Disney Princess Half Marathon- 2015

Way back in Nov 2013, when I finished the Jingle Jungle 5K at Disney (that race was the race that actually got me started running), Ryan offered up a "challenge", if you will.

He said that if I upped my game and trained for a half marathon (which I swore I would never do, haha), then he would run the Disney Princess Half with me.

Challenge accepted.

I even ended up running 2 other Half Marathons before we got to the Princess Half!

For the Princess Half we convinced my brother and his wife to do it with us. Sandra was skeptical, but I promised her she could do , and do it she did!!!

My time was only 5 minutes slower (2:32) for this race than it was for the Wine and Dine (2:27) in November, but that was also the official "chip" time through RunDisney. It doesn't take into account the bathroom breaks and photo stops I did. My Nike App said I did it in 2:25 (it pauses the timer when you stop moving), so I was happy with my pace!

I had a great time at the race, but I will say it was a lot more "highway" running than park running compared to Wine & Dine. For this race we started at Epcot, ran 5 miles to MK, one mile through it, then the rest of the way back to Epcot, where I think maybe we ran another mile through there. I found that with Wine and Dine, you were almost always in a park, and the race went by so fast because you were always looking around at something in the parks. I found myself fighting to keep running about halfway through this race. I think for now we'll say our favorite RunDisney race is still the Wine & Dine, but we still have to get through the Tinkerbell half in CA in May so we'll have another race to compare it to!

Once the race was over, we finally got around to having some fun with my brother and his family! We spent the rest of our night at MK, and the boys of course wanted to visit Tinkerbell again (who can blame them, she's pretty cute). 

Plus, we had to get our traditional photo with Buzz! I have one from every single visit the boys have ever made to Disney!

The next day we all went to Epcot, and Zoey met her first character....and wasn't really a fan!

Not only did we get to spend a ton of time with Larry, but we met up with our oldest brother Jim too. he lives in Tampa and made the drive to spend the day at Epcot with us!

When Larry & Sandra left, we had plans to stay for 2 more days so we sent our stuff over to Animal Kingdom Lodge while we spent a fun day out!

Mason saw Sofia at HS and said "Mom, I just want to hug Sofia!". SO of course we had to get in line to see her, and when she heard that was what he wanted, she hugged him forever! It was the cutest character experience ever! 

Aidan was pretending he was too cool to visit  and take a pic with Sofia, but she won him over in the end! (she was quite proud of herself, too)

I even got to meet up with Katie & Scott for after dinner drinks that night! We tried to meet up before heading to our corrals at the race, but we just never managed to make it happen, so I was glad we got to meet up at House of Blues!

Our stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge was our very first, and it was so neat. The boys loved having the Animals right outside their windows for their "anytime" viewing pleasure.

We actually spent so much time the following day checking out the resort, we never ended up going to a park at all that day. There was certainly plenty of cultural activities for the boys to do around the resort! They got their faces painted, they did some stamp art, participated in an animal knowledge session, traded some pins with the King Pin, then we had a really nice dinner at Jiko, followed by some night vision goggle animal viewing!

As usual it was sad o leave, but nice to be come home!

Until next time, WDW!

My first run Disney Half Marathon!

Ryan and I signed up to do the Wine and Dine Half Marathon together in Disney way back in March or so. I got my butt in gear and started training harder than I had been, because this wasn't no measly 5K, son. It wasn't until about 2 months or so before that the training got me past 5 miles or so in a single run. Luckily I had Sarah to help me out with my first few long runs (and she was super patient the first time I ran 8 miles in the Texas humidity, while I was convinced she was trying to kill me).

2 weeks before the race on Nov 8th, our Disney training guide had me running 14 miles for my long run for the weekend. So Ryan and I decide to sign up for the Houston Half Marathon that weekend...because well, if we were gonna run that far to train we might as well get a medal for it, right?

Sarah is training for the Houston Marathon in January so she decide to run with the half with us as well for training. We even got our next door neighbor Ken to run with us too! It was a neighborhood running club, haha.

Ryan skillfully tagged me with "I run 4 Will" for my buddy!

The first words I said upon crossing her finish line were " I am never f@*king doing this again". It was hot, humid, and I ran into the sun for the second half of the race. I was not feeling it when I finished. Ugh.

Ryan and Sarah laughed and reminded me I had to do it again in 2 weeks at Disney.

I'm not going to lie....I began dreading the Disney race. All I could remember of the Houston Half was how hot and miserable I felt at the end. I was SOOOO not looking forward to running the Wine and Dine. I was excited to go to Disney with Ry, but I was totally nervous about the race. So nervous I couldn't sleep the night before the race at Disney.

Then the forecast came in for rain during our race. I got even more annoyed. I was going to be running at night past my bedtime (our corral didn't even start until 10:30 pm, and yes I know it makes me old to whine about, but I get tired at night, man!), and now I was going to be wet and cold, too.

Fan-freaking-tastic.

We spent most of the day we arrived getting stuff ready for Saturday night's race. We had to pick up our bibs and race packets. We also had to get our new RunDisney New Balance sneakers. I wore last year's Minnie version for the half this time, and I think it's time to retire them. (They ran last year's Jingle Jungle 5K at Disney too, and also the Castaway Cay 5k from our Disney cruise last Dec).

Before we knew it, it was saturday afternoon and we were heading back to our room to grab some sleep before having to leave for the race by 8pm.

We met up with my friend from NY Christi at the start of the race, and got to meet up at the after party too. Sadly I don't have a pic of us, and neither does she. Sheesh we're idiots.

I had big plans to take photos and tons of selfies during the race, but due to the rain forecast, I had my iPhone in my armband completely covered with a ziplock baggie, so it wasn't accessible at all.

The rain started while we were in our corral waiting for the race to start. 

It wasn't just raining, it was frigging pouring. 

It was a little chilly at the start, but I warmed up quickly. The more frustrating part of finally getting to start the race was weaving our way through all the walkers. Yes, you read that right. Walkers at a half marathon. I'm not judging y'all for walking, but seriously, can you get the eff out of the runners' way, and stay to the right, like all traffic? Grrrrr. We spent the first 2 miles legitimately trying to run out of a hoard of walkers, and then it wasn't until about Mile 6 or 7 or so, that we finally made it into a group that was more suitably paced to us.

So from our starting point at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, We ran about 3 miles until we got to Animal Kingdom, then we looped through the park and back out again. The we had another really long stretch along the highway to get to Hollywood Studios, where we got to run through the Osborne festival of dancing lights, which was going to be one of my planned selfie stops, but since my phone was safely tucked away in its plastic bag and it was still pouring, there was no way I was taking one.

But look at that! A race photographer! Too bad she snapped the pic so damn fast, Ry didn't have a chance to smile!

I also had BIG plans to get my photo taken with Darth Vader. I even specifically bought a "The force is strong with this one" running tank for the photo. (Yes, I am that nerd.)

Ry claims last year Darth was stationed outside the Star Tours ride at HS. As we approached we saw a well-lit area where we would have assumed he was, but alas, No Darth. My disappointment was massive. Before the race even started, I was telling Christi and Ry that my only goal for the race was to get my pic with Darth. It was sad. I didn't want to stop for any other character photos (there were a few along the way but I would've needed to use my own phone for the pics, and alas my phone was still tucked away safely, staying dry)

What made it worse was when we met up with Christi at the after race party and she told me he was there and she got her pic with him when she made it to Star Tours.

*Insert even serious-er disappointment here*

We ran all over Hollywood Studios, it was so much fun, and from there we ran to the Boardwalk resort area, and ran along that for about 1.5 miles, then we got to EPCOT, our final destination. By this point I was feeling good, and wasn't overheated like the Houston Half due to the pouring, cold, 62 degree weather I was running in (oh and wet sneakers for 13.1 miles? YUCK.) All I kept thinking was "holy shit, I made it!". Then I hit mile 12 as we rolled into the back of EPCOT and all of a sudden my ankles were screaming. Screaming so bad I didn't think I could keep running, but I tell you what: I was so close I could taste it. I hadn't stopped once to walk yet, I wasn't going to walk at mile 12, dammit!!!

We crossed the finish line holding hands! We did it!!

I was very thankful that Ryan kept pace with me, making sure we ran and finished together. It was incredible! It was 1am, and it hadn't even really hit me yet that it was so late!

We were so thankful for these blankets they gave us at the finish line, because once we stopped running, it became painfully obvious that it was about 50-something degrees, and we were soaking wet. We quickly got our things from bag drop and headed to the changing tents to get dry clothes on for the after party at EPCOT.

The line for the women's tent was really long, and I was literally shaking and shivering at this point. The only shoes I had with me other than my running shoes were flip flops, so since I was wet and freezing my feet never warmed up even with all the dry gear we put on after. It absolutely poured while we were at the after party. We had ponchos on, but when it's raining that hard and you're already completely chilled to the bone, it does nothing. 

Plus, my ankles were shot.

I was limping around because my ankles were so stiff, and my feet were numb with cold. I'm sure I wasn't the only one, but man was it painful to walk around the World Showcase when you're that stiff.

We met up with Christi around 3:15 (yes, AM), and we started to venture back out of EPCOT from France pavilion, and at that point I was too numb to even want to sample any more things from the food and wine festival kiosks. I just wanted bed. Christi generously drove us back to our hotel so we didn't have to get a cab. (thanks again, you rock), and Ryan insisted that I take a shower before bed. I so didn't want to. I just wanted to collapse in bed, because at this point it was 4:45 am. I am glad he convinced me to warm my old bones before going to sleep though. I wasn't glad that I was covered in chaffing and blisters all over my chest and shoulders from the seams of my sports bras though. The hot water hitting  those was not cool. My PSA is : no matter how much Glide you use, if you run 13.1 in the pouring rain, you WILL chafe. My poor armpits too. I even had bruises on my arm from where my armband holding my phone was! I was a hot mess when we finally climbed into bed at 5am, but was thankful I got cleaned up and warmed up.

I slept like absolute shit. From 5am to 1030 am I woke up almost every hour on the dot. It was horrible. I am a girl who likes her sleep, and I am not used to pulling all-nighters (we only took a small 1.5 hr nap before the race Saturday night). 

We finally decided it was time to get up and enjoy what we could of the parks that day. We managed to get a last minute lunch reservation over at Kona at the Polynesian, so we grabbed some coffee, and hopped on the monorail for a ride over to Polynesian.

I can't vouch for Ry, but I felt like a zombie at this point. I honestly can't even tell you where we went after lunch. The day is a sleepy blur. I do remember ending the night at the Top of The World Lounge at the the though. We were staying at our vacation club "home" resort which is Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary, and if you get there early enough (only so many can go up there at a time) and you are a vacation club member, they let you up a special elevator to the coolest bar in the world. You have a front row seat to Wishes, and they even pipe the sound in to the bar. It was so cool!

We woke up Monday well-rested, managed to get to MK for rope-drop and get right on the 7 Dwarfs mine train, since I didn't get to go on in July. Then it was time to hop back on the Magical Express to the airport and head back home to our babies!!! 

Disney without kids was amazing. We could stay out late, and go on whatever rides we wanted. We could even wait 45 mins for a table if we felt like it!

However, seeing all the other kids around sure did make me miss my Bubbas. Which is a good thing because they will be tagging along to Disney World for the Princess Half in Feb, and to Disneyland for the Tinkerbell Half in May!

Disney in July....clearly we're nuts.

Traditional "golf ball" family photo

When Ryan's new boss said "Take 2 weeks off before you start", we decided to go to Disney. 

I mean, where else do we go?

Since all of our vacation club points are tied up in upcoming Run Disney race weekends, we were able to pay a la carte and book a room wherever we wanted. It didn't have to be a vacation club resort villa. Our options were endless this way.  We ended up getting a regular old room with a queen bed and bunk beds for the boys...which were a hit. You are much more limited to choices when you book through the vacation club (yes I love it but don't get me started on sometimes having regrets of buying into it. Mostly because your room choices are so limited)......

We knew this vacation was going to be to just relax. We've done Disney a bunch so we're not in any mad rush to ride the rides or squeeze it all in before we go home. We went into this vacation with the mentality that we would just hang out by the pool, eat, drink, relax, and hit the parks as we felt like it.

traditional first night stop: drinks at the UK

Lefou's Brew at Fantasyland. SOOOOOO good!! It's like an apple juice slushy, with some sort of marshmallow flavoring in it, with a whipped mango foam on top. We ALWAYS get one when we go. MMMMMMmmmm

Chillin

Some super sickeningly sweet drink I got at the hotel pool bar while it was raining.... not one of my favorites.

Another tradition: patron margaritas in Mexico

turkey legs!!!

Aidan loved the turkey legs. He asked for one every day.

Olaf helping me out with a drink at Hollywood Studios

Eat, Drink, Chill, Repeat.

(Don't get the wrong idea, we didn't spend our vacation getting wasted by ANY means, but we always find a place at each park and have a cocktail.)

It was great!

And as a bonus, because we're season's pass holders we got a free "memory maker" which is the photo service where they take your photo and you get the digital prints. We took full advantage of it and we got family photos every chance we could! I even have some printed waiting to be framed in the new house!

We chose The Wilderness Lodge. By far my FAVORITE resort on Disney property. (We've stayed at Caribbean Beach, The Contemporary, Saratoga Springs, and the Treehouses at Saratoga Springs). The place is gorgeous, and it's all in one building, which is so much nicer than Caribbean Beach or Saratoga where you have to walk a mile each morning just to go fill your mug with coffee. Argh.

However, this was our first time going during "peak time", and I have a few thoughts.

Yes, the first week in July in Orlando is HOT. We were expecting that. Every afternoon a tropical rain blows in. Sometimes it lasted an hour, sometimes it lasted all night. Blech.

 One night the storms were so bad we ended up buying Disney Candyland at the gift shop and hanging out in the lobby playing it and having snacks. And we weren't the only family doing stuff like that. Nobody wants to venture out in thunder and lightning. Rain I'll do. Storms, just no.

This is the view from the dock looking back at the lodge, where you can board a boat to Magic Kingdom.

I got both boys Birthday buttons since we were smack dab in the middle between both their birthdays (Mason June 24 and Aidan July 28). I eventually made them stop wearing them because as people said "Happy Birthday Aidan" or "Mason" my kids were rude and didn't respond with "Thank You's" Actually some of the time Mason would wish them a Happy Birthday back... I guess maybe he just doesn't get it yet. So I decided instead of constantly saying "what do you say?" I would just take them off so we could enjoy our days.

The lines for rides and characters was not nearly as bad as I was expecting. Not much different than any other time we've gone I suppose. I was expecting crowds so bad you could barely move. I was pleasantly surprised.

Except for July 4th. We read somewhere that July 4 is one of the handful of days a year that the crowds are so insane you can't move at Disney. 

SO we decided to hang by the pool that day and hit up Downtown Disney for dinner. Completely avoid the parks.

(We even went to magic kingdom on the 3rd instead for the preview of the fireworks, and I had never seen such crowds. We were ushered out through a backstage area of the park behind main street (behind casey's corner/crystal chandelier, because Main street was so crowded with guests watching the fireworks we couldn't get out that way. We had decided to try and beat the mad herd of people exiting by not actually staying to watch the fireworks, so I grabbed a few pics on my phone as we walked out.)

It was pretty cool to be behind the scenes though because we saw the electrical parade floats and all those cool old-timey cars they drive around on main street USA.

With all the construction that is going on in Downtown Disney we could barely move. It was horrible. We had a hard time finding a place to sit to eat and we couldn't even let the boys play at the Lego Store. It was bad, so bad. We just couldn't wait to get out of downtown on July 4th. 

the boys and I did our traditional spin on the teacups!

We caught some of the new Festival of Fantasy parade...a parade is a parade in my eyes. We never actually sit and watch them. We all get bored. Instead, while all the crazy people are standing in the hot sun watching stuff slowly drive by them...go get in line for a ride! The lines are shorter then.

Oh and on July 4th we thought about doing a guided fishing tour hosted by wilderness lodge but the price was more than we were willing to spend. So we hung out on the playground at the lodge for a bit instead.

Spice Road Table is new since we've been last Nov. Highly recommend if you like Mediterranean/Middle Eastern food!!

I love taking pics of the treat counters at the bakeries. This was actually from Wandering Oaken's Outpost at Hollywood Studios for Frozen Summer Fun.

Wilderness Lodge is actually a vacation club resort...we always send some pics to our Vacation club "guide" when we come home. She's the main person who handles our account. Her name is Deb and she's awesome. I sent her this picture.

I started pin collections for both my boys before they could walk or talk. I always let them pick a pin when we go.

The boys and Daddy had a blast earning badges as Wilderness Explorers at Animal Kingdom (still my least favorite park for fun stuff, but GREAT for photo ops!): see below...photo taken in Asia with all those cool fabrics hanging from a tree.

We usually spend one morning at Animal Kingdom and that's it. We went early to ride the safari then stayed until lunch at the Tusker House, then we left.

Did I mention I also got to see one of my very favorite townhouse-mates from college and her hubby?

This is Rossy, one of the freaking coolest people I have ever known. When she texted me to ask if she  and her hubby should do Disney the first week in July I almost pissed my pants; I mean we would be there too!  They decided to go and we even got to meet up for some fun (she tried to take me down on Hollywood blvd at Hollywood studios, I mean straight up body slammed me. Typical Rossy style) and we had an awesome dinner at the Hollywood Brown Derby.

It was Ryan and I's first time there. We always pick a place to get a filet mignon and this one was amazing.

So her name in college was Kristen Ross, we called her Rossy. Now she's married and is Kristen DeWilde. I still call her Rossy. Once, I forgot her first name was Kristen. No joke. .... and Aidan was referring to her as "Uncle Rossy" before he actually met her and I was absolutely dying.

Oh, and Frozen Summer Fun or whatever it's called? You're not missing much. I promise.

Wandering Oaken's Outpost was referred to as "Wandering Oaken's Cluster F@*k" for the rest of our trip after we wandered into there. It was so crowded you couldn't even walk through there! We didn't even try and do the ice skating thing.

But we had FUUUNN with our paper Olaf's!

#olafsummervacation

Of course we had a great time, but would we ever go in the summer again if we could avoid it?

NO WAY.

We'll stick to Fall and Early Spring.