Saturday, July 16, 2016

#orlandounited and a 4th of july beach run

In the wake of the Pulse Nightclub shooting, our city of Orlando has really come together to do all we can to help the victims and their families.  From Go Fund Me campaigns to blood donations, it seems everyone in Central Florida has stepped up and done at least something to help out.  It will be a while before we fully recover, but I know we will.  I contributed in the best way I knew how- by running.  A local race event planning group organized the #OrlandoUnited 5K, and for being thrown together at basically the last minute, it was well done, well attended, and an excellent way for runners in the area to show our support.

I knew traffic would be bad so I parked around a half mile away at the SunRail station in Lake Mary.  The morning was downright hot and super sticky humid.  A lot of runners were wearing the red cotton race shirts, and they all looked like they were about to die in the heat.  Lot of people were dressed in rainbow colors (I did the best I could with my SparkleSkirt) and there was one guy in a rainbow full body suit.  The mood was festive, at least!



The route was nice- around a neighborhood area of Lake Mary I'd never been in before.  The course was flat and shaded, and I managed to put it behind me in about 26 minutes.  It had been a while since I'd tried to run that fast (summer heat and all), but the energy of the other runners helped and all I really wanted was to finish and take a shower!

I felt really good about participating in this 5K.  The race was so popular actually that it sold out in less than 2 days, so they opened up a virtual option and tons of people all over the country ran that to show their support.  

Next...

Because I procrastinate and didn't get around to writing up about the Orlando United race, I'm adding on the Team RWB Eagle Charge.

Hey, the summer's been busy.  We went to visit my folks in Louisiana, then went to my family reunion in Dallas, then to check out the new summer stuff at Disney a couple weekends, so...things got away from me.

The RWB Eagle Charge race could either be a 4 mile or 7 mile option.  Of course, I figured if I was going to have to wake up at 4 am and drive to Daytona, I may as well do 7 miles.  I'd never run on the beach before, so the idea was intriguing.  I've done plenty of 4th of July 5Ks, and I did the RWB 10 Miler as a virtual race on the 4th a few years ago, but this was my first time actually participating in one of their events.

Apparently, they discontinued the 10 Miler because people were having heat stroke on the beach.

That should have been a clue on how my morning was going to go.

It was still dark when I got to Daytona on July 4th morning.  The race started at 6:30am. I parked in the garage about 1/3 mile from the staging area.  I had to hustle down the sidewalk, pick up my race packet and bib, take the packet back to my car, and get back to the starting line down underneath the Daytona Beach Pier.  So, I pretty much ran a mile as a warm up before the race even started!  It was humid, and the air was downright stagnant.  The sunrise was beautiful though!

I had zero high hopes for this race.  I was sweating already just standing by the pier waiting to start.  I'd never run on the sand before.  Yes, it was hard pack but it was still sand.  The starting gun went off, and I followed the crowd down the beach.

The course was out and back- 3.5 miles south down the beach, past some high rise hotels and condos, a simple turn-around, and back.  The thing about running 3.5 miles down the beach is that it's so flat you can SEE 3.5 miles ahead, and it looks like you're never going to get there!  I moved along at a comfortable pace, running on the sand wasn't that unusual.  I watched the sun come up, there were couples on vacation out on the beach doing the same thing.  There were a few people fishing.  It was a pretty quiet morning, save for the few hundred people running across the sand.

The water and gatorade stations were plentiful, and we'd hit them again on the way back.  I slowed to a walk and drank at every stop, it was so hot!  I couldn't understand how there was absolutely NO breeze on the beach.  The air was still and totally saturated.  It was like running through a wet sponge.  Ugh.

I'd been following a woman in a sports bra with read "vsx" across the band for a few miles.  She passed me in the beginning but I stayed about 20 yards behind her.  I made it my mission to pass VSX at some point.  I wasn't really watching my time, I was somewhere in the 9ish minute mile range.  I didn't want to push myself and have issues with the heat or  twist an ankle on some of the looser sand areas, so I just chugged along before I passed VSX around Mile 5.  

That's when I had music problems.

My headset bluetooth kept disconnecting!  I was so sweaty, and the pocket of my SparkleSkirt was so wet that my phone kept screwing up. I fumbled with it for a little while but, as gross as it sounds, my ears were even too sweaty to hold my headphones.

It was so awful.

So, the last miles, I was music-less.  There were a few vacationers standing out on the beach cheering us on, but other than that it was quiet.  No sound of wind, not even tide.  Everything was just still and humid.  And the sun was blinding.

I picked up some energy a little bit towards the end of the race, I'd taken it pretty easy the whole time so I crossed the finish at 1:04:39 with 7.1 miles logged on my watch.

I got my medal, a banana and some water and an icy cold wet towel.  The towel felt great-all I needed was to wash off the sweat and dry off.  The Publix tent in the staging area had chocolate milk so, yum.  I wandered around for a bit waiting on the results to be posted.  I found a shady spot to sit, thank goodness.

Results posted!

Holy shit.

I finished 2nd in my age group? With over a 9 minute mile?  That's how hot and humid it was folks.  Even the woman in first place only finished 20 seconds ahead of me.  I was really surprised, I almost thought if only I pushed a little more I could have been first...
But I found out the placement awards were all the same no matter what so no big deal!

 Fireworks SparkelSkirt seemed appropriate for today!

 Hot hot hot


The winners all got metal drink cups.  Okie dokie.  I put it on the shelf at the house with my other age group awards.  It's pretty cool I guess- different for sure!


My leg muscles were tore up the day after this race! I guess the slight unevenness of the sand really did a number on them.  I hobbled around for a few days and spent quality time with my foam roller until the tightness finally went away.  I think I'd try this race again next year- weather permitting, I might even try to come in first.  HA.


Wednesday, June 29, 2016

our disney wedding 4/10/16

I'm baaaaaaaack!  And I have a completely non running-related post for you.

Gosh it's been a while!  This post is specially made for any part or future DisBrides- you know who you are- or anyone considering a Disney wedding but not able or willing to go through DFTW.

This post is purely to post wedding photos and info- Scot and I got hitched on April 10, 2016 at the Wyndham Grand Orlando Bonnet Creek Resort at Walt Disney World.

We wanted to book our event at a resort that would be able to do almost all the work for us. We didn't want to deal with catering and organizing shit for a wedding- I wanted a list of vendors and I wanted to keep the planning process simple.  We managed to do that just fine!

DFTW was just out of our budget for the number of people we wanted.  Our original guest list had over 130 people on it, and we slashed that by almost 2/3 after I had a panic attack at the thought of throwing such a big event.  We had $10,000 my parents had given us, and we stretched that to its fullest extent.  

*Stephanie Caldwell was our photographer and provided us with the amazing photos you see below, plus about 800 more!  She messaged me after I announced my wedding date on the Disbrides page and offered photography services.  Easiest decision we made!

*Brittany Brown at the Wyndham was our wedding contact there.  She and her assistant Tara Sweeney were so helpful and kept us on track with our planning.  She ensured that everything was done to give us the absolute best day possible.  

*Kristin Follins was provided by the resort from Pave Weddings and was our day-of coordinator.  She was as sweet as she could be and coordinated all of our vendors together and made the wedding day timeline. She made sure I didn't have to worry about a single thing the morning of the wedding.

*Rev Kevin Knox was our officiant.  We were recommended him by the girls on the Disbrides Diary Facebook page.  He was great to work with and provided us with a build-your-own ceremony kit.  It was really easy, especially since we didn't write our own vows

*Christine MacPhail was our harpist.  She was recommended by the resort and was AMAZING!  She can literally play anything you'd ever want- "Everything is Awesome" from the Lego Movie for our recessional?  Done.  Any Disney song ever?  Done.

*Fiora Design Studio did our floral.  We interviewed several florists and Aaron at FDS really seemed to understand my vision.  He was the definition of FABulous and treated me with my $1,200 budget as he would a bride with a $12,000 budget.

*Party Flavors made our cake.  The Wyndham provided the cake so we didn't have to pay for it, just visit the shop and tell them what we wanted.  We did pay to upgrade from a 2 to a 3 layer cake though.  They turned my custom design into a reality and it was delicious.

*Joshua Cawthorne was our contact at Disney Catered Events.  We used DCE for our Illuminations Dessert Party the night after the wedding.  Best perk going through them- we were not charged a viewing fee for our guests who had park tickets already, and we were able to save $400 by purchasing discounted Disney gift cards and Target and using them to pay.  Josh really was patient with me and helped me make our tiny budget into a fabulous party with delicious desserts.  This party put us over budget but it was sooooo worth it!

*Encore was the audio/visual company we used through the Wyndham for our reception music.  We didn't have a DJ, I made up a Spotify playlist and they connected everything to speakers for me.  It was really easy to control, and one of the Wyndham staffers adjusted the volume between our first dance and the rest of the reception

*Harmony Spa onsite did my hair and makeup for $200.  Britney (a different one, this one is a hair stylist/makeup artist) came to my room at 7am and took care of me there.  She nailed my Vintage Hollywood Pin-up Glam vision!

*Arthur Murray Dance Studios taught us how to Foxtrot!  Mercy at the Lake Mary studio was our patient instructor.  She was so sweet and so helpful in getting us choreography that we could actually handle.  Scot and I practiced a lot in the garage to get our first dance just right.  

We made our Save The Dates on Vistaprint and used a coupon.  I bought an invitation packet template online from a site called A Handcrafted Wedding for $20.  We had 50 invitations, info cards, and RSVP cards printed at FedEx for about $110 and they were beautiful!

Some perks for booking through the Wyndham Bonnet Creek:

2 separate suites for the bride/groom the night before the wedding
1 free suite for the wedding night
No limit on room blocks, and we were not liable for any unsold rooms
Free day-of coordinator
Cake is included, size depends on guest count
Preferred vendors offer their own perks- we got free cake floral and a free cd copy of the harp music from the ceremony
We got a 10% discount for holding our wedding on a Sunday morning.
We did the Mr & Mrs Brunch package with bottomless mimosas and it came to around $5,200, including the ceremony site and set up/break down
Our reception space was in the 12th floor Executive Lounge.  The views are amazing from there, and at night you can see the fireworks from HS and Epcot both!

Overall, with the ceremony, reception, photography, a/v setup, our officiant, the harpist, cake upgrade, the dessert party/bus transportation, and miscellaneous personal expenses, we spent around $11,700 for 42 guests. 
I feel we got a fantastic deal, and would do it all over again tomorrow- we had so much fun!


 THIS is why we chose the Wyndham.  Look at the view from our reception space!