My first 5K and my first TR...A Royal Family 5K Weekend!

[DisneyMomLiz]

Well, even though this will be a short TR as we were only in WDW from Thursday night (3/4) - Sunday afternoon (3/7), I wanted my first TR to be about my first 5K.

So let's get started...

Introductions: My name is Liz (as you may have guessed from my screenname ).

Not the best pic, but you get the idea

Next up is my DH, Andy. He loves WDW almost as much as I do and he lets me do all the planning . We've been married for almost 7 years (but we started dating when we were 13...oh 20 years ago!).

Then the cutest member of our family...our DS...we'll call him Buzz (as that is his current favorite). He's 3 1/2 (can't forget the 1/2...he will remind you of that! )

Also along for this trip, were my DSis (Jen) and DMom (Nana) and DDad (Jay) - will be pictured along the way. DSis flew in from Seattle just for the weekend to do the 5K with me and Mom. Jen runs marathons (Paris, NY, etc.) and triathlons (OR) for fun so she suggested this 5K for me when I finally started taking control of my health. Since then (October 2008) I have lost over 90 lbs and am getting into the best shape of my life. I still have quite a way to go, but I'm moving forward, can't ask for more than that! Ok, I digress, didn't mean to make this TR all about me...bring on the Disney!

We are a Disney loving family! We are lucky enough to live only about 4 hours away (driving) and extremely lucky to have been able to renew our FL resident season passes. So this was not our first trip, but it was a very special one!! However, since we do go a few times a year, I'm always so bad about taking pics...so sorry in advance!

On with the show...March 4, 2010: I had the day off to pack and finish up last minute errands. AKA Had every intention of taking Buzz to school so that I could get those things done, but he was starting to get another cold. Of course he was, he was still on antibiotics for his last ear infection and we were leaving for Disney Ok, we can handle this, called the school and said Buzz would be out. Check. Try to pack while entertaining a 3 1/2 year old, not so easy but check. FINALLY, Andy got off work at 4pm and we loaded the car and got on the road a little after 5pm. Rush hour...not fun, but not as bad as I thought it would be. My parents who live about 25 minutes from us, were already on their way. We met up at the first rest stop on the Turnpike to "follow" each other.

Even with potty breaks and a stop for dinner we were checking in just after 9pm at ASMu. I had done online check-in a few days before so we went straight for that line. We had a nice CM check us in and hand us all of our materials. Yay, we got the connecting rooms I had requested, but no luck getting the Jazz Bldg. We were in Rock Inn, not too bad though, considering we were checking in after 9 We collected the ECVs we rented for DDad and DH. Dad has Parkinson's and has a hard time walking for long distances and DH has Diabetic neuropathy so can't walk too long without getting blisters which he then can't feel and they get pretty bad . We were off to find our room...one thing we noticed, it was freezing!!! But we were in Disney so

Buzz was asleep, so Mom and Dad stayed with him and Andy and I were off to pick up Jen at MCO. Since we live in FL, I've never had the pleasure? of going to MCO, so with mapquest directions in hand we went. Easy enough, picked her up and back to the Hotel by 11pm. Too late to unpack after a little catching up with Jen, ugh, I like to be unpacked, oh well. Sleeping in Disney

I'll leave you with that for now!

Did Buzz sleep all night? What park would we go to first?

 

[dawnbu40]

Hi! I get to be your first poster I was there the same dates as you (our dates were 3/3-3/8) and my DD19 did the 5k also!

Congrats on the weight loss! That's awesome!

Your DS is adorable! I'm looking forward to hearing more

 

[Queenofallthings]

I'm here Liz....late...but I'm here.

Your post made me cry. I have been your Disfriend and I had no idea you had lost that amount of weight.....I can't tell you how proud I am of you It's the hardest most disciplined thing to do and I feel like I can't even express my feelings......I have struggled with my weight since Jasmine was born. I had lost 39 pounds from Mar to June last summer, but not in a good way. I was ill and off work for 6 months....something I never discussed on the boards. I have since gained it all back and now I have to loose it the right way....diet and exercise. Jasmine is quite athletic and she told me she would join the gym with me to make me go everyday....I love my girl

Ok, sorry enough about us.....YOU RAN A 5K.....I'm weeping again......I don't care how short this TR is, I'm loving it!!!!!

 

[DisneyMomLiz]

Hi! I get to be your first poster I was there the same dates as you (our dates were 3/3-3/8) and my DD19 did the 5k also!

Congrats on the weight loss! That's awesome!

Your DS is adorable! I'm looking forward to hearing more

Thanks so much dawnbu40! Neat that we were there at the same time and perhaps even saw each other. Thanks to for the sweet comments about my DS! And an update to come tomorrow...bring out the

 

[DisneyMomLiz]

I'm here Liz....late...but I'm here.

Your post made me cry. I have been your Disfriend and I had no idea you had lost that amount of weight.....I can't tell you how proud I am of you It's the hardest most disciplined thing to do and I feel like I can't even express my feelings......

My friend, I'm so glad you're here I didn't mean to make you cry, but you are so sweet

I never really posted about my weight loss, because well, lots of reasons, but mostly because I didn't want to sound like I was bragging to anyone. I know how hard it is to lose even a few pounds when you constantly struggle with your weight (as I have all my life). But I did want to mention it here in my TR as it was one of the main reasons I went, to celebrate the fact that I could wog (walk/jog) a 5K thanks to losing weight!

It means a lot that you are proud of me , thanks!!

I have struggled with my weight since Jasmine was born. I had lost 39 pounds from Mar to June last summer, but not in a good way. I was ill and off work for 6 months....something I never discussed on the boards. I have since gained it all back and now I have to loose it the right way....diet and exercise. Jasmine is quite athletic and she told me she would join the gym with me to make me go everyday....I love my girl

I'm so sorry to hear about your illness, I hope that everything is ok now. If you ever need anything, you know how to reach me I completely understand how hard it is, I have struggled with my weight all my life, but especially after having DS, I was the heaviest ever.

You do have an awesome girl there, Jasmine offering to help, having someone to push you along is definitely a good thing.

Ok, sorry enough about us.....YOU RAN A 5K.....I'm weeping again......I don't care how short this TR is, I'm loving it!!!!!

You're right, enough about us, for now we'll talk!

Well, technically I wogged (my term for walked/jogged) working on the running part. But yep, a 5K, never would have imagined that I could do a 5K just a year ago.

Thanks so much for joining me...I'll have our first full day update tomorrow, promise!

 

[DisneyMomLiz]

Well...to answer my 1st cliff hanger question (2nd to be revealed shortly):

Did Buzz sleep all night? - ummm NO, usually my DS Buzz is a great sleeper, but with all the excitement the night before on the car trip, he was wide awake and wanting to play at 3AM Finally got him to fall back asleep about 5AM so that we could squeeze in 2 more hours of sleep

We were up at about 7am and watching Disney cartoons (what else is there on Disney TVs) Waiting patiently for my DDad, DSis, DMom to wake up in the next room. We finally made our way down to the foodcourt for breakfast. Buzz had to have his Mickey Waffles. Sorry, I have no food pictures, my first TR rookie mistake...forgot all about the pics for the TR as I was just so darned excited to be at WDW again!

At breakfast we hatched our plan (really I had this planned all along, just had to convince the rest of the family that we were making it up as we went ). DSis, DMom and I would head to the EXPO to collect our princess packets and DH, DDad and Buzz would relax in the hotel until we got back...then we would head off to EPCOT for the day!

We decided to drive to the EXPO around 9:45 as the doors opened at 10am. Yikes, it was packed already. We ended up in a parking space in the north 40. When we walked to the front of the ESPNWWoS we noticed a really long line weaving it's way into the EXPO hall. Fortunately, the line moved fairly quickly and we were able to keep moving, which was good because it was cold, standing out there.

We collected our goody bags and took a walk through the EXPO vendors. So many neat things that we wanted to buy, but we restrained ourselves. We did pick a few little freebies - water bottle, lip gloss, rice...yes, I said rice. Mahatma and Success rice were two of the sponsors and they had a little spinning wheel game to win prizes. I won a box of rice which I immediately gave to my DSis as rice is definitely not on Atkins but she loves rice so she was happy. Who would have thought - rice at the EXPO

Here's a pic of the pin, I did pre-purchase with the race registration...

Other cute expo items we did not purchase. My only wish (not complaint, really) was that the merchandise was geared almost exclusively, no exclusively to the 1/2 marathon...but I guess I'll be happy with that when I do the 1/2 next year. Yep, that's my goal!!

And I'll have to go back and take some pics of the Princess & the Frog 5K t-shirts which we got in our goody bags.

After we wandered around the EXPO for about an hour, we decided to head back to the hotel and get the boys and head to EPCOT. our first park. I've never headed to the park so late in the day, but I have to say, I was channeling my inner "monk" and I was not freaking out that we were losing valuable park touring time. Well to be honest, the thought of running to the parks did cross my mind, but I really was trying to take in the whole EXPO experience as a new "racer" and focus more on the people and experience than getting in every attraction and show. I think I did pretty well, the thought of "commando" touring came and went

We headed back to the ASMu and got the boys ready to go. Here we encountered the first of many ECV adventures. My DH has experience with the ECV's, they've been a lifesaver for his feet during our last few trips. However, Dad, aka Abuelito, has never had the pleasure of riding/operating the ECV for any length of time. As we made our way from the room to the lobby, he experimented with the speed turtle to rabbit!! YIKES! He'd speed up then come to a dead stop and this was just to the bus stop. How would he maneuver the ECV onto the bus? Let me tell you, it was and all at the same time

I'll leave you with that lovely mental picture for now...I hope to have another update for you later today, if workload permits

 

[dawnbu40]

Wow planning to go for the half marathon?! Go you!

As you already know, I totally understand the ecv issues My mom did the fast/stop thing too and scared the heck out of me! The worst thing though was when she'd put her foot down to stop like on a bike

Looking forward to more

 

[DisneyMomLiz]

Wow planning to go for the half marathon?! Go you!

As you already know, I totally understand the ecv issues My mom did the fast/stop thing too and scared the heck out of me! The worst thing though was when she'd put her foot down to stop like on a bike

Looking forward to more

Hi Dawn...thanks the 1/2 is the goal! Here's to training!!!

Yikes on your mom's ecv'ing (is that a word?)!

 

[DisneyMomLiz]

To my two fabulous readers Dawn and Queen...sorry it's been so long since I last updated. Work has been CRAZY!!!

I promise to post lots of updates when I get back from my conference. I'll be back the first full week of April. Please, bear with me a little while longer!

 

[sdchickie]

Love reading about your trip, I am planning my first 5k this Oct. at Disney so the info is really helpful. I agree that it kinda sucked about all the merchandise being 1/2 marathon. I can't wait to see the 5k t-shirt they gave you and the finishers medal.