Come On And Do It

I CAN FINALLY UPDATE!!!
I’m not kidding, I’ve been trying to log onto this stupid app for over an effing week. Finally I just deleted it and reloaded. Apparently that did the trick. Sometimes I really hate technology. But I digress.

March was a serious struggle. I started a program that my friend and trainer designed specifically for me to get me ready for the Tower of Terror 10 miler in 6 months (from tomorrow! )
I’m not quote sure what happened, but all of the sudden one bad workout turned into two, and then that pain the ass voice of Doubt knocked me on my butt. And then there was a family issue that just caused me to loose all my focus. like sitting in the locker room changing room crying for 20 minutes and then going and sitting in my car in the parking lot crying for another 30 minutes. It was a rough day, but that day also helped me see that this journey is first and foremost about ME.

This program that I’m on is no joke. I’m in my second week and I honestly can not tell you a day that some part of my body has not been sore. I took today off because I needed it. I think it was more for mental health, but I’m ok with it. Tomorrow is another speed day, and then I have a date with my dad for sushi for lunch. Super excited.

Saturday my sister in law is coming up to go for a run with the husband and I. The 3 of us are signed up for a 5k next Sunday…and neither my husband not my sister in law have started preparing. Hopefully this kicks my husband in the ass to get started on TOT training. he’s going to hate me for saying that.

On Sunday I get to call and make our Disney Dining Reservations! You have no idea, this is my favorite part of going to Walt Disney World, FOOOOOD. If all goes well here is where we will be noshing pre and post TOT:
*Be Our Guest
*Rose & Crown Pub
*Mamma Melrose (Fantasmic package duh!)
*Tusker House (our only must-do repeat, it’s the best place to go for breakfast)
*1900 Park Fare
*and it’s still in the air to do 50’s Prime Time Cafe or Crystal Palace

I will also be ordering my first Sparkle skirt this weekend! The Donor Dash 5k in Philly will be my sparkle debut, I’m so excited!

Come on and do it,
Don’t care how you it’s just how you feel.
Come on and do it,
You’ve got to make it real.
Come on and do it,
It’s time to fee what’s in your soul.
You’ve got to get it right, it’s time, come on freak out loose control!
>

Elevate A Little Higher

As I have admitted before, I seriously suck with this whole blog this. But as I sit here slurping on my strawberry chocolate Shakeology waiting to go to the gym, I got somewhat inspired. Maybe it’s because it’s the first day of Spring! Maybe it’s because I know I haven’t posted in a while. Maybe it’s the lyrics to Big Time Rush… Whatever the reason here I am.

The last 2 weeks have been rough. My dad and I have stepped up our game and we go to Planet Fitness Monday-Friday when possible. I don’t run everyday, as much as I think that’s what I should be doing. But I’ve hit a wall. One day just getting through 2 miles takes every once of effort I have. And then a few days later I’m THIIIIIIIS close to PR’ing my 5k time. Like what the hell. My mind and my body are not in* sync.
And that’s when the doubt starts working it’s way up. I think I’ve done a really good job at staying positive so far, but last week I had some demons to battle. For example…Who the *%>|!£ signs up to do a 10 MILE RUN before they can do anything longer than 3 miles?

My husband goes a really great job calming me down when I turn into a head case. He believes in me far more then I ever could. My dad is also well versed in my craziness and told me to contact my friend who is a trainer to ask her advice. I don’t like to bother her because she is quite possibly the busiest person I’ve ever met. But she cleared her schedule for me last Friday and she’s writing me an insan(ly good) plan of attack for the next 6 months. AMO is legit one of the most amazing people I have in my life. Next week I should be able to start my program and then I’ll start feeling better.

I really admire people who can just go out and run. I have such a long journey to come. My first outside run since October was a hot mess. The treadmill has me so conditioned to follow the numbers on the magic running machine that I’ve forgotten how to listen to my body and pace myself out. I also need to replace my effing heart rate monitor.

But each day is a new day. And I have honestly never wanted anything as much as I want to run these races. I’ve always given up on myself and my dreams. But not this time. I’ve surrounded myself with a really fantastic support system that I’m just realizing I have.

Don’t even hesitate
Just let it escalate

I Have A Dream

No, not the MLK speech (although that is wicked). I’m referring to the next 2 years and how they are going to change the course of my life. As any runDisney fanatic is aware, a NEW race has been announced. This November in Disneyland The Avengers are being called to assemble for a 5k and half marathon.

*insert supreme nerdy giggle here*

Now, I will not be attempting to run in the inaugural race, although how freaking amazing would that be?? No, I have decide that, funding permitted, I will be going for my Coast To Coast medal in the year 2016.
February=Princess Half Weekend 5k, 10k, and half
November=Avengers #SmashTheHalf Weekenf 5k and half

For those keeping a tally, that comes out to 38.6 magical miles

I think I damaged my brain, the idea of this outrageous but I am so excited to begin this journey. After I finish the Tower of Terror 10 miler that is. one thing at a time Jenna…

^ But seriously….how can I NOT earn this?!

Currently, I am still working on maintaining my routine and keeping my mile time between 14 and 15 minutes. Last Friday I did my first 5k since the summer and I felt incredible. I decided to attempt this due to all the posts I was reading about everyone running in WDW for the Princess Weekend. I was able to maintain my breathing throughout and stayed at a good pace of just under 15:30 min miles. I would bump up the speed on the treadmill whenever a really good song came on.

I’ve also started doing slight weight lifting. There’s no way I’m going to be running in my Maleficent outfit with flabby arms in October!

Monday: 2 miles
Wednesday: 2 miles (elliptical)
Thursday 2ish….miles.

I say 2ish because I really don’t know how far I ran since not only once but twice did I pull the emergency stop cord on the treadmill and I lost all my data. TWICE! Good grief.

Going for another 5k again tomorrow. 👍

I have a dream
A song to sing
To help me cope with anything

Honestly, I Wanna See You Be Brave

Ok, part 2 of the last post a few days later.
So, as I’ve made it very clear, the whole point of this journey is to train for the Walt Disney World Tower of Terror 10 mile race in October. Last Tuesday was one of the most stressful days of my life. I have been following all kinds of runDisney blogs, instagrams, and Facebook pages and I had heard horror stories of recent runs selling out in mere minutes! I was not letting that happen to me. So at 11:45am I’m on the runDisney site and I’m refreshing and refreshing and refreshing with my husband on the phone with me calming me down. Finally 12:00 hit! No sign up button. 12:04. 12:09. I’m about to have a heart attack. Finally I refreshed again and the registerbutton appeared! Boy it the sign up process long! It probably didn’t help that I was doing mine and my husbands but it took a good 20 minutes to get us registered and paid for. $300 later…

Huzzah!!!

Now the seriously scary part. Actually trainingto run 10 MILES! Part of my brain still can’t wrap itself around that thought.

I’ve only gotten about 4 miles in this week, and they weren’t pretty. I understand that it is a process and I need to be patient with it or I will fall out of love with this idea or even hurt myself.

Plus, my list of things I need to buy just seems to keep getting longer and longer. I’m trying to decide on which watch to invest in. I had a Polar heart rate monitor for about 5 years but it has decided to die on me completely. I’ve tried new batteries but it just will not sync. So I’m going back and forth between a new Polar:

Or a Garmin:

I can not tell if any of the Garmins also do heart rate. Does anyone have some insight on these?

I also REALLY need to invest in a foam roller. My legs are just in a constant state of sore. The good sore, but still sore. Etsy and Pinterest will be the death of my bank accountme I swear. I want all the sparkle skirts.
And head bands.
And shoes.
And #TrD shirts

*sign* one thing at a time I suppose.

The foam roller is a must purchase this weekend. Pros sibyl more sparkly hair bands as well. You can never have too much sparkle.

Show me, how big your brave is

But You Gotta Keep Your Head Up

So, my plunge into the wide world of blogging hasn’t been as easy as of thought. Aka…I’m lazy. But, I started this blog to keep not only the three people who read it, but mainly for myself to read about this journey I’m taking. It’s not just about the weight loss. It’s about finding myself. oh how cliche I know I know, but it’s true. Also, I happen to be a complete computer retard so I do all of this off of my iPhone. Glorious technology.

Now, since I last posted a LOT has happened. A lot of freaking snow is what has happened. So the last 2 weeks have been hit and miss at the gym. But with that being said, I do actually go to the gym. My dad joined Planet Fitness (huge step for him and I’m so very proud) and he can bring a guest for free, yay for being a mooch!
Let’s see today will be my 3rd time going, it would have been more like my 8th, but Mother Nature seems to think it’s totally fine to snow on my parade. But here’s a look at the past week at both PF and at the home gym I get yo use.

No filters on any of these, it’s all me.

But now I’m going to be late meeting my dad! I’m trying to run 2.5 miles today without stopping. Another post coming very soon, I have more big news!!

This is just a journey drop your worry, you’re gonna turn out fine.

Back In The Saddle Again

Here we go. Day 1 on the road to runDisney. It’s still cold as the dickens outside, so I pulled on my big girl spandex shorts and my 2001 Powderpuff Football t-shirt from junior year of high school and I got on the elliptical.

The fact that I have access to a pretty sweet gym in the house I work at and stopped taking advantage of that is pretty inexcusable. But, until it gets warm enough for me to run outside again this is where I will be. Promise. Pinky swear.

I did 2 miles in 24 minutes which is about what my pace was when I was running in the fall. My ultimate goal (besides finishing the Tower of Terror 10 miler) is to get my miles down to about an 11 minute mile and hold it there.

I do enjoy the fact that I can completely indulge in my reborn love of Grey’s Anatomy while I do this. I think the reason I stopped coming down was my hatred of being bored. And even sometimes while I’m watching, I find myself just stating at the time/mile/calorie counters to figure out when I can stop. Hopefully that is something I can overcome in the coming months.

Next order of business is to invest in another good pair of running shoes. I also need multiple pairs of spandex running pants and high quality sports bras. If anyone has some suggestions I’m alllllll Mickey ears!

No Day But Today

So I have officially decided to start a blog to keep track of my life. I guess we should begin at the beginning.

My name is Jenna.
28 years old.
Married for a little over a year.
Nanny/Life Assistant to a great family.
Swim Coach.
Aspiring runner.
Obsessed with Disney, OAR, reading, and making lists.

If you decide to continue reading my blog you will see a LOT of lists. And possible even more Disney references. You could probably start a drinking game. Or a workout game if we’re going to stick to theme of this blog.

And that’s where we will start. A brief history of how I got to this point.

I was always active growing up. I played softball, soccer, and I swam until age 11 when my mom made my 2 sisters and I pick one sport. I can’t say I blame her, summers were beyond hectic with softball, soccer, and swimming practices and games/meets to go to. So at age 11, in 1995, I made the choice to be a swimmer. (My mom told me years later that she should have persuaded me to stick with softball because I had more natural talent in that sport than in swimming. Gee thanks mom.) And for the next 10+ years, that is how I defined myself. A swimmer . Now, that was all well and good until I graduated high school in 2003, and stopped actually swimming. I got a job after high school teaching swim lessons which I kept for almost 10 years. I happen to really truly love the sport of swimming. Hence the reason I became a coach of my local team. And even though my husband hates how much time it consumes, I wouldn’t give this up for anything.

But, as I said, I have not physically swam more than 20 laps at a time in close to 10 years now. And I gained weight. And I gained more weight. And I found trainers at the gym I worked at to train me. And I lost some weight. Then I didn’t have any money to train. And I gained the weight back. I think you can see the viscous cycle this took. I had no will power. Not even my own WEDDING could motivate me to lose weight.

The one thing that has begun the motivation process is Disney World. More specifically all of the different races that they host there. I heard about the Princess 1/2 Marathon years ago from a parent of a swim lesson. And every year I would say “next year I’m going to do that” and every year I found a new excuse not to. It’s too expensive. I don’t have the time to train for it. It scares the hell out of me.

Well this summer of had enough. There was a 5k that my employers ran last year and were doing again. So I signed my husband and I up and set about the task of running. And it was awful. Everything bounced. And I mean everything. And my feet hurt. And my head hurt. But everyday I would go out and run another lap around the development with the kids. Until one day I was running for a mile. Nonstop. Now, when I day run I mean more of a bouncy walk, but I kept going. And on race day I ran the whole 5k. 3.1 miles of nonstop movement. I came in almost last. And my pace went from a good 11 minute mile to 15 minutes on the last 2 miles, but I finished. And I didn’t stop.

And then I discovered that in October, Disney does a night time 10 mile run around Hollywood Studios. I proposed the idea to my husband that we make our 2014 vacation a run-cation. I’m still not sure how he feels about the whole thing but sign ups are on Feb 11th, and I’m signing the both of us up.

And this blog will follow my training, eating, and excitement leading up to the race and hopefully other to follow!