Princess Half: Views from the Back of the Pack

I’m going to be honest here, I was not looking forward to this race much. Especially once I heard the reports that the weather was going to be very similar to last years race I was pretty mentally defeated. But none the less I laid out my flat Summer the night before and decided I’d just get through it.

My alarm was set for 2:10am and I got up amazingly easy considering I had just gone to bed about 3 hours before that #WestCoastProblems. I got dressed and was headed down to the buses a little after 3. I was staying at the Dolphin hotel and there were only about half a dozen people on the bus when I boarded so we ended up waiting for the bus to fill up, about 20 minutes, before we took off.

It was a very quick drive and I was in the EPCOT parking lot and on my way to the prerace staging area where I met up with DisBroad Kristen and DisBroad’s #1 fan Bonnie!! This was the first time I met either of them in person so I was pretty excited!! Quickly more and more of the DisBroads started to arrive and lots of pictures where being taken!

    DisBroad Kristen, Bonnie, DisBroad Patty, Me, and DisBroad Amy

DisBroad Amy and I were dressed as Alice and the Queen of Hearts so we took a few pics together and she demanded I curtsy to her. I now realize my curtsy needs some work. ;)

 

Eventually they started sending runners back based on the corrals they were assigned to. Since all of the Disbroads where in much lower corrals then me this was the last time I saw most of them. My friend, and running partner for the race, Kim and I held back until it was time for us back of the packers to head to the corrals as well.

I have to say being in the back of the pack was rough. Much like my Tink 10K experience we had no idea what was going on for most of the morning. We could barley hear the National Anthem and didn’t even know it had started until it was about half way through. We also stood there, not moving, for over half an hour after the first corral took off. This is because of the way the corrals were set up. They had to mostly clear corrals A-J before we could move over.  

Finally about 50 minutes after the start of the race we made our way to the start line!! At this point the countdown seemed pretty quick and we were off!! 

     

After seeing the first mile marker I noticed that this year they were very different then the ones they used in the past years so I decided I was going to take pictures of all of them. That also helped me roughly guess how long each mile was taking us since I have shoddy running math.  

As if my moral wasn’t down enough the winner passed us coming back on the other side between miles 1 & 2. I knew this was expected to happen, but it was still rough to witness it. Thankfully before too long we came up to the Magic Kingdom sign, which Kim and I both accused of being false advertising. Having both ran the race before we knew we had a good 2 miles ahead of us before entering Main Street.

Pretty much the whole race was made up of us doing a run/walk combo of pretty much whatever I wanted, which ended up being way more walking then running. My watch was set for 2/1 run/walk ratios, but we very rarely followed it. It ended up being more of a run until we got blocked by a wall of walkers and then walked until we found a way round them.

After mile 5 is where the fun began. We were IN the park and this is always one of my favorite parts of the race! I had hoped to use the real restrooms, as I had in pervious races, but being this far back I just didn’t feel like we had the time to spare to stand in the lines that were out the door and snaking around a bit so we had to pass them by.

Running through the castle is always a highlight of the race, but for us running was not an option. Heck walking wasn’t even an option. We had to result to more of a shuffle as it was wall to wall people and a narrow passage to get them all through. Not to mention those trying for the pictures opts coming out of the castle either stopping to pose or make their way across the wall of people. It wasn’t pretty I tell ya.

I had really wanted to get a pic with Royal Mickey and Minnie, but by the time I got to them in Fantasy Land I could not even see the end of the line that was at least about 50 people visibly deep. I have no idea how many where behind them that I couldn’t see and I knew I just didn’t have time to wait for it. In fact I ended up without any character pictures because the lines were just way too long.

It was very hot and humid. In fact I think Kim must be a saint for putting up with my complaints about the weather. I’m not even sure how many times I told her I was hot, and being from the Orlando area she did not seem to be struggling with it as much as I was.
I will give runDisney props, though, because the medics where all over us back of the packers like personal escorts from about mile 9 on.

From mile 10 on I really struggle with this course since that is where the “hills” come in. They are not real hills, but instead things like overpasses and on ramps and they seem to be back to back to back. After we were on the overpass a little bit after mile 10 we saw the infamous balloon ladies passing the mile 10 mark. In fact there was a lot of chatter around us as princesses were trying to determine if they were, in fact, the balloon ladies or not. I have heard rumors that if you make it pass mile 10 you are safe, and I would believe that to be true since I did not see any buses past that mark staged to take runner off the course. 

After mile 12 we headed in EPCOT and even though we had intended to run the last mile or so straight through we opted to walk it since there was no room to run and the park was getting crowded. I saw the occasional park goer hopping the rope and walking onto the course. This didn’t make me feel to safe about trying to make a mad dash to the finish so we decided to just sprint the last .1 instead.

Right before we came up to the choir I spotted DisBroads Patty and Julie and they joined us for a little bit until they stopped for another picture op and we kept on moving! I had told Kim how I missed the choir the first year I ran it and it baffled her how I could have not noticed them so she made sure to point them out to me this time.

Finally we saw the mile 13 sign so we stopped to take a pic and then it was a sprint to the finish line!! I saw Royal Minnie and her “handler” there and thought for half a second about stopping for a pic, but I was just too close to finishing now so I gave her a high five instead!

Once again I came in with another PW (personal worst) but I accomplished what I came there to do, which was to meet the rest of the DisBroads and to collect these little beauties!!

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. 

RnR Las Vegas, the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Before signing up for this race, in March, I was well aware that it had a bit of a sorted past. I figured what the heck I’d give it a try since it was a unique experience. I don’t see me doing this race again, but I’m glad that I gave it a go.

The race festivities started around 3 pm in a parking lot across from Luxor with a concert by the All American Rejects!! They also had bagels and water available for runners, which was nice.

I arrived at the parking lot around 3:30 and made my way over to the UPS bag check area. I thought this meant it was somehow sponsored by UPS, which still might have been the case, but it was also actual UPS trucks. I walked up to the Ho-Joe truck and dropped off a jacket for the walk back to my hotel after the race and the truck drove it down to the finish line for me.

After a few texts back and forth and a finally a phone call I met up with one of my friend Jaime, who was also running the half. We chatted for awhile as we listened to the concert until it was time to start heading to the corrals. The concert ran over about 15 minutes, so around 4:15 we started heading to our corrals, but not before snapping this quick selfie in front of the Sphinx. The corral system was a bit of mess. They had signs up saying which corral was what, but apparently those signs were incorrect so they had people holding smaller signs with the new corral locations. I found corral 23 pretty easily and made sure to stay in the back since I wasn’t sure how my body was going to hold up. The corrals were pretty much on an honor code type of thing and there were people just jumping in wherever they felt like it. It also took a long time to get everyone to the start line. After about a half an hour it was finally my turn to make it to the start line and John Bingham gave us some last minute advise to have fun as we headed out on our 13.1 mile journey through the streets of Las Vegas.

      

We passed by the “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign twice and headed down the strip where the street was lined with spectators. For the first 2.5 miles I was keeping pace with the 2:30 pace group, but lost track of them around mile 3.Sadly a lot of the ambiance was lost on me because I tend to space out when I race. I miss a lot of what goes on around me, as I try not to trip over or run into anyone, but I didn’t miss this . . .

Apparently I timed it pretty well and the volcano in front of the Mirage was going off as I ran by! That was pretty cool.

I continued down the strip high fiving anyone with their hand out as I went by. As I got closer to the end of the strip the spectators started thinning out and by the time I saw this sign they were pretty sparse.

Honestly, I was not a fan of any of the “downtown” part of the race. In many places it was really dark and and the roads where in bad shape so we really had to watch our step very closely, which was difficult since it was so dark. I was also disappointed to find that even though I started in the second corral for the half marathon they had ran out of GUs before I got to the 8-ish mile mark where they were giving them out. I always bring my own fuel, just for this reason. Even though I don’t use GUs it annoyed me that they didn’t have enough to give to those who might have been counting on them. This was actually the first race I have ran where they actually ran out of things on the course.

Miles 7-9 were pretty boring and rough on me. My hip was doing surprisingly well, but I was so hungry and my feet hurt really bad since I thought it was a good idea to walk (3 miles) to the expo and back the day before. As I was nearing mile 10 I could see runners in the later corrals still heading toward the downtown area so I was checking the bib numbers trying to figure out if I had missed Jaime, or if I might run into her on the course, and then there she was right in front of the pawn shop so we took another quick selfie out on the course. From here I just trucked along to the finish line doing a combo of jogging, sprinting and walking. Since I had fell back a few corrals during the race it started getting pretty crowded toward the end. This was also because we met back up with the full marathon participants so we each only got one lane of space and at this time there were many more half marathon runners then full.

Soon enough I could see the finish line and I sprinted toward it weaving in and out of the other runners. Finally I finished the race and went on to get all of my goodies. Since I hadn’t fueled properly I started feeling quite nauseous, but after I grabbed my chocolate milk from Team Refuel (sshhhh I grabbed an extra as I walked by) and downed it I started to feel a little better.

I went on to get my bag, which I really needed to hold all of the post race goodies they gave me, which also happened to be in front of the Bellagio so I stayed there for a bit to enjoy my beer, take a post race picture with my medal and watch the water show before heading back to my hotel.

                  

And I took this picture on my walk back to the hotel of the strip being completely empty. It looks so much smaller this way.

50 by 50

Way back in May I was browsing at the Allied Medal Displays website because I really wanted to get something to display all my wonderful bling! As I looked around the site I found this awesome hanger and it got me thinking. Now I totally plan that my marathon career will be a one and done situation, but I think I can totally do 50 states and 50 half marathons.

As I tried to explain it to Officer P I realized it might be a bit harder to accomplish than I was originally thinking. I told him if I were to do 5 half marathons a year, all in different states it would take me 10 years to accomplish my goal.  If I am being honest even 5 states a year would be a challenge for me right now, if only I lived back east where the states are closer together it would be a little easier. It was around this time I discovered that 50 states by the age 50 was actually a “thing”. Since I am currently 33 I feel it is totally doable, and while I may make slow progress these first few years as the kids get older I will be able to make it to more races and hopefully pick up the pace and make more progress towards my goal.

To track my progress I added a 50 by 50 page to my blog. I am slightly ashamed that although I lived in Texas for the first 4 years of my running career I never actually ran a half marathon there. Which totally means that I have to sign up for the newest Diva race in Galveston on April 13!!

So far I have 2 states down, California and Florida. Can any guess what they have in common?? I’ll be adding Nevada to that list in November.
How many states have you raced in?

I Ran Like a Diva . . . and I Liked It!!

I was a little apprehensive about doing this race and the number one reason for that was that it was NOT Disney. Up until this point I had only done Disney races. I knew what to expect at Disney races and more importantly I knew I fit in there. I was afraid that Diva would have more serious runners and I just wouldn’t be able to hack it. I was also afraid that I might get bored without all the bells and whistles a Disney race has to offer, but I am glad to say that none of this was the case.
I woke up at 5:30, which was a great plus since Disney races usually start around that time, and walked down to the start with just about 20 minutes to spare. Another big plus since Disney usually has you waiting in the corrals for at least an hour before start time.  The whole corral system, or lack there of was quite a bit confusing to me. The corrals were not sectioned off at all, as in there were people stand and walking around every where, spectators and runners alike.  We had a moment of silence for Boston, the National Anthem played and off we went. They had photographers right at the start line and I thought was cool, but I only saw them at 3 spots along the whole course, the start and finish lines and one other place so I was a little disappointed by that.
Since we ran down the street in front of our hotel my mom came down and took a couple of pics of me just before the mile 1 mark. I lined up with the 10:01-11 min/mil group and it seemed to be a good fit for the first few miles, in fact some of the people were quite a bit slower then me but I tried to stay behind them as much as I could to help slow me down those first few miles. I saw the mile 1 marker and tweetd my first #run3rd dedication. I had intended to tweet one at every mile marker but I didn’t see another one until mile 4 so I just tweeted the others going off my watch and/or hearsay.
It was one of those out and back type courses so once I saw a steady stream of runners heading back towards us I was feeling pretty good. Miles 3-6 were very consistent for me, right at a 11:57 pace each, which would be really close to a PR for me. I was feeling pretty good and comfortable and then came mile 7 and I was starving!! I always have issues eating early in the morning and it always tends to haunt me around 6-7 miles in. I had purchased a pouch of apple and banana baby food the night before and sucked it down very quickly. It helped me for a bit but I wish I had had another at mile 10. It was also at this time that “Almost There” came on my iPod. It really seems to like the 9-10 mile mark because even though I have it on shuffle it always seems to come on around that time.
After mile 10 I was struggling quite a bit. I was tired and hungry. I knew my mom and #1 & #2 were waiting by the hotel for me to pass by again so I sent my mom a text telling her where I was and that I was trying to get there. I finally came up to the mile 12 mark and there was a man standing on the street telling me to finish strong and I am pretty sure I gave him a death stare as I went by. I turned the corner and there they were, waving at me!!

I am not as happy as I look!	#1 (Artsy Girl)

I gave the girls a hug and on my way I went again. My mom yelled out to me to let me know that Officer P and #3 & #4 were waiting for me at the pier!! Since I was already past mile 12 it could be that far away so I started running again. It seemed farther then I remembered from the pervious days but finally there they were!! I went up and gave “Puppy Lover” (#3) and “the Boy” (#4) hugs as well and told them I was almost done and I’ll be right back!!. Next thing I knew “Puppy Lover” was running along side me!!. They then cut off and told me they were going to try and beat me to the finish line. I thought that was rude . I came up to the feather boa and tiara station, quickly grabbed my goodies and to the finish line I went!! There is this crazy rumor that shirtless firefighters are at the finish line to give you your medal and I can confirm that the rumors are 100% true!!! Although I don’t think they were real firefighters, at least none of the ones I’ve seen.

	And waited in line to take a picture with him!!!!
I got my medal from him!!!

I went on to get my rose and glass of champagne and by the time I got done with all of that my family was texting me wondering where I was so I grabbed a bagel and cookie and met back up with them. It was really nice to see them all out there to support me and there is just something about witnessing a race that inspires people!! “Artsy Girl” has now declared that she wants to do another 5k and  #2 has decided she wants to join her!! All in all I would say it was a very fun and successful race! Regardless of what the clock said!

Shhh, I wasn’t walking down the street with an open container!!

NOTE: If you would like to read my mile by mile #run3rd dedications you can do so here. I wanted to use that post to share their stories and this one to share mine. 

#Run3rd Diva Style

This was my very first official, unofficial #run3rd race. As I mentioned in my Princess Half recap I have done #run3rd dedications before, but this was the first time I asked for others to give me dedications and got them!! Each request was so personal and so inspirational so I really wanted to help share their stories and that is what I hope to do here.
I set my alarm for 5:35, which was a nice change from the 2:30 I usually set it for runDisney races, and woke up just before it went off. I got up and dressed and with my #run3rd post-it in hand I was ready to head out to the start line.
As I was walking to the start line another runner, who was staying at the same hotel as me, had seen my #run3rd patch and asked me what the #run3rd was all about. I was so excited to explain it all to her and we ended up chatting the whole mile to the start line. She just so happened to be a runDisney enthusiast too and has a pretty impressive resume.
As we came up to the start line I wished my new friend luck and lined up with the 10:01-11 min./mil group. It was a bit ambitious, but not out of the realm of possibility for me. The corral system was very different than what I was use to and it was really weird to see spectators walking around between the runners, but it was very nice to only have a 20 minute wait until the race started. We had a moment of silence for Boston, the National Anthem played and we were off. 
I ran mile 1 for Super Jake, my good friend Patty’s son who is “forever 4”. Mile 2 was ran for a fellow #run3rd runner’s Aunt Nadine who is battling cancer for a second time, and mile 3 was for the animals living in shelters in need of a forever home. Between mile 2 & mile 3 this was the beautiful view I had. You know what is even more amazing? We ran to the base of that bridge before we turned around and came back! Now that puts the mileage into perspective.
Also right around this time I was thinking what is this life?? I mean I get to do this and with a back drop like that! How many people get to say that??
I had decided to dedicate mile 4 to all of those effected by the tragedy that happened in Boston, in honor of the 4 hours shown on the clock at the time that the bomb went off. Mile 5 was dedicated to fellow runDisney lover Julie’s friend Viv and all of those battling breast cancer. Mile 6 was dedicated to my friend Allison’s son, Cloudy, who was diagnosed semi-recently with  Muscular Dystrophy. This one really hit close to home for me since Cloudy is only a 3 months older than my own son and I remember us comparing notes as they both grew and developed.
Mile 7 was ran for mental illness, for awareness, education and for treatment. Mile 8 was ran for another April ‘05 mom’s sister who recently underwent a mastectomy and has had some complications requiring additional surgeries.  Mile 9 was requested by another fellow #run3rder and was for Wendy and Nicole. Wendy was a former teacher of Nicole’s and she recently donated her kidney to her former student. You can read all about the amazing story here.

Notice my #run3rd post-it note?

Mile 10 was ran at the request of  yet another April ‘05 moms. What can I say, they are a big part of my life. This request was for her oldest daughter’s high school boyfriend who is battling brain cancer. It happened to also be his 20th birthday so I felt so honored to dedicate a mile to him on this special day. 
Mile 11 was my own dedication to my dad, who I lost 8 years ago in a motorcycle accident. I purposely put him at mile 11 because that has been my wall lately, and when I looked down to my post-it and saw it was for him I almost started crying, which isn’t good for your breathing in case you were wondering. I contributed my brief lack of composer to many factors including the fact that I am a super emotional person to begin with and that April 27th was 8th anniversary of his accident. That coupled with being so tired from running and Carrie Underwood singing “So Small” on the iPod I never stood a chance. 
Mile 12 was for my friend April’s son Chris, who she lost as a baby. Mile 13.1 was for Pixie, my 7 year old boxer who kicked cancer to the curb this March. Yes, you read that right there really is a Pixie and she does sometimes run with me! And just like that I found myself crossing the finish line!! It wasn’t my fastest race, in fact it was almost my slowest, but it was a very personal and inspirational race for me and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Have you ever heard that shirtless men hand out the medals at the Diva half? Well it’s a true story!	What other race gives you a tiara, feather boa, red rose and a glass of champagne??