April 21, 2017

5 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day {Friday Favorites}

Disclosure: Boodywear sent me complimentary product in honor of Earth Day. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

This Saturday, April 22, 2017 is Earth Day. I believe in taking care of our planet, sharing it with the other creatures that live on it, and trying to live a more eco-conscious existence. Yup, I'm a little flower child as my dad would say. My lifestyle isn't 100% eco-friendly(why do I ALWAYS forget to take my reusable bags back out to the car to use again after using them?!?!), but I try to add in some little things because sustainability is important. 

Cue the Captain Planet theme song. 

For my Friday Favorites this week, here are 5 easy ways you can celebrate Earth Day in Baltimore and beyond. 

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1. Recycle.

Simple concept that we hear all the time, but recycling is awesome. Don't let your trash sit in a landfill if it can be recycled! I recycle a ton and will literally carry around empty containers in my purse if I can't find a recycle bin because throwing things away that can be recycled (and have the little recycle symbol on them) hurts my heart. 

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E-waste or electronic waste is actually becoming a trash issue in the states so find out where you can recycle your e-waste on the EPA's website. When I moved recently, we donated some old computer parts and cell-phones so donating is also an option-just google for local shops or organizations that accept those products. I definitely have a bag of dead batteries I need to get around to recycling this weekend.  

2. Use a reusable water bottle. 

Disposable plastic water bottles are terrible, and I rarely use them after learning more about recycling in an environmental biology class my senior year of college. Most of the country's plastic water bottles are sitting in landfills instead of being recycled, and 2.5 million plastic water bottles are thrown away every hour by Americans-SAY WHAT?! (source). 

April 14, 2017

Inaugural Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon Race Recap


My recap of this last April's inaugural Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon in Walt Disney World 2016 is here, just a week before this year's race. 

 As I mentioned in my post on my favorite Disney eats, my sister works at the parks so it was an excuse to visit her. My friend was also running this race as his first half marathon and had a place for me to crash which makes it more enticing because the price tag on this race was $185 which is A LOT for a half marathon, or a race in general. 

There is a 5K and 10K, and half marathon during the race weekend as well as the Dark Side Challenge (10K Saturday, half marathon Sunday).  

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Pre-Race

I stayed at the All-Star Disney Resort with my sister the night I got to Florida so getting to the expo was easy-I just caught a bus over to the ESPN Wide World of Sports.  First there was a huge room where you go and get just your bib. I love when your name is printed on your bibg for races like this one. All of the cast members/employees I encountered were very nice and helpful. 


Next you head over to another giant stadium room where the actual race expo is. They had lots of fun vendors, but it wasn't too crowded when I got there early on Saturday morning. They had some cute things, but I don't really buy anything at most race expos anymore. I did end up getting Sparkly Soul headbands (Star Wars themed)- one for me and one for my sister.


I loved this graphic of the course map hanging up.  Everything in the expo was pretty well-organized. 

April 11, 2017

Favorite Walt Disney World Eats {Part 1}

Walt Disney World is truly a magical place. As a child growing up on the east coast, I was lucky enough to get to go maybe 4 times with family. I went to Walt Disney World (WDW) in Orlando, Florida again on my high school senior trip. I've had lots of fun vacations and many good memories there. My sister has been working at Disney World so now I've been back 3 more times to visit her and take advantage of some of her perks such as when she has unused guest passes (major SCORE), including once for the Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon last April (recap on the blog on Thursday, finally!). 

Obviously one of my favorite things to do when I travel is try new foods so I thought I'd share some of my favorite eats from my most recent trips to Walt Disney World. No matter where I go I always pack some snacks, but when I'm in Disney World I usually eats in the parks or at least splurge on having one meal there. 

Especially with my sister there in recent years, I've become pretty knowledgeable about the parks and of course scoping out the eats so I decided to share some of my favorites-particularly for any of you RunDisney runners!  I figured I should label this round-up Part 1 since there could be multiple parts because picking a few favorites was hard! 

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Favorite Eats in Walt Disney World (Part 1)

 1. Disney World snacks-Mickey soft pretzel and Dole Whip

I know it's just a soft pretzel in the shape of Mickey's face, but something about I just love this magical carb. Nothing like a Mickey pretzel as an afternoon snack in any of the parks after walking around all day. 

mickey-mouse-pretzel-walt-disney-world

Of COURSE I had to include the famous Dole Whip. These are so delicious, cold,  and pineapple-y. The one pictured below is from the WDW Flower & Garden Show in 2014 at Epcot where a booth had alcoholic Dole Whips with coconut rum a.k.a. the best vacation snack. 

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The best way to spend an afternoon 

2. Mickey Waffles at 1900 Park Fare character breakfast at Grand Floridian (or Mickey waffles anywhere)

April 4, 2017

Mental Challenges When Returning to Running After Injury

So I talked about how to survive being an injured runner and then what I was doing to come back stronger after my metatarsal stress fracture, but I think I'm struggling right now with the return to running more than just being injured. So here's my long discussion to talk about it with all you readers. 

I finished the 6 week conservative return to running plan that my PT gave me with no problems, minus some soreness in my recovering foot a couple weeks. That plan which started with run-walk intervals and finished with 30-40 minute continuous runs had me around 10-15 miles per week, mostly on the treadmill.  After the plan I was trying to build up some longer runs outside so I could successfully finish the Philadelphia Love Run Half Marathon for which I was an ambassador. I kept my mileage from 15 building up to just over 20 miles a week with most of mileage come from a longer run on the weekend. I used the progression over consecutive weeks of 7.5 miles, 8 miles, 10 miles, 10 miles, rest, and then the half marathon. 


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Happy just to be outside
Obviously my fitness is not where it should be, and I was not feeling great during the half marathon but I finished in a not too shabby 1:45 and change. My foot had been feeling sore when not working out which brought back to mind signs that I felt when I had a stress fracture that week before the race (not on race day or during the race) so honestly I was mostly focusing on how my foot felt during the race because I was so anxious as well as the fear that I was over-doing it. Yes, I've been dealing with a lot of anxiety about my injury recovery and running in general. 

Running is already a mental challenge but adding in the anxiety and fear of being injured has made it even tougher. There are multiple mental challenges that have made returning from an injury really hard for me. 


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The first challenge is dealing with soreness and discomfort that may be felt in the recovered foot as the bone heals and is reported anecdotally from runners that it can happen for months or years after the injury.  The bone heals and forms a little callus so it should be strong, but how can I tell if it's normal soreness or pain signaling another injury? I also am extra anxious because my PT has me trying to change to landing on my midfoot instead of heel striking so in my mind I'm putting more force on the front of my foot, when actually I'll be putting less force through my foot all over (which he showed me on the fancy treadmill running analysis at PT). I've read all over the Internet, and it seems it's hard to tell, particularly when you are like me and are focused on it and hypersensitive to every feeling in your feet when running. Honestly I have so much fear of re-injury. 

Obviously if it's sharp pain that is bad and a sign of injury. If you have sharp pain, I'd get yourself checked out, just to be safeI can clearly remember when I had my stress fracture for about a week the pain was so sharp and throbbing, it hurt to even walk. There can also be phantom pains, which can be sporadic and vary in intensity in the area of the foot that was injured due to calcium buildup at the site of the bone recovery or just mentally induced kind of like PTSD. The possibility of another stress fracture when my foot was feeling sore last week had me in tears. It's hard for me to listen to my body when I'm so sensitive and hyper-focused on every little feeling in my feet.