I DID IT!

Distance	MAR
Clock Time	4:56:02
Chip Time	4:43:32
Overall Place	5378 / 14940
Gender Place	1855 / 7139
Division Place	322 / 1166
Age Grade	47.8%
5 Mile	57:09
10 Mile	1:47:29
Half Split	2:19:35
20 Mile	3:33:43

I did it! I did it! I did it! I did it!

I ran the 2009 Disney Marathon yesterday. I don't know how to exactly describe the experience, other than saying it was unforgettable. It's hard to articulate the mass of physical and mental thoughts and feelings you get when running 26.2 miles for the first time. Friday and Saturday nights, there was nervousness and anxiousness. Sunday morning, as I got up at 3:20am to start getting ready, I felt completely super-charged. As the fireworks and starting gun went off, and we waited in the very large pack slowly moving towards the start line like a heard of cattle, I felt like a very small fish swimming towards an ocean.

Around mile 4, the very tight pack started to break up, and I felt relieved.

By mile 6, I had found my "sweet spot", my groove, and lipsynched along to my favorite songs as I coasted along.

Mile 9 brought the entrance in to the Magic Kingdom, and a somewhat emotional moment rounding the corner and heading down Main Street USA, the Cinderella Castle in front of me, the streets lined with cheering spectators. I thought about my first trip to Disney World at age 5, which I vividly remember, plus the photograph capturing the moment in time when I first saw Cinderella's Castle. Would've never dreamed I'd someday be running a marathon through those same streets!

Miles 12-16 were sheer boredom down the long, uneventful road between the Magic Kingdom and the Animal Kingdom. Interest in this stretch was brought by Erin's need to pee and our decision to duck in the woods rather than wait in a port-a-potty line (No, I didn't have any toilet paper and I haven't squatted in the woods in about 10 years!)

By mile 17, we were entering the Animal Kingdom, and I could see the proverbial wall looming ahead of me as I started to tire. I enjoyed running through the Animal Kingdom, but was distracted by the 8 miles that remained.

By mile 19, I had smacked right into that imaginary wall and with legs of fire, continued to press forward, becoming annoyed by the fact that Erin remained a good 5-10 paces ahead of me at any given moment.

Mile 20-- thrilled to be within a 10K of the finish line but felt a little worried, knowing I had never run above 20 miles before and didn't know what this No-Man's Land would be like. By this point everything below the waist was really hurting, my hips, my knees, my ankles, how could I possibly keep this up for 6 more miles?

Mile 21... WTF?!... the route had us run half a mile straight down the road and then double back. They couldn't make up another mile somewhere else other than that?!

At Mile 22, Erin was still ahead of me and I was getting even more irritated that she didn't seem nearly as tired as me or all the people around us. If anything, she was speeding up. WTF?! Where the heck did this super-girl come from?

I don't remember any of Mile 23. I think I blocked it out.

Mile 24. Erin glanced back at me from the more than 20 paces she had gotten ahead. I waived her down frantically, and when she slowed to allow me to catch up, I snapped at her: "I thought we could at least two the last two miles together". Yeah, I was exhausted, in terrible pain, and pissed as hell that she was still bouncing around like the g.d. energizer bunny while myself and everyone around us fell apart at the seams. What kind of crack did she smoke that morning to get that superhuman resolve?

Mile 25. Ran through the World Showcase of EPCOT center, wondering when the hell EPCOT got so big. No longer appreciated the crowds of cheering spectators, and wished I could smack the next person that said Almost there! or The finish line is just around the corner! REALLY wish I could smack Erin when she asks, "Are you able to run a little faster?" NO, you psycho, I'm NOT!

Mile 26. Tears.

Rounding the corner, I could see the finish line and began scanning the massive crowd lining the road, hoping my family was able to secure a good spot to see me finish. Right as we approached the finish line, I grabbed Erin's hand and we raised them up for the camera, hoping to get the million dollar shot for the photographers as our time chips beeped, signaling the torture to finally be over! Suddenly I spotted Sheramy and my dad in the crowd-- I don't know if it was delirium but I never did see my mom, Adam, or Anthony, though they were right beside Sheramy. I started to worry something was wrong.

I tried to stretch as best I could so I wouldn't get stiff, but when you're that exhausted it's hard to even stand up. I wobbled over to the family reunion area to meet my posse, happy to hear mom, Adam, and Anthony did see me finish, though I didn't see them. Erin immediately started talking about when she wants to run her next one, and I told her she was on her own.

Will I ever do another marathon? I don't know. It's an experience like no other, and you only do your first one once. I get the same thrill from half marathons with only half the training and pain afterwards. But... there is a challenge out there I will need to tackle sometime in the future, and I only started thinking of it because it really annoyed me there was something bigger and better than what I had achieved, and it was right under my nose the whole time.

The Goofy Challenge.

Am I goofy enough to even contemplate it? I've been accused of worse!

For now I'll just focus on my next challenge, and one that hopefully will allow me to walk normally the next day... Gasparilla Half Marathon, March 1st, 2009, which Adam and I will run together and will attempt to break 2 hours.

It's nice to always have a goal to work towards!

In health,
My Marathon Mommy

Atlanta Half Marathon

Happy Thanksgiving! Me, Adam, his uncle Guy, his cousin Emily, and my friend Becky started the holiday out with a little 13.1 mile run known as the Atlanta half marathon. The AHM is kind of a tradition in the Walenga/DiMuzio Thanksgiving holiday rituals, with always Guy and Emily and a random assortment of other friends/relatives taking the running plunge before the grand feast. This was my first year running the AHM, and it was quite literally, a training run for the marathon.

That didn't stop me from treating it with due respect though, and I set a PR for time. I could tell as soon as I started out it was going to be a fabulous race day for me, so I rolled with it and paced well ahead of my Disney half marathon pace. For that race, I finished in 2:24, and this one was 2:17 clock time, which is not my official time because it doesn't not take into account the time it took me to reach the starting line. The official race time won't be posted for a few more days, but it should be somewhere in the vicinity of 2:10, which was my goal for this race.

This race was mostly flat in the first half, but there were two or three very challenging uphill climbs in the second half. It was a lot of fun though because the course takes you right through the heart of Atlanta and past the landmarks I grew up with, like the Fox Theater and the old Macy's building.

I finished a full five minutes ahead of Adam and Becky, which made me very proud because both of them are lifelong runners that have done this course before. I never thought I'd be a good enough runner to even complete the distance, much less finish before Adam.

Anthony's had a great time earlier in the week with MiMi and Grandude, and is now enjoying his first Thanksgiving with a house full of relatives at Grandma's house! He amazed Auntie Chiara with how smart he is-- check out her blog at : http://dimuziogravell.blogspot.com/

Happy Thanksgiving!
Chantel

First Time-Out

Well, it had to come sooner or later... Anthony's first time-out.

We've had some problems the past few nights with our eager tot waking early in the morning, and yesterday it was before 6:00am. Of course, an early rising spud equals crankiness later. Yesterday he went to Ms. Erica's for the day, and seemingly had a great time... except for skipping his afternoon nap. I guess the change in scenery and routine was much too exciting, and he slept for maybe half an hour, whereas he's been doing two to three hour naps.

So after I picked him up and brought him back home, I had him lay down with me on my bed thinking I could squeeze an hour or so nap out of him. He wasn't very interested in sleeping at first; it was far more intriguing to point out and name the parts of my face. All fine and dandy, until he decided it would be fun to slap my face. No, Anthony, I said, calmly but firmly. He did it again. NO Anthony, I repeated, a little more forcefully this time. SLAP. NO! I grabbed hold of his hand, and he laughed at me!

That's it! I jumped up, grabbed him off the bed, and put his little butt in the corner. I blocked him into the space by using my arms, and told him he was in time-out for hitting mommy. Good God. You would've thought I had pushed him off a cliff. DADDY, DADDY! he shouted desperately as mean mommy instilled the first-ever punishment, tears streaming down his face. It lasted all of, oh, maybe a minute, before I scooped him back up and explained why he had been in time-out. He continued to snivel and snot for a few minutes until thankfully, he had tired himself out enough to fall asleep.

We've been discussing the need to start time-outs, and now it looks like it's an official Chantel and Adam DiMuzio family policy. I'm not going to have a brat child that runs around without control, hitting and acting rambunctious as he pleases. He's a smart kid; I hope he learns a good lesson from it.

In running news: this week, the longest run of my life to date-- 15 miles. Next week, the longest run of my life to date- 16 miles. YIKES!!

One half marathon down...

... one more to go on Thanksgiving morning. In training yesterday we completed 13 miles... the distance I was training to achieve two months later last year at this time. Hard to believe a year ago I doubted my ability to complete the half, and now I feel confident that I'll be able to conquer the full. It's very different running 13 miles with your buddy on the sidewalks around your neighborhood than the excitement of race day in Disney World, but I have to say, I ran better. I know my fitness level has improved by leaps and bounds, thanks to the fact that I'm 19 months postpartum this time around instead of 8. I improved over my Disney half marathon of last year by 7 minutes yesterday in my training run, when I wasn't attempting to break any personal records. It was just a great running day, and I probably could've gone longer. Plenty of time for that though, so I decided not to push it.

So tomorrow is Election Day in the good ol' US of A. Will we have our first African American president, or our first female vice president? Either way, if I have to hear one more dang "Joe the Plumber" ad I'm going to SCREAM like Scrunchie when mean Mommy won't let him carry the stick inside. That is the most ridiculous, annoying political propaganda ever... I absolutely cannot stand it when fat-cat politicians pretend they can relate to the little guy when they haven't the slightest comprehension of how the average American lives. Personally, I can't stand McCain, and at the risk of sounding like Nigel from So You Think You Can Dance, I hope America gets it right this time!

I survived a long weekend as a single mom while Adam was off in Orlando selling stadiums. Overall, a pretty decent weekend, though the little fry definitely knows how to push mommy's buttons when daddy's not around. After whining all the way through the grocery store, having a meltdown over getting a free chocolate-chip-versus-sprinkle-sugar cookie, and then refusing to hand over the "magic Publix stick" (ie, the customer dividers that go on the scan belt), he went into a full on screeching fit much to the shock and awe of the 18 year old cashier and his 16 year old bagger. Kindly the young lad did grab my cart to help me out (probably eager to get the screaming toddler out of the store as soon as possible) and proceeded to get his ear drums blasted the entire way. Jesus.

Katelyn came over to watch Anthony while I ran my training miles. I love my training time, especially when I'm feeling stressed and overwhelmed like I often am since I started my own business... I will miss it when the marathon is over. I don't know what my next big goal will be, but I'm sure there's one out there waiting to be discovered!

Double Digits

It's all uphill from here! We covered our first 10 mile distance last week, my first since the half marathon last January! To the point of no return now... all double digits from here, let's just hope I can stay healthy and keep my body injury free.

I'm so incredibly stoked that I have five of my students training for their first 5K in December. I'm doing our first group training run in a couple of weeks. None of them have ever run in a road race before... are they about to get the jolt of their lives! Hard to believe my first road race was only a few years ago, the Gasparilla 5K. The energy, the excitement, the crowd, the sense of accomplishment-- needless to say, I was hooked. I took a hiatus for pregnancy but when I decided to come roaring back, I did it and then some. If you'd told me after that first 5K that I'd be training for a marathon three years later, I'd have said you were high on something besides runner's endorphins!

Man, did I mention how freaking HUNGRY I am since I started teaching classes 5 days a week and running over 20 miles a week? I'm a never ending bottomless garbage disposal! I can only imagine how much worse it's going to get as the training mileage goes up. All the time I'm like a caveman, ME HUNGRY! NEED FOOD NOW! Two hours will pass and then it'll be rearing up again. If I keep on this pace I may be serving up Anthony and Adam with a side of rice by time January rolls around! The funny thing is though I can tell I'm still toning though I'm trying to maintain my weight by putting back in the calories I'm burning. Most of my clothes are getting loser. I guess it's a good problem to have and I should just shut up about it.

My super-smart kid knows numbers 1-10 and can name off pretty much all of his alphabet. Totally amazing.

Until later... don't get in my way, less I EAT YOU! Time for some chocolate ice cream!

Pushing past a plateau

I'm eagerly awaiting the push past 13 miles... right now, as we slow ramp up, I'm getting impatient waiting for the "real" training to start. I guess since I've run the half before, nothing under 13 miles seems like that great of an achievement, well at least not for me at this point. I've only run the 13 once and been past 10 a handful of times, and it's been quite awhile since those actually. This weekend is our first 10 miler and it's all double digits from here on the long runs-- no more pansy 7 milers on the weekend! This is the point of no return, where turn in our 3 wheeler for big girl bikes and see how far we can coast without crashing!

Haven't been able to run with Erin any this week. My schedule's been packed with additional Baby Boot Camp classes, a jewelry party, and YMCA new hire training which I have to head out to in about, oh, 10 minutes. It's felt kind of lonely without my running buddy, and I realize how grateful I am to have someone undertaking this incredibly overwhelming challenge with me!

It's all the exercise I'm doing in addition to the marathon training that's wearing me out. I'm teaching 5 Baby Boot Camp classes a week (actually seven this past week!) plus teaching yoga at Impact Fitness. I'm about to start teaching an additional yoga class at the Y, which I'm actually really excited about. Still, it's a lot of wear and tear on the body. Thank goodness I have to pile in the calories to make up for all the ones I'm burning away!

Better go and get oriented now...

You know you're a mom when...

.... you have the schedule of Playhouse Disney memorized
.... you talk about yourself in the 3rd person, ala Elmo
.... you pat your lap to get your car moving
... you think Anthony Wiggle is kind of cute
... you know who Mr. Noodle is
... you find stale goldfish crackers in unexpected places
... you think everyone is interested in your child's pooping habits
... you're more proud of your pimped-out jogging stroller than your car
... you can't finish out a t.v. show that starts at 9:00pm

My running buddy Erin is going to the USF football game tonight with her husband after work. They're both working tomorrow. The game doesn't start until 8:00pm. They can count on at least an hour, if not more, trying to get out of the parking lot after the game ends. I find that absolutely insane. I love a good football game as much as the next person, but dang, not when they interfere with my bedtime!

I know, pathetic. What a mom. I don't have the luxury of being able sleep in after a night out. If that rare occasion does occur, I usually don't take it because I'm too worn out from chasing my toddler around all day to stay up that late anyway! Sad, sad. Life as I knew it is no more. At least I've quit fighting that fact though, and am now looking for more square holes.

99 Days until the marathon! I can't believe it's getting so close. I have to step back my long run this weekend to six miles, according to my Hal Higdon training schedule. I'm ready to push on ahead to 10, but the schedule recommends step backs every 2 weeks to help in injury prevention. After my 3 week hiatus in the spring due to shin splints, I do take that seriously, as annoying as it is.

I'm eager to start doing some road races, now that the great state of Florida has started turning off the humidity faucet and the weather's getting more bearable. I'm really looking forward to the Atlanta Half Marathon on Thanksgiving morning too, a Walenga/DiMuzio tradition. This will be my first year participating. Last year it was about 55 degrees and pouring rain. Let's hope I can sprinkle some Florida sunshine on it this year!

Gotta wrap this up, I hear babbling over the monitor. Looks like nap time is over. You know you're a mom when...

A Runner's Dedication

I decided to challenge my Baby Boot Camp students to commit to running a 5K race this December. I wasn't sure if anyone would respond or not, and surprisingly, I've had three say they want to do it, and another decided to take the plunge after one of the initial three talked her into it. I'm surprised and excited, knowing that one or more of them might get bit by the same running bug that's had such a profound influence on my life. As I went out running with Anthony in my sweet new Kelty Baby Boot Camp stroller tonight (p.s.-- that's one sweet ride. I feel about that stroller like some people feel about their cars!), I thought about what running has meant to me and my life's direction, and I can honestly say I never would've ended up here doing what I'm doing had I never decided to run a step.

I wrote this dedication to running awhile ago, and tonight as I feel such accomplishment of getting others excited about the race and in the midst of training for my marathon, it seems ever the more true. This is dedicated to runners out there who love it as I do, and can't imagine their lives without it.

A Runner's Dedication

I love to sweat.

I love to feel the pavement pound beneath my feet.

I love the early morning sun peeking over the horizon.

I love knowing I'm half way there.

I love thinking, God how I hate this!

It's a strange relationship we have, me and running. I've heard before there's a thin line that separates love and hate. That describes our partnership to a T.

The first mile sucks. Even when I'm in the best condition of my life, I struggle to find my rhythm, get control of my breath, and not curse out every step. Mile 2- everything settles in. The burning thighs quiet down. The stitch in my side knows now is the time to stop. My heart begins to find its groove. The endorphins start to do their job. Aw yeah, I'm liking this now.

Mile 3- We're fully committed now. If it's Monday, I'm happily headed back home. If it's Saturday, we've got a ways to go. That's ok though, because my old pal running and I, we're in it for the long haul now. We're working together, sweating together, and remembering why we found each other in the first place. My ever-present hard rock music pulsates through my headphones; inspiring me to go a bit faster, push myself a little harder. I pass landmarks I never thought I'd see when I first started out. I leave them in the dust like they were never there. See ya on the trip back home, yield sign. I continue to tick off the miles, my mind free and clear, thinking about nothing but the lyrics to the song that's playing. I mouth the words; maybe even sing a word or two aloud. Who cares, there's no one else around.

The sun climbs higher in the sky, and my clothes are officially soaked now. It's all good, it's all good. I'm on the road towards home. I can keep pushing a little more, a little faster, a little harder. Soon I'll be downing a cool powerade. Oh, that sounds SO good. Sweat drips into my eyes, I brush it away and focus on what I'm after. I turn onto my street, crank up the volume on my iPod, find my favorite motivational song, and give it all I've got.

This is why we stay together. We wouldn't know how to make it apart.

Running-- you rock.

Week 2 Highlights

Anthony modeling Baby Boot Camp's performance baseball cap

I've successfully bulldozed through Week 2 of both my marathon training and Baby Boot Camp classes! The second Grand Opening went well... we had 10 come out with 4 new mommies deciding to join up. Our Riverview location is actually very nice, I was a little weary of how bad the heat would be and whether or not we'd be able to navigate Rivercrest without issues. So far, very good! I'm still waiting to hear whether we'll be able to move to Panther Trace and if so, will hopefully have a better location and drum up some new interest as well. So after two weeks, I have 14 paying clients, and my goal was to have 20 once I launch the YMCA location. Right on track. The girls I have now are fantastic-- highly motivated and determined, so now I just have to drum up about 10 more just like them!

Marathon wise, I'm having trouble finding time to get the 4th run in. I'm getting my long run without a problem, plus one 3 mile day and one 4 mile day, but with teaching classes five days a week and teaching yoga on Wednesday evenings, getting that last one is proving difficult. Since the long runs are still under 10 miles at this point I think I'll be find on 3 days, but later on this fall I've got to make sure I'm hitting every day that's on the schedule.

Anthony's doing VERY well sitting in his stroller for classes so far. He seems to have readjusted to our new routine and actually likes watching mommy and her students squatting, lunging, and bicep curling our way to fabulousness. I love spending all this time with him, and I hate to think all I would've missed out on if I had stayed in that dead end, loser job. For the first time in my life I'm really enjoying what I'm doing, and I feel like I'm actually making a difference in people's lives. That's far more rewarding that I ever would've imagined!

I'm going to try to drum up some interest with my students to run a 5K race this December. I'm sure many of them have never ran a day in their lives, and I think it'd be awesome to have Team Baby Boot Camp out there showing other moms that it can be done!

Baby Boot Camp Grand Opening!

Baby Boot Camp Grand Opening
September 8, 2008

We have hit the ground strolling! After months of anticipation, Baby Boot Camp has started! I'm so relieved and happy to report that the Grand Opening was fantastic. We had 20 people turn out, and many enjoyed the class so much that they bought class packages on the spot. I too enjoyed myself a lot-- after many years of searching, I have found my calling. The ladies that have already joined up are so motivated to succeed, and I am excited to be helping them with their goals. Now that we have a solid foundation to start, I'm looking forward to launching classes in Riverview next week, and at the YMCA at the beginning of next month.

Anthony's been wonderful so far at class! He seems to get a kick out of it. He's my little helper, when I tell the ladies it's time to start moving again with the strollers he'll echo me in saying, "let's go!" Or if I let out a whoop of excitement, he'll follow suit. My little parrot is mommy's little helper!

With the good comes the bad, of course. My little escape artist decided it would be a worthwhile endeavor to crawl out of his crib the other night! I heard a thump and loud screaming around 7:00am, ran in there to find him on the floor beside his crib, his foot still hooked in one of the rails. He wasn't hurt but was obviously very scared. My heart just went out to him, I can only imagine how scary that must've been for him! So Adam and I immediately started looking for transitional toddler beds as the pediatrician said it was time if he was trying to crawl out. We've found one, and MiMi and Granddude have kindly decided to buy it for him. It will take a week to get here, so we decided to use the pack and play as a makeshift bed if Criss Angel decides another escape routine is in order!

On the running front, Adam and I took Anthony on a family run last night. We went 3.5 miles with me pushing the jogging stroller, which is quite a bit of resistance if you consider the 26 pound passenger! I'll do another 3 tomorrow, 4 Saturday, and 6 on Sunday.

First Training Run

The marathon training has officially begun! This morning Erin and I met at 7:00am and completed 8.5 miles. We were only scheduled to do 6, but I figured if we were feeling good it couldn't hurt to build an extra shorter week into the training later on if we needed it.

It was a fantastic run! As far as I can remember it was the longest run I've done since the Gasparilla 15K last February. Weather wasn't too bad, and I just fell into an easy rhythm and pace. Yesterday I did 3 miles of hill intervals on the treadmill, and I've definitely found that my regular runs improve drastically after a hill training workout.

Days like today make one feel like 26.2 miles is nuttin'! I'm sure I'll be changing my mind about that...

In other news, Anthony's still not himself. He's been very fussy, and is still not eating much. It's a mommy's job to worry, and I am. I know when my baby isn't right. He doesn't want to do any of the things he normally enjoys, and now he's constipated because he hasn't been eating enough to produce a decent poop! He'll be going to the doctor soon if we don't start seeing some serious improvements in his eating and attitude!

Moments Like These

Today I realized why I did the right thing in leaving my loser job and taking on this Baby Boot Camp endeavor. The time I have, and am going to have, with Anthony is priceless. This morning I took him to the Family Resource Center for open play time. Basically, it's a giant room with lots of books and toys. They had those foam "carpet" pieces that link together to form a big disco-looking floor. We put some of those together, and Anthony had a blast going to town on them! He ran around, stopping to pump his knees up and down in an awkward dance of sorts, grinning from ear to ear the entire time, and chanting "jump, jump!" It was just such a joy watching him have fun like that, and I realized how many of those moments I might have missed out on if I had stayed in that job and continued to surf the internet all day.

Yesterday I ran 3 fast miles on the treadmill-- just over 27 minutes. My time has improved tremendously, probably from the hill intervals I've done on the treadmill this summer.

I was telling a friend this morning about my marathon hopes and what propelled me to do it. I can imagine myself crossing the finish line after 26.2 long miles and months of training behind me, feeling elated at the accomplishment I'd made, especially when not-so-long ago I did not believe I was capable of it. Pushing my limits, challenging myself, going outside the box and doing things I didn't believe I could do-- that's motivation!

Chantel

Let the training begin!

First, let me say how happy I am hurricane Gustav did not turn out to be the monstrous disaster that the media predicted (and seemed to be hoping for!) It was definitely a significant storm but will not go down into infamy with Katrina. For the most part, New Orleans was spared as the levees held.

Now two days in September, I really have my mind on two things-- the Baby Boot Camp Grand Opening next Monday and beginning MY MARATHON MOMMY training! I'm excited for the Grand Opening... I have 25 people on the RSVP list. I think we'll have a good showing and a great first class! I've been anticipating this for so long, I'm ready to get it going already.

Also something I've been highly anticipating... the start of marathon training. Staring this Sunday, we are a mere 18 weeks until show time! This year went by so fast! This past week I ran 6 on Saturday (though not a good run-- I was very sluggish). I also ran 3 with the stroller last night, and 3 today at the gym (27:28 time on that one!) I tell ya, running with that stroller is getting harder and harder with the 27 lb weight in the front!

Our training schedule has us getting progressively longer on our weekly "long run". We start out at 6 miles (both already at 8, so we're a couple of weeks ahead!), go up 1 mile each week for two weeks, and then step back one week. So the long run looks like this: 6, 7, 5, 8, 9, 7, 10, 11, 8, and so on until the long run is 20 miles. 20 miles!!

I must've lost my head for doing this in the first place, but it's going to be a great feat and I am PUMPED!

Chantel