I must be in the front row...

In the true spirit of Bob Uker, we got upgraded to the front row (sort of). Our hotel room at Animal Kingdom Lodge turned into a 1BR suite at the Animal Kingdom Villas, sweet. Kids are loving the animals from the giant balcony, who wouldn't! Off to the Beach Club Villas tomoorow and hoping that our studio turns into anothe upgrade...not banking on it though. :-)

Got a 5K in this morning, puts me at 67 or so run miles for the month. Lorraine's turn tomorrow then off to the studios for EMH. My favorite park. I'd post pics from my phone but forgot how to e-mail my blog....

On the Road Again...

Probably not the first time I used Willie in my title line, but it's fitting. As in, I'm on the road back to shape for distance running. Didn't realize just how far away I was from February when I could do a half marathon for my long run over the weekend and feel like I only ran 5. Got out the door around 9a (80's already) and planned 10 miles. The body felt much better than the 8 miler from last weekend and I was able to get all the mileage in +1 walk mile at the end. The heat wasn't fun for sure, and I tried to keep in the shade as much as possible. Hate to say it, but I can't wait till fall! I'd rather run in the cold than in this stuff...you can bundle up in the cold, not much else you can do in this.

Anyhoo, I've got the following folks for Mama Melrose Jan 7 so far (will add Matt if he ends up making it):
Justin +1
Rae +3
Me +0

Total of 7 so far on a 10 person reservation. No worries, I'm going to call and see if i can make it 15 as I think there are a few more of you out there that would like to do this. Was a great time this past January, kinda felt like an old Italian family eating dinner (I've got some experience with that...).

Update - I raised the ADR to 15 people. The new time is 4:55p.

Rae - Lorraine is doing great on her training, thanks for asking. She did a mini-tri for practice last week and gained some good experience. She's improving in the pool every day, and has been very consistent with the biking (depite the 2 young'ns that run her ragged and make her want to nap instead!).

ADR for January 7th (Friday Evening)

Knowing there is some interest in Mama Melrose for an evening prior to the half-marathon meet, I booked something online. Right now it's a table for 10 (max you can do on-line), let me know if you're interested and I can adjust as necessary. The ADR is for 4:55pm on 1/7 (Friday).

If we get more than 10 confirmed, I'll call and try to increase the #.

Crapatar...

Sitting here watching Avatar, finally, and I'm like what the.... Sure it's creative and all, but really? All that money and record setting attendance for this? Glad I waited for it on Blockbuster!

What else, what else... I'm over 50 miles for the month, took today off to rest the legs a bit. Feeling pretty good about the mileage and think I should be able to finish off over 100 miles as long as I can get a 10 miler in over the weekend. Just building the endurance back up slowly but surely (and don't call me Shirly...old "Airplane" joke for those without a sense of humor ;-)).

Getting a new toy! Ordered a Kokay Playsport video camera. The thing can be submerged to 10feet under water, how much cooler does it get than that! I want to bring it to Disney for the Goofy to take footage, but we'll see how that all works out.

In NYC Monday/Tuesday for work and y'all know where after that.

Oh, and I talked with the folks organizing Team Pfizer for the New York City Marathon and it sounds cool and all, but I'm not sure I'd be able to meet the 2600 fund raising commitment, so I might pass this year and try next year. I've never raised money for an event like this so I have no clue how doable it is and I don't want to be left with that big of a bill! :-) I might change my mind, but for now it's on hold and full speed ahead on training for the Goof.

Runnin' Runnin' and Runnin' Runnin'...

Let's get it started!!! Hot Tub Time Machine fans out there? Saw that one over the weekend and I'll have to admit, I thought it was pretty darn funny. Probably just how great the soundtrack was, all 80's tunes.

Did a little Runnin' Runnin' over the weekend, about 11 miles total. Just shy of 9 miles yesterday in some hot/humid conditions (burnt face/head to prove it). Was a brutual run from a body perspective, just didn't have it. Took over 1:30:xx to complete, like I said...brutal. Had to stop and walk up a couple of the hills. The positive thing is that I didn't cut the run short as my mind was trying to talk me into.... At 40 run miles for the month, not bad.

Vacation is coming fast though. Lorraine and I will alternate early morning runs while down in the world, so I'll still squeeze out some decent mileage for the month, but don't want to overdo it since we'll be walking a ton.

Q&A with Stroller Boy...

Yes Amanda, I use my blog like e-mail More like a brain dump of anything I'm thinking of at the moment, no real rhyme or reason. IT-wise, I'm a business analyst by profession. Long time from doing any kind of coding or real hands on IT work...which is why I laugh when people think I can solve their computer problems! I'm like "ummm, I don't know, call the helpdesk?". Okay, I'm a little better than that, but not by much. More of understanding complex business problems and facilitate the requirements for enterprise systems.

Wow, now that I've bored the rest of you.....

So close to vacation/Disney...I'm already checked out a bit from work which is bad due to how busy it is. What can ya do.

Only about 30 running miles this month thus far done with shorter runs and only 1 day off. I want to take a longer run tomorrow and continue to build back up, but will take it slow as I don't want to be injured for the long haul. Lost about 2lbs this month now that the mileage is coming back (and watching the food intake). Just need to keep it up...going to be tough when we head down for vacation though.

Mike, no "more than words" for you! I did think of that when writing that title though, too funny.

The Extreme Strikes Again!

So my self nickname "The Extreme" led me to do something stupid again. Yeah, you remember that 18 below 0 (40 mph winds) 13 mile run this past winter.... 102 with a heat index of 105, 2pm run, why not!?! Okay, it wasn't 13 miles, but it sure felt like it. I just wanted to take a nice easy run in the new shoes outdoors and that was the only time I had available, so I did 4 miles. Just hot and sweaty, no physical illness or anything (maybe mental illness). First 2 miles weren't bad at all, but the last two were brutal! Lesson learned, go out early in the 90 degree heat or hit the treadmill.... it's all good, at least I'm getting the work in. :-)

Justin - Like the itinerary for Jan, but you have us leaving Epcot on Sunday to go to O'hana? Could we do that one of the other evenings and do something local to Epcot that night? then some fireworks and whatnot? Call me sentimental, but after we did that a couple of years ago I think I'm stuck to Epcot post race (or that last race anyhow). Something about drinkin' round the world to cap off marathon weekend just feels right. Still, I'm flexible. Wish I could say the same about the hamstrings.

Rae - I feel your pain. Doesn't seem to be much different weatherwise between the Northeast and Florida during the summer...brutal! How's the new Mustang? Why am I asking you questions on my blog? I haven't gripped the whole "technology" thing yet apparently...ya know, I mean, I only work in the technology department of a company... ;-)

Some like it hot...

Not quite "Amanda-weather", but it's in the upper 90's and pretty darn humid. Pool felt really good, even at 85 degrees.

Couple of chances to run this weekend, nothing over 5 miles as of yet. I was planning on a longer run, but my shoes are pretty well toasted (465 miles on them). Was able to get to Fleet Feet today to try on a couple of different pairs. Went in thinking I would just get the Asics GT-2150's, but the salesperson said she'd be quick (kids were waiting) and wanted to show me a couple of other models. Tried the Saucony Pro-Grid Guide 3, Brooks Ravenna, New Balance 760 (?) and the GT-2150's. New Balance felt weird in my left heel so they were out. Brooks felt light and like something to run shorter distances with (same as the reviews said), so it was down to the Saucony and the GT's. Both felt really good, but I went with the sure thing in the Asics. I'm going to go through a couple of pairs between now and January, so I figure I can try them next and then decide on what my race shoe is going to be. The sales person/girl said she's going to run the Goofy this year as well, kinda cool, she ran the full last year and apparently wasn't scared off by the cold. So aparently she's like the rest of us...nuts! LOL

No issue on the eating this weekend! Stayed true to my word and feel much better for it. :-) We'll see what I can get in for mileage this week, but based on the schedule, I think I can sneak in a few runs.

So who's doing all the ADR coordinating this year? :-) Or should we all try to "host" one ...might be a scheduling nightmare.. Sunday night will be the big one, for us Goofy folks anyhow.

Stay safe out there!

Independance Day.....

I'm decalring my independance from tyranical sausage, hot dogs, and fatty hamburgers!!! So, I'm sitting here, working for the most part, and thinking about the weekend...barbecue's and the like and considering I'm about 10 lbs from my Goofy goal weight I've declared war on fatty junk that will keep me from my goal this weekend! Sure, it's only a day or two of gluttony, but that's the point, if not now, when? If not me, who? If not what, where? Huh? Okay, I'm confusing myself during my own tirade... The point being that now that I've said it, I've got to stick to it this weekend and report back to y'all who'll beat me down if I'm not honest!!!

Work is still hellish, but in a good way, a challenging way. Happy to be employed given the on-going mess of an economy (Matt, the president was just joking, you don't need to go down to the shore and "suck it up with a straw"...if I know you, you'd siphon it into barrells and sell it! You smart guy you ;-)). As planned all along, July is my month to get the training for January going now that school is done. Not sure about the 150 miles though....Best mileage month for me since I started running was 125 I think....hit that a couple of times....Not to mention I'm going to be in Disney for 10 days of this month :) Oh, did I forget to mention that? LOL 3 days at AKL, and the rest at BCV. Probably going to be hotter than the sun down there, but who cares, it's better than here!

As Mike-Speed (or Walt) would say....Keep Moving Forward!