March Race - Disney Princess Half Marathon

I am a bad-ass, fleet-footed, kick butt Princess. Sunday was the inaugural Disney Princess Half Marathon. This was my effort to redeem my less than stellar showing in DC at the MCM, so I was training for a time of 3:00. My marathon time was 6:13, so I figured, unless I wake up in the same state I did for the marathon, I was definitely going to make 3 hours. I would like to preclude that my last race, the 5 points of life 5K was my fastest pace ever! I flew by with a 10:25 pace, that shocked the pants off of me. (Well, not literally, but you know what I mean. Maybe next race ;-)

Saturday night/Sunday morning was daylight savings time, so we had to move the clocks forward an hour (you know - spring ahead, fall behind) What this meant was that I had to hit the sack about 8:30 to get enough sleep to not be dragging ass the next morning. I was staying with my cousin Michelle at a house my other cousin, Phaedra and her husband and two daughters were renting for their vacation. I was a little worried that I wasn't going to be able to fall asleep with a very rambunctious 6 and 3 year old in the house, but I was so exhausted I passed out at 8:30 anyway.

I made sure I set 3 alarms on my cell phone and my cousin set her alarm too. However, at 4:30 a.m. (new time) my cousin comes into my room and says, "Kristina, it's 5:30." I FREAKED! Holy shit! How did I sleep through 3 alarms? The race starts at 7:00 am and we have to get dressed and get to Disney (about 15 minute drive), park and get to the start line!? I look at my watch, which I conveniently did NOT adjust, so I would be sure not to get confused in case my cell phone didn't automatically adjust for the time change and it read - 3:30. Which means that it is really only 4:30 and that is precisely what time I had my alarm set for. WHEW!! Tragedy averted.

We make it to the race and park the car and still have time to pee, which is good, because the 50 port-o-lets that they had were hardly enough for the 6200 women that were running. I leave my cousin and head to the start line. It was awesome! 6000 women and most of them are dressed as their favorite Disney princess. I saw Snow White, Cinderella, Belle, Tinkerbell. The few guys that ran were even into the spirit - I saw a guy dressed as a frog prince. And, sorry fellas, it is not cool to run wearing a tutu, but I give you a thumbs up for channelling your inner princess ;-)

Well, I am standing at the start line and my stomach starts growling and I realize that I forgot to eat breakfast. OOPS! Oh, well, no turning back, and I did have a big dinner, so I sucked it up and the start gun goes off.

I feel strong and my legs are working well in the cold 45 degree temperature. I was fortunate enough to qualify for the first corral of runners, so I think that gave me a bit of a mental advantage. I reached the first place where my cousin could watch for me, about mile 4 and I am flying! I grabbed a protein bar from her and choke it down so I can have some fuel for the next 9 miles. About halfway through we got to run through the Magic Kingdom and straight through Cinderella's castle! (I'll have pictures of that soon) People were cheering us all the way, it was so cool. After leaving the Magic Kingdom we headed past a golf course and through some service roads that most people don't get to see at Disney, then it was off to Epcot, which was our final destination. We ran around Spaceship Earth (the big golf ball thing that is associated with Epcot) and then the mad dash for the finish line.

As I crossed the finish, and looked at my stop watch, I couldn't believe the time - 2:30. I was way below my anticipated time of 3 hours. My fairy godmother gave me my medal and another sprinkled me with fairy dust. My cousin was there cheering for me, it was truly a great moment. All doubts I had about being a race competitor vanished.

I always set such high standards for myself and then get discouraged when I don't achieve them. As was the case with the marathon. I was really hoping to finish 26 miles in 5:30 and I didn't, so I was really hard on myself and couldn't be happy for the huge thing that I had done which was finishing a marathon.

Needless to say, I am pleased with my time - officially: 2:30:37, which equates to a pace of about 11:30/mile. It makes me feel good.

Here is a shot of the feet that carried me through 13.1 miles, I don't know if you can see it, but I wrote on the insides of both my lower legs "FAST FEET" I think it worked.

The next race coming up for me is the AFLAC Iron Girl 10K in Clearwater on the 11th of April. Last year's time was 1:09, so I am shooting for :59.

Here are the rules:
1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer.
2) Select the 4th picture in the folder.
3) Explain the picture.
4) Tag 4 people to do the same.~No cheating (cropping, editing, etc.)

So, the 4th item in the fourth folder isn't exactly a photo, but a video.

This was taken at my house on my 32nd birthday. I originally posted it in a blog on Myspace titled, "Why you shouldn't put candles on your birthday cake after age 30." My husband, thought it would be funny to put 32 candles on my little birthday cake. These were not regular candles, but the kind that relight after you blow them out. Sounds funny, huh?

Well it would have been except that he didn't account for how he was going to get the candles off the cake to put them out. They all kept relighting and he couldn't get them off the cake. Then to really add to the hilarity of the situation, the smoke detectors went off and scared the bejesus out of the cats and my niece and nephew. We were all laughing so hard! Billy eventually took the cake over to the sink and I thought he was going to turn the water on and put the cake under the stream. We ended up wetting a paper towel and grabbing the candles with that. By the time we were done, my cake had a think layer of wax on the top of it, but it still tasted yummy and we all had a really good laugh.

The next year, no candles on the cake.

5 points of life 5K

In my quest to run in a race every month this year, February's race was the 5 Points of Life 5K. This race was special for me, because my sister was running also. I met up with her and Billy at the start line (I was coming off shift, and about 4 hours of sleep) Sarah and I spent the hour until the start gun, walking and warming up and then it was time to head to the start line. She was so nervous! We were standing at the start line listening to her MP3 player and dancing and jumping around, which I think got her mind off the fact that she was getting set to run in her first race. I remember just how nervous I was!
The siren sounded for the start of the race and we were off! I hung with her for about the first 1/4 mile and then I told her to run her own pace and not worry about the people around her, then I took off. I felt so good! The course was through the UF campus. We started in front of the SW rec center and ran around the complex to Museum road, past Lake Alice to Gale Lemerand Drive and down past the big commuter lot then back around past the entomology buildings and the citrus growing fields back to Hull road and finished in the parking lot of the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. I was pretty amazed that for the most part I passed alot of people and was running really strong.
Fortunately, they were using chips to time us and we were able to get our official race times right there. My time was 32:17! This is my fastest 5K and my pace was 10:24/mile! I was pumped.
After I crossed the finish line and turned in my chip, I ran back to meet up with Sarah and help her finish. She wasn't that far behind and I pushed her to cross the finish line strong. Her time was 45:47! I am so proud of her!
After the race Billy and I took her out for breakfast to celebrate her first race! I think this will calm her down a bit more for the Princess half, which is only two weeks away!
I can't wait, it will be fun to spend the weekend with my sister and my cousin, running and hanging out.

K.

Newnan's Lake 15K

This morning was really cold. Ice on the grass cold as Kim and I made our way to Powers Park and the start line for the Newnan's Lake 15K. I guess there was probably about 100 other crazy people out there, braving the freezing temps. I'm sure most of these people are training for their own personal goals and I was no different. Today was my last chance this month to complete a race and move towards my goal of at least one race each month this entire year.
Kim and I started pretty strong, but then realized that 15K is pretty far. We were towards the end of the pack for most all of the race, but we kept our pace and both of us finished in under 2 hours. My time was 1:50:50, and if my calculations are accurate, I think that I might be able to do the Princess Half in about 2:45!
The route took us from Powers Park on Hawthorne Road, down to Lakeshore Drive, where we ran along Newnan's lake then out to University Ave and turn around and head back the way we came. Other than the sub-arctic temps, the weather was amazing. Watching the morning sun as it reflected off of the water, was amazing. I felt like we all were part of a priviledged group that was lucky enough to experience Mother Nature's gifts. While the rest of the city was sleeping in their warm beds, they were missing out on true beauty. There was even a crew team on the water for their morning practice.
The last 3 miles or so, I picked up a second wind and pushed my self to the finish. I left Kim behind me, but not by much. She is a machine! This was only her second organized race and her first was the 5K last weekend. Her goal was to finish in under 2 hours and she accomplished it by finishing in 1:56 (I think it was her time)
What a great start to a chilly Saturday!

A Personal Goal for 2009

My personal goal for this year is to run in a race every month in 2009. My January race was going to be the NuNu 5K on January 24th, but I didn't get relieved at work until 0830, which is when the race started. My friend Kim was running in it with me, so I had to call her and tell her I wasn't going to make the start. She was disappointed, but I showed up anyway and ran the race from the finish line backwards to the start until I caught up with her and I finished the run with her.
To make up for not actually competing in this race, I signed up for a 15K this Saturday and since I don't work Friday, I will be able to make the start. I am excited about this race, and feel that I have been running strong lately.
My February race is probably going to be the 5 points of life 5K, but I haven't signed up for it yet. For March, I am running in the Disney Princess's Half Marathon with my sister and cousin. April is the Iron Girl 10K, which happens to be the first organized race I ever did. I'm still looking around for May, but hopefully, I'll be able to coincide that race with my 34th birthday.
I will definitely keep updating about my races.
Wish me luck!

Firetrucks are not 4x4s

Last night, well actually this morning, at 4:30 am, we get paged out to a medical call. After leaving the patient's house, our driver was attempting to turn around in the front yard when he got into some sugar sand. Being from Florida, this is a regular occurence, especially if you spend any time at the beach. And you know how much it sucks when you get your own car stuck in the sand. Now imagine that you are driving a fire truck.
Fire trucks are large in nature, but now pack a couple hundred pounds of equipment, another couple hundred pounds of hose, and 4 people and their gear. Sounds like it could be pretty heavy, right? There's more.
One gallon of water weighs 8.3 pounds, we have 1000 gallons on our truck. That is 8300 pounds! All of this weight and it's no wonder we got stuck. No, not stuck, we had the back end buried all the way to the axles! Not much you can do at this point except wait. Wait for someone to come pull you out. Easier said than done. It's easy to pull a car or truck out, but an over 12,000 pound fire engine, this requires heavy machinery. And that is exactly what came to our rescue - A grater tractor. It took him all of 15 seconds to pull us out and we were back in service.
We had to call this poor guy from the city and wake him up early, so he could come rescue us. When he saw us buried in these people's front yard, he laughed. I have to admit I was laughing too. So, needless to say, I have been up since 4:30 this a.m., and it is 12:45pm currently.

Happy New Year's and the Resolutions

First of all, Happy New Year's to all of my friends.
2009 is upon us and naturally we are somewhat obligated to make the ever popular new year's resolutions......
Resolution #1 - Stop letting every little thing bother me. This is a major priority for me, because I think that my constant stressing will ultimately be my demise.
Resolution #2 - I need to be more disciplined when it comes to working out. That means if I have a run or workout scheduled for the day, get off my ass and do it!! No excuses.
Resolution #3 - Learn to say no. I've been trying to practice this, but I really need to start utilizing this very important step to my sanity.
Resolution #4 - Love my husband more and more each day. This should be an easy one.
Resolution #5 - Get rid of excess baggage. This means emotional and physical.
So, there we go, resolutions for 2009.
Now go out there and BE HAPPY!!!
xoxo,
K.