Hakuna Matada - Much Ado About May

[MaryJ]

Hi Team!

Sally...glad to hear that you've found a job that it sounds like you will enjoy! Couldn't ask for a better birthday present than that!


Vicky...interesting about what the PT had to say. There was a local offer here on Groupon where a PT group was offering gait analysis at a reduced rate. I almost took them up on it as I've always wondered if that would help with my knee pain. Decided not to do it as I will officially start training for the DL Half next week, and didn't want to try something new now.


Lynn...I do hope that you're done with the snow! We have had a real cool spell here. When I came home from WDW on Monday, the temperature in my house had fallen from 78 degrees to 65 degrees. I had to turn the furnace back on to knock the chill. This is the latest I can ever remember needing to use the heat here. Tomorrow will be my daughters' birthday (they're twins) and I KNOW that when they were little, they were always wearing shorts by now!

AFM...Our trip to Disney with the grandgals was great! The best part was when we first got into our room. Our daughter, son-in-law, and DGD's were still at supper. We stayed at the AKV in a 2 BR, so Ken and I went into the second bedroom and closed the door to wait. About 5 minutes later, we heard them come into the room. Now, my DD hadn't told the girls that we were coming, so when we tiptoed out of the bedroom into the living area, our 3.5 year old DGD saw us and came running to us. And as she gave us a HUGE group hug she said, "I didn't know you were going to be in my vacation!" That alone made the trip for us. We did get rained on at the studios, but otherwise, it was a great trip.

I went out for a run this morning. I can tell that I have been really lax about getting out there are going. That has to end next week!

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

[Pudge_The_Fish]

Hello team!

Hope all of our Canadian team members enjoy their long weekend!

Vicky - For cross training, I have a few Jillian Michaels DVDs, I like 30 day shred best so far. We also have an elliptical that I occasionally use. I don't like the elliptical as much as I used to, I picked it out before we started running, in hindsight we probably should have gotten a treadmill. That radio call-in topic sounds interesting.

Dave - Congrats to Sally on her new job! How did the first pitch at the baseball game go?

Mary - Glad you had a great trip to WDW!

Lynn - Hope your weather improves soon.

AFM - I've only gotten one short run in this week, I took Mon-Wed off. I figured it wouldn't hurt to take a few days off before training for the DL half starts. Also, the weather was cold and rainy for the first part of the week so I didn't want to go out anyways.

Not really sure what we are going to do this weekend. There's an art night in town tonight and you can get into several museums for free. We might see Pirates 4 this weekend.

Have a good weekend!
Emily

 

[windwalker]

sally had a great birthday but was way to shy to get out on the field and throw the first pitch. She did get the job she had been wanting on her birthday though.

Dave

 

[Lynn G]

Good Morning Team!

Mary and Emily - It is about 10 degrees below normal here. Hopefully, it will be nice tomorrow, as previously forecasted - today it looks like there is rain in the forecast for tomorrow also. We are headed down to Colorado for a 34 mile bike ride, no rain would be really nice!

Mary - glad you had a good trip to WDW!

Dave - Glad Sally had a good birthday, even if she did not throw out the first pitch!

AFM - Went for 5K walk with dogs yesterday - then did Pilates tape and some weights - knee really hurt after all that! Scott due home this afternoon, he has been in San Jose for a conference. The highlight of his trip was that he managed to get out when the Tour de California rode thru San Jose, and he got to see them.

Pixie Dust to all who are in need!

Have a great day team!

 

[windwalker]

I haven't done over a 10K this year since the Goofy Challenge in January. Today come rain, shine or weasel attack, I'm going to do a 10 miler. I need a good LSD workout and since the world didn't end yesterday this is a good day for it. Right now it's threatening rain and 63 degrees.

Time to get my best Grrrrrrrr!! on and get it done.

Dave

 

[windwalker]

Ok 10 miler in the bag. The weather turned out to be awesome, it was raining on the way to the mall but by the time I did a warm up lap in the mall the rain had stopped and the sun came out. I walked 2hrs and 20 min total at a brisk pace, I'm going to drive the route later to see what the actual distance was.

I had ordered a new pair of the Mizuno Ronin 3 racing flats so I wore them today. I was very impressed, they felt great and hugged my feet without being tight feeling. They have padding where it's nice for a race walker.

Pretty awesome day all around. Sally did a nice 45 min walk in the neighborhood with her sister who came to visit.

Dave

 

[windwalker]

We watched a scary movie last night about demons, it told that 3 am was the witching hour. last night we had a ferocious thunder storm start, we both woke and it was 3 am. We were expecting our backs to arch and the the bed to start flopping around. No more scary movies before bed! It's still raining so might be a mall training walk if it doesn't stop. Good news is I'm not sore from the 10 miler.

Have an awesome monday y'all.

Dave

 

[Lynn G]

Good Morning Team!

Dave - great on the 10 miler! Never watch scary movies!

To all those in the mid west - stay safe!

AFM - we had a marvelous day yesterday - no rain, sunny, warm, but windy. We ran into unexpected wind on our 34 mile ride in Ft. Collins (usually there is no wind in Ft. Collins) - it was like riding here in Cheyenne! But it was a very nice bike ride - of course, I did not go as fast as Scott would have liked, especially uphill against the wind, but we both had a good time.

Pixie Dust to all who are in need!

Have a great day team!

 

[windwalker]

We are between storms right now so I got a lot done. This is Sally's first day at the new job. I'm really hoping she loves it and can work there 10 more years till we retire.

I went to the park for a nice sunny 4 miler, brisk pace 48:50. Very pleasent.
Then came home and mowed and trimmed the yard, tired now.

Dave

 

[MaryJ]

Today was the official start of training for the DL Half. Did a short 30 minute walk/run. Felt good afterwards. Had some rain come thru during the night, so the temperature was perfect as it cooled things off somewhat.

Picked Ken up at the airport this morning as his flight from Chicago was canceled last night. Then took his mom to see the ortho doctor about her knee. She really needs a knee replacement, but is being very stubborn about it. She is in alot of pain. Each time she goes, the doctor draws off about 30cc of blood from where it is bleeding underneath the kneecap. We think that he is just waiting to say that she can't stand the pain anymore and gives in to surgery. He is a personal friend of ours, so we trust his judgment.

Dave....glad you were able to get a good walk in. Just not sure what to say about the scary movie though.

Lynn...sounds like a nice day for a bike ride. It's just too bad that the wind can't always be at your back, isn't it?

 

[Motomiker]

Hi Everyone!

Sorry I've been awol again. Things here have been crazy busy as always. I've been trying to keep up on everyones posts, through my phone, during my lunch breaks at work. It's really hard to post with the small keyboard, so I've been a lurker.

Dave~ great job on the 10 miler, and happy to see that Sally found a job! Happy belated birthdaty to her!

Mary~ Pixie dust for your MIL! Can't wait to see you guys at the DL half!

Vicky~ Sorry your class got canceled. More time to bake at home!

The Team~ It seems like the weather has been messed up for everyone this year, but it seems that summer is making itself known! Great job keeping up with your training and signing up for races!

AFM~ My training has been almost nonexistant. During the past few weeks, sleep has won out over running. The week after Everest, I averaged about four hours a day for the entire week. Not complaining, I guess just asking for forgiveness on not getting my race reports in.
Liz and I have made the comitment to getting to our church more often, and we have also made appointment with a doc to see why we haven't gotten preggers. This week Robert "graduates" from preschool and we have the Soldier Field ten miler on Saturday. I should have the weekend off, but may get scheduled on Monday because of the holiday. I could use the rest, but any hours are triple time, which I will take!

I have three race reports coming up, and Vicky, could you add a race for me on June 19th. I signed up for a new race, the Chicago Rock and Roll 5k, which gets me another medal and a bonus medal when I also complete the half in August. Also we picked up a new magnet for our car, which reads "Half Marathon HO" which has come to describe me.

Have a great day! Mike

 

[Motomiker]

Expedition Everest Challenge 2011

I arrived on Thursday and checked in at the All Star Sports resort, into the football building, which was really close to the main building. The location was great except it was on the backside of the building and all the noise from the delivery trucks beeping started very early in the morning (3am)!
The weather that day was cooler than I expected and I was actually a little chilly wearing the shorts that I had changed into at the airport. After checking in, I headed over to the Magic Kingdom to hit a couple of rides, Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, etc. I never made it to the Wishes fireworks as I conked out from working all night and traveling all day. I had dinner at the resort and crashed.
Friday, I took my time getting up and caught the first bus over to packet pick up at Wide World of Sports. I was one of the first there, but had to wait as they were set up on the lawn outside and were desperately trying to tear the whole set up down because a bad storm was approaching! They eventually got everything moved, and I got my stuff. I liked the shirt and I'm glad that I ordered two pins as they had sold out during registratiion. I hung out long enough to hear the race info talk. Then headed over to Typhoon Lagoon for a while.
Then it was off to the Animal Kingdom for a day of familiarizing myself with the park layout and a few rides. It did rain a little. I love just walking around this park, with everything being so green and lush. I spent about half the day there and headed over to Downtown Disney for some pin shopping dinner at Captain Jack's. I highly recommend the pasta and shrimp in lobster cream sauce. It's one of my favorites at WDW.
Saturday, I went back to the MK for more fun and some pin trading. I ate lunch at the Columbia Harbor House, where the food is nothing special, but the atmosphere is great. If you are there and they have the upstairs seating open, check it out. It's quiet, and has alot of cool antiques on the walls, including old coins, and has uncrowded bathrooms!
Then back to the resort to nap, shower and catch the 600 bus to the race. I checked out the set up in the parking lot outside the AK, and it was the same set up as last year. I found one of the few shady spots, hidden behind a tent and hung out and talked with other racers and then watched the kids races. The sun was intense by then. A little after 8pm they started having us load into the corrals. I was in the first wave and was able to "toe the line" which was fun! The guy next to me, looked at me with that "I'm gonna kick your butt, fatso" look. I should have tied his shoes together. I had worn my WISH tank top and didn't find ANYONE else wearing a shirt. I was really disappointed, but at the before the start, a guy tapped me on the shoulder and said hi. His name was Augie and he is on the Donald's Dashers team. It lifted my spirits a little.
By now the sun had set, and we sang the Anthem. And with a small blast of fireworks, we were off. The guy with the bad attitude took off and I never saw him again. I was really pumped up about this race because I came in 20th last year in the mens category. I ran as fast as I could go and pressured myself not to quit. This year they again added the obstacles into the 5k portion. They unfortunately Disneyfied them even more this year. We had rows of haybales to step over (not jump!), a few rows of tires, three deep to step through, and a rope ladder to climb up and over, or under, or run around if you wanted. ( I was like really, run around it? LAME! I climbed it!) I finished the 5k portion with a PR of 25:54, taking about 24 seconds off my old PR. I think they made the obstacles easier because a woman broke her femur on the balance beam last year. (How do your break a femur, from a three foot fall?) No beam this year.
Then I picked up my first puzzle and little light and marker, and headed back into the park. Some guy tried stopping me to answer his for him. He was adamant that I was gonna do it for him. I was like, dude get outta my way! He totally did not get the spirit of the race.
This year they changed the race, the puzzle cards told everyone where to go in the park. In years past, you had to figure it out for yourself. Again, it was made way easier. The frist stop was the Oasis, I wrote my answer on the card, showed it at my stop and got my next card. Then onto Camp Minnie-Mickey where I got hung up on the clue, along with just about everyone else. Also, my marker wouldn't write because the card got wet with sweat. I ended up having to write the rest of the answers on my arm in big blue letters! Then off to Africa, then Asia, and then you had to yell out the final answer as you crossed into the finish area after combining all the answers. Again, this was made easier, as in the past they checked all your cards before you finished. They had a seperate finish for those who were missing answers. but didn't seem to use it this year. It was there, but they weren't sending anyone down the chute.
After the race, I cooled down and got some food at the restaurant in Dinoland. All the cast members cheered every time a racer entered! Then I made my way over to ride Dinosaur and then treked back to Kahli River Rapids. I had to go back through the racers to get to Kahli and was the first(and only rider) on the entire ride! So cool! It's a totally different experience at night and all alone! I only got a little soaked!
Overall, I took about three minutes off of last years time, but finished 43rd in the mens. I'm a little bummed, but glad that I got a PR in the 5K. I'm also a little bummed that they keep making the race easier. It seems more of a local race, instead of a destination race now. The medal was the same again this year, and I'll probably only go back next year if they have a 5th anniversary one. I might do the ESPN weekend if not.
Sunday, I slept in and went to EPCOT to see the Flower and Garden show and hit the rides and pin shop/trade. It got really hot, and I ate too much (the German beer didn't help either). After enjoying the park, I went back to the resort to pack and get ready for the trek home on Monday. I did get to see Davy Jones in concert and he was great! The Monkees (minus Nesmith) and going to tour! YES!
The weather was beautiful for most of the trip and someday, we are moving there! I will get a job at Disney, even if it is sweeping up!

Anyway, off to bed for me! I'll do two more race reports soon! I finished my seventh half marathon of the year on this past Sunday! Well on my way to my goal of ten this year! -Mike

 

[Pudge_The_Fish]

Hello team!

Dave - WTG on the 10 miler!

Mike - Great race report, WTG on your PR! I've always wanted to do Everest because of the adventure/ obstacle course aspect but the obstacles sound pretty tame, "Disneyfied" is a good term for it.

Mary - for your MIL!

Lynn - Glad you enjoyed your bike ride!

AFM - Went our for a 2 mile walk/ run tonight. Felt pretty good after doing pretty much nothing last week.

We saw Pirates 4 over the weekend. It was enjoyable; a good, fun movie but not a great movie. The plot was not as convoluted as Pirates 3 which I appreciated.

Have a good night!
Emily

 

[Hockeychic]

Hey everyone!!!!! Whew have to go back to catch up busy busy weekend here. Weather was amazing, got some rain last night but that was it rest of the long weekend was amazing!!!!

Getting prepared for my first 1/2 of the season this weekend. DS and I are participating DH is what is he is calling the "official" photographer
Going in undertrainned but that is nothing new for me. However, so far so good, going in uninjuried which is more important.

Hope everyone is doing great!!!!

 

[windwalker]

Good luck with you half Kimmer. Yes you are the queen of going in undertrained, but at least this time your not limping up to the start.

Mike you are a force of nature.

I need to loose 30lbs!!! I hope today is the beginning of that change. Now that Sally has a good job and I can relax maybe I can make it happen.

Today is a rest day for me since I have an 11 hr shift at work.

Have an awesome tuesday y'all.

Dave

 

[Lynn G]

Good Morning Team!

Dave - Hope Sally is enjoying her job!

Emily - Good job getting walk/run in!

Mike - Good to see you posting! You do not have to be actively training to post! You do enough races to make up for daily training!!! Great Race Report!

Mary - It was a beautiful day for a bike ride! Good luck with your training for DL half!

Kim - Glad you had some good weather for your long weekend! Good luck on your first 1/2 of the season!

AFM - Got in another 5K yesterday with the dogs, it was nice in the morning - rain and hail by afternoon - also got the lawn mowed before the rain started - good thing - it will be wet until Thursday or Friday!

Pixie dust to all who are in need!

Have a great day team!

 

[bunnyfoo]

Hello everyone! Since it was a long weekend, I decided to take the weekend off from posting, emails, computer, texting etc... I did sneak in a few FB posts though

Mary - I really enjoyed your vacation photos! Your granddaughter is really cute! How did you like AKV? I haven't stayed at AK since DVC went in. I still go there to eat Glad to hear that you had minimal rain on your vacation! Sorry to hear about MIL - I wonder if she's nervous about the procedure itself. I'm always afraid of going to the doctors/dentists, having things removed, blood taken, needles etc. Sounds pretty serious if he's taking blood from her kneecap each time though. Sending her lots of Keep us posted!

Lynn - Good job on the bike ride and the 5K! I would not be going uphill very quickly against the wind either! We have to schedule the lawn mowing here around the rain too. All the wet weather is making the lawn grow really quickly. Our neighbour hadn't mowed his lawn in about 2 weeks and seemed to have a difficult time of it on the weekend. It was just too long!

Dave - If I watched a scary movie at night, every single light in the house would be on Great job on getting in the miles! How is Sally liking her new job?

Kim - Good luck to you and Kevin in Ottawa! I hope you guys get nice weather for it! And yes I have to agree that undertrained and uninjured is 100x better than overtrained and injured.

Mike - You are a racing machine! More races?! Are you going to apply to be a Half Marathon Mainiac? And how are you getting by on only 4 hours of sleep? Loved your race report! So awesome that you got to start up front in the first coral!! What was up with the guy demanding you give him your answers? Was he panicking about finishing in a certain time? That's a little disappointing that the obstacles are getting easier - I mean what's the point of putting them in if someone can just skip it. I think everyone should have to try once or twice before skiping. For the graduation... is Robert getting a cap and gown?

Emily - POTC is on my list of to-see movies! I was kind of bummed when I heard that Orlando Bloom wasn't in it.

AFM - I just relaxed and did nothing much this weekend. I decided not to check email, post on DIS, send text messages etc. but did sneak onto FB a few times. My baking class was cancelled on Friday because of the long weekend so I made a few things on my own - Red Velvet cheesecake brownie and "Hostess" cupcakes that turned out pretty well (except for the decorations).

I also got in a couple of runs that went pretty well - no shin, ankle or knee pain! Yay! It was just a lot hotter on Saturday than I expected. I also ran yesterday after going to the gym - the running part was going well but I kept having stomach cramps. It's just so random! But I had to change my intervals to 1/1 because the cramps would start up everytime I started running. I was happy with my running though because it was pain free (gee being warmed up does make a difference ) and I was going at a good pace.

Eating wise ... I've been keeping a food journal in an effort to keep a closer eye on what I eat and to try and increase my protein intake. So I'm happy to say that I'm down 2.4 lbs from last week I thought I was going to gain or stay the same because I ate a few cupcakes but was surprised at the loss. I guess it's just about being consistent with the exercise and eating!

Have a great day everyone!

 

[Hockeychic]

Dave my goal is definatley to be trainned for disney this year. Although I am not doing goofy I am doing the 1/2 then the 1/2 relay so need to smarten up and try a race trainned

Lynn: Yikes you guys are still getting some nasty weather, this has been an unusually cold and wet spring for us as well. I am not sure if I asked you or not, are you and Scott coming to marathon weekend in 2012?

Vicky: Glad you had a relaxing weekend wasn't the weather awesome!!!! Glad you had no leg pain but for the stomach cramps and congrats on the weight loss!!!!

AFM: Still doing great at the gym, I have cut out my lower body exercises this week with my 1/2 on Sunday. Have been experiencing a bit of knee pain on my right knee so decided it would be best to cut them out just this week.

Scale hasn't moved in a bit but still not going to give up.

Have a super Wednesday all!!!!

 

[Lynn G]

Good Morning Team!

Vicky - Congrats on your workout schedule, eating habits and pain free running!

Kim - Our weather has been cooler than it should, more rainy, and more snowy, but - that is nothing compared to the severe weather the mid-west has been experiencing. So far, (knock on wood), we have not been experiencing the tornados. No, we will not be down to WDW for marathon weekend, we are still going to DL for the half, although we won't do the half, we are signed up for the 5K, and are planning to volunteer. Because neither of us can do the longer runs (or walks) anymore, we have cut out most of the Disney races, but we might have to go back to WDW for Marathon weekend one of these years just to see all our friends.

Mary and Mike (and anyone else going to DL half) - have you seen anything about a WISH meet at DL? I have not been following other threads, and could not find a thread on a meet.

AFM - it was again nice out in the morning, so the dogs and I got in another 5K. Then I had lots of errands to do in town, so did not get home until 5pm. Today it is rainy and windy, but is supposed to clear up, so will get out later. Still have yet to drag myself to the basement for weights!

Pixie Dust to all who are in need!

Have a great day team!

 

[es45]

Hi, everyone,

My running has come to a halt. It has been too hot to run (for me at least) at any time other than early morning (it's 93 degrees right now) and I haven't been able to do that because of my work schedule. I'm going to attempt a run tonight once it cools off.

Enjoy the rest of the week!