Race Recap: Princess Enchanted 10K

Greetings friends, runners, and fellow princesses! I recently returned from my favorite place, yup you guessed it, Walt Disney World! I was at the house of mouse for the Run Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend. This event has become an annual girl’s trip with my BRFs, and this year even more magical memories were made!

This recap is LONG, but instead of splitting it in parts, I figured why not just give you the full novella. I know when I was researching Run Disney races I enjoyed reading all the details. I hope this helps you newbies and those of you curious about doing a Run Disney event in the future.

Royal greeting at the Princess Expo!

For my non-Run Disney readers, the Princess Half Marathon Weekend is a women’s focused event that takes place in Walt Disney World every February. The weekend hosts a 5K, 10K, and half marathon race as well as kid’s races. While men can participate, the weekend is all about the ladies! It’s the only women’s focused running event I’ve ever done, and I absolutely LOVE it. So many ladies use the weekend as a chance to do their first ever race(s). I love watching people make a commitment to fitness. Overall, it’s a really great run weekend for newbies as well as seasoned runners. It also makes for a great girl’s trip, which has become a tradition for me and my BRFs.

I started going to Princess Weekend as a girl’s trip in 2014, when I completed the inaugural Glass Slipper Challenge (the Enchanted 10K plus the Princess Half Marathon). I returned in 2015 and completed the Princess Frozen 5K as well as the Enchanted 10K. This year we changed it up again and decided to primarily focus on the Enchanted 10K. Magical miles aren’t exactly cheap, and we all agreed that we’d like to start the weekend with our race and enjoy our park days after. We found that the past two years our legs were tired for the races due to more park time before. Also, with the 10K being my favorite running distance in general and the Enchanted 10K being my favorite current Run Disney course (I miss you Tower of Terror 10-Miler), this seemed like a perfect Princess Weekend plan.

With the race scheduled for Saturday, I began my Princess Weekend journey Thursday evening. I normally fly to Disney early in the morning so how I was able to contain my excitement at work all day is still a pixie dust mystery to me! I arrived in Orlando and instead of finding the Magical Express as I’m accustomed to, I met my parents. My parents are Florida snow birds and recently had a new house built there, which is approximately 15 minutes from Disney. I am completely jealous of them, but they worked hard for years and have earned this treat! It was nice spending some time with them and getting spoiled with my favorite dinner ever, mom’s homemade chicken pot pie!

Best welcome sign ever!

Friday morning I finally entered the Disney bubble and enjoyed a Mickey waffle breakfast with my parents at the Poly. I also tried some Tonga Toast for the first time and sadly I am not a fan. Womp womp. I think it’s due to my hatred of bananas. That was disappointing as it is one of the big hyped Disney foods, but now I can at least check that off my to-do list! Dole Whip, you are still number one! Since I wasn’t meeting the girls until later and my mom is a run expo junkie as well, my parents set off to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex with me to retrieve my race packet.

Expo swag/haul

I braced myself for the Princess Expo as there had been a lot of chatter about not-so-Princess behavior there the day before. Apparently pushing and shoving over jackets and tumblers ensued. Yikes! Also the Wine and Dine Weekend Expo I attended in November was simply insane because it was so crowded. However, once we arrived we saw none of this reported behavior and the crowds weren’t bad at all. Perhaps it was because it was the second day? I’m not sure, but it was smooth sailing picking up my packet and participant t-shirt. And those jackets that apparently caused fights? While I myself didn’t buy one, I saw several in ALL sizes. I also saw plenty of tumblers. Lol. I know a lot of people do all three races, but if you don’t and prefer to avoid insanity maybe consider hitting up the expo on the second day next year?

The more relaxed expo meant I could actually take time to shop and enjoy walking around. I adore race expos, and Run Disney does a top notch job. I had no park plans Friday, so I took my time. I ended up getting several cute things, including a Run Disney mug at last (they’ve been sold out every other time I’ve been) and the adorable Inside Out Disgust tech shirt that I’ve had my eye on since Run Disney posted pictures of that collection in January. I also purchased my 2016 Run Disney Vinylmation Mickey as per tradition as well as a Run Disney Princess Weekend travel coffee cup. I picked up a Dr. Cool Wrap as well, which has already come in handy due to some crappy knee pain (more on that later).

Royal Room at POR!

After the Expo I met my BRF Cailyn at our awesome Royal Guest Room at Port Orleans Riverside. Other than the room’s loud air conditioner (more on that later) this room was AMAZING and perfect for Princess Weekend. I ended up going back to the expo with her, which I totally didn’t mind and eventually all of my BRF’s were re-united once again! We hit up Disney Springs for dinner and then off to bed we went so we could “nap” before waking up at the bright and cheery time of 2:30 a.m.

So about that nap. I am not even joking when I say I got maybe 30 minutes of sleep AT MOST. For the first time in forever my room at Disney had a noisy air conditioning unit that was incredibly disruptive every time it kicked on. I was actually awake before my alarm went off at 2:30 since, well, I never really even went to sleep! I thought I was maybe a bit over sensitive to the loud AC, but it turns out Cailyn didn't sleep at all either.

Excitement over our awesome costumes helped us get ready despite our lack of sleep though. Costumes are the best part of Run Disney and this year ours were pretty incredible. Non-Disney nerds might be confused, but my Disney family I know y’all get me. Yes, we were the Dapper Dans! But instead of pants we paired our vests with Sparkle Skirts to give the costumes that special princess touch.

Dapper Dans ready to run!

After a semi-long wait for the bus, we finally arrived at Epcot for the race. As usual, Run Disney had the jams going and the energy was awesome. Our weather was great too! Not horribly hot and humid like 2014 and not overly cold like last year. Soon enough I heard a “last call for corral A” while I was in the porta-potty, yeah that was fun LOL, so I bolted, said a quick goodbye to my fellow Dapper Dans and ran to my corral. I had a brief PTSD flashback of nearly missing “final call” from my track days, but all was well and I was relaxed to see we still had plenty of time!

Eventually corral A fireworks went off in true Run Disney fashion and we were soon running! The first part of the course is the classic Run Disney parking lot tour before you hit up the Disney highway. To keep this part of the course exciting we were quickly entertained with fake snow and encouragement from Anna and Elsa on the above overpass. Seeing the Frozen ladies gave me a needed boost and I continued along holding a pretty good pace. I noticed way more characters on this first 3 mile stretch compared to before, including Tink, The Old Hag from Snow White, and Pocahontas and Meeko. In years past I only remember usually seeing one character prior to entering Epcot. While I was excited to see more characters I stuck to my plan of running until I reached Epcot World Showcase. This plan coupled with the fact that I found my groove made the first half fly by in a flash. I know at some point I stuck my Dapper Dan bowtie in my FlipBelt because it was making me hot and itchy lol, but other than that it was smooth sailing.

The first part of the race seemed so fast that I was surprised to already be entering Epcot World Showcase. It was still dark and the park was lit beautifully. Despite running alongside thousands of my closest friends, I always feel so peaceful during this portion of the Enchanted 10K. World Showcase is always gorgeous but there is something about running through it before sunrise that makes it even more special. I quickly jumped in line for my first character stop, Jiminy Cricket! I’ve only ever had my picture taken with him during the Enchanted 10K and as he is my dad’s favorite, I was pleased to see him again on the course. As soon as I jumped in line they announced Jiminy was taking a quick break, which made me almost consider getting out of line, but seconds later Jiminy was right back out but not alone. He was with PINOCHIO! What an amazing photo op of rare characters! I was ecstatic that I stayed in the line as it ended up not taking much time at all and I got the bonus of two characters.

Awesome on-course characters!

I then proceeded around World Showcase, where I saw a short line by the France Pavilion but no characters. I assumed it was possibly Marie again from the Aristocats like last year, but was quickly told by another runner that it was “Be Our Guest” people. I barely had time to wonder if that meant Belle or the Beast before none other than Lumiere and Cogsworth came out. I literally almost lost my mind you guys. These two are bucket list characters for me and incredibly RARE to find out in the parks. SO EXCITING!

That put some spring in my step as I headed out of World Showcase and to the Boardwalk, my favorite part of the Enchanted 10K course. It was there that I legit almost cried when I saw him: The Genie in his “free” look with the Hawaiian shirt and Goofy hat. Aladdin is my all-time favorite Disney movie and while I’ve had a picture with the Genie before, I’ve never had him in his “free” outfit. I knew he was on the Princess 5K course and had actually expressed regret the night before about not doing it since I assumed I missed my chance for that photo opportunity. This is just another part of what makes Run Disney races so magical and special!

After meeting with Genie I continued down the Boardwalk and it was there that I started to feel some major stiffness and definite tightness in my knee, a feeling I had never really felt before until then. I could still run thankfully, but it was apparent that at some point during the race I tweaked it somehow. Instead of dwelling on the pain, I pushed it out of my head and focused on enjoying the sights and sounds of the final portion of the race. As I left the Boardwalk I also snapped a quick picture with Sofia the First as she had no line and I adore that show!

This deserves a stand-alone picture! Genie, you are free!

I entered into the Epcot Future World section and was almost sad that the race was over, but I was also looking forward to finishing due to the aforementioned knee issue. I rounded the familiar corner to the finish and for the first time in all my Run Disney races I got a finish line shout out by the announcers, who joyously cheered “here comes a Dapper Dan!” That made me smile and I happily crossed the finish line.

Post-race medal selfie!

No post-race pukes for me as well, which is a good thing since I notoriously get nauseous after races. I got my beautiful race medal, grabbed my Run Disney snack box, and eagerly sat down for a little bit before checking in with my fellow BRFs to let them know I had finished. My only regret is walking past the medical tent and not getting ice. I didn’t realize I had passed it and instead of walking all the way back to the finisher area, I boarded my bus back to our Royal Guest room for a much needed Princess shower!

Overall this year’s Run Disney Enchanted 10K was great. I thought the Expo was better and had more official Run Disney merchandise than other years. And those on-course characters. WELL DONE RUN DISNEY! They really upped their game. More characters and rare ones at that. One of the perks of Run Disney races is seeing characters you don’t often see in the parks, so I am glad they really went above and beyond this year. Complaints? The only negative about this year’s event was the Run Disney snack box. It seemed to have way less and can I just say #bringbackthecheese? But seriously though it was a great race made even better by awesome weather.

Beautiful bling with a Little Mermaid touch, the theme of this year's Princess Weekend!

Currently I am still battling knee pain and with a full slate of spring races I really hope and pray that it will go away soon. If you have experienced something similar please let me know. I'd appreciate any advice!

Congratulations to those of you that finished the Princess Enchanted 10K as well as the other races. Share your experience in the comments. It seems far away to think about Princess Weekend 2017, but registration will already be coming up soon in July! So for now I will say see ya real soon princesses!

I will leave you with a few extra pictures from the perfectly, princess weekend:

I won trivia at the Run Disney Expo!

Celebratory Dole Whip!

Until we meet again princesses!

Wine & Dine Weekend Costume Reveal

Get excited because we are going to DISNEY WORLD!!! Yes, we will be back at the house of mouse this Friday and I couldn’t be more thrilled.

After over six months of planning and organization there were days I thought this vacation would never get here. I was wide awake and ready at 6 a.m. to make our dining reservations 180 days out and on that day I started an every 10 days Instagram countdown. My countdown, which recently turned into a daily one after hitting the single digits milestone, helped keep me motivated and excited for our trip. Despite the huge list of trip prep I have left to do before we leave I know that magic awaits and I can’t wait to be back in our happy place for a week.

While we aren’t taking a usual runcation as this trip is serving as our main vacation this year, if you know me you know I just couldn’t resist a TASTE of Run Disney. Since we will be arriving the Friday of the Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend we will be kicking off our first full day in Disney World by running the Mickey’s Jingle Jungle 5K in Animal Kingdom. It’s a Christmas themed race and again if you know me you know that I am essentially Buddy the Elf when it comes to the holidays. I am looking forward to a morning run through beautiful Animal Kingdom and enjoying a holiday themed race at my favorite place on earth! As this is primarily a vacation we opted not to do the Wine and Dine Half Marathon, but we wish those of you doing this race the best of luck! Also good luck to those of you who will be joining us Saturday morning for the 5K! We hope to see you there!

And that leads me to the point of this post, what you’ve all been waiting for. Drumroll please: Our Mickey’s Jingle Jungle 5K costume reveal!

Yes, we will be dressing up as our favorite cartoon dogs from one of our most cherished Disney movies, Lady and the Tramp! I can’t even take credit for this idea as it was actually Daniel’s! Yes, I am almost as surprised as you that he not only agreed to run in costume again but also came up with the idea! If you are doing the 5K just look for Lady and the Tramp and say hello!

Closer view of just our costumes!

Most of our costume is DIY from random pieces I gathered. My brown skirt is from Sparkle Athletic. I’ve worn their skirts in several Run Disney events and highly recommend them especially if you are into dressing up but want to be comfortable while you run as well! My visor is also from Sparkle Athletic.

Let me know if you will be doing any of the Wine and Dine Weekend festivities! We are looking forward to being back in Disney as well as taking in all the Christmas fun that makes this an extra special time to visit Walt Disney World. We plan to see the Osborne Lights at Hollywood Studios hopefully more than once since sadly it will be the last year for this display. If you’ve never experienced this, it’s a must-do! We also will be attending Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and doing the inaugural Minnie’s Holiday Dine dinner!

I plan to Instagram our adventures so be sure to follow me @lilrunner1485. I will be tweeting regular updates as well @lilrunner. In addition, we plan to Periscope as much as we can this trip, so hit me up there at @lilrunner!

See ya real soon!

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: Princess Frozen 5K

Another Princess Half Marathon Weekend is in the books folks! It’s hard to believe it’s been almost a month since I was in Walt Disney World with my BRFs for our annual Princess girls’ trip. This year instead of doing the Glass Slipper Challenge, we created our own Run Disney challenge by doing both the Princess 5K and 10K races. In true Run Disney fashion, magical miles were had by all and more magical memories to count were made!

A Royal Greeting at the Princess Expo!

Princess Race Swag!

To kick off the race weekend, we went to the Fit For a Princess Expo and got our race swag! This year's race shirts were so much better than last year! Very colorful and much more "princessy." I especially loved the purple Enchanted 10K shirt! I also purchased a FlipBelt at the expo. I love it, so expect a review here soon! We later hit up Hollywood Studios for a little bit of park time and Fantasmic. Before we knew it, we were off to our room at Disney's Port Orleans Resort-Riverside for an early bedtime, because when you run Disney you not only get magical miles, you also receive super early wake-up calls!

For phase one of our race weekend, we participated in the Princess 5K, which was appropriately themed the Frozen 5K this year. One of the great things about Run Disney is their dedication to event theming. Themes and Disney go together like peanut butter and jelly. That being said, I didn’t realize when I registered for the Frozen 5K last summer just how close to the theme that race would be! Of course, I’m sure not even Run Disney officials could have guessed the Frozen theme would be taken to another level by Mother Nature herself. While I normally anticipate overly hot and humid temperatures for my Run Disney Florida races, imagine my surprise when the morning of the 5K my weather app read 30 degrees. THIRTY DEGREES people. I guess that’s what happens when you put Elsa in charge of the race. I mean we all know the cold never bothered her anyway!

We had fun visiting with Jasmine at the Princess Expo! 

I know Run Disney sent out a weather reminder that it could be chilly the morning of the 5K, but I assumed it would be “Florida cold” and nothing major to worry about. Anything seemed better than the sub-zero temperatures and snow that I left behind in West Virginia. Still, being the overly cautious and always prepared runner that I am I managed to pack a few long sleeve options that could work with my race costume. That being said, I found myself wishing that I had packed even more layers. Normally at home a 30 degree run would be no biggie with my proper attire and such. However, I was in Florida and this type of race weather was just totally unexpected! Again, thanks for that Elsa.

Flora, Fauna and Merryweather!!!

While slightly annoyed at the weather, which was more so because we would be standing in it for a while before the race actually started, I knew I needed to LET IT GO (do you see what I did there?) and enjoy another Run Disney experience that I was blessed to be able to do! So I put my “fairy” best attitude on and got into my costume, which was the Flora part of our Sleeping Beauty fairy trio! Seeing my BRFs in their Fauna and Merryweather costumes to complete our fairy theme raised my spirits even more! As soon as our tutus were on and glowing (that’s right they had lights in them!), the Run Disney magic had officially taken hold of me!

Flora Fairy ready to go!

It wasn't easy getting off the warm bus, but the energy before the 5K was contagious. I loved seeing everyone's costumes, but I especially loved how other runners were geeking out of our fairy outfits! Cailyn, who designed our beautiful light-up tutus, hats and wands, deserves all the credit! She did such a great job! Be sure to check out her blog here. On a not so humblebrag, I think we stood out as one of the best group costumes I saw before the race. You know you are rocking a great costume when strangers are asking to take your picture as well as take pictures with you!

Eventually, it was finally time to start the race. By this point the weather hadn't warmed up at all and it was still cold. Again, thanks Elsa! We were soon off and moving though and that helped warm us up! We planned to stay together the whole time and to take the race super easy. We also wanted to take as many character pictures as possible since this was the first Run Disney race that all three of us would be together the whole time! The first part of the course is the typical Epcot Run Disney parking lot tour, but soon we saw our first character: Minnie Mouse in her special blue snowflake dress! She looked super cute! I will have to wait until I purchase the official race picture to show y'all because the photographer clearly was rushing people as fast as possible and I wasn't even looking at the camera since they literally snapped the picture as soon as we got next to Minnie! I guess that's why the picture stop lines that were pretty long went by so fast! Lesson learned!

Pluto with his winter antlers so cute!

From there we soon were entering the gorgeous Epcot World Showcase area, where Let it Go was appropriately playing for all to hear. I absolutely love running through World Showcase. It's so beautiful! Our Minnie character stop was by far the longest line, but during this time we actually made friends with another group of girls who we kept meeting along the course. That's the beauty of Run Disney - you get to connect with so many awesome people who share your love of running and Disney! They even saved us a spot in line as if we were part of their group for the next character stop, Pluto, who looked extra cute in his winter antlers! After our brief Pluto visit, we took in the sights of World Showcase and continued forward. Let it Go continued to play, and this was the point where we realized the song was being played in a different language. This would continue through the entirety of World Showcase. I love me some Frozen and the ever-popular Let it Go and enjoyed hearing it in different languages, but it was even a little redundant FOR ME. I can't imagine how some of the moms and dads running that hear this song daily anyway felt LOL!

Fairies with Goofy, wearing his winter finest!

The next character stop was Mickey in his winter sweater. His line was pretty long, so we decided to skip our pal and keep going. In hindsight, we probably should have stopped since our next character stop, Goofy, would be our last as well as the only remaining character picture stop of the race! We caught Goofy, who was also wearing his winter sweater, before we left World Showcase. We fully expected to see Donald eventually, since at this point we realized the only characters they were utilizing for this race were members of the Fab Five. However, Donald was no where to be found. Womp womp. So there were only FOUR characters total! That was a disappointment, I'm not going to lie. I've read other Run Disney 5K recaps that had more than four characters. Even the Castaway Cay race on an island had more than four characters. I'm not sure if the cold had something to do with it or what? Did anyone see Donald? Maybe he was gone when we ran by, but we didn't see any place where there would have been a stop. Oh well, I had my best girls with me so we still had a blast even without as many of our Disney friends to see along the way!

With some Frozen Dudes after the race!

Eventually we made our way back into Epcot on the future world side, which was utilizing basically the same route I know well by now as a seasoned Run Disney runner. To perhaps make up for the lack of character picture stops as well as highlight the race's theme, we did see Anna, Elsa and Kristoff from Frozen! They were on a stage-like set-up and not available for photo-ops, but we did get some pics with them in the background! They were hilarious as usual as they joked with us and shouted words of encouragement. It wasn't too long after this that we were running down the finish shoot! We made sure to hold our fairy wands high, smile and take in every magical moment of crossing the finish line together! I've crossed many finish lines in my running career, but it was super fun to do so with my BRFs!

Love me some Run Disney bling!

We immediately got our bling and were given mylar blankets, which were a much needed addition to the usual Run Disney post-race accompaniments. They really helped keep us warmer as it was still quite cold! We also grabbed our Run Disney snack boxes, which also were a nice upgrade. I've received a snack box for every Run Disney event I've done, but the boxes for Princess Weekend were better than usual! Our medallions are so cute. They are rubber, unlike the metal ones you get for longer races, but are still really nice!

Before leaving the race area, we did enjoy some post-race pictures with the guys from Frozen and some cute snowflakes! Instead of going back to our hotel like we usually do, we stayed in costume and hopped on the monorail to Magic Kingdom! This was mainly done so we could get our picture with Princess Aurora since she wasn't on the race course! It was worth staying in costume because of that as well as we seemed to be entertaining other Disney patrons! We got more photo requests, even from official Disney photographers! That's when you know you have a pretty great costume theme going for you!

Princess Aurora with her fairy friends! Make it pink! Make it blue!

Overall cold and all it was a great race experience! It was fun being with my BRFs, and I think that's what made the Princess 5K most enjoyable. Did you run the 5K? If so, what did you enjoy most?

Princess Frozen 5K fairy fun and magical memories!

Stay tuned for my Princess Enchanted 10K Race Recap coming soon!

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!

Happy Holidays & Happy New Year

After a longer than expected hiatus, I’m back! First off, I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I realize my last post was about my upcoming Run Disney Tower of Terror 10-Miler race and I know I am LONG OVERDUE in writing a race recap! It was my intention to have that done before Halloween, but life got hectic and before I knew it the holiday season was in full swing. The holidays came and went in a whoosh and now here we are at the start of the new year! It’s absolutely crazy! How is it already 2015!? Is it just me or did 2014 zoom right by?

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

I know I will still be writing/typing 2014 on stuff until June lol. I am happy to report that the husband and I did indeed make it through the Twilight Zone and finished the Tower of Terror 10-Miler strong! Along with perfect race conditions, it was clear that our training paid off as we both felt fantastic during the race. We felt strong and I think we could have gone even faster, but hey it’s Run Disney and we did have to stop for just a couple quick pictures along the course. I mean you don’t always see the Old Hag from Snow White or the Haunted Mansion grave diggers out and about in the Disney Parks! Other than those two photos, we were feeling so good that we didn’t really stop during the race like I’ve done for past Run Disney events. I just wanted to keep going and was really enjoying the course and race experience itself. I promise a full recap is coming soon, but I will close with saying that the Tower of Terror 10-Miler was by far my favorite Run Disney event so far!

October also was time for vacation! The Tower of Terror 10-Miler marked the start of our fall Disney World vacation. We had a great time enjoying Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and the Epcot Food and Wine Festival. Our race companions, Cailyn and Josh, also spent the week in Disney with us. One of my favorite aspects of Disney is the food, and along with eating our way around the world with the Food and Wine Festival we also had some great sit-down dinners. We went to Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge for the first time and it was delicious. The Animal Kingdom Lodge was amazing too. Someday I will stay there! We also enjoyed a wonderful meal at the Contemporary’s California Grill. Following our dinner, we were treated to an amazing view of Wishes from the Contemporary’s observation deck. It was a great new way to watch Wishes, especially without having to deal with large crowds like you get when seeing the show at Magic Kingdom.

We had an Incredible time at Disney!

Other highlights: meeting Anna and Elsa from Frozen, The Frozen Sing-Along, and the Festival of Fantasy Parade. I didn’t think anything could top the Boo to You Parade, but I was so wrong. The Festival of Fantasy Parade was spectacular. We were lucky to have prime seating for it thanks to our fastpasses! It was an overall wonderful trip and I’m already looking forward to seeing Mickey and the gang real soon next month when I return to the House of Mouse for my annual girls trip!

After Halloween, it seemed like Thanksgiving came immediately and before we knew it, Christmas was here! Christmas is my favorite time of the year, and really I consider the months of November and December as the entire holiday season. We are always super busy during the holidays, but that’s fine because I love it all. On the running front, we started our Thanksgiving Day right with the Turkey Trot, our first race since the Tower of Terror-10 Miler!

Ready to Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving 2014!

Also in December I went to my first ever hockey game and it was a blast! I can’t wait to go to another! As for Christmas, we had a wonderful time celebrating with family and friends. We got some great presents and ate yummy food. Like usual, I was sad to see it all end, but hey it’s now less than a year until next Christmas, right?!

First hockey game! Let's Go Pens!!!

We brought in the New Year in quiet fashion with an evening at home with our furbaby, Winston. Quite the party animals we are right?! Seriously after the hustle and bustle of Christmas, it was nice to spend New Year’s Eve on the couch with the Blacklist on Netflix and some frozen pizzas! No Blacklist spoilers please!

I am not one for New Year’s resolutions really, as I am more of a GOAL oriented person and prefer to set goals and challenges for myself as I see fit. One goal for 2015 is to try and be more regular with this blog and at least post once a month. I’d like to post more than that, but we will see how things go first.

Best wishes to you all for a great new year!!!

In closing, below are some highlights from my October Disney Vacation! If you are in a cold winter climate like me, I hope these pictures can bring you some Florida sunshine!

Hanging out with Snow!

Elsa enjoyed our Elsa shirts! Let it Go!!!

Tower of Terror pic to celebrate being ToT 10-Miler finishers!

Do you wanna build a snowman?!

Why hello, Smee!

My favorite princess, Cinderella, and her Prince Charming!

Wishes from the best view ever at the Contemporary!

Tower of Terror 10-Miler Costume Reveal!

Hello friends! Guess what?! We are only a FEW days away from the Run Disney Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10-Miler! Wow! I am so excited to run into the Twilight Zone with thousands of my “closest” Run Disney friends!

As promised, it’s time to reveal our costumes for the race! Costumes and Run Disney just go together like macaroni and cheese. Like peas and carrots. Like popcorn and Buncha Crunch (seriously you must try it if you've never had this delicious concoction.) Costumes makes the whole race experience more fun. I mean, hello, it's Disney! Costumes galore are pretty much second nature in the house of mouse. If you are new to Run Disney or haven't done a Disney race yet, let me put it to you this way: if you wear just regular running clothes you are actually in the minority! So have some fun, embrace the Disney magic, and wear a costume!

I’ve mainly done the princess/queen side of costumes. I’ve dressed as Cinderella twice and Queen Elsa. However, since this is a villain-themed race and due to my love of the Disney villains, why not embrace the wicked side of Disney?! The husband and I will be joined by our friends, so a group villain theme is where it’s at!

Our evil little group will include Maleficent, yours truly; Darth Vader, the husband; Queen of Hearts, Cailyn; and Gaston, Josh! Due to heat and humidity as well as Florida still being very much summer-like weather, I kept my Maleficent costume rather simple. The Maleficent Evil Fairy Raw Threads shirt (which glows in the dark!) paired with a purple Sparkle Athletic skirt and a Maleficent horns headband. The husband plans to pair his Darth Vader shirt with black running shorts. Crafty Cailyn actually took an old Queen of Hearts Halloween costume that she created a couple years ago and made a few adjustments to make it running appropriate! Cailyn also worked her DIY magic with Josh's Gaston shirt! I can't wait to be dressed in our villainous attire!

Our Villainous Tower of Terror 10-Miler costumes!!!

When I decided to be the Maleficent of our group I had no idea that she would be the theme of this year’s Tower of Terror 10-Miler merchandise! So, now I am even more excited! I can’t wait for some Disney magic!

This is the back of my Maleficent shirt! It glows in the dark!!!

Safe travels for everyone else headed to the Tower of Terror 10-Miler! Will you be in costume? Who do you plan to dress as? Good luck to everyone this weekend! See you in the Twilight Zone!

It's Fall Y'all!!!

Well friends fall has officially arrived! This means so many things to me, like enjoying all things pumpkin including the Starbucks gem: the delicious, incredible and amazing pumpkin spice latte! Seriously Debbie Downers, I don’t care what’s in them, I will drink them regardless! But like my girl T. Swift says, “the haters gonna hate hate hate hate!” Fall also brings cooler temperatures to my area, which is great for running, as well as gorgeous foliage. It also means that it’s scarf/hoody/boots time for fashion purposes.

Then of course fall means Halloween. I love Halloween. Dressing up is fun, watching classics like Hocus Pocus over and over is great, and it’s also nice to treat yourself to some candy because hello, it’s a holiday! After Halloween we head right into the holiday season with Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations – my absolute favorite time of the year!

So True!!!

What else does fall bring?! It also means October is ALMOST here, which means my Disney vacation is super close! Today we are in SINGLE DIGITS for the countdown! I’m ecstatic to go “home” to my favorite place! This means the Run Disney Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10-Miler is just around the corner as well, in fact NEXT weekend! With the insanely early registration process for Run Disney events, when the husband and I registered for this race months ago (I think right after the Princess Half weekend in February?), I was instantly excited but it felt so far away. Now that it’s so close, my excitement builds more and more every day. Starting our Disney vacation with a Run Disney villain themed event should hopefully be a fun time! I LOVE the Disney Villains! I won’t sugar coat it and I’m sure the race itself will be a challenge, but with the Run Disney extras that are just better than any other type of race, I’m pumped!

After I completed the Runner's World Run Streak on July 4, I gave myself a very brief amount of time off to rest (running for 40 days in a row without a day off isn’t the easiest) and to let my ankle that I tweaked during a late June 5K road race heal. After that, it was back to getting my base in solid gear and time to start the Tower 10-Miler training process. For more details on how our training has gone, check out my previous post here. With the race fast approaching the husband and I are in the taper phase currently. Personally, I enjoy the taper phase because that means the race is almost here! Do you like the taper phase? I know many runners have differing opinions on this so I’d love to hear what you think!

Official Tower 10-Miler merchandise!!!

We will also be joined by our friends for this Disney vacation! Cailyn, my BRF, and her husband, Josh, who also happens to be my cousin, will not only be embarking in Disney fun with us, but they are running the Tower 10-Miler as well! You can check out Cailyn’s hilarious blog here. Embracing the villain theme we all plan to dress up. I even got the husband to agree to a costume (sort of)! A costume reveal is coming up soon! So stay tuned!

Before the race, we will be hitting up one of my absolute favorite Walt Disney World events, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. Did I mention I love Halloween? Well this special ticket Disney event combines my love of Halloween, Disney and the Disney Villains! Trick-or-Treating around the Magic Kingdom is open to ALL AGES and EVERYONE is encouraged to wear a costume! Disney characters, like Donald and Mickey, are also decked out in their Halloween costumes, which is super cute. The Boo to You Parade and Hallowishes are pure magic (like everything Disney) as well. While I give Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Parade a slight edge, the Boo to You parade is hands down my favorite Disney parade! I love seeing characters, like those from the Haunted Mansion, that you never see out and about otherwise.

The husband and I as Mario and Princess Peach for MNSSHP 2012!!!

We have group costumes planned for the Halloween party as well, but you might just have to wait and see the day of for that! Follow me on Instagram @lilrunner1485 or Twitter @lilrunner for my vacation updates! So now the last few days await before vacation. They will be filled with the normal work flow, a few more training runs, and packing! See ya real soon Disney! Happy fall to everyone as well!!!

Tower of Terror 10-Miler Update

Hello friends! Yes, I'm still here. I know, I know another blog hiatus again, but life gets hectic for a busy bee like me! With Tower of Terror 10-Miler training in full swing (more on that below), plus a very active August with lots of events on tap and the transition from summer to fall, blogging has taken a bit of a backseat. School is back in session as well and since my job focuses a lot on working with area school systems, work has been quite active too. Between running and working, I pretty much come home in the evenings, eat and go to sleep at what is likely a toddler's bedtime. Eventually I want to bring back some weekly review wrap-ups and I have so many ideas for other future posts, but now I just need to get my busy bee schedule in order and go from there. I salute you awesome bloggers that manage to post at least once (if not more) a day! You all are rockstars!

Me regarding the ToT 10-Miler!

So, enough basic chit chat, let's talk the upcoming Run Disney event, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10-Miler! It will take place October 4, which is very exciting since that day is just around the corner! This Run Disney race takes place at Walt Disney World at night and features a villain-themed course, which starts and finishes at Hollywood Studios, my favorite Disney Park. To be fair I love all the Disney parks almost equally, but as a lover of movies, this park gets the slight edge for my number one. Plus it has some of my favorite rides and attractions, including the Tower of Terror of course! In addition, the race runs through Disney's ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. Like other Run Disney events, characters will be at various points on the course for photo opportunities. After the finish, race participants get free entry into Hollywood Studios for the Villain's Bash after party! The party lasts until 3:30 a.m. and runners (as well as spectators who paid to attend) get to enjoy some of the park's rides as well as get pictures with more characters. 

Tower of Terror 10-Miler Course Map!

I couldn't be more excited for this race, y'all! Did I just say "y'all?" YES, I sure did because seriously I am so pumped! This will be my first time doing the Tower of Terror 10-Miler, my first race at the distance of 10 miles (automatic PR right?!), my first night race and my first time running through both Hollywood Studios and the Wide World of Sports! Not to mention, the race coming up so soon means that my Disney vacation is almost here. Walt Disney World is basically my second home and I can't wait to return and be with "my people" who understand my love of all things Disney. Also, my busy bee self is really looking forward to a nice vacation, so what better way to get things started by showing my Disney Side with a race through my favorite place?!

Magic Band arrival means Disney is SO CLOSE!

Run Disney recently released corral assignments for the Tower of Terror 10-Miler, which again shows just how close this race is! Following the recent Run Disney tradition, there are more corrals as in year's past. The husband and I will be in corral D. D is for "Definitely Awesome!" If you are in this corral give me a shout! 

Having attended the Run Disney Marathon Weekend as well as the Princess Half Weekend, I've only experienced the half marathon course, which is the same for both the WDW Half and Princess Half, and the Enchanted 10K course. I am very excited to try a new Run Disney course. I've also read that the course has a small trail portion included, and while I've seen some complaints regarding this, the former cross country runner in me is PUMPED! I love running on trail type surfaces. Hopefully this part will be as fun as it sounds! I am sure this could all change depending on how I feel during the race, but the 10 mile distance also intrigues me. It's an unusual distance that you don't see many races set at, and I kind of dig it. Hopefully I still "dig it" as I'm sweating like a hot mess during the race lol! 

Training for the Tower of Terror 10-Miler has been more enjoyable than training for my last Run Disney event, the Glass Slipper Challenge. For the Glass Slipper Challenge I mainly trained solo and due to the polar vortex of a winter we had, I was confined to a treadmill for the majority of my runs, including long runs. While it has been a hot and humid summer of training, which has ended up providing some not so awesome feeling runs, it's been better overall. Since the husband is doing the race with me it's been more motivating and made the training runs, specifically long runs, much more enjoyable. Having a running partner always helps! It's also been nice to do long runs outside again (even with the hot weather) after doing so many on the treadmill over the winter. Reading past race recaps and knowing the Florida weather for early October, the race will likely be hot and humid as well. Since that's what the majority of our training has been like weather-wise, hopefully we will at least be semi-prepared. 

As for training plans, with the 10 mile distance we've basically just stuck to how we would train for a half marathon. We've gradually upped our long run distance each weekend over the past couple months. After a particularly brutal 9-miler, we noticed we were feeling a bit drained and took a weekend during our training to just do a regular maintenance run in place of a long run. I've read many plans that recommend runners take at least one long run break during their training, and I can say that it did help both of us. We bounced back the following weekend and had a much better long run! The long runs as usual haven't been easy, but we've pushed through. I'm proud that we've stuck to our plan! Often I find myself having to deviate from my set-out training plan, so I'm very glad that we've motivated each other to stay on task. This weekend starts our taper cycle since again the race is THAT close, so we plan to still do a long run but back off the distance.

Mickey pancakes with chocolate milk in a Cinderella mug is a great way to refuel while training!

For other Tower of Terror 10-Milers, how has your training gone? I am sure a lot of you, like me, are now in your taper phase as well. Let me know if you are planning to join me for this race! I'd love to know what you are looking forward to when it comes to running into the Twilight Zone! If you aren't doing this race, but are training for other fall races, I'd love to hear how that's going as well. I plan to do our costume reveal for the race (because Run Disney races are just so much more fun in costume), so stay tuned!