Most of my workouts are uneventful. Maybe someone will honk their horn as I run by, but other than that it's pretty typical to get an entire workout in without anything extraordinary occurring. However yesterday's workout was not one of them.

Sometime during the late morning, Jon and I left the apartment - him on foot, myself on wheels - and went for a 5 mile run/bike ride together. The air was slightly cool still, but it was otherwise perfect exercising weather. We made our way into town, past businesses and through quiet neighborhoods. My bike chain popped off at one point, so we stopped while Jon put it back on (covering his hands in grease in the process). About a mile from home, he took off for a quick uphill jaunt (far too steep for my bike and I to handle) and said he would be right back down.


Fifteen minutes later, he runs up behind me, coming from the opposite direction that I was expecting him, clamoring for my iPhone.
"What's going on? What took you so long?"
He went on to explain that an old woman popped her tire as he was running past, and she didn't realize it was flat yet. Jon ran up to her car while she was stopped in traffic and told her that the tire was flat. She said "Oh dear!" and pulled to the side of the road. Jon told her he would be right back and ran down the hill to the gas station. They told him that they don't offer roadside assistance (and apparently they don't offer help just for the kindness of helping, either), so he looped back around to where I was waiting.

Jon ran and I biked alongside him back to where the woman was standing by her car. She had her AAA card out but had never used it before, so Jon used my iPhone to call them with her info. We waited with her until AAA arrived. For those 30 or 40 minutes, she told us stories of her grown children and grandchildren, about her late husband, and about the various jobs she's held throughout her 90 years. She asked about our upcoming wedding and was so genuinely happy for us, despite knowing us for only 40 minutes.


Once AAA showed up and changed her tire, we told her to take it slow on the donut tire and get it changed right away. Over and over she thanked us and told us how grateful she was that we were there to help her. She wanted our names and address, but didn't have a pen, so I took her information down on my iPhone and promised to send her a card.

Up until that point (from the day before) I had been having an awful time, emotionally. A mix of homesickness and the stresses of certain aspects of adult life had me on the couch in my pajamas, crying over the phone to my mother. Jon was trying all that he could to bring me out of it, finally making me go on a bike ride with him. I'll admit, my mood was slowly getting better, but I still intended to retreat to my spot on the couch when I returned home. However, after the events that transpired, my mood was lifted. One of the things our new friend said to us before she left was how Jon and I were so blessed to have found each other. When asking about our jobs, she told us we were so blessed to not only have jobs, but to get to work together in a good field. I know people tell us these things all the time, but for some reason in that moment, sitting on a stone wall with the early afternoon sun beating down on us, it felt different. This 90 year old woman was speaking from her heart to two twenty-somethings who stopped to help her, in return giving us the only thing she could, and that was her knowledge of what's important in life. After all, when you're 90 years old, you know a thing or two about it. When speaking of her late husband, rather than focusing on the fact that he is no longer alive, she instead said she was lucky to have had him for 51 years. Even through one of the saddest things a person can experience - the death of a loved one - she was still able to remain positive and focus on the good. For me, that was enough to snap me out of whatever mood I was in and make me realize that things weren't as bad as they seemed.

I'm not a religious person, so I don't believe in divine intervention, but something made my day play out the way it did for a reason. If we hadn't been in town at the exact time that we were, we may not have met our new friend, and I may have come home and spent the rest of that gorgeous day on the couch. Instead I came home feeling hopeful and positive and had a terrific remainder to my day. Was it necessarily a life-changing event? Maybe not. But then again, perhaps it was.

I'll let you know once I'm 90.

How's my training going? My training is non-existant. Between spring cleaning the apartment, wedding planning, and disgusting weather (39° and sleeting last week), I have not gone for a single run in two weeks. I know. I'm horrible. I'm a bad runner. I've probably lost most of my fitness. And even after my motivation has started to come back after volunteering at the Boston Marathon (post to come soon), I still find myself sitting here on the couch, at 8:30 on a beautiful spring morning writing about how I haven't run in awhile instead of getting out there to actually run.

But the thing is, I'm bored of running around our neighborhood.

Let me explain. We live in an apartment complex just off a main route in town. Anywhere to the left of the apartment is commercial area: main roads, shopping centers, restaurants, etc. Not exactly runner friendly. To the right is residential area -great! - but there are only two ways you can go down this way. And on every run, I run those same roads. I am so bored of them. The thought of having to run past that same doctor's office and that same wooded area and that same condo complex bores me to pieces. The variety in the run doesn't come until later - if I'm going longer than 4 miles. I just can't get myself out the door with the thought of that same start to my run.

Does this even make sense? I don't think it does, and yet I can't get past it. I'm wasting away this lovely morning that I could be outside running by sitting inside my apartment. I even bought a super cute new running skirt at the expo this weekend, and even that won't get me out the door. I need a new route, only I can't get to one from here unless I drive somewhere. But driving to a neighborhood to go running? Isn't that a little backwards?

I have no idea how to get past this. But the longer I sit and think about it, the warmer it will become outside and the less comfortable the run will be. So I'm going to eat breakfast now and put on my running skirt and see where that gets me.

Hopefully it's got me running past that doctor's office.

[10:42am/60°/62% RH/bowl of Kix before run]

I was hesitant about going for a run today. The weather is perfect, and I really had nothing better to do, except I still found myself on the couch reading my new Runner's World, of all things. However, I always find myself feeling inspired to run when I read RW, so before I knew it, my shoes were on and I was out the door.

But I forgot to pee.

I could feel it from the start. My bladder felt like it was bouncing around with every step. Run, run, run. Bounce, bounce, bounce. Down hills, over the river, past the flooded soccer fields, up one last (long) hill, and a sprint home. Relief! Despite the discomfort, I guess having to pee works for me: I ran my fastest (adulthood) 5K time thus far!

I'm home now, chewing on a Clif Bar, sitting next to my fan trying to cool down before I hop in the shower. I feel much better having run this morning than had I kept laying on the couch watching The Martha Stewart Show. I'm looking forward to another pre-work run tomorrow morning with Jon... and I promise myself I won't forget to pee first.

Running my first half marathon was a learning experience for me. I had to wake up earlier and run longer than any other race I'd run before, so I had to do a lot of things differently. For any other newbies looking to tackle their first half, here are some of the things I learned:

Considering that this is my first post, I believe a proper introduction is in order. I'm Jon, the second half of the Runninghams, and welcome to Go, Runninghams, Go! . Like Alicia said in her first post, I have been a runner since my freshman year in high school and remained so through college, where I was elected captain of the school's cross country team during my senior year. Although I have never matched the 60-70 miles per week that I ran back then, I have been able to maintain my love and passion for this wonderful and strange sport and I hope by reading our blog you will "feel the love" too!

After nearly two hours of patiently waiting, Disney's Princess Half Marathon officially commenced. Corral B was to start at 6:07 am. After a ten second countdown and a few flashes of fireworks, we were off, albeit slowly.

I was surprisingly... not nervous. I waved Jon and Jess off to the land of 8 minute pace while I stayed back, falling into my comfortable pace. The sun rose and I (cautiously) stopped off (in the grass) to take a few pictures. One mile down! Then two! Then three! I may run slow, and therefore take awhile to get to where I'm going, but the time went by super fast. Disney characters and high school bands lined the road for entertainment. A lot of the more serious runners smiled and passed by, whereas I (and plenty of others) who didn't have much of a time goal in mind stopped for pictures of/with Captain Jack Sparrow, the Richard Petty Race Track drivers, and the glorious arch welcoming us to the Magic Kingdom. I got wicked emotional as we ran toward the Ticket & Transportation Center. No, I don't harbor a particular fondness for tickets or transportation, but up until this point there hadn't been too many people on the sidelines. It was still early when we started, and a lot of those roads were closed to cars, so it was expected we wouldn't see too many people until we neared the Magic Kingdom.
There were, however, plenty of cheering volunteers throughout the entire race, and they were so great, always reaching out their hands for a high five. Anyway, as we entered the TTC area, there were so many people lining the sides of the course, shouting, cheering, hooting, hollering, clapping, and holding handmade signs. I hit a wall of pure emotion at the sight (and sound) of this. I know it sounds dorky, but it was so overwhelming to hear so many people telling every one of us "you can do it!" and "I'm so proud of all of you!".
But that all came to a halt when I spotted a bathroom - a real multi-stall, multi-sink bathroom! - with a short line. I somehow maneuvered myself across the path of my fellow runners and to the ladies room. But hey, that men's room doesn't have any line... and there aren't that many men running in this race anyway... and I've done it before at a concert... oh she's going in too, I guess I'll go with her... I threw up my hands as blinders, yelled "Princesses, coming through!" and nearly ran into another woman coming out of a stall as I ran in. Then quick wash of my hands (with my head down) and I was on my way again, warning the other ladies with the same idea to avert their eyes, there were, in fact, men inside.

There really was nothing like running through the Magic Kingdom. My favorite of the Disney Parks (with Epcot in a close second), it was incredibly fitting for a Disney Princess race to make a jaunt through the most Princessy of the parks. The course weaved in and out of back lot and actual park, before making the turn onto Main Street, USA. As I stepped out of the bathroom earlier, I made a quick call to my Nan and Grandpa John to find out where exactly they were. After all, they came all this way to watch me run, so I wanted to make sure I saw them! They told me they were right at the start of Main Street, so as I made the turn, I scanned the crowd. Sure enough, just at the start of Main Street, there they were. I ran to them, waving, giving a quick sideline hug to Nan and continued up Main Street toward Cinderella's Castle. I felt like a rock star.



Before we reached the castle, the course turned into Tomorrowland, into Fantasyland, and then by Cinderella's Golden Carousel where none other than Cinderella herself was posing for pictures. That ol' fancy maneuver I pulled at the bathroom came in handy as I had to do it again to loop back around and hop in line. Royal trumpeters up on the castle played their trumpety (another word made up by yours truly) tunes every minute or so. Shouts of "WOO!" echoed as we ran through the castle and down the ramp in front. A photographer was situated here and a slight traffic jam ensued, but it was understandable. The course went from here through Liberty Square (mile 6!), Frontierland, and through back lot. I passed by a few characters like Jessie from Toy Story and the relatively unknown Clara Belle Cow, but did stop for Peter Pan & Wendy, Aladdin's Genie, and Geppetto. It was neat to have some of the less famous characters as well as the expected Princesses available for pictures. I'd never have guessed that there was even a costume for Geppetto, but it's cool that there is (Pinocchio was one of my favorite movies growing up).

After we left the Magic Kingdom, we began the longest, most boring part of the race. Miles 7-10 took us past the Grand Floridian, the Polynesian, and the backside of the racetrack, before passing a large, but really nicely landscaped golf course. We were running in the sun now, so if people hadn't shed their warm clothes yet, they were doing it now. I did stop for pictures with Belle and Pocahantas & Meeko (Pocahantas liked my braids!). Oh, and there was that little jaunt to the medical tent for that pesky sciatica. I had to make stretch stops throughout the race to keep it from getting bad, but my body is one of those rebellious types, so by mile 9 I had to take stop for Tylenol. Unfortunately it didn't kick in quite as well I'd hoped, so around mile 11 I was wincing in pain. It was too bad, because I felt really good otherwise; full of energy, and the rest of my body was not too sore (yet).



Continuing on, the course went around an on-ramp and up onto an overpass for the home stretch back to Epcot. Only two miles to go! I stopped for a quick stretch at a medical tent, and when I looked down I noticed I had a big blood stain on my shoe. Apparently my toe was bleeding and had bled all the way through my sneaker. I actually couldn't feel it, but I figured it was some sort of blister. If anything, I looked like a legit runner, woo! When I finally saw the Mile 12 sign, I started to freak out a little bit. I'd believed I could finish the race all along, but when I was just a mile away from the finish about to enter Epcot, it was like wow... I'm totally doing this. I'm going to complete a half freakin' marathon.



When we emerged from the parking lot and back lot into Epcot itself, volunteers and cast members were cheering and high five-ing us. I'm a big old sap because I felt emotional at this point too. We approached Spaceship Earth then turned right when I was the wonderful, amazing, beautiful Mile 13 sign. Just around the corner was the finish. As soon as I spotted it, I said "Oh my God" and started sprinting toward it. Making it over the finish line in my first half marathon was one of the best feelings in the world. I had done what I set out to do, and had a fun time doing it, and that's all I could have asked of myself.


I spotted Nan and Grandpa John in the crowd with my mom's cousin Claudia and her husband James. We exchanged hugs, they took pictures; Nan threw me on the phone with my mom really quick because she had gotten the text update of my finish. When I left them, I saw Jon, Jess and Sean. Jon gave me a big huge, Runningham Hug™, and I needed one! I started to hobble away when Jon reminded me about my medal. I almost forgot to get my medal! Our medals are shiny and heavy and gorgeous and I couldn't stop staring at it.









After this, we wandered around the post-race area, getting our snacks, bags, and bidding farewell to Nan and Grandpa John. We got a group picture with Princess Jasmine before catching the bus to our hotel - sitting for the first time since around 3:30am! Our bus over to the race at 3:45 was standing room only!). I caught a nap while the Jon, Sean and Jess went to a spring training game at the WWOS. I anticipated a necessary post-race nap a few weeks ago when they bought the tickets, and I am so glad I passed on the game. I was refreshed, albeit very sore when I met Jon in the Magic Kingdom later that afternoon. We rocked our medals around the park that day (well, I wore mine on Monday as well. Milking it for all it was worth!) and got tons of "congrats!" It was such a good feeling.
We ended the day with Sean and Jess and Nan and Grandpa John meeting us in the MK for the Wishes fireworks show. It was the perfect end to a wonderful day.




Wow... this is way longer than I intended it to be. I promise any future race reports will be much shorter!

p.s. See all of my race pictures here.