Comments and Followers for Haiti

Hey all, we've seen some fellow bloggers do this kind of thing around Thanksgiving for canned goods for the needy, and we thought it was pretty cool, so we figured we'd give it a shot! So, here's the rules for our little 'fundraiser':

1.) For every new follower we get, we will donate $1 to Save the Children, a non-profit raising money to deliver much-needed supplies to the children of Haiti.

2.) For every 5 comments that this post gets, we will donate $1 to Save the Children. Comment ideas: Has anyone ever been to Haiti? Has anyone ever done any volunteer work there? Do you have any family or friends from Haiti? What's your community/family/friends doing to help Haiti? New follower? Introduce yourself! Or anything else at all! The more comments, the better!

Ryan's company, Parsons Brinckerhoff, a worldwide transportation engineering firm, is matching all donations made through their foundation, so when we donate however much you guys determine, it will essentially be doubled! So get to it, and start following, start commenting, and help us help Haiti!

Thanks guys, we'll let you know how it all goes!

Check Out My New Tri Bike!!

Today I Finally got my new bike! I started paying for it at the end of September and I finally got to bring it home today. It's a Quintana Roo Dulce Limited Edition time trial bike. It's AWESOME!!! Check out the pictures below.

I have been wanting to get a new bike for a few years now, the last bike I had was a road bike and it was way too big for me but I somehow made it work for over 8 years. My old bike was ok for a half-ironman but I wanted to get a bike that I could do an ironman on.

I got the bike from my new favorite store called V3 Multisport (formerly Quadmultisport for you local readers). It's a triathlon store in Arlington Heights, MA and it has EVERYTHING you could possibly need for a tri. The people who work there are SO nice and knowledgeable! Before V3, every bike shop I ever went  into has been run by untrustworthy people and the prices were always way too high. I really trust the people at V3 ad their prices are great! I really can't say enough good things about the store or the people who work there. If any of you local readers are looking for a good store go check out V3! For you far away readers, you can check out their ebay store (great prices) from their website, http://www.v3multisport.com/.  They also have some upcoming free seminars at the store so check out their website!

Here are some pictures of my new bike (we changed the background color in honor of my new bike).

Pink camo, all carbon fiber frame.

This is Marco, he helped me with everything, super nice guy.

Inside V3, I also got my wetsuit from here last sumer.

Check out the pink tape Marco added to the aerobars!

I can't wait til spring when I can ride outside but first I have a lot of work to do on my indoor trainer so I can get used to riding in the time trial position. I'm looking forward to taking some serious time off my tris this summer and since I'm actually in a competetive age group now (25-29), I need all the help I can get. Let me know what you guys think!

THANKS AGAIN V3MULTISPORT! THANKS MARCO!!

More Disney Pictures - Magic Kingdom!!!

Last Monday, the day after the marathon, we went to the Magic Kingdom! We weren't that sore at all, although Ryan was a little tired. Miss Bethany was a ball of energy, dragging us from one ride to the next! I think we hit just about every attraction in the park (minus the boring Hall of Presidents), haha. Ryan's favorite attraction/ride was the Country Bears Jamboree! Crazy Miss Bethany's was, of course, Space Mountain, which Ryan is far too chicken to ride. Enjoy the pics below!

Ryan looooooves Christmas!

Us in front of the castle.

Being silly on the Speedway.

The Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger ride. You ride through and shoot targets.

Miss Bethany's score: 9,000

Ryan's score: 999,999

The only time Ryan wins in anything.

Miss Bethany's kettle-cooked Mickey chip!

Our traditional kissy pic, of course.

Ryan, thrilled, on the twirly Mad Hatter Teacup ride.

 

 Ryan's favorite!!!!! (Also Bethany's least favorite)

Dumbo ride.

With Mickey and Minnie.

The castle was beautiful at night!

Disney Marathon Videos, and Follow us on Twitter!

We brought our new little video camera with us during the Disney Marathon, and tried to get some nice footage of us in action. It was a little difficult, as Miss Bethany is still getting used to running while the camera is rolling, so the video is a little bouncy. Check them out and let us know what you think! [If you are prone to motion sickness, proceed with caution! ;-p]

Pre-race Interview with Miss Bethany and Ryan.

Entering the Magic Kingdom. (Check out Ryan's sexy pink leg-warmers.)

More through the Magic Kingdom.

Heading home to the Finish Line!

Also, we just set up a Twitter account, so for all of you who 'tweet' be sure to follow us @OurLoveOnTheRun

2010 Disney Marathon Weekend

Sadly, we arrived back in Boston today, after a very fun and successful mini-vacation to Disney Marathon Weekend. As you all know, Miss Bethany ran the Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge for the 5th time. The race has only offered this Goofy's Challenge for the past 5 years, so Miss Bethany is considered 'Perfectly Goofy.' Ryan ran the Disney Marathon for the first time, after doing the half in 2007-2008-2009.

We left Boston on Thursday, and arrived in Orlando. After getting to Disney and settled into our hotel at All-Star Sports, we headed over to the Race Expo to pick up our numbers and some free stuff. The expo was really nice, and there was some cool merch to buy as well. Saturday morning, Miss Bethany left the hotel at 3:30am to head to the start line of the Half Marathon, while Ryan caught up on some much-needed sleep. Now, we know that love is cheering from the sidelines and true love is crossing the finish line together, but on Saturday morning Ryan definitely needed to get some rest before the big day on Sunday :-p.

Race Report: Half Marathon

The race was freeeeezing! Miss Bethany got to the start line at about 4:00am, checked her bag, and then had about an hour and forty minutes to kill before the start. Bundled up, she just hunkered down, made some friends, and got ready for her Goofy's Challenge to begin. She took it nice and easy, knowing that she had to pace Ryan on Sunday, and still finished in a time of 1:48:20. It was a great race, and she saw her parents at about mile 4, but they never made it to the finish line because it was too cold.

Race Report: Marathon

The race was freeeeeezing! We got to the start at about 4:00am, checked our bags, and again hunkered down to brave the cold before the race. Ryan was absolutely freezing because Miss Bethany forgot to buy him Goodwill sweatpants. So being the smart cookie he is, you will see in some of the pictures/videos that poor Ryan had to go out and buy pink crew socks to turn into leg-warmers. They actually worked nicely, and once the race got started we weren't cold at all. For this race, Miss Bethany was trying to just pace Ryan to a nice time goal. Absolute A+ goal would've been 3:50, and A- goal would've been 3:55. Miss Bethany incredibly kept us right on 8:47 min/mile pace for more than 20 miles, at which point Ryan's legs just weren't up for holding that pace, so we slowed, but just a little bit. We never stopped to walk once, finished strong, and finished in 3:56:45, about a 9 minute PR for Ryan, so that was HUGE! We were both very excited and satisfied, and we couldn't have been prouder of one another. Also, just as a side note, Miss Bethany was the first 'Perfectly Goofy' female finisher in the marathon. :-p

Some highlights of the marathon were:

**fireworks at start

**characters throughout

**lots of music (though no Hannah Montana, which disappointed Ryan)

**runs through all four theme parks

**running through Cinderella's castle

**four food stations with bananas, Clif product, and candy

**plenty of water/Powerade stops (although some were very icy due to the cold)

**cool finisher medals, bib numbers, and finish line

**the novelty of Goofy's Challenge (Not to downplay anyone's accomplishments at all, but a lot of the people don't take the 'Challenge' seriously. Many people don't truly try to 'race' them both, and lots walk/jog the half in order to have a better marathon time. In many people there's no correlation in half and full paces. In our opinion, it'd be more fun and interesting if the combined times of all Goofy participants were tracked and compiled as part of results/awards. But that's just our 2 cents :-p )

Please enjoy the pics below, and maybe you'll be inspired to run next year! We'll be there again for sure!

Just arriving at the Race Expo.

Thursday night dinner at Rainforest Cafe. Yum!

Best. Sandwich. Shop. Ever. EARL OF SANDWICH. Ryan is in love. YUM.

Miss Bethany alone before the Half, decked out in the finest Thrift Store apparel. Before it started sleeting and raining.

Here we are before the Full. Look on Ryan's face says it all: 'what have I gotten myself into?!'

Proudly displaying the hard-earned Mickey ears.

After nice hot showers and some delicious Endurox to replenish the fluids/fuel. All smiles.

Miss 'Perfectly Goofy' Bethany.

Miss Bethany's 'Perfectly Goofy' name in the race program.

The Goofy bib numbers.

All of our medals.

Miss Bethany's Goofy medal. So cool.

Our twin Mickeys, close-up.

Looooong post today, but much more to come. We'll have the videos for you in the next post, and photos from our trip to Magic Kingdom! Stay tuned!

Leaving for Disney!

We're off to bed, even though we're 'too excited to sleep!' We have an early 6:30am flight out of Boston to Orlando. We cannot wait to get down to Disney and run our second marathon together! It looks like it's going to be a chilly one, with temps in the 20s on Saturday for the Half Marathon for Miss Bethany and 30s on Sunday for the Full for both of us. Brrrr!

We will be back on Tuesday, so if you don't hear from us before then, we will have a full rundown of our race report, pictures, and all that other good stuff.

Now, it's off to Disney!

New Video Camera to Record Our Runs!!!

We got this new video camera on Black Friday but we just used it for the first time (finally). It was easy to use and easy to carry. We plan to take it with us for the Disney Marathon and since Miss Bethany prefers to hold things in her hands while running, it works out perfectly! Don't worry, there is a strap for the wrist so we won't lose it.  Here are our first videos. It will definitely take some practice getting used to running and filming at the same time. Check out how beautiful the scenery is!

So we went out on a nice little snowy 10 miler yesterday morning, to kind of just work out any last minute kinks, feel the fresh air, feel the nice cool snow, and just enjoy each other's company on one last 'long' run before Disney.

Here we are just heading out for our run:

Here we are on the bike path near our house, YakTrax working well for Ryan. Not sure why Miss Bethany sounds so out of breath, haha:

Miss Bethany's video of the pretty snow-covered trees:

Let us know what you think of the new camera! Miss Bethany needs some work behind the camera, but she'll get used to it :-)

Stay tuned for our next post about 2010 goals and resolutions!

Last 20 Miler Before Disney! LOL

This post is a little late, and a little different than usual. We ran our last "20" miler before Disney Marathon on December 27th, last Sunday. But it turned into an 18 mile run, and here's why:

Ryan's Perspective:
Well, let's just say it wasn't my day. First of all, it was a miserably pissing-rain-in-your-face type day. You know what I mean. Secondly, it was mid-morning on a Sunday. Now, I HATE running long on Sundays, because 1. it means I had to give up enjoying a Saturday night, concern myself with eating and hydrating properly (and drink less beer :-p), and 2. it means I have to work the next day. I MUCH prefer running long on Saturdays because after it's over, I can relax and enjoy the rest of my weekend and celebrate my long run accomplishments with a nice cold beer (MGD 64 :-p) or two on Saturday night. Thirdly, I was still in my post-Christmas depression. Christmas is the best time in the world for me, and when it's over I fall into a minor depression. All of these factors just led me to be miserable before we even set foot out the door.

So we hit the road, and I am utterly miserable. I'm complaining and moaning like crazy before we even hit mile 1. Rain pouring in our face, cold wind blowing rain into our face, just miserable all around. So I'm out there suffering, and there's Miss Bethany, happily prancing through the rain, wind, and puddles. Let me just throw out there that Miss Bethany has had this entire week off, so she didn't have to worry about it being a Sunday. If I had a nice week of vacation to look forward to, I don't think I would've been as crabby. But anyway, I decided early on I wasn't going to hit 20. Miss 'Smiles' Bethany somehow dragged me through 18 miles, and I'm amazed we made it that far. There wasn't much convo, and lots of tension, mainly because I was so miserable and she was so cheery, but somehow we made it through those 18 miles.

It was the worst run I've had in a loooong time, but we still managed to hold a decent pace, and I still feel confident and ready to hit my goals at Disney. Even though it's on a Sunday, I think I'll be alright. I'll be on vacation, I'll be running 26.2 with the sweet little lady that I love, I'll be in the 'Happiest Place on Earth' and I don't have to work the next day. :-p (But I do have to ride Splash Mountain, which stresses me out because I'm petrified of heights.)

Miss Bethany's Perspective:
I was really looking forward to our last 20 mile run! I enjoy running 20 miles anywhere, anyday of the week and anytime during the day. I am very laid back with everything, especially running. Even if i don't feel like running 20 miles, i'm oin to tell myself i do until i believe it.  I was lookin forward to running on some quiet back roads since we were in my hometown and not Boston. I was also looking forward to 20 miles of conversation with Ryan. The weather wasn't too bad, it was 48 (very warm for us in dec), misty with some light rain and a strong wind but thankfully, unlike Boston, it was only blowing in ONE direction.

The SECOND we started running, Ryan started complaining. It was like watching the first episode of the biggest loser...ANNOYING. He didn't like the weather, he didn't like the course, he didn't like the time of day and he didn't like the fact that it was a Sunday??? By the way, this was the FIRST time i'd ever heard of his hatred for running on Sunday. By mile 2 I was already sick of him and wished i could run alone. He must of complained about having to run 20 miles at least 20 times by the time we reached 2 miles. Because of his negativity, he got it in his head right away that he was only going to run 18 miles and NOT A STEP FURTHER. I can't believe he made it to 5 miles let alone 18!

OMG he was being SUCH a baby. This is mean but it was SO hard not to laugh at him. Not because he was struggling, but bc of how ridiculous he was being. He was either completely silent, groaning, swearing or acting completely obnoxious. I kept telling him to SHUT UP and at one point i almost said "hey ryan, take your panties off!" LOL. (but i figured that wasn't a good ida). it was SO ridiculous how big a baby he was being. He chose to be miserable before we even started running. If he was struggling bc he had a cramp, didn't feel well, hit the wall etc, i would have been supportive but he didn't even give it a chance!

He blew the run before we even started bc of his negativity. Do you get to pick the weather for a marathon? NO. The course? NO. News flash Ryan, most marathons ARE on Sundays!!!! Who gets so mad about running on a sunday? We ran for just under 3 hours. Now those 3 hours are going to happen REGARDLESS of what we are doing, sleeping, reading, watching TV, working or running. If we weren't running for 3 hours then we would be doing somethinng else for 3 hours so suck it up and enjoy it, why make it miserable for BOTH of us Ryan? Actually, i still had a great time. I wish we had run 20 miles but 18 is good enough. About 30 min after our run he texted me saying "we should have done 20, maybe i'll go to the gym and run 2 on the treadmill."
Lucky for us, our next long run together will be at "the happiest place on earth!" BUT, it will also be on a Sunday.....