Erin - Oh my gosh! Where have you guys been? or Mile High-perventilation and Seasonal Affective Disorder Seattle

Oh hey guys! How's it going? What?! You haven't been getting all of my posts? You're kidding me! But... I put so many on here. I took a lot of time and care creating some witty and amazing posts about my journey. I can't believe you haven't seen them! There must have been some sort of computer virus or problems with the blogspot satellites or a glitch in the matrix or something! It's really a shame because I have just been blogging so hardcore for all of you and I am just so shocked that my posts just didn't work and...

Alright, alright! I can't lie to you guys! Not when you look at me with that tone of voice. So, I may or may not have completely forgotten to blog. I don't know how it happened! Now for the last few weeks, I was out of town choreographing Halloween shows. The other 7 weeks, however... well I don't know what to tell you. I knew I needed to do it. It was constantly nagging at me from the back of my brain. I ignored it. I'm sorry. Let's just forgive and forget, move past this and start fresh. Deal?

Anyway, as I said, I was traveling bringing Halloween joy to theme parks near and far. My first stop was my FAVORITE place, Denver. I know Kelly shares my passion for the Mile High city. It's hard to explain what it is about Denver that brings me such joy. The vibe there is just delightful. They have 300+ sunny days every year, the weather is never ridiculously gross, hot or humid (even on a sunny day, you can go in the shade and get chilly) and the people just seem happy! (There is a strong possibility that this is do to the plethora of medical marijuana clinics sprinkled throughout the town, but who am I to judge?!).

The other thing I like about Denver is that there are so many healthy, outdoors-y types about. I figured it would be so easy and I would feel super inspired to keep up with my training regimen. I somehow forgot about 2 tricky things. Jet lag and high elevation.

Here's how my travel to Denver went down...
10:30am - Flight #1 departs
12:00pm - Flight #1 lands in DC for my layover
12:01pm - All passengers set to be on flight #2 are up in arms as the size of the plane has been downgraded. 64 people lose their seats. I am one of those 64.
1:16pm - After much line waiting have been given a travel voucher and a new flight.
2:26 - Flight #2 - part deux takes me BACK to my original airport where I sit for a total of 4 hours.
7:00pm - Flight #3 takes me to Denver
1:30am - FINALLY arrive at my hotel room after getting rental car and driving another 45 minutes.


It was super fun. Needless to say, I was a little tired for the next day's 10 - 10 rehearsal. I made it through that one and the next before I had a nice leisurely 5 - 10 rehearsal the next day. What a perfect day to run, I thought. After many minutes lying in bed and mentally psyching myself up, I got going. Mind you, when I say "minutes", I mean hours and when I say "psyching up" I mean beating myself up to the point where not running would seem downright shameful and everyone I know would look down on me forever.

I hauled it to the hotel gym. Again, when I say "gym", I mean small room with a treadmill. This brings me to the high elevation. You would've thought I was a 90 year old, 5 pack a day smoker. I would like to say it was also because I was drained from travel and rehearsing... I'd like to say it, but I don't think I can. All I can say is thank goodness there was no one else in the gym (small room) so I didn't have to hide my embarrassing gasping for air and consequential motionless 10 minutes lying on the floor post run. After a few more days of this, I was just getting used to the murderous mountains when it was time to pack up and head to...


Seattle!! This was my first time traveling here so I was super excited. Then I remembered about the rainy, cloudy weather. I'm not a sun worshiper by any means. I try to keep my pale, pale skin in the shade as much as possible. Many bad sunburns in the past have taught me my lesson! I was not aware, however, that I was so affected by the sun and it's magical vitamin D rays. I thought growing up in Pittsburgh and being relatively nocturnal would keep me from falling victim of the depression one can suffer on dreary days. In reality, it was all I could do to get myself to rehearsal most days while trying to hide the figurative Eeyore-like cloud over my head from the cast. I did eventully make it over to LA Fitness to use my week pass 3 out of my 7 days there, but my clever plan of purchasing a pass to make it seem like I was wasting money if I skipped a gym day did not work out as planned.


The moral of this whole story is, I need you blog people (both the very few real ones that actually follow us and the thousands of imaginary ones I wish were following us leading to our wildly successful, New York Times best seller). If I tell you my tales of woe and suffering, they may slowly turn into tales of triumph and glory. I hope this makes up for my 2 months of silence... guess I'll see you guys in December!

Sandrina: 30th

Alright ladies...so it is official!!! I am the first to cross into no man's land and reach 30!!!! I must say no tears have been shed as of yet...but it is still early!!! But the fact that I kept forgetting things at work last week and I fell in the middle of the produce aisle at Wegmans yesterday...if this is what getting old feels like...I want no part!!! So come on girls and join me in the 30's!!!!

tink: crazy treadmill lady

so, i'm running at the Y the other day and this crazy-ass bitch is there. every few minutes she would inadvertently blurt out a word or two. no lie. i don't think she realized how loud she was due to her ipod. but every few seconds she'd belt out.

"who?
who?
Ssss, Ssss...
contagious
outrageous"

and then she stops. for a few minutes anyway. when her face is so red i thought her head might explode, she fidgets with her ipod and the louder-than-she-thinks singing starts again.

"ffff-resh
rock
louder!
louder!"

no. there's no way. it can't be.

"shut 'em down!"

oh, it is.

"B-L-A-C-K-E-Y-E-D-P to the E, then the A to the S
shake it!
shake it!
turn it up
louder!!!"

she's singing Pump It. this crazy bitch is belting out the fergie part in Pump It. and doing so over and over and over again. everyone in the workout room is looking at her, partly because of her broadway-esque performance, partly because, at any moment, she may keel over and die. in between her lyrical genius she is hyperventilating, puffing down albuterol like it's crack, and cursing some unknown God of Running. she may have some weird-ass tactics, but they seem to be working for her. kudos to you, psycho treadmill princess, kudos to you.

(p.s. - yes, i was, in fact, the crazy bitch.)

Sandrina: Running Machine

So as you can see by Tink's post...we are in!!! There is absolutely no turning back at this point! I am very excited about this! Since I was at the end of my 5k training and I wanted to see how I was progressing...I ran a 5k this weekend. The whole time I kept thinking...how the hell am I going to run 10 more miles!!!! I did fairly well...28.41;sixth in my age group and 110/240 overall. So now on to the 10k training! Sorry my posts are not as funny or entertaining as everyone else...maybe they will become more interesting once I start going crazy from all the running!!

Tink: WE'RE IN.

it's official: sandrina and i registered. so now, i think we are all in. all of us. this is serious. i've kicked off my training today by not running yet. it's fucking hot. i'm just not feeling it. instead, i did a lot of other bullshit. i think i'm going to have to force myself to run tonight. ugghhh.
i hate running. who's idea was this?!?
erin - i'm going to use your strategy of being chased by princesses. or was it chasing princesses? either way, sparkles and wands are probably involved, so count me in.

p.s. - did we all pick a different princess for our runners' bibs? i picked ariel (of course!), sandrina is sleeping beauty. i'm assuming erin picked cinderella and kelly went with snow white - the only question mark i've got is michelle, but my guess is belle. i need to know for the tutus i will be crafting each of you. yeah, i said tutus. the drooling may commence.

Michelle: Better late than never...

Well, here I sit 11:00pm on a Tuesday evening, torn between the laundry piles that need folded and the bills that should have been sent out 2 days ago...you guessed it, I procrastinate. Some call it being lazy, I see it as using my time to enjoy life. I suppose this is the reason that it’s taken me 3 weeks to write an entry into this blog. I’ve convinced myself it was because I was to too busy or miles away from a computer when I was having my best thoughts but really it’s due to the trait I hate most about myself... the trait that I use procrastination to mask... the trait I’m fighting against to finish this half marathon... my fear of not being good enough.

So to bring everyone up to speed, about a month ago I was riding out to Philadelphia with Kelly, reading the sex scene in “Breaking Dawn” while bouncing from topic to topic with feverous speed as usual, when one of our ideas made us both kinda silent (a feat not achieved often, just ask our husbands). WE. WILL. BE. 30. I will be taking the leap in November and I promise to be waiting at the bottom of the cliff for the rest of us to follow with a bottle of Grey Goose and a jar of wrinkle cream. Anyway, this number really hasn’t meant much to me until recently, hell, sometimes I look at us all and still see obnoxious 17 year olds in high school, not really worried about anything because of course, we have all the time in the world. Do you ever feel like you are one of those people who slipped into a coma after some horrific accident only to wake up 10 years later not knowing how things became the way they are? Yep, that’s how I feel. In the past decade, I’ve experience college, grad school, a marriage, new job and have seen friends experience great success, babies, and heart breaks. In theory, I’ve lived a pretty full life. Most nights I can sleep easy after counting all of my many blessings but deep down I can’t shake that something is incomplete. So as Kelly and I began to quantify the magnitude of our impending birthdays we decided we needed to celebrate this with something huge, something we can be proud of to start our 30’s out on a positive - We obviously needed to run a marathon! Silly ideas like this have always flowed out of all of our mouths like vomit after drinking more than one of our famous margaritas (eww, that was sick sorry). I usually get so excited about and idea, like making a craft or teaching myself French only to fizzle out before I achieve any sort of measurable success, but not before I’ve purchased any an all accessories to help with the endeavor. In most cases, I don’t get too down about giving up because by that point I’ve moved onto the next idea to keep me going. I’m hoping this half marathon training will be different. It has to be different. Enough is enough. I need to start being honest with myself. Until now I’ve set my life up so I can’t possibly fail but by doing this I’ve never really challenged myself. I’ve shielded myself from feeling disappointment or that feeling that I wasn’t good enough. Training for this race is definitely not going to be easy. This is totally out of character but maybe that’s exactly what I need to wake me from my 20’s coma.

So that brings me to this moment right now. I’m heading towards 30 going 90 miles an hour with no breaks (probably because I’ve forgotten to get my car serviced regularly, something I’m hoping to learn to do by the time I’m 40) and this princess has run out of reasons to procrastinate. I’ve purchased multiple pairs of workout pants, 4 new sports bras, the couch to 5k and couch to 10k apps on my iphone, 3 books on running, about $100 of new songs on itunes that I couldn’t possibly run without and new pair of running shoes...With any luck I can trade those in for comfy pair of glass slippers. On your mark, get set, go.

Michelle

“You may delay, but time will not” - Benjamin Franklin

Erin - Princess Down! We Got a Princess Down Over Here!!

Well, I'm proud to announce our first injury of our journey brought to you all by yours truly!

I've been following the tricky, deceiving Couch Potato to 5K plan. Listed on paper or the computer screen, it seems so simple! Numbers on the page in a neatly arranged column seem totally do-able. 9 weeks, small intervals, a nice, gradual crescendo to reach that 5K goal. It lulls you into a false sense of security with it's simple 1st week of run/walking for 60 then 90 seconds. I really felt like I was going places.

Now, let me be clear. I had started inside, on a nice treadmill, with a TV in front of me, towel and water bottle close at hand. Basically the wussiest way to start. I tricked myself into thinking I was going to nail this half marathon. Then I went outside...

The first week I attempted to run outside, my attempts were squashed by a combination of fear of heat stroke and intense procrastination. Once I get going, I will make myself train, it's just that damn first step! This past weekend, however, I was determined to get my ass outside and run. Here's my mental patient-like logic for this, "Well, if we train for it on the gigantic hills of the park, when we run in the flat Magic Kingdom, it will be soooooo easy!" Seems simple in theory, not so much in practice.

Michelle and I headed out to the park to run. It was cooler this weekend so we thought it would be a good time to start without fear of collapsing mid-interval. Saturday went off without a hitch... well, as long as you don't count the one rough 60 seconds where we attempted to get through it by dancing around while running as an old man with his dog watched in astonishment and then said to us "Let me guess, Dancing with the Stars, right?"

No sir, not stars. Princesses.

Sunday started out just fine. It was a little tedious for me. I was struggling, but to give myself as many small victories as possible I chalked it up to the fact that the plan suggests every other day training. I did my best and pushed right up to the end. We were having a few laughs, joking about how we'd never make it to the car and need to build a make-shift dwelling near one of the pavilions. I was just picturing my Swiss Family Robinson-inspired new home next to the horseshoe pits when disaster struck.

Either I tripped on uneven pavement, nothing or some magical little trickster elves were out to get me, but my ankle somehow bent all the way to the side in a direction it should NEVER bend! As we were going downhill, I was unable to keep my balance so I skinned my knee like a small child might. It was awful! I, apparently, went pale. I seriously thought I was either going to black out or puke... probably in that order.

After heaving myself off to the side of the road and laying there for 10 minutes or so I was able to hobble my way up the huge hill back to the car. I was even able to suck it up to stretch and do some ab workout stuff. As the day went on however, the ankle made its own progress. It grew to about twice it's size and by about 10pm, had turned a lovely shade of blue-ish purple.

What a way to start! We all knew something like this was going to happen! I had only hoped that I was a little farther along or at least running when it did... not strolling along on my cool down at little old lady speed. The good news is, it's already feeling better and I'm hoping to at least get a little running in by the end of the week. We'll have to wait and see though.

So everyone keep your fingers crossed for me and my bum ankle and bloody knee. All 3 of us are anxious to get back out there. Only about 200 days to go and I'm sure I can't spare a second! But if worse comes to worse, I'll just get my right glass slipper in 2 sizes up and find a gown to match my new bruise. Blue-ish purple really is my color!

Kelly: pepper spray

I saw a fox on my run last night. Should I take it as some kind of sign from a higher power? Run swift and graceful like a fox. Or does it mean that being attacked by a desert animal at night is a real possibility?

That fox was probably thinking "oh god I want to eat your fat ass so bad"

Kelly: The Search for Inspiration

I meant to write this gem last week but I didn’t. So here it is a week late….Last week I was in search of inspiration in the form of a specific trinket. I wanted a Disney Princess bracelet to wear while I ran. The idea was that I would feel it rolling around on my wrist, look at it and realize why the hell I was doing this in the first place.

I lead my husband on a hunt across Las Vegas. We stopped at several places (including a stop at Wal-Mart. Desperation was setting in). I have a very obsessive personality, so once the idea of finding a princess bracelet was in my head, I would not rest until one was acquired.

But rest I did….until the next day. Stephan had some work stuff to do, so I figured I would head to the Las Vegas Outlets because I knew there was a Disney store there and I had some shoes to exchange. Perfect plan! A few hours of uninterrupted shopping…hell yeah! I had felt fine when I woke up, but suddenly I was stating to have unexplained stomach pain. But I was determined to have princesses perched on my wrist cheering me on.

I drove to the outlets doubled over in pain. I dragged my sorry ass through the concrete labyrinth of stores. Ran the gauntlet of tourists who apparently have never set eyes upon anything so amazing as the outlet mall. I swear it was 150 degrees in that little slice of hell.

I finally arriving at the Disney store and quickly located some princess bracelets. Not on sale, of course. They didn’t have any with all of the princesses on it, so I chose Ariel. What can I say? I like mermaids. The line to check out was incredibly long but in the end I made it, stomach, brain cells and sanity intact.

So, in my search for inspiration I learned an important lesson. If I can brave an outlet mall, in Las Vegas, in the summer, while feeling like I might implode….I can definitely run 13 miles.

The really sad thing is they had princess bracelets at the groceries store right near my house.

Sandrina: Running Machine

I went to the store and spent way too much money on running shoes and arch supports...my feet and knees but feel like a million bucks after running all of this! Tink I do like the glitter!! Three weeks of my training are under my belt..I am actually thinking of signing up for a 5k the first weekend of August...

I like the sparkles on this one (of course i do).
someone needs to invent a glitter tattoo option, like
glitter glue. that would be AMAZING.

p.s. - my boob hurts. i'm just saying.

Erin - The Truth Behind the Slipper

So, in researching designs for our ultimate tattoo of triumph post race. I found this one. It's kind of big, but I like the idea of it. A nice jumping off point.

I also came up with this meaning in a dream dictionary...

Glass Slipper - Dreaming that a prince presents you with a Cinderella glass slipper can mean that you are not accepting yourself as you are, and you may be in persuit of a false perfection that can only exist in your mind. Practice loving and accepting yourself as you are, appreciating and celebrating your uniqueness.

Basically, I'm going to interpret that as... We're awesome.

Sandrina: Running Machine

I believe I will be the first to turn thirty...and I am sure the tears will be flowing. I hope maybe to ride a hip-pity hop for 1 mile, or buy a sports car, or get drunk in front of my parents, or find out that I am actually 31 instead.
I got this crazy idea to run a half marathon when a couple of girls at work were talking about running them and one even running a full marathon. I never really liked to run. The fact that I can't breath when I run is probably the number one reason. One of my goals was to run a 5k. I ran my first 5k on Thanksgiving...my only goal was to finish and run the whole thing. Mission accomplished. I have ran 3 other 5k's and 1 -5miler completing them all and beating my time at each one!
I have created a 33 week training schedule based on Hal Higdon....some guy who runs a lot of marathons. I am 3 weeks into it and will be running 2.75 miles tomorrow. I hope that I can stick with this and run in Disney dressed as a Princess, crown, wand and all and then eat in Cinderella's castle again!!! Thirty I am not afraid of you....sniff,sniff, (wiping away tears!)

Erin: Chased by a princess

Let me say first of all, I don't run. I don't like to run. I don't get a runner's high. The only thing going through my head when I'm running is "I'm dying. This is the end of me. I hope my affairs are in order because I'm going to drop dead any minute." In fact, the concept of running seems so asinine to me that when a friend or acquaintance says to me "Oh, I ran 5 miles today." I almost always reply, "Why? Was someone chasing you?!"

That's why this idea seemed so ridiculous. I mean, I go through my crazy gym phases, I have been up and down so much in the weight department you might call me the poor man's, white Oprah. You might, but you probably won't. So as far as a workout kick, I'm certainly not in one now. When this half marathon ridiculousness was presented to me my initial response to this proposal was "Oh, I won't be turning 30 til next December, so... No thanks!" (Sorry Tink, I'm the baby. But you're right, you're way more of a grown up!) But the more I thought about it and the more I was talked into it, I realized this is a great way to usher in the next decade of my life.

The truth is, it's always been my secret wish to be a runner. I have magical visions of myself in capri stretch pants and a racer back tank top with the sports bra built in. I have on super expensive, molded to my feet running shoes and an ipod filled with peppy remixes all at 165 bpm. My hair is in a bouncy ponytail and I am running through some fantasy park with seemingly endless endurance. I'm dripping with sweat, but am such a fit and well conditioned machine that I could go on for miles more! But alas, I just get so bored! I don't have someone driving me to the finish line. In a dance class I always did extra crunches or across the floors and did the combination at the end of class as many times as possible. I worked for 3 summers at theme parks doing insane dance shows in ridiculous amounts of heat in front of ungrateful audiences. I was happy to do it! Not to mention our old high school colorguard days. Hours and hours in the blistering sun. How did we ever do that?! We still had energy to burn! But running... if there's no one around for me to beat, I just don't care. It all boils down to one thing. I need an audience. There, I said it.

Is it sad and shallow to need a competitor to excel? Maybe. Should I learn how to push myself on my own and strive to achieve my personal goals? Probably. Will it happen by the end of February 2011? Yeah, I doubt it. However, Disney is the ultimate motivator. I feel like running through the magic kingdom with a tiara and glittered up tennis shoes is an amazing way to bring my two dreams together. My fantasy as a champion endurance runner but dressed in costume with Disney characters cheering me on. It's perfect.

So here I am. Registered, running and regretful. I still feel like I've made terrible mistake and I might just die on Main Street USA (though we all know I won't be pronounced dead in the park...) but I'm in it. It's a small consolation that I'm not in it alone. So, when I finish a run (or "boisterous walk with flair" as Michelle classifies them) and I'm disgustingly sweaty, hyperventilating and so sore I can't even get up the next day and one of my smart ass friends says to me "You were running? Who was chasing you?!" I can say to them "Cinderella. She's running in glass slippers, she's turning 30 and she's pissed."

Tink: Birthdays, Boobs, and Babies

we're getting old. seriously. and i'm not sure how i feel about it (and by that, i mean i want to hurl myself off the nearest building). last week i turned twenty nine; that's one more year to the big three-oh. holy crap. i don't know why i'm so surpised; even though i'm the baby of the group, i've always felt the oldest. i was the first to get married, the first to have a baby, the first to buy a sensible car. i think the mere fact that it's a reality - that i can look at my driver's license and see, beyond a doubt, that i am about to exit my twenties... it's horrifying.
so what do we decide to do? run 13.1 miles. dressed as princesses. why the hell not, right? and, let's be honest, it's not about the run. it's about the enormous, only-Disney-could-do-it-up-right, sparkly medal. i'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that none of us are, well, physically fit. wait, i lie. sandrina is. she's a gym junkie - but even she's no runner. and we're going to run. for 5 miles. and then 8.1 more. CRAZY.
wow, i'm getting ahead of myself. i guess i have to start training first. something i'm not allowed to do for another two weeks. you see, to add to the sinking "crap, we're getting old" feeling i've had for the last ten years, i've actually physically become old. apparently my boobs are the first to go, as i had a hunk of one removed today. fun times. "no bouncing" allowed. so, i will follow along with everyone's training for the next 10-14 days, sitting idly by on my fat ass, feeling sorry for you. and by "sitting idly by" i mean chasing around an 18-month old, writing a halftime show, creating months worth of lesson plans, being a wife, and wondering where the hell i'm going to fit running into my schedule. but i'm going to do this. we're all going to do this.
we're turning thirty, ladies, and we won't go quietly.

Kelly: Running Blows

Ok I know, not the most positive title for my first blog. However, running does blow, but in a good way. Kind of an “if I die doing this at least I know I worked hard at it” kind of a way.

Now I am supremely out of shape and when I say I am chipping away at being able to run only 3 miles, I mean chipping away….minute by minute. I have no delusions that it’s a long road ahead. But that is part of what will make this whole crazy idea so satisfying in the end, knowing I worked my ass off to get there.

Yesterday, I “ran” (meaning I ran for 90 seconds walked for 2min…rinse, repeat) outside for the first time since high school gym class. It was hot and I am allergic to all living things so when I got home I sounded like an whizzing old man. My face was fire red and it stayed like that for hours. But, I did it, a tiny step forward, but a step none the less.

That is way I am participating in this blog. To log some progress and to relay all of the funny/sad shit that is bound to happen along the way. Also, I spend 90% of my life locked in a small dark room massaging people for a living and I feel like I get dumber everyday. Maybe this will help me improve my writing skills….or maybe I just like to talk about myself…..