Dumbo Update

 

Today there was some exciting news put out over Facebook & Twitter for those of us planning to run the Dumbo Double Dare in California starting August 30, 2013. 

Our official race number (bib numbers) our out!

 

 I don't know about you, but I just loving getting my number. It not only get me super excited that the race is getting closer, but I think it is so fun trying to figure out where your number will end up placing you in the start corral for the race.  

 

My number this race weekend is 22437, so let's hope it is a lucky one!

 

Do you enjoy finding out your bib number? If you are running at Disneyland Half Weekend please share your bib number.

 

 

Independence Day Fun

 

The Forth of July has never been one of those holiday's that I just love. Sure, I appreciate what the holiday stand for and I even enjoy getting the day off work, spending time with my family, and eating hot dogs & watermelon like every other American, but sitting around all day, stuffing my face, while waiting for the nightly fireworks show, has never been my favorite past-time. Don't get me wrong, I love a good fireworks show (especially a Disney one). Maybe it is because my families idea of a Forth of July fireworks show means my husband buying the most dangerous and expensive fireworks made, my boys so hyped up with excitement that they almost burn the place down with the punk to light them, me running after everyone to try to keep their fingers and toes from being blown off, all while we desperately try not to be carried off by Florida's state bird,

 the mosquito!

 

 

This year my family and I decided to do thing a little differently. Instead of sitting around, eating and being generally lazy,  my day started with the Firecracker 5k! I headed off to the town of North Port as the sun was rising to run this 3.1 mile race. It was in a nice area of town and if it hadn't been so wet from all the rain we had the night before, I am sure the course would of been better. Never the less everyone was out in their red, white and blue and proudly displaying their patriotic spirit. I even was lucky enough to run into some new friends from a running group I just recently joined, Run For God, and it was very nice to get to spend some time before and after the race with them. Overall, it was a good way to start the day and a good run for me. I finished in 30 minutes 19 seconds, which was a new PR!

 

That afternoon my family and I adventured out to swim across our local harbor (about two miles) in the Annual Charlotte Harbor Freedom Swim. It took almost two hours to get across and it was an adventure we will always remember.

 

You can imagine after spending a morning/afternoon burning off more than 1,500 calories, it was time to finally enjoy some All-American Forth of July food and the night wouldn't of been complete without a spectacular firework show, mosquitos included, put on by my favorite men who still have all ten fingers and toes (because of me)!

 

What did you do for the Forth of July? Did you run a race? If so, which one and how did you do?

 

God, are you talking to me?

 

Today, as I was checking Facebook, this saying from C.S. Lewis popped up in my news feed. I read the words, looked at the beautiful picture, but didn't really thinking much about the meaning of these two simple sentences. I continues to look around Facebook, reading a few running quotes, looking at some pictures, and then out of nowhere it popped up in my line of sight again. So, this time I re-read it, and really took the time to understood the meaning of those 16 little words.  "Don't shine so others can see you. Shine so that through you others can see Him."

If you don't know me, I am a Christian, working everyday to have a closer relationship with my Creator. I want to know Him better than I know anyone else, I want a relationship with Him greater than any other relationship I could ever find here on earth, and I want to know his will for my life so I can fulfill it (I figure less heartache for me if I am with His plan, instead of against His plan!). I know these things are what will give me the contentment, peace, and love we all search for in this crazy messed up world. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33 

 

So, when this quote by C.S. Lewis kept coming to my attention this morning and then weighing heavy on my heart throughout the day, I decided the Holy Spirit must be trying to tell me something.

I have to be honest, I am a work in progress when it comes to my Christianity, not always knowing when God is trying to speak to me, and most times too busy to even notice, but sometimes he knocks me over the head till I finally listen! Today, is one of those days. Now, I just have to figure out why he wants to bring this specific quote to my attention and what does he want me to learn from it.

 

My first thought was this blog. Why? I am not sure, but I think it is because deep down I wonder if sharing my goals, my accomplishments and my Disney fun is too self centered. Am I shinning so everyone will see me? I think there is enough of that in the world today, look at the people who are famous for absolutely nothing, like the Kardashian's, Pairs Hilton or the numerous reality stars. That is not why I originally started the blog, I honestly thought it would connect me with other like minded people, inspire me to be a better runner, and even maybe inspire someone else to get out and run.

 

So, where do I go from here? That is a good question. One thing I have learned throughout the years is to always seek His council first, so I plan to pray! I will pray to see if I can use this blog to show His righteousness instead of my own and if not, then it is time to move on. Life is to short to waste time on things that are not of His will! So, I ask for your patience while I figure it out. 

Until then, what are your thoughts?

 

 

Disney's Princess Half Marathon Registrations Opens

 

Today at noon, Disney's Princess Half Marathon Weekend registration officially opened to the general public. As always, there is a buzz in the running community. I have seen many post from fellow runners who have signed up for one, two, or all three of the races that will be held next February, 2014 (yes, that is seven months from now!) . I personally will not be running at Princess Weekend next year, mainly because I already signed up for the inaugural Walt Disney World 10k in January. So, I actually get to sit back and watch the madness of Disney registration from a whole new perspective. 

 

 

It is funny how high pressure Disney race registration has become in the last year. The days of thinking about signing up for a runDisney race, months after the registration has opened are long gone it seems. Now, you better know way before registration day if you want to run a race, and then you better get to the registration site within the first couple hours of registration or you may just miss out! As of this very moment (three hours since registration opened) the new Glass Sipper Challenge (19.3 miles ran in two days) is almost filled to capacity! I can almost guarantee it will be sold out by the end of today!

 

 

 

So why has it gotten so stressful and crazy to register for a runDisney race? I don't know if it is because they are offering new race distances, new medals, more opportunities to get additional medals in a race weekend or maybe it is just a tremendous boom in runners finding out how awesome runDisney races are. No matter what the reason is, just know if you want to be a part of the runDisney magic, be prepared! 

 

Did you sign up for a Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend race? If so, which race are you running? Do you think registration has gotten more stressful in the last year?

 

 

 

National Running Day 2013

Yesterday was National Running Day and even though Tropical Storm Andrea was moving onto the West Coast of Florida, I had to make time for a run on this special day. Of course, who better to run with than the awesome folks at Fit2Run Estero/Coconut Point!

 

 

 

It was very wet and humid, but what an awesome turn out of runners and afterwards we all celebrated National Running Day with a one-of-a-kind Fit2Run Party! There was food and drinks supplied by Hurricane Grill & Wings and some awesome giveaways (Gift Certificates, Nathan Arm Bands, Lace Lock Shoelaces & 2 GPS Timex Watches) from Trek Bicycle Store & Fit2Run!



Store Manager, Kimmi Van Der Veen drawling names for the giveaways!

 

Best of all, my sole sister, Jen Lombardi (Travel Girl On The Run), was there to celebrate too! She has been home bound recovering from emergency surgery she had three weeks ago, so it made the day even more special!

 

You wouldn't even know she had surgery from this picture!

 

How did you spend National Running Day? Did you get out and run?

 



Having a Grand Day at Walt Disney World

If you know anything about me, you know I have a love for all things Disney! It started when I was very young (my first visit to Walt Disney World was when I was one years old), but as I grew-up, got married, and had kids, my love for Disney grew too. I think Walt Disney was a genius creating a magical place where parents and children can just have fun together, and that is what I love most about it.

This past week I have had the great pleasure of visiting Walt Disney World again, probably for the hundredth time (I lost count long ago), but this time my stay with my family was extra special. You are probably asking yourself what could make a Disney trip more special, it's Disney, well this trip was a gift given by two very generous peoples, who wanted to share a little Disney magic. Their thoughtfulness and kindness enabled us to experience parts of  Disney we had never seen before, and I am extremely grateful to them. Isn't it amazing how God puts people in your life that help make your dreams come true?

Our accommodations for our stay were in two connecting rooms on Club Level at the beautiful Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. I have never experienced club level before and boy what a pleasure it was! As soon as we reached the door of the resort there was a nice cast member there to greet us, she walked us right up to our floor,  made a quick stop by the concierge desk to pick up our keys, and took us directly to our rooms. I never had that happen before! The rooms were very nice with each having two queen size beds, a desk, a lounge chair, a sleeper couch and the best part of all, a balcony facing the pool and space mountain. I got to watch the fireworks from the Magic Kingdom, from Epcot and the Electric Water Pageant on the Seven Seas Lagoon every night in my pajamas right from my very own balcony! We were pampered beyond belief at the Grand, with food and drinks offered throughout the day, live music filling the halls daily, nightly turn down service, and our very own personal concierge, Bonnie.  She and her coworkers offered us everything from a friendly hello/goodbye every time we walked onto the floor, to park tickets, to dinner reservations, and even a cabinet filled with DVD's for the kids to take and watch in their room. It was so nice to be pampered of by such a wonderful staff.

On this trip we decided to enjoy one of Disney's great water parks, Typhoon Lagoon. Surprisingly, this was another first for our family. I had the pleasure of visiting Disney's first water park, River Country, when I was a kid but my family has never made it to Typhoon Lagoon since it opened in 1989 (it is kind of hard to do water parks when kids are ao small). We all really enjoyed our day there and tried every flume, slide, or tube ride they had to offer. I think my kids favorite part of the park was the huge wave pool and would of been happy spending their entire day just riding the waves. I personally enjoyed the lazy river and made a couple of trips around the park, in true lazy fashion. My husband, the adrenaline junkie liked the Humunga Kowabunga a "speed slide" that send riders downward five stories in seconds reaching speeds of 39 mph.

It was a magical stay that will hold a special place in my families hearts! Special thanks to Tom & Candice Wroe for making our magical stay possible.

Have you ever stayed at the Grand Floridian? What is your favorite part of the resort?

 

Fit2Run Grand Opening Fun

 

Last Thursday I attended the official Grand Opening of Fit2Run - Estero/Coconut Point. You are probably thinking to yourself, yeah, so what. How much fun can a grand opening be, but let me tell you, it was a party not to be missed!
 

 

 Before I could even make my way into the store, I was greeted by some of the wonderful staff of Fit2Run, handing out the cutest bright yellow tech shirts, raffle tickets and a goody bag filled with all kinds of running swag. If you didn't know, runners love their swag (even if sometimes they don't know what to do with it), and this was some pretty good stuff.  Each goodie bag had a Nathan Flip Straw Pure Bottle, a pair of Feetures Ultra Light Socks, a Brooks candle, GU Chomps, Sport Wash Detergent and the cutest foot key chain by Vibram.
 

Items in our goody bags.

After getting all excited about my goodies, I made our way into the store. It was filled with people, everywhere! Who knew that store could hold so many people. There was a live DJ playing all my Disney Pre-Race favorites like, Cupid Shuffle and the Cha Cha Slide and the room was jumping with energy.

Right away I noticed some of my fellow Ambassadors and made my way through the crowd to say "hello".  It was so great seeing all of them, in their normal everyday attire for once (lol, it is usually running clothes). This years Fit2Run Ambassadors have got to be the funniest group of people you could ever throw together, and I had such a good time hung out with them. We talked, enjoyed some wonderful food by chef Craig Chasky, drank champagne, and listened for our names to be called in one of the hundred drawings the store had that night.


Ambassadors - Ken, Melissa, Jen & Holly

Fellow Fit2Run Ambassador Holly & I

2013' Ambassadors - Jill, Hollie, Pablo, Jen, Ken & Melissa

It was a fantastic Grand Opening filled with good friends, good food, and lots of prizes (Jen and Jill both won a pair of running shoes!), at one of the best running stores around, Fit2Run.

Jen winning her pair of Nike Tennis Shoes

  Have you ever attended a grand opening for a running store? Did they do anything special for those that attended?