It’s Time to RUN Princesses!

Forget the glass slipper and lace up your running shoes fellow princesses, because the Run Disney Princess Half Weekend is ALMOST here! With the Frozen 5K kicking things off Friday, many princesses are already at the House of Mouse or making their way down shortly!

This running princess leaves TOMORROW! I couldn’t be more thrilled to get away from the snowy cold of West Virginia and to the sunshine state! Yes, Florida residents I get that this is your winter and that it is a bit colder than usual there, but I will gladly accept temperatures in the 50s and 60s right now! I’m looking forward to a girls’ trip runcation. Even though this is a quick Disney trip, it will be nice to get away for a few days with the BRFs and enjoy time in my favorite place with some of my favorite people!

Princess activities kick off Thursday with the race expo at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports. I can’t wait to see what the official race shirts look like this year. We’ve already been given a sneak peak at all the beautiful bling! The Enchanted 10K medal, like last year, is still my favorite. Run Disney also shared a few pictures on their Facebook page of some of the official race merchandise. I am so excited to see everything there as well as explore the other vendor booths. The Princess races start Friday with the Frozen 5K, followed by the Enchanted 10K Saturday and the Princess Half Sunday. Did I mention how excited I am for this weekend?!

Last year I completed the Glass Slipper Challenge, which involves running the Princess Enchanted 10K Saturday followed by the Princess Half Sunday. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you already know that my race plans are different this year. I’m still doing two races, but not the Glass Slipper Challenge. As an effort to save money and change it up a bit, I am doing my first ever Disney Princess 5K on Friday. I will then get my princess on for the Enchanted 10K Saturday! I am a run all the races EVENTUALLY Run Disney fan, so this plan works for me this year. I will miss doing the Glass Slipper Challenge and am not ruling it out for future races, but for 2015 this is the right race plan for me (and my wallet thanks me).

Of course the year I chose to do the 5K it ended up being Frozen themed. So just take a minute to imagine the hysteria that involved signing up for this race. Regular Run Disney fanatics know the sign-up process for Princess Weekend is crazy as is! Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Frozen mania is still alive and well, so of course the Frozen 5K sold out quickly! It will be a jam-packed race and I can’t wait to have fun with my BRFs and thousands of my “closest” Disney friends! Unless the husband comes with me, I typically run the actual Run Disney races solo. However, since the 5Ks at Disney are even more fun (if that’s even possible) than the longer races, the BRFs and I plan to do this one together. We are looking forward to hopefully achieving some PRs in FUN Friday! As for our race costumes, check out the picture for a clear-cut hint of what you might see!

 Saturday, I will take on the Princess Enchanted 10K for the second year in a row! I am SUPER excited for this race. I LOVED the Enchanted 10K last year and my only regret was feeling like I had to hold back and not being able to fully soak in the experience knowing that I still had to run 13.1 miles the next day. Well, this year I will not have that worry and I look forward to hopefully crossing that magical finish line anxiety-free! While the first few miles of the 10K are the typical Disney highway/parking lot tour, the last half of the race is awesome! In fact, it’s one of my favorite Run Disney courses! The Enchanted 10K takes you through the World Showcase as well as the Disney Boardwalk area, which is my favorite part of running at Disney. There were several character photo opportunities last year as well, including baseball Goofy, who I hope to see again! Hopefully we also get another Elsa surprise during the first few miles of the race this year too! As for our race costumes, let’s just say that we plan to SEIZE THE 10K!

I will be staying at Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside, so if you recognize me say hi! I’d love to meet my fellow running princesses! I met some of you out on the race courses last year and that was a blast, so maybe we will “run into” each other again this year! Follow me on Twitter @lilrunner and/or on Instagram @lilrunner1485 for my Princess Weekend updates! Official Run Disney hashtags for the weekend are: #Princess5K, #Princess10K, #PrincessHalf, and #GlassSlipperChallenge!

Good luck to all the runners in whatever races you choose to do this weekend. Let’s all have fun over those magical miles and make some pixie-dust filled memories together! See Ya Real Soon, Mickey!

Cross-Training: Friend, Foe or Frenemy?

Running is a great full body workout. It obviously is a wonderful source of cardio. Running also works the legs and arms as well as your core. However, to really reach your fitness potential running on its own isn’t exactly the answer. This is where CROSS-TRAINING comes into play.

It’s no secret I am not a fan of lifting weights and would rather go out and run for hours instead of doing a strength training session. That being said, I also know the benefits cross-training can do for not only my running, but also my overall strength and fitness. Cross-training can be my foe, my friend, but usually hangs right around frenemy status for me.

As a competitive cross country runner in both high school and college, I generally did regular cross-training exercises to coincide with my running. I never much cared for it back then either. With so much of my focus on being a competitive athlete as well as no full-time job and other fun adult responsibilities, it was easy to keep my cross-training consistent. Even though I didn’t enjoy it. As I retired from my competitive status into being a runner who runs to stay fit and for “me,” my consistent cross-training regimen really went down the toilet. That’s not to say I didn’t partake in cross-training or strength programs. I did P90X as well as the 30 Day Shred and other core exercise plans. Once I finished P90X I didn’t really keep up with strength training on a regular basis. I also completed the 30 Day Shred, as in doing it the full 30 days, but when it was all said and done I again shifted my focus back to primarily running. I got on a yoga kick for a while. Every now and then I’d start to cross-train again, but it definitely wasn’t a set in stone regimen.

As a creature of organized routine and habit, it’s funny that my cross-training efforts over the past few years lacked consistency. With devoting time and effort to training for longer races as well as working a full-time job and maintaining a family/social life, I honestly found it difficult to work cross-training into my schedule. It was this annoying thing I knew I needed to do, but couldn’t seem to regularly keep up with. This really is just an EXCUSE. Yes, it’s true that it’s hard to fit it in. It’s hard to fit in runs too, but I still manage to because I enjoy it (well most days LOL). What I finally came to realize is that I was expecting too much to soon. I don’t have to do a full program all at once to get in cross-training benefits. Doing so usually bores me and makes me very unmotivated. I don’t have to spend hours lifting either. I don’t have to do it every single day. I just needed to make it part of my routine somehow, someway.

As 2015 rolled in, I came up with some goals to start off the New Year. I am not a New Year’s resolution person, as I choose to focus on goals whenever I want instead. Throughout the year I am constantly adding new goals to motivate myself. However, it just so happens that each new year represents a fresh start, so that’s always a good time to set some new goals. Call it a resolution if you want, the only thing that matters is striving for something and working to accomplish it. Among several things, one of my 2015 goals is to make my good ole frenemy cross-training a priority again. I want to keep up with it on a consistent basis.

Well we are now about a month and a half into 2015 so how am I doing you ask?! As an active person who loves cardio by nature, I’ve found that the circuit training method of cross-training is the most effective for me personally. It also saves time! This really helps me to balance my busy bee life! Depending on the strength/core set I choose, I usually get a solid workout in within 30 to 40 minutes compared to hours and hours. Of course, this means it’s a harder workout overall as there aren’t really any breaks, but that’s what works for ME. I prefer to go all out and get it done, even if means copious amounts of sweat and not much time to catch my breath. Again, I must stress everyone is different and everyone responds to exercise differently. If you are the type that would rather get in two hours at the gym of strength/core training, that’s great. Do what works for YOU!

I do ALL my cross-training workouts at home as well, which again I’ve found to be more effective for ME personally. I’ve never much enjoyed the gym as I find it rather dull. If you are a gym rat that’s awesome for you and I encourage you to keep going! Working out at home also helps me keep up with cross-training because it’s convenient. I’ve been primarily using Jillian Michaels DVDs since she places emphasis on the circuit training method, which I actually enjoy and sometimes even causes cross-training to be bumped from frenemy to friend for me! I rotate 30 Day Shred workouts quite often. The 30 Day Shred workouts utilize the circuit training mix of strength, cardio and abs. There are zero breaks in all three levels of this DVD. Jillian also combines strength/core moves to work multiple body parts, which helps increase calorie burn. For example, instead of doing just bicep curls, which I find redundant and boring, you do them while doing lunges as well! It’s TOUGH but gets the job done!
I haven’t mixed in a whole lot of yoga yet, but plan to increase that since cross-training also requires stretching to be another priority!

I am very proud that I’ve kept up with my cross-training so far. I really hope to stick to this goal as I can already see changes in my strength as well as running! For one, I am much stronger than before. My push-up ability was downright sad before I started cross-training. Push-up are still hard for me but I can now do so much more! My running has been getting faster as of late and I know that’s a direct result of the cross-training. One of my other goals is to focus on some speedier runs instead of just endurance based running. It’s nice to see that these two goals are working together! The foe other than not being my favorite thing with cross-training is I've found that my shins are much sorer than usual. This could be because I prefer more circuit based workouts that involve a lot of jumping. However, as a whole the benefits of that type of workout outweighs the negative, so for now I plan to stick with it!

Cross-training continues to alternate from foe to friend to frenemy status with me, but the benefits make it worth my time. Fellow runners how do you feel about cross-training? What are some things you do in addition to running? Do you have any 2015 goals? Let me know in the comments below!

Race Recap: Tower of Terror 10-Miler

Finally! Let’s get down to business to defeat the huns… Instead, let’s talk the 2014 Run Disney Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10-Miler. Without delaying this any further, here is my long overdue race recap! This was such a FUN race and experience for me, so I am very excited to share it with all of you!

We arrived in the sunshine state and immediately hopped aboard the Magic Express to head to our hotel, Disney’s Pop Century Resort. Despite arriving earlier than check-in time, our room was ready. Josh and Cailyn, our Tower of Terror 10-Miler Team Villains counterparts and vacation companions, were already there. Cailyn, who by the way ran the race on a BROKEN TOE, convinced the hotel staff to not only move her and Josh’s room closer to the main lobby but ours as well. Seriously she is both awesome for her persuasive skills and oh yeah, completing a 10-mile race with a BROKEN TOE. Beast mode.

Off to the expo we then went to pick up our race packets. Run Disney usually does a great job designing cute race bibs (although the 2014 Glass Slipper Challenge ones did nothing to impress me), and I must say that I LOVED the 10-miler race bib! Our race tech t-shirts were really cute as well. While grey isn’t always my favorite race t-shirt color, it’s much better than the typical white. Race expos are a runner’s paradise, especially the Run Disney ones, which are always on point with merchandise and display booths. We spent some time shopping around a bit and I purchased some of the official Run Disney gear as well as some new Sweaty Bands headbands. A lot of the Run Disney official merchandise was Maleficent themed, which made me really happy since my race costume was Maleficent! It's as if they knew I'd be dressed like her (and probably hundreds of others lol).

"The Four Seasons" at MNSSHP!!!

After the expo and a quick nap, we dressed as The Four Seasons, as in the actual seasons not the musical group, and headed to the Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party! Gotta love great puns and DIY costumes! We tried to not stay on our feet the entire time since we were racing the next day, but sometimes you just can't stop the Disney magic!

Race day arrived and thanks to the beauty of a night race, for once I wasn’t getting dressed in the dark at 2 a.m. like I've done for every single other Run Disney race I've done. In fact, thanks to the race not starting until 10 p.m., I was even able to SLEEP IN! So weird, yet so nice. However, the negative aspect of a late race was it felt like we were basically waiting around all day to run. For someone like me that likes to "get things out of the way," this was a bit of challenge to deal with! We occupied our time by taking the world’s longest bus ride to Downtown Disney to get some Earl of Sandwich for lunch as well as do a little shopping. We then paid a cab to take us back to the hotel to avoid another longest bus ride ever. At this point we still had quite a long time until we had to even think about getting ready to race so we attempted naps. My race jitters and excitement didn’t amount to much of a nap at all, but I’m sure my legs appreciated the rest. Another oddity of a night race was the question: what to eat for dinner? I decided to take myself back to my track and cross country days and grabbed my pre-race staple of a bagel, peanut butter and some fruit from the Pop Century market area. The meal was enough to give me fuel, but also light enough to not make me sick for the race. Plus I knew I’d have my handy dandy sport beans to fuel me right before and during the race!

Team Villains! Gaston, Queen of Hearts, Maleficent & Darth Vader!

After what felt like an eternity, we finally were in our Team Villains costumes ready to catch our bus to Hollywood Studios, where the Tower of Terror 10-Miler both started and finished! Even so, we still had quite awhile until the actual race started, but the music was playing and like all Run Disney events, the energy was electric. We had ourselves a mini photo shoot, checked our bags and eventually bid farewell to Cailyn and Josh as we finally headed to our various corrals.

Fireworks to start the race!

Again, like with all Run Disney races each corral got their own firework start! Before we knew it our corral was off and running (literally) and we were headed into the Twilight Zone for 10 magical miles! The first mile or so wasn’t exactly pleasant as both the husband and I had to pee! I am talking like major gotta go right now folks. The uncomfortable point of having to pee. I would say TMI, but runners can freely talk about pee and a good race recap always talks on course bathrooms! Fortunately, a large block of porta-potties were located somewhere within the first mile of the race, so all was well after that!

From there things really started to pick up. At some point I realized I had missed a mile marker so I was surprised to see we had less miles left than I previously thought! See, those Disney magical miles just fly right by! The early portion of the course was the typical Disney highway tour, but there were water stops at about every mile as well as on course entertainment and characters. We eventually made our way toward Animal Kingdom, but the course veered off before actually entering the park. We then made our way onto a trail-like path, which I LOVED! As a former cross country runner, this was awesome for me! I had read past recaps that the trail wasn’t lit well, but it seemed like Run Disney listened to the concerns as we had no trouble seeing on this portion of the course whatsoever. It was one of my favorite parts of the race experience! At this point we had yet to stop for any characters and were on quite a roll pace-wise. However, once I saw that the Old Hag from Snow White’s line wasn’t long, we jumped in for a quick photo. You never see her in the parks! This is another perk of what you can expect from Run Disney events! Unique photo opportunities!

Uh oh! I probably shouldn't eat this apple!

We continued on the trail and headed into the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, which was another highlight of the race experience. We ran around the complex and then through the baseball stadium, where the Braves have their spring training. On that note for my fellow Pirates fans out there, Let’s Go Bucs! We also ran around the track, which was another highlight since both the husband and I are former collegiate track runners! It was hard to not really push the pace on the track because anytime my feet hit a track I get really excited! Before heading out of the ESPN Wide World of Sports, we stopped for our SECOND and LAST photo op with the Haunted Mansion Gravediggers. This was my major “must do” photo for this race! This is another unique photo you don't usually have a chance to get in the parks.

A little blurry (phone pics at night aren't the best), but here we are with the Haunted Mansion Gravediggers!

After our quick picture stop with the Haunted Mansion Gravediggers, we were still feeling strong pace-wise. We decided to take in the sites but to keep going! Normally for Run Disney races I do take advantage of many character stops, but I was truly just enjoying the race itself and continuing to push the pace since both the husband and I were feeling good. It wasn’t too long before we entered Hollywood Studios! I couldn't believe we only had a mile or so left at this point! This showed me how fun the race had been so far and showed me how much shorter a 10 mile race can feel compared to the usual 13.1! LOL! Running through Hollywood Studios was a blast! I hadn't done a Run Disney race through this park yet, so it was really exciting, especially since it's one of my Disney favorites! We ran down the Streets of America area and continued through the park before veering off to a "backstage" employee only area.

Big spider along the race course! This photo courtesy of Cailyn!

We continued on pushing the pace and it wasn't until the point where we had less than a half mile left that either of us really started to feel tired. We pressed on though because we knew it was just a little bit further and then we would be finished! We could hear music blasting and we could see the Tower of Terror in the distance as we rounded a corner and sprinted our way through the finish line! At this point I couldn't believe the race was already over since it went by SO FAST! We made it through the Twilight Zone! We got our super cool medals, which are shaped like the Tower of Terror complete with a moving elevator and also glow in the dark! From there it was a bit of a blur as we tried to snap some quick photos, grabbed our post-race snack boxes, and made our way through the longest post-race finish shoot ever (LOL at least for races I've done.) Finally we found our way to the bag check area, which was located on the stage where they do the Indiana Jones show! It was really cool getting to hang out there and made the lengthy post-race walk worth it!

Post-race medal selfie!!!

Although the race was finished, the night was far from over! By finishing the race we got to attend the post-race party and stay in Hollywood Studios until 3 a.m.! Since we finished the race before midnight, the night was still young for us! We changed out of our sweaty race clothes and immediately hit up Star Tours! Another perk of this party? Minimal to no lines! We got word that Cailyn and Josh were finished as well! So what do you do after running 10 miles and it's after midnight and you have yet to eat a "real meal"? You share a burger, fries and post-race cupcake of course! After re-fueling we enjoyed the park and had fun photo ops with the various villainous characters that came out for the post-race party! Sadly, Maleficent wasn't there, but we did manage to get pics with Darth Vader, the Evil Queen and Cruella! We stayed as long as we could and closed down the park at 3 a.m.!

Darth Vader convincing us to join the Dark Side!

Overall, I have to say that the Tower of Terror 10-Miler has been my favorite Run Disney experience to date! While waiting for the night time start wasn't my cup of tea, I did feel more alert and awake during the race, which I attribute to that. I love the Disney villains, so of course I loved the villain theme of this race. Even though I didn't make too many character stops myself, I enjoyed taking it all in and if you love character stops, this race had plenty to choose from! The course didn't feel boring at all, even with the Disney highway stretch at the beginning. I was entertained the entire time. The weather was PERFECT as well. I know Run Disney can't control that, but it really enhanced the experience for all of us! The post-race party was great! With the morning Run Disney races you don't get parties in the park like this since the parks continue their regular hours (which is understandable). 

Hello Evil Queen!

I would say I'd be back for the Tower of Terror 10-Miler in 2015, but much to my sadness and the sadness of many others, this particular race is not on the official Run Disney race calendar currently. Many rumors indicate it's due to construction of a new possibly Star Wars themed area of Hollywood Studios. Since the WDW Marathon still runs through Hollywood Studios as far as I know, this doesn't make too much sense to me. It really bums me out this race is off the schedule since I enjoyed it SO MUCH! I know a lot of other Run Disney runners want it back, so hopefully it comes back someday! Make it happen Run Disney!

Tower of Terror 10-Miler Finishers!

Did you run the Tower of Terror 10-Miler? If so, leave a comment about your race experience! Now enjoy some extra post-race party pics!

Darth Vader and Maleficent were happy to finish the race!

In front of the Tower of Terror post-race!

Post-race cupcake for the win!

Entering Hollywood Studios! Photo courtesy of Cailyn!

Tower of Terror Bellhop Goofy at the finish line! Photo courtesy of Cailyn!

Modeling with Cruella! Couldn't think of a better pic to close out this post!