I'm Baaaaaaccccccckkkkkk!

Disney was awesome! The surprise went well and we all had an amazing time. The workouts were almost non-existent, but we were up before dawn most days and out until 10:30 or 11 pm every night...talk about exhausting! I will re-cap the entire trip this week, but for now I'll share 20 things I learned during our trip to Disney.

1. Do NOT let your 2 year old and 6 year old sit next to each other on an airplane. Chaos will ensue and it's not pretty.




2. Walt Disney was a true visionary. He had amazing foresight. AMAZING.



3. Never, ever take an almost 3-year old to Disney. NEVER. Disney can be overwhelming for an adult, so can you imagine how a 2-year old might feel? Can we say meltdown? How about meltdown 2-3x daily? NEVER DO IT. NEVER. In fact, don't take the kids at all.



4. Disney is a total and complete racket. They are a marketing machine. From the freaking princesses to the collectible pins, it is a total and complete racket. I love it! From a business perspective, they are geniuses.



5. You will not find Giselle from Enchanted at Disney. She was there once, but will more than likely never be there again. Bummer, because I loved Enchanted.



6. The buses that run from the resorts to the parks run every 20 minutes. Do not expect them to arrive any faster.



7. Remember the 2 year old meltdowns? They are not fun when riding on a bus.



8. It is actually cheaper to buy strollers than rent them. We are now proud owners of 2 new, but definitely well used umbrella strollers.



9. It is HOT in Florida in April. I don't know what I was thinking, but standing in line in the sun when it's almost 90 degrees didn't sound so bad when I planned the trip.



10. The week of Easter is busy at Disney. But it doesn't get really busy until Wednesday/Thursday.



11. Do not get sucked into the collectible pin racket. It is addictive. We are now proud owners of over 20 pins between the two kids.



12. You will wait for 2 hours to see fireworks shows if you want a good seat.



13. There really is a Pizza Planet and your 2-year old will want to eat there. Too bad he fell asleep in his stroller right before we arrived.



14. You will pay $15 for a spinning light up toy to preoccupy your kids while waiting for 2 hours to see the fireworks shows. Hell, you might even be willing to spend $100 on these toys to preoccupy your kids...anything to preoccupy the kids!



15. You will spend more time waiting in lines than riding actual rides. For our kids, most of that time was spent waiting in line to meet characters. Don't even ask me how long we waited to meet Rapunzel from Tangled. I will never admit how long we waited. NEVER.



16. You cannot be on the Disney Meal Plan during vacation and NOT gain weight. Seriously, you get an entree, drink and dessert with each meal...technically, it is already paid for so you should eat that dessert, right?



17. You can bring snacks and water into the parks if you are discreet about it. Thank God, because having fruit snacks on hand helped stop the meltdowns before they got really bad!



18. At some point, your kids will decide they are just as happy at the hotel pool as they are at the theme parks...gee, we could have saved a ton of money if we had known that sooner.



19. Your kids will decide that they want the most expensive and largest toy from the hotel gift shop as a souvenir - thank you to Grandma and Grandpa for giving them the spending money. :-) The kiddo's souvenir was so large, we had to ship it home!



20. Your kids will hug you often and tell you how awesome you are for taking them to Disney. And that alone is well worth the cost, the lines and the heat!

Sprinklers!

The weather has been awesome here...at least for the 1st 1/2 of the week. That's the way it works in TX.

Tuesday, 4/12 - Insanity and Bike
Tuesday morning, the weather rocked! In the 50s in the morning with almost no humidity. For whatever reason, I did Insanity indoors. As soon as I went outside, I was wishing that I had opted for a run instead. In the afternoon the temps reached the low 80's, but the humidity was low. Lately, Tuesday has been my spin class day, but there would be none of that today - I had jury duty instead. I did get to take the bike outside for a spin though. We had some errands to run, so I didn't have much daylight...30 minutes on the bike @ 17 mph pace. Better than nothing!

Wednesday, 4/13 - Run, 3 miles 10:12 pace
This time, I was going to enjoy the weather. I figured I could do Insanity in my living room any day! It was awesome - around 58 and low humidity. I got in 3 miles and wished I had time for more! This was just a "get out there and enjoy the weather" kinda run....no pace goals, just do what feels comfy.

Thursday, 4/14 - Run, 4 miles, 10:21 pace
Okay, so obviously I am not making attempts at getting in my true tri training this week. Between jury duty, coming home and catching up on work e-mails and getting ready for our vacay, there just hasn't been time. But, I did want to get in one more run before we head to Florida. The weather was back to typical Houston weather - 70 degrees and humid. Ick! The goal was to just run at an easy pace. I was thinking of keeping the run around a 10:30 pace, but everytime I looked down I was a little faster than that. I had the perfect opportunity to re-live my childhood during this run - right as I was about to pass a house, the sprinklers came on. It was perfect timing, because I hopped up on the sidewalk and ran right through them. It felt great! When I got back to my house, I was sweating like crazy for some reason...even after my shower. It made putting on make-up a little bit of a challenge, lol!

The rest of my Thursday was spent getting the luggage all packed for our trip! Fun, fun! The kids are going to be so surprised - I can't wait!

Workouts...

And now for the boring stuff...

Saturday, 4/9 - Long run, 9 miles
It was warm, it was humid. At least there was a breeze. The goal was to run 10 miles, but my car is in the shop and we had to pick up a rental before heading to the Kiddo's soccer game. We were told that the rental car place opened at 8 am, so I cut my run short...turns out they open at 9 am. Guess I could have run that extra mile. Grrrr... My pace was a less than spectacular 10:43. I think I can do better...heat and all.

After soccer, the Kiddo told me that she didn't want to play soccer anymore. Guess that all works out, since it was her last game of the Spring season. I just wish she would have told me that before I bought her a brand new pair of soccer shoes. Oh well! So in 3 weeks, both the Kiddo and Munchkin will start swim lessons again. Then, we had to head to a wedding shower, the grocery store and a few other errands. Before I knew it, it was 8 pm!

Sunday, 4/10 - Rest day
Okay, I skipped the bike ride this week for a very good reason. I went to Galveston to cheer on my tri friend, Kelly, and a few other folks at the Texas 70.3. It was a great day! I am super sunburned, and I have no voice after all that yelling and cheering, but it was worth it. I will post pics later.

Monday, 4/11 - Insanity
Is it sad that I've already forgotten the name of this workout? It was the one I despise the most - with the push-ups, running in plank position, ski abs and in and outs in plank....ugh, misery! But I love it! :-)

It's been an interesting day, to say the least. My car has been in the shop since Friday. Turns out the dealership who repaired my car 4 years ago after an accident did really crappy work...we've already had to have one repair redone and now we're paying about $1,000 to replace another part that was not repaired properly. That doesn't include the original repairs we took the car in for - new breaks and belts. Yeah, not exactly what we need right before leaving for vacation.

On top of the car repairs, I was selected for jury duty! Oh well, on Friday we will be in Florida and making great memories with the kids...can't wait!

SURPRISE!

I like (most) surprises. Most as in - surprise flowers - yes, surprise visit from the inlaws - no, surprise cupcakes - yes, surprise car repairs - no. Friday, I received a pretty good suprise.

I don't think I've officially announced this, but I am running the NYC Marathon in November. Last year, I decided to enter the lotto for the race and in June. Much to my surprise, I was selected! However, after being laid off for 2 1/2 months and just starting a new job, I didn't feel like I was in the best position to 1) spend lots of time training, 2) ask for days off from work and 3) spend a lot on money on a trip. So I deferred. This year, I WILL be running! Back when I ran this race in 2003, I had the most awesome time and I promised myself I would be running again to celebrate my 40th birthday...that birthday will be in January (yikes!).

Last week, I went out to the NYC Marathon website to check out some information and noticed that the 2010 shirts and gear were still posted. Nothing was out there for 2011. So...imagine my surprise when I received this in the mail:

At first, I thought the Hubby had ordered it as a surprise (I did the same thing for him with an Austin shirt). But no, he admitted that he hadn't even given the race much thought with our Disney vacation just a week away. So, I don't know if everyone who is already in received one...or if I have a little marathon gift elf out there or what. I mean, the lotto for NYC hasn't even taken place yet. So to the NYC Marathon (or my marathon gift elf) I send a big THANK YOU! I love it!!!!!!

Now to start planning the trip!!!

Workouts and Randomness...

Thursday, 4/7 - Insanity and Swimming Not much to say...I woke up early to do Insanity - Pure Cardio and then headed to the pool in the evening to swim 1,600. I made it back home in time to help the hubby put the kiddos to bed and then it was time for some Malbec for mommy! Just a 1/2 glass, but it was oh so yummy!

And now for the randomness.... I haven't mentioned this yet, but we're taking the kids to Disney next week! This is the 1st time we've been with the kids and it's a big surprise for them, so shhhhhhhh! I think I am just as excited as they're going to be. Soooo, this time next week we will be at the most magical place on earth...or is it the happiest?

Another thing we had planned on doing while we were in sunny Florida was drive to Titusville to watch the final launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavor! This was pretty much my idea - I am a space nerd and seeing a shuttle launch is on my bucket list and has been since high school. In fact, we kept waiting and waiting to make our reservations, because shuttle launch dates pretty much always change. First it was scheduled for April 1st, then the date moved to the 19th. And it stayed there...and stayed there, so we booked our trip. Naturally, it moved again - on Monday it was announced that the new launch date will be the 29th. And no, we will will not be there that long! Bummer! But, there are worse places in the world to be stuck than Disney and something tells me that the kids will be perfectly fine with an extra day with the mouse.

I also have jury duty on Monday (yay me!) and I am on vacation Thursday and Friday, so next week is going to be short but crazy! And, I am completely overwhelmed by how much planning goes into going to Disney! There's all kinds of info on the web to help you plan, but I would have preferred planning this a year in advance....you have to schedule meals with the characters, beauty sessions at a boutique, know which park is best to go to on which days, what rides to go to first (to avoid the lines), which you should use a fast pass for....holy crap, there's so much to know! I am trying to keep the Type A in me under control...but that doesn't mean that I haven't created an Excel spreadsheet with a day by day itinerary (i.e. which parks on which days, the order we're riding the rides, where we're eating, etc.). :-) Well, that's enough randomness for now. Have a great weekend!

Wine and Snooze

Monday, 4/4 - Rest Day
As much as I love my weekend workouts, sometimes they tire me the heck out. I was feeling that weary feeling on Monday and decided it was time for a rest.

Tuesday, 4/5 - Insanity, Spin and Swim Dine
I woke up at the insanely early 4:30 am and made it through an insanely tough Inasanity workout - Cardio Power and Resistance. At lunch I headed over to the gym at work for spin class. This time, the instructor had some great music! Lots of upbeat re-mixes that helped me survive the climbs, rolling hills, jumps and running. Tuesday nights are normally my swim nights, but I had dinner with a good friend and former co-worker instead....it was a lot of fun catching up! And yes, there was wine and dessert, too!

Wednesday, 4/6 - Run, 3 miles, 9:38 pace
A big thank you goes out to Mother Nature this week! She blessed us with much cooler temperatures this week and it is GREATLY appreciated. On Monday morning, it was 76 degrees and very humid. Yesterday morning, we had a cool 43 degrees and this morning it was in the 50s - LOVE IT! I figured I could do Insanity later...I was gonna enjoy these temps! I wanted to run forever, but unfortunately there was only time for 3 miles. (Yes, I pushed the snooze button a few too many times.) And by the time I do my long run this weekend, it will be warm and humid again. Grrr....Mother Nature is just bi-polar.

Workout Love

I love the weekend workouts.

My favorite? The bike!

I hate it when the weather is bad on the weekend mornings, because without my weekend morning workouts, I am a grump (okay, I am really a biotch, but I was trying to keep the blog PG-13). Once I've got my workout in, I am ready for the rest of the day - fun with the kids, hanging with the hubby, grocery shopping, etc.

Saturday, April 2 - Bike/Run Brick
I would have loved to ride my bike for about 45 miles, but the kiddos had soccer games so time was limited. Plus, I really need to start working brick workouts into my routine again...so I compromised and rode 30 miles and ran 2 miles.

I seem to be stuck - my pace on the bike has been 16.2 mph for the past few weeks. The bike is one area where I really think I have room for improvement. The past 2 years, my training rides were closer between 14.8 - 15 mph, and my race pace always stayed around 18 mph. This year, I've been on my bike a lot more and for longer distances. Now my average training ride pace is around 16 mph...I'd like to get faster, but I am clueless when it comes to the bike. Is it the same as running? Do speedwork and tempo rides? Someone clue me in. :-)

After my ride, I ran my bike up my driveway into my garage for a little T2 practice. I removed the helmet, changed shoes and was off. And then I turned around and ran into the house for a quick potty break. Doh! I am always surprised at how much faster I tend to run after being on the bike. I managed to finish my 2 miles in 18:40 (a 9:20 pace). The fastest brick I've done was last summer - bike 15 miles, run 2 @ a 9:25 pace, so I was super pleased with this run! I don't think I could have held that pace for another mile, but it gives me something to shoot for at CB&I next month.

Sunday, 4/3 - Long run, 9 miles, 10:45 pace
That pace says it all - warm, humid, tired legs. I'll admit it, my glutes were still sore from Friday's Insanity workout and my legs were a little tired from my brick the day before. I didn't notice the sore glutes at all on the bike the day before, but I definitely noticed it on my run (for at least the 1st mile)! Ouch!

This run was pretty uneventful. I tried to run every loop in every section of the neighborhood, just so I didn't=t have to see the same scenery more than once. But, I started the run in the dark, pre-dawn areas and there are some sections of my neighborhood that are just too dark to venture into before daylight. I was going for 10-miles, but by the time I reached my section of the neighborhood, I was already at 9 miles and a little change...rather than do another loop of my section, I decided that I'd call it a day.

The rest of the weekend consisted of grocery shopping, a birthday party for one of the kiddo's school friends, a baby shower for my cousin, more fishing at the neighborhood lake and a trip to Target for a new Chi. It doesn't seem like a lot, but it certainly felt like a busy weekend!