A Disney Princess: One Year Later

This past weekend, my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram feeds were FULL of pictures and posts from the WDW Princess Half Marathon weekend. It also was my first attempt at running after having Robby. It had me thinking about where I was one year ago and how much life has changed in a year.

The Princess Half weekend 2015 was my "last hoorah" race. We had been talking seriously about starting a family, so we decided that I would run as many runDisney races as I could in a year and then we'd start trying for a baby after Princess. That (very cold) weekend, I ran all the races and we had a blast enjoying Walt Disney World. Who knew that in less than 2 months we'd be already expecting our little Disney prince?

I spent so much of my pregnancy focused on staying healthy and fit, which made my pregnancy a breeze. Postpartum, though, has really been a struggle. That brings me to my latest run: a planned 5-miler in preparation for the Hot Chocolate 15k this weekend. Ummmmm...so... Let's just say I'm not really ready for this race!

I didn't make the full 5 miles yesterday. In fact, I only made 2 miles of running, then had to walk home. Between being sick with a cold and my knee acting up (probably from the extra weight), I was just not feeling a run. Ugh! I thought coming back after pregnancy was going to be much easier. My plan is to just chug through this weekend, get to the finish line, then start from square one. As a coach, I know that building a proper running base is essential, and I don't know why I thought I could somehow just skip this step. Luckily I have 6 months before the Disneyland Half to get back into fighting shape.

No time like a Monday to start again, right? I'll be walking this week and just saying a few prayers to the running Gods on Sunday. I'm sticking to my plan of walking and running with a little PiYo to help with strength. I start back at the gym teaching in a week, so I better get ready for that too. Oh, the life of a new mommy!!

Any tips to start over?

The Honest Truth

On Sunday, Robby turned one month old! It's been a whirlwind month, full of happiness, ups and downs, and trying to figure out my new role as full-time mommy. You want the truth? I have NOT had any focus on nutrition OR working out! Yes, I took a few walks, but I have mainly been at home, on the couch, vegging out in front of the TV and binge eating junk food. I stocked my fridge with healthy options, but even eating a ton of healthy foods makes the scale move in the wrong direction.

So it's time to get real, get honest. I spent (almost) all of my pregnancy eating healthy and staying fit. Yes, I slid a bit toward the end--I was just too tired to workout hard and well, I have no excuse. I just got into some bad habits. So I'm putting it out there--I'm changing things up and getting back to my healthy self! Here's the plan:

Nutrition: I'm going to follow the 21 Day Fix meal plan, adding extra calories to ensure I have enough to continue to breastfeed. Lots of water too to keep myself milky. Of course, Shakeology daily to get in my daily dose of dense nutrition!

Fitness: This one is a bit harder because I feel like I've lost a lot in this area. For the rest of this month, my goal is walking at least 3 days per week and running 1-2 days per week. I have the inaugural Hot Chocolate 15k at the end of the month to keep me on track with this goal. I'm also planning on adding PiYo twice per week. It's the perfect new momma workout since it focuses so much on the core.

Time will definitely be a challenge, especially when I go back to work next week. I tell my clients all the time that time is just a terrible excuse, I can't use that as an excuse either! It's time to practice what I preach! Let's do this!!!!

It's Time to Register for the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend!

Tomorrow is the big day for all of you "regular" folks...me included...who do not have annual passes or DVC. It's time to warm up the credit cards, get all computers going, and register for the Disneyland Half Marathon weekend!

This year will be Bill's and my 4th Dumbo Double Dare and, of course, our newest addition will be joining in on the fun in his very first runDisney event: the Diaper Dash. This puts HUGE pressure on me to get all of us registered! I have enough anxiety registering just the two of us, heck, even just me, but 3? THREE registrations! I've got to be on my A-game. There's no doubt that Dumbo will continue to sell out fast. I would also expect the 10k and 5k to be quick sellouts, with kids races not far behind. The half--who knows? It seems as if the half marathons have been having some trouble selling out lately, so we'll see how it goes tomorrow.

2015 Disneyland Half Marathon

So how do you guarantee yourself a spot? Here are some great tips:
1. Have your Active.com account already pulled up and logged in on one tab.
2. Have runDisney open on another tab.
3. Be logged into Facebook and Twitter, following runDisney (in case the website crashes, which it always seems to do) and be on the lookout for a link.
4. Have your credit card ready to go.
5. Do this on a reliable computer--I find mobile devices too slow and unreliable!

You'll be put in a queue to register, so don't exit that queue or you risk losing your spot "in line". Finally, I also have some back up travel partners ready to go in case I can't get into the races I want. We've used a bunch of different travel partners in the past, and I can say with pretty good confidence that as long as they are listed on the runDisney site, you should be fine.

Dumbo is our legacy race, so the stress is always on to get registered for this one. Of course, this year, the pressure is also on for the Diaper Dash, since there's only a 6 month window when he can run. My mom was quick to point out that if we don't get in this time, we can always make another trip to WDW for either Wine and Dine or Marathon Weekend. Twist my arm, right?!?!

For now, though, my fingers are crossed and I will just follow my own advice, hoping to get all registered tomorrow! Any other tips to share? Will you be running this year?