(UPD 8/29) Tales of the Tweedles & Other Spazzjazzerit PHM '15 Cupcake Adventures

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Great update despite not knowing the order. After a race it's always fun to show off your bling in the parks. I have never eaten at CHH we just always seem to go elsewhere. Great HM Photopass photo though. I also love your search for cupcakes. Big top treats is a favorite of mine especially for those candy apples in the photo.

I ate one of the candy apples from Goofy's once, OMG, it was so good, but HUGE!!!!! I have been to CHH a few times once I found the veggie sandwich! It's really good.

I think an out of order update goes well with the Tweedle-theme ... is anything really in order in Alice in Wonderland?

EXACTLY! that's logic.

Also, if Tweedlewaterguzzler has to go to the bathroom a million times, at least she was nice enough to go to a bathroom that gave you an opportunity to take lots of pictures! She could have gone to one of the more boring bathrooms, but no, she chose one with lots of great things to see & photograph.

No offense, but your Haunted Mansion picture looks a little like you're grumpy, not serious or dead. I guess you'll have to go back on another TweedleTrip & try again.

We are HORRIBLE actors, apparently.

7DMT is awesome ... I can't understand why Tweedleclueless is unimpressed. At least she enjoyed it a little more on her last trip!

See, Tweedlebossy, I was being CONSIDERATE about my bathroom usage! Hahahaha! Honestly, this is why Cap't Killjoy HATES car rides with me and forbids me to drink anything. We have a 22 hour drive to Yellowstone next year and I have no doubts we'll be divorced by the end of that vacation!

The HM is pretty horrible and yet pretty funny at the same time.

I was more bitter that 7DMT took like 3 years to build for a very short ride when Universal built all of the 2nd Harry Potter land in less time!

That makes sense, I was never really excited about the Fantasyland expansion, so it wasn't as much of a letdown!

Your haunted mansion photo is CRACKING me UP! Hilarious!

While you were waiting for tweedlebathroombreak did you at least find any of the hidden pascals? We only found one last visit.

Can't wait to see what you think happens next!

I can't look at it without laughing, we are awful at pretending to be scary!

No hidden pascals, I didn't realize there were any! DOH!

That sandwich at CHH looked really good!! I have to remember about the quiet upstairs if we make it there for lunch!! I want one of those candy apples now....sigh.

Upstairs isn't as big of a secret as it used to be and still gets busy, but I like it up there and it's nice to have a view out the windows of the park!

How did I miss all these updates??

Regardless, happy that you finally got to ride EE...not once, twice, three...but four times! Awesome!

The 10K looks so much fun! Cant wait to do one at WDW!!

Thinking of sprucing up the Tweedle costumes & making them Christmasy...I am intrigued! It's so funny how we are already thinking about costumes for a race over a year away.

I am insane early when it comes to planning costumes!

The party in Nicole's pants is PRICELESS! Your descriptions of races always make me think I want to run. Then I remember that they're only fun for you because you like running.

And I love seeing your MK shots! I haven't actually seen the new FL yet so it's so fun to see them. And I can take more in during a TR than trying to look through the eleventy-billion facebook pics all at once.

Not all runners like running, I think you could be persuaded! Did you register for the superhero 5K yet? I did!

I thought I would be really behind here but happy to see that the tweedleupdates have been slow.

Your tweedle costumes really were fantastic. You definitely need to "recycle" them at some point.
Love the race pictures and really loved that you had such a fantastic race. You can hear how great it was for you and I know last year wasn't as great so I am very happy for you.

Great that Nicole was such a trooper even though she was in pain. That's got to be so tough. Now you might have said this but did you (Nicole) have pain walking around, etc or was it just aggravated when running?

CHH lighthouse sandwich is the second best vegetarian CS meal, right?

Can't wait to hear about the half!!

We were being slow just for you Stacy!

It was so awesome to actually ENJOY the races this time, I wish it were the same for my Tweedle! I'll let her answer about the walking.

Yes, SECOND best because you know my first favorite EVER!!!!!!!!!

I'm excited to recap my half! It's going to take quite a few updates when we get to it, I have lots of pics!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

So, the Tweedles were on the train!

We figured the train was a good way to rest our legs but get around to Big Thunder, where we had a FP. We were TRYING to be good about not doing too much after the 10K and before the half, but it's hard when you are at Disney!

I love the train ride and the different view you get of the park!

I thought this shot came out fun!

Oh look, TweedleClueless drinking...AGAIN.

and I always feel a little bit like gloating when I've done a bunch of Fantastyland already and I see all the hoards of people still coming into the park...

Anyone know what this shot is? Wasn't supposed to be like this, obviously, but it was a lighting issue...

We arrived to a 40 minute standby, so I guess our FP's would come in handy!

It's THE WILDEST RIDE IN THE WILDERNESS!!!!!!! We stopped for more photos, naturally.

No idea why I'm being so cheeky, maybe trying to make up for the horrible HM photo!

We headed to Pirates and I believe the line was 30 minutes, so we jumped in line. I don't think it took that long. I remember telling Nicole how the year before I had been in line at Pirates and saw all the 10K runners from the GSC (which I didn't do in 2014) showing up and now I was one of them! It was cool.

So after Pirates, I think we left! I mean, we could have done something else, but since there's no photographic evidence, it didn't happen! We had planned on just a few hours at MK so we wouldn't overdo it, so I do think we left at that point. I think it was early afternoon. We headed back to the resort and relaxed a bit, I took some photos of the animals that we could see on the savanna. I think this is when I realized that the trees are so mature on the main savanna that you cannot see a lot of the animals from the 5th floor where the dvc rooms are.

It's like a search puzzle, try to find the zebra...

I went down to the pool to sit in the hot tub and then meetup with a friend who I met the previous year at PHM who also is a huge Ed Sheeran fan. I don't even have the selfie we took, she sent it to my other phone and I didn't get it saved before my phone died. I had some nice quiet time in the hot tub and called Rey and talked to him for a while. I'm not sure what Tweedle did at this point! I think she wasn't feeling that great and was just resting.

After meeting up with Jessica, I headed back up to get dressed as we had a date with some Cupcakes! (the people!) We had an early dinner ADR for 4:30 at Via Napoli, so we headed down to the lobby to meet everyone.

Up next...Via Napoli antics with The Cupcakes for dinner!!!

 

[rteetz]

Looks like a great morning at the MK! I love riding the train. BTMRR is my favorite mountain. I really want to stay at AKL one of these trips, all of those animals roaming around just seems like a fantastic amenity that you can't get anywhere else. Can't wait to hear about via Napoli I love that place.

 

[Tinker326]

So glad TweedleBossy is taking control again. I'm sorry. Shame for me. I had unexpected family crisis yesterday that forced me to leave work & pretty much deal with it all day. I'd like to say maybe this weekend...but yesterdays thing forced us into a bunch of things for tomorrow... and then I'm downtown with my Girl Scouts all Sunday. So probably not. Boo on me! Sorry Tweedle... thanks for being the awesomeTweedle as well and forging ahead!

The party in Nicole's pants is PRICELESS! Your descriptions of races always make me think I want to run. Then I remember that they're only fun for you because you like running.

Uh, I don't like running. But races are fun. I know - it makes no sense. But that's Tweedlelogic. I really can't believe Karen hasn't gotten you out yet.. she is SUCH a pusher!!!

Great that Nicole was such a trooper even though she was in pain. That's got to be so tough. Now you might have said this but did you (Nicole) have pain walking around, etc or was it just aggravated when running?

Yhea, the next day (the 1/2) won't be a cheery post for me. But this race- it was FUN. And I did not have pain walking- only running. It rather confirmed that the injury was IT band related which is an awful running injury to have & recovery is ridiculously long (I'm on 3 months). I honestly feel at this point I will not be a runner again........

Anyone know what this shot is? Wasn't supposed to be like this, obviously, but it was a lighting issue...

Inside of Splash Mountain Tweedle!

 

[SarahDisney]

We figured the train was a good way to rest our legs but get around to Big Thunder, where we had a FP. We were TRYING to be good about not doing too much after the 10K and before the half, but it's hard when you are at Disney!

I definitely get this - you want to be able to make it through the half marathon, but there's so much walking in Disney!

I love the train ride and the different view you get of the park!

I did the train for the first time in February, and I totally agree with this - it's a different perspective on the park!

I thought this shot came out fun!

This is so cool!

I think this is when I realized that the trees are so mature on the main savanna that you cannot see a lot of the animals from the 5th floor where the dvc rooms are.

That surprises and saddens me. You'd think they'd give DVC members a better view!
You still got some good pictures! I love the giraffes!

It's like a search puzzle, try to find the zebra...

I FOUND THE ZEBRA!!! Do I get a prize?

 

[STLMickeyMom]

Picture from inside splash mountain--you can't fool is disers!

Love all the pics! You do an amazing job!

 

[debrapagliasotti]

Looks like a fun filled couple hours at MK post 10K. I love riding the train, nice & relaxing...& like you said, a whole different vantage point of the park.

 

[KathyM2]

Looks like more good times at MK! I found it funny when you said you feel like gloating when you have already done a lot of Fantasyland and you see the hordes of people coming into the park. I feel that way whenever I RD...like so smug lol...BUT I guess that is the ONE benefit to FP+...even those hordes will now have a chance in heck of getting on their favourite rides without waiting two hours. I also have to share...when I was a kid...I was always up and ready to go super early...but my mom was NOT the RD type...and I'd always be so mad that by the time we got to the parks it was always so busy....and now that I'm the parent...we get to go to RD when I WANT to lol...sorry to hijack your TR there for a sec lol...I can't imagine how hard it would be to "take it easy" before any race at WDW...you can't help but go to the parks and once you get there I'd be all..."just one more ride/show/attraction and then we'll leave"...sigh...

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Looks like a great morning at the MK! I love riding the train. BTMRR is my favorite mountain. I really want to stay at AKL one of these trips, all of those animals roaming around just seems like a fantastic amenity that you can't get anywhere else. Can't wait to hear about via Napoli I love that place.

BTMRR is my favorite mountain if you don't count EE as a mountain! AKL was my dream resort so DH and I went for a very short 3 night DVC rental (all we could afford) and I totally fell in love. Now it's STILL my dream resort and I never want to stay anywhere else! LOL, too bad my bank account does not agree!

So glad TweedleBossy is taking control again. I'm sorry. Shame for me. I had unexpected family crisis yesterday that forced me to leave work & pretty much deal with it all day. I'd like to say maybe this weekend...but yesterdays thing forced us into a bunch of things for tomorrow... and then I'm downtown with my Girl Scouts all Sunday. So probably not. Boo on me! Sorry Tweedle... thanks for being the awesomeTweedle as well and forging ahead!

I hope everything is ok Tweedle!


Uh, I don't like running. But races are fun. I know - it makes no sense. But that's Tweedlelogic. I really can't believe Karen hasn't gotten you out yet.. she is SUCH a pusher!!!

Who me? A pusher?!?!

Yhea, the next day (the 1/2) won't be a cheery post for me. But this race- it was FUN. And I did not have pain walking- only running. It rather confirmed that the injury was IT band related which is an awful running injury to have & recovery is ridiculously long (I'm on 3 months). I honestly feel at this point I will not be a runner again........

LALALALALAAAAAAAAAAAA, I CAN'T HEAR YOU! I'M PLUGGING MY EARS!!! You'll run again! I was out for TEN MONTHS and felt the same way, I thought there was no way and even after I got started back up after that 10 months out, I got a different injury and was out another 3! I'm injury free now for a year. YOU.CAN.DO.THIS. I insist! I'm Tweedlebossy, that's what I do.



Inside of Splash Mountain Tweedle!

Oh I knew, I just didn't know if other people would be able to guess from the blurry!

I definitely get this - you want to be able to make it through the half marathon, but there's so much walking in Disney!

It's easier when none of the kids are with me. When Savannah is with me, I don't want to miss ANYTHING! It's gotten better the more trips I have taken though, I think once you've been a number of times you don't mind missing things?



I did the train for the first time in February, and I totally agree with this - it's a different perspective on the park!



This is so cool!

Thanks!

That surprises and saddens me. You'd think they'd give DVC members a better view!
You still got some good pictures! I love the giraffes!



I FOUND THE ZEBRA!!! Do I get a prize?

Yes, but your prize is invisible.

Picture from inside splash mountain--you can't fool is disers!

It's true, I rarely stump a DISer, but I do have one or two shots I have taken that some people can't guess where they are at usually!

Love all the pics! You do an amazing job!

Thanks! My quality of photography has gone down a bit on my last few trips, I just would rather get caught up in the moment than worry about composition and getting ALL THE SHOTS (I can get a bit distracted by my photography if I'm not careful) but I'm pleased with most of my shots for the little amount of effort that went into them.

Looks like a fun filled couple hours at MK post 10K. I love riding the train, nice & relaxing...& like you said, a whole different vantage point of the park.

We had a good time and I didn't feel like it was too much going to the park for a few hours. I know some people won't do the parks at all the day before a race, but we took it easy and enjoyed ourselves!

Looks like more good times at MK! I found it funny when you said you feel like gloating when you have already done a lot of Fantasyland and you see the hordes of people coming into the park. I feel that way whenever I RD...like so smug lol...BUT I guess that is the ONE benefit to FP+...even those hordes will now have a chance in heck of getting on their favourite rides without waiting two hours. I also have to share...when I was a kid...I was always up and ready to go super early...but my mom was NOT the RD type...and I'd always be so mad that by the time we got to the parks it was always so busy....and now that I'm the parent...we get to go to RD when I WANT to lol...sorry to hijack your TR there for a sec lol...I can't imagine how hard it would be to "take it easy" before any race at WDW...you can't help but go to the parks and once you get there I'd be all..."just one more ride/show/attraction and then we'll leave"...sigh...

I'm a rope drop pusher, amongst other things! I'm not sure why I'm such a pusher, the more people I convince to do RD, the busier for me? This trip was a bit different because of the races, there was no way to get to RD, but on any other trip, you won't catch me missing RD! The first 2 hours are the best hours of the day!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Oooh, I'm on a roll now! I think I just want to get to my PHM recap!

So, it was Saturday afternoon and we were sitting in the lobby waiting for The Cupcakes so we could head to our Via Napoli ADR at 4:30. Now Tammie remembers a long long wait at the bus stop, this is fuzzy for me. I do remember waiting a bit in the lobby because someone needed to go back to the room for something. Scissors?? Not sure why that popped into my head, but who knows.

In any case, regardless of waiting for a bus, we were running late for sure! Have I ever mentioned that I hate to be late?? I must have been a bit stressed about it because I have no photos of the process of getting there. We decided to hop a boat to Italy, not only because it would be quicker, but to save our feet! Betsy was already at Via Napoli and in contact with Tammie, so I think I relaxed a bit...and so the camera comes back out!

Look at those expert selfie-takers!

Take note of Amy's cute shirt...BEFORE it had food on it.

Mmmm! Ready to carbload! I don't normally eat pizza, so I was excited. I hadn't been to Via Napoli since 2012 when we went as a family. The other Cupcakes had arrived and we briefly congregated outside while Betsy went to let them know we were all there. We didn't have to wait long and we were escorted in! Where do you put a bunch of pre-race-jittery-women who are ready to stuff their faces? Right smack dab in the middle of the place, that's where!

Tammie continued her DEATH GRIP on the flats.

We all finally got ordered and just enjoyed chatting and talking about whatever Cupcakes talk about the night before a race. I felt a little out of it, apparently there was much talk of cute Italian boys and it was my turn to be TweedleCLUELESS. I was still unawares when Tammie was telling me to look at the camera...

That's a Tweedleconfused look. They were laughing and I didn't get they were attempting to take pics with cute Italian boys. Right over my head! The REAL TweedleClueless was NOT clueless though...

Nor were any of the other Cupcakes!

So I did what I always do, I took more photos!

this one is a ham for the camera! She ALWAYS knows it's there and pointed at her....

It was during dinner that Cammy and I started talking about running together for the half. I had such an amazing time with my Tweedle running the 10K, I started to feel like it wasn't going to be as much fun to run alone the next day for the half, even though that's what I had planned. I ran the majority of my first half alone (until April found me in pain at mile 9 and helped me through to the end) and I realized that the one thing I really felt like I missed out on my first half was the FUN. I was so disappointed that I was in pain and I could see people all around me having fun and just couldn't enjoy myself b/c of the pain I was in.

So, as we chatted over dinner, I realized that I didn't really want to run the half alone this time. Tweedle and I had already talked about how we weren't going to run together. She was in pain and no doubt going to have to do a lot of walking but also doesn't really like to run with someone during long races. I just wanted to PR from the previous year, so we knew it wasn't going to work for the Tweedles. I'm not sure when it hit me, but I realized that Cammy was in my corral and she decided that instead of running with some of the other Cupcakes in their corral that she would stay in Corral G and run with me! I was pretty excited that I was going to have a running buddy!!

More cheeky-Cupcakes...

Dinner was awesome, I know I took a picture of my pizza but for some reason it's nowhere to be found. I gobbled it up in no time and was ready for dessert! I wasn't the only one. Rounds of Zepolies (sp?? no clue) were ordered and Tammie enjoyed her chocolate so much, she had to guzzle it. It's just not a complete Cupcake dinner without drinking some chocolate sauce and then being photobomed by said cute Italian boys you had been giggling about all night!

Why not just attract the attention of ALL the boys, Tammie?!!

Those antics were a perfect way to end the evening! We were all ready to head back to our resorts and get to bed early, we had a wake up call for 2am and a half marathon to run!!

One last photopass before heading back to AKL

I love that picture!

I don't remember what time we got back and laid our things out, but I do remember thinking I wasn't going to get much sleep! I think it was 10pm and we planned to get up at 2am to get ready. I laid out my Alice costume and took my obligatory pre-race costume pic! I ran as Cinderella for my first half (PHM 2014) and decided that this year I wanted to run as Alice. I know she's not a Princess, but she's my favorite and she's the "Princess" of Wonderland. It also went perfectly with the Tweedle theme of the weekend for me. I spent months planning this costume! I had the apron custom made on Etsy and then ironed on the suits. I wore a Sparkleskirt underneath (DUH!) and had my Sparkle Athletic leggins and sparkly visor, which has come to be one of my favorite running accessories. I rarely run without a visor now!

All three alarms were set and I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow! Up next, my PHM 2015 race recap!!!!!!!!!!

 

[KathyM2]

Love the costume!! And what a fun dinner at VP...must be a blast to have so many friends at Disney...

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Love the costume!! And what a fun dinner at VP...must be a blast to have so many friends at Disney...

Thanks!

It was a LOT of fun! I met a few blogger friends the previous year, but had Savannah & her friend with me. This year I had spent a whole year getting to know these women online and it was just me, so I could really just do a girl's weekend. It was so much fun and I can't wait to do it again!

 

[rteetz]

Looks like a really fun dinner. I love via Napoli they sang happy birthday to me in Italian last time. I'm glad you found a running partner. Can't wait to hear about the half.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Karen's Princess Half Recap (Part 1 of many, no doubt!)

It's hard to express how I felt about this race without including how I felt about my FIRST half marathon, the PHM 2014. If you are interested in reading my recaps from last year, you can find them in the table of content in my 2014 trip report, HERE.

Short version of my 2014 first half marathon: I did it but I did it injured and it was painful. If I could change one thing, I would have wished to have FUN and not be in so much pain!

Regardless of the pain I was in, I KNEW, even before the race, that I would be running the 2015 Glass Slipper Challenge! I had purposely signed up for "only" the half in 2014 because it was my first, but fully intended on coming back a year later for the GSC. So, when I got home, I didn't run for about a month and then slowly built myself back up after my knee was better. I spent the WHOLE SUMMER of 2014 running 4 miles, 3x a week. There were times it got monotonous, but I was determined to go into training for my 2nd half STRONG and uninjured this time. So I just plugged away, didn't worry about speed, just 4 miles, M-W-F. When training began in the fall, I felt more ready than ever! I followed Galloway this time (the first time I made my own and OVERtrained) and followed it to the letter. On any runs over 4 miles, I ran 4/1 intervals and shorter runs I would run the whole thing. The only time I deterred from the Galloway plan was when I had to go to Orlando 2 weeks before the race. I did get in a 9 mile run, but my longest run of 12 (or was it 12.5???) was I think 3 or 4 weeks out from the race. I really learned a lot about listening to my body and pushing when I needed to push but pulling back when I needed to pull back. I was pretty excited to get through the whole thing without injury!!

So here we were the night after the 10K, going to bed at 10pm for a 2am wake up and I felt fantastic! We had 3 alarms set but woke up 10 minutes early at 1:50 ready to go!! I can be annoying early in the morning when I'm perky, and my Tweedle seemed a bit upset with me?! I'll let her fill you in on the gorey details, but she was definitely hurting in more than one way that morning. I tried to cheer her up, but I'm not very good at that sort of thing, I usually just end up annoying people, so I just went about my business getting ready.

I got dressed and applied my tattoo! I ordered this (couple bucks) to help me stay on track with my plan to beat my previous PHM pace from 2014. I finished in 2:51 in 2014 and during my long runs in training for 2015, I wrote this on my arm to keep my pace. It looks confusing but really it's just the mile and the time I would like to be UNDER at each of those miles. It helped me speed up or slow down during training and I just wanted to finish in 2:45 this year.

Tweedle took a pic of me all dressed, perky, but still showing my lack of sleep...

Not only could I not make my Tweedle feel better, I had failed miserably at learning to French braid, so I couldn't even do her Elsa hair for her.

I don't remember if we ate, I think I did grab something and I know I had coffee b/c I can't run without it and she ate some bagel and then we were out that door lickety split!

We got to the bus and The Cupcakes were already there! It was an early-bird-Cupcake-bus!! Andreah, Cammy (my running buddy) and the Evil Step-sisters owned that bus!

Note: I know, you are thinking to yourself, WHY get to the bus so very early? (I think it was 2:45, maybe even a bit earlier). Here is why...I would MUCH rather jump on the first bus, get to Epcot with no traffic in record time and then WAIT at the race (while dancing, taking pics, and having fun) than go later when everyone else is going and end up WAITING in a huge line for the bus, then WAITING in traffic and stressing about making it on time and running to the corrals. If you are going to have to wait either way, then why not do it at the race so you don't have to worry about missing anything? It's logic.

We arrived quickly and met up with some of the other Cupcakes before making our way into the stage area. Bananas & boxes were out...

When we arrived at the stage/party area, we saw Gretchen(another Cupcake) up on the big screen! She told us later she had just instagram'd her pic when she arrived and they somehow pulled it and kept showing it with a bunch of other pics while we were waiting for the race!

also as we were walking in, a photographer stopped us and we got a couple pics...(this isn't all of us, not everyone had arrived yet)

We headed over to the side of the stage where we had agreed to meet any other Cupcakes and I think we got in line for pics again. The Step-sisters got in the line for Cinderella. I can't tell you how much I love this part of the race experience. I LOVE the music, seeing everyone's costumes, dancing, taking pictures...it really is so much fun and the time flies!

We were in the short line for the PHM background but the step sisters were in a HUGE line for Cinderella!

I kept waiting for the Cupid Shuffle to come on (it's my favorite!)

It was my turn for a photo op! One of many!

I practiced that curtsy for months, I'll have you know!

My Tweedle (she's always gonna be my Tweedle, even if she's dressed as Elsa and I'm dressed as Alice!) and Megan joined me for the last pic!

We headed back over to the meeting area for all the Cupcakes and naturally took more photos. It's seriously going to take me 10 updates just because of all the pics!

A woman came up to me and asked if I was Karen...she follows me on Instagram! I'm famous! I insisted we take a photo together, naturally.

I made my Tweedle take a pic with me, even though she wasn't feelin' it.

and then griped at her about not being lively enough until she obliged and FAKED IT for me!

Now, if you have a good eye, you will have already noticed that horrific white chord sticking out of my skirt! I edited it out of a few shots, but didn't catch it in these. So this is the chord for my phone, connected to the LARGEST portable phone charger I have ever seen. I bought it on Amazon and it LOOKED small, like the size of a phone, but when it arrived, it's twice the length of my phone and about 10 times heavier. This thing is BULKY, I don't even like to have it in my purse, but I realized the previous day when my phone died that I was either going to have to carry the charger or have my phone die and have no photos. You can clearly see what the logical choice was! This thing was so heavy and bulky, but thank goodness for Sparkleskirt pockets! I ran with it the whole way and you, my dear reader, are now going to benefit b/c I have a bagillion photos because my phone didn't die during the race! you're welcome.

We danced, we were filmed dancing, even, although I didn't noticed until right at the end and I think some of the Cupcakes didn't notice at ALL! Macarana! or however you spell it!

I'm SO not a dancer. I can only do the Cupid Shuffle! WHY wouldn't they play it?!?! More Cupcakes were arriving and almost all of us were there, but the Step-sisters were still in line, so we took bathroom runs and more photos!

seriously, how many photos can I have of myself dressed as Alice? As many as I can get people to take of me! I was hamming it up!

More! More!

My running buddy! She was finally out of the line with the step-sisters!

BEST.PICTURE.EVER.

FINALLY we had all the Cupcakes together and it was nearly time to get to the corrals! We took a group shot and I LOVE it. So many wonderful ladies that I spent the weekend with! I can't wait until Wine & Dine 2016!!

It was time for the long walk to the corrals! I actually don't think the walk is that long? I think it's because I heard about it the first year and prepared myself so then it didn't seem that long. Both times I had someone I was walking and talking with, so the time flew! Off we went...

We all had running buddies, or someone who was in the corral with us, so we split into those groups and off we went to our Corrals! Cammy and I were in Corral G.

A shot of us mid-walk, they had photogaphers along there, which was a bit unusual!

Up next...ever almost knock over a port-a-potty while in it? Uh, yeah, me either?

 

[rteetz]

Loving the recap so far! I was on the first bus for my 10k as well I'd rather be early than late. Great group photos. Excited to hear about the rest of the race.

 

[KathyM2]

Wow...all that pre-race stuff looks like so much fun...despite the fact that it was ridiculously early!! But I guess in Florida they have to start things early or it will be too hot? Who knows...But what fun and I love all the costumes!!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Karen's PHM race recap (Part 2)

I wanted to at least get to the START of the race today!

The corrals split off and we headed towards Corral G. Cammy & I both decided to take one last bathroom stop before the race. I really hate stopping to go potty when running, I rarely ever do, so wanted to make sure I didn't have to. If you have read my recap from 2014, you will remember I had a run-in with the port-a-potties near the corrals when I had to, uh, GO...and there was no toilet paper! Have no fear, this year I was prepared! Well, at least I was prepared with toilet paper in my pocket! Pic of the potty area that I took in 2014:

Now. I would like to direct your attention to these potties, please. Please note this is from 2014 and even though there is a HILL here, the potties look fairly FLAT down there at the bottom of this hill, right? Well that was 2014 baby. I have no idea why I didn't take a picture but in 2015 these things were leaning BACK an insane amount! We got in line and NATURALLY the Cupid Shuffle comes on. You know what had to be done, right? It's just how it goes, people. When the Cupid Shuffle comes on, I have to do it! It doesn't matter if I'm in a huge port-a-potty line. So there I was, dancing the Cupid Shuffle in line. Most everyone was like this...

It was finally my turn and I get in the Porta-potty (I have no clue how to ACTUALLY spell that, I'm just winging it each time) and realize that it's leaning WAY more than I though! I couldn't even actually SIT, I had to just squat a bit while holding my breath because I had visions of the whole damn thing just topping over backwards with ME IN IT in my lovely Alice costume, just minutes before a half marathon!

I made it out unscathed, but seriously, I have no idea how they thought it was ok to have them slanted like that and they didn't notice when they set them up!

Our corral was right ahead, so we made our way to G! We found a nice spot and sad on the 2$ blanket I had brought along in case it was cold. (it wasn't. perfect temps!)

love how they change color!

We watched the big screen while we waited!

It wasn't long before the race started! Off went corral A!

Up, up, up we moved!

And then it was our turn! Cammy & I had stayed back, I learned the previous year that it's actually better to be farther back in the corral because then it's not so crowded once everyone starts! READY?! SET? GOOOOOOOO!!! And we're off!...

Up next...the actual race for recap part 3!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Loving the recap so far! I was on the first bus for my 10k as well I'd rather be early than late. Great group photos. Excited to hear about the rest of the race.

Thanks! I love that we got the group photos, I was so glad the photographers were there. I had already pre-purchased a discount for marathonphoto, so I tried to get as many shots with photographers as possible!

Wow...all that pre-race stuff looks like so much fun...despite the fact that it was ridiculously early!! But I guess in Florida they have to start things early or it will be too hot? Who knows...But what fun and I love all the costumes!!

The early part is for a number of reasons, heat being one of them! They can't keep the roads closed and the race already takes about 4 hours from the last person crossing. I think part of getting there early is just the sheer number of people and it takes that long to get 24,000 people transported to one place and all gathered! I'm an early bird and wake up at 4am on a normal day, so early races aren't a big deal for me. Ask me again how I feel when I do a late race at Wine & Dine 2016 though! THAT I'm scared about! I go to bed at 9pm most nights and that race doesn't even start until 11pm MY TIME!

 

[STLMickeyMom]

Love your night before antics! Looks like a great way to get rid of some jitters!

All the princess costumes are great--the step sisters are cracking me up!

What's up with the tippy port a potties? Those things are bad enough as is--I'd be freaking out about tipping over too!

Fireworks! It's almost time!

 

[SarahDisney]

I love all the cupcake (& Italian boys ... because let's face it, that's the important part) pictures at Via Napoli!

I love the Alice costume ... and I really love the timing tattoo. What a great way to make sure you're staying on track!

All the pre-race area pictures are great! It's nice to hear that you're famous on instagram ... I used to want to be famous on instagram, but then I realized that it's instagram and who cares?

I'm with you on not wanting to stop to go potty while running ... I did it a few weeks ago and it totally messed me up. I keep saying never again ... but I have yet to run for an hour and I drink a lot of water, so I'm sure that'll be changing soon. I'm glad you survived your pre-race potty, even if it was a close call.

I can't wait to read about all the fun you and Cammy had during the race!