Have you been to the Polynesian Village Resort in Disney World?  Then you must know O’Hana.   As Lilo and Stich taught us, O’Hana means “family”…..but in my family, if you try to steal something off somebody else’s plate — you risk losing a finger!  But no worries…..at THIS O’Hana, there’s enough to go around.  MORE than enough.  Which meant it was the perfect place for a Post-Marathon celebration dinner!

The O’Hana restaurant is on the second floor of the Polynesian Resort.   It overlooks the Seven Seas Lagoon and is decked out in Polynesian style – complete with dark woods and totem poles and tiki gods.  [I myself have never seen a tiki god, but that’s how I guess they will look when we roll into each other , someday].  The food is served family style and the main entrees are meat — served from large skewers. Chicken, Steak, Shrimp, Pork — all grilled over an open fire right in the center of the restaurant.  It’s protein overload — and for the first time in a long time — I wasn’t counting my Weight Watchers Points.  My Active Link activity monitor informed me that I had earned 49 Activity Points running the Marathon.  That’s an entire week of Weekly Points for a WW member.  So….I was perked up, and ready to s.p.e.n.d. ’em!  I even ordered myself a drink!  WHAT???  I know, right?  Other than a few sips of champagne on New Years Eve, I really haven’t had an alcoholic beverage in over 4 months.  I wasn’t throwing caution to the wind entirely —  so I ordered a Skinny Coconut Mojito.  Ahhh, two things I love most….Coconut and Skinny, together at last!  It doesn’t happen too often!  I capped my limit at 1 — since I was probably a bit oxygen deprived from the run, and this glass of skinny yumminess was going straight to my head!  I would be in bed, asleep before 8pm this night.  It was a sure thing!

Dinner was great fun.  With me were all the people I love most in this world — my Mom, my sister Debbie, my husband Peter, and our girls Caitlin and Erin.  We laughed, and cheered, and remembered the day together.  I wore my medal.  HECK YEAH!   Most runners did.  This was the Celebration — and everyone we met had tons of congratulatory comments for us.  26.2 miles — it was a B.I.G. Deal!  And this was the FUN part.  The reminiscing.  All the work was done….and we could sit back together and laugh, cry, joke and eat Banana bread pudding a la mode for dessert.  What could be better?!!!

The next morning, we would be flying home.  Back to NJ, back to school.  Our plan was to breakfast at Chef Mickey’s over in the Contemporary Resort, and then head to the airport.  So the food fest continued.  I allowed myself to enjoy (guilt free), some Mickey waffles, with Mickey butter, and Mickey syrup.   Truthfully, the coffee was the best part.  Our family of 4 had our photo taken in the waiting lounge.  It turned out so well, we bought it.  Another momento of a fantastic (albeit fast) weekend.  Here we are — pre-waffles.   Caitlin, Erin, Peter and me (Diane).

Ahhhh — the food was fun.  But, again — it’s important to have a plan when you jump out of a plane!  Before the O’Hana dinner — I already drew the line.  My parachute would launch after the Chef Mickey Breakfast, and …well…..back to normal I go.  My coach turned back into a pumpkin, and this Cinderella gladly turned back into a Weight Watcher.  Funny observation — it felt good to be back!  Inside, I felt On Top Of The World.  And eating like an athlete, just helped me keep feeling like one.  This vicious circle is working in my favor now…..and I’m going to fuel it, and get every mile out of it I can.  Then as the week ended, weighing in on Saturday and losing 1 pound, for a total of 80 pounds lost was like an exclamation point on the entire week!

Home we went.  and Home is where I am now as I write today.  This Marathon experience ends today I suppose.  Although people still ask me about it everywhere I go.  I gladly dig back into my memory and share my day.  Yet I always remember to mention the 18 weeks of work that took me to the Starting LIne.  LOL….people always want to talk about the 26.2 miles that got me to the Finish Line.  As for me?  I like to think more about the 600 miles I ran in training….just to get to the Start.   It was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G Diane!  Never forget — You are So Capable of Anything.  Anything you want to do.

So what’s next????   I have some ideas.  We’ll start exploring them tomorrow.  But for now, I want to thank you so much for being my companion on this beautiful journey!

Ciao for now……  Diane