Team 'Ohana--No One Left Behind: The Continuing Adventures

[MouseDogMom]

So now I'm trying to figure out why our Houston office was closed today... I'm thinking they just snuck a free day in there and hoped the rest of us wouldn't find out?

We, on the other hand, threatened to close on Wednesday due to exceptionally nice weather. Since all the other locations were dropping like flies, we thought we needed to hop on the bandwagon. Since it was 72 and sunny, it seemed like closing for GOOD weather was the best we could do. Today, however, it's 35 and raining.

Richard - Check this out: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599
When we went to DL a few years ago, this thread was the most helpful thing I found. He covers pretty much EVERYTHING.

John - I can't believe they drank your beer! Or lost it. Don't offer if you're not going to follow through. By mile 24, if I've waited that long, it darn well better be there! Other than that, I love the race report!

Jeanne - No princess for this cousin. But Tobacco Road is March 20th.

Jackie

 

[jbucci]

I'm in for Princess, debating Wine and Dine.

 

[momoftwogirls]

Hi Cousins!

Hope everyone is doing well.

Jackie - Yay! Great news!

Richard - free race entry!

I've had a crazy week with very little training. Mike was working two jobs all week and my new job is taking up a lot of my time. I did manage to get in a six mile treadmill run/walk a few days ago. I was surprised how easy it felt. I wasn't speedy but it actually was enjoyable.

I'm going to try and put some miles in tomorrow. I'm worried I won't be ready for the Princess in just a few short weeks. I know I'll be able to finish but I don't want to suffer through the race.

I know JenB, Corinna, Maria and Mel will be at Princess...anyone else?

 

[corinnak]

Richard - I stayed at the Disneyland Hotel once - it was very nice, but expensive-ish and kind of a longer walk than I was expecting to get to the park entrances and even the monorail was farther than I expected it to be.

This past August, I stayed with a couple of WISHers at The Desert Inn which was inexpensive and perfectly servicable but nothing special. It also seem strangely to be a shorter walk to the park entrances. Though longer to Downtown Disney that time I HAD to walk over there to get the sequel to Hunger Games after the Half Marathon. Yeah, that happened.

Jeanne - I'll be at Princess! Will we see you and/or your prince charming there this year? I am planning for that to be race #3 to qualify me as a half fanatic at last. If I didn't trash my legs too badly today. But I've already said too much...

SO, in my quest to join you Half Fanatics (scheduling is always the first challenge for me). Because the weather was looking so good, I ran the Securian Half Marathon last weekend - it is a larger, longstanding Half Marathon in association with the St. Paul Winter Carnival.. Except that it wasn't. It was the Securian 11.6 run. Which does not count for beans when it comes to qualifying as a half fanatic. I got a PR for the 11.6 distance, however. 1:55. Woo hoo. I did get a sort of boring but highly functional "finishers mug" (shirts cost extra) to commemorate the occasion.

My original plan had been to run the "Hypothermic Half Marathon" which took place this morning, but the "Location: TBA" on the website never changed, and that, my friends, makes me nervous. So I went to the store where they were doing Packet Pickup on Friday and asked my important questions: What is the location? Is it on roads? Sidewalks? Cleared? How many runners do you expect? That sort of thing. They said it was on cleared asphalt trails and they expected about 60 runners. I said "OK, I'll give it a whirl." They presented me with a pretty nice gym bag (that I didn't need) and a hat that will be a great tossable one of these days, probably. I saw a lot of people sweating clear through them today.

It was a pretty nice little race. Chilly. Smallish. And there was a dusting of snow overnight, so the ice that was on the trails was partially obscured. I had thrown my yaktrax in my bag before I left - I've worn them for shoveling many times, for running not at all. So it was a quandry. I opted for anything to keep me from slipping and breaking my...well, anything. I did not see anyone actually go down on the course, BUT there was some definite slippage. Even with the yaktracks, I felt occasional slippage.

The hardest part of the run was crossing the XC ski trails cause there was more snow and it was...turbulent, somehow. It shifted under you. The park where the race was held, BTW, was called "Purgatory Creek" It was pretty but sometimes it smelled bad.

Overall, I was pretty happy with how I did. I had not intended to really "race" this one, having raced the previous weekend, but when it's 30 degrees and snowy, I just feel like "let's get this done." I ended up 2 minutes slower than my PR with a finish time of 2:12:04. Not that it's posted online yet. Which it had better be, or I'm not making it into the Half Fanatics.

The fallout of this race, though, is that my knees don't feel so good now. I think there was a lot more lateral movement with the snowpack, even on the regular trail where it wasn't so bad. I currently have what feels like regular muscle fatigue sorness in both knees. I've done ice, heat, and foam roller on the IT band, quads and hams. I'm going to slap some biofreeze on there tonight before bed, too. We'll see how things look in the morning.

Later this week: My mother comes to visit!

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Good Morning, Cousins!

Corinna -- I admire your determination and fortitude to get another Half in there before Princess! You surely will meet the definition of a Half Fanatic!

Kathy -- Not to speak for her, but Rose and her dh Mike will be at Princess, too! Team Ohana will be well-represented! I had one of those "enjoyable" runs this morning. I did 4M, and it felt great. I felt strong, fast and light -- yes, I do suffer from delusions but in my mind, I am a Kenyan!

JenB -- I need to learn more about Wine & Dine and the timing. I would love to do it, but I'd have to really plan well. I mentioned that people were already getting rooms for marathon weekend next year this morning, and Dennis told me he didn't care if I did marathon weekend or Princess next year -- the implication being that both won't fly... Trying to squeeze in another race might be tricky, especially since we plan to give my dad and his wife a vacation for his 75th birthday this year...

Jackie -- I would be thrilled to have work cancelled due to a nice day. I think I'm in the wrong industry for that

John -- I love working from home. I can't do it often, but it is such a pleasure to be able to just "be" in my house. Sorry about all the furor over nothing, I wish one of our storms had turned out that way...

Jeanne -- I second the question -- are you Princessing? You and John cheering at GF is one of my clear memories of WDW Half races! You guys are so supportive. Oh, and you could run if you wanted to...just sayin'

Richard -- I've never been to DL either, but it is definitely a dream I have. I hope you are able to find lots of resources to plan a fabulous trip

to Rose, -- I'll be checking in on your other threads later


I was so sick last week, but I am at 95% today, and ready to move on with my training! I missed my LR, but plan to do 12 on Saturday. I prefer Friday, but I don't see how I can make it work this week. Maybe something will come to me -- just hopefully not another snow day!

Now for the big news -- our family is expanding! We are now the proud and happy parents of a 10 wk old male grey tabby kitten . He has white socks and a white muzzle, and he is very inquisitive and loves people. DS has named him Chewbacca, Chewie for short. He sleeps next to me, he has already figured out that I'm the key to making sure all his little kitty dreams come true We could not be happier, and we already have plans to get him a companion -- their are 6 kittens that will be available at the end of March, and we hope to bring one home. I'll be naming this one, and yes, the sci fi naming tradition will continue -- I'm just waiting to see if we get a girl or boy, and what the personality deems appropriate.

Congrats to any Packers fans! I was rooting for them, just couldn't bring myself to root for the Steelers

I also might mention I was extremely pleased with the NFL League MVP this year -- I know people around the country can't stand him, but we love our Tom Brady!

Maria

 

[jeanneg]

No Princess for me this year. I just looked at the schedule to see what were the dates for all the other races and realized that I will actually be at WDW for the Everest Challenge......hmmmm, it is very tempting! As luck would have it, I am not at a host resort for the race, but there are ways around that. Any cousins doing that one?

 

[corinnak]

And we all sat in stunned silence.

Sorry we won't be seeing you at Princess, Jeanne. It is starting to seem like it has been too long now!!!

No Everest for me, I'm afraid. We were discussing somewhere how we could do our own virtual version though - run 3.1 miles and find a bunch of hidden stuff in our houses. It could work.

My knees are surely feeling better each day. I am still taking it easy. One of the people I "know" from WW online was at the race (though we didn't know the other was there until after) reminded me that it wasn't just the snowy XC ski trail crossings that were so hard - the sliding hill crossing the trail was a much longer stretch of similar snow. I must have blocked it out. One of the toughest things about a 2x loop is that you know that every sucky part you are going to have to do twice, and you know it's coming the second time. Oh well. Done now.

Yesterday and today, I helped out another theater company - this is a 60 year old community theater in Minneapolis. They are doing a production of Ring around the Moon, and had 3 designers bail on them over the course of the production. I couldn't really make up for that, but I did pick up some of the painting slack. I painted stone after stone after stone - like stone walls. And a fountain. Yes, they have a real fountain on stage. Kind of cool. I'm about done painting stones for a while, though! A person can only take so much! I didn't paint the shapes or the colors, just all the incredible shading. The one in the background is what the finished product looks like, a little more grayed out. The fountain hasn't had the finishing treatment yet, so it looks like something out of Alice in Wonderland.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Taking a break from writing to stop in for a quick check-in...

Jeanne -- I'm sorry to hear you won't be at Princess. It seems like I haven't seen you in a long time!

Corinna -- I'll say it again, any production who gets your help is lucky indeed! You are very talented and you do beautiful work

Ok, back to the salt mine. I got handed a complicated project yesterday before I arrived, and it has to be finished by Friday at noon...

I did run 3M yesterday (no yoga ) and 4M this morning. I'm taking tomorrow off. I've figured out a way to get my 12M in before work Friday -- I'll be on the TM before 5am. But, that's going to make my weekend so much more relaxing, I think it's worth it!

Maria

 

[MouseDogMom]

Jen - Just read the info on the Williamsburg Half. I am SO in for that. Or at least, for the 8K. I can't imagine being ready for 13 miles by 5/21, but surely I can run 5 by then. I just told DH to plan to take that weekend off of work. He's been wanting to go back to Wmbg since our last trip, so I think it won't take much to twist his arm...

Rose - Have you gotten your test results back yet?

Corinna - I was thwarted in my first attempt at Half Fanatics last winter by the canceled Myrtle Beach half. I can sympathize with a race that doesn't measure up! I literally threw a tantrum in the bed in our hotel room that morning because I had 3 in 90 days, and lost it when that race failed to happen.

Maria - Wish I could help you with your project. We're so slow at work that I've resorted to hiding books in various desk drawers. Of course, my boss knows they're there, but it's the appearance that matters, right? I finished an entire Marcia Muller mystery earlier this week.

AFM - I walked an entire mile on the TM Wednesday night. It was at the alarmingly high speed of 2.5, which isn't going to beat the sweepers any time soon, but it was a mile nonetheless. I did 10 miles on the bike last night, so I guess that means it's back to the TM tonight. Or it might just be a rest day, since I'm actually quite a bit sore. I may do the upper body workout and call it quits and save the TM for tomorrow while DH is out doing his 10!

Jackie

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Good Morning, Cousins!

Jackie -- You are a speed demon! Slow and steady wins the race, and is going to make your recovery strong and lasting!

to all the Cousins!

I'm happy to report my 12M went in the books without an issue, and I didn't feel like I should be "done" until after 11, so it's all good with me! I decided I needed 2 rest days afterward so I didn't run yesterday. I did get up and do 4M this morning, so back on track!

I'm feeling a little better about my # for Princess. I was bummed at first when I found out I was #8905, but now I know there are 17,000 participants, I'm feeling much better! I am hopeful for Corral C or D, perhaps with moving up with proof of time since I was 15 minutes faster in January than the time I submitted when I registered. Being smack in the middle is a huge leap for me, gotta love the smaller race field!

Hope everyone had a great weekend and is ready for a fabulous week!

Maria

 

[deekaypee]

Okay, I'm back in for a quickie. (No lewd comments please - unless you mean them. )

I had a good Valentine's Day. Filled with chocolate and goodies, of course. And a "Big Bang Theory" t-shirt - the Rock/Paper/Scissors/Lizard/Spock one. I said that just for all my sci-fi, BBT lovers!

A general shout-out to all the Princess participants - Mel, Maria, JenB, Kathy, and Rose. Am I missing anyone?

Jackie: So glad you've been given the clearance to run, and impressed by your plans to get there! Your posts radiate determination! WTG on your mile - you'd just glare the sweepers down if need be! Did you sign up for Williamsburg yet?

JenB: I love the idea of a WISH green tutu. So sorry I won't see it in person! Are you feeling any more motivated? What about Wine & Dine?

Kathy: So sorry I won't see you at the Princess, but am glad you'll get a weekend with the girls! How is the new job coming along - still loving it?

Corinna: Wow, your Hypothermic Half Marathon sounds like an icy adventure. Slipping with yaktracks. Yikes! How are your knees? LOVE this set for Ring Around the Moon, although I'm not familiar with the play. I so appreciate seeing stage sets in progress, like a look behind the magic. So, tell me your Valentine's Day story.

Richard: Darcy has come to the Disney dark side! I love it! I'm late to the party, but I like flying into John Wayne. What are you looking for in a hotel? I got the best birthday service at Candy Cane Inn. I use Southwest, and it's a direct flight from Pgh. Woo hoo on the free entry into the Woodlands Marathon! That's race cred that you've earned, something like a frequent running miles program.

Maria: I know you're going to rock the Princess & enjoy your recovery/mini-vacation at WDW. Being able to get your Disney fix, since Dennis doesn't care for Disney, in solo races might be the way to go! Btw, thanks to you I switched up my LRs from Sunday to Saturday - it doesn't match DOOD's schedule but it works better for my weekend.

AFM: For those who didn't see it on FB, I slipped this weekend on my LR, in front of a car turning into a parking lot. There was no contact with said car, and I thought I was okay. Took a harder tumble than I thought on the black ice, though, and am pretty bruised up on my right side. The worst is my leg, which is affecting my running gait a bit. My elbow still hurts, which probably isn't a good sign.

But, all else is good. DianeL and her husband want to do the Hershey Half, so that's what we're going for. It also doesn't conflict with the Wine & Dine, as JenB. said. I don't know that I'll do the Disney run, but I'll be in the area for WDW's 40th anniversary. I'll have to see how the schedule & budget permit.

So, I need to get on hotels and whatnot for Hershey. But first the March trip to WDW. We're staying in Bonnet Creek for the first time. DOOD wants a little less magic this trip, a little more spring break. I'm hoping it's a good compromise. But my! rental car prices in early March are an unhappy surprise. Cross your fingers that I score a good deal on Priceline.

 

[jeanneg]

Debra: so sorry to hear about your tumble, but glad you weren't actually hit. Please take care of yourself.
Thanks for the heads-up regarding the Hershey half-marathon. I took a look at it and I think I'd also like to do that one. I like the fact that they let the walkers begin an hour earlier.....that's one way to ensure thicker crowds at the finish line for me! Plus, I have a kid that lives in Philly so maybe I'll get to see him also.

I also signed up for the Williamsburg Half in May (as many of my FB buddies know). It feels good to have future events planned again.

 

[Rose&Mike]

Debra--I'm so glad you are ok. How scary. Hope those bruises fade quickly.

I am sorry I haven't checked back in sooner. Life has been dragging on me a little. I'm fighting a plantar flare-up, and spent last weekend visiting DS in SC, which was really nice. I think the foot is going to be ok for the Princess next week, which is a relief.

All my tests came back normal. Which is good, I guess. So my dr. wanted to send me to a gastro for more tests. I had already started moving toward g-f and was thinking it might really be a solution, so we decided I would try that for a few weeks, and then come back in and re-evaluate. I was actually starting to feel really good, but last night I must have eaten something with gluten in it (if that is what is making me sick) because I have a big swollen tummy again and have felt pretty cruddy today. The frustrating thing is, I'm not sure where the gluten was hiding. It could be worse, but I was really starting to enjoy feeling good.

And my sister who was supposed to be coming and running with us at Princess, backed out today. I'm really glad Mike decided to come along. I just don't really want to do a solo trip right now.

So that's where I am at. Really, really looking forward to this trip.

I hope everyone is doing well.

 

[FFigawi]

Good luck to Rose, JenB, Mel, Maria, Kathy, and any other cousins running the Princess next weekend! Hope you ladies have safe travels and a great race.

 

[jbucci]

Deb: Come to Hershey!!! We will more than likely be there too, we just need to sign up. We used to live there and I can't resist the urge to go back for a race.

Jackie: on getting back out for some miles, I hope your recovery is quick and as pain-free as possible.

I'm getting excited about Princess. Still finishing my tutu-- the first one did not come out well, so this is take 2. I'm planning to make it to the meet on Sat and hope I can see a bunch of you there.

Feel free to skip this next part, but I just need to vent and you are all like family so this seemed a good place. Kathy, I'd really appreciate your input in your new position as reading specialist. I've been super stressed the past few weeks with work being in full winter cold and flu chaos and with my DD7 having some school issues. My daughter is a bright, science loving kid who catches on to concepts pretty quickly. She did really well in 1st grade, but has been having progressively more trouble in 2nd where the emphasis is more on writing. It is torture for her and us to get written assignments completed-- concepts, no problem but ask her to write it and it falls apart. We get it done, but tears are often involved. In late Oct, early Nov. we approached the teacher in person and with numerous emails to express our concern that something is wrong. We were met with the attitude of "Your kid just isn't that smart and is performing on grade level, so what should I do about it?" She was always polite but I got the impression she simply felt our daughter was not very capable and a bit lazy. Needless to say, I got angry. We took her for outside testing (cause the school was doing nothing) and found out that her IQ is in the very superior range but she has dyslexia. This explained so much! She is bright enough to memorize lots of stuff and fake her way through a lot of it, but you can't fake the writing. The emotionality we have seen from her is because she is in an impossible position: Our poor kid is bored to tears half of the time because they keep dumbing down work for her but is simultaneously horribly frustrated with reading and writing. We are starting the process of getting the school to actually DO SOMETHING for her and are trying to undo all of the negativity she has about herself from repeatedly being told in school she just isn't smart. This year has been an emotional roller coaster and I'm hoping having an answer will help. I'm open to suggestions but really just needed to vent as this has been a long, slow, rough process. Thanks for listening/reading.

 

[tiberius]

Hi everyone!

I've been so busy of late that half the time I have trouble remembering if I am coming or going (and my staff could confirm that after last week!). Fortunately, this is a recovery week in my training program, which means more sleep and rest time.

John - After catching you on Facebook, I have to say your post-race activities and celebrations seemed even more fun than your marathon run.

Jen - Good luck in getting your DDs situation settled, at least now you know what the issue is and can do something about it.

Rose - Glad to hear you had some normal medical tests, that could make you the most normal one around these parts--hopefully they get you all fixed up sometime soon for your ailments.

Jeanne - You seem to be back in the midst of race planning again, good for you.

Debra - you know you are always welcome here, whether for a quickie post...or a long, slow distance run. I say that is a major score on the BBT t-shirt. Darcy has long since been on the periphery of Disney-fanaticness, although she is just a lot more subtle about it. Then again she shares her B-day with the main mouse, so she always has that going for her.

Jackie - Your recovery seems to be coming along nicely, hope it stays that way for yours you ease back into things.

Corinna - Sorry to see that your Half Fanatic planning felt apart with the non-half marathon a few weeks back. Surely, your planning will eventually work out for you.

Maria - Ah, once again we will miss meeting up, only this time it will be because I am not even there at Princess.

AFM - My IM training seems to have become a wonderful and trying adventure all of it's own. The 3 week build phase leaves me near exhaustion by the end of the final week, and is poorly timed with having to hire an assistant to help me in the office. However, I find myself somehow keeping up with a schedule I would never have thought my self capable of completing, such as the last 2 weeks including 80 mile bike rides and 16+ hour training times. During one of my more tired periods I came to the conclusion that no matter what the result of my training, I have already won. I am finding myself doing some things that I once thought almost impossible and have my weight down a bit more (I must be dreaming!). Next weekend poses my most intimidating challenge yet for IM training: a 100 mile bike ride ...and yet, I am slightly looking forward to the challenge of it. For me, winter is making way for warmer weather, and I even got the first sunburn of the year on last weekend's 80 mile bike ride (and made the first sunscreen purchase of the years as well!), it is probably about time to shave off the beard I'd let grow in to help insulate against the colder weather.

Well lunchtime is drawing to a close and I have tons of work to do this week, take care everybody!

 

[momoftwogirls]

Just had time to skim the last few posts...I'll hopefully be back tomorrow to catch up.

JenB - I'm sorry you've been having trouble dealing with the school. I would love to talk with you about it. Again, hopefully I'll have time to type up my thoughts tomorrow. Remember - you are your child's best advocate...keep trying to work with the school to meet her needs. Don't give up! I'm sorry that you had to go for outside testing, but maybe now the school will recognize her needs and make the neccessary accomodations. Usually though, they require their own testing first. It is always a very slow, frustrating process for parents, teachers and students.

Hershey Half - sounds like a plan to me!!!!

 

[FFigawi]

John - After catching you on Facebook, I have to say your post-race activities and celebrations seemed even more fun than your marathon run.

You've got to have something keeping you moving towards that finish line, right? Why not a good party and celebration with friends?

That frame of mind certainly helped get me through the Austin marathon this past weekend. I'll have a full report written later this week, but the Reader's Digest version is pretty short: hills, hills, and more hills. As Richard knows, there aren't exactly a lot of hills to train on in Houston, so I was woefully undertrained for what Austin had to offer. The ice bath helped a lot, making walking around for the post-race festivities a bit less painful than it could have been.

Anyone else sign up for Marine Corps today?

 

[Worfiedoodles]

A quick check-in with the Cousins...

John -- Hilly, hilly, hilly sounds I know you powered through. I am definitely a Disney flat course kind of gal

Kathy -- If there would be anything that could convince my dh to eer set foot in PA again, it would be the Hershey Half. He drove all the way across the state towing a trailer (twice), and has no interest in ever going back. He says it never ends

Richard -- Wow, I think a 100 mile anything is pretty amazing! I'm glad you are looking forward to it, I have no doubt you will really enjoy it

JenB -- First of all , nothing is more painful or frustrating than when someone won't listen to us or understand about our babies! My only advice is to continue to follow your instincts as her parents and advocate until she gets what she needs -- which I know you would do, anyway!

Rose -- You are a whirlwind, and you are going to hit this race ready to go! Dancing banana, they must be g-f!

Jeanne -- Having future events keeps me moving! I think Dennis is starting to get that, he hasn't totally shot down Wine & Dine yet

Debra -- I'm glad you switched your LRs. I went from Saturday to Friday, and it has made my weekends so much more relaxing. Plus, with the distance Dennis is putting in training for a Full, it's just easier on the family to have it on different days. Two tired, cranky people do not make for a good mix!

to Corinna, Julie and Jackie!

Very happy to say I ran my last 10M Friday, then did 4M Monday, yoga Tuesday, and 3M today. One more 2M tomorrow, and I am done training! I leave for FL Friday morning, I'm really looking forward to starting a race when it's over 50 degrees...heck, I'm looking forward to the entire experience.

Maria

 

[laughinplace199]

Just popping in for a moment. It's school vacation week here and this week has been crazy busy as a result!

Anyway, I just wanted to send good luck wishes to everyone doing the Princess this weekend! I can't wait to hear all about it!

Jen B - Sorry to hear about the troubles your DD is having. So much stress for such a little one. You are a great mom and thank goodness you trusted your gut and had her tested. I hope that the school will work with you to help your DD.