then we walked some more

Since I'm on this big Disney kick, and I'm having fun posting pictures, I'm going to continue with the rest of our trip. Keep in mind my broken legs and feet were still broken as we went toured Disney World.

We saw a Magical Parade the night after our big run...

And the Amazing fireworks at the Castle (that I ran through that morning).

The next morning we went to Animal Kingdom and met Thumper. What a treat : )

We also met Daisy Duck. She was very nice.

And then of course Donald Duck.

It was pretty wonderful. I ran my run and didn't die. I also got to hobble around Disney World with the Hubs, Sis, and C~. Then I bid farewell to my loverly faithful and painful shoes... till we meet again...

After the 1/2

Like I said earlier, I broke both of my feet and legs while running the 1/2. No one believed me though, so they dragged me along on crazy adventures. All of these adventures involved standing and walking for extensive periods of time.

Note how I am standing... more like leaning on the hubs for support since as you can clearly see my legs are broken.

As you can see from the picture below my feet really and truly are quite broken. Do you see how fat and puffy and purple they are? Seriously. Also, I have black toenails. For this very reason I went out and bough some nail polish to cover up the ugly nasty blackness on my toes. Though, I hear that makes me a true and real live runner.... you know, that's just what I am. I am a runner. ha. Though I will have to say, the warm sand felt pretty glorious after the 1/2... even though I was standing on my broken legs.

The hubs, and C~ decided to go out and explore Disney World after our quick visit to the beach. So we did. Unfortunately, I never got the wheel chair or crutches I requested. As hubs, C~, and even at times Sis, were walking 100 miles an hour I was lagging far far behind, hobbling as quickly as I possibly could to keep up with them. At one point I ran to catch up. Although, the run wasn't so running like. My legs buckled under and gave out. Oh gracious. After that I stuck to my hobble. Although it was slow, it worked and it took me places ... all of the same places I had run past not even eight hours prior. Like...

and...

But hey, at least no more damage was done to my already broken legs : ) Seriously though, it was a fun time

Princess 1/2 part 2

The big morning arrived. Bright and early. Or maybe I should say dark and early, cause that's pretty much what it was. Dark. And Incredibly early. Like 3:45 or something ridiculous like that. Thankfully the sis and I were prepared. We had already pinned the bibs on our running shirts and had our whole running outfit laid out and waiting. I didn't really mean to, or maybe I did, either way I did... break the cardinal running a marathon rule: don't wear anything new on the day of the big run. Well, I did. It was new to me, except the shoes of course. But I couldn't resist, Sis has the absolute coolest and cutest clothes ever on the face of the planet, even for running. So she brought some awesomeness for me to borrow. So sweet she is. Anyhow. We were ready to concur the world. As is evident by the following photographs:

Up and ready to run, run, run, run, and run some more...

At the big event! Right before we ditched the hubs and C~ to start. Personally, I love the tiaras but the entire ensemble was pretty awesome too.

After this we walked about ten miles to get to the starting line at which point we began the 13.1 mile trek across Disney World. That's right. We were so amazing they set fireworks off for us when we started. It was pretty awesome.

Then we ran. At lighting speed.

With lots of princesses.

With big bright smiles plastered across our faces.

I think it would be safe to say I only broke my left and right foot, right and left legs. Thankfully this didn't happen until mile 11 so I only had to crawl towards the finish line for 3 miles, not too bad, I mean, it could have been 13 miles of crawling and dragging myself. But it wasn't.

So we ran. A lot. And it was ... fun. Running was fun. Running the Princess 1/2 was fun. Yes. I said it. I said fun and run in the same sentence. On purpose. How about that?

If I were a super crazy ... like some of these:

(I think you know who I am talking about) I could have stopped to have my photo taken with some awesome and sweet characters like: Captain Jack Sparrow, Aladdin, Tarzan, Belle and Geston, Alice, the Fairy Godmothers... and a thousand others. Well, really, if I had carried a camera with me the whole 13.1 miles I could have done that. But I didn't. I decided to look and smile instead of stand all nasty sweaty like next to some really hott Prince. ya know... priorities.

One thing I did like about the 1/2 was all of the cheerleaders (spectators along the course cheering us on) and the entertainment along the way. These guys were pretty cool. I got to listen for a whole .59 seconds, that's how fast I was :D

But seriously, it was pretty awesome. I would have died if there had been nothing to look at or distract me along the way. I also had a pretty awesome Sis, we ran together pretty much the whole time. Running with her made it fun.

Anyhow. I ran. I finished. It was fun. See, I'm happy and smiling.

I got a medal. And finished with my tiara in place.

This is the after picture, and yes, I am smiling a real smile.

I was quite pleased and tickled with myself for running in a 1/2. Who knows, maybe I will do it again some day... but probably only for a 1/2 I can wear a tiara in and be considered underdressed : )

There is more I can and will share about my grand adventure, like what happened after the run. But that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Now, please leave a comment. If ran a 1/2, you can leave a comment, or at least start following me : ) Or both. Preferably. That would be nice. I would like to know who is reading me.

Also, I promise to start posting regularly again, things have kind of settled down a little so keep your eyes peeled for future awesomeness :D

Princess 1/2 part 1

It's over. Finished. Gone. No longer. Bye-bye.

And it went just like that... snap. Blink of an eye.

I ran a half marathon. That's 13.1 miles to be precise. And really, by the time you add up all of the miles I walked before and after the race it's really more like 10,000. But, who's counting? Not me.

So yes. My grand adventure. My torturous training. My aching feet. My goal. My dream. My crazy idea. Is over.

It's a little bit sad.

You know how it all started... that one crazy idea that popped up in my head way back when... and somehow turned into signing up for and running the Princess 1/2. Who would have thought I would actually do it?

The training was endless. The training was dreadful. And deadly. But I managed. Then I found myself on an airplane flying towards my doom.

The Princess 1/2.

My sister, friend, and hubs, all kept asking me if I was excited, pumped up... Let me think about that, Um no. Thankfully I was too busy to really dread it and it crept up on me like a little alligator.

So it begins: Saturday we went to the Expo Center to get our bibs (the things you have to pin on your clothes while you run) and welcome packets. While we were there we even got some free socks, cause we said we were running for Princess Belle (my personal favorite princess). It was pretty sweet getting the awesome new socks. What was not so sweet about the Expo Center was this:

In case you can't tell, there are millions of people there. Crazy! But that's where we had to go. My favorite thing is to be squished and surrounded by millions of people.

But we survived and then we were rewarded:

Showing our bibs off : )

Yes, that's right, we got our picture with the butlers, I happen to know that the one on the right loves stripes, good pick.

Unfortunately the hott and juicy details of the actual run will have to wait until tomorrow. So come back soon!!

almost there...

Best week of training ever. I don't have to run. Not one single solitary mile.

Until Sunday at which point I will collapse into a heap and die from broken legs.

Oh well, it's been ... an experience.

I will never forget it.

Nope.

permanent

I try to decorate here and there, mostly at my house, and sometimes it turns out looking nice. Other times it can be quite disastrous. Anyhow. I have this problem that comes along with decorating. I'm scared to put holes in the walls. You see, of all of the places I have ever lived (which is countless let me assure you) I was never allowed to put holes in the walls. This was fine. I managed with super glue (just kidding) and duct tape (not kidding). Most things stayed put. But mostly I didn't hang things on the walls. Just didn't do it.

Even now that we have a house there are only a few precious things hanging on the walls. I think the reason I don't hang things on our walls is because it is permeant. Once it's up, it's up. There is no going back. It also means that we are staying in our house for longer than a year (I don't really even remember the last time I lived in one place for a year straight, maybe when I was 10, who knows. I don't). For some reason this scares me a little bit. While I love the fact that we have a beautiful home and I love that we are staying here for longer than I have lived anywhere else in over a decade, it is still a little terrifying to be so ... permeant. Hanging things on the walls only shows that yes, yes indeed, this is our permanent home and we will be here.

So anyway, the other day the hubs and I were out and about with gift card money (the best kind there is) and stumbled across some super cute decorations for our bedroom. We bought them (again an amazing feat as I only looked up and said, "I like those!" and not even two whole minutes later we were buying them. Crazy, I know!). We decided it (our bedroom) needed a little bit of pizzazz and finally mustered up the courage to buy (and keep) some decorations.

I would show you a before picture, except I can't seem to find one. So just imagine a blank blue wall above black head board. Cause that's what it looked like before.

Before picture:

insert the image you see in your head of an empty blue wall with a black headboard on it.

After picture:

No more empty blue wall... no sir. It's a good thing I like this new decor considering as how I just poked 900 little holes in the wall above our bed and am stuck with it either way : )

the locker

So, I really shouldn't be doing this right now: writing that is... at least on here... But I can't help myself. I just have to. I feel like it helps me keep my sanity. That or it's just a really wonderful procrastination tool that makes me feel like I'm being productive. Really, it's a win win. Procrastinate while doing something good and useful. right.

Anyhow. I went running the other day (I seem to be finding myself doing an awful lot of running lately...) and it was miserable. As always. Cause really, can running ever be fun? I think not. I am still trying to figure out how I am going to manage to drag my feet across 13 miles of pavement in less than 10 hours. O, where have my smarts gone? So yes. I went running. I have been going straight to run after I get out of school (that way I avoid the large and busy crowds and just get it over and done with, both of which I quite like). Usually I lug my purse, coat, scarf, hat, mittens, and bag of workout clothes around with me (but really it's not a bag of workout clothes that I'm totting around the gym because I've just changed out of my school clothes into my workout clothes, so I suppose it would be more accurate to say "totting around my back of school clothes"). Either way, I am lugging a lot around. So one day I had the genius idea to utilize the lockers that are available for use in the ladies locker room. I was all excited and crammed all of my crap in the little cubby/locker thingy. Then I set the code. Thankfully I was bright enough to test my combination out before locking my precious belongings in the locker. It worked. I shut the door and left.

Five hours later after I finished my three mile run I went to get my stuff. And the locker wouldn't open. I kept trying and trying but to no avail, my locker was broken. So I tried the one next to it, hoping for better luck. It opened, but there was nothing in it so of course it was going to open. I tried the next one and the next one ... None of them were working, or if they were it was like the second on, there was nothing in it. not so helpful. I decided the best thing for me to do would be to leave. Forget about my stuff, who needs it anyway.

Wait. I do. That's right. My keys are in there and I would need those to get home. After seven more hours of fiddling with the dang lockers I retuned to the original one. The one that was broken. And guess what? It wasn't broken any more. It just went "pop!" and opened right on up and my bags and fluffy coat came tumbling out. Lovely. I just wasted ten hours of my life trying to get a freakin' locker door open. Why it didn't cooperate in the first place I will never know. ... maybe I'm supposed to be working on my patience? who knows.

But yes. That is my locker story. I'm pretty sure I won't be using the lockers any more.