Rochester Flower City Half Marathon 2014

With Luke deciding to run a half marathon with me we are getting him on a training schedule.  Right now he has been very diligent about elliptical-ing several days a week for 20-30 minutes.  In a few weeks he will start the couch to 5k program and participate in the 5k during the Rochester Flower City Half Marathon in April.  I will be running the Half Marathon.  I am in my first week of a personally modified Hanson's Marathon Method program (loved it for the Dopey Disney weekend).

After the 5k he will start working toward completing a 10k(To Be Determined) and from there we will find a half marathon.  I am hinting that Walt Disney's Wine and Dine in November would be fun or the Tower of Terror 10 miler (hey- it's close enough in my book for his half) so that I can check out Halloween at Disney.  Our half marathon will be picked out fairly soon though since we will likely be traveling somewhere to do this--a little mini vacation to celebrate this accomplishment.  Even if he does not fall in love with running, like I am hoping he does, he will be on the road to being more fit which is a goal of his.

Sparkle Love

I am in love with Sparkle Skirts.  They are a great company with amazing customer service and all their products are made in the USA.

This is my sparkle collection so far and I L-O-V-E love them.  They are super comfy and cute.  Wearing one to go out for a run or to run errands helps to put a smile on your face.  The best part is the pockets.

 The one pictured above is called Lucky Charm.  It has lime green polka dots and the shorts under it are also done in dots.  Most of the skirts have solid colored shorts underneath (black, white or gray although sometimes a coordinating color).  The pockets on the legs are huge and carry a lot of stuff with the bonus of not even being able to tell with the swing style of the skirt over top.  There is also a zipper pocket along the waistband.  You can wear the zipper pocket in the front or back.

 These two lovelies are part of the Peacock collection.  Noir (since discontinued for Snow) and Lily.  The peacocks have small foil sequins on them that you don't really see but they reflect the sun light and give you just a little bit of sparkle.

 Here is my very first piece of Sparkle, Pixie Dust.  Some of her sequins have fallen off but I love her just the same.  Favorite color and super comfy.  I wore her for the Rochester Flower City half marathon in 2013.

 The last of my sparkle (for now) is Dress Me Up Blue that has the ribbon you can change out to vary the outfit.  It is perfect since it matches many of my Disney half marathon shirts.  Dress Me up Red is on my list since it will match my Disney marathon shirts and Dumbo Double Dare shirts.  Circus Daze and Hiker Chic (longer length) Black Silk.  Cannot wait for spring so I am not layering these beauties over leggings.

The last of the bunch are Autumn and Purple Passion.  Both are commando skirts meaning they do not have the shorts built in under them.  The are much better suited for layering over tights when you want that zipper pocket in the waistband.  It is going to be a wonderful spring when I get to really bust out all my sparkle.

They are to be machine washed in a laundry bag inside out (the ones with sequins should be hand washed but I cheat) on cold and line dry.  Basically the same type of care as my other running gear.

Sparkle on!

2014 WDW Marathon mile 8-finish!

After my last check in with the support crew at mile 8 it was time to just keep pushing forward under my own positivity with not much to look forward to after the disappointing mile 20 extravaganza from the previous year.  The course change meant I couldn't place my Papa Bear at mile 19 to look forward to seeing and keeping a positive outlook on the most difficult part for me.  After that little hiccup I am good.

After my shoe change it was on to the speedway for a lap on the track.  Although this is a nice addition to the course it is awful to get to the track due to a very steep down hill and up hill.  Steep like the top of a mountain single track climbing stairs steep.  Not cool... also not cool having to run across the grass median as we leave the track to get my dry shoes wet!

 Totally cool though was the villains and their bad to the bone area.  Yes, they totally freak me out every time.  And this was by far the best motivational sign ever.

 I kept hearing who let the dogs out and then stumbled upon these 3 critters.  The song was stuck in my head since they played it shortly after we left the start of our corral and I was finally onto another song just to gain this one back.  Oh well, at least it was up beat.

 I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of characters they had and opportunities for photos before entering Animal Kingdom.  Typically there isn't much happening on the back road other than a few signs and I always figured it was because the noise of music (typically accompanying the characters) was somewhat stressful to the animals in their backstage area.

 This was the last character I stopped for on as I was on my way into Animal Kingdom.  To be honest I don't think I saw any in Animal Kingdom (Safari Minnie and Daisy was all).  Leaving AK I realized that I felt better if I wasn't constantly stopping for photos and just kept running so that was my plan.  Did I miss out on some photo opportunities--yes.  Am I bummed about it--yes and no.  The remaining character stops didn't have a character out when I went running by (they were in a transition) so I wouldn't have been stopping anyways.  I think I missed about 6 characters but I am ok with that.

I texted my mom at mile 18 with the following:  Mile 18 Suckfest.
Mom's response:  Sorry in stands just past finish on the side we have visors and sunglasses sorry take it slow and don't pull anything.  you are loved.

I busted out my Honey Stingers, sucked down some powerade and went for it.  If I was already hurting it wasn't going to get any better dawdling.  I must have found the sweet spot though because I was able to hit my stride and not get tangled up with other runners on the narrowness of the Wide World of Sports area.  I got to mile 20 and was feeling great so I kept on truckin' along.  A guy came up next to me around mile 22 and asked if I was going sub 4 hours cause he'd been pacing off of me since Animal Kingdom (mile 13) and I was hitting the miles perfect.  Um, no cause I started in the corral before you but keep up the effort mister!  FYI I did finish in 4:07 though so not bad and I bet that guy did finish in 4 hours since he stuck with me until I stopped for a minute to text my mom I had a mile to go.

 I felt amazing the last 3 miles of the race and very strong.  I could feel myself picking up the pace and it was very strange.  I am usually a hurting turkey but everything felt good this time.  The Hansons Marathon plan must have worked amazingly well since I followed it almost to a T.  Even my mom was shocked at how well I finished based on my Mile 18 suckfest and my legs hate me comments at mile 3 and 8.  At the halfway mark I was averaging 9:50 miles and by mile 20 I was averaging 9:33 miles.  Curious how it would have gone if I hadn't stopped for photos the first 13 miles.

 My mom made Perfectly Goofy visors for her and my dad to wear in the stands.  She knows that the sun is always just right in her eyes as she waits for me to round the corner for the finish.  They also used the towel I wiped my feet on to dry the bleacher bench off with.  Spectators around them were quickly their friends wanting to use the towel.  They are geniuses.

 My view at the end of the marathon of the BEST mom EVER!  Seriously, untying my shoes and getting my crocs on.  I didn't want to really hang out and take pictures with the characters but I was willing to have just the banner in the background for my momma.  Well these two just happened to show up.  I was more about getting on the bus and showered to go spend the afternoon at Magic Kingdom.

That's a lot of bling and it was an amazing weekend that I wouldn't have survived without my support crew.  Yes, we runners have to put in the miles and training on our own but when our day to run comes it is the positive words of encouragement via a text message, email, phone call or in person that really helps us to dig a little deeper and realize that we are so much stronger than we though.  Thanks for everything Momma and Papa Bear!

2014 WDW Marathon The first 8ish miles

I am not sure what happened but the weather turned out to be about as perfect as it could for a marathon after the heat and humidity of the half marathon on Saturday.  I was feeling a little tight as I usually do after the half so I was just going to see how it went and go until I crashed and burned (meaning I had to walk more than run).

I met up with Kelly again in the hotel lobby and she said she didn't feel well.  I am such a good friend I told her to move away from me and leave me alone.  She said it was her allergies since they came and cleaned her room.  She typically leaves the sign out that says "resting" so the allergens aren't disturbed too much during her stay.  The race started in the usual fireworks and then those quiet first few miles.  I stopped for the pirates despite the 7 minute wait.  I figured if I already felt kind of icky on my legs I might as well make it a picture day.

 Support crew check in at mile 3.  Yes I will want a change of shoes and my legs hate me so I am just going to go until I cannot go anymore then it will be a dawdle of misery but I will have lots of photos.

I stopped for almost every character in the Magic Kingdom and once again soaked in the most Magical Mile in the world.  The castle was draped in the icicle lights today and I just melt at the sight of it.  Just thinking of running through the Magic Kingdom I get all smiley and the world just seems to slow down so I can soak in the magic and recall all those happy feel good moments from that small part of the day.

Exiting the Magic Kingdom is the usual Reedy Creek Fire Department.  It is Disney's fire department and they employ 200 firemen (it was on one of their keep your mind occupied signs on the side of the road).  If you are in need of some Disney music to get your park fix Reedy Creek Radio plays songs that are featured in the parks and many that are not available for purchase.

Support crew spotted at mile 8 and a most needed shoe change.  The humidity in the early morning plus walking through the grass to the corrals means without the change I would have horrible (or as my mom puts it horrid) blisters.  I still get a few blisters but nothing compared to what I used to get without the shoe change.

 Apparently my Papa Bear was tired of holding his magic blinking wand and stuck it in his hat.  He is entertaining.  My mom had everything all set for me when I arrived too.  A poncho set out for me to sit on, my shoes out with the fresh socks in them and a towel to wipe off my feet.  My fresh water bottle and a cup of ice if I was hot and needed to cool down a bit.  She also had a Coca-Cola (laugh now but sometimes I crave it something fierce during the race and often suck down almost her whole one in the whopping minute I am there doin' my thang.

The best support crew ever!  After I changed shoes and took off running a Team in Training coach told my mom she never thought of changing shoes and that it was about the best idea ever.  I once again told my mom that I was going until I couldn't go anymore but I'd still make it to the finish.  I was still very uncertain about the 16 mile long run and knew about the extreme negative feelings that I had with the course change the previous year at mile 18 (right where it always gets a little rough for me).

2014 WDW Half Marathon

Momma, Papa Bear and I got up early (hello 3am) and quickly got ready to catch the 3:30 bus to the start of the race.  Quick photo in the room before leaving and trying not to wake up Aunt Jodi at the same time.  

The 2014 WDW half marathon was kind of hot and humid.  While not as hot as during the 10k it was quite toasty.  I met up with Kelly again and we waited around together until it was time to go to our corrals.

 I said goodbye to an old long sleeve t-shirt.  Depending on where you were there was a little breeze that had a chill to it.  I mostly ended up sitting on the shirt instead of wet pavement.  Yes, I do own long sleeve t-shirts that are more than 10 years old and I still have a bunch at home.  They are loved very much and are difficult to part with.  Having sewn this one a few times to salvage it the time was right to part ways.

Shortly after arriving in our corrals they started the races.  EACH corral was given the same amazing fireworks send off.  I watched the first corral go and then video taped the second corral so I could stash my camera before I began the race in corral D (for Daring and Dangerous and Dopey...)

 The first few miles went by pretty quick and without anything interesting until about mile 3 where I got to check in with my support crew.  Just before rounding a corner to spot my folks I stopped for a photo opportunity.  Note to self, remember to pull down the skirt inside since it sticks to the shorts unlike your previous pair.

Support crew spotted and I am psyched.  I haven't been able to squeeze my break and freeze pack to help cool off and I've been trying for 2 miles with no luck.  They have a cup of ice that I proceed to dump into my sports bra.  It is amazing and feels great.  The next 2 miles I pop out random ice cubes like a dispenser and get strange looks from people.  I don't care, I am cool and comfortable.

 I continue on to the slowest part of the race but also one of my favorite parts.  Magic Kingdom.  It truly is one of the most magical miles in the world.  This is the slowest part of my race but I always enjoy soaking up the energy and thrill of running through the Magic Kingdom.  The park is closed to everyone except the runners and a few spectators along Main Street USA.

 

I did skip a few characters in the Magic Kingdom due to the length of the lines but overall I stopped at almost every character I could have.  There is never a line for the train and I don't think that many people stop for the train (I may be wrong on this but based on what I've observed this is the case).

Leaving Magic Kingdom I was super impressed this year.  There is a metal grate bridge that they usually just put a piece of indoor/outdoor carpet on and it can feel a bit gnarly on your feet.  This year they had a special tile board type thing that covered the bridge.  It was amazing to not have that awkward bridge under your feet.  Small detail but it made a big difference to me and I noticed.  About mile 8 support crew part 2.  More ice and a change of shoes.  My Papa Bear having fun waving his wand for me to spot them.  

Ice and a fresh pair of socks and shoes I was ready to rock to the finish.  I still kept it in check knowing that I had the full marathon the next day.  I've busted a move during the half cause I feel good and the full is not even close to pretty ever the following day.  I was able to get my photo with the pirates without a line (I skipped it on the way in since it was about a 20 minute line).  On the opposite side of the road are the sweeper/clean up vehicles and the famous Balloon Ladies that maintain the 16 minute mile pace.  

After seeing my parents they hopped on the monorail back to the finish line area.  They snapped this picture from the monorail over EPCOT.  It shows how the runners go out to the World Showcase Lagoon and back for the finish.  Runners on the left are headed to the lagoon and those on the right are headed to the finish.  

At the turn around there was absolutely no line so I stopped for a picture with these two:

In the mean time a kid was struggling pretty bad with the heat and humidity and I knew he wanted to finish.  I slowed down a little and kept encouraging him and being very positive.  It either inspired him to run for the finish or made him mad that I was feeling so great.  Either way he kicked it into high gear and left me in the dust.  I did spot him at the finish and made sure to flag a medical person over to him.  

It was a great race and I felt pretty amazing the entire time.  At this point I was very much looking forward to the full marathon even though I was super nervous about my longest run being only 16 miles on the program that I used.