Disney Princess Half Marathon 2013

Last Sunday Mitch and I ran the Disney Princess Half Marathon with Team Girl Power 2 Cure!

We arrived late Thursday night (or rather early Friday morning) after a significant flight delay due to our plane getting struck by lightening.  We hoped that was not the start of a bad weekend!

Friday morning we got up and headed to the expo first thing.  The weather in Orlando was beautiful!  Downtown Disney was right across the street from our hotel, and we took our time walking to the buses which took us to the race expo.

The expo was crowded and a little frustrating, but we managed to pick up our race packets and a few other items!  Then back to Downtown Disney for lunch.  After that we headed back to our hotel for some time by the pool.  Ahhh

Friday night we had dinner with Team GP2C.  It was great to see everyone!  After dinner we headed back to Downtown Disney to the Irish Pub to listen to some music and enjoy the nice night.

Saturday we decided to head to a mall and do a little shopping since we don't get to do kid-free shopping very often.  We had dinner at PF Changs with plenty of rice for some good carb loading.  Apparently when you tell people you are running a half marathon they want to give you things because we got two free dishes in addition to the ones we ordered.  We probably ate a little more than we needed to but it was all delicious!  Then it was back to the hotel to get our race outfits ready and head to bed to try to get a little sleep before our early morning!

Sunday - race day!  My alarm was set for 2:30, but I woke up on my own at 2:26.  Wow, that's early!  Our bus was picking us up at 3:45 and I wanted to have plenty of time to drink a cup of coffee, eat a bagel and get dressed.  Our bus got stuck in traffic trying to get to the race so we were running late and I wondered if I was going to make it to my corral (A) by the start time.  We saw the GP2C tent on our way too the start line so we dropped our bags off there and then headed to our corrals.  We made it with 5-10 minutes to spare.  Whew!

I started in corral A and Mitch was in C because they don't allow men in corrals A or B.  I thought about moving back to start with him but I'm glad I didn't because he said it was so crowded he didn't think we would have been able to stay together anyway.

Blurry picture of the fireworks going off at the wheelchair start

5:35am and I was off!  It was warm - about 70˚ - and very humid, weather I wasn't used to running in at this time of the year.  I was sweating right away so I took it easy that first mile.  My original goal was to finish in  under 2 hours but I didn't think I'd be able to do that with the weather, so I was just trying to enjoy myself.

 Even though I was in the first corral there were still lots of slower runners in front of me, but I tried  not to stress about getting around them just yet.  After the first mile I wanted to pick up the pace a little so I started running in the grass to get around some people.  After the first few miles I felt like I was finally able to run at my own pace.  I stopped at every water stop and drank powerade to try to stay hydrated since it was so warm, but other than that I ran the whole way.

I really did have fun running the race.  I didn't listen to music at all the first 10 miles, and just enjoyed the music and characters along the course.  Around mile 10 I was ready to be done though so I put in my headphones for about a mile and a half, but then took them out as I got closer to the finish line.  The last mile seemed to go on forever, but finally I could see the finish line so I picked up the pace and then I was done!

My finish time was 1:59:52 - just made it under 2 hours!

Mitch finished in 1:58:37.  Not bad considering he was injured and didn't train as much as  he would have liked!

The best part was that we exceeded our fundraising goal, and Mitch got to wear his tutu again!  :)

All in all, another successful Run for Riley!

Next year we would love to get a Team Riley to come with us!

where I run

I like seeing where other people run.  I loved living in Minneapolis for the trail system, and I love going back there every summer to run on those trails again!

This is the trail that goes through my neighborhood.  It's not very long - about 2 1/3 miles - but I almost always run it down and back for shorter runs, or end on it for longer runs.  I love feeling like I'm running through the woods!

Speaking of running - in exactly 3 weeks Mitch and I will be running the Disney Princess Half Marathon with Girl Power 2 Cure.  I can't wait!  Not only will we get together with a bunch of other people who are affected by Rett Syndrome, but we get to run a race in honor of our daughter.  

We are awfully close to our fundraising goal.  If anyone can help us out with the last bit we would be so grateful!

Run For Riley

First half marathon of 2013, done!  And a nice big personal record for both of us!  

On Saturday, January 5th Mitch and I ran the Mississippi Blues Half Marathon.  Two years ago we were both part of marathon relay teams and really enjoyed the race so we wanted to run it again.  The course is a hilly one, winding through downtown Jackson as well as a couple neighborhoods.

My goal this year was to run a half marathon in 2 hours or just under.  I wasn't really sure I could do it in the Mississippi Blues, though, because of the hills.  I tried to run on hills as much as I could in training but my neighborhood, where I do most of my running, isn't as hilly as downtown Jackson.  I figured if I didn't break 2 hours in this half marathon I could try again next month at Disney Princess which is a much flatter course.  Either way I was excited to be running!

The race started at 7:00am, after listening to the Star Spangled Banner played by electric guitar. Awesome!  Mitch and I lined up near a 2 hour half marathon pacer since that was our goal.  All 3000 runners started together so the first mile or so was pretty crowded.  At times I felt like it was a struggle to keep up with the 2 hour pacer.  At mile 3 the marathoners went one way and us half marathoners went another so the course thinned out a bit.  I was feeling good and inched ahead of the 2 hour pacer, and Mitch was feeling even better and ran ahead.  I told him to go on, since I wanted to maintain a 9 minute/mile pace and not go much faster and get tired out later on.

The next couple miles must have been mostly downhill because I kept picking up the pace and was feeling great.  I told myself to get back to a 9 minute pace until mile 10 and then see how I was feeling.  At mile 5 I took half an energy gel with water.  Around mile 6 the hills got worse so I was slowing down but holding steady at just above 9 minute miles.  At mile 7 I took the other half of my energy gel.  After that I stuck to gatorade at about every other water stop and it felt like it was enough.  I walked through the water stops at but otherwise kept on running.

Sometime after mile 9 I saw Mitch up ahead so I made it my goal to catch up to him.  I was passing people and breathing harder and hoping it wouldn't come back to bite me in the end.  Finally a little after mile 11 I caught him!  He was struggling and his calves were hurting (darn minimalist shoes) but we stayed together after that.

When we had 1 mile left to go I looked at my watch and it said I was at 1:49 something.  I was pumped because I knew that even if I slowed way down that last mile I was going to make my 2 hour goal!  The adrenaline kicked in and on the final ascent to the finish line I took off, as much as one can take off running uphill.

Erin's official time:  1:57:43

Mitch : 1:58:06

We both made it under 2 hours with a couple minutes to spare, woot!

And we got this cool looking medal too

Next up Disney Princess Half Marathon!  Now we need to figure out what our goals for that race will be, besides getting Mitch in a tutu.  :)

highlights from Christmas

We didn't do a whole lot over Christmas break, to be honest.  Grandma and Grandpa came, as well as Uncle Bryan and Andrea.  We mostly hung out at home, which is OK!

The girls had Christmas parties at school

We played outside a lot and enjoyed the weather on the nice days

We hung out inside on the not so nice days

 On Christmas Eve we went to church (well, some of us did)

We had a nice dinner

We had a funny looking dog at our house

And of course we opened presents!

And there you have it!

Merry Christmas!

The Angel on the Christmas Tree

The first grade classes at Riley's school had a Christmas program last week and Riley's class sang O' Christmas Tree.  Riley had the part of the angel on top of the Christmas tree.  I thought that was very fitting considering girls with Rett Syndrome are often referred to as "silent angels".

Some of the kids took turn placing presents around Riley.

After the performance we went to congratulate her.  The little blue thing sticking out of her pocket is headphones.  She listens to music while waiting her turn.  Makes her much more patient I'm sure!

Riley always has a smile for daddy!

Christmas Parade

Saturday we took the kids and a couple of Addy's friends to see the Madison Christmas Parade.  Hard to believe Christmas is almost here!

Lucas watched intently

 Riley didn't seem too excited to be there but later that day we realized she was coming down with yet another cold.  Sigh.

Lucas won't sit still for anything!

It was another beautiful day in Mississippi!  Now we better start Christmas shopping!!