hollywood studios frozen summer (and DDD countdown!)

Headed to California for the Dumbo Double Dare in just a month!  So excited for this one!  I got my bib number and corral assignment yesterday- I've made it all the way up to Corral C!  When I ran my first race- Tower of Terror 10 Miler- last October, I was in G so I've come a long ways.  The C placement however, means I ended up with an estimated finish time of just under 2 hours for the half marathon, which is so not even going to happen.  I set a PR on that Riverside Dash 15K back in April, so I used that for all my proof of times.  I mean, my estimated finish time for the Marathon next January is like 4 hours.  HA!  

So, Scot signed up for the Princess half with me.  We have a group of about 15 or so people running it together, most of whom are friends of friends but that's okay.  It'll be great to have so much support!  I can't for the life of me figure out what compelled Scot to sign up for this race, but I'm supportive.  I've offered to let him get up at 5 am with me for my morning runs but he hasn't taken me up on that yet!  He has already started looking into costumes, though.  I've given suggestions (Incredibles, Piggy & Kermit, Elsa & Olaf) but he says he wants to be a Prince.  Whatever then!

We went down to Hollywood Studios this past Sunday for the Frozen Summer events and had an absolutely fabulous time!  We had some fast passes for our favorite rides (Toy Story, Star Wars, and Tower of Terror) and the wait for the rest of the stuff we did really didn't exceed 20 minutes.  But oh let me tell you about the Frozen stuff!  When we got to the park we were given a paper Olaf snowman on a stick and were told to use #olafsummervacation on social media and take his picture doing various things around the park.  Some of the photos would be selected for the big screen presentation during the fireworks that night!  Cool!  Off we went. 

We first snagged tickets to the sing-along, which was a great idea at 2 in the afternoon.  The theater was warmer than it should have been but it was better than being outside.  Olaf enjoyed it.

Of course I sang along to everything, and I think Scot just enjoyed the ride.  He doesn't know all the words but I saw him trying when I glanced over.  The whole show was great- really funny, with a finale of smoke effects, lights, and of course- snow!

We made it into Wandering Oaken's Trading Post, which was a temporary store filled with Frozen merchandise.  Nothing to write home about.  They did have a candy counter with all kinds of themed goodies, but I resisted.  I was saving my calories for a cupcake and glowing drink later!  After a couple more rides, we found a seat at the bar in the Tune In Lounge for a bite of early dinner.  From there, into Frozen Funland!  Frozen Funland is also a temporary setup down the street from Toy Story, you go inside and around a corner and they have an ice rink set up with skate rental!  There's also a big corner filled with snow for kids to play in.  This is where the cupcakes were!  I paid way too much for a chocolate Anna cupcake.  Olaf didn't get any...

We got a photo at the entrance with him, sat down, enjoyed the cupcake, then headed out.  

Here's a few more of the things we did over the afternoon- a couple shots of the Backlot Tour:

And we also took him on the Tower of Terror!

 After the sun went down, we had to wait for the fireworks.  We put up our feet for a while and I got to enjoy my glowing blue Frozen adult beverage!  And some popcorn.  Because I couldn't resist the smell.  As 9pm rolled around, we headed over to the Mickey Hat to the dance party.  The Mulch, Sweat & Shears guys we re-branded as the Ice Men of the North and of course are really good.  After their rocking performance, the fireworks show started with Anna and Kristoff on stage, talking to Olaf who was digitally represented on the screen above.  He started showing his "vacation photos" in song (from the pictures that had been tagged earlier that day).  Almost 2 dozen of them with various people posing with their Snowmen On A Stick flashed up during the 2 minute song, and right at the end- THERE WE WERE!!!  OMG we made it into the show!  The one of the 2 of us holding him in front of the bridge in Frozen Funland!  I was in heaven after that- the fireoworks were incredible, the music all day was fantastic, the food was amazing, the whole theme was fulfilling enough for a Frozen addict like me, it was the perfect end to the day.

a princess once more, and more, and more

Disney Princess Half marathon registration was today and I signed up for the Glass Slipper Challenge again!  Wooo hooo!  I've actually got another couple girlfriends who are participating in the 1/2 marathon phase so I'm looking forward to training together.  

By signing up for the Princess, et al, I'm officially on track to complete EVERY Disney World race over 10K (6.2 miles) during the 2014-15 racing season.  This includes the Tower of Terror 10 Miler (repeat customer on that one), the Wine & Dine Half, and the Dopey Challenge.  It's a total of 8 races, including the Princess half/10K.  The Dumbo Double Dare at Disneyland this Labor Day is just a lagniappe!  

I've also really caught on to this virtual racing thing.  There's a ton of them on www.willrunforbling.com and it's super easy.  Actually, I convinced my friend LizzyDragon to sign up for the-get this- Top Gun Run.  We're both pilots (she is a former student of mine) and we were doing what pilots do best- floating around in the pool sucking down rum and cokes- when I saw the link to this website.  I'll pretend I'm just very persuasive, but I didn't have to try hard to get her to sign up for the 10K.  I'm pretty sure the rum helped.  I ended up signing on for the half marathon.  It wasn't expensive, $25, and the money benefits muscular dystrophy research.  Since it's a virtual race, they send you a medal (which you pretty much just purchased for $25) and you run around your neighborhood or whatever.  Anyhoo, the cost is low and the medal is badass looking!  We've decided that when the time comes in the middle of August (AWESOME time of year to run, esp in Florida, know what I'm sayin'?) that I'm going to get up and knock out 7 miles and while I'm doing that, she's going to drive up to my house and we'll finish the 6.2 together.  Because it's a virtual race and we can do whatever the hell we want to, right?

We feel the need.  The need for speed.  During intervals, of course.

  

virtual race, real life wine

Dopey Challenge training started this week!!!

Crap.

Less than 2 months to go until I hop on a plane and take an unnecessarily long and out of the way airline route out to L.A. to run the Disneyland Half/Dumbo Double Dare.  I'm ready for that one.  I even got a little over-excited and make my Eeyore ears, tail, and bow last night.  Right now I'm tracking 3, about to be 4, training programs- DDD, Tower of Terror 10 miler, Dopey Challenge, and Wine & Dine training starts next week.  I just sort of gave up on following anything too precisely and just run whichever is longest that week. 

Last month I signed up for my first "virtual race"- it's the Daytona Beach Firecracker 10 Miler, benefiting a local veterans association.  Basically, I signed up, paid my $40, and got a t-shirt and medal in the mail a few weeks later.  There was a few days time frame for me to do the 10 mile run anywhere and anytime I wanted, so I decided to knock it out this morning as my "long run" around the neighborhood.  You may be wondering what's actually holding me to even bothering to do the run, since I don't have to submit my time or even tell anyone I've done it.  We're totally on the honor system on this one- I'm sure if you want to be a loser and pay, get the medal, and forget about it you can but...why?  It's only 10 miles.  Suck it up, Buttercup.  (That, btw, is my new favorite saying.  I started saying it to my students when they get all sissy with the airplane, or if they say they can't study for a progress check because *insert lame reason here*)

So I finished my 10 miles this morning in around 1 hr 39 min.  I just this week started training with intervals and I'm so in love!  Especially since it's so damn hot here in FL.  When I ran the Princess Half marathon last February, I ran it straight through, slowing at the water stops.  I wanted to die at the end and could barely move the next day.  I'd noticed that during the longer training runs, my legs would cramp up approaching the 10 mile mark.  This week I've started doing a 4:30 minute run/45 second walk interval and it makes all the difference in the world. My time is faster because I know I can push myself a little more because there's a walk break coming up!  Check out my new bling:

I also made a medal hanger for all my new lovelies.  I bought a board, screw-in hooks, picture hangers, and paint from the craft store.  I looked all over for a stencil for the Walt Disney font but couldn't find a thing.  I finally just googled it and hand-drew the lettering in pencil before going over it with a paint pen.  I think it turned out fantastic!

I should be adding...13 more by the time Dopey is complete.  14, if you count the one I'm holding above.  That one wasn't on the display when I took the picture. 

On a non-running note, Scot and I went to Grapevine, TX for my family's annual reunion.  If you go searching for a blog I wrote last summer, you'll see how I raved about a little bar/restaurant called Into The Glass in the historic downtown area.  I'd been looking forward to going back there for an entire year and when we stopped by again, they did not disappoint!  I posted a photo below of the wine I had because it was amazing and, yet again, I'm going to drive myself crazy looking for it.  I'm pretty sure it's not pronounced Ferret like the stinky little rodent some people keep as pets.  Fer-AY maybe?  Whatevs, it's French.  And it's got this crisp, peachy note that was perfect for the 90-something degree day we had.  Find it.  Drink it.  Srsly.

When we got back from Texas, we scooted down to the Magic Kingdom for a day because I'd booked us Fastpasses for the new 7 Dwarfs Mine Train like 3 weeks earlier.  I'd seen the local commercials for it and was bouncing in my seat to finally get down there and take a ride!  When we got to the park (it's about an hour drive) we found out 7 Dwarfs was down for maintenance.  For the whole day.  Talk about disappointment!  I guess we'll get down there in a couple weeks and try it again!  Fingers crossed this time.  (Although we did get in to Be Our Guest for lunch, only had to wait in the hot sun for maybe 20 minutes, which totally made up for it.)