It's OCTOBER!

I love October so much! Growing up it was the month that we could start wearing sweatshirts in the mornings because it was actually a little chilly. In high school it was also the month where in marching band we actually opted to keep our band jackets on because it was a little cold at the football games.

It is all about warm cozy fires, apple picking, corn maze fun having, pumpkin everything (though I am not a pumpkin fan, the hubs sure is!), changing leaves, foggy mornings, hot apple cider, tricks and treats and of course my favorite thing of all, HALLOWEEN! It's my second favorite holiday next to Christmas. It is the day that I can be anyone I want to be! A princess, a pirate, a maiden. Anyone! You all probably know by now that I love to dress up every year, and finally we are doing family themed costumes! (Thanks to Mason joining the family!)

2 years ago we announced our pregnancy with this...

Last year we were a family of pirates! Isn't that parrot cute?!?

And this year...we are already in charge of a small herd of dinosaurs might as well make the kids dress the part! I am so excited and Mason CAN NOT WAIT for his costume to get here. Every day he asks, "is my costume here yet???" Collin's arrived last week so Mason is super jealous!

What fun halloween things do you do as a family?

Also if you are ready to get fit before the holidays even start and want to join me for the October health and fitness support group, fill out this form HERE! I am going to have fall specific clean eating recipes, fun Halloween activities to help you stay healthy before the hoards of ghouls and goblins knock on your door this year! Let's slim down before the holidays together!


And, of course, be sure to like our FACEBOOK page and follow us on PINTEREST for motivation, clean eating tips, and healthy lifestyle resources.

Disney Princess Half Marathon Registration

The Disney Princess Half Marathon registration opens to everyone TOMORROW! Have you decided yet if you are going to be doing it or not? I sadly won't be doing it in 2016, as we have a couple of family events to attend next year that we are saving up to be able to attend but man, if I had unlimited funds, I WOULD BE DOING THE RACE! No questions asked. It is really that awesome.

Yes I was 29 weeks pregnant when I ran mine. Yes it was hotter than hades on a nice balmy day, and yes, my body hated me for the rest of the day, but it was TOTALLY worth it. The experience of running in my first Disney race, which is something that I had wanted to do for years! but the experience of it all. All the women coming together. To be healthy, to try something that seems impossible to so many. We did it! I DID IT! And I will never ever forget my experience of it. All 13.1 miles. (I may have zoned out for a mile or 2 in the beginning but still!) I remember the whole experience.

Put this on your race todo list if you can't do it in 2016. You want to!

Check out my tips for the half marathon!

Half Marathon Race Recap

The 1/2 Marathon race: What to expect

The Expo

The Costumes

Race Morning

Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon Tips for New Runners: Race Morning

If you have stumbled upon my blog about the Run Disney Princess Half Marathon looking for tips, I am sure that you have probably read at other places that EARLY TO BED, EARLY TO RISE!

When you get to your hotel, on WDW or off site, check with your hotel, if there is transportation provided and what time the transportation is offered for race morning. It doesn't matter if you drive there or take transpiration provided for you, you will be leaving VERY EARLY IN THE MORNING! K and I set 2 alarms to go off to make sure we woke up for a lovely 2:45 am! She set the ring tone to Eye of the Tiger. We were staying at the Shades of Green resort on the WDW park. (Shades of Green is the military hotel that is on the resort for only military guests and their families! It is AWESOME! If military check it out!) It is located across the street from the Polynesian resort, and we actually ran right past it during the 1/2 marathon! We figured that we would walk to the Polynesian and then catch the buses there but thankfully Shades had their own buses. You are going to want to be to the busses pretty early, because they fill up quickly and you don't want to be running to the start of the race then run the 1/2. No fun! We were on our bus by 3:45 or so am!

(1st long walk!)

Know that where the busses drop you off, is a LONG WALK! A very long walk. It feels like forever just to get to the waiting area. Not the corral staging area just the pre-marathon waiting area. There was a band/DJ playing music. Lots of people were having fun. I was in search of food, cause I was still hungry and found a banana from one of the tents (a race volunteer took pity on me and passed me one.) And a bathroom. K made me drink tons of water when I woke up, when we got on the bus and on our way to the waiting area. I already had to go. NOT GOOD!

There were tons of bathrooms to choose from so we went. I learned that morning how hard it was going to be going to the bathroom with my tutu and big pregnant belly! EEK! We then found a place to sit and rest by the gates that would open to take us to the coral staging area. I was on the hunt trying to find other bloggers I followed, never found them but I looked! I wanted to even go up in the coral area that I knew she would be but I didn't want to be that stalkerish! We walked the next mile or so to the staging are and K and I found my corral, 1 down from hers and sat down near the front. We talked about our running strategy and she had me munch on more food and drink MORE water. I decided that I needed to go to the bathroom again and went on search to the hundreds more port-a-potties there. I got back in the coral and the first corral was off. And we waited our turn. This was it! I was about to embark on my first 1/2 marathon. 29 weeks pregnant.

(Waiting in the corrals!) 

Tips:
Bring water and food to munch on while you wait. Use the port-a-poties by the corrals before the race starts, because the line at the mile 1 port-a-poties is LONG! The line at all the port-a-potties is long, except for mile 13. I didn't have to wait for that one!

Also, it can be a little chilly until the race starts. Head to Goodwill and find a hoodie to toss to the side after the first mile or 2 when you warm up. Disney takes all the toss clothing and donates them so it is for a good cause!

(Everyone behind us)

Make sure you rest and sit down, so bring a towel or something to sit on, again a toss clothing if you are worried about sitting on the ground! When you get there it will feel like a bunch of hurry up and wait, and it is but it's ok. Just rest as much as possible. Get off your feet and sit down!

From where the busses drop you off to the corrals is seriously about 2 miles. So just know that. You are awesome! Who else do you know that walks 2 miles before a half marathon just to start the half marathon!

(Ready, Set...)

Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon Tips for New Runners: Costumes

The RunDisney 10k & Princess Half Marathon is in less than 2 weeks! Sadly, I won't be participating in this wonderful race this year but I did it last year and thought it would be fun to share some tips and tricks I learned about the race to any new participant this year! So I am going to do a series of posts over the next few days about RunDisney and the Princess Half Marathon!

(Brave inspired costume. Tutu by Race Junkie. Nike Shirt with custom vinyl by Be Bold.) 

A must do is to DRESS UP! Wearing a running costume is all the rage at RunDisney events! You don't have to but most everyone running will be wearing a costume of some sort! And generally they are Disney themed but seriously you can wear whatever you want to wear!

Trust me it is so much fun to run in costume and to see what everyone else is wearing to run in. Need inspiration? Check out my Pinterest page for some ideas.

Angie, from a Facebook group we are part of, gave me permission to post her picture with her AWESOME costume! She got the skirt from Run Princess Run, the top was homemade. Leg warmers are from Run Alice Run and the cape is from her daughter's costume (way to repurpose Angie!)

Outfit: Styles of costumes are important to think about. Tutu's are great to run in, however the length of the tutu does matter. Last year, I ran in a tutu. It was made by RaceJunkie (I am pretty sure it is past the cutoff point to order a tutu from her at this point.) If you decide to make one, there are lots of tutorials online, between now and the race make sure the Tutu is 9-12 inches in length. RaceJunkie does them 9 inches preferred, but I will say that it barely covers my big butt. The 12 inch tutu might be too long and can get caught in between your  thighs as you run and can cause a TON or chaffing! So shorter might be better in this case. Last year I saw someone wearing an ankle length tutu. Talk about annoying and painful! Oh, and be creative. You don't have to dress up like a main character. I have seen a Chip, from Beauty and the Beast, costume from this year. There is even talk about someone dressing up as a balloon lady, balloon and all. That will get everyone around her to run a little faster!

Trial and Error: Do a Test Run in your costume! So important! You will learn if there is chaffing before you have to deal with it for 13.1 miles. You will learn if your costume can hold up to running. You will learn the annoyances of it too. I had a large pregnant belly to help keep the tutu riding low on my hips, but when I ran in a tutu at 17 weeks pregnant my tutu kept riding up a big and I just ended up pulling it up above my belly button so I wouldn't have to deal with it.

(My BFF K. tutu and shirt from RaceJunkie)

Hair& Makeup: If you put spray color in your hair to temporally change the color of your hair while running. TRY IT OUT BEFORE the race day. Go do a sweaty workout or a nice long run that gets your head all sweaty to see how much the spray dye will drip into your eyes or if it will drip down your head. Also don't forget if you run in makeup try to wear waterproof mascara and eyeliner.

Motivational Quotes: Have sayings on your shirt, front and back. It was fun to read all the motivational sayings on the shirts. Seeing what was on the back and also trying to read the front. My friend who ran with me kept telling me how many people I was passing and I was 29 weeks pregnant. And others would come up from behind and say, how amazing it was that I was running at 29 weeks pregnant. My front of my shirt was my motivation to me and the back was a reminder that a very pregnant lady was in front of them.

Shoes: New Balance released a new series of shoes and they will be for sale at the Expo. Buy a pair if you want, but DO NOT RUN 13.1 MILES IN THEM THE NEXT DAY! Huge rule of thumb is to not do something new that you have already tested out. I saw so many people on the course wearing their new beautiful New Balance Cinderella shoes, some even with the satin as the laces. I saw bloody heels and hobbling going on from some of the ladies. You have been training for the last couple of months for this in your running shoes, stick with it for race day. And wear the awesome new shoes around the parks. Don't mess with running mojo on the day of the race!