Running on Vacation

My sister Jenn and I woke up at 5:30 a.m. for our 6:15 a.m. 15k run on Sunday. I was feeling a little tired, since I went to bed at midnight, but was pretty energized for the race. Up until race morning I had been pretty nervous about running 9.3 miles. I even tried to convince my sister to run a 5k instead. I know I’ve run a half-marathon before, but with work being so crazy I hadn’t gotten to train very much for the run and was nervous that I would get picked up during the race by the “slow patrol,” (the van that picked up runners who were going to slowly). The morning of the race, however, I was pretty excited.

The race started at Disney's Epcot Park and had you going on the highway to Hollywood Studios and then to the Animal Kingdom. It was neat getting to run places that you wouldn’t otherwise get to go. We ran on the highway, which they closed down for the race. We also ran through the parks before they opened. We got to see the back sections of the park and got to see them before they were bustling with people. I loved it. It was also fun to have all the Disney employees telling us how fabulous we were and how great we were doing, even if they didn’t truly believe it they did a good job pretending like they did.

Thinking about the run now makes me sorta teary eyed. With Jenn living so far away, we don’t get to see each other much, and it was really fun getting to do a run with her. I was really proud to be running with my sister. We had team tags designating that we were a sister/sister team and when ever we would pass someone I would be proud that they were seeing the tags on our backs and that they knew we were running together.
I was also proud of how we did. We were not fast, but what we lacked in speed we made up for in consistency. Jenn and I kept a very consistent 11 minute mile pace. Every time we passed a mile marker it had been almost exactly 11 minutes. At mile one we heard 11 minutes, at two miles 22 minutes, at three miles 33 minutes etc. It was neat that we never fell from our pace. We finished the race in 1 hour and 39 minutes, which included a more than needed potty break. Overall, Jenn finished 962/2632 and I finished 980/2632. Not bad if you ask me. I don’t know what other runs I plan on doing, but I certainly plan on running more of them with my sister as my wingman.

Disney Part 1

Although we are not quite caught up on overdue posts (posts 5 and at least 6 are probably still on their way), We are in Florida this week on a Disney vacation, so we're going to temporarily jump to the present. This is Viv and my third trip to Disney World together and probably the fifth Disney World/Land trip thus far. For Marielle, this is number two, and for Harper it is a first. Sadly, Harper's first Disney memories will consist mainly of vomiting and teary eyes. Yes, over time all of our friends with children have logged at least one trip with a sick child, and this trip marks our first experiencing the like. We've been lucky so far, having taken several trips to New York and L.A. and even a trip to Japan, since Harper and Marielle have been good for all. Officially, the running theme in all sick child vacations is indeed: "the vomiting of all milk products." I don't know if including us in the statistics quite tips the scales towards official, but we will certainly back up this theory which I think Lisa has alluded to in the past. Milk = vomiting. This has made hydration a challenge in the blazing Florida weather (luckily, it's only monday). Despite being under the weather, Harper has been a real trooper, and even though she's been a bit out of sorts, we can tell from for smiles that she's having a great time.

We are here with Viv's Colorado family. Vivian and her sister Jenn are running a race through the park this Sunday and instead of Viv coming down alone, we decided to make a trip of it.

Thus far, we have visited Hollywood (formerly MGM) Studios yesterday and the Magic Kingdom today. Yesterday, before Hollywood Studios, we kicked the trip off with a Hawaiian character breakfast featuring Lilo & Stitch and Mickey Mouse and Pluto. Both Harper and Ellie loved meeting all the characters. Marielle could barely contain herself as she watched Mickey working the room on his way over to our table.

At Hollywood Studios, we rode all of the staples such as the Tower of Terror and Aerosmith's Rockin' Roller Coaster, and Marielle and Harper got to meet some of the newer Disney Characters, including the Little Einsteins and Handy Manny and the Tools. On the weekends, Marielle gets to watch Playhouse Disney, so you can imagine her excitement for seeing a live show by the same name. We tried to see a similar live show last time we went to Disney World with Geoff, Colette, and Alex and Marielle had a total meltdown because we wouldn't let her on the stage. This time she was very content dancing in the crowd while watching the show.

We've taken Harper on her first few Disney attractions to include the Peterpan Ride, Winnie the Pooh, Pirates of the Carribean, and even the haunted mansion. She was a little afraid of the dark on Peter Pan, but soon got comfortable and loved the rest. She was captivated by all the stuff going on in Pirates and the Haunted Mansion. She's also been very brave about meeting characters. Like Marielle, I doubt that she'd let any of them holder her, but she hasn't been at all put off by them when they've come to say hi. She met Leo from the Little Einstiens and the aforementioned characters from the breakfast. Our goal at the Animal Kingdom on Sunday is to get her photo with a few more people. Being sick and sleepy, she's missed a couple of guys.