Magical Miles : Mom's First Half Marathon

Mom announced that she would like to run the Walt Disney World Half Marathon. Ok! Cool! Great! However, my mom is not a runner. I repeat, NOT a runner. That being said, my mom is incredibly fit for her age and maintains good physical health. She has done Bloomsday, a local 12km foot race numerous times and has done well and enjoyed it. However, the half marathon seemed like a bit of a wild hair. Yet, she persisted, she wanted to run this race! A Disney race! A long Disney race! She was by no means going to be talked into the 5k, no ma'am, half marathon or bust. So, we decided to go for it.
We scheduled a trip.
We paid our admission fee.
We were committed to this race.
Training began.

Training was rough at times because I work nights. Mom was not thrilled about running on her own and really, it was something that we needed to do together. At one point I was really stressed out and told Mom that I felt like I was letting her down by not running with her often enough due to my wacky schedule. She calmly said, "We are doing our best." She was not about to get stressed the way I was stressed. She was working hard and she knew that in the end it would be enough.

We landed in Orlando having prepared to run/walk this race. We had a few days to get acclimated to the weather before we were going to have to run in it. Of course, these days were spend walking our tootsies off at the parks! Duh! The race has a 15 minute/mile pace requirement. You have to be able to meet that speed or you risk being picked up and vaned back to the finish line. Mom and I were not sure how far in front of that mark we would be as we trained for a walk/run pace of near 15 minute miles. Mom proudly announced that if she spotted the sweeper van at any point during the race she would proceed to sprint in front of it so they could not catch her. !!!

Two days before race day we picked up our packets and it felt real, it was real. This was going to happen. Like it or not, ready or not, we were going to be at the starting line of the Walt Disney World 20th Anniversary Half Marathon. And then bam. Sick. Laid out. Like body-aches-all-over kind of sick. Like I-really-just-want-my-own-bed sick. So I took the day before and I slept. At this point, I was scared to death. Images of Mom having to out sprint the doomed pick-up van, and me, who was supposed to be encouraging her, dragging behind, had me intimidated.

Not Mom though! She just said, "There's no turning back now! I haven't done this distance so I really don't know what to be nervous for!" I asked lots of girlfriends to pray that I could scrape the energy together to get through this race. (Thank you ladies! You girls rock and your encouragement meant so, so much!!!) I was so worried that I would let Mom down. She had worked so hard and I wanted to do this together!

So morning of, we woke up to a 2:45 am alarm and left the condo by 3:30. We were off and I was alive! I felt so much better compared to the day before! I was so thankful! And now...Now, I was pumped!!!

Our goal was to run the race in under 4 hours give or take. Fireworks kicked the race off and we ran. Mom ran farther than I thought she would, she just kept going! I was so proud! We walked and we ran out of Epcot, down World Drive, under the Seven Seas Lagoon and all through the Magic Kingdom. The race ends where it began at Epcot. The temperature was a record high for the area, fabulous. We were drenched. It's so humid and hot and then you're running your booty off, man! I would tell Mom "Ok, we will run until X point," and off she'd go. By the end she was getting feisty with me. She wouldn't start to run to a point until I could prove that I could actually see it...luckily, Orlando is a pretty flat place and you can see a long way ;)

We ended up finishing the race in 3 hours and 1 minute and I could not have been more proud of Mom at that moment! It was such an amazing feeling to have finished it, and to have done it together! Do not sell yourself short! If there is something you are wishing you could accomplish but think you can't, now is your time! Finishing a half marathon is cool. But, finishing a half marathon when you always doubted that you could ever complete that distance brings a well-earned pride. And a metal to boot!

Race Day! 3:30 am.

Seeing Dad and Andrew watching us was so exciting! It was so fun to be looking for them at different places on the course. 

No the most flattering picture but this was Main Street, my favorite part of the race.

Isn't Mom beautiful? Even at mile 5! 

So that is the story of Mom's First Half-Marathon. Hope it inspires you to get out and try something you never thought you could do!

Dog Shaming/Project 52 Week 5

This is Avery.
She has been credited with eating a whole days worth of vitamins from my cousin's pill keeper. Sunday was a goner. Though she swears the fish oil did wonders for her coat. Animal poison control was less than impressed.
And we won't even mention the 12 fun size Snickers bars that she swiped from the counter, wrappers and all. Down. The. Hatch.
But today, she got to finish off the last little bit of her jar of peanut butter. Usually we put the peanut butter in her KONG, but today, I gave her free reign with what was left of the jar. And boy, was she in heaven.

Project 52: Week 5

P52 Catch Up

It is no surprise to be that right off the bat I have to do a "catch up". This is how I roll with New Year's Resolutions or plans for my photography. But the point is this: while I may be doing a catch up post, I have been taking the pictures, and using my camera was the point of this goal. One of the things that I have noticed is that I do not take nearly enough photos. I need to take a large quantity and then see what is good. Even though I often feel like I am taking a lot of photos, I get home and realize I could have taken so many more. Therefore, goal within a goal: take more photos to have more options for P52.

Week 2

On the way to the Magic Kingdom

Week 3

Magic Kingdom at night, my favorite time to be at the park. I like that this photo captures the feeling of the bustle of the evening.

Week 4

E man.

There will probably be a lot of photos of Everett in this project. He is a challenge to get a good photo of. It seems that I always wind up with loads of pictures of Avery and very few of Everett. This is usually for no better reason than the fact that Avery will sit for a picture and can be bribed with a treat, while Everett, in true cat form, obeys no one. He is usually seen as a blur running out of the frame.

A Campbell Christmas {outtakes}

In an attempt to get us all in one photo on Christmas morning we propped the camera up and set it for automatic shoot and did the best we could to corral the two critters. Brilliant, right? Should be easy, right? Avery missed the concept, Everett tried to escape, and well...you can see what happened. It's fairly hilarious when your camera recognizes your dog's butt as a face to focus on and blurs you and Husband in the background. Enjoy our outtakes!

There she is folks, in all her glory: the backside of Avery.

Avery chose to finally sit, right in front so she was totally blocking Andrew and Everett.  Basically, our world tends to revolve around her. (and she knows it!!)

Yes, we're in our jammies, yes, we have bed head, but, we are together, healthy and happy. Besides Everett, I don't think he was too thrilled with the situation ;)

Happy New Year! 

Love,

Caitlin and Campbell (Avery and Everett too!)

p52 Kick-Off: Week One

I was browsing the internets looking for something to keep me motivated to take pictures all through the year. I wanted something that would push me to get my camera out more and more, to stretch, to learn. I knew that Project 365 was far to large a commitment. Somedays I sleep all day and spend all night at the hospital, nothing much comes out of those days aside from work, I knew that I would be setting myself up for failure if I tried to take one picture per day. However, I found this, Project 52 Photo Challenge, much more do-able for this girl!

This picture is not anything special. It's not edited, it's not cropped, it's not touched up, at all. This is how I took the picture one night this week. What this picture is however, is us, right in the moment of this day-to-day life we are living. This is Everett's most favorite thing right now. This picture captures him, doing his cat thing, just as he is in normal, unedited life. And that, to me, is the point of p52, to capture our everyday memories.

. a break .

Vacation starts, now.

I am so excited to have a solid chunk of time off from work, from life, from daily responsibility (yes, I'll still feed Avery and Everett, not to worry), to just focus on living. 

As I worked my last few hours of work I realized how much I love what I do. How much I love being with my patients each night and how while I love it more than I ever imagined loving a career, I have been at it since last February, running hard, the learning curve has been steep and I need a break. That being said, as I walked out of the hospital I knew that I will be glad to return when my next shift rolls around. 

But for now, I'm looking forward to fun conversations with Husband, staying up late, getting up early, running, and getting away. I think that is one of the things I like most about our trips to Orlando to see the mouse: it's so far removed from our daily life that I am able to detach and really, truly, get away!

And now, a look back at memories from our last trip. I'm looking forward to more of this!

More of this: caitlin and campbell.

More of this: watching Mom and Dad be as excited as kids, and in love, and holding hands, mush mush mush. 

More of this: making memories like these. Omehgersh.

More of this: Campbell doing what he loves.

More of this: time alone with her, read, "shopping!"

{HOPE}

One little word.

I kept seeing this idea popping up on several of the blogs that I read. And then, I realized that one of my favorite bloggers and authors (and a woman who has a huge heart for Christ) also used "one little word" to name her years. See more about her words here. Maybe while scouring her blog you'll decide to name 1000 Gifts along with me too, but that is a different post, more on that later.

When moving into the new year, the fresh, shiny, pregnant with opportunity 2013, I knew that I wanted a word from which to base my perspective. I wanted a ground zero with which to calibrate my thoughts for one entire year. I thought my word would be TRUST, I also knew that I wanted my word to be something that was not just a true north for my perspective, but also a word that was constantly refocusing me on Christ and His will for my year in 2013. I am all for a method that will will keep me focused on the positive and seeing the good, however, if it is not ultimately pointing me to Jesus then is not the positivity in vain? For only my own "feel good"?

As I prayed about the coming year in the familiar, weary, short, dark days of 2012 I realized that God wanted more from me for this coming year than just TRUST. I was already trusting, but more in an obligatory way and with an admittedly skeptical heart at times. Instead of just trusting, I realized that He wanted me to be trusting with enthusiasm, excitement and assurance that what He promises will come to be, that He really is working out the very best path for my life. So, HOPE was born. 

This verse was laid on my heart twice in a 24 hour period while I was praying and preparing for 2013. Often I feel like God must laugh at how blunt He has to be with me. 

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a HOPE and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 NIV, (emphasis mine)

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