Thanksgiving Thursday

For those of you that don't know what Thanksgiving Thursday is, it is the one time during the week where you stop and basically count your blessings. Even if you've had one of those weeks, I promise you can find at least one thing to be thankful for, no matter how big or small.

This week I am thankful for...

• Scott who is my rock and my strongest training partner.

• My kiddos, especially when they tell me they love me without being prompted.

• Family.

• Old and new friends.

• Long runs filled with laughs.

• Sparkleskirts, because, duh.

What are you thankful for this week?

Thanksgiving Thursday

For those of you that don't know what Thanksgiving Thursday is, it is the one time during the week where you stop and basically count your blessings. Even if you've had one of those weeks, I promise you can find at least one thing to be thankful for, no matter how big or small.

This week I am thankful for:

• Scott, who motivates me through his weight loss journey. I am so proud of him and so happy he is on this path!

• Aaron who made sure he gave me an extra birthday snuggle.

• Jillian who made sure everyone in a 10 mile radius knew it was my birthday.

• Family all around us.

• Friends that send you the sweetest cards with the funniest things written inside. Love you bench!

• Frolleagues that decorate your office to the point that you have to duck to leave. Also, for making me feel loved the entire day.

• Starbucks giftcards. It's always the perfect gift :)

• Margarita's.

• Sparkle mail!

• A great year 30 and what I'm hoping will be a better year 31.

What are you thankful for this week?

Princess Half Marathon Pt. 3 - The Half Marathon

Welcome to the final installment of my Disney Princess Half Marathon recap! Sunday was the big race and the one I was the most eager to finish. Last year I did not have a great race and was still battling the nerves from that. I'm pretty sure my fancy sparkle skirt gave me the power to get through. 

My skirt is Black Diamond.

I swear, I am not a spokesperson for Sparkle Skirt. I just really love them. I also wore my first shirt from Raw Threads and I really liked it. Normally, I only run in tech shirts, but I liked the bamboo material. It was super comfortable and made running in the humidity tolerable. 

Cathy, Lorren and I were in corral J (they went all the way to P) and Michelle was in N. Before we took off, Scott sent me a text telling me where the lead racer was. One of my favorite things about this race is seeing the first place female running on the opposite side of the course. There is something so inspirational about seeing an athlete of that caliber just coasting along. It gives you that extra oomph that you need sometimes. So when we were took off I made a point to watch for the first female, except I never saw her, she was that fast. The first female, and actually, the first person, to finish did it in 1:11. That's insane!

Okay, back to the non-Olympian runners...

Lorren and I pretty much stuck together for this race, similar to the 10k. The course was pretty spooky because of the fog/mist/humidity. When we approached the toll plaza for Magic Kingdom, you could barely see it. 

I think this helped a little mentally, because you couldn't really see how far away you were, so it was like a pleasant surprise each time you can upon a mile marker or landmark. 

My favorite part of the race is everything that surrounds Magic Kingdom. Once you hit the parking lot and Transportation and Ticket Center the crowds are already forming. I love all of the signs and complete strangers that cheer you on. Big shout out to the woman with the sign that said, "Have fun storming the castle!" I think I laughed about that one for a few miles. Well, at least until I came upon the three fairies with the sign, "You are running Malificently!" Genius I tell you!

The next best thing is running up Main Street towards the castle. The cheering squad is huge and it just pumps you up. 

We coasted through the kingdom pretty quickly and hit the 10k mark with the same time that we had the day before. I was feeling pretty good. Lorren? Well...

Poor Lorren. 

We got our boost at the halfway mark with "Let it Go" blasting from the speakers. It seriously was the perfect song for that point in the race. 

Lorren and I stuck together until the 15k mark and I had to leave her. Trust me, it was not an easy decision. 

I costed through the last 5k+ and finished right around the time I wanted to end. I finished in 3:18:59, my best time to date.  Scott met me with my medal and it was perfect!

We both waited for Lorren and Cathy to cross and then headed over to the tent to get our Glass Slipper medals. 

There was no better feeling than having those two medals clinging around my neck. 

Michelle finished shortly after we got our medals, so we hung around and waited for her and snagged this lovely photo:

Yes, we all wore Raw Threads shirts and Sparkle Skirts. It's an addiction!!!!

I am so insanely proud of all of us for finishing our biggest challenge to date. 19.3 miles over 2 days. It definitely made all of those early Saturday mornings worth it.

Thank you to everyone who has encouraged me along the way, especially Scott! I can't wait to do this again next year!

Princess Half Marathon Weekend Pt 2 - The Enchanted 10K

Welcome to part two of the Princess Half Marathon Weekend three part extravaganza! Saturday morning was our first of the two races. Naturally, I sparkled for the race.

My Sparkle Skirt is Mouse in the Mix

We were up bright and early at 2:30 a.m. to get ready for the race and make our bus by 3:45. Yes, the race was that early. 

The course was pretty cool. We started in the EPCOT parking lot, ran through the toll plaza, made a u-turn, went up the ramp, through the back entrance, around the countries and around the EPCOT resorts before finishing back in the EPCOT parking lot. 

Michelle was in the corral behind Cathy, Lorren and myself and I think Lorren and I lost Cathy before mile 1. We did us our code word though to find each other. What was our code, you ask? Oooo-de-lally! Yes, as in Robin Hood.

The screen said "Go Princess Go!"

It was pretty humid that morning, which made it kind of spooky when you ran around the countries. Like I said before, the whole course was great. There were a ton of characters (including Elsa!) and a ton of music to keep you pumped up. Plus, there were a ton of great volunteers that encourage you the whole way. I would like to take this moment to thank the lifeguard at mile 5 or so, you were wonderful and wonderful looking.

Lorren and I finished in 1:32:06 which is my personal best for a 10k. The best part of the finish though was that Scott was there to give us our medals. 

Not everyone gets a medal from security.

Cathy and Michelle were not far behind us (I think Michelle actually just finished a few seconds behind with her chip time).  We were able to snag this snazzy photo of all of us after the finish:

The 10k definitely helped with the nerves, but we all knew the big race was the next day. We also knew we couldn't just sit in the hotel all day, so we went to Magic Kingdom for a little fun. That fun included Michelle's first time on Jungle Cruise and the Enchanted Tiki Room. 

We headed back to the hotel early, devoured some pasta and were in bed by 6:30. None of us had a hard time falling asleep and before you knew it, it was time for the half!

Be sure to check in tomorrow for part 3!

Princess Half Marathon Weekend Pt. 1 - The Expo

It has definitely been a long weekend, but an awesomely amazing one! I ran my fourth Disney Princess Half Marathon and to one up myself, I did the Inaugural Glass Slipper Challenge. The challenge consisted of both the 10k and the half marathon, back-to-back. Crazy, right?

I met up with my sister and niece to head over to the expo. I have to say this is always one of my favorite parts of the weekend. I love visiting all of the booths and of course buying some goodies. I'm an official Sparkle Skirt addict and was in pure sparkle heaven. My sparkle wish list has grown tremendously since visiting the booth, but that's not why you're here...back to the reason you're here.

One of the coolest parts of the expo was that someone from our church gave me my bib and shirts. He happened to be volunteering and it just made my day. 

We spent probably an hour, maybe two, at the expo grabbing some swag and maybe some cupcakes. Yes, I introduced my sister and niece to the deliciousness that is the Yum Yum Cupcake truck. 

I think we could have sold these and made back all of the money we spent at the expo. That's not an exaggeration. 

After the expo and maybe a cupcake, we spent the afternoon at Magic Kingdom. We did not ride Space Mountain (it was broken) and we got stuck on the Peoplemover. 

We did not stay long and headed back to the hotel for bowls of pasta and some sleep. After all, we had a busy weekend ahead of us. 

Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3!

Gobble 'Til Ya Wobble: Turkey Trot 5K

Saturday, Michelle and I ran the Turkey Trot 5K. This race was Michelle's first ever race last year, so we were pretty excited to run it again.

Michelle was sick all week and was battling a chest cold, but we still kicked butt. At one point though we realized we were supposed to have already turned around. Yeah, they didn't have anyone turning us around, so we just kept going.

I do feel bad for the people that didn't turn around when the rest of us did. Who knows how far they went!

The 5K turned into a 3.5 mile race for us. I did manage to take a glance at what would have been our 5K time and we would have beat our time from last year by a minute. I call that a success.

When we came up to the finish I heard the kiddos before I saw them. They
both ran out to high five me before I crossed. Seriously, that is the best feeling and instantly makes you feel like you came in first.

They also called my name as I crossed (pronounced it right, too). I have never had that happen before. I actually turned around in disbelief. It was so awesome.

This was also my first race in my super comfy Sparkle Skirt. I love it and would wear it every single day if I could.

Thank you, Michelle for running this with me even though you were feeling under the weather!