midnight insomniac ramblings

It’s midnight here in Florida and there’s 2 weeks now until the Walt Disney World Marathon and I officially can’t sleep!  I decided to get up and put some thoughts down, so excuse the randomness while I blurt out what’s contributing to tonight’s insomnia-

1.  Christmas is over.  Whew.  I feel bad though because 2 cards that I mailed to family members got returned with a wrong address and no forwarding info.  Seriously, who doesn’t give forwarding addresses?  I contacted one cousin about it to get her new address but haven’t yet contacted the other whose card I got back today.  I should do that.  I keep writing the note I’d put in the Facebook messenger over and over in my head but I haven’t actually done it yet.  Doing so would clear up valuable worry space.  

2.  I’m starting to go over my packing list and how I’m going to juggle my work days with my Dopey days in a couple weeks.  I haven’t decided if I’m going to go in to work after the 10K or not.  My parents are coming in Thursday afternoon and I’m afraid they’re going to be bored because I don’t want to go traipsing around the parks all day.  They don’t want to buy their tickets until they get to the hotel, or the morning that they want to go to a park and the lack of planning there is driving me nuts!  I want to book Fastpasses and have things as organized as possible to give them the best experience I can, but that’s not looking like it’s going to happen.

3.  I think they’re just coming because I may have too strongly suggested or assumed they would.  I don’t think anyone understands why I’m doing this, or why I really run at all.  All I hear is that I’m crazy, or when I’m sore I hear things like “Well, you‘re doing this to yourself” (even from my won boyfriend) and if it weren’t for the support from the online groups I don’t know if I could take it.  I’m pretty sure they do tell their friends and the rest of the family about my races because people ask me about them, but no one really knows what to say after that.  (Besides “So, how many miles is it?”)  I want to accomplish something amazing- there are so many things I do that just feel mediocre.  I get the feeling sometimes that my idea of amazing isn’t on par with everyone else’s.  I know I should be running just for me, and I do.  It’s my thinking time.  My “me time.”  I drive myself crazy with my own thoughts, though.

4.  We spent several days in Louisiana with my family for Christmas.  Scot was pretty intimidated with all the activity and visiting with all my relatives (we had 21 people for Christmas day lunch) and I kind of was, too.  I mean, I’ve known these people all my life, but the past several years since everyone’s married off and had kids, I feel like I have nothing in common with anyone.  Neither of us had a single word to contribute to the conversations about the kids we don’t really know at all, the duck hunting stories, the prices of oil, the local politics and happenings, or the recent goings-on in the family.  We work a lot.  We travel probably a bit more than the settled-down groups.  All we know to talk about is the Caribbean and Disney and airplanes.  And now running, to round out the conversational topics.  All of those a virtual dead end after you scratch the surface with someone who can’t relate.  “Oh, wow, that‘s interesting!” is about as far as you get.  Same goes for us on the kid/hunt/oil/gossip front though.

5.  I admit, I was a little let down that I didn’t get any “fun” running stuff or Dopey-related items for Christmas this year.  I did get the specific items I needed (oofos & balega socks) but nothing personal.  I think what lends to the let-down feel there is not the lack of stuff but rather the lack of support and thoughtfulness, which stems from the lack of understanding.  A Dopey mug, a little 26.2 charm or necklace, Christmas ornament, whatever you know?  I reiterate that I’m not doing this for attention or glory (lord knows I‘m not gonna win), but it’s been such a long, hard journey and I think I’m getting worn out and stressed as Marathon Weekend approaches. 

6.  I can hear my mom telling me in my head that I’m being too self-centered and whiny, but for god sakes, I’m tired.  I just want to get out there and run these races surrounded by people with similar goals and experiences and that understand me.  I want to see the spectators with their poster board signs of support, their funny signs, the ones they hold up for hours and hours waiting for just one specific person to see it.  I want to be that person with that kind of support.

7.  This one is to hold myself accountable for making my costumes for January.  Confession: I have nothing special to wear for the 5K and I’m ok with that.  I don’t even like rolling out of bed for less than 6.2, so the 5K is a formality here.  Jog, take it easy, get my rubber medallion, and go to work is the plan for that day.  I’ve spent way to much money tonight online- I reserved a RunDisney Dooney & Bourke purse because I want one really bad and didn’t want to risk missing out at the Expo where they sell the leftovers.  I then bought a mermaid-fish scale pattern SparkleSkirt because I found out they weren’t going to be at the Expo at all.  2 day delivery should have it here with time to spare.  I’ve got to find a purple tank top just in case the weather is warmer, I have a purple shirt already but I want to be 110% prepared.  I got some white satin fabric today to repurpose my Orange Bird costume into a Nemo one.  Gotta make some stripes and get them glued on tomorrow maybe.  I also got craft foam to make my fins.  I’m using the rest of the satin fabric to add to my blue outfit I’ve worn before as Cinderella and Eeyore, this time for Blue Dress Aurora.  I got some yellow glittery craft foam I’ve got to somehow turn into her crown, otherwise people are going to think I’m Cinderella again.  

8.  I keep asking Scot what he wants to accomplish or do in the new year- hoping he’ll mention something about trips he wants to take, goals he has, his ideas on the future of our aging relationship, when he wants to replace the fridge or any other projects….anything.  But he just shrugs.  Boys are dense.  It’s driving me crazy.  


I think that’s it… lots of stuff going through my head tonight.  I hope getting it out will make sleeping a bit easier.  

Thanks for listening.

ps: I did send that message about the Christmas card.  It's out of my hands, now.

        

3 weeks to go!

Ack!

I did my last long training run before Dopey Challenge time today- 24 miles!  This week was totally exhausting:

Monday morning: 3 miles (before spending the whole day at Epcot, about 9 hours)
Tuesday morning: 6.2 miles (before a full day of work)

Tuesday night- skipped trivia night at the Abbey, needed the sleep and did NOT need the wine.  Cooked healthy chicken and garlic dinner instead

Wednesday morning: 12 miles (before another day of work.  Also, my RunKeeper app pissed me off by not giving my interval times.  Started to get sick of Best Of The 90s on Pandora radio.  Tasted garlic all morning, no matter how many times I brushed my teeth)

Wednesday night- Scot thought something was wrong with me since I passed on ice cream for dessert for the 3rd night in a row.  In bed by 10pm, out cold.

Thursday morning- 24 miles (before work, again.  Out the door by 5:45, arranged water and Powerade, bananas, Gu, and pretzels for easy access through pending delirium.  Kept coat on for almost 16 miles, it was cold!  RunKeeper crapped out again and my phone decided to F*%KING TURN ITSELF OFF after 12 miles.  I ended up doing 2 12 mile runs, the timing was all off.... the app said I did 12 miles in 1 hr, 6 minutes.  Wow!  And if I hear one more song by NSync or Alanis Morisette I'm going to hurt somebody)

Thursday night- I'm sore, I'm tired, I want a Garmin watch thingie, and it's too late to ask for it for Christmas.  Ordered pizza and cheesy sticks for dinner, followed with peppermint ice cream.  And cranberry Sprite.  

Tylenol has been my best friend this week.  That, and my foam roller.

I signed up for a virtual race, the Polar Bear Run Half Marathon last month, and the bib came in an email yesterday.  I ran it as part of my 24 miles today, the medal is super cute so hopefully it'll come in the mail next week.  Speaking of next week- Merry Early Christmas!  Scot & I are headed to Louisiana for the holiday, I'm going to try to get a couple short tapering runs in while I'm there.  The past few years it's been super super cold though, so I might just stay inside and hang out by the fire with a cup of tea.  We'll see!

orlando ouc half marathon and some disney christmas

Well, I have to say I'm proud of LizzyDragon for finishing her first half marathon!  We had a pretty good time at the OUC Half Marathon last week, you know, that one I kept forgetting about.  I actually stayed at her place Friday night and crashed on the couch after an episode of Cutthroat Kitchen on Netflix.  Lame, I know.

We dolled up in our coordinating outfits and headed out to downtown Orlando around 6:15 to get parked and settled in.  Traffic was rotten, but we ended up making it to Lake Eola in the middle of downtown in plenty of time.  Out of the thousands of  people milling around that morning, we actually ran into another friend of mine, Kylie, when the sidewalks merged together!  I didn't know she'd signed up (found out later it was a spur-of-the-moment decision and she'd done barely any training at all for it!)  We took some pictures and then tried to worm our way into the huge crowd at the start line.  There were no corrals, just some signs with min/mi paces staggered back along the sides.  I inched my way up to the back of the 9 min/mile crowd before I couldn't go any further.  I really didn't have a goal for this race- I figured I'd start running and see how I felt and do the best I could.

 Kylie & I

 LizzyDragon and I rocking our Sparkle Athletic Skirts:  

"Let's get a picture before we get all gross!"

My view of the start line.  I'm not that tall, of course- was on tip toe with my phone!

The gun went off at 7:30 and we all inched forward.  I started the RunKeeper before I hit the timing pad, just in case it wanted to give me problems.  I zig-zag jogged around people while trying to find my pace in the crowd- I met up with the 1:50 pacers and stayed with them for a couple miles before losing sight of them after I slowed at a water stop.  I was feeling pretty good and settled comfortably into an 8:25 pace.  The race went through the streets of Orlando and through some neighborhoods so there were plenty of curious spectators.  The route took us under the 408 expressway and south of downtown.  I'd never been in this area before so it was interesting to look at.  Some of the houses were ridiculously big!  There were a few bands and DJs along the course, as well as plenty of water and medical assistance.  Around mile 9, some people had a table filled with red solo cups and a keg in their front yard with a poster board and marker sign that read "Beer Stop."  The smell was nauseating when I ran by, but people were stopping for it!  I learned later that LizzyDragon was one of those!  I laughed, at least I had an excuse to not take any (the FAA frowns on drinking and flying, you see.)  

I crossed back under the 408 and headed north back to the finish line- it was looking like I'd break my previous record from the Wine & Dine Half in November!  

 It's probably hard to see, but I had to put up the map because I had no idea where I was the entire time during this race!  I crossed the finish line in 1:51:51- a new personal record!  

Yay!

There were plenty of snacks at the finish- Publix had muffins, lots of Powerade and bananas, and the best thing in the world- ice cold chocolate milk!  There was also a beer truck (at 9am?  Gross.)  I wandered around for a while- stood under the water misters, browsed the booths.  LizzyDragon came across the line about 40 minutes after me- I'd been getting text notifications on her progress so I was ready to meet her at the finish.  We got her refueled and then met up with another friend of ours who had tried to watch us on the course but kept missing us passing by.  It was so weird- we just randomly ran in to him on the lawn the way I'd randomly bumped in to Kylie.  

Speaking of Kylie- she finished as well!  She'd said it would be pure stubbornness that got her through, and sure as can be, she got across the finish line about an hour after LizzyDragon.  We left before she finished- LD and I both had to get cleaned up for work so we drove to the flight school and used the FBO showers before showing off our medals to any customers we ran in to.

 Finished!

 It sparkles in the sun!

 Showing off out new (heavy!) bling

So I had to work after all the fun that morning!  LD and Kylie did, too so none of us got to do much relaxing or basking in our glory.  I worked again Sunday morning, and wanted to go down to the Magic Kingdom Sunday evening but Scot said he was the tired one!

We did go on Monday and I ate the following:

 Pork shank from Gaston's Tavern.  Verdict?  Awesome.  Salty.  Loved it.

Cupcake from the Big Top Souvenir candy counter in Storybook Circus.  Also very yum!

We watched the castle lighting- it was Frozen themed this year.  I have to say, I like the Cinderella version better- I love Frozen but the sketch on stage was hokey and Elsa just kind of flailed around while pretending to cast an ice spell all over the kingdom.  Plus Olaf was like 6 feet tall.  After that, we resort-hopped along the monorail route and looked at the gingerbread displays.  Good times, late night!

Next week I get to do my LAST mock Dopey- 3 miles Monday, 6 miles Tuesday, 12 miles Wednesday, and 23 miles Thursday.  I'm going to be more prepared and rested this time- I'm going to have snacks and bananas and not run to the library without water!

OUC Half Marathon stats:

Chip time: 1:51:51

Age division place: 32/278 (top 11%)

Gender place: 126/1,763 (top 7%)

Overall place: 526/3,331 (top 15%)

22 miles ain't no "turkey trot"

This week was my first official "Mock Dopey" set of training runs.

Which means I ran 22 miles on Thanksgiving morning, ya'll.

It sucked major ass.

The 5K was at run club at the Abbey bar in Deland Monday night.  Tuesday morning I knocked out 4 miles around the neighborhood, closely watching the lightning off to the south as the skies turned gray.  The torrential rains started around 10am and continued til about noon on Wednesday.  Non stop!  Our pool was thisclose to overflowing.  Because I didn't want to do that running-in-the-rain shit again like at the Wine & Swim a couple weeks ago, I waited and did my 10 required miles that evening after I got home from work.  I headed out around 4:30 and wrapped it up a little after 6, just after dark.  I ended up using my phone flashlight for the last half mile because there were no street lights and I wasn't wearing my blinky ring.  

Sunset toward the end of 10 miles!

I'd used Wednesday morning to do what I'd originally planned to do Wednesday evening instead of the run- baked a chocolate chip pecan pie, fixed up my turkey brine, and baked cornbread for the dressing.  I fell into bed Wednesday night dreading the 22 miles waiting for me the next morning. 

I started the 22 miles around 7:30 in the morning and finished right around noon.  Ugh!  I learned that running 10 miles 12 hours before does NOT give me enough rest!  Scot joined me for some company when I was about 5 miles in, and we ran down to the park and around the soccer fields and back to the house, which was a little over 4 miles.  Then we decided to run up to the library and back.

This is where things went badly.

Because we didn't know how far away the library was.

Round trip?  A little over 9 miles.  We had no water.  Nothing was open to allow us to purchase water.  It was uphill, both ways I'm pretty sure.  I was miserable.  My Runkeeper app had ceased to give me my intervals since mile 4, so I was just slogging along and taking a walk break whenever I felt like it.  It was awful.  When we got back to the house, I still had 2 miles to go, so I headed around the block again.  Poor Scot had only meant to do like 7 miles and ended up doing almost 15!  

I lowered myself into the chilly waters of our pool when I got back.  I didn't have much time to rest because I needed to finish the mashed potatoes, dressing, and bake an apple pie!  I worked nonstop until almost 6pm.  Dinner was delicious, I ate waaaaaay too much, and the next morning when I got up for work I felt like I'd been hit by a truck.  So.  Much.  Hurt.

I got to hang up a new medal though!  I did a virtual turkey run- I figured if I was gonna run 22 miles, I may as well earn something for it.  

 Caramel apple pie, oh yes!

Let's just say I ran a half marathon with a 9 mile warm-up.  Or a 9 mile cool-down.  Whatevs.

Oh, lemme show you some other random crap from this week:

 THIS GUY.  Isn't that something else?  There is a COYOTE just sauntering down runway 7 at Orlando Executive.  I had my student taxi slowly past him to get this photo.  He was just minding his own business before he crossed over the runway and off into the woods.  

THIS PIZZA.  It's a Frito Chili pizza from Papa John's, and it's all sorts of delicious.  Not marathon food by any stretch of the imagination, but we enjoyed it Monday night and it was pretty great.

Okay.  I have one week til the OUC Half marathon, so that'll be what's coming up next.  I swear, I've been so focused on Dopey that I keep flat-out forgetting about the OUC.  I've gotta work out a plan with LizzyDragon to get downtown and whatever for that.  I'm going to take that race easy, I have no goal at all for it.  I've done the under 2 hour half with W&D so I'm just going to enjoy a jog around Orlando.  Then clean up and go to work.  *le sigh*

swimming Disney's 2014 wine & dine half marathon

Wine & Dine Swim Meet.

Splash & Dash Half Marathon.

Whine & Done half marathon.

Whatever people on the interwebs are calling it, we all ran the 2014 Wine & Dine Half Marathon at Disney on Saturday and we all got effing soaked.

Srsly, we hadn't had a single drop of rain in Central Florida for a month, then, at 10 pm on November 8th, it started.  

This was my 7th Disney race and my 3rd night race so I've got my schedule down pretty good.  I left work at 3, got in to All Star Movies around 4, and got my bordering-on-superstitious-now chicken and mashed potatoes from the food court.  I was able to nap from 5-7, and when I woke up I had a message from Scot telling me that he was on his way but was in slow traffic AND he forgot his after-party ticket at the house!  I called the Disney ticket people and found out he could go to Downtown Disney (argh, what a nightmare on a Saturday evening!) and get a replacement at guest services.  So, that was his plan.  I needed to get into my Orange Bird outfit and get on a bus!

101 Dalmatians building at ASM

 Felt leaves held up with pipe cleaners, yellow satin belly glued on the front of my shirt, and green Team Sparkle sleeves!

I remembered to put on my after-party admission bracelet, even though Scot wasn't there to remind me.  I felt like such a responsible adult!

Before I forget, let me tell you- usually it takes us about an hour to get from our house to the Disney parks.  Saturday, with the stop at DTD and a wreck on I-4, it took Scot 4 1/2 hours to get to the hotel.  From what he told me, he went straight from there to Epcot for beer.  I can't say I blame him.

Even though I was not a first-timer, I still got a little bit nervous on the bus to WWOS.  I'd accepted the fact that I was doomed to get drenched, so I just wanted to get to the staging area and start dancing!  I know to some people Orange Bird is a bit obscure- that's what I was going for- but several people recognized the character and complimented my costume.  I appreciated that, I did work a good while on it.  

I got in a little warm-up dancing before the announcers starting herding us over to the corrals.  I grabbed a cup of water and waited maybe 15-20 minutes for the bathroom.  I didn't notice that it was starting to mist until I looked up and could see tiny water droplets in a streetlight.  I was glad I had the arm sleeves- I could see people starting to shiver already!  Lots of runners were in plastic ponchos and coats.  I still felt alright, I was just ready to get running before the downpour started.  Didn't wanna stand still in a corral and get drenched with nothing to do!

Time to start!  I was in Corral C and we got going about 5-6 minutes after 10:00.  The fireworks exploded above the sign there, and my group pushed forward.  About 5 seconds after start, I heard "Look out!  Look out!  Watch it!  Watch it!" and I just about fell on my face when I tripped over a long thick piece of black plastic that looked like flower bed edging or something, just laying in the middle of the road 20 feet from the start line!  What is this, Expedition Everest Challenge????  There's not supposed to be any obstacles!!

So after I stumbled over the start line, things cleared up and I managed to get underway.  There was a mass of cheering spectator crowds in that area, which I always appreciate!  Less than a mile in, we turned onto Osceola Parkway and headed toward Animal Kingdom.  I was feeling good and settled into a pace of around 8:20min/mi.  Then the rain picked up.  The drops god bigger, puddles started forming.  I passed the Country Bears character stop, there was no line but I didn't stop.  The rain prevented some of the usual on-course entertainment so I pulled up some music on my Rock My Run app a little earlier than usual.  My current favorite mix is called Fit To Fight and it starts off with a little Survivor (I know I don't have to tell you what song that would be).  Let's just say I had to grin big and let out a little laugh as it started playing as I leaped over puddles and pushed dramatically through the rain!  I passed another character set-up but no one was in it- it was some columns and a background wall...by this time it was raining pretty good so I just glanced at it and moved on.  I hit the 5K mark around 26 minutes and turned into the AK parking lot.  I'd managed to weave my way around a lot of people (I'd started in the middle of my corral, which is what I get for not getting there early enough) so now I felt I had enough room to run and not be bumping in to people.  As I moved into the parking lot, I saw the guys in first place going the opposite direction across a grassy median, they were approaching mile 6 already!  Some fish from the Electrical Parade were circling around the puddles in the parking lot, I did pause for a photo there but the rain made it come out kinda bad.  Judge for yourself:

I think they're snails?  Anyhoo, I continued on toward the AK entrance- there were lots of cast member volunteers along the sidewalk- everyone was telling us all to be careful, don't slip, watch the puddles...very much appreciated!  The entrance to AK was flanked by giant, like 8 foot tall, lit up red...teeth?  Fangs?  It was cool looking.  I ran into the park and pretty much followed a similar route to Expedition Everest, just circled around the Tree, and then through DinoLand.  Along the way I dodged puddles and did some fancy leaping to avoid some big ones.  After DinoLand, we moved backstage and blew back out into the parking lot.  Mile 6 came up in the lot with the pirate ship and Jack Sparrow.  It was still raining!  I didn't stop, even though there was no line.  

I did take a drink at every water stop- I didn't feel thirsty, just wet, but I knew the cooler temps and rain could lead to dehydration that way.  Mostly I just took a quick gulp in a speed-walk through the water station.  I'm sure I had PowerAde dripping down my face but the rain washed it all away.  My face was soaked so I really didn't care if I spilled all over myself.

After AK it was back onto the parkway!  It was only a mile and a half til the exit to Hollywood Studios so the trip wasn't too bad.  There was an SUV with giant speakers playing music along the way (for both the route TO and FROM AK) but other than that, not much.  Some empty character stages.  One other thing I noticed too was dayum, there was a lot of overpasses!  I had to keep telling myself for every trek up, I'd get to go downhill on the other side!  I was right about an hour at Mile 7 so that made me excited!  I might could possibly make my first sub-2 hour half marathon!  As crossed the bridge over World Drive and turned up the ramp to HS, the Green Army Man was on the ramp, running with people and shouting encouragements.  "This is a race!  Run!  It's just a little hill!" (it wasn't just a little hill, btw.  It was an ass-kicking hill)  Still, I cranked it into high gear and charged up it!  "That's what I'm talking about!  Run up that hill!" he yelled at me as I approached.  We did a high five and I moved toward Mile 8 with energy to spare.  The Clif shot stop was at Mile 8.5 but I took my peanut butter chocolate Gu gels from my belt with some water and didn't stop.  

Miles 9 and 10 were inside HS.  We came in behind the Tower of Terror, ran down Sunset Blvd (which for the first time, I noticed was downhill!), through Pixar Place where Woody and Buzz were doing photos under an overhang, the backstage in the Backlot Tour area.  I saw all the decommissioned Backlot Tour trams sitting on their rims at jaunty angles.  Tires gone.  Historical relics at this point.  I came back on stage around Lights! Motors! Action! and ran toward the Streets of America.  The Osborne Spectacle of Lights was up, music was playing, and the main drag, New York Avenue, was almost empty!  There were several Marathofoto photographers in this area as we ran through the Christmas displays.  I'd been looking forward to this part!  So pretty!  I was really liking the course so far- I mean, I was going to run through 3 theme parks!  The rest of the route took us near the main HS entrance and out the front and off to the left along with river to Epcot.  With the water off to my left, I followed along the path to the Boardwalk.  At one point, I passed under a bridge under Buena Vista Drive and for a few seconds was rain-free.  Under the bridge there were cheer groups, I think some students.  A few people had a boat pulled up to the riverbank to cheer.  Another group had a tent with some chairs and one of those "Worst Parade Ever" posters.  I had to disagree and shouted back that I was having a great time and this was the Best Parade Ever!  There's a pretty high bridge after you pass from the Swan and Dolphin area to the Boardwalk to pass the Yacht Club hotel.  A cast member at the bottom of the hill was warning everyone to slow down, there was a sharp turn, and the boardwalk area was slippery.  Duly noted.  

I made it around the boardwalk and it felt familiar as I ran toward the International Gateway entrance to Epcot.  This was a similar route to the Enchanted 10K back in Feb.  Even the giant light-up Genie and Lumiere were there but no one was controlling them in the rain.  The Giant Red Glowing Fangs made another appearance, along with some giant Mickey head multi colored lighting.  We went into a backstage area and popped out between the Imagination and Land pavilions and ran toward the Innoventions area.  Mile 13 came just around Spaceship Earth, then the last .1 was just outside the park where it was for the Princess Half.  No choir singing this time, it was a straight-up downpour!  As I approached the finish, I knew I'd made it in under 2 hours!  I heard the announcer call my name as I splashed across the finish line.  

Wheeeeee!  All of a sudden, I felt exhausted!  Someone handed me a silver space blanket, which I wrestled with before crumpling it up and carrying it.  I wasn't cold.  Yet.  A volunteer hung a very heavy medal around my neck.  I moved along, dripping, towards the refreshment tables for a banana, snack box, and bottle of PowerAde.  I wasn't thirsty.  Or hungry.  I just felt wet and wanted to get inside.  I had an armful of crap now and just wrapped it all up in the space blanket, hobo-style.  I stopped for an official photo then made my way over to the free drink area to redeem my drink ticket.  I got a single-serve glass of wine from Zipz Wine, which was really neat looking.  The glass itself had a screw-on lid.  I put it in my bundle and headed toward the after party, starting to shiver.  

Wet.  I'm starting to get cold here.  I lost the leaf headpiece somewhere back around Mile 5!

A volunteer told everyone leaving the drink area that you couldn't bring your alcohol into the park so I opened the wine, took a sip (it was surprisingly good) but I really didn't want it and tossed it out before taking a photo.  I tied my space blanked around my shoulders and went into the park.  The wind was picking up and it was still raining and all of a sudden I was freezing!  I was supposed to meet Scot in Norway but I got to Innoventions and had to stop.  I parked it on a bench inside and called him to meet me.  I was shivering and dripping a huge puddle under the bench.  About 15 minutes later, he found me and we went to the Land to warm up and allow me to change into dry clothes. 

Y'all, I have never in my life been so happy to put on new underwear.

My shirt, shorts, socks, and underwear was soaking wet like I'd jumped in the river.  I put on new shoes and long sleeve shirt and capris with a jacket and felt like a new person!  Soarin' had no wait so since we were right there we rode it.  We then headed into the party and spent a couple hours wandering around and eating (I'd given Scot 2 umbrellas to bring, lord we needed them!)  It did not stop raining and the temperature had dropped into the 50s!  As we headed toward the exit a little after 3am, we saw the end of the race.  Some bicyclists, medical carts, and one last gal hobbling with her arm around a helper's shoulder toward the finish.  We all clapped, and then it was over.  We managed to get on the bus (still in the rain) and make it back to the hotel and fell into bed a little after 4.  

I had a great time, even if it was a soggy run.  My clothes were still wet when I woke up!  We got to MK and had a rain-free day with some good fastpasses and lots of eating.  I was glad to have Monday off to rest!  So excited about the under 2 hour race, here's a look at the rest of the numbers:

Bib 1359

Corral C

Overall place: 645/11,941 (Top 5%)

Gender place: 183/7,928 (Top 2%)

Age Division place: 32/1,442 (Top 2%)

Net Time: 1:55:34

 Spinning medal!

      

costumes and wine & dine countdown

Scot whisked me off to Charleston over the weekend for my birthday trip.  The weather was perfect, we enjoyed the city, the Francis Marion Hotel was gorgeous, and I didn't end up spending a ton of money on King Street.  Yay, me!  We headed out after work on Sunday afternoon and got up there just before 11pm.  We packed our day and a half full of activities- breakfast at the Hominy Grill, a carriage tour, a tour of the Calhoun (as in John C) Mansion, lunch at the Southend Brewery, a tour of the Exchange house and dungeon, a ghost and graveyard tour, shopping, Ft. Sumter, and lunch at Magnolias.  We left the car in the hotel garage and, according to Scot's step and mileage tracker, walked a total of 25 miles over 2 days!  My calves and legs and butt were all sore, and sitting in the car for the 5+ hours drive back home didn't help!  We still had a great time, got some good photos, and ended the trip exhausted.  

Know the difference between a graveyard and a cemetery?  A graveyard is attached to a church (can't have a yard without a building!) and a cemetery is on its own.

We learned some stuff!

 Calhoun Mansion

 Ft Sumter, approaching on the ferry

 USS Yorktown

Francis Marion hotel lobby

I didn't get up to do my regular Wednesday morning run, but today I did one last early morning before Saturday's Wine & Dine Half marathon.  It went great, my pace was a full 30-45 seconds faster than it had been over the past couple weeks.  I think it's the time change!  It's nice to not be up running around in the dark.

I got my Orange Bird costume done for W&D last week- it was a crazy couple days of making our Halloween costumes and the Bird.  Scot and I decided to go as Obscure Disney Characters and decided on Merlin and Madam Mim from "The Sword In the Stone."  I found a red dress at a thrift shop and I managed to cut and modify.  For Mim's bodice, I found a purple bodysuit at the same store, cut off the bottom below the waist, and put it over the dress.  I must have used a mile of hem tape and duct tape!  For Scot's Merlin costume, we actually found a blue graduation robe at Goodwill for $3!  It was exactly what we needed so the Halloween gods must have been smiling on us.  He got a Santa beard that I trimmed to slim it, then I attached the trimmed parts to the bottom of the beard to lengthen it.  His hat was the tricky part- do you know how HARD is was to find a wizard hat?!?  There was nothing!  He got a foam top hat at Hobby Lobby and I got to work with old foam pieces from a bench cushion, pipe cleaners, newspaper, and lots of duct tape.  I wrapped the whole thing with fabric and pins and glue, then glued white fur around the edge.  I think we looked pretty good!  The whole process was exhausting and tapped out every ounce of my creativity.

 Madam Mim dress before

 Merlin and Mim- notice his stick from the back yard and owl safety pinned to his shoulder!  I used the tulle skirt I made for my Kevin costume during EE to fluff up my dress a bit.  The purple wig is from the party store and I hacked it up with scissors

 LizzyDragon showing off her hobbit feet

 Gnome, Merlin, and the mermaid

Recognize Amy Farrah Fowler from "Big Bang Theory"?

This is my Orange Bird costume!  I used fabric glue to attach the yellow tummy circle and made felt and pipe cleaner leaves.

Now, let me show off my piece de resistance!  I made a cake for the Halloween party.  Here is is:

It's cake, I swear!  It's crumbled white and chocolate cake mixed with vanilla pudding, topped with crushed golden oreos, a bit of green food color, and tootsie rolls.  It was delicious.  I served it with a *NEW* kitty litter box and scoop.  It still makes me giggle.  Enjoy the inspiration in the photo below.

tower of terror 10 miler: reprise

Well, it's officially been a year since my first ever RunDisney race!  ToT was my first official race over 5K, and it was a learning experience and the beginning of a (healthy? expensive?) addiction.  

If you click back and find my write-up of the ToT 10 Miler last year- http://maggierunsdisney.blogspot.com/2013/10/running-disneys-tower-of-terror-10.html -take a look at it because I'm going to offer up some comparisons.  Some things were better (my experience at the expo) and some were, well, a little less exciting than last year (characters?)  

I was actually looking forward to the expo this year!  I literally had a shopping list of stuff I wanted to pick up.  MUCH better than how you would have found me last year, panicking and hiding in the bathroom.  The products in the booths were not so foreign and the crowds weren't as bad.  I got in, got my bib- last year, Corral G; THIS year, Corral B!  Woot woot!  I ended up buying some Raw Threads shirts (one for me and one for Stars Wars friend Lizzy Dragon), sparkly skirts from Sparkle Athletic, a massage stick, compression calf sleeves, and 4 Bondi Bands because Scot wanted some more of them but was like "Get me some manly ones with skulls or beer on them or something" but the Bondi Band girls were like, we don't have beer ones because this is Disney so how about this one with a glittery skull on it?  So, Scot got a headband with a glittery skull on it.  I shopped until about 20 minutes til closing then made the trek back home.

*Side note- I was stuck with a rental car all weekend long because the people at the dealership apparently think that "I need an oil change" means to replace my water pump from a recall without telling me and making my car have to sit overnight because they just couldn't get it done before the place closed.  So yeah with all the driving back and forth from home to work to Disney and back multiple times, I put 350 miles on that car in 5 days.  HA.*

After work on Saturday, I got down to All Star Movies, checked in, got something to eat in the food court (chicken and mashed potatoes, it's what I ate last year and I wasn't going to change anything!), then went back to the room for a good 2 hour nap.  

 We were in the "Love Bug" building!

I'd been worried the past 2 days about my calves, though.  They cramped up something awful on Thursday and I could barely walk, much less point or flex them on Friday. Stairs?  Nope.  That's what my new massage stick was for!  I rolled that thing all over my legs for hours before the run the day before and again that night.  Painful!  I was hope hope hoping that they wouldn't cramp back up during the run.  

When Scot got to the room after work, I got into my new Haunted pattern Sparkle Skirt and put on my light-up rings I got from the party store for 99 cents.  "Will Run For Cupcakes" headband on, and we headed to the bus.  Scot didn't come to the staging area with me like he did at Disneyland, he stayed back to get some sleep and would find me near the finish.

I joined the group dancing with the DJ in the staging area after I arrived- I didn't feel nervous like I did the year before for starters.  I didn't feel like the dancing around was going to deplete me of my energy, either.  So, I managed to have a good time.  I've done the warm-up dances so many times now I think I've almost got them down!  "Rollin' on the River" is my favorite.

Made my way into B about 45 minutes before race start.  I LOVED how not crowded my corral was!  I had plenty of personal space, there were maybe 500 people inside my fence, as opposed to probably 1,500 or more in G last year.  We all kind of cheered when A headed out, then our turn came.  The walk to the start was long of course, but it was also very quiet.  No one was talking, I was up front and we just all silently walked behind the volunteers with the ribbon separating us from the A group.  Like, it was creepy quiet.  However, once we got up to the start line the energy picked back up a little and everyone was looking ready for a good run.  The "hosts" up on the front stage, if you can call them that, were their usual awkward selves so I kinda sorta paid attention.  Talked to a couple people around me a bit.  Come on, let's get this thing going!  Finally, that familiar Twilight Zone music played, a countdown started, fireworks shot out of the top of the starting line, and A was off!  2 minutes later, it was the exact same thing and my Corral B crossed the start line into the night, with 10 miles ahead of us.

Here's something I learned from last year and made sure to implement in every race since- start in the front!  I was the last person in G to cross the start line last year and I spent the first 2 miles walking at a slow to brisk pace because it was too crowded to run.  This year?  I was out and making good strides right away.  Also, there wasn't that character stop less than a mile in like last year.  Not as much bottle-necking.

The first mile went by super fast!  I was at just under a 9 min/mile and felt great.  Calves were doing good, I had plenty of personal space to run.  The big fireball that they had last year in the pond along the exit ramp was gone, replaced by a big glowing eyeball.  Meh.  I was looking forward to the run through the Animal Kingdom toll booth, where they had the music and stilt walkers and puppets last year!  As I approached it, I saw the first character, Jafar.  Pass.  Animal Kingdom awaits!  

Um... hello?  Anybody here?  I was really disappointed when I got to AK- the stilt walkers weren't there this year, no puppets, no music.  Well, maybe a little music, but mostly just a recording of animal sounds.  I remember hearing an elephant.  And volunteers telling us to watch the speed bump.  Poo.  I paused to take a photo on the turn around on the bridge and giant spider.  My speed was still doing better than I expected so I was okay stopping.

After I hit mile 3, I heard a loud BOOM go off from what I assumed were the last set of fireworks at the start.  I looked across the median and saw a MASS of people!  Was I really in that last year?  I looked around me- the closest person to me was at least 20 feet away!  It looked like there was barely any room to even move in the farther back corrals.  I could see the line for Jafar was close to 100 people deep already.  Ick!  I kept going!  I started looking for Anita at the water station at Mile 4.  I found her at the end, grabbed a cup from her, said a quick "Hi!" and kept moving.  There were a couple more character stops along the way- Captain Hook and the hyenas from Lion King.  Pass.  The Queen of Hearts, well, I gave her a wave.  Just so she wouldn't want my head.

I made it to the first medical stop at the 5 Mile turn to go down the dirt trail into WWOS.  There was already a girl runner bent over on a chair outside the tent.  Rough.  Me?  Time still doing good, calves good and overall feeling fantastic!  I caught myself thinking, "It's only been 45 minutes and already it's halfway over!  Another 45 minutes and I'll be at the finish!"  Time was flying by!  The run down the trail was amazing!  The fog effects were nice, I saw the Wicked Queen as the Old Hag, and the temperature started dropping.  A front had come through earlier that day and running down that trail felt like someone just had a nice cool fan blowing on me the whole time!  It was a huge difference from the year before where I couldn't even see where I was going through the wall of people.  I had maybe 3 or 4 people in my vicinity this time.  Great!  As I popped out of the woods and onto the sidewalk, I looked over at the soccer fields- no special effects needed, there was a misty layer of fog covering the field!  The air was noticeably cooler now.  

I noticed something about the spectators at WWOS that was different than last year- it seemed like there might be fewer of them.  I think that's because my corral started ahead of 8 others that no one was there yet to cheer on family and friends farther back.  It seemed a lot quieter.  I ran up on a group of characters dressed as OHMIGOD IT'S THE HAUNTED MANSION GRAVEDIGGERS!  No picture line, I jumped right over and handed the photographer my phone.  It took maybe 10 seconds and I was running again.  

Less than a mile later OHMIGOD IT'S STITCH!  No line here either.  Snap, then on my way.  

My paces were still looking like anywhere between 8:20/mile and 8:40/mile.  With slowing down for water and a couple photos, I was still under a 9 min/mile!  The WWOS route took us around the track and into the baseball field again.  Again, the crowds were smaller but there were some folks that demonstrated pretty great enthusiasm for their numbers.  The 10K mark was inside the stadium, I hit it hard then sailed around the field and out back towards the main road.  Zombie football players and zombie cheerleaders for a team I've never heard of?  Pass.  I'd just turned back on to Osceola Parkway when OHMIGOD THE HAUNTED MANSION BALLROOM GHOSTS!  This one had a line!  Well, I mean, there was one guy finishing up and one girl after him and then me, so, you know. 

My favorite picture of the whole race!

It was a short little bit to the next water stop and Mile 8.  I remember last year this time my legs started hurting pretty bad.  This time I was still feeling good and glided back in to Hollywood Studios.  I just happened to see a guy in front of me stopping to take a picture of the top of the bridge so I looked up- hey, it's Hades!  Barely visible, but there.  Through the toll booth we went, and immediately around a construction wall and into the Lights! Motors! Action! set.  They had a video camera set up here as well as some more Marathonfoto guys.  I'd tried earlier to smile and not look awkward but I just do NOT take a good night photo.  We'll see what we get with that.  Most of the time I look bug-eyed and completely spastic.

I could hear some crowd noise as I approached the Mickey hat, I was keeping an eye out for Scot.  I saw him, standing behind a crowd.  I ran over and paused to give him a kiss as he fumbled his way to the front of the crowd "You're early!" he exclaimed.  Nice.  Off I went- the park crowd was really cheering loud now, the finish line was a half mile away!  I ran into the costume tunnel, it was lit up with a disco ball and music and flashing lights- such fun!  Felt like a party!  The finish line came up quick after that, and I kicked it into high gear hoping to finish in under an hour and a half.  

Yay!  Finish line!  Medal!  Free banana!  3 kinds of PowerAde?  Wow, what a luxury!  Blue, please!  The walkout from this race was as long as I remembered it from last year.  And dark!  However, I think we all came out at a different spot- closer to the Beauty and the Beast show than the main gate.  I found Scot under the L balloon back near the Mickey hat and ran up to him, jumping up and down- my race time for this makes a sub-2 hour half marathon actually possible!  Unheard of until today!  He was wearing a sweater.  Uh, what?  Turns out, that front cooled everything down to about 70 degrees!  I felt great for about 2 hours before I had to put my jacket on.  We rode some rides- good thing about finishing fast is that we didn't wait for than 5 minutes for anything!  Got myself a Mickey ice cream bar, yummmm.  By the time 12:30 rolled around, and definitely by 1am, everything had a 40 minute wait so we headed back to the hotel for some well-deserved sleep.  

Here's my info!

Bib # 519

Net time- 1:29:37

Place- 623/9,389 (top 6%)

Gender place- 182/6,150 (top 2%)

Age place- 38/1,102 (top 3%)

Update: as of today, I found out that there will be no Tower of Terror 10 Miler next year.  It could possible be due to upcoming construction at DHS, for the new Star Wars Land and/or whatever is taking the place of the Backlot Tour.  I have it from a reliable source that DHS is getting the Indiana Jones Ride from Disneyland, too, though.  Please let that be one of the upcoming projects!