Disney Envy and Summer Plans

I’m feeling better tonight!  Perhaps it was the fact that I spent the morning on the couch and the afternoon napping.  Haha.

Back to school tomorrow and then I’ll be playing catch-up.  School is starting to get busier again, with a take-home midterm due by Monday, a lab project due Monday, a midterm Tuesday, a quiz Wednesday, cases Thursday, a makeup quiz sometime next week, another big midterm the following week + quiz + cases….you get the picture, and it’s not a very pretty one.  Not much I can do about it other than make sure I know exactly what needs to be done and then just do it.

As a lay there on the couch today, I had some time to think about what I want to accomplish in terms of races this year.  Last fall, I wrote this post about my plans for 2011, which included several triathlons, but now that I know what I’ll be doing this summer, I’ve had a change of heart.  You see, between 3rd and 4th year, we dental students are allowed to work under the supervision of a dentist within the province, and so as of Monday, I found myself a job.  I’m really excited about it, but there’s a bit of a catch: I’m moving for the summer.  Now, obviously this is not ideal, since I’m the mother of two and married to a man I actually like to spend time with.  However, the reality is that there just aren’t many summer job opportunities in the city where I live, so I made the decision to look in a city 3 hours away, where my sister lives, where I have previously lived and have friends, and where I may potentially return to following graduation if I can’t find a job here.

We still haven’t worked out the particulars.  In all likelihood, the kids will move with me, since my husband is overnight a couple of times per week with his new job – in the city where I’ll be working, for the most part.  There is a bit of method to the madness.  However, I will likely be solo parenting most of the time, so the idea of fitting in swimming, biking, and running is a bit overwhelming.  I’m sure if I were really committed, I could do it, but the fact of the matter is, at this point, I don’t feel like I have the mental capacity to try and balance it all this summer.  Thus, I have made the decision to focus on running this summer.

Now, since I’ve been struggling with an IT band injury since last August (!), I am hesitant to sign up for a longer distance, but since I was unable to race in my half marathon last year, I’d like to take another shot at it this year.  I hope I don’t regret it.

In addition to wanting to set some race goals to kickstart my fitness motivation, I’m finding that school is making my life…unpleasant right now and I really want something to look forward to.  After reading a couple of blog posts about Disney’s Princess Half Marathon Weekend here and here, I was reminded of how much I enjoyed the Disney Marathon I walked in 2001.  Truly, Disney puts together a magical experience.  And so I got to thinking that maybe it was time to sign up for another Disney race, but this time in California.  The Disneyland Half Marathon runs on Sunday, September 4th, 2011, which is a long weekend here in Saskatchewan, so I wouldn’t even have to miss any school.  Of course the drawback is that we’d be at Disneyland without enough time to really explore it with the kids, but I LOVE Disney, so even a couple of days would be so much fun.  As a backup, the Queen City Marathon is on Saturday, September 8th, so I could always sign up for that if I don’t want to commit to the cost of Disney, given my recent history of injury.

Right now, I’m not 100% sure that I’m going to sign up, but I’ll be making a decision soon.  I’ll also post the other races I plan to run once I talk it over with my trainer.

What are your plans for the summer?  Any races lined up?