Australia Revisited: Part 1

I've decided since I'm not doing anything fun this year for spring break because I'm going on a cruise in May, I'm going to relive my spring break from last year through several blog posts throughout the week.  So be sure to check back often!  Last year I had the amazing opportunity to travel all the way to Sydney, Australia for spring break :D  I went with my friend Chris to visit our friends Collins and Charlie.  Here is what we did the first few days:

We arrived in Sydney midday on Saturday march 3, 2012.  I can't remember everything we did but I know the weather was dreary and we were tired from traveling so it was a relatively lazy day.  Collins and Charlie picked us up from the airport and took us to get some snacks for the week.  We mostly stocked up on junkfood that we had never seen before haha.  That night we watched Sydney's Mardis Gras parade from the balcony of the apartment.  That was interesting.  If you don't know much about Sydney Mardi Gras...google it ;)

The next morning Chris and I woke up relatively early as we hadn't yet adjusted to the time change.  Chris went for an early morning run and I stayed in the apartment getting ready for our first day in Sydney.  I keep kicking myself for not going on a run with him but at the time I was NOT a runner.  I believe he ran all the way to the opera house which was probably only a few miles (3ish) away but to me at the time that was VERY far away.  If/when I go back to Sydney I'm going to run everywhere.  I'm so upset I didn't take advantage of the opportunity when I had it.  But that's a nonrunner for you...skipping out on awesome scenery.  When he returned from his run I asked him if he'd mind finding a store to buy some toilet paper...I was staying in an apartment full of guys and there was no toilet paper.  That was a major problem hahahah. So Chris, being the good guy that he is, left and was gone for quite some time.  He didn't know his way around really so just kind of asked for directions as he walked around.  When he came back he said that toilet paper is ridiculously expensive in Australia.  Everyone knows that Australia is more expensive than here in the states but we still felt he paid too much.  When I went to get the toilet paper from him I realized he bought paper towels!!! fail. hahah nothing looks the same in Australia and he didn't recognize the brand so he just grabbed what he thought was toilet paper...lol Well at least he tried.

We spent our first day in Sydney on Manly Beach.  We took a ferry boat ride past the Opera House to the beach. On the beach we walked around looking at all of the cool art and booths in the street market and went rollerblading.  It was my first time ever rollerblading...I got much better by the end of the day but it was rough at first.  We had so much fun.

This a few second clip of the ferry ride over to Manly Beach.  It may seem like an awkward video but it was for a video project I was working on for 2012 where I videoed one second of everyday.  I have tons of these short videos and will be posting the short ones I have of my Australia trip in these blog posts.

That night Chris and I had the opportunity to attend a service at the Hillsong church in Sydney.   It was a huge church, very contemporary and upbeat.







Ok that's all for now.  I'll post again tomorrow or the day after.

RunFlix Video of Five Points of Life Half Marathon 2013

RunFlix did the videography for the Five Points of Life Half Marathon that I ran Sunday. They asked me if they could use footage of me for their promotional video. Of course I said yes and here is the finished product! They went through all of the footage and picked out the shots of me for my own personal video.  I'm in the bright orange top with the white sides and black headband. My roommate is in the pink jacket. We're in a lot of the footage but really start popping up around the 3:15 mark. Check it out :)

The only thing I'd change about the video is to add in some mile markers.  They may be able to do it if you request it, I'm not sure.  I think I'll be able to do it myself once I get the DVD in the mail. When you order a video you can choose wether to have it set to inspirational music, rock music or no music at all.  I chose the inspirational because I figured I could always mute it and set it to my own music through iMovie on my Mac :) I'm really pleased with the video.  I've done some other larger races and none of them had the option for a full video like this...only clips of crossing the finish line and they're usually so much more expensive.  This is an awesome video at a really great price! 

So if you see RunFlix at one of your races I recommend checking them out.  www.runflix.com

**I did not receive any compensation for this and all opinions are my own :)

I will post a more detailed race re-cap a bit later so be on the look out.  Just know it was a great race and I'm ready for Princess this weekend!!

Race Weekend is Here!

And so starts operation run 2 Half Marathons in 8 days!  I’ve successfully completed 2 Disney halfs in the past few months but tomorrow will be my first non-disney long distance race.  I’m both excited and nervous.  I know Disney is always over the top so I’m expecting tomorrow to be more difficult with less water stops and entertainment along the way.  I also feel like the Five Points of Life half is going to attract more serious runners.  It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement and start off too fast and burn out very quickly. I’m going to try very hard to make it a mental game and stay at a pace comfortable for me.  I’m going to go at a slower pace than usual as the Princess Half is next weekend.  Yes I just started running in May and yes I’m running 2 half marathons in 8 days.  What can I say?  I’m addicted hahahah. Even though tomorrow is not a Disney race I’m still looking forward to running with BOTH of my roommates and a few friends from church.  Running is so much more enjoyable when you can do it with people you love :)

Cold temps for tomorrow

I went to the expo today to pick-up my race packet for me.  Expos are one of my favorite parts of race weekends.  I mean who doesn’t like free stuff?!  They had a lot of warm gear out to buy as tomorrow is expected to be pretty cold for Florida.  We’ve been in the 70s and now all of a sudden the forecast for this weekend is in the 30s! Yikes!  I’ve only ran one cold race before and it was only a 10K so we’ll see how this goes.  And Princess weekend is supposed to be in the 80s ugh. 

Warm temps for Princess

I’m going from cold to really warm in a matter of days…no wonder I’ve been sick.  It’s actually my first cold since I’ve started running so I can’t complain too much.  It’s just not good timing as I’m feeling sickly and have 2 long distance races to conquer.   Yesterday, I stayed home sick from clinic because I was feeling lethargic and congested.  I pretty much slept all day with a little Disney blog stalking of course. I really want to go to the Princess Half Meetup!  I haven’t been before and it looks like so much fun from all of the blogs I’ve been reading :) Today I’m doing better and starting to feel like I’m on the mend but I can tell I’m not 100%.  I’m praying tomorrow I feel even better and am able to run easily.  I’ll keep you updated…

Half Marathon 2 in the Books!!

Half Marathon #2 is complete!!  Sadly my phone crashed and I lost most of my pictures :(  I had a few  saved so I'll share with you what I have once I get them printed from shutterfly and scanned in.  I've decided next disney race I think I want to try and run with an actual camera.  The ones on my phone came out kind of blurry and I lost most of them due to some kind of glitch.  I ran this one 13 minutes slower than the last one because I actually stopped to take pictures this time around and to be honest I hadn't been training as hard.  However, I must say I am very proud of myself.  I know I've mentioned this several times but I still can't get over the fact that I'm running and enjoying it.  Since May I've run over 285 miles. Wow that's amazing, seeings how I could barely go a mile when I started and honestly hated every second of my runs.  I've set 2 goals for myself for 2013..

1. Train and complete a marathon (I just want to finish no time goal in mind) 

and

2. Complete a half 2:10 or better.  That'd be shaving off 13 minutes of my PR

I think these are reasonable goals, I'll just have to monitor my knees closely.  The KT tape helped my knees again for this half so I hope it continues to work for me.  My entire body ached after the half on Saturday but I think that was more from the lack of training.  I won't make that mistake again!  Wine in Dine I had very little pain and appreciated being able to walk around the parks the next day pain free.  So I've officially completed 2 half marathons, so what's next?  Two more of course!  My next one is on Feb 17 here in Gainesville.  I'm excited to be running it with my roommates :)  I plan on going at a slow pace as I'll be running my 4th half marathon the very next weekend at Disney!  I'm addicted to these disney races hahah. After that, I think I'll take a rest for a bit.  

Someone asked me the other day why do I put myself through all of the training for a silly medal and 13.1 sticker...I just laughed and then explained although those things are great that's not the purpose of my running.  As I've mentioned before I run for the glory of God.  It's my way of dropping everything and running to the Lord.  

Hebrews 12:1-2 says, ...And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. 

Living a Christian life is hard work.  It requires running from sin and perseverance through struggle.  We must run to God to live the life he wants for us.  My eyes aren't on the medal at the end of the race but on Him.  The Lord sets my path and keeps me running to Him.  If I were running for myself I could almost guarantee you I wouldn't have made it a week but He has made it possible and I'm almost ready to take on half marathons 3 and 4!

Q:  Do you have an active faith or are you finding yourself running in circles?

Something to Party About

'Tis the Season of gathering together with friends and family for Holiday Parties.  I had lunch with a friend the other day and we spent time catching up and talking about how much we enjoy holiday parties.  Parties at work for corporate events, tacky Christmas sweater parties, white elephant exchanges and small family and friend parties.  It seems like everyone makes time for a party this time of year.  But what are we celebrating?  Are we celebrating the coming of winter? The two week break from school?  The 3 day break from work? The end of frantic shopping? Or are we celebrating what Christmas is really about?  The birth of Christ.  I’m writing this in hopes that as you attend the remaining Christmas parties this year that we all remember what we’re really celebrating.  Jesus was born as our savior.  He came to seek and save us. In Luke 15, Jesus tells the Parables of the lost sheep, coin and son.  In all stories they were lost and then found.  Once found there was a big party. Christians were once lost and now are found. There was a time I was very disconnected from God.  He was an after thought, never at the front of my mind.  I didn’t know what was missing until I discovered His grace and great love.  I was once lost and now am found.  Now that’s something to party about :)

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas spent with the ones you love.  It’s time to celebrate how much God loves you.

This is a cool video on how the first Christmas may have been if it were in today's time.  Check it out.

StickyGram

Hey all...as part of procrastinating from everything I need to be doing I thought I'd share this will all of the instagram addicts out there.  If you're anything like me you take pictures of anything and everything and then post it...haha Well check this out....http://stickygram.com/ 

This site allows you to turn your instagram photos into little magnets.  So cool.  I just ordered a sheet for myself :)  They'd make nice gifts (Christmas is right around the corner!) or super fun decorations!  I plan on covering my fridge and dishwasher hahah  For my running friends, you can turn all of your race start and finish line photos into fun keepsakes.  




If you decide to order, here is a code for $2 off  FRIENDFI6P

**I wasn't asked to promote this company.  I just think it's a great idea and haven't posted anything on here in a while.  So enjoy!!

Other fun uses:
Cars
Office Doors
Desks
Washing Machines
Filing Cabinets
umm...anything else metal!

Put One Foot in Front of the Other... Wine and Dine Half Marathon Recap

So it’s time for a race recap!  This past weekend I ran Disney’s Wine and Dine half marathon.  It was my first half and such an awesome weekend.  I finished in 2:23:49 which is awesome considering how I could barely run through the airport in March when trying to catch a flight back to the states from Australia.  My very first run was on May 5, 2012 when I decided to take on this journey.  I set out just to see how far I could go…I felt so out of shape when I didn’t even make a mile.  Who knew I’d be running my first half marathon just 6 months later! 

Expo!  So many runners!

My weekend started Friday morning when I packed by bags and headed to the expo.  Upon entering ESPN WWOS I felt my first wave of race jitters.  It was overwhelming the amount of people there...being a novice runner I’ve never seen so many runners in one place before.  I loved walking around just taking it all in but at the same time I was becoming more and more nervous.  I picked up my packet and then headed to the Animal Kingdom to meet some new friends.  I’m thankful for Team runDisney for introducing me to some great people.  I practically spent the entire weekend with a group of people I’ve not met before (well in person anyways) and it was awesome.

Saved my knees!

That night my mom and her friends got into town… we had dinner and then settled into the hotel for the evening.  It was so nice to see my mom and be able to spend some time with her and her friends this weekend.  I liked her being there to share in the excitement of race weekend with me.  Saturday, race day, was an early start.  I went to breakfast with my mom and her friends and then headed to Hollywood studios.  I showed them around and did a few things but ended up leaving early, around noon, to head back to the hotel for a nap as I was worried about being able to run a race at 10pm when I woke up so early.  Before Saturday, I had never run a night race before and my bedtime is usually before race start.  On the way back to the hotel I stopped back at the expo to get my knees taped.  Many of you know that I’ve been struggling with IT Band issues, some days I make it 10 miles and others I make it 2.  The pain gets that bad…I was praying for a good day but I also wanted to do everything I could to make it a good day.  My friend, Mickey, suggested having them tape my knees with KT tape at the expo.  Best advice ever!!!  Running the race I felt very little knee pain.  My left knee got tight around mile 6 but it was minimal and I had ZERO knee pain the next day!  Now I can’t say it’s all due to the KT tape but I think it played a role along with my knee straps and a lot of prayers!  After the expo I had my pre-race meal with friends at Earl of Sandwich.  Perfect place to carb load :) 

I made it back to the hotel around 4pm, changed into race clothes and passed out.  I woke up at 6pm to get ready to head to the race.  At this point the race day jitters was at an overwhelming high and got the best of me.  I broke down and cried..I managed to get into the car but couldn’t seem to put it in drive.  I was terrified…terrified of working so hard yet not finishing.  I was scared my knees would hurt an unbelievable amount, nervous I’d be too slow.. I called my best friends, my roommates.  They are amazing at these things and calmed me down enough to get me to the race.  They’ve provided me with an unbelievable amount of support through this journey.  I’m very grateful that God placed such caring and supportive friends in my life.

Once I arrived to the race starting area I immediately got in line for a picture with Mickey Mouse.  Would you expect anything different? Hahah I stood in that line for 2 hrs! but didn’t even care.  Disney provided great entertainment while I waited.  Everyone was up and dancing around in their costumes enjoying the few hours before race start.

I wish I would have taken more pictures of the race...I think I was too nervous of being slow to even attempt to take pictures.  I did take a few and will share what I have but I promise I’ll be taking more pictures next Disney race!  As far as the race itself I surprised myself with my performance.  All through training I’d run 2 miles straight and then convert to 3 min run and 1 min walk intervals.  However, during the race I went 6 miles before my first walk break!  And then only walked a minute at the end of each mile.  I didn’t know I was even capable of that…must have been a combination of being terrified, unbelievably excited and all of the adrenaline consuming me.   The first 8 miles went so quickly and then I started to feel the exhaustion from the day.  While running I was listening to my Christian playlist..and it was perfect.  Right when I was feeling exhausted around mile 10  “One Foot” by Building 429 played. 

Action shot!

Lyrics:

I don’t really know where this road is going

I don’t  really know why this door is open

Put one foot in front of the other

…One foot, one foot at a time…

These lyrics spoke to me and gave me the strength I needed to finish.  A reminder to stay strong, I can do it…just keep putting one foot in front of the other.  God never fails to lift me up.  I’m thankful for the perseverance He has taught me.  Without Him I wouldn’t have made it to this point.

The last mile seemed never ending but I made it! I was so excited to finish!

After the race I changed clothes and headed to the after party with friends.   We stayed out until 4 am! Yikes!!  I’d been up for an almost 24hrs!

Sunday morning came way too soon lol.  I headed back to the parks with my mom and her friends.  We walked around played in Epcot.  My mom wore my medal (it was too heavy for me to wear all day) and took in all of the congratulations.  I ended the weekend in Magic Kingdom with Wishes and a ride on Space Mountain.  It was the perfect ending to a perfect weekend :) 

I can’t wait to do it all again in January and then again in February!  That’s right!  I signed up for the Princess Half Marathon yesterday!!

Wow this post was unbelievably long…sorry for that!  Enjoy the few pictures!

Napping on a bench in Epcot Sunday!