The Bionic Valentine

So it has been awhile since I posted.  I did run the Tinkerbell Half!  My goal was to finish under 2:30 and I did.  I’ll have to go back and check, but it was either 2:26 or 2:28.  I forget!  It was SO much fun!  For my first half marathon, it was a great experience.  I ran it at Disney and with my home girl, Amy, so it rocked!  I wasn’t in the best of shape the last few miles (IT Band) and as soon as we crossed the finish line, I had to limp away, but it was great and I can’t wait to do it again!

By the way, we ended up doing the Princess Half at Disney World a month later!

I am 40 freakin’ years old. Yes, I am. When I told my Papa that I was turning 40, you should have seen his face, he was shocked! How the hell did all of those years go by and add up to 40? How the hell? Suddenly, I don’t know who all of the actors in US weekly are. I’ve never heard of many of the bands playing on Saturday Night Live. Yeah, I’m 40 years old. Whoah.

So this summer, when I hit the big four Oh, I signed up for the Disney Half Marathon. It seemed like great motivation to get in shape. I decided to start training when we moved to CA and in September, I began running. In the beginning, I could not run one mile. I could barely run half a mile. It was so hard! And depressing! And a wake up call that I was not the young bird I believed myself to be. I was pitifully out of shape and with every step I took, I felt every one of my 40 years. I know I looked sad out there, but I decided not to care and just kept on trucking. Eventually, I worked my way up to one mile, then two, three, and one day five miles! And a couple of weekends ago, I did ten and a half! It is still difficult, but it is much easier than when I started back in September. And I love it! I love the challenge of running and pushing myself to go further and faster.

There are 45 days until the half marathon.   I have a lot to do to get ready before them, but I’m excited.  It is going to be an awesome weekend!   Two friends and my baby cousin are coming in to do the race too and we are staying up by Disney, so it is going to be a fun girls’ weekend!

Early last summer, one of my dearest friends kept posting on Facebook about doing the Disneyland Tinkerbell Half Marathon.  And then another friend said she was signing up as well.  And with my 40th birthday knocking at the door, I thought, “Hey, me too!”  The race is January 20, so I figured that that gave me plenty of time to make myself into a kick ass half marathon running machine.  Hah! Yeah, I couldn’t run longer than a few minutes and I had a nasty achilles injury that would not go away, but I figured it would work itself out.   Sure!

Fast forward to a few months later when we moved to California and my achilles still hurt like hell and I had done nothing to train for the race.  I started to panic, but I started to run (if you can call it that!).  And I started icing and heating my achilles.  And then I was able to run a mile.  And then two.  And then three!  And then I joined a running group, an exercise group, and yet another running group.  And now I’m running 5 miles!  In two months time I went from barely able to run for a few minutes to running 5 miles!  Sweeeeet!  And now I’m hooked on running!

I still panic when I think about how close the Tinkerbell is and how much I have to left to do to get ready for it. Today is November 5th and the race is January 20th and I have eight more miles I need to add to my distance!  Anyway, I have to say that the best thing I’ve done for myself in years is signing up for the Tinkerbell, because if not for it, I would  probably still be sitting on my couch instead of waking up before the sun rises to do this…

Hope y’all had a great Halloween!  We sure did.  I actually convinced the Babe to wear this bear costume and she had an awesome time running from house to house.  Zorba wore her usual princess/fairy get up and she had an amazing time trick or treating with a friend.  And me?  Well, I got up at 5:00 am to wear this to my 6:00 am exercise class.  Yes, I exercised in this.  An yes, I now get up butt early to exercise.  And I love it!  But more on that later.

Zorba was Bloom from Winks Club (Did I spell that correctly?), I was a punk rocker (duh), and the Babe was a teddy bear, because she claims to be a teddy bear.

Wow, it has been a long time since I wrote on here, hasn’t it? What is new? Well, the thing that stands out the most is that we moved to California. Yep, we sold our house and left Austin for Temecula, California. As much as I hated the idea of moving here (I walked around crying for many months.), I have to say that I like it here. I’m not saying I want to stay forever (It is soooo expensive!), but I really do like it here.

For one thing, the weather is beautiful here. Yes, it is hot, but it is not Austin hot. So we are able to spend way more time outside. Got to love that! I’ve got more to share, but it will have to wait.