You know when you start a blog and then life gets in the way?...

So this happened...

I was a pretty terrible blogger to begin with but then this. This wonderful life encompassing bear arrived! And in planning for his arrival there could be no blogging and well... Let's be honest I got lazy. Now I'm busy and lazy but trying to make a third and final stab at it.  I'm back running after having this little one in August of 2014.  I ran the Palm Beach Half Marathon (see race recap) followed by the glass slipper challenge. For some unknown reason (I say unknown but it's really to add structure to my life after leaving my job- I went back for four month and just couldn't stand it)  I signed up to run Grandma's half marathon in Duluth, Minnesota this summer.  On my slow return to running I've loved reading others recaps of starting to run after having a baby. I'm surprised at how much I've slowed down and at least for me how long it's taken to get the baby weight off. I knew I gained too much but I thought that for sure with training it would fall right off, but it's been a lot harder than I expected.  So here's to losing that weight, blogging and running.  I look forward to seeing you at a race soon!  

Women for Women 5k/10k

Attention all South Florida women runners!  This was a great local 10k.  Perfect for getting those valuable proof of time stats up! I found this race through accuchip timing.  They provide course support for many of the local races and list all of their upcoming races on their site.  Just a plug for accuchip- they are wonderful to work with and they have official race results online within hours of the race.

Virtual Race Opportunity: Just a Little Dopey

Runner Wendy Colonno is currently registered to run in the Walt Disney World Dopey Challenge, in January, 2014. So in keeping with the theme, she is hosting a Virtual race: a 4.89 mile run commemorated with a "Just a little Dopey Medal". I signed up and ran my 4.89 miles this past Sunday. It was a great way to turn an average training run into something "just a little" more fun. 

Loved this post from Disney Parks Blog: Which WDW Park should you visit first!

Disneyland Dumbo Double Dare Training Plan

The Disneyland Dumbo Double Dare will be my first foray into back-to-back racing.  I sure hope I like it since I've signed up for the Walt Disney World 10k (Minnie) and Half-marathon (Donald) and plan to sign up for the new glass slipper challenge.

Nike Women's Half Marathon: Washington, DC

 After being wildly surprised that our little group made it past the lottery process, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to run the Inaugural Nike Women Half Marathon.   From the "expotique" to a phenomenal course it was a unique and wonderful experience.  

Support Our Troops 10k- North Palm Beach, FL

Hello new PR!  Keeping in mind my limited experience in running races as a backdrop for this next statement- this is what local races are supposed to be like and be about.  Much like my experience last fall with the Sailfish Striders Halloween Half Marathon, this race was well organized, supported a great cause and highlighted a beautiful area of South Florida.

Shamrock 10 miler and 5k

For Palm Beachers this is the largest St. Patrick's Day race around.  I ran this race (the 5k) for the first time last year.  In 2012, this race was coupled with a great "Spring Training" 10k that wound through the neighborhood's surrounding Roger Dean Stadium, home of the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals spring training games.

After a much too long hiatus... Hello!

Wine and Dine Meet Up!

So I start a blog to write about my adventures in running and then failed to write about my adventures in the running. Terrible follow through, I admit. So here is my race recap for the last 6 months. 




Disney Wine and Dine: Jingle Jungle 5k
What a fun race! I loved the morning 5k through Animal Kingdom.  There were tons of characters and I stopped for every picture.  Highly recommended.

Wine and Dine Meetup!

So. excited. can. hardly. type.  That's right all, I made it into the Wine and Dine half-marathon meetup!  After tossing my hat into the ring last Thursday, I will be spending my Friday morning on a 2 mile run with Jeff Galloway and official runDisney nutritionist Tara Gidus!  I can hardly believe that I get to go and run with an Olympian, how cool is that?  As as a wise woman tweeted... I think this makes me "officially" a runner now.

Half Fanatic #3070

Half Fanatic #3070

I am excited to announce that I am officially a Half Fanatic! More specifically HF #3070.  I met a whole group of these crazy people at my first Disney Race (you know, the one that started it all?) and for the last year I have been planning my ascent into membership.  With four half-marathons scheduled over a period of 6 weeks, I knew I could qualify.  However, keeping in mind that this has been a goal of mine since I started running, I decided not to jinx my status by going for a higher moon level... perhaps I should explain.

Oceanside Physical Therapy Halloween Half Marathon

Wow.  What a difference race organizers make.  As you may remember, my last half marathon? Not so good.  Frusterating, tear producing, bad in fact.  But yesterday's half-marathon? Well, let me tell you. It was awesome.


I drove up to Jensen Beach at a ridiculous hour for a Sunday morning, but again all of this early morning running is perfect training for my first marathon in January.  Kimberly, my local ROTE friend was starting early with her Galloway group and as I drove in all you could see in the pitch black darkness was hundreds of bright flashing lights running along the road.  It made for the perfect fun/scary start to the race.  I parked and grabbed my timing chip and race goody bag.  I cannot tell you how excited I am by the race shirt.  It is amazing!  Long-sleeved orange tech shirt with a very cool zombie graphic. I'd compare it to a shirt you would expect to have to buy at an expo as compared to the race shirt itself. 

My First Half-Marathon: Vero Beach Beachside Half Marathon

Vero Beach Half Marathon 

So Saturday, October 13th.  A day for the personal history books: my first half-marathon.  I was so thrilled that I would be taking on this event with my fellow ROTEr, Kimberly.  The race was about an hour and a half from our house, so I woke up at 4 am thinking- I feel okay, sleepy but okay which was reassuring for the 3am Disney marathon wakeup call I'm expecting in January.

I arrived at the race start at 5:50 and was worried that I was majorly late. According to the event website, bag check started at 5:00 am,  packet pick up at 5:30, with race start at 6:30 sharp.  But, I was able to get a great parking spot and headed for the check in pavilion.. First thing that went wrong (I'll let you in on a secret- there were many)- they had "misplaced" my registration.  I was relieved that I brought my receipt along.

Second interesting change from expectations (i.e. wrong thing 2) the race shirt in my packet- a white cotton t-shirt with black writing. Huh.  I could have sworn that they promised long sleeved tech shirts with that $85 race fee.  The fellow behind me asked where he could check his bag (as advertised) and was informed "oh we decided not to do bag check" (wrong thing 2.5) Oh well, I thought, moving forward lets get ready.

I headed back to my car, put all of my gear on, pinned on my bib and headed off to find Kimberly.  We made our way to the start line and I was excited that they had pace groups.  In the back of my mind I wanted to try to stay with the 2:00 group or at least keep them in sight, but my fear of running out of steam half way through kept me in the back of the pack.  At 6:30 am sharp we were off. The weather was great and I after reviewing the course map I was ready to run two bridges, see some beautiful water and eye several chic beach hotels for future weekend trips.

Tower of Terror Race Recap

Two weeks after the fact here is my Tower of Terror recap! (yes, that does rhyme and yes, I thought about it).  My overall impression? Thrilled to have finished.  But let's start from the beginning.

We arrived at the Port Orleans Resort (Riverside) on Friday afternoon and after getting settled in our wonderful room, we headed out for the Expo.  We should have taken Disney transporation because we had to park football fields away and got caught in the rain. But we made it inside and picked up our race bibs.  DH (J) was ready to take on the 5k with me in the morning and chEAR me on for the 10 miler that night.

I picked up a great race shirt at the Disney merchandise area, registered for the Princess half marathon and found a perfect sparkly headband for my evening costume. We headed back to the hotel for dinner and to lay out our frog costumes for the morning. 

Frogs 2012

We were in Corral D for the 5k and with the narrow course we had to walk most of the way. It was rocky, slippery, and a bit difficult to run but J loved it.  The course was light on characters and heavy on humidity but it had a fantastic atmosphere and everyone was in a festive mood.  After the 5k we headed to Kona Cafe for a delicious and carb-laden breakfast in preparation for this evening.  I know, I know the nutrition guides say that those extra sugars won't manifest themselves in your long-term glycogen stores, but hey I was looking for an excuse to try the Tonga Toast and a 10 miler at night seemed to fit the bill.

First Post.

First Post!  So, right. First post. Have already googled how to name a blog.  Subject matter + food group, reference to where you live, add an -ista to a major brand/idea/subject matter, pose a question... none of which I followed because even with guidelines, I am lacking in the creativity department. 

Disney Wine and Dine Relay 2011

So here it goes, sans googling. I am a new runner and a new Floridian.  My wonderful and exceptionally understanding husband and I entered the Disney Wine and Dine half marathon relay in September of 2011 and I have been hooked on running ever since.  Now, I soon came to realize that not every running event had a massive expo with all sorts of things to buy and that not every running event has fireworks at the start and entertainment at every mile.   But even knowing that, its been a great year with great events so far.  With inspiration from runners I found through a Disney running site, www.runningoftheears.com (ROTErs), I decided to start this blog in order to provide local race recaps, post race results and hopefully hear from local and not-so-local runners in the process. 

How was that? Blogish? I hope so.  Here's to a great year of running.


~ Meg