Wordless Wednesday

Taste Bud Tuesday: Captain's Grille Dinner

Taste Bud Tuesday

So most of you have read my recap of the Captains Grille lunch. For my last Princess Half vacation night in Disney Sammy and I decided on the Captain's Grille for dinner. I have been here multiple times both with my family and then just my cousin and I and every meal has been fantastic!

Previously I've ordered their Prix Fix menu: appetizer, entree and dessert, and it was all included in the Disney Dining Plan. Sadly I noticed the menu had changed. The Green Goddess Salad is no longer on the appetizers menu.

With the exception of one or two time I have always gotten the Chef's Pasta Creation. Luckily each time it was gnocchi. TO. DIE. FOR. This time it wasn't gnocchi and I wasn't in the mood for pasta. I've gotten the Pan-seared chicken before but this was a little different from past dinner experiences. I still knew I wanted something light like chicken instead of steak.

A couple of things...I get the whole plate presentation thing. I get portion control..... This to me is a joke. The smallest piece of chicken I have ever paid for on top of the fact I was given three....count them... one, two, three pieces of asparagus. The chicken was very moist and delicious and seasoned well. But really?!

Thank goodness for my dessert savior! I did the s'more tart? I think it was called that. It was incredibly delicious and a very large portion size, too large almost.

Look at how amazing the inside of this is! Mmmm mouth watering!

All in all I love the atmosphere of the Captain's Grille but was severely disappointed as this has been one of my favorite meals on property. I'm not sure if I will be venturing back anytime soon.

Have you eaten dinner before at Captains Grille? 

Greater Hartford Quarter Marathon Race Recap

The Greater Hartford Quarter Marathon was the first event of the running season for Hartford Track Club/Sonic Endurance. As an ambassador I was incredibly excited to be a part of this event.

I did have issues finding the location initially. I woke up later than I had anticipated but when I entered "MDC Reservoir" into my GPS it sent me to a location 20 minutes away from the actual race aka MDC Reservoir #6. Although it is a reservoir the sign out front is Water Treatment Plant and that threw me off. Figures I'd be the person to have issues. I ended up arriving only 20 minutes prior to the start. I felt the walk was a little long to get to the start/finish line but that could have been my nerves. I can only imagine how gorgeous this place looks when it's all green.

Signage was well placed and parking wasn't awful considering the reservoir was still open to the public and there were 600 estimated runners! What a turnout!

When I picked up my bib and shirt I was relieved to see they had a bag check as it was too close to the start for me to get back to my car and drop the fantastic long sleeve shirt off. Kim, Kathy, Sandra, Anne and I all hung out until the start.

I didn't hear anything signifying the start but the large mass of people moving was identification enough that I should get going. Kathy took off and I followed. I knew she had a 5k pace I liked so I thought about staying close to her. Kim and Anne were doing run/walk and were behind me. When I reached Mile marker 1 I realized that I needed to slow it down. I wanted to be able to handle the Middletown Half the next day. Kim was the next one to show up and I thought, what better company! I also decided to make sure I wasn't running too hard I would do burpees, each mile marker I would do that number of burpees and continue. I have to take this Spartan Race for all it has. This was the best choice I could have made.

I had an absolute blast being with Kim. Most of you know her from her runDisney "Why I Run Disney" video, but shes even better in person. She is so inspiration and motivational. She told me to relax my shoulders when going down hill and that's something that I found helped me immensely both this race and for Middletown. We stayed together from 1 mile to mile 4 and chatted. By mile 4 I stopped, dropped and did my burpees but there was no way I could catch back up to her. I just kept chugging along as she pulled away. I made some new friends, got a great wet puppy kiss from a little chocolate lab and finished strong. About 1:24 which I have no issues with. 6.55 mile and 21 burpees done!

Kim and Kathy we were waiting at the finish. I went over and snagged some snacks. there was so much to choose from! Definitely a great array, bagels, cupcakes, oranges, little cake bite things. I loved the effort and heart put into this event. As the rest of the finishers were crossing they began the raffle drawings.

Our group took a photo after everyone crossed. Sandra, Myself, Kim, Anne and Kathy. I loved everything about this race and highly recommend it to anyone for next year ORRRRR for the Solstice Sprint 5k coming up in June! If you're interested in signing up contact me for a discount code. It will be the same course but only one loop instead of 2.

I felt like such a bad ass when I was done. I couldn't wait to get home and tell my father, I knew he'd be going to the gym and working out.

MegLovin' Monday

*I cannot figure out how to change my post settings to get off of Pacific Time. This should have posted yesterday*



This week I am MegLovin' On......

Megan over at I Run for Wine

So why is Megan so awesome? Well, first off, her name is Megan. Duh. But really I got to meet Megan at the Wine and Dine Meet Up last year. She is incredibly sweet and genuine. If you love food you MUST stop by her blog, she has such great pictures and recipes! Annnnnnd if one of your guilty pleasures is wedding planning...(yes that is me) you can follow along as she plans her dream day.

AROO AROO AROO!

So if you have been following me on any and all social media outlets you've probably figured out by now that I am openly obsessed with the Spartan Race/Spartan Culture. Everyone close to me has already known this for years now since 300 came out. It's one of the 5 movies I can watch over and over again and not get sick of it. 

Enter Real Life:

The Spartan Workout is the first step on your way to becoming a true Spartan. It is a completely free event.

Although I like to think I make good choice in life (pfft, who am I kidding)...it was DUMB to do a trail run the day before this Spartan Workout. My father and I hopped in the car and headed to Mohegan Sun for the Workout. We weren't sure what to expect but I know both of us got really excited seeing the signs for the actual event around the casino on our way to the Arena.

I knew I was going to be tired but I came prepared and ready to kick ass!

When we arrived at the arena there were already a good number of Spartans-In-Training signing in. We were sent a waiver prior to the day but had to sign another one for Mohegan Sun as well. We were given literally the SICKEST shirts EVER. I know my father and I are obsessed with them now. We also got thick bracelets saying 'unbreakable'. A great reminder that most of everything you deal with is mental.

We got to Mohegan early probably 8.30am for a 9am workout. As the time ticked away we noticed that more people started to stream in. As we got closer to 9am we realized there was no way we were able to start at 9am. We didn't end up actually working out until closer to 9.30am.

People kept streaming in even as we began working out. The final count ended up around 600 Spartans! More than the number of participants in their first Spartan Race (little tidbit for ya). It was pretty awesome to be a part of such an amazing event.

Although it was incredibly motivating to see hundreds of different kinds of people there was NO ROOM to do anything other than squats or jumping jacks. Anything where you were on the ground sucked and really dissapointed me. I was very contentious of those around me, yet I'm the one that gets kicked in the head.

This workout was one of the most difficult I have ever done, harder than any half marathon, harder than the previous days trail run. There were NO breaks. We started running in place, then picked it up, then dropped it down, then high knees, then back to a run in place, straight into jumping jacks, then 10 burpees, back to running in place, another 10 burpees, 30 squats, jumping with high knees, running in place. That was just the warm up. We did planks with push ups and bear crawls with superman arms and legs, abs wasn't too much of a traditional priority but we did do some.

Unfortunately although I was pushing my own self, some others did know their limits and I found a girl violently vomiting in the bathroom. I felt bad for her. We worked out for about an hour and a half and then took a group photo. I felt unstoppable after this workout, truthfully I felt great for about 24 hours until DOMS kicked in. Not only did we get great shirts and a great workout but my father and I walked out with a ton of knowledge to help us prepare for the Spartan Race. We learned different ways to use our own body weight instead of working out with only weight-training per say.

I'm so proud to be on this journey with my father, moj Ojciec. <3

We. Are. Spartans. AROO AROO AROO!

Congratulations to Crystal Duff the winner of my Spartan Race Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Shepaug Run Raiser 10k Race Recap

Early last week someone posted on the Running for Rescues Facebook group that they had a free entry to a trail run in southern Connecticut. Well me being the freebie lover I am, I jumped at the chance. I had these amazing visions of truly becoming Pocahontas....jumping through the forest effortlessly with woodland creatures following me singing....(mayyyyybe John Smith too, a girl can dream)

(Source)

Unfortunately the outcome was more like this....

(Source)

It is very rare I am ever out of my element. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

After transferring the registration to my name and emailing one of the RD's I had to look at the website to gain all the information necessary for the day. The 10k was going to start at 9am but bib pick up began at 6.30am. Now I knew there was no way I was going to get there for 6.30am to get my bib and sit around for hours. I left my house around 7.15am and arrived around 8.30am which was perfect for me. I was already dressed and ready.

I had decided to wear crappy shoes thanks to some great advice from all of you the night before. I also knew I couldn't handle being cold and wet if it did rain so I wore my L.L.Bean rain jacket (it had zipper pockets-score!). I had found a great Nike water bottle at Dicks Sporting Goods the night before for only $8. It had been molded for you to hold on to it too. Normally I never carry any water BUT they made it very clear there would be no water/aide stations on the 10k course and I didn't want to risk it. I also wore my BRAND NEW CW-X tights...Ya know the ones that cost $140+...yeah well this princess scored them for $10 on runningroom.com!!! Thank you to my best running friend Kristy for giving me the heads up on that AMAZING sale. Unfortunately they are a little too tall for my short body but hey, there are worse things in this world. So I was completely set to run.

I was nervous I wouldn't be able to find the start line but luckily the address was perfect in my GPS and there was a sign directing me the right way.

Although I had spoken with someone prior to showing up today they had no put me on the list of runners and I had to give the name of the awesome lady who transferred her registration (THANK YOU AGAIN!!) 

After I was given my bib I recieved a swag bag from The Olive Oil Factory. I personally love this company after tasting their delicious options at the Connecticut Wine Festival in Goshen, CT. Who am I to judge!?

I also was given these sick NYARA socks that I cannot wait to wear!

In The Olive Oil Factory swag bag was a full size bottle of Balsamic Glaze (seriously my favorite)...

An extra large shirt and a bumper stick. Very very impressive.

The whole thing was very informal which was less intimidating but more nerve-wracking. The start was also the finish and instead of a horn or a gun the man in charge rang a cow-bell to signify the start. I was confused to say the least. I sent this picture to Kristy when she asked how things were going...

Although I do not have anything else to compare it to, I LOVE my compression tights. 

The start of the race was absolutely gorgeous and the weather was holding off marvelously

Then after the biggest giant hill I had ever gone down we entered the 7th circle of hell. And no, this is not the one near my house with 3 dogs on the curve of a street trying to attack me and Ace. This was a whole 'nother circle just like it but filled with ice, mud and roots.

After falling into a creek I managed to stick close to two other women who were also doing their first trail run.

When Kristy asked me how it was going....I decided text would not be good enough. I sent her this video.

Then my mother text'd me asking if I was already running...again I figured video would accurately describe the journey I was on.

After what can only be described as the journey through hell I managed to find a group to stay with. There were pricker bushes EVERYWHERE and no matter how I tried I either met them or mud. I truthfully don't even think I am doing this race justice....

I stopped on a mini bridge about 1 mile from the finish, it was near a lake I KNOW had to have been used in a horror movie.

I ended up crossing the finish line at about 1:48 minutes. Not bad considering I felt like I was climbing Mt. Midoriyama (American Ninja Warriors anyone?). I ended up coming in 3rd in my age group which was cool. Didn't get anything for it but I guess that's how it goes. I did however have a couple of cool souvenirs to take home. Puncture wounds ALL OVER my legs, Cuts on my fingers...

Muddy shoes (ps don't leave these in your car for longer than like an hour....let alone 4 days...BAD SMELLS) and a ruined pair of brand new socks...

And a pretty awesome finishers pint glass.

I snagged a chocolate milk even though the snacks were for the 50k and 50 miler runners.

All in all I will say the event was pretty awesome for being so small. That being said I will never, ever, ever participate in another trail run as long as I live. I wish on the website it said "remember that camping trip you took with Girl Scouts...yeah, just as bad as that". I do not like mud, or being wet, or running on mushy ground. The people were fantastic both volunteer and fellow runners. But yeah. Nope. Not for me....

Have you done a trail run before? Ever done a race you would NEVER do again?