The Pity Party

No Zumba Convention for me

Super quick.... throwing myself a pity party/kick myself in the butt party. I went to sign up for Zumba convention and the registration is now officially closed. Yesterday, it was open, I had decided which sessions I was going to sign up for, I was just waiting on the money. Today, I had the opportunity to sign up... but I was a day late. I'm so mad, mostly at myself because had I planned better, I'd be Orlando bound next month to party it up at Zumba convention. I was so excited and was really hoping I wouldn't miss this one like I missed the one last year. ARGH!!! I think I'm going to go cry... cry and pack, I'm going home tomorrow.

Toronto Update

Super quick update...

- We're having a blast here, but sadly Patrick flies home tomorrow. We're here until Sunday.

- The Lion King was awesome, it was my third time seeing the production and it didn't disappoint.

- My ankle is still giving me trouble, it's got me a little worried.

- I'll have a lot of work to do when I get back, I've been eating entirely too much.

- I'll post pictures and such soon

Three Things Thursday (Toronto Edition)

1. We showed up a whole day early to take Bella to see The Lion King yesterday. WHO DOES THAT?! Apparently, I do, not sure why I didn't check the tickets when we printed them up.

Taken before I had to break the news to her.

2. Did my treadmill run today and my ankle was definitely making itself known. STUPID ANKLE!

3. I am having a hard time not eating everything in sight lately. This is not boding well for the weight loss efforts. I really have to FOCUS!!!

Three Things Thursday (Late Night Edition)

1. Ran my intervals on the treadmill this morning. I'm not going to lie, I sucked big time. I finished but I could have done better during the jogs  between the speed push intervals.  Plus, the knee was sore during the run.

2. SIL had a baby yesterday, and I'm in love. I love babies, especially babies who belong to others. That way, when I'm done playing with the baby I can ship the babe back to mom and dad without any issues.

3. Can't wait for my trip to Toronto on Tuesday. I miss my family and friends, the last time I was in Toronto was December 2009.

Marathon Training Long Run #4

Alright, so I am such an airhead and somehow managed to miss my runniversary and blog-ivesary. On May 18th, 2010, I started this little blog journey and little did I know how much my life would change and how little I knew about running. So, let's see what this second year of blogging and running fun has in store for me.

This morning, I set out for marathon training long run #4. This morning's run was a little different because I had a brand spankin' new running partner with me...Danielle. She's a friend that I met during my last time doing "Lost It At The Club". To be honest, I was a little worried about running with her because it's someone new, and I didn't want to have a bad experience. Thankfully, it went really well, she slowed to my pace and then pushed me at the end where I felt like giving up. The time flew by with chatter about this and that, the conversation came easily and was thoroughly interesting and amusing. I knew that Danielle was awesome but I didn't realize how awesome. She's going to be writing a guest blog post for me sharing her story soon. I'll give you the short version, she's lost a lot of weight, but more importantly she has truly been given a second chance at life. A few years ago, she was in a car accident that resulted in a brain injury. She had to re-learn how to do so many things we take for granted, and she even had to re-learn how to walk, and now she's running and kicking butt. To listen to her tell her story, you can't help but feel inspired. I really can't wait for her to share her whole story with all of you because I could never do it justice. Did I mention that she's going to do 13.1 Atlanta with me as well as the full in Savannah?! I love surrounding myself with those who are awesome and awesomely bad ass!

The run started well, and we kept the 3:1 intervals, we stuck to the plan, and trotted along nicely. I was a little worried about my speed or lack there of but Danielle said she enjoyed the pace and stuck with me. I was grateful for the company because I know that I would have lagged a lot more had I not had someone with me. Also, I was super grateful to have her with me because at about 6.5 miles, I started to drag and Danielle didn't let me wimp out. During the run we ran by an aid station, a local running club had an aid station set out and they were kind enough to offer us some gatorade and even gave us some powerbar gels. Gotta love the kindness of other runners! There were lots of people out on the paths today, and can I just vent about how annoying the others on the paths not calling that they were coming. We had a handful of cyclists nearly run us down, incredibly rude. Then right around the point where I started to drag, I noticed that there was Memorial Day ceremony going on and we had to run right behind where the speakers were. We ran as fast as we could and tried to run around it as much as we could. The heat was starting to get pretty brutal by the end of the run and I was super glad that we started as early as we did.

This little gem was on the radio today... gotta love 90's weekends on Star 94 (one of the only reasons I listen to them).

Three Things Thursday

1. Amy suggested I skip pilates today and just run because of how busy I've been. So, I had a date with the treadmill this morning. There were no tears today, I was just focused on completing the workout that Lesley had assigned for today. SCORE!!

2. Super jazzed to be having lunch with Shannon today, whom I haven't had a chance to hang out with in a long time.

3. Here's a song that's going to be my warm up song for my Zumba classes next week.

Let's Play Catch Up & Marathon Training Long Run Week #3

Thursday

Started my day with pilates then followed it up with some intervals on the treadmill. I'll be honest with you, there tears. They were tough and the tears came not because the run was tough, which it was, but because I didn't quit even though I was very tempted. Can I just tell you how surprised I was when the tears came on?! It's tough to be bad ass when you are crying.

Then Thursday night, my dad flew in from Toronto to see Bella perform in her first grade play on Friday morning. 

B and Grandpa hanging out

Friday

Friday was my first Friday in a while where I didn't teach my Zumba class. I subbed it out so that I could be at B's school to watch her Tony award worthy performance in "It Sounds A Little Fishy". Alright, maybe my baby is not going to be the next Broadway sensation but it was so stinkin' cute! I think Patrick said it best, the kids and the play was cuter than a litter of puppies. I pulled Bella out of school after the play because it's almost the end of school and they weren't doing much. Plus, I thought she should spend some time with Grandpa. My mom and dad had promised her an American Girl doll if she did well in school this year, and Miss Bella delivered, so we made the trek to the AG store so she could pick out her new doll, but not without taking one of hers with her to enjoy the festivities. To add to that, my dad wanted to go shopping so we spent the rest of the day shopping. My dad loves shopping... 

Saturday

I had Zumba launch at one of the gyms that I work at, and let me just tell you it was fun but super exhausting. 

Sunday

I missed Saturday's run, I ran a mile and walked a mile Sunday morning, to get myself moving. I got to try out my new shoes, did I mention that I got new shoes? I got another pair of Vomeros and I'm glad to have another pair of shoes in the mix.

Patrick and I decided to take Bella to the Renaissance Festival that was taking place very close to where we live. I'd never been to one before and he hadn't been since he was in high school, neither of us were really sure what to expect. Both Patrick and I thought it was alright and overly pricey and some of it was not really as family friendly as it was advertised. That being said Bella absolutely loved it.

An animal shelter had this one eyed killer, he was adorable.

My baby is a lot of things but graceful is not one of them.

She had to have a picture taken with the knight who won the joust.

Monday


Beginning of marathon training week #3, and third long run in this training cycle. I was on my own for this one, and I was glad because I just wanted to be alone. I put my ipod in and set out slowly because it was HOT, but I shouldn't be surprised because I do live in Georgia after all. I started out well enough, and then about a mile into the run, I felt the urge to go. Well, I knew that there is a bathroom at a super market I pass at the 2.5 mile mark, and I could hold it till then. Then the urge got worse, I tried ignoring it, but that didn't help. I started eyeing the trees on the path, but couldn't bring myself to go outside because it would be my luck that I would have someone see me. By the time I hit the second mile mark, I was starting to worry that I would end up with yellow socks. I would speed up so that I could get to the bathroom quicker and then slow down because I started to worry that I would have an accident. I even asked myself what would SUAR do, in an attempt to talk myself into going behind a tree, but I just couldn't do it. I don't think I have ever felt a feeling as heavenly as sitting on the toilet at Kroger, and I am sort of glad that it was empty because I might have let out one of those sighs. You know which sigh I'm talking about, we've all done it. Anyways, I headed back out and was trucking along then I saw a donut on the cart path, now, it's not unusual to see food on the cart paths because sometimes little kids throw things from their golf carts. What was unusual was the next donut I came across, then there were even more. For about 1.5 miles, I saw donuts and donut holes scattered along the path, which makes me wonder what exactly prompted someone to throw that many donuts. That's some serious sugar abuse. Look I have evidence...

One of the many left on the path... that's some serious sugar abuse.

The good thing about the donuts was that it gave me something to entertain myself with. I started concocting crazy stories as to how they got there, and why. Plus, because this is Georgia and there is tons of wildlife, so there were lots of birds pecking away at the discarded donuts. So not only was I making up my stories, I was having a quasi redneck disney princess moment with all the birds lining the path. It was almost magical and I managed to get 7 miles in, albeit slowly.