In less than a month’s time, the boys and I are headed down to Disney World for 10 days. It is winter break for the boys and Princess Weekend for me. The Princess Half Marathon was my first RunDisney event back in 2015. Since then I have ran Princess 3 times, Wine and Dine 3 times, Marathon weekend once and in April, I will be running the Star Wars races. Nothing compares to a Disney race. The entertainment on the courses is fantastic, the crowd support is amazing and I get to run down Main Street in the Magic Kingdom. It does not get more magical than that.
This year, as I mentioned, Robbie and Nicholas are coming with me. We are making a vacation out of it. At first, it was only Nicholas, but then Robbie decided to tag along. Both kids have been very blessed, in that Disney is a place they both have been to many, many times. Each trip is different and fun in its own way. With Robbie approaching the end of high school, I don’t know how many more of these trips he will take with us. With that being said, I have thrown in a few “extras” this trip, to really help make it a trip to remember. I booked a couple of the dessert parties, Early Morning Magic at Toy Story Land and After Hours at Animal Kingdom. Plus, we have lots of fun dining and plenty of days in the parks.
As I was planning this trip, it got me thinking. As we watch our children grow up, we always think about the “first time” they do something. We capture their first steps, first word, first trip to Disney, etc., but do we think about or capture the “lasts”. For example, when was the last time they held your hand crossing the street or the last time you went away as a family before their got too busy living their own lives. So my goal for this trip, as it was for our trip last summer to Europe, is to take it all in. Be present in the moment and enjoy these two special boys. I am blessed to be their Mom and I want to hold on to these days, their childhood, for as long as I can.
When I first started running, 6.5years ago, music was what got me through my runs. As my distance increased, music was just not doing it for me. Someone in my running group mentioned podcasts and I decided to check it out. 3.5 years later, it is just about all I listen to on my short and long runs. Some of my favorite topics, Disney, true crime, personal growth and development, running and more. Today, I am going to share some of my favorites and in return, I would love for you to share some of yours.
- American Scandal – this tells the story of some of our countries greatest scandals.
- Another Mother Runner- running, specifically mother runners.
- Be Our Guest- my favorite Disney podcast
- Best Case, Worst Case -true crime
- Best of Both World- a great podcast for working moms
- Build Your Tribe with Chalene Johnson -how to build a business
- Criminology- true crime
- Real Crime Profile- true crime
- Rise Podcast – Rachel Hollis- awesome personal growth podcast
- Style Your Mind-another fantastic business building and personal development podcast.
- The Chalene Show – personal development
These are just some that I listen to on a regular basis. There are others, but these are my all time favorites and highly recommend. Now it is your turn. Please share your favorites so we can continue to build our libraries. Remember, sharing is caring. Have a good one!
I did something that changed by life. I became a marathoner! Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would run a 5K, never mind 26.2 miles. However, when I saw that it was the 25th anniversary of the Disney Marathon, I just had to run it. It was hard, humbling, tiring, exhilarating and fun all at the same time. At mile 16 my IT band started to give me trouble. I began to panic. I had 10.2 miles left to go. What was I going to do? My good friends, Maria and Maura were tracking me. They noticed I had slowed down a bit. They, along with my friends Erin, Kim and my sister Jen, reached out to me. They encouraged me to keep going. They were with me every step of the way until the finish line. In fact, Erin met me in Epcot, right before I crossed that finish line.
I remember running around Epcot, passing all the countries and thinking I was really going to do this. All the training miles, early morning workouts, blisters, chafing, blood, sweat and tears were worth it. As I rounded the corner, heading toward Spaceship Earth, I heard the song “How Far I’ll Go” from the movie Moana. I lost it. I knew how far I would go to accomplish my goal and I did just that. Crossing that finish line was amazing. Though I have no desire to run a full any time soon, I will never forget the feeling of accomplishment. It is true what they say
“Everything you ever wanted to know about yourself you can learn in 26.2 miles. – Lori Culnane
Hi and thanks for stopping by! My name is Heather. I live outside of Boston, MA with my husband Bill, my 17-year old son Robbie, my 13-year old son Nicholas, my yellow lab Bauer, and our two cats, Tek and Oreo. I am an attorney and online health and fitness coach.
For a while now, I have wanted to start a blog. I have had a lot of change in the last six years. At the age of 40, I started running. I had always wanted run and finally took the plunge. What started as running for exercise, soon became signing up for races and running for bling! Two years later, I lost my 61 year old Mom to cancer. She went quickly and her death rocked me to my core. She was the center of our family and the loss is felt each and every day. Losing her in the way we did, made me realize how short this life truly is. Her death has helped shape many of the decisions I have made over the last 4 years. I have pushed past my comfort zone and have tried and done things I may not have had the courage to do, if not for losing her so young. I became an online health and fitness coach. I ran my first marathon! I have traveled more places with my family. Speaking of family, I can hardly believe it, but I have one child almost done with high school and another one that will be there in no time. There has been so much going on over the last few years, and so much more to come, that I find myself growing and discovering who I am outside of motherhood. I look forward to further self-discovery and sharing it with you all along the way.
