Keep Knowing & Keep Kicking, Kiddo – A 2015 Princess 5K PTR/Mini-TR ~ Completed 5/1

[Victoriasmom98]

Awesome shopping trip Sarah. You must be getting so excited now!!! I hate having over 7 months to plan. I want to go now especially with all this stupid snow!!! We have another foot coming today. I'm soooo over this snow!!

 

[SarahDisney]

Awesome shopping trip Sarah. You must be getting so excited now!!! I hate having over 7 months to plan. I want to go now especially with all this stupid snow!!! We have another foot coming today. I'm soooo over this snow!!

Thanks! I am pretty excited ... less than 3 weeks!
I think the big advantage of never booking trips very far in advance is that the trip is always coming up so soon!
The disadvantage, of course, is that I go for long periods of time without having a Disney trip booked.

And I am with you on the snow ... normally I'm a big snow fan, but this year it's just getting on my nerves. Can we have some 70's and sunshine please?

 

[ursalita]

Hi Sarah. I don't blame you at all for not wanting to run outside. I don't know what the streets are like in NY but up there you can't walk on the sidewalks safely even if they've shoveled them. It's just too slippery. I hope it clears up some so you can get outside again before Disney.

I don't like the treadmill either. I pretty much give up running in the winter. I ran on the treadmill one time and I don't want to do it again. It was actually the final C25K run, the first time I ran for 30 minutes straight, and I did it at Disney. It was the first day of our last trip and I tried out the gym at WL. I hated how I felt when I got off and tried to walk steadily back to our room.

It's awesome that you've stayed motivated for your training. You're definitely going to be ready for Disney.

 

[SarahDisney]

Hi Sarah. I don't blame you at all for not wanting to run outside. I don't know what the streets are like in NY but up there you can't walk on the sidewalks safely even if they've shoveled them. It's just too slippery. I hope it clears up some so you can get outside again before Disney.

We actually got a bit less snow than you, and people have actually been pretty good with shoveling (I wore boots when I went out today, but probably could have gotten away with regular shoes), so I may try to go out tomorrow, but I'm not sure yet, depends on how cold it is.

I don't like the treadmill either. I pretty much give up running in the winter. I ran on the treadmill one time and I don't want to do it again. It was actually the final C25K run, the first time I ran for 30 minutes straight, and I did it at Disney. It was the first day of our last trip and I tried out the gym at WL. I hated how I felt when I got off and tried to walk steadily back to our room.

I used to run on the treadmill (before I even started running outdoors) and it didn't really bother me, but now it does! This is the first winter I've actually stuck with running because I bought the cold weather gear, but I wish it would stop snowing so that I'm not dependent on the treadmill!
The one thing I have noticed is that when I'm done running on the treadmill, I have to stay on the treadmill for a few minutes and slowly reduce my speed - if I get right off, I can't walk. When I run in the park, I can walk right back home at normal speed, but on the treadmill I need to slow it down at the end or I'll just fall over (or walk into a bookcase) when I get off. It drives me crazy!

It's awesome that you've stayed motivated for your training. You're definitely going to be ready for Disney.

Thanks!

 

[SarahDisney]

Old Pictures​

We had a bit of a scrapbook accident in the house last week, and our family scrapbooks needed some TLC (basically, the shelf they were on collapsed and the pages came out and covers needed to be fixed). The scrapbook that needed the most care was #4, which runs from 1997-2001 and includes our family Disney trip.


So, I decided to upload a few pictures just to show you guys (sorry about the angles & quality, I literally just took pictures of pages with my cell phone while I was putting them back in the scrapbook):

Me (L) & Beth, near Mad Tea Party

Disney World, Page 1

Me & Characters, at Mickey’s Toontown Fair Hall of Fame


So, that was today’s glimpse into Sarah’s childhood. I should have more for you this week, including a mega-update & a running journal from today’s treadmill run.


Just one note: 3.76 miles on the treadmill today seems to be my longest run ever. Yay! I just wish it had been a real run and not the treadmill (they really do seem completely different to me).

I’m hoping to get back to street running later this week, I was just too tired to go out this morning and I don’t really like to go out at night.

 

[stacy~**]

Hi, Sarah! I've been pretty quiet on the disboards and just wanted to check how your planning was going! Love all your outfit plans! Can you believe we leave tomorrow and I have NO idea what I am packing. I'm actually freaking out a bit. I thought it would be fun to be able to wear different types of clothes to Disney with cooler weather but it turns out I am just missing my easy skirt and tank top look. Yikes...I hope I figure it out!

Love the old scrapbook pictures (sorry about the tumble they took , though).

Great job keeping up with the running and adding distance.

 

[SarahDisney]

Hi, Sarah! I've been pretty quiet on the disboards and just wanted to check how your planning was going! Love all your outfit plans! Can you believe we leave tomorrow and I have NO idea what I am packing. I'm actually freaking out a bit. I thought it would be fun to be able to wear different types of clothes to Disney with cooler weather but it turns out I am just missing my easy skirt and tank top look. Yikes...I hope I figure it out!

You leave tomorrow - yay! But I'm having the same problem - I keep wanting to incorporate sweaters into my outfits because that's what I wear in February, but I don't think it will work for the weather. And I can't figure out what I'll need to stay warm at night that won't annoy me if I have to carry it around all day. This is definitely a hard season to pack for!

Love the old scrapbook pictures (sorry about the tumble they took , though).

Thanks!

Great job keeping up with the running and adding distance

Thanks! Its been hard to keep up the running with the weather, but I'm very glad I'm doing it

 

[SarahDisney]

Quick Update
​

I'm sitting in Beth's office, writing this on my cell phone, which only has 10% battery, but I wanted to share a quick update with y'all.

On day 5 of our trip (Monday), Beth and I will be eating an early dinner at our new favorite Disney restaurant ...

Yes, that's right, we got the coveted BOG dinner reservation! It's much earlier than we usually eat, but we'll find a way to make it work.

Beth and I are both very excited. Some of you read my November TR, so you know this already, but for those who didn't - Beth and I did BOG in November and had an incredible experience there - it was easily our best ADR.

I know our experience this time will be different (for one thing, this is an earlier seating and last trip was the last seating of the night), but I still think it will be a fantastic experience and I'm really looking forward to eating in Beast's castle again!

 

[ksl5f123]

Congrats on the BOG ADR! That is awesome. I can't believe your trip is this month!

Good job staying with your training. Hope you get some warmer weather soon!

 

[SarahDisney]

Congrats on the BOG ADR! That is awesome. I can't believe your trip is this month!

Thanks! We're really excited - 15 days!! Two weeks from right now I'll be at the airport getting ready to board my flight!!

Good job staying with your training. Hope you get some warmer weather soon!

Thanks! Weather is supposed to be warmer today, so I'm hoping to head out later today ... although if it's too icy I may have to come back home and run on the treadmill again

 

[SarahDisney]

Let’s do this in 2 parts …

Treadmill Walk/Run - Sunday 2/1/15​

Sunday night I ran on the treadmill … I got in 3.76 miles, my longest run ever, on or off the treadmill (or at least of my current running streak).

This run was better than the last, but it still feels totally different than running in the park. And I got nauseated during the run, but I think that may have been related to my dinner (I think the combination of a big dinner and running 1.5 hours later didn’t agree with me).

See the Running Journal Here!

Walk/Run – Wednesday 2/4/15​

I’m officially crazy. The weather actually got “warm” today (39°), so I figured it might be less icy in the park and decided to go out running in the park. There probably was “less” ice than previous days, but there was still plenty. And there were plenty of puddles, too. And some snow and slush.

Of course, brilliant person that I am, I decided to wear my good shoes. I don’t know if they’ll be dry for the race.

In good news, I beat my expected pace (I was figuring I’d be somewhere around 14 min/mile & I was actually at 13:11 min/mile), and I was super consistent!

Seriously, all 3 miles were within 10 seconds – my fastest was 13:05 minutes and my slowest was 13:14 minutes. As some of you may remember, I’ve struggled a lot with consistency, so having a really consistent run really made me feel great! I’ve been starting to lose my motivation, and I think this will help me keep it up!

In summary … See the Running Journal Here!

 

[ursalita]

Congrats on the BOG ADR!! I hope you guys have a great time.

You are doing great with these training runs! It was warm today, I couldn't believe it. But I wasn't even brave enough to walk to my sons' school. The slush and snowbanks makes it so dangerous. Be careful on those outdoor runs.

Reading your PTR and some of the marathon TRs has me thinking about doing a runDisney race. I don't know if the timing would ever work out (if we'd be able to do a family trip at times when they schedule races) but I think it would be the absolute perfect way to challenge myself to a longer race.

 

[SarahDisney]

Congrats on the BOG ADR!! I hope you guys have a great time.

Thanks! We're really excited for it.

You are doing great with these training runs! It was warm today, I couldn't believe it. But I wasn't even brave enough to walk to my sons' school. The slush and snowbanks makes it so dangerous. Be careful on those outdoor runs.

I took advantage of the "warm" today to go out ... we're going back to cold and snow tomorrow, so I don't know if I'll be back running outside before the race.
But let me tell you, I'm surprised I didn't run into anyone today, because I was not looking at my surroundings at all. I was too busy looking down at the ground to try to anticipate and avoid the ice (the ice was unavoidable in some areas, but I did do a lot of weaving to find the parts of the path that were less icy).

Reading your PTR and some of the marathon TRs has me thinking about doing a runDisney race. I don't know if the timing would ever work out (if we'd be able to do a family trip at times when they schedule races) but I think it would be the absolute perfect way to challenge myself to a longer race.

I think not having to worry about too many schedules (including school schedules) makes planning trips (including this trip) a lot easier (although our November trip was scheduled around my continuing ed classes). Beth is considering going back to school (yay!), so I have no idea if we'll be able to do Disney trips at all when she's in school, but it'll definitely be harder to fit in a race trip (although, since this is my first race, I don't know that I'll necessarily be doing future races ... but I'm hoping to enjoy the experience and do more). I think they probably purposely don't schedule runs during school breaks because then they don't have to worry about the larger crowds.
But if you guys have off for Presidents Week in February (I know when I lived in MA I did and I know that NYC schools do, not sure if RI does), then this race is at the end of that weekend and Disneyland Half Marathon might be Labor Day Weekend, but other than that ... it's really hard to schedule them around family vacations.

 

[SarahDisney]

Miscellaneous Updates​

Online Check-In…

Last week Beth & I did online check-in for the hotel. We requested Center Court (the tennis section), which we knew we wanted (other option was baseball section, but I think this is a better location) and ground floor. We went back and forth on the floor option for a little bit – higher floors are allegedly quieter (which is a good thing for Shabbos afternoon nap), but we like ground floor because it means no stairs/elevators at the end of the night. We decided on ground floor because Beth can sleep through her neighbors playing loud Spanish music at all hours of the night, and I can occasionally sleep through my neighbors building furniture (I don’t know why they seem to be building new furniture every few weeks, but they do), so we’re hoping we can sleep through Disney crowds. Hopefully it’ll work out okay.

Our possible building…

MagicBands…

Last week we also customized our MagicBands. We settled on pink for Beth (will go well with her Rapunzel theme) and yellow for me (not entirely sure why, but I’ll make it work). They arrived on Monday:

Potential Schedule Adjustments…

Going over the schedule again, I realized that we most likely won’t have time for DTD on arrival night (especially if we do shopping/browsing at the Expo), so we’re moving DTD to Sunday night and planning to leave Epcot early. I’m not thrilled about missing Illuminations, because I do enjoy it (and if we can somehow make it back for Illuminations, that would be awesome), but I know we won’t have a full day’s worth of stuff to do at Epcot (I know, seems weird to some people … but we really don’t spend much time at Epcot), so it’s really the best time. The other option is DTD on Tuesday morning instead of mini-golf … but I think mini-golf would be more special because it’s something we’ve never done before.

So once again, we’re squeezing DTD in after a park, which is something I was hoping not to have to do … but because it’s Epcot, hopefully we’ll be a little less exhausted.


Shoes…

I will be the first to say that I’m not normally the girliest of girls (don’t let the skirts fool you) … but when it comes to shoes, I kinda am.

Beth is planning to bring 4-5 pairs of shoes. I usually bring more shoes than her (I’m an overpacker), and I was only planning to bring 4 pairs of shoes, so now I need to find another 1-2 pairs of shoes to bring. If my gray boots were in better shape, I’d bring them to wear on Saturday night, but I don’t think I can last 5+ hours in the park in those boots (if I get replacement gray boots before the trip, I might bring those, but the only shoes I liked from my shopping trip last week were super cute sneakers that I didn’t need … but I’ll look when I go to the mall tomorrow). If I had better brown shoes, I’d bring those for at least Friday, but for 5 hours in the park they’ll fall off at least 6 times (they used to be my mom’s and are a size too big on me).


ADRs…

We finally have the one ADR we really wanted: Be Our Guest. So now I have no idea if we will keep any of the other ADRs. We’re really not big ADR people, so likely won’t keep them all, but we’ll make a final decision this weekend.


Shopping, Part 2…

Yesterday was shopping day, part 2 … aka I went to the mall. Started off terrible (didn’t get anything on my first trip to H&M or at Macys), but I did end up getting a few things.


For my Mickey Mouse DisneyBound (I know the tag says $20, but it was 60% off - I wouldn't pay $20 for a DB accessory I likely won't wear again):

I went back to H&M (I couldn’t accept the fact that I didn’t find anything there – and it’s a good thing I went back, because I found the black shirt I needed in my size, finally – this was the 3rd H&M I had been to looking for it)

I also got something at H&M for my Wendy Darling DB:

This isn’t exactly what I wanted, but it’ll work. Not sure if you can tell from the picture, but it is a little shiny, which I like. And it’s not the same shade of blue as the ribbon I have, which will create some contrast, but it’s close enough that they match well.


I went to the Disney Store, but didn’t get anything (although I thought about getting Tsum Tsums for Beth, because the Cinderella ones just came out and she loves Cinderella – I would have gotten Jaq and Gus for her, but decided that I didn’t want to spend the money right now). I looked at shirts, but didn’t see anything that jumped out at me. And I thought about buying cute plushes, because they were buy one get one for $1, but decided not to (although really, I should have).


So, overall, it was a mediocre mall trip … although I need to remember that I can’t just set aside 3-4 hours on my schedule for the mall, it’s a full-day trip for me.

 

[Elevationist]

Congratulations on the Be Our Guest ADR! That's the one restaurant my aunt is excited about and looking forward to, so I am hoping and praying for good luck finding what I need when the time comes! OM NOM NOM!

The pink and yellow MagicBands complement each other well! I have pink from last year's trip, and for this year's trip I let my Aunt have first dibs and she chose yellow (which was going to be my choice), so I currently have myself down for red. I'm crossing my fingers though that sometime in the next 8 months Disney will come out with the much-requested purple as an option!

I totally understand what you mean about DTD after a park being exhausting. I did it in September on my "rest day" where I just chilled out at the resort until mid-afternoon, then headed over there, and it would out like a dream. My tentative schedule for December is set up in this structure, so I'm hoping I can keep it that way as plans get finalized!

Your trip is so close!!! I'm a peanut butter and jealous sandwich! I wish I were going with you!

 

[SarahDisney]

Congratulations on the Be Our Guest ADR! That's the one restaurant my aunt is excited about and looking forward to, so I am hoping and praying for good luck finding what I need when the time comes! OM NOM NOM!

Thanks! I hope you guys can get it for your trip ... I'm sure your aunt will love it! (You liked it when you went in September, right?)

The pink and yellow MagicBands complement each other well! I have pink from last year's trip, and for this year's trip I let my Aunt have first dibs and she chose yellow (which was going to be my choice), so I currently have myself down for red. I'm crossing my fingers though that sometime in the next 8 months Disney will come out with the much-requested purple as an option!

They really need to come out with more colors! I'm hoping the purple comes out soon, because I got a lot of comments about my painted purple one in November ... but until they actually announce it, nobody will know for sure.

I totally understand what you mean about DTD after a park being exhausting. I did it in September on my "rest day" where I just chilled out at the resort until mid-afternoon, then headed over there, and it would out like a dream. My tentative schedule for December is set up in this structure, so I'm hoping I can keep it that way as plans get finalized!

We really wanted to do it on arrival day because we knew we'd be less exhausted, but it really won't work out. I hope you can stick to your plan on doing it on a "rest day." I actually thought about doing it Saturday night because that would be a more laid back day, but I decided I'd rather go to a park that night.

Your trip is so close!!! I'm a peanut butter and jealous sandwich! I wish I were going with you!

You should totally come with me!!!!! Seriously, you're totally invited if you can make it down!
I'm jealous that you have a trip planned for December ... after this trip, I really have no idea when I'm going back. I wish I had my trips planned out like you do!

 

[SarahDisney]

Shopping Trip, Part 3
​

I feel like from reading my PTR you guys must think I do nothing but run and shop. That’s not true. I sleep and eat too. That is about it, though. (Seriously … I wish)

So … Beth and I went to DSW and Target on Sunday.
At DSW, Beth got 2 pairs of shoes (neither of which she’s in love with) … blue/yellow Saucony sneakers and taupe Grasshopper flats. She was okay with them in store (the Saucony sneakers more than the taupe shoes), but the later in the day it got, the less she liked them. Kind of normal when shoe shopping with Beth. Meanwhile, I didn’t even really look for shoes for me. I may go back later this week.

Target was a much more successful trip. Beth got a red scarf to use as a belt for her Genie DB and a case for her phone that has room for an ID and credit card (for the race).
As for me, I got green tights (for my Enchanted Rose DB) and pink tights, most likely just for general use (they’re a really pretty light pink). If I decide to do an Aurora DB on Sunday (it’s a possibility, but not definite because it’s another skirt to bring), I’ll bring the tights for at night.

Target is also where we do our big trip food shopping (usually a little closer to the trip, but we were there anyway). We got plates, snacks (trail mix, fruit leather), lunch materials (Nutella, tuna), and breakfast for one day (oatmeal cups – mine is apple walnut, Beth’s is peach almond).

In other news … Beth also made her Maximus earrings Sunday:

Earrings only…

She wore them today and said they were very comfortable.

Saturday night my dad helped me put my Big Ben charm on a necklace (the ring was too small to put on the necklace so we had to separate it and put it back together). This week I have to put my rose beads on a necklace (I have wire thread and a clasp). Beth has rose earrings that I will be borrowing – I just have to remember to bring an extra earring back because one of them doesn’t have a back.

I also have to make my Fix-It Felix necklace … the charm came this weekend:

That’s not an actual credit card, just one of the plastic things they send in the mail. It’s there to show scale. Yes, the charm is that small … but I knew it would be (it’s meant for a bracelet). It’s gold-plated silver, so it’s an actual gold hammer for Felix. Size aside, it really is perfect. I’ll probably just put it on white thread or thin yarn of some sort (the wire I have doesn’t go with the gold). I can’t believe I have less than 2 weeks to finish all of this!


Still working on a DB for Sunday … Aurora is a possibility (fits with Princess weekend), but I’m actually leaning more towards Dory. The blue shirt is the hardest part, but I may be able to get away with a blue t-shirt I have, and I can wear my yellow Mickey Mouse scarf and a black skirt. Still not sure I’m sold on that idea though, but we’ll see.
Thursday will be NY clothing (aka a denim skirt, tights, sweater, possibly boots depending on how cold it is when we leave NY).
Tuesday, because we’re doing Fantasia Gardens mini-golf, I wanted to do something from Fantasia, so I’m doing the ostriches from “Dance of the Hours” – black skirt, white shirt, blue shoes (possibly with ribbons tied up my ankles), blue bow, possibly a ballet-related accessory if I can find one cheap (if I still had my ballet slippers I’d think about wearing them, but I lost them on my last day of ballet class in college, so that’s a moot point).

So … that’s your shopping update. Hopefully you won’t get another one of these … but no guarantees.

 

[ksl5f123]

Hooray for receiving your MB and getting the BOG ADR! Beth's earrings came out really cute!

I think a Dory DB would be fun if you can find a bright blue shirt.

I love shoes too. I try really hard to only bring 2 pair to DW. Usually, one tennis shoe/sneaker/whatever you call it and one pair of Crocs.

 

[SarahDisney]

Hooray for receiving your MB and getting the BOG ADR!

Thanks! We actually were able to get a later BOG, so we're really excited!

Beth's earrings came out really cute!

Thanks - I'll pass along the message. I was very impressed that she did them all by herself (I'm the crafter of the family, so I figured I'd have to help).

I think a Dory DB would be fun if you can find a bright blue shirt.

I have a blue shirt that should be okay, but isn't really super bright. I'm hoping to try to go shopping either tomorrow or next week and see if I can get something better.

I love shoes too. I try really hard to only bring 2 pair to DW. Usually, one tennis shoe/sneaker/whatever you call it and one pair of Crocs.

I usually bring 2 pair of sneakers (running sneakers and chuck taylors) so that I don't have to wear the same shoes every day and a pair of flip flops for walking around the hotel. This trip I'm bringing nicer shoes for Shabbos (because we're supposed to dress nicer), so that makes 4 pair. Hopefully I can live with just 4 pair of shoes ... and I hope I have room for all this in my suitcase!

 

[Elevationist]

Thanks! I hope you guys can get it for your trip ... I'm sure your aunt will love it! (You liked it when you went in September, right?)

Oh yes, I loved it! I even already have picked out what I'm ordering next time, assuming I can score the ADR!

You should totally come with me!!!!! Seriously, you're totally invited if you can make it down!
I'm jealous that you have a trip planned for December ... after this trip, I really have no idea when I'm going back. I wish I had my trips planned out like you do!

I sooooo wish I could! The reason my trips are planned so far out is it's the only way for me to pay for them! I need that year or so to tuck away a little each month. I would LOVE to be able to do a trip with only a few months waiting, but I'd never be able to afford it. (The grass is always greener, right? )