2013 Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon (finally!) Part 1

Ok. Here it is. Only about a month late. My Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon update!! I have to say it will mostly be pictures, but I will do my best! Enjoy!

So the day begins at 2am...yes that's right, as many others before me have written, myself and my roomie, Nicole set our alarms and were awake at 2am! I know, that doesn't sound very exciting, but I was so very excited! I got up and began getting myself together! I had put together my costume the night before as well as all I needed for my race day. Nicole put on some music, we started jamming out, putting our faces on and running gear!

I was so excited I ended up rushing Nicole a bit, my apologizes! She was all ready go for the most part, but when I am being told we have to be out and on the bus at 3am I am ready to go for it! But she wasn't..so as she is trying to pin her bib onto her shirt, I am pressuring her...wooops...excitement took over!

So we board the bus, wait for it to depart...and drive off to Epcot! Nicole and I were both registered for the Race Retreat. It was wonderful! It was cool, there was food and private porta-potties for us! There were also some character appearances, which I have to say I was a little disappointed. When we got there the three fairies from Sleeping Beauty were there, but while standing in line then went away and brought in a field mouse from Cinderella!

final costume results!

While in the race retreat tent they made an announcement for those in Corrals A-C to make there way to the start line. So Nicole went off and made her way to her corral, and I waited to meet up with my friend Shavonne who was in my corral. Actually...I was moved up from Corral E to D from my 10k race time. But since Shavonne was in E, I decided it might be nice to start with her since it our first 1/2 so it was great to have a running partner, plus she had a pace timer!


So here is everyone making there way to their corrals, it was a little of a walk, but it helped loosen the nerves a bit as well as the muscles!

There was a porta-potti stop on the way to the corrals which we made just to allow more time for running and less stops! Which I can tell you now that I only stopped once for a pee stop right before Mile 9.

So here is the start line! As each group started or neared the start line The Fairy Godmother gave us her words of encouragement and magic!











Then off with a Bibbidi-Bobbidy Boo we were off! The fireworks went off for each group which was great excitement!

 

 

When I wanted to make a stop for this photo Shavonne wanted to keep on running, so I let her go on and I waited for at least 5-10 minutes! But hey it was worth seeing Prince Eric. He told me to keep an eye out for Max, but I didn't see him anywhere on the course unfortunately...that dog must get into so much trouble!

I really wish I stopped for this photo opportunity...oh well, next time!

Making our way through the Castle...eek! So exciting!!

Such a fun photo shot! The pro's pic came out a lot better, but this is what you get! haha!

My new husband...hehe

 This is the "hill" that I kept hearing about...but it really wasn't as bad as everyone made it seem to be. The picture here doesn't show it very well, and there was more than one inclining hill, but neither were to bad if you trained on even the smallest of hills or paced yourself.

 

To read more about the race finale and trip to the Magic Kingdom, please read 2013 Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon Part 2!

 

-Stephanie

"A dream is a wish your heart makes"

runDisney Meet-up!

Friday, February 22nd I had the honor and pleasure of being invited into the runDisney meetup at Epcot with running guru Jeff Galloway and many other wonderful people! Well I wouldnt say invited, but my friend Nicole (story to come later) was awake at the early hour of 4am on Monday, February 18th to find the post on the Disney Parks Blog for thoe interested in trying to get into the meet up to send an email to get on the list...and WE DID!!!

Anyways, so let me begin a day earlier, on Thursday the 21st. What a morning I had! My parents so graciously agreed to drive me to the airport at 5am! Needless to say, we should have left earlier for my 7am flight. I just got into the check-in line at 6:15am, then into security around 6:35am. I was lucky enough to get people to let me cut in security lines, but then I was slacking and didnt take my bags of liquids out my bag, I had to wait even longer. Then while waiting for my bags, I could hear my flight being called....then after a couple minutes a few names (including mine), then my name one more time just as they handed me my bag!

So there I go, Home Alone style, running down to the gate! "You must be Stephanie" they say, greeting me at the gate! I felt so blessed....and then luckly got a seat in the front row, it was the middle seat, but hey, Ill take it!!

So I made it to Florida, then to my hotel and into my room. I set my stuff down, changed and made my way to Downtown Disney to meet up with a Facebook friend, Shavonne for a trip to the grocery store. As I was out with her my roomie had arrive at the hotel. This is where the story comes in. Nicole, my Disney roomate was someone I have never even met or spoken to! Yikes! we had met by chance on the runDisney facebook page during the summer, with Nicole being in search of someone to share a room with, and I in need of someone to share a room with quickly responded! So from then on we emailed eachother, texted and facebook messaged. So I was very excited to finally meet her! I felt pretty at ease they we would get along, but still somewhat nervous in the back of my mind!

We met up for the first time at Downtown Disney. It was great! We hit it off right away!
So we spent sometime walking around and shopping at Downtown Disney, then back to our hotel for some dinner and rest.

The next day was the runDisney meet-up. It was amazing! We took a cab over to Epcot, checked in and started talking to other runners that were there and even got to meet up with Jeff Galloway and talk to him for a few minutes!

 

If you read the Disney Parks blog post about the meetup, you know who else was there...

Thats right, Sean Astin! How exciting, and he was super nice!

 

After pictures with him, everyone gathered together to get a little run down of what was happening and introductions of other important people that I will mention later! So then the groups split up, one group was to do a straight run, and the other, led by Jeff was to do a run-walk method. I chose the run-walk method since I knew that was what I was capable of doing, since I am not a very fast runner.

A picture of our start from my point of view

picture compliments of runDisney

 

 

So we made our way through the front part of Epcot, up to the World Showcase starting at Mexico and around to the U.K where we took a side exit/entrance to the Boardwalk. We followed the boardwalk around back into Epcot to the front of the World Showcase, and back around to the Germany Pavillion.
We entered into the Biergarten for some breakfast and listen to a few people speak, including Jeff Galloway, Ali Vincent, Tara Gidas and Rachael Booth.

Ali Vincent is the first Female winner of The Biggest Loser. She spoke about he struggle with weight loss, and the power you can have over yourself and how to take control and enjoy your life. Tara is the runDisney Nutritionist guru, she spoke about nutrition, obviously, and just caring for yourself when preparing for a race and after. Rachael Booth won the Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon back in 2012 and again this year (spoiler alert!)

 There were a bunch of giveaways during the breakfast including a runDisney rolling duffle (I won!), the runDisney New Balance Shoes and spa robes. We all then got a grab bag at the end of the morning with some lotions, Luna bar samples, and we each got a 1-day Park Hopper ticket!!
How exciting was this!!

 

If I could I would do it all over again...well not over, but do it AGAIN! So awesome and amazing.
Keep your eyes open for my next update on the expo, Royal Family 5k and other meet-ups that I went to!

 

-Stephanie

 



 

 

Princess Half Meet Up!!!

"Congratulations! You are among a select group of qualified applicants who get to enjoy a special opportunity tied to Princess Half Marathon Weekend at Walt Disney World Resort."


Thats right, this Friday I will be among 50 other participants in the RunDisney Princess 1/2 marathon meet up!!! Eeek! I am over the moon!
Thanks to my friend Nicole, with whom I am traveling with, we got in! If it wasnt for her, i think I would be in a bummed out mood!

Anyways, as excited as I am, I am also beating off a cold. It started on friday with a sore/scratchy throat and stuff nose. I have been blowing my nose non-stop since saturday and sunday, which i see as a good sign. I hate it, but at least my body is getting it out of my system. I plan on picking up some mucinex to help kick it out even faster seeing how I leave on Thursday, bright and early!!

This weekend, while having a cold I also finished my costume for the half! Well...not completely. But here are a few photos...and this is all you get to see until Race Day photos are up!

A flower for my hair!



The costume as a whole

my little guppy...Flounder!

 

 

All I need to do now is add some sequins/glitter and maybe some pearls to my shells and I will be all set!! I need to figure out what to do with my hair, I want something cute, but something that is easy to do at 2am or so! haha.

 

-Stephanie

Fairytales do come true