What You Need To Know About runDisney's Wine and Dine Half Marathon

HIIIII! Hi, Hi! Hi!

I have missed you all so so much! I am thinking that finally having another runDisney race coming up as well as this fabulous BLOG HOP that it'll get me back into the swing of blogging. I have missed recapping races, MegLovin' Monday and Tastebud Tuesday!

SO! I am going to tell you all about my absolute FAVORITE runDisney Race. The Wine and Dine Half Marathon!

Three Parks. One Night. Wine. Dine. Bling.

One tip I'd like to give you is to make sure you nap before the race. Whether you run the Jingle Jungle 5k like me and nap after or you sleep in, do it. You'll thank yourself.

Make sure your bag check bags are packed before you nap and that you lay out your outfit before you close your eyes. It'll keep you incredibly relaxed and ready for your night race.

Sammy and I planned on getting to ESPN's Wide World of Sports early and brought our pre-race snacks with us. When we arrived we were maybe one of the first 200 there, which is like hitting the jackpot when we noticed that Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Chip and Dale were there for photo ops! We blew through Mickey, Goofy and Minnie. By the time we got in line for Chip and Dale the lines were out of control. However, getting there so early meant we still had time to wait in this last line.

Chef Mickey

Goofy was next!

And OF COURSE Minnie!

Chip and Dale! How cute are these two!?

The wait is what bothers people sometimes but I didn't feel the same anxious jitters I normally have for a morning race. I was pumped, ready to go, rested and relaxed.

It might sound silly but I love all the little touches runDisney adds. Like the way to find your corral.

Sammy and I were in Corral H. We didn't end up spending too much time in the corrals from what I remember. I felt like we were ready to go within a great time frame.

As the corrals were sent off with fireworks I became incredibly excited!

AND WE'RE OFF!

The first two miles went by very fast. I loved that each mile was themed. These miles are on the high way from ESPN's WWOS to Animal Kingdom.

Mile 2

The first characters we saw almost stopped us in our tracks. The dancing hippo and ostrich from Fantasia...WHAAAAAAAT! Both of our mouths must have dropped at the same time. There was no way we were missing this photo op.

Mile 3 came and went.

 We finally made our way into the Animal Kingdom, what a gorgeous tree!

They had these awesome lights on either side of the runners while entering Animal Kingdom too.

We saw Timon and stopped to take in the Hakuna Matata vibe he was putting out. We also attempted to use the bathroom in Asia because lets face it, port-o-potties are gross. I didn't think about what kind of an issue my tutu would become but lets be honest for a minute. I think I ended up with it in my mouth from holding it up. Too much info? Sorry. #TutuStruggles

Mile 4 down! Going through Asia.

 Gorgeous lights. I love Asia. Sorry it's a little blurry, action shot. I believe there is a chance that Baloo or King Louie were available for photos but since we had gotten them during the JJ5k we passed by them during the half.

As we were heading out of the Animal Kingdom (where the start and finish for the Jingle Jungle 5k was) we noticed a huge ship. This line probably killed our time but you wanna know what, Sammy being my best friend knew how much it would mean to me to take my picture with Jack Sparrow. I love her for this.

Mile 5! (Still in the AK parking lot)

Mile 6 - Almost half way done! 

Mile 7! Back out on the highway, headed towards MGM. 

*Heads up, in between miles 7 and 8 you run an exit/entrance ramp, it is slanted up to the right, Take it easy on your ankles and knees*

Mile 8! Fuel Time

Mile 9 is where I got really excited! We were on our way into MGM!

I love the Hollywood Tower Hotel at night <3

This is a great spot to stop and use the bathroom. The parks always have cleaner ones and if you are the person not using the bathroom its a great time to stretch.

I had to take a shot back down the street.

After you pass Mickey's Sorcerrers Hat you head towards Pixar Place and you'll find some good friends there too! The lighting around our two buddies here was awful though. It made everything so blurry.

It has been many many years since I have taken the Backlot Tour and unfortunately I did hear they were closing it for good but I am pretty sure we had our course come through the same areas the tour takes you. This tunnel was an absolute blast! Disco themed with fog lights. It was a huge energy boost.

Mile 10 came around very fast and the excitement began to build for the big event of the race....the part everyone raves about....the part you dream about... On the other side of the sign was Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope. We were ready to be done so we pushed on.

 Then. The best part of the entire course. THE OSBOURNE FAMILY SPECTACLE OF LIGHTS! I will continue to run this race as long as they keep this as part of the course.

I didn't want it to end. I almost forgot for a second, just a second, we were running. I wanted to stop and take it all in, but we still had 2 miles to go. 

After you exit MGM you run along the Boardwalk and then cross over to the Yacht and Beach club. It was amazing. It was a little tight in spaces but it was so fabulous to see spectators with signs and people cheering. I even saw Pam and Christine (We Run Disney) as they were heading back to their rooms. I love this area of Walt Disney World Property the most of any place.

As we rounded the corner past the International Gateway they had adorable Mickey shaped lights. 

When we finally saw the finish line in front of us I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. So I just lifted my arms in victory! Another runDisney race completed. 

*HEADS UP* I don't care if you're 6, 26, 56 or 96. You are never prepared to see nakedness after giving your all in a race....or well ever. They didn't say that this changing area was a free-for-all. I like my space and a place to sit when I change after running 13.1 miles but instead...boobs and more galore. We changed quickly and headed towards EPCOT and the after party.

I was very disappointed that the 'free adult beverage' they were handing out was down to the end of the beer stash as I was hoping for some free wine. Maybe with an earlier corral this year I'll get one!

Once you are changed, or well ready to party, be prepared to have your bag checked again as you enter the park. These lines were longer than some of the character lines. But getting your finishers shot in front of Spaceship Earth is worth it.

Hope you are having a blast along the blog hop! See you real soon!

Savin Rock Half Marathon Race Recap

When looking to actually make 14 half marathons in 2014 possible I started looking around the state. I wish someone would just put them all on one website and make my life easier...but anyway, I found the Savin Rock Half Marathon in West Haven. It's only about 60 minutes from where I live so I registered very early and pretty much forgot about it...

I set my alarm fro 5.15am knowing I would forget something and need extra time to scramble for it. I don't know about you but I'm not really good at preparing for local races. I don't lay my clothes out the night before, and make sure everything is in one place? pfft, don't make me laugh... So I grabbed my Running Princess Glass Slipper shirt off the couch in the living room, grabbed my New Balance leggings from the basement couch, Miguels Nike long sleeve from the dryer, whoops left my socks on the floor on the side of my bed...sneakers? Shit. Where are my sneakers? Oh, hmm on Miguel's side of the bed, weird... runDisney Princess 2013 jacket, on the chair in the bedroom, Gu/Powerade Gel in the kitchen, rain jacket in my closet...back upstairs. Back downstairs into the kitchen to grab my powerade from the fridge...

(Ignore the hot mess that is our room...)

Are you as exhausted as I am!? I really need to start runDisney preparing my races around here.

The drive was actually pretty quick. Packet pick up, start and finish line were all at the Savin Rock Conference Center. I don't know why I didn't realize it but we were RIGHT ON THE OCEAN. How gorgeous is this view!

Bib numbers had been emailed on Friday which was another first for me, for a local race. It looked like a large number of people were running the half. I went and told the volunteers my bib number and was given my shirt. I was a little more than a little disappointed that they were not tech shirts. Okay, IF you are doing men's and women's sizing, tech material is the only reason to have separate the two. Anyway...it's a cute shirt.

I spent about an hour in my car trying to warm up. I don't know why I felt so cold but my teeth were actually chattering uncontrollably just walking from the car to the conference center and back to the car. I had a really close spot too. I relaxed, listened to music to get myself into the zone and people watched. About 7:40, 20 minutes before the start I thought I'd pee just to be safe, I didn't know how the course would be set up and if there would be port-o-potties but I knew I really didn't want to stop unless I had to.

The line for the outside port-o-potties was dumb, like almost 30 people deep. There was no way I'd make it. I remembered seeing a bathroom inside. There were only 15 women in front of me there. I thought that seemed safer....NOPE. This is where I am slightly unfriendly at races. Unless you are disappearing to Narnia in the bathroom there is no reason to take 3 minutes to go. If you need more, maybe running today is not your best health choice. Luckily there were 2 ladies in front of me running the 5k which started about 15 minutes after the half. They let me go in front of them and I made it to the start line at 7:59. We didn't start on time so I had the opportunity to snap this photo. <3

Start Line.

I didn't know what the Shoreline Sharks Race Series was at the time, but I'm so in now.

I positioned myself in the middle of the pack. I was hoping I'd be able to find someone to keep a pace with. Well, let me tell you, these are some FAST runners. I ended up trying to stick a woman in a Shoreline Sharks long sleeve shirt on, it had an IronMan logo on the back. She had a GREAT pace and here stride seemed effortless. The first 4 miles were along the ocean. It honestly felt like we were moving like molasses. I kept thinking mile 3 was coming up...nope that's mile 2...At mile 4 we took a right up a hill. IronWoman, we shall call her, powered up the hill, I tried to remain close but could not keep the arms reach pace I had before. I stayed about a house or so behind for the next two miles until...oh wait...what's that... ANOTHER HILL. I tried to catch up while she was walking but nope.

At mile 6.2 I sent a photo to Miguel, Kristy and my parents with a very vivid expression of how I was feeling about the hills...

This is Mt. Everest. This is the hill that killed me. I tried my best to go to a run/walk/run method. I had only run prior to this point. I would run from cone to cone and then walk from cone to cone. It didn't feel good but helped a little. The downhill on the other side was pretty steep and covered in gravel...not cool.

Miles 8-13 Were tough, there was one, maybe two more hills thrown in the mix and once you hit 10.5, the last water stop it was all flat from there. The whole race I had kept my Nike SportWatch on pace to keep myself under a 13 mm. I glanced at the distance a couple of times but mostly was concerned about pace. Right before the last water stop at Mile 10.5 I glanced at the elapsed time. I had less than 3 miles left and I had been running for 2:04!! I knew with a little bit of perseverance I could PR.

That's when I passed by a cop directing traffic. He held his hand out like he wanted a high five, so being on the high I was...yup....I high-fived him. He looked confused at me and I kept running hahaha. Sorry Officer!

Then Mile 11....I hit the wall. Every part of my body hurt and I felt exhausted. Although we were running by the ocean again I could only muster to enough energy to go back to my run to cone, walk to cone method. I think one of the worst parts of running towards you goal is you know it's there, but it seems SO FAR away. I think it mentally messed with me. It wasn't until the end of Mile 12 when I saw this.

I knew I owed it to everyone in the Armed Forces. What I was doing although painful, paled in comparison to what they had and are going through. Touche, Savin Rock, touche...

 A quarter of a mile later I crossed the finish line to have my name called and glanced at the time clock. 2:41...2:41...2.41! I did it!

I PR'd. I took 9 minutes off my ING Hartford Half Marathon time which had previously been my best time to date.

(Sadly this is probably my best race photo to date, and it's a forced smile haha)

I took my photo with the ocean to my back, how awesome is this medal! It's a RUNNING SHARK! As much as Disney races mean to me it's hard to put this race on that same level...this medal probably means the most to me out of all of them so far...

Not only did I lose my job at the beginning of the month, but for the first time in my life (well since I was 14) my future was up in the air... What would I do? Where do I go? How do I handle this? 

For the first time in a long time, I can truly say I am happy. I cannot remember feeling this amazingly calm and happy. It's hard to describe. I'm not stressed. I'm not angry. I'm not feeling negative. I feel like myself, the person I'm supposed to be. I had a lot of time to think during this course and I know my life is finally on the right path, even if I don't know where it goes, I know I'm happy.

I have the most amazing support team...that's all of YOU out there. Those who are constantly rooting for me, cheering me on, just showing me love. I'm eternally grateful and can only hope to return the favor for all of you.

Thank you.