Happy February! We made it through the insanely long, cold
month of January, and are now into February, the shortest month of the year.
Before we know it, it will be spring, right? Let’s hope the Groundhog was
correct, though with the blanket of snow I woke up to this morning, I’m not so
sure his shadow was telling the truth! With that said, is anyone else dreaming
of a trip to the Sunshine State?
I am gearing up for my ‘race-cation’, where I will be
participating in the Disney Princess Half Marathon Presented by Children’s
Miracle Network Hospitals on February 21. Last January, when my family took a trip to WDW
for my son’s first birthday, my good friend Tiffany came to visit (she lives
semi close by, in Jacksonville). She, unlike me, was a runner, and asked if I had
ever thought about doing a RunDisney race. I stated that I had, perhaps a 5k,
as I didn’t like to run and thought that would be the furthest distance I’d be
able to manage. The topic came up again in April, where we, along with a few
other childhood friends, now were discussing which race we’d do if we were to
ever participate in one. We had decided to take on the Expedition Everest 5k
Challenge (obstacle course) in May 2016. The problem was, we later realized,
that May 2015 was the last Everest Challenge. Back to the drawing board. In the
end, of course, we decided on the Disney Princess Half. This women-centric
event allows men to participate, but the focus is mainly on the Disney-loving
women runners, which made this a perfect event for a Girls Trip! I don’t see
these friends often, as Kari lives up north, I live in the Midwest, and Tiffany
lives down south (we all grew up together in Illinois- none of us live there
now, however).
My initial plan was to walk this event, as the rules state
that every runner must meet the 16-minute-per-mile (16mm) expectation, or they
would be swept. I realized that even though I can walk faster than a 16mm, this
wouldn’t allow me much time to meet characters, which I was really looking
forward to doing. So, it was time to start a ‘Couch-to-5k’ program. Throughout
the past 10 months, I’ve discovered that I do enjoy running, as it’s a great
stress-reliever, and gives me some ‘me time’. I never made it to my goal of
completing a 12-mile run before my race, but I remain very confident that I
will be able to finish strongly. The RunDisney races are more focused on fun
than competitiveness. Jeff Galloway, an Olympic Champion, is the official
Training Consultant for RunDisney, and his method is run-walk intervals. I do
much more running than walking (maybe 90% running, 10% walking), but I have
enjoyed trying out his training program, which is free and posted on the
RunDisney website months before the race. My goal for this race is to simply have
fun with my friends, and earn this beautiful ‘The Little Mermaid’ theme medal:
I would like to provide some pointers to those who are
debating a RunDisney ‘race-cation’. Once
my friends and I decided which race we would be participating in, we marked our
calendars for the day that race registration opened up. I had heard that this
run sells out within hours, and so I didn’t want to take a chance at missing
our opportunity to take this trip together. Sign-up is through Active.com, and
all 3 of us had created accounts on Active in advance, so that on registration
day we were ready to go. I worked nights at that time, and so being awake at
noon to register was tough, but at about 11:50am, my husband brought me up a
hot cup of coffee and some breakfast (he’s a sweetie!) as well as my laptop so
that I could be ready to go for noon. The Glass Slipper Challenge, which Kari
ended up signing up for, sold out first, within (I believe) an hour- this is a
10k on Saturday of race weekend, and then the Half Marathon on Sunday. Shortly
after noon, all 3 of us were registered and ready to go! Please, if you are
interested in running a Disney event, be ready to register as SOON as
registration goes live to avoid disappointment!
Another tip is to feel free to book your accommodations
before you register for your race- if, for some reason, you do not get into the
race, you are able to cancel your resort reservations up to 45 days in advance
with absolutely no penalty, so it never hurts to plan ahead. Please note that
for the larger events (the Walt Disney World Marathon in January, and the
Princess Half in February), each one of the Walt Disney World resorts is a
‘host resort’ and provides free transportation to the Expo in the days leading
up to the race(s), as well as transportation to the race course itself on race
day(s). For the smaller events, such as the Wine and Dine Half Marathon in
November, not all resorts are host resorts, and so if you want to take
advantage of the free transportation, you’ll have to find out ahead of time
which resorts are host resorts that year. Typically, at least one resort from
each category (Value, Moderate, and Deluxe) is a host resort.
Throughout my training for this race, I’ve had a lot of fun
getting to know other runners via Facebook groups dedicated to this event.
We’ve all shared our accomplishments and our excitement about this event, which
has been great! I encourage anyone running a RunDisney race to check out Vlogs
on YouTube showcasing the expos and races, and different personal RunDisney
blogs to get excited! In particular, I've enjoyed my Instagram friend Karen's blog at justmeandmyrunningshoes.com, as well as her Vlogs from past RunDisney races she's participated in (search 'Karen Seal' on YouTube).
Thursday morning, February 18, the Health & Fitness Expo
for the Princess Half Marathon begins, and I plan to be at the ESPN Wide World
of Sports complex at opening. Each RunDisney event sells merchandise exclusive
to that event, including a Dooney and Bourke handbag and New Balance running
shoes, and I plan to get my hands on some of this merchandise. There are also
speakers present at the Expo, including Jeff Galloway, the Olympic Champ I
previously mentioned, RunDisney’s official dietary nutritionist Tara Gidus, and
more. I am really looking forward to attending my first Expo at Walt Disney
World!
I also encourage runners to create a fun costume for the big
race! A family friend offered to loan me a green sparkle skirt, and so I had
planned a Tinkerbell outfit all along. Somewhere along the line, I had switched
and planned to wear a Mickey-inspired costume. In the end, somehow, I am ending
up with a Dumbo-inspired costume, which I am thrilled about! The problem with
February races is that the weather is ridiculously unpredictable, so costuming
can be a bit difficult. I am bringing running leggings as well as shorts (so I
will be prepared for warm or cold) to wear under my running skirt, and a
long-sleeve Under Armor cold gear shirt to wear underneath my RunDisney Dumbo
tech shirt (that I bought off ebay) if necessary. I also am going to run to Wal
Mart and buy a $5 sweatshirt to wear if it’s really frigid, that I can toss
that to the side after I warm up during the race (Disney will donate thrown
items to those in need). I still need to buy a hair accessory, and I am a fan
of Bondi Bands, who conveniently have a booth at the Expo. I plan to pick out a
Bondi Band headband to wear at the race the day of the Expo. While Dumbo is, of
course, not a Disney Princess, I am excited to show off my costume (which my
best friend Kara lovingly is calling my ‘Dumbette’ costume), and I’m hearing
from a lot of girls that they are not doing a Princess costume, either.
So now that my trip is less than a week away, all there is
left to do is pack! I made a list far in advance of things I may need
pertaining to my run, and I’ve been adding to it as I think of things. I am
bringing Clif shot gels and shot bloks to stick in my Flip Belt for mid-run
energy, and I plan to eat a Clif bar on the bus to the corrals on race morning.
This is my routine, so nothing is new for race morning. We have to be on the
bus by 4:00am at the latest on race morning, and so I will have everything
ready to grab and go. I will be bringing my costume and my shoes in a carry-on
bag so that there is no chance of my baggage getting lost in transfer. All that’s
left to do now is ‘Run Princess Run’!
As always, please email me at dana_aimee@hotmail.com with any
Disney-related travel questions. Happy travels!
