HOKIE, ESQ.: February 2013

Monday, February 25, 2013

Disney Princess HM Wkend Preview

So. Here I am on the Disney Magical Express on the way to the airport. For North Carolina. Gross.
Here's a preview of a much longer review of the weekend in Disney and a review of the Half Marathon from yesterday!

Monday, February 18, 2013

T-4 Days to Disney Princess Weekend

I am ready for this half marathon. So ready. Last night, I had my best run in so long! After missing over 5wks of training bc of the flu, pneumonia, and sinus infections, I honestly didn't think I would be able to keep up with my pacing frm before. I'm going to the doctor's next week for x-rays of my lungs but that's another story for another post. I did 13.13 miles in 2:37:10, which roughly translates to a 11:58min mile. I know that PHM will be much slower but it will be so worth it once I get that picture w my childhood boyfriend Aladdin!!

stats frm last night's run thanks to Nike+

When I did this race back in 2011, I had a lot of health issues and it was my first hm so I didn't stop at all for any characters or pictures other than one when I was in Magic Kingdom. This time, I am ready to enjoy the race and stop at as many characters I can! I am even dressing up in a Disney inspired outfit this time as Minnie Mouse! I will definitely have some mini blog posts from WDW over the wkend with some fun pictures :)

As for the rest of the trip, I still need to pack and figure out what clothes, etc I need to take. I'm such a procrastinator when it comes to packing I guess that's the root of my over packing issues. Even though I'm not totally packed yet, I am super excited to use my new pink luggage my mom got me for my birthday! She originally got me my first matching set of luggage back in 2005 and it was hot pink and gorgeous. It has gone on many trips with me (Syracuse, NY; Berkeley, CA; Florida, many NYC trips, and countless others) so I'm sad to see it just hanging out in the corner of my bedroom but my new luggage seems more adult but still not letting go of my personality at the same time. Ok so I understand I j went on a tangent abt luggage but I can't help that I love it!!

beautiful new luggage!

One more thing: I signed up for my next half marathon with my non-runner bff! It will be my 5th! We are doing the Divas Half Marathon in N. Myrtle Beach on April 28th! 8 weeks is pretty tight to train but I feel like it won't be that hard after doing Princess! I already made a great training plan loosely based off of one I found one one of my favorite running/lifestyle blogs, Peanut Butter Fingers. I posted my training plan below! This race sounds like so much fun with tiara and feather boa stations and really hot guys at the finish line handing all finishers their medals, roses, and champagne! There is even a big pool/beach party afterwards! Here is the race link if anyone is interested, Divas Half Marathon and 5k Series. They do 6 races each year around the US (Cali, NY, Puerto Rico, DC, etc.). I read on their fb page they did one in Hawaii last year and will be returning to Honolulu in 2014!! Anyone who has followed along woth this blog the past 3 yrs knows allll abt my love of all things Hawaii!

8 Week Training Plan! You can see PHM and Divas HM on these calendars!

OH and after nearly a year having the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx smartphone, I have learned how to blog via my phone so I will definitely blog much more often and today I learned how to take a screen shot too!
Ok well, that's it for now. I have so much to get done before PHM wkend so look out for another post Friday or Saturday from sunny Florida!
XoxoManisha

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Happy Valentine's Day!

Well, I'm generally not a fan of Valentine's Day but this year I'm too sick to care one way or another.

So far in 2013 I've been blessed (or cursed?) with the flu, pneumonia/bronchitis, and now a lovely sinus infection. Really life?!?!? ANYways. I got in a long run on Monday (7.56mi yess!) before I started feeling sick again and I'm going to try for a double digit run tomorrow. I'm not super worried abt the race anymore, I'm just looking fwd to enjoying being in Disney World and having fun:)

My sweet Valentine Rusty is having a lovely evening sleeping with all of his hidden treasures under the chaise lounge in my living room. And I'm enjoying watching some of my favorite romantic comedies coming on tv.

Happy Valentine's day to all my favorites!

Xoxo Manisha

Friday, February 8, 2013

So 5 Weeks of the Flu & Pneumonia Later..

Well, 2013 has been pretty insane for me so far! I had a great first week of the new year and then my bff came for a belated birthday celebration and to celebrate that I actually became a lawyer after all these years! We had such a fun weekend but I much have caught something because the Tuesday after her visit I came down with the flu, real bad. Thank god I was in Danville when I first got sick because my mom was able to not onnly take care of me (I havent been this sick in years) but also Rusty too! It was about 10 days before I felt better and so I went with my mom to walk Rusty a couple evenings and then I woke up feeling worse than before. After about another week, still no good so I went to the DR again and got new meds and it was pneumonia. NOT FUN. I've never had it before and don't recommend it.

Not only was I feeling miserable for the past 6 wks but I didn't run for about 5 wks straight and um yeah, I have my half marathon on Feb 24!! I'm still not feeling 100% (still coughing, sore throat, hurts to breathe when I run) but I guess it;s better than before! This week is my first full week back into running and it's been pretty painful running for even 45 mins so I am praying that I can at least make it through my race. I've gotten over the fact that I am not going to PR anymore but just enjoy this race and take picture stops with characters, maybe live-tweet the race hahaha! It's not a big deal to me as long as I finish at this point. It's my 4th half marathon so it's not like I don't think I can finish but moreso I just wont finish in the time I want. I was running an 11-12 min mile on my last 10 mile run but now I'm about 13 min mile so thats unfortunate.

ANYWAYS. I am excited about Disney World, seeing my sorority sis Maggie (we're rooming together for this race!!), the Race Expo (stock up on all my favorite running/runDisney items without paying shipping haha), going to all the parks, and genuinely enjoying this trip! I am so much better prepared than 2011 so that is comforting too. I have my compression capris, my tops, my minnie mouse sparkle skirt (CANT WAIT to post some pictures!!!) and I have some compression sleeves for the race/after for recovery. I have my fuel planned out really well too for the race (gu Chomps in strawberry and gu Gels in berry every 4 miles/45 mins) so I am going to stick with water for the first 10 miles and after I will switch to powerade if I'm struggling more than usual. What has been most annoying about this whole planning/process is runDisney dropping the ball on so many things. First, I think they are overwhelmed with all their events so far in 2013 (WDW Marathon wkend/Goofy, Tinkerbell in DL, and DPHM in a couple weeks). Usually final instructions and waivers, etc are released a month before the race but here we are 2 wks before the race weekend and I JUST got my bib number (8814!!!) and corral placement (D!!--of H corrals). I was 9697 in corral C (of E corrals) in 2011 but the race has grown so much in the past 2 years! There are nearly 23,000 runners in the half marathon (not even counting those who entered as a team) so I am still basically in the middle/top half of the runners. What the best part about this is that there are still 4 corrals after me and it gives me a 35 minute buffer from when the clock time starts (so I dont get swept) but Im not worried about that this year. I'm just getting more and more excited the more I think about race weekend and packing, etc. I can't wait to get down to Florida on the 22nd!

Here are a few pictures from the beginning of 2013: