Picturing the Princess Half

I know I'm late on this again, but it's better late than never...  I really don't have anything different to say about the Princess Half that I've already said in previous posts so I decided that this time I'd just focus on some of the pictures... Luckily they did change some of the characters you were able to meet...

The Ferrari Italia... My absolute favorite car that you can drive at the Richard Petty Driving Experience.

The castle was absolutely beautiful... I actually don't think I've run through it before when it wasn't completely light outside.

King Mickey... always a pleasure to see him.  Queen Minnie was also out, but needed to break for tea time or something along those lines.

Main street and the hoards of people who came out to support the runners.

Princess Tiana and the gang.

Mulan and Mushu.  

I don't think I've ever seen an opportunity to take a picture with Mary Poppins in this costume so I just had to stop and take advantage of it!

Princess 2013- Training Really Does Matter

My third Princess Half Marathon has officially be completed.  That makes my current track record 1 Marathon, 6 Half Marathons, 1 10 Milers, and 1 5K.  Technically I should probably have more 5k's, but hey, I never liked to do things the normal way.

February has always been my athletically cursed month.  Back when I was a swimmer, there was a meet about this time in February I was never able to compete in.  It was when I was first diagnosed with rotator cuff tendonitis (it was so bad I couldn't move my shoulder) and I was usually sick during that meet.  It seems as though that tradition has turned over into running because I did not feel my best this morning and this race was definitely not one of my better ones.  My time wasn't terrible (2:42), but I was in a lot of pain.

I decided not to stop too much this time as I have already photographically documented this race twice, I just took it easy.  I did get pictures a few times and those will be coming tomorrow probably.

I was hoping to get closer to my personal record during this race, but I could very soon tell that wasn't happening.  As soon as I woke up, I wasn't feeling good.  The first few miles was a mental fight between me and my stomach. Luckily I won, but my stomach didn't go down gently.  Plus it was incredibly hot for so early in the morning and by the first mile or two I had a fine layer of sweat.  The nice thing was that it seemed runDisney also adjusted for the heat and set up more water and medical stops than it seemed they had in the past.  I absolutely loved them for it!

The water and sometimes powerade were welcomed at every stop and I did force myself to stop at a medical station.  It was hard since I just wanted to finish, but my knee and ankle were getting tighter and tighter and I knew without biofreeze, they weren't going to last.  I did walk most of Mile 8, but pulled myself back together after that.  I forced myself to get to certain landmarks (the on ramps, water stations, etc...) and that really did help.

I do blame most of the pain and difficulty of this race on not training properly.  I had only gotten to a single 5 mile run during my training and I probably needed more than that.  Up through mile 5 and 6 I actually felt decent (other than the stomach bug).  Now I do have some time to relax, get through a busy season at work and then figure out my training for Dumbo's Double Dare Challenge.

This weekend I did decide on a few things...
1. I am training a hell of a lot better for Dumbo's.
2. I am going to train to run Goofy's Challenge in 2 years... Goofy's 10th anniversary.

I Am A Princess

My parents might die when they see that title considering I've always been anti-princess.  I'm more of a pirates kind of girl, but while that won't be changing anytime soon... my feelings towards the princesses might be softening.

I recently ran across a video of Disney's new definition of a princess... check it out:

Growing up, I always thought of princesses as the damsel in distress that needed the prince to come save her.  Yes they do all have some redeeming qualities, but I never really saw them standing up too much for themselves.  I mean Belle did, yes, but they were still somewhat at the mercy of everyone else and didn't really have too many ideas for the future.

Recently the princesses have been changing.  Tiana wanted to be a chef and run her own restaurant.  She was head strong and helped save her prince.  Then there was Rapunzel who, while still needed help from her prince, helped him as well.  In my opinion she is right there with Belle, but maybe a little higher considering she did do a lot more fighting and sacrificed a lot more than some magical tears.  Finally, Merida who doesn't even have a prince and gets herself in trouble and out of it.  I like the change in attitude and I've talked to quite a few others; my age, older, and some parents who share my same feelings.  It definitely seems to be a welcome change.

So yes, we are all princesses.  We are all strong and can forge our own paths, but we can always use the help of a prince who stands beside us.  We all have dreams we wish upon a start to come true.  We are all our own knights in shining armor.

Fit For A Princess Expo

Now, I love expos, but this morning's was a tad bit crazy.  I think everyone and their family decided to be at the opening of the expo.  The funny thing was, even though there was a long line, the crowd didn't seem too bad when I actually got inside.  Part of it was probably because the expo and registration pick up were in the same room.  The room was split, but you could easily go between the two.

A lot of people were going straight to the expo and what appeared to be the race merchandise area.  As much as I love all my t-shirts, jackets, cups, pins, and everything else I acquire from the race merchandise area, I decided to avoid it.

That's definitely not saying that I left the area empty handed.  It wouldn't be a running expo if I left empty handed!

Of course Disney makes sure you leave with something just for registering and showing up. In their goody bag was the race shirt (purple this year which was a welcomed change), a pink bag, button, Luna bar, and I got a pin that I purchased with my registration.

As for my mini shopping spree... I bought a pair of Nike capris and 2 more princess shirts. I guess I really am slowly turning into a princess...

...Front...

...Back...

People Say The Nicest Things...

Ever starting my new job, it's been really hard to train for the Princess Half Marathon and keep up with my personal goal of averaging 12 miles a week.  It always feels like my endurance is completely shot and I'm just not in the shape I was at the beginning of the year... which in all honesty I'm probably not.

Still today I was able to hit the road and I had a pretty decent run.  Not my fastest, not my best, but it wasn't my worst either.  It was in the last mile though that I ran into some people I had met last year and they made me feel a lot better about my running.

I had met this couple at a wine dinner at a Walt Disney World restaurant.  They were very nice and we soon found out that we lived in two communities that were side by side.  Now, I had always looked out for them, but had never seen them.  A few months roll by and I stop keeping an eye out.

Then today I see a couple who look oddly familiar and she waves me down.  Sure enough it was the couple from the dinner.  We talked for a bit and as we were leaving the wife tells me "You're running so well, so fast!  You're looking good!"

That was all I needed to hear really.  Personally I know I haven't been running my best or anywhere close to it, but to hear someone compliment me on my running... that makes me feel as though I'm running my best.

That is one of the reasons I always try to thank people, compliment them, or in the least smile.  You never know when something small like that might help change someone's day.  Today it certainly helped my running.

Moving Up in Corrals!

The Princess Half Marathon is in just a few weeks so all of the last details are coming out... including the corral assignments.  Now, other than the marathon and 10 miler I've always been in Corral C.  For those other two races I was in G and B respectively.  Well, that's apparently all changing right now.

For the 5th Anniversary Princess Half Marathon, I will be moving on up to Corral B!  I am actually pretty excited about this because I was never really expecting it.  I got into running to stay in shape when I retired from swimming.  Swimming and triathlons were my competitive sports, I was never and still never think of running as something I'm going to get into competitively.  So that fact I moved up in a corral, shows that my training is starting to come through!

Now the hardest part will be living up to that.  Guess I have to work harder at getting back into my running stride and endurance before the Princess to keep up with this B corral.

Double Workout!

Growing up a competitive swimmer, doing double practices was something you started doing pretty early on.  One practice before the sun broke the horizon and one where you watched the sun set.  I really haven't done too many double workouts since graduating college (the biggest one was the Wine & Dine Half that I made into a 20 miler), but today I made myself do one.

I had told myself that I was going to run at least 5 miles this morning.  In all actuality, my first mile felt pretty good and I thought it wasn't going to be bad.  Well, then the Mike's Hard Lemonades, chips, and other Super Bowl goodies my roommate and I partook in caught up with me and didn't let me get that much farther.  So yes, I stopped at 2.5 miles.

But I had told myself 5 miles today... and I wasn't going to let myself get by with half of that.  So I rested, hydrated, and got ready to head back out this afternoon.  I actually ran another 3.05 miles this afternoon, giving me a totally of 5.55 miles! So technically I did less, but more... ya I just like to be weird like that.

Double Dared by Dumbo

It's been a few weeks since this actually happened, but there was the whole marathon thingy going on and a new job.  Luckily now I have some time where I get to share some exciting news.

Right before the marathon I was able to pre-register for the Dumbo's Double Dare Challenge during the Disneyland Half Marathon weekend.  It ended up being a good thing considering the challenge and the rest of the weekend sold out within hours of opening.

If you haven't already heard, the Dumbo's Double Dare Challenge is the new 10k race on Saturday followed by the half marathon on Sunday.  Pretty much, it's Disneyland's version of the Goofy Challenge.

Considering 6-7 miles is a pretty average long run for me during training, I'm not too worried about putting these two runs back to back.  Heck, I'm not even scared of the Princess Half which is getting closer and closer.  I'm already gaining the mileage back on a pretty steady basis, which will be good considering I have to average 12 miles a week this year and I'm behind somewhere between 3-5 miles already.

Dumbo might not be one of my favorite characters, but I'm excited to take on his challenge!