A Home for my Medals

Over the holidays I participated in Coach Jenny Hadfield's Holiday Challenge.  I have been a fan of her's since I read her book Marathoning for Mortals while training for my first marathon. And I keep going back to that book every time I need a training plan.


The Holiday Challenge was a great way to keep me motivated and active during the eating season. Every week she offered a giveaway and I was lucky to win a medal display from Allied Medal Display.

They have so many great designs to choose from or you can customize your own. The neat part about the customization is you get to see exactly what it will look like before you order it and can tweak even the smallest of details and view it again.  I got to see all the possibilities before I chose the one I wanted. 

My medals used to share one hook on a hallway mirror and were very sad.

Before

But now they each have their own space and I have room for more.  So now I need to get out there and earn some!

After

This weekend I will be adding the Tinkerbell medal and it looks the weather is going to perfect for the race.  Temps will be in the mid 40s for the start  warming up to 76 degrees for the day and no rain in sight.  I can't wait!!

Blueberry Buttermilk Breakfast Cake

Plan to make it this weekend, or today.

It's called a breakfast cake, but trust me, it is delicious any time of the day.  I made this last weekend and it was gobbled up in two days.  Blueberries are on sale, so I think making another one soon is a sure thing.

Buttermilk is a good thing! It makes the cake moist and velvety without being too rich. I have found this great buttermilk at Whole Foods. I like that it comes from grass fed cows.  I believe that grass fed cows are healthier and that means healthier milk for me!

When cooked, the fresh blueberries got plump and juicy and the sprinkled vanilla sugar on top added the perfect sweetness to every bite.


I found the recipe HERE on Alexandra's Kitchen. The only thing I changed in the recipe was I substituted Vanilla Sugar to sprinkle on top before baking.

I love this cake! 
(and you will too)

Two Weeks until Tinkerbell

I am down to the last couple weeks before the Tinkerbell Half in Disneyland at the end of the month.


The whole thing is not turning out the way I had planned, but I am trying to make the best of it.  Originally my husband and I were going together and would run the 5K on Friday night, hit the parks on Saturday and I would run the half on Sunday and then come home.  BUT now he can't go so I am solo.  I still have the same plan, but am not as excited about doing it all alone, even though I really want to run this race. 


I am a big girl and can be by myself, but it won't be the same.  The running will keep me busy on Friday and Sunday so its Saturday that I do not have a plan for.  I am scoping out Disney blogs for some suggestions on places to eat and must see things or experiences. Luckily, I am staying at one of the resort hotels so everything will be convenient.


I just read Picky Palate's review on Goofy's Kitchen for breakfast and am considering that for Saturday morning.  The food looks really good, or I am very hungry (or both).


This race will be the first half of my Coast to Coast Challenge. The second half will be the Princess in February at Disney World.   I have just started to taper and I am enjoying that too! 

I am not feeling very fast, but I feel confident about the distance. I was using a Runner's World training plan, but have adjusted it because they had me running 12 miles one week before the race and I want my legs to feel fresh so I ran twelve miles 3 weeks before the race and then 8 last weekend and 5 this Saturday.  That has worked for me in the past, so I am going with it. 


We'll see what happens on race day.  I would like to break the 2 hour mark but don't know if this will be a fast course or not.  It is the inaugural run, but perhaps the course is the same one they use for the half during Marathon weekend like they do in Disney World.


Hey, I'm going to the happiest place on earth - how can that not be great?  


If you have any experiences or suggestions to share about Disneyland I would love to hear from you. Or if you are going to be at the race, let me know that too.


While I've been writing this.....

This guy has been squawking up a storm over...

this girl at the bottom of his tree.

Little does he know she's built for comfort and not for speed and could never catch him even if she wanted to.

A Spectator's View of WDW Half Marathon

It was a BIG weekend at Disney World with the 5K, half marathon and marathon all taking place.  Unlike that last two years I was not attending as a participant, but rather as a cheerleader and spectator.  My sister came in from Atlanta to run the half marathon on Saturday.  This would be her second half and after never wanting to run a half again after the first one, I wanted this to be a better experience for her.


I think Disney puts on a good race.  They pay attention to the details and offer so many personal touches that really make the event magical for everyone.  Friday night when we were at the Expo, my niece and nephew had a chance to create posters and buttons for their mom. I so appreciated that there was something fun for the kids to do and it was a way they could get excited about tomorrow's race.  


This would be the first big race they had attended and they weren't necessarily thrilled about going, but their cool Aunt Kelley (that's me) told them how much fun it would be, plus they had no choice because this is what families do for each other and we were going to cheer on their mom.  


While at the expo, I also got a chance to see all the Disney race medals for this year.  I loved both the Tinkerbell and the Coast to Coast and can't wait to earn them! The little Tinkerbell on the medal even spins! How cool is that?

Coast to Coast

Tinkerbell

So the fun started at 3:45am the next day when we got everyone up and in the car to go to Disney.  I packed a bag with drinks, snacks, books, iPods, etc....  and we all had gloves and jackets to keep warm. I wanted to be prepared to keep them entertained. 

After we got Wendy off to the corrals we hung out in the family reunion section to watch the start on the big screen and this year thanks to the local food trucks we got to eat a cookies and cream cupcake from the Yum Yum Truck at 5:30 in the morning! 

From there we caught a ride on the monorail to the Ticket and Transportation Center(TTC) to find a spot at the 4.2 mile section.  We ended up with a front row location and spent the next 45 minutes cheering on the runners.  The kids cheered like it was their job and loved all the crazy costumes. Some runners came by and got high fives, and some even threw their shirts at us.  There was a lot going on.  

 Using the Running Tracker I was able to track my sister's run via texts as she crossed the 5, 10 and 15 mile markers. This made it so much easier to know where she was going to be and when.  That along with the spectator viewing tool, made it possible for me to plan out all the times and places we could see her run by. As you can imagine when there are 27,000 runners its nice to be able to locate the one you're looking for. 

Finally our runner came by and she was looking strong!

After seeing their mom, the kids were ready for a break. We made the short walk to the Polynesian where we had reservations for breakfast at 'Ohana's. We live very close to Disney, but rarely go there  so this was a treat for the us as well as the children.  

The food is served family style and it was tasty. We got juice, eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits, potato wedges and delicious mickey mouse waffles, as much as we could eat!  But that's not all - this was a character breakfast so our table had a few visitors too.  

Lilo, Mickey, Stitch and Pluto

By the time we were done eating we had just enough time to jump on the monorail and get to the finish line to watch Wendy finish the race.  The timing for the day couldn't have been better.  I took a chance scheduling breakfast, but it was the perfect break to eat, get warm and rest before making it to the finish and it all worked out great. I never even needed all the stuff in the backpack.  The only poor timing we had was getting stuck in the traffic leaving the parking lot.

My sister had a great race and doesn't hate half marathons anymore, in fact, she said she would run another.  Despite all the fun I had as a spectator, I think I will have to run, because it was hard to watch all that running and not be a part of it.  I have to admit I am feeling a little goofy because I am actually considering doing the goofy next year.  We'll see what happens...

What's Eating You?

Lose Weight, Get Healthy and Change World

That's want I want to do this year!  This is nothing new for me, they could be my resolutions every year.

That doesn't mean I fail to meet my goal, but are you ever really done with any of them?  Ok, maybe you could be at a weight where you don't need to lose anymore, but....have you all seen the food I like to eat?  I don't want to give that up so I exercise to balance it out, but as we all know sometimes you can reward yourself with more food than you've burned off and so you need to pay more attention to what you eat and that's what I need to do from time to time.  Like now.

I know that whatever I pay attention to or prioritize, I can positively impact so I am joining Healthy Eats January Healthy Every Week Challenge to help me meet my goals. What's great about it is each week has its own focus and they build upon each other to create a great month of healthy eating. Each small change can lead to big results.

• Week 1:  Eat breakfast
• Week 2:  Eat more whole grains
• Week 3:  Cook at home
• Week 4:  Eat more Fruits and vegetables
• Week 5:   Stay on Track

Sometimes the thought of making changes can be overwhelming and that can make me want to give up, but looking at the goals for each week, they are definitely  do-able.

Throughout the month I will get support from others who are taking this challenge as we blog about it and share recipes.  I get stuck in ruts where I eat the same things all the time, so the more healthy recipes I have, the better.  If you want support meeting your healthy goals join HERE and we can do this together.

I figure that January is gonna pass by and at the end I can have either accomplished something or not.  

Week one is off to a good start!  I usually eat breakfast everyday so this has been easy so far. I am always looking for fast, easy and filling ideas for this most important meal of the day.

When pushed for time I resort to a PB and J, but it never disappoints.

What do you usually have for breakfast?