(UPDT: 2/21) Losing The Glass Slippers to RUN like a Princess! Serial-PTRer report!

Twoboysnmygirl

DIS Veteran
Joined
Aug 31, 2008
Hello! Hello! (I think I put that every single opening) :rolleyes2

My name is Karen and I'm a serial Pre-Trip & Trip Reporter. If I don't have a TR going, you can be sure I have a PTR going! :lmao:

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I'm not sure I have the strength to write out another intro. Most of you have read my previous stuff or at least one of them, right?

Briefly. I just turned 40, I'm Disney obsessed (so are YOU b/c you are reading this!), I homeschool my 3 children, ages 18, 17, and 12. I have an amazingly supportive husband that works incredibly hard to take us to WDW when we can't nearly afford it. I have my own petsitting business, I'm a photographer and I'm a runner. Yep, there, I said it.

If you are a runner, you understand this conundrum. Saying you are a runner elicits all these ideals of having to be some sort of elite, extremely fast, picture of perfect health, speedy, athletic kind of person. I'm getting there, but I'm certainly not what most picture when they think runner. It's taken me a long time to call myself a runner, but I AM and I want to own it! Running has changed me, inside and out. It's easier to SEE on the outside, but the things it has given to me on the inside are far more than what you see. This is a comparison photo I put together for my 40th bday a few weeks ago.

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Edited to add my Glow Run pic/June 2013:
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This trip is BECAUSE I run. Ok, I do admit that I will find ANY way to get back to WDW. I've been 5 times since 2008 and any way I can get there I will, but this trip is about my running. I have wanted to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon for a few years now. I kept injuring myself though and this is the year that I decided I am going to get it done! The race is on Feb. 23rd, 2014, just 2 weeks before I turn 41 and I WILL cross that finish line!

So, please join me in counting down the days! I promise this PTR won't be all about running, I actually have a blog that I started for that!

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I usually just use my PTR to journal about all the things leading up to the trip! Since I'm a photographer, I love to share my photos, and I post updates a lot with photos of things that may or may not have anything to do with Disney! BUT, I can usually find a way to make them relate b/c in the end, doesn't it ALWAYS come back to Disney??? ;)

So it will be a little over 1 year between trips, that's not very long, right? Savannah & I just got back from a mother/daughter trip, it was FANTASTIC! We had such a great time and it was a really special trip.

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There are links to my most recent Trip Reports in my signature below, if you have way too much time on your hands and want to see some of my photos!

Let the planning begin!!! :cool1:
 


I'm in for the planning!! Love your pics. :love: I am trying to wait 2 years between trips and I think it might kill me. :faint:
 
I'm in for the planning!! Love your pics. :love: I am trying to wait 2 years between trips and I think it might kill me. :faint:

TWO years?!?! :scared: That sounds painful! Actually, I had a 3 year period (2009-2012) that I kept planning and finances wouldn't allow. It was hard, we had to keep canceling and postponing trips. If I had a better grip on reality I would admit that every 2 years is better on the pocketbook, but I just keep throwing all my money at Disney and thinking I'll get sick of it eventually! :lmao:
 


Ok, first and foremost, my running. I have a longwinded story that I could type up here, but I already typed it up in my blog! So, if you are interested in why I run, how I came to running, or where I'm at in my training right now, it's best to go to my blog because it's all right there, listed in the right hand column of posts! :thumbsup2

I really have no idea HOW to blog or if I'm doing it right. I just started and right now it's a lot like here...I ramble a lot and sometimes jump around and make no sense. :lmao:

Losing The Glass Slippers~My Journey to Run the Princess Half Marathon.

So, my running determined our dates b/c I cannot go to Disney and run the Princess Half when they aren't having one, now can I?? ;)

Our dates are Friday, February 21st-Thursday, February 27th, 2014. There could be a bit of wiggle room here or there, I'm waffling (as you will see) on all sorts of details. I HAVE to be there at least on Saturday the 22nd for the expo and obviously Sunday the 23rd for the race!

Up next...cast of characters and eventually I will get to the WHERE, which is causing all kinds of waffling and confusion! If money were no object, the choice would be made and the room booked...but, as you will see in the cast of characters, there are six of us, which is EX-PEN-SIVE! :scared1:

edited to add: I cannot believe I posted without a PHOTO. It's just to torture Lisa. ;)

Ok, I cannot post without at least one photo, but it's a camera phone shot, so nothing spectacular. It's me getting ready for a run though, so related to the post. Showing off my new racer back shirt that displays my new tattoo! Yes, I bought the shirt just for the tattoo. :p

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:cheer2: My chEARing Squad! :cheer2:


ME! I pretty much introduced myself already. First visit to Disney in 2008 as an adult and I was hooked. I love it all, the magic, the fun, the food...and there is NO OTHER PLACE that I could imagine achieving this goal of running a half marathon. I cannot fathom what it will feel like to RUN down Main Street, when just walking down it brings me to tears!
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That's my girl with me, but I'll get to her in a sec!

Rey has to come next. We've been together for 22 years this April and he's my best friend, my biggest fan, and an amazing husband. He never fails to make me laugh when I need it and he was converted on day TWO of his first Disney trip. How quickly I converted him! Bwahahaaaaaaa! He loves the sights and food at WDW, the rides, he can take em or leave em. :confused3 LOVES Food & Wine Festival and anything Epcot. Least favorite park: AK. For shame! His hair is shorter and he's lost a ton of weight, but this was from our last family trip in Jan. 2012.

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Dylan is my oldest, he's 18 but will be 19 on the trip! Jeez, way to make a girl feel OLD! Dylan said he would rather go to WDW than the beach OR Germany. For real. He really likes Disney...when we aren't there. :lmao: When we get there, he says he's a "half-day park kinda guy" and he does tire of the parks easily. He LOVES the food and the people watching but will not under any circumstances get on a thrill ride. His first trip (15 yrs old) he got so mad at me when I forgot about "that HUGE DROP!" in Pirates. Same thing happened in Test Track...I didn't think it was THAT fast??? :confused3 In any case, he's proof that there's something for everyone at WDW b/c he always wants to go back! Jan. 2012 in the UK after we got him some drum sticks...(he has been playing the drums for 5 years)
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Dallas is my 17 year old son, who will be 18 on the trip! I cannot believe how fast they grow. I swear they were just little boys! Dallas is Dylan's opposite. He's a bit of a foodie, so he enjoys good food but he likes the rides as well. He LOVES watching people though, he plans on majoring in psychology in college and he really likes to watch people and figure them out. Sounds creepy, but I swear he's not! ;) He's my running partner and has really been an inspiration to me.
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I wish we had been in the position to take the boys when they were little, but even though they didn't go until they were teens, they still both love WDW in their own ways and they certainly let go and have fun while we are there! Dylan chasing Dallas for something he did...don't remember, just remember how funny it was!

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Savannah is my youngest, at 12. (13 on the trip!) and my partner-in-Disney-crime! We just got back from a mother/daughter trip and it was so wonderful. She loves Disney like I do and we share a love of rides and all things Disney. Since our trip, she just keeps saying we need to go back to Florida. I'm counting down the days!
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Last, but not least!
Eleanor is one of Savannah's friends, she'll be 13 on the trip as well! Savannah took a friend on our last family trip and we went our first trip with friends, so it seems to work well for us, especially since it makes us an even 6! Eleanor is VERY excited about going to Disney, she went to Universal last year with her family but has never been to Disney. I keep posting FB countdowns on her wall! She loves ALL THINGS ALICE, so we'll have to make sure we meet lots of Alice characters and things related!
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So I am feeling pretty excited about this chEARing Squad of mine! They have promised to come cheer me on somewhere along the race, and I'm excited to have them there. :cheer2:



 
I'm in. After a crazy but fun March trip, my daughter decided that since she's running track this year we should train together for a Disney race. I'm totally not a runner so I'm reading runners' blogs and PTRs for inspiration and motivation as I start training, if winter ever ends, and decide which race we'll be able to make. The Princess was our first thought but DD is too young to enter, so now we're looking at either the Tower of Terror 10 miler or the Marathon weekend 10K.
 
I'm in. After a crazy but fun March trip, my daughter decided that since she's running track this year we should train together for a Disney race. I'm totally not a runner so I'm reading runners' blogs and PTRs for inspiration and motivation as I start training, if winter ever ends, and decide which race we'll be able to make. The Princess was our first thought but DD is too young to enter, so now we're looking at either the Tower of Terror 10 miler or the Marathon weekend 10K.

WOOT!!! :cool1: I'm so glad you are here and you are going to train for a race! SO special that you are going to do it with your daughter! I think Dallas would run the Princess with me if it weren't all women in tutus! :lmao:
 
I'm in!! I was sad for your last report to end so it was very exciting to see you started a new PTR. I am trying to lose a large amount of weight and would love to one day train and participate in a marathon.
 
I’m in! I am so excited for you planning another trip – even if you do arrive on MY birthday! :laughing: Seriously, though, this trip sounds like it will be a lot of fun! I read your blog last week, but I didn’t comment. I think it is fantastic that you were able to start running with that plan. After I read your posts, I actually pinned the Couch to 5K on my fitness board on Pinterest… and maybe one day I’ll actually start it! :lmao: But your story was really inspiring and I wish you the best of luck with training and with planning this trip! :goodvibes
 
WOOT!!! :cool1: I'm so glad you are here and you are going to train for a race! SO special that you are going to do it with your daughter! I think Dallas would run the Princess with me if it weren't all women in tutus! :lmao:

She's super excited about it, and I think she'll make a great running buddy for me... I need someone to help with motivation and she's good at that! We started a zombie-themed C25K program today that I think is going to be great fun.
 
I’m in! I am so excited for you planning another trip – even if you do arrive on MY birthday! :laughing: Seriously, though, this trip sounds like it will be a lot of fun! I read your blog last week, but I didn’t comment. I think it is fantastic that you were able to start running with that plan. After I read your posts, I actually pinned the Couch to 5K on my fitness board on Pinterest… and maybe one day I’ll actually start it! :lmao: But your story was really inspiring and I wish you the best of luck with training and with planning this trip! :goodvibes

Erin's here!!!!!!! :banana: Oh Erin, first you pin in and then before you know it, you are planning your first 5K! The seed is planted!!! ;)

I made it! Hooray! :)

Yay!!!!!!!! :hyper:

She's super excited about it, and I think she'll make a great running buddy for me... I need someone to help with motivation and she's good at that! We started a zombie-themed C25K program today that I think is going to be great fun.

That sounds fun! I have heard of Zombie-run, but never tried it. It's so nice to have someone to run with or train with. I love having my son to talk to about running and he helps motivate me and I help motivate him on days when we might not be feeling it! :thumbsup2

I cannot wait to hear all about your training!!!
 
I have an update!!! :cool1:

Granted, it's one of those updates where it just BARELY has anything to do with Disney, but I can make it relate! First off, my day started before the sunrise, and I ran 4 miles while watching the sun come up (from the warmth of the gym treadmill, naturally!) ;)

THAT has to do with Disney! My training has everything to do with Disney since the whole trip is based around the race!

4 miles! This is a pretty big deal to me, even if it's not a long distance for seasoned runners.

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But the day got even more exciting! I know most of you saw my tattoo a few weeks ago when just the silhouette was done, but today I got the color put in and I love it even more! I'm really pleased with it and it's going to look awesome with my new racer back shirts! :goodvibes

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Ok, so not very Disney related, but you'll get used to that because I since it's my PTR I get to make the rules and I say that I can update about any old thing here! :lmao:
 

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