RUN LIKE A PRINCESS!

I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD

♫♪ badaledabadedadeda buh ♪ ♫ badeladedadedadada ♫ ♫ ♪ dahdedelaladadedadada bah dededaladededa da....remember that song?!  Ok, well in that song it's "land" (and, technically DizKneeLand) but I know you are now hearing it in your head, and that's what I wanted! :) it's sort of my theme song right now!)

and.....I am going to participate in the Princess Half Marathon!! (GULP!)

I am very excited, but truth be told, it has been an emotional sequence of events.  I am generally a very calm and relatively stress free person, but I think I may have had my first panic attack after pushing that "finalize reservation and purchase ticket now" on the airline website a few days ago.  Heart was racing, fingers were fluttering and I was pacing my bedroom. Yes. I TOTALLY panicked.  OH. MY. GOODNESS.  Airfare booked, no turning back but I must be CRAZY! Disney without my kids (each of whom have a "trip to Disney World" on their Christmas lists) and committing to running moving my body 13.1 miles!!! Oh my gosh I am scared.  The only time I ran a distance race it was only a 5k.  And it was 17 years and approximately 50 pounds ago.  REALLY?  Seriously?  Who do I think I am?!?!?  I couldn't have chosen to start slow, or start local? REALLY!?

But its done, and I am GOING! I have been doing the C25K program, and meeting success, and will soon start to train for longer distances ... 4 months.  It is helpful to have a real tangible goal to work for, and the PRIZE for all of this hard work.  WOW!  Just thinking about running through the Magic Kingdom, seeing the castle, and knowing that I DID IT sends shivers through me. I am ready to do this.  I can do this. 

I am still scared, but I CAN do this and there are so many reasons what I want to.  I will have amazing friends there to cheer me on and running by my side.  Incredible people that I have gotten to know (though never really "met") through our mutual love for Disney.  So that makes this the MOST appropriate place to tackle this monumental challange! These friends are people who I wouldn't have known if it weren't for the mouse, and without whom I would certainly not have even THOUGHT of pushing towards that fairytale finishline!! 

I still feel a bit selfish.  I am having a hard time dealing wtih the fact that I am doing this for me, and not bringing my kids with me to the most wonderful place in the world where it has always been ALL about THEM.  The guilt and the fear make me feel a little unworthy, but it will all be OK.  Every mile I run will be for them, to show them how important it is to find, pursue, and realize your dreams...how important it is to follow up on your committments, and how important health and strength are, so in the end, it is not really for me, it is for them.

So....I am off and running!!!  Follow me by looking for the pixie dusted trail left in my wake.

XO

OH dear blog, and oh dear physique, I have neglected you so.

Allrighty folks, well I told you as much in the begining that I am not a blogger, not a writer....nope, just a gal looking to get back in shape who wanted to hold herself more accountable.  As you can see, it has been over 2 months since even I have checked in to see where I was!  Yikes!  Guess what?  In those two months I really have not made progress.

So yesterday I stumbled across a friends blog, where she is writing about her journey through weight loss (You can read about it here - She tweeted the title of her latest entry "Cheaters Never Lose, and Losers Never Cheat" that really caught my eye, and, Amanda dear, KUDOS to you.)  She is documenting her journey each and every day with a commentary on her diet (photos included!), how she is feeling, and a photo of the day.  She started on New Years Day and is down almost 20 pounds!  Can I get a Wahoooooooooooo?!?!?!  (I would also like to state for the record that I wish I were clever enough to come up with that name!  I sure hope when she gets down to her goal, the fruit inspired tech company pays her oodles for the trademark, and offers her an endorsment deal for their new foray into tech inspired weightloss!!! )

After reading Amandas blog I am even more driven and motivated.  The "photo of the day" she is taking will be used to create a photo timeline montage and I just LOVE that idea!  So much so that I think I may do the same thing....I am neither driven enough nor brave enough to post those photos each and every day on my own blog as she is doing, but I want to do the same thing so I have something to look at and remind myself when I get there.

Remember how I mentioned before that I have been avoiding mirrors and scales for a long time?  Well, after reading Amandas blog I did step on a scale, and was faced with the horribly shocking reality that I am in fact 15 pounds H E A V I E R than I was on the day I was admitted into the hospital to deliver my now 6 year old!!  Yes, folks, I am that much bigger than I was at 36 weeks pregnant!  can I get a sypmathetic Wowza! 

So....armed with this new knowledge of where I am, and where I need to go, I recommit myself to this process - not relying on blog readers to keep me on track, but myself.....thanks to another blogging friend, Kristin, I have been introudced to a fantastic website, My Fitness Pal that tracks your progress along by coutnting all of your calories for you during the day.  I have gotten better at keeping my calories where they need to be, but it was a real eye opener to see how much I really would consume in an average day! 

So here's to our health, and our committments, and our journeys!  Amanda and Kristin, I am proud of what you are doing, and what you have already accomplished!  I will follow along with your efforts and cheer you on, encouraging you and understanding the inevitable roadblocks we will all face, because I will be tackling them with you.  And.....perhaps, just maybe, the world will be a lighter better place because of our successes!  Wouldn't that make it all worth it?!?

XO XO XO
Megan