The Christmas Box for 14 inmates

Today I brought my annual Christmas goody box to the St. Clair County Jail. I have been donating this gift every year since the year my own son was an inmate. I have donated every year since then in honor of one mother who might not be able to donate for her inmate son. Every year I struggle with this & think I probably won't do this again next year because they don't really want the donation and because it really creeps me out every year to go to the jail by myself. But this year I brought enough for 14 inmates to each have a few drinks & a few snacks. This is the only time of year the inmates can have food & snacks from the outside! They distribute the goodys to the inmates on Christmas Eve. It's so sad to me. Every year nobody wants to accept this gift box. Every year they tell me I can't leave it unless I have an inmate. Every year I say I Don't have an inmate, but here's the box in honor of one mama who wasn't able to bring a Christmas box to her son, Merry Christmas. I put the box on the floor and leave. Every year! This year I said I don't have an inmate but  I'm leaving this box for one mama & one son & also for 14 inmates as 14 acts of kindness in honor of 14 victims of San Bernadino. I put the box on the floor and turned to leave. As usual every year & again this year the guard looked at me like I'm crazy. Someone over the speaker said mam what is your name? I said I'm Mary Butler & I'm wishing you a very Merry Christmas. She said Oh OK! Hmm. As I was leaving & heard that slam & click of the big heavy locked door. I was still creeped out but I was 14 times happier that I did this again this year! #14actsofkindness #14acts #14MerryChristmasWishes #TisTheSeason #BeKind #HashtagThe60s #MaryButlerMerryChristmas

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

I stepped outside this morning and fell in love with that first hint of Fall in the air! The colors were gorgeous! Mother Nature just has a way about herself this time of year! The sky is bluer than usual. The clouds are prettier! The last summer blooms are still hanging on to their colors! I do love this time of year! 

Three miles on my schedule this morning! It's running season and I'm not registered for any races until January! What is wrong with that? Everything! My fav running peeps are all on the DL. Plagued with hurt backs & disc issues, broken legs & mystery stomach issues! My running calendar is lonely! 

I'm on the mend from my own injuries which is another reason my running calendar is slacking. But I think I have finally recovered. I spared you all the misery! No pics just in case I wanted to do a blog post! Trust me! It was awful! My own diagnosis was simply Messed Up Feet! I ran the Historic Marine Corp Half Marathon in Fredericksburg Virginia in May. Who knew Virginia had such brutal hills? Who knew the downhills were even more brutal? I did not! 

By the end of the race my feet were swollen and my toes were killing me. I didn't think much about it. Just that it was hot and I needed to finish and kick my shoes off! 

By the next morning I could hardly walk! My feet were swollen even more and both big toes were purple. As in Barney purple. Purple!  Later that afternoon in an ice bath soak both toenails basically exploded off my toes and I was soaking in a blood bath! In the hotel room! I considered pics for Instagram but It was just too bad!! So you are welcome for being spared from that trauma! I know. I'm very thoughtful like that!

I struggled all summer long with my poor feet! My poor toe nails have not been polished in months! Every time I ran my feet started swelling all over again! I have lost the same toenails 3 different times on both feet. Seriously! No flip flops or sandals in public all summer! I've kept the band aid companies in business since May! The struggle has been terrible!

But as always things always get better! I think I'm finally on the mend! My toenails are finally growing back. I gave in to the swelling and took a 2 month break from walking or running. Working 12 hour shifts on my feet all day were tough and some days I came home to soak my feet in ice! Yikes! Torture! 

I started out slow in August and have kept my walks in the 3-6 miles per week range. No running at all. Last week I was able to increase to 9 miles for the weekly total with a little bit of running. Today I really wished I had been registered for a 5K!  It was just so nice outside! I really wanted to run the whole 3 miles but I didn't. I kept an easy 12-13 min mile pace  walk run walk run. So far so good. No swelling & I'm wearing flip flops with no toe nail polish :(

I'm working hard to get back to my Half Marathon training schedule! Im so behind! I'm waiting for my fav running girls to recover! I should throw in a disclaimer that they could all breeze right past me even on the DL but I do miss the local races with them! I'll be ramping up my training schedule soon and  don't worry I'll catch up with them!! They will all be back too! 

In the meantime I'm going to enjoy this gorgeous weather and get some miles in however I can! Join me in my race to stay healthy!  Happy Fall Y'all! 

xo peace love & Grandmary

I {heart} running! No I don't!

After our big running Adventure in January with the Walt DisneyWorld Half Marathon and Castaway Cay Challenge ( 16.2 total miles) I found myself wondering how I was going to stay motivated without a training schedule! Its so easy to just take a little break and start back next Monday or the next Monday or the next! All of a sudden if you're not careful its January again! I was right in the middle of taking a little break when I came up with the brilliant idea of Challenges!  I'm always up for a challenge! The first one was the #GrandmarybMarchChallenge #OnYourMarchGetSetGo #LetsGetHealthy By the time I thought of that fabulous idea it was March! It took me 2 months to get to next Monday! See what I mean?! Time just slips away if you are not focused on something! The challenge is to run or walk one mile everyday. #ItsOnlyOneMile So far I haven't missed!

Today is day 16 of my #DontBeAprilFoolishChallenge #ItsSpringtimeGetOutside ! And Glory Glory Its Springtime in Alabama. The Springtime weather is perfect for running but it rains here in the Springtime! It rains alot! Sometimes it rains when you don't think its going to rain! Sometimes it rains just when you get to mile 2 and have a pretty good 'groove' going! Sometimes it rains alot! Thats what happened today! 

Right in the middle of a downpour I decided to just go with it. I was in my neighborhood and the temptation to run home was logical! I was already wet by the time I made it back around to my street. I was suddenly hungry cold and wet! I was easily convincing myself to ditch the run and go home! There was Campbells soup in my pantry and a nice warm shower! Almost irresistible! But my feet just kept running! By mile 2 the bottom fell out and I was drenched! 

As I was getting wetter with every step I was thinking about all the things I love about running. And all the things I hate! For starters its hard work. Its committment. It's exhilarating. Its painful. And sometimes you are cold and wet! Those words are all on the love and hate list! I was thinking of all times I try to find a good logical valid excuse not to exercise! It hurts to exercise! Its time consuming and  usually hot and sweaty too. Again. Love & Hate list! But I feel better when I exercise. I seem to be easier to get along with!  I think I look better too! I tone up and lose those extra flabby pounds that pile on quickly when I don't exercise! #justsayin Does old lady fat ever go away?

I have never been an athlete. Running is hard! The beginning of every run starts with an argument for me! I can do this. No I can't! Yes I can. Shut Up. Quit whining. OK. Ouch. I have found out with a little effort I really can do more than I think I can. Everybody can. I think about that alot. I was thinking about that as I was running in the rain! I can finish the last 2 miles freezing and soaked! It probably won't kill me! And it didn't! 

For some reason hitting my 60th birthday has really made me aware of how important being healthy is! Its almost like #The60's is the home stretch to being really old! Have you noticed when you fill out forms for anything you have to 'check the box' for your age group? There is always a 60-69 box and then its 70 and above. What the heck? I guess i'm starting to wonder what its going to be like when I start having my 'and above' birthdays! 

I have one month until my next birthday! #Hashtagthe60s is going by fast! My goal for #Hashtagthe60s is to nuture my love-hate relationship with running! So I can ease into 'and above' with grace! I'm going to stick with my crazy home-made running challenges! I bet you never guessed that I just made them up! HA! Yup. I did! It keeps me focused. It keeps me committed to myself. It keeps me healthy! Feel free to join me! #Don'tBeAprilFoolish #RunInTheRain Its tops on my love list today! Peace Love & Grandmary

Castaway Cay Challenge!

.We accepted the Disney Castaway Cay Challenge! For the first time in forever Run Disney, Walt Disneyworld and Disney Cruise Line all came together! The first part of the challenge was to complete one of the distance runs at Walt Disneyworld during Marathon Weekend. We chose the Walt Disneyworld Half Marathon! 13.1 Magical Miles! 

The second part of the challenge was to complete the Castaway Cay 5K! 3.1 Magical tropical miles on Disney's private Port of call paradise Castaway Cay! The completion of the two events earns you a whole bunch of Disney swag and bling! We received a half marathon event shirt and finishers medal and a 5k Challenge event shirt and finishers medal and the brand new beautiful Inaugural Castaway Cay Challenge Finishers medal! All great stuff if you are a Disney fanatic, I mean Disney fan!!!

Did I mention that the only way to get to Disneys private Island is by Cruise ship, more specifically, by Disney cruise ship! That was the real challenge! Having enough time money and effort to take a two week Disney vacation! It was a hard choice #Iknow ! But we are troopers no make that warriors! We stepped up to the battle and accepted the challenge! Somebody had to do it! 

We relied on our favorite Disney Travel Planner Main Street Memories to make all the Magic come together! As usual everything was practically perfect in every way! No snags at all! Main Street Memories just makes vacation easy & I recommend letting them book your next trip! 

We set the clock for typical Run Disney dark early thirty! 4:30 am ship time! But thank goodness there was no early bus to catch! We decided to dress in a Mary Poppins and Burt theme! That was really fun! We were even a little costume under dressed compared to some of the other runners! 

We met for breakfast at the Cabanas and then asseombled in our pre assigned corals in the Walt Disney Theatre. It was nice to have a seat to wait in until time to head to the Start Line! This should be mandatory for all future runs! Breakfast ready and waiting and a nice cozy chair! 

After a 5-10 minute pep talk and a review of Island Race Instruction it was time to go! We disembarked the Disney Dream Cruise Ship and within minutes the photos began! A night time view of the ship was a bonus photo op for sure! And of course Mickey and all of his pals were making their way to the course! 

There were 3 corals A B & C with less than 1000 runners. Very small scale for a Run Disney event! After the Mark Get Set Go countdown by Cruise Director Christian & his pal Mickey runners were on their way! We started in Coral B so we had about 5 minutes to wait until it was our turn! Mickey cheered us all the way! 

The course was easy & flat! A little congested all the way simply because its an island! We ran down the airport runway and made a loop around the bike path! It was a scenic view of all the green bushes and trees on the Island! The Disney Fab 6 characters, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Pluto were on the course for pictures and Magical Motivation! 

We walked the majority of the 3.1 miles and just enjoyed taking the scenic route! We were not in a big rush but of course we ran across the finish line and finished strong! We recieved the Castaway Cay 5k finishers medal and the beautiful Inaugural Castaway Cay Challenge Finishers medal! We did it! We finished both of our races! 16 .2 miles! 

We returned to the ship and ate breakfast again! After a much needed shower and short nap we soon forgot about that 4:30 am wake up call! We spent the rest of the day in a lazy lounge chair on the Island! It was the perfect way for catching up on a little R&R! Neither of these R's stand for Run! 

After a fabulous Disney Island style bar b que lunch we returned to the ship again to celebrate Pirate night! Pirate Mickey was waiting for us! He loved our medals! I think i heard him say Hi ya Pal! I hope to see ya again real soon! I hope so too! 

It was really fun to be part of the Inaugural Castaway Cay Challenge. It was a great Disney run, theme park and cruise vacation!  There's been alot of Magic and Bling from Cinderella Castle to The Disney Dream for us this year! So far 2015 has been a really good year!

xoxo Peace Love Mickey Mouse & Grandmary!

We did it!

The Walt Disneyworld Half Marathon is in the books! We did it! 13.1 miles was the goal & we both ran our part! If you do a little fuzzy math thats a Marathon between us! We usually give a 50/50 effort so that works out great for us! Way to go US! Way to ring in 2015 with a goal & way to rock #the60's!

We had a great run overall. We kept a really good run/walk pace for the first 6 miles. At the halfway point around mile 7 Johnny started having some leg cramps. We kept the walk/run pace but increased our walk time for the next few miles. At mile 9 the cramps were a little more intense so we just walked the rest of the way! It was fun! We had plenty of time to take some great pictures and just enjoy being out there! 

Running through Cinderella Castle is the most Magical part of the race! It was our first time to run through the Castle together! So much fun! This is truly the highlight of the course! The sun was beginning to break through when we got there! It was a perfect way to say Good Morning to the Magic Kingdom!

If you know me at all you know we have a thing about this fountain at Epcot! There has always been a table with two coffee cups calling our names! We always drink and watch the Fountain! It is spectacular! Every time i have ran thru Epcot I have wished Johnny was waiting for me with coffee! Today we didnt stop for coffee but we did stop for a photo op!

Mile 13 was a wonderful sight! We were just about finished! We were feeling good at that point and had our eyes on the Finish Line! 

Im so proud of us for finishing the Walt Disneyworld Half Marathon! We did it! Together! Im proud of Johnny for all of his efforts & staying on course with me! I am  so happy to have the Bling! So far I LOVE #the60's! 

Life is good in #the60's! Peace love & Grandmary