Up Next: The Chicago Marathon

Marathon number 6 is fast approaching: the 2019 Chicago marathon

Even though I am a native New Yorker who frequently participates in NYRR events, my plans to complete their 9+1 program in 2018, to earn a guaranteed spot in the 2019 race were thwarted when my cousin Jen announced her wedding date – November 2, 2019. AKA the day before the marathon. Which would totally be ok, if the wedding was local… but Jen lives in Atlanta and, dare I say it, I love her more than marathons, and there was no way I could be fully present at her wedding the night before the race and then somehow catch a flight back to NYC and get my butt to the athletes village on Staten Island before 7:30 a.m. So, I bowed out of the NYC marathon for 2019, since there will always be another race, and started my search for an alternate fall marathon.

The real bummer of this? I had already made a pact with Mike to run NYC 2019 with him as his first marathon, but thankfully he has forgiven my transgression, and we will make up for the missed shared finish line when we complete the 2020 Dopey challenge together – but I suppose that will be a story for another day.

So, I started clicking about the internet, looking for a new fall goal. Maybe I would aim to complete a half iron man in the fall? I played with this idea, but ultimately felt like I still have so much left to give to the marathon, and found two race options. The local Suffolk county full marathon at the end of October, or the Chicago full, which is in mid October. I entered the lottery for Chicago, crossing my fingers that I would get my chance to visit the windy city, and was pleasantly surprised when my name got pulled the day of the lotto: I would be taking on my second world marathon major!

I then began to consider the logistics: Who would go with me? Where would I stay? When would I head there?

Well the who was easy – Dennis agreed to head to Chicago with me, as neither of us have been there before. I managed to earn a companion pass with southwest, so it made our flights a bit simpler as well. Thank God for points! The hotel I flip-flopped about a lot, looking at different websites, and eventually booking one through the Chicago marathon housing. I toyed with heading to Chicago a few days early so we would get a chance to take in all of the sights, but ultimately our work schedules lead to us deciding to pick a flight the morning before the race. So with travel plans all set, my next consideration was the really important one: the training plan.

In the past with marathons, I have followed different schedules – sometimes using the runners world plans, or the hal higdon ones available online. After a lot of reading, I ultimately decided to try something new this time around: Hanson’s marathon method. A big part of the Hanson method is the idea of cumulative fatigue, so there are higher mileage weekday runs, but the long weekend runs max out at 16 miles. If we are being honest, I see myself going beyond 16 miles for my own sanity, as that just doesn’t feel long enough mentally, but maybe by the time I work up to them in this training cycle I will have more trust in the method, which has brought success to so many runners.

So for now, my plan is simple. For the next month or so I am aiming to maintaining 25-35 miles of running a week, with regular biking and swimming mixed in. Once training officially begins in May, it is going to mean a lot of early mornings for me, but I like to think that I will be up to the challenge – after all, growth only happens outside of your comfort zone.

Race Recap: 2019 Brooklyn Hot Chocolate 15k

This is it guys, the last time Kasey will ever run more than three miles in one go. She swears it, never again - and this time I can’t even point to some race that she is already registered for.

When I heard that the Hot Chocolate race series was coming to New York, I was excited and registered at the first opportunity. The race series is known for some great swag, with the giveaway being a zip up technical sweatshirt, a medal at the finish line that looks like a chocolate bar, and a mug full of hot chocolate and fondue.

I had been under the weather on Friday after eating something that turned out to be bad, and was out of commission for the day, so I was a bit nervous about how the race was going to play out - would my stomach even cooperate with a 9.3 mile run? Welp, we were going to find out one way or another.

My Uncle Tom had headed to the expo for us on Friday, as he works in the area. They expo had super limited hours, only operating from 10-7 on they day before the race, so it made it difficult to get to. But it was lucky for us that his job was in the area and he could pop into the expo to grab our bibs and jackets. Sophie and I had signed up with a promo code, so we got hats as well.

Come Saturday morning my alarm startled me into consciousness, and I had to shift an unconscious cat off of me to get moving. I had packed up my race day bag the night before, so I got dressed and was on the way. Sophie had agreed to drive into Brooklyn, so I only had to make the two mile drive to my parents house. Sophie was about as sleepy as me, and the two of us headed to Kasey’s house to grab her next. She was very bitter about the early hour, and she did not speak until we were a solid 20 minutes into the drive, at which point she could suddenly hear us talking.

The race guide had recommended reserving parking in advance, so we were headed for a parking garage just outside of Prospect park that we had found on spot hero. We got to the garage around 6:15, and while we though it would be quick to drop off the car, there was only one person working so it took longer than expected to drop it off - by the time we were walking to the start line it was 6:45. The race was scheduled to start at 7, and we had a little more than a mile to travel to get to the start line, which we knew was around the middle area of prospect park - it was going to be a bit of an adventure, as none of us really knew where we were going.

We headed in the direction of the start line, taking in some pre-race fuel as we moved, and eventually heard music in the distance. Once we heard the music we were able to follow it until we found the masses of runners heading in the same direction, and got to the start just as the first corral was being released. We pulled over quickly so i could re-tie my shoes, and then hopped into the next corral and were ready to get moving.

I suppose the walk had been a good warm up, because I was able to settle in faster than usual. The course was 2.5 loops of Prospect park, and I was worried that the hills would feel killer like they did when I ran the Jingle All the Way 5k with Mike and Carson, but they somehow felt more manageable this time around. We took on the largest of the hills right before the first mile, and would run up it twice more before the race was through.

Around the second mile marker they had a chocolate chip station, but it wasn’t well marked so i didn’t notice what it was until I was already passed it. There was also a Nuun and water station near there, and I did manage to grab a cup or strawberry-lemonade Nuun as we went by.

As we continued on our loop we soon reached the point where the 5k course split from the 15k course, and we had to take a moment to all jokingly suggest that we could easily turn left and just be done with the whole thing - Okay, for Kasey perhaps it was a little more than a joke, as she had threatened several times that she was going to drop down to the shorter race distance in the weeks leading up to the race, but Sophie and I somehow convinced her to stay signed up for the 15k so we could all run it together.

On the back side of the first loop was another aid station, this time serving marshmallows with the Nuun and water. Soon after my watch buzzed to indicate we were through mile 4, and I looked around for a mile marker, as I couldn’t see one, even in the distance. Eventually I managed to spot the sign - it had flopped over on the side of the road as a result of the wind.

Loop two slipped by quicker than the first, knowing exactly what to expect the second time around. We noticed that more and more of the mile markers were being knocked over by the wind, and the crowds of runners thinned out on the second loop - apparently many of the people running with us had opted for the 5k over the 15k. Towards the end of the second loop Kasey’s shoulder started bothering her, so I took over the responsibility of holding her water bottle… so I am pretty sure that’s worth her signing up for at least one more race, right?

The final loop was shorter than the first two, and after one final pass of the aid stations we followed the signs to the finish line. Kasey fell a little behind Sophie and I towards the end, but I could still spot her right there when I looked over my shoulder. There were some people on the course walking away from the finish line, totally oblivious that they were in the way of runners that were still on the course. We crossed the finish line, collected our medals, and then had a short walk over to the post-race party, where we collected our coveted finisher’s mugs. There was a dog park near the finisher party, so there were a ton of dogs wandering about, and one even had to come over and say hi to Sophie. The mugs were piled high with treats like hot chocolate, fondue, rice krispys and marshmallows. We hung out in the post race area long enough to fill up on goodies, and then retrieved Sophie’s car from the garage, and started our drive home.

Race Recap: 2019 Disney Princess Half Marathon

At last, I am finally ready to share the post you have all been waiting for: The 2019 Disney Princess half marathon!

Ok, so maybe the one person who has really been on the edge of her seat waiting for this is Kasey, but I am here and ready to share either way, so I hope you’re on board for a RunDisney race recap!

On my third early morning of the weekend, I left my hotel room at the All Star Music resort at 3:25 in the morning, and caught one of the last “runner” buses to the start area - RunDisney requests that all runners be on the bus by 3:30 am the morning of the Princess Half marathon, and I was cutting it close with my departure time. They keep running buses after this cutoff, but they are considered to be spectator buses at that point, and their frequency decreases. They bus was in the process of loading when I got there, but I was able to find a seat near the front, so I would be able to get off quickly when we got to the start area. Kasey was staying at All-Star Sports, so we were planning to meet at the start area.

When I got to the start area, there were already thousands of runners making the walk from the bus to security, which had a short line to get through. Kasey messaged me that she was sitting near the first tent after the start area sign, and I quickly spotted her sitting in an area that just barely allowed her to not get stepped on by people who were walking by. She was about as sleepy as I was, and hated me more than ever for talking her into running - even if she had signed up for this race of her own accord. We relocated to another area that had more space for sitting, and ate our pre-race meals there. The start area was much more crowded than other RunDisney events that I have participated in. Once we were fed, I sorted through my bags, and separated the the things I needed for the race from the stuff that I would be leaving with bag check, and then we applied some KT tape to my knee and Kasey’s foot before heading towards the start corrals.

They had changed the bag check system from previous RunDisney weekends, and instead of checking your bags based on your last name, they allowed runners to pick any of the trucks stationed near the finish line, and we were given a sticker to put on the back of our bibs that showed which of the trucks our bags were in.

I made a brief stop at the porter potty, while Kasey resigned herself to wetting her pants over using a porter potty, and then we were on our way to the corrals. It was almost a mile walk from the start area to the corrals. Kasey was assigned to corral D, so that was where we would be starting our race from. When we got into the corral the pre-race show had started, with the announcers speaking about the race charity, and quizzing runners in the corrals with disney trivia. Since we were in corral D we had a little bit of a wait as the race started, and we inched our way closer to the start line as they released waves of runners.

When we finally did make it through the start line, there was immediately course congestion, to a point that really prevented us from getting a full stride in as we ran. We tried to find a consistent pace as we made our way through the first mile, but we were stuck going at a slower pace than we had planned. Even going through the first water stop, it was too crowded for me to make my way from the middle of runners over to the side.

In the second mile they had Jack Sparrow out with his pirate ship, but as usual he had a long wait, so we didn’t stop for a photo. Once we hit the highway the congestion eased up a bit, and Kasey actually seemed to be having a good time. As we approached the Magic Kingdom sign during mile 3 we pulled over to take a selfie before continuing to the park. The announcements of “caution runners, speed bumps ahead” rang out as we went through the toll booths. The next part of our run took us through the parking lot at the ticket and transportation center, where we ran by a character stop that had an assortment of Disney Princes, and a winding line. We passed the third mile marker shortly after, and stopped to get some water at an aid station near by.

They had fog machines our around the evil queen’s character stop, where she was in full witch form, and cooking up some poison apples. We finally got to the the ticket and transportation center, and were able to stop at a bathroom near where the monorail loads. It was surprisingly empty, considering that it was the first real bathroom on the course.

When we ran by mile marker 4 I tried serenading Kasey with a little number from frozen, but she was not amused. She was liking me less as less as we got deeper into this half marathon. The had the RunDisney logo in pink as we ran under an overpass, and towards the magic kingdom. It was the standard entrance into the park, where they loop runners through the bus stops, and then have big light up inflatable pillars guiding runners through the park entrance.

We passed the 5th mile marker just before entering the park. The lights were still on at the entrance when we got there, as the sun was just coming up as we made our way onto main street. Kasey was starting to die a little by this point in the race, and she even broke out her post run forward fold when we stopped to take a picture with the castle. There were pink lights projected onto the castle, very fitting for the princess half.

We made our way into tomorrow land, where runners seemed to be dipping and diving to get to a character… I couldn’t even tell you what character, I was too busy trying not to crash into people. Must have been a good one, I guess. After tomorrowland we ran by Alice’s teacups, then passed the storybook circus and ran through new fantasy land. We took a momentary breathing break there, as both Kasey and I were struggling with the humidity. Once we got moving again we ran by the carousel, then spotted Cinderella next to the castle, and hopped in line to get a photo with her, since we were dressed up as Cinderella and the Fairy Godmother - it was only fitting.

After we snapped our photo we ran through the castle, then pulled over again, this time for a photo in front of the castle. Sadly, our time in the magic kingdom was coming to a close, as we ran through frontier land, passed the 6th mile marker, and headed backstage to leave the park. The park exit lead us into the dreaded cone alley, which was actually less congested than the race start had been. We ran past the resorts that are in the area of the magic kingdom - the Grand Floridian and the Polynesian, and passed by mile marker number 7. They had a group of grooms our near the Grand Floridian, and as we approached mile marker 8 there were signs with various princess themed jokes.

I tried serenading Kasey again during our 8th mile, when we heard some frozen playing, but she still rolled her eyes at me instead of joining in like Mike would have. There was an aid station during mile 8 that handed out sport beans, and it was around that point that Kasey started to let me know that her foot was broken - our walk breaks became a little more frequent, but we kept moving forward. Soon after her stomach went a little sour, but I talked her into eating some skratch gummies just after mile 9, since when I get nauseous during long runs it is usually because I am doing a bad job fueling. It seemed to help, and she was able to keep going.

During mile 8 we started to notice some fireworks going off in the distance, and at first thought it must be the first race finishers. But they kept going well into mile 9, and I never did figure out what they were for…. so I guess you all can just wonder with me forever now.

Right after mile marker 10 they handed out cool sponges, and then it was time to climb the on ramp, and run by the green army man. With only a 5k left, we were nearing the end of the princess half marathon. It was hot on the highway now that the sun was totally up, but it was a manageable distance ahead of us. Being on the overpass meant that there was a bit of an uphill between miles 10 and 11, and the road had narrowed once again, so it had become more congested.

Mile 12 was placed right at the entrance of the Epcot bus area, and as the park was opening, there were plenty of people waiting to cross through runners and get into the park. We weaved through a backstage area as we headed into epcot, and Kasey spotted some characters from her favorite Disney movie - Mr and Mrs Incredible, in the flesh. She pulled right over to hop in line to get a photo with them, and I was totally on board with the move. After we struck a pose we hopped back onto the race course, and headed into Epcot.

We entered the park near Figment’s Journey into the Imagination, and ran by the character spot, heading towards spaceship earth. We went through future world, passed spaceship earth, headed back stage, and then it was a quick turn and we could see the finish line.

We smiled as best we could as we crossed the finishline, got some pixie dust, and were handed our medals for completing the race. I liked that they had some glitter to them! The real reward was the cooling towel that they give you right after the medal though. We walked through the finisher chute, grabbed some poweraide, and I collected my fairy tale challenge medal. Kasey and I stopped to take a finishers photo together, enjoyed some treats from our snack boxes, and headed back to our hotel rooms for some well deserved naps.

At the end of the race I asked Kasey which of the three half marathons she had completed was her favorite - she at least seemed to enjoy this one more the the half we did together in D.C. last year, but she refused to answer and told me she was never running more than three miles again. I mean, I guess I’ll let her stick to that for a few more weeks, but she is signed up to run the Hot Chocolate 15k with me in Brooklyn at the end of April.

New Video: The 2019 Walt Disney World Half Marathon

I carried my GoPro along when Mike and I ran the Disney World half marathon together in January, and today I’m sharing the video of our experience. We had fun, we laughed, and we shout sang perhaps a little too much. Hope you enjoy! 

Race recap: 2019 Disney Princess 10k

Early morning number two. The hardest part is waking up, and the majority of that was now behind me. I laid in bed for 10 minutes after my alarm went off, eventually mustering up the will to get moving. I had packed my bag the night before, so I really just had to get dressed and get out the door. It was cold in the hotel room, so just before leaving I decided to grab a sweatshirt- something I learned would not be necessary the second that I stepped outside.

The morning greeted me with a wall of humidity, and it was clear this race was going to be a hot one.

The bus was waiting when I got to the loading area, and I hopped on and snagged a seat next to another runner. We didn’t have a wait like the previous morning, and instead we were quickly on our way to the start area. I was so sleepy on the second morning that I was tempted to close my eyes on the bus. We got to the start area in about 15 minutes, and walked through the Epcot parking lot to get to the security check. No line again today, just a walk up to the table where they checked my bag.

I was flying solo for this race, so I walked into the start area and found a space to go through my bag, sorting out the stuff I wanted to bring with me and the stuff that I would check during the race. They once again changed the bag check situation - this race instead of checking the bag based off the first letter of your last name, runners could go up to any truck and were given a sticker to put on the back of my race bib to remind me which truck I had used.

Once my bag was checked I headed right into the corrals, and found a spot to sit towards the front of corral A. We had waited almost 40 minutes to start the 5k the day before, and I was just ready to get moving on day 2. The humidity was already heavy on my lungs, and I wondered just how rough this run was gonna be.

Around 5:15 they started moving us toward the start line, and I was just a few rows of people back from the start of the corral, which was exciting. We watched as the announcers went through the pre race show, and I even got picked to answer a trivia question by one of the announcers (did you know that Mulan is the only Disney Princess who wasn’t born into royalty or married to a prince?).

Eventually it was time for the race to start. The wheelchair athletes went off first, then the elite runners, followed by all of us in corral A. I was able to settle into a sub-9 minute mile, which was all I was hoping for during this race. The first mile flew by, and the only character sighting in that stretch was Pocahontas, who was stationed on top of an overpass, posing above as the runners went by below. Shortly after the first mile marker there was a LONG line for a character - I wondered how a line could already be that long this early in the race, but then I saw it was belle and beast posing with a stained glass rose window, and understood the long line. I snapped a photo as I ran by, but didn’t want to wait in such a long line that early in the race.

There was a slight uphill during the second mile, as we ran onto the next stretch of highway. I heard Hawaiian roller coaster ride playing as we approached the second character stop, and sure enough stitch was there taking photos with runners, all dressed up in his Elvis costume. The second mile marker featured belle, and it was still dark as night as I ran into the third mile.

There was a Donald Duck character stop that I believe was in mile 3 - he was just on the side of the highway without any backdrop, but I decided to run in for a photo as there was no line. I was starting to feel the effects of the heat by this point in the race, and was struggling to keep the pace I wanted at this point. It gets humid in NY in the summer, but I wasn’t accustomed to this kind of weather at this point in the year, so struggled as the race went on.

After passing the third mile marker we passed the waste treatment plant behind Epcot, which is easily identified by its smell, and ran under test track. Joy and Sadness were on the side of the rode, and I regretted not getting a photo with them during marathon weekend, so I stopped for one. Disgust would not have been pleased with how sweaty I looked in the photo.

Finally, we entered Epcot for the first time and started making our way around world showcase. I spotted Pinocchio hanging out in Italy, and ran right in for a photo. The countries were all lit up, and while I was struggling and feeling like I wanted the race to be over already, I tried to stay with a sub-9 pace while running, and reminded myself that if I was going to be running in weather that was hotter than preferred, I may as well be doing it in Disney.

As I approached the France pavilion I spotted Marie, who I had never managed to catch during a race before, and was super excited to get a chance photo with her. So excited in fact, that I forgot to pause my garmin, but it was a super quick stop, so it didn’t mess up my moving pace too much.

We exited Epcot after the France pavilion through the exit that leads to the board walk, and did a lap around the resorts before heading back into the park. The boardwalk loop was a huge struggle for me, knowing that I was going to have to deal with a few little hills within the next mile. The first was as soon as we left Epcot, and boy did I feel exhausted climbing that one. I had to back off the pace a little, as I started to feel nauseous as I climbed. Bleh. I do not miss summer running. As I made my way around the boardwalk Goofy was out, dressed as a baseball player. I thought about stopping since he had no line, but really just wanted to get to the finish line at that point. One more hill to leave the board walk, then into the construction area behind Epcot, where they are building the gondola system. It has been cool to see the construction progress over the last year, as many of the rundisney events have gone through that area. They had smart talking “construction workers” stationed in that area, joking around and rooting runners on.

We headed into Epcot a second time, and made our way towards future world. Mickey was stationed just before we turned towards spaceship earth with only 3-4 runners waiting, so I decided to do one more character stop. Our outfits did coordinate, after all, even if I was dressed as a villain.

I pushed hard to get back to a good pace after leaving Mickey, knowing that I had less than a half mile between me and the finish line. I ran towards spaceship earth, stopping for a jump shot along the way, then out of the park and towards the finish line. I didn’t make the same mistake I had during the wine and dine 10k and start sprinting towards the finish despite the heat, but instead just tried to hold a consistent pace. As I approached the finish line the runner next to me shouted “hi queen of hearts, this is good timing!” I turned to look, and she was dressed as Alice! Good timing indeed, as we did wind up in the same finish line photos.

I was very relieved to be done running, and happily accepted my medal, which featured Mulan. Then it was on to snack boxes and bag check. As usual, I checked a drawstring backpack to carry all of the goodies they give you at the finish line. There weren’t too many runners in the post race area so I headed over to the characters to check out the lines. They had aurora, Princess Minnie, and Elena out. I decided to hop on line for princess Minnie, which took about five minutes. Then noticed that the line for aurora was also labelled for Mulan. The cast member at the end of the line told me Mulan was due out in about 15 minutes, so I decided to wait there, but the line moved quickly and I got a photo with aurora. So, I hopped on the back of the line again, and was able to get a photo with Mulan the second time around. It was her race after all!

When the character photos were complete I made my way over to the buses and back to the hotel. We had breakfast reservations at be our guest, so I had time for a decent nap before heading to the parks for a day of fun.

Race recap: 2019 Disney Princess 5k

I never did tell Mom what time the alarm was set for, but when it went off at 3:35 A.M. it scared the crap out of me. I dragged myself out of bed and into the bathroom to get dressed. Once I was ready I called out to mom, concerned that she had rolled over and fallen back asleep, but once I asked if she was awake she got up and began preparing for the morning’s race.

Twenty minutes later we were dressed as dalmatians and on our way out the door, headed to the bus stop at the all star music resort. We were at the bus stop just before 4 a.m. and as we climbed on board Kasey texted me saying that her, Aunt Karen, and Hallie had just arrived at the start area. We wound up waiting on the bus for about 15 minutes, but eventually we were on our way to the start to meet them.

We got to the start area a little later than planned, so lucky for us there was no line for the security check. Mom’s main goal at that point was to get a cup of coffee, and there hadn’t been any available at the hotel, so we got on the concession line to pick some up before heading to the corral.

We found the the rest of our group as soon as we entered the runners-only area, where the corrals are located. We hopped into our corral, and our next objective was to finish Kasey’s costume - she needed some white Cruella hair. I had brought white hair spray with me, and we moved to an empty area so I could spray one half of her ponytail.

We hung out in the back of the corral until they started to release runners, and when the crowd started to move we left the corral among the other participants. It was a slow crawl of a walk towards the start line, as they broke the corrals into mini-waves, so it took a long time for us to get to the start line, and we even got faked out just before the start, thinking we would get to go with the group ahead of us but the runners were cut off just before us. All in all it took a little more than a half hour for us to get to the start, and then we were on our way!

Mom, Aunt Karen, Kasey, Hallie and I all wanted to experience the race together, so we were all walking this one as a group. We took our time as we chatted on the road leading up to the backstage area of Epcot. I’m pretty sure Hallie almost puked when we walked by the waste treatment plant, but we powered through, passed under the backstage area of test track, and soon after entered Epcot. We passed some characters as we walked, but the lines were all very long so we just kept moving forward.

We first entered Epcot in the world showcase near the Mexico pavillion and when we got to Canada we spotted Daisy all dressed up in an adorable coat. We walked through the illuminated buildings in world showcase, and when we got to Germany it was time for a pit stop at the bathrooms.

There were plenty of photopass photographers on the course, and Kasey was never sure how to pose when we walked by them so we just had fun thinking of different poses as we went - this resulted in many awkward pictures that we got to laugh at later.

We left world showcase after the France pavilion, where we spotted prince Phillip. We walked towards the boardwalk resort area, but the course turned so we went through the gondola construction area. When we re-entered Epcot we were in England, and Rapunzel had a character stop. The sun was starting to come up as we moved through Epcot, and we eventually entered future world. We passed the fountain, and then headed towards test track.

As we were walking, Hallie saw a photographer snap of someone jumping, which lead to a series of attempted jump shots, and us learning just how bad Kasey is at jump shots, especially if that involves a heel click. Through many laughs we attempted our own jump shots, and failed miserably at coordinating our jumps, but at least we had fun with it.

The last part of the race took us by spaceship earth. As we left the park Kasey and Hallie started to get a little competitive, power walking ahead of each other. Soon enough there was a quick pass of Hallie’s phone to Aunt Karen, and then Hallie was sprinting towards the finish and Kasey chasing her down, as they raced to cross the finish line in the final stretch of the race. The rest of us laughed as they took off, and Kasey did win their showdown to the finish. Hallie stopped just before the finish line and ran back to us, so the four of us could cross the finish line together.

We collected our finisher medals, got our snack boxes, and took a finisher photo before heading onto the buses. We had a busy day ahead of us - starting with brunch at Chef Mickey’s to celebrate my Uncle’s birthday, and then a day in Magic Kingdom.

I carried my go pro along for the race to capture the fun, so here’s a video of our experience!

Race Recap: 2019 Disney Princess Half Marathon- Arrival and the Expo

I thought I had everything planned out perfectly for this race weekend – flights booked, outfits planned, fastpasses at the ready – and then mother nature stepped in, and shouted “You know what New York needs? A snowstorm!”

Then just like that, I suddenly didn’t have a flight to Florida anymore – what?! I had booked flights for my parents and I on southwest. We like to fly out of the smaller airport on Long Island, MacArthur Airport in Islip, since it makes for a less stressful travel experience compared to LaGuardia and JFK, and I like that southwest usually has very affordable fares, with options to easily change flights if needed. We had even opted to purchase early bird check in, but 24 hours before our flight when I tried to pull up our boarding passes, I received an error message – and then about 30 seconds later I got an email that our flight was cancelled, due to an impending snow storm. Dang it winter!

This was on Wednesday morning, as I got ready for work. I pulled up the other available flights, and in a panic booked a flight for Wednesday at noon, figuring it would allow us to leave before the storm. The issue? I had not even begun packing, and I really needed to go to work that day to tie up loose ends before being out of office for almost a week. I called my dad, who talked me off the panic packing ledge that I had climbed onto, and we decided to rebook for a later flight on Thursday, as they storm was supposed to be over by then.

I spent the next 24 hours checking the weather and flight status obsessively, and while the weather got a little nasty during the day on Wednesday and that night, by the time Thursday rolled around the skies were clear, and our new flight was ready for departure. The downside to this later flight? I would be getting to the race expo later in the day, and unable to meet up with Kasey and her family when they headed to the expo, as they had fast passes in the afternoon, when I would be going.

By the time Mom, Dad, and I landed in florida, collected our luggage, picked up the rental car and got on the road to Disney it was rush hour in Orlando, and we got to sit in traffic as we made our way to the hotel – not how I had envisioned the first day of the trip going, but I was rolling with the punches as best as I could.

When we got to the hotel dad wanted to take a ride up to target to get supplies for the room – snacks, a coffee maker, and what not – but I was itching to get to the expo. It closed at 8, and it was already 6:00, and I wanted to have time to experience as much of the expo as possible. So Mom and I decided to take the bus from the hotel to the expo while dad made the supply run. We got lucky, and there was a bus waiting on the side of the hotel when we got there, and we were able to hop on right away.

Kasey, Aunt Karen and Hallie had already been to the expo earlier in the afternoon, and while I knew some of the merchandise that I had my eye on was already sold out, that didn’t stop me from searching for one of those damn tye-dye princess half spirit jerseys. Did I find one? No. Was I a little disappointed? Yes, but at the end of the day I really did not need to drop $70 on a shirt anyway.

Mom and I headed into the Visa center first, where the RunDisney official Merchandise was housed. We wandered through the aisles, checking out the various wares, and picking some items out. I really liked the color schemes and art styles that they used for the race this year, and was happy to spot Jasmine and Mulan on some merchandise. By the time I made it to the register my haul included a pair of Mulan jogger style, a fairy tale challenge jacket, a half marathon hat, a passholder shirt, a wine glass (that I later shattered) and a Tervis travel mug. Mom even picked out a few things, as she was walking the 5k with me the next morning, including a t-shirt, the same Mulan pants as mine, and a 5k headband. I got a lot of items, but the merch was so tempting this year that there were many more objects that I was a little bummed to be leaving behind.

Once we finished shopping we headed over to bib pickup, and got our numbers. We were there late enough in the day that this was a fast process as there weren’t too many runners around. I tried to get a few photos outside, but it was already getting dark so their quality was less than stellar. We walked over to the exhibition hall after, where the non-Disney vendors and race shirts are to pick up our shirts. There was no wait to get into that area of the expo either, although the show floor was a little crowded as we made our way to the back of the hall to pick up our shirts.

The expo was getting close to closing, so the only other stop that we managed to make was at the pandora booth, where they had a photo op. Mom any I got our photo taken, and then it was time to head back to the hotel and get our bags and outfits set up for the 5k the following morning. Her one race morning request? That I didn’t tell her how early we would be getting up.

Disney Marathon Weekend: The 2019 Disney Marathon

When I got back to our hotel room the night of the Disney Half, I was pooped after the early morning race, and a busy park day. I started gathering up all of my race day needs, so I would be set to leave for the marathon the following morning without any thought.

RunDisney had issued a weather advisory, warning about high humidity levels, and warm weather the following day. I was nervous, as my asthma had been less than friendly, and I was used to training in New York winter. I knew I was trained for this distance though, and didn’t have any intent of running a PR the following day. So I pushed my worry to the back of my mind, and used my nebulizer before bed.

Mike and Jude got back to the room as I was getting ready to go to sleep, and Jennie shortly after. They all wished me luck, and I was happy that they were going to be out there cheering me on the following day - you know you have supportive friends when they are willing to get up at 4 am to chase you down while you run your way though all of Disney World!

The next morning was rare, in that my alarm actually startled me when it went off. I rolled out of bed and got ready in the bathroom area of our room, which had a big sliding door which closed off the sink area, and gave me plenty of space to have lights on without disturbing the others too much. I decided to go with a tank top from RawThreads that read “Will Run for Mickey Shaped Foods” and a pair of trusted New Balance 2-1 impact shorts. My fuel for the race would be a combination of Gu and Skratch energy chews.

I took the short walk from the hotel room to the bus, and climbed on in the usual order morning stupor. A quick ride over to the start area, then through security and into the race area. My first stop was the merchandise booth, as I always like to check out what they have left one last time while I have the chance. I didn’t pick up anything else, but they still had a variety of gear available.

After, I headed over towards the end of the family reunion area, where the Joyful Miles bloggers were having a pre-race photo meetup, and I plopped myself down to go though my race bag and sort out what I would be checking and keeping. I loaded up my SPI belt with fuel, and attached a pair of Goodr sunglasses in their case to the belt, knowing I would want them once the sun came up. Once Jackie and Laura arrived to the meetup location, we all stopped to pose for a quick photo before going our separate ways into our race corrals.

My one snafu of race morning? I didn’t manage to use the bathroom before starting, which made me a little more nervous for the miles ahead. But I reminded myself that I wasn’t running with a time goal, and I would just stop along the way if necessary.

My friends – Mike, Jennie and Jude, were planning to chase me around Disney as I ran the marathon course, so they were up not too long after me and on their way to the start line, to cheer me on from beginning to end. They were planning to spot me a total of 5 times – at the start, at the ticket and transportation center, at the Polynesian, in the animal kingdom parking lot, and at the finish line. In my opinion, it was a race day for them as much as it was one for me, as they would be fighting crowds and traffic to find me at each location…. Have I mentioned how much I love my friends?

It was about a mile walk to the corrals from the start area, and there were volunteers and security stationed at the entrance to make sure everyone heading to the corrals was wearing a race bib. Once I got into my race corral – I was placed in “C” for the goofy challenge, I found some space to stretch and just tried to take it all in, reminding myself it would all be over before I knew it. The multiple humidity warnings that had been issued made me nervous, but my plan was to set my watch to the screen that shows the time of day, not worry about the pace, and stop for whatever characters tickled my fancy along the way.

As 5:30 A.M. approached the announcers prepared for the start of the race, with the national anthem being sang out over the runners. I took a Gu, discarded my heat sheet, and shuffled towards the start line as I waited for my corral to be released, and at just before 5:40 it was our turn to get moving. Just after the start line, I hung to the left side of runners, with my phone’s flashlight on, looking for my cheer squad. Once again the light allowed us to spot each other and I could see them cheering me on as I began my 5th marathon. The first mile of highway was a bit crowded as everyone tried to settle in, but mile marker one featured sorcerer mickey, perhaps giving us all a little magic to get through the race ahead. I wanted to get through as many miles as possible before the sun was up, hoping that the air would stay breathable for as long as possible. Despite the dark sky, I could feel the humidity pressing down on my body already.

In the second mile I saw long character lines – first for captain hook with a pirate ship, and then for Darkwing Duck and Launchpad Mcquack with a plane. Both cool photo stops, but the long line deterred me, as I didn’t want to stand around for so long that early I the race. So onward I went, my 90s kid heart a little disappointed I didn’t stick around to meet Darkwing duck.

Mile marker two had Rapunzel and Flynn on it, and we continued along the highway. The monorail could be seen to our right, making resort rounds. As they zipped by, I wondered if one of them contained my friends. We once again ran under the magic kingdom sign, and I took a moment to stop for my traditional selfie – something I have done for every race that goes under it, since my first Princess Half. Mile three took us through the parking lot at the ticket and transportation center, and they had a few characters out along the way – first Gamora and and Skylord from guardians of the galaxy, then Nick and Judy from Zootopia. I was excited to get to the ticket and transportation center to find my cheer squad, so I once again ran by the characters.

We transitioned from the dark parking lot into the lit up ticket and transportation center, and I looked around, hoping to spot Mike, Jude and Jennie. Despite being alert, I managed to run right by them – but I turned around and ran right to them once I heard Mike shouting. I pulled Mike and Jennie each into big hugs, and Jude and I mimed an air hug as he was a little further back in the crowd. Just the encouragement I needed to keep me moving forward. I passed mile marker 4, and then ran under the bridge – where they had a light projecting the “RunDisney” logo, and then passed by the contemporary, went into the Magic Kingdom bus loop. Just before entering through the main gates to magic kingdom, mile marker 5 was standing tall – how was I already five miles into this race?!

They had big inflatable light up pillars lining the entrance into magic kingdom to ensure that there was enough light, and when I entered the park there were spectators lining main street, as always. The sun was not yet up, so the Kingdom was lit up with beautiful lights – one of my favorite sights to see. At the end of Main Street was the castle, in all its glory, still donning its holiday lights as we ran towards it. Before we were to run through it, we had to make our way around the park.

The first stop was tomorrow land, where Buzz Lightyear was out greeting the runners. We curved through Tomorrowland, passed the Tomorrowland speedway, and just outside of Alice’s teacups were tweedled-dee and tweedle-dum, where my love of wonderland got me to pull over for the first time that day, and pose for a picture. I mean, I wanted to spend as much time as possible in magic kingdom anyway.

I continued around the park, and saw Donald outside of the circus, in his snake charmer outfit, with a line of runners waiting to meet him. Then we went through new fantasy land, where we ran by Ariel and Belle’s castles, before heading to the big castle – Cinderella’s. Just before the carousel they had one of the “Thugs” from Rapunzel dressed up as a mime, who can usually be spotted in the festival of fantasy parade, out, and I pulled over and put on my best mime pose to grab a photo. Just before the castle the Fairy Godmother was out, but I ran straight through, and then pulled over for the obligatory castle photo. I only stopped at one photographer, but here is a tip that I heard after the race, in the podcast that Joyful Miles put out – if the castle photo is the BIG one for you, wait in line for each photographer that they have stationed there, to ensure you get a good one.

From there we were routed through liberty square and into frontier land. Jesse and Woody were out, and if memory serves correct, goofy was there as well. We passed mile 6 just before heading backstage. It was still dark as I made my way out of magic kingdom, and back on to the highway. As always, it was a bit crowded on that area of the course, but I wasn’t in a rush, so I didn’t try to weave through runners. Marker 7 was just before the grand Floridian, where the penguins from Mary Poppins were out, and then on the opposite side of the road was a gathering of grooms, equipped with headsets to talk to runners as they went by. The Disney wedding pavilion is at the grand Floridian, so it is typical for either Brides, grooms, or bridesmaids to be out during RunDisney events.

As I ran by the Polynesian I again spotted my cheer squad, and waved to them across the street – at this point, they were not letting spectators line the road right next to the runners, and they were instead stuck on the other side, at a slight distance.

The next few miles were all highway between Magic Kingdom and animal kingdom, and included a long out and back stretch that I didn’t particularly enjoy. Some of the props set up on the side of the road included retired ride vehicles, such as a nautilus and the ride car from snow white’s scary adventures, and a giant orange bird figure. Just after mile 8 they had a few members of the now closed adventurers club out, and putting on a little show to entertain us as we ran by. The sun was officially up as I passed mile marker 11, but at least it had offered a pretty sunrise along the way.

We ran through the backstage area of animal kingdom before entering the park, seeing greenhouses and topiaries. Clarabelle and Horace were posing near Mickey and Minnie topiaries, making for a cute photo op. Before entering the park we passed mile marker 12, and they had bananas at the next aid station. Just before entering the park they had a mini petting zoo, featuring a giant rabbit, a hawk, and a snake, and some of the animals even had race bibs on.

The cast of the lion king show were along the road, up on their stilts as well, and Rafikki was near by – a character that I did stop for, as I love the lion king. Just after entering the park another familiar face from the lion king was out – Timon! Again, I stopped for a photo, I just couldn’t resist. Since I was in the park and there were real bathrooms, I decided to make a pit stop just before mile 13. I can deal with porter potties, but when real bathrooms are an option, they win out.

Mile marker 13 featured characters from the jungle book, and just after a ballerina swan from fantasia was out with no line, so I popped in for a quick photo. It was a character I had never seen out before, and I always love seeing rare characters. The sun was shining over Everest, and even though the park was not quite open there was a queue of runners waiting to get on the ride mid-race. I thought about joining them, but since I sometimes wind up with motion sickness from that ride, I decided it was better to skip it this time. The course ran through dino-rama, and then we were headed into the parking lot. My friends were still on the bus waiting to arrive, so I crossed my fingers that I would get to see them. The parking lot contained mile marker 14, which meant I was officially more than half-way through this race.

The entrance area to animal kingdom was crowded, with a mix of spectators and people trying to get into the park for opening. I collected some candy from strangers as I ran by, and with a stroke of luck, spotted my people! They had just gotten off of the bus and made it to the spectator area in time for me to run by, yay!

There was a marching band in the parking lot playing as we went by, and at the parking lot exit the haunted mansion grave diggers were set up with tombstones and shovels, and I jumped in line to get a photo. I had taken the same photo the first time I ran the Disney marathon, and was excited to have the opportunity to continue the tradition.

At this point, my friends had to head back to the hotel to secure all of our stuff for check out – we were flying home that night! Checkout times at Disney are typically 11 am, and while I had requested a late check out, they had not been able to approve it, so they had to go and move all of our stuff into daily storage at the resort, and I would be stuck showering at the pool facilities post-race if I didn’t make it back before 11 – and I knew that it was going to be tight timing. Jennie decided to stop at the front desk and ask one more time if there was any way they could accommodate a late check out…. And by some miracle they were able to make it happen! I didn’t get this news until I was at about mile 21, but I sighed a deep sigh of relief when I found out I would have a bed until 1 pm.

The next few miles were all highway, and I was relieved that I had brought sunglasses with me. Now that the sun was up, it was bright out, and the humidity that they had warned us about was in full swing. I wasn’t pushing it too hard with my pace and had no idea what any of my mile splits were, but I felt good, and hoped that I would continue to feel good for the rest of the race.

We entered ESPN for some loops just before mile 18, and they handed us nice cool sponges. Mile marker 18 had Lilo and Stitch on it, and I stopped to take a selfie to send Mike, since they are his favorite characters – and you know, since I was trying to convince him to do Dopey with me in 2020. We weaved our way through ESPN, and there were lots of characters out. I stopped for a photo with Minnie before we ran around the track, spotted goofy while on the track, but kept going as he had a decent queue, and then after the track stopped for a photo with Donald and Mickey. They gave us bananas again just before mile 19, and Sadness and Joy were set up just before the baseball diamond. I debated stopping as I ran by them, and wound up being a little remorseful that I didn’t strike a sad pose with them, lamenting the fact that the race was coming to a close.

We left ESPN, and I could feel my right IT band tightening up. This was a huge issue for me during the wineglass marathon, but I was determined not to be discouraged by it. At the next first aid station I stopped and put some bio freeze on it, and it instantly felt so much better. Still tight, but not painful. Throughout the rest of the race, I stopped and reapplied bio freeze any time it was available. I passed by mile markers 20 and 21 on the highway, and they had Pluto out in a construction zone, digging up bones. We ran over the old entrance to Hollywood studios, and got a glimpse of the ‘Galaxy’s Edge’ construction in the distance.

Then we entered Hollywood Studios through a back entrance, near where fantasmic happens, and they had a candy station! In previous rundisney events they have one type of M&Ms, but this time there was a whole selection of all different varieties of candy. I grabbed a bag of caramel M&Ms and some skittles, and stowed them away in my race belt. Just before we ran by the tower of terror, I spotted Mr and Mrs Incredible, and hopped on line for a photo. Jennie texted me that they were in an uber on the way to the finish, and asked me how I was feeling. I posed for my photo, and sent it to her, unable to resist the caption of “I’m feeling INCREDIBLE!”

We ran through a small portion of Hollywood studios, passed the tower of terror, and then headed towards the main entrance. The park was open at that point, and they had the runners sectioned to one area of the sidewalk. We left through the main entrance, and ran next to the gondola construction, headed towards the boardwalk resort area, which would take us into the final stretch in epcot.

The heat and humidity hadn’t bothered me thus far into the race, but I felt it to an uncomfortable level in the last mile of the race. Combined with the fatigue I was feeling with the cumulative miles, I was ready to cross that finish line! We left the boardwalk and ran by the gondola construction near epcot, and then entered the world showcase. It would be one last quick trip around the world, and then the marathon would be complete.

I wound up stopping for two characters along the way, Alice and Belle, who were in England and France, respectively. Each country had cast members out and cheering, and as I made my way into Mexico, I saw crowds of people around the margarita stand – runners getting a finish line drink! I considered stopping, as I thought it would be a fun finish line photo, but I didn’t have a photo ID on me so decided not to wait on line and risk being turned down (I have had issues in the past with cast members telling me I am too young even when I do have my ID, and I just didn’t have the energy for it).

I texted my cheer squad, and it was going to be a close call on them making it to the finish line – their uber from the hotel had gotten caught in traffic on the way to Epcot. When I left world showcase and approached spaceship earth, I stopped for one last photo. Then it was just a matter of running past the gospel choir, seeing mile marker 26, and turning the corner towards the finish line.

I ran through the finish, and was simply overjoyed. I felt strong, I felt accomplished, and I loved the experience I had just had. I was handed a medal and an ear hat by a volunteer, collected my poweraide and water, then headed towards the challenge tent, where I was awarded my goofy challenge medal, for completing the half marathon and the full marathon in one weekend. I made my way towards the bag check, got my stuff, and plopped down in the epcot parking lot. A few minutes after I sat down Jude, Jennie and Mike arrived, and while they had missed the finish line, they were excited for me to have finished the race. We all headed for the busses, Jennie and I heading back to the hotel to pack up, and Mike and Jude heading into Disney springs to meet up with Jude’s sister.

Jennie and I would celebrate with a drink at the Wave – the seven seas lagoon fish bowl, and then all met at chef Mickey’s for brunch. It may have been my slowest marathon to date (5:03:02), but I wouldn’t trade a minute of that time in exchange for the race experience that I had. You may remember back in September that all I wanted out of the wineglass marathon was to find my love for marathons again…. well, the 2019 Disney Marathon helped me do just that.