Motivation = Down

I can't tell if I'm having a couple of down days or if this is really what Disneyland and Dumbo are going to turn into...
I bought our plane tickets for Dumbo on Friday. That's about the only thing that's gone right with this whole thing, and even then that's messed up.
We're flying into John Wayne, so not very far away... But we're flying out of San Diego - which is two hours from Disneyland... In good traffic. And no clue how we'll be getting there. We'll probably end up leaving at like 10 just to make sure we get to the airport with plenty of time. Of course, the return flights have a 60% and 50% rate of being on-time. I've never knowingly bought tickets that said anything less than, oh, 80%. Not if I could help it.
At least the plane tickets were fairly cheap in comparison to others I saw - the cheapest, actually.

And the hotels at Disneyland are sold out. Or rather, I found one that was available every day we needed it - EXCEPT the night before the half! ::facepalm::

So I'll be calling tomorrow to see what I can get figured out. The hubs says he'll do it, but the fact of the matter is... I'm our trip planner, usually. Comparing hotels, plane tickets, you name it.
I'm getting sick of being told to not worry about it. I've been hearing that for months, but now it really IS time to worry about it, when even nearby hotels seem to be sold out, AND I'm probably going to end up paying the $600 donation minimum just to run in the races!

It seems likes just when things start working out, they don't.

I tried for a month to get ahold of someone about holding a family walk/run to raise money for the charity... Would you believe I finally got ahold of someone at the beginning of this month? I had the possibilities all planned out, and then when I put my foot down because people got carried away with planning without consulting me, I got "Oh, well, we don't have enough time to do this, forget about it!" Well, we HAD enough time then. Now I've barely got a month before the fundraising deadline, and what's the use of me bringing up any other fundraising ideas when the three I've had have completely fallen through in some way or another?

I'm starting to wonder what the point in all of this really is. The fact of the matter is that this trip was supposed to be fun, but now it's just a pain in the neck.

Oh, and I double-booked us on pasta parties. RunDisney only sends out Disneyland Half Weekend RACE registration confirmations from one section, and the rest from another - at least, they did that for me, but not DH. So I thought we didn't have Pasta in the Park tickets.
Well, we do.
And now we have tickets for the free pasta dinner with the charity.
Same day. Same time.
Do you go to the party you paid an arm and a leg for, or the free party where you get to meet the people you've been raising attempting to raise money for?
Or do you find a way to go to both?

It's just one nightmare after another, and I can't help but ask myself why I'm going, other than what's been paid - and what's going to come out of my bank account when I don't reach the fundraising minimum. Ouch.

My annual appointment sounds more fun than this. Although I never saw the big deal about annuals, once you get past the first one.
But that's beside the point.

Well, it's now 12:01.
45 days until Disneyland.
Woo.
Goodnight.

How to start a Sunday:

1) Wake up at 7:44(ish). Check Facebook. Be amazed at the people awake before you, and the fact that you naturally woke up at this time. Blame work for the fact that you naturally wake up by 8:30.
2) Go back to sleep. You know you want to.
3) Wake up at about 10:14 to your husband rifling around in the kitchen. Realize that it's after 10, and that you just had a dream about running the WDW Marathon... Excited, or nervous about not being well-prepared?
4) Laze about for a bit. Contemplate reading after blogging about your running dream.
5) Take the clothes out of the dryer.
6) Look up races, and daydream about doing them. Include your own little cheering squad in said daydreams, as you look up two marathons.
7) ... Decide to go for a run today. Three weeks ago was exhausting, putting in over 40 miles. Two weeks ago had a little bit in my new Saucony Ride 6 running shoes. Last week had next-to-nothing, and my skin recognized (and complained!) about the difference. Why not start this week off with some miles, and get used to your new shoes? Contemplate before or after work, and decide that both might work if you get your butt in gear. Feel disappointment/discouragement over the lack of a fan in in the apartment complex's workout room.
8) Check the runDisney training schedules for Dumbo and Dopey. Exhale in relief that you're ahead of schedule, and not behind.

Yes, ladies and gents, that is my morning to right now (11:25 AM CDT).
It's so amazing that a year and a half ago, I was contemplating running. Vaguely. I think I started in either late February or early March of 2012 - I don't remember which.
Back then, a 5K sounded reasonable, yet intimidating. A 10K sounded scary as hell. A 7-miler, for one of my dream races, sounded like, well, a dream... And a nightmare all the same. No way I was ready for it! A half marathon was, at best, hilarious. A marathon? Shoot me in the foot.

Now it's July 7. 23 days until I'm 23. I've done 4(?) 5Ks, a half marathon, a virtual half marathon, 4 virtual 10Ks, 2 virtual 1-milers (and still have one to go!).
Oh, and all of those virtual runs were in that exhausting week two weeks ago.

Can anybody say "Learn to balance"? That's what I'm still working on.

In the next 3 months I have... that virtual 1-miler... 5K or 10K for my own virtual run. I have another virtual race on the 25th (I forget what distance, though...). 2.3 miles for a virtual birthday run for me. A virtual 10K for Harry Potter's birthday.

Yes, you read that right. I'll say it again: A 10K for Harry Potter's birthday.
Yes, I know when that is. It's the day after mine (and 10 years before - holy geez, Harry Potter is going to be 33!! LOL)

Anyway... Not too much in August, other than THE START OF THE DUMBO DOUBLE DARE!!!!

Yes, that was important enough that it needed to be in all caps.
Be glad I didn't bold, underline, and italicize it ;)

So I have the 10K on August 31, and the half on September 1. A virtual.... Some-distance-or-other  (Nerd Herd Running's Banned Book run). The Prairie Dog Virtual Half. And I'm waiting to see what else I cram in these next few months, or in October. Hoping to add a couple more half marathons, or a marathon in there somewhere.
...
Must consult with the hubs. One of my biggest cheerleaders, he also brings me back down if I start having race mania - that is, trying to sign up for every race I possibly can.
Sometimes I'm not the practical one. Go figure (insert eye-roll).

Now, as far as that WDW Marathon dream... It was definitely one of those that first made me think I was worried about being unprepared - which I am, but I wasn't expecting to dream about it! Haven't had a running dream in a while.

I dreamed that everybody was ready to go, and I... Was still in my pajamas. At the start line. And all of my stuff was on a school bus... And the school bus had driven away. So there I am, running and looking for the school bus. I find the bus, and have to dig through giant piles to find my bag of clothes. I even found my sleeping bag! After a while I finally find my clothes... Found my running shorts, but couldn't find my sports bra or a shirt.
As I was about to give up, I found my sports bra. Nevermind shoes or a shirt, because I don't remember how those cropped up. So I run back to the start line, and my dad's waiting for me! Weirdness number one (well... Yeah...). Next weirdness, my husband is nowhere in sight! My dad is wielding my DSLR, looking super confused.
...
And the last wave has already started. Nevermind that I should've been in the second-to-last corral. I crossed the start line about 30 seconds after everyone else... And joined the group in getting lost in this little catle-like-thing that depicted the homes of different Disney characters, and you had to find your way out. Included running down stairs (or jumping down small holes, if you preferred that to the stairs).

Then I woke up. Anti-climactic, I know. But the husband was moving around in the kitchen, and it was after 10, so it was definitely time to get up.

Well, looks like it's time for yours truly to get moving. Hope everyone has a great day!

Women's Running Series Bloomington, MN Half

I can't remember if I posted on this before (what kind of blogger am I?! haha, kidding), but I talked it through with DH and I signed up for the Women's Running Series Half Marathon in Bloomington, MN in June!
It'll be my second half marathon, my first one by myself. That latter part is  intimidating  terrifying, but I have to remind myself that not only am I doing the Dumbo Double Dare by myself over Labor Day Weekend, I'll be doing the Dopey Challenge by myself in January. And maybe a couple other runs in between.

I always  expected  knew that I would be doing many of my runs and races by myself, but when it's only happened once then it's something you forget about.
I also can't help but remember the Princess Half back in February. I was in such a nasty mood, and my legs just hurt so badly that, of all things... I contemplated giving up.

Now, obviously I didn't, and I have the medal to prove it. And now that I have the experience under my belt, I know what I should and shouldn't be doing (for the most part) pre-race. And that includes not burning myself out (physically, mentally, and emotionally) in addition to putting more effort into my training.

Unfortunately, as much as I can remind myself of what I have "learned" (kinda already knew, but had verified), it's easy to get caught up in the negativity of one event.

One of my goals after we move into our new apartment next month is to get a medal hanger.The search has been... Interesting... But I think I'll be going with one from Allied Medal Displays:

I think at the point I'm at in my running, this sums it all up for me. I started running because I knew I could. I always told myself I couldn't, I'm not fast enough, I'll look stupid, etc... But one day I realized the only thing holding me back is me.
That goes for running longer distances. Running races by myself. Heck, just getting the guts to sign up for one!
Because I know my husband is behind me. My family is behind me (that includes his folks, too, even though dear FIL thinks I'm nuts - then again, the magnet on my car says "13.1 - cuz I'm only HALF crazy!" haha). My friends are behind me.

Speaking of support systems... One of my friends actually texted me to make sure I wasn't in Boston. I told her no (obviously), and then on Friday I realized... She thinks I could run Boston. Nevermind getting into a discussion with her on the details of BQing and such, because I don't think we discussed it. And I'm pretty sure a BQ isn't in my future.

But the fact remains:

It's great to have people who have your back and have confidence in you,

but you have to have your back and have confidence in yourself.

Even so, I wouldn't trade my support system for the world ♥
And before I forget, other medal hangers I'm contemplating:

(both from Heavy Medalz)