Those Reindeers Sure Ran!

A great time was had by all at the Track Shack/Vanessa Welch Reindeer Run on Saturday.  Team WHMH was well represented, kudos to those who braved the cold, I do believe it was colder when we finished than when we started, and that start was pretty damn cold!  Here's a few pics!

Team WHMH - Staci, Emily, Sue, Lori, Seth, Ethan and Mellissa

Quick stop during the race to see the big guy!

A Major Award

We ran the Ed Root 10k again this year, and both improved our times, PR's for both of us!  Adam even came in third in his age group, whoo hooo!

The Big Winner, Third Place in his Age Group at the Ed Root 10k!

Gobble Gobble, Happy Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving, ran 2 races so we could eat extra turkey!  Adam, Seth, Pop Pop and I ran the NSB Turkey Beach Run on Thanksgiving morning, we had lots of fun and Adam and I both set PR's for a 5k, not bad!  Then Adam and I ran the Run to the Sun 4 miler on Saturday, over the south bridge into NSB and the drawbridge back. Note to us:  bridge running is HARD!  But we made it through. Just about 6 more weeks before we tackle the marathon, I totally think we'll be ready!

Pop Pop, Adam, Seth and Me, Gobble Gobble!

One More Medal for the Wall!

Mostly Moved In, Almost No Injuries

Well, we are moved into the new abode, though I think we will be unpacking boxes for a few weeks yet. The only casualty of the move was my head, had a slight tumble off a ladder which was broken by the edge of the kitchen counter!  Nothing like a trip to the ER to grind unpacking to a halt!  5 stitches and an hour and a half later and we were back to work.  Hope everyone will be able to stop by the new place and say hi!

Ouch!

Candytron activate

Seth's Candytron costume was a big hit for Halloween, it was absolutely all a 10 year old Dell computer is good for!

Lake Nona Half a/k/a PR Heaven!

Adam and I ran the inaugural Lake Nona Half this morning, and both set PR's!!  Adam killed his previous time by 17 minutes, finishing with a time of 2:49:48 and I took another 6 minutes off my best half time, finishing at 2:37:51!  Look at us, I guess training does help!  There were 843 runners in this race (SO TINY, compared to the Disney races!), and Adam finished in 652nd place, I finished in 556th place.  The course was great, mostly flat (except for that hill, which was fine at mile 4ish, not so good at mile 11ish)!  The Lake Nona Running Club did a terrific job with this race, can't wait to ring that bell again next year!

Adam ringing the PR bell at the Lake Nona Half!!

Whew, Lake Nona Half Down!

We Ran Like Foxes!!

What to do, what to do the first day home from our trip to San Fran?  Run a 5k, of course!  Adam, Seth and I joined TEAM WHMH at the Run Like a Fox 5k in Baldwin Park, what a fun run!

Smiling while crossing the finish line!!

Seeing the Sights: Day Six

We spent the day today in San Francisco seeing the sights.  We woke up to a beautiful view from our balcony, then walked down (then up, then down, then up, can you say hills?) to Fisherman's Wharf, visited Pier 39 and the sea lions, Adam barked at them for a bit.

Good Morning, San Francisco

Union Square

Trolley going down Powell

View going up Powell

Alcatraz - Adam says he could totally escape!

Can you see the Golden Gate behind us?

The sea lions at Pier 39

Stopped into Chowder's (what better) for a bowl of clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl, yum!  Then, onto Ghirardelli Square where we bough more chocolate than anyone needs, ever!

 

Then, Adam says we have to make a stop.  Where, I ask?  He won't say, but into a cab we jump and head over to O'Farrell Street.  We walk a ways, and arrive at a fancy building where we have to be buzzed in, and up to the tenth floor we go. Surprise for me, it's Brilliant Earth, a wonderful conflict free jeweler where he has set up an appointment so I can get an anniversary band made, how exciting!  I picked out a beautiful ring, can't wait for it to be finished and arrive at home!

The sample of my ring, so pretty!

 

 

Then, back to the hotel we head to get ready for dinner.  We ate at a cute little brasserie called Absinthe, where we tried, well, absinthe.  The food was super yummy, and the absinthe was delicious!  What a busy, fun day!

Absinthe Menu

Ahhh, the green fairy!

Up, Up and Away: Day Five

We started day five with a super exciting hot hair balloon ride just outside of Napa Valley.  We were supposed to go over the valley itself, but due to the foggy conditions, we had to move out of the valley.  What a neat experience, and a great view!  We got up to 3,700 feet, which was both exciting and terrifying!  It's amazing how hot it is up there, we thought it would be chilly, but the heat coming off the burner nearly gave us sun burns!

We're beating the other balloon!

Hot Stuff!

The whole group!

Then, off we went on our wine tour, what a blast.  Our guide Steve was super nice and informative, letting us pick grapes right off the vine at a few vineyards.  We visited 4 different winery's, one so tiny it was literally in a guys house, we had lunch on his back porch!  We had a fun group on our tour, couples from Canada, Philadelphia, Minnesota and even New Zealand.  I drank more red wine than I ever have, and we made some great new discoveries.  Adam decided he like Pinot Noir's, and we have a nice crate of wine to get on the plane with now.  Hopefully, it will make it home with no leaks!

Whetstone Vineyard

Merryvale Winery

Fermentation room at Merryvale

Dinner at Michael Chiarello's restaurant Bottego in Yountville was wonderful, of course more wine to go along!

On the Road: Day Four

We spent Monday driving from Anaheim to San Fran, what a great drive!  We went up the Pacific Coast Highway most of the way, though Malibu, Big Sur, and had dinner in Half Moon Bay, which was yummy! Checked into our hotel and discovered our enormous balcony, sweet!

Hello, Malibu!

Sand on the West Coast, not so pretty, but what a view!

Los Padres National Park

Running Disneyland: Day Three

What a day we had!!  We had a great time running the Disneyland Half Marathon!  Adam came in with a time almost exactly the same as Princess, and I was able to take 6 minutes off my Princess time, even in Minnie ears!  We had some lightheadedness, and some sore knees, but all in all came through just fine. Spent the afternoon recovering with tasty tacos and rum beverages, then back to the room for naps. Dinner was yummy at Catal, and we finished off the day watching the World of Color fireworks from the balcony of our room. Off to San Francisco tomorrow!  

Yes I ran the whole race with those ears!

Mellissa and Adam with their bling

Mmmm, after race cocktails!

Good Morning, Disneyland: Day Two

Woke up at the crack of dawn, but really 9am our time. Peeked out the balcony and what do we see?  All the 10k finishers coming in!  So neat to see all those runners and hear all the cheering!

We spent a great day in Disney's California Adventure all day!  So ready for the race tomorrow!!

A giant, scary ferris wheel!

Adam discovered a new beer, and I discovered sangria is pretty good, when it's white!

The parade went by as we had dinner in the park, what a nice surprise!

A flight of Godiva Liquors, what a nice end to the day

Disneyland: Day One

Arrived, found our way to Disneyland, checked into the beautiful Grand Californian hotel, and off we went to the Expo. I totally forgot Sean Astin was speaking; had I remembered perhaps The Goonies shirt would not have been my choice! Many volunteers tried to haul me off to watch him speak, but we politely declined.  Had a lovely dinner at Steakhouse 55, settling in to have cocktails on our balcony. Happy vacation, off to a good start!

Celebration of Running Done!

We had a great time at Track Shack's Celebration of Running 5k on Saturday, all three of us made it through.  Definitely easier when there is beer and Krispy Kreme's to run toward at the finish line!  Adam set a personal best for his 5k time, 35:11.  Seth and I finished 46:32 and 46:31.  We ran along with Staci Baker from WHMH for a ways, and Seth had his very own cheering squad when we passed a group of Orlando Science Center counselors who were watching the race and recognized him, they cheered him on and that sped him up for a bit!  Here's a pic of us with our finisher medals, Adam and I are ready to conquer the Disneyland Half in 2 weeks!!

Adam, Seth & Mellissa after the race

Sweet Sundae!

Our Sundae 5k in New Smyrna Beach was sweet indeed!  Sadly, Michelle, Jules and Cole were not able to join us as planned, but we soldiered on!  Dad used Jules' number and walked the race, his very first 5k!  Seth did this one solo, and without Adam and I to urge him along, he was slower than molasses, but he finished under his own power so all ended well.  While Seth had his ice cream after the race, none of the rest of us were up to that, so we took the voucher to come back later in the afternoon and had our yummies then.  Our finish times were pretty good considering Adam and I ran the 4 miles to the race, and by the time we started the actual race, it was well into the 80's!  Out of 409 total runners, our times were:
Adam - 35:55 - 201, Mellissa - 35:08 - 191, Seth - 55:34 - 380, and Dad - 50:50 - 346.  Here are a few pics:

Dad approaching the finish line, while Ashton Kutcher's look alike roots him on

Adam, Mellissa & Seth after the race

Practice Makes Perfect

Another Soccer Season Down

Student of the Month

Seth was elected Student of the Month for May, here he is receiving his reward with Principal Pritts 

Fishstock Conquered!

We had a super fun (and super HOT) time at the Fishstock 5k this weekend!  Adam and Mellissa ran the 5k, and Seth ran the kids race.  With over 500 participants, it was a fun run but temperatures were soaring, it was in the mid 80's by the time we finished, before 9am!!  Mellissa finished with a time of 32:08, and Adam with a time of 36:08, pretty good for the heat!!  Here are a few pics:

Starting the Race

Mellissa at the Finish Line

Adam at the Finish Line

Seth Giving it His All!