Walt Disney World Half Marathon

All the sudden I was entering day 3 of the Dopey Challenge, the half marathon. I remember feeling super tired. (I also remember almost falling asleep standing in the corrals.) Nate got up early with me and came to the start. He was going to head to Magic Kingdom and then back to the finish to see me.

Half Marathon Route

After hanging around for a little while I headed over to the corrals. I was in corral L for the half and the marathon. All I can remember is closing my eyes and knowing that I wanted to sleep. I knew that I couldn't though. My game plan for the half was to take it easy and walk a lot of the course. I was also feeling a little sick. (Did I mention I was sick the night before? Yeah…awesome.) Soon we were at the start line and off we went.

Starting line!

We headed out of the parking lot towards Magic Kingdom. I think running through the parking gate towards Magic Kingdom is one of my favorite parts. We've all driven through the gates that say Magic Kingdom on top and this would be the first of two days that I would be running (or walking) through them. After you pass through these gates you head towards the Ticket and Transportation Center (TTC) and the Contemporary. Nate was at the TTC to see me which was great. It was a nice pick me up. After the TTC, you have to go under a water bridge which is pretty cool. They always have a DJ with huge Mickey gloves on to get you up (as one runner called it over the weekend) "Disney's Heartbreak Hill". (I've run Heartbreak Hill, this is nothing.)

One of the best parts of this course is coming in a side entrance to Magic Kingdom onto Main Street. The street is lined with spectators and this is your first glimpse of Cinderella's Castle. The castle is lit up, but it depends on when you get to Magic Kingdom if you see it lit up in the dark or in the light. Today was light when I arrived. Nate had said that he was by the Christmas tree, but I hadn't seen him. So he headed towards the castle to see me.

On the way to Tomorrowland!

From Main Street you head into Tomorrowland before heading back towards the castle. I had seen Buzz Lightyear in Tomorrowland and the Queen of Hearts by the Teacups. I wasn't stopping for any pictures today so I kept on trucking by. Soon we came up on the back part of the castle. Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff were out there with fake snow again saying hi to everyone.

They're trying to take over Cindy's castle!

Running through the castle is usually the coolest part of the route. Today I hated it. All the sudden everyone just stopped inside. They were taking pictures inside of the castle which I didn't expect until I almost stepped on a photographer. I didn't get to run out of the castle and get a fun photo like I have before because everyone was walking. They were taking photos in front of the castle as well, but I didn't head over there. I did see Nate and gave him my jacket now that I was warming up. I kept going and headed over to Liberty Square and towards Adventureland before heading out of the park. 

Now we were on our way back to Epcot.

Epcot this way!

We were half way through the half marathon. I was almost done with day 3 of the challenge. Whoa! I had read on a Facebook group that there was someone dressed as Richard Simmons doing the Dopey Challenge. I didn't really believe it until I saw him on the starting screen while waiting for the start. I ended up texting Carrick about it. (We send each other Richard Simmons memes for motivation.) All the sudden I heard something. I turned to my right. There he was! I laughed and it helped me move more! He was great. I wish I ran with him more! 

Soon we were back in Epcot and almost done! Nate was at the finish line waiting for me and I was thrilled to be done. I grabbed some ice on the way out and headed to the reunion area. I was done with day 3.

Courtesy of Marathonfoto

5k: 47:34

10k: 1:37:49

15k: 2:19:53

Finish: 3:13:32

Clock Time: 3:54:16

Place: 16,683/22,081

Division: 1,230/1,697 (W 25-29)

Gender: 8,605/12,379 (Women)

Only the toughest pose with ice!

We met with my family later that day for lunch and hung out at Magic Kingdom for a little bit. Nate and I headed back to our hotel early. I was ready for bed and head to get up one last time super early. 

Drinking Water is a Must!

A couple weeks ago a girl who I went to high school with invited me to an event she is hosting. The event is help everyone in the event drink more water. I have been slacking on the water intake lately and was back to drinking soda regularly. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to get me back on drinking more water.

The challenge will last for 4 weeks starting January 1st. The ultimate goal? To drink 1 liter of water a day.

My friend Carrick gave me a new Bobble water bottle for Christmas. I was super pumped after the last 2 that I had got thrown out. This water bottle has a filter. I love this because I can just go into the bathroom at work and use the sink to fill the bottle instead of having to find time to run to a store to buy a bottle of water.

You just need to buy a new filter after 2 months/40 gallons of use. I have 2 filters from my previous bottle so I am ready to filter for half of the year! 

Back to the challenge!

The few days before the January 1st we were told to figure out what our daily average water intake was. Once we got our average intake we were to subtract that from 128 oz (or 1 liter) and divide that number by 4. Once we got that final number we are to drink that much more each week to reach the final week of 1 liter a day. 

Here's what my break out for the next 4 weeks looks like:

Week 1: 92 ounces

Week 2: 104 ounces

Week 3: 116 ounces

Week 4: 128 ounces

I know that the next week in Disney will be slightly more difficult to keep up on my water. (I promise I will nix the soda when I get back!) Water is really important for runners, especially when they are doing the Dopey Challenge! 

I hope that I can report back that I have done a good job of keeping up with my water intake. I'll be honest about how much water I have taken in each day and at the end of the week will report of this little blog. 

A Challenge and an Update!

Let me start with a recap of my week, then we'll get into my runs today.

Monday: 4 mile run, 20 min yoga

Tuesday: 15 min legs with 3 lb weights, 1 hour yoga

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: 4.13 miles

Friday: 15 min of core, .5 mile walk, dancing 

Saturday: Rest

Sunday: 17.2 mile run

On Friday night I went to into Boston to see Katy Perry. This is my 3rd time seeing her, so I was obviously excited to see her again. There have been lots of reviews for the Prismatic Tour and I haven't seen one bad word about the show. She plays her hits and some stuff off the new album. There were different sections of the show, each with their own theme. You couldn't get bored watching it with so many set and costume changes. I think the Cat-oure section was my favorite. If you know Katy Perry, you know she loves cats and always incorporates them into her show.

The Hyper Neon section was great too. It had a 90s vibe and she wore a green wig. This is when she played her single "Birthday" and balloons fell all over the audience. They chose a fan from the audience to go up on stage if their birthday was in the month that the show was. 

Fan brought up for "Birthday".

She got carried by balloons as well.  

She ended with "Firework" which is always amazing to see. And yes, there were fireworks.

Today I got up early and drove up to Rockport, MA for the Triple Threat Challenge. At 9 am I started with 1 mile run. I was back for about 10 minutes before the 5k started at 9:20. I had 15 minutes before the start of the half at 10:15. This left me with no time to use the bathroom (the lines were a little long with such a short time in between runs). My right knee started giving me a little issue during the 5k so I used some BioFreeze on it while I waited for the start of the half. My legs were definitely feeling it at this point. I hadn't trained for this long of a run as of now so I knew it wasn't going to be perfect. The course had hills, which I was expecting. Just after the turn around point in Gloucester, there was a hill from hell. I swear it was so steep I was angry. At one point during the run I had to tell myself to stop being so hard on myself and just do my best. I was just tired and in pain. Luckily I pulled myself out of it. It was hard for me to find a good interval to run at, so I had to keep changing the pace. I was actually surprised with my finish time for the half. Here's the results:

1 Mile: 9:47

5k: 34:56

Half: 2:45:36

Total: 3:28:04

The race was really good. I enjoyed the views along the way. 

 The volunteers along the course were wonderful. Everyone was happy and cheered us along. We may have not had as much support from spectators, but there were a lot of people who came out from their homes to cheer us on which was nice. Considering I was there all day I did notice that before I finished that the sponsors were already packed up and leaving. This was kind of disappointing that people in the back of the pack didn't receive all the same things that the faster runners did. The course was still open for a least 30 more minutes if not more when I finished. There has been a lot of people speaking out about how slower runners miss out on things. This was the first time that I have personally experienced it.






CJ goes in to get surgery on his ear again tomorrow. As of today I've raised $1,235 for Children's Hospital. All money raised goes directly to the hospital to help kids like CJ. If you would like to donate you can do so here.

Runner's World Heartbreak HIll Half & Festival

This past weekend I participated in the Heartbreak Hill Half & Festival as a Hat Trick participant. This meant that I was running a 5k and a 10k on Saturday then a half on Sunday. I was worried about how I would hold up doing back to back races, but I knew I could only do my best. This weekend was hot too.

On Friday I went to pick up my bib for the weekend. It was not super crowded which made for a quick and easy pickup process. While I was there I also signed up for the Zooma Half in Cape Cod. I've been going back and forth with it for a little while so I decided why not sign up now! It will be good training for my marathons too so it works.

On Saturday my friend Carrick picked me up and off we went into Boston. He's amazing for getting up super early on his day off to hang out in the heat while I run. We met up with my friend Kevin there, wished each other luck, then we were off. I knew I didn't want to push the 5k and was on track for a PR. By mile 2 I was feeling the heat. I pushed through and finished. I got back to my friends, ate a little bit, and was back in the corral for the 10k pretty quickly.

Kev & I before heading to the 10k.

The 10k went down Heartbreak Hill, then back up it. I can't imagine doing that at mile 20! I did get to see Shalane Flanagan on the opposite side of the street. She was shouting how good we were all doing and smiles the entire time. My knee started hurting about half way through. (This is seeming more common and more irritating every time.) I knew I needed ice at the finish. I saw Carrick right outside of BC before the finish. I sprinted to the finish. My friend Kevin couldn't believe that was me. My justification was I needed ice and that made it go by faster.










After the 10k Carrick and I hung around to watch people gather for the dog run then I went to a seminar. It was good to hear from different women about running.

After the seminar I went back to the Expo to meet Shalane Flanagan. She was autographing cards or whatever you brought with you. It was nice to just be able to say hi and be in the company of greatness.

Dream!

We left BC and grabbed some lunch. Next thing I knew I was in bed and resting for the next morning. The alarm went off too early the next morning. I got up gathered my stuff and left for BC for the half. My lovely boyfriend got up super early and drove after working late the night before. It was more crowded than the the previous day. I got really nervous before running. Sometimes I'm not nervous at all (i.e. Saturday) and other times I want to be sick over my nerves (i.e. Sunday). Luckily the nerves wore off quickly. I wasn't sure how my knee would be, but luckily it didn't. I got to see Shalane again running on the second half of the course (while I was still on the first half). She was shouting over to us again. The heat was rough and I was really feeling it by the end. There was a guy spraying us with his hose which we all loved. Actually one runner told him she loved him for it. We all needed that. All the volunteers were awesome along the course. I somehow missed the mile 11 marker (this happens a lot to me. I'm not sure why.) I knew mile 12 was Heartbreak Hill. If you look at my splits you can tell I just crumbled from the heat. I was getting texts of encouragement and I knew I needed to pick up the pace. I got over the finish line with Bart Yasso yelling my name. 

I've run a lot. I need water!

I did a lot better than I thought I would do. My body felt a lot better than I thought. I felt good the next day even! 

Hat Trick Finisher.

I can't imagine ending my 26th year any other way. I would definitely put myself through this again. Hopefully I will next year!