Race Recap: Turkey Trot 2015

Traditions are very important to me. One of my favorite holiday traditions is doing the Parkersburg Turkey Trot every Thanksgiving morning. This race has become so engrained in our family ritual that it wouldn’t feel like Thanksgiving without it!

I ran my first Turkey Trot, which takes place in my hometown, in 2002. My first year running was filled with snow, black ice, and freezing temperatures. I was still in high school and my good friend who was in college at the time came home to run with me. Despite the bad conditions, we had an absolute BLAST! While I missed a couple Turkey Trots after that year due to some injuries I had from collegiate cross country, I again ran the Turkey Trot in 2005 and have done it every year since!

Turkey Trot 2015: a family tradition!!!

Eventually several of my family members, including my mom, became involved in the Turkey Trot stapling the run/walk event as a holiday tradition for us. Over the past few years our Turkey Trot family group has grown to include my brother-in-law, husband, sister-in-law, aunt and uncle, as well as a few of my cousins. We look forward to braving the typically cold temperatures every morning and getting in some exercise before we dig into our yummy Thanksgiving feast. The Turkey Trot is also a mini reunion for me. I usually see several old friends from high school as well as my former cross country coach. It’s always a great time catching up with everyone. It reminds me that I am not only thankful for running, but also thankful for traditions, my family, and my friends.

While the Turkey Trot is a fun race the competition ranges from elite level competitive to those walking with strollers and dogs. It is currently the largest race held in West Virginia! As someone who has done this event for many years I’ve seen it grow from around 500 trotters to about 4,000 this year. I think the recent popularity of running is a reason for the event’s growth, but I also think it has become a tradition for many just like it has with my family. In the past during my collegiate competitive years I’ve finished second in this race, but now I run on more of the fun side. I still always put in a solid effort, however, and enjoy getting in a good run so I feel less guilty about the epic calorie consumption of Thanksgiving!

Usually for Thanksgiving we travel to Parkersburg on Wednesday evening, but due to me still getting over a bad sinus infection, Daniel being sick, and a mountain of laundry that needed tackled, we actually woke up very early and left Thursday morning. Fortunately I live only about an hour away from my hometown, so it wasn’t too much of a stretch to get up and drive early. It meant for an earlier wake-up call, but my Run Disney experience of getting up super early for races still made this feel like “sleeping in.” In all honesty I think I was more rested for the Turkey Trot this year compared to the years we've gone to Parkersburg the night before. This was likely due to getting to relax more the evening before since we weren't traveling.

Unfortunately as Daniel was in the thick of his head cold he begrudgingly opted not to run so that also meant a solo Turkey Trot for me. Daniel has done the Turkey Trot since 2007 and was sad to miss. I also missed my running partner! We arrived at my parent’s house around 8 a.m. and while Daniel sadly headed to the guest room to nap, my mom, brother-in-law and sister-in-law got our traditional Turkey Trot pre-race picture and headed to the Parkersburg City Park for the race.

Oddly enough unlike past years where I’ve dressed head to toe in layers, the weather was actually very nice for this year’s Turkey Trot! I actually had several outfits laid out the night before that included the traditional long, thick running tights, plus long sleeve shirts to layer, a hat, and gloves. However, with weather in the high 40s and projected 50s by race time, I ended up running in capri leggings with a tank and only a light under armour zip-up top layered over it. It felt really weird not being all bundled up! I couldn’t remember the last Turkey Trot I did where I didn’t have a hat or earband! The only other mild-weather Turkey Trot I remember actually included copious amounts of monsoon like rain, so the mild, sunny temperatures were to quote Cousin Eddie “a real nice surprise!”

As I was still recovering from being sick with sinus issues and still battling quite a cough, my main goal was to simply make it through the race and determine my pace with how I felt. I had only run one other time prior to the Turkey Trot since the Mickey’s Jingle Jungle 5K (I got sick right after our Disney Vacation), so I was sure that could play a factor in how my legs handled the race as well. Even still, I wanted to make sure to run my best effort for all conditions considered. Since I was still coughing quite a bit, I was very pleased that the aforementioned weather wasn’t the usual freezing Turkey Trot temperatures!

With my good friend Katie at the Turkey Trot!!!

Mom had picked up our race shirts the night before so we got to skip out on that line and were able to proceed along and get ready to trot as soon as we arrived at the Parkersburg City Park, where the race both started and finished. I met up with my good friend Katie from high school and after a quick bathroom break we made our way to the start line, which was already massively crowded with people. As the Turkey Trot is a casual, fun race there are no corrals and this does make it rather hectic. If the race continues to grow I’m not sure what could be done about this unless they did decide to do corrals someday. I personally think since the race has grown so much, corrals in the future would be a great idea for safety purposes alone. Despite our efforts, Katie and I were probably stuck somewhere in the middle of the huge starting area. I knew I’d have to battle my way through the crowds for a bit as I could see people in jeans in front of us (which clearly means walker as I’ve never seen someone run in jeans and if you do you shouldn’t because hello chafing LOL) as well as a few strollers, and small children. Another example of how corrals are probably needed at this race now that it’s grown so much!

Ready or not though the gun soon went off and it was time to trot! As I predicted I had to weave and wind my way throughout the crowd to get around people at the beginning. This is where running solo actually benefited me. As I am a pretty petite person it’s easier for me to dart through small gaps, whereas Daniel is quite tall and to stay together it takes us longer to navigate crowded starts. The beginning of the race stays in the park for a small portion before going out on a street, which you briefly stay on until you turn toward Washington Avenue, where the bulk of the race takes place. By the time I was turning onto Washington Avenue I had finally gotten around the groups who don’t trot as fast as I do and was able to stretch my legs more and establish my pace.

I found myself passing several more people as I ran up the very familiar Washington Avenue. Not only is Washington Avenue a staple of the Turkey Trot, it’s also the street I ran on nearly every single day for my high school cross country and track practices. Despite being very familiar with this road, the hill at the beginning is still just as annoying as ever and my legs definitely felt that grade in elevation almost immediately! Fortunately, at this point my coughing was in check for the most part and I was mainly just happy to be able to run out of the chaos that was the race start. Tired legs and all I forged along and was actually holding a solid pace at this point.

I continued up Washington Avenue and waved to several friends I briefly saw, yet another reason why I love the Turkey Trot! I did find myself get a twinge of emotions as I hadn’t run on Washington Avenue since the news of my good friend and former running teammate Jenny’s passing. We regularly ran together on this street as well as at the park. Rather than let myself get sad, which is something Jenny would never want, I instead smiled because I felt her presence with me. This actually gave me the boost I needed to keep going as I approached the turn around to head back to the park. At this point I started coughing a bit more, but thinking about and running for Jenny was the right motivation I needed. I also saw my high school cross country coach directing trotters at the turn around which was another energy boost!

I made my way down Washington Avenue and back into the park. At this point, the course takes almost a full lap around the park, which is another very familiar running location for me. This is where I started to cough the most, which made me concentrate on taking it easy and not pushing myself. I did not want to get myself any sicker or regress with my symptoms! As I rounded the park and cut through by the pond to round the finish, I also felt my stomach get a little queasy. This is very typical of me for races, but I think the coughing aggravated it a bit more this time. While I did pick it up slightly as I ran toward the finish I did exercise some self-control and didn’t allow myself to full out sprint at the end like usual. I didn’t want to end up puking or make myself feel sick for the rest of the day.

A reason why I Turkey Trot!!!

I picked it up slightly and as hard as it was not to sprint my eyes were definitely happy to see the time on the finish clock! I was surprised at how much faster my time was than I expected considering I didn’t feel like I was running that fast and didn’t even sprint at the end. I also knew to subtract at least 40-60 seconds from that time since I started so far back from the start line. Even with the clock time alone I actually ended up running faster than last year! I’ll call that a successful trot!

Overall the Parkersburg Turkey Trot was another fun race experience. I missed running with Daniel, but I still had a great time! After I finished I met up with some of my cousins and we also cheered my mom, brother-in-law and sister-in-law as they crossed the finish. It was a great time seeing so many old friends and doing this race as a family.

As I said in the future if the race continues to grow, I think corrals are needed or they at least need to make sure that walkers, small children, strollers, and dogs begin at the back behind the runners. This would be safer and make it more organized. However, even with the crazy chaos the Parkersburg Turkey Trot is and probably will always be one of my favorite races!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas from Daniel, Hope, and Winston!!!

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! Did you Turkey Trot in your local area? I’d love to hear about your Turkey Trot experience. Best wishes for the holiday season and may all your miles be magical!

Best wishes for a happy holiday season filled with joy!!!

Race Recap: Mickey's Jingle Jungle 5K

After spending a week in the happiest place on earth, I have returned to my West Virginia home. I am still badly missing my Disney home though!

We loved Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!

We had a wonderful vacation in Walt Disney World. We ate a lot and I mean A LOT of delicious food and made more magical memories. The Food and Wine Festival as usual didn’t disappoint. Our resort home for the week, Disney’s Port Orleans French Quarter was beautiful and quickly became our new favorite hotel on property. We also got into the holiday spirit early by attending Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at the Magic Kingdom. In addition to that Christmas magic, we started our vacation on a festive note as well by participating in the Run Disney Mickey’s Jingle Jungle 5K.

The race, which took place at Disney's Animal Kingdom Park, was part of Run Disney’s Annual Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend. We arrived in Disney early Friday morning before the race. The magical express took us right to our hotel and while our room wasn’t ready that early, we changed out of our cold weather clothes and into summer vacation attire! It was actually unseasonably HOT for Orlando in November and the temperatures felt more like Florida summer heat, especially with the humidity! This was quite a change from my previous visit to Disney in February for Princess Weekend, which was unseasonably cold. The extra hot and humid temperatures meant that it would be a very WARM racing weekend.

We arrived at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex for the Wine and Dine Race Expo shortly after it opened. However, being there early certainly didn’t do anything to make it feel less crowded. I am not sure what was going on but this expo was by far the craziest busiest Run Disney race expo I’ve ever attended! I thought the crowds drifted to the heavy side for the Marathon Weekend and Princess Weekend Expos, but they had nothing on Wine and Dine! We essentially had to fight our way through the masses of people just to get to the area to pick up our race bibs.

After finally grabbing our race bibs we again fought our way through the crazy expo crowds to pick up our official race shirts. Despite the 5K shirts being cotton and not tech, this year’s Mickey’s Jingle Jungle 5K shirt might just be my favorite Run Disney shirt yet! The design is adorable and festive, which suited the race’s Christmas theme! The shirts are also bright red, and you know how much I love it when I get a brightly colored race shirt. Yay for no white or grey shirts!!!

The cutest race shirts and bib! So festive!

As for expo shopping, we didn’t spend too much time there due to it being crazy busy as well as us being super hungry. We essentially drove in the middle of the night to get to the airport to catch our early flight and the airplane peanuts we had for breakfast didn’t exactly hold us over well until lunch. Thankfully, I did manage to pick up two new Sweaty Bands headbands. They are THE BEST running headbands for my thick hair. They always stay in place and never move or slide like so many other athletic headbands often do in my hair. Well worth the pricey cost! I am sad I didn’t pick up my traditional Run Disney race magnet or any other official merchandise, but the line to simply pay for the Run Disney items was outrageous!

Leaving the expo when we did also worked out well since I received a text that our room was ready. We got our bags out of storage and took the boat from POFQ to Downtown Disney or as I guess they call it now “Disney Springs.” We had lunch at our favorite Earl of Sandwich and then headed to Epcot later that day. After a yummy dinner at Teppan Edo we opted to skip Illuminations and head back to our room for some much-needed sleep. Run Disney generally always means a super-early wakeup call after all!

Lady and the Tramp ready for Mickey's Jingle Jungle 5K!!!

Our alarm went off around 4 a.m. Saturday morning. We had to be on the bus to take us to the race course by at least 5 a.m. While 4 was still quite early, it was actually “sleeping in” somewhat compared to other Run Disney mornings! We got ready and transformed into our Lady and the Tramp costumes fairly quickly and were out the door and on the bus in no time. Due to this race just being a 5K we didn’t see the need to check a bag and only brought our water bottles and Clif Bars to eat before the race.

Lady and the Tramp! We are cute! Lol!

In true Run Disney fashion, once we arrived to the race start, which was somewhere within Animal Kingdom’s giant parking lot area, the energy was on point. The music was blaring and there were many photo opportunities, including a VERY LONG line to get your picture taken with Christmas Mickey and Minnie. Since we had a Christmas character dinner booked for our trip with Minnie’s Holiday Dine, we decided to skip that long line. We did take advantage of one of the picture areas that was festively decorated for the race. There was a line here too, but it was a much much MUCH shorter one! We also enjoyed the “snow” that they had going near the start line. In addition, we got multiple compliments and “awws” on our Lady and the Tramp costumes. I really think it was our spaghetti plate prop that sealed the deal for people!

After some waiting around and copious porta-potty visits, we finally headed to corral A! Unlike the traditional fireworks starts Run Disney often uses, this race kicked off with snow! How perfect for the Christmas themed run! Although there was snow, the heat and humidity was already INSANE! We were soon off and running and not even 200 yards in I could feel sweat dripping down my face and back. I quickly knew that I was going to regret running in a cotton shirt. More on that later!

Bella Notte!

The first mile was primarily the great Run Disney parking lot tour as we headed toward the Animal Kingdom entrance. While Mickey’s Jingle Jungle 5K is a family FUN run, we did find it alarming that so many small children were in corral A. It was hard to establish our pace at first due to several people in that corral that frankly had no business being there. I know that sounds harsh, but for safety reasons participants in corral A should not already be walking two feet in. Also the crazy amounts of children had us concerned about tripping and not only hurting them but ourselves as well. Fortunately once we were about a half mile in the crowd thinned somewhat and we were able to keep the pace we wanted without fear of stepping on someone.

Christmas Pluto was so cute!!!

Our goal for the race really was to keep a solid pace as best we could but to stop for characters in between. We knew that would cause our finish time to be slower (Run Disney does not officially time the 5Ks anyway), but we wanted to make this race as fun as possible. This was a good strategy because we still got in some good, hard running while having fun as well. Being in corral A boded well for photo stops as the lines weren’t really that long for us.

We entered Animal Kingdom at the first mile and quickly saw our first character. We continued running through Animal Kingdom, which was very scenic, but also VERY HOT. Animal Kingdom always feels ten degrees hotter regardless and this race was no different. It was on this second mile that I really started to regret running in a cotton shirt as it was offering no breathing room and I began to feel overheated. I was determined to continue the fun though and we forged along taking in all the sites and stopping for a few more characters.

So many cute character opportunities! Loved the Christmas theme everywhere!

Generally I am always sad when the parks part of Run Disney events is over, but I was pretty thrilled as we exited Animal Kingdom and headed out a backroad. While still hot, the air instantly felt more breathable! We stopped for a few more characters, including Pluto decked out in his Christmas finest as well as Santa Goofy and Winter Donald! We also saw the backside of Expedition Everest which was really cool. It’s not a real mountain?! Say What?

While mile two through Animal Kingdom felt like it took a while (probably due to us being so HOT), our last mile flew by and I couldn’t believe we were about to round the corner to the finish shoot. I was having a great time, but very overheated at this point and eager to finish! We held onto our spaghetti plate prop together and put on our best smiles as we crossed the finish line looking all sorts of Lady and the Tramp cute. This was quite a task, however, as my smile was likely fake due to my overwhelming sudden need to throw up as I neared the finish line. And I immediately did end up projectile vomiting after crossing the finish line. I flat out couldn’t help it. I think it was a mixture of the heat, plus my suffocating cotton shirt, and the race adrenaline that all contributed to my finish line nausea. Fortunately Run Disney is always prepared and I was immediately caught and greeted by the sweetest woman who held a bag for me to puke in. I commend her for doing that job because that’s one job I couldn’t handle! Yuck!

After I got that out of my system and rehydrated with some Powerade I felt instantly better. Lesson learned from this race: even when it’s just a 5K don’t run in a cotton shirt, especially in such hot temperatures! We grabbed our Run Disney snack boxes, which are always a lovely touch, and got on the bus back to our hotel. It wasn’t even 8 a.m. yet so we were very excited to shower, refuel, and take a nap!

Showing off our adorable race bling!

Overall the Mickey’s Jingle Jungle 5K was an awesome, fun race! We had so much fun running together and I am so glad we chose to add this taste of Run Disney to our family vacation. There were much more character opportunities in this race compared to the Frozen 5K, which made me very happy. We stopped for all the characters except for the ant from A Bug’s Life, since we don’t really like that movie. The snow and characters in their holiday attire all contributed to the festive theme. The Christmas music they had pumping throughout the course, which I believe was from the old Jingle Jungle Parade at Animal Kingdom was also a nice touch. It was a cute event and a race I would do again in the future. Our race medals were also completely adorable!

I think this race is fun to do on its own or as a morning pre-cursor to the Wine and Dine Half Marathon, which traditionally takes place that same evening. I understand due to weather this year’s Wine and Dine Half was actually half of a half, so I’m glad so many runners took the chance to do the morning 5K too.

Did you run Mickey’s Jingle Jungle 5K? Let me know if you enjoyed your race experience! 

              

Race Recap: Princess Enchanted 10K

It’s now June and I still can’t stop talking about what a fabulous time I had in February at the 2015 Run Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend! I know it’s long overdue, but it’s finally time for my Princess Enchanted 10K race recap! Now is the time to Seize the 10K (you will get that reference soon)!

In addition to the 10K, I also took part in the weekend’s Frozen 5K! Check out my 5K recap here. I flew solo out to Florida to meet my friends for our annual girl’s trip at Walt Disney World for the Princess Half Marathon Weekend! In 2014 I completed the inaugural Glass Slipper Challenge, which in case you aren’t Run Disney obsessed includes the Enchanted 10K race Saturday followed by the Princess Half race Sunday. In order to change it up this year as well as save some money, the girls and I created our own princess challenge by doing the Frozen 5K Friday and the Enchanted 10K Saturday!

This also enabled me to really soak in the 10K and give my favorite race distance a more solid effort. With 10K race options so limited around me, the Enchanted 10K was only my third 10K ever! The first one was done on a track in my final collegiate race and the second was last year’s Enchanted 10K! The day before the 10K was spent doing the Frozen 5K and then walking around the Magic Kingdom (still in our fairy tutus of course) to take pictures as well as catch the ever-so awesome Festival of Fantasy Parade. Needless to say we had been on our feet quite a bit, but that enabled me to get a MUCH better night’s sleep compared to the evening before the 5K, where I maybe got one hour of restful sleep.

Newsies! Seize the 10K!!!

Even with a good night’s sleep though, morning always comes WAY TOO EARLY Run Disney style! Before we knew it our alarms were all going off at the bright and shiny hour of 2:30 a.m. and it was time to get ready to run more magical miles! It was also time to get NEWSIE-FIED! That’s right, for our 10K we decided to go against the typical princess attire for this event and opted to dress as Newsies! Our race theme was Seize the 10K (see now you get the reference!) of course, and I think this was a good theme of our entire weekend in general. Fortunately the weather seemed to be much warmer compared to the below 30 degree temps from the morning before. That being said, it was still quite chilly, especially for Florida and especially compared to 2014 when it was already 80 degrees for the 10K!

The temperature sparked some wardrobe debates as in “sleeves or not to sleeve” and “should I bring a throwaway shirt” and “should I check a bag with clothes to change into after.” Usually I do check a bag, but our plan was to go right back to the hotel after the 10K to rest a bit before hitting the parks later. After some discussion, we decided while it was still pretty cold, we could tolerate it for the race itself and that sleeves weren’t necessary. Plus our Newsie vests and Seize the 10K tanks looked cuter without sleeves underneath. And, well, fashion wins. At least when you Run Disney!

The good thing about running as a Newsie was our costumes required far less maintenance compared to our fairy outfits. We were able to get ready and out the door much quicker! We boarded our bus and off to Epcot we went! In true Run Disney fashion, the energy was already crazy once we arrived. It was still quite chilly for our “standing around” time, which can be quite a while since Run Disney requires you to be at the course so early. At this point I was regretting not bringing a throwaway shirt. It wasn’t too bad though, but I’m sure you could tell I wasn’t a local as I got some odd looks walking around in sleeveless attire while many still had hats and gloves on along with multiple layers! Hey, I had left negative temps behind at home, so in a way this was a “heat wave” for me. We occupied our time well enough to stay warm by taking a few pictures in our Newsie finest!

We eventually bid farewell and headed to our separate corrals. I was in corral A! While I have been assigned corral A at Run Disney events before, I had always jumped back to other corrals to run with someone. So, this was my first time in corral A. I was excited that my wait to start wouldn’t be long because I was chilly and ready to run! I knew once I got going I would warm up just fine as the temperature was good “running weather” by that point. I met some people who totally geeked out over my Newsie costume, which made me happy! I also enjoyed seeing other adorable costumes! I will say being in corral A I saw less elaborate costumes, but that was to be expected as this corral likely packs in more “serious” runners.

Soon enough the fireworks were going off and the race finally started! My goal for the 10K was to run at quick solid pace until I got to World Showcase at Epcot. I wanted to run faster than I normally do for Run Disney events, especially because my Tower of Terror 10-Miler experience was still fabulous even though we stopped for way less photos than usual and held a good pace. Also, since I had to hold back so much last year for the 10K due to running a half the next day, I wanted to see what I could do! Fortunately for me I didn’t have to stop for any bathroom breaks. Not just at the beginning, but the ENTIRE race. This is a first for me when it comes to Run Disney! Usually all the standing around time beforehand has me in a porta-potty within the first mile! The first part of the race through the typical Epcot parking lot tour and Disney highway went by pretty fast. It was almost a blur. I did notice NO ONE starts the race off walking in corral A compared to other corrals. I have zero problems with walkers in races, ESPECIALLY Run Disney ones, but I was glad to be able to get out quick and establish my pace without feeling like I was stepping on someone. Other than an experience with a rude “Belle” who thought it was polite to yell at other runners, things were going well at this point in the race. In fact, rude Belle probably helped me run even faster because I decided I had to pass her. Take your grouchy attitude out of my Run Disney, thank you!

Newsie and Jiminy Cricket!!!

We continued down the dark Disney highway but there were still a good number of volunteers and crowds on hand to cheer us on! The first character stop, Tinker Bell and I believe her sister (?) in their winter attire, was on the highway shortly before entering Epcot World Showcase. I was tempted to stop as the line wasn’t long AT ALL (another perk of corral A), but I wanted to stick to my plan! I passed the half way mark and before I knew it I was already entering World Showcase! As usual, World Showcase was gorgeous. It was still dark when I got there, which in my opinion made it seem more beautiful and even serene, yes, serene despite the fact that I was running alongside thousands of my “closest” friends. I had a solid pace going, but I had to stop for a quick picture with Marie from The Aristocats and of course Jiminy Cricket! Jiminy is a rare photo opportunity in the Disney Parks, so I always try to get pictures with him. My dad is a huge Jiminy fan too, so I like to get pictures to send to him! I got a quick pic with the Snow White Topiaries and took some other quick pictures before continuing on.

Enchanted 10K World Showcase fun and Boardwalk with Baseball Donald!

With my two character stops and a few random pictures, I didn’t really lose much time as the character stops were super-fast! I took in the beauty of World Showcase and headed toward another favorite place to run at Disney: the Boardwalk area! Talk about stunning! Getting to run on the Boardwalk is one of my favorite parts of the Enchanted 10K course! I was looking for baseball Goofy since I got a picture with him there in 2014, but much to my delight it was BASEBALL DONALD instead! Donald is my FAVORITE of the Fab Five and I LOVE baseball. Needless to say this made me VERY excited! Donald was my last character stop of the race, but ending it with my favorite was good enough for me!

Enchanted 10K finisher! Love the bling! So pretty!

Before I knew it was heading back into the Future World section of Epcot. I did see space Goofy and while his line was short, I opted to continue running since I was enjoying my pace and was ready to finish! I soon rounded the corner I know very well as a seasoned Run Disney-er and found myself sprinting down the finish line! I couldn’t believe the race was over! It FLEW by! I was immediately awarded my awesome finisher’s medal, which is BEAUTIFUL! Medal and all I made my way through the finish chute to grab some Poweraid, water and my snack box.

I warmed up considerably through the race and found the temperatures ideal for running, but once I was stopped I noticed my sweat was turning into that “cold sweat” feeling and I was chilly soon after. I thought about getting in line for some post-race character pictures while I waited for my girls to finish, but ultimately decided to set up camp in the finish area to wait. It was here that my great experience had a hiccup as I found myself getting pretty cold and my stomach was a bit jumbly from all the adrenaline of racing. The girls and I had been texting throughout the race to see where we all were as none of us started in the same corral. With such long breaks between corrals, it made our plans to meet at the finish a little scattered. So, with their blessing I decided to head back to the hotel to warm up and hopefully settle my tummy since we had a day of parks planned later! There was zero wait for the Port Orleans Riverside bus and before I knew it I was back to our warm room (that’s still odd to say as it’s usually “cool room” while at Disney). Fortunately a warm shower and munching on some of my goodies from the post-race snack box perked me right up!

We successfully SEIZED the 10K and were ready to enjoy the rest of our runcation at the parks! Overall I once again had a fantastic time during the Princess Enchanted 10K! This is a great course. While some tend to not enjoy the first half, I am totally cool with it. The last half through World Showcase and the Boardwalk makes up for the highway/parking lot portion tenfold. It was another great Run Disney experience and I can’t wait to hopefully be back with my girls for Princess Weekend 2016!

Mickey was proud of his girls!!!

Did you run the Princess Enchanted 10K? I’d love to hear all about your experience!

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!

Race Recap: West Virginia 5K Championship

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! One of the major highlights this weekend for me was the West Virginia 5K Championship, which was held Saturday in Huntington. This 5K coincides with the state’s birthday, which was the day before the race on Friday. I’ve never seen other states so passionate about their state’s day of birth, and this is one of the many reasons why I am so proud to be a born and raised West Virginia gal! All day on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram I saw numerous posts from many people regarding West Virginia day! Yes, that’s right world, West Virginia is its own state and has been since 1863. We are NOT, I repeat NOT part of Virginia. You wouldn’t believe how many people I meet that don’t know West Virginia is a state. It’s truly appalling.

WORD!

Hello, basic geography anyone?! Well, now that I’ve got that little rambling rant in, I will continue to talk about the race itself!

The West Virginia 5K Championship is an event that promotes fitness and an overall healthy lifestyle. West Virginia is usually sited as an “unhealthy state,” and Huntington, specifically, was deemed one of the most “unhealthy cities” a few years ago. This race in particular is an effort to change that unfortunate stigma by welcoming runners and walkers of all fitness levels to participate. Proceeds from the race are donated to the United Way River Cities and used to help fight childhood obesity. Anything that encourages fitness as well as works to turn a negative statistic into a positive one is great to me. This was my second year running this race with the husband. Things didn’t exactly go as planned this year race-wise, but that’s life. We must take the setbacks, accept the challenges and work to overcome them!

On Friday we picked up our race packets and checked out the expo. Normally for races that aren’t Run Disney I wait until the morning of to get my race gear, but since we don’t live in Huntington, I didn’t want to wake up any earlier than I had to Saturday. Not to mention, they were giving away WV 5K 2014 pint glasses to the first 500 participants to pick up their race stuff. Well, obviously I love me some race swag and especially LOVE my WV 5K 2013 pint glass, so this was a must-have item. We didn’t really spend too much time at the expo itself since we were hungry. Also, I hate to be *that person* but Run Disney has really spoiled all other race expos for me. It’s just not the same! The expo for the most part was well organized, with the exception of some chaotic congestion near the bib pick-up area. Runners were to pick up race bibs by knowing their race number, and most, including myself, did not know theirs. The swag was pretty great for a “local” 5K: the coveted 2014 pint glass and best of all, a tech shirt! Tech shirts are so much better than cotton because I can actually get use out of them! We had a quick dinner date at Olive Garden after the expo before heading home to turn in early for the night.

Tech Shirt and Pint Glass! Love the race SWAG!

Saturday we got up earlier than we even do for work (yuck!) and headed to Huntington. We only had some Clif Gels for breakfast, but that was fine for us. I know many runners are shaking their fingers at us for not “eating enough” but we both tend to get sick easily if we don’t have much time between eating and running. Pardon me if I don’t feel like waking up at 3 a.m. to eat a bagel and/or Clif Bar. I only do that crazy crap for Run Disney! The energy before the race was great and I was happy that while there was 100 percent humidity it didn’t feel as sweltering hot as last year. I wore my lime green Team Sparkle running skirt, which got many compliments but some weird looks too. It’s all good. Haters gonna hate! Lol! I’m a proud skirt runner! After taking a huge pre-race “selfie” with the mayor of Huntington, the group of 600 plus runners, including us, were off!

The first mile was going decent until the dreaded rock that I happened to step on in the middle of the street. I didn’t realize there was rock there until I stepped on it and managed to BADLY roll my ankle. If it hadn’t been for the husband catching my arm, this would have easily resulted in me face planting right into the pavement! Upon next step, I immediately knew I did more than simply tweak my ankle like I often do on runs. Usually I might turn it a bit, which is due to it already being weak from an old high school cross country injury. Normally when I “tweak it” the pain only lasts for a split second and I’m good to go. I quickly realized this wasn’t the case as each step I took got more and more painful. It was even more irritating that it happened before we even approached the first mile marker! The husband asked if I was ok, and I decided to tell him it was fine and tried to do my best to ignore the pain hoping that if I did it would go away.

Well, before we approached the second mile marker it became evident my ignore tactic wasn’t working and we had to unfortunately slow our pace way down. We even had to take a moment to stop at the water station and see if I could stretch it. We didn’t stop long at all, but this is something I NEVER do and have NEVER DONE in a 5K! That’s when the husband really knew something was definitely wrong. He asked if we should stop and then my stubborn nature really kicked in and I replied “absolutely not! I never quit!” I sucked it up and pushed forward. By the time we had a little over a half mile left, I was in a lot of pain, but you better believe when we came to the finish line stretch that I somehow reached deep in my gut and pulled out a pretty fast finishing kick. I passed a lot of people down that last 100 meter stretch so much so that someone shouted “get it lady!” at me haha! That finishing kick was two-fold: a will to be done ASAP so I could sit down and assess the ankle damage and because I was frustrated with how the race had gone and at least wanted to enjoy a good sprint at the end!

As soon as we finished the husband said his feet were bothering him most of the race since his new shoes still weren’t quite broken in, but he didn’t want to mention it while we were running because he knew how irritated I was over rolling my ankle. I must thank him again on here for putting his own discomfort aside to be the positive motivator that I needed during the race! Usually I am the cheerful one when doing races together, so this was a role reversal! Back to the race and time for my one major complaint: we saw absolutely no trainer, medical tent or place to get ice post-race. The husband and his crafty skills ended up finding a bag and taking ice from a water cooler to create a makeshift ice bag for me to use on my ankle. After the post-race ice debacle, I limped to the area where the Brown Dog Yoga instructors were offering a free post-race yoga stretch. I enjoyed the post-race yoga, except of course the parts where I had to balance on my right foot since well, the ankle clearly wasn’t feeling it (obviously.)

Fun at the West Virginia 5K 2014!

Overall despite my ankle snafu, I had a great time at the West Virginia 5K Championship. Most races this would have likely ruined the whole experience for me, but this 5K is really enjoyable and I still had fun. It was FAR from my best time, but considering the circumstances I think we did pretty well. After finishing and feeling the pain that came from simply walking, it was clear to me that my adrenaline and stubborn nature fueled me to the finish. The Marshall Men’s Basketball Team also made the race enjoyable and kept me laughing the whole time. They were hilarious! The entire team ran the race, and it always impresses me to see coaches not only value running as conditioning but to also show support in the community where their university is located. As members of the team finished they stuck around the finish area to high five everyone as they completed the race. I was very impressed with their demeanor. I am a WVU fan FOREVER, but this team endeared themselves to me so much so that I’m going to have to cheer for them too (except when they play my beloved Mountaineers, of course!)

It was a fun weekend and a fun race. I love doing races with the husband and even though I badly rolled my ankle, I am still glad we did the West Virginia 5K for the second time. Sometimes not all races are sunshine and rainbows and we have to overcome a little adversity along the way. Who else raced this weekend? Who else has dealt with injury either before or during a race? How did you work to overcome that challenge? I’d love to hear all about it and I commend those of you that have had and conquered the many challenges that come with running!

(Update: Since people have asked and for those wondering, my ankle is still pretty sore but feeling much better today. As of now, I am still forging on with the RWRunStreak because I am soooo close to being finished that I can’t fathom stopping at this point. I’ve been icing A LOT to help with swelling and on Sunday and today I did very light runs at an easy pace. Sunday’s run was quite unpleasant, but in a way the running seemed to help make my ankle less stiff. Believe me I would have sucked it up and stopped if it was absolutely too painful to keep going. I’ve also finally used the much talked about KT Tape, so expect a future blog review on that! Hopefully my ankle continues to feel better! Fingers crossed!)

Ice Ice that ankle baby!