#RNRTWEETUP

As I've mentioned, I'm running the Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Half Marathon this weekend! It will be my 4th time running this race (it was my first full marathon in 2012)!

This year I'm super excited because the weekend will be spent with some bloggers I've been trying to meet for about a year and a half! Me and my awesome pace partner Holly from Running and Baking Oh My are sharing a hotel room with Abby from Back At Square Zero and Sarah from Mom Running on Empty! I'm so excited to meet Abby and Sarah in real life!

And to just add icing on the cake....we are going to be involved in a tweet up at the expo! Yes that's right! Sarah and I will be interviewing Abby and Dani from Weight Off My Shoulders! We will be discussing how social media and online communities affect the modern runner! Afterwards we will be hanging out and meeting some new running friends...that means YOU!

I hope to see many of you there! Please don't hesitate to come up to me and say hi if you see me! I love meeting new people!

Be sure to follow us all on Twitter too!
Mindy @mindybobe
Sarah @MomOnEmpty
Abby @BackatSquare0
Dani @IrishEyes1982

The expo is open to the public so even if you aren't running the race come out and hang with us!

QOTD: Are you running Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans? Have you ever attended a social meet up?

In With the New Year 5K Virtual Race!

Disclaimer: I am a Jost Running Blogger. I have been given free entry into the virtual races. I have received no other compensation. All the opinions are mine and mine alone!

This month's Jost Running virtual race is called "In With the New Year!" I decided to run the 5K race this time. 

For this race I ran right after work. I knew I was going to have to run pretty fast because I had to be done by the time my boys got home from school. So I was basically trying to beat the school bus lol!

It's no secret that 5K's are not my favorite. I would rather run long and slow than fast and short. But this was the only time I had to get it done. So I was determined.

Luckily the weather was cool outside so running in the afternoon wasn't a big deal. It wasn't too hot. The first mile was yucky like always. It's always hard for me to get in the groove. But finally around mile 2 I did! And the run was great!

At mile 2.5 I knew I was going to make it back home just in time for the bus! I made my turn to head back into my neighborhood....and I TRIPPED! I'm talking I almost landed right on my face! And all these cars were going by at the time too. Luckily though....I caught myself before I hit the ground. Whew! That would have been bad. And how embarrassing too....I KNOW those cars saw me.

I had just finished my run when the bus came! I made it!

I hugged my boys and went inside with them. I took a shower and then grabbed my medal. I will say that the medals from Jost Running are AWESOME!!!!! 

Next month's race is all about love! It's called "We Go Together" and the medal has a salt and pepper shaker on it! So cute! I hope you will register to run the 5K, 10K, half, or full! 

QOTD: Do you like virtual races?

Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend...Magic Kingdom Day!

This is one of a series of posts about my Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend Experience! The other posts I have written thus far are listed below:

Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend Expo
Walt Disney World 10K
Disney Dining at 1900 Park Fare
Walt Disney Marathon Weekend...Magic Bands and Downtown Disney
Walt Disney World Half Marathon
Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend...An Afternoon in Epcot

I woke up Sunday morning well rested and not as sore as I thought I would be from running 19.3 miles in the course of two days. I was ready to conquer Magic Kingdom...without kids! :-)

We got ready and then ate a quick breakfast at the resort. Why yes I had a Mickey waffle! ;-) Then I had to visit the concierge desk to clear up a Magic Band issue (you can read about that here). Finally we loaded the bus (love Disney transporation) and were on our way! But....it took a little longer to get to Magic Kingdom than normal due to....a little marathon that was happening!!! We saw some of the runners as we were waiting in traffic! I was so excited for them!

Finally we made it to Magic Kingdom! First stop...pictures in front of the castle of course!

And then I had to visit Donald. And he asked to wear my medal!

Next, it was time to ride some rides! We headed toward Tomorrowland and stopped to help Buzz Lightyear! Unfortunately Zurg caught us! Aaaggghhh!

The rest of the day was spent riding all the most popular rides! The lines were almost non existant and that was so nice! The weather was perfect! The high was in the 60's so we never got hot. And we didn't get cold until later than night. I even encountered a few rides that I had never ridden! I love discovering new things at Disney!

And I took lots of pictures!

Like Rapunzel's tower!

The Haunted Mansion!

The Haunted Mansion from the Liberty Square Riverboat!

As we were walking through the park we saw a cast member drawing Minnie Mouse on the ground using a broom and water! It was hard to see on my phone so I cut off some of it in my picture. But it was pretty neat to watch him draw this!

More pictures of the castle! I mean seriously can you ever have enough pictures of the castle? I don't think so!

And of course I had Mickey Mouse ice cream!!!

We even caught a little bit of the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party!

Despite my worries, Fast Pass+ worked out great on our Magic Bands! We were able to ride those rides quickly! (note: I set these up in my Disney app before we got to Magic Kingdom)

After dinner Sandi decided to head back to the resort. Brooke and I chose to stay at Magic Kingdom and partake in the Magic Hours that night. First we watched the night time show and fireworks at the castle! It was amazing!!!

Main Street U.S.A all lit up!

And of course I needed a nighttime picture in front of the castle!

Brooke and I had a blast during Magic Hours. Most of the park had cleared out! There were zero lines for anything! We even rode the Pirates of the Caribbean ride....and had the entire boat to ourselves!

When it was time to leave it was bittersweet. I had had so much fun in Disney and couldn't believe the weekend was already over!

QOTD: What is your favorite ride at Magic Kingdom?

Crescent City Classic Wants You To "Run For It!"

Last year I ran the Crescent City Classic 10K for the first time! I had a blast running this race! I was running in one of my favorite cities (New Orleans) with one of my best running friends (Paige)! This race was so much fun and I am so excited to run it again this year!

I want to tell you about the Crescent City Classic's "Run For It" program! People can choose to register (for free) and fundraise for 1 of 10 local (and deserving) charities. They will get an upgraded race t-shirt, a special "Charity" bib number, and perks on race day (private port-o-lets/gathering areas at the start & finish) in exchange for raising a minimum of $200 for their Charity by race day. They've already raised over $6,000, but hope to reach $1 million!

The online fundraising platform (where you can see all 10 teams and team members is here: http://www.crowdrise.com/CrescentCityClassic

I fundraised for St. Jude Children's Hospital last year and I will tell you that $200 is not hard to raise! Especially for a local charity! It's a win win for all...and you get to run the race for free!

The Crescent City Classic is an amazing race! It is so much fun! The course is flat and fast and takes you through the heart of the city! And....you also get a medal!!! You know how much I love my bling y'all! ;-)

I hope you will consider signing up for the Run For It program! I'd love to see you at the start line on April 19th!

Be sure to check out the Crescent City Classic on Social Media! They are on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

QOTD: Are you running the Crescent City Classic?

The Weekly Chase #56!

Why hello Monday! I haven't had a real Monday in two weeks! Last Monday was a holiday and the Monday before that I was traveling home from Disney Marathon Weekend! So this week you're telling me I have to work a 5 day week? What?

Last Friday was a day in history here on the Gulf Coast! It was super super cold and we had sleet, freezing rain....I don't know what to call it except that little balls of ice were falling from the sky! Really...what is this called? Some were saying snow, some were saying sleet, others were saying freezing rain. I have no clue! But I took pictures and video for my boys before I left for work! You could see the ice on our trampoline!

They are predicting another really cold day tomorrow. And there's a chance of SNOW! Here on the Gulf Coast! What is going on???? I am freezing around here lol! Luckily, the weekend is supposed to warm up to the 60's. I should have temps in the 50's at start time for the Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Half Marathon! Perfect running weather!

Now it's time for The Weekly Chase! I'm ready to tell you all about my goals for this week! I hope you will link up your own goals with me too!

Here are my goals from last week and how I did with them!

• Goal #1: Run at least 2-3 times. Yes! I ran twice this week! I ran a short run and then am 8 miler this weekend! 
• Goal #2: Roll and stretch daily; ice after each run. 75%. I didn't do this every day but I did do it more than last week!
• Goal #3: Write more Disney posts this week. Yes! I wrote 3 more posts! I only have one more Disney post to share with you and I'll post it this week. Here are the ones I wrote this week in case you missed them: Walt Disney Marathon Weekend...Magic Bands and Downtown Disney, 
  Walt Disney World Half Marathon, Walt Disney Marathon Weekend...An Afternoon in Epcot
• Goal#4: Cook more meals than we eat out this week. Yes!!!! I'm pretty excited about this one! We only ate out twice this week. We had Moe's Southwest Grill on Wednesday night and Pizza on Friday night. All the other nights we ate meals at home!

So here are my goals for this week!

Goal #1: Run at least once before I leave for New Orleans. I would love to run twice but I'm only committing to once since we are having some extreme cold weather here. Plus I'm tapering so once will be sufficient. 

Goal #2: Roll and stretch daily; ice after each run. I really need to get back to this 100%! My left quad has some tightness in it that I need to get rolled out. Consistency is key!

Goal #3: Fuel and hydrate for my 21st half marathon! This goal won't be hard for me lol!

Goal #4: Pack for New Orleans. I hate packing and always procrastinate. I'd like to start packing on Tuesday.

Goal #5: Cook more meals than we eat out this week. We are on a budget now because Sawyer has moved up in his gymnastics and is now on the boys pre team! I'm so proud of him! But that also means his monthly gymnastics fee doubled. So we need to cook more meals at home so we can afford to let Sawyer pursue his dream.

That's it for this week! I'm so excited for the weekend and Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans!!!!

QOTD: What goals are you chasing this week?

Runner Spotlights #72

Happy Sunday! How has everyone's weekend been? Mine has been pretty relaxing! I ran my last long run before Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Half Marathon yesterday morning. The rest of the weekend has been pretty uneventful.

Now it's time for another runner spotlight...my favorite time of the week! I love reading other runners' stories about their running journey! If you are interested in being spotlighted on my blog please email me at mindy@roadrunnergirl.com! I'd love to spotlight you! You don't have to have a blog to be spotlighted...you just have to be a runner! ;-)

Today I am spotlighting Jen from Hello Fitness...We Meet Again! She is a fellow runDisney lover! And she always has the cutest costumes to run in! Keep reading to learn more about her!

Name:  Jennifer Clark

State:  Georgia

When and why did you start running?  

Last year a friend threw out the idea that we should run a half marathon, but not just any half…the Disney Princess half marathon.  After checking it out I decided to jump in head first and go for it!

What is your favorite race and race distance?  

My favorite race…hmm…I think it’s a 3 way tie between the Disney Princess half, the Disneyland half, and the Peachtree Road Race.

I am really starting to enjoy the half marathon distance.  It’s not so long that I feel like it’s never ending, but it’s not too short that it seems like it’s over in a flash.

What is your race day routine?  

Wake up, shower, dress, eat a Snickers energy bar and drink a Powerade, head to the race, stretch, take my energybits about 15 minutes before the race starts, and head out!

What is your most favorite piece of running gear?  

That’s a tough one!  I love my Garmin, I love my Brooks Launch shoes, I love my Sweatybands and SparklySoul headbands…I could keep going!

Do you follow any diet or take any specific supplements that complement your running?  

I love my energybits!  They’re a great source of natural energy with tons of nutritional benefits!  I take them just before a race to give me an extra boost of energy.

What do you wish you’d known when you first started running?  

The saying “Running is cheaper than therapy” is SO not true…but I wouldn’t trade it for a couch and a therapist.

What is your fondest running memory?  

I have so many amazing memories of my first year of running!  From running with my BRF (Best Running Friend) wearing duck floats during the Peachtree Road Race to running through the Anaheim Angels baseball stadium with tons of screaming Boy and Girl Scouts…crossing the finish line of my first half marathon, running at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, and setting a new PR in my last half of the year.  I can’t wait to cross the finish line of my last race of the year with my husband…it will be his first 5k!  I've had a wonderful year and can’t wait to see what next year has in store for me!

What is one thing that most people do not know about you?  

I was the first female at my high school to play on the baseball team!  I've also never broken a bone or had stitches.

Here are all the different ways you can connect with Jen!

Blog: http://hellofitnesswemeetagain.blogspot.com

Twitter: @hellofitnessjen

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hellofitnessjen

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/hellofitnessjen

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/hellofitnessjen

Thanks so much for sharing with us Jen!!!

QOTD: What active thing did you do this weekend?

Fitness Friday...January 24th Edition!

It's been a few weeks since I've done a Fitness Friday post! Last week I was recovering from Disney. This week I tried to get back into a routine as well as taper for my next race...the Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Half Marathon which is in 9 DAYS!!!

This will be my 4th year doing this race. I've run the half two times and the full once. I had planned on running it this year but hadn't registered for it. So when St. Jude got canceled and they offered this race as a replacement I was so happy I hadn't already registered!

I'm also super excited because I have plans to meet several of my blogger friends at this race! In fact, I am rooming with Abby from Back at Square Zero, Sarah from Mom Running on Empty, and my pace partner Holly from Running and Baking Oh My! I see Holly fairly often since she lives near me. I've been online friends with Abby and Sarah for about a year and a half but we haven't met in real life. I can't wait to meet them and hang out with them all weekend! I just love meeting blends (blogger friends)!

We are planning a tweetup so if you're running NOLA stay tuned for those details soon!

Now it's time for Fitness Friday! Here's how this week went for me!

• Saturday- #plankday 1:20

• Sunday- 4 mile run in 40:46 average pace 10:12

• Monday- #plankday 1:01

• Tuesday- #plankday 1:11

• Wednesday- #plankday 1:03, 3.11 mile run in 30:43 average pace 9:53

• Thursday- #plankday 1:06

• Friday- #plankday 1:00

So that was my week! I didn't get to run as many times as I wanted but I got a few in. This weekend I plan on running about 7-8 miles. Then I have the Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Half Marathon next weekend and the weekend after that is The Biggest Loser Half Marathon in Mobile! Busy, busy!!! But I love it!

QOTD: Are you racing this weekend? What was your best run or workout this week?

Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend...An Afternoon at Epcot!

This is one of a series of posts about my Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend Experience! The other posts I have written thus far are listed below:

Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend Expo
Walt Disney World 10K
Disney Dining at 1900 Park Fare
Walt Disney Marathon Weekend...Magic Bands and Downtown Disney
Walt Disney World Half Marathon

After running the half we headed back to the room to get cleaned up. The shower never felt so good! I was starving so we headed to the resort cafeteria to eat. For some reason I wanted a grilled chicken sandwich and salty fries! So that's what I got and it was delicious! Then we boarded the bus and headed to Epcot!

I didn't take many pictures on this day...I guess I assumed I had tons of pictures in Epcot from the race lol! The first thing I wanted to do though was to see (MORE) characters! As a Disney Visa card holder, I headed to the cardholder character spot. And there was zero wait! :-)

You never know which characters will be there. So I was so happy to see Minnie Mouse (my favorite) and Pluto! I told Minnie all about running her race the day before! And I showed them my Donald medal...which Pluto licked lol!

After playing with Minnie and Pluto we headed to ride some rides! We ended up getting Fast Passes (using the new Fast Pass +) for Spaceship Earth (which we really didn't need one for but it was one of our choices), Mission Space, and Soarin'! Soarin' is one of my favorites! We also rode Test Track as single riders...which meant no wait time! I was excited to ride it since it was closed this summer due to technical difficulties. And I haven't ridden it since it's been redone. It was super fun! We rode a ton more rides. There were hardly any wait times. It was heavenly!

The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent in the World Showcase! It was fun to enjoy it as an adult with no kids! And we even got to see more characters because the lines were super short! They were all pretty impressed with our medals!

Belle...in her blue dress! :-)

Brooke, Me, Belle, and Sandi! Yeah...we are best buds with Belle! ;-)

Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty)! I had to get a picture with her since she is my favorite princess...and my son Sawyer's favorite princess!

At dinner time we decided to eat Italian. We headed to Tutto Italia Ristorante. I had eaten here a long time ago and remembered it being good but boy was I in for a treat! I ordered the Ravioli di Ricotta. It had chicken, pancetta, and parmesean in it and it was the absolute BEST THING I HAVE EVER EATEN!!! And did I take a picture? NO! I could kick myself! Seriously, my mouth has watered several times since then wanting that dish! It was so good! 

While we were eating it started storming outside! I'm talking wind blowing, thunder roaring, lightning flashing, heavy falling kind of rain! We had planned to stay and watch the night show...IllumiNations but we were just concerned about making it back to the buses. We had no umbrellas or ponchos. And we were all the way in the World Showcase area...the back of Epcot! The radar was showing a ton of rain coming through but we spotted a tiny break in there so we were hoping that would be our chance. And luckily...it was! We walked through Epcot (with no rain falling) while watching what we could of IllumiNations. We made it to the buses and to our resort without getting rained on! It was a Disney miracle lol!

We decided to call it a night once we got to the resort. Sandi and I were pretty tired from being awake since 3AM AND from running a half marathon!

Stay tuned for our day in the Magic Kingdom!

QOTD: Have you ever been caught in a thunderstorm in Disney World? Every time I go there it rains lol!

Walt Disney World Half Marathon!

This is one of a series of posts about my Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend Experience! The other posts I have written thus far are listed below:

Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend Expo
Walt Disney World 10K
Disney Dining at 1900 Park Fare
Walt Disney Marathon Weekend...Magic Bands and Downtown Disney

Saturday morning was ANOTHER 3AM wake-up call. That's the worst part of a Disney race...having to wake up so early. But it's worth it! Today my friend Sandi was running the half too! We got ready and then headed for the buses.

Here comes Mike Wazowski!

Disney transportation for race weekend is a plus! I love not having to worry about getting there on time or getting stuck in traffic. We had no line for the bus and got right on!

Selfie pic on the bus!

We got off the bus and started walking. We had to go through bag check since we both had hydration belts on. We didn't stay long in the meet and greet area.

It was close to time to be in your corrals so we stopped for a quick potty break and then started the trek toward the corrals. If you've runDisney then you know this trek is about a mile long. I was starting two corrals back with Sandi in Corral I instead of my Corral G. Disney will let you move back corrals but not forward. We made it to our corral on time and immediately started enjoying the entertainment. runDisney has huge screens up in the corrals so you have a good view of the stage. They had someone teaching us dances on the stage. He even taught us the moves to the song, "What Does the Fox Say!"

Me and Sandi waiting in the corral! Ready to run!

Then it was time for Goofy, Mickey, and Donald to wish us a great race! Since this was Donald's race he got to talk (or quack) a lot!

Before we knew it, it was time for the first corral to start! Donald did an awesome job of counting down the start for each corral! And of course Disney had fireworks for each corral's start! Finally it was our corral's turn! Donald counted us down and off we went!

Sandi was doing run/walk intervals of 2:1 so for the first time ever I did this with her. I'm not used to having to walk when my legs are so fresh but I wanted to run the race with her. Before we knew it we made it to mile 1!

You could feel the excitement in the air from all the runners! Everyone was so excited! It was hot and humid but not as bad as it was for the 10K. I was feeling great! My legs felt strong but I was also running at a slower pace than I normally do. But my goal was all about having fun...not about my time...so I wasn't too worried about my pace.

Our first character stop...Pirates! The line was pretty long but we stood there anyway. While waiting, we saw the first place runner run by! He was almost at mile 11! That was kind of hard to handle knowing he was almost finished and we still had a really long way to go. But it was cool seeing how fast those elite runners were running!

Before long we had made it to the entrance to Magic Kingdom! I knew the fun was about to begin!!!

We ran past the speedway and saw Darkwing Duck and Launchpad on the side! But we didn't stop (I wish we had now). We headed towards the Ticket and Transportation Center and I saw Jack and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas!!! I had to stop for this one for my boys!

In no time at all we made it to Magic Kingdom! The roar of the crowd on Main Street is always so amazing! It's so fun to hear the spectators cheering you on as you run down Main Street and the Castle is in your sights! We stopped for a quick picture before we headed to Tomorrowland!

In Tomorrowland we spotted Buzz Lightyear!

And by the Tea Cups we spotted the Queen of Hearts!

Then we headed towards the castle! And major congestion began! It was so crowded! I've never ran through the castle when it was that crowded. Actually, it was so crowded that I couldn't even run. We had to walk. And I was a little disappointed. The photographers couldn't even take pictures because of the congestion. So I'm pretty sad there is no picture of me running out of the castle. :-( There was a photographer taking pictures inside the castle....so I got that one at least. But not great enough to buy in my opinion.

Once we made it out of the castle we headed towards the front to get a picture! The castle is my favorite and I was getting at least one good picture!!! ;-)

Then we headed towards Liberty Square and Frontierland and out of Magic Kingdom. I knew this part of the course would be tougher. We ran past the Grand Floridian and a few more character stops but we didn't stop. It was very crowded here because the road is a lot more narrow. During our run breaks we were weaving in and out of walkers and it was exhausting.

I loved looking at everyone's costumes while we were running! Gave me lots of ideas for my next Disney race! We even came upon this guy who was running the half marathon while dribbling two basketballs! It was Doctor Dribble! He was doing the Goofy Challenge so he ran the full marathon dribbling his basketballs the next day! Amazing!

Sandi started struggling some around this point in this race. She had an ankle injury and it was starting to bother her. We were running a lot more slower on our run breaks. Finally we made it back onto World Drive and I knew the end wasn't very far. It was hurting me more to run slow and walk than just run. So around mile 10.5 (and with Sandi's encouragement), I took off to finish the race strong!

And I got some encouragement from this Soldier!

I'm always amazed at all the runners when I go on the overpass!

And then I saw the mile 11 sign and knew my fun was almost over.

The last few miles consisted of me running and weaving in and out of all the people. Most everyone was walking...and I just wanted to run! There were a few places where I was forced to stop to a walk because I just couldn't get by. I was just ready to make it into Epcot where I knew I would have a little more room to get around. I was really excited to see Elsa, Anna, and Olaf on the mile 12 sign!!!

And then we entered Epcot! Yay! A sweet cast member took this photo for me with Spaceship Earth behind me!

I knew at this point I just had to run a ways into Epcot and around Spaceship Earth and the finish line would be there! All the cast members in Epcot cheering for us was awesome! They really make you feel special!

Before I knew it I saw mile 13 with Donald cheering me on!

I rounded the curve and took it home! It was great having enough energy left in me to sprint to the finish line!!!

And just like that....I had completed my 20th half marathon!!!!! It was my slowest yet (3:31:25)...but I had a blast! I received my medal and headed to the meeting place that Sandi and I had agreed on.

Sandi wasn't too far behind me. She did great!!! I was so proud of her!

And I was so happy to get my first Donald medal!!!

Final Thoughts: This race was just as great as I expected it to be! I've run this course several times at the Princess Half but there were a few changes in the characters since it wasn't geared mostly toward women. runDisney redid the corrals this year but it didn't help the crowding issue on my end. This race was the most crowded I've ever been during a runDisney event. It could have been due to the fact that I started in a later corral than I normally would have. I was surrounded by more people walking than running. But it was to be expected since I chose to do the run/walk intervals up until mile 10.5 with my friend Sandi. I'm interested to hear how the new corrals were for those that ran in the earlier corrals. Despite the overcrowding....I still had an absolute blast and would do it over and over again! :-)

Stay tuned tomorrow for our afternoon in Epcot! :-)

QOTD: Did you run the half marathon? Did you feel like the course was super crowded?