If you focus on what you left behind, you will never be able to see what lies ahead

Maybe I should’ve followed suit at TS! I didn’t sleep a wink the night before the marathon so maybe a beverage or two would’ve helped?!!!
We can try it out next year.

I got mine today too! Only problem is it came bent... like really bad. They are thankfully sending me a new one for free.
Oh no! I’m glad they are making it right for you.

some hydration is better than no hydration? lol
Yup!

Loving your recaps!!! I'm a "shoulda stopped" kinda gal too. But excited to see your princess pic-fest!

I like your hydration strategy as well :)
Thanks! I can’t wait for Princess!

That's gotta be an awesome feeling! :banana:

It really is :)
 
Yay for Trader Sam's. I'm embarrassed to admit that even though we stayed at the Poly, we never made it in there. :(

Love the medal rack!
 
OK I know I fell off the face of the Earth and never posted my marathon recap. BUT I did think about this thread (and @Ariel484's encouragement :)) over the weekend when I was running Princess AND I kept to my promise. I actually stopped for pictures during the half!!

Here's the recap



My weekend started early Saturday morning. We drove over to Disney at 7am. The "we" this time was DH, DD6- Dylann, DD4- Lemon and me. This was the second time we made Princess Weekend a girl's + dad weekend. Mike and I always have the best time treating our daughters like princesses.

We made it to WDW a little early so we decided to hit up the AoA food court for breakfast before heading to the expo. After breakfast we drove over to the expo parked and started the forever walk to bib pick up. It was so hot that morning and I was starting to worry for the next morning. We made our way to bib pick and the girl's had me take their pictures

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lemonexpo.jpg

Then I went and got my bib. I was so happy to be in E!!​

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I love this bib :lovestruc

The girls got their shirts with their bib but I had to go to the Visa center to get mine so we headed that way. Next to where the shirt pick up there was a table to make posters so the girls quickly made themselves at home making signs for me.
Sign making.jpg deesign.jpg


They were of cats so I'm not sure how they were for me :cat::confused:


While the girls were making their signs DH went off to register for the Darkside half. Stay tuned for that recap because I am sure it will be an interesting one considering he hasn't been training but I digress.

We wandered around the expo looking at all the booths for a while killing time and we came across a lady selling bath bombs. They were so pretty we decided to let the girls pick out one each. Of course they picked out the same one, the ice cream sundae
bathbomb.jpg

By this time it was getting close to start time for the girls' race so we headed up stairs to order lunch. As we were eating lunch the girls were talking about the crown and unicorn headbands they saw everyone wearing, so when we were finished Mike took them back to the expo to buy them one. I headed to the new official runDisney merchandise building and had a look around.

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I liked a lot of the merchandise and paced around trying to decide what to buy, in the end I ended up with just a magnet for my collection

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After I got my magnet it was finally time to head to the starting area for the Kid's mile.


 


They were of cats so I'm not sure how they were for me :cat::confused:
:rotfl: but the girls are SO freaking CUTE!! and kitty posters are fun and totally motivating right? LOL

I love this bib :lovestruc
I was going to ask you what you thought, if that would end up on another bibs 2 bags bag...or just frame it :love:

DH went off to register for the Darkside half
:rolleyes1 I hope he doesn't have an injury flare up, but if it's the way it goes with my DH, yours will just trot on through with no problems like he runs that distance for fun all the time:sad2: But hey, maybe I'll surprise you guys and show up with beers and beef jerky.
 
When we got to the starting area we hung back a little, we figured we didn't care where we started. It was so hot and this was just for fun so why fight the crowd? As you can tell in this picture Dylann was not happy about that plan.

girlsstart.jpg

In no time we were off and running through WWoS! And then we were walking. Did I mention it was hot?! Seriously it was 1pm and we were in the beating sun with no shade. I can't blame them for not wanting to run.

lemon dad run.jpg

Lemon was a trooper and tried to run most of it but Dylann said nope. Then we got to the track and Dylann realized she needed to do something or her little sister was going to beat her. So she took off.

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She even got a high five from Mickey!

Lemon tried her hardest to keep up but she just couldn't
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She ran so hard that she didn't even notice Mickey was giving high fives :(

They got their water and snacks and we headed to the car for some much needed AC.

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We stopped for a quick pic in front of the sign.

Then it was off to the Beach Club for some pool time!!




 
if that would end up on another bibs 2 bags bag...or just frame it :love:
I'm not sure what I am going to do with this round of bibs but they are stacking up quickly!!

but if it's the way it goes with my DH, yours will just trot on through with no problems like he runs that distance for fun all the time
Probably, meanwhile I am out there running my butt off every day

I'll surprise you guys and show up with beers and beef jerky.
That would be sweet!! You should totally come down and volunteer ;)
 


Yay for the Beach Club!!!

Beach Club is my favorite resort but I have a bucket list of Disney hotels so I have been trying to stay at different ones each time we go. The TA I used had a great price for the weekend so we decided it was time to go back.

We ended up forgetting our magic bands at home so when we got to the hotel we had to go to the front desk to get new ones. In no time the cast member had us taken care of and we were off to our room.

room1.jpg room2.jpg room4.jpg

We quickly changed and headed for the gift shop. I also forgot the sunscreen and I was not trying to get sunburnt before running a half. So we got our sunscreen and then made our way to the pool.

It was a typical day at the pool. We went around the lazy river, down the slides, built sandcastles and relaxed in the hot tub. Dinner was cheeseburgers by the pool because we never wanted to leave. I finally did so I could meet up with @mrsg00fy. One of my favorite runDisney people!! While I had a drink with her Mike and the girls swam for a little while longer and then went for ice cream at Beaches & Cream. Mike sent me a picture of his ice cream float, the Grasshopper

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Mint ice cream and Guinness. He said it was pretty good.

After drinks I headed up stairs to try to get some sleep for the night. Thankfully I was able to sleep better than at Marathon Weekend and was out by 10pm.







 
Sounds like a magical day despite the heat! The girls are so stinking cute and those headbands....love! I’m in love with that half bib, but you knew that! Congrats to the girls for a job well done!

Beach club looks beautiful! The room is perfect and i’d so love to get there someday! Our much loved poly is getting harder and harder each trip to book!

How did I miss that Mike is running DS half???? Where have I been?! Super fun for him! After hearing about last weeks heat, I’m getting worried! Eek!

Yay to meeting up with @mrsg00fy, one of my favorite runDisney people as well!! Looks like Mike had a good time by the pool and great adult beverage while you were away!
 
Did I mention how crazy adorable and lovely your daughters are?!?!
RIGHT?! @MommaoffherRocker and family came to surprise our kids when we were there in late January, because the 10 collective kiddos have been pen pals for a while now. I already knew Mike and their oldest DS (<3) but meeting the rest was one of the best things that whole week!! runDisney people are the greatest !!!
 
How did I miss that Mike is running DS half????
It's kind of a long story but he kept saying he wanted to get back in shape. I got tired of hearing about it and said well here's your chance I signed you up for Darkside ( he ran the first year and there was still plenty of time to train). So he started training and I told him the truth, he was never signed up. Then he got sick and lazy and stopped. But he had already told Instagram so he has to do it. :sad2:

Did I mention how crazy adorable and lovely your daughters are?!?!
Thank you!!

runDisney people are the greatest !!!
They sure are!

CHARACTER PICTURES YAASSSSS I am so proud!!
:cool1:

Love the pics of the kiddos, so cute! And that bib is amazing.
Thanks! The bib is amazing, I think it's my new favorite runDisney one.

Interested to hear about your husband's experience after it happens.
So am I :rotfl:

Your girls are adorable.
Thank you :D

We loved Beach Club when we stayed there even though we were on the DVC side.
Which did you like more Poly or Beach Club? I think we are going to stay for a couple days after marathon next year and we are trying to decide between those two.
 
So he started training and I told him the truth, he was never signed up. Then he got sick and lazy and stopped. But he had already told Instagram so he has to do it

hahaha I don't know how I forgot about this, but now I love it all over again! "I already told Instagram" :rotfl2::lmao:
 
Which did you like more Poly or Beach Club? I think we are going to stay for a couple days after marathon next year and we are trying to decide between those two.

I preferred Beach Club. Just more my vibe I think. The food choices were better at Poly, but otherwise I liked Beach Club.
 
2:30 am came really quick. I honestly was ready to roll over and go back to sleep. But then the wake up call came and I knew I need to get my butt moving. I brought a couple different outfits from home so I quickly decided on a purple top, yellow sparkle skirt and Daisy hairband and was out the door at 3:15. Luckily when I got to the bus stop there was a bus waiting and I was able to grab the last spot. On the bus I went over my plan for the day in my head. Lots of pictures and trying to keep to long run pace.

As soon as we got to Epcot I made a beeline for the princesses. I asked the cast member at the end of the first line which princesses were out and where. He rattle off all the princesses that were there and he told me that in less than 30 minutes they would be switching. I had met all of them except Mulan so I decided I would start with her line and then go from there. Now they were switching every half an hour and I overheard someone say the line would be an hour long. That was a bummer, I probably wouldn't get to see Mulan after all. But the princess that she was switching with was Snow White. Since it was her race I guess she would have been my second choice so I stayed in line. The wait ended up being much shorter than an hour and I was getting my picture with Snow White in no time.

snow.jpg

When I was finished I went back to the other princess lines and they were just so long that I decided I would skip them. Instead I saw they had a merchandise tent that was open so I went inside to look around. Inside they had all of the merchandise from the expo and a lot of signs from the weekend you could buy. I really wanted a sign but I didn't know if I wanted to pay the price for one and then have to take it back on the bus.

After the merchandise tent I made my way to my corral. It was the same long walk as marathon weekend but this time I didn't know anyone so I made the the long journey alone :(

For this half my hard work paid off and I was able to get into corral E!!! I was so thankful I was not in the massive corral behind me. My only issue with E was that I had to walk the median to get to it. The grass was wet so that meant by the time I got there my shoes/socks were wet. Not a fun way to start a race. I walked into E and to my surprise almost the whole corral was sitting down. I was so excited to see that because I was not trying to stand for too long. So I sat down and the girl next to me started talking to me and it made the rest of the time in the corral fly by.

At 5:50am corral E was at the start line and they counted us down and we were off!! With all the people around me, passing me I wanted to fly but I kept telling myself to hold back. I was a little worried about my training considering I hadn't been above 5ish miles since Marathon Weekend and the week before I was out with the flu. However I also thought that it would be the perfect race to stop for pictures for those same reasons.

The first 2 miles were dark and boring. I kept waiting for characters to appear. I had a good idea where they were going to be but I think I was just anxious to stop. Finally as I was coming down the off ramp onto World drive I saw the first one.
It was
pirates princess.jpg

Pirates!!

I am sure everyone is shocked. The line was fairly short so I went for it. Looking back at this picture Jack's face cracks me up!! It was a good first stop. The line was short and it moved quickly. Now my adrenaline was going and I was ready to get more pictures.

After pirates it was through the toll booth, past a water stop and into the TTC parking lots. I was already hot at this point and getting worried for what the rest of the morning would bring. In the TTC parking lot I was waiting for Cars to be out or Wreck It Ralph but they never came. Then I saw a super long line and it made me nervous but curious. I looked to the left and it was the princes. For that long of a line I just didn't think that was worth it so I kept on. I was disappointed but I really wanted to save my time for better stops. A couple more turns in the TTC parking lot and we came across the Hag from Snow White. Now the line for her was ridiculous I think just to get to the end I would have added a 1/4 mile to the race. So I passed her up as well. At this point I was losing my adrenaline but stay tuned I promise it gets better :)
 

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