2012 Disney Princess Half Marathon Race Recap!!!

Here it is!  The recap of the 2012 Disney Princess Half Marathon!  

I decided to run this race in October, 2011 after finishing Leg 3 of the Detroit Marathon Relay.  I wanted something to train for and to look forward too.  I can't believe that it is already over and I'm on to new races and new goals!

I woke up around 2:30 after getting a swift kick to the back by a little sweet pea sleeping besides me so I decided to take some time and stretch and relax in bed before getting ready at 3am. (the time the REAL alarm was going to go off, lol)  I woke up and went in the bathroom area of our room and closed the curtain so I would not disturb everyone too much since I had to turn on the light to get ready.  After a quick, but thorough, foam roll I got myself dressed and ready to go!  I made sure to stay nice and warm in some yoga pants and my North Face fuzzy over my race outfit.

I made it to the bus stop around 3:30am and was shocked to see that there were around 40 people ahead of me.  4 buses came and went until an empty one finally arrived that I was able to get on.  I snacked on a zucchini muffin, some applesauce and some water on the bus as there was quite a bit of traffic getting to Epcot.  When I got off the bus, I immediately found my good friend who just got off her bus a minute before me.  We always have the best timing in life ;)

We made our way into the "race tent" area of the parking lot and she checked her bag while I went to check into my "race retreat" tent!  Oh so worth it!! Private bag check and porto-potties that were less used and somewhat staffed!  We met up again to make the long, long, crowded check to the starting corrals.  Me in B and her in A.  I'm really hoping that for Disneyland I will also qualify to get in A, thinking it is 99.9% possible once I do Bayshore as I expect to have at least 5-10 minutes less off my time as there are no pictures with characters on that course ;)

Once we finally got through the crowds and made our way to our corrals, there was little time to wait!  Her wave took off at 5:45 and mine at 5:51 am.  By the time I got in my corral it was around 5:30 or so.  Before I knew it, I raised my camera in front of me in anticipation for the first fireworks for corral A!!!

(This photo I bought was much prettier than the one from my phone, so enjoy!)

Before I knew it, I was off!  I quickly made it thru the starting line and another runner started chatting with me.  The roads were dark and before we knew it, mile 1 appeared.  I planned on walking 60 seconds every mile to help keep my legs fresh after all the park walking so I said good bye to my new friend.  I felt good, and was so excited and alive with energy!  Disney had a hot air balloon set up somewhere in the first three miles as well as a pirate ship with the characters for us to enjoy!

By mile 3, things changed and I felt myself dragging along a bit as my legs just did not want to cooperate.  

5K Split 31:13

Of course I kept going and told myself the Kingdom is coming up soon and of course my legs are not happy with me!  I then saw a sign with Dory on it that said "Just Keep Swimming." So appropriate for the timing!  There was a water stop between miles 3 and 4 and then we ran past the Speedway and came upon mile 4.  I'm going to call this mile a total "tease!"  At the time, I thought we were starting to enter the Magic Kingdom, granted I thought it was kind of soon but it sure looked like it!  There were some cool Japanese drummers to welcome us too!

Yea, I now realize it was the Transportation and Ticket Center... Ugh, my legs!  I kept swimming and came upon this awesome sight!

Based on the map I had in my head, I knew we were getting close and it would not be long before we would be in the Magic Kingdom!   Before I knew it we were behind the scenes and then made a sharp right hand turn onto Main Street USA!  We made another right to head across the bridge to Tomorrow Land, past the speedway and the tea cups and weaved our way between the carousel and Snow White who was waiting for Princesses to join her for photo ops.  

Next stop....

10K Split 1:10:28

We headed into Frontier Land, and then I saw him!  The character I waited for and raced for, lol!!!

Louis, the Alligator that I saw in all the runDisney advertisements for this race!!! 

I had so much energy and was so happy running through the Magic Kingdom but before I knew it, we were through Frontier Town somewhere around Splash Mountain and backstage again.  I finished up my applesauce that I brought along with me and headed on the roads and was happy to hear Kelly Clarkston's song "Stronger" at Mile 7 and see the WDW Firemen and a huge ladder truck!  I was delighted to find Lilo and Stitch too across from the Polynesian!

Mile 8 and my legs were BURNING!

Walk breaks were getting harder to do, it just felt better to run!  Right after Mile 9 there was a medical tent staffed by some awesome volunteers giving people large squirts of BioFreeze!!! I happily accepted and with one hand (tried to keep it localized so I was not going to get it in my eye) lathered it all over the front and back of my thighs.  Ahh, relief but really having issues walking.  

15K Split 1:42:58

Before Mile 10 there was another water stop that I just ran through, easier to run at this point than walk.  Then, there it was, the gigantic highway off ramp that we needed to run up!  Great, my legs really wanted to run on an incline sideways and going up at the same time.  I plugged along and was at the top before I knew it then down an over.  Heading towards Mile 11 now and for some reason, thought I only had 1.5 miles left before mile 11 but um, no I then realized I had 2 miles.  Disney had a huge video screen showing all the runners and an announcer saying where everyone was from.  That was cool but then I saw another curvy ramp to run up and then down.  Keep running!!!  I headed towards the Epcot Parking lot and passed Mile 12 before entering the park through backstage around Innovation.  We took a run towards World Showcase and then looped back at the World Lake towards Spaceship Earth!

I was doing good, but waiting for it to be over!

 Before I knew it we were in an Epcot back lot heading towards the finish as I remembered this area from the day before and knew I did not have much farther to go!  This time though, a beautiful gospel choir was singing to keep us moving... THEN...

Finished in 2:23:33!!!

A new Half Marathon PR by 33:16!  That is a 5K time!

SWEET!!!

I proudly accepted my medal and headed into the tent area again!

I was so excited to see that my friend was waiting for me!  I did not expect to see her!  It was great to congratulate each other before we headed to meet our families.  I then headed to the tent where I was greeted with a cool down towel, flip flops and a ticket for some alcohol!  Yea! Seriously!

I waddled over to the alcohol booth, got a big check on my bib and a glass of champagne to celebrate!  I then plopped down at a table and probably ate 2-3 muffins, cookies and crackers with more applesauce as I was so hungry.  A quick change of clothes and I got a call that Hubby, Pea and Monkey were right outside the Race Retreat!

I got lots of hugs, kisses and congrats as we walked (I waddled) to the Epcot entrance to head for breakfast.  We needed to find Akerhaus for our meal so we wandered toward the World Showcase.  My left foot felt like a blister was brewing on the inside of it so I stopped to put a blister strip on it that I had in my iFitness belt and we asked for directions.  We arrived in Norway and had an awesome breakfast and an incredible day in Epcot and lived Happily Ever After!

I LOVE DISNEY RACES!!!

2012 Disney Tangled Royal Family 5K and Kids Races Recap!

We boarded the runDisney bus around 5:40 am from the Riverside with no wait time and relaxed and snacked during the short drive to Epcot. 

When we got there, it was amazing to see the setup Disney had with the tents for the next day.  This area was closed off to us but I was glad to get the chance to at least see what was coming my way early the next morning.  After our bags were checked, we made our way to the staging area and got approached by a photographer!

We continued to make our way through the crowd of people and got to the line to see the Tangled characters was incredibly long.  Pea was excited to see a glimpse of Maximus though.  After yelling at the kids for fighting with each other, a Disney reporter came up to us with the race director and asked for an interview.  Lol, great timing as Pea was getting herself composed.  The director asked Hubby if we thought the Incredibles were going to win and he just kind of stood there with his mouth open.  Awkward, so I then kinda leaned over him and said of course!  The kids are fast or something like that.  Not sure if Pea was still teary eyed at this point (It was beyond early and someone is really sensitive when Mama yells at her) but I'm sure it did not make for the best footage.  Oh well ;)

It was getting close to 7am so time to head to the corral.  We made our way to the back so no one would get trampled..  This was not a chip timed event either, but being a runner, I understand that some people will just want to go full tilt and I did not want my kids in their path so we headed towards the back.  Probably took a good 5 minutes before we got to the starting line then we were off!  Traffic was jammed up pretty good as we made our way through the parking lot, past some porta-potties for Sunday and a train, then to the back lot of Epcot.  We entered the park between Mexico and Norway.  It was cool to get to see some of the behind the scenes areas that the cast use.

The kids were doing awesome, weaving around and running!  I think Mulan was the first character we came to but the line was long and Pea and Monkey did not want to wait.  We stopped for water at stop 1 just after mile 1.  I of course had my own, but the family partook in the corney water.   After that we headed towards the Americas when a lady yelled to her friend, "I can't believe a 5 year old just passed me!" I think I then yelled something along the lines of "She is 8!"  Too funny!  We took our second water stop behind Canada (I think) and then made our way back into the park after going behind down thru the boat entrance area of Epcot.  Then we saw the ball!  The kids were still going strong and having fun!  No complaining for the Incredibles!  Awesome!  It was so fun keeping up with them and easy to track them in the race since we were all "Matchy, Matchy!"

I posted the above picture on Facebook after the race and my Mom was shocked the kids were running with adults.  Granted not that many kids did the race on their own, but there were quite a few that were doing great!  I'm so proud of Pea and Monkey.  Monkey said his legs hurt and his chest did too but he had fun and they both were so proud of earning their medal!

I see a lot more 5Ks in the Incredible family future!

After all the excitement we headed back to Riverside and grabbed a quick bite to eat and dropped off our coats and extras that we had in bag check.  We got the bus to the ESPN center again to walk around the expo and head to the kids races that started at 11am.  Pea and Monkey were signed up for the 400m. 

It was a long wait for the event to start.  There were several waves of the 100m, then a few waves of the 200m then 400m was off around 11:40 or so.  Hubby was waiting by the finish line while I decided to sprint after Pea and Monkey as we already lost Pea for a second in the Expo center earlier due to the crowds.  The kids finished and got yet another medal to proudly display through out the rest of the weekend.

While the kids races were fun, since they do the 5K I would not sign up for them in the future as I would rather spend that time relaxing by the pool before lunch and a nap instead of the travel, waiting and running.

We headed back to the Riverside, ate lunch and took well deserved naps!  Pea, who is not a napper, was the first to fall fast asleep.  After our naps and showers, we headed to the Magic Kingdom where we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon and had a wonderful dinner at Narcosees. 

Great day!!!

2012 Disney Princess Expo!

On Friday morning we woke up bright and early to meet with the DVC folks at 8am and after our meeting we were chauffeured in a big red van to the expo and arrived at 9!  I got to meet up with a good friend of mine and we rushed to get our race packets.  Hubby and I split up as we needed to get the kids packets, our family 5 K packets, my half packet and my race retreat packet.  Once we had gathered all 7 plastic bags filled with our bibs and goodies (note I later discovered the goodies were minimal, but hey, that is not why I wanted to run Disney) we headed over to the Expo to get our shirts and shop!

My first purchase was at iFitness where I got the neoprene Hydration belt 12oz in black complete with 2 front water bottles and I was also able to purchase a removable longer pack in the back to hold my epi-pens!  I had to wait till Saturday to get the holder as they were still in Miami!

http://www.ifitnessinc.com/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=166

Now, I have always heard and read that you should never try our any new products or clothes during a race, but seeing how Dasani was the only water being served on the course... and seeing how I don't think it was a good idea to drink corn while I run, lol, I needed more water for the morning than my Lululemon bottle would provide.  So, I planned to use the Lululemon to hold enough water from my room for the bus and after the race and use this sweet belt for the race.  Ok, I won't leave you in suspense, it was AWESOME!  The water did not slosh around, the belt stayed on my hips over my giant, puffy Minnie skirt and it ROCKED!

While I was purchasing this, they announced they had spots open for Disneyland!  I already secured my registration, but my friend really wanted to do it with me so she rushed over there.  When Pea and I got there we got to meet Jon Hughes, the race director and get our photo taken!  Pea and I also had to oogle the medal like I will be earning at the end of the summer!!!

Next stop was to find some beads for my Pandora bracelet.  I want to represent all Half-Marathon runs I do on it so I needed a piggy, a princess themed one and I wanted one of those cool 13.1 beads I saw online.

A quick stop at Milestone Sports Jewelry did the trick!  Love my new beads!!!

https://www.milestonessportsjewelry.com/

Even though we got there right when it first opened on Friday, the crowds in the Official runDisney merchandise area were out of hand!  People were lined up with 2-3 Dooney purses/bags each, it was crazy!  While I am an LV girl, I would not have minded a cute Dooney Princess tote, but I was not going to wait in that line and fight the crowds so we headed to enjoy the rest of the day in the parks.

On Saturday we headed back to the expo before the Kids races so I could pick up the epi-pen add on and the RunDisney merchandise booth was free, but of course all the Dooney was long gone and probably headed to eBay.  None the less, I found a shirt I saw on Friday and wanted!

As we were making a last "sweep" through the Expo we discovered Jeff Galloway was at the runDisney booth!  I picked up a few of his books and after reading, decided my plan for the Princess half would be to walk for 60 seconds at every mile marker until the end when I felt I was good to run the rest of the way without breaks.  Jeff was so kind and really took some time to talk to me and the kids and said he was proud of what a good influence I was on Pea and Monkey and how proud he was that they completed the 5K (sorry for the spoiler, getting ahead of myself).  It was great to meet him and I look forward to following a plan he has layed out to train for the Chicago Marathon.  Time passed quick and we had to head to the field for the kids races to start.  All in all, great expo!

Look what I will have in ONE Week!!!

WOW, just found a picture of the Disney Princess medal for 2012 on Facebook!  Yea!  I am so excited!  Spent most of the morning packing and rocked out an awesome run yesterday morning - 10 miles in 1:47!  I am ready to go!  I must have been training good all along, as I am not even sore from it this morning.

Discovered that I did book the wrong resort though :( but it will just be a new adventure.  Thought we were staying at Port Orleans - French Quarter but turns out I booked Riverside.  When I called Disney today I was told French Quarter was full.  Oh well ;)  

Im thinking this might be my favorite medal of all time.  What is your favorite full or half medal?