This week was an okay week for running. Got a hill run in with co-workers and did a track workout and pulled of a 3:25 800m at the end of my workout which is my fastest time to date other than a Middle School track time. For some reason my run Saturday was rougher than expected and my run today was slow and I was sore. It’s okay though since I needed to take it easier for the SF Half next weekend to finish my Half It All Challenge (and hopefully hit my 1:45 goal)!
This week’s workouts:
Mon: Rest
Tues: Track Workout (5 miles: 4x800m’s with a 400m job in between + 2.25 miles in warm up and cool down)
With the open registration for the Princess Half Marathon Weekend right around the corner I thought I’d do a cliffnotes of my experience back in 2012.
The expo was nice. I went with my friend after work so we kind of had to rush around to get our stuff. They had the expo split between a field house (not the usual one for the WDW Marathon weekend) for packet pick-up and then the normal Expo floor in Jostens for t-shirt and goody bag pick up. The expo was fun, very “chick” oriented, and not as busy or large as the WDW Marathon weekend expo which I liked. I get easily overwhelmed at expos.
I did both the 5k and the half marathon that weekend and both were very fun! Lots of great characters and a really great energy the entire weekend. I love this race weekend! It’s so fun and friendly!
The 5k was on Saturday and my friend and I were there an hour before the race start. We weren’t going to go too fast, just run/walk it and get lots of pics with characters! The characters at this 5k were awesome and some of my favorites of all 5ks! They had them out in trios which is more fun!
We are ready to rock! (Me on left, friend on right)
This was super fun, I think we might have passed one character photo-op but it might have just been Mickey in his tux in Future World. I love the 5k races! They are so fun and I love being in World Showcase early in the morning and seeing the sun rise. It’s beautiful!
Spent the rest of the day resting in preparation for the half!
The morning of the half, I drove to the start and per my usual for all Disney races got there VERY, VERY early and arrived around 3 or 3:30. I’m always nervous there is going to be traffic, so I always give myself plenty of time. I don’t like having to rush to the start line or worrying about not getting to the race.
The start area was super fun. The usual DJ, characters, and tents before going beyond the bag check. I LOVED the bibs for this race! They put your favorite princess on them, color coded them to your princess and also put your name on it, I was Princess Katherine! So cute and a great touch!
Note: I did not run with a camera for the half so there is going to be a lot of text following.
The start was fun, the fairy godmother was out to see us off with a ‘Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo!’ and away we went. We wound our way up to MK through the TTC Parking Gates and through the parking lot. Before we got the parking toll booths there was a hunky group of princes. I believe it was made up of Tarzan, General Shang, Flynn Rider, and John Smith (I think there were more but I’m blanking now). This is one photo-op I sincerely regret not having a camera for.
There were lots of characters throughout MK, the usual from what I remember. Buzz in Tomorrowland, Jessie and Woody in Frontierland, Princess Tiana and Naveen in Liberty Square, and then the castle float in the backstage area with Sleeping Beauty and Princess John as you exited.
Then the run back from MK to Epcot. This is such a dull stretch. The day was muggy and cloudy all morning so it was dull, hot, and flat until we got to Epcot. I lost a lot of steam here and I was not feeling strong or energized at this point. It wasn’t until after the ramp into Epcot that I started feeling better (with the finish line so close it’s hard not to).
We did the loop from the Epcot entrance up to the World Showplace area and back out to the front with lots of cheering cast members and volunteers lining the way! Very fun! Then those final few turns and down the home stretch. I finished in 1:56 which was a good effort for me at that time, but this race definitely took a lot out of me and I wasn’t as prepared for it.
Crown and tutu still intact after 13.1 miles 🙂
So if you are on the fence about signing up, I would encourage you to just go for it! It’s a great weekend and a very friendly race crowd. It’s very relaxed and it’s a great race for a “girls weekend” or a newbie racer looking for a fun half. I loved it and I hope you will too!
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