Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon

This was a great race!  I was really unsure of how I would feel about a night time race, and I know that my nerves showed in the earlier part of the day.  I tried to sleep in, but it didn't happen.  My husband and I had planned on taking it easy on Saturday, had some breakfast and then headed over to Downtown Disney to do a little shopping.  We were also meeting up with my brother in law and his girlfriend who were driving in on Saturday.  We met up with them and had lunch, after that we all decided to head back to our hotel rooms to rest a little before taking the bus over to the start line.

The race start time was 10:00 pm.  About 7:00 we got on the bus to go over to ESPN Wide World of Sports where we checked our bag for after the race and then basically just hung out until it was time to go to the start corrals.  The really nice thing about the start line for this race was that it was so much closer to the drop off than for the princess half.  My husband and I were in corral C, so when it was time, we headed that way to wait.

Once again we were planning on a 3:1 run:walk ratio.  And for the first 8 miles that worked out great.  I  will say one thing, we went over a couple over passes and it seemed that every time we were at a walk break we were going downhill and every run was uphill.  I know that's not really possible, but it sure seemed that way.  I am not sure if it was because of those overpasses or not, but about mile 8 my back was starting to hurt.  I have a bad habit of tensing up my shoulders when I run, but this was a lower back thing that definitely felt different.  We kept pushing through, ended up walking a little more at the end than I liked, but we finished, that's all that really matters in the end!  And for me it was a new PR for a half marathon- official time of 3:14:26, my watch time was 3:10:41.

After the race we met back up with my brother in law and his girlfriend and started enjoying the after party.  This was one great thing about this race- included in your race fee was admission to EPCOT and their food and wine festival.  We stopped at several of the food booths and just hung out until it was time to catch the bus back to our hotel.  I remember thinking that there was no way I'd be able to stay up and actually take advantage of the after party, but I remember at one time looking down at my watch and realizing it was 3:30 am.  We caught the bus back to our hotel about 4 and said our good byes.

Overall, I loved this race.  I'm already trying to convince my husband that we should do it again, but given the choice, he wants to try out the Tower of Terror 10 miler.  So we are still in discussion over which one we'd like to do if we are fortunate enough to do another one.....

The Last Couple Weeks

Wow!  It has been so busy around here!  I kind of thought that when school started and we were in a routine that things would be a little more calmer.  A little more sane....well, nope!

I started my Jillian Michaels over again....ready for another 90 days of this challenge.  I'm loving that while doing the first couple weeks I feel so much stronger than the first time I did this challenge.  I love how much stronger I am feeling.  I really do like this program. So much that this is the third time I have done this program.  But the really nice thing about it (besides the fact that it is just 30 minutes a day) is the variety.  I have not been doing the cardio workouts because I have been running, so I just have the strength workouts, which I really like.  I will be doing a full 90 day before and after of inches and pounds lost.

I've been running 4 times a week, following the plan laid out for me by my TNT coach.  She's been great at working with me to meet my goals for the Tinker Bell half marathon in January, while also taking into account the half marathons that I have planned for this fall.

Speaking of half marathons this fall, I have two more coming up.  The first one is in less than two weeks!  I'm very excited to be running in the Inaugural Crawlin Crab Half Marathon on October 7.  I'm loving the cool, fall weather that we are starting to have in Virginia.  I am hoping that we are in for a great race in a couple weeks.  Next up will be Disney's Wine and Dine Half Marathon.  I'm really looking forward to being back at Disney to run, and this will be my first nighttime race.

I've been back to meal planning, which has been so helpful with helping me keep a little more balance in our busy schedule.  So far we've been pretty good at following a plan.  I have to say- I love how much easier our evenings seem to be when we have a plan.  And I am finding that my crock pot has become a permanent addition to my countertop- I've been using that most- I love being able to fix it and forget it!  Last nights Crock Pot Chicken and Rice was another big success.  I'm really lucky, my kiddos love broccoli, so I can pretty much make that our side vegetable every night and they'll eat it up. But, when I try out new ways to cook chicken, it can go either way.  This one they liked- the littlest one especially loved the rice part!

Other news- my great pal at Run Find your Happy Pace and I decided to start our own business Running Happy.  We make non-slip headbands and also extremely adorable runner decals!  Stay tuned for more....and if there is something you'd like to see us carry, suggestions are welcome :)

So, the kiddos and I are finding our balance again amidst school schedules, after school activities, homework, running, JMBR, and meal planning.  I am still working on what seems to be my best weekly schedule so that I can use my time wisely and not end up just wasting it....those 12 hours to myself a week really go by fast!

Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend

What a weekend! This was probably one of the best weekends I've had in a long time. We shared so many laughs and we really just had a great time.

I did my weigh in on Thursday because we were leaving so early in the morning, and I was down 2.4 pounds. Making my total for 9 weeks 20.2. So that was a great beginning. It was a pretty busy day for me on Thursday. I was trying to get everything finished up for the trip and also make sure that everything was organized for the kids to be left at home. The big boys got home from school and then all the boys were off to gymnastics. Next it was time to go to the airport to pick up Kelly one of my best friends from highschool. Here's where we hit our first obstacle of the weekend- her luggage missed the flight! Luckily, it made it onto the next flight, so we went back to the house and then returned to the airport to pick it up a little later. Thankful for a neighbor who came to hang out at the house while the kiddos were sleeping! My parents and sister arrived about the same time that we got back to the house with her luggage and we spent some time catching up and going over any last minute instructions and questions.

Then we headed off to bed. The plan was to leave at 4 am. Kelly and I were sharing a room and still busy catching up, so it was probably closer to 1 am before we went to sleep :) Alarm went off a little after 3 (I have to shower in the mornings to get going), and we were on the road by 4. On this trip were myself, Kelly, Katie (my sister) and Darlena (neighbor and friend). We were all a little excited getting started so everyone was awake and chatting a little. They all got a little rest on the way down- everyone was napping on and off. We went straight through and arrived at Walt Disney World at 4:30 pm (just a little traffic in Orlando). We headed straight to the expo to pick up our race bibs, shirts, and also to pick up a few things from the expo for the race.

We made it!

The expo

The glass running slipper

After finishing up at the expo, we went to check into our resort. We stayed at Caribbean Beach Resort, which was one of the host resorts for the race weekend. That meant that bus transportation would be provided to the race start (very important if you don't want to have to drive over at 3 am! Plus, it was really cool to stay in a pirate room! We got settled, checked out our goodies from the expo and then walked over to the resort's quick service restaurant for dinner. After dinner, we headed back to the room and soon I was fast asleep.

Our pirate beds in our pirate room

Saturday we woke up and relaxed a little before going to get some breakfast. We had planned on a low key day. After breakfast we went over to Downtown Disney to shop and walk around. We took plenty of breaks through the day- we were trying to be careful not to overdo it. We made a dinner reservation at Rainforest Cafe for dinner at 5:15. We ended up getting there a little early and they sat us immediately, which was good, we were getting hungry and I think all of us were anxious to get back and make sure we were prepared for Sunday. After a yummy dinner, we caught the bus back to our resort.

Shopping

I usually have a hard time sleeping before a race, but I was exhausted. I think I was the only one who slept well Saturday night. I heard someone moving around before my alarm went off, and we all were awake. The plan was to try to catch one of the first busses and they started at 3 am. We all got dressed and made sure we had everything and headed out to the bus stop (did I mention that it was only about 20 steps from our door? This was very helpful when we got back!). We got over to the bag check and porta potties and hung out there for about an hour before walking to our corrals. This was where more waiting began. Kelly, Katie and I were in the last corral (H), so our start time was not until about 6:30 (the first corral took off at 5:45). It was so cool to see the fireworks start and see the first runners take off- it was really starting! Katie, Kelly and I made sure to yell for Darlena (not that she could hear us!) when her corral (F) took off and then we were one corral closer to starting.

The start line

The sea of princesses behind us

And then we were off! We had all talked before starting the race saying that we were all just going to run our own race and if we caught up with each other, great, if not, we'd just see everyone at the end. That is what ended up happening. Everyone just kind of took off at their own pace and we didn't see each other again. I really enjoyed the course, it was fun to check out the characters as I passed by (I didn't stop for any pictures) and also the spectators. I ended up beating my Tinker Bell time by over 3 minutes. I was happy with that, I do wish it was better, but maybe next time. Overall I am very happy with how I did.

My Mile Times:

Mile 1 ~ 15:18

Mile 2 ~ 15:23

Mile 3 ~ 15:39

Mile 4 ~ 15:18

Mile 5 ~ 15:16

Mile 6 ~ 15:20

Mile 7 ~ 15:11

Mile 8 ~ 16:09

Mile 9 ~ 15:36

Mile 10 ~ 15:51

Mile 11 ~ 16:31

Mile 12 ~ 16:09

Mile 13 ~ 16:34

Total time for 13.1 ~ 3:28:34

I was so excited to be finished. I cried again- I'd done it again- the second half marathon of my deployment challenge was complete! I got my medal, got some powerade and water and then went down the line a little further and collected my coast to coast medal as well! I had signed up for runner tracking for myself and for Katie. This is a really neat free tool that rundisney does for all of it's races. It will send your split times for 5k, 10k, 15k and the finish in the form of a text or email to anyone you choose. It was great to check my phone after I'd gotten through the line and see that I already had a text from my other sister and my mom congratulating me on my race. I was also able to check Katie's status and see that she was estimated to finish just a few minutes behind me, so I decided to wait until I got to see her. I got the text that she had crossed the finish, so I waited a few more minutes and then she came through as well. We hugged- I was so proud of her.

I got through to Kelly to find out where she and Darlena were and we headed to meet them. After meeting up with them we got on our bus to go back to the resort. We all were in good shape- taking the stairs on the bus a little slow, but all feeling decent. We got showered and just relaxed (napping off and on) for a few hours and then decided to head out and walk around a little to avoid getting stiff. Our dinner plans were at Chef Mickey's, so we caught a bus to Magic Kingdom and then rode the monorail over to the Contemporary Resort. We had a little extra time so we browsed the shop there and then went into the arcade. Here is where I need to mention that I beat Katie twice at air hockey, and Kelly ended up with her only blister of the weekend- and that was from playing Pac Man! Then it was time for dinner. We all enjoyed a very yummy buffet and also visits from various characters.

Thank you to these three ladies who made this a very enjoyable weekend! I'd do it all over again!