a running year in review

Dirty Girl Mud Run April 2013

Color Me Rad April 2013

Foam Fest May 2013

Chik-Fil-A 10k May 2013

Disco Dash June 2014

Sparkle Me Wild 5k July 2013

Color Vibe 5k July 2013

ASYMCA Mud Run August 2013

Water table with my MRTT mommas Sept 2013

Sparkle Me Wild 5k Sept 2013

Disney Kids Races October 2013

Tower of Terror 10 miler October 2013

Run Like a Girl 8k October 2013

Wicked 10k October 2013

runDisney meet up in Atlanta

Run for Chocolate 10k November 2013

Surf N Santa 10 miler December 2013

I still can't believe that today is the last day of 2013. The year has flown by!! I've met so many people from different walks of life through running. I didn't really set goals for this year other than to improve and I did. I think that is going to be the one goal that I have to have every year. This year I am also adding a few race goals as well. I would like to get a Disney coast to coast medal. I've also decided that I would like to try to do 14 races for 2014. What are your goals for 2014?

CHEERS EVERYONE!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

I hope that everyone is having a happy and joyous holiday with their loved ones. For us in the beachmouse house it was just a regular day that just happened to have the Disney Christmas parade. We decided that we're not going to do the tree or presents until my husband comes home on leave.  And just to let you all know, I did record the parade so that we could watch it again during our Christmas celebration. It just isn't Christmas without the parade!!!

I honestly have to say that this year I wasn't in the holiday spirit at all. A series of awesome events yesterday on facebook changed all of that. I'm in a group on Facebook called SparkleSkirt Princesses. What had started as one woman paying it forward giving away a skirt that she was no longer using, turned into a day full of random acts of kindness (and sparkle). Seeing the kindness and generosity of these women definitely helped to put me in a better holiday mood.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

love the beachmouse family

Feeling like a slacker...

I've definitely been slacking off on running for the past few weeks and it's driving me crazy! Honestly though, I think it's totally worth it. I finally got the tattoo for running my first runDisney race. I would've gotten it sooner, but I had too many races scheduled so I didn't have enough time for it to heal properly. It's a work in progress. I have the 10 for now, I will add the rest of the distances after I complete the Dopey challenge in 2015.

Even though I am feeling like a total slacker lately, I know that I haven't been. This has been a crazy busy year. I went from barely being able to run a mile, to training for a half marathon. I had to say see you later to my husband and start parenting by myself for awhile.  I quit my job with the support of my husband so that I could stay home with our daughter. I've traveled up and down the east coast for family and friends.  This year has had it's ups and downs, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I'm really looking forward to what 2014 has to offer.  Here's a small year in review in pictures.

See you later daddy 

with my sister Noelle

the beachmouse clan

brought the baby mouse to her first boy band concert

loving my nieces to pieces!

birthday princess

running into my sister Selina at Epcot

Happy Halloween!

Happy 1st birthday baby girl!

Disney World!! 

Happy Birthday!

So I'm not the pot calling the kettle black....

         How can I joke with my friends calling them slackers if I haven't posted my recap from runDisney's first on the road meet up/tweet up either. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time when the post came up to RSVP for one of the spots for the meet up. I honestly didn't think that I was going to get in, so I just wanted to ask a question for future meet ups. I wanted to know if these were stroller friendly events since I would most likely be bringing my daughter with me. Within seconds, I got a response asking if it was a jogging stroller and if I had run with her before. I sent my response and then I heard nothing. So I thought that it was safe to assume that I didn't get in. I'm getting ready to walk out the door from work that day and I decide to check facebook before I get to my car. One of the running groups that I'm in said that the list of people that made the meet up was up and he posted it. I was excited to see a bunch of familiar names from the group get in.....then I get to the Gs.....I'm IN!!!!! I'm going to Atlanta!!!! I can neither confirm or deny that i might have dropped my phone and started shaking because I was so excited.

         The morning of the meet up, I get up and meet a few of the runners in the hotel lobby. Great minds definitely thought alike staying at the hotel across the street so we walked over there together. We get to Turner Field and you can definitely see that runDisney had taken over!! It was great getting to finally meet with people that I have been reading their blogs or only speaking with them on facebook or twitter.

                                                                          With one of my favorite bloggers Bamagirlruns

 I had a chance to chat with Jeff Galloway for a few minutes before everything really got started. We discussed training for Dopey 2015. I might have had a runner nerd moment there.

Soon everybody was ready to get started. We had a speaker from New Balance teach us about good running form, and a few other announcements, and we were ready to run!! We divided into two groups, one group ran the whole thing, the other was the Galloway group doing the run/walk/run method. I chose to go with the Galloway group. How many people can say that they had the chance to run with Jeff Galloway under the Olympic Rings while he was giving a tour of his city.   

After the run, we had an amazing and healthy breakfast thanks to this lovely lady Diet Diva Tara. She's the nutritionist for runDisney and also for the Orlando Magic. 

 SHOES!!!! I was so excited that we got a sneak peak at two of the shoes that will be coming out this January! I love that they are coming out with stability shoes and neutral shoes this year. I'm even more excited that they will also be coming out with kids shoes this year. I did have a "proud momma moment" during the video when they showed the kids races and I saw my daughter front and center.  I can't wait to finally see all four shoes up close and personal in January. We also heard from Tammy from Disney marketing about the new #WhyIRunDisney campaign on Instagram. Jeff Galloway also spoke and he gave away a few of his books. Olympic runner Barbara Parker spoke and told us how she has never been to Disney!!

Now what kind of runDisney event would it be without character photos? Photos courtesy of runDisney

I don't think that I can say enough about what a great day it was. I wasn't kidding when I said that I came down by myself and left with 99 more friends. I am definitely looking forward to many more running adventures with this awesome group of people!!

Next runDisney stop...Dumbo Double Dare in Disneyland!!!! See you real soon!! 

                                            I WANT ALL OF THE DISNEY BLING!!!!

Why hello there!!!

           Welcome to my world! I'm Meghan, military wife, running momma, lover of all things Disney, super sweet tooth (yes I have a coozie for my ice cream, don't judge me lol) , and all around queen of pointless knowledge. I started running in April 2013 for two reason. First, my friend asked me to join her at Dirty Girl Mud Run. Second and most importantly, my husband decided that he wanted to do a triathalon and he needed a running buddy. I'll be totally honest, I was scared to death of running. I hated it with a passion when I was in the Navy. I would like to say that I was a member of the 3 mile a year club because I only ran when I had to for my fitness test every 6 months. I also got injured to where I was told that I was probably never going to run again right before I got out of the military in 2009. So let's fast forward to 2013, I got dirty with my girlfriends and had a blast. I was officially hooked on running!

         Shortly after I finished Dirty Girl, I decided that I wanted to do at least one race a month. I needed something to keep me busy and sane for while my husband is away. I registered for a few more mud runs, and a few more 5ks, I had even won an entry to a color run. I was talking with another one of my girlfriends about running and she mentioned running in Disney. Immediately, I was in!! I signed up for Tower of Terror. Happy Birthday to me, since the race was just a few days after my birthday. I had no clue how much one race would change my life.

   

        I did a lot of laughing during that race. I flashed back to when I ran track in high school and I kept insisting to the coach that I was a sprinter. If he could see me now I'm sure that I would get a lot of "I told you so." Even though the weather wasn't the greatest (Hello hot and humid!!) I still felt awesome after the race and I definitely felt like I was ready for a half marathon. So I registered for my first half-marathon in March 2014. Happy running anniversary!!!

       
         

         I couldn't have started and continued on my journey without the support of my family (even though some of you think I'm nuts) and friends. So to everyone that has been there, thank you very much for all of your love and support. And to the negative nelly's out there, thank you. I like to prove people wrong.