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NWHM Weekend

 

#DCimComing  

The long awaited Nike Women’s Half Marathon weekend has already come and gone - way too quickly! Every aspect of NWHM was awesome and I already cannot wait for next year. Here is my recap of the before, during, and after. As the hashtags state: #werunDC and #weranDC

For once in my life I was actually packed and ready to go the night before traveling (only because I wanted to blog about our plans pre-travel).

Now that we’re post-race, it’s funny to see what I thought we would do vs. what we actually did.

We planned on leaving by 7:30 but I underestimated the distance from Newark to Dover, so I was a little late picking Heather up. This actually worked out because she had time to do a Dunkin’ Donuts run for us. We started our donut ritual when we went to Florida and it’s still going strong and we have many more races lined up to do together!

Getting there was pretty seamless, Heather is great at navigating and I am pretty okay with driving in DC, which is good because I do want to live there eventually.

We found the National Harbour, parked quite easily considering the volume of people at the event, and were on our way to the Expotique and packet pick-up!

When you enter the expo your name appears on the wall!

#Expotique

The Expotique is unlike the typical expo that runners are accustomed to. Instead of having various brands with booths or tents set up, the Expotique has things like a Nuun sampling area, a Paul Mitchell Braid Bar, a place to design and print posters with LunaBar, a Fleet Feet Sports race essentials shopping area, as well as gait analysis by Nike and a wall for runners to sign. For once in my life I resisted the urge to buy things and exercised my patience. We picked up our packets and race shirt before even considering any purchases. As soon as we picked up our packets I knew my shirt size was wrong. We walked to the next tent over and received our shirts and were informed that we could exchange our shirts at Nike Georgetown between 6-9 pm, phew. Once we had the necessary things in hand, we headed back into the expotique and discovered that we were able to make appointments for Paul Mitchell, very exciting news. We made appointments for 4 pm and headed out to check out merchandise at Nike Georgetown, right up the block.

Signing the wall, which was moved to the race course.

#NikeGeorgetown

Over Spring Break I checked out the Nike Georgetown store and was in awe of their displays. When we arrived at the store this time, you can imagine my excitement when I saw NWHM and #werundc had taken over the store, in addition to a DJ playing some of my favorite Jay-Z songs (I resisted the urge to say every single lyric). It was the Princess Half Marathon Official Merchandise tent frenzy all over again. Well somehow I kept myself in line; I kept hearing my mom’s voice in the back of my mind telling me “you have bills to pay.” Oh to be a poor college student. After much debate I decided on the white NWHM hat and the turquoise technical shirt with the Nike Goddess on the front. I had to exhibit some major self-control to walk past the sneakers and not “accidentally” buy them. I succeeded, but I’m kinda sad about it. Once we rounded up our gear and checked out, we headed back to the National Harbour for lunch at Sequoia.

#NWHMbloggerbrunch

The NWHM Blogger Brunch was on our agenda thanks to Heather for getting us in last minute. I found the event via the runDisney facebook group, then Heather contacted Stephanie from Cat Lady Runs, who was able to squeeze us in when they changed the location from Founding Farmers to Sequoia. Stephanie (Cat Lady Runs) and Roane (Love Life Logistics) hosted an awesome brunch for about 20 bloggers, some new like me and some very well established. It was really exciting to meet the women behind the blogs that I follow, especially because they were all so sweet and encouraging. We introduced ourselves around the table and I was slightly unsure of my blog title at that point in time but I think I’ve found new confidence in it because of its quirkiness (FYI, I am a hardcore Jay-Z fan if you didn’t already pick that up.)

Side note: I loved that some bloggers had business cards for their blogs. I knew this was a thing because of being a long time reader of a few professional bloggers, but I never actually received one before. It’s safe to say that I will definitely be investing in a set of my own, they’re just too cute not to!  

Amidst all of the conversation, I ended up discussing way more than just running and I was given some pretty great advice when I found myself saying, “I am trying to volunteer on a local campaign.” I was instantly corrected and was told to repeat my statement with “going to” instead of “trying to.” At first I didn’t know what to think and I was somewhat embarrassed, but then I realized that the woman was actually reaching out to me and trying to help me have more confidence in my plans for the future.

This blogger meet up was a great experience and I think it gave me a great deal of encouragement to not only continue with blogging but to keep moving forward with my education and future. I took a lot away from this experience.

Not only did I get to meet an awesome group of bloggers, but I also received a bag full of stuff to try out along with a few products I chose from the raffle! I will be reviewing and even giving away a few products so stay posted!

I still have a lot more to say about NWHM but I wanted to finally get a post out about the beginning! Please stay tuned :) 

Run Happy, 
Ali 

DC, I'm Coming!

I'm just about all packed up and ready to go for Nike Women's Half Marathon Weekend 2014 and I couldn't be more excited! Once again, I am traveling with the best race partner ever, Heather.

Our tentative schedule:
Saturday:
7:30 am - leaving Delaware for my favorite place ever!
9:30/10:00 am - Packet Pick-up & Expotique
12:00 pm - Blogger Brunch at Sequoia
Afternoon - No specific plans but I have lots of ideas
Sunday:
5:30 am - rise & shine!
7:00 am - #WeRunDC
11:00 am - Hopefully we will be done and headed to brunch somewhere!



I'm trying this new thing called packing light, turns out i'm awful at it.
My biggest problem right now: which Lululemon skirt shall I wear?

I couldn't forget my race-day essentials so I made sure I laid everything out.
I'm using Cliff Shot-Bloks for this race instead of Gu or gel and i'm quite happy about it.
I just can't stomach the texture, I much prefer to eat something similar to candy. I also have Sport Beans, which I have not tested out on a training run so I might not use them.
I have KT Tape packed for just incase, Body Glide because it's a necessity, my hand held water bottle which I also keep my inhaler in, and my SPI-belt for my phone/keys/money/fuel.
For the Princess Half, I made the mistake of carrying Nuun with me, which disinigrated and made a big mess, so i'm so excited that NWHM is sponsored by Nuun and I don't need to bring it with me!
Oh, and how could I forget my Feetures?! Just looking at their color makes me happy.
For pre and post race stretching I have my foam roller, thank goodness I made that investment at Fit2Run in Disney, it's seriously saved me from a lot of pain.

Is anyone else last minute packing for NWHM? I know there's more procrastinators out there ;)


Run Happy, 
Ali 

Nike Women's Half Marathon DC 2014

In less than a week I will be running through my favorite city at the most beautiful time of the year!

However, I do have to admit that I am not prepared for this race in any way, shape, or form. After I got back from Princess Half Marathon Weekend, I had every intention of keeping a legitimate training schedule this time. But once again, I didn't follow through and I am sitting here wondering how I am going to do this race.

Before the Princess Half Marathon I truly had no idea about what 13.1 miles truly looked like. Sure, I was intimidated for my first half marathon ever, especially because of my lack of preparation, but I was mainly just excited to be there! I really can not help but to think of the positives when it comes to doing a race because I really just run for the fun of it.

My outlook has not changed, I am still just as excited. This time around I am curious to see the outcome because although I have not properly trained, I will at least not be doing a 10K before like I did for the Glass Slipper Challenge. I am hoping for a better time that will potentially give me pretty solid insight on my ability to run 13.1 miles at this point in my life. Now that the 10K variable is removed from the equation, I am hoping that my body will be more capable.

For my next race, I need to invest more time and energy into training and actually try to get results out of my hard work.

In completion of the NWM DC, I will just be happy to have my Tiffany's necklace and the satisfaction of another 13.1 miles under my belt - not to mention 13.1 miles in one of the most picturesque places around. The political/nerd side of me is going to be way to excited to be running through our nations capital!

Is anyone else excited to #runDC next weekend?

Run Happy, 
Ali 

Run DC to Eat DC

It seems the only time I can sit down and write a post is late at night when I should be trying to improve my already pitiable sleep cycle. But not tonight; sleep can wait but this post cannot, as it is long overdue!

In honor of the Nike Women's Half Marathon DC 2014 being exactly one week away from today, here is my long overdue post on my spring break expedition to our beautiful capital.

Lo and behold: My experience of DC through food. 

 These are my a few of my favorite places to eat in DC, among some new favorites. I fully intend on eating brunch at Ted's Bulletin next weekend while I am in town, if not brunch, I suppose a Cherry Blossom Pop-tart will suffice. Besides Ted's Bulletin, I am really hoping to try out Founding Farmers, 2Amy's Pizza, and Baked & Wired. Of course I will absolutely need a Toasted Marshmallow Milkshake from Good Stuff Eatery at some point post-race.

Does anyone else get overly excited for post race food like I do? What about strategic planning?

Run Happy, 

- Ali 

Spring Break in Washington D.C.

As much as I would love to be spending my spring break in the sun and sand, like many of my friends, I am quite excited to be spending a few days in Washington DC next week!

My boyfriend and I are driving to DC next Wednesday and we are staying with his sister.
Being that I am a PoliSci and Public Policy major, it kind of makes sense that I am highly interested in DC; I dream/hope/plan to live there one day, preferably ASAP!
I usually make it to DC a few times every year, most often in the spring.
This April I will actually be going to DC twice, for spring break and for the Nike Women's Marathon DC 1/2! Because I usually only have a few days to spend in the district, I like to plan, plan, plan, ahead of time.
Oddly enough, the only aspect of planning that I am good at is when it involves food, shopping, or fun activities.

Here is a run-down of what we are trying to accomplish on our 3-day trip. Which is really going to be more of a 2 day trip when we consider travel, sadly.

Day 1: 
Leaving DE and arriving to DC late afternoon.
I am obsessed with Georgetown University thanks to the College Prepster blog, written by the brilliant Carly Heitlinger, (who will definitely be famous one day & I am proud to say i've been a religious reader for the past few years.) Given my fascination with Georgetown, we will definitely be spending some time there.
My places of interest in Georgetown pertain to my two favorite pastimes: shopping & eating.

Shopping: Georgetown Running Co.  I remember looking through the window of this store on my last trip, prior to my running addiction. Now that I run I think I may benefit from their expertise in the area of running gear. Another athletic store on my list is City Sports, which is not unique to Georgetown but i've never encountered a City Sports anywhere else. Reebok FitHub is a definite stop on our list, but mostly for my CrossFit loving boyfriend, although i'm interested to see what is there (and I want to try CrossFit, someday.) We can't forget Lululemon, J.Crew, Zara, or Vineyard Vines...but please God, grant me self control if I end up in any of those stores. 


Food: Luke's Lobster - I have always wanted to try an authentic Maine Lobster Roll, so this is a must! There is a location in Penn Quarter as well, so if we don't get to the Georgetown one, I will still have a chance! An absolute favorite of mine is Good Stuff Eatery and their toasted marshmallow milkshake that is to die for; they recently opened a Georgetown location in addition to their Capitol Hill flagship location, Crystal City, and a new store in Philly!  Did I mention that I love pie? Well there's a place called Pie Sisters and their menu is calling my name. Others on my extensive restaurant list (which I will make a tab for soon) include Serendipity3 for their trademark Frozen Hot Chocolate, and The Tombs - but we'll probably save that one for my 21st Birthday in September.

Day 2:
Well we can't just shop and eat all the time, so we're making it a point to finally visit George Washington's Mount Vernon; i've never been and Will hasn't since he was younger. Given that I have never been and honestly do not know any details, I will hold off on this topic in effort to provide a more informative post about such a great historical landmark.
In addition to visiting Mount Vernon, I presume we will have a good part of the day left over and I know I would love to run in DC before I have to run 13.1 miles there! I am really hoping it warms up some and we have good running weather - not to mention it is our spring break, so spring weather would be quite wonderful! Running around Capitol Hill would be a beautiful way to start the day, can you imagine starting everyday that way? I'm hoping to end day 2 by walking the monuments at night, something I have always wanted to do.
Considering that i've never experienced Mount Vernon before, I am not sure of restaurants in the area. If we run near Capitol Hill, I would love to go to Ted's Bulletin on Barrack's Row. It is home to the best homemade pop-tarts ever, and mac 'n' cheese grilled cheese; an experience I had on National Macaroni and Cheese Day in 2013.

Day 3:
I am currently dreaming of touring the U.S. Capitol Building, which is apparently possible by contacting your State Senators or Representative. Being a constituent in the second smallest state might actually pay off in this case. Tomorrow i'm going to use my time between classes constructively to try to make this happen! Incase you were wondering; yes, I am extremely enthusiastic about politics and it may or may not reflect on my blog, often.
If the Capitol tour does not go our way, I have a back-up plan! The Library of Congress has tours, we haven't been through the National Gallery of Art together, and there is also the National Portrait Gallery, which I love. Last time we were around Capitol Hill, Will and I went to an awesome used bookstore called Capitol Hill Books, which we both liked for the cozy atmosphere. There is also Politics & Prose, a Bookstore and Coffeehouse which is rated as the Best of D.C. by 2013 Readers' Choice.

I cannot wait to come back with better pictures and more information to share about my favorite city (or district)! Now that i'm doing this from a blogging perspective I have so many ideas on how to record my trip! Please, if anyone sees this post and knows any great places in DC, let me know! I would love to hear from my readers!

Run Happy, 
Ali 

Princess Half Marathon Week(end) 2014: Days 6 & 7

All good things must come to an end, including Princess Half Marathon Week(end) - which is technically just a weekend but we turned it into a week.

So here are the last few bits of my February 2014 Disney World vacation, or run-cation would probably be more accurate.

On our sixth day in Disney World we finally got to do the Magic Kingdom! This was also the day after our half marathon, and the monday after an entire weekend full of running! The pain was real but we trudged forward and spent an entire twelve hours inside the Magic Kingdom and it was absolutely wonderful.

What a beautiful and bright day!

We got our fast-passes first thing and started tackling our to-do list. I won't bore you with the details, but we pretty much went on every ride in the Magic Kingdom and Space Mountain happened not once, but twice! We went to Columbia Harbour House for lunch, a quick and easy counter service restaurant. I had fried shrimp, so healthy, I know. A few hours later we tried Dole Whip for the first time ever and neither of us are fans. Although, we did get orange Dole Whip with pineapple juice, so i'm thinking we went wrong there. For dinner we did counter service again, but this time in Tommorowland at the Terrace Restaurant. I had the Citrus Shrimp Salad and it was probably the healthiest thing I consumed during out entire trip. For dessert, we had waffles from Sleepy Hollow and I was deeply saddened to find out they were not Mickey Mouse shaped, because everything tastes better when it looks like a Mickey head. At night we saw Wishes and it was a beautiful sight as always. We were actually shopping in the Emporium and realized the show was about to start, so we obviously had to run out of the store like five year olds and get as close as possible. Yep, that happened. 

We also stayed for the second round of the electrical parade, finally rounding our day out to twelve long hours. It still wasn't enough time! Leaving the parks on your last day is heartbreaking for me; I seriously feel withdraw. 

 Our very last day in Florida was spent rather unproductively with an attempt at laying out by the pool but deciding it was just way too hot. We did at least make it to Downtown Disney because we didn't need park admission. We spent half of the day there, wandering around the shops like the first day, eating Ghiradelli icecream, spending too much money, and then eating dinner at Bongos which was actually really great and I believe often underrated. 

Then the really sad part came...packing. If you ever thought you were bad at packing then you need to see a video of me packing. It's a process that begins with me sitting on the floor next to my suitcase, staring at it in hopes that it will pack itself. Eventually I start to throw things in, getting to the point where i've wasted half of my space by not effectively rolling my clothes. It usually ends with me on top of my suitcase, gripping the zipper like my life depended on it and trying with all of my might to close the thing. To conclude, I always end up with a larger carry-on than what I came with, often resulting in various bags all over the place and unintended drama at the air-port. 

Oh, and our flight home was delayed - insult to injury to say the least and that was on top of the fact that the temperature was approximately fifty degrees colder in Delaware. 

So basically, life sucks after leaving Disney and we're already planning our next trip for the Tower of Terror 10 Miler in October. 

Run Happy, 

Ali 

Disney Princess Half Marathon Week(end) 2014: Half Marathon Race Recap!

  It's been a long time coming, but here is my Disney Princess Half Marathon 2014 Race Recap!!!
Given that this event was anticipated for an entire 8 long months out of my life, this is probably going to be a long post. I mean, this is one of the most significant accomplishments I have made in my twenty years on this planet, so...here we go!

  First of all, I am highly disappointed in myself because I did not take a picture of my race gear/outfit the night before. But don't you worry, I have plenty of photos in my costume!

The Night Before:

  In case you were worried about my blister, just know that it was "taken care of." After a desperate cry for help (read: I went to Fit2Run and begged for help after showing the sales guy my toe), I was directed to my super cool Injinji toe socks which prevented any further blister woes. I was also told that I had to kill the blister before it killed itself on the 13.1 mile run. So I not so happily popped the thing after sitting on the bathroom counter for five minutes staring at it in anticipation and slightly whimpering in fear. Eventually, Heather had to guide me through it because I am a pathetic excuse of a mature human being. I'm glad I went through with it because the idea of  a Mt. Vesuvius sized blister erupting on a 13.1 mile run sounds agonizing. *Disclaimer: I am not usually this gross of an individual, sorry for the details.* 

  In addition to dealing with my toe ailment, I was also feeling pressure in my shins during the 10K. This led me to KT taping myself for a shin-splint the first time ever, the night before my first time ever running 13.1 miles. Lucky for myself and all other visual learners out there, KT Tape has informative step-by-step YouTube videos for every configuration of KT tape you could imagine.
Now that that was taken care of, I was able to focus on more important things, like choosing which type of GU I was going to try for the first time ever. I went with vanilla bean because it's the epitome of safety and boredom when it comes to flavors, albeit one of my favorites. Once my fuel belt was ready to go and my outfit was all laid out, it was time to get some beauty rest. I mean, I did have to look like Queen Elsa the next morning.

Getting There:
  The 2:15 alarm sounded and I inherently hit the snooze button. Heather was already up and ready to drag me out of bed if needed, luckily that wasn't necessary because I finally realized what day it was! February 23, 2014...aka the biggest day I had planned for all of 2014 and my life thus far. Okay, maybe i'm being a bit dramatic but I was really excited; that was until I remembered exactly what I was about to do.
  Anyway, for two people who were suffering of physical ailments - between my giant blister/shin and Heather's debilitating cold, we got ready fairly fast. We excitedly paraded around in our outfits like two little girls playing dress-up in Merida and Elsa costume, it was particularly adorable. We grabbed our Core Power protein shakes and our banana's from the Pasta in the Park Party and we were good to go, in all our princess glory.
  The bus was packed the morning before for the 10K, so we knew we did not have any time to spare and we stuck to our plan to make the first bus around 2:45 am. The morning of the half I was feeling much more prepared mentally than I was the day before. We knew the bus would be on time so that took away what tiny bit of anxiety I feel about arriving on time to places. We also knew how the corral's worked from running the 10K the day before, i.e. how much of a delay there was between each corral, whether or not I could drop back a corral, and the importance of starting at the front of the corral.

  Because I wasn't feeling anxious about the logistics, I was able to truly be excited without having butterflies and/or nausea, so that was quite wonderful. Most of the time I am extremely laid back and don't stress about much, so the fact that I was even worried about the half marathon to any extent shows how big of a deal it was to me. 

  On the bus ride over I had my breakfast and tried to drink as much water as possible so I could use one of the hundreds of porta-potties before entering our corral. This proved effective until I didn't fully process my water intake until we were being herded to the corral's like sheep. I accepted the fact that I would need to stop for a bathroom break somewhere along the way, which is reasonable considering I would be drinking a ton of water and running for over 2 hours.

Before the Race:

The most enthusiastic two people have ever looked at 3:00 am before a half marathon.

  We arrived to Epcot at our predicted time: 3:00 am, and although it is insanely early, I fully recommend taking the earliest bus because a) what it is the difference of a half hour of sleep going to make? b) do you want to have anxiety about arriving on time? c) more time to make friends in your corral! 

  I am not a morning person by any means, but I am glad we sucked it up and left on the earliest bus because we got to start in the very front of our corral and that makes all the difference. The day before we weren't even there late, we just didn't know how they did corral's and we accidentally started at the very back instead of the very front, a big regret. 

  In our corral we met an Anna, aka my sister! She asked to take a picture with me and I was somewhat delirious and confused, but then remembered I was Queen Elsa, not Ali. We got a super cute insta-worthy picture together and went our separate ways. Then we met Jacki, who we are now facebook friends with after re-uniting with her when we saw her two days later while in the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor! Jacki is a fellow Disney enthusiast, a really fast runner, and an awesome mom to the cutest little girl who happens to have an Anna costume, so I guess we're sisters too?

Do you wanna build a snowman?

During The Race:

Starting Line!

  I really liked meeting people in our corral because there is this unspoken bond between you and them when you see them along the course you're like "hey, we're practically bff's!" which is a nice feeling when you're doing a race with over 26,000 participants. Maybe thats just me, but i'm pretty sure that's how the running community works. We're all friends here. I think the best part about running is the community. There's so many things to bond over, like: 1) you're both stuck behind the same walking person/group and you're plotting a route around them. 2) you have the same sneakers. 3) you hate running but love the bling. 4) you're both injured. 5) you're thirsty. 6) you're contemplating whether or not you want to be "that" person who starts walking in a sea of runners. 7) you stop walking and walk together. 8) you both want to cry 9) you hate your life 10) you think you might die. I think these are all pretty solid conversation starters and/or things that all runners have in common at one point or another. Well at least these are things that came up over the course of 13.1 miles with me and various other individuals. 

  Our corral was fairly far back but once we got to the starting line it seemed like our fireworks went off right away and it was go time! This probably had something to do with our being in the very front...

I really enjoyed the beginning of the course - the route allowed for minimal congestion, a refreshing experience due to our delayed start the morning before. Heather and I only stuck together for a little while until we were separated, which we knew was inevitable because one of us would probably end up having issues with either a blister, a shin splint, or a cold. I was incredibly sore from the 10K and I figured once I started running it was best if I didn't stop until I had to. So that is what I did, which was great until I was around Cinderella's Castle. Before completely stopping I slowed down a little bit and went with the crowd rather than fighting it. I snapped a few pictures while still moving and then I finally I stopped for good reason; I took an epic picture in front of the castle!

The surreal experience of running through New Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom!

Me having my "moment" haha

  Once I came to a complete stand still I knew I was in trouble. I started running as soon as I got my phone back from the lovely woman who took my picture. I was overcome by the amount of water I had consumed along the way from my Nathan water bottle in addition to re-fills at water stops; I found a restroom that wasn't crowded at all and literally ran in and out, and was on my merry way. I kept moving forward without a problem until I hit mile 10. I could honestly write an entire post about mile 10 and the physical pain, the emotions, and the thoughts crossing my mind, but I won't do that to you. 

My "trying to look alive" face. 

I think I was experiencing a lot of physical activity catching up to me, but in a very quick and painful way. On the other hand, I could have been losing focus and when that happens I lose the will to move on. Having self-doubt in my physical and mental ability to finish was difficult emotionally because it I really wanted to do this. I saw a sign that read: "When you can't run with your legs, run with your heart" and I kept going for as long as I could, bio-freeze and all. Miles 10-13 were a blur; I remember a group of ladies led by a hilarious woman who was singing to keep spirits high. There were plenty of water/gatorade stops, along with medical tents, along with a Cliff Shots stop which I took full advantage of because I needed every ounce of energy I could get. After hitting pretty much every water stop and/or tent with bio-freeze, I somehow made it to mile 13, appropriately marked by Elsa. 

          

Ice Queen, literally. 

Might I add that the last .1 mile was the worst part of the entire race, it just went on forever and ever and ever. Then finally, IT WAS OVER! I tried to use what little bit of energy I had left to make it across the finish line in a matter that said "I just ran my first half marathon and I didn't die." I crossed the finish line, was medaled, grabbed a cool towel and proceded to the area with ice and benches. I wasn't entirely sure that I needed ice, I just wanted to sit down. I ended up with ice on both knees, and come to think of it, it was probably the best thing for me to do. 

photo from RunDisney website   

After I gathered my wits and stretched to the best of my sad, pathetic ability, I was able to talk to Heather and find a meeting place. We reunited after 13.1 miles, which actually read 14.1 miles on My Run Keeper...? We were in line for pictures and what do you know, a couple got engaged! 

Post-race Dinner:

My hard earned medals! 

  After our photo-op we got on the bus, went to our hotel, showered, and passed out. So much so, that we missed our dinner reservation by a half our! Totally my fault, I was too tired to check the time and well yeah, that happened. 

  Lucky for my ego, Raglan Road was able to seat us at a later time. We moved as quickly as possible, which was not very since we ran 19.3 miles over two days.
But we made it to a Downtown Disney bus, nonetheless. I have to say I was extremely grateful they were able to work out our reservations; Raglan Road happens to be my absolute favorite Disney restaurant ever and I was so excited to have our post-race meal there. 

  I had Caesar Salad as an appetizer, along with way too many pieces of phenomenal bread. I had "It's Not Bloody Chowder!" as my entree, which is a seafood *not* chowder dish that is full of mussels, clams, shrimp, and fish.  I thought it was wonderful and I would eat it again for sure! Heather had the roast chicken, which I can testify as amazing because I had it on my last trip during my chicken eating days. We both had Cauliflower au Gratin as a side and I highly recommend it if you enjoy crispy and cheesy vegetables. Then there was dessert, the most important course and the main reason for going to Raglan Road as our post-race meal. The bread pudding! It is hands-down my favorite Disney dessert, ever. It's warm, golden, soft, and gooey bread with a caramel and vanilla drizzle. Just try it, you'll thank me.

"It's Not Bloody Chowder!"

The best bread pudding in all the land 

Disney Princess Half Marathon Week(end) 2014: Enchanted 10K

 After Pasta in the Park we went back to our hotel and got our race gear ready for the next morning. I was going with a pseudo-Cinderella outfit. My Lululemon skirt was intended to be part of an Olaf costume but college finals got the best of me and I ran out of time. 

Heather and I before entering our corral, bright and early! We ended up running in the same corral although we were in different ones, mostly because we just put random times at registration. I really didn't mind dropping back a corral, considering my lack of preparation for the race. Although, I did underestimate my ability to run on adrenaline. I actually felt great the entire race and I believe if I started in an earlier corral with less congestion I would have significantly reduced my time. But hey, we were running in Disney World and I was not planning for a PR. 

I got kind of caught up in running and sadly did not get any character pictures because once I got going I just wanted to finish as fast as I could without overstraining myself for the 1/2 the next day. 

After the race! 

We didn't end up staying together during the race because the start was really congested and it was hard to keep together. Heather ran with our friend Megan, until they eventually lost each other and Heather ended up helping a 16 year old runner who was injured but was determined to finish because she was running in honor of her dad who ran Boston last year. This is why Heather is awesome, and also because she has a really awesome Ariel Sparkle Skirt! 

I named the blister Mt. Vesuvius because it looked like it was waiting to erupt. Gross, I know. 

And this is where everything went downhill! Sorry for the tmi gross picture, but this is what a blood blister looks like, incase you were wondering. I experienced some swelling in my feet due to the heat in Florida in comparison to the cold weather in Delaware. I suppose that is why my left shoe felt a bit tighter than usual and my poor toe hit the top of my shoe for the entire race, rubbing against it and causing terrible friction. I actually did not realize I had a blister until I took my shoe off though, which was probably for the best because I was at my hotel at this point. I wore flip flops for the rest of the day and went to Fit2Run that night, where I was directed towards some really cool toe socks that helped. 

We headed to Epcot to ride as many rides as we could before our 12 pm reservations at Biergarten. This was another really cool dining experience; there are musical shows throughout the day, so no matter what time your reservations there will be entertainment at some point. The restaurant is buffet-style, and the seating is in groups, meaning your party will be seated with an entirely different party at a table, this makes for interesting conversation though! The buffet offers many different types of German foods, some of which I had never experienced until then. There is an entire section devoted to meat carving, a section with sides, soups & salads, and dessert, of course. My favorite part - the mini bavarian pretzels! 

While in Germany, I had to get my boyfriend a souvenir because last time we visited I meant to buy him a beer-stein or something of the sort and I lost track of time. Given my already overpacked bags, I wasn't sure how I would pack a very breakable beer-stein so I found this funny beer "sweater" as I like to call it. He took German in high school and taught me how to say "iche liebe dich," or "i love you" in German. So this was the only one that I could read without referring to the tag, lol. 

This is my supercool Enchanted 10K shirt, which was included in registration, along with my super cool Princess Half Marathon jacket, which was not included with registration, haha. 

After a long day well spent running, riding rides, eating in Epcot, and shopping in Fit2Run, we finally retired to our room at 8pm. Instead of making dinner reservations anywhere, we planned on getting room service, which clearly resulted in me ordering an entire pizza - the best pizza. I obviously didn't eat the entire thing the night before a race, I actually just had 2 pieces and had plenty left over for after the race. Yes, I was sitting in bed taking in the beauty of my pizza while watching tutorials on how to use KT Tape - in my Disney Princess Shoe pajama pants, of course. 

These are the awesome toe socks that I wore to separate my toes from each other in avoidance of nay more blisters! I was a first time user of KT Tape, and I am now a believer. I taped it the night before the half because I had to wake up at 2:15 am and did not want to deal with it in the morning. I highly suggest using KT Tape, even as a preventative type of thing. I didn't actually have a shin splint, yet...but I was feeling a good amount of pressure on my left shin during the 10K and I didn't want to risk it for the half marathon. I have to say, I am very glad I bought it and used it. Also, it stays on forever, you don't have to worry about it coming off until you're ready. 

Next up: the Princess Half Marathon race recap! It's about time. 

Disney Princess Half Marathon: Pasta in the Park Party 2014

I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical spending $52 on a ticket for dinner, even if that ticket meant I could have as much pasta as I wanted in Disney World.
All said and done, it was well worth the $52, and i'm not just speaking in terms of pasta...

As always with Disney, it's about the experience! As a runner at Disney this is an experience you do not want to miss out on. Sure, we could have easily gotten pasta elsewhere and spent significantly less money, but we did buy the tickets ahead of time so it felt like it was almost free, ha! Okay so obviously that doesn't mean that it was free; for me, once money is gone it's gone and I don't even know where it went...sad but true.

So here is a list of why you should consider Pasta in the Park - so far:
1. Unlimited pasta in Disney World
2. It works as a built in meal because you bought your ticket months ahead of time

If 1 & 2 aren't convincing you to fork over $52, then maybe you don't enjoy "free" things and pasta as much as I do.

The reason I enjoyed Pasta in the Park so much was that I was surrounded by runners the night before a big race and every single one of them was a wonderful human being. I was actually inspired by this experience.

We met a man named Gary, who works in special events for Disney. He was an older man who was really just working there for the fun of it! He had his 16 years of schooling and his fancy career, but look where he is now - The Happiest Place on Earth! He was loving every minute of it too. I think that is my favorite part about Disney World, there are wonderful people who love what they do.

We met a woman, her husband, and her son. While the wife and son were in a picture line I had to ask the husband what his favorite race was, I had hunch that he did Boston before. Turns out, he did do Boston as a charity runner with his medical practice, but his wife was actually the fast one! When she came back to the table she told me all about Boston and her training, I was so inspired. Oh also, she was 63 years old and training for a half iron man. No big deal!

We met two best friends who actually went to the same college as me! They were the sweetest girls and they were also very inspiring; it was one of their first half-marathons and the other was holding all of her expo merchandise that said 13.1 hostage until they officially finished it together. I thought that was pretty funny, also great motivation.

We met a woman who went to Disney World completely alone. She kind of broke my heart because she had a three year old daughter that she didn't bring with her because she wanted to do something just for her in celebration of her 30th Birthday, except she actually ended up being really sad and lonely, which you just can't have in Disney! I really hope she had a great time on the rest of her trip- I honestly wanted to tell her she could hang out with us, haha.

And how could I forget! Dessert is ice cream, in Disney that means Mickey Ice Cream Bars! Yes, unlimited Mickey Ice Cream Bars, although, if you are running the next morning you might want to cut yourself off after 1, unlike me...oops.

After dinner there is reserved seating in the World Showcase for Pasta in the Park attendee's to view the showing of Illuminations. This isn't until about 9 pm, so depending on your ability to wake up at 2:30 am to run, you may want to skip this and go another night. We stayed, but I am also a bit of a night-owl/insomniac.

We went back to our hotel and got ready for the next morning...

Oh, that's right...we came to Disney World to run, not just for vacation. 

Run Happy, 

Ali 

Days 2 & 3: Disney Princess Half Marathon Week(end) 2014

Time to get this show on the road with the whole race weekend recap thing...

So here is a combination of 2 days! 

Day 2:

Started with the Fit for a Princess Expo <--- view this post if you want to know more!

After we spent way too much money at the expo, we finally headed to a park! 

Because this was our first official visit to a park and we only had half a day left, I figured Hollywood Studios was our best option because it wouldn't be overcrowded like Magic Kingdom and we had dinner reservations around 7:00 pm. 

The sky looks like a backdrop, but thats actually just how beautiful the weather was! 

Despite the beautiful weather, the lines actually weren't so bad! We had time for Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, Star Tours, The Great Movie Ride, and Muppet*Vision 3D. 

We had dinner at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater! Such a fun dining experience!

You get to sit in booths that are made to look like vintage muscle cars. 

It wouldn't be a Drive-In theater without the cheesy 1950s Sci-Fi Movies (with a few Disney classics). I think they play a loop of clips, but I was honestly too preoccupied by the food to truly pay attention. 

The menu is 1950s American cuisine. There are about three vegetarian options, I went with the Vegetarian Shepard's Pie Sci Fi-Style, its a very interesting dish - sorry there are no pictures, I was starving! The menu description reads: Fresh Vegetables and Vegetable Patty topped with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Melted Cheddar. For such a different type of entree, I really enjoyed it; a great alternative to the typical veggie burger option that I am so accustomed to. Oh, and the milkshake - not optional. 

The Sorcerer Mickey Hat was looking very majestic, especially considering the lack of tourists around. ha! 

We actually ended up in the park after-hours because our reservation overlapped with closing time. Great photo-op! That almost never happens in Disney - what a great way to end day 2!