winner winner epcot dinner

Crazy news here!  

I actually won something!  A race!  Sort of!

The 10K in Apopka that Scot and I signed up to do so he could get a proof of time for Princess was this past Sunday.  I'd gone to a birthday party the night before with full intention of not drinking and only staying for maybe an hour so I could get some rest but THAT didn't happen.  After a bit more wine than usual and some food that I wouldn't normally eat (hot dog, anyone?), I was feeling pretty shitty the next morning.  

We pulled up to the church parking lot where the run was and I was chugging Powerade and water and trying to not look so dead.  I must have hit the bathroom 3 times before we got going!  Ugh.  Just after 7am, the 10K run (there was a 5K an hour later) started off.  I struck out at about a 9 min/mile pace with a handful of guys in front of me.  As I ran, I started feeling a lot better.  An older woman pulled in front of me after about a mile and I was thinking if I kept up my pace I could finish as the second female.  This put a spring in my step and I moved along.  The course ran out of the church parking lot, around a local school, up a zig zag pedestrian bridge over a major road (that part was a bitch and a half), and out on a bike trail before turning around and heading back the same way.  

Scot managed to keep a pace slightly behind me.  The air was cool and after the first mile I felt fantastic!  At the first water stop, the woman ahead of me suddenly veered off course to the side (later I talked to her and she said she had a shin splint) and so that put me in the female lead.  I didn't know how many men were ahead of me- it hadn't seemed like much, I could see a couple of them up ahead.  I just kept going and picked it up for about an 8:40/mi pace.  I managed to hold that all the way to the finish!  Everyone at the water stops was so nice, clapping, cheering- on the turn around part of the course, 6 men passed me going the other way so that meant I was 7th!  And the first woman!  Scot fell back a couple minutes for some shoulder pain but I had such a big lead over the next female behind me that I was able to slow down a bit to check on him when our paths crossed on the turn-around.  

As I passed the mile 6 marker, I heard a thumping sound close behind- a man WITH A BABY STROLLER was gaining fast on me!  No way in hell I was going to get beat by a baby!  I cranked up my speed and sprinted to the finish, with Stroller Man on my heel.  Got myself a medal and a banana and hob-nobbed with the other early finishers for a bit.  Crazy!  Scot rolled in about 4 minutes after me, still kept his time under an hour so we're good to go for Princess!

See that placement?  8th?  Stroller Man was definitely behind me when I crossed the finish but his timing chip was picked up before mine.  Part of me is annoyed, part of me is still psyched to see "Overall Female Champion!"

Here's the kicker- they had trophies for the age group winners and overall winners, but the ones for me and the crazy fast guy from Poland who came in first (38 minutes!  Srsly, who does that????) were in the same box and both arrived broken!  Needless to say, the awards ceremony was rather anti-climactic!  The organizers said they were ordering new trophies and would ship them to us.  We'll see.  Watch, I'll get in like, December, and wonder what the hell is this thing for?

After the race, we cleaned up and headed to Animal Kingdom.  Please enjoy this photo of a majestic looking gorilla:

We hit the Food & Wine Festival hard on Monday.  I have a list below of everything we tried.  I've been saving Disney Dollars from my Chase visa card and finally used it for the festival.  I must have dropped 70 bucks on stuff Scot and I shared!

Try all of this- it's all delicious!

Patagonia: 

Grilled beef skewer with chimichurri sauce and boniato puree (still don't know what boniato is but it's good)

Sparkling brut (so what if it's fake champagne, it's only $4!  Ahem, unlike the $32 GLASS of Dom)

New Zealand:

Lamb meatball and spicy tomato chutney (Scot ate this, he really liked it.  I don't do lamb)

Craft Beers:

Spicy pimento cheese dip 

Beer flight- Sierra Nevada Kellerweis, Spoetzl Wild Hare pale ale, Abita Purple Haze, Magic Hat Dream Machine IPL (again, all Scot.  His favorite stop, I think)

Mexico:

Rib eye taco

Mango strawberry margarita (not frozen, yay!)

Farm Fresh:

Pepper bacon hash with sweet corn, taters, pickled jalapenos (OMG so fresh and so good!)

China:

Mongolian beef on steamed bun (we've been waiting all year to have this again!)

Chicken potstickers

Mango green tea with popping bubbles (you drink it and you're like, WTF is up with this weird-ass drink?  But it's delish, and really crazy to drink.  Try it.  Trust me.)

Brewers Collection:

I'm not going to list them because my auto-correct will go nuts.  Scot drank them all (8 total, in 2 flights).  No complaints from him.  Boy put away a shit-ton of beer.

Poland:

Kielbasa and potato pierogi with caramelized onions

Hops & Barley:

Grass fed beef slider with pimento cheese

Belgium:

Potato and leek waffle with beer braised beef

Belgian waffle with chocolate ganache and whipped cream

Brazil:

Brazilian cheese bread (sweet mother of jesus this was good!  Cheesy bread with creamy cheese inside- it's like nothing you're expecting!)

France:

Caramel sea salt creme brulee (drool)

Ireland:

Lobster and seafood fisherman's pie

Scotland:

Seared sea scallop with spinach cheddar gratin (my favorite!)

So, yeah, we ate all of that!  There's more we just didn't have stomach room for, but I know we'll be back before it's over.  I have 30 Disney dollars left to spend, after all!