No heels required

Registration complete....Entry fee paid....training started

Okay....here is the OFFICIAL announcement...............

I AM doing the Disney Princess Half Marathon run on Sunday February 27th 2011 at 6am!

I am so excited (and scared, did I mention that already?)

I had 2 best friends through middle school and half of high school...1 (AMY) I never lost touch with, the other (LISA), well a change of lifestyles got in the way and we sort of drifted apart....But, a few years later (hey, we aren't that old :) a certain awesome social network brought us back together.

Lisa currently lives on the East coast of Florida. With 7 kids and 4 additional pseudo-kids (who's age shall remain unnamed to protect the guilty, I mean innocent :) between us, let's just say we haven't had the chance to visit in person as of yet.

Through much talking, social networking and texting, we have discovered we have many things in common, aside from quirky sense's of humor. We discovered we both thoroughly enjoy running but don't have near enough time to do so.

Now, if you have followed my blog for any length of time, you know that I have lost a good deal of weight over the last year (39lbs to be exact). Well, sadly, I have put back on a couple of those pounds (grrrr....fine, 12 to be exact :p)...I have gotten lazy and developed a love of a certain frozen coffee concoction at a local fast food place, that is less than healthy to be sure...and well, anyway...............

So when Mr. Producer came home one day and casually mentioned a race sponsored by Disney, I checked into it. After perusing the website, my initial reaction was....

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! Who in the HECK am I kidding....I haven't run in a while, and even when I was running....um I NEVER ran the length of a half marathon or even half of a half marathon!!!

But an idea was forming....Semi-jokingly, I forwarded the information via email to Lisa. Then I texted her and said...."I sent you an email and all I can say is...wanna be team mates?" I think I was more hoping than not that she would say no!

Well, she didn't. She emphatically said YES!!!!!

So, in true Tracy OCD style, I began to plan! And the more I researched and thought truly about the distance of 13.1 miles, the more I began to FREAK OUT!!!!

But, I had already committed myself to Lisa and while I hadn't actually paid the (oh not so small) registration fee, I had given her my word. And well, she quickly went and bought a jogging stroller, so really how in the heck could I back out then???? (Thanks Lisa :)

So, the training has begun. To see our team name, training schedule, our stats (but you MAY NOT JUDGE), and/or to encourage us, go here.

Now if you know much about me, you know I am cheap...err, I mean, frugal! By God if I am going to pay the entry fee price, well then I am going to run.

So, with the fee paid, the team name picked, new head phones for ipod, new ipod songs being picked, a family vacation planned for that weekend and training started...Mommy is announcing to the world that I AM going to run the half marathon.

All the Disney characters are out on the race course to encourage you and provide you with breathing breaks, I mean photo opportunities! How cool is that? And according to pictures, you even get a tiara!!!

Please know that Lisa and I are NOT looking to "place" anything specific, we are just looking to finish with our pride and dignity in tact! We are hoping the weather is NOT to cold. We are definitely looking forward to the chance to finally see each other again. (I am not so looking forward to being the wearer of the dorky fanny pack to hold the camera for photo ops though :)

And lastly, we are looking forward to the chance to be a princess for a while, wear a tiara and thankful that there is a NO HEELS REQUIRED rule!!!

Feel free to visit our fan page and leave us encouragement....we're gonna need it! Otherwise, well, I am sure my blog posts and status updates will leave you more informed than you want to be.... :)

In case you are counting, we have 19.5 weeks left to train until race day!!!

Um, and seriously Disney, my only complaint is.....6AM?????  WTH!!!! This is Florida, in February....It won't be hot even if you started the race at 9AM.....just saying!!!!!!