Disney World Marathon Weekend

I am loving reading about all the people running in in the Disney Marathon Weekend in Orlando that starts TODAY! The 1st race of many began early this morning. The 5k. I have 6 weeks until my 1st Disney race and I am trying to learn as much as possible about the Disney races to be as prepared as possible. So this year they introduced the Dopey challenge because people are just crazy! Originally if you ran the 1/2 marathon and the full marathon you got the Goofy medal cause you were CRAZY! There is 1 race per day so that it is not all in one day! This year here are all the races for the Dopey challenge:

5k (3.1 miles)

10k (6.2 miles)

1/2 Marathon (13.1 miles)

Full Marathon (26.2 miles)

48.6 miles total

Oh my! That is just plain CRAZY amounts of mileage! Do I want to do it someday? HECK YEAH! First of all can you imagine the amount of calories you burn running that many days  plus if these people go to the park too? I think I would be sleeping as much as possible. Each day is the new race ending with the full marathon on Sunday! But the people that do complete the Dopey challenge are going to walk away with some serious Disney Bling! 6 medals total. The 5k medal, 10k medal, 1/2 marathon medal, Full marathon medal, Goofy Medal for doing 1/2 and full and the Dopey medal for doing all the races. Someday I will run the Disney marathon, that was the race that started it all. The medal I wanted when I saw it in Runner's World magazine. That is what peaked my interest in running! Someday I will run this race, but I might just start with the Goofy first cause nearly 50 miles in 4 days, that is SCARY! But sounds fun too!

Big shout out to my friends running in the Disney marathon Weekend! GO SARG T! (one of my pink ladies leaders.) Heather M. from Through Heather's Looking Glass and all the others that are running. Stay safe, hydrate and rest!

QOTD: Would you ever run in the Dopey challenge?

Oh Man!

I think this is the coldest outside I have ever felt in my life!!! currently in central VA at 9:44 am it is 5 degrees outside with a wind chill/feels like -6 degrees! THAT IS CRAZY COLD!

Everyone stay safe and warm if you venture out. As far as running outside. BUNDLE UP or go run inside at a gym. I have a friend here that has been waiting for the last few hours to go for a run outside and decided since the temp hasn't gone up at all just to do stair work in her house instead of hill pickups.

Me personally I will be running at my gym in another hour or so. I have a good solid 3.5 mile run. YEA!

And yes, all my AZ friends your 44 degree morning is quite nice compared to my frigid weather! You are lucky. Enjoy the outside weather and go run outside for me, please!

QOTD: Are you running inside or outside today?

Homemade Green Smoothies Recipes

Mason loves to eat! He really does. He is in that phase where he wants to help me make things when I am making dinner and such. Just this morning he ate 1 egg, 1/2 c oatmeal with wheatgerm, 1/2 glass milk and still wanted more. So he got some GF Chex cereal to fill him out.

Mason loves fruit! He loves all fruit and his first favorite fruit were blueberries. He would eat them by the pint. Veggies, not so much! He despises them. He won't even eat carrots. After Mason was born my doula had me try one of her green smoothies that she made. It was yummy and didn't taste too vegetable like. So when Mason got old enough every now and then I make green smoothies for us. (Matt even likes them and he hates veggies too!) They are pretty easy. You need a good blender. i have had a, Kitchen Aid. It has a liquify setting on it so it really breaks down the pieces. But other people recommend the Vitamix or the Blendtec which is what I am currently usingBut if you check them out they are pretty pricey! They are great and if we had that kind of money to spend we would have gotten one of them. Green smoothies are easy. Here is my go to easy and generally low cost. Because we are still buying fresh fruit and veggies which can get pricey.

Spinach and Apple Green Smoothie:

1 whole apple quartered

a few baby carrots

1-2 handfuls of spinach

1/2 banana

splash of lime juice or lemon juice

splash of prune juice

1/4-1/2 cup water (depending on how thick or thin you want the drink.)

Blend together until all smooth and drinkable.

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Want fun colors. Add some strawberries or blueberries to the blender and it won't be green anymore!

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Tropical Green Smoothie: 

1/4 cup frozen mangos

1/4 frozen pineapple

2 Tablespoons coconut

1/2 banana

1-2 Handfuls of spinach

splash lime juice

water to thin

Veggieful Green Smoothie:

Handful Kale

Handful Spinach

1/2 an avocado

fingergip grab of cilantro

1/2 banana or apple

water to thin

In all honesty you can really add whatever you want to these things and they generally taste great. If it is too veggie tasting add more fruit. We are more fruit based now because that is how the kid will drink it. We have gone mostly veggies with a little fruit. About 80:20 ratio. But we probably do 60% fruit and 40% veggies. Let me know what you think if you try them! 

Also check out Green Smoothie Girl she has a book available with tons of recipes. Or sign up for her newsletter and get some recipes that way along with some healthy advice on eating! 

Want more daily motivation and inspiration? Click here to join my private online community where you get info, tips, support and encouragement + a free gift with tips to help you get started with the right mindset for healthier nutrition choices TODAY!

January Week 1 Workout Recap

This week with New Years threw me off my normal schedule. And I just didn't want to work out on Tuesday or Wednesday. Oh, and I did get puked on early in the week so Mace really shouldn't have gone to the daycare anyhow! But I did do some workouts, just not as much running, running as I should have done.

Oh and it is the beginning of the year which means increased gym attendance and restricted time on the treadmill. The gym has a 30 minute limit on the machines so I have to watch to see how many machines are taken up to see if I can stay on or move to another machine.

Monday: 3.5 mile walk- 15:43 pace
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: 1/2 mile walk- 16:00 pace. 1 hour prenatal yoga
Friday: rest
Saturday: 4 mile walk- 16:15 pace

My goal for this next week is to run on Tuesday and Thursday as my training runs and Saturday is my LONG run of 7.5-8 miles. WOW! Longest yet! Monday and Friday will be walking days again and I will continue to do my prenatal yoga on Thursdays! 7 weeks! ONLY 7 more weeks until my 1/2 marathon!

52 Week Savings Challenge

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This year the hubs and I want to be ahead of the game at the end of the year. We have been taking about how can we have savings for family pictures, Christmas or even a vacation for next year. (yes next year as the trip to FL for the Princess Half is our big trip this year.) This 52 week Challenge program is floating around on Facebook and I thought it was worth trying out.

(click on the pictures to see a larger view)

But for us, paying $200 a month by December didn't really work. December we have real estate and personal property taxes, and our HOA due. So that much for December alone would really hurt us and we probably wouldn't be able to complete the challenge. So I came up with a new one, same money amounts and all but it is just spread out throughout the year. So, if you could save $1378 in one year, would you do it? Also don't feel like you have to do the entire 52 weeks version. Just do $1-$26 and then repeat or on the 2nd half of the year go $26-$1 so again, your December is super easy to handle. You will still be saving more money than you might be saving now! It is worth a try, right? I will post an update half way through the year to see if this is actually working or not. And let me know how it is going for you too!

QOTD: Which version would you try if you did the 52 week challenge? Or would you come up with one on your own to fit your families needs?