Shamrock Shuffle 8K

This marks the eight time participating in this race, and again it was a brisk morning for a run. If you follow my Instagram or Facebook you would of known that it was another stressful night before a run. Hopefully this won’t be a common theme on my racing season!

I was placed in corral G which was part of the second wave, but we got up early enough to get in front of the corral. My corral kicked off around 9:15 and we were released to the streets around the Loop.

The course was pretty much the same, there were people that said that there was a course change, but I didn’t notice. Usually they have the water station right after the Gatorade station, but it wasn’t until another mile, wish I realized that or else I would of sipped the Gatorade.

As mentioned earlier it was a bit cold in the morning, which I dressed appropriately, but it did get a little warm. You would think since I ran this many times that I would of remembered the distance. I kept on thinking it was a 15K approx. 8 miles, so when I got to Harrison and Michigan I realized that I was almost done and remembered it was only an 8K! So that was a nice surprise because I was prepared to run the next 4 miles.

That being said, I finished in 1hr 7min and 25sec. We didn’t stay for the post race activities by the fountain, because we had to pick up our puppy at the animal hospital, the reason for the stressful night. As I always say, since this is my very first race, I will always participate in it as long as I am able to run, well trained or not!

Princess Fairytale Challenge

Another Disney race challenge completed. The challenge consisted of the Enchanted 10K on Saturday and the Princess Half Marathon on Sunday.

The 10K’s theme was Mulan the warrior princess and the Half Marathon’s theme was Princess Aurora aka Sleeping Beauty and Briar Rose.

Disney always plans a fun and well managed race. The only thing that was off was they didn’t have the sponges ready for the later runners.

They had ample photo opportunities along the course and visuals to keep your mind off the race. I noticed that there were very little princesses at the character stops, but when I thought about it there wouldn’t be that many princesses because they are running in the race.

When I first saw the medals online I was a little disappointed, but they look so much better in person. I enjoyed this race and I would most likely do this one again.

Princess Half Marathon – Aurora

Day two of the Fairytale Challenge began as the day before, catching the 3:30 transport to EPCOT. Our luggage did arrive so I was able to wear my contacts for this run. We arrived and the staging area was already filling up with runners. I managed to get a photo with Merida and then took my trek out to the corrals and Rick made his way to the Magic Kingdom.

I was placed in corral D, which the wait was not that long. Once we were released with some fireworks we were heading towards the Magic Kingdom. Along the way I took a photo with Captains Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbossa. Continuing towards the Magic Kingdom, I finally arrived at the marquee. You would think that the park would be close but from experience it is another three miles till you get to the park. There was a photo op with four princes, John Smith, Eric, Flynn Ryder and Phoebus. By the time I got my chance Flynn took a break, so I filled in.

We finally made it to the Magic Kingdom, just past the five mile mark. The view when you turn onto Main Street and see Cinderella’s castle never gets old. Found Rick right by the castle where we took a right and entered Tomorrowland. After tailing a picture with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb I entered Fantasyland. As I approached Gaston’s Tavern I saw that he was there with Belle and decided to wait in their line.

After the long wait I took my picture with them and continued my way to the castle. Right before we entered the castle, Snow White was there. Since she is my favorite princess I had to stop and get a photo with her. Once I got my photo I ran through the castle then came upon a bottle neck at the front of the castle so we just walked our way down. Took my castle photo and made my way through Liberty Square where I saw Jessie from Toy Story. From there we spent a very short time in Critter County and that is where we exited the park.

Just after mile six there was a photo op with Villains, which I got a group photo with the Queen of Hearts, the Evil Queen and Cuella DeVil. With the line taking over 15 minutes I started being concerned about the balloon ladies. I proceeded to follow the runners along the streets that passed by the golf course and a couple of the resorts. By mile eight fatigue and exhaustion caught up with me and it started getting hot, I started taking extensive walking breaks at this point.

By mile 10 we were routed on a ramp that looped to the road leading to EPCOT. At the top of the road I saw how far back the runners were so that gave me the assurance that the balloon ladies was not going to pass me up!

We entered EPCOT by mile 12 and I pushed on to finish strong. As we passed Future World and seeing Spaceship Earth the end of the race is almost there. Just one more stop I had to take, a photo op with Pluto for Megs. Once we turned the corner and saw the finish line I dug deep down and sprinted towards the finish by way of giving high fives to Donald Duck and Goofy. I finished in 4hrs 17min 59sec.

We celebrated by having brunch at Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’, resting in the afternoon and having dinner at The Edison. Despite the lack of sleep, aggravations with Southwest I had a great time running this half marathon.

Princess Enchanted 10K – Mulan

The first race on 2019 started off a bit rocky. I estimated that I got three hours of sleep within 48 hours prior to the race. With a mixture of worrying about Megs at her doggie camp, traveling and Southwest losing all our luggage contributed to my insomnia. Luckily I made it a habit to pack my running gear in my carry on.

We signed up for the 3:30 transportation to EPCOT, which allowed me to check my bag in, take a photo with Cinderella and get to my corral in plenty of time. I was placed in corral B, so that gave me enough cushion if I wanted to stop for photo ops or if my lack of sleep would slow me down.

The course is very similar to the 10K for marathon weekend so I was very familiar with the course. We ran through the road entrance to EPCOT and along the way we saw Pocahontas on an overpass, snapped a quick picture of her and continued on. Just past mile one there was a very long line for Belle and the Beast, I opted to forego that photo op and continued on. Shortly after there was a line and it was Elvis Stitch so I waited.

Around 3.5 miles we entered the outskirts of EPCOT and saw the outside side track for the ride Test Track, so I knew we were close to entering World Showcase through Mexico. I quickly took a picture of the lake and posted on social media that I arrived at EPCOT.

We made our way through the showcase passing through Norway, China, Germany, Italy, The American Adventure, Japan and Morocco. I stopped at Morocco to take a photo with Aladdin, his line was fairly long, but it went pretty fast. We continued our world tour and passed France.

We took a little detour out to the Boardwalk resorts and in about mile 5.5 we entered back into World Showcase and finished our world tour through the United Kingdom and Canada. We passed under the monorail and took my last photo op in front of Spaceship Earth. I proceeded towards the finish which is located to the left of the entrance. I finished in 1hr 41min 6sec. Considering the few hours I was running on I felt pretty good along the race and finishing it.

We celebrated the 10K finish at BOMA with a great African brunch. We were planning on spending the day at EPCOT, but decided to take the day to rest after the lack of sleep for the past two days, which was the best decision.

Completing the 10K was the start to achieve the Fairytale Challenge. Next up is the half marathon to complete the challenge.