Long Time No See

I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted! Okay, I can believe it, but I can't excuse it. I kept meaning to come on here and write something, but life would catch up with me. But more recently, I've just not been in the mood. Not felt like talking about things happening or anything like that.

So, I'm still around - still running here and there. I have the Tower of Terror 13k in just over a week's time, so that should be fun. Then I'll have a break from proper running - focus on maintenance running, and speed work - and try strengthening myself more.

I was at a reunion with some of my ex-Disney colleagues this weekend, and it actually turned out to be a bit of a downer. Turns out not all people that worked at Disney are that nice - who would have thought it? Nothing worse than having people who you call your friends turn out not to be that friendly at all.

Yeah, so, I'll try and post again later in the week. Hopefully I'll be in a better mood by then...we shall see.

Inspiration...

If you're starting out or trying to get to the next level, surround yourself with people who keep you motivated and energised - people who inspire you to achieve your best every day. When you do this, you can't lose - Anthony Famiglietti

This quote can be applied to so many things in our lives, not just running. And I wanted to share it with you all today. Keep Moving Forward! (actually, I'm watching Meet the Robinsons right now...coincidence!)

Only A Week Ago... (It's A Long One)

I'm going to be completely honest here - I haven't written a trip report because I have been busy. First I was busy unpacking, and washing, then I was meeting some friends - and now, I'm ill. Not seriously, and not bad, just a sinus cold, but it's made me even lazier than usual.

Anyway, I wanted to recap some of the great highlights of my trip - just tell you in brief (if I can!) what I got up to. And if I can, I'll post some pictures. Otherwise, feel free to friend me on facebook and look at the pictures there!

We arrived in the U.S. on the Thursday evening, flying into LAX. My parents and I, that is, we stayed at the Hilton near the airport for the night, getting as good a night's sleep as we could, and waking up bright and early on the Friday morning to get the car and head to Disney (via Walmart).

The Friday was a 'getting our bearings' day, checking into our hotel and wandering around the parks until we could get into our room. I don't remember doing any rides during the day, but I think we did It's A Small World and Dad and I did the Matterhorn. Once our room was ready, we headed back to unpack. After that, I headed off to the Princess Dinner with Jonathan, John and his wife, and the lovely Leigh. It was a FANTASTIC dinner - the food was reasonable and the company was spectacular! I had so much fun - thank you for organising it, Jonathan! And there was the fantastic Cast Members, Rachel and Jeremy too, who will forever be engraved on my brain...

After dinner, we headed over to Disneyland where we did Pirates and then waited to see Fantasmic - catching a glimpse of the fireworks at the same time. And Leigh (my awesome BFF) and Jonathan (who is just awesome) and myself watched Murphy appear, the dragon, and thoroughly enjoyed the show - as well as waiting for the show!

The Saturday morning started with the Family Fun Run 5k - Mickey's Main Street U.S.A. 5k! My parents were very excited, and were all set for the run - my mum had done a lot of training too. The run took in both parks, and finished running down Main Street U.S.A. - what a great experience! After we had changed from the run, we headed out to do some mall shopping.

Sunday...what did we do on Sunday...oh yeah, the HALF MARATHON! Phew, what a morning! I was SO nervous, but it was great that we did our Power Meet just before the race! And also that everyone found out about my buttons...(long story!). I also got a lovely surprise of seeing Leigh, and meeting her husband, Chuck, just before my race. I knew I would get through it - with all the support of people there in person and through the internets, I just knew!

So, the race was tough half way, but at Angels Stadium I got a second wind. Thank goodness for that! I got blisters under my moleskin about mile 4/5 which was NOT good - and mile 6/7 I thought about giving up. After the parks, the run was tough. But once I was through Angel's Stadium I though - 'Ah, almost mile 9, I'll be fine' and then I realised - I was almost at mile 10! That did it - I was GOING to do this and do this well!

And so, I finished. With a little help from my parents at the end, I finished in 2:26:46, which I am very proud of. After hanging around, watching for Jonathan, I accidentally bumped into my BFF and we saw Jonathan finish with his medals! Yay! We did it! Go Team Voice! Justin also finished with a phenomenal time of under 2 hours - way to go!

The rest of the Sunday was filled with rides and meets and friends - it was lovely. People actually showed up to my Princess Fee meet, for which I thank them all - and promise, next time there will be buttons! We rode It's A Small World, and parted ways for lunch, before meeting up at Lori's Pirates meet - then a great Castle photo, before heading off to ride our rides.

I spent the rest of the afternoon with my three amigos, before heading to meet the Parentals for dinner at Steakhouse 55. After dinner, which was yummy, we headed back into the park to watch Fantasmic as my parents hadn't seen it yet.

Monday was a bright and early start, meeting for Justin's delicious Just Keep Goofin' breakfast - and Goofy's Kitchen is a great choice! I had actually eaten there on Saturday morning with my parents, and was more than happy to go back. Great characters, great company and great food - seriously, chicken and pizza for breakfast? I'm there! Thanks for the meet, Justin - it was brilliant!

I spent the rest of Monday with Leigh, Jonathan and Chuck - we did all of California Adventure including watching the rest of our party be stuck on the top of Mullholland Madness! That wasn't fun, but it was funny. Unfortunately, that evening would be the point of goodbyes for us all. It was really sad, but I knew I had made some amazing friends for life!

I had dinner with the parents that night in House of Blues, and then we went back into the parks to watch the fireworks - which bring a lump to the throat and tears to the eyes. Mum headed back to the hotel and dad and I stayed in the parks to make the most of the midnight opening.

Tuesday we rose relatively early to take advantage of the Morning Madness Hours, and the day was a family day at the parks. I missed my new Disney family, but there is such a lovely feeling just spending time with your family and enjoying the parks. As I am an only child, I have an incredible bond with my parents - and my dad and I are 'ride buddies', so he liked having his back and we did as many 'thrill rides' as we could!

That evening's dinner was in the Blue Bayou, which was nice but you're mostly paying for atmosphere. I had a nicer steak in the Steakhouse 55, but possibly because it was very seasoned (which isn't brilliant when the menu doesn't say anything about seasoning).

After that, we headed back to the hotel, sadly, taking it in that this was our last time at the Disneyland Resort for a while. My parents holiday was only just beginning - but this was the end of mine. And I had had a fantastic time! I want to thank everyone who made this trip so fantastic - especially Jonathan and Leigh (and I should say Chuck, right?). Thank you for being my West Coast Family. Although you guys made my departure all the more difficult...

I'm Back!

This isn't a proper post - I'm in the middle of unpacking and trying to get things in order - but I am back from California! Yup, I made it back VERY early yesterday morning after one of the most fantastic trips ever!

So how did I get on? I finished the half marathon in 2:26:46 - which actually beat my Princess Half time of almost 6 minutes! I know, I can't believe that part either. But I don't care about that - what I care about is that I FINISHED!! Trust me, about mile 5 I didn't think I would (I got those blisters UNDER the moleskin) and about mile 7 it was very tough. But I hit mile 9/10 - the Angels Stadium - and knew I would finish!

I'm going to do a proper trip report - hopefully tomorrow - as I'm still uploading pictures, etc. But I had a BLAST - and I want to thank EVERYONE who supported me there (mum & dad, you rock!) and at home. AND I have to say THANK YOU to Jonathan, Leigh, Chuck, Justin (and his Posse - Muriel and Jordan), Lori - all the people I met in California. I had a brilliant time! You guys so totally rock - Dude! And as they say, once you go GAC you never go back...

Trip report soon!

Where Have I Been?

Can you guess yet? I'm going to catch up on blogs tomorrow - today has been catching up with family, watching some movies with my mum and catching up on computer things. Tomorrow, I will be back to normal.

Before Disneyland in 4 days!

It Is Time...

I finally decided to do a meet for the Disneyland Half Marathon! I am fully prepared for no one to show up, but if that's the case, I will enjoy myself on the ride nonetheless.

And on the running front - I did a small run yesterday (the aim being from now on, until the race, to slow down during my practice runs!) of about 4.9 miles, which was good. But the blister from Sunday (yup, I got another one - same place!) was irritating. I managed to find moleskin plasters on the internet, so I might try them over the next few runs. Although I'm pretty sure it was the wet weather that caused the blisters. ARGH!

Oh, and don't forget Lori's meet:

And, of course, the fabulous Jonathan and Team Voice and All About the Mouse have some great meets so far:
And - last but not least - Justin has a great breakfast meet:
Where will I see you?

Wish Me Luck!

Just a quick post today - to selfishly ask for encouragement! Tomorrow is my 8 mile easy long run...and the forecast is heavy rain! I don't want to run in it, but I need to get out there to at least get some mileage...I don't usually do this but I'm going to ask for some motivation and encouragement to get my butt out the door and get out there!

I have some unfortunate encouragement at this end. One of my closest friends has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, and she was also the first person to sponsor me for this race. Now it might mean that she has to go for treatment at the place I am raising money for. Apart from everyone else I'm running for, she will definitely be a big part of my 13.1 miles.

Now, I just need to not chicken out - I need to love the rain. Rain is my friend.