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Bree

Runs on Coffee
Joined
Jan 5, 2009
Hi! I'm Bree...also known as Brianna or Bri.

About Me
This year I will no longer be forty, but officially in my forties. I'm married with two kids. This is us. Please excuse my son's hair. He looked like someone from a 1970s men's shampoo commercial or a hobo. Take your pick. As all parents know, sometimes you have to pick your battles. My MIL came to the rescue and told him he was not allowed to visit her in Maine until he cut it off. Meme is a goddess in his eyes so of course he complied. And for some reason it looks like I'm missing an arm!

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This is our dog Ginger. She's a golden retriever, but we have to keep her shaved down because she's allergic to grass. The upside to that is less dog fur tumbleweeds in the house. Don't mind her. She thinks all sticks are for eating.

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Here is Piper. He is fat, lazy and likes to chew on your hair in the middle of the night. If it fits, it sits.

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This is Annie. She's got an attitude problem and a resting witch face, but loves me so all is good.

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We live in a smallish town in central Florida where these wild birds freely roam the streets. I wouldn't say we live in the flaming depths of hell during the summer, but I'm pretty sure our town is located just outside the gates. Oh, and nobody believes me that it gets down right cold here in the winter.

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My favorite activities involve coffee, food, books, running, shopping and of course DISNEY! Here I am with my daughter at the cake decorating class at Amorette's Patisserie in Disney Springs. This was a perfect combination of coffee, food, shopping and Disney.

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Running Life
I'm not going to bore you all too much with a novel about my running background. I'll give you the Cliff notes version. I ran cross country in junior high and high school, off and on for years after that then picked it up seriously again in 2014. My Disney races include the 2015 Princess 10K & the 2017 Princess 5K & Glass Slipper Challenge. I fell off the running wagon in April 2017, started running again at the end of August then literally fell off a ladder in October. My first real run after my October injuries was December 27th. I cycled through Galloway and Higdon plans over the years and felt like I was getting nowhere (cue hamster on a wheel). Through this site I connected with @DopeyBadger. Now I have my very own DBP! I'm also hoping to lose the 20 pounds that has adhered itself to my butt and thighs over the last two years. I'll be journaling that along with my running!

So there you have it. I have officially stepped out of my comfort zone for all the world to judge. Hope you enjoy my future ramblings. Can't promise that I will always provide timely updates, but I will try my best. I do have a pile of books to read, you know!

 
Upcoming Races With Goals

September 2018

  • 9/7 - Great Smoky Mountains 5K (maybe)
  • 9/8 - Great Smoky Mountains Half Marathon (<2:13:38, but HILLS)
November 2018
  • 11/4 Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon (<2:10)
January 2019
  • 1/10 - 1/13 Dopey Challenge
 
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Excited to follow along! What are the books you have to read?

Right now I'm reading historical fiction about the conflict between the Welsh & English, but I read all kinds of stuff. Just no romance books like 50 Shades or something with Fabio on the cover. I've never read the Harry Potter books so I downloaded the first audiobook and listen to it while I run. I have no idea why I waited so long to read those. I loved the movies, but the book is soooooo much better!
 
I've never read the Harry Potter books so I downloaded the first audiobook and listen to it while I run. I have no idea why I waited so long to read those. I loved the movies, but the book is soooooo much better!
My husband and I started listening to the audiobooks last fall. OMG. So good. I never saw the movies, so I didn't know what I was getting into but I am mad at myself for waiting this long to read it. But of course since I am going book to movie, I think the movies are terrible. Haha. Do you have the audiobook with Jim Dale reading? He is my favorite.
 


01/15/18-01/21/18

My plan is a five day schedule with the first day of the run week being Monday. I run T, W, Th, Sa & Su. This training plan is to hopefully PR the Dark Side Half Marathon in April. My only half marathon was the 2017 PHM with a finish time of 2:29:29. I did not stop for any pictures. My garmin gave me a time of 2:27:xx, but I had extra mileage from all the people dodging. I'll be running all three Princess races again February 2018, but those will be training runs. I'm running the 5K with my 12yo daughter and can't wait! She ran the Castaway Cay 5K with me last year and we had a blast!

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01/16/18 - This slow running is such a new concept to me. As you will see I had some difficulty staying slow this week. I'm sure once the training gets harder I will be ever so thankful for these easy paces!
Goal: 3 miles @ EA 13:11
Actual: 12:51, 12:59, 12:54

01/17/18
Goal: 3 miles @ EA 13:11
Actual: 13:00, 12:58, 12:42

01/18/18
Goal: 3 miles @ EA 13:11
Actual: 12:48, 12:52, 12:40

01/20/18
Goal: 3 miles @ EA 13:11
Actual: 12:54, 12:56, 12:54

01/21/18
Goal: 4 miles @ EB 12:20
Actual: 11:56, 12:13, 12:09, 12:00
 
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My husband and I started listening to the audiobooks last fall. OMG. So good. I never saw the movies, so I didn't know what I was getting into but I am mad at myself for waiting this long to read it. But of course since I am going book to movie, I think the movies are terrible. Haha. Do you have the audiobook with Jim Dale reading? He is my favorite.

I'm listening to the Stephen Fry version. I'm going to listen to Jim Dale for the second book then decide which one I like better!
 
Hi, I will definitely be following along as I am in a similar boat to you! I re-committed to running last Jan when I found myself looking ahead to my 40th birthday. That's awesome that your daughter now does 5Ks with you; I hope to do that with my kids when they are a bit older.
 
:wave: Another mom here firmly in her 40's. Excited to follow along and especially excited to hear about your Dark Side experience (I'm dreaming of the possibility of Dark Side in 2019).
 
Following along! I'll turn 41 in April and am planning to run the Dark Side Half....will be my first.
 
Hi, I will definitely be following along as I am in a similar boat to you! I re-committed to running last Jan when I found myself looking ahead to my 40th birthday. That's awesome that your daughter now does 5Ks with you; I hope to do that with my kids when they are a bit older.

:wave: Another mom here firmly in her 40's. Excited to follow along and especially excited to hear about your Dark Side experience (I'm dreaming of the possibility of Dark Side in 2019).

Following along! I'll turn 41 in April and am planning to run the Dark Side Half....will be my first.

Yay!!! I've decided that I'm doing my 30s all over in my 40s. My 30s sucked way too much. It was a decade of lows with one thing after another. I don't feel like I'm soon to be 41 and I'd like to keep it that way. My MIL just turned 79 in December and she's still pretty active. She stayed active her entire life which I believe why she can do what she does now. She was out snowblowing last week! She's one of my inspirations. I'm very lucky to have her in my life. She's been such a blessing to me and I love her so much!!!
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1/22/18 - 01/28/18

I started tracking my calories again in MyFitnessPal. I'm going to separate the fitness from the nutrition so it's easier to skip over if it doesn't interest you.
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01/22/18 Leisurely walk around the neighborhood

01/23/18
Goal: 3 miles @ EB 12:20
Actual: 12:14, 12:10, 12:10

01/24/18
Goal: 3.5 miles @ EA 13:11
Actual: 12:53, 12:41, 12:46, 12:57

01/25/18 This is when I smartened up and set my Garmin to yell at me if I was too fast or too slow. It helped!
Goal: 3 miles @ EB 12:20
Actual: 12:16, 12:11, 12:13

01/26/18 Leisurely walk around the neighborhood with my husband.

01/27/18 I overslept so by the time I left it was hot, there was little shade and I forgot my water! I was running into a headwind the entire time and thought I was going to get blown over when running around a nearby lake. My Garmin was acting stupid and shut down twice. I need a new watch, but I'm holding out for a Garmin 645. My birthday is in February so I'm hoping I get one! I cursed this run the entire time.
Goal: 5 miles @ EB 12:20
Actual: 12:20, 12:22, 12:10, 12:14, 12:14

01/28/18 I made sure I was up on time. Today I was testing out my new hydration vest.
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Good news is that I LOVE this backpack/vest. It was way better than all those belts I have tried. The material was soft, it was very lightweight and it didn't rub or chafe me. I barely noticed it was there! Bad news was this run did not go as I anticipated. I mapped out this run not realizing the first 4 miles was 95% uphill. Now, these may not have been true hills to many of you, but as someone who has spent the last 4 years gaining elevation no higher than a street curb these were hills. My legs were tired! I ate breakfast, but my stomach started growling during mile 4. At mile 5 I had to make a pit stop into McDonalds. And of course there was a line which I wouldn't expect on an early Sunday morning. I felt bad having to expose everyone to my sweaty self and I did get some odd looks. I never have to use a bathroom on a run so I don't know what was up. After my bathroom break I just couldn't get back into my running groove. Mile 6 I had to stop and stretch my quad that had started cramping up. Mile 8 was the pits. I was starving at this point and my watch kept yelling at me that I was too slow. My Garmin also stopped autopausing at some point which was very annoying. I did come across one of the town chickens and some Sandhill cranes that are nearly as tall as I am.
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Goal: 8 miles @ Long Run 11:56
Actual: 11:50, 11:57, 12:04, 11:59, 12:14, 12:18, 12:06, 12:50
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I started using MyFitnessPal again on Tuesday to track my calories. If you want to follow my diary my username is DivaLuvsDisney. I don't follow any special type of diet like low carb, keto, vegan, paleo, etc. I love food and have a sweet tooth so I keep all things in moderation. You will see that my prescribed calorie intake will vary from day to day depending on my activity level. MFP gives me a baseline for calories to lose weight with zero exercise. When I exercise it adds in the calories I burn to my daily total. The idea is that you are eating enough to fuel your body. Eating too little can have icky side effects like fatigue and hair loss. I'm not into napping and I like my hair attached to my head. Weigh in is on Monday morning.
01/22/18
Goal: 1544
Actual: I logged nothing.

01/23/18
Goal: 1663
Actual: 1290

01/24/18
Goal: 1646
Actual: 1307

01/25/18
Goal: 1680
Actual: 1425

01/26/18
Goal: 1571
Actual: 1242

01/27/18 We had date night this night. I knew all week this was coming up so I banked calories from earlier in the week. As long as I'm averaging out at the end of the week I'm good. We ate at Marlow's Tavern which does not provide nutrition data so it was mostly guessing what I consumed.
Goal: 1840
Actual: 2523

01/28/18 I completely under ate today which is not typical for me. I was starving at the end of my run so I chowed down. I've had a bit of a cold so I wasn't feeling 100% and wasn't that hungry into the afternoon and evening.
Goal: 2191
Actual: 1335

Previous Weight: 145
Current Weight: 140.6
Goal Weight: 125
Pounds lost this week: 4.4 This number is high, but the first week usually is. I want to lose slow and steady!
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So there you have it! I'm starting up yoga again this week. Amazon Prime has some videos so I plan on doing it at home.​
 
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I've never read the Harry Potter books so I downloaded the first audiobook and listen to it while I run.

I love listening to Audiobooks when I run. Makes it go by so much faster! Excited to follow along with your training, especially as Dark Side 2019 is on my list.
 
Hi Bree!

I love that you're running the Princess 5K with your daughter - what an awesome way to spend time together!

Looks like you're adjusting well to the new plan! Running slow is hard, but you seem to be getting the hang of it. And you're doing a great job with the nutrition tracking - that can be pretty hard sometimes. I'm looking forward to seeing you keep working hard and improving!
 
Hi Bree!

I love that you're running the Princess 5K with your daughter - what an awesome way to spend time together!

Looks like you're adjusting well to the new plan! Running slow is hard, but you seem to be getting the hang of it. And you're doing a great job with the nutrition tracking - that can be pretty hard sometimes. I'm looking forward to seeing you keep working hard and improving!

I almost have her convinced to wear matching shirts. She is leaning towards something Toy Story related. It's her favorite movie! I need to get on that today if I'm going to get something ordered in time!
 
So I decided to do a 60 minute yoga for beginners video yesterday. I have not done any yoga or pilates in 3.5 years. It was comical and I was laughing so much at myself. My poor animals must have thought I was dying because they laid right on the floor next to me and gave me funny looks. My cat came over at one point and started head butting me and licking my face. We are having an inground pool installed right off our lanai. We have 12 foot sliding glass doors that overlook it. So there I am doing three legged downward dog and transitioning into some other pose. I keep losing my balance and falling. I look over after a fall and there's the town inspector a day early on my lanai inspecting the plumbing. We gave each other an awkward wave. I really need to figure out what I want to do for privacy on those doors :oops:
 
Nice start to your new training plan! You have me very tempted to try out that hydration vest; I checked out some reviews and it looks great. So you don't find it bulky or heavy?
 
Nice start to your new training plan! You have me very tempted to try out that hydration vest; I checked out some reviews and it looks great. So you don't find it bulky or heavy?

Surprisingly not bulky or heavy. I tried on a few styles at the Marathon Expo before I committed to buying one. They were charging $100+ at the expo so I waited and bought it from Running Warehouse on Amazon for $60. My suggestion is to test one out in person if you can.
 

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