Eat, Sleep, Run Disney

Ringing In 2012!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:44:00 +0000

I hope everyone had a great and safe new year! Here's hoping 2012 brings some amazing things for everyone!

I see everyone in the blogosphere talking about goals for the new year and I realized I've never actually written mine down all these years! Maybe this will help me keep track of what I need to do.

Most of these are all related. If I stick to a few of these, the other goals will come easier.

STICK to a training plan!

I don't have an official race planned after Disney in January but when I get back I want to start a 16 week plan for a half marathon. I'll be attempting to use Runner's World's SmartCoach app, but this time I really want to stick to it. It seems doable, and will definitely make me faster when done correctly.

Improve Speed

Well obviously this goes along with the first goal. :)

PR in each distance
Sounds like a lofty goal but I know I can do it if I stick to a plan. My goals are to eventually break 27:00 in a 5k, 57:00 for a 10k, 2:00 in a half, and 4:40 in a full. I know it will be hard to do but we'll see!

I'm not putting a goal on how many actual races I want to do in 2012 because I think I burnt myself out slightly in 2011 with so many big races in September and October. Just want to go and enjoy running, and if a race fits in the calendar, I'll do it!

Increase Mileage for 2012
2011 was a dud in terms of mileage. I only hit 488 miles since I hit a funk for awhile towards the middle of the year. Goal is to bump that number up. Not sure if I can hit 1000 but 750 sounds like a good number!

Debate doing another full in 2012
In 2011 I did Disney and Marine Corps Marathon. For 2012, I already have Disney lined up and have entered the lottery for the NYC full in November. The chances of getting in NYC are slim so I'm contemplating if I want to throw another full in there or just wait until the 20th anniversary of Disney in 2013!

Keep consistent with weight training
I always feel better when I stick to my weight training plans. It definitely helps my running but sometimes life just gets in the way.

Keep Organized!
This will help with every single aspect of my life. Trying to start the new year on the right foot. Have already stripped and cleaned the whole apartment. Kitchen, bedrooms, and bathrooms have been completely cleaned out and a lot of stuff has been tossed or donated. Now lets see how long I can keep this up!

What my aparment felt like!

Don't get Overwhelmed and/or Behind in School Work
The whole organization thing should help with this too. Not much more I have to say about it!

I'll be crossing all my fingers and toes hoping that I can actually stick to my goals this year.

runDisney Announces Tower of Terror 10-Miler & Wine and Dine Date Change

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 21:21:00 +0000

So by now this is definitely old news for a lot of people, but in case you missed some of the details, I'll post it here.

A week or so ago, runDisney kept hinting that they're going to give runners a 'Christmas gift', and teased the announcement with a few short videos. The videos caused crazy rumors to swarm around the Disney sites and running forums.

First video...

Second video...

Third video...

And the official announcement...

So yup! The Tower of Terror race is back!! But instead of being a 13k, it is now a 10-Miler. I think it's a fabulous addition to the runDisney races, and should be a great time for all that are running.

What: Tower of Terror 10-Miler
When: September 29th, 2012
Where: Walt Disney World
Registration: Opens February 14th, 2012

After the race, Hollywood Studios will be open until 3am for a post-race party.

However... then I noticed the date! September 29th was SUPPOSED to be the date for the Wine & Dine Half Marathon. Uhoh.... after quickly browsing the announcement, I noticed they mentioned that the new dates for Wine & Dine will be November 10, 2012. Hmm....
I was happy with the new date in November for the sole reason that it's hopefully much cooler in November. The weather in September is slightly unpredictable.

Thennnnnn...I started thinking about the new November date even more and doing a little research. That weekend in November is what everyone at Disney calls 'Jersey Week'. All NJ schools are closed due to a teachers convention so many many many NJ families descend on Disney World that week so their children don't have to take a full week off from school. I remember doing it for a few years when I was in elementary school too. Crowds aren't insane...but they are slightly elevated.

Not to mention that weekend is also Veterans Day, which means a long weekend for many people, which will bring in crowds to the parks....

Plus? It's the very last weekend of the Food & Wine festival. Which means that runners that come for the long weekend can't necessarily enjoy the food or the wine prior to the race due to nutrition concerns for the race. And since the festival ends that Sunday, you can't enjoy the kiosks the Monday after the race like the majority of runners do.

OH! And now Wine & Dine is no longer on my birthday weekend, which makes me sad. :(

So yeah... I'm slightly torn about the new dates. Why couldn't they have just left Wine & Dine where it was, especially since they announced the original dates previously....and just put the Tower of Terror run in November, closer to Halloween to make it more festive?? People have been complaining on their FB site that they've already booked hotel and flights and now runDisney is ruining their vacation. I don't blame people for being pissed off!

There's been rumors that runDisney is attempting to phase out Wine & Dine, which would be a horrible decision if you ask me! I'm not sure how much truth there is behind that though since Wine & Dine has been very popular the past two years and the improvements from the inaugural year were amazing.

I won't be doing the Tower of Terror run for awhile since Wine & Dine is so close, not to mention the January races are only a few months after. But I'd love to hear what people think!

Will you be running the new race? Stick to the old ones?

Tinker Bell Race Program is Online!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

After seeing the info for the Expedition Everest Challenge, I browsed through the other races and saw that the Tinker Bell Race Program is out!

Click here to go to the race program!

I'm definitely jealous of everyone running the inaugural race! Can't wait to hear all about the run when it's over!

Disney Running 101 Part 1: 4 to 3 Weeks Prior to Race Day

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 20:00:00 +0000

** I decided to repost all of my Disney Running 101 Posts leading up to January Marathon Weekend. I have a few more readers since last year so I figured it'd be a nice refresher! Where info has changed, I've attempted to update it with current information! **

One month before race day! By now you should be nearing the end of your hectic training schedule, getting in one or two last long runs, and beginning your taper period.

During your last few long runs, make sure to finalize what food, hydration, clothing, and gear you want to race with. Don't try running the race in anything new that you haven't tested out yet! You don't want to find out that the cute new shirt you bought to wear irritates your neck starting at mile 4. It's a LONG way to the finish line!

As for tapering, my taper period starts 3 weeks prior to race day but I know some runners who only use a 2 week taper. The 'official' explanation for tapering is that by resting the body it can recover from the shock of weeks and months of hard training and thus stand the best chance for a peak race performance.

During taper, do NOT overdo it! Give your body the rest it deserves after logging all those crazy miles! No need to suffer an injury this close to the race. After all the hard work you put into the training, it's not worth the risk of hurting yourself. There are no workouts the week prior to the race that will enhance your preparedness. Do something light to keep yourself sane but nothing crazy. An important rule of thumb is "Less is Best", particularly if you are feeling either physically or mentally tired and/or your leg muscles are fatigued/achy, etc.

Since you are running less, pay closer attention to your diet. Increasing protein a little in the beginning of your taper should help your muscles repair and recover. It’s normal to gain a few pounds as your muscles stockpile the glycogen they will need during the race. You're also not running as much, hence not burning as many calories. But gaining more than five pounds will make you feel heavy and sluggish. Eat a few less calories than usual and stick to well-balanced meals.

Also, remember to stay hydrated! Since you're not running as much, you probably won't want to drink as much either.

*******

In terms of Disney, you should start to make your final decisions on the three additional ticketed events that Disney is hosting this year for runners and their guests.

* Depending on the race weekend, Disney may or may not offer all 3 of these. I will try to keep this updated when I get more info *

A few days before the races (usually Thursdays but that can change), there's a 'Pasta in the Park Party' from roughly 6:30pm - 9:30pm. According to the runDisney site...Kick off the Walt Disney World® Marathon Weekend by joining us for a Pasta in the Park Party at Epcot®! This event is a great way to relax and be entertained before your big race. The party includes a buffet pasta dinner with self seating, a live DJ and Disney Characters eager to meet you. Following dinner at the World ShowPlace Pavilion, you and your family will be escorted to Worldview Plaza to watch IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth, a mesmerizing fireworks, laser and water show put to music.

I believe the price for 2012 is $47.50 for adults, $28.35 for children. Is it worth it? I'm not so sure but that's up to you to decide. I personally have never done the pasta party. We normally arriving late on Thursday night so always an option for us. I've heard mixed reviews about the event and some say the food is only 'acceptable' and not worth the $48. In the past, my friends and I had a great meal at Tutto Italia, Mama Melrose, and Le Cellier for cheaper per person and loved it. Many of my other friends just hang out at Pop Century and have a much cheaper pasta dinner in the food court.

Here's a recap of the party from 2010 so you can decide yourself. It does look fun but hanging out in the park without the party seems just as fun? :) (Video courtesy of ESPN Wide World of Sports)

The second event for the weekend is the Race Retreat before and after each race for the runners. I wrote a whole blog post about this earlier but here's a blurb...

From Disney's site... "Are you looking for a way to put a little more magic into your Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend? Experience the race as a VIP with a Race Retreat Package. The Race Retreat features a temperature controlled tent with patio seating at the finish line where you'll have private restrooms and bag check, access to live results, a full brunch, massage and character appearances."

They also posted a flyer from 2012 with more details, which you can read here. Bagels, fresh fruit, hot/cold drinks, private bag check, private rest rooms, changing area, character greets, massages (for a $10 fee), and a few other things. All for the 'low' price of $105 for marathon runners ($85 for half marathon runners and $175 for Goofy)!! (Prices listed were for 2011, I can't seem to find 2012 prices)

Like I said in my earlier post, I probably would have done this if my BFF and I were running the same races. Paying for the retreat for 2 days though is steep and what are the chances of it being so frigidly cold again like it was in 2010? Instead I'll spend the time hanging out with my Running of the Ears crew as well as anyone else I stumble upon in the corrals and family areas.

And the last ticketed event to discuss with your family and friends coming to cheer you on is the ChEAR Squad. ChEAR Squad members will get inside information and tips about race weekend and, depending on the package you buy, reserved viewing locations on the course. There are 4 packages you can choose from with prices ranging from $0 (yes..free) all the way up to $145 (for Platinum Goofy viewing). Each package contains different perks ranging from just emails to a t-shirt, cooler, cheering clappers to a private area at the finish line, free food, etc.

To read more about the ChEAR Squad packages from 2011, check out Disney's link here. The 2012 ChEAR Squad instructions are here. Again, can't find prices for some reason this year.

The ChEAR Squad sounds like a decent idea if your friend and fam don't want to wake up early and deal with all of the chaos of going from park to park to chase you down! I personally don't know anyone that has done it though so I can't comment on if it's worth it or not. Has anyone done it before?

Anyone going to participate in any of the three ticketed events? Thoughts?

*****

So there you have it...Part 1 of my Disney Running 101! What did you think? Helpful? Anything I left out that people should know about 4-3 weeks prior to the big day?

Expedition Everest Challenge Now Open for Registration

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 11:46:00 +0000

With all the news coming out for Marathon Weekend in January, it's hard to keep up with the other runDisney news!

The other day, runDisney announced that registration is now open for their Expedition Everest Challenge May 5th, 2012. Sounds like a fun race!

The details:

Expedition Everest Challenge, a race adventure with some bite, is coming Saturday, May 5, 2012 to Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park.

Just after sunset, individuals and teams of two will brave the mysteries of a thrilling 5K trek held in the shadows of the Forbidden Mountain. Teams will have to overcome treacherous obstacles lying in their path and scavenge for clues along their journey to be able to solve the mystery of the mountain in the end. But beware of the Yeti, the abominable snowman that guards the Forbidden Mountain! Escape from the clutches of the Yeti and celebrate conquering this Everest Challenge with an exclusive after-hours party at Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park.

If you have what it takes to conquer this challenge, then find a teammate and join the trek! The challenge and the party will double your fun! If no one will brave this adventure with you, then sign up for the solo trek.

It's a night time race that starts at 9:30pm, which is pretty cool because Animal Kingdom is gorgeous at night! The post race party also sounds fun since most of their big ticket rides will be open (Attractions open for this party include Kali River Rapids Attraction, DINOSAUR, Dinoland U.S.A. Area, and the Expedition Everest Attraction).

As for registration fees, I honestly don't think they're horrendous if you register early! Yes, it's a 5k but you also get the obstacle course thrown in, the post race party, and a pretty amazing medal. I saw the medal when I was at Marine Corps and it's sweet!

Here's a photo of the 2008 medal, but this years is very similar.

Entry Fees and Deadlines
Individual Registration

$89 between December 13 – February 26, 2012
$99 between February 27 – April 15, 2012
$109 between April 16 – May 5, 2012

Individual Registration Plus 1– Day Theme Park Ticket*

$129 between December 13 – February 26, 2012
$139 between February 27 – April 15, 2012
$149 between April 16 – May 5, 2012

Team Registration

$175 between December 13 – February 26, 2012
$190 between February 27 – April 15, 2012
$205 between April 16 – May 5, 2012

Team Registration Plus 1– Day Theme Park Ticket*

$249 between December 13 – February 26, 2012
$269 between February 27 – April 15, 2012
$289 between April 16 – May 5, 2012

For all of the official runDisney information, head over to their website to check it out!

I would LOVE to do this race one day but I first need to figure out when Wine & Dine is and how much money I'll be throwing at Disney between that trip and the Goofy trip in January! :)

Who's registering?

25 Days Until the Madness Starts!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 21:16:00 +0000

Yup, I just counted. 25 days until the 5k on January 6th!

Luckily this week was also a pretty good training week. It was also the last official full week of school and all my projects have been presented and turned in. Just one more class tonight and I'm FREEEEE!!!!! (At least until next semester)

Yet again I didn't get in much running during the week but the weekend runs went really well. So here goes...

12/5, Monday:
Was still a little sore after my 16 miler the day before so just woke up and did a nice arm workout at the gym. It was definitely the harder of the two upper body workouts that my trainer gave me so it was a slight struggle. Rode the bike for a few minutes to try getting some of the lactic acid out of the legs. It felt good!

12/6, Tuesday:
Rest day since I had to go to a friend's house for their son's bday

12/7, Wednesday:
Holy HARD workout! Went to the gym with the intention of doing my leg workout and then running at least a mile. The workout was so hard I threw in the towel after I was done with it and didn't get on the treadmill.

Mostly it was all exercises on step boxes...8" and 10" plus a few with both combined. I felt it in my legs for DAYS! But it felt good!

12/8, Thursday:
Another rest day since it was my group presentation for class!

12/9, Friday:
Attempted my Ab Workout today and it was pretty hard as well. Sensing a trend with these workouts?!

12/10, Saturday:

Had a good 8 Mile run! Started out at 38 degrees but I soon warmed up realizing I probably wore too many layers! Headed out with a friend who is training for his first half down at Disney with his son. It was nice to have someone to talk to and pass the time away. Definitely faster then I was planning to run but I felt good so we kept it up. Kept up a 10:08 pace throughout....

12/11, Sunday:

Another back to back run....Met up with Pat in Fort Tryon Park in NYC to head out for our 18 mile run. Neither of us had been that far up in the city so it was a nice change of pace. The park was beautiful and there was a pretty cool museum up there (The Cloisters) so we checked that out when our run was complete.

George Washington Bridge at Mile 2 on the way southbound

Decided we'd just go out an enjoy the run and not stress about time. Stuck to the West Side Highway and only got down to the Intrepid before having to turn around. Next time we'll have to start around the Intrepid so we make it to the Brooklyn Bridge!

The Intrepid Musum at Mile 9-ish

Felt good the whole entire run...could have been b/c I OD'd on nutrition. Took a Gu, 2 Gu Roctanes, and a Honey Stinger Waffle, plus my Gatorade and Nuun.

The Little Red Lighthouse hiding under the George Washington Bridge (Mile 16 on the way north)

Did roughly a 1 min walk at each mile. We did slow down and take a few pics along the way...couldn't help it! It was a beautiful (but COLD!) day! When we were done we wandered The Cloisters Museum a bit, then proceeded to stuff our faces all around the East Village.

The Cloisters

I swear it was amazing, better than it looks!

X'ian Famous Foods for their Spicy Cumin Lamb Noodles, Belgian Room for lots and lots of good beer...and a hilarious bartender, and then finally Banh Mi Zon for yummy Vietnamese Sandwiches. I think we thoroughly re-carbed up....plus some!

Marathon Weekend Changes From Previous Years

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 05:15:00 +0000

Spent a little time going through all of the details in the final race instructions for all of the races. From what I can tell, not TOO much has changed. The main changes are with the Goofy Race, bib numbers, and obviously the marathon relay since it's brand new this year.

Goofy:

There's only one bib that you have to use for both races, which also means one B-Tag. This should be interesting to see what happens. Unless they're giving us heavy duty bibs, I have a feeling that some bibs might not survive both days. From a computer/database geek point of view, it's possible that this makes things a whole lot easier for runDisney on the technology side of things. Since there's only one B-Tag, it should help keep track of all the Goofy runners much better.

Goofy runners also don't have to check in after the half marathon like in the past. Now you just wait until you complete the full and go to the Goofy tent, where they'll verify you ran both races in the allotted time, and hand you your medal! :)

Bib Numbers:

From what we can tell so far, here's the tentative bib breakdown:

Full #s start at 0
Goofy #s start at 20,000
Half #s start at 30,000
Relay #s start at 70,000

It should be interesting to see how the corrals are broken down. I'm 99% sure that they won't have the relay runners and Goofy runners start in the back of the pack so we'll all be mixed in based on expected finish time. Might be harder to enforce people entering the correct corrals but I'll be hoping for the best!

Marathon Relay:

Bibs for relay runners are not the same for both runners like they've been for the Wine & Dine Relay. Now the bibs are one number off from each other. So if the first runner of the team has bib #1234 the second team member is #1235.

By 4:00 a.m.
Relay teams must be on Monorails or Buses to Epcot
Relay team not staying at host resorts must be parked at Epcot
By 4:45 a.m.
Relay Runners need to SWAP gear bags with bag check stickers prior to taking shuttle to the Relay Exchange. Check the bags in the respective Bag Check. (This part was confusing)
By 5:00 a.m.
Relay Runner #1 must be in corral at Epcot
By 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m.
Monorails and buses are available from Epcot to the Relay Exchange
By 7:00 a.m.
Relay #2 must take shuttle to Relay Exchange

Relay Runner #1:
If you would like to retrieve your belongings at Magic Kingdom Park after completing the first leg of the race, you must give your clear plastic goody bag, with your bag sticker affixed to the front of the bag, to Relay Runner #2. Relay Runner #2 will check your bag at the Bag Check tent at Magic Kingdom Park. Relay Runner #1 bags must be claimed before 10:00 a.m. on Sunday. Unclaimed Relay Runner #1 bags will be delivered from Magic Kingdom Park to the Information tent at Epcot. Any bags unclaimed by 2:00 p.m. on Sunday will be transferred to Epcot Guest Relations, located to the right of the main park entrance. Please visit during park hours to claim lost items.

Relay Runner #2:
If you would like to retrieve your belongings at Epcot® after completing the second leg of the race, you must give your clear plastic goody bag, with your bag sticker affixed to the front of the bag, to Relay Runner #1. Relay Runner #1 will check your bag at the Bag Check tent at Epcot. Relay Runner #2 bags must be claimed before 2:00 p.m. on Sunday. Any unclaimed bags will be transferred to Epcot Guest Relations, located to the right of the main park entrance. Please visit during park hours to claim lost items.

I think those were the main changes! If I notice anything else, I'll post again!

Race Waviers/Bibs and Final Instructions Posted for Disney's Marathon Weekend!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:31:00 +0000

It's all getting to real now, right?

Here's all the info that runDisney just posted. I didn't have a chance to go through all the details but wanted to at least give you guys the links!

All Races: Link to download and print your waiver, which includes your bib number

Full Marathon Final Race Instructions
Marathon Relay Final Race Instructions
Half Marathon Final Race Instructions
Goofy Race & A Half Final Race Instructions
Family Fiesta 5k Final Race Instructions

Who's freaking out JUST a little bit? Yeah..me! :)

Running for a Cause

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 16:28:00 +0000

So I've finally started putting my running to good use! When I originally started running I always knew I wanted to fund-raise to some capacity for a worthy charity, but due to time constraints, life constraints, and just being overall busy, I didn't think that I'd be able to put as much effort into it as I wanted.

While I still don't have a huge amount of time, I figured I need to just step up and do it! After talking to a few friends, we decided to join the WDW Radio Running Team. It's a running team started by Lou Mongello, owner of WDW Radio and it's podcast.

The Team raises money to benefit the Make-A-Wish foundation to help grant the wishes of children with life threatening illnesses that want to visit Walt Disney World. I figured there was no better charity to raise money for while I'm training for all these Disney races!

There are many fundraisers for medical research, which is definitely in need of funding, but that money may not help a family suffering today. Through the work of wish-granting organizations, we are helping a child and their family now by giving them time away from the grim reality of hospitals and doctors, and a chance to smile and feel better, even if only for a little while. The happy memories the family creates, however, will last a lifetime.

A little more about the WDW Radio Running Team can be found here.

And if anyone wants to donate, the link for that is here. Mention EatSleepRunDisney.com or me (Jenn L!) in the comments if you do!

If you see any of these shirts while on the race courses, be sure to say hello!!!

New Prices for Disneyland Half Marathon 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:18:00 +0000

There's been quite the buzz online about the new pricing for the Disneyland Half Marathon in 2012. It went up...a lot!

$150 by February 26, 2012
$165 between February 27 and April 15,2012
$180 on or after April 16, 2012

Last year it was:
$125 by February 6, 2011
$145 after February 6, 2011

The late fee last year isn't even as much as the starting price this year, not to mention that just a few years ago it was $90!

It's a hard price to swallow, especially considering that both half marathons held at Disneyland aren't run completely on Disney property. Most of the race is held in the streets of Anaheim. And while there is some fun crowd support, it's not 100% Disney like in Florida.

$25 increase might not sound like much, but the prices continue to go up yet many runners are complaining that their money is getting them less. Less characters on the course, less food at the finish, etc.

I guess good thing for me, I wasn't really planning on running Disneyland in 2012 at all. I'll be waiting a few years to run it again, unless Disney comes up with a medal or something to run every single race in one calendar year. Then I'll make the exception. :)

What do you guys think? What is too much for a half marathon? What do you factor in when deciding to fork over that kind of money?

It Was a Good Week for Training...

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:53:00 +0000

I started to write this post last night when I got in bed but I think I was passed out before 3 words were jotted down.

This past week I hit every major workout/running goal that I had planned. I missed a few regular workouts and a cut a short run even shorter but I'm completely OK with it. It feels like I'm actually back in the groove of training and even though there's only 32 days left until the races start, I feel pretty good with where I'm at.

11/28, Monday:
After having talked to my gym owner the previous week about getting a new workout routine, I got to the gym but the workout wasn't ready yet so I went through a quick circuit that he put together for me. Felt pretty good!

11/29, Tuesday:

Went to the gym and my new workout was ready! It's split into 3 days per week. However, there's 2 complete different workouts depending on the week. So Week 1 I'll do Workout A and Week 2 I'll do Workout B, then back to Workout A on Week 3. Slightly confusing at first but it'll definitely keep me into it.
First upper body day today...Did 2 sets and then jumped on the treadmill for a boring hot mile. It was too stuffy in the gym and I just wasn't feeling it.

11/30, Wednesday:

Forced myself to run 3 full miles on the treadmill in the morning :) Found the trick I forgot about since college... cover the treadmill screen with your towel so you can't see the seconds slowly tick by.

12/1, Thursday:
Rest Day...I had class :(

12/2, Friday:
Skipped my leg workout for the week since I planned on doing some serious running over the weekend and just did my ab workout in the morning.

12/3, Saturday:

Yes, I'm actually going to say that I felt great during a run! Was running completely late and was crazy pissed off when I first got to the park (long story). Started my run and started to relax. Wanted to get in 10 but due to being late, only was able to squeeze in 6. Semi-negative splits for the first time in a LONG time too.
Miles: 10:19, 10:32 (dunno what happened there), 10:00, 10:07, 9:53, 9:53

Wore the Brooks Pure Cadence and they felt great. I could definitely feel the feet and ankles trying to adjust and they were a little tight, but no pain and I still love these sneakers. :) I'll review them after I get a few more miles in them!

12/4, Sunday:
First back to back run of this whole Goofy/Dopey training. After doing 6 the day before, I went out for 16 today. Wasn't sure how I'd feel but I'm happy to say, I felt good!! It was freezing at the start...36 degrees. Started to warm up right away though. Ended up at 60 degrees by the time I finished. Felt good the whole entire time, slightly tired the last 5 miles but nothing horrific. Ran the first 3 miles because I honestly forgot to walk. Started walking at 4 and then continued to walk 1 minute every mile.

At mile 4 had the new Peanut Butter Gu. Hmm...it's good. But I was expecting more peanut butter taste. It's more sweet than I would have liked.

Mile 8 I had a Vanilla Honey Stinger Waffle and OMG they're amazing! Next time I might cut it up and have them throughout the run. It looks like a squished ice cream waffle cone, with a denser texture. SO good.

Mile 12 I had a Chocolate Raspberry Gu Roctane. It was also decent, slightly medicine tasting though. But with it's 2x caffeine, I think it definitely gave me some energy at the end!

Feet, arches, and ankles are definitely sore but nothing too horrific. Definitely not in the mood to run again though. I also didn't wear my CW-X tights because umm... they kinda ripped after my 6 miler so a new pair should be here today. :)

*****

On to other news, there's some runDisney news that should come out today or tomorrow. Waivers look like they're getting ready to be posted, and the new pricing for the Disneyland half was released. I'll post about those hopefully tomorrow and Wednesday though!

Updated Course Maps for January runDisney Races

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Earlier this month, runDisney posted new race course maps for the January races but most people weren't too thrilled about them. They were very basic and hard to read. Plus, they didn't have any mile markers, etc.

Luckily, new course maps were posted! It's still the basic maps from earlier, but this time they added mile markers, water stops, etc. Makes them slightly easier to understand. I still like the old maps that had a lot more detail but these are definitely better than earlier.

Also, both the half and full marathon courses have stayed exactly the same. A friend on Running of the Ears sent an email asking about changes, and the response was that nothing has changed. That's a great thing though because I actually really liked the full marathon course!

Here's the new links to the maps:

2012 WDW Marathon Course Map

2012 WDW Half Marathon Course Map

2012 WDW Marathon Relay Course Map

2012 Family Fiesta 5k

Regrouping and Refocusing

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 19:31:00 +0000

Helloooooo out there! Haven't been around for a long while apparently. I just realized my last blog post was over 20 days ago on the 7th, yikes!

Apologies are appropriate, but I will say that I needed the slight break. After the Marine Corps Marathon, I was pretty burnt out with everything going on. Work, school, life in general, running, and blogging were near impossible to juggle so unfortunately the blog was thrown on the back burner.

But now I sit here with about 5 weeks until the Goofy Challenge at Disney and the excitement has started to build again. Before I could sit down and seriously think about running and cross training though, I needed to put a few things in order.

These past two weeks I tried to semi-organize my life. The bedroom was cleaned, the drawers were rifled through, clothes donated, finances looked over and budgets created (seriously...you guys need to download the Mint app on your iPhones...I'm obsessed). School work was organized and I now can see the finish line for the semester. To-Do lists were created (and will hopefully be adhered to) and then I finally headed over to the gym to talk to my gym owner.

I walked into the gym mid-last week and sat down and flat out said I'm burnt out and bored out of my mind with my workout/running routine and I needed a change. I knew I didn't want to stop running (nor could I with Goofy so close) but I needed a complete kick start to get me back in the mood to do something active. Until then I was seriously just going through the motions of attempting to work out and get my runs in but I wasn't enjoying them at all. I'd get to the gym and would immediately want to leave. I'd hop on the treadmill for a 4 mile run and a mile into it, I'd stop since I was so bored.

The owner of my gym is pretty fabulous (if you're reading this...Hi Bill!...apparently some gym members found my blog recently when researching Disney races hehehehe) and being an insane ultra marathoner himself, totally knows the feeling I was having. My gym is unique in that the owner sits down with each member and after taking measurements and asking what goals we have, creates a specific and unique workout routine for each individual. Each night he'll look over your workout card from that day where you wrote down how many reps and how you felt, and make suggestions about modifications, weight increases for exercises, etc based on your comments. Every 8-12 weeks, he'll revamp the routine based on your new measurements and new goals, etc. It's semi-personal training but he's not hovering over you every step of the way. I love it.

To help get me back int he swing of things, I somehow got ~~conned~~ persuaded to join in on the 7 Mile "Black and Blue" Boot Camp the Friday after Thanksgiving (Black Friday...hence the name). The boot camps are always a serious ass kicking but they're usually only 3 miles, if that. I knew I needed to throw in a long run this weekend so I figured why not, right? :) Fast forward to Friday and the boot camp did exactly what it said it was going to do...kick my ass and give me some bruises. Each person had to wear a weighted backpack ranging from 5lbs to 20lbs depending on your gender, weight, pace, and strength. I had a 6lb pack filled with water bottles. Every half mile of the boot camp, we'd stop on a lawn, in a parking lot, in a park, or on a school track and do some sort of insane exercise. Walking lunges, full situps, pull ups, running backwards on the track, etc. You name it, we probably did it.

OK, maybe we weren't THAT hard core...

Luckily though, the boot camp was just what I needed. I felt great after and it helped get me motivated to continue on with this workout thing finally! I even went to the gym this morning to start the week off right! Hopefully my new routine will be ready by tomorrow so I'll get to test it out after work. Also on tap for this weekend is a 16 miler, and POSSIBLY my first back to back long run. We'll see how I feel though. :) It blows my mind that we're only 5 weeks away from Goofy!!

So hopefully I'm back to blogging as well. I have a few things to post about the Disney races that I should have up by this week. Nothing earth shattering though so don't get too excited! :)

Always Earned Never Given...Marine Corps Marathon Recap!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 20:50:00 +0000

I'm back!! And I survived....barely! :) Ready for some picture overload??

I knew this would be a tough race...a much harder course than Disney, plus a lack of training. Not a great combination in the long run!

After a carb load dinner with the gang the night before, I headed back to the room to get all my things in order. Hit the pillow probably between 10 and 10:30pm. Not too bad I guess. The alarm was set for 5am but I woke up at 4:30am wide awake. Quickly got dressed and then ended up sitting in the bathroom area while I ate breakfast and played a few games on my phone to pass the time away while the others slept.

Patrick and Daniel showed up around 6:30 to drop their bags off (my hotel was right by the finish line) and then we headed downstairs to meet some of the ROTE gang by 6:50am. Plenty of time for an 8am start, right?? Yeah...we thought so too!

Lots of runners in the hotel lobby (pic thanks to @DanielWanderman)

The boys and I ready to run!

Walking to the starting area

Beautiful sunrise over the Washington Monument

Started walking towards the start line with a ton of other runners. The walk didn't seem too long, but then we heard them announce that the parachuters had already jumped. Wait..really? What time was it?! 7:30...hmmm. Started picking up the pace a bit.

Paused the walk during the prayer, 7 gun salute in memory of 9/11, the National Anthem, and the Osprey fly by (which was pretty damn cool).

Miles, the MCM Mascot! (pic thanks to @DanielWanderman)

Race time is coming up QUICK and we still hadn't dropped our bags off and all had to run to the portapotties one last time! So yeah, no one had mentioned that bag drop off was SO far away from us! We started hustling even more and finally saw where the drop off was and had to hurdle a few highway dividers to get there. Before getting there though, the wheelchair start happened. Crap! Only 15 minutes until race time?! Ran to our specific UPS trucks and handed over the bags. At that point, I lost Daniel and Patrick but was still with Eric. Eric and I waited a bit but then decided to leave them since time was running out and we weren't all running together anyways.

Rushed back up towards the corrals and veered off for a pit stop. Luckily at the expo I decided to spend almost a million dollars so I got access to the Brooks VIP Portapotties. Not gonna lie, they were pretty fabulous! Heated, running water, etc. And the volunteers outside were handing out mints and candy and were wearing tuxedo shirts. It was cute!

Fancy potties!

Met back up with Eric and we finally made it over to the 4:30-5:00 corral. Barriers wouldn't let us over but there were a ton of runners hanging outside the barriers waiting for the gun to go off so we joined them. I hated feeling so rushed and didn't get enough time to properly stretch.

Loved all the official photogs around the race start!

Yes, I dig Marines :)

Finally the race started! As the runners in the corral started moving, some of the barriers were moved and we all managed to squeeze in.

Inching towards the starting mats

OK, I hate to say it...but the race is honestly a pretty big blur. I'll write down everything I remember but I know I'll be leaving out huge chunks! :(

The first few miles through the Rosslyn area flew by. Eric and I were NOT too thrilled about all the hills but we gutted them out and got through pretty quickly. Our goal was to finish the race in 4:45, 13 minutes faster than my Disney time. We were keeping up a great pace for the first 13 miles and even had a slight buffer for most of the time but more on that later.

One of the first 'inclines'

Somewhere between miles 4-7 I get a tap on my shoulder and look over and it's Jennifer from Running Through the Castle!! So glad she spotted me because I'm honestly oblivious every single time I run. I never notice anyone. She was running her first full with her BFF and they looked awesome. After chatting for a bit, we lost each other before heading into the heart of Georgetown.

One of the worst hills on the course was right before Georgetown. We saw people coming down the hill and the incline was pretty steep and all I could think about was how steep the hill was to actually get that high up the 'mountain'. Luckily though, Eric and I joked around a bit and there were a few entertaining shirts and costumes along the way.

Couldn't agree more!

More of this crazy hill!

After getting through the hill, Georgetown was great to run through. The crowd support was awesome and I attempted to take it all in.

Pic thanks to @DanielWanderman

The next few miles all jumble together. I checked my phone and saw that my friends were waiting for us around Mile 10-ish. We were still on pace for our goal, and we actually look happy in the photos!! :) Saw my friends (thank God they were screaming my name b/c did I mention I'm oblivious?!) and it was an awesome boost to see them. Put a smile on our faces and gave us a little more energy.

Running past our cheering crew!

Around Mile 13 or 14 I felt another tap on my shoulder and turned and saw my friend Matt from home! He was running his first marathon and had just gotten out of the Marine Corps. He and his uncle decided to run the race together but Matt ran up ahead when his uncle started slowing down. I seriously have NO idea how people recognize me while running! We chatted for awhile and decided that Matt would join us in the rest of the run since running solo can get pretty boring!

The three of us ran together for 4 more miles or so, then...I have no idea what happened! I checked my phone again and read that my friends were by the Korea War Memorial, but didn't give a mile marker. It was quite entertaining listening to the 3 of us trying to figure it out. People should know that they can't give runners any hard questions or decisions during a race! I remember telling them to be roughly around Mile 16 so I just hoped it was around there. Luckily, I was right!

We stopped for a few seconds to say hi and to retrieve a banana that I requested. After a few more waves and hugs, we were back on the road. After the Mile 17 water stop though, we lost Eric in the mix. I saw him ahead of us but I think he thought that we were ahead of him so he picked up the pace to look for us. Was definitely bummed when I realized that Eric was gone for good though, we were great at motivating each other!

From here on out, the race just got HARD! Not sure if it was because my cheerleader was gone, I was definitely under trained, or didn't have the right nutrition...but I felt myself going downhill.

Around Mile 19, Matt's back started to really hurt, my butt and hamstrings started to scream, and we were just NOT thrilled. We stopped for a good 3 minutes to stretch and I think it helped. Not sure if the two of us complaining to each other helped or hurt the mental game going on in my head. I tried to eat the Sport Beans that they handed out but they were like cement in my mouth. I ate one and spit the rest out because I just couldn't swallow them.

We knew the bridge was at Mile 20 so we agreed to at least get to the bridge as fast as we could shuffle and then if all else fails, we could walk the last 6 miles (yes, that was my mentality then!). The Bridge of Hell was NEVER ENDING! I knew it was long, but like Melissa or Jennifer said, Mile 20 was at the start of the bridge, Mile 21 was ON the bridge! We walked a fair amount of the bridge and then I remembered that the ROTE crew was waiting on the other side!

We shuffled down the bridge and I saw them all and it was SO good to see them! Unfortunately I just wasn't in the mood for any of the snacks and goodies that they were offering so after a quick hello, we continued on our way. In my head I only had SIX more miles and I could be done with this race.

Like Melissa said in her recap, everyone kept talking about how awesome it was to run through Crystal City. Honestly? It did NOTHING for me. I hate out and backs (like Melissa) so seeing the runners who had less to go than me was killing me. Plus I thought the turn around was NEVER going to happen! The only amazing and motivating thing was seeing these two guys taking turns carrying each other the whole entire 26.2. Totally insane and inspiring!

I had asked my friends to try to meet me around Mile 23 but I checked my phone while still on the bridge at Mile 21 and they said they'd meet me at the finish area. Not gonna lie, I was kinda crushed. I had NOTHING to look forward to until the end so I lost all motivation. :( Knew the final few miles would be even harder.

Around Mile 23, I also lost Matt. I was mentally and physically done and I felt bad holding him back. He started running again and I just told him to go without me. Then the mental games really started! I was SO excited to get to the Munchkin food station and then when I took a bite, it so wasn't what I expected! I must have been getting dehydrated because I could barely chew the donut so tossed it. SO SAD!

I decided to walk for a bit, which ended up being about a mile. I kept trying to motivate myself to run but nothing was working! It also didn't help that almost EVERYONE around me was walking as well. I texted my BFF asking if it was ok to cry and she said yes, as long as I kept on moving! Haha! Luckily I held back the tears. Finally around Mile 25 I stopped to get a rock out of my shoe and 3 girls were sitting on the shoulder cheering. We chatted for a few seconds and they could tell I needed some extra oomph so they asked for my name and then cheered for me for a LONG time as I ran away. So THANK YOU ladies!!

Their encouraging words made me pick up the speed a little and I refused to walk the remaining 1.2 miles! I also think Marines and other spectators could tell I was struggling because more and more were commenting on my shirt! One female Marine said, "If you dig Marines, I promise you there's a few hundred at the finish line! And they're single!" I seriously think I snorted and couldn't stop laughing. It was just what I needed.

I had heard about the horrible hill to the finish line and I refused to walk up it. I saw the finish line banner and was beyond relieved! I think the look on my face says it all, no?

I see the finish!!!! (maybe...or this could have been Mile 23 hahaha)

So apparently it doesn't look too bad, but the hill sucked!

WOOHOO!!!!

Andddd we're done!!!

Crossing that finish line was amazing! I didn't choke back tears like at Disney but I tried to sit and take it all in. I had finished the Marine Corps Marathon! It wasn't a pretty couple miles at the end but before even getting my medal, I knew I'd be back to run it again one year in the near future.

After getting a mylar blanket handed to me, I quickly got in line to get my medal. I wanted to see what this baby looked like! It was a huge secret leading up until the race and the MCM refused to give any hints. Even at the expo, there were no pictures!

The Marines handing out medals shook each runners hand and said congratulations and thank you. The lady in front of me started crying and asked for a hug from him, which made me get a little teary eyed as well. When it was my turn, I had a huge smile on my face and made sure to thank the Marine for everything he's done.

Then I figured a picture with him wouldn't hurt, right? :)

And no, I didn't ask if he's single! But he's been the running joke with all my friends lately. So if you're reading this, hottie Marine? Thank you :) And if you're single... my email is on this blog somewhere...ha!

There were photographers right after the medals to snap quick photos, and then ones in front of Iwo Jima to take the official finisher photos. Obviously had to wait in line for that one!

I quickly texted my friends and they were all at Ruby Tuesday's getting food and drinks. Was slightly jealous about that so said I'll try to make it to them quickly. Slowly hobbled through the food lines to get my gatorade, water, and snack pack of goodies. I really had wanted to find the massages but I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere and realized that I passed it at some point. The thought of turning back around made me realize that a free massage wasn't worth the pain!

Picked up my bag from the UPS trucks and quickly threw on a jacket and my Uggs. My feet loved me for it! Then I told Daniel and Patrick that I was heading to Ruby's to meet up with the gang so they eventually met up with us. After a beer and some food, I felt a million times better!

And how freakin AWESOME is this medal!??!?

Amazing Bling! (pic thanks to @DanielWanderman)

Overall, it was an amazing race and I will definitely do it again! However, I'll make sure to get the proper training in. The course was a LOT harder than Disney, but I should have known that since Disney is ridiculously flat. The crowd support and Marine support on the course blew me away. I think the only other race that could top this, in terms of crowds, would be NYC. Plus, I'll try to make sure that I have some support during the last few miles of the race. Didn't think I would need it as bad as I did!

Thanks everyone for your words of encouragement!! :)

New 2012 WDW Marathon Weekend Course Maps & Race Program!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:19:00 +0000

I was in the middle of writing my Marine Corps Marathon recap when I saw that runDisney posted the course maps for all of the January races, as well as the race program!!

Then I calculated... the race weekend is in NINE WEEKS!!! Yikes!

Looks like the course maps are VERY simplified compared to previous years. Also looks like some things have changed but I'm not sure if that's just due to the simple maps. Although definitely seems like the marathon is NOT running around World Showcase and past Yacht & Beach Club this year? Meh. Don't like that. World Showcase was one of the best parts!

Honestly? NOT a fan of the new maps. There's no mile markers, water stops, nada, nothing. I'm hoping that runDisney releases maps with more detail soon.

Click the links below to bring you to runDisney's links!

2012 WDW Marathon Course Map

2012 WDW Half Marathon Course Map

2012 WDW Marathon Relay Course Map

2012 Family Fiesta 5k

2012 WDW Marathon Weekend Race Program

Marine Corps Marathon Expo & Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 18:38:00 +0000

Helllooooooo!!! I'm back and I survived! :) It wasn't the most amazing showing in terms of my finish time but I did finish and now have some amazing bling hanging on my wall.

I haven't had a chance to upload my photos from the race yet so for now I'm going to talk about the rest of the weekend, including the expo and some of our sightseeing. The race recap will hopefully go up tomorrow. It was a great weekend despite the crazy weather, and my friends and I had a fun time wandering DC.

My car of 4 started our trek down at around 9:30pm Thursday after I got out of class and did some last minute packing of things I realized I forgot. Didn't get to our hotel until about 1:30am or 2am and immediately went to bed for our early wake up call. 6am came WAY too quickly but we were excited since we had a tour of the White House scheduled for 8:30am.

We got a little 'lost' on the way to the hotel at 1am...but saw this!

Met up with our other 2 friends that were also part of my cheering crew and we got in line to go through security. We thought we were all free and clear until our one friend got stopped for having the wrong birthday on the information I sent. Uhoh. I SWEAR I sent in the correct birthday for her! Luckily they ran her information one more time and they let her through the line after about 15 minutes.

No photos or bags were allowed during the tour so the only thing I had with me was my iPhone. Only cell phones, wallets, and keys were allowed on the tour. However, right before we stepped into the White House, a furry friend jumped out of the door so I quickly snapped a photo! Who is that, you ask? It's Bo, the Obama's dog! :) He was walking without a leash with an 'assistant'. Not sure of the person's official title, haha! Don't think I was violating any secret service rules so I'll post the photo. :) Pretty sure that's the closest I'll ever get to an Obama.

Bo!

The tour of the White House was pretty cool. It was a self guided tour but there was Secret Service in each of the rooms that would answer any and every question you had. We were really impressed with how much detail they actually knew about the rooms that they were in. We were only allowed to see about 8-10 rooms, plus the stairs leading up to the family's private residence but it was definitely interesting. If you're interested in taking a tour though, make sure you plan WAY ahead! You have to email your Congressman 6 months prior to your trip to get approved. Then you don't find out until 2 weeks before your trip. So glad it worked out for us!

After our tour was over, we all quickly headed over to Old Ebbit's Grill for breakfast. I've been there before for lunch and knew it had a lot of history to it and my friends would enjoy it. Our server was also running the marathon and the food was fabulous. I couldn't resist getting a bloody mary...they have some of the best I've ever had! Made sure to drink a ton of water though to keep me hydrated!

After breakfast, the gang split up. Christina and I headed over to the Expo while the rest either went sightseeing or went back to the hotel to nap. The expo is usually when my nerves hit their all time high (other than race morning). It just makes everything seem so real!

The first stop when we got to the Armory was the outside tent to pickup our bibs. The place was buzzing with excitement and I quickly found my bib area and was glad to see there was no line! The Marine quickly found my bib and handed me my information.

Bib PickUp!

Starting to FREAK OUT!

The 2011 MCM Guide

AHH! It's REAL!!!

After picking up my bib and the MCM newspaper, we followed the crowds into the actual expo. The expo was HUGE!! Definitely bigger than any of the Disney ones, plus I felt that it was slightly more spread out. First headed over to pick up the official race shirt, which was the traditional long sleeve mock turtlenecks. Unfortunately I hate mock turtlenecks but this will definitely be kept in the collection and not donated. The front left chest had the USMC Eagle Globe and Anchor logo, the one sleeve said 'Marines', and the back also had a huge Eagle Globe and Anchor logo. Definitely some heavy duty shirts!

After the shirt pickup, I went directly to the official Brooks merchandise and proceeded to spend a fortune. I didn't intend to buy so much but I loved the womens jacket, and one of the guys shirts was nice, plus the MCM capri tights, and a pint glass. Um yeah...I went a little overboard. When the girl rang me up, she congratulated me on spending enough to get special private access to the Brooks VIP Portapottie... YAY!! :) Heated, running water, and candy... I wasn't complaining much. My credit card, on the other hand though, is.

We then started slowly wandering all of the vendors and trying to take it all in. One of the first booths we stumbled upon was the Athens Marathon! This race is definitely on my bucket list so I poked around and tried to ask some questions. The one woman working the booth spoke little English, and my Greek marathon vocabulary is pretty non-existent so I waited until the other gentleman there finished up with another runner. I talked to him a little bit about how to register and asked if I had to do an organized tour (I know Jeff Galloway runs a group tour to Athens every year). He suggested I do the tour, but then after finding out that I have family there, he agreed that I should just register online when the time comes and plan all of my own transportation and stuff myself. So yeah...not too much new information but it was cool. I will say I think the medal is kinda dinky for being the original marathon but...oh well.

After that booth, we continued to just wander around. I bought a shirt at the Raw Threads booth that said "Live Run Marathons". I have another shirt from them from Disney and I LOVE it so every time I see them at an expo I definitely stop on by to see what new items they have. Other than that, I bought a few more pairs of Balega socks, and we also stopped by the GE area to get our body composition calculated, as well as bone density. Pretty interesting, although I'm not sure how accurate it is! Also bought a cheap pair of throw away gloves since it was SO freakin cold!

While wandering, we ran into the Marine Corps Band, and the marathon mascot, Miles!

Serenading an older woman with "Isn't She Lovely"

Miles and I

Sadly not this time... one day!

Everything at the expo was completely organized, but I guess that should be expected, considering this is a Marine production. After getting our shopping fix in (over 2 hours later!), we headed back to the hotel to relax a bit.

The next day was pretty uneventful, and the weather was miserable! Rain turned to snow and it was SO COLD! We ended up going to the Air & Space Museum, lunch at Capital Grille, took a tour of the US Capitol, saw the Postal Museum, and then carb loaded at Famous Luigi's...which shouldn't be so famous. Meh. Then I called it a night to get my stuff ready in preparation for race day!!

Race recap hopefully tomorrow! :)

For a Little Laugh Before the Race.....The Day After

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:54:00 +0000

I still have a million things to do before driving down to DC tonight but wanted to post these two quick videos since they've made me smile and laugh each time I've watched them!

I remember that wobble the day after the Disney marathon and how entertaining it was for my friends to laugh at me. Can't wait for the same jokes on Monday!

OK, now back to work...need to get some work done, finish writing a paper for class tonight, pack, go to class...and THEN meet my friends so we can drive down to Washington, DC!

Tour of the White House tomorrow morning and then the expo...woohoo!

(And yes, I'm obviously in a better mood than my last post. Still freaking out about the race but hey...can't do much about it now, right?)

Single Digit Freak Out!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 12:48:00 +0000

I've been missing...I know! Story of my life lately. :) But I honestly figured I'd spare you guys my venting for awhile.

It's officially 8 days until the Marine Corps Marathon and to say I'm freaking out is an understatement.

Went for an 18 mile run last Saturday and it went miserably wrong. By Mile 10 I was sluggish, by Mile 14 I was miserable, and by Mile 16 I threw in the towel and walked one more mile to my car and cut the 'run' short at Mile 17. Not sure what went wrong. I thought I was properly hydrating and eating during the run, but I must not have been property hydrated before the run. I was feeling great up until Mile 10 though, singing to the songs on my iPod, enjoying the view, taking photos with my camera, etc. And then? BLAH!

See? Even pretty scenery couldn't help after Mile 10!

I didn't feel horrible after the run though, which I'm happy about. I was slightly sore but nothing I couldn't handle. And then? I woke up Wednesday (remember...my run was on Saturday) and my heel HURT!! With every single step. Hmm...that's not good, right? It can't be from running, since I ran 4 days prior, so I have no idea what it could be. Possibly the stilettos I wore the night before to the bar but high heels usually never bother me. Who knows.

Unfortunately, it's Saturday again and the stupid thing still kind of hurts. Definitely not as bad as when it started but it's there. I've been icing and rolling and stretching. We'll see.

So yeah, the race is in 8 days...I didn't get the training in that I needed, and I'm going in with some random mystery ailment. Oh!! And the weather forecast for the race? Rain!!! Seriously... I need to get myself out of this mental funk by next Sunday!

I promise (I hope) that my next post on here will be slightly more happy.

I did get a fabulous massage yesterday though and do feel better overall. I think I need to go monthly for a massage just for my mental well being. SO relaxing!

I will say on a happier note... I am in LOVEEEEEE with my iPhone 4S!!! Smitten! And I have a crush on Siri. :) She and I are going to be the best of friends!

Race Recap: The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers 9/11 Tribute Run

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 19:53:00 +0000

With all of the Disney happenings lately, I've slacked with writing one of my September race recaps! And this one, out of any race I've ever completed, was by far the most emotional runs I've ever done

For the past few years, I've heard about the September 11th tribute run that happens every year in New York City. Living only a few miles away, so many people I know were personally affected on that day that I knew I had to run. Yet every year I always had a wedding/family function/or was out of town. For the 10th anniversary though, I knew I had to be there so I registered the day it opened up.

Here's a little history of the run...

On September 11th, firefighter Stephen Siller had just gotten off the late shift at Squad 1, Park Slope, Brooklyn. He was on his way to play golf with his brothers on that bright clear day when his scanner told of the first plane hitting the Twin Towers. When he heard the news, he called his wife Sally to tell her he would be late because he had to help those in need. He returned to Squad 1 to get his gear, then took his final heroic steps to the World Trade Center. When Stephen drove his truck to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, it was already closed to traffic . With sixty pounds of gear strapped to his back, he ran through the Tunnel, hoping to meet up with his own company, Squad 1. Stephen, along with 342 other firefighters lost their lives on that day.

The run recreates the run that Stephen completed on 9/11 from the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to the World Trade Center.

My Garmin obviously had a few troubles while we were in the tunnel so it looks like I swam for a bit but here's the map from the run...

The whole day was memorable. Guess I'll start from the wee hours of the morning....

Woke up about 4:30am and headed down to Jersey City to catch the Path train directly to the World Trade Center. When I walked out into the street to head towards the shuttle buses to bring us to the starting line in Brooklyn, firemen that had volunteered for the race repeatedly thanked us for coming to support Stephen's memory and the FDNY/NYPD. Every runner I saw quickly corrected them and instead said Thank You for helping out NYC over the years.

Turning the corner took my breath away for a second. Staring at me was the World Trade Center construction site and One World Trade (the first building to start construction after 9/11) arising into the hazy sunrise. Every runner I was walking with stopped to take a photo.

We quickly got to the buses and it reminded me of the seamless bus transportation for Marathon Weekend at Disney. Dozens of Coach buses lined up and were being filled one by one before heading out to Brooklyn.

Once in Brooklyn, bag check and packet pickup were in the Ikea parking lot so I quickly headed over to pick up my bib and then sat down on a curb waiting for my other friends to arrive. I was wearing my Marine Corps Marathon In Training shirt so it started up a few conversations with a few people, including a few Marines who were also running it.

When my friends arrived, we were slightly hungry so headed into Ikea for a quick bite. The store was nice enough to open up their cafe hours before the real store opened and served their full breakfast menu as well as runner friendly options. I ended up with their Swedish pancakes (slightly thicker crepes) and loved every bite. :)

After eating, we started to make our trek towards the starting area by the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. It was CRAZY to see the number of people running this event. Announcers kept saying that 30,000 people registered and I believe it. It was a sea of people everywhere you looked!

One of the most touching aspects of the race was seeing the amount of firemen from around the world that flew in to NYC just to participate. And not only did these guys (and women!) participate, but many of them ran in full gear, including their oxygen tanks. There was a huge group of firemen from London who were definitely enjoying all the attention their sexy accents were getting from the ladies!

Just a few of the Brits & their fans

We managed to weave our way to the start line so we can see the opening ceremonies and memorials. There was a moment of silence, along with a few songs. From what I remember the first group to line up at the start line was a group of wounded soldiers. They started off the race 15 minutes before we did so they could get a slight head start before the throngs of runners. There was also a piece of steel taken from the rubble of the World Trade Center that was on display for people to touch on their way over the start line.

After the wounded soldiers, I believe there were 1500 West Point Cadets that crossed the start line in formation. After the cadets was another huge number of Marines and other military.

Finally it was our turn to line up and we quickly got ready to run. I had my camera ready to go and before I knew it, we were off!

We ran over the timing mats and immediately rounded the corner to head down into the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. There were a few firetrucks parked over to the side with some of the best looking cheerleaders I've seen in awhile... ;) (Did I ever mention I'm a sucker for men in uniform?)

Heading into the tunnel

The tunnel was the true start of the emotional rollercoaster for a few runners. I saw a few people overcome with emotion just standing over to the side of the tunnel. A minute or so after entering the tunnel, "Proud to Be an American" started playing over the intercom system and that got a few more tears flowing!

It's hard to hear but here's a quick video while we were running through...(and no, I promise that's not me singing)

The support for the men and women in uniform was overwhelming. Every runner that passed someone in full gear gave them a pat on the back or asked if they were ok or needed water. It was HOT and muggy in that tunnel just wearing a t-shirt and running shorts. I was dripping sweat within 2 minutes of entering the tunnel. Adding 50+ pounds of heat resistant gear must have been excruciating. Many people stopped to walk when the uniformed person stopped to walk due to the heat and weight of their gear.

After exiting the tunnel, we ran down the street that was lined with military holding American flags on one side....

...and on the other side was over 343 firemen holding banners with the name and photo of each one of their brothers lost. Yup, this is where I kinda lost it. I had to slow down and walk a few times and wipe away tears. The enormity of the run doesn't hit until you see the photos of the men and women that lost their lives on 9/11. Saying thank you to the firemen along that route felt so miniscule compared to what they went through.

After catching another glimpse of One World Trade, we turned the corner for the final portion of the run.

Crossing the finish line we were met with a ton of volunteers handing out any and everything you could think of! Bottles of water, bananas, frozen strawberries (omg the best thing I've ever had post race!), chocolate cookies, etc.

Luckily since we were in the first 1000 or so people to start the race, the post race area wasn't a zoo yet but the chaos grew with every passing minute. It took a while but I found my friends and we quickly did a lap through the post race party. There was SO MUCH food for all of the runners and families that it was overwhelming! Burgers, hot dogs, ribs, chicken wings, salad, pasta salad, pasta, beer, water, soda, dunkin donuts, coffee, etc. You name it, it was probably there! I grabbed a burger, water, and few more packages of the Dole frozen strawberries and we decided to high tail it out of the area. Someone should have realized that you can't squeeze 30k runners plus their family in a 2 city block area.

Overall, this was an amazing experience. I would do this race every year in a heartbeat. Unfortunately I think the 2012 race is the exact same weekend as Wine & Dine though. For obvious logistics reasons, this is one of the only Tunnel to Tower tribute runs that can't be held on the actual September 11th date. If I can find a close run on 9/11 though, I'll make the trek out there.

It was slight chaos with 30k runners (they didn't cap the race) but I'm glad they were able to raise a crazy amount of money for the foundation. I heard that this race raised somewhere around $2.1M for the charity.

If anyone wants more information on the foundation, as well as the locations of all of their other tribute runs, their website is:
http://www.tunneltotowersrun.org

Open the Gates and Sieze the Day.... Newsies at Paper Mill Playhouse

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 13:00:00 +0000

It's obvious I'm a Disney fan (wait...really?!) but I think only some of my friends know about my love of Newsies, the 1992 film featuring Christian Bale about the news boys of 1899 and subsequent strike.

"July, 1899: When Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst raise the distribution price one-tenth of a cent per paper, ten cents per hundred, the newsboys, poor enough already, are outraged. Inspired by the strike put on by the trolley workers, Jack "Cowboy" Kelly (played in the movie by Christian Bale) organizes a newsboys' strike. With David Jacobs as the brains of the new union, and Jack as the voice, the weak and oppressed found the strength to band together and challenge the powerful."

It was the first time I saw Christian Bale and totally fell in love with everything he's done. Plus there was singing! And dancing! And sexy newsies (I was 12, I'm sorry)! I've easily seen the movie hundreds of times, and that's probably understating it. I remember watching it every single day for a while when I was a young teen just so I can sing the songs.

The movie wasn't a huge hit in theatres but definitely had a growing cult following as the years went on. I honestly didn't realize exactly how big the following was until one day I was at a bar with my BFF Christina and her brother Stephen. Somehow in conversation, Stephen quoted a line from Newsies and I pretty much froze. I quickly said the next line in the movie and I think Stephen shed a tear. Our Newsies bond officially started. Poor Christina then had to endure hours of movie line quotes, singing songs to each other, and yes, watching the movie together. :)

Fast forward to a few months ago when it was announced that Newsies was going to be performed at Paper Mill Playhouse in NJ. RIGHT in our own backyard! How much more perfect can this be?! We stalked the theatre and finally found the day tickets went on sale. I bought tickets for us immediately and the countdown started.

As the show officially started, I read every review I could about it and watched all the promotional clips that they released. Hearing the songs I grew up with all over again with a new twist was awesome. I knew they had made some slight changes to the storyline (Jack now has a love interested that isn't David's sister) but I've read that all changes were for the better.

Well Friday night was show time for our trio of Newsies fans. After freaking out in traffic and getting to the theatre 15 minutes before show time, we quickly ran to our seats and settled in for the show. You could tell there were a few die hard Newsies fans in the audience by the amount of people wearing the customary Newsies hats, us three included. The souvenir booth was also selling their version of the hats.

Honestly? We were BLOWN AWAY. We said, as well as everyone else around us, that this was an amazing production. All the favorite characters were there, every memorable song, and most of the witty one-liners from the movie were in there as well. Since it was a stage production, some things were definitely edited and changed around a bit but it was pretty much perfect. The changes made didn't take away anything.

Jeremy Jordan, who plays Jack Kelly, is absolutely amazing. During his performance of Santa Fe right before the intermission, I heard multiple audience members around me just say a simple 'Woah' or 'Wow' multiple times. At the end of the song Stephen just looked at me and at a loss for words, each said 'Holy crap!' (Yes, eloquent, I know)

The group dance numbers were all spot on as well and got the audience cheering and clapping throughout most of them.

I can only imagine how much more amazing this show can be on a Broadway stage with some Disney Broadway money thrown into the mix, along with a dozen or two extra Newsies on stage.

Yes, we're all wearing newsies caps!

No photos were allowed during the show so here's a few videos that they have released to give you guys a taste... (sorry if some have advertisements prior to the real video starting) You'll see bits and pieces of Jeremy Jordan singing Santa Fe within these videos. Just seeing how great he is in rehearsal, just imagine in real life!

If there is ANY way that you guys can rush down to Paper Mill before October 16th, DO IT! The 16th is the final performance but I'm crossing my fingers that this isn't the last we hear of Newsies!

Umm...and yes, we're going again this Friday on closing weekend to see it again....

runDisney Meet-Up & Eat-Up Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 13:22:00 +0000

A week before the Wine & Dine Half Marathon, the Disney Parks Blog posted about a Meet-Up & Eat-Up the Friday before the race with training experts Jeff Galloway & Brooks Johnson as well as Disney chef Gary Jones. Unfortunately I wasn't one of the lucky 25 to be picked (I think runDisney might be sick of me showing my face everywhere, haha!) but I had 9 friends (yes 9 out of the 25!) that were picked to attend!

Danielle and Patrick were both generous enough to write a recap of their experiences for me (I swear I didn't bribe them with food and wine during the festival!). I thought it would be nice to include two views since they broke up the attendees into 2 running groups and Danielle and Patrick ran in separate groups. Other than the run though, all sessions were done together.

Hopefully I can merge both of their recaps seamlessly and don't confuse everyone with repetitive information.

Pre-Event:

~Danielle....
About a week before I was set to leave for Florida for the Wine & Dine Half Marathon (my first race ever!) I was at work waiting for a meeting to start and decided to check Facebook on my phone (shhh! Don’t tell!) - there was a post from runDisney that said the first 25 people to respond would be invited to a special Meet-Up and Eat-Up event the Friday before the race…I quickly sent my e-mail and just a few hours later I received a reply saying I was chosen to participate!

I’ll save everyone the story of my trip down to Florida, but a broken down train and a missed flight later I eventually made it to Orlando! {Not to mention she ran into me randomly on Disney's Magical Express! Talk about a small world!} On about 4 hours of sleep I got up and took a cab over to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex for the 7am meeting time for the event.

The Meet-Up:

Olympic Track and Field Coach, Brooks Johnson:

~Danielle...
Once everyone was there Bob Hitchcock, PR Manager for runDisney, gave us a quick rundown of our schedule for the morning and then we all got into golf carts and were driven over to the track where we were met by our first guest speaker of the day, Olympic Track and Field Coach, Brooks Johnson.

Mr. Johnson handed out a document called “The Need for Speed” and from there it was a bit like a high school physics class! Inertia = Mass x Velocity and Force = Mass x Acceleration… I wasn’t too great at physics the first time around, and I have to say as someone so new to running (I just started about 3 months ago) all I was worried about that weekend was finishing 13.1 miles without collapsing so this was all a bit beyond me at the moment. However, that being said, he was a great speaker, very entertaining and funny and I really did enjoy when he got us up and had us do a few drills on the track - he really did watch each person and give feedback on their form!

Photo courtesy of Danielle

~Patrick...
Brooks has been coaching athletes for over 50 years and has coached an athlete in every Olympics since 1968. This guy definitely knows running! He started off by explaining some basic running principles. I won’t go into the details, but let’s just say he threw in a few physics equations to explain how to run faster. It was a little early for a physics lesson (7am!) but he used it to illustrate some basic principles.

Photo courtesy of Patrick

After the quick physics lesson, we split up into smaller groups to get some on track coaching. Brooks wanted to evaluate our running technique, so he had us run 20 yards in a straight line. He used this exercise to illustrate the importance of the arm swing. It acts as the “metronome” for running. The faster you swing your arms, the faster you will run. Give it a try, you’ll definitely see what he means.

Also, the length of the arm swing influences the length of your stride. The longer your arm swing, the longer your stride. Putting these two concepts together really makes a difference. It feels really strange at first but you get the hang of it quickly.

Brooks coaches track athletes, not long-distance runners and because of that I did feel that most of what he demonstrated was geared towards short-track running. However, one could apply the lessons for the last mile of a marathon when you want to have that last big kick to the finish line.

Photo courtesy of Danielle

2010 Wine & Dine Champions Melissa Wisner & Anton VanZyl:

~Patrick...
The next speakers were Anton Van Zyl and Melissa Wisner. Anton was the 2010 W&D men’s winner and Melissa was the women’s winner. (Anton also won this year’s race) It was a short Q&A session where we got to ask questions about race prep, the course, and running strategy. Everyone in the group wanted to know about proper eating in preparation for a night race. Melissa said that she will have a big breakfast followed by a smaller meal around lunch time. She stops eating at 4pm to make sure that she doesn’t have any issues during the race.

Photo courtesy of Patrick

~Danielle...

Melissa Wisner and Anton Van Zyl talked a bit about the course and the challenges of running a night race since it was something new to most people. I was a bit surprised when they talked about the number of hills on the course, I was expecting a race in Florida to be pretty flat, I hadn't realized we were going to have to run up the overpass ramps!

Official runDisney Training Consultant, Jeff Galloway:

~Danielle...

Lastly we heard from the Official runDisney Training Consultant, Jeff Galloway, who I was really looking forward to meeting, I had read some of his books and listened to a podcast he was featured on during my training and I really liked his "you can do it" approach to running, it was very motivating for a new runner looking to jump right in to doing a half marathon. Jeff handed out a document with articles on “Eating and Drinking BEFORE an Evening Event” and “Recovering After a Night Race”. He talked a bit about the information in the articles and did a bit of Q&A and then it was time to head off on a run!

Photo courtesy of Patrick

~Patrick...
After the Q&A with the winners from last year, Jeff Galloway was up next. Jeff spoke very briefly about his run-walk-run method and how to prepare for a night race. We got the chance to ask a few questions as a follow up.

Photo courtesy of Danielle

After Jeff finished, it was on to the 2 mi training run led by Anton, Melissa, and Jeff. We were split into two groups, those that wanted to run the entire 2 mi would be running with Anton and Melissa. Those that wanted to do a run-walk-run would be in Jeff’s group.

Run with Jeff Galloway:

~Danielle...

While I wasn’t planning on using the run-walk-run method for the half marathon the next day I decided to go with Jeff’s group – how often is it you have the chance to run with a former Olympian!

The run was a 2 mile loop through the grounds of the Wide World of Sports, Jeff kept a very comfortable pace and the whole group stayed together and chatted the entire time. Jeff was extremely personable, answered everyone’s questions and really made the run a great experience - I was just glad I brought two pairs of sneakers to Florida with me, it was a trail run and the pair I had on was all wet and sandy by the end!

Photo courtesy of Danielle

Run with 2010 Winners Anton & Melissa:

~Patrick...
I decided I wanted to run with Anton and Melissa, so I joined their running group. After splitting up into our respective groups, we were off. The run was on a “trail” through the grass/wooded area around Wide World of Sports. It was a nice change from running on pavement, but at that early hour, the grass was still damp. By the end of the run, my shoes were pretty wet.

During the first mile of the run, I got a chance to talk to Anton. He was a very friendly guy who was willing to answer any questions we had. I asked him about fueling during a run. To my surprise, he suggested that Coke can be used as a sports drink. He said that many elite runners use flat coke that’s watered down. I don’t think I’ll be trying that anytime soon, but for those adventurous types, give it a try and let me know how it goes.

For the second mile, I ran with Melissa. She is currently living in the DC area and we discussed the Marine Corp marathon since I’ll be running it at the end of October. Unfortunately she isn’t running it this year, but she has in the past. She said that it was a great race and that every runner should do it at least once in their life. I’m definitely glad I decided to sign up.

Eat-Up:

~Patrick...
Once everyone finished the run and hydrated, we headed over to a cooking demonstration given by Disney Chef Gary Jones. Chef Gary is quite active and competes in triathlons, so he prepared a breakfast dish that was good for athletes. It was a quinoa dish with fresh fruit added in. He had a couple of attendees help him prepare the dish and hand out samples.

Photo courtesy of Patrick

~Danielle...

After the run we were taken inside the Wide World of Sports and were met by Disney Chef Gary Jones and the one and only Mickey Mouse (all ready to make us a post-run snack in his Chef’s outfit!). Chef Jones gave some great nutritional tips and then (with the assistance of two of the participants and Mickey!) made us Quinoa Birchermuesli (a Swiss Cereal with South American grain), something he said he has for breakfast often before he works out (I’ve included the recipe below).

I love oatmeal and this Quinoa had a very similar texture (in fact you can substitute oatmeal for the quinoa if you want) and had nuts, fresh and dried fruit in it. It was substantial because of everything that was in it and will definitely make a great pre or post run snack - definitely something I'll make at home!

Photo courtesy of Danielle

QUINOA BIRCHERMUESLI RECIPE

4 cups cooked Quinoa (you can also use oatmeal)

1pt skim milk

1 cup plain low fat yogurt

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup walnuts

1/2 fresh squeezed lemon juice

2 apples shredded

1 pear shredded

1/2 cup brown sugar

You basically just mix all the ingredients to taste! It is a very flexible recipe you can substitute the walnuts, apples, pears and cranberries for any nuts, fresh or dried fruit of your choice! Same with the yogurt, milk - feel free to substitute skim, soy, lactaid or a flavored yogurt!

Photo courtesy of Patrick

Post Eats:

~Danielle...

After our quick snack we were given goody bags which had a t-shirt and a small ESPN Wide World of Sports backpack and then we had a chance to pick up our race packets and check out the expo before they opened the doors to the public.

~Patrick...
After the cooking demo, we all got a chance to take pictures with Mickey and Jeff. We also received our goody bags which included a personalized shirt. Nice touch! Since many of us were running in the either the 5k or half marathon the next day, we got a chance to go down to the expo for shopping and packet pickup before the official opening. After picking up our bibs, we were free to roam the expo.

Overall:

~Patrick...

This was my second runDisney meetup (I attended the DL meetup) and I have to say that the runDisney folks keep improving each time. There was a lot of good info for runners during the 3 hour session and everyone had a great time. I’m definitely looking forward to the next one!

~Danielle...

Especially as someone participating in their first race it was really exciting and interesting to be a part of the Meet Up, I learned some great tips and met some really great people. The entire event was well organized by the runDisney staff and the opportunity to be a part of it really did add something special to my first race experience, hopefully I'll get the chance to participate in another in the future!

Photo courtesy of Danielle

~~~~

Thank you Danielle and Patrick!! First drink after the marathon in January is on me. :)

Sounds like it was definitely an amazing event and each runDisney Meet-Up just seems to get better and better.

runDisney also posted this awesome video recap about the meet-up and doesn't that guy Patrick at the very end look familiar? :)

(You can find Patrick on Twitter @InIronsPL. We're still trying to convince Danielle to sign up for an account!)

Race Recap: Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon (aka Redemption!)

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 16:50:00 +0000

My whirlwind weekend is finally over and I'm starting to go through photos and jot down thoughts about the Wine & Dine Half Marathon adventure. I figured the most important part of the trip was the race itself so I'll skip over the other parts of the trip for now and jump right into the fun, sound good?

If anyone remembers my adventure from last years race, you'll remember it didn't really go as planned for me. Hit the "wall" around Mile 9 or 10 and it just went downhill from there. After spending over an hour in the medical tent puking my guts out, I missed most of the after party and was overall miserable the remainder of the night. There were definitely a few mistakes on runDisney's part (not what got me sick though!) and a ton of mistakes on my end. If none of that jogs your memory, the recap can be found here.

I am thrilled to say that this weekend's race went off without a hitch! The issues that many runners had with runDisney's logistics last year were completely non-existent this year. A few months prior to the race, runDisney issued a statement acknowledging that changes would be made to the 2011 race. They stuck to every promise and I think the race was very well run.

So now lets see how it all went down in 2011....

The Expo:

Packet Pickup Area

I think it was well organized and ran smoothly. Keith and I arrived around 10am Friday as it opened and it wasn't too chaotic. Packet pickup went quickly and we enjoyed wandering around the expo booths looking at new products and getting a few samples (big thumbs up for the free Oikos Greek yogurt!). Stopped over at the Running Skirts booth to say hello to Heather and Ernie and then just wandered and kept running into friends and other Running of the Ears members. Wasn't a huge fan of the runDisney merchandise that I didn't already own so ended up with just my usual wine glass.

The only blip we had was with transportation to and from the expo. On the way to the expo was totally my fault. I remember the Polynesian being a host resort last year and just assumed it would be again this year. Since we were at Bay Lake Tower, we jumped on the monorail to the Poly and asked about transport. That's when I realized the Poly was no longer a host resort. Apparently there were no host Magic Kingdom resorts, which I found odd. Keith and I jumped in a cab and made it to the expo in record time so I guess it all worked out.

Transport from the expo was slightly chaotic. There wasn't a cast member anywhere near the bus stops and not much signage. We only saw signs for buses back to Pop and Caribbean Beach. After seeing a Beach Club (the 2nd resort we stayed at that weekend) bus pull up on the other side of the parking lot, we quickly sprinted across the lot before it left us. (Transport to the race on race day, however, went seamlessly.)

Leading Up to the Race:

Last year I definitely exhausted myself by running around the parks the days leading up to the race. This year? I TRIED to be better. I really did. The day before the race, we went to the expo and then wandered Epcot's Food & Wine Festival sampling a ton of food. Didn't do too bad with the walking. However, it was Walt Disney World's 40th birthday on race day and I knew I wanted to be at the Magic Kingdom for park opening. People started arriving at 6am for the ceremonies but we ended up getting there slightly before 8am for the 9am rope drop. Quickly sprinted to the castle and stood around until 10am when the ceremony started. After the ceremony (which lasted maybe 30-40 mins?) I enjoyed stuffing my face with breakfast foods at Crystal Palace and then attempted 3 rides before calling it a day. Our chaotic ride adventures will be saved for another post but a quick recap: Got on Pirates, got stuck on Pirates for an hour, got evacuated from Pirates. Went to Thunder, Thunder broke down right before we got on. Went to Carousel of Progress, it broke in the last 'future' room. We gave up! :)

We got back to the room fairly early and both attempted to nap, didn't really work. Started getting ready about 5:30 and got so bored and antsy in the room that we headed for the buses around 7pm instead of 7:30.

The most amazing thing though? The WEATHER! The 2 days leading up to the race, it was HOT and gross. Low 90s and humid. I was having flashbacks of last year, ugh! However race day? Perfect running weather. About 70-ish at the start and it dipped down to the low 60s by the time the race ended. Perfect!

A semi-full bus was waiting for us when we got to the bus stop so we were on our way in a few minutes. It took awhile for the bus to get us from the entrance of Wide World of Sports to the drop off point but we had a ton of time so I just sat and relaxed while the traffic eased up.

Bag check was a breeze this year. Went into the correct line (ordered by last name), dropped off my bag, and went on my merry way. I didn't really have any issues last year with bag drop off either but I remember hearing the lines were chaotic last year after awhile.

Last year I never got a chance to get a photo with Mickey since the lines were so crazy so we immediately went and jumped in line. While there, we met up with Danielle and Lisa and also ran into a few other twitter friends after sending a tweet that I was in line and wearing a red hat (Hi Jim!). The line went fairly quickly and we just chatted until it was our turn to meet the Mouse.

We then found an empty area in the grassy area and plopped down waiting for others to show up.

Nicole and I met last year in the same grassy field...it was our Friendiversary!

Part of the running crew.... Lisa, Megan, Collin, Adam, Daniel, Keith, me, Patrick, Danielle

The Race:

After getting into the Runners Only area, we all made one more quick pitstop, ran into a few more friends, and then broke off to head into each of our corrals. Who in their right mind thought I was fast enough for Corral A? :) Regardless, I'll take it! My first (and hopefully not last) Corral A start, woohoo!

We moved about halfway up into the corral. I knew I didn't want to push any further up because some of these guys were SPEEDY!

The never ending Corral A

Before I knew it, the national anthem was being sung and everyone was doing their last minute stretches. I'm used to at least waiting for one corral ahead of me to start running so this was all new to me to start running exactly as the gun went off! As I ran by the announcers booth, I tried to snap a few pics.

And it starts! The first few miles were the typical "run on the highway" miles of a Disney race. There were a few characters along the way but I felt that there weren't as many as there usually are. The lines were definitely shorter than I'm used to but then I realized it was because all the speedy runners in Corral A don't normally stop for photos. I only stopped for a few long the way....

Oops, cast member forgot to zoom out!

Animal Kingdom is always fun to run through and it wasn't any different for this race! I love running past Expedition Everest and hearing the Yeti. They also had the 'red tusks' along the course again this year but instead of all red, they were multicolored and changing. I think I liked the all red ones better last year. Made it seem more 'creepy'.

Also, THANK YOU runDisney for putting those random glowing eggs/footballs all along the course. Not sure if I got a photo of them, but they were key! The course this year was much more lit and I didn't run into any pitch black areas.

After exiting Animal Kingdom, the long trek to Hollywood Studios started. I remember last year there was an out-and-back, the same as the marathon pretty much, but they had changed the course slightly this year. I thought the race flowed a lot nicer without the out-and-back and was happy to snap a photo with this dude at the top of the hill/ramp. Yes...I look scared (or possessed...) , I don't know why.....

Around here my mouth started to feel reallly dry so I tried to drink more Gatorade and grabbed a few waters along the route. Nothing was helping so I made a conscious effort to keep a steady pace but slightly slow down. I didn't want a repeat of last year!

Hollywood Studios was also cool to run through at night. I remember last year, runDisney claimed that this was the longest run inside a park for any of their races, and you could tell. It honestly felt like you were in the park FOREVER! Not that it's a bad thing though. Better than running on straight highway! After every turn or every time you thought you were going to exit, the next turn led into another area of the park.

When entering the backstage studio tour area, I was SO relieved to see that the ventilation fans were on throughout the whole costuming tunnel. Last year was so muggy and hot through there that I think it was the start to my demise. The draft from the fans felt fabulous!

Somehow I got all turned around and lost my sense of direction. I couldn't for the life of me remember where the Osbourne Lights were in relation to where I was running. After a while, I was getting worried that they wouldn't be lit this year! Finally I caught the roof of one of the lit areas and it eased my fears!

I know a few runners I talked to were disappointed that not all the Osbourne Lights were lit but I've been keeping up with Studios Centrals updates and knew they weren't all installed yet. runDisney pretty much has nothing to do with the installation so you can't really blame anyone. Work on the lights just wasn't as quick this year than last. I did love that Christmas music was playing and all the cast members in the area were saying "Merry Christmas!!". It was a cute touch.

After exiting Hollywood Studios, I knew there was only a mile or so left until the finish line. When I got to the resort area of Beach Club and the Boardwalk, I tried to pick up my speed. The crowds all long that part of the course were awesome. Little kids giving high fives, cow bells everywhere, just a ton of energy.

I got really excited when I was approaching the International Gateway...the finish line from last year. Then I realized that they changed the course slightly and when I looked at my Garmin, I realized I had about another .3 miles to go, doh!! By then I just wanted to be done though so it was hard for me to enjoy the rest. There were a ton of cast members along this part with funny signs. I remember seeing the "Only 400 yards to go!" and then realizing that 4 football fields was a long way!

Crossing the finish line felt awesome! And I didn't feel sick! Happy dance! The race was definitely not my best but by far not my worst but I'll take it. It's not every day that you can run through the parks at night and have Epcot open for you until 3am.

The Finish Line Area and After Party:

The finish line area was so much more organized this year, I was highly impressed. After getting your medal, you followed the path to the food area where they had water, Powerade, and a goodybag of food that had a banana, a bagel, peanut butter, and...possibly a muffin? I was in no mood to eat though so I grabbed a water and chugged it as fast as I could.

Quickly found Keith and we headed over to the bag check area, which was also a breeze. Right past bag check there were changing areas for both men and women. Pretty much just huge tents where you could go in and change out of your clothes. I do have to say, the tents were not for the modest. There weren't any changing 'rooms' so you had to pick a spot or a corner and change in the big tent along with everyone else. Didn't bother me since all I really wanted was to get out of the gross sweaty tank top!

The path then led to the 'free drink' area, which runners had an option of either soda or Budweiser or Bud Light. I SWEAR that at some point, an email came out saying that runners had the option of getting a free glass of wine but it was no where to be found. I despise soda, Budweiser, AND Bud Light so I just grabbed a Bud to bring to Patrick or Daniel. I wish they had extra waters in this area because I really could have used another one!

Walking into Epcot was slightly crowded but was honestly well organized. Runners had a completely separate entrance than non-runners so it was nice. The pathway along the runners entrance was lined with family members looking for their runner. After getting out of the crowds, Future World didn't seem too crowded at all.

While trying to find a bathroom in Innoventions, we stumbled upon the Character Spot and saw that Goofy and Pluto were there! Of course I had to run in and grab a photo!

We met up with Daniel and his brother as well as Patrick and his sister and then all just started SLOWLY wandering around the World Showcase. The lines were AMAZINGLY shorter! Every booth we went to had no more than 5 people on it, compared to last years 30-50. Everyone seemed much happier and in the partying mood this time around. Not sure if the cooler weather played any part in that though!

I wanted something refreshing to eat so quickly jumped in the Greece line and ordered the Greek Salad. This Greek girl definitely approves! However, I probably should have waited a little longer to start eating as my stomach started feeling funny right after I ate. After buying a bottle of water and slowly sipping it, the nauseous feeling went away and then I was FAMISHED!

As we made our way around, we each kept running into people that we knew (Hi Sarah, Holly, & Kevin!!) so it literally took us 2 hours to make our way around the World Showcase. It was nice and relaxing though.

When we finally made our way to the other side of the festival, I stopped at Argentina and had the Beef Empanada and the Grilled Beef Skewer with Chimichurri Sauce and Boniato Purée, both were AMAZING! And I swear it wasn't because I had just ran 13 miles. I've heard they're some of the most popular items at the whole festival.

Right about then we realized that it was almost exactly 3am so we quickly ran/shuffled over to Test Track and were the very last people on the ride for the night. Sadly the photopass photos weren't working though that late so we didn't get our awesome photo displaying our medals!

Overall:

Overall, I think the race was awesome and an amazing improvement from last year. runDisney definitely listened to all of the criticism and made changes accordingly. The after party ran much smoother and the addition of Future World and some attractions being open completely helped.

The only small complaint I can even think of is the on course entertainment. I, as well as others that ran previous runDisney races, all commented that there seemed to be hardly any characters around. We also noticed it at Disneyland and heard about the same thing at the 5k too so not sure if this is an ongoing thing.

Even without the additional characters though, just wanted to say thanks runDisney for another great weekend!

And thank you to Mr. Walt Disney himself for sending the amazing weather on Walt Disney World's 40th Anniversary (and race day).

And will I do this race next year? Well I can't stop the tradition of heading down for my birthday weekend now, can I? :)

You actually have to RUN to train for a marathon!?

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 18:38:00 +0000

I bet a few of you are wondering where my training updates have disappeared to! Well...so have I. :)

After I got home from Disneyland from the half marathon, I somehow came down with the cold from hell and my running days were put on hold until I could walk 10 feet without coughing up a lung. The thought of running would send me into a fit of sneezes.


I'll save you the horror of a sick photo of me

So pretty much, my training got slightly derailed. I was finally better two weeks after Disneyland and got this genius (aka idiotic) idea to pick up in my training where I was supposed to be and attempt a 16 mile run. All while not having run for two full weeks prior.

How'd the run go, you ask? Pretty much how you expected it to after such a nice hiatus. I started out at a slow pace and immediately decided to do the modified Galloway plan that I used for the January marathon.... run one mile, walk one minute. All was well until about Mile 13, the furthest I've ran since the full marathon in January. As I continued on, I felt a slight pinch in the back inner side of my knee. Hmm... it's probably my running tights bunching up...keep on chugging. At Mile 14, I could tell it wasn't my tights but it wasn't horrible...and it wasn't my IT Band (which is all I was worried about) so I slowed down a bit and kept on going. When I hit Mile 15, the pain got slightly worse but again, nothing excruciating but I decided to play safe and walked/jogged the last mile (mostly walked).

Love how the pace nose dived at mile 13-ish

Are you sick of this park map yet? Because I am...I need new trails!

I went home and jumped in a cold tub (after a quick pit stop at Starbucks to get my pumpkin coffee..mmmm) and stretched for a good amount of time. Still had the pain every time I walked though. As the day went on, the discomfort stayed in the side of my knee (kinda felt like the tendon) but I could also feel serious tightness in the very upper part of my calf as well as my hamstring. The cold bath did absolutely NOTHING for my left leg (where the pain was) but my right leg felt fabulous. Even a trip to an Oktoberfest festival to drink lots of beer didn't help!

Of course Googling "inner knee pain running" will cause anyone to have a mental breakdown. I was reading horror stories about just about anything....from just tight muscles, a popliteus muscle strain (a who?!) to a meniscus tear. GEEZ!

I took it easy the next few days and yesterday finally made it to the gym. Immediately sat down with the gym owner and explained what happened. After poking and proding my knee and calf, we came to the conclusion that it was my popliteus muscle that was bothering me. Apparently it is used to unlock the knee during walking/running. I won't get into all the nitty gritty details here but it sounds fun, right?

Anyways, he told me to just continue to stretch and foam roll it and I should be ok. And to take it easy if it starts to bother me but then laughed knowing I probably wouldn't. This is coming from the guy who got me into this crazy running thing and himself runs 53 mile ultra marathons in the mountains of Vermont. :)

While at the gym I ran half a mile on the treadmill and it felt ok. While I was working out after, I could feel a slight discomfort but no pain. This morning? Don't feel a thing. Will try running tomorrow for a bit to see how it goes!

Do I Smell a Challenge!?!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 20:06:00 +0000

During my trip to Disneyland a few weeks ago, my friend Keith and I were discussing the Wine & Dine Half Marathon. Keith is an expert in all things Disneyland, was our tour guide for the weekend, and owner of The Disney Project. (Go check out the blog, he's got some awesome info out there!)

Keith and I had ran Wine & Dine together last year and finished at the exact same time. We both didn't have a great race so grumbled to each other about it, and then Keith stayed with me the whole time I was puking my guts out in the medical tent. So to say we 'bonded' during Wine & Dine might be an understatement.

When Keith ran the Disneyland Half in 2007, it was Animal Kingdom hot, as well as his first half marathon ever. I, proudly, shattered his California finish time when I crossed that timing mat in 2:09. I think Keith was slightly offended that I beat him on his own turf.

So while in Disneyland a few weeks ago after the race, probably eating the inferior Dole Whips that they serve in California (Florida ones are a million times better!), or sitting and staring at the cute tiny pink castle....a challenge was brought to the table.

How about we make this years Wine & Dine a little more exciting by upping the ante a bit?

Before we became running enemies!

I think Keith described the challenge best so I'll take the blurb right out of his blog post...

No money. No meals at Victoria & Albert’s. No complete sets of Vinylmation. Just pride. Pride, and the winner getting to Captain Morgan the loser in front of Spaceship Earth. So if all goes well, boys and girls, you will be seeing an image similar to the one below come early October!

And... just because I'm at work and don't have access to Photoshop... I will begrudgingly post the photo he posted. Just remember that come race day....the roles will be reversed!!!

BRING IT, KEITH!!!! I will see you AND your challenge at 10pm on October 1st. You best bring your A-Game! :)

Race Recap: Disneyland Half Marathon

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 16:56:00 +0000

The long overdue Disneyland Half Marathon recap!

The night before, a group of us ate at Naples to carb-load...or it was just our excuse to stuff our face with pasta and Neopolitan pizza. Heading back to the hotel, I realized that I didn't even consider what I was going to eat for breakfast on race morning. Usually I have a pb&j but didn't have any of the ingredients in Cali. A quick stop at our hotel's convenience store and I walked out with a banana and some brown sugar cinnamon Pop-Tarts (the ONLY Pop-Tarts I'll eat...love them!). Healthy, right? :)

While getting ready for bed, I swore bombs were going off outside and then realized it was the fireworks! So much for getting to bed early, right? I quickly went onto our balcony and enjoyed the little that we could see. If only that stupid tree wasn't in the way!

Disneyland fireworks from the HoJo

Race morning came way too early (3:00am alarm) and Daniel and I slowly started getting ready. I was trying to meet up with the Running of the Ears gang that was staying at our hotel but I think we missed them by just a few minutes. We did meet up with Patrick though and the three of us groggily headed to the starting area while I ate my fabulously yummy sugary breakfast.

Heading to the starting area

The weather couldn't have been better. It was slightly cool in the early morning hours and didn't really warm up too much throughout the race. I actually wouldn't have minded if it were about 5 degrees cooler at the start but I think that the temps stayed perfect throughout the whole race! Really can't complain at all.

When we got to the runners area, I realized that it was set up differently than the runDisney races in Florida and that there wasn't really an 'H' tent....which meant that everyone that agreed to meet there was going to be lost. :) We did finally find Running of the Ears people though so hung out with them until it was time to head to the starting corrals. The porta-potty situation was fabulous and there were definitely enough for all of the runners. Although, I'll spare you the details, but I easily found the most vile one of the bunch...ugh.

Way too early but ready to run!

We look happy for being so sleepy

The early corrals (A-B-C) were pretty straight forward. There were volunteers checking bibs and making sure that everyone was where they were supposed to be. Daniel and I were in B, Patrick was in A so we said our good lucks and jumped in B. Unfortunately, I heard from a lot of people that the later corrals were a complete mess. People that were in E were standing in D, etc. Not really cool if you ask me. Please move to the corral you're assigned to.

After a few announcements, it was time for the National Anthem. I started hearing all the Garmin's being set and was getting excited! And then, before I knew it, the race started! Sadly though? NO fireworks for the start of the race! :( They did have fireworks during the National Anthem but none during each corral wave. Oh well. 5 minutes after Corral A headed out, it was our turn. Daniel and I had agreed (I SWEAR we agreed to this) that we would run together until someone decides to push forward or drop back. Well... *ahem*... the SECOND we hit the start line Daniel sprinted forward like the Road Runner and jetted out of my sight. Really Daniel!?!??! :) I seriously laughed out loud and turned on my iPod and started chugging along.

And the rockets red glare....

Waving to the Mouse as we run by

** I apologize for the blurry photos. Not sure if the camera was on the wrong settings, or if I just didn't pause long enough while running to take a decent photo but most of these just didn't come out right! :( **

For awhile before the race, I contemplated if I wanted to try to PR during Disneyland. I mean...I had NEVER been there before but most of the race was in the streets of Anaheim so I wouldn't be missing much by running as fast as I could. I could semi-take my time through the parks and see what happens. At the expo I saw the Cliff pace teams had pace bracelets so I quickly grabbed a 2:15 bracelet (2:15:12 was my previous PR) and hoped for the best. I made sure to check it as I started running to see roughly what pace I needed to keep.

I honestly don't remember much of the course, so I have to revert to photos to jog my memory. First mile or so was outside the parks. Then we headed into California Adventure but it was such a construction zone zoo that I honestly can't really remember much of it. I remember the Tron people in uniform. Due to the construction, I zipped through the park pretty quickly. There weren't any characters that I saw that I NEEDED to take photos with so I did the fly-by photo and continued on my merry way.

Character fly by

When we hit Disneyland, I was excited! When I got to Main Street I looked up towards the castle and it was pretty darn cool. However...I just wasn't overly excited and blown away! :( When I run down Main Street at Disney World in Florida, I seriously have to choke back tears every single time. At Disneyland though? I was totally OK. It definitely put a smile on my face and it was pretty awesome but that's about it. Maybe it was because there weren't any spectators cheering and adding to the excitement, who knows. I also think it's because Disneyland doesn't hold any memories for me. I grew up at Disney World and Disneyland was just too different. Still cool though!

The cute little pink castle :)

After realizing that I wouldn't have a huge emotional attachment to this race, I definitely decided to push for a PR. I tried to stop for a photo in front of the castle but there was a line so I kept on going. When I turned the corner, I saw Darth Vader and a few Storm Troopers. There was a huge line for Darth so instead I ran over to one of the solo Storm Troopers and snapped a photo of us. That was it for character photos for me!

I look scared...

There weren't a ton of characters out on the Disney part of the course, which surprised me. There were a ton of parade floats but no real people on them! It was slightly odd. No pictures of them b/c I thought they were slightly boring!

Running backstage of the parks is always cool. There were a ton of props and ride vehicles getting repaired. Didn't really snap any photos though. And before I knew it? We were off Disney property and in the streets of Anaheim! I knew this would be dullest part of the course but it wasn't too bad! They did a great job of having a billion cheerleading/dancing squads, marching bands, Mexican dancers, hula dancers, etc all along the course. Spectators were out in full force with signs and cowbells which helped a lot! I will say Disney World races don't have enough spectator areas!

Watching the sun rise over Anaheim

Hawaiian dancers

As each mile ticked by, I noticed that I was slowly building my buffer for my PR. I was easily running 10-20 seconds faster each mile compared to where I needed to be to get a 2:15 PR. I might actually have this!!

Another cool part of the course was when we got to run through Angels Stadium. Wasn't as cool as Yankee Stadium but...I'll take it! When I got there, there weren't too many runners crowding the warning track but I've seen other peoples photos where it's wall to wall runners...yikes! Oh...and thank you to the stadium employee/volunteer that was smoking a cigarette at the entrance to the ramp to get onto the field... seriously?!?

After leaving the stadium, I tried to kick it into high gear. High gear, in my mind, was apparently just maintaining the same pace as I had been running earlier. :) Just focused on finishing and looking for familiar landmarks. When I saw Tower of Terror come into view, I breathed a sigh of relief! I tried looking for my friend Keith when I got closer to the finish line chute but couldn't find him. Luckily he saw me and got some nice photos. I'll have to bug him to see if I can get copies.

ALMOST there!

The second I crossed the finish line, I stopped my Garmin and looked down....2:09!!! I looked up smiling and immediately saw Daniel, who was waiting for me. He finished 3 minutes earlier and also PR'd (I think?!). I had done it! Killed my previous PR by almost 7 whole minutes!! To say I was giddy was an understatement! I quickly got my medal and then Daniel pointed me over to the Coast-to-Coast area where they cut off my bracelet and handed me my 2nd medal.

I was also handed a Chilly Towel at some point, which was amazing. The two of us then made our way through the food area, grabbed a water and banana, and then headed over to bag check. The volunteers were AWESOME and cheered every single time a runner walked in to get their bags. It was cute!

Back at the reunion area, Keith and Patrick immediately found us. Patrick had a great race as well and after hanging around for a few minutes, we decided we would rather be sitting in the pool at the hotel. We made our way back (after grabbing a HUGE iced coffee at La Brea Bakery at Downtown Disney first) and then quickly changed and jumped in the pool for at least 15-20 minutes. Felt fabulous but don't think it was cold enough to be considered an ice bath. I was definitely a little sore the next day!

The East Coast Transplants

So overall, the race was a fun time. I'm a little sad that it didn't hold the special warm and fuzzy Disney feeling in my heart though like the Florida races. To me it felt like another regular race with just a tiny bit of Disney thrown in. The volunteers and spectators on the course were amazing though, and nothing beats the fabulous Disney medals!

Will I be doing this race again? I'm sure I will at some point, but not for a few more years. Maybe I'll do this race again when runDisney decides to offer another medal for runners that run every single one of their endurance races in a calendar year...*hint hint* :)