Thursday, December 31, 2009

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

The Results Are In...

After I updated the blog earlier today the doctor called to tell me my results. Looks like I have a stress fracture. I'm not too thrilled that I was told I couldn't train for the race anymore. BUT that doesn't mean that I'm not doing the race. As of right now, I plan on starting the race that day. If I finish, I finish. If not, then I will just hide in my room for the rest of the day with The Captain.

It's hard to know what the doctor is going to tell me to do since I don't see him until January 6th, the day before I arrive in WDW. But I do know that crutches are in my future. I wonder if I can get on the rides faster with them?

Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers over the next 2 weeks.

I needed a good laugh

If you've been following me on Facebook you'll know that I've been having a problem with my right leg hurting. The MRI showed what appears to be fluid in my femur bone. So yesterday I had a bone and cat scan done on it. Having this pain has really hindered my training for the half marathon in Walt Disney World but thanks to a truly wonderful friend I think I'll get through it. Or at least he thinks I will.

Check out his blog to see how he plans on getting me through the race. It's pretty funny!

http://madhatter77.blogspot.com/2009/12/2-weeks-and-4-days.html

Leave a comment and tell him the redhead sent ya!

Saturday, December 12, 2009

4 weeks and counting!!

I think something fell from the sky and clunked me on the head because 4 weeks from now I'll be participating (notice how I didn't say running) in the Walt Disney World Half Marathon again. But at least I won't be going it alone, I've conned another friend into doing it with me. It'll be his first half marathon so hopefully he'll enjoy it as much as I enjoyed my first.

In preparing for this, I started thinking back to how I got ready for the last one and what I learned in the past. Obviously, I didn't learn to stop doing these crazy things!

The first link is from a previous blog post. It's What I Learned From Marathon Weekend.

http://wewantstheredhead.blogspot.com/2009/01/what-i-learned-from-marathon-weekend.html


The second link is a guide that a friend of mine over at Running Of The Ears put together. Print it out and read over it. There is a ton of great information in it.

http://www.runningoftheears.com/images/WDW-MarathonTips.pdf

I would like to add to pack your running shoes, clothes, anything you want on race day into your carry on. You don't want to end up at the airport with no luggage and realize that all your gear was in your suitcase. Or if you don't have room, ship it down UPS so you can track it. Make sure you give it more than enough time to get there. And remember that UPS will be closed New Years Day so if you're in California make sure you allow enough time. I've done this before, not with my clothes but with my extras. In the past, I've shipped G2, Power Bars, blankets, hat, pretty much anything that wasn't going to fit in my suitcase or that I didn't want to take up space with.

Remember, race day is different than a training day. Your adrenaline is pumping and there is about 20,000 or more people around you. How you feel and how you run on a training day will differ on race day. I know last year I ended up with some bad blisters at mile 3 and the whole time I trained I never had one blister. So be prepared! Pack all the essentials. Better to have it and never use it than need it later. That means extra safety pins, band aids, moleskin, first aid tape, Ace bandages, pain relievers, Imodium ( you never know what can happen that morning). If you think you need it...PACK IT! Especially different shoes for afterwards. Take your sandals or flip flops. You're feet will love that after a 13 or 26 mile race that they aren't stuffed in sneakers.

The biggest thing to remember is TO HAVE FUN!!! You're friends aren't going to care what your time is or what place you came in. As long as you have fun doing what you're doing, that's all that matters! That should be a warning to my friend, we're going to have so much fun that you're head is going to explode!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Here Comes Belsnickle

Belsnickle is a French/German tradition that celebrates the feast of St. Nicholas on December 6. Belsnickle is what I call a pre-Santa/ little helper elf who checks on kids about 3 weeks before Christmas. Kids put their shoes out the night of December 5, and Belsnickle fills them with candy or coal depending on how you are behaving.

When I was a child, Belsnickle would come and visit in person. He would bang on the door and scary the crap out of me and my step-brother. He looked like Santa but was a lot meaner than Santa. He would ask if we were being good and if he knew we weren't he would shake his switch at us. One year he scared the dog so badly she peed on my mom. And another year he wanted me to give up my blanket. Needless to say, I still have my blanket and it was many years afterwards until I put it away. Before he would leave he would give us a little gift and tell us to be good and to go to our rooms to think about how we can listen to our parents better. It wasn't until years later that I realized we did this so we wouldn't see him drive off in his truck. And I also found out that dad would leave a bottle of Jack in the garage for him.

The tradition still carries on today. Sadly, he has only shown up in person one year for Cassidy but she still knows he's watching because he puts something in our shoes every year. He even found us in WDW last year. And every year Cassidy tries to put her biggest shoe out in hoped that he'll fill it up. She even tries to use Erin's boots but we tell her he knows who's shoes belong to who and that's not going to work.

If you don't already do this, maybe try it this year and start a new tradition in your family.