run disney

I set my wake up call for 3AM. This has to be the most insane part of a Disney race and yet, here I was, for the second year in a row at the Glass Slipper Challenge.

After coming back to Pop Century from the Expo, I took my time and unpacked my first running costume. I’d chose Princess Tiana because 1) she is super cute and b) lime green works for me so it was an easy choice!

I was out of the room by 3:22am. One thing that is terrifying is walking around on a resort at 3am in the morning. I know there probably wasn’t a logical reason to be nervous as the Disney security is top notch and unmatched–BUT my city girl insides trembled a bit until I saw plenty of other princesses on my path.

The lines were pretty minimal and I was able to get on the 2nd bus. The lines were much shorter than the half, which was nice. I didn’t know what to expect from my first Enchanted 10k but I knew it would be okay in the end. The pre party was jamming when we got there and it was a cool 52 degrees as we waited. People were shivering like crazy, huddling up, buying coffee etc. Meanwhile I felt fine (thank you NYC for this superpower of being able to manage the cold). While I waited on line to get a pic with Belle–which was at least 45 minutes–two of the ladies behind me wrapped in mylar blankets commented that they were SO cold and the entire time waiting on the line they didn’t even see me flinch.

As the corral call came, about after an hour+ of waiting outside, there was at least another 45 minutes of waiting in the dark. I began to get cold, very quickly–I immediately started kicking myself for not bringing a throwaway tee (or 2) and some construction gloves to throw away because it was COLD out there! Eventually we made it to the beginning, the corral starts were quick and just like that we were running, and yes, I was still so cold!

The first three miles were kinda brutal–there wasn’t much scenery, the characters were few and I couldn’t warm up! But finally, FINALLY we got to Epcot and I realized that I was going to love this race forever.

Running into Epcot was the coolest thing ever. I have many favorite parts about Disney but the World Showcase in Epcot is just awesome. It was also the crack of dawn and the sun was starting to come out and warm things up a bit. Seeing the beautiful lake with the sun coming up gently was just a sight for sore eyes. I was slightly overwhelmed with how beautiful it was.

Finally I decided to start taking pictures, the lines were relatively short and the characters were so adorable!

I was a bit nervous about the boardwalk but all of that was put to ease pretty quickly when we saw the tons of people cheering and pushing us through mile 4. We exited Epcot and although I felt pretty good, I was trying to conserve as much energy as possible for the half marathon the next day. Just that quickly I was at the finish line, in the Epcot parking lot and  ready for a nap. But not yet because I purchased a Race Retreat ticket that treated me with a nice and hot breakfast, oh yes and more characters.

After a fantastic meal, I gathered my things and headed over to The Miracle Makers Breakfast inside the park.

Stay tuned for the third and final part of my recap of Princess Half weekend…the half marathon. Would my legs hold up? Did I dress properly? Why did I cry buckets at mile 10? Don’t worry I have answers!

Have you ever started a race disliking it and ended up loving it? Which was your favorite character?

Princess weekend was crazy. It was full of tall highs and some pretty unexpected lows. But first let me start from the beginning.

Even though my flight was leaving from my least favorite airport (LGA) it was a pretty painless experience. Even though there was no TSA pre check line available (boo!), I was in and out of security in 20 minutes. There were tons of princesses with me on my flight too!

I decided to stay at Pop Century because it’s my favorite resort of them all. I’ve stayed here 4 times and I will be back again. Something about the nostalgic feel of the place makes me so happy.

The Expo

I was a bit terrified of the expo. The word on the (facebook) streets was that people were fighting over the merch, the lines were out the door and there was a lot of savagery happening.

I was happy to say that I had a very easy time with merchandise and getting my bib. There was tons of things to get but nothing jumped out at me so I didn’t buy anything. I preordered my jacket, which was gorgeous so I didn’t need much else as far as race gear was concerned.

I shimmied my way over to the New Balance area because I still wanted my Ariels. That was until I saw the Minnie’s up close and person. Truth is, I was mesmerized. Bright yellow sneakers?! The Ariels were gorgeous really, but the Minnie’s were just stunning. So I got those instead and I’m pretty sure I never want to wear them because they are just too darn pretty.

After that I checked out more booths with a lot of great shirts and gear but I have enough so I didn’t purchase too much. I only got a sparkly band to match my costume for the 10k the next day.

Since it was getting a bit late and I hadn’t eaten yet I grabbed a bite from the grill and made my way over to the presentation area. The world famous Jeff Galloway was there presenting on race day strategies. He spoke about many topics including race day hydration.

He mentioned that runners should be getting 4-6 oz of water every 15-20 minutes and no more than 20oz per hour. This was an alarming statistic for me because I know I inhaled way more than that in the days leading up to the NYC Marathon. On race day I was drinking everything in sight. That might have ruined my race…hmm.

Afterwards I headed back to Pop Century and was in bed by 7pm as I had a 3am wake up call for the Enchanted 10k!

Stay tuned as I will be doing a full race recap of the 10k and Half Marathon!

[Tweet “The Expo at the @RunDisney #PrincessHalf was so great! #disney #disneyworld #disneysmmc”]

What was the best expo you have ever been to?

Welcome to Part 2 of the runDisney Princess Half Marathon Recap. In Part One we chatted about expo fun, run disney gear and pre race prep.

As I exited my room it was a bit weird walking on hotel property at 3am, I felt safe, but it was still weird! When I looked ahead I saw a few princesses walking towards the bus and I knew all would be fine. When I arrived to the bus I got so many compliments on my outfit. Belle is one of my favorite princesses so it was a easy choice. Plus it helps that yellow works really well with my brown skin!

When we arrived about 20 minutes later, I jumped in step with thousands of other princesses as we walked towards the welcoming area. The temp was a balmy 57 degrees with 100% humidity which was almost a bit too warm of a starting temp for me but I saw many princesses with Mylar blankets on so maybe I’m in the minority!

There was plenty of fun with a a live DJ encouraging us to do the Cha Cha slide and other fun dances. There were tons of backdrops and characters available for pics! I even got one with Pochahontas!

After that we started walking towards the start line. This was the part I wasn’t ready for! It was at least a mile and a half to get there! So imagine thousands of princesses walking in the night to the corrals. It was so long! A great warm up I suppose.

When we got to corrals there was two people checking letters to make sure you were in the right corral. I applaud RunDisney for this because I read a lot of chatter about people switching corrals. Once inside this is where it all got real. There wasn’t enough room and I certainly couldn’t stretch the way I needed to. We only had to wait about 30 minutes in our corral before the first wave were off. Check out the fun montage I made with footage of the fireworks and more 🙂

httpv://youtu.be/Nr7mEV02qaw

Before you knew it it was time to go. We were VERY well entertained–so much so that it didn’t seem like a half hour went by. After a countdown and fireworks (!) Corral “I” was off!!

The Course

It’s so weird running a race in the dark. At least for me it is. We were on roads, so there was extra lighting put up just for us. The first mile and a half I felt pretty good. It was a tad congested but I later learned that it would remain that way for the remainder of the race.

One of the first character stops was for Jack Sparrow and the Pirates of the Caribbean. I didn’t stop because a) the line was bananas and b) I made a promise to stop for characters that I love or my kids really love. So when I saw the characters from Wreck It Ralph I knew I had to stop (even if the line was long!) because the boys would LOVE it!!

We continued through mile 3 and 4 a lot more road and not a ton of characters. The was lots of entertainment along the way. Just as day was breaking we began our approach to Magic Kingdom. This was a bit surreal because I have been to MK many times but never by foot!! I took this time to have a clif shot.

As we entered Magic Kingdom there was a ton of people screaming and cheering for us which was the complete opposite of being on the roads. The spectators were incredible they were loud encouraging and seriously had the best signs ever.

Something about running towards the castle made me well up! This was completely unexpected and unusual. You all know Disney has a special meaning to me since my husband proposed in that very spot 9 years ago. Add running a half marathon to that and you got water works! I managed to keep it all under control but one tear might have slipped out.

While running through tomorrowland I stopped to take a pic with Buzz and of course my Castle photo. The characters from Frozen were hanging out over the castle which caused a bit of congestion. We ran out of Magic Kingdom and continued our course right back to Epcot.

As this time this is where things got a bit tough. The sun had fully risen by now and it was now officially hot. I was sweating a ton and the lanes going back to Epcot had narrowed significantly. The majority of folks were walking therefore making it almost impossible to get around.

I made the fueling mistake of forgetting to eat my second clif shot at mile 8. I really wish I had, because by mile 11 I just wanted to get through it. I think my brain was a bit fried or something because I didn’t even think to eat the other Clif shot or sports beans that I had. I did keep hydrating with powerade AND water. Coming back into Epcot there was a lot more spectators with amazing signs! I even took this amazing picture!

Although I didn’t get to take a picture, there was an amazing choir singing one of my favorite gospel songs “Our God is Awesome” which of course brought me to tears, but I pulled it together and stayed focused on the little of the race that was left. I saw Sophia too, which would be my only princess (that I stopped for at least).

Coming down the final half mile was crazy! So many spectators and so many emotions–Mickey and Minnie were there at the end taking selfies but I just wanted it to be OVER so I ran as fast as I could right to the end.

This was an amazing experience!! I am going to write a do’s and don’t post down the line because there are many! I have gotten so much feedback on and offline about this race that I need one more post to answer those burning questions like–

• How far in advance do you have to register?
• How was it running in a costume?
• What was the hydration like?
• Why isn’t your wrist straight in the following photo?

I am absolutely doing this again next year and this time I will do the Glass Slipper challenge– (10k + Half = Three Medals!)

What was the last (good) surreal experience that you have had? What are you curious about with this race?