Confessions of a Run/Walking Princess

So, it’s begun.  

What up, Snow? Haters gotcha down?

A couple weeks out from the opening of 2015 Princess Half-Marathon registration, eight months before the race, long before anyone has even begun training in earnest for it, the ranting and debates about this race have already started.

From what I’ve seen in various online groups, the primary issue seems to have to do with participants who walk and on-course congestion.  As a mid-to-back of the pack racer, I am entirely familiar with both of these topics, so I’ll say a little something here and leave it at that.

Confessions of a run/walking Princess.

That’s right – I walk some of my races.  In fact, I’ve even walked most of several races.  Sometimes due to injury, sometimes because I’m not feeling great, and sometimes because I don’t care about time and just want to have some fun chatting with a friend, stopping to take pictures, or otherwise enjoying the scene. 

And here’s the thing: I am not alone.  Lots and lots and LOTS of people walk in runDisney races.  And a fairly huge percentage of Princess racers will walk some or all of the race.  In a perfect world, all of us walking folks would be kept far away from the running folk, and we’d all only travel in groups going the exact same pace, and we’d never, ever bunch up and block another runner or walker in their quest to go faster. 

Guess what?  That scenario’s about as likely to happen as world peace.  

"What is the one most important thing our society needs?"
"Harsher punishment for parole violators, Stan."

The reality is that, whether walking or running, a race with almost 30,000 participants is going to have a huge variety of individual speeds, all trying to move forward.  runDinsey tries hard to get us starting with folks close to our own speed by asking our estimated finishing times… but registering eight months out makes that tough; how does someone who’s never before run a half-marathon distance know how fast they’ll be that far in the future?  She doesn’t.  We guess, runDinsey guesses, and we all do our best to make that an educated guess.  If one is able to race a 10K or greater distance and submit that finishing time to runDisney, the guess is based on greater validity, but the end result is still just a guess that can’t take into account illness, injury, or other life happenings that can increase or decrease a racer’s speed. 

So, come race day, a whole lot of individual situations converge onto a single race course.  One person trained to run/walk set intervals, stayed healthy and is ready to stick to those intervals all 13.1 miles.  The person next to her trained the same, but woke up feeling icky and has to walk more than she ever did in training.  Someone in a corral ahead of them turned in a super-fast proof of time and regularly runs a sub-7:00 pace, but pulled a hamstring playing football with his kid a week before the race.  Someone else in the very last corral is just as fast, but has been traveling non-stop for work and was unable to provide a proof of time.  The race turns out to be hotter than expected and several hundred women end up walking, when they planned to run.  The race turns out to be cooler than expected and several hundred women run more than they ever thought they could.  Tutus turn out to be harder to run in than imagined.  New shoes hurt.  Characters on both sides of the course cause racers of all abilities to zig-zag back and forth to get photos.  Runners not wanting to stop try to go around slower racers, but suddenly find the course narrowing. 

Picture all of this happening, times 30,000, over 13.1 miles.  Got a mental picture?  A bit chaotic, no?  

So, is it any wonder that sometimes a slow walker ends up smack-dab in front of a faster runner?  Or that a speedy runner accidentally clips a person standing in line for a photo?  I myself am guilty of the following infractions: walking in the center of the course, bumping arms as I passed a slower racer, walking more than two abreast, moving slower than my estimated finish placement.  And I am sure that I've frustrated other racers. 

What those frustrated folks didn't know was that I chose to walk in the middle because, before I slowed down, I looked around and saw that there were no walkers, only fast runners, on either side, but  someone else walking in the middle, so to avoid clogging things up, I opted to walk behind him.  And the woman with whom I bumped arms probably didn't know that I did so after someone on my other side bumped me, even though I did say "I'm so sorry!" as it happened.  I'm sure the folks coming around a corner to see me and two other racers walking three abreast had no idea that I began walking in a wide open space, only to be joined by two strangers seconds later.  And, certainly, there was no way for other racers to realize that I qualified for my corral placement with a personal record in another race, but had since sustained an injury.

I'm not excusing obvious, intentional rudeness here; that, too, happens on the race course, as it does in every other facet of life.  But I want people - especially people new to runDisney and the Princess Half-Marathon - to realize that not every infraction against "proper race etiquette" is intentional or malicious.  The reality is that there are a whole lotta folks with a whole lotta different abilities and experiences converging in one place and, well... shit happens.

I'm seeing that some folks have had it with the realities of the Princess Half and have chosen not to participate in the race again.  I totally understand this and have had such thoughts, myself. But at some point I realized that, for me, the fun of running at Walt Disney World outweighs some of its challenges.  And that I have lots of choices about how to handle the actions of others.  Personally, I choose to assume no one out there is trying to screw up my race.  I choose to assume we're all doing the best we can with the situation at hand.  I choose to adjust my expectations and roll with whatever comes my way.  I choose to be courteous, and kind, and supportive of my fellow racers.  I choose to be honest and open with readers looking for information about races, to not launch into rants about who "should" or "shouldn't" be allowed to race, or how everyone "must" behave, in order to best prepare them for the realities of runDisney races.

As you may have deduced by now, yes - I'm planning to run Princess again.  The Glass Slipper Challenge, in fact.  And maybe - just maybe - the Triple Crown again.  And I am determined to make it a great experience, for myself and for others!

Happy Princesses make better dancers - and runners!

Race Recap 3: 2014 runDisney Princess Half-Marathon - final leg of my Princess Triple Crown!

2am.  Stupidest-Early EVER.  Time to get up, get ready, get to the race.  Yet again.  ~yawn~

That's how it felt, too.  The joy and excitement of three consecutive days of racing had left the building faster than Elvis and had been replaced by... well, by ambivalence.  It's not that I was dreading another race, so much as I didn't really care much about it.  I just wasn't that into it, if you will.

#ALLTHERACES! Temporary tattoos from Sparkle Athletic - thanks ladies!

Still, I had people to see, things to do, so I hauled my tired ass out of bed and into the shower, pulled on clothes, and got out the door in search of a bus stop.  NOTE: I strongly suggest figuring out where is your nearest bus stop A. in the light of day and B. at a time other than Stupidest-Early EVER.  I knew I was too tired to operate my vehicle by that point, and really didn't want to drag myself another quarter-mile after the race to get to my car, so I opted to take a race bus.  Only, I went the wrong direction, in search of the bus stop.  Halfway across the parking lot, I saw a Princess heading toward me with purpose... and I asked, "Am I going the wrong way for the bus?"  She smiled, said "Yes! Come with me - I'm going there, too!" and led me in the proper direction.  Thanks, fellow Princess!  

The bus took a while going through its many stops around the Caribbean Beach Resort (CBR), but arrived at the race with plenty of time before the start.  A short walk and very speedy, efficient security check later, I was in the Race Retreat tent, sitting with a few running group friends.

Ah, Race Retreat.  Where I could eat breakfast, lay my weary head upon the table for a 5-minute nap, use a semi-private porta-potty, leave my race bag at the last possible moment, and return later for a full breakfast, more semi-private porta-pottying, and quick retrieval of my race bag.

What is this mystical Race Retreat?  In runDisney's words:

Race Retreat is a great way for runners to prepare for their race, get pampered, and reunite with friends and family once the race is over.

Race Retreat Package Features

Pre-Race Amenities

• Pre-race bagels, fruit, coffee, water and PowerAde
• Temperature-controlled tent with lounges
• Private restrooms and bag check
• Padded stretching area

Post-Race Amenities

• Internet access to check live results
• Breakfast with hot and cold beverages
• Changing tents
• Self-treatment station
• 10-minute massage for only $10 (subject to availability)
• Designated location to meet friends and family to celebrate your accomplishment!*

Other Amenities:

• 2014 Disney Princess Half Marathon commemorative item
• Disney Character greetings
• Live video feed from the Finish Line
• Information Station

All this could be had for the 2014 price of $120.

GULP!!!

Yeah, it was a lot.  But... when I worked a little Fuzzy Disney Math (FDM), it totally made sense to add Race Retreat to my half-marathon day!  I'd have bought myself breakfast somewhere, anyway ($12), as well as some hot cocoa ($3), water ($5), Powerade ($3) and a banana ($3).  I'd get some kind of "free" Race Retreat gift ($15), too.  I'd save gas and mileage on my car ($10).  So for around $70, I'd get a place to eat, take shelter from any inclement weather, semi-private facilities and a quick bag check.  A relative bargain when it comes to Disney, right?!

So, yeah - I spent some pre-race time trying to wake-up in Race Retreat before the call to corrals came and we headed out.

The Princess Half-Marathon corral situation is very different from the 5K and 10K setup.  There were many more corrals - A through P, to be exact - and all were located a half-mile or so from the pre-race staging area.  25,000ish of us slowly made our way over and our little group split up to take final potty stops and to get into our respective corrals.  I'd been assigned to corral I, but no one left in my group was in I, so I opted to move back to J with two great ladies from my running group.  Anxious though I was to get the race started and over with, I wanted even more to start with some familiar faces as I began the final leg of my own Triple Crown and runDisney's Glass Slipper Challenge.

The announcers worked up the crowd, the national anthem played, corrals A - I took off, and BOOM!  so did we.  No pic this time, but I'm pretty sure we got something fancier than roman candles for that race.

My plan was to walk a huge chunk of the first few miles, alternating 1/4-mile walks with 1/4-mile run/walking and I quickly lost sight of one of my friends as she took off at her much faster pace.  My friend Anne (go visit her at Outrunning the Fork!), though, was walk/running a similar pace and we wound up playing a little game of tag through the first couple of dark miles before losing each other.

I don't remember much about the first 3 or so miles - I didn't really feel awake, it was still dark, and I had a hard time getting into a comfortable groove.  Oh, and it was even more humid than the day before.  Hard to imagine?  Here's a visual for ya:

At some point, "humid" no longer applies.  What was going on there was just plain WET air.
Like running through a tunnel of WET.

With no time goal in mind, I had it in my head that I'd stop for a fair number of photos.  And having missed it in the 2014 WDW Half-Marathon, I got myself over to course left to grab a pic with the hothothot exotic car display!  

Everyone else was posing with the drivers and the NASCAR car to the right.  I only had eyes for the Lambo and the photog worked my phone to take a pic without the race car... but driver dude couldn't resist jumping in. FAIL.

Three miles done, 10 more to go and I was feeling okay.  Not stellar, but not bad - okay.  As the sun came up, I started feeling more awake and able to take in my surroundings.  I chatted with a few other runners as we wound through the Ticket and Transportation Center parking lot, and grabbed a shot of the awesome Japanese drummers out at Stupidest-Early EVER to keep us going.

The thought of entering the Magic Kingdom - and stopping for a few pictures - kept me plugging away through Mile 4 and next stop...

Sun's up, but note the shroud of WET surrounding Cindy's castle.

Main Street, USA!!!

Folks, if you haven't experienced this, let me say - entering Main St. after a relatively quiet few miles will get any runner going!  The roar of the crowd, the smiles on your fellow runners' faces, the excitement of being in the Happiest Place on Earth - it all makes for an easy, almost too quick, jaunt through the park.  This portion of the course has gone by MUCH too quickly for me in previous races, so I made a point to slow down, take it all in, and, yes - stop for more pics...

Entering Tomorrowland from Main St.

About to run through the castle - see the trumpeters up there?
They busted out a wicked-good herald of the theme from Rocky!

I had promised myself and others that this time, not only would I stop for the iconic photo in front of the castle, I'd make it an epic shot.

I think I succeeded!

Princess air, baybee! Still waiting on a good package to purchase...

I'd also been tasked by a friend with getting a few unusual photos during the race.  I failed pretty epically on most of the list, but I did get this.  And I am super-crazy glad I did - it might be my favorite photo from the whole damn race weekend!

Can you believe this isn't an official photo stop?!  Luckily, a very nice Cast Member was right there, taking time to cheer us on, and he was happy to snap a pic for me.  Thank you!!!

Although... this one is a contender for Favorite, too. :)

Louis, my favorite character in The Princess and the Frog!

Louis had a pretty decent line, but I was glad to stop moving for a bit.  In fact, not moving felt pretty darned good.  By the time I got up to Louis, I was enjoying not moving very much and was starting to feel sleepy again... and Louis was soft... and plush... and I seriously could have closed my eyes right there and been asleep in seconds, resting my head on his shoulder.  I wasn't even remotely bothered by the fact that Louis' plushy softness was no doubt slathered in the sweat and germs of 10,000ish previous runners.  That's saying... well, something.  

After exiting the Magic Kingdom around Mile 6, I mentally prepared for the next chunk of my race.  I'm a second-half runner: give me any distance, and odds are I'll run the second half faster than the first.  It's a strategy that's good for my body, as it has lots of time to warm-up and find its groove, and for my soul, as it nearly always means passing lots of other tired racers in the later miles.  Second-half racing worked beautifully for me when I ran the 2013 Princess Half - I wound up finishing that one feeling strong, fast and energized.  And I had expectations of the same this year.

Nope.

I dug deep, prepared to do less walking, more running and pick up the overall pace, and... nothing.  I just had no motivation at all.  Thinking maybe I just wasn't quite ready to pour on the speed, I pulled over for another photo...

I don't even particularly like this guy, let alone his movie!
I'd have done almost anything at that point to not run.

I stopped even thinking about running after that.  Walking along, I began entertaining thoughts of dropping out.  I wasn't very serious about it, but pulling over to sit a spell sounded good.  And if the sweeper unit came along to bus me to the finish, so be it.  My feet were hurting, and my right shoulder was tight, but I wasn't injured and nothing was debilitatingly painful... I was just tired of running.  And.  Walking.

And then... I saw Anne.  ANNE!!!  I don't even recall if I caught up with her, or she caught up with me, but man-oh-man, was I happy to see a familiar face.  As we walked together, I told her how OVER the race I was, she expressed a similar sentiment, and I'm pretty sure we agreed there and then that we'd neither of us do Princess weekend again, lol!  But, we agreed, we were within a couple miles of the finish and it was silly to quit.  So we kept plugging along with the agreement that if either of us felt like running, we'd run, and the other could choose to run or not, and we didn't want to hold one another back if we managed to find some hidden reserves of energy.

We snagged this...

Barbosa does NOT do Jazz Hands.  Aaaargh.

... and kept on keeping on.  We walked, and talked, and ran a little, and pulled over for big globs of Biofreeze to smear on any parts in need of numbing and refreshing, and eked out another couple miles.  We yelled out to some friends who passed us and did some leapfrogging as I ran the uphills and walked the downhills (IT Bands HATE downhill running, trust V), while Anne walked the uphills and ran the downhills.  And soon, there it was... the Big Ball, off to our left, behind the Epcot parking lot!

From our vantage point atop an overpass, we could see thousands of runners still behind us.  THOUSANDS.  As slow as we'd been moving, that was incredibly comforting.  Laughing that we could literally crawl the rest of the way and not be swept (um, yeah - in hindsight, I suspect we were a lot closer to being swept than we thought...), we strolled slowly a little longer, got through Mile 11, and made our way into the backstage of Epcot.

I didn't stop for any more pictures, and I thought I remembered feeling only slightly more energized by knowing we were only a mile away from being DONE, and thanks to some very un-Princess-like folks pushing and jumping their way in front of us at each race photographer, I didn't think we'd have any photographic evidence of our exhausted selves dragging it home...

PROOF... that we had fun!

Wow - for a couple of tired ladies who were totally DONE, we sure looked to be having a great time!  Okay, maybe we were just delirious and veryveryvery happy to be near the end, but I think there was a healthy helping of having fun, too.

We walked a bit more through Epcot and back to the Big Ball and agreed that we'd run from there to the Finish.  I willed whatever I had left into my legs and beat feet through the finish line with a "WOOOOO HOOOO!" and immediately turned to Anne, to offer a huggy and heartfelt "Thank you!!!" for helping me through those last few miles.  I know I could have gotten through them alone... but I'm awfully glad I didn't have to!

Anne and I grabbed our medals, made our way back to Race Retreat and pretty much dove into the buffet.  I don't think I've ever been so happy to see eggs.  And potatoes.  And melon.  And brown water labeled "Coffee" mixed with brown water marked "Hot Chocolate."  

Worth. Every. Freaking. Penny.  

Another runner joined us at our small table and it was so nice to sit back, relax, sip coffee and water and chat about our individual races.  And as we sat, a big-screen TV played live footage of the race... we got to see the very last person cross the finish and, for me, that was the moment I finally felt DONE with the race.  #ALLTHERACES had been run and were closed, I'd gotten through my self-afflicted Triple Crown Challenge, and I had four medals to prove it.  That pretty much required a champagne toast to celebrate!

To us, Princess Anne - ROCKSTARS, the both of us!

Anne and I parted ways and I grabbed a bus (yep, I was, indeed, happy not to have to schlep all the way back to my car) back to CBR, where I rushed through the fastest shower I've ever taken post-race, into clean clothes, and out to my car.  Within an hour of finishing the Princess Half-Marathon, I was racing back to the Magic Kingdom to meet my running group for medal photos.

Only four of us made it, but it was worth the effort - I'm not sure I'd have managed to get this otherwise...

FOUR medals!
5K, 10K, Half-Marathon and Glass Slipper Challenge - a medal for each.

I said goodbyes and thank you's to the fabulous folks with whom I chat online almost daily, and headed into the park for lunch, but faced with insane crowds and endless lines for food, I quickly returned to my car and headed back to CBR, where I enjoyed a long, leisurely lunch in the shade by the marina.  It was the perfect way to rest my legs, get in some calories, and reflect on a very long weekend of experiences and accomplishments.

~~~

Next: final thoughts, including TIPS for folks considering Disney races, a massive shout-out to my running friends, and why I don't plan to do this again next year!

Race Recap: 2014 runDisney Enchanted 10K! And other Princess stuff...

Before I get to the second leg of my Princess Triple Crown endeavor, I need to share a little bit about the rest of Day One.

After completing the Cinderella Royal Family 5K Friday morning, I headed back to my motel to eat, shower and rest a bit.  I may be the exception here, but I was surprised by how much TIME of my race weekend was taken up by eating, resting and readying.  It felt like I was constantly eating; I’d had a bagel before the race, a protein bar immediately after, and I was totally ready for a full breakfast again after.  I also found that stripping off my race outfit, hanging its parts around to dry, and readying my next day’s race outfit took some time.  After all of that, a long shower, some checking in on social media, and a call home to see how things were going in my absence, I didn’t have the time or energy to hit a theme park.  Instead, I got back into bed and took a nap for an hour or so.

After a nap, it was time for a Princess-worthy tea at the Grand Floridian!  A small (small because that’s all we could fit – reservations for the Garden View Tea go early and fast!) group of us ladies gathered for high tea to celebrate the race weekend.  I won’t go overboard on details, but wanted to share because it was such a nice way to take a break from the race action, enjoy some non-running time with friends, and… EAT!  Again.

Four mini sandwiches, followed by assorted pastries and strawberries & cream.
And I was hungry again a couple hours later.

I highly, highly recommend adding this to your race weekend, should you be running future Princess events! 

After tea, I headed over to the Polynesian Resort’s beach for another non-race get-together.  I’d been invited to #runnerslove, a gathering of fellow Princess runners/bloggers/blog readers, with the promise of many, many giveaways.  Confession: this isn’t my kind of thing.  I’m a bit of a loner, get very anxious about new social settings, and am quite wary of any event promising “free” stuff.  But with a number of running friends going, too, and having already “met” the meet-up’s leaders online, I decided to give it a chance.  I am SO glad I did!

Kristy (of Kristy Runs Kato – go read it) and Meg (of Runaway Royalty - go read it, too) were terrific hosts, making us all feel welcome and excited.  They also get mad props for dealing with both an impending rain storm and noisy construction going on behind us.  I really wondered if either had any voice left afterward.  Well done, ladies!  And the giveaways?  PLENTIFUL!  I don’t think anyone left empty-handed.  Including me:

How did they know I was in need of a new visor?!  Perfect!

After the meet-up, I headed into the Polynesian to grab a quick dinner, then drove back to my motel to decompress, get everything ready for the next morning, and get some shut-eye.

~~~

Day Two, Race Two: the Inaugural runDisney Enchanted 10K, the first event of the Glass Slipper Challenge!

This one required an even earlier Stupid-Early wake-up: 2:45am to get out the door by 3:30am.  Really, I should have gotten up at 2:30am; I woke with a pounding headache, tight muscles, and the need for a long, hot shower.  I settled for a short shower and I think I managed to hit the road by 3:45.  I again drove to the race, which also started and finished in the Epcot parking lot, and was again parked within 10 minutes of leaving my room.

Despite eating a bagel with peanut butter and downing some caffeinated brown water (NoOffenseJoffrey's), my headache continued to get worse as time went on.  I sucked it up and smiled my way through another pre-race meet-up with my running group (which was pretty easy, since despite the pain, I was happy to be there!), and jumped in line for a final porta-potty stop before it was time to get into our corrals.  The lines were much longer that day, and by the time I got done, corrals had been called and my friends had all dispersed.  I was on my own for this one.

I'm not complaining - I like running on my own!  It's actually a surprise to me that I've come to enjoy running with friends so much.  So I was fine with being on my own and got ready to settle into my corral (C) to wait my turn to start.  And, actually, I wound up having a nice chat with a lady next to me about runDisney events, the crazy recent weather, and race costumes.  The time flew by and next thing we knew...

THREE roman candles!  Oooo, aaaaaahhh...

... we were OFF!

My goal once again, was to take it easy: lots of walking, a little easy running, no sprinting. Get it done, remain uninjured, live to run the next day.

For the first few miles, I did just that.  The on-course crowding was significantly less for me than in the previous day's 5K.  I had plenty of room to walk, run, pass, be passed, and pull over to tie my shoes.  Repeatedly.  I wore my new Brooks Ravennas and quickly discovered that their laces were still pretty stretchy; no matter how tight I tied a knot, the laces kept stretching, and I kept pulling over to tighten them up.  Good thing I wasn't looking for a fast time, I guess.

The first three miles took us out of the Epcot parking lot...

With Elsa making it snow from an overpass above us!

... up what is normally a ramp down to the parking lot...

Trust V - in the dark, wee hours of the morn, this is HI-larious.

... and up over another overpass before turning back down to the backstage area of Epcot, from where we entered World Showcase.

I'd like to mention something at this point.  See how fuzzy that pic above is?  That's only partly due to camera movement.  The rest is due to extreme humidity.  I believe it was in the high-60s that morning, with around 100% humidity.  Which was NOT helping my headache.  At all.  Every running step made my head throb, and I could feel a migraine hovering in the wings, ready to take its curtain call at any moment.  So I slowed way down through World Showcase and made myself stop to take some pictures.

Snow White and some topiary dwarves. This seemed like a brilliant shot at the time.
Now, it looks s little odd - Happy looks ready to attack and Grumpy looks like he might cut someone.

"Temptations. They're the wrong things that seem right at the time..."
Like, oh, say... three races totaling 22.4 miles over three days, Jiminy???

I. am. SO. glad. I stopped for this!  Jiminy had a long line, but it was time for me to eat (again) anyway, so I parked it in line, ate a Cliff Bar and finished just in time for my photo turn.

With some fuel in me and the morning dew beginning to burn off some, my head started to feel a little better, and I picked up the pace to get through the remainder of World Showcase and out to loop around the Epcot resorts.

I really, really enjoyed that part of the course!  I've run the Boardwalk/Epcot Resorts loops before, and have strolled that loop more times than I can count, so I was already very familiar with the setting and knew where I might want to break off for a quick pic or two.

Had this been open, I'd have been buying.  A cold 'rita on the rocks sounded wonderful!

Back story: about a decade or so ago, I was an avid swing dancer and spent quite a few evenings at the Atlantic Dance Hall, listening and dancing to the amazing big bands that used to play there almost weekly!  It was a fun, fun time in my life, so I had to pull over, break into a little Charleston, and ask a maintenance guy to document the moment with my camera.  I neglected to ask him to skip the ambulance.  Tho.

The rest of the race is something of a blur to me... I finished the Epcot Resorts loop, reentered Epcot through backstage (saw more kegs, but didn't stop for another pic), raced past the Land pavilion and the Big Ball, and crossed the Finish feeling strangely better than when I'd started!

I had a nice time running the Enchanted 10K.  Yet, when I came across some running friends afterward, I heard myself saying I thought it was a "one and done," that I had "no burning desire to run that course again."  And at the time, I really didn't.  I was surprised at how little entertainment there'd been in the early miles and it just didn't feel like a good value for the cost, especially compared to the Royal Family 5K.  This, from a gal who's proclaimed repeatedly that she doesn't need all of that Disney stuff to enjoy a race!

In retrospect, I think I was feeling much worse than I was willing to admit.  My head continued to pound all day and I was feeling the effects of not enough sleep.  With some time passed, I'd actually like to run that course again - 10K is a great distance: short enough not to be too taxing, long enough to have some fun and get some decent running in.  I honestly think that if I didn't have the half-marathon looming the next day, I'd have enjoyed the Enchanted 10K much more.

~~~

The rest of my day was spent cleaning up, getting things ready for the next race, resting a bit, and eating (again... and again... and again.)  I had a yummy dinner meet-up at Beaches & Cream with my running group, so I popped over to Epcot first to take care of renewing my annual pass.  With no real nap that day, I hightailed it back to my motel after dinner and got myself into bed by 7pm.

And then tossed.  And turned.  And stretched tight legs.  And got up for some water.  And to use the bathroom.  And finally fell asleep somewhere around 9:30pm.  Much later than I wanted, with Even Stupider-Early right around the corner...

Next: the main event... the Princess Half-Marathon!

Princess Triple Crown Weekend Recap - Part 1!

First things first… did ya hear today’s announcement? A new runDisney race weekend!  With… an AVENGERS theme!!!  I adore the Avengers.  Okay, I think Capt. America’s a little prissy, and I’d really like the Hulk to get some language lessons, but yeah – big, HUGE fan of the Avengers here.  Phil is my hero.  Nick Fury rocks my world.  RDJ as Ironman?  Please… ~SWOON~  So I’d be all sorts of stoked for this race, except… it’s in Disneyland.  Which is NOT in Florida.  

Yeah, not gonna happen for me.  But rumors continue to swirl about a possible STAR WARS themed race and you know who has this thing called STARWARS Weekends every year?  Walt Disney World.  In Florida!  Know what I adore even more than the Avengers?  STAR WARS!!!  Here’s hoping.

Okay, back to business… a 2014 Princess Half-Marathon Weekend Recap!

Oh my goodness – what a weekend!  The runDisney Cinderella Royal Family 5K Friday, Inaugural Enchanted 10K Saturday, and the Princess Half-Marathon Sunday, plus lots of amazing time spent with running friends between equals one very, VERY tired, but very, very VERY happy PrincessV!

This would be one epically long recap if I were to tackle it all at once.  And frankly, as a reader of blogs, I don’t ever want to see a post that long, let alone be the writer of it.  So I’ll take a small steps approach if you’re willing to keep coming back for more, dear reader.

Day One: Disney’s Fit For A Princess Expo

I am so happy to report that Disney moved the Princess expo back to its original ESPN Wide World of Sports location this year and gave it more room to spread out, too.  Last year’s fiasco of an expo at the Coronado Springs Resort was a special kind of hell: long on lines, short on space, and bursting at the seams with disgruntled Princesses.  Not so this year!

I arrived at the expo around 11am, after making the drive to WDW and checking in at my hotel.  As they’d done for Marathon Weekend in January, Disney spread things out by housing bib pickup in a building separate from the expo itself and providing ample room for folks to get their race shirts, commemorative items and Race Retreat wristbands.

Plenty of space to move around at packet pickup!

The main expo floor, where vendors sell their wares, was loud and busy, but still felt better than last year.  There was a huge section of real estate given over to official race and runDisney (rD) merchandise, which eliminated the insane lines and congestion of last year.

rD merchandise was at the far end, while New Balance set up its shoe shop at the near end, with assorted other vendors in between.

After picking up my bibs and race shirts, I was on a mission to find the booth for one of my favorite brands – Another Mother Runner.  You may recall that I sported a Badass Mother Runner shirt in my first long distance race, the 2012 Tower of Terror 10-Miler.  Well, that super-awesome shirt is now much too big on me, so I wanted something new, plus I hoped to see one of the Mother Runners again, as it had been so nice to meet Sarah last year.  I was in luck!  I came away with two shirts that fit and a nice visit with Dimity!

Yes, I am very short - but Dimity is also very tall.

Two of my favorite running brands together - yay!

The Mother Runners just recently announced their official partnership with the rD brand and I couldn’t be more thrilled for them.  WTG ladies!

I didn’t spend a lot of time at the expo because, well, I’m not a shopper.  So I got in, ate some lunch (and enjoyed a quick visit with the lovely Tracy from my running group!), grabbed my stuff, and got out.  If you are a shopper, and are thinking about a future Princess race, plan to spend some time and money there – there was lots and lots to peruse!

By the time I’d finished up, I’d gotten a text alert that my room at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort (CBR) was ready, and I still had a car full of stuff to unload, so that’s where I headed.  I love the CBR and have stayed there many times over the years, but this was my first stay there over a race weekend.  I’ll give a full review on it as a race resort later, I promise.

I’d had thoughts of heading over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios (it’ll always be MGM to me!) for a ride or two and dinner, but after getting all of my stuff unloaded, and getting tings arranged and prepped for the 5K the next morning, I was pretty tired.  So I opted to grab dinner at CBR’s food court and enjoyed this lovely view as I relaxed and ate.

With a start time of 6:15am, I needed to be up at 3:45am to get ready, and in my car by 4:45 to get to Epcot before they closed down roads for the Royal Family 5K: bedtime came early for the first of three nights.  I was in bed, falling asleep by 8pm, ready to get the party started the next day.

Next: Race #1, the Cinderella Royal Family 5K!

Shirts and bibs for #ALLTHERACES!

PSST: want another review of the expo? Head over to Run.Walk.FASTPASS.Repeat.!