Hello, everyone (she says sheepishly). I know…it’s been a while. Suffice it to say that wedding planning has been taking up a LOT of my free time lately.

I know I’ve been gone for FAR too long, but I miss blogging (and all of you guys!) and actually have some exciting things going on, so I figured now is as good a time as any to rejoin the blogging world, right? Things have calmed down a bit as far as the wedding planning process, and I promise I’ll be back with (somewhat) regular posts…and I’m also working on catching up with all of you guys!

So since my last post a million years ago, wedding plans (and, um, finding matching “Just Married” Disney-themed shirts to wear in the parks afterwards, lol) have pretty much consumed my entire life. The actual process of coordinating our super-small “Escape” Disney wedding has actually been relatively painless, but I think the stress of trying to make sure our guests (all close family members) will have fun and not feel like our destination wedding is some sort of inconvenience/obligation was starting to take its toll on me.

I allowed myself to become obsessed with making dining reservations and booking special activities (like an amazing Wishes cruise!) and planning itineraries and wanting to make everything just right for everyone…until I realized that the only person I needed to focus on was my groom.

So I’m trying to force myself to chillax a little bit and keep in mind that it’s OUR day and trust that everything will work out just fine for our guests. Fortunately, things have been falling nicely into place, and I’m proud to report that just about everything is set…and, needless to say, I am SOOOOOOO excited to marry this guy in the most MAGICAL place on Earth. <3

A little “engagement” photo, courtesy of my sister, haha

Anyway, let’s talk about running. Todd and I did complete a half marathon this spring — the Asbury Park Half Marathon — which I actually busted my butt to train for as a potential PR race. For a time, I even had my sights set on a potential sub-2. (Ah, gotta love the optimism).

It was my first non-Disney half marathon in 2013, and I still have yet to beat my time from that race (sad isn’t it?)…so I thought it would be the perfect local race for us since we’re trying to keep expenses low and save every extra dollar for The Big Day.

But, of course, due to higher temperatures than predicted and an untimely little visit from my period, I felt like complete CRAP and completely bombed the race (couldn’t manage to get to the finish line in anything faster than 2:15). A full recap will be forthcoming, I promise!

Todd, however, totally KILLED IT (as I knew he would) and has a shiny new PR: 1:55. I was disappointed in myself and hated the fact that I trained so hard (I even did speedwork for crying out loud) for pretty much nothing, but I’m super proud of him!

But here’s the even BIGGER NEWS. As I’ve mentioned a number of times in the past, I’ve been wanting to compete in a triathlon FOREVER…but a paralyzing fear of swimming in the ocean has been holding me back, and every summer I’ve used the “well, I’m training for XYZ race right now, so I really should just focus on that” excuse.

Thing is, the thought of training for another marathon right now could NOT be any less appealing to me. I just…can’t. I want to focus on taking care of myself (read: dropping a few pounds so I can look particularly radiant in my wedding dress, lol) and enjoying this exciting time before the wedding, and marathon training in the summer months has a tendency to damn near KILL me. I’m always exhausted and starving and cranky and MISERABLE, and with the excitement/stress of the wedding in November, I thought it would be just too much for me right now.

Plus, since the dates of all of the SUPER EXCITING fall marathons were wayyyy too close for comfort to our date (and I didn’t get into the NYC Marathon this year), or would be too costly for us to justify the trip right before the wedding, I thought it could be a great time to try something else.

So…this happened.

I finally decided to face my fear and I will definitely be taking on my first triathlon this summer!

In preparation, I thought the first and most important thing I should do was sign up for a local open water swim clinic. I even invested in an insanely-priced wetsuit since the water is still so freakin’ cold, so I figure I HAVE to give this my all, now!

Wetsuits = flattering, lol

I’ve done two beginner clinics so far and you know what…I didn’t do half bad for someone who really isn’t much of a swimmer. Even more surprisingly, I actually found myself ENJOYING it! The group swims have been in the Navesink River and start on the beach in a GORGEOUS park, so it’s easy to forget about the idea that I’m swimming with the fishes and who-knows-what other creatures.

I also went out and bought myself an athletic bathing suit (didn’t think my little skirted bikinis would hold up so well in the river/ocean, haha) and I’ve really been enjoying having lots of different workouts each week, from running to biking to swimming to strength training…oh, and of course, Taekwondo.

So, yeah…I’m pretty much obsessed. I’m joining local triathlon clubs and stalking triathlon Facebook pages, and I’ve even dusted off my sad little hybrid bike and have swapped my Sunday long runs for long bike rides (while Todd runs behind me at the park…ha, sucks to be him).

I think the Jersey Girl Triathlon will be the perfect first triathlon for me; it’s a 300-yard ocean swim, 11-mile bike ride, and 3-mile run. Assuming I don’t drown in the ocean or get eaten by a shark or anything, I’m hoping to do at least one more in the early fall with some longer distances.

I’m really excited about the idea of becoming a triathlete, and as a side benefit, hopefully all of the cross-training combined with my now twice-weekly strength training sessions will mean I’ll have to take in my wedding dress.

So, that’s my story for right now. Like I said, I PROMISE I’m back and will be a more active participant in the blogosphere! Thanks for your patience and support, as always!

Who has triathlon tips for a first-timer who has NO CLUE what she’s doing?!

How did you manage the stress of wedding planning?

So, anyways…it’s been exactly a month since I last blogged. But once I give you my excuse, I hope you’ll understand why!

Of course, since Todd “put a ring on it,” I’ve been in wedding planning mode. And I am THRILLED to report that we have both a date and a location for the big day.

We will be getting married on…

NOVEMBER 10, 2016. WOOHOO! <3

But even more exciting? Guess where we’ll be tying the knot?!?!

I’ll give you a hint.

That’s right.

WE’RE GETTING MARRIED IN FREAKIN’ WALT DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, long story short, Todd and I do not have large families. And the extended family we do have, well…let’s just say we’re not close. We also only have a handful of friends we’d really want to invite. So the night we got engaged, I confessed that I had been looking into destination wedding options…specifically at The World (and let me tell you, he was SHOCKED, lol).

Honestly, it seemed like it could be the perfect option for us. Rather than sinking thousands of dollars on a wedding in the NY/NJ Metro area for a guest count that quite honestly wouldn’t total more than, say, 25-30 people at most…we decided to pretty much elope with just our immediate families.

Also? The thought of spending months choosing flowers and centerpieces and DJs and caterers made my head spin. It did not excite me. AT ALL. I think that I’m missing one of the genes that makes me a typical girl because I gotta tell you, I couldn’t care less about any of it. I’ve never flipped through bridal magazines or watched shows like “Say Yes to the Dress” or spent hours on Pinterest drooling over wedding ideas, and I have no interest in a bridal shower or bachelorette party or any of the traditional stuff. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I’m just not that into it.

But you know the one thing I *did* always secretly hope could happen? That I could get married in my absolute favorite place in the world to a guy who was willing to put on some mouse ears and slap on a “Just Married” pin and go take a million pictures in front of Cinerella’s Castle.

Check and check.

So you can imagine my excitement when I discovered that Disney has a package that’s JUST for couples like us. (Which, P.S., I had been researching long before I had a ring on my finger, haha.) Plus, a wedding at The World seemed only appropriate, and not just because I’ve been a crazy obsessed Disney fan pretty much since birth. Such a huge part of our relationship has been running…and running at Disney…and we’ve made so many awesome memories there already.

The Disney Fairytale Weddings & Honeymoons “Escape” package is for the couple and up to 18 guests, and for a pretty reasonable amount of money you get a package that includes all the basics: the limo, the cake, the bouquet, the venue, etc. Better yet, you get a “wedding planner” and they take care of EVERYTHING for you…all you have to do is check off a few preferences like flower color, cake flavor, etc., and show up on the big day.

So, um, yeah…not only could I get married at Walt Disney World, but I could do it in a way where I didn’t have to actually PLAN anything?

SOLD!

I was so excited to share the news here but wanted to wait until it was official (if you’re planning the smaller wedding package, you have to wait until 8 months out to the day to book your date…and we wanted November).

We’re still working on signing contracts and whatnot, but everything HAS been booked for us! Here’s the plan:

We will be getting married at Disney’s Wedding Pavilion at the Grand Floridian at 10am on Thursday, Nov. 10.

Photo credit: Disney’s Fairytale Weddings & Honeymoons

Then, as part of the package, you get to have a champagne toast/cake cutting ceremony at the Grand Floridian. Where we may or may not be inviting (read: paying) some special friends to stop by…

Photo credit: Disney Fine Art Photography and Videography

We will then proceed to a short “reception” at the California Grill in one of its private rooms (Napa Room) overlooking the Magic Kingdom. We’ll have the option to customize a buffet menu for our guests. (Did someone say Mickey waffle bar..?!?!)

Photo credit: Disney Fairytale Weddings & Honeymoons

And we’ll finish the day with a private dessert party at Epcot while watching Illuminations. Since we’ll be escorted into the park by a “guide,” I’m allowed to wear my dress in the park!

Photo credit: Disney Fine Art Photography and Video

And the following night, I hope to book a private pontoon boat to take us onto the Seven Seas Lagoon to watch my most FAVORITE fireworks…Wishes.

Oh, and one of the MOST EXCITING THINGS EVER? We’re going to book a private bridal portrait session in the Magic Kingdom prior to park opening. Obviously this privilege costs about a million dollars, but I know it’s going to be SO, SO worth it. The plan is basically to cut corners on all the things we don’t care about as much (ahem, flowers) so that we can splurge on the once-in-a-lifetime stuff.

Photo credit: Disney Fine Art Photography and Video

So, that’s the story so far. In case you didn’t pick up on it, I’m sooooo excited — and can’t wait to share all of the details with you guys along the way!

Who wants to share some of their favorite wedding planning tips/advice?

If you could get married anywhere in the world…where would you choose?

After the previous morning’s traffic fiasco on our way to the half marathon, we set our alarms for even earlier (ugh) just in case of a repeat performance. After getting dressed in our Rapunzel/Flynn costumes and doing some last minute safety pinning (to make sure certain chameleons stayed put for 26.2 miles, lol), we were out the door…and ready to sit in another hour of traffic. That morning took us even longer to get to Epcot, and if we hadn’t left by 4am we could have missed the start of the race.

(Obviously in hindsight we should have just taken the runner buses, but I like having our car in the parking lot so we don’t have to deal with bag check and we can park hop, etc. at our convenience for the rest of the day.)

So, once again, we made it to the corrals with just moments to spare, and before I knew it we were about to begin another 26.2 mile journey.

The temperatures that morning definitely felt warmer, and yet maybe slightly less humid (thank god). It was definitely wayyyy too hot for running a marathon, but I was in Disney…so, you know, whatevs.

Our early miles were pretty much an exact replica the previous morning. Running in the dark. Forcing ourselves to keep our pace slow and steady to conserve energy for later. And sweating our asses off.

We skipped the characters who appeared before the Magic Kingdom because they were either repeats or characters we didn’t especially care about (I’m still not into The Nightmare Before Christmas).

By the time we reached the TTC, we both had to make a pit stop, and we were soon continuing on to the Magic Kingdom: THE BEST PART OF ANY RACE, ANYWHERE, IN THE WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD.

Running down Main Street was AMAZING as always, and that morning was even better because we weren’t running through a cloud of fog. We could actually, you know, see the castle.

And, as a bonus…we were getting LOTS of attention for our costumes.

You know what’s even more glorious than running down Main Street? Running down Main Street when the castle is still all lit up for Christmas.

Our first character stop that morning was for Lilo & Stitch. Because, I mean, c’mon. It’s Stitch. And I loves him.

And then began the most magical part of the marathon. The reason I wish I could run this race every single year for the rest of my life. There are no words to describe the elation of running through the Magic Kingdom. If you took the “high” of crossing the finish line of every single race I’ve ever completed and added them all together, it still wouldn’t compare to how I feel when running these 1-2 miles through the park.

Call me a dork, but…it’s the truth.

And this year was THE BEST YET because, unbeknownst to me, the course had been changed quite a bit (due to the closure of the speedway, I presume).

Suddenly I found myself running by Splash Mountain and through new Fantasyland and spending way more time in the park than ever before. It was AWESOME.

And there were some amazing characters out along the way, including my favorite princess ever. When we jumped in line, Sebastian was posing with Ariel and I was SOOOO EXCITED. But, of course, he was escorted away by a cast member when there were just a few runners in front of us. Boo.

I wish we could run all 26.2 miles through Magic Kingdom. Not even lying.

Before I knew it, it was time to exit via the backstage area and start making our way over to Animal Kingdom. This stretch of the course isn’t especially exciting. I was still feeling just fine, but Todd had been complaining of some tummy issues so I was hoping he would start feeling better.

Obviously, the good part about starting in an earlier corral for a Disney race is the comfort of knowing that you can stand in line for some characters and take pit stops as needed…and little did I know then just how much we were going to need that extra cushion (spoiler alert). I was feeling especially grateful that I damn near killed myself to score an almost-PR at The Love Run last spring to submit for corral placement for this race.

Character lines hadn’t been TOO outrageous at that point, but we did stop for a TON due to the extra time in Magic Kingdom, and of course we spent time taking pictures in front of the castle — which is why those 1-2 miles in the park always take us AT LEAST 30-45 minutes, if not more. Our pace was muuuuch slower than our usual race pace, of course, but we were still generally running around an 11:30/mile, if memory serves. So I wasn’t too worried at that point.

When we leave the park, we tend to get stuck behind a cluster of walkers on narrow paths before the course opens up (a little bit) again closer to the golf course. We just did the best we could. It’s not like we were trying to PR or anything (obviously), but we did try to weave around other runners whenever possible and if the course got too congested we’d walk a bit until we could find an opening.

And, fortunately, we found this guy and jumped in line right before he was supposed to switch for Donald. Lucky day.

The stretch leading up to Animal Kingdom had some surprises for us this year. It seemed every half-mile or so had a different character…and they were all really RARE characters, with lots of VILLAINS! Never knowing what character you might spot up ahead is a GREAT way to keep your mind off the agony of, you know, running a marathon.

I thought it was pretty much the coolest thing ever, so we jumped in line for pretty much all of them. Couldn’t help myself.

They also had some animals out for us as we got closer to the park. Seeing this guy was pretty much my favorite part of the entire day, not gonna lie, lol.

We made our way to Animal Kingdom for a short stretch of course inside the park. It was time for another potty break and some more silliness.

Todd still wasn’t feeling quite right, and truth be told my stomach wasn’t 100 percent either, but that tends to happen when I’m a.) running in the heat and b.) when I’m traveling and haven’t been sticking entirely to my “normal” food.

The Animal Kingdom part of the course is over sooo fast, and I knew the next several miles might be a bit of a struggle. So I enjoyed our time in the park as much as possible…especially when another runDisney photographer grabbed us to pose us for pictures in front of the tree.

Before I knew it we were back on highway, it was warming up…and things got a little boring. Especially since I know we were headed to the Wide World of Sports, and that’s just not a highlight of the course for me.

Halfway there!

This is probably where things started to take a turn for the worse for Todd. Now it wasn’t only his stomach, but his feet were starting to hurt big time and I knew the previous morning’s half marathon (and all the walking we did around the parks) was catching up with him. I’m used to tackling back-to-back races so I guess I knew what to expect, and I worried this might happen to him because it was his very first time with any sort of multiple-day race challenge.

So it seemed only appropriate that this was our next photo stop, lol.

We kept plugging away, but I could tell our walk breaks through water stops were getting longer and longer, and as we approached Wide World of Sports and Todd kept asking to take impromptu walk breaks, I knew we might be in a little bit of trouble. Unfortunately, we both remembered that it was right around this point last year when Todd lost his mojo, and this time we had the added fatigue of running the Goofy Challenge thrown into the mix.

I was feeling perfectly fine at that point; a little bit of fatigue in my legs and feet, obviously — and I still don’t do well in the heat, pace-wise — but when I’m in Disney I just don’t feel pain. It sounds ridiculous but it’s so true. So I tried to do my best to keep him in good spirits.

My high school yearbook quote, lol

We ran/walked through Wide World of Sports. I was encouraging Todd to conserve his energy as best he could, and unfortunately all of our tomfoolery earlier in the race had caught up with us. Though we started in corral F we had fallen wayyyyy behind the runners with similar running paces, so we were getting trapped behind walls of walkers. Because there’s really just no room to run on the narrow paths at Wide World of Sports, we opted to just walk whenever it became impossible to weave around other runners. Todd said his legs/feet felt a little better after each walk break, so that’s what we did.

And, you know, we rested our legs standing in line for pictures. How do you NOT stop for a photo with Goofy when you’re *thisclose* to completing the Goofy Challenge?!

Wide World of Sports felt like it went on forever, but we did pick it up a little bit for our victory lap through the stadium.

After we left the complex we kept plodding along towards Hollywood Studios. It sort of felt like we were moving in slow motion at that point. Because this section of the course is something of an out-and-back, we could see that there were no other runners headed into Wide World of Sports…which I knew meant we had fallen a bit further back than I thought.

I knew we had a little ways to go before the glorious Hollywood Studios/Boardwalk/Epcot portion of the race, and let’s just say Todd wasn’t in the best of spirits. His feet were killing him and his stomach was still upset. Since he has talked me down off the proverbial ledge many, MANY times in races before, I made it my mission to help him get to that finish line! We continued with our run/walk and made our way sllllllowly towards the final stretch of the race: the last 10K.

It was somewhere in mile 21 when I made a joke to Todd about how we were “almost safe” from the balloon ladies. Truth be told, we’ve never actually seen the balloon ladies, but if you run Disney races then you know that you have to stay in front of them in order to avoid being swept from the course for falling too far behind the time limit. Not 30 seconds later, a pacer on a bike rode by and announced: “just letting you know that you guys are about 2 miles ahead of the balloon ladies right now.”

And let me tell you I have NEVER seen a swarm of people all start sprinting at the EXACT. SAME. TIME. I knew well enough that we would be “safe” once we entered Hollywood Studios in mile 22, so I knew that we were fine. But Todd and I tried to pick up the pace nonetheless! We’ve never been that far back before, and it wasn’t the most pleasant of experiences to know that the “dreaded” balloon ladies were now chasing us to the finish line!

We made it into the park and runners were cheering and high-fiving and cast members were congratulating us on the way in, but since I’m such an experienced marathoner now (ha), I knew very well that these last couple of miles were still going to be pretty brutal. Even with all the distractions along the way.

I was thrilled to take on this final leg of the marathon because there’s so much park time and you get to run along the Boardwalk, but Todd was not having ANY of it. I knew he was hurting and I let him dictate whenever it was time for us to take another break.

The man still manages to smile for the camera, though…gotta love him, lol.

And what better way to take a break than standing in line for more pictures?

I have to say, I LOVED all of the “rare” characters this year.

I think his spirits lifted a little bit in the park because Hollywood Studios was already open for the day and thus there were lots of cheering spectators (as well as disgruntled park goers who made it clear they were pissed at us for clogging up all the walkways, haha).

My blogger friend Kim from Barking Mad About Running spotted us on our way out of the park, so it was awesome to have the personalized cheers.

The path leading up to the Boardwalk is basically a disaster because it’s damn near impossible to run. Everybody and their mother was walking, and because it’s so narrow you really can’t go ANYWHERE. Todd’s legs had basically fallen apart by then, anyway, so it was fine by both of us if we had to walk a little bit more.

But we were sooooo close to the finish and we had been out on the course for sooooo long…I was anxious to get to Epcot and cross that finish line!

We were able to run/walk/hobble/whatever you want to call it to the Boardwalk, with a few extra walk breaks. I knew for sure that he was struggling then because I heard a few expletives slip out of his mouth. And let’s just say that I’m the one with the potty mouth in this relationship, lol.

I knew we were going to make it, and I tried to be as encouraging as possible. I think he was kind of annoyed at the situation because I was bouncing around and making jokes and smiling and acting like an idiot and giving high-fives to people…and here he was in pure agony.

Seriously…I will say it again. There is NO SUCH THING AS PAIN when I’m running in Disney. I’m sure I was just as tired and in as much physical discomfort as he was, but I just don’t *FEEL* it the way I do when I’m running any other race. Why do you all think I’m so obsessed with this marathon?!

The views on the Boardwalk were beautiful as always, and with less than a 5K to go, I was feeling PUMPED.

At long last, we made it to Epcot for what is seriously the MOST INCREDIBLE marathon finish you will ever experience. Magic Kingdom is obviously the best part of this race for me, but the lap around the World Showcase is a close second. Between the spectators cheering you on and the absolutely EPIC music you hear playing in each country, there is NOTHING like it.

Oh, and the fact that there are a bunch of characters and absolutely no lines because we’re the only idiots who stop for photos in the last 2 miles of a marathon, lol.

As we ran towards Future World, I could feel my emotions bubbling up…and I almost lost it. Here I was running the race that started it all. It sounds corny but running the Dopey Challenge in 2014 as my first marathon really did change my life forever. Not the least of which is that it gave me courage and a level of confidence that I never had before…and it made me realize that I could accomplish absolutely ANYTHING.

And I kept thinking about how Todd had told me so many times “I’ll never be able to do the Goofy or Dopey” because he legitimately thought he wouldn’t be able to finish. And here he was about to complete his first Goofy Challenge.

Everyone was cheering for “Rapunzel and Flynn!!!” and I was soaking up every second of it as we made our way towards the finish.

And, ladies and gentlemen, after more than 7 hours and 15 minutes on the course…WE FINALLY MADE IT to the finish line.

There are no words.

It was our absolute worst marathon time to date, but I didn’t care one bit. I enjoyed every second of it and I wasn’t the least bit sorry for all of the photos and characters and silliness along the way.

I’m not sure if I’m ever going to get Todd to agree to run the Goofy Challenge again. And he pretty much laughs in my face whenever I mention the idea of running Dopey together someday.

But I could not have been more proud of this guy for completing his first Goofy Challenge.

After some much-deserved chair time in the finish line area (um, and also, devouring those Oreos in the snack boxes…OMG I LOVE OREOS), we made our way…slooooowly…back to the car to hop to Magic Kingdom.

Because, yeah…obviously this had to happen, lol.

After a Shower Pill “bath” and a fresh change of clothes, we headed to Liberty Tree Tavern to stuff our faces and enjoy the rest of the night in Magic Kingdom. I know ya’ll probably think we’re gross (and also a little insane), but since it takes us so long to finish the race, if we went back to the hotel for showers, etc., the parks would practically be closing by the time we got back. And ain’t nobody got time for that.

So, for the record, after the race was over some clouds rolled in and temperatures dropped and suddenly we were both FREEZING. UGH — it couldn’t have been that chilly during the race?! So, anyway, this happened. Thank goodness for Snuggies.

Anyways, this recap has probably gone on long enough…so thanks for sticking with me, and, as always, for all of your support along the way!

Have you ever been in danger of being “swept” from a race course?

What’s your favorite part of the WDW Marathon/favorite Disney race?

We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside this time around, and while it was a beautiful resort, unfortunately its location in relation to Epcot didn’t do us any favors on race morning. Though we were up by 3:30 and out the door a little after 4 (I always rent a car), we sat in RIDICULOUS, bumper-to-bumper traffic the entire way to Epcot. Between the road closures and police officers re-routing people and the zillions of runners trying to merge themselves onto one single-lane ramp to Epcot, what should have taken 10 minutes took almost an hour. UGH!

So by the time we parked and walked allllllllllll the way to the starting line, they were just about to release corral F! Our streak of JUST making it to the starting line of races continues.

Of course, we still made time for a few quick photos along the way, lol

In other news, that morning was HUMID. I mean seriously HUMID. Oh, and foggy…it was actually pretty creepy! It wasn’t sweltering hot or anything (I think it was in the 60s/approaching 70), but there was so much moisture in the air it was ridiculous. Don’t believe me? Here’s what our earliest race photos looked like:

As you know, for this race we decided to go as two of the Three Caballeros, and simply carry our third little duck friend. Well, let’s just say that my stuffed duck was pretty much soaking wet with sweat by mile 2. Groooooooss.

We started the race at a nice, easy pace, and our first official photo stop was Wreck-it-Ralph, who had a pretty huge line. But our plan was to stop for any characters we really liked in the first miles of the half marathon, so that if there were repeat characters in the marathon, we could skip ‘em.

As we got closer and closer to Magic Kingdom, I was feeling pumped to be starting another leg of the Goofy Challenge. Other than the god-awful humidity, I think we were both feeling pretty good.

And then you turn the corner onto Main Street and feel even more AH-MAZ-ING. I’m still waiting for the day when this gets old, and, yet…never does.

We stopped for a couple of character pictures (and a potty break) in the Magic Kingdom. This mile always clocks in on our Garmins as 30+ minutes or more because of all the character silliness.

When we stopped to take some pictures in front of the castle, one of the runDisney marketing folks took us aside and took a bunch of pictures of us since, as he said, “it IS the Donald half marathon…”

Photo credit: runDisney

We made our way through Magic Kingdom (which is STILL all kinds of glorious fun to me, BTW), and one of the more unique photo opps of the morning was in the backstage area: Peter Pan and the gang!

Of course, after you leave the park, the course becomes a crowded, congested mess. We’ve become accustomed to this and either try to run on the grass or simply take unplanned walk breaks when things get out of hand. There’s really not much more you can do; unfortunately, there are still lots of runners who walk in the middle of the path, stop unexpectedly, walk in groups of 3+ across, etc., so I’ve decided not to get agitated by it and just try to go with the flow.

We found a couple more friends along the way, and soon it was back to the boring old highway.

I will say that the marathon course is SOOOOO much better than the half, and the more times I run the marathon, the less I enjoy the half. I know runDisney tries to keep us entertained with the parade performers and the floats and the bands along the way, which I very much appreciate, but at the end of the day you really are just running on highways.

Excited to find Donald!

The goal of this race was to take things sloooooooow. I honestly don’t even know what our pace was at that point, but I did feel that we were running SIGNIFICANTLY slower than usual. I knew Todd was in for a real treat during the marathon the next day, and since he’s not used to the back-to-back race experience, I thought it was best to take the half marathon as easy as possible.

So thats what we did. We walked through water stops and kept our pace steady, and soon enough we were back in Epcot and making our way towards the finish!

We were excited to see more duck friends along the way, and had to stop for a picture with Scrooge!

And, of course, we had to stop for a quick photo with vacation Genie, haha.

Before I knew it, we were leaving Epcot and had reached mile 13! I had met a Twitter friend (hi, Sarah!) earlier in the race, and she happened to be taking pictures at the mile 13 marker…so she was kind enough to take ours.

We crossed the finish line in what was our worst half marathon time for a Disney race (or, you know, in general)…our usual Disney time is right around 3:30 since we stop for photos with practically ever character. (And we obviously couldn’t miss the opportunity to get a finish line photo with Donald, haha.)

But other than some sore feet, we both felt pretty good, so I certainly wasn’t complaining about our finish time.

We hung out in the finisher’s area for a few minutes, and thought it might be a good time to take a picture with another duck.

We also ran into Meranda and Lacey from Fairytales and Fitness! I’ve been reading their blog forever, and we had finally met for the first time at the expo the previous morning…so it was awesome to see them again!

Photo stolen from Fairytales and Fitness: http://fairytalesandfitness.com

After we made our way to the car to freshen up and slip into my magical OOFOs, it was time to hunt for our third caballero. We found him in Mexico. Donald was SUPER excited to see us, haha.

And then I decided it would be just gosh darn hilarious if we rode the Three Caballeros dressed as the Three Caballeros.

Doesn’t get any dorkier than this, folks.

The cast members in the Mexico pavilion went absolutely bananas for our costumes, and insisted on taking pictures with us, LOL.

It was a great ending to that morning’s 13.1 mile journey.

We spent a few hours in Epcot before grabbing an early dinner at ‘Ohana, and then went back to our resort for night-night to prepare for the next day’s marathon!

Walt Disney World Marathon recap…coming soon!

Disney runners…do you always stop for photos with characters along the way?

How do you deal with congested race courses?

Who else loathes Florida humidity as much as I do?! 

But since I’m working on catching up on all of your blogs, I thought I’d offer a quick recap before we go into the *real* reason for this post.

Which is, of course, revealing our costumes for this weekend’s Walt Disney World Marathon!

So, Christmas was good. Lots of holly jolly fun and whatnot. And LOTS of dressing up my four-legged son and making him pose for corny Christmas pictures. Hahaha.

In terms of our training for the Goofy Challenge. Well…let’s just say it didn’t go EXACTLY as planned. Then again, does it ever? After my brief hiatus after the Richmond Marathon (which I STILL owe you guys a recap for, sad to say) we jumped right back into training. My goal was to do a few long runs and at least a handful of shorter runs each week to get myself back in “marathon shape” as quickly as possible. And, of course, complete some few back-to-backs so I could prepare myself for Goofy.

I literally do run on Dunkin’….

Long story short, we only made it up to 16 miles. This is the least prepared I’ve ever been for a marathon, and I don’t like it. I can honestly say we did the best we could given the time constraints. We were also careful not to ramp up so quickly that either of us risked an injury (let’s just say I considered jumping from a 13-miler to an 18-miler because we ran out of time, and Todd put the kibosh on that one, LOL).

After our last long run…and enjoying a new festive (and super sparkly) Christmas gift from Todd.

Do I think we’ll be okay? Yes. All of our runs went quite well, and I’m actually feeling a lot stronger than I thought I would. But I know it’s not going to be pretty, and we’ll probably have to do a fair amount of walking towards the end of the marathon.  I wish we had gotten up to say, 18 miles, but I’m still pretty proud of the fact that we ran two marathons in November and then went immediately into another round of training for Goofy. I’m obviously not there to PR, so I think as long as we run smart, we’ll be fine. It was sort of a last-minute decision to do the marathon in the first place, so time was not on our side…but I know we’re going to earn those medals.

Plus it’s Todd’s first “challenge,” so I’m excited for him to have the experience of “going Goofy.”

Okay, so without further ado, I wanted to share a preview of our (still not entirely finished, lol) costumes for this weekend! Especially since runDisney costumes are such a hot button issue right now thanks to the “new” rules released yesterday…which, to me, seem like common sense. Probably nobody should be running in Jedi robes, no? I do think the timing of the announcement was pretty horrendous and really unfair given that some runners are already IN Florida with their costumes. And they definitely could have been just a teensy bit clearer on their choice of words (now people are thinking SparkleSkirts are forbidden because it’s a skirt “layered” over shorts…).

Fortunately, since I like to focus more on altering actual running clothes to look like a costume, I’m thinking we should be fine. And by “I,” what I actually mean is “Nancy”…because Todd’s mom once again saved our butts and helped us pull together what I think are going to be FABULOUS race costumes at the last minute!

For the half marathon, we will be channeling our favorite parrot and rooster, lol. We’re both obsessed with The Three Caballeros, and since it’s technically the Donald Half Marathon, we figured it was appropriate.

And just in case you were wondering where the third Caballero will be…

Found this bad boy on eBay. And, yes, my crazy ass will be carrying him through 13 miles.

For the marathon, I wanted to go along with our costume theme from last year and go as another one of my favorite princesses — since I don’t think it’s likely I’ll get Todd to run the Princess Half Marathon anytime soon. Guess who…?!?!

I have a few more bits and pieces I’m still pulling together, but I’m beyond excited to head to Florida tomorrow and conquer another Goofy Challenge!

Sooooo…what will you be wearing this weekend?! If you see us, PLEASE do say “hi” — hoping to catch up with some of you this weekend!

Have you ever gone into a race feeling under-trained/unprepared?

That’s right…I am running the Goofy Challenge yet again in just a few short weeks!

We were originally going to sit this one out because, well, we were just at The World for the Wine & Dine “Half” Marathon and some people (*cough*Todd*cough*) thought that it was “too soon” to go back to Disney. (Insert eye rolls here.)

But then he came around and we decided to make an impromptu weekend trip because the Walt Disney World Marathon is my most favorite special race. I was so sad to be missing it, and since we survived the New York City Marathon and the Richmond Marathon last month, I was feeling like I could take on the Goofy again in January.

The Walt Disney World Marathon was the site of my very first marathon, of course, when I lost my damn mind and decided to run the Dopey Challenge in 2014.

Oh, that glorious bling…

 And, then we ran the marathon together for the first time earlier this year.

After Wine & Dine turned out to be a bit of a bust — a not-so-spoiler alert for anyone who doesn’t know, but the race was cut in half due to weather-related conditions — I was feeling especially disappointed that I traded in the opportunity to run my favorite marathon for Wine & Dine. So when Todd agreed that I could casually look around to see if there were any bibs still available late last month, he probably thought it was too late.

Haaaaaaaaaa, boy, was he wrong.

We had no trouble nabbing two Goofy bibs from Dream Departures Travel, AND we booked the Port Orleans Riverside (I’ve never been!) for a pretty reasonable price.

SCCOOOOORRRREEEEE.

So that’s pretty much what I’ve been up to these past couple of weeks. After the Richmond Marathon, I took a full two weeks off (!!!) because I had just HAD IT with running and wanted NOTHING to do with it. That always happens after a marathon, so I pretty much know what to expect by now.

But after two weeks of nothing but a karate class or two, I felt like a lazy slob and started to actually miss running (*gasp*), and I knew I needed to get motivated again and set a new running-related goal.

And what better goal than tackling 39.3 magical miles in two days?

So we’ve been basically trying to train for this particular challenge over the course of 6 weeks or so. Our first “long run” after Richmond was supposed to be 10 miles…and we packed it in at 6. No joke.

It was the first time I’ve ever “quit” during a long run, and I felt terrible about it. My body just wasn’t ready yet, I guess, because I physically and mentally just could NOT do it. It was quite possibly the most I’ve ever struggled, and that’s saying a lot because I’ve had some baaaaaaaaad long runs. Todd wasn’t feeling it either.

But then I got back into the swing of things with a couple of short runs that week, and the following week we successfully completed a 10-miler. And it wasn’t too bad at all! We did 13 miles this past Sunday, and I’m going to squeeze in two more long runs (with shorter runs the day before to simulate Goofy) of 15 or 16 and then 18 or 19. And then that’ll be it.

Our first (successful) long run after the Richmond Marathon!

We’ll obviously have a short taper this time around, and I do feel like I’m “cramming” a training cycle into a pretty short period of time, but I feel confident that I can do this. And, hopefully, we won’t be stuck in a super late corral since we registered so late (we still don’t have our waivers yet…boo) so that we can still have plenty of magical fun along the way.

So. Pumped.

Who else will we be seeing this January?!?!

Have you ever “quit” during a long run?

Soooooo…I know I still haven’t posted my full race recap, and that’s in the works, I PROMISE (you know how I like to include every. last. detail, haha). But we just got back from Disney on Sunday and I’ve been battling some sort of cold/sheer exhaustion, so I’ve basically been a hot mess over the last couple of days.

I did, however, want to drop in and give you a quick update on our whereabouts over the last week or two. Our trip was pretty freakin’ epic.

We…

Stayed at the Art of Animation for the first time, in a Little Mermaid room (my fave princess and movie of allllll time)!

Ate and drank our way around the world at the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival.

Had all kinds of festive fun at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.

Verrrrrrry funny, Dopey!

Devoured a delicious Christmas dinner at Minnie’s Holiday Dine.

Enjoyed the Osbourne Lights one last time. (*sniff*)

Ate dinner at Be Our Guest, which was especially exciting since I haven’t been able to get a reservation since 2013!

Visited Sea World, where we took a “backstage” tour and met a penguin. (And died a little because I’m OBSESSED with penguins.)

Saw my most favoritest band in the whole wide world (laugh all you want) at Epcot for the “Eat to the Beat” concert series. And sat in the second row (that was one FastPass+ that was very, VERY worth it). I’m a 20-year Hanson fan and still going strong.

But, most importantly, I’m very excited to announce that Todd and I not only survived New York, but we DID finish the Wine & Dine “Half” Marathon (more on that later…haaa). And gee golly, it was a tough “half” marathon.

I’m sure you all know by now that the race course ended up being cut in half due to some storms that decided to roll in JUST as they were about to let us into our corrals. I’ll have more on that in my recap, but suffice it to say that even though I was EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED, we still managed to have some fun.

Obviously, this had to happen before the race.

We then proceeded to fly to Richmond, VA and — to my surprise — conquered the Richmond Marathon!

Obviously, our legs were pretty much shot from running NYCM and then spending a week in Disney walking around the parks (and it was NOT a leisurely vacation by any means), but the temperatures were perfect in the 40s-50s and the course was awesome and, physically, we both actually fared a whole lot better than we did in New York!

Gorgeous scenery!

We even beat our NYCM time by a minute or two (what are the odds of that?!), and the next day felt strong enough to go see some of the sights before hopping into a rental car and making the 6-hour drive back to New Jersey.

So, needless to say, I’ve got lots and lots of recaps and photos coming this week and next week, and I promise I’m working on catching up with all of you! I know I’m the worst at keeping up with blogging/social media when I’m in Disney. Mainly ‘cuz I’m having so much geeky fun that I can’t even stand it.

These are the moments when Memory Maker is worth it, lol

What’s your favorite thing to do/see/eat in Disney?

Have you ever had a race cut short due to weather?

]]> http://thefinalforty.com/a-magical-wine-and-dine-half-marathon-trip-and-a-successful-marathon-7/feed/ 17 http://thefinalforty.com/marathon-7-the-richmond-marathon/ http://thefinalforty.com/marathon-7-the-richmond-marathon/#comments Thu, 15 Oct 2015 14:34:40 +0000 Jennifer http://thefinalforty.com/?p=6072 Yeah, so, as I’ve alluded here a few times over the past couple of weeks, Todd and I decided to do something a little nutty.

(Okay, so it was mostly his idea, but I went along with it.)

We had a conversation about how marathon training really is months and months of preparation and hard training and physical agony all for just one race — really, just a few hours. (Of course, I immediately reminded him that this is the New York City Marathon we’re talking about, and IT. IS. COMPLETELY. AND. 100. PERCENT. WORTH. IT.)

Long story short, we decided, “hey, wouldn’t it be cool to get the most out of our training by running a second marathon this season?”

At first I thought the idea was batcrap crazy, but I know that lots of you guys have done it and lived to tell the tale. Plus, I knew that NYCM is my goal race, and that any second marathon could be run as a “for fun, let’s see how well I can do,” kind of thing.

So, ladies and gentlemen, we’ve decided to run the Anthem Richmond Marathon on Nov. 14.

Photo credit: www.sportsbackers.com

The deciding factor? Todd casually pointed out that if we ran Richmond, we could extend our Wine and Dine Half Marathon trip in Disney this November an extra day or two and then, you know, take in a quick marathon on the way home.

…Sold.

Yeah, like I’m really gonna turn down extra time to wine and dine.

So, we registered and it’s official, and I thought it was time to finally announce it here. I’ve already lined up (and, theoretically, have trained for!) my 7th marathon. Even before I’ve completed my 6th.

But, hey, I ran the Dopey Challenge as my very first marathon, so I figured I’ve done even crazier things than this before, no?

Anyway, the Richmond Marathon is supposed to be a great course (with lots of fall foliage!) and a TON of spectator support, and it’s a race we’ve both talked about running someday. Also, there are junk food stops along the course, and pizza at the finish line. And since it’s in mid-November, we can expect chilly, running-friendly temperatures. Need I say more?!

Photo credit: www.richmondmarathon.com

But, of course, we have other marathons that fall into the category of SUPER IMPORTANT, MUST-DO RACES (i.e. Chicago Marathon, Marine Corps Marathon, etc.), so neither of us minds the fact that this marathon may not be our best performance (duh).

After all, we’re running NYCM on Nov. 1, and then leaving for Disney the following Friday for what is now a six-night (!!!) Disney World trip to run a half marathon and walk the parks for days on end. Then we’re flying to Richmond on Thursday night so we can catch the expo on Friday, run the marathon on Saturday, and rent a car to drive the 5-6 hours home on Sunday.

Good. Times.

I’m pretty stoked. Was I a teensy bit nervous about the idea of running a marathon followed by a half marathon followed by another full marathon? Um, yeah. But since our training has gone really well this time around, I’m feeling pretty confident that I can handle this.

At the end of the day, this will be yet another new challenge for me, and an opportunity to explore a new city. Super excited!

Photo credit: www.richmondmarathon.com

Okay, so who can give me some words of wisdom on running two marathons in the same month?

Have any of you guys run the Richmond Marathon? What’d ya think?

What are some of your best recovery tips and tricks? I’m gonna need ‘em!

Congrats, Ken! Please shoot me an e-mail at thefinalforty at gmail dot com with your mailing address and shoe size.

In other excellent news, I mentioned in my recap of last weekend’s St. Paddy’s Day 10-Miler that Todd and I will both be running the Wine & Dine Half Marathon this year!

I ran the Wine & Dine Half Marathon on my own in 2013, and I have been DYING to do it again. I ran that year’s race as part of a family trip to The World to celebrate my parents’ wedding anniversary…because it just so happens that their anniversary fell on the same weekend as the race. Oh, what a shame that was.

I also ran the Jingle Jungle 5K that morning with my sister (a.k.a. Eeyore) — it was her first 5K, and we had an awesome time!

This year’s half marathon sold out in an unprecedented 35 minutes, and I was honestly surprised by all of the posts on Facebook/Twitter in the days leading up to registration by runners who were worried about not getting in. I’ve never had trouble registering for a runDisney race before, so whenever that happens, I assume it’s passionate runDisney fans such as myself just getting themselves worked up over nothing.

Apparently, I was VERY wrong. Lots of runners were shut-out of the race because it seems there may be some sort of new(ish) system in place that throws registrants into a “queue” based upon when they begin the registration process…so by the time it’s your turn in line, all of the available slots could be sold out. There were apparently a bunch of people who could only register themselves but not their spouses, or only one of their children, etc., before all of the slots for the half marathon, 5K, and kids’ races were filled up. So, needless to say, there has been a bit of drama on social media about the registration process this time around.

I was already set because I deferred my Tower of Terror 2014 registration (which was cancelled for this year…BOO) to this year’s Wine and Dine, so luckily, I only had to worry about getting Todd signed up. We had both of our laptops ready to go, and I started refreshing the Active link about 8 minutes before 12pm. I got right in when registration opened up early (by 11:55) with no problem, and he had his confirmation e-mail by 12:02.

In any case, I don’t know if it’s just because I started refreshing early (I always do!), or we’re just lucky, because we didn’t have any problems at all. I can completely understand why these races are so popular, but I hate that registering becomes more and more difficult (and stressful!) every year. When I registered for my first half marathon and runDisney race — the Princess Half Marathon 2013 — I didn’t sign up until the end of July…and there were still plenty of spots open! Ah, those were the days.

Anyways, I am SOOO excited to run Wine & Dine with Todd this year! I know he will enjoy it very much; our two favorite things are running and eating, so what’s not to love?!

This Polish girl looooooves her some kielbasa/pierogies!

We’ll be spending lots of time at the Food & Wine Festival, of course, but best of all, I already have a Little Mermaid room booked at Art of Animation! I may or may not have gone ahead and booked a room “just in case” as soon as we came back from our trip in January for WDW Marathon Weekend, lol. I’ve never stayed there before, and The Little Mermaid is my FAVORITE.

We also plan to get tickets to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party for the next night! I ask you…is there ANYTHING more magical than Disney World at Christmas?!

What can I say…we’re one of those strange Disney families.

Granted, the Wine and Dine Half Marathon will be the weekend after the New York City Marathon…so it should make for an interesting race experience for both of us. I’m sure it will not be our finest performance, that’s for sure. But, either way, November is going to be pretty freakin’ awesome!

Who else will I be seeing this November?!

What’s your favorite part of the Wine & Dine Half Marathon? The course, the entertainment, THE FOOD?

Not only can they make excellent costume accessories, but my love for my PRO Compression marathon socks goes much deeper than that. I swear!

When I first started running, I had all kinds of issues with my lower extremities, from frequent blisters to tendonitis to pretty severe calf pain and tightness. My first course of action was getting properly fitted at a running store (of course), but my second step was to re-evaluate my sock situation. As runners, we have an ENDLESS array of options, and I ended up trying lots (and lots…and lots…) of different socks.

But I have to tell you that the first time I ran in PRO Compression socks, I knew I had found my one true love(s)!

And these are just the ones that happen to be clean right now, lol

I’m not gonna lie — I invested in my first pair just because I thought they’d look sort of like the black boots that Mrs. Incredible wears as I assembled my costume for a local superhero-themed half marathon, haha. That day, the weather was rainy and miserable, the course was BY FAR the hilliest and most challenging I had encountered in my young running career, my legs and feet were shot…and I struggled BIG TIME.

So you can imagine my complete and utter shock when I woke up the next morning and felt as though I had done nothing the previous day but lounge around on the couch watching Gilmore Girls reruns (among my favorite rest day activities, BTW). My feet felt completely fine, my calves were hardly sore at all…and I even felt fresh enough to run that day. (Not that I did…I’m just saying I COULD have run that day…)

Since then, I very rarely run without compression socks,  and I NEVER race without them!

I wouldn’t dream of tackling a long run in anything but my PRO Compression socks, and I even got Todd hooked on them, too. Fortunately for him, our feet are practically the same size, lol.

Some runners prefer to just use them for recovery, which is clearly a major benefit. I often change into a clean pair of compression socks after long races to help keep the blood flowing (and, you know, ensure that I can walk the next day), and I never, ever get on an airplane without them. I get some strange looks at security sometimes, though, haha.

But for me, running in them has helped make all of my early issues with pain, discomfort, and tightness in my legs and feet virtually disappear…and that’s why I pretty much consider them to be magic socks.

Since I just love taking on all of these back-to-back race runDisney challenges (the Dopey, the Goofy, the Glass Slipper, the Dumbo), I’ve even been known to sleep in them to help my legs feel as refreshed as possible for the next morning’s race. I am CONVINCED that they are what save my legs during a 48.6-mile challenge like the Dopey, especially since I always go ahead and spend the entire rest of the day walking around the Disney parks after each race!

So, how do they work? First, allow me to to directly quote from their website:

The science is complex, but the results are simple: recover faster and feel better sooner.

Compression socks help improve your circulation, which can reduce inflammation and help your body to recover more quickly. Which, of course, is of the UTMOST importance when you’re making your way through a half or full marathon training plan. It’s kind of hard to log 3, 4, or 5 runs per week when your legs and feet are still practically dead from the previous day’s miles.

I’ve only tried the marathon socks so far, but PRO Compression has all sorts of other options — calf sleeves, ankle socks, etc. I’ve already collected almost all of the solid colors, and now I’m making my way through their various patterned socks.

They have designs for pretty much any holiday-themed race you may want to run, from shamrocks to these patriotic socks they sent me. Guess I’ve got the finishing touch for my 4th of July race costume!

Can they be pricey? Sure. But, to me, they are SO worth it. Besides, there are almost always special coupon codes — use BLG15 for 40% off socks and sleeves! — and they also offer a “Sock of the Month” e-mail list with new product announcements and other special coupons and deals. You can sign-up via their website here, or check out their wide array of socks and other goodies here.

To learn more about PRO Compression, like them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter!

Okay, here it is! If you’ve ever wanted to try these awesome socks (or add to your collection!) please enter the giveaway below. The contest will run through the end of the day on St. Patrick’s Day (do YOU feel lucky?!) and the winner will be randomly chosen via Rafflecopter and announced right here on the blog on Wednesday, the 18th. I will contact the winning reader to get your sock size and address, and the folks at PRO Compression will send you a complimentary pair of their marathon socks! GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: PRO Compression kindly sent me a pair of socks to add to my enormous collection, but I received no other compensation for this post. All opinions are very much my own!