Sunday, February 28, 2016

Weekly Recap- February 22-28, 2016

No race this weekend...felt weird!

Monday--softball.  We won by run-ruling the other team.

Tuesday--rest

Wednesday--3 miles in 30:16  Felt so good to run with the morning group again. Mile 1: 10:12, Mile 2: 10:02, Mile 3: 10:04, Average Pace: 10:06

I attended a Central Florida Lady Blogger's Event at Zoes Kitchen!  I'd seen them around and was excited to try them!



Thursday--rest

Cori, Faith and I attended the Disney Vacation Club 25th Anniversary Disney Parks Blog Meet-Up!
First we enjoyed yummy food and drinks at the Top of the World Lounge at the Contemporary and saw some characters!  Then we headed over to the Polynesian to taste some food inspired by Trader Sam's, take a tour of one of the over-the-water bungalows, and enjoy a Dole Whip!
We met up with Kate and Katie at the Magic Kingdom for the Disney Vacation Club 25 and Beyond Bash!  There were short lines for rides and characters and tons of cookies, chips, and ice cream bars to snack on!


Friday--rest

We celebrated Cori's Belated Birthday at Hamburger Mary's.  It was so much fun!


Saturday--rest

We celebrated Olivia's birthday at Kobe!


Then Faith and I took a field trip to Donut King since we'd been wanting to go!  Yum!

Sunday--3 miles in 29:23 Mile 1: 10:12, Mile 2: 9:47, Mile 3: 9:25, Average Pace: 9:48

I participated in the Disney Bowl-a-thon with Kelly, Ron, Kacie, Paul, & Mikey.  Such a great time!


My friend Meghan over at Meghan on the Move is celebrating in memory of her pup, Pepper's 11th birthday.  She asked friends to do something special for puppies or kitties over the weekend.  #RAKsForWoof  In honor of Pepper, I gathered up all of Bella's things from when she was a puppy that she didn't use like training pads and toys, and I'll be donating them to the local animal shelter.  Hope you're having a wonderful birthday over that Rainbow Bridge, Pepper!


Total miles this week: 6
Total miles in 2916: 174.48
Total miles: 2714.16

Monday, February 22, 2016

Tijuana Flats Wants To Give You The Bird!!

Tijuana Flats is having a limited edition item this month--seasoned ground turkey!!

All of your favorites can be made with it for this month only (although hopefully it might become a permanent item in the future.)  And this Sunday, they're having a special--Turkey BOGO!!



I attended a Central Florida Lady Bloggers event there last week and got to try a bunch of yummy items!

The first item we tried was a Turkey Tostada.  It was lightly fried corn tortilla with refried beans, melted cheese, toppings, salsa, and of course--TURKEY!  


Outside of dessert, this was my favorite menu item of the night! 

Next up we tried the Mahi Tacos topped with cabbage, pico de gallo, and a southwest citrus vinaigrette. 


The mahi in it was cooked deliciously!

Next came the Blackened Chicken Flautas.  I'd been wanting to try these but always stick with my standard so I was excited!



They were perfectly crispy and I loved that it came with queso to dip in!

Our last entree item of the night was a Ground Turkey Norrito Bowl (no + burrito = norrito).



I loved their take on the bowl.

And finally--dessert.  Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Flautas!



These are simply amazing!! I could eat the whole platter by myself if allowed!!!

We left stuffed and happy!

I learned some fun facts about Tijuana Flats--it was started in 1995 by a UCF grad and is now in 6 states!  And they have a foundation called the Just In Queso Foundation where all proceeds from the sale of each bottle of Just In Queso Hot Sauce go to.  

And another fun fact that I especially enjoy but didn't until now-- with ID, all teachers get 10% off!


Sunday, February 21, 2016

Weekly Recap--February 15-21, 2016

It was Glass Slipper Challenge Week!

Monday--rest

It was President's Day so thankfully we had a day off from school.  And Kory and I had a lunch date at Red Robin...yum!

Tuesday--rest

Wednesday--rest

I attended a Central Florida Lady Blogger's Event at Tijuana Flats.  We tasted some of their limited time turkey menu items!


Thursday--rest

It was Princess Half Marathon Expo time--my favorite one of the year!  There's always such cute stuff to buy!




That night we celebrated Jordan's birthday at Hagan O'Reilly's.



Friday--rest

Saturday--Glass Slipper Challenge Part 1...Enchanted 10k..6.48 miles in 1:35:50  We stopped for so many great pictures! Mile 1: 10:32, Mile 2: 17:54, Mile 3: 14:33, Mile 4: 15:34, Mile 5: 20:42, Mile 6: 11:47, Mile 6-6.48: 10:31, Average Pace: 14:49


I met up with some DisBrides for breakfast at Ohana.  And I had to get a Princess Cupcake from the Contemporary (it said cotton candy flavored but it tasted like Funfetti--yum!)



Sunday--Glass Slipper Challenge Part 2...Princess Half Marathon. 13.42 miles in 3:06:47 No intervals today... Only stopped at water stops & long character lines. Our total moving time (so not time in line) was 2:38:57. Mile 1: 10:28, Mile 2: 10:10, Mile 3: 19:02, Mile 4: 18:33, Mile 5: 11:39, Mile 6: 12:38, Mile 7: 21:11, Mile 8: 14:21, Mile 9: 15:22, Mile 10: 11:02, Mile 11: 12:06, Mile 12: 11:26, Mile 13: 14:23, Mile 13-13.42: 11:12, Average Pace: 13:56

We stopped for so many pictures that had long  lines but it was so worth it.  And for the first time, I only stopped for those pics and at the water stops--no intervals.




Total miles this week: 19.9 miles
Total miles in 2016: 168.48
Total miles: 2708.16

Monday, February 15, 2016

Weekly Recap- February 8-14, 2016

Donna 26.2 Marathon week!

Monday--rest

Tuesday--rest

Faith & I took her munchkin to 33 & Melt for some grilled cheese yumminess.

Wednesday--rest

Thursday--rest

I'm obsessed with Nothing Bundt Cakes and there's a new location near us.  Kory surprised me by picking some up as an early Valentine's Day present!



Friday--1 mile in 10:39  Cori's birthday Dunkin Donuts Run




Bella got a haircut!



Since I had the marathon on Valentine's Day, we went to an early dinner to celebrate.  Kory surprised me by taking me to Coral Reef at Epcot.  He had some strings pulled and we had seats right next to the window.  It was so neat!!



Saturday--rest

Faith and I drove up to Gainesville to drop off Ava Joy and pick up Blair.  Then we drove to my parents house and dropped off Bella before heading to the Donna 26.2 Expo!


Then we met up with a bunch of MRTT ladies for a pre-race dinner at Carraba's.


Sunday--Donna 26.2  26.55 miles in 5:45:24 Took it easy and had tons of fun! Mile 1: 10:17, Mile 2: 11:36, Mile 3: 10:59, Mile 4: 11:41, Mile 5: 11:40, Mile 6: 11:56, Mile 7: 11:51, Mile 8: 12:19, Mile 9: 12:35, Mile 10: 12:07, Mile 11: 13:41, Mile 12: `1:58, Mile 13: 12:37, Mile 14: 13:48, Mile 15: 12:20, Mile 16: 14:37, Mile 17: 13:16, Mile 18: 12:08, Mile 19: 15:00, Mile 20: 14:36, Mile 21: 16:17, Mile 22: 13:14, Mile 23: 13:20, Mile 24: 14:47, Mile 25: 16:39, Mile 26: 12:44, Mile 26-26.55: 11:37, Average Pace: 13:01


We took our time and had a blast!  Outside of Disney races, this race is still my favorite!

We headed back to my parents house to shower, then to Gainesville and finally back home!

Total miles this week: 27.55
Total miles in 2016:148.58
Total miles: 2688.26

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Race #101- Walt Disney World Half Marathon

Now more than halfway though the Dopey Challenge (race-wise, not mile-wise!) we were just starting the Goofy Challenge!

Faith wanted to wear her Hope Water jersey, so the two of us and Blair decided to dress up as Huey, Dewey, and Louie.

We hung out at the Hope Water tent before the race with a big group of friends.


And had some more fun in the corrals!


Soon, we were off!

Faith was running with her hubby so I was on my own which was fine with me since I love stopping for pictures.


There was a random hot air balloon on the ground.  It was cool, but I didn't really get the significance of it.

Before I knew it, I was at the Magic Kingdom tollbooth!


As I turned the corner before going into the TTC, Cori was there to greet me!  She always knows the perfect spots.


The one big hill at Disney?  Right before the Contemporary---lol  But there's some awesome music (and Mickey hands) to get you going.



And then my favorite part of some runDisney races..turning the corner on Main Street and seeing the castle. And during Marathon weekend, it still has the lights on it!  Simply magical!



And of course I have to stop for a picture in front of the castle



Around this time, Faith messaged me that she was going to wait for me at mile 7--I wasn't too far behind.  

Around mile 8.5 or so, we saw the balloon ladies heading into the Magic Kingdom.


And Sebastian had no line, so we stopped for a picture.  Turned out to be one of my favorites of the race, surprisingly.


We saw Cori again and got a group selfie



We made it to the overpass right before the Studios.  Faith was tired so she took a quick nap


And we got yelled at during one of our walk breaks and had to drop and give 10


Spaceship Earth meant we were almost done



And when we saw cheerleader Minnie right at the end, we had to stop for a picture!


Disney races are just pure fun!!




Our official time was 2:35:08.  I placed 7831 out of 21505 overall (so top half), 3370 out of 12311 for women (top third) and 603 out of 1960 in my age group (top third).  Not bad for just having fun!!


Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Weekly Recap- February 1-7, 2016

It was the week after a marathon, so pretty much a rest week.

Monday--rest

We wore our Celebration Marathon shirts to school so we could send the picture to our new prinicpal..lol.



Tuesday--rest

Faith and I needed a dinner splurge after our marathon and I was craving steak, so Outback it was.  And my fav little munchkin came too of course!

Wednesday--rest

Thursday--rest

Friday--rest

Kory and I tried out Melts on Main Street.  It was pretty yummy!

Saturday--Best Damn Race Safety Harbor Half Marathon...13.25 miles in 2;27:12  My half between fulls. Mile 1: 9:04, Mile 2: 10:07, Mile 3: 10:48, Mile 4: 11:35, Mile 5: 11:18, Mile 6: 11:23, Mile 7: 11:24, Mile 8: 11:33, Mile 9: 11:04, Mile 10: 11:46, Mile 11: 11:33, Mile 12: 11:52, Mile 13: 11:13, Mile 13-13.25: 9:51, Average Pace: 11:07

Last year we stayed at the hotel where the start was literally out the front door.  It was amazing.  But this year when I called to book all the cheaper rooms were already gone so we ended up canceling our reservation.  And getting up at 3:00am to drive over to the Tampa area.

This race is my current half PR but I'm nowhere near the shape I was in last year.  And since it was the weekend between our two fulls, Faith and I decided to run it together and enjoy it.

We stopped for our race tradition of McDonalds on the way back.  Then Kory and I went looking at some houses.  We saw some we like but we need to sit down and really look at our budget.

Sunday--rest

I met up with some Yelpsisterhood gals at Eastside Bistro at Avalon Park for a quick brunch before heading back home to Kory to look at more houses.  Then we went over to Ron & Kelly's to watch the Superbowl.  I had a very happy hubby that the Broncos won!



Total miles this week: 13.25
Total miles in 2016: 121.03
Total miles: 2660.71