Scenic Tales: When the Clouds Clear

Boardwalk after the rain. Night.

Recap from my Week One of training

So the Glass Slipper Challenge training started this week. If anyone doesn't know what the Glass Slipper Challenge is, it is a 2 day challenge in Walt Disney World. We run a 10k on a Saturday and a half marathon on the Sunday. I am a little nervous about doing this but I know of I train according to the schedule, I will be fine. I hope to get stronger every day. 

Training starts out with 2 weekday runs and then a longer run on the weekend. Looking through the plan, it is a little scary seeing the longer runs and thinking I can't do it. I can easily psych myself out of things so I need to just trust the training and go for it!

Week 1 was a crazy week for me. On Tuesday, I did my run on the treadmill and I realized how much I HATE the treadmill when I have a goal in mind. It's just so boring and I can't push myself the way I can outside. I planned to run on Thursday but there was a school event for my son Timmy so I forced myself to get up early on Friday morning and I hit the treadmill. After our Weight Watchers meeting on Saturday, Lora and I went for a 3 mile run outside. It felt great! 

I learned two things this week:

1. I hate the treadmill and want to run outside more.

2. I need to invest in some more cold weather gear for outside runs this winter.

I Want to update this every week so I can keep myself accountable but so you can also see how determination and dedication can go along way. I need to prove to myself that I can do anything I put my mind on. 

Next week, Courtney and I will run the Biggest Loser 10k with our friend Lora so we can submit a time for the GSC. 10k will be the longest distance we have ever run and it's scary but I believe that we can push each other and reach our goals. I have a time goal in mind and then I get this email to motivate me!

Have a great week everyone!

Xoxo

ToniAnn

Instagram- @mrsT9

And My Feet Were Runnin', Runnin'!

Every sign of strength is a new victory. Tonight during my board"walk" I jogged a bit. That felt good...what felt great was when this song came on the rotation...and I jogged the entire length.

That's almost 4 minutes non stop jogging, plus a little into the next song. Walked and then jogged a few more steps to boot.

I don't know what will happen on Sunday. I don't know if I'll be able to keep up and make the time to get that better corral for February.

I do know...that actually come February..I'm going to be so much stronger than I ever thought possible.

Scenic Tales: Twilight

The arch between Belmar and Spring Lake.

Bouncy Babes and Inflatable Egos

We were so innocent.

Let's talk about terrain. Okay, I'm not really qualified to talk about terrain, but I thought it would be a great segue for what I want to talk about...which is sand. Yes, sand.

Living at the beautiful Jersey Shore, I've grown up with sand. It's a staple. It's home. It's the coolest thing when it's covered with snow. I think I always took it for granted, because typically when walking on sand it is short distances to plop down in said sand...or to get to the packed sand along the shore line.

At least that was until this September.

Caught up in good peer pressure and the excitement of friends, including Her Royal Sassyness and Her Royal Fierceness, I signed up for the Insane Inflatable 5K race in Seaside Heights, NJ. I figured the bulk of activity would be bouncy houses, so it wouldn't be so much a running race, as much as a walking obstacle course. After I paid my registration fee, I forgot about it.

This was the final straw. Literally.

The day before I saw some posts go up teasing about the inflatable obstacles. Then I looked closer. The 3.1 mile course was on the beach. In the sand.

I knew that would make it very difficult. As soon as we got over the "start" obstacle and took our first steps in the sand, I realized it might very well be impossible. I was exhausted after five steps. Oh, and although it was the weekend after Labor Day, it was about 98-degrees out. Right.

Many people shared my anguish over this course. Many people went up and walked on the boardwalk and then came down only to do the obstacles.

I was not one of many. I did not go up on the boardwalk. I said through my clenched jaw that if we are doing it, we are doing it right. 

Let's just say I suffered through that course. I cursed my friends. I sweated. I ached. I cried. I completed all obstacles but one. I finished the race.

Yes. I finished. In the sand.

One day one of these is going to be chocolate. I just know it!

It was not easy. It felt impossible. I hated it. But I completed it. I did not quit. None of us did. I guess we really are capable of things that seem unfathomable.

This is a spectrum of kick-ass ladies.

I will begrudgingly admit that once I completed the race I felt so amazing. I will also admit that although we walked the entire thing, once we finished ToniAnn and I then RAN down the beach and jumped into the ocean. That was pretty priceless.

Also priceless? Our fantastic friend and cheerleader Lora. She came to support us and ended up hanging around in the heat as we realized this was going to take a bit longer than we thought, and cheered us on the entire way. 

Jersey Girls Never Quit.

This race also featured Cheryl (orange), Adriane (brighter orange), and Veena (purple). 

One of the biggest takeaways from this race for me was at the end when we all started saying "If we had more water we probably could have done better...." or "If we did this, maybe it would have been quicker..."

Her Royal Sassyness paused and said, "Ladies, what are we saying? We completed it. It doesn't get much better."

Truer words were never spoken.

A Tale of Two Color Runs

Reality is setting in. I’m signed up for the Biggest Loser 10K at Six Flags Great Adventure on November 2^nd. The goal is to try to get a time so that ToniAnn and I can get into an earlier corral for the Glass Slipper Challenge. I know ToniAnn can do it, but I’m not sure about myself. 

Anyone else ever get in a funk? Yeah, I’d probably tell you to snap out of it because you are so fabulous..so maybe I should listen to myself!

However, I've had a few more races under my belt since the last time we chatted. 

In September I walked/jogged the Central NJ Color Run. I did this with ToniAnn and our friend Lora. I had no intentions of jogging at all, in fact my Taurean stubbornness pretty much dictated that I would not, so don’t even try me. This is Her Royal Whineness at her best!  Yet, ToniAnn and her Fierceness could not be stopped..and as she jogged around me…not necessarily taunting me per say…her fierceness kind of swept over me and I ended up jogging way more than I ever thought I could have. Yes…could have.

Colors of success!

Meanwhile, I just did my second Color Run in Atlantic City this past weekend. It was windy, rainy, cold and just terrible. TERRIBLE! But…I did it. I did not take any shortcuts. I even jogged a little, but in those conditions it was more about finishing than excelling. And you know what…that’s okay.

You don’t wake up one day and suddenly you are a runner. It takes time, it takes overcoming hurdles..and sometimes the biggest hurdles are your own doubts.

I haven’t failed at anything I've tried yet on this journey…so I guess I have no actual reason to feel like I can’t make something happen in three weeks at Great Adventure. So there!

This is just the beginning.......

Welcome to my first post! I feel like I've been running 5ks for years but I've never felt like I  needed to do anything more. I've always had a hard time pushing myself out of my comfort zone. I joined Weight Watchers 4 years ago after having my son and it has taught me that I can do anything I put my mind to. I've also met the most amazing people. Now buckle up, it's going to be a bumpy and an amazing ride! 

 Let's go back to 2013 when my husband and I decided to take my son to Disney in May. We happened to be there during the weekend of the Expedition Everest Challenge. The day after, everyone was talking about how much fun they had and I decided that if we were in Disney again during that race, I would sign up. I think it was December 17, 2014, I received a message from Eric (an amazing runner and fellow WW friend), reminding me about registration opening up. Thanks to him I registered that night!

Expedition Everest Challenge was on May 3rd this year and it was such a great experience for me. I ran alone but in a runDisney race, it was hard to feel alone. It was raining hard at one point but it did not ruin the vibe that this race gave off. I was nervous but knew I could do it! I've done 5ks before but this was different. It was a different feeling and it was so much fun! 

When I came back, I stared at the really cool medal and knew I wanted more. So now it's off to Disney World in February 2015 for the Glass Slipper Challenge. I am excited to see the changes in my mind, body, and soul during the training. 

I will be following Jeff Galloways training program which officially starts on 10/21/2014. The first step in this journey will be the Biggest Loser 10k on 11/2/2014 that Courtney and I will be running so we can submit a time for the Disney race to get a better corral for the 1/2. 

You can follow me on Instagram at mrst9. I can promise you that we will not disappoint!

XoXo

ToniAnn