Disney Princess Half Marathon-Week 3 (2 days early) 26 Days and 23 hours TO GO + Dailymiles.com

 (I found this pic on Daily Mile, will explain more later)

Week 3 Wrap up 22-28th

Ok, SO I'm pretty sure everyone is TIRED of hearing me whining about my knees so, NOT going to mention it in my blog.. other than, Knee trouble.. LOL

So the last time I posted was on January 23 and I said I WILL DO 5 MILES THIS WEEK.. and.. I DID!!!! I was so excited (which is why I'm posting 2 days early!)


Thanks to a an awesome friend, I was introduced to Dailymile.com Ok SO you may be thinking OMG another site to update EVERYTHING to.. But before you turn away hear me out. This is like a running data site PLUS facebook. so.. the website is www.dailymile.com

   What's neat about it , is you create a profile and you can classify yourself as a runner, athlete, cyclist etc. I pinned it to my tool bar and I love that the tool bar (link I click on to go to my site) says "Lori Shape is an athlete" it makes me think "maybe I am" lol. ANYWAY, it shows you many, many other people training in your area. My friend was SO sweet! She told everyone that I needed motivation and to add me. It turns out there are some people in LA that are running the marathon that I was able to give them advice to about parking etc etc. SMALL WORLD. ALSO LOVE, LOVE,LOVE that it syncs to my facebook...AND NIKE PLUS! I use NP on my Iphone (which has my itunes playlist) so it's like I'm double multi-tasking. I can just finish a run with Nike then go to the computer, sync the run on daily miles, import it and BOOM it's there. My friends can see it and it keeps a track of my week to week workouts whether it's running/biking/or exercise. 

SO Monday Jan 21. I planned on doing Interval training. Interval training. Started at 6.3minute per mile for 30 seconds, rest for 20, X 3, 6.6 x 3, The did 7.3. run 30 sec, rest 30 secs, 7.6, Then 8.1 for 45 secs, rest 30, Knee started giving out so I slowed down and then just walked. I was frustrated again. So, heated/iced knees.


22th, Used some AMAZING resistance bands, I got for Christmas,  along with Turbo Fire and tried to rest my knees and do lots of upper body workout. Arms are looking AMAZING!!! Pics to come later.

23th Tried to run again, made it to 1.82 miles but my knees just gave up (mostly left knee causing problems.. BLAH)

24th Another upper body workout thanks to turbo fire..and abs  I WANT A SIX PACK!

25th Josh was off work, and it was a beautiful day, SO we decided to do this new trail I found online. We hitched our bikes up to the car and drove to the Upper Tampa Bay Trail, about 15 minutes away. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!

I will def make a blog about it later
We ended up riding for 2 hours and went 15.72 miles. It was a beautiful afternoon!


Jan 26, we went to Sanibel island. All I kept thinking about was " I need to run, I need to run" I'm becoming addicted. SO while Josh was taking pictures I ended up running up and down the beach, barefooted next to the water. It felt good but the sand WAS TOUGH. I was like MAN i'm running as fast as I could and my pace was like 11 miles per minute.  I ended up going 1.34 miles. It ended up sloping really bad, hurting my ankles, so I turned around and came back.


Jan 27th TODAY... I did a 45 Ab/Plank exercise I actually found on Pinterest I WANT A SIX PACK..LOL

Then after doing small stuff around the apt I'm like "ok, you NEED TO RUN, The race is getting closer!" SO, I went down to the treadmill and decided I'm not going to push, today is just distance. I turned on the TV and found 2 episodes of friends and just walked at a fast pace and an incline of at least .5-2.0. When a commercial came on I ran at a 5.2-5.5, not pushing just logging distance. I felt good so, I kept on going. Today, I didn't wear my brace, I decided I would try without it and It did better than normal. I don't know if the brace is adding pressure and it's causing the pain? Not sure, gonna keep it off for now. Knee never was in extreme pain just..sore just tried to tune into it...But I"M SO EXCITED I did 5MILES! farthest I've gone in a while. ...

Goal for week 4? 3 upper body wkouts, 3 core/ab workouts, 2 interval training sessions, and 1 6 mile run/walk... WAHOO! Keep me accountable!

Disney Princess Half Marathon- Week 2, 31 Days 14 hours LEFT

Week 2 Wrap up,

I started the week running down a major road in front of our apt complex. It was kind of scary with all the cars. I got honked at 3 times lol. I don't think this community is used to seeing people running (the average age is around 60) ANYWAY

Date      Distance      Average Pace           Total Time
1/16       4.01            10:55                         43.50

I did walk some in between but tried to keep my time around 14:30 due to the 16 minute cut they do at Disney (they will pull you out of the race at anytime if you are found doing longer than 15 mpm, including time you are taking a break or visiting characters on the race path EEE!)

I gave myself Tuesday to rest (my knee is still acting up, BUT I did buy a new brace and I LOVE IT, I'm going to get one for my other knee as well)

Wed was interesting. I ended up going to my local gym and did two fitness classes. I realized strength training is very important to my running and needed to do more of it. I did a weight lifting circuit class and for fun I did a Zumba class. In the Zumba class we did a 4 minute song to squats, I knew I would be in trouble the next day and I was right! LOL. I could barely get out of bed Thursday but, we were visiting my sister in Jacksonville, SO I popped some Tylanol and just dealt with it. We ended up going on a mountain biking ride through an amazing park . The trail was awesome, it had dips, turns, tree roots all over the trail, not your average stroll through the park LOL.

Friday we went to the beach. My legs were a little looser so, I tried to run a little by chasing birds. Wasn't too much but I wanted to get a feel what it would be like to run with my legs all tense In case by Mile 10 at the race I have that situation.

Saturday I felt good, so I decided to run around a path at the park. Again, I got  a lot of crazy looks, The park has "Senior Body Movement Stations" placed on the paths. A lot of them you can pull your wheelchair right up to them and spin some type of wheels with your legs or feet, it's kind of cool. I had to make a lot of circles as well as run around the neighborhood twice to get my miles in. I knew I wanted to do the same distance as Monday, but I wasn't expecting to do much better because I hadn't ran much this week. For some reason, it seemed MUCH harder to do. My legs were fine, it was my lungs and my side that were killing me. Obviously I need to train more during the week, just was a little surprised at how things were feeling, Anyway,

Date      Distance         Average Pace              Total Time
1/21       4 miles              10:51                         43:29

Yes I didn't go the .1 like Monday BUT my time DID improve, even through it's 4 seconds, it was an improvement.
I was happy with it. Before and after I ran the 5K in LA, my brain was so fixed on the 5K it's like I couldn't run farther than 3.1 miles without a fight. I'm trying to surpass that mental block by trying to focus on  my stride and my music. My music is a huge motivator, I'll post my playlist in another post BUT I am looking for new songs (I only have about an hour and 1/2 time and I need about 3 hours) SO any power songs would be great! I'm also incorporating fast Disney songs to run to on the race for fun :)

Every week I'm trying to run a mile farther in my long distance runs. SO this week will definitely be a challenge to complete 5. I think the farthest I've ever gone is 6.2, right before the race in LA. SO....I can do 5 and I WILL DO 5 MILES this week, it may not be pretty but I'm going to do it.



ANYWAY, Back to the training! Thanks for reading!

You know you're a runner when... (stolen from Bethney Salmon)

You know youre a runner when...

Found these "you know you're a runner when" facts on another blog (therunnergirl.me ) and just like that newer runner on that blog I can already associate with a few of them. Some not as much. I wanted to share them just for laughs.

your day isn't complete until you've put your run in.

your daily run is like therapy, or an anti-depressant.

your 'To Do' list reads: Go Run. Everything Else.

you get upset about injuries because they keep you from running, not because you have actually damaged your body. (UM YES)

while driving places, you're constantly evaluating the road for it's "running route potential".

you run.....for fun.

you don't like having to take a "rest day".

you consider getting a PR almost as great as winning the race.

you have a list of all the races you plan to run for the next 12 months.

you feel an instant kinship to any other runner you pass by on the street.

whether a 5K runner or a marathon runner, you understand "the runner's high".

the high you feel after a race outweighs the anxiety you feel before it.

a nice walk doesn't really feel much like exercise.

your iPod has a "running" playlist.

your non-running friends consider every race you run a "marathon".

a good day is when you put more miles on your running shoes than your car tires.

you only wear your running shoes for running.

you have more ice packs in your freezer than frozen dinners.

you plan your vacations around races.

you have a subscription to Runner's World magazine.

you know what a GU packet is and you've tried every flavor and have a favorite.

you're around friends and family, the only thing you talk about is running.

you're not a morning person but you still find yourself up at 6:00 am on a Saturday.

you're a guy and you say things like "long and hard" to your female friends and it is not a sexual innuendo.

you double knot all your shoes out of habit.

you try to convince people to run a 5k because it's "only" 3 miles. (YEP)

you spend $100 for a pair of shoes and think you're getting a good deal.

you wear your running shorts underneath your work clothes so that you can quickly get running after work.

your first thought when you look at the weekly weather forecast is, "When can I fit in my runs?

you have more running clothes than regular clothes in your laundry pile.

you no longer make fun of fanny packs because your running belt looks very similar to one.

you're not embarrassed to wear spandex.

the salespeople at your local running shop know you by name.

at least one of your web site usernames or email addresses has the word "run" or "runner" in it.

you know where exactly one mile from your front door is in any direction. (AMEN)

your Facebook or Twitter updates frequently involve running.

you get jealous when you're driving in your car and pass runners.

you spend more money on running clothes than work or casual clothes.(YEP YEP)

Disney Princess Half Marathon - Week 1, 39 days left

Well, This week was horrible.

I set out to follow an actual schedule. Right off the bat my knees were giving me problems. I already knew it was going to happen so I always warm up my body, stretch, then start on my run, then stretch afterwards THEN ice down my knees for about 20-30 minutes.

I just get frustrated because I don't have a lot of time on my hands to allow rest days. I ended up taking 2 instead of 1. On the days that I was supposed to run ..I ran until I felt the first start of pain then walked a little then threw in the towel. My biggest fear is I'll injure myself really bad the week before the race and I'll be in the pain the entire day.

I'm investing in another knee brace tomorrow (one day it's my right knee that hurts then the next week it's the left) SO looks like i'll have 2 knee braces. I'm also going to invest in Icy hot. Hopefully it'll help with the inflammation .

On a less whiner (is that even a word?) note, I did start on my tutu! I'm really excited, I was looking around for a tiara BUT I saw on someone's blog (that ran the race last year) she got Minnie mouse ears with a tiara on it from the Expo...SO i may just invest a little on that...we'll see ;)

There are a lot of stops on the way where you can take pictures with the characters and of the scenery. I'm really wanting to ENJOY my time and not just keep my head down to the pavement and run. BUT i'm a little worried about my time. Disney is VERY amendment about pulling runners from the race if run slower than a 16 minute mile pace (I'm guessing because the park IS open that day and they want to get you out before it opens).  SO my mini goal is to train for a 9:45-10 minute mile ( I actually, really just want to finish), that way with my adrenaline pumping I'll even be a tad faster AND  I can take pictures, stop for 2-3 seconds, grab a snack/drink and get back to running and not get pulled...PHEW I swear I'm not trying to be in a "my life sucks" fest....Just.. venting I guess. My head is in the right place but my body isn't.

SO ANYWAYS. POSITIVE THOUGHTS for this week coming up! Crossing my fingers that I can break the 5K knee curse and maybe get to 4 (in one setting) this week!

Princess in Training! 43 Days Away

While I was at my fitness gym I overheard 3-4 ladies talking about the WDW (Walt Disney World) Marathon. I sorta knew about it and vowed that I was going to run it next year. Well, I figured I might as well do a little research when I got home. I was looking around online and saw that there was a Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon coming up in February. The part of me that's still a little 8 year almost jumped out of my chair. I GREW UP on Disney movies (Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, the witch scared  me to death btw, and most recently The Princess in the Frog, I think I've watched it about 10 times at least.)

SO, after I calmed down a little I started looking at the date, did the math, and realized I only had 8 Weeks! UGh.. could this possibly even be done? I'm still a beginner when it comes to running. Even though I did complete a 5K in LA even training for that took quite a lot. I remember the first night on the treadmill my goal was just to jog ( I think at like a 3.2) through one song on my Ipod. My husband was beside me already running at a 6.something for an hour. But, he's been running since high school. :P .

After talking it over with my husband, I submitted my registration (and my Visa Card :P) and signed up for the race!. I"m so excited! I youtubed the race and it has some great footage of people running . It looks like there are Disney characters placed through out the course and you can take pictures with them! The course starts out at Epot, you race around Cinderellas castle and then back to Epcot. One thing I know i'm bringing is my digital camera. I haven't been to DW in years (and can't afford to actually visit the park for a few years LOL so this will be my one chance to just soak it up and enjoy the scenery)

My goal? TO FINISH. I'm not planning on running the whole thing or beating any record. Coming from have a history of bad knees, no motivation to do anything, and the kid that just sat on the couch growing up (before HS) I want to prove that I can do this.

I'm a little nervous but something deep down is telling me I can do this. I found a training chart online for a Beginners 8 Week training system. SO, I plan to keep following it . :)

They even allow you to wear princess costumes. I've looked around on Youtube and found some easy (non-sewing) ways to make a tutu. I just need to make a trip to Hobby Lobby. Im wearing blue shoes (my reliable/AMAZING Asics) navy blue running shorts, and a blue running top and I'm going to wear a tiara and a light blue/white tutu (Hello Cinderella!) SO EXCITED

Hopefully I can post weekly updates on my training as well as post race pictures and results.

Thanks for reading!

Our trip from Lexington - Florida

WELL! We made it to our home. Everything is unpacked and set up (including internet YAY) So...here is our trip from KY-FL

 Passing the state line!

 Georgia State Line

 Downtown Atlanta

 Really pretty sunset

We stopped in Jacksonville overnight to visit with my sister. The next morning we headed out to Wesley, Chapel

 The agency supplies the furniture. We always go in first, without all of our stuff, to check it out.

 I LOVE THIS KITCHEN!

Telling my mom (?) about our walk in closet, I was SO excited!!! You can't tell but it goes all the way behind the dresser. I could fit a twin blow up air mattress in here and still have room to walk around!

 ONE OF MY FAVORITE PARTS OF THE APT (you try carrying your laundry down 4 floors, pay to wash your clothes THEN go downstairs every hour, for 2-4 hours (if you have 2 loads, at least) to switch out loads. It's a 1/2 a day process.

 Our tub is HUGE (both apts we've had before had no tub!)

We were very blessed to have a safe trip from our start in Hawaii to this apt in Florida. We really like it so far and hope we continue to like it as time goes on. :)