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  The joy and excitement of three consecutive days of racing had left the building faster than Elvis and had been replaced by...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!

Race Recap: 2014 Cinderella Royal Family 5K!

Okay, yes, I will be the first to admit it… my last post was BORING.  But so was my day – as it was supposed to be; calm, relaxed, boring in preparation for the insanity about to ensue.

At 3:30am.  Also known as Stupid-Early.  That’s when the insanity ensued.  Leg 1 of my go at the Princess Triple Crown: the Cinderella Royal Family 5K.

The race didn’t start until 6:15am, but we had to be at the start line staging area by 5am, which meant leaving my hotel at 4:15am to fit in time to eat, use a porta-potty and see some friends before getting into our corrals.  And I needed 45 minutes to get myself together because – one of several big firsts for me that weekend – I had an actual costume to don!

Given my now-blonde hair and the 5K’s Cinderella theme, Cindy seemed like a natural fit and my outfit had a number of parts to get on, including a tiara.  Tiaras, of course, leave hair exposed, so I needed time to get my mop of blonde fuzz under control too. 

I opted to drive to the 5K because I’m not a fan of buses.  For one thing, the seats are always so high, my feet don’t reach the ground, which is not comfy before or after a race.  Also, buses would need to make a few stops to pick up folks all around my hotel, which takes time; I knew driving would be faster, allowing me more time to get myself together and eat.  And then there’s this: buses are full of people, and people in February are all too often cesspools of germ activity.  I needed to stay healthy for two more races, so driving my own car was a no-brainer.  For those considering the drive vs. bus conundrum, let me say this: it took me exactly 10 minutes to get from my Caribbean Beach Resort (CBR) room to a parking space at Epcot, where the race was to begin and end. No WAY could a bus have gotten me there faster!  Now, that speed was offset some by a pretty decent walk to and from the race start/finish area.  I was fine with that, as my legs needed the stretch anyway, but do keep that in mind when making the decision yourself.

After a breakfast in my car of a bagel with peanut butter and a travel mug of the lukewarm brown water Disney insists on referring to as "coffee", I headed over to the staging area to meet up with my running group, take some pre-race pics and hit the porta-potties a couple times.  This was great for me; I don’t like feeling rushed and stressed about time, and I had ample time to chat away pre-race nerves and sort out any last minute costume issues… like, oh, ill-placed race bib pins.

Note: if you are short-waisted, watch where you're pinning your bib, or the pins can wind up in, er... unfortunate spots.  Many thanks to some good, good running friends for pointing this out before the race started.

I found the pre-race staging area to be amply sized for the 10,000ish folks racing and their accompanying friends/families; we had plenty of room to mill around and porta-potty lines were never too long.  Before long, it was time to get into our corrals and get the party started!

There's the Start line, waiting for us!

My assigned corral for the 5K was D, and corrals ran A through E.  The way things worked this year was that we got into our assigned corrals and waited as each corral, beginning with A, was routed out of its barricades, past the other corrals, and up to the Start.  The National Anthem was sung, the wheelchair participants took off, and then the corrals began.  It took about 5 or so minutes for each corral to start, so D didn’t head out until about 6:30am.

My goal for the 5K was to mostly walk, stop for lots of pictures, and generally just have a fun time with no attention paid to pace at all.  I was lucky to find that a couple of new running friends had the same plan and were in corral D with me.  We had an absolute BLAST!!!  I don’t think I could have asked for better partners in crime for that race; we were equal parts enthusiastic, silly, irreverent and tired and there was pretty much nothing we didn’t find fun along those 3.1 miles.

Our hilarity started early, as the course took us through a great, big parking lot devoid of any entertainment at all.  So.  We made our own, of course.

Most folks wait to stop for pics with Disney characters. We are not most folks. BEHOLD - a Disney power station!  Ooooooo, aaaaaahhhh!!!

So much confusion in one sign... if no pedestrians are allowed, how are we here? I don't recall signing up to allow any inspection of my truck, TYVM. And who the heck resides in Epcot???

Don't make me bust out the canine search, lady.

After a mile or so, we left the parking lot and backstage area to enter Epcot's World Showcase.

Probably the most frequent question asked about Disney races is, "How crowded are they?"
^THIS crowded. ^
Yep, it looked like that the whole way.
This is not the place to score a new PR, folks... unless you're going for a PR in Fun!
Which I was :)

The course then took us around World Showcase, through the pavilions of Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, America, Japan, and Morocco.  

If you do this race, you MUST stop for a picture with the Big Ball.  MUST!

Character photo stops were available all through there, including Mulan and Mushu, Dopey, and Aladdin and Jasmine.  We kept passing them by because the lines were sooooo long.  And we wanted to have time for more power station photos, of course.

Raise your hand if you got this reference...

And then, there was this, in France:

Remember me, V? I. Don't. Do. Character. Pics.  Only... now I do!  Another big first - I got over the weird factor of posing with some dude in a fur suit and got my photo opp on.  Go V!!!

But for every normal pic, there needs to be a bizarre-o one, so here:

Doesn't everyone stop for a little thoughtful rest in the middle of a race???

At that point, the course took us backstage again, which meant more rare photo stops.

KEGS! Disney KEGS!

This can only be captioned "WTF?!?!"

Just for the record, we were not the only ones taking weird pictures and laughing our asses off.  I don't know about the other corrals, but D was Party Central.  When our firework (yes, just one <sad trombone>) went off at the start, NO ONE in that corral ran!  We all just sauntered on through, acting like it was just another day in a theme park. La-di-dah, just strollin' along... Okay, there had to be some runners in there, but they were noticeably few and far between and that slow, fun pace continued throughout the race.  It was such a huge departure from how I've tried to race the past couple years, and you know what?  I LOVED it!

Just about as I was thinking "I could do this ALL day!", we cruised into Future World, past the Big Ball (Spaceship Earth, really, but it will forever be the "Big Ball" in my family), and back out to the parking lot to the Finish.  I got my first medal of the weekend, hugged my awesome friends goodbye, as they were heading home after the race, and thanked my lucky stars for such fun ladies to race with. :)

By the time I grabbed my post-race banana, water and box o' snacks, walked back to my car, and drove to CBR, it was nearing 9am and I felt like I'd already had a very full day.  But there was still more excitement to come!

Next up: Princesses dig tea, and FREE stuff!

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.!

2014 Princess Goals - One week to go!

Well, it’s almost here… today marks ONE WEEK until runDisney’s Princess Half-Marathon Weekend, in which I plan to go for the Princess Triple Crown!  What, you may ask, is a Princess Triple Crown?   The P3C is an unofficial term for running ALL the weekend’s races: the Cinderella Royal Family 5K on Friday, the Princess Enchanted 10K on Saturday, and the Princess Half-Marathon on Sunday.  #ALLTHERACES, people!

I ran a mini-P3C last week, just to get a sense of what three races over three days might do to me – I mostly walked 2.5 miles day one, ran/walked 5 miles day two, and put in 10 run/walk miles day three.  And it went really well!  I was shocked to find that my legs felt fine by day three; I really expected them to feel like dead weight, but no.  But I was feeling pretty run down and tired from battling the pollen flying around here in FL in quantities that could rival the snow coming down to our north… I wasn’t into that 10-mile run at all.  My mental state was utter garbage and I thought every mile, “I could totally bail at 7 or 8 miles and be fine…”  And I would have.  Bailed.  Save for the fact that I once again misjudged how far I was from home.

Capt. Picard could get the Enterprise home faster with a broken warp core.

So anyway – yeah, I completed a test run, I felt fine afterward, I recovered well, and in ONE WEEK I’ll do it again… only longer!

I’m pretty jazzed.  As perhaps you can tell.  I’m also tapering.  Which means I’m antsy… and anxious… and easily distracted.  So, to get my thoughts in order and relieve a little stress, I’ve decided to list some goals for Princess Weekend.

1. Stay healthy, inside and out.  It’s cold and flu season and I have the great misfortune of being unable to get the flu vaccine and having a moderately compromised immune system.  So I’ll be washing my hands often, turning/stepping away from anyone coughing up a lung, eating properly, and making sure I get adequate rest, even if that means a 6pm bedtime all three nights.

I’ll also be taking care of my overworked body.  Ice.  Stretching.  Foam rolling.  Rest.  And I need to…

2. Stick to the PLAN.  In order to finish all three races, and finish them feeling good, I. Must. Stick. To. The. Plan.  The Plan being: mostly walk the 5K, walk at least half of the 10K, start slow and listen to my body in the half-marathon, speeding up or slowing down as needed.  This is critical because if I stick to The Plan, I’ll…

3. Have FUN and FINISH!  I have NO time goal for these races.  None at all.  Though I do hope to get a new PR in Fun!  I want to notice my surroundings, take in the energy and entertainment, enjoy every moment.  I plan to stop for plenty of pics in the 5K, grab some more pics in the 10K, and at least stop for a castle pic in the half.  If I do that, stick to The Plan, and stay healthy, finishing should be the easiest part of the whole challenge!

I just know it’s going to be a super-fantastic weekend, full of good times, with good friends, yummy food, Magical entertainment and, yes, even some running – 22.4 miles of it.  My very best wishes go out to all of the other Princesses partaking of the weekend’s events: we’re all going to have a BLAST!  See you at the Finish!

Shoe Review: Mizuno Wave Sayonara!

Okay, here’s the deal on this delayed review…

I really didn’t want to like this shoe.  I have more than enough in the running shoe department, and I’m really happy with the Brooks Ravennas I just got.  So I was hoping the Mizuno Wave Sayonara would be a dud and I could return it for a refund.  I’ve worn this pair almost every day, even if I didn’t run, hoping some irritating little thing would pop up to show me they should go back.

No dice.

In fact, every time I put them on, they feel better, as if they’re starting to mold to my feet.

But I’m getting ahead of myself…

My first thought as I pulled the Sayonaras out of the box?  “What kind of idiot buys white running shoes in Florida, where I regularly have to run through mud puddles?!”  Answer: the kind who wants to coordinate her shoes with a race outfit, of course.  I could have gone for a bright fuchsia color instead, but don’t these just scream “Cinderella!”?!

Glass slippers, right?!

 Other thoughts included:

“Hey look – bright green laces again! Must be a trend.”

“These sure feel stiff…”

And, “That’s a nice heel!”

For a shoe that’s hardly what anyone would call “minimalist”, the Sayonara is surprisingly light and fast-looking.  I like the lack of a gigantic heel coupled with a non-pointy toe box.  And, after spending 10 miles constantly fiddling with the laces on my Ravennas, I was happy with the Sayonaras’ bumpy laces.

See that little label on the heel? It says "Wave Sayonara", or "Wave Goodbye!" Fun!

Trying them on, I was initially put off by how snuggly they hold my feet.  But after wearing them around the house for half an hour, I found that the snugness just may be what replaces a medial post for stability; the way the uppers are shaped give my feet lots of support without any sense of pushing them one way or another.  V likey.

Taking them on a short walk on the treadmill, I found that what I’ve read about the Sayonara is true: they offer stability on an as-needed basis.  In other words, my right foot, which requires no assistance to do its job, was allowed to move as it so desires, while my left foot, which tends to roll off my big toe while walking swiftly, received some counterbalance at toe-off, redirecting movement back toward the center of my foot.  I also found that the heel was equal parts cushiony and bouncy, which offered a very fluid transition from heel to toe.  V likey a lot.

Following another walk or two, I decided to test the Sayonara with a 4-mile run/walk, secretly hoping they’d feel lousy on the run.  Oh.  My.  Heck.  No.  They felt even better on the run!  The forefoot didn’t feel all that exceptional while walking, but running?  It felt like a little springboard under each foot!  As with the Ravennas, I found that the heel didn’t get in my way, despite a higher heel-to-toe drop (10mm) than I’m used to, and I was able to land forefoot first without effort.  I noticed, too, that as I transitioned from walk to run and back again, I wasn’t shifting weight forward or backward in my hips as I’m used to with the lower drop (4mm) Brooks PureFlows I’ve been wearing for the past year or so.  Maybe that’s thanks to the higher heel height?  I don’t know, but… V really likey.

My last run in the Sayonaras consisted of four miles of hill (bridge – we don’t have high hills in coastal Florida!) repeats in fog so thick I couldn’t actually see the bridge.  That meant very wet pavement, too, which the super-grippy treads of the Sayonaras handled beautifully.  One thing I didn’t like was that in the cool air, the soles initially felt very stiff and the thin mesh uppers left my toes feeling quite chilly.  But once warmed-up, I found the shoes to be very responsive on both ascent and descent and could really feel the high level of support in both directions.  V likey a whole bunch!

The other night, I opted to wear a pair of Brooks PureFlows for a short run – a pair with about 150 miles on them.  This was after two weeks of running and walking only in the Ravennas and Sayonaras.  And… I hated the PureFlows in comparison.  They felt much too squishy, like I was sinking down into the pavement with every landing, and after 20 minutes in them I was riddled with weird little pains in my knees, ankles, hips and feet.  All of which were remedied by a switch to the Ravennas for the last 15 minutes. 

I’ve concluded that either the PureFlows wear out for me around 150 miles (since I experienced the same thing with my first pair), or something has changed in my running that doesn’t mesh well with that shoe.  So… despite the fact that I have a pair of PureFlow 2’s with only 60 miles on them, and another brand-new pair in my closet, yes – I’m keeping both the Ravennas and Sayonaras.

The only question left is which pair for which race as I go for the Triple Crown (Princess 5K, 10K and Half-Marathon)?!