So on Sunday I ran the Disney Princess Half Marathon!

I started training for it on Jan 19. And when I say started training, I mean I had not been exercising AT ALL for the previous two months.

I'm not gonna get into all that, but just the actual race day.

We woke up at 3 am (!!) We actually woke up without alarms. It was one of those things where the alarm was set but then I just kept waking up all night so I got up at 2:50. The day before Disney had posted a race warning that temperatures would be "warmer than expected" so don't push too hard. -_-
It wasn't warmer, it was more humid ... and by more humid I mean it was 100 % humidy.

ARE
YOU
KIDDING
ME

I may or may not have mentioned that I am SEVERELY affected by humidity. As in, I could run 10 miles no prob with less than 30% humidity, but the same temperature at 70% or more I can run 2 miles.

But, I wasn't gonna think about that. I just wanted to make sure I ate before the race and ate during the race so that I wouldn't feel like I overexerted myself.

I ate a bowl of soup (because I was worried about losing salt and I didn't want to eat salt tablets) and a banana and drank a sports drink before the race. I took 2 gus and a clif shot (better than gu!) during the race and drank powerade + water at every station.

The Pros:
The amount of fluid stations
The amount of porto-potties on the course
The corral situation -- I heard they did it a different way this year; There were 17 corrals and they let them out 2 minutes each. We were in the 7th corral. I never felt like it was too crowded at any point.
Running through Magic Kingdom!

The amount of characters on the race - even though I never stopped.
Everyone's costumes!

The Cons:
Lines so long for character stops

You run through MK like mile 4-7 ... the rest is really just running on the highway...BO-RING
You don't get free entrance into a park after you run (really really lame of disney

Overall, it was a fun race, but really expensive and I probably wouldn't do it again. I DO however, want to the wine and dine race because they DO let you into the park afterwards (because the race starts at night). I don't think I would ever do another race where I had to wake up at 3am. I ran that race, went back to the hotel and then had to drive four hours back to Tallahassee! I have been exhausted all week (also just because this is a crazy week at school).

Have you ever run the Disney Princess Half??

that time i tried out for mock trial

so, tonight (and tomorrow) i tried out for the mock trial team. before i even came to law school, literally the only thing I wanted to do was be on mock trial. no pressure, right?

tonight we had to do an opening statement and tomorrow we have to do a cross examination. if we make the cut, we go on friday to do a closing statement. nevermind the fact that like half the people have done mock trial in undergrad or HS. :( ughhhhh.

of course i had my opening statement memorized and perfected but then i get in there in front of five people ive never met before and my voice was shaking the whole time. which wouldnt be a big deal, except that they actually take off points for a shaking voice! and i screwed up the last part of what I was saying. ughhhh.

anyways, tomorrow is the cross examination which could be easier or harder depending on my witness. i think i could do better if I'm talking to someone...i *think* it's less intimidating because it's more one on one than having five people stare at you..but if I have a hostile witness, it might be harder.

but, you know what, i have literally NEVER tried out for ANYTHING in my entire life for fear of rejection. this is what they're talking about when they say step outside your comfort zone. normally when i see those little quotes i'm all -- i always step outside my comfort zone! - because i always associate those things with traveling adventures but that doesnt make sense bc nothing about traveling is outside my comfort zone ... but anything where I might fail academically...yes, that is outside my comfort zone.

so, either way, i'm happy and proud of myself for trying and if i dont make it, hey, there's always moot court!

Weekend in O-town.

I really want to write a post about my experience at the Disney Princess Half Marathon but unfortunately my poor, aching legs will let me think of nothing else besides sleep!! I've been up since THREE AM (that's a disney race for you!!), ran 13 miles, then drove back 4 hours to tallahassee.

Then worked the past 4 hours on yet another law school assignment.

When will I sleep???

shots (and not the good kind)

So, this happened today.

 

I was in class and one of my friends gchatted me and sent me a link to a news article about a "possible hostage situation" at my apartment complex. I was like, wth, but it said they were letting residents in so I was like, nbd. Also, my apartment complex has at least 17 buildings, so I wasn't too concerned. 

I get home and I see these huge swatch of police tape -- going through the stairs of MY building--and about 5-6 cops in the street in front of my building. Plus a forensic van was there. That's no simple hostage situation if ID has taught me anything. 

I asked the cops if I could go to my apartment and they said yes and didn't look too concerned. 

I found out later that one person was killed by gunshots and another person wounded and in the hospital. 

what. the. actual. fuck. 

for the record, i lived in harlem for 2 years -- never anything like this. 

worked in the bronx for five years -- yes, okay, at least three shootings in that time. 

but now i'm back in florida for less than a year and there is a shooting in the building next to mine?? 

what is going on in the world???

also, 

law school is stressful. 

i never stop reading things. 

when will it be done. 

(a haiku...i think)

xoxo

Disney Princess Half - Training update & What I Use

Well peeps, yesterday I had it set that I needed to run EIGHT miles! The weekend before was six, and I couldn't do the whole thing without stopping because it was too hot / humid. I walked mile 4-5, drank a sports drink, then finished six. That was basically my plan for the eight ... even if I made it further than 4.5 miles I'd consider it a win because that's the longest distance I've run consecutively so far.

I went to this place in town that has a lake and there's a 2 mile loop around it, and its relatively flat (tallahassee, although in Florida, is SURPRISINGLY hilly!! no me gusta).

I brought my handheld water bottle:

It holds 10 ounces and it perfect for 4-6 miles. I also think it's perfect for races though because I will just refill my water bottle at the water stations and drink whatever gatorade/powerade they have. I just am never gonna be a person who feels comfortable running with a fuel belt. I need to have as little clothing/"extras" on me as possible and this works perfect. The spot I ran at yesterday has a park with a water fountain so I refilled it once.

I also gu'd for the first time.

Honestly, it was not as gross as I expected. I put it in the pocket of my running shorts and took it around mile 5.5 ... I think next time I will take it around 45 minutes (which will be between mile 4-5) because I was just about spent when I took it. Definitely if I didn't take it I would not have been able to finish the next 2.5 miles.

There are other options like jelly beans you can do but I think I prefer the gu, just squirt it in your mouth and swallow. haha. I realize how gross this sounds.

These running shorts:

They're only $22 on amazon and they are long enough. It's been REALLY hard to find like 'spandex' running shorts and i CANNOT run in like nike tempos or other shorts that aren't form fitting because they ride up and/or cause terrible chafing (tmi?) it's just not a pleasant time...but in Florida better to have as little clothes as possible! amiright?

Finally, da shoes:

 The compression sleeves are here (and yes I DO think they make a difference especially after the run).

 That's a nike tom tom GPS watch..honestly, you don't need me to tell you that you don't NEED the watch especially because I'll never be a competitive runner, but I like it!

Felipe found my tutu that I'm gonna wear at the race! haah! I came out of the shower and this is what I saw!!

Oh, but on the training side of things - LITERALLY the first day I started training for this race was Jan 19 - exactly five weeks before the half. I had not run in 2 MONTHS prior to that (or ANY kind ox exercise) because I was sick and then I was in NYC were it was "feels like -9 deg" and the first day I only ran 2.1 miles, and I could only run .5 miles with stopping...and THREE weeks later I ran 8 miles without stopping (except to take the gu!).

The moral of the story is -- don't wait till 5 weeks out to start training for a half marathon, but, if you do...you can do it!!

Now excuse me while I go foam roll my legs!!

xox

A post about running.

"did you take an awkward pill?"
"no, I'm always like this" 

muahaha. sorry, watching west wing and that line just happened and it made me lol. 

I just wanted to write a post about the fact that my half marathon (disney princess for those of you following along) is 3 weeks away! yikes!

i started running again 2 or 3 weeks ago (?) and this weekend I NEEDED to do 6 miles (bc I'm increasing by 2 every weekend until the race).

Last weekend I did manage to get 4 miles, and then I repeated it during the week. But yesterday I tried to go do 3-4 miles (originally I wanted to do 6 but then I had to meet my sister and I didn't have time) and I could only do TWO and then I had to walk! I was like, ffuuuuckkkkk. So what was the problem? A little thing I love to hate called HUMIDITY! Thanks, florida! You're the best!

I mean, first of all, I decided to go running at 11:30 and it was 70 degrees out and 95% humidity.

 

earth. 

 That was a rookie mistake, but its been pretty cold in Florida for the past couple weeks and I just went crazy and forgot. 

So then today I was like, "Ok, Im gonna wake up early, go running around 7am, it won't be hot, and then it'll be fine". Little problem - I didn't wake up early and I didn't go at 7. Also, little thing about me, the last time I worked out in the morning - like really hard - I went to Urgent Care because I thought I was going blind/ dying (it was a migraine). 

So, I woke up, ate an orange, at an access bar (it's a exercise bar that *supposedly* burns fat instead of carbs if you eat it 15 min before working out -- I don't know if it actually does that, but I DO feel better if I eat it before exercising), and drank 25 ounces of water. Then I went to the Causeway (my original running stomping grounds) and was like, let's do this. 

It was 10am, 75 degrees, 90% humidty, NOT ONE CLOUD IN THE SKY. AKA I'm sunburnt now. 

I started off pretty good but then around mile 3 I was like, shit. This ain't gonna happen. I'm just like HYPER aware of how hot I am/the fact that I've had probably 200 calories before exercising and I'm going to burn upwards of 1000 cals. So, I decided to run AT LEAST 4 miles, then stop and get my sports drink - drink that and walk mile 4-5, and then run the last mile. My thought was even if I have to walk, at least I am still doing the mileage and to be honest, I probably WILL have to walk during the half marathon so it's better if I just get into the habit. 

My face was SO RED, you can't really tell from the pic. Man o man. I'm so happy I did it!

Also, this was like the first time in the past couple weeks that I've had a *spark* of like, "yah! I like running" ... I know I used to love running, but right now I'm just so focused on getting these runs in, I haven't been looking forward to it. Please no one let me stop running after the half marathon! There is nothing worse than having to start over again...although I will say that I've done pretty well for myself this time around (only because I HAD to! haha)

Anyways, if you read this, wow! You're awesome! I'm looking for running blogs to read so if you know any, send 'em my way!!

xox