Busy Week, Sick Husband, and Looong Run Sunday

This week was very BUSY in every sense of the word. Busy at work, busy outside of work, busy at school (for Ryan)...just busy. So, Friday night when Ryan said he wanted to go to bed at 7:30, I didn't object. I went right to sleep too. Ryan was just starting to feel sick, and I was just, well, exhausted.

I slept until 7:30 the next morning. The long night of sleep had me ready for anything on Saturday. I finished cleaning the house by 10:30, had a Walmart trip done by 12:30, and went back to bed for a nap by 2:30.

Yes, a nap.

A two-hour long, glorious, Saturday afternoon nap. Thank you.

Ryan ran a fever all day Saturday, other than when he had Tylenol in his system. So, with him feeling sick, he went right to bed around 9:30 on Saturday, even after sleeping most of the day away.

Me, on the other hand, I was wide awake until about 12:30am. I guess 14 hours of sleep will do that to you.

Today, I went for my first long run since the half marathon. Well, I did run 7 miles last Sunday, but that was on the treadmill and it always seems a little easier on the flat surface (I never voluntarily add hills). I ventured out with my trusty Garmin to tell me when I had finished my 8 miles. I ran through neighborhoods and through town, just enjoying the freedom of not having to follow a specific route to know my distance. I felt great, my hip didn't hurt, and I averaged a 9:39 pace.

I am signed up for another half marathon at the end of February. It's the Cowtown in Fort Worth, TX. Some marathoner-friends of mine are going to do the full marathon and asked if I wanted to join. I would love to try for a full, but I still think it's too soon for my hip, so I will be tagging along for the half.

For now, I just hope Ryan feels better soon so he can get back out there with me again. The only running he did today was running a fever all day again. Hopefully this will be short-lived...and I hope I don't get it!

Have a wonderful week!

Race Report: Disney Half Marathon Jan 8, 2011

Let me just say this race was my FAVORITE part of the Orlando trip. The weather could not have been better. It was about 54 degrees at the start of the race and almost 70 by the time we finished. And since we didn't spend any time at Disney this year, this was our only glimpse in the parks during the trip.

Mostly though, it was sharing the event with Ryan, the self-proclaimed nonrunner. The day of the race was also his 29th birthday. Running is something I love and enjoy so much and to see Ryan run a half-marathon...let's just say I've been beaming with pride ever since.

So, since every race report needs a bit of a play-by-play, here we go:

We had a strategy. To jog 3 miles/walk 1 mile. This method helps to prevent fatiguing too easily and prevent injury. This was going to be key to our success since this was Ryan's longest distance ever, and my longest distance since my stress fracture. We were able to stick with this strategy more or less. There were some areas where the course narrowed and was so crowded that we had to stop and walk before it was time, and there were some areas where we took advantage of more room and ran longer than 3 minutes.

Around mile 4-5 we were running through a great cheering section and one guy yelled, "Keep goin' guys, you're doing great! The pain goes away!" I laughed and tucked that motto away for later.

By the time we reached the Magic Kingdom, we were still feeling strong. We took some pictures, and thanks to my trusty Garmin, I saw that we were at about 1 hour 20 minutes at the 10k split. Slow, yes, but on track to finish in under 3 hours which was Ryan's first half-marathon goal.

We pushed along and about a half mile after the castle, I thought, I want to see how the castle picture turned out. I pulled out the camera and looked. There was the picture I took of Ryan in front of the castle, but the picture he "took" of me...nonexistent.

"Ryan, the picture of me isn't there!"

"It took, didn't it?"

"No!" I shoved the camera over to him, proving that the picture did not exist. "I wanted a picture in front of the castle," I pouted...and continued to pout for about the next mile when I finally decided to get over it and not let it ruin the rest of the race. We stopped around mile 8 for a couple more photos. This time, Ryan hit the review button before we started running again...just to make sure.

By mile 10, Ryan's pace had started to slow a good bit. By mile 11.5, he hit a wall. "Screw it," he said and started to walk. "I tried, but it's just not gonna happen."

I looked at my watch, knowing that if we didn't jog this last mile, we wouldn't make it in under 3 hours. "You've got this, Ryan. We just have one more mile. Just like one lap around the park at home. You do it all the time!"

"My ankle hurts."

The words I heard around mile 4 came to mind, "The pain goes away! Come on, it's only temporary...you can do it!"

With that, he started jogging again. We jogged the last mile through Epcot, and when the finish line was in sight, we had barely over a minute to make it in under 3 hours. "Do you see it honey!?! We're gonna make it!" I cheered.

Ryan grinned with happiness and probably down-right relief.

We made it across the finish line in 2:59:55, just barely meeting the goal, but we did it! My hip remained intact, Ryan crossed the finish line upright, and we had done it together.

I am so proud of this guy! This is where we took pictures of each other in front of the castle. The picture of me didn't take.

Here's the view looking up, just as we were about to run through the castle.

Here we are approaching the castle. I grabbed one of the race volunteers to take this snapshot.

Squinting in the sun after the race...medals in hand!

After an nice shower and just before we hit the road for a 9-hour drive.

Ryan, me, Bobby, and Ryan's cousin, Cammy.



I think Ryan has finally caught the running bug. He says he wants to do the FULL marathon next year, which will fall on his 30th birthday. His ankle remained sore for a couple days, but guess what...

The pain went away.

The Overdue Orlando Post

I know, I know...the suspense has been killing you. I promised an Orlando post, and we've been back for two weeks, and still no post.

Well, your wait is finally over. We had a wonderful time. This year, we drove and took our time traveling down to Orlando. We visited family along the way. During our time in Orlando, we spent a day at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure to see the new Harry Potter park. We also spent a day at Sea World.

The whole week led up to the long awaited Disney Half Marathon (which will have its own post). It was my favorite part of the trip. The only downside was that we had to get in a car after the race and drive 9 hours to Birmingham, then 7.5 hours the next day to get home in time to get back to work on Monday. The driving ultramarathon is something I could've done without.

Anyway, click here for a sampling of photos from the trip.

A Video for Your Enjoyment

This video made me laugh out loud. This is how I felt after my first half-marathon. This last one, I had almost no muscle soreness at all. Of course, I did finish a full hour later than my best time. So, speed probably has something to do with it. I'm sure if I ever make it to the FULL marathon, this is how I'll be feeling the day after.

Now, if you're wondering what happened to that last guy, just take a close look at Bobby's shirt below...

Let's just say 13.1 (or more) miles of friction can do it to anyone.

I'll get around to posting more about our trip this weekend. I'm still in the process of unpacking if that tells you anything. I'll get it done eventually!

Fresh Florida Oranges

Fresh Florida Oranges...

and Grapefruit....

and Tangerines...

Ryan's Aunt Teddie has a wide variety of citrus trees, and during our visit on Monday and Tuesday, we had the opportunity to pick our weight in oranges, tangerines, grapefruit, and lemon.

We took the oranges straight from the tree to the juicer.

There is absolutely no comparison to fresh squeezed OJ and grapefruit juice.

We are enjoying our time here in Florida and have a few fun things planned to finish out the week. I'll have lots of pictures to share by the time we are done here!