Pink Coast to Coast Medal For Me . . . Yes Please

For those of you who may not know, each year runDisney has a Coast to Coast challenge that states that if you run a half marathon or longer at both Disney World and Disneyland in the same calendar year you will receive an additional “Coast to Coast” medal after completing the second race. Currently the only 2 options at Disneyland is the Tinker Bell half and the Disneyland half, but rumor has it at least one, if not two more races are being added next year!



The last 2 years I have taken this challenge by completing the Tinker Bell half and Princess Half in back to back months, but I was not planning on going for a three-peat this year. Of course my resolve changed a bit when runDisney announced that this year there will be a special edition PINK coast to coast medal exclusively for all the fairy princesses out there!! 

Photo Courtesy of April at Run the Great Wide Somewhere 

I really wanted that medal, but decided to stick to my original plan to not run the PHM again this year. That was until I was given a last minute opportunity to join in the weekends festivities!! Now I'm happy to say that medal will be mine!

Of course with the addition of this new, special edition, medal there were lots of details to be worked out and concerns being voiced all over the internet. Personally, I think runDisney came up with the perfect solution that is fair to everyone involved.

In past years it was runDisney’s police to only allow 1 coast to coast medal a year, thus making those who #RunAllTheRaces choose between the pink and the traditional blue coast to coast medals. This year they are giving you the opportunity to earn BOTH medals instead!

Under the new policy if you complete Tink and Princess you will receive the pink medal, and you will still be eligible to complete another pair of races, one on each coast, to receive the blue medal as well. I have to say it is a rather tempting challenge to take, but I think this year I’ll be passing.
   
Will you be earning a pink coast to coast medal this year? If so will it be your first coast to coast challenge, or are you a repeater?

Don’t forget to check out the Princess Half virtual blog hop to learn you all you need to know about the upcoming race weekend! You have questions? Most of the answers can be found right here.

Tinker Bell Half Marathon 2014

Last year the Tinker Bell half marathon made me cry. I should have gotten a PR but I didn’t and  watching my PR slip away was heartbreaking. It was the first and only race that literally brought me to tears, but I am happy to report that this year that was not the case.

Since I had known my training had been lacking I wasn’t expecting much and decided that this year I wanted to PR in fun and I did just that!



I’m still not a fan of the 5 am start time, but once I’m up and going I’m glad to get it done early and still have all day to spend in the parks! Unlike the 10k the morning before there was no flat Summer laid out. Instead there was a balled up Summer laying on the sofa in the room, and when my alarm went off at 3:45 I grumbled a bit and begrudgingly rolled out of bed. After getting dressed and downing a protein shake I was ready to head down to the lobby to meet up with Kirsten again.

I have to say that the lobby was much busier that morning and the feel of the half marathon was very different than that of the 10k for sure! You definitely knew what the main event was, and we were hoping we were ready for it! We both have ran several half marathons before, but with the vision of the 10k sweepers still fresh in our minds we weren’t as confident as we normally would have been. In fact I posted this status update on Facebook and being blessed with awesome friends they had some wonderful answers for me!

 

After settling into corral C and taking the obligatory corral selfie I was feeling a little better about the mileage ahead of me, but only a little. The national anthem was sang with fireworks a blazing and shortly after that the wheelchair racer took off. For some reason this always chokes me up a bit, and usually brings a tear or two to my eye.

After the wheelchair racer was well on their way corral A was off, followed closely by corral B, and before I knew it was time for us to head out on our own 13.1 mile journey through the Disneyland Resort Parks and the streets of downtown Anaheim.


After making a loop around Disneyland resort we headed back stage, and then into California Adventure where the fountains for World of Color were on and absolutely beautiful!



From here we headed towards Cars Land, which is just amazing to run through when it is all lit up! I would also like to give runDisney huge props for the slight change of course from last year, and the added light to the paths that were really dark in the past! It was greatly appreciated!



This sign made me giggle a bit so I had to get a picture of it in case I needed to use it somewhere down the line. The other side said “Not Slow” but I couldn’t get the picture to come out with the spotlight shinning on the “sl”

After running around most of California Adventure we hit the 5k mark as we exited the park and headed across the way to the Disneyland park! It was in the area between parks that I noticed another great change runDisney added to control the flow of cross traffic, similar to what they do on the parade route, and that was greatly appreciated too, as there has been more then once that I almost plowed into a spectator trying to run across the course in front of me.

Once in Disneyland there were character picture ops aplenty, but after the run in with the sweepers the day before I opted to skip all of them but this one, that I mostly took for #3 since she loves puppies and kitties and is known to try and use “cute paws” on me.

 
After running through Disneyland, and hitting the last real restroom, under the Hungry Bear Restaurant, we were on our way through Downtown Disney and toward the amazing Red Hat ladies! I was completely surprised by them the first year, and I greatly anticipate seeing them every year, and they did not disappoint! They are hands down the most amazingly enthusiastic group of spectators I have ever seen!

  

After leaving the Red Hat Ladies and Downtown Disney behind it gets pretty quiet, and I knew there was nothing but the streets of Anaheim left to see. A little after mile 6 we stopped at the medical tent so I could get a band aid. When we were back stage at Disneyland I could feel that one of my toe nails were cutting the toe next to it so I wanted to prevent any further damage. I was a bit surprised to see as much blood as there was, but I put the band aid on and thankfully my shoe went back on with no issues and we were off again. These were some of my favorite signs from the neighborhood portion of the run.



There was also this sign in the business area of the course. Don’t worry my mom taught me well and I did not take the candy from the nice strangers on the street corner, but I did take a couple of the orange slices and they were quite heavenly!



Around mile 9 I stopped at another med tent, this time for some Tylenol. My hip had held up really well, but it was giving me some itchy sensations off and on so I wanted to be a bit proactive and take it before I absolutely needed it. It was at this stop that I lost Kirsten. She kept running and told me to catch up when I was done and I somehow passed her without seeing her. #SadTrombone

But I did find a couple of people from one of my Facebook running groups at the med tent and they invited me to run with them, so I did.  Just before mile 11 I happened to check my phone and noticed I had a missed call from DisBroad Patty, silly lady. I will text, Facebook, and tweet during a race, but I draw the line at answering the phone. ;)

There happened to be a text from her as well checking where I was. I was actually just behind her and the rest of the Tink DisBroads so she told me to stay at the mile 11 sign until I see them. As we approached the mile 11 sign I said good bye to my running partners and ran toward the sign when I heard a loud cheer yelling "Summer" and there they were! DisBroads April, Patty, Amy and Tania were already at the sign waiting for me!


With just over 2 miles left to go we decided to finish the race together, using the motto #NoDisBroadLeftBehind and in this case that DisBroad was me!! As we finished the race together, spirit fingers in the air, we were diverted to one side as there was a runner down receiving medical attention and I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. Yes, I'm that girl who cries over everything! His wife later posted in one of the Facebook groups I am a member calling him the "Lost Boy who tried to go to Neverland" and reported that he ended up having open heart surgery, but is expected to make a full recovery and their goal is to get him completely rehabilitated in time to run the Wine & Dine half in November!! Again this made me tear up a bit, but I was glad to hear was going home and doing well.

As we exited the finish line area and made our way toward the medals we came across runDisney’s Bob Hitchcock and he very graciously posed for a picture with us! He was so nice and his lighting crew even offered to light up our cell phone picture for us!! It was a very brief, but wonderful experience.



Now with an absolutely amazing race behind us what is in the DisBroads future? Rumor has it we will ALL be in Disney World next month for the Princess Half marathon!! #TureStory The word epic is being thrown around, and we hope you will be there to join us!

Tink Half Expo!!

Since I had volunteered the day before I had to go back to the expo on Friday in order to pick up my roommates bibs and to check out what they had to offer.

Now I have a confession to make, I’m not huge on expos. I usually make a mad dash in, get my bib, shirt and gear bag and get the heck out of dodge! At least that is what I have done for every expo except for Tink. I’m not sure what it is about this particular expo, but all 3 years I have found myself wondering around checking out the vendors, and this year I even went back several times!

On Friday I picked up my roommates bib for her, got her shirts and bags and made my way over to the official merchandise where most of the hot ticket items, like the zip up jackets, were pretty picked over, but was glad to see plenty of the pull over hoodies where still available. I quickly grabbed my size as I weaved in and out of the other isles seeing if anything else caught my attention, but thankfully it didn’t. I stood there for a moment looking at the hoodie in my hand trying to decide if I was going to drop the cash or not, and of course I did.

Around this time I met back up with DisBroad Patty, since we came to the expo together, but quickly went separate ways. We went over to scope out the KT Tape line for DisBroad Tania, and after we met up with her she got taped and we were on our way to the parks for a bit!!

I had been following the New Balance tweets and as of Saturday morning they still had my size in the Cinderella shoes so I thought I would make my way over there after the 10k and see if I could on the reservation list, and I did with no problem! I literally walked up, entered my info on the iPad and was told it would be my groups turn in about 2 1/2 hours so I went into the expo and picked up a couple pair of PRO Compression socks that I had been eyeing online! I also went over to get a picture with Jeff Galloway since he was the reason I actually felt like I could do a half marathon in the first place!! He is all around a great guy, and has no problem chatting it up with you, which is just awesome!

I then headed to the park for a bit until I got my “it’s your turn” text about 3 hours later and made my way back to the expo . . . again, and picked up these beauties!! Easy peasy!!

Since this was going to be my last runDisney event for awhile I spent more then I normally would, but I love every single one of my purchases and I have no buyers regret so I would say it was a success!!

Do you like to shop the expos? or are you usually in and out, like me?

What’s Up Wednesday v.1.12.14

Inspirational Quote:

I’m a planner. I like to plan and research, research and plan. Often after all that research and planning I no longer feel like doing, so I am going to work on less talking/planning and more just doing it!

(Intentional) Act of Kindness:

This week I donated to DisBroad Kristen St. Jude’s Hero fund. She will be running the St. Jude Country Music half marathon in April as a St. Jude’s Hero, once again. If you would like to join her she as a discount code you can use for $10 off just entry KSMITHRUNS as the promo code, or if you are feeling lucky you can also head over to her blog and enter for a chance to win a free entry!

Now for my randomness.

Eek! Tomorrow I am heading down to Anaheim to visit with the mouse for a bit! I honestly have some very mixed feelings about this. I know I’m not properly trained so I am very nervous about the running, or more likely walking, part of the trip. I’m doing both the 10k and the half pretty much untrained, which is just plan stupid.

I’m also somewhat solo! I’ve never done Disney without a family member, who was obligated to hang with me, so this will be very different for me. Several of my fellow DisBroads will be there, but we all arrive at different times and have different schedules planned so I am unsure how that will all pan out.

Lastly I haven’t exactly packed or updated a play list or anything. You safely say I’m pretty much a mess at this point. On top of that mommy guilt is kicking in big time!

Normally I don’t have this issue since the kids stay with Officer P when I make my runDisney trips, but with Officer P out of commission they are staying with grandma. I am most concerned about “the boy” since he has been having the hardest time with his dad’s absence, and has been sleeping with me every night. The older 2 could care less, and “puppy lover” is hit or miss. I think she will be fine, but she does like to lay on the guilt a bit too. I’m sure it will all be fine and dandy in the end, but right now it is adding to my stress.

Now off to pack! I hope I get to see some of you this weekend! If you do happen to run into me feel free to say hi! I’m pretty nice ;) but I am horrible about spotting people on the course or in crowds so I’m not ignoring or avoiding anyone. I promise. 

What’s Up Wednesday v1.7.14

With the launch of project ME What’s Up Wednesday is going to be a little different going forward. Now don’t worry it will still be filled with plenty of randomness, since it doesn’t get much more me then that. But I have also decided to add an inspirational quote that spoke to me during the week, and also report one act of kindness that I preformed, so here it goes. 

Inspirational Quote:

There is no surprise this one would speak to me this week since my theme has been working on removing negativity from my mind.

Overall I have done pretty well, but I’m not going to lie, this will be an ongoing process for me that I will really have to work on everyday day.

 

(Intentional) Act of Kindness:

My first act of kindness was to donate to the Taylor Brooks Foundation. I always want to donate to my friends fundraising efforts, but I never feel like I can donate enough to really make a difference, but I have decided every little bit really does count and when my small donation is added with other small donations they become not so small after all. That is why when DisBroad Julie told me about the foundation and how they deliver donuts to the children’s cancer floor once a week how could I not want to help? I certainly can spare some money for donuts for children fighting cancer!!

This is what Julie shared with me about the foundation, in her own words:

“My friend Melissa lost her teenage daughter Taylor to a very rare form of cancer. As Taylor recovered from her chemo and treatments she always remembered those on the cancer floor - patients, Parents, and caretakers with weekly treats. She also organized a holiday party for the patients. As Taylor fought for her life she always remembered others in the same battle. She lost her fight and in her memory her mom carries on her work. I am amazed how much this foundation does......there is VERY little overhead and its very grassroots. Any donation goes very far. I am so proud of Melissa my friend - a cancer survivor herself for carrying on Taylors kind deeds and legacy.” 

If you would like to learn more about the foundation you can do so here or you can make a donation here.   

Now for the randomness:)

I restarted T25 on Monday. I’m still not really feeling it, but that is because I have developed the habit for being lazy so I just need to keep with it until I come around again. Plus it is *only* 25 minutes.

Also a week from tomorrow I will be volunteering at the Tinker Bell expo so if you are visiting that day come by and say hi! I’m not sure where I will be yet, but if you follow me on twitter I’ll let you know when I find out!

And that is week 1 of 2014 in a nutshell. ;)

What’s Up Wednesday: 11/26 Edition

I am still alive and kicking, in case you were wondering. I’ve been busy helping my mom rearrange the house for Christmas and getting ready for Thanksgiving, as well as trying to get the girls ahead in school so we won’t have to worry about it at Disneyland, next week!! 

I started Focus T25 on Monday and I am sore from my waist to my knees, and this is just from 2 workouts!! As things progress I will keep you updated, but for right now I love that it is only 25 minutes, and it is a great workout in those 25 minutes, but I’m not sure how much I like the actual workouts themselves. I always tend to be a little iffy until I get the hang of the sequences and I feel like I know what I am doing.

It’s also about time for me to get back to running since the Tinker Bell half marathon weekend is creeping up on me pretty quickly. (49 days y’all) I also thought it was a great idea to sign up for the 10k so I need to start getting some back to back runs in, because I don’t normally do those!

Right now my plan is to do the 10k for time, since my current proof (and PR) are set to expire, and then take it easy at the half and take advantage of the photo ops with my fellow DisBroads.

This will be something new for me, since I have only stopped for 1 character pic in the past, and that was at this years Princess Half Marathon, but I am sure it will be fun. And of course at the end of the weekend I will be adding these beauties to my collection, and really that is what it is all about for me. Although, I still wish they were a challenge since Dumbo and Glass Slipper are, but oh well. 

So that is what is up this week. Next week What’s Up Wednesday will be brought to you from Disneyland!! So it should be filled with complete awesomeness!! #DisneyHolidays

What’s Up Wednesday 10.29.13 Edition

Yep. That is pretty much it for this week, but on the bright side phase 1 of operation moving back to Houston is complete!! After 3 days of non-stop packing and loading we are out of the “old” house. It is suppose to close escrow either this Friday or Monday and I am pretty excited.

Now it’s on to finding a new house in Houston! Officer P is leaving tomorrow, and taking Pixie with him. :( We are hoping he finds us a house soon. He is enjoying the fact that he has all the power in buying our new house and it is driving me nuts!! Seriously, I keep telling him “I know you know this BUT . . .” I am a bit type A and buying a house is a huge thing!! I think we are going to have some Facetime house showings going on. That should be interesting. 

And in other news I am finally officially registered for the Tinker Bell Half Marathon!! I was signing up with one of my Facebook running groups and I was afraid it was going to fall through and my legacy status would be lost. BUT I got this in my email today

I am now breathing a sigh of relief and am gearing up to plan my costume. What oh what should I wear???

I’m also considering seeing if they happen to have any 10k spots open so I can throw that in there too. I really do need a good 10k time to submit as proof in the future since my PR at Tink 2012 is starting to “expire”. 

And that is this week’s WUW for you. Short and sweet.

Tinker Bell 10K?? Really?. . . Really?

Rumors of a potential 10k being added to the Tinker Bell Half Marathon weekend lineup are not anything new, but yesterday the very observant eye of a fellow blogger found what appears to be Active.com offering a commemorative pin for the Tinker Bell 10k that does not officially exist. Don’t believe me? You can see for yourself right here. Now what does this mean?? Well one thing is certain Active screwed up once again, but aside from the obvious, it means one of two things. Either there will be a 10k added and Active spilt the beans or they simpley mistakenly added the 10k pin option when there will in fact NOT be a 10k added. Personally I am hoping it is the later.
Now here me out on this. I am not against the 10k option, in fact I would love to run it since I will not be doing the GSC, BUT I think it would be a very bad move on the part of runDisney to add a 10k this late in the game. Personally, I feel they might as well change the name from Tinker Bell Half Marathon, to the Cinderella Half Marathon since she is obviously the under appreciated step sister in the runDisney family.

Not only did runDisney announce the Glass Slipper Challenge months before registration even opened, they also moved PHM registration in front of Tinker Bell registration even though the races are ran in the opposite order. Now if they add a 10k to the Tinker Bell lineup under a month before registration opens it sure makes it feel like an after thought, doesn’t it? Let’s not forget about those who signed up for Tinker Bell along with PHM, what happens to them if a 10k is added? I assume it would have to be a challenge since all the others are challenges, so would they get first dibs on the Pixie Challenge spots leaving even less spots for the poor saps like me who are not running PHM and trying to get in with the general registration crowd??
I guess the only way we will know anything for certain is to wait and see what happens in the next month.
What are your thoughts on a Tinker Bell 10k challenge being added this year? Yay? or Nay? 

Why I am Losing the runDisney Love

Let me start by saying I LOVE Disney. I grew up on Disney, so when I first started running and discovered the Princess Half Marathon I was ecstatic. Nothing could keep me running like the promise of a trip to Disney as the reward.

The 2011 Princess Half Marathon was my first race ever. I loved it. I felt it was so magical that I was the only one of my friends who said that same day that I was definitely doing it again the next year. Three years later 3 out of the 4 of us were still running it. I also added Tink in the last 2 years and have planned several more runDisney races in the years to come. You can safely say I was bitten by the runDisney bug.

As the popularity of these races have grown they are selling out faster and faster, can anyone say Dumbo Double Dare? Which I am sure led to the Dopey Challenge selling out almost as quickly. Then runDisney adds in more challenges like a pink Coast to Coast medal, the Glass Slipper Challenge and the rumored, and semi confirmed, Tinker Bell weekend 10k and the internet is in a frenzy.

Now people are trying to find ways to cheat the system, and succeeding! Where I once was blissfully ignorant to the dirty and deceptive side of race registration, I am now seeing it flaunted all over the internet. Yes, that is right there are people out there that have found a “backdoor” link and are reporting that they have already signed up for the highly anticipated Glass Slipper Challenge using said link. Which has now lead to others searching out and finding the same link and registering as well, because they don’t want to miss out either. That link is reportedly also allowing people to sign up for Tink at the same time as Princess, thus causing more of a frenzy that Tinker Bell will sell out before ever opening to the general public.

Personally I don’t see runDisney allowing that to happen, but with the perception being there it is likely to feed the frenzy even more, thus causing a panic and a rush to register for Tink as well. I am not saying that this is runDisney’s fault, per se, but none the less it is leaving a bad taste in the mouths of many loyal runDisney fans, myself included.