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 

Day 1: Disney Princess Half Marathon Week(end) 2014

Way back in June 2013, I thought it was a grand idea to register for my very first half marathon in addition to a 10K, because a half marathon wouldn't be enough of a challenge...

Fast forward to February 19, 2014...

My roommates are the best! 

Me in the car on the way to the airport: "Wow those 8 months flew by," while making a mental list of all of the things wrong with the current picture:

1. I did not sufficiently train for the half marathon; although I was well prepared for the 10K. 

2. Silly me, being a college student I was naive in adding up the various expenses of a trip to Disney World. 

3. We were also running late to the airport...

These things are all very typical of me; I am not a planner, at least not in the sense that I plan the important details (only the fun details).  I also procrastinate, hence the not training part. 

And despite everything that was wrong in the first place, I had the best vacation ever. 

Here's the basic info:

Flight: Frontier Airlines (New Castle, DE--->Orlando, FL)

Hotel: Shades of Green, Walt Disney World Resort 

Travel Companion: Heather - the best Disney travel buddy ever!

I should also add that this was Heather's first trip to Disney World! It was my fourth time visiting, my most recent prior to this one was January 2013 with my boyfriend's family, who happen to be Vacation Club Members!

For the sake of logistical questions, I should probably preface this with I am not a logistics person.

I can tell you that yes, we did have transportation from the airport to the hotel, but how that happened, I am not sure except that Heather took care of it. Oh, but our driver, Alfredo, he was incredible, as are all of the drivers in the vicinity of Disney World. 

After a long morning that started on 2 hours of sleep, being lost, finally arriving for our flight, and setting off the metal detector with my bangles, we finally got on the plane and made our way to the Sunshine State. Might I add, Delaware was in the 20s when we left, so I sincerely mean it when I say I was very grateful to be heading towards sunshine.

We checked into Shades of Green a few hours later. FYI: Shades of Green is actually a government run resort for military families and their friends (me being the friend) on beautiful Disney World property. It is not technically a Disney resort, but there is bus transportation to all Disney World parks, which was the most important amenity for us - especially on both races days.  I highly recommend Shades of Green to anyone who is in the military or has family in the military. We had a great experience during our stay, not to mention at a much lower price than anything Disney World can offer to guests at other resorts. 

Once we checked in and changed into more weather appropriate clothing (read: I spilled iced tea on my white shirt and had to change), we headed over to Downtown Disney. On my previous Disney vacation, I only went to Downtown Disney for dinner at Raglan Road and that was at nighttime, so it looked like a whole different place. Albeit, Disney is always changing so there were of course some major differences.

I was most excited to check out Fit2Run, a shopaholic/runners paradise, if you will. This is where my bank account probably took the worst hit...oops. I'll go into detail about Fit2Run in a separate post, because it totally deserves one.

Naturally, I was starving and there happened to be this mystical place called Earl of Sandwich right in front of us.

Sorry, not exactly the most descriptive picture...I wasn't thinking in terms of blogworthy photography at this point in time.

I am a pescetarian, so I had a tuna melt and it was quite wonderful. From what i've read, everything at Earl of Sandwich is amazing.

Of course I had to have a dessert, being that dessert is my favorite food category. I opted for a chocolate  malt milkshake from Ghiradelli, which gave me a sense of being in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. After that, I was pretty much done for, the food coma had set in.

I think thats about it for interesting details of day 1 in Disney World. We had to turn in early to hit the Expo first thing in the morning (shopaholics).

I have many more details to share, the exciting stuff is yet to come - please stay tuned!

Run Happy, 
Ali