Palm Beaches Marathon Festival Half Marathon

This half marathon took place Sunday December 4th.  I ran this as part of a 16 mile long run I had scheduled for that weekend.  It worked out great for this purpose as I didn't get bored and the 16 miles went fairly easily.  Having said that, this is not a race I would recommend. This is a shame since the course is absolutely beautiful... all along the water and through some neighborhoods in Palm Beach.

Source

The course was on the road right along the water, I told you it was beautiful :)

The things I tought were the worst parts of the weekend:

-"Expo" was a joke, so small.  They should have just called it Packet Pick-Up

-The shirt I received was a cotton tee shirt, not a tech shirt.  Not that I am desperate for anymore running shirts, it is just lame for a half marathon

-Started late

-Ran out of water by Mile 6.... so LAME.  There was the half and the marathon going on at the same time, but at Mile 8.5 we broke off from the marathoners and started heading to the finish.  At that point the half peeps were getting first crack at the water, so I can only imagine that there was nothing left for the marathoners when they were making their way to the end.  Feel so bad for them.  I have never experienced Mile 24 or 25 of marathon (yet), but I would assume water would be one of the few things to make me happy.  I would be so mad if there was nothing available.  

There was also no electrolyte drink available.  That made me nervous because it was kind of warm that day and I sweat a lot.... like salt covering my face a lot.

Luckily for me, the hotel I stayed in the night before was right on the course, so once I got to it (at mile 11), I ran over to my room, chugged some coconut water and got my own bottle of water to run with the rest of the way.  Marathoners, I did not drink any of your water... you're welcome.

Yes, I totally left the course during a race.  Since I was running 16 total that day I totally could not have cared less about my time.  As I was running off the course, one of the cops was like "Hey no cheating"... the direction I was heading in was the opposite way of the finish line, so that wasn't even a possibility :)

Not to be a total downer with this post, the good things about the race:

-I got an Active Schwaggle deal and only paid $45.  Total bargain... love those Active Schwaggle deals!  Last minute registration fee was $90. Totally not worth that.

-Beautiful course.  It is an extremely flat, fast course and the marathon is a Boston qualifier.  For people interested in that sort of thing, this would be a good race... just bring your own water.

-Start/finish lines were close to the hotel I stayed at so I could run to and from the race to get in my 16 miles

-Volunteers decorated their water stops, very cool!  The cops along the course were great.  This wasn't a big race, so not every road was closed, but they were great about cars crossing, etc.

-Medal... not super fancy, but I do love the bling!

Sorry for the blurry picture

Love Polka Dots, Hate White Font

Yup, changed the look of the blog again.  I hated the white font and it practically terrorized me every time I wanted to post something.  To be fair, it worked like a charm when I was on my Mac at home (obviously, Apple rules all) but was totally lame when I tried to post something on my PC while I was at work.  PCs suck, but maybe it was telling me to not post at work.  
No, no... PCs just suck.
Want to give a shout out to my friend Wade and his wife Brynn, who finished their first half marathon this morning.  Great job Haskells!

Whoa... what course was he running?!
P.S.  Wade, hope you don't mind I stole this off of Facebook ;)


P.P.S.  How do you other bloggers get cool blog title designs with pictures and stuff?
I want one too, help! :)


*After I first hit publish and then re-read the page, it made me laugh that the blog is relatively girly with the polka dots, teal, coral, etc.  and then there is a picture of a guy all bloody and stuff.  I love irony.
**Wade is a super tough jiu jitsu/cage fighter/whatever kind of fighter and this is where the photo comes from.  This photo was not a result of running a half marathon :)

Re-introductions, motivation & a MARATHON!

Two months into my blog and you all are sticking around to read some more.  THANK YOU!  Writing this blog as been so much fun and I absolutely love, love, love reading your comments, as well as reading everyone else’s blogs too! 

So what’s going on in Heather’s World this week…

I knew as soon as the 5Ks I was signed up to run in March were over my motivation would be hard to keep up going into the summer. 

I… was… not… wrong.  It’s been two whole weeks since I ran a step, ugh!  What to do?!  First, put down the iPad…

What!?  It's not normal to walk around all day with your iPad?!

Second, Heather let me re-introduce you to your new sneakers, which last month you said you loved.  Now, put them on!

Sneakers... love them... wear them...

Third, remember how Shakira’s Waka Waka is your new favorite running song?  Well in order to hear it you need to use your iPod shuffle, headphones from the 80s (I LOVE these) and then time your run on your Nike+ sportsband.

Good music, good times

Here’s to hoping this little motivational talk helps.

If not, I also just subscribed to Runner’s World magazine & ordered a couple of their books (which I will review in a later blog post).

'New Year, New You'... Ok.

I decided to subscribe because I want to read up on anything and everything concerning running since my fall will be full of half marathons.  I just signed up for one of them today actually, Disney’s Wine & Dine Half Marathon on October 1^st. 

Can't wait to run this race a second time!

I ran this last year and it was the very first half marathon I have ever done.  I swear Disney made this race for me… Disney parks at night, running, wine, dine… all things I love in this world!  Last year’s race was the inaugural and there were some issues with crowding, etc., but Disney seems to have gone above and beyond to correct those issues and make this year’s race the best it can be!  I am absolutely so excited for this race!  Annette… Trish… sign up already!  Anyone else want to run!?

I am hoping the half marathons I run in the fall will really help me to prepare for my next challenge… the Disney Marathon on January 8^th!  Yup, I am going all the way!  26.2 miles!!  I also signed up for this race today!!  You’re welcome runDisney for my generous donation to your running program :)

My mantra:  Mickey medal, Mickey medal!

One statement I often hear about marathons is that 26.2 miles is a distance to be respected.  Not gonna lie, I am a little freaked out about it.  I know I have LOTS of work to do in the next 9 months, but I know with hard work and motivation I will be happily accepting my Mickey Mouse medal from one of the volunteers in January! 

Wish me luck! I hope I can keep you thoroughly entertained throughout this little challenge!

Princess Half Marathon Weekend

To say I had a great time at Disney’s Princess Half Marathon weekend would be an understatement.  This race is spectacular and all women, everywhere should participate at some point in their life.  Whether you want to run, run/walk or walk the 13.1 miles you will be treated like a Princess every step of the way! 

As you know, my dilemma last week was deciding whether or not to really run the race or blow of my time and just take pictures with the characters along the way.  I was still undecided as they called our Corral up to the start line.  I started off running and my first two miles were going great.  Then I turned onto World Drive headed toward Magic Kingdom and saw the huge pirate ship they had set up, along with Jack Sparrow and his Pirates of the Caribbean.  At that point I blew off my time and went into picture mode! 

It felt like I was breaking the rules whenever I pulled over to the side for pictures, I even waited in line for about 15 minutes at the MK for a pic with Minnie and Mickey.  Had I forgotten this was a race?!  It was a great experience and this race will forever be my “fun” race.  There are plenty of other races where I can work on time, etc., but this one is gonna be for the fun!  Plus, I can’t resist the pictures with the characters and how they say “Hello Princess” as you walk up to them!

Let’s get to those pictures…

I arrived in Orlando on Saturday morning and met up with my fellow Princess, Annette, and her husband Brian at the Fit for a Princess Expo at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports.

Before we even stepped into the Expo we felt like royalty with the red carpet arrival and a picture with Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother and Footmen.

The expo was packed!  The vendors were great and I bought a cute 13.1 charm from the Lift Your Soles booth, some Jet Blackberry GU and a new pair of Saucony sneakers.  Very successful shopping day!

Packet pick-up was also at the expo and we finally got our Princess tech tees and “fancy” mesh bags!

For our pre-race dinner we headed over to Disney’s Boardwalk and had dinner at Cat Cora’s Kouzzina.  Our dinner reservations were for 5pm… it felt like we were there for the early bird special!  I have wanted to try this restaurant for awhile and it did not disappoint.  I had the Kouzzina trio, which was a great combo of carbs and protein, perfect for the pre-race meal!

After dinner it was time to relax and hopefully get to sleep early.  A 2:45am wake up call was scheduled for Sunday morning – eek!  We got our race gear ready to go Saturday night.  When we signed up for the race we got to pick our favorite Disney Princess and her name appeared on our race bibs.  I chose the Little Mermaid, Ariel and Annette chose Belle from Beauty & the Beast.

Sunday morning started off with a coffee and a peanut butter crunch Cliff bar, my perfect pre-long run breakfast!  We were staying at Disney’s Port Orleans hotel and left for Epcot at 3:30.  We were parked and in the pre-race staging area by 4am.  I got my race gear together and went to check my bag.  Disney did a great job with this pre-race area…. Bag check was easy, clear to understand, not crowded, all really great.  At 4:40 they opened up the path that led out to the start corrals.  They say it is a 20 minute walk to the start corrals and that is not a lie.  This is the same set-up used for the Disney Half & Full Marathons as well, so make sure you are there on time!

We had to be in corrals by 5am.  I was really dreading the 45 minute wait, but we were entertained by the live MC and videos.  The time flew by!  The corral was not crowded so we were able to sit down.  They also really patrolled the corrals to make sure you entered the correct one.  Thank you Disney for doing that!  It was so nice to start a race with actual runners and not surrounded by people who start out walking.

Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother counted down to start off the race and waved us through the start line with her wand.  We were off!

Entertainment in miles 1 & 2 was a marching band and stilt walkers (don’t know how they can stay up there for so long!).

Once into mile 2 we saw the pirate ship; Jack Sparrow and the pirates; a hot air balloon shaped like Epcot’s Spaceship Earth; and the Heroes (which included Aladdin, John Smith, Prince Eric, Tarzan and I think the other guy was Snow White’s Prince Charming).  We also ran through the Magic Kingdom entrance.

Mile marker 3 had my girl Ariel on it, so I needed to take a picture.

We then passed Richard Petty’s Driving Experience.  Race car drivers were out front giving everyone high 5s.  Then Lilo & Stitch were having a luau party which also included the Polynesian Luau dancers.

Running through the Ticket & Transportation Center was next and it was filled with spectators – awesome!!  As you left the TTC there was a Chinese drum group.

We passed another marching band, I got a quick pic of the Contemporary Resort and then headed into the Magic Kingdom.

Running up Main Street toward the castle definitely made me a little teary-eyed.  It was my first time running in the Magic Kingdom and I loved it.

Turning into Tomorrowland there was Chip & Dale and then in Fantasyland I got a picture with Alice in Wonderland with Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum

Once I reached the backside of the castle I got in line for a picture with Minnie & Mickey.  I also took a picture of the Trumpeters that were there announcing our arrival to the castle.  It was fun to look around and see all of the other runners as well.

After running through the castle, we turned into Liberty Square and Tiana, Louis the Alligator and Prince Naveen were there.  Annette later told me that on the other side of the road were the Haunted Mansion ghosts.  I totally missed them!  I think I was looking ahead into Frontierland where I could see Jesse from Toy Story!

We made our way past Splash Mountain and headed out of the Magic Kingdom through a backstage area.  There I got my picture with Pinocchio, Geppetto & Jiminy Cricket.  Also in that area were the characters from Peter Pan and the Genie from Aladdin.

Next we were on the road that runs past the Grand Floridian hotel.  There was a Reedy Creek Fire Department truck set up.  With fire trucks come hot firefighters and they did not disappoint!  Annette later told me Aurora and her Prince were set up on the right hand side of the road… totally didn’t see them.  

Also along that road was Belle & Gaston, Fairy Godmothers from Sleeping Beauty and I got pictures with Cinderella’s coach & her footman and played some golf with Goofy.  Apparently running a half marathon wasn’t enough for me.  

Heading back down World Drive towards Epcot, there was another school marching band, we also  passed the Hess Gas station where they had sports cars set up out front with their “mechanics”.  

There wasn’t a line for Princess Atta, so I stopped for a pic with her.

I was able to get a picture of the Heroes and a picture with Jack Sparrow and the pirates this time around.

He was saying to me “Do you know what comes next?”… me “No”… him “Neither do I…”  that is why I look a little scared.  Just as quirky as the Johnny Depp character, pretty funny!

At this point we were at Mile 10.  Couldn’t believe there was only 3 miles to go!

Running up the ramp from World Drive there was a Green Army Man from Toy Story.

I also took a couple of pictures of the course, runners and volunteers.

Epcot!  We are almost home!

In the Epcot parking lot there was an all-girl rock band jammin' out and 4 characters set up right next to each other.  I got my picture with the mom from Incredibles, Meg from Hercules, Jane from Tarzan and Mulan (this one is for my sister!)

I took this picture of Spaceship Earth as I headed into Epcot.  There was less than a mile to go and I was so sad it was almost over.

Got a pic with Pluto (oops moved before the picture was done).  Phineaus & Ferb and Duffy Bear (who? yeah exactly) were also there taking pictures.

Needed a picture of Epcot’s World Showcase since this was where the idea to get into running all started!

A Gospel choir lifted our spirits at the Mile 13 mark.

Mile Marker 13!  The Finish Line!  Mickey & Minnie (again)!

The ladies from the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique were there to sprinkle us with fairy dust and then I received my beautiful medal!

It was so organized and easy to get around after the race.  Got my picture taken with my medal.  Had some water, powerade, a banana and got a Luna bar for later.  Collected my bag, changed into my flip flops and headed out to meet up with Annette and her family.

They had signs and a flower for me… thanks Giovanelli family!  Congrats Annette on your first Half Marathon!

Like I said earlier, it was a spectacular race!  Thanks to all the volunteers for their support and to the Disney Cast Members who took my picture along the way!  Can’t wait to do it again next year!