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What happens when you mix Disney and runners? A giant event called the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend, where 29,000 participants descend upon the Disneyland Resort to pay way too much money to run in a whole bevy of races. 

Things that make the runDisney events unique are the fact that the races are very inclusive of running enthusiasts of all skills. For me, this actually is a bone of contention because it can make those who are aiming for a PR have some difficulty as they bob-and-weave through the hoards of humanity. Another unique tidbit is that the courses go through Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, giving you a cool vantage point as you cruise through the parks and possibly waste precious time while waiting in line to snap a photo with a character or at a really fabulous photo spot (like in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle). The other big thing that makes these races stand out are the COSTUMES! Holy moly, this is the coolest thing. People go all out for these races and curate costumes that are unique, clever, and encouraging. Everything from Disney movie characters, nods to attractions, to food items...you'll see them created with every ounce of detail possible. My favorites from the races I did were a churro (yes, a woman ran as a churro!) and a Disneyland ticket book (same woman who wore the churro outfit the day before. 

Here are the costumes that I put together for my Dumbo Double Dare...























For the Disneyland Villains 10K I dressed as my favorite Haunted Mansion character, the Tightrope Ballerina. It is so very satisfying when people recognize your costume. I was sure to be as complete as possible with my pink shoes and socks to look like ballet shoes, a stuffed alligator was poised on my hand, and I had a pink parasol hair clip (there's no way I'm gonna carry a damn parasol for 6.2 miles, though I did see another gal on the course with my costume who did have a full-sized parasol with her).

For the Disneyland Half Marathon I chose an outfit that didn't require me to carry something besides my water bottle, so I went as Jose the parrot from the Enchanted Tiki Room. Someone did actually stop me for a picture of this outfit and I got compliments on my wings (a last-minute idea that cost me about $5 total!).  I had great intentions of writing "this race course keeps getting 'chorter and 'chorter" or "my splits keep getting 'chorter and 'chorter" on the back of my tank for added verification of what my costume was supposed to be, but that never happened.

I'll write up another post later about tips for doing a runDisney race and my thoughts on the event in greater detail, but for now just bask in the bling glory. 
 

It is a relief to be back into my routine of hitting he gym. And what is even more of a relief is the fact that I could do a couple miles on the treadmill. Did you read that? Two days after an 11+ mile run I could not only walk without pain but I could RUN. After my last half marathon my knee was in pain for about a week and the half before that my hip flexors were so bad I couldn't go to work.

Progress = achieved.

Hooray for muscles! Hooray for cardio! Hooray for better eating! And hooray for the foam roller. Running buddy Rachel let me borrow hers after our long jaunt when I mentioned my IT band usual acts up after long races. Knock on wood, but after using that son of a bitch roller my IT band is fine! Seriously, when folks warn you that shit will hurt? They aren't kidding. Fucking hurts. But then after a second or two it hurts so good.

So, anyway, to wrap this up my gym sesh tonight was 40 mins weights (arms/chest/shoulders) and 2 treaddy miles. I use my VIP status (read: sucker who pays moreoney) at the gym to plop on the hydro massage bed after each workout. Ten minutes of bliss.

Until next time! I might just show you my muffins. Giggedy.

 

I love to run and have done a good handful of half marathons. But, I have always been terrible at fitting long runs into my training. Before my best half the longest run I had gotten in 10ish miles.

Fast forward two years and add a friendship forged by beer and minor league baseball to today. My buddy Rachel needed a long run partner so she could practice pacing for her brother's 100K race coming up. I had never really run with someone before where we maintained the same pace and talked and such.

To my surprise - I had fun!

This solo runner who tunes out with music found 128 minutes flying by thanks to chatting, laughter, and vacation planning. Next time, which looks like it might be next weekend, I'll be sure to get a pic of us at the highest point of our course.

 

Today was a work function where lunch included a rubber chicken lunch. The bread rolls were ah-ma-zing...at least I thought they were. Might have been spectacular because of my attempt to east less processed grain. Anyway...I found myself jealous that a table was able to wrangle a fruit bowl. What?! How did I not make this happen for myself!?! I would have much rather had fruit instead of the mystery (albeit tasty) strawberry cheesecakey moussey dessert thing...that was served with the salads...which I ate after my salad because I was hungry.

Sigh.

Back to the fruit. On the way home I treated myself to a fruit cup, complete with salt and lemon and spicy powder I don't know the real name of. I had instant flashbacks of buying Lucas from the ice cream truck in 7th grade. Hooray for finally getting my fruit fix!

 
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Well check this out! My little piece of internet still exists. Hows about a little update...

I still have the same job (nonprofit), we're still living in Lancaster, and we have four burbabies and one featherbaby. In October 2014 the hubs and I decided to really start focusing on getting healthy so we: 
  • Cut out soda completely
  • Severely minimized eating out/grabbing drive-thru
  • Have been packing our lunches
  • Consistently exercise (weights, cardio, running)
It has been six months since that decision and we've both gotten much healthier for it. He's lost about 70 pounds and I'm rounding out 25. 

The whole paleo thing? That's been my main focus on food. And in association my husband has been eating mostly paleo as well since I'm the one in charge of making our breakfasts/lunches/most of our dinners. I can't remember the last time I ate yogurt and he's even given up coffee (fear not, I'm drinking enough Starbucks for the both of us).

Anyway, after discussing with a coworker about my ideas of becoming certified in nutrition she helped me remember I already have a blog. Time to reignite the fire! You can expect posts about paleo, exercise, my feather & fur babies, wine, makeup, shopping, and life in general. I hope you enjoy reading and if you have ideas/requests, let me know! 

Also, if you have recommendations on what 

 

So even though we have officialized our cruising vacation plans, we're having a hard time remaining a team on this paleo effort. I'm feeling good and am enjoying the challenge. Hubby is not digging this. Last year when he was living a vegetarian lifestyle, he did great. I hated it. Now the tables have turned.

He wants to be done with paleo and go back to eating in moderation. I don't want to give up yet. A least completely. If I do decide to return to a moderation scenario, I need to remind myself to be strict about sticking to exercise plans. And I need to change it up (meaning, I can't just run, I need to lift too!!).

 

Today hubby and I took a field trip out of town to take care of some business. We did well on our errands and ended up wanting a celebratory lunch. We found ourselves dining at the restaurant inside of Bass Pro Shops.

Dammit.

They serve you bread with sugar on top to ni bble on while you're waiting for your order. So, temptation ahoy! We both splurged a bid and went a little astray, hence the title of this post. It was a pretty DAMN paleo day, in "damn, not so much!" Hubby got a grilled mahi mahi sandwich with fries and I had top sirloin with veggies and mashed potatoes.

In retrospect, we could have done disastrously worse (as when in that area, we usually choose The Hat), so I guess I do need to see the bright side of things and realize that this paleo may be sinking in more than I realized.

Oops, there goes the timer on our dinner (a roast)! Later gators.

 
I feel like Friday at 3:30 was the official "let's give Christine paleo ideas" time as two coworkers, from different offices, offered me some incredible recipes and suggestions.

The first one came by way of a link with a request of "make me these". I cannot wait to attempt this scrumptious dessert dreamed up by Vanessa at cleaneatingwithadirtymind.com (can I tell you how much I love the name of that blog, BTW)? Who else is going to try this recipe with me?

http://cleaneatingwithadirtymind.com/2013/06/03/paleo-reeses-cheesecake-with-fauxreo-crust-is-a-must/

The next pebble of paleo talk came when I got an email forwarded by another coworker regarding a paleo bakery in San Diego that also ships their goods! You mean to tell me I can have paleo-friendly wraps, breads, and wafles? Sign me up! We're planning on placing an order together and splitting the shipping. Check out Julian Bakery's website here:

http://www.julianbakery.com/ 

Coworker #1 and I were looking for other paleo bakery options, and she found Breakaway Bakery, which is definintely closer and will be worth a little field trip the next time I'm in the valley:

http://breakawaybakery.com/ 

I had to squash the want for something chocolate with almonds today, and it just wasn't the same. I didn't think hard enough to realize that I CAN have chocolate, just not in the main-stream way. CAN'T WAIT!! 

PS - I'm down 3.4 pounds since starting this on the 1st. I know it is just water weight after binging on sugar and carbs on NYE, but hey, victory!  
 
Hi there, and welcome to my new little corner of the internet! I'll be blogging about my experiences as I adopt a (pretty damn) paleo lifestyle. What do I mean by this? I'm not going to completely give up my simple pleasures of red wine and beer. I'm not going to cook every single meal at home (hello, In-N-Out!). And I am going to succomb to temptations - for instance, should I travel to Texas, you bet your sweet butt that I'll be devouring a chicken fried steak, biscuits and gravy, and cornbread.

My husband and I are doing this together, and he is full-steam-ahead. It always amazes me how he can quit things cold turkey and not give it a second moment's thought. When we were doing our vegan thing, he lost a bunch of weight, felt great, and as basically kicking my ass at adopting that lifestyle. I lasted two weeks and ultimately brought us to our demise by making us eat a grilled cheese from In-N-Out.

So, as I sit here typing, sipping on my black coffee (I am typically a little-bit-of-coffee-with-my-creamer girl, so, *shudder*), I can't help but wonder where this experiment will take me. Will I find it easy to accept paleo as my lifestyle? Will I end up accepting butter/ghee/heavy whipping cream back into my life? Will I continue to count and log my caloric intake even though I really shouldn't need to if I'm keeping up my end of the bargain? Only time will tell.

    Who is this chick?    

    So, hi. I'm Christine, 29, and a brand new paleo eater. It seems like I'm easily persuaded by documentaries, as it has driven me to purchase a juicer, a blender, and become a vegan. This time around, I'm going cavegirl and will do my best to live a (pretty damn) paleo lifestyle.

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