Random Disney thoughts

1) Watching our kids get to experience Disney magic was priceless.

2) I'm so glad I was able to capture so many magical moments with my new Canon XSi.

3) Those, including the ones that I didn't capture, will forever be etched into my mind.
--Ansley shaking her booty with Chip
--Ansley as the most beautiful princess we've ever seen
--Ansley's giggles on the Tower of Terror
--Lunch with the Princesses inside Cinderella's castle
--Me, getting to dance with Belle in a play
--Watching Logan duel Darth Vader with a lightsaber
--Getting to ride Space Mountain with Logan
--Logan's look seeing Stitch for a 2nd, 3rd, 4th.... time
--Logan's "wish" came true on his BDay-a 2' tall stuffed Stitch
--Fantasmic show at Hollywood Studios
--SpectroMagic light parade
--Our final evening watching the Wishes fireworks show

4) Even if Coach K says that walking around the Disney parks 10-12 hours a day for 7 days doesn't count as training, my feet and legs say otherwise.

5) Getting up at 6am to run or swim while on vacation is REALLY difficult, but I only missed one swim workout and that was due to a big early morning thunderstorm.

6) Swimming laps in the outdoor hotel, kinda "L" shaped, pool gets you more open water experience than you realize. Sighting for the deadly corners and all.

7) I don't know what "on your left" sounds like to those that cannot speak English, but during early morning runs, it caused much confusion to those I was coming up from behind.

8) No matter how much fun there is to have at Disney, a 4 & 6 year old WILL meltdown, more than once.

9) Handicapped motorized carts rolling through the park are dangerous enough, let alone while the operator is using a cell phone.

10) Moms with strollers blindly walking while on their cell phones are equally dangerous.

11) The amount of food that Disney serves you each meal is actually pretty disgusting.

12) Every meal in the dining plan contains a dessert and I think I've had enough brownies and cookies for a while.

13) Yes Dana, it is possible to have TOO much dessert-I might not eat dessert for a week.

14) Staying disconnected from any computer, including any contact with Facebook or email, was easier than we thought.

Disney!!

Well, we're off to Disney in the morning! I'll have plenty of pics and stories when we return.

I had a pretty big week of training last week so that I could lay low while in Florida. Make no mistake though, I'll get some nice warm weather runs and swims in!

Stay tuned...

1 Week to Disney!!

We are all very excited to be leaving for Disney in one week! The kids are so excited for their first plane ride and hanging with Mickey and Co. for a whole week!!

Training has been really good this week. I've updated my race schedule and my training log on the right and left, respectively.

Stay tuned...

My season has begun!

Training for the Kinetic Half Ironman officially began tonight on the track where I dropped a 67 second quarter. I'm so pleased to see how all the hard work that I've poured into my running this off season is really paying off. I've been waiting for a while now for this season to get started and can't wait to get back into racing. Yes, I'm still behind on updating my logs and schedule on the side columns but I'll get better now that I'm on my schedule.

The family is doing well, kinda. Ansley has had the flu twice now. Most currently, this past weekend. Nikki and Logan both got a bug earlier. I'm the only one that hasn't been sick this season. Juice Plus and a flu shot are putting up a nice shield.

Just a week ago, we had nearly 12 inches of snow and today was 80. Crazy Richmond weather. I just can't wait for the warm weather to stay. It's supposed to drop back into the 50's later this week.

I'll post some pics in the next couple of days.

Slacker blogger...

Boy, I've been pretty slack in posting on my blog. Training is going well in this cold. I had an awesome weekend, where all workouts felt great. Though, I'm so ready for some warmer weather. Our Disney trip is less than a month away! We are stoked! Work is keeping me really busy and I'm really enjoying all the responsibility I have. Some days are so busy and I get so many emails that I don't know where to start, but I do enjoy what I do. I know this was a quick post, but I need to get better about posting and updating my training table on the left. Gotta run, Heroes is on...

Cover Boy!

The Richmond Guide is out! And the cover looks great! I'm very proud to be representing the Richmond Tri Club and love the way the cover turned out. We look pretty badass! Click the link above to see for yourself. I'm trying to get my hands on some hard copies to give out to friends and family.

My training has been going really well. I'm enjoying swimming a ton right now. Thanks to learning new strokes and drills that are helping my freestyle immensely. I never thought that I could swim butterfly, but I'm catching on well and actually liking it. I'm getting excited about the race season! If only this cold weather would find someplace else to go...

The Richmond Tri Club has our annual banquet this Saturday. Since none of my nice dress clothes fit, they're all WAY too big, I had to go out and get a new suit. It looks good and I can't wait to wear it out.

Finally, here are some pics of Ansley celebrating her 4th BDay!

Happy Birthday Ansley

Our little Princess turned 4 today. More pictures to come. Once I get them off my camera...

Time moving too fast...

It's been two weeks since my last post. Can't believe January is almost gone. Ansley, our little girl, is going to be 4 on Sunday. Crazy!

Work is keeping me very busy, so the work day is going by fast. Sometimes too fast as I feel behind and drowning a few times a week. Nothing I can't handle, I like the challenge.

Training has been kicking up a notch. I'll start posting my weekly workouts when I get a little more time to play with the tables. I ran the Frostbite 15K this past Sunday and finished in 1:05:02. That's 9.32 miles in 6:58 minute per mile pace! I'm so stoked about that. Didn't have any real goals, just wanted to run a smooth fast race and be consistent. I'm actually learning some good pacing from Coach K! Monday night track workouts are going really well. I don't like the cold, but I can't miss track work! Swim practice is going very well, even learning how to swim butterfly! Currently feels like a drowning attempt at breast stroke! ; )

Richmond put up the snow forcefield today and we got lots of ice and rain as usual. Just yukky stuff. I'm so ready for Summer weather it's not funny. Bring on the heat and humidity!

Busy Day...

Boy, I had a busy day today. I believe that the full moon makes servers go crazy, as we had way more requests and were very busy today. At lunch, I had a magazine cover shoot! I'm very proud to be on the cover, representing the Richmond Tri Club, for Richmond Guide. It's the local feature guide to Virginia Living. I'll be sure to send out the link to the cover when it's released. After work I headed to the track for a cold track workout. Did lots of plyometrics followed by 6 400s. Yeah, 6 400s in the cold! Reminder, I don't like the cold. I'm a 90-100 degree, 90-100% humidity weather person. On another note, Kevin sent me a text message rubbing in the fact that he was driving in 85 degree weather listening to Bob Marley! Thanks Kev!

Astonishing numbers...

I'm closing out my 2008 training log. Here are the totals:

Bike - 2667.06 miles - 134 hours 44 minutes and 46 seconds
Run - 889.14 miles - 126 hours 35 minutes and 02 seconds
Swim - 55.28 miles - 31 hours 33 minutes 14 seconds
Weight Lifting - 40 hours and 45 minutes

Total 2008 training:
3611.48 miles
333 hours 38 minutes and 02 seconds

A few pics from Christmas '08

ENJOY...

Happy New Year

I ran my first 10K of the year and the Hokies won the Orange Bowl! The 10K was great. I hadn't run in a week or so, and was only 2 minutes off my PR, finishing in 45:21. Looking forward to good things this year from my racing. I still haven't solidified my race calendar, but I will soon. The Hokies win was outstanding! Winning a BCS bowl game is great and we were able to represent the ACC with great pride. I'm looking forward to a great '09 season, in which we'll kick off against Alabama in Atlanta. Mark my words. The Hokies will play for and win a National Championship within the next two years.

Kevin left for California last Monday and has safely arrived. Took a long cross country drive, texting us along the way. Kevin, we already miss you and wish you the best. We've never had a good reason to visit California, so we are already looking at a time to head out there.

We are going through the pictures so I'll have to get some posted soon. Lots of great Christmas pics of the kids.

We're all bummed that we have to start work and the kids have to go back to school. It's been a good, relaxing, enjoyable time off. But we gotta pay the bills.

Stay tuned...