Running @ Disney

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Here I am as I finished the Castaway Cay 5k race in June. This was my first "real" race since major knee surgery in December 2013. I hated having to wait one full year to run again and am so glad those days are behind me. I've been running regularly since January 2015 and had set the goal of this 5k for my first race. It's not an officially timed race but they do have a clock up at the end for you to see how long it took you. It wasn't my speediest time, but again, being my 1st race in more than 18 months, I was ok with that. In fact, I was quite pleased as I didn't feel fatigued until 2.5miles in and I just so happened to finish 10-15 minutes sooner than a slim, trim 19yo family member, so that made me feel great. Slow & steady wins the race. 

On another note, I was so glad that Oscar and Ethan were standing at the finish line waiting and that Oscar captured this picture. While not the best picture of me, it captures the moment completely and is one of my favorite pics from the trip. A few minutes later, a Disney photog took my picture, but I don't love it nearly as much.

A couple of weeks ago, on July 14, my mom, Ethan and I were in Chattanooga being tourists and at 12noon we had to stop everything so I could sign up for the 2016 WDW Princess 1/2 Marathon. This will be the 3rd WDW 1/2 that I run. They have become so popular in the past few years, that they sell out in 3-4 hours. Thankfully I got in and the official training has begun. 

Since there are more than 15k women (and some men) that participate in this race, there are many starting corrals. The last time I did the race, in 2012, there were at least 8, maybe more. In order to be placed in a corral near the front, you must submit proof of finishing time from another race of 10k or more. I  thought I could use my previous race times, but then I read that it must be within the last year, which makes sense. So I am now registered for a 15k here in town in October. Of course, there were no 10k races nearby. It's all good though, as it will make for good training. I also signed up for a "back to school" 5k in August. 

I do most of my training on treadmills, so it's good to do a few races and get some outdoor pounding concrete time. I was quite sore after the CC 5k and that was running on asphalt, which is softer than concrete. 

I've never worn a costume in my previous 1/2 marathons but this time I plan to dress as Belle for this WDW 1/2. I'm even going to make my own tutu, which looks pretty easy from what I've found so far. Now I just need to find a yellow v-neck shirt and hopefully some yellow running capri length pants. Not as easy as one would think.  I'd really love these yellow running pants, but they are $80-90 so, yeah, that's not going to happen!! Seriously, who pays that much for workout clothes? Yikes!

Lastly, it will be so nice to get away for a few days in February considering this school year will be so different for us. We are starting one month later than everyone else in town due to construction on our school and will finish about 2 weeks later, in mid-June. We will also have less days off throughout the school year in order to not go so late in the year. I am looking so forward to this trip.