Rey running ahead of me.  I ended up catching up with her just after she stopped to get in line for pictures with R2-D2 (right before the 1st mile marker).  I jumped in line with her, and we had a few laughs while we waited and chatted with the group behind us.  The lines for theses photo ops do seem to move fairly quickly, but for this weekend, I was not concerned about time - it was all about the fun, getting some great pictures and just enjoying running around the Happiest Place on Earth.

After R2 pics, we were off again.  Once again, Mary got off ahead of me, but I caught up to her for Chewbacca pictures.  We followed this same pattern for most of the 10k.  We would lose each other in the crowds and catch up at photo ops!  Running the streets of Epcot, in the dark was just as much fun today as it was yesterday, especially because we took a slightly different route through the park.

This would however, bring us to the one part of the course that I really did not like!  My biggest complaint about the 10k course was the section between Epcot and Hollywood Studios.  We were on a sidewalk, along the river, in front of one of the resorts.  When you have 10,000+ runners trying to get through a narrow place, while trying to keep moving - some running and some walking, caused some major bottle necks.  There were many times during this stretch that we were all forced to walk.  Some ran on the grass just to keep moving, but it was by far one of the slowest sections of the course.  Yes, this is just a short section, but when you are trying to keep a decent pace between photo stop, so as to not completely kill your overall finish time, it is very frustration.  Once you finally pass this section and you arrive at Hollywood Studios, everything opens back up and you can move about freely, at your own desired pace.

About halfway through HS, I ended up losing Mary.  No worries, I was over halfway done.  I enjoyed my run through the park and got myself ready for the last stretch, along the roads to get myself to ESPN and the finish line!  At one point, just after mile 4,  I ended up falling into pace with another gal that was moving about my pace and we kept each other going for those last 2 miles.   Just before we hit mile 5, the course took a turn and we were on a dirt trail, through the woods!  During this stretch of the race, there were more photo ops, great star wars themed music playing and just a ton of fun to be had.  Although it all looked fun, we actually didn't stop for any pics.  We were just ready to be done - it was starting to get warm and again, this WI girl is not used to the humidity in FL!

It was really awesome to see the crowd support during the final stretch of the race!  As soon as we came off the trail and onto the property at ESPN, the sidewalks were lined to people cheering, waving signs, giving high 5's and more!  Then just when you think it's over and the finish is just ahead, you turn the last corner to find a army of storm troopers and more, available for photos!

As I approached the last turn, up do the finish line, my legs were on fire.  I was ready to be done.  I knew that I only had a short distance to be done and about that same time, I caught up to a gal dressed at BB-8.  I told her, "Come on BB - lets go!  We've got this!"  Her legs were ready to be done to, but we pushed that last tenth of a mile together with miles on our faces!  

Done.  As you can see from the above picture, it was a warm one.  In the grand scheme of things, it was actually a pleasant morning, in Florida standards, but coming from WI, I am definitely not accustomed to the humidity and unfortunately I was not able to find my inhaler in my luggage after the 5k yesterday.  Thankfully since I made a few photo stops and got slowed down in the bottlenecks, I didn't actually NEED that inhaler today, but this is something that might come in handy tomorrow!  Time to dig through the suitcase and backpack again!

Today's medal did NOT disappoint!  What Star Wars Fan wouldn't like a giant Tie Fighter medal!?!?  Yes, yesterdays Storm Trooper finisher "medal" was cool, but it was rubber!  Granted it still has a cool look to it, but Disney is the only place I know that you get a finisher medal made of rubber!  This one today makes up for it tho!  Big, heavy and flashy!  Just how I like my race bling!!

Day 3

Half Marathon day!

 

Today, the alarm went off at 2:20am.  Yes that is 2:20 IN THE MORNING!  In my younger days, there were times that I was coming IN from a night out... not getting out of bed to go RUN!   It still amazes me that I actually have learned to love mornings like this!  The excitement of a race, especially in a new place, with new people and new experiences!  And this is Disney!  Why would I NOT be excited!?!  Especially since I decided to go with the Chewbacca costume for today!

On a bus by 3:10am and at Epcot by 3:30!  It was time again for that long walk from the buses, through the stage festivities, and along dark road towards the start line.  Yesterday's crowd of 10,000 for the 10k was increased to over 12,000 for the half marathon!  It was very slow moving from the stage area to the actual start corrals that I was wondering if I was going to make it in time! 

I knew ahead of time that this half marathon was not going to be my usual half.  I was out to enjoy the day, have fun, get lots of pictures and just enjoy the morning.  However when I was walking to the start line, I started to get a weird, almost vertigo type feeling.  Not sure if it was the humidity and heat starting to get to me, combined with the excitement of the weekend.  Or who knows what else!  Thankfully I had some extra Stinger waffles with me (since I wasn't sure how the heat and humidity was going to affect me on this longer run).  While I was walking to the corral's I ate that waffle, drank some more water and hoped for the best.  This was just going to help me make sure that I didn't push it too hard, making me enjoy the atmosphere around me.

Once again, it didn't take long to find Mary in the Corrals - so excited that we were in the same start corral again today!  Yesterday it was so much being able to spend the morning running with her that I was really looking forward to doing it again!

Any runner always jokes around about being in the port-a-john during the national anthem.  No, that didn't happen this morning, but it was close - I was in line for one!  The funky feelings that I had earlier seemed to have lead way to my stomach not being happy with me.  Fingers crossed that this was going to be the last of my stomach and weird feelings.  Somehow, after my trip to the bathroom, I managed to find Mary again in the corral, in time to shill for a few minutes before our corral moved up to start.

Once again, more fireworks at the start of each corral.  Although the fireworks are a nice touch, the rest of the "entertainment" while we were in the start corral's was fairly uneventful.  At the start of a race, I always enjoy music, entertainment or anything else to get me pumped up and excited to run.  The pre-race entertainment was clips from the movie.  Don't get me wrong - I'm a huge Star Wars geek and love seeing the video clips, but I would have hoped for a little more hype!

Before long, we were off and running.  Just to save myself a few minutes on my time, I oped to skip stopping for pics with R2 today, knowing that stopping for Chewy was going to be a MUST today!  I also knew that there was a few more photo stops that I was most likely going to want to stop at.  So I kept running!  Just as I was getting to to my target stop with Chewy, and I was making another pitstop at the bathroom (those actual bathrooms in the parks are like a little oasis!).  I was concerned about my pending visit with Chewy, as I saw him walking into the building near the bathroom!  Hopefully he was not going to be gone long!

After my pitstop, I headed to the Chewy photo op, I found Mary waiting in line so I joined her.  Chewy came back shortly and a few minutes later, I had some of my favorite pictures from the weekend! 

 After a few more miles through Epcot and Hollywood studios (where I met up with a few other Skirt Sports Ambassadors along the way!) and making my way through the crowds, it was off to the next (pretty boring) part of the course... the highway to Animal Kingdom.  Those miles down the highway were long and pretty uneventful!  

But then we finally arrived at Animal Kingdom.  I was actually pretty disappointed that we really were just mostly running around the parking lot... the time that we spent in the actual park was really fairly short!  Yes there were some cool photo ops in the park and in was fun seeing the monkey's playing and yelling as we ran through while they ate the breakfast, this was fairly disappointing.  Not to mention the last stretch as we worked out way back out of the park was very narrow and another bottle neck.  They had an area with more characters to take photo's with, but the people waiting in lines ended up actually blocking the path of the runners just trying to get through.  

As I was heading out of the boring lornar AK, back to the highway, I saw those infamous balloon ladies. Those are the ladies you don't want to see behind you. If they pass you, you will be picked up by the sweeper bus and driven to the finish line... And recieve no medal!  Since they were in their way IN to the parking lot, I knew that I was a few miles ahead of them... They were not going to catch me!

Finally after another long stretch of boring highway miles, in the bright, warm FL sun, we made our way through the trail to ESPN, through the same spectator lines sidewalks to the finish line.  This part of the course was pretty much the same thing as yesterday, so I felt no need to stop for any pictures etc.  I was ready to be done!  Show me the bling! 

I earned it!

This was one of the toughest races I've run, even though I know I didn't push myself nearly as hard as I usually do for a half marathon.  Today was all about the fun, the experience and the memories.  once I got through the finish line corrals, I had 4 medals clanking around my neck as I walked around the finish line area!  It was one of the toughest challenges I have done, to date, and I am so glad that I did it!

Afterwards, I somehow found Mary again!  I had not seen her since Hollywood Studios!  Somehow, at some point, I ended up in front of her and actually finished about 10 minutes before her!  Apparently, she actually stopped for a few more of the photo ops than I did, and I didn't see her in line as I ran past.  Yes, part of me wishes that I had made those few extra stops, but I was warm, tired and hungry!

Thanks again Mary for helping make my Disney race weekend so much fun!  I can't wait until our paths cross again!  Maybe one of these days I will actually make it down to Baton Rouge for a race!  If you even want to come to Green Bay, I have a spare bedroom waiting for you!

1 weekend

3 races

6 Medals:

Storm Trooper 5k

Tie Fighter 10K

Dark Side Half Marathon

Plus bonus medals:

Dark Side Challenge (completing 10k and Half this weekend)

Kessel Run Challenge (completing half marathon in California in January and here this weekend)

Disney Coast to Cost Medal (completing half marathon on both coasts in the same calendar year)

All in all it was a good weekend!

Next and final post of the weekend to come...

The good, the bad and the ugly of Disney Races! 

Reading, learning and rediscovering

Every day is an opportunity to learn.  We are constantly learning.  Learning helps us grow, expand horizons, meet mew people, try new things and so much more.  In reality, we never can learn everything, there will always be something new.

This has been my life in the last few weeks.  

As you may recall, I recently found out that I have 22 trigger foods that have been wrecking havoc on my stomach and intestines, are potentially the cause of my headaches, fatigue and so much more!  I think I have read more food labels in the last 2 weeks than I have in my entire life.

Don't get me wrong, I read food labels before, but never like I do now!  Before I would take a quick scan of the ingredients, but my focus usually was more on the fat, calories, protein and carbs in anything I was considering buying.  Now, I am literally reading each and every ingredient on the label, trying to decipher what some things are, contemplating if it is "safe" for me to eat!

This weekend, I finally tackled the project of going through the pantry and cupboards to sort out what I could eat from what was now fair game for the rest of the family to enjoy.  Everything that contained Milk, almonds, cheese, onions, pineapple and more was set on one side of the table. Everything that was free of all trigger foods was placed on the other side of the table.

In the end, there was definitely more on the right side (avoid side) of the table than the left.  Wow!  No wonder why I feeling the way that I was, if I was eating so many of these foods on the "avoid" side of the table daily!  

How much of it was I eating?  just to give you an example:

Breakfast most mornings was a shake mixed with Chocolate Almond Milk, a milk based shake mix and either a banana or pineapple.  I have since learned that Milk (most Dairy) is a trigger, as are almonds and pineapple!

Now I am replacing my shake mix with a dairy free version and sticking with bananas, strawberries or other fruit!

Lunch was usually leftovers... this particular day, it was baked salmon (now on the list of avoid foods) and green beans (another avoid food!). Yes, I will miss as my salmon and

Shrimp and crab, but I still have scallops and a few other varieties of fish I can enjoy!

In the two weeks that I have been working to eliminate these trigger foods, I feel better, sleep better most nights and am starting to see higher energy levels.  Oh yeah, and I have not had any migraines!

I have also had to stop and think more about what I am feeding my body.  I have gone back to some of my favorite recipes, some of which I have not made in a long time, played with them to see what I could do to tweak them, to fit in the new diet

One of those recipes that I went back to, was my favorite chicken salad recipe!

A few years ago, I posted the recipe for this here and figured that it was time to share it again.. with a few modifications!

This light, summer chicken salad, in its original formula, was made with almond butter.  Since I can't have the almond butter anymore, I opted to make it now with cashew butter!  

What a game changer!  

Shredded chicken (perfect way to use up that leftover rotisserie chicken!), granny smith apples, grapes, cashew butter and honey!

The perfect blend of sweet and crunchy to go with the chicken!

Pure yum!

Yes, I am still learning what I can easily grab to eat when I need a quick snack or am making dinner.  I will continue to work on finding modified recipes for some of the family favorites that right now, I can't make in the same way that I did before... Chili without onions, kidney beans and cheese, just is not the same.   Same goes for sloppy joes and meatloaf.

Yes, this is a tough journey, but I know that it will be worth it in the end!  The next few months might be tough and I will miss my pizza, but if, in the end, it means that I am healthier, have more energy and can avoid the headaches, it will be worth it!  Your health is more important!

Now, time to scour the internet for dinner tomorrow!

Destination Disneyland!

No better way to kick of 2016 than a trip to Disneyland...

unless it's a trip to Disneyland to run the Star Wars Half Marathon!

(note: I am finally sitting down to write this a few months after I came back!)

I will have to say that this trip came at the perfect time.  On Thursday, when I flew out of Milwaukee, it was 10 degrees outside.

When I stepped off the plan in Orange County, it was 65!  You will not hear me complain about the weather!! While friends of mine back home were posting pictures of running on the frigid temperatures, I was living in capri's and t-shirts!

First stop - Packet pickup and the expo!  I was really glad to make this stop on Thursday, before most people arrived for the weekend.  There were virtually no other people in line and I was in and out in a matter of a few minutes with my race bib.  Heading up stairs then for the expo!

I probably could have spent 5 hours wandering round the expo, checking out all the goodies, shiney things and apparel, but I really did need to find some food!  So that won out over shopping for the evening!  

Friday morning started out early as I headed to Downtown for the start of the 5k.  Even though I wasn't running, it was awesome to get down there and be part of the excitement.!  Since I also needed to get in some miles, I found out that from the south end of Downtown Disney to the far north end near the parking garage was a half mile.  I am sure that I got more than just a few odd looks from those walking to the race, of from the Disney employees that were working and select points thru town and I kept running past  :)  in the end, I hit 3 miles right before the 5k started!  All in all, it was a productive morning!

After the race and a shower, it was off to the parks for the day!  Yes, a 1 day park ticket is about the equivelent of highway robbery, but when you are in Anaheim for the first time in 18 years, (and didn't get to go to Disney on that trip) you go to Disney!

The nice part about getting to the parks early, the streets aren't all that crowded!  Plus, when you are not lugging kids and everyone else around with you, you can avoid long lines but hitting the single rider lines!  

To make a trip to California even better than just being able to run at Disneyland?  Finding out that a dear friend from college currently lives less that 5 minutes from your hotel!  After 20 years, it was amazing to be able to catch up with Amy over lunch and coffee on Saturday, promising that it would not be 20 years before we saw each other again! (We actually saw each other again in February when she was in MI visiting her dad and we made the trip up to see them!)

Finally, Sunday and race day was here!  When you wake up at 3am to get to the start line and look at your weather app in California, you don't expect to see 38 degrees!  I had been on the fence about what to wear it was time to make a decision!  Temps were not supposed to get much over 50, so I opted to go with the (heatgear) capri's and lightweight long sleeve shirt under my costume. 

At the start line at 4:30 am!  Time to make it happen!

After spending Friday walking through the parks all day, it was completely different to see them in the dark!  The entire park was lit up and there were awesome photo ops throughout the entire park.  Of course, the best ones were with the Star Wars Characters!  

Each time I stopped, I did stop my running watch as I wanted to get a more accurate idea of how much time I spent running.  In the end, I spent about a half hour waiting for photos with Chewie and R2, but it was so worth it!

Not sure how I managed it, but I timed my run through the park just right that the sun was coming up as I was running through Radiator springs!  Ok, not quite the same as actually running through the majestic areas along Route 66, but it's a close second!

What an experience!  Traveling across the country to run a half marathon, explore new cities, meeting so many new people was so worth the adventure!  I couldn't have asked for a better race to kick of my 2016 race season!

I was at the airport in LA bright and early Monday morning to fly back home.  Happy to say it was a quiet uneventful flight home but a nice way to relax and reflect on my adventure!  I feel so blessed to have been able to take this opportunity and run with it (pun intended!)  Some days, I think my family is convinced that I am completely crazy... there may be some truth to that statement, depending on who you ask.  In the end, it comes down to fining your passion and striving to reach your goals!  

Life is an adventure!  Get out there and live it!

Don't be so busy making a living that you forget to make a life!

What drives you?  What are your passions?  That is a huge part of figuring out what you truly want out of life!