Disney Princess Half Marathon Race Recap

day before race at packet pick up

Almost two weeks ago (wow I’m behind), I ran the Disney Princess Half Marathon! This is the race I signed up for when I was pregnant with AB as my 1st post-baby race, and it was going to be the one I trained for. I ended up running the Celebration Half as well before it, but kept up with my training anyways. I ended up missing only 3 training runs total during the whole training cycle, which went through all the holidays. Considering I never trained successfully for any race before, that in itself was an accomplishment. Since I got my PR at Celebration, I wasn’t going into the Disney Princess with that expectation. Disney races are always so crowded/congested that your times are usually slower. Once I hit mile 10, I realized my pace was much better than I thought it was going to be and realized I could PR if I pushed myself, I decided to do just that. You can see my stats below that my last mile was my fastest, it’s usually my slowest. I definitely ended with a negative split for this race. I PR’d by almost 2 full minutes from the Celebration Half. I even stopped to use the bathroom during mile and had to wait in a decent line. I felt surprisingly good that day and the days after the race. Training really pays off!

As I’ve mentioned before, I really do have a love/hate relationship with Disney races. That 2:45 am wakeup call really sucks! I rode over to Epcot with my neighbor, and we left at 3:10am to beat the traffic. We met up with some of her Disney running friends and hung out with them until it was time to make the long trek to the starting corrals. I didn’t know anyone in my starting corral so the wait for the start wasn’t very enjoyable, especially because it was chilly out and I was wearing short sleeves and capris. Luckily I had a hand warmer that I was rubbing all over my body to keep myself as warm as possible. I didn’t want my phone to die during the race (I stream my music with Bluetooth headphones and use the GPS on my RunKeeper) so I kept it on airplane mode while I waited until the 5:30 start, so I didn’t even have that to occupy me, just lots of people watching! I was in corral I and finally crossed the start line around 6am.

Overall, I felt really good the entire run. I never really felt super tired nor did I hit any kind of wall. My pace stayed pretty consistent until I sped up during the last 5k to get my PR. And the last 5k includes running up the overpass, that's just killer during the last few miles, still shocked I was able to speed up! As usual, Disney has more than enough water stops and such great entertainment. Although, I don’t think I’ll ever be one of those people who stands in line for character pictures during the race, I cringe even watching time pass me by when I wait in line for the bathroom. I LOVE the spectators at the Disney races. There are so many people cheering you on, holding funny signs, and passing out goodies. They really do make the experience a great one! G, the girls and my FIL came to see me finish but somehow missed actually seeing me. Which doesn’t surprise me since I missed seeing them too, and I knew where they were and was looking hard! (after I finished we watched for another friend to finish and we missed her too, there is just SO many people it’s crazy!). I was just glad to see them there at the end after I was done! Next year I plan to sign up for the Glass Slipper Challenge, which is a 10k on Saturday followed by the Half on Sunday. I wanted to do it this year, but wasn't sure how I'd be after having the baby so didn't want to take on too much. Next year, I'm totally doing it! (it's the only Disney challenge I'll be doing as all the others require a full marathon, and I have no desire to do one of those!).

my favorite cheerleader

My Stats:

Official Chip Time: 02:35:24 (overall pace of 11:52)

Place: 5242 of the 8498 Women finishers

Place: 1072 of the 3957 in my Women’s Age Division (25-29)

5k Split: 39:18

10k Split: 1:15:51

15k Split: 1:52:46

My RunKeeper stats (which accounts for the zigzagging)

13.68 miles in 2:35:36 (overall pace of 11:51)

Fastest Mile: #13 at 10:53

Slowest Mile: #5 at 12:23 <- where I stopped to use the bathroom

pretty race medal

Walt Disney World 10k Race Recap

So, last Friday was the Inaugural Walt Disney World 10k .If you remember, I have a love/hate relationship with Disney races and this one was not different starting with a very early wake up! The alarm went off at 3:30am, I snoozed until 3:40 and then G, our friend Ryan and myself were out the door by 4am. We arrived and parked at Epcot right around 4:30ish and by 4:45 made our way to the start corrals for the 5:30 start. I theory, we could have left a little later, but then traffic gets so bad that you potentially can’t get there in time. 10,000 runners + volunteers, vendors, and supporters, all trying to be at the same place, at the same time, at Disney = a traffic nightmare, hence why we tried to get there by the recommended 4:30. All three of us started in Corral D (there was a total of 5 corrals: A-E) so we were second to last which means we didn’t even cross the start line until a good 30 minutes after the race start fireworks were launched. G and Ryan decided to be smart and just walk the 10k since they were doing the Dopey Challenge (Thursday: 5k, Friday: 10k, Saturday: ½ Marathon, and Sunday: Full Marathon – 7.000 people signed up for the Dopey Challenge which means 70% of the 10k runners were Dopey Challengers) and didn’t want to outdo themselves before the long races. So, like usual, I ran alone. Normally I don’t mind, but for some reason this race sucked. First off, I should have known it was going to be a bad idea to wear long sleeves. It was chilly in the morning, but by the time I made it to the corral (I power walked because I had to go back to the car to switch out my headphones since the ones I brought didn’t work with my lifeproof case and we had a spare set in the car) I was already too warm for the long sleeve tech shirt and I knew that wasn’t going to be good for the run. By mile one I was already hot and sweaty and if I had more confidence, I would have taken it off and ran in my sports bra. I’m not that confident and therefore suffered the whole time. In addition to being hot, my stomach was GROWLING. Since I’m dieting, err making a lifestyle change, I’ve been eating a reduced amount of calories and the day/night before the race I didn’t indulge in some good carbs like I normally do before a race so by like mile 2, my stomach was growling and I was so hungry. The banana and Clif Mini bar I had for breakfast just weren’t cutting it. Also, for a Disney race, it lacked the vast entertainment that I’m used to. I’m not sure if it’s because the race was on a typical “work/school day”or what but normally I find their races VERY entertaining, and this one just seemed to be lacking. So pretty much, I just kept telling myself, the faster I get done, the faster I can eat (Disney always gives you a snack box at the end of the races). I seriously devoured the box in just a few minutes once I got my medal. I then walked to the car and waited for the boys.

The course itself was good, although I always complain about the boring part where you just run on the street and not in the parks, but overall the course was enjoyable. We ran through the boardwalk and resorts and through Epcot. There were 4 water stops, which was perfect and for once I didn't have to go to bathroom while running so I didn't pay attention to availability but I know there were a good amount and none really had lines that I noticed. The finish line and just general race supporters were definitely a lot less prominent, and once again, not sure if it’s because it was a week/school day or what but normally the finish line is PACKED with people, this time it just wasn’t. During my run, I saw a girl with a boot on, just walking it. I thought to myself, no way I’d do this in a boot, but then again maybe if I had already paid the race participant fee + had my travel plans paid for (assuming she wasn’t a local) than I might think differently. Way to go, Boot Girl! I also saw another girl with a boot on using one of those walker things and was quite impressed. I’m assuming it’s the same circumstances, didn’t want to just eat all the money spent to be there. G happened to see her – or at least someone also using a walker with a boot - during the ½ on Saturday so I almost wonder if she was a Dopey Challenger). When I’m injured, I’m the laziest person ever, it was refreshing to see people not let their injuries get in the way of their goal. (Although, I’m not sure how SMART that is in regards to recovery). Anyways, even though the run sucked due to my own circumstances, the race wasn’t that bad and I finished in a reasonable time for not training. After the race, I went home and got ready for work and made it there by 9:20, not too shabby.

These guys were pretty cool:

And of course the sweet medals:

My Stats:

Official Chip Time: 01:17:58 (overall pace of 12:32)

Place: 4396 of 9234 finishers

Place: 1941 of the 5193 Women Finishers

Place: 239 of 649 in my Women’s Age Division (25-29)

5k Split: 37:56

My RunKeeper stats (which accounts for the zigzagging, run off to the bathroom, etc.):

6.37 miles in 1:18:07 (overall pace of 12:15)

Fastest Mile: #1 at 11:41

Slowest Mile #6 at 13:32

Five on Friday

(ONE)

I ran the Inaugural Walt Disney World 10k this morning, yes on a work day – and somehow still made it to work by 9:20! Full race recap to come over the weekend, but until then check out the sweet medal!

(TWO)

This weekend I’m going to work on putting together a strength training plan. I got resistance bands and kettle bells for Christmas and I want to start incorporating them into my workouts (currently all I do now is run/walk). Any suggestions? I’m going to start with adding this in at least one day a week. It should be at least two days a week, but I need to get back into a routine so I’ll start with just one.

(THREE)

As I was running this morning, it got me thinking about how many different races I’ve participated in. I used to keep track of them on Daily Mile and then I started using Run Keeper and now I keep track of everything on an excel spreadsheet but it didn’t capture all of my previous races so I decided to compile a list and keep here on the blog and add to it as I complete more. The times listed are my “official chip times” unless the race wasn’t shipped and then it’ll be my own timing of it. To date I’ve completed 26 official races. Not bad, especially considering I only running races in April of 2010. If you are interested, here is a list of all of them.

(FOUR)

Today completed EM’s first week in her new classroom, Toddler A, at Day Care. This was a big move for her because in Toddler A,  they take naps on mats, not in cribs. Apparently she’s doing well with that. I’m shocked. She only ever sleeps in her crib, pack’n’play, swing, or car seat, so a mat on the floor seemed like it was going to be tough to get her to fall asleep, but they say they just pat her back and she eventually goes to sleep. They also are on a strict curriculum, changing activities every 15 minutes. They also do a lot more educational stuff and play outside. She’s come home with 2-3 pages of things she did each day. They are teaching her how to color as well. All of this in one week. 

(FIVE) 

EM and I have a play date tomorrow with some of the neighbors. We're excited :) 

Road Trip and 2013 Reminiscing

As we make the 30+ hour drive to Glendale, AZ for the UCF Fiesta Bowl and catching up on some blog reading, I see a lot of 2013 recaps and it got me thinking about my year. We (and by we, I don't mean me, I haven't driven 1 mile) have been driving since Sunday, Dec 29, 10am est and it's now 1:15pm MTN on the 30th. We've made stops for gas, food, and bathroom breaks. It hasn't been that bad (as a passenger). I've read 1.5 books and watched 2 movies. The most exciting part was a wrong turn around 3am that took us through the adorable (as adorable as a town can appear at 3am) town of Bandera, TX. We ran into some other crazy driving Knight fans in Alabama at a random gas station and have been tweeting with some other road trip knight fans. It's been fun. I'll do a full recap of our trip once we get back but for now, wanted to touch on highlights of the year.

(1) As cliche as it sounds, the number one highlight of my year has been watching Miss EM grow. From a newborn to a toddler, babies change sooo much. EM's little personality has developed so much and she is such a good baby. I seriously have never met or heard of a baby has good/easy as EM. (Terrifies me for a second child, no way we can get that lucky twice). She is my little angel, my little buddy, Mommy's little girl. I love her so much, and also cliche to say, but until you have your own child, you really can't comprehend the love between a parent and child, it's incredible!

(2) G and I celebrated our one year anniversary in February. We stayed at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge and had a safari view room. Having giraffes outside your balcony was very cool! (I'm a sucker for animals) Having a 3 month old, I didn't want to be far away but still wanted to be able to celebrate being husband and wife. We took EM to Animal kingdom of on the Friday of that weekend and can't wait to take her back now that she's a little older and loves characters. EM stayed with my in laws for the rest of the weekend so that we could enjoy some US time, We ate at some nice restaurants (Coral Reef and Boma) and walked around the parks. We had a wonderful first year and it was a great first anniversary.

(3) I went on 5 cruises this year. I know, crazy. All of them (except the one where I was sick and couldn't leave the room) were so much fun in their own ways. I know next year, we only have one booked (in February) and that will probably be our only one since I'm hoping to be pregnant, and that is definitely a good enough reason to miss cruising in 2014. 

(4) I started 2013 with a goal of running/walking 300 miles in the year. I log all my walking/running activity, even if it's the half mile round trip to my in laws (hey, everything counts!). About half way through the year I realized I was going to definitely going to be able to beat 300 miles and upped my goal to 400 miles with a stretch goal of 500. I did end up having a bunionectomy in July, so that put a damper on any running/walking for about 6-8 weeks but I'm still very happy to report, as of December 28th I logged 421.88 miles for the year. I may even get a few more today and tomorrow while we are in AZ. I'm not making a 2014 mile goal since I don't know when I'm going to get pregnant and how much ill actually be able to run but I did make a 30 before 30 goal of 1000 miles by 11/2/2015 so that's essentially 500/miles each year. Even with recovering from giving birth (I think I got my go-ahead to start exercising again in Mid-Jan) and my foot surgery, I completed 8 races, and  the first one wasn't even until July. [(1) 2 Miler, (1) 4 Miler, (1) 5 Miler, (1) 10 Miler, (1) Half Marathon, (3) 5ks].

(5) As part of a team, G and I helped raise over $7,000 for Give Kids the World and I couldn't be more proud of our team for raising such a substantial amount of money for such an amazing organization. (Will link recap here once I get non-mobile) 

(6) As a UCF football fan, this has been quite a year. Obviously that's a GOOD "quite" as I'm writing this while driving over 30 hours to go see our team play. UCF beat multiple ranked teams, has been ranked higher in the polls than ever before in the school's history and is playing (and hopefully winning) their first ever BCS Bowl Game. We traveled to Penn State in September to see them play and that was probably one of the most fun football events I've ever attended (other than the one where I met G of course!) and I can only hope these few days in AZ come close that level of fun! (or even top it) EM enjoyed coming to the games as well! 

(7) Having only been in our house a few months of 2012 (and with a newborn) we didn't really start making it our home until 2013. We've been enjoying adding our own personality to the house by decorating/completing some of the rooms and filling the house with pictures of EM and our family! 

(8) We did Drinks around the World in October and that is always such a fun event! Was nice to have my family and  my husband's family and our friends all together having a great time!  

(9) After much back and forth of what exactly I'd be writing about, I started this blog in August. I love that I've found a new hobby and love the blog community. I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm shocked with how involved I've become with the blog but I actually look forward to the opportunity to share my (our) life with the world (ok, not the world but the very small amount of people who actually read it) and even if it's only a few people, I love writing! I hope I continue to enjoy it as much through 2014. This is my 80th post. I'd say that is dedication for 4ish months.

Happy New Year All! 

Weekend Shenanigans

This weekend totally fits in with the Weekend Shenanigans link up!

What a game Friday night for my UCF Knights!! I didn’t watch most of the game until the 2^nd half because my parents were in town so I was chatting with them and my mother in law but had the game was on in the background. We knew every time something big happened because of the cheering (or cursing at times) coming from upstairs where G, his dad, and our buddy Will were watching the game on the big screen. About the end of the 3^rd quarter I started watching a little more closely and by the last 10 minutes of the 4^th quarter I was on the edge of my seat! We had a few friends at the game and I was totally jealous! I know how it felt when we went to the Penn State game and won, I’m sure this was even better. For us Knights to beat out the #8 ranked team in the country; that was HUGE! It is our biggest win in UCF Football program history! I’m glad that I at least got to see it on TV! No pics since we were just watching it at home, but my friends who were at the game sent us this one:

Plus Sunday’s rankings came out, and as happy as I am to be ranked, considering how some of the other teams did, I was a little disappointed we weren’t ranked a little higher, but we’ll take it! Even more excited for the game on Saturday vs UCONN!!

On Saturday, G and I and 10 of our family members and friends hit up the Food and Wine at Disney’s Epcot to Drink around the World. (DATW) We’ve done this several years (sometimes more than once a year) in a row now (last year I was pregnant, and it was not fun for me, but every other time has been a blast! ). This year one of my best friends and her fiancé drove up from South Florida to join us. For being mid-October, it was freaking hot (like 90 degrees), my Dad’s poor face got soo burned! I wanted to take pics in every country and keep track of what I got in each one (to blog about it), but after a few drinks, that idea went out the window. We always start and end in the Rose and Crown pub in England and Saturday was no exception. EM came along with us and enjoyed all the extra attention from everyone! We’re those type of people who don’t let having kids stop us from having a good time. All of our friends love her, plus she had her aunties and uncles and both sets of Grandparents with her, so she was well taken care of once Mommy had one too many. I LOVE the fact that my family gets along so well with my in-laws and that we can all get together and do things together! Because we stayed on Disney Property (we stayed at the Disney All Star Sports Resort so we didn’t have to worry about driving) we got to test out the new Magic Bands. Only select people get to try them out, they function as your room key, park admission, fast passes, your way to use your meal plan, and also your credit card. The last part was dangerous as I apparently got reallllly generous towards the end of the night and kept swiping my band and was buying everyone (very expensive Disney priced) drinks. My bill on Sunday morning was not a nice surprise! Oh well, totally worth it! Can’t wait until the next time we DATW!! Some how I didn't get any group pictures but here are a few of the many we took! and there were apparently a few videos that G just showed me... yea, those are not going up in blog land, or facebook! 

this was before I changed my shirt, it was TOO hot to not be in a tank

every ime we do DATW, I go on a hat stealing spree lol
Love my Sister!

in Germany, more than half way around the world

G and I in Germany

EM playing the drums in Mexico

Carish I-Bombs

boys being silly and photo bombing us
notice a different hat lol

On Sunday, I took a much needed nap to recover from Saturday and then had a Target/Panera date with EM at since Daddy was sleeping since he had to work at midnight (night shift this week, boo!)

she loves the shopping cart

Thursday Thoughts

Linking up with Jen at Ramblings of a Suburban Mom for Thursday's Thoughts!

• Just re-started my Birchbox  subscription - got it for three months in the spring and thought it was just alright so I paused it but lately some of the reviews are looking better so figured I'd give it a shot again.

• I also signed up for ipsy since those reviews look even better than Birchbox and I knew there would be a wait list, once ipsy starts coming I'll probably pause birch box again - anyone who knows me, knows I'm not THAT into beauty products, but I'm trying. Regardless, I don't think I need two ongoing subscriptions.

• One of the bloggers I follow (the one I linked up with today) gets a bajilloon subscription boxes each month (she started as my main go-to girl when looking for reviews on boxes and then I just enjoyed reading all her blogs - so now I regularly read her stuff) but yea she put up a promo code "FB7OFF" for Love With Food today, only $5 for your first month, cancel anytime so I'm trying that one out too this month! If I had a lot more random disposable income I'd probably subscribe to some more baby/kids boxes for EM but they tend to be on the pricier side so we'll just stick to Citrus Lane for now, which came today!

• I started realizing how obsessed I was getting with weighing myself every day - always first thing in the morning  (pretty much every single week day for years except when I was pregnant), so I decided to try only once a week. So last Friday I weighed myself and so far so good, haven't jumped on the scale but out of habit I almost did a few times. Will be interesting to see what it says tomorrow. Was really good with food choices this week and did walk or run 4x this week (3-4x/wk is my goal) and logged 17.96 miles!

• I'm going to undo all my hard work mentioned above on Saturday while we Drink around the World at Epcot's World Showcase - and it's also the 'Food and Wine Festival' so I'll be eating some around the world too lol if you've never done this, grab a group of friends, and do it! It's so much fun! Can't freaking wait!

• EM was 11 months yesterday and this was the first month I didn't get her monthly sticker picture on the exact day - I was going to do it after her last nighttime sippy cup before I put her to bed, she had other ideas: 

  

  like passing out

  
  

  

  but I got one this morning :)

Disclosure: This post contains referral links!

Tower of Terror 10 Miler Recap

Well I spent an hour typing this post up on my iPad last night and the Blogger app crashed as I hit save (and it didn’t auto save along the way). I am no longer ever trying to post from the app again! So here we go again…and sorry in advance, it’s REALLY long!

Saturday night, G and I ran The Twilight Zone 2013 Tower of Terror 10 Miler. If you remember from my previous post, I was not looking forward to this race at all. After only running about 6 times since I was allowed to start running again (post-surgery), being sick this week, and it being a night race, I am very happy with my 2:07:05 finish. G and I separated after Mile 1 (he wasn’t feeling too good and wasn’t doing any set type of intervals so it was driving me crazy).  I pretty much ran 3/1 intervals except when there was a water stop that didn’t align with my walking intervals (which only happened ONCE) but I just modified as they came. I jammed out to the Cult Pop station on the iHeartRadio app which played the perfect music to keep me pumped during the run. I really didn’t start to feel tired until Mile 7ish and a nice lady gave me a strawberry GU (she saw me starting to struggle) and that helped perk me back up to finish. It was also at that point that I realized I wasn’t going to be able to make my 2 hr mini-goal, so I didn’t push it as hard the last few miles. I will definitely say, when I finally saw the entrance to Hollywood Studios around 8.5 miles, I was never happier to see that entrance, since I knew that the finish line was close! There is definitely something to be said about the Runner’s High you get after crossing the finish line,  hearing the people cheer you on, and getting that medal hung around your neck.. it’s awesome! My body on the other hand, feels nothing close to awesome… omg so sore! (note to self: must actually train for next long race!!)

patiently waiting in our corral

the best sign of the race.. close to the finish line!

My Stats:

Official Chip Time: 02:07:05 (overall pace of 12:43

Place: 4083 of 9478 Finishers

Place: 2241 of the 6132 Women Finishers

Place: 443 of 1182 in my Women’s Age Division (25-29)

5k Split: 37:18

10k Split: 1:17:06

My RunKeeper stats (which accounts for the zigzagging, run off to the bathroom, etc.):

10.18 miles in 2:07:07 (overall pace of 12:29)

Fastest Mile: #3 at 11:45

Slowest Mile #10 at 13:11

G’s stats (yes, I beat him by a whole 30 seconds!):

Official Chip Time: 02:07:35 (overall pace of 12:46)

Place: 4149 of 9478 finishers

Place: 1863 of the 3346 Men Finishers

Place: 328 of the 563 in his Men’s Age Division (30-34)

5k Split: 38:35

10k Split: 1:18:55

His RunKeeper stats:

10.25 miles in 2:09:40 (overall pace of 12:32)

Fastest Mile: #4 at 11:50

Slowest Mile #10 at 12:56

I kind of have a love/hate relationship with Disney races and I always say “I’m never running another Disney race again” but then I sign up for another one anyways, must be because my love factors always outweigh the hate factors. Here are my Love/Hate factors for Disney Races (with some specifics to this race thrown in)

HATE:

• PRICE: All Disney races are just SO expensive and that is the one thing I hate the most! I paid around $165 for this 10 miler after purchasing the commemorative pin and all the fees. (I insist on buying the pins, I don’t know why, all I do is put them on my cork board at work, but I MUST get them!) There are non-Disney marathons that are less than $100 yet I paid wayyy more than that for a 16 mile shorter race just because it’s Disney. (and I know a lot of the money goes into the things I LOVE about Disney races but it’s just hard to justify sometimes)

  

  my super cool pin

  
  
• TIMING: All races require you to get there relatively early before they actually start. (Most want you to be there about 45 minutes before start time) Now with Disney races, you always have to get there soo much earlier because of the traffic, crowds, parking, corral placements, etc. The morning races are really tough because it requires you to get up in the middle of the night! This particular race, since it started right outside Hollywood Studios and the park was still open required us to park at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports. We had to be sure to be parked and on their shuttle by 8pm according to race instructions, so by 8:15 we were walking around the pre-race area for a race that wasn’t even going to start until 10pm and our corral wasn’t due to cross start line until around 10:15 (we had to be IN our corrals by 9:15). So, for about the time it would take me to run the race, I was sitting there tired (it was already close to my bedtime) and waiting for it to begin. It is just the nature of a race of this magnitude, and ALL of their races draw huge amount of participants and volunteers/spectators, so it has to be done, but doesn’t mean I’ll ever like it. (I love my sleep way too much!)
• COURSE: I guess I don’t hate all the courses, some of the other races I’ve done have been better than this one. I just feel like in general way too much of the courses are on Osceola Parkway. Which yes it is Disney property, and yes they have a ton of entertainment (see #1 like below), and yes, I know they have park hours and other non-race guests to accommodate but I just feel like more of the courses should be IN the parks. I don’t know how they could make it possible and I’m sure if they could they would, but running up and down Osceola Parkway really exciting enough for me (even with the entertainment!) 

LOVE:

• ENTERTAINMENT: If you’ve never been to a Disney race, you won’t understand this. Disney’s race entertainment is fabulous! From pre-race to post-race, they keep the crowd going! They have some sort of photo opp (usually characters) during every single mile, a cool poster for each mile marker, and all sorts of other entrainment and special features (fireworks, cool lighting, photographers etc). There is also a huge amount of volunteers and spectators that are along the side lines of the course cheering you on and holding up funny posters! One of these days I’m going to run a Disney race and actually take advantage of it all. Usually I just want to finish so bad that I’m not willing to wait in 30 person deep line to take a picture (yes, THAT many people do stop and take pics) but one day I will. (it’s not like I’m ever really fast, so I don’t know why I insist on rushing through the course) PLUS you get to run through the parks! As noted in the hate section, not all of the courses are ever entirely in the parks but running through Cinderella’s castle, behind the scenes of Hollywood studios, on the warming track of the Brave’s spring training stadium, etc makes Disney races special. A lot of where you run during a Disney race you can’t get to during normal park hours. (When we ran the Disneyland Half Marathon a few years ago we also got to run through the warming track of the LA Angels MLB Stadium!)

  

  the start line

  

  fireworks at the start

  
  

  

  running on the Brave's warming track

  

  some cool lighting
  
  

• WATER STOPS: All my longer races were ran with a camelback on, so going into this race I was a little nervous knowing I only had my one 16.9 oz water bottle in my hand. Luckily it felt like the water stops were perfectly placed (even if they didn’t align with my walk intervals lol) and I never felt like I didn’t have enough water. I was able to fill my bottle up as well so that I had my “clutch” in case I got super thirsty!
• PEOPLE:  Being around so many people with the same running enthusiasm is great! Everyone is so friendly (well let me preface this with the people I interact with, not the serious “Corral A” runners, I’ve never been near them, they might not be as friendly since they are trying to actually win). People apologize for stepping on laces, or running into you, and share GU when you are struggling. Whether it’s someone’s 1^st race or 100^th race, it’s so refreshing to share a common goal, to cross the finish line. And so many people stop afterwards and cheer on the rest of the runners as they complete the race too.
• RACE BLING: I’m a sucker for finisher medals, and hands down Disney races have the best medals ever! I mean check out the medal from this race, the elevator even goes up and down! Sometimes medals are even a deciding factor (if they don’t give them out) if I’ll sign up for a race. I’m not sure why the medals matter to me, I mean all I do is hang them in my cubicle at work, but I love them!

awesome medal

OK, like I said, sorry so long, but I think that is why I like blogging because I can type as much as I want and it’s not like a 10 sentence Facebook status update. Everyone who knows me in real life, knows I hardly ever shut up when I talk about things I like (just ask me about cruising, I can go on for days lol) so this is a good place for me to get it all out J Can’t wait for my next Disney race, the Walt Disney World 10k in January!

personalized race bib