Leave it to Disney to Make Me a Runner (Comments Welcome)

January Training Recap:

Total Run Mileage (Run/Walk): 25.34 mi
Total Walk Mileage: 11.86 mi
Total Mileage: 37.2 mi
Total Time: 8.75 hours
New Years Resolution Progress: 59K/1000K

I've not kept up to date here, so I figured I'd do a wrap up of how the month went as a whole.

Overall, this month was a lot of adjusting. I had not run since the Wine and Dine 10K back in November, so first and foremost it was adjusting back into running (and trying to not let the mental game take me down since it felt like I was starting over from square one again. This month was also the first time in my entire life that I had ever run on a treadmill, so that definitely took some adjusting as well. Those first few runs I was so overly cautious because I was scared I would somehow fall and hurt myself. It was also adjusting my schedule to making time for those trips to the gym. I loved how in summer I could just step outside and start my run whenever I had the time. With the gym being a good 10-15 mins away from my house, it takes a lot more of a commitment now.

I'm proud of what I have been able to accomplish though both mileage wise and mentally. My 37 miles is 16% of my total mileage from all of 2019, so clearly I'm on track for a stronger year. I am looking forward to going to the gym and running, even trying to find extra time to do so after an especially long or rough day. I never would have imagined myself being a person who used running as a stress reliever but here I am!

Moving forward, I am officially three weeks (and one day) away from Princess Half. I am most definitely behind on that training and have accepted the fact that I am not going to get the full mileage in before race day. My goal is to get up to either 6 or 7 miles next week as my last long run and then see where I go from there. I fully expect to walk a bit of the half marathon as well as utilize character stops as (hopefully) recharging breaks. Starting in Corral D, I am still feeling confident that I will be able to do this and hopefully avoid the balloon ladies as a whole.
 
IT'S HERE!!!!! Princess Weekend is here!

My last long run ended up being about two weeks ago where I ran 8.5 miles (broken up into two different pieces - trying to simulate stopping for photos at MK like I plan to on race day) and then walking an extra 2.5 miles immediately following the run. After that I have gotten a few short runs in but had to stop those a little earlier than expected due to some pain I was having.

Even though I didn't fully complete the training schedule like I had planned to, I feel ready and excited for Sunday and to have the months of preparation finally pay off with my chance to run down Main Street USA...my guess is I may cry. We shall see.
 
Race Recap - 2020 Disney Princess 5K:

Before I can even begin to talk about the race, I have to talk about my journey to the race. I was scheduled to leave for Florida on Thursday - not ideal, I know but I didn't have much of a choice due to my work schedule. Well my flight got delayed before I even arrived to the airport...and then got delayed again...and then again...and I think one more time. I ended up not taking off until about 10pm which landed me in Orlando around 1:30am on Friday. I did a mad dash through MCO to get to the Magical Express busses, got to property around 2:30am, and immediately got to my room (where my mom and sister were already staying) to change into my costume and get right back on a bus to the corrals. I'd say I managed to get about 30-45 mins of sleep on the plane ride (if that) but it was pretty bad sleep, so I was essentially going into the 5K on no sleep.

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Our Toy Story Gang...ready to go!

We had no issue with busses or traffic getting to the race, and emergency bib pickup was a breeze - I was so worried about that every time my flight got delayed later and later and later. I was so excited to see that I had been placed in Corral A based on matching my anticipated pace to the POT I submitted for the half. Even though I actually started in Corral B since that's where the rest of my family was placed, there was definitely a sense of pride and "my training actually was for something" knowing that I could be starting in that first group instead.

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Who knew a little letter A could make me so proud?

The wait in the corrals could be described in three words...cold, wet, and (somewhat) miserable. We had brought blankets to try to keep ourselves warm but mine quickly got soaked by the rain and was not doing as much as it could (this was before I would later learn the magic of Mylar blankets). I ended up getting rid of mine as soon as I crossed the start line because it was so wet and it was getting uncomfortable having the blanket and my costume cape wrapped around me.

The race itself was fine, but honestly the weather was just such a damper on everything. We didn't stop for any characters and didn't even stop for as many photos on the course/in Epcot as we have done in the past because we were just so cold. In terms of the course, it was as good as I think they could do given the current state of Epcot. I liked everything until the last bit after we had exited Epcot - they took us past the construction of Guardians so it was a very anti-climactic end to the race. I didn't think it was as bad as a lot of the people I heard talking about it later on, but it still wasn't the same as going past Spaceship Earth near the end like we have in years past.

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One of the few photo ops we did stop for...and a glimpse of how cold we really were!

We finished in about an hour which was about our average pace for our yearly 5K (my mom has all kinds of tendonitis/knee issues/etc. so a slow walk is always how we finish this race). I give major props to Disney for having Mylar blankets to hand out at the end of the race for everyone. As we got ours, my mom laughed and commented how I've now raced in all kinds of Run Disney extremes - I've been handed cooling towels and blankets at the finish line. After the race, we got our "I Did It" photo and basically bee-lined it for the busses. We were cold. We were tired. We were done.

Overall, I can definitely say it was a race that we will remember forever. I wish it would have been warmer so we could have shown off our costumes more (and also been less miserable). I wish I would have actually gotten some sleep before hand to improve my mood and performance. But it was still another year of our girls' weekend tradition and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

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Race Recap - 2020 Princess Half Marathon

The day had been dreaming about was finally here! I woke up feeling a little sore from the day before - I had gone to Hollywood Studios (Boarding Group 18 for Rise of the Resistance!!!) and Magic Kingdom (Crystal Palace/5K Medal Pics). I also did not get the best night's sleep because of how many times I kept waking up - my guess is a mix of excitement, nerves, and just trying to not sleep through my alarm. My alarm went off at 2:15am and I ate a bagel w/ peanut butter and banana as I was getting ready. I got into costume, put some Biofreeze on my sore knee, took some quick pre-race photos in the room and then I was off to the start line.

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So ready and SO excited!!!

I had no issue getting on a bus and there was absolutely no traffic issues (the horror stories of marathon morning had me extra concerned about getting there early). When I arrived at the start, I took a couple of pictures walking in and then headed over to the entrance to the walk to the corrals. I probably had to wait about 10-15 minutes there before the walk began. Now I knew going in that it was a long way to the start line, but wow I didn't expect anything THAT long. I eventually got there, found my spot near the front of Corral D, and hunkered down to wait. I had brought one of the Mylar blankets they passed out at the end of the 5K with me, so I just wrapped by entire body up in it and waited for the start. I did end up near two other women who were running alone and the three of us got to chatting - one was a Run Disney newbie, I was the Half Marathon newbie, and the third had experience with both so we were all just swapping stories to pass the time.

Finally, it was time to get the race going! I thought it was a nice touch to have the Fairy Godmother start the first few waves with a Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo, and I especially loved not having to do the giant down and back to get to the start line like the 5K and 10K have you do. When we got to my corral and we were about to start, I had such a sense of calm and excitement. I wasn't worried or nervous at all - I knew I was ready to do this!

MILE 1 (10:52 split): For the first mile, I was very focused about settling into everything about the morning. I was trying to take it easy at first to make sure the soreness in my knee I had woken up with wouldn't be a problem, adjusting to running with a fanny pack belt around my waist (yes I know, never run with something new on race day but my sister let me borrow the one she had used for the 5K and it was just so nice to have), and settling into my walk/run intervals (2 minutes run/30 seconds walk). All three were feeling good and before I knew it, I was already one mile down.

MILE 2 (11:25): Second mile was about the same as the first - I was staying consistent with my intervals, making sure that I was taking the walk breaks when they came rather than pushing through them. I knew I had a long way to go and I was trying to not use up too much energy at the start. At the same time, I was also trying to get to Magic Kingdom as quickly and directly as possible to make sure I stayed well ahead of the runners from the party corrals so I could have an easier time getting all the MK pictures. There may or may not have been a character or two in this stretch (either this mile or it was the next one), but I was not stopping for anything - my eye was on the castle prize.

MILE 3 (12:18): Now is when things started getting fun - I finally reached the Magic Kingdom Auto Plaza! This was the first place I really took any time to stop because I needed to make sure that I took some pictures of the Plaza itself and also the fact that I was there running through it. This was also when I started hearing from my mom and how her morning was going. The original plan had been that she was going to try to get to Main Street to see me there, but it seems like bus issues were keeping her from even getting to Epcot.

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I made it! Magic Kingdom, here I come!

MILE 4 (15:12): I was officially in the Magic Kingdom area by this point and I could feel the shift in my excitement. The first thing I came across was a trio of carriages and vehicles on the side of the road that were there for pictures. Since there was no wait, I felt okay stopping for my first real picture of the race. After the vehicles I made my way to the TTC where I found one of my old coworkers who was spectating this race. I took a quick picture with her and she told me to have so much fun and that the best was still ahead of me. At this point, I was still trying to figure out what was going on with my mom so I had starting thinking about slowing down a little. While I waited to hear from her, I figured I would use the bathroom at the TTC (earlier than I had planned that break but it worked out perfectly) and took a little time to enjoy the steel drum band they had playing there. After those stops, my mom and I realized that there was no real way she was going to make it to MK, so I stopped stalling and my focus returned on getting to the castle.

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I found my Fairy Godmother Spectator, my old coworker!

MILE 5 (11:11): After running under the water bridge and past the Contemporary, it was time for the moment I had been dreaming about for almost a year. As I ran past the bus stops and the security area, I could already feel myself getting emotional. Then I made it to the touch points where a cast member was there saying "Welcome to the Magic Kingdom"...and I lost it. The tears welled up in my eyes as I went under the train station and saw the huge crowd of people cheering for us. The run down Main Street and towards the castle was indescribable - so many happy tears. All that work I had put in for the last 10 months was worth it....I made it to the castle.

MILE 6 (17:35): Through my mile in MK, I took all the time in the world to soak up every second of it. I finally was ready to start stopping for characters when I saw Lewis from Meet the Robinsons in Tomorrowland - after meeting Bowler Hat Guy at Wine and Dine it felt like I had the complete set! I ran through the castle (literally the main reason I signed up for the race in the first place...that ONE moment), got my picture in front of it (including a jumping picture that I'm amazed actually turned out), and kept going through the park. I did skip meeting Dopey since his line was pretty long but I did stop for Chip and Dale in their Western Wear. While I was in line for that, I heard that the balloon ladies had JUST started the race...and I was over 5.5 miles in already! Talk about the ultimate confidence boost! As I left MK and headed backstage, I was immediately greeted by the Princess float from Festival of Fantasy and the Merida float a little ways down the road. I thought that was the absolute coolest photo op (especially Merida's) and it was the perfect end to the MK portion of my race.

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The second half of the race will be in the next post...
 
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Race Recap - 2020 Princess Half Marathon (Part 2)

MILE 7 (18:29):
I was definitely still riding the high from my time in Magic Kingdom through the next mile. Now that I had reached my goal of getting my castle pictures, I started stopping more when I saw the opportunity. In fact, my run/walk intervals kind of were lost to the wayside and instead it became "run until I see a character line, rest in line, go back to running to the next line" with the occasional walk break sprinkled in when needed. Princess Atta from A Bug's Life had a relatively short wait so that was an easy stop. The other stop I made here was for Flora and Fauna who had the longest line I waited in the entire race, but there was NO way I was passing up a character meet as rare as that one!

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Longest wait of the race, but for a meet this rare I'd wait a long time

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MILE 8 (11:37): There was not too much to focus on in this mile besides continuing to run. Cinderella and Prince Charming were meeting by the Wedding Pavilion but they had a crazy long line. I'm not really a Cinderalla girl, so I was fine just taking a picture of them and continuing on my way. The one highlight of this mile was the fact that on the side of the road there were signs with really bad Dad jokes on them - one sign had the joke and then the next one had the punch line. There were about five or six of these that kept us laughing/groaning as we ran. I also stopped at a med station just to reapply some Biofreeze to my legs to keep me going and it definitely helped prevent any soreness from coming on.

MILE 9 (15:57): By this point, the sun was officially up and I could tell. It was not like it was overly hot or anything - the brightness and just heat from the sun were a tad annoying. I was just grateful that I had made it as far as I did before that point though because I think it really helped how I did overall. Jafar was meeting right after the food stop, so I used his line as a refueling point. I had never had sports beans before so instead I had brought a couple of granola bars with me and had one of those while I waited. After Jafar, I kept running until I heard Mulan like music in the distance. The closer I got to the meet, I started seeing that it looked like a darker character. Well at that point, my mind freaked out to the effect of: "No, there's no way that's Shan Yu...that can't be Shan Yu...OMG IT'S SHAN YU!!!". I sprinted to that character line and was ready to wait as long as it took - amazingly, it was like 5 minutes max! I'm a huge Mulan fan, so he was DEFINITELY the character highlight of the entire race for me.

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Hands down, the character highlight of the race!

MILE 10 (17:48): Lots of highway running here down World Drive but there were definitely some fun highlights. The first was making it to the 15K sign - I always love when I reach the markers I have never seen before (i.e. Mile 7 after only ever doing 10Ks) so this was really special. The next was reaching the Palm Tree Island in the median of the road and getting to meet the Stepsisters and Lady Tremaine - I had never met her before! As I was waiting in that line, I started texting one of my DCP roommates who I knew was tracking me. She had done the Princess Half last year and was just so excited that it was my turn. After meeting all the step ladies (who commented on how I had worn my cleaning gloves to meet them), I started for the giant curve towards Epcot. Right before the curve, I saw the Mile 10 Parade Bus. I know there is no guarantee, but before the race I had read how if you can get passed that bus you were good for the rest of the race. Even though there was never a point that I was actually worried about being swept, reaching that bus gave me an extra boost.

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MILE 11 (11:53): By this point, I was in familiar territory since I recognized the course from the Wine and Dine 10K I did back in November. Suzy and Perla were meeting with a relatively short line (and I was in need of a quick break anyways) so I hopped into their line for a picture. I also managed to spill Powerade on myself at one of the last water stops before heading into Epcot, so a good majority of time was spent trying to get my shirt to dry as quickly as possible - I knew there were park photos coming and I didn't need a giant wet spot in them all!

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MILE 12 (13:57): That last hill up the overpass to Epcot is rough guys. It was rough during Wine and Dine and it was rough here too. I did take some time to stop at the top for a couple selfies and to admire some of the spectator signs. My favorite of the whole race was in this stretch - there was a service dog who was sitting next to a sign that said "I can't believe you ran all this way just to pet me". Nothing too exciting as we wiggled our way backstage of Epcot, especially since I had seen all of this before. My biggest thing was realizing how strong I was still feeling and how surprising that was, considering I had totally gone into the race expecting to be walking by that point.

MILE 13 (11:11): I finally made it to Epcot! Immediately upon entering the park, I saw Bolt meeting and that he had ZERO line! I couldn't pass up that opportunity, so I got a quick picture with him before continuing my way through Epcot. I definitely did miss getting to go through all of World Showcase like I have in every other race I've done, but it was still a nice quick visit into Epcot. After leaving the park, I was back in the land of construction that I had seen for the 5K. Minus stopping to take a picture with a road encouragement sign that had the same Belle quote I had used for social media earlier in the day, I ran straight through all of this.

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MILE 13.7 (8.44): Clearly, I ran a bit more than 13.1 miles because of weaving/characters stops/etc. Coming up to the finish line, I was able to pick my mom out in the bleachers and was excited to see that my sister had made it to see me at the end as well! As I was waving to them, I heard someone else calling my name - someone I went to high school and played softball with was there too. After a wave to her, I was at the finish line. I could already feel all my emotions coming out....and then I saw Mickey. He was there in his royal best giving high fives as people crossed the finish line. I made sure to get a high five from him, crossed that finish line, and immediately started crying the happiest of tears. All that work, hours of training, countless days of waking up to the alarm clock in the summer...it was all worth it.

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Not my best finish line pictures, but my face says it all <3

TOTAL TIME -- 3:07:26 (14:18 min/mi average pace)
 
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I thought that was the absolute coolest photo op (especially Merida's) and it was the perfect end to the MK portion of my race.
I love getting to see the parade floats close up. As a huge Sleeping Beauty fan, I really geeked out during the marathon this year because they had the Maleficent dragon parade float right before leaving the Magic Kingdom complete with a race photographer right there and then they had Aurora and Belle in France at the end of the marathon.
All that work, hours of training, countless days of waking up to the alarm clock in the summer...it was all worth it.
Congratulations on finishing the Half Marathon!
 


Race Recap - 2020 Princess Half Marathon (Part 3 - Post Race)

As soon as I crossed the finish line, I made my way towards the medals, picked up another Mylar blanket as they handed them out, and saw that a friend who had been tracking me sent me all kinds of congratulations the second I crossed the finish line. After that, I put my phone away to finish making my way through the food box area and got my "I Did It" picture. Last year, that picture never showed up for the 10K (my first 10K), so I stopped at a couple of the photo spots to make sure that I had at least one show up for my first half.

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I made sure I was getting this picture this year!

Once I made my way to the reunion area...I noticed my phone was completely dead. Like, no power, wouldn't turn on, nothing. So here I was in a giant sea of people with no way to figure out where my family was waiting for me - talk about feeling like a little kid lost in a grocery store. I tried using a person's phone to call my mom, but even that wasn't working. By some miracle, as soon as I gave the phone back I turned around and saw my sister off in the distance. I made my way over to them, laughing as I told them my phone was completely dead and I wasn't just ignoring them. I was greeted with plenty of hugs, congratulations, and a Run Disney cup full of pineapple cider. That cider tasted so unbelievably good after the race I couldn't believe it - it seems I'm slowly turning into one of those "beer after runs" kind of people (I blame my Wisconsin roots haha).

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Powerade in one hand, cider in the other...proud Wisco Girl!

At this point, my sister started asking how we wanted to get back to our resort - take the bus or walk through Epcot for the Skyliner. My legs were a fairly tired by this point, but something in me decided to agree that the Skyliner sounded like a better idea so we headed towards Epcot. It was my first time having the park actually open when I finished the race, so it was definitely fun getting to go there in full race costume, bib and all. All the people in line around me at the touch points were asking how the run was and admiring my outfit which was cool. I also managed to run into one of my other DCP roommates who is now a Guest Relations CM at Epcot - always a nice surprise when that happens!

Well, our quick walk through Epcot turned into an entire morning there. I stopped for some Photopass photos in front of Spaceship Earth since I had my costume and medal, and then before I knew it my sister was checking wait times and we were heading towards Soarin'! After a quick flight around the world (WOW did it feel weird to sit down for the first time in hours), we made our way towards the back of the park. My sister and I ran ahead to the bridge to France so we could take a couple of pictures with the pavilion in the background (I WAS Belle after all) and then we were ready to leave...or so we thought.

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Right before the exit we saw Mickey, and I basically just looked back at my family and said "we are stopping". He was so much fun! When I first walked up to him, he looked at my outfit and did a double take, looking back and forth between me and then the France Pavilion which he could see behind me. Then he noticed my medal and was so happy when I told him that I had run a long way that morning to come see him. He shined up my medal for me before our pictures together - it was just a perfect meet and the perfect end to the morning.

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Mickey loved my medal and made sure it was nice and shiny for the picture

The rest of the trip was all about taking it easy, but at the same time wanting to go everywhere with my medal for pictures. I had two days of different photo shoots in Magic Kingdom (and a little bit of Hollywood Studios) with some amazing cast members (especially the one by Cinderella's Wishing Well who came up with a fun and unique pose for each person who came to her with a medal on) and my wonderful mom and sister who were very patient when I wanted pictures everywhere.

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CM: "Do you want to do the bite the medal thing?"

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A must do photo op for me every trip into TSL - my alien

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Overall, this weekend will be a trip to remember for the rest of my life. When I first said that I was thinking about doing the half marathon, I had quite a few people question that decision. "That's really far...why would you do that...you are only running like two miles right now...how are you going to do that?" are the kinds of things I was hearing. I'm so proud of myself for not letting that get me down and seeing just how far I was able to come. I had the time of my life running the half, and I'm so excited to see where this crazy running journey goes next.

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But now, back to training...Star Wars Half Marathon is 7 weeks away!!!! :D
 
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Some of my most memorable character moments have come during medal photo time. After Dopey in 2019, Mickey counted all of my medals, and Minnie decided to make the 10K medal with her on it kiss the marathon medal with Mickey on it. Chip and Dale always love playing with spinner medals and Star Wars has 3 of those if you're running the challenge and virtual half.

The rest of the trip was all about taking it easy, but at the same time wanting to go everywhere with my medal for pictures. I had two days of different photo shoots in Magic Kingdom (and a little bit of Hollywood Studios) with some amazing cast members (especially the one by Cinderella's Wishing Well who came up with a fun and unique pose for each person who came to her with a medal on) and my wonderful mom and sister who were very patient when I wanted pictures everywhere.
I wonder if that's the same photographer I saw in the Magic Kingdom after the 2019 Walt Disney World 10K. He took some incredible photos and they were unique to each runner/group of runners. I tried to find him after the marathon, but no such luck.

I might have to bring my 2018 Kessel Run medal so it can "fly" around Galaxy's Edge. In 2017 and 2018, I took a crazy amount of photos of the medal just flying around the parks before Galaxy's Edge was open.
 
Some of my most memorable character moments have come during medal photo time. After Dopey in 2019, Mickey counted all of my medals, and Minnie decided to make the 10K medal with her on it kiss the marathon medal with Mickey on it. Chip and Dale always love playing with spinner medals and Star Wars has 3 of those if you're running the challenge and virtual half.

I wonder if that's the same photographer I saw in the Magic Kingdom after the 2019 Walt Disney World 10K. He took some incredible photos and they were unique to each runner/group of runners. I tried to find him after the marathon, but no such luck.

I might have to bring my 2018 Kessel Run medal so it can "fly" around Galaxy's Edge. In 2017 and 2018, I took a crazy amount of photos of the medal just flying around the parks before Galaxy's Edge was open.

I am doing the Kessel for Star Wars so I'll have two of the three spinner medals - may have to try to find Chip and Dale with them! And you should bring back the old one! I'm so excited to take a ridiculous number of pictures in Galaxy's Edge with my medals!
 
February Training Recap:

Total Run Mileage (Run/Walk): 39.42 mi
Total Walk Mileage: 10.20 mi
Total Mileage: 49.62 mi
Total Time: 11.14 hours

Year to Date:
Total Run Mileage (Run/Walk): 64.76 mi
Total Walk Mileage: 22.06 mi
Total Mileage: 86.82 mi
Total Time: 19.89 hours
New Years Resolution Progress: 139K/1000K

February was an all-time record in regards to total mileage, despite having to take two weeks off of training because I was having soreness pre-Princess weekend that I wanted to let recover and then I gave myself a week post-Princess to recover from the race itself. Obviously, the highlight of the month was finishing my first half marathon with an average pace of 14:18 min/mi despite stopping for tons of characters and photos. The part of that day that I am most proud of is the fact that from mile one to mile thirteen, I was running each and every one. Yes there were walk breaks and character breaks, but there was no more than a minute or so of walking at a time...I mainly ran the race and I cannot be more proud of myself for that.

Looking forward to next month, I hope to stay as consistent as I can with my training since I need to gear up for the Star Wars Half. I do have a Spring Break trip planned in a few weeks that will throw a wrench in my runs, but I'm going to do the best I can to work around it and get my runs in. I am also excited to hopefully cross the 100mi and 200K marks this month, which would put me at almost half of my total distance from last year already!
 
I am doing the Kessel for Star Wars so I'll have two of the three spinner medals - may have to try to find Chip and Dale with them! And you should bring back the old one! I'm so excited to take a ridiculous number of pictures in Galaxy's Edge with my medals!
I have a feeling the number of medal pictures I take in Galaxy's Edge will be borderline absurd. I'm even contemplating building my second lightsaber just for lightsaber medal photos.

I did the Kessel Run in 2017 and added Avengers to my race calendar that year and literally took a photo of me with the Kessel Run medal at the entrance to Galaxy's Edge in Disneyland which at that time only showed concept art. One of the things I love to do is a photo of all race medals hanging in front of the train station. Well after the 2018 Kessel Run, I took a photo with all my medals hanging from the rope in front of the DHS entrance to Galaxy's Edge. Then for good measure I took the Kessel Run medal to Disneyland a couple of weeks later so I could get a photo of me and my Kessel Run medal with Rey. I also have all sorts of photos of the Millennium Falcon "flying" all over Disneyland and Disney World. Like a photo in every nation of World Showcase.
 
Congratulations on your first half! That spot near the IG exit in Epcot is character gold. I found Goofy there as I was heading in with only 3-4 people in line. I had my Goofy medal on and got lots of attention and some great shots.
 
I love you half costume and you got some really great pictures 😍

Thanks! The costumes are always one of my favorite parts of doing RunDisney races!

One of the things I love to do is a photo of all race medals hanging in front of the train station.

I do the same thing but with the railing by Hub Grass. I think I'm going to bring all of my 2019-20 medals back with me for Star Wars weekend so I can get a picture with all of them for the season.

Congratulations on your first half! That spot near the IG exit in Epcot is character gold. I found Goofy there as I was heading in with only 3-4 people in line. I had my Goofy medal on and got lots of attention and some great shots.

Thanks! It was the first time I had stopped for them since they moved back there. I may have to try to stop more often now that I know how great it is.
 
I do the same thing but with the railing by Hub Grass. I think I'm going to bring all of my 2019-20 medals back with me for Star Wars weekend so I can get a picture with all of them for the season.
I did that for all 2017 medals in front of Disneyland's train station. 9 medals total. All 3 Rebel Challenge medals, all 3 Dark Side Challenge medals, Kessel Run medal, 10th anniversary Coast to Coast, and Avengers. If I feel adventurous, I might take all 2020 Dopey medals back in April and add all the Star Wars medals to it. Maybe. I'm still not convinced I actually want to haul all the medals around for even one day.
 
I did that for all 2017 medals in front of Disneyland's train station. 9 medals total. All 3 Rebel Challenge medals, all 3 Dark Side Challenge medals, Kessel Run medal, 10th anniversary Coast to Coast, and Avengers. If I feel adventurous, I might take all 2020 Dopey medals back in April and add all the Star Wars medals to it. Maybe. I'm still not convinced I actually want to haul all the medals around for even one day.

It will be only six for me (one W&D, two princess, 3 Star Wars) so that feels manageable. We will see if I actually do it haha
 
And just like that, my 2020 calendar is filling up with races!

wine and dine 2020 registration.JPG

I'm extra excited about Wine and Dine this year since I will be doing my first official weekend challenge (I don't quite count the Kessel Challenge since half of it is virtual). What makes that especially awesome is the fact that it will be an anniversary year for both the 10K and the Two Course Challenge, so I'm pumped to see those anniversary medals.

The absolute best part of this though is the fact that it will be the first time I've ever done a 10K not by myself. My younger sister has decided to do the 10K with me - it will be her first ever 10K and I'm so excited for us to have a sister race together. I know that I will be walking most of the race since I'm doing it with her, but I will gladly trade running the whole thing for the chance to do the race with her. Plus, that will help me not push too hard on 10K day so I can save myself for the half.
 
March Training Recap:

Total Run Mileage (Run/Walk): 33.69 mi
Total Walk Mileage: 28.08 mi
Total Mileage: 61.77 mi
Total Time: 11.14 hours

Year to Date:
Total Run Mileage (Run/Walk): 98.45 mi
Total Walk Mileage: 50.14 mi
Total Mileage: 148.59 mi
Total Time: 19.89 hours
New Years Resolution Progress: 239K/1000K

This month was interesting, to say the least. To go from training for Star Wars to being under a Stay at Home order with no races on the horizon until the end of August (Brewers Mini Marathon 10K, year two!) was quite the adjustment - on top of transforming my classroom to a distance learning experience! I've done the best I can with it, and honestly the order has made me be even more active this month. I've been trying to stick to running every other day and then I have also been going on nightly walks after dinner with my sister. It has been fun getting to do this - it has been good beginning practice for our Wine and Dine race and we have begun exploring different parts of our town that we haven't been to much in the past. I have also signed up for a Virtual 5K series where I can submit a time every week for 5Ks, 10Ks, or half marathons which has helped to keep me motivated to get a 3 mile run in at least once a week.

Moving into April, knowing that I'm going to continue to be home, I am going to work towards the following goals:

1. Exercise (walk and/or run) 20 days this month - I'm trying for every day but I don't know what WI weather will do
2. Get back into weekly updates of this training journal at some point during each weekend
3. Run at least three times a week
 

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