Confessions of a reluctant runner, a DL 1/2 & PHM PTR. 7/5 race recaps and final thoughts

[eandesmom]

Welcome Home!!! Glad your trip home was pretty uneventful. Ours was just Looooong.

It was great seeing you and yes the trips are NEVER long enough.

They are never long enough are they? Our flight seemed to take forever. It is SO weird not to have that next WDW trip planned!

 

[KatMark]

Welcome back; so happy you had a great trip. We had fun with Danielle, Mom and Popadon on Saturday and talked about your trip.

 

[englishrose47]

Hi Cynthia Had to stop in to say Hi !!!

 

[eandesmom]

Welcome back; so happy you had a great trip. We had fun with Danielle, Mom and Popadon on Saturday and talked about your trip.

How could you not have fun with Danielle, Mom and Popadon! Popadon apparently has his future career at WDW mapped out...scooter tutor!

It was a great trip!

Hi Cynthia Had to stop in to say Hi !!!

Hi Rosie!!!!

 

[Poolrat]

How could you not have fun with Danielle, Mom and Popadon! Popadon apparently has his future career at WDW mapped out...scooter tutor!

That was so awesome, and almost spit out drink funny.

 

[englishrose47]

That was so awesome, and almost spit out drink funny.

I want to be his first pupil

 

[eandesmom]

That was so awesome, and almost spit out drink funny.

The first of many spit out funnies that night!

I want to be his first pupil

Don't we all!

 

[eandesmom]

I updated on the Flower and Garden TR but since this is my official "running" PTR I wanted to update a little bit here too.

I decided to do a short PHM recap. I too am not at all quite sure when I will get to a TR of any sort for that trip, sad as that is. Right now my plan is to finish up my current DL trip from last April before it hits the one year mark! After that I may do a short TR from the DL half but then have a massive September trip that I would like to share as it was pretty amazing. Mary Ellen did a recap of her race on our May TR for the same reason (it will be a while) So, like Mary Ellen, a recap now while it’s fresh is probably a grand idea! If you already read this while on that TR, skip ahead as I do have another running related update that I'll get up shortly.

However, I think I will just stick primarily to the race otherwise it will be too long as I am not known for my brevity. LOL!

As you may recall, Ann and I were scheduled on the red eye. We flew, I dozed a bit and we landed. Exciting huh.

The really exciting thing is that Starbucks was open! I’d read they opened at 5:00 am which was going to be too late for us and, wouldn't you know it, our flight got in early, like 4:15 am early!. The coffee gods provided and all was well with the world. We checked in, had breakfast, went to DHS, expo, dinner at Boatwrights and then to DTD. The DTD thing was NOT planned and we were wiped but we were having a dual earbud crises.

Expo pic

I can honestly say I have NEVER worn sweats all day at Disney before but thank goodness I had them!

My haul from the expo.

Ok most of my haul. I did buy another headband when we went back with Mary Ellen.

Friday we had intended to go to MK early and use some FP’s but we were not moving quickly. It was too cold for coffee on the balcony but I did take a picture of my new mug..and then got back in bed with it and my laptop. We eventually made it there but didn’t actually do anything, a story for another day, headed to FW for a run and then lunch at Trails End.

That's Ann running

Probably my favorite meal of the trip. Chicken and Waffles!!!

After that it was DHS, fitness center and the Ditch for a Meet. A late night EMH ride got us on ONE ride for the entire day (again, a story for another day) and then Mary Ellen had landed at this point and had commented on my FB picture of my rita. I offered to get her one and she liked that idea! Of course you can’t carry one out from the Ditch so we headed to the next best place, the Margarita stand at the Boardwalk.

As we stood there I looked at the menu trying to decide what she would want. I texted her to see if she wanted rocks or frozen. I was pretty sure I knew the answer but hey, it is always good to check!

As we stood there the CM went

"you know, if you don’t see what you want, ESPN can make anything you like"

I said thanks but I’m just confirming what my friend wants.

She continued

"you know, ALL of ours are premade mixes, ESPN will make it to order and add as much alcohol as you want"

Okaaaaaayyyyy......

She continued

"and…if I don’t have any more customers in the next 2 minutes I can go ahead and close"

She was freezing

And miserable

And begging

So I said.....

I think I’ll go to ESPN!

LOL.

Now. As some of you know, ESPN is not my kind of place. AT ALL. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good brew pub and I don’t mind watching certain sporting events in bars on big TV’s. ESPN though is a different animal to me. Generally serving crap beer, crap food and not necessarily always showing the events we want to see. Case in point they didn’t have the Ducks bowl game on on our NYE trip which was a huge fail for some of our crew. LOL!

My mission was to get in and out. Upon inquiry the CM at the bar explained their rita options. Which all sounded quite good. I enquired as to price. $8.50-10.50. Which meant the most expensive one was still less than the premix one from the shack outside. I chose one that I think was Cuervo 1800 with Grand Mariner. And it was $8.50 I think.

It would be wrong to make Mary Ellen drink alone and so I ordered myself one as well.

I admit

I had 2 at the ditch (over a few hours lol) both in the classic style though slightly different.

This BLEW them away. I have to admit. Best Rita on property. Craziness I tell you, craziness!

When we got to the room, Mary Ellen was there and we stayed up, probably later than we all should have, chatting away. It was SUCH a fun girls night! As was the next morning. We watched the entire 10K and it was pretty cool to realize later that the 2nd place overall guy was someone Ann and I "knew" from a FB group! We cheered away and had a blast. We did, I confess, have a cowbell. Which our next door neighbor didn't appreciate.

Sorry dude. Race weekend. Boardwalk view! One would think the 10,000 feet pounding outside his window may have been equally disturbing but whatever. We did feel bad but he could have been a bit nicer in how he handled it. I didn’t take much in the way of pics. After that it was off to the expo, sew costumes, dinner and bed.

I did document the prep work (hat construction), and my dinner.

For those who are unsure we were the Fairy Godmothers from Sleeping Beauty (the animated version)

It was SO lovely to see Christine and I really enjoyed AP. The food was outstanding!

However. It may not have been the best pre-race choice. We were all too wiped out to have a lovely glass of wine and well, it’s a restaurant that one should savor and enjoy. I made the mistake of ordering a soup before my entree and while it was lovely that the CM gave all my tablemates their own small bowl too, it did slow the entire thing down. But MAN that soup was good! Instead, the pace felt really really slow and we just wanted to eat, pay and go to bed. I promise the next time we see Christine to be a lot more fun!

Of course during all of this poor Mary Ellen is getting updates on Denny’s flight situation and none of it is good news. Ann and I passed out and I feel horrible about what a rotten night Mary Ellen ended up having! The morning though, once we figured out how to pin the darn wings on, went amazingly well. We actually got down to the busses later than planned but one was there and we walked right on. Our luck continued all the way through the pre race wait. Others I know were not so lucky on busses and I am grateful. We took some early pics and then headed off.

Ann and I got one more in the corral

I had been prepared for a long cold wait and well, it wasn't all long, nor was it all that cold.

Pretty soon The Elites were off!

And we weren't far behind! It is crazy to me to see how close to gun time my chip time is.

I had really debated my race strategy. I had decided to start out with the 2:00 pace group. I did not feel at all confident that I could hit that target but as the next option was 2:15 I felt it would help me to start out faster, even if it was a bit too fast, for overall time. My hope had been to stay with them until the 6-8 mile mark and then I figured I’d have to slow down.

I made it to mile 4.

LOL! Not so much that it was too fast but I did want water. I am not sure I needed water but I did want it. I have paranoia in this area. I have been criticized before for not taking water or food while training and as a result I am paranoid and take it at the slightest hint of things in a race somehow in the back of my mind convinced I’ll bonk or pass out or something. Of course that has never happened when I run without it in training but it is a real fear.

The fact of the matter is a pacer does help me. There is SO much to see it is pretty easy to get distracted and slow down. Now, there is nothing wrong with that, especially at a Disney race. For many, even most, that is the point. Me though, I'm not really a character pic gal and I don't care to stop and start. That said, I mentally go into “long run” mode which is different than “race push yourself mode”. I have not quite figured out why but I can feel it happening and it becomes less about time and more about not killing myself and enjoying myself. I don't feel I've managed that race push yourself mentality more than a couple of times ever at at race. I wish I knew how to turn it back on lol! Heck, I did this yesterday at my 5k. Once I realized that 1) my watch was dead and 2) we were walking over the start line, I figured a PR was unlikely so just ran and didn't try to kill myself. Oddly enough, I did still PR but only by 4 seconds. Surprised the heck out of me as I really thought it would maybe be my slowest 5K ever based on how it felt and the crazy people dodging and super slow start (a PW lol) but clearly I am clueless as it was faster than I realized while doing it. Somehow I need to find a way to trick myself into pushing harder.

Then again it is also possible for me not to see things at all (anyone remember me missing ALL the characters at the finish line at the DL Half?) so maybe I was in the zone after all at PHM! Apparently Pat and Marv saw me at the TTC but I sure as heck didn't see them!

I have to say, running down Main Street and through the castle was absolutely magical, as was seeing Tomorrow land all lit up. I do plan to buy my photos but have not done it yet. Super bummed though as I cannot find a main street or a carousel one but there are enough decent ones I will snag them at some point. About the point they send me a discount code that is! They did take something 45 of me which is a lot more than at the DL half. Not sure why so many more, probably because it is all on property???

Nice thing about an early corral is no congestion. Bad thing is dark castle pics! And tomorrowland, while it looked UBER cool in the dark, isn't hardly recognicable in the photos.

I stopped again for water around the 6 mile mark and 9 or 10. One big beef, and maybe the only one I have for the race, is where they put the water stops. They put them in FRONT of the mile markers, not after, in many cases and in FRONT of the timing mats for the 10 and 15K splits. I do not want a slower split time for water!

I walked the water stops. Longer than I know I needed to, I did not even drink that much water. My biggest take away for my next half is that. I managed my liquids correctly this time and did not need a single bio break. I also did not need 3 water stops. Is the right number zero cups of water? Probably not but it’s not as many as 3. It was a mental excuse to walk and I totally took it. At the time I figured given my splits I could easily make some of it up in the last 3 miles, I had been running negative splits in my training.

However, I didn't really factor in the fact that there are THREE ramps in a row in the later part of the race. And, while none were horribly hard per-se in the sense that I ran them all and didn't have to walk, I certainly did not run them as fast as I would have had it been flat and they did tire me out for sprinting after. When you look at the elevation chart they really don’t look like much but you do notice them. I also didn't realize just how narrow and turny the end stretch would be. Again, not hard but not great to really get momentum. I also had shoe issues. Many of you know my shoe, foot, ankle drama. Well the pair I was running in started to show significant wear at about 125 miles. By the PHM they had 150 and were actually significantly worn down in the heel basically making me lopsided.

Towards the end of the race I could feel myself scuffing, especially on the hills and the cambered turns.

Weather wise I got pretty lucky. It was dark with cloud cover early. About mile 6 (check map) sunrise started and so did the fog. Or really the steam!

About mile 10 (check map) the sun showed up…running into it on the ramps up wasn't my favorite thing. I was grateful for the visor but missed my sunglasses!

Soon enough though I was in the homestretch. I confess, I did hesitate, start to turn in for a picture with Mary Poppins and Bert and then…changed my mind when one guy darted in front of me. I passed up Jack Sparrow with no line which seems crazy but for whatever reason Mary and Bert were the only ones that truly temped me. The gospel choir lifted me and as I rounded the end I saw and heard Pat and Marv cheering for me.. That was VERY cool!!!!!!

Not sure if I am looking at them here, or looking at the Fairy Godmother who you pass twice. I remember smiling at her as she ekpt saying we were at the 12.6 mark. Which is true when you pass her on one side but on the other side...you are further!

I think this may have been closer to where they were but it's hard to tell and of course, marathonphoto doesn't put them in time stamp order so until I buy them I will continue to be a bit confused lol.

And proof I actually finished!

And a photo with my tank top back where it was supposed to be after the race. This is the first time I have run in any sort of costume. I'd worn most of the pieces prior to test but not all together. The tank, while it wicked just fine and was comfy, has these darn "gripper" dots on the hem that is supposed to make it not ride up. It doesn't work. I knew it wouldn't as I have another piece from this line and it does the same thing. As a result I rarely run in it and just keep it for the gym. Not only did it ride up, it took the sparkle skirt with it so in several pics the skirt is all wonky! It was super annoying too as that skirt had stayed put through 2 other races and it had not been a concern at all. Oh well.

I did feel the cape swish on my arms. It didn't bother me per se but it was noticable. I am not sure I would do quite this much again although I am glad I did it once.

For those who are wondering, I did NOT see characters at the finish line. Again! I seriously went through my photos like a crazy person, and the live stream video. They took a BREAK right before I crossed over. Well actually they went over and gave out the awards to the top finishers but still, once again, I was robbed.

After the race I headed to get my gear and check on everyone’s progress since I was tracking everyone. Ann was close behind me and Mary Ellen was texting that she was walking. She sounded pretty down and I told her that she needed to get to the choir as I knew they would lift her up!

I headed over and signed myself in for a post race massage. For a buck a minute I swear it is the best thing since sliced bread. Heck it’s better than sliced bread to me! When I was done after 15 minutes of bliss, so was Mary Ellen! We totally failed on a post race picture in costume but oh well. We had breakfast to get to! I think we all did great and finished within the 30 minute time span of each other we thought we would. Ann did really well, she came in about 5 minutes behind me and given that she did take a bio break and was only seconds off her PR (that did not include a bio break), really really impressive!

So, how did I do?

A funny thing about results, they are always a moving target. I looked at this online today as I was hanging up my new toy and wanted to write times etc on the backs of all my bibs. I realized that numbers had changed since I first “printed” my certificate. In this case I think it is because some folks chips didn’t register and they have since fixed those results based on matching up pictures etc. It mostly changed how many finishers there were, not much change in my overall placement results.
I am ok with it. It was a PR (personal record) by over 5 minutes. I had told myself, and everyone else that I’d be mad with anything over 2:10 and I beat that. It is about where I expected to end. Would I have liked a little bit faster? Yes. Do I think I can be a little bit faster? Yes. Do I think I can break that 2 hour mark? Yeah…not so sure about that one. Given that my corral placement put me in the top 2000, I finished right where I should have. I suspect to break the 2 hour mark I would have to run more than I am willing to do. Either more long runs in the 10+ mark or more days, or both. Not sure I am quite that motivated. You never know though.

Still. I slowed down a LOT after that 4 mile mark. Yes, some of it was water stops but really, my pace was pretty consistent, it was just slower. The pacer helped for sure.

Here are my splits.

Average Pace: 00:09:47:00

Mile 1 00:09:03:62
Mile 2 00:08:54:00
Mile 3 00:09:01:00
Mile 4 00:09:06:00
Mile 5 00:10:08:00
Mile 6 00:10:00:00
Mile 7 00:10:03:00
Mile 8 00:09:42:00
Mile 9 00:09:53:00
Mile 10 00:09:52:00
Mile 11 00:10:15:00
Mile 12 00:10:01:00
Mile 13 00:10:06:00
Mile 14 00:09:48:00

I really had expected to be able to do around a 9:30 mile those last 3 miles but between inclines, turns and narrowing paths it just didn't happen. I blew it on the straightaway from 7-9, that would have been the place to make it up but you always worry about crashing later!

I do wish they had more pacers. I think I could have hung with a 2:05 but who knows!

This was my second half marathon every and my second runDisney event. It was incredibly well run and I can’t say enough great things about the event, the energy, the everything. Just outstanding all around. I would do it again, or any Disney race really, in a heartbeat.

I will do one again

I just don’t know which one or when!

In the meantime....I did sign up for a local half that is in 4 weeks. GAH! Not sure what I was thinking. It DOES have a 2:05 pacer....

Want to see my new toy? Ok, it's not really a toy but it does make me smile!!!

 

[eandesmom]

A funny thing happens after a Disney race.

You start plotting your next one!

Except...I don't have a next one planned.

It is KILLING me.

I would love to do a DL one and get my coast to coast. I'd love to any of them to be honest!

Still, I think the chances of another one in 2015 are slim. Let's look at the options.

These races have already sold out

Expedition Everest (May)
Tinkerbell Half (May)
Disneyland Half (August)

Still to come, registration wise are:

Wine and Dine Half (Nov) registration is tomorrow, early registration was 2 weeks ago
Avengers Half (Nov) early reg is next week I think, regular early April.

For 2016 we have

WDW half/full etc (Jan)
Star Wars Half (Jan)
Princess Half (Feb)

and then the cycle repeats with the rumor of no wine and dine.

But here is my reality. We have a big spring break trip planned next month, to Aulani. The kids have a big summer trip with church this year and then a huge band trip for both boys to Ireland in March of 2016 for St Patty's day. That's basically all the vacation funding for quite some time. As we know, even with DVC, disney trips aren't cheap and Disney races aren't either. Not to mention the fact that practically speaking, November and January races are crummy for me training wise as that's busy work travel season (or just after it) and the Tinkerbell half is on Mothers Day. I only have so many of those left with the boys at home and don't really want to ditch them for a run. Were it not for other trips it could be a fun weekend trip but that's a very pricey mothers day present to myself that seems unlikely for many years. The only races that seem remotely achievable are

DL Half 2016
Wine and Dine 2016

Princess, much as I wouldn't mind doing it again, is going to be right when I'm making all my final payments for Ireland. There is just no way to pull that off!

I guess the only good news is I don't have to stress about registration for any of them for almost a full year.

The fact that I wasn't registered for ANY races though bugged me. So I fixed that and registered for 3 in the span of a week. LOL.

First up, St. Patty's day Dash. We had been planning on that one for a while, the plan was to do it with my sister and her DH.

Next, a local half marathon in mid April. This kind of freaks me out, it will be a fast crowd running it and I'm not going to be able to get in quite as many miles as I did before Princess due to work travel. But I have to do it at some point and it keeps me accountable.

After that, in May, Jeff and I hope to head to San Francisco to run Bay to Breakers. It's a 15k and the oldest consecutive footrace in the US! 115,000 people. It will be INSANE! Supposed to be a ton of fun, definitely not something you run for time and will be full of costumes. I say hope to as we haven't bought our flights but we do have a hotel booked and did register for the race.

We have a plan although I've not ordered anything yet.

That's all that is official for now.

I did get a lovely training run in earlier this week. I had a work trip to Hawaii and ended up with a super late arrival and the blessing of no morning meetings thanks to some folks rescheduling on me. Check it out. A bit slower than it should have been but I really didn't care and just kind of meandered along!

Basically I ran from my hotel, down the beach, around the zoo, down a canal and then past the hotel we will spend one night at next month. I had to pick up a rental car so I took the long way to get to a different hotel that I'd pick it up at lol!

there was a concert on the beach, they were pretty good!

here's my run

I had wanted to run 8 miles. I had wanted to run 8 miles 2 days prior but instead got Eric back out on the trail. It had been since December for him and I decided keeping pace with him was far more important than me getting in miles or worrying about my own pace. However, 2 days later I ended up cutting my Hawaii run a bit short as....I remembered why I stopped wearing shorts for longer humid runs. Holy chafing batman. BOO!

Still, it was worth it!

I had great plans of more runs while gone but....it didn't quite work out that way.

I found a 5k that would be on Ford Island Friday morning and would work with my schedule. How cool would that be! It appeared open to civilians so I registered. And then got a confirmation that implied it was NOT. I tried to get an answer one way or another but never heard. Friday morning came and i decided to go for it. Except....I almost accidentally opened the convertible top (did NOT want a convertible but it was all they had...and then accidentally hit the roof button while looking for the dome light in the dark) which freaked me out and I took a few minutes making sure it was well latched and then I couldn't get out of my hotel garage and no one would come to the gate despite my persistent ringing! I finally gave up as it was now too late to make it to the race in time. The hotel later gave me a new garage key card but made no offer to make up for the fact I had missed a race and was out $40.

I emailed the race again and while they never confirmed if I could have run, they did refund my money which is pretty unheard of so I was happy about that. I then decided I'd run after work up at Aualni, I wanted to go by there to see if they'd replace my mug. I have a lovely coffee cup that does not say handwash only...that has faded almost completely after being gin the wash over the past 6 months. Unfortunately I didn't even leave the office until 7pm, when it was dark out and had lost my window of time. I had also originally hoped to run saturday morning but...ended up meeting a client.

Oh well! The one run, and only exercise I got all week was a pretty darn good one.

Originally I had been scheduled on the red eye back but had moved my flight when I realized that it would not work to get me to the race on time plus coming straight from a red eye to a race, even if only a 5k didn't sound fun.

It should have been fine. Except, when I landed, at 10pm, I arrived to find my car DEAD! I tried to open the compartment Jeff had stashed a charger in and for the life of me couldn't get it. I hit a wall and just wanted to go home, so I did.

What was supposed to be a fun adult outing with my BIL running his first race turned into them bailing on us entirely, it pouring rain and us skipping the beer garden to go back to the airport to deal with my car (after we went and bought new jumper cables on the way).

The race had highs and lows for sure! We had to be there early as it was a big one, about 13,000 people (8,000 of them walking, not timed) and some main roads would be closed, as would one of the bridges. It rained. As we waited in the corral I realized my good running glasses were not in my pocket and that my watch was dead. Oh well! Our corral, the 2nd of 2 timed ones, literally walked across the start line. It was crazy congested and slow. Some walkers had definitely signed up for the timed corrals, some for the earlier faster one. I saw lots of folks walking with little kids that had to have started in the first group (10 min apart) as they were quite a bit ahead of us. Which was fine, I mean it was supposed to be a fun run but it did make for a lot of dodging. Still, we got to run through downtown Seattle which was neat and it was literally a sea of green as about half of the race is an out and back on one main street. And bagpipes played as we were sent off which I always love.

This would be Jeff's first race since all the knee drama. I did have a very cute St Patricks day outfit on but...it ended up covered up by my rain jacket.

Thanks to the dead watch I really had no idea how I was doing and it felt slow, I kind of gave up hopes for my time goal as I walked over the starting line. Lots of dodging and a lovely little hill right before the finish. As a result I was very surprised to have it be a PR. Not a huge one, 4 seconds but still, much better than it felt like it was going to be a the time!

This shows the difference between a Disney race and a larger sized non Disney race, but still a "fun" run. I don't do nearly as well in the non Disney ones, though I still do fine. A "serious" race and my placement definitely moves down further.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Fairy GodMothers! That's what you were!
My mind immediately went to Tinkerbell and friends. D'oh! I think that just means that you all looked more hip and cool like Tink and friends in those outfits; than Flora, Fauna and Meriweather! Oh well.


Congratulations on an awesome result. Shame about the shoe and that is some wear and tear on the heel.
Another awesome run in the fun run. I am truly in awe of your commitment to running.

Your time in Hawaii looks like you spent it mostly working and running!
Here's to your vacations and the NEXT Disney run.

 

[rentayenta]

All caught up! Love Flora, Fauna, and Merriwether. Terrific!


Congrats my friend, so proud of you!

 

[glennbo123]

Great job Cynthia! I enjoyed reading all the details. It sounded so rewarding!

 

[Leshaface]

The really exciting thing is that Starbucks was open!

Of course, i'd be excited too!

Love this!

Oh wow, so pretty.

This looks marvelous!

Of course you can’t carry one out from the Ditch

I thought you could take one to go? Maybe not.

I think I’ll go to ESPN!

What the heck?! She really wanted to get out of there!

It would be wrong to make Mary Ellen drink alone and so I ordered myself one as well.

Of course, you never let a friend drink alone

This BLEW them away. I have to admit. Best Rita on property. Craziness I tell you, craziness!

Welp, thank goodness for the CM that was pushing to stop working!

Mary Ellen was there and we stayed up, probably later than we all should have, chatting away. It was SUCH a fun girls night!

This is why I would LOVE to take a girls trip someday. Just like sleepovers back in Junior high. So much fun! And with wine is even better

These are perfect.

But MAN that soup was good!

Please tell me you're talking about the mushroom soup?!

Great picture!

Nice thing about an early corral is no congestion. Bad thing is dark castle pics!

That is exactly what I was thinking about having an earlier corral time.

You look great while the runner behind you looks exhausted! Don't know how you're able to smile so well and real too!

Love this picture!

Great job on the race!

This is really, really cool. Great idea.

Will be back to read your other update!

 

[Leshaface]

The fact that I wasn't registered for ANY races though bugged me. So I fixed that and registered for 3 in the span of a week. LOL.

You would do that!

fter that, in May, Jeff and I hope to head to San Francisco to run Bay to Breakers. It's a 15k and the oldest consecutive footrace in the US! 115,000 people. It will be INSANE! Supposed to be a ton of fun, definitely not something you run for time and will be full of costumes. I say hope to as we haven't bought our flights but we do have a hotel booked and did register for the race.

This sounds like a lot of fun, I bet it's crazy!

I couldn't get out of my hotel garage and no one would come to the gate despite my persistent ringing!

Oh i'd be furious!

they did refund my money which is pretty unheard of

That is great that they refunded the money, but sorry you couldn't run!

 

[KatMark]

Great update, Cynthia.

Congrats on the run...you continue to amaze me.

Love your gals outfits...very cute.

And I love the rack with all of your medals displayed.

 

[Chilly]

Love your costumes. Love your medal rack. Love your race t-shirts.

Wine & Dine sold out in about 2 minutes I heard.

 

[MEK]

I decided to comment here instead of on our TR because I already feel overwhelmed with replies over there.

Loved your recap. You look so good in all your pics. I look like death. You know - when I was running by the GF there was a spectator who said, "some of these people look like death". I know he had to be talking about me. Oh well.

I started looking for races this summer. I really think the races around here sound so more boring than the ones you end up doing. And, and I know this sounds bad, but I only want to do a race where I'm getting medal. I want something tangible for my efforts and NOT a shirt. So I'm going to pick out a couple 10K's for the summer or at least one.

I am going to make a reservation for PHM weekend for next year. Denny wants to do the 10K. One of my friends from work is seriously considering the PHM. I hope she decides its a yes.

I can't believe how fast the Wine and Dine sold out. I guess the rumors must be true. We shall see.

 

[MEK]

I love your medal hanger. Very cute!

 

[eandesmom]

Fairy GodMothers! That's what you were!
My mind immediately went to Tinkerbell and friends. D'oh! I think that just means that you all looked more hip and cool like Tink and friends in those outfits; than Flora, Fauna and Meriweather! Oh well.

LOL! I got called Tinkerbell many times. Which was mildly annoying as I am not at all a fan of Tink! We thought about doing the version from Maleficent but those were a lot more complicated. That said we are not nearly as frumpy as some of those godmothers are

Congratulations on an awesome result. Shame about the shoe and that is some wear and tear on the heel.
Another awesome run in the fun run. I am truly in awe of your commitment to running.

I was not happy with how quickly the shoe wore out. While some of it clearly is how I strike, the strike pattern was not at all what it had been in other shoes and the speed at which they fell apart was ridiculous. I'm in a totally different shoe now. Too early to tell, I only have 25 miles on them to date but so far they have potential! I will know a bit more after some longer runs this weekend and next. The good thing, though I feel a bit guilty about it, is that the store insisted on taking the others back as an exchange. I was still in my 90 day window to do so but they had so clearly been beat to death I wasn't going to ask for it and the guy insisted.

Your time in Hawaii looks like you spent it mostly working and running!
Here's to your vacations and the NEXT Disney run.

Mostly working! But I did have one nice run. Ah, the next Disney run, that is the real question.

All caught up! Love Flora, Fauna, and Merriwether. Terrific!


Congrats my friend, so proud of you!

Thanks!

Great job Cynthia! I enjoyed reading all the details. It sounded so rewarding!

It was rewarding

Love this!

And it's actually a great running/workout shirt, have worn it several times already

Oh wow, so pretty.

It was gorgeous! I loved it, will definitely run it again someday

This looks marvelous!

Incredible, I'd have it again in heartbeat. I asked the CM which he preferred between that and something else and hands down it was chicken and waffles.

I thought you could take one to go? Maybe not.

You can, you just can't carry it out the IG (unless you are my mom and put it up your sleeve...but I am a klutz and would spill!)

What the heck?! She really wanted to get out of there!

Of course, you never let a friend drink alone
Welp, thank goodness for the CM that was pushing to stop working!

Things happen for a reason huh!

This is why I would LOVE to take a girls trip someday. Just like sleepovers back in Junior high. So much fun! And with wine is even better

Exactly!

Please tell me you're talking about the mushroom soup?!

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great picture!

Thanks

That is exactly what I was thinking about having an earlier corral time.

I feel really spoiled by that, and a bit guilty. Folks in the far back had a nightmare log jam at the castle. But...they have better castle pictures!

You look great while the runner behind you looks exhausted! Don't know how you're able to smile so well and real too!

Aw thanks! I thought it looked like she was trying to get something out of her spibelt or something. It's called "race face". You see the photographers and grin like an idiot in case you magically get a good picture. Problem is at Princess, there are photographers most of the race! LOL! Or at least what seemed like a LOT more than at the DL half. I swear, there were 10 photographers capturing different angles as you went in, through and out of the castle.

Love this picture!

Thanks!

Great job on the race!

Thank you, it was fun! Ok most of it was fun, there are times in every run where it kind of sucks rocks. LOL!

This is really, really cool. Great idea.

So cool, I emailed the seller as the Disney bibs (and one other) are actually a bit too long for the holder, they hang over the top of the hooks that the medals hang from and are supposed to be above them. Not a huge deal, I love the sign but just thought they should know that while it's perfect for the shorter bibs, it's not so for some of the longer ones (which is every Disney bib!). I sent them a picture. It wasn't a complaining one, just more of an fyi. Seller emailed me back and agrees that they need to change them and are going to when they use up the inventory they have...and will send me a free longer one!

You would do that!

Yeah, I would I guess. I'm a bit out of control at the moment and have to be good. I'm not going to register for anything until after the half next month.

Really.

I'm not.

Except...there is a half on mothers day that looks kind of fun...

LOL!

This sounds like a lot of fun, I bet it's crazy!

The pictures look insane! It's going to be fun. Now we just need to get flights.

Oh i'd be furious!

That is great that they refunded the money, but sorry you couldn't run!

I was more frustrated than mad but felt MUCH better when I received the immediate refund, really wasn't' expecting it.

Great update, Cynthia.

Congrats on the run...you continue to amaze me.

Thanks!

Love your gals outfits...very cute.

And I love the rack with all of your medals displayed.

I love my rack, it makes me smile, thank you!

Love your costumes. Love your medal rack. Love your race t-shirts.

Wine & Dine sold out in about 2 minutes I heard.

Well, not quite 2 but it was fast. I heard 25-35 minutes depending on reports but the biggest issue for a lot of folks was their transaction timing out during checkout and then them not getting in, or folks who were trying to register more than 1 person only getting in part of their group. LOTS of drama on FB yesterday, it was ugly!

I decided to comment here instead of on our TR because I already feel overwhelmed with replies over there.

You are too funny

Loved your recap. You look so good in all your pics. I look like death. You know - when I was running by the GF there was a spectator who said, "some of these people look like death". I know he had to be talking about me. Oh well.

You did not look like death! Stop.

Oh please, I look like a dork. My tank top is riding up, my skirt is all kinds of whacked out and lopsided (though I tried to pick the less offensive ones to post here) and then you have my dorky running glasses combined with the hat. Not my best look ever.

I started looking for races this summer. I really think the races around here sound so more boring than the ones you end up doing. And, and I know this sounds bad, but I only want to do a race where I'm getting medal. I want something tangible for my efforts and NOT a shirt. So I'm going to pick out a couple 10K's for the summer or at least one.

Sometimes it's a great shirt. Sometimes they are awful! The half I am doing next month has a medal and a shirt but I am not excited about either of them. The reality is that even if you get a medal, they don't compare to the Disney ones. I was trying to get Jeff to get a holder for himself and he was whining that his bling wasn't as cool. Which is a little silly as other than Disney and a tiny Hawaii one, we have the same bling. The sites should say if the 10K has a medal or not. So far all of mine (3 lol) have but interestingly enough the 2 12k's I've done have not. Go figure. Both of my 15k's had medals but one of the medals is SOOO lame (as is the shirt) it was like "why bother". We were actually bummed as that race advertised a tech hat. Now that would have been cool!

Check out the bay to breakers bling though, I am excited about both of these. MOre about the shirt than the medal actually, I wish the medal didn't have Zappos on the medal itself but oh well. maybe they will give out Zappos coupons at the expo. LOL! I also wish the colors of the medal were the same as the shirts, I really like the shirts, not sure if they are tech or not but hope so.

we will earn it, dealing with this crowd

Hopefully I don't lose Jeff! I might never find him again if I do.

I am going to make a reservation for PHM weekend for next year. Denny wants to do the 10K. One of my friends from work is seriously considering the PHM. I hope she decides its a yes.

Oh that would be fun! I really would love to do it next year but with Ireland the following month for the E's...I just can't. And realistically if a few extra grand were laying around...I might go to Ireland and watch the boys. I doubt it will happen but I would sure love it.

And then maybe I can find a race in Dublin lol.

I can't believe how fast the Wine and Dine sold out. I guess the rumors must be true. We shall see.

That was crazy! The DL half went about as fast though. I guess the good news is I don't have to stress about any of that any time soon.

Which actually is really NOT good news and entirely sucks.

I love your medal hanger. Very cute!

Thanks! They are actually going to send me a new one for free as it isn't quite long enough for the Disney bibs to display right, super impressed with the response, wasn't asking for anything just thought they should know that not all bibs fit right. I kind of expected it but was still a little bummed.

 

[franandaj]

Wow! You did such a great job! I'm in awe of your abilities. I tried to run in Jr HIgh, but shin splints got the best of me. I wish I could to something like that now, but I think I destined to the pool or the dreadmill in limited times.