Last Minute Tips for Wine & Dine Half Marathon

This Saturday is the second running of the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon and the second time I am running it.  Clearly this makes me an "expert"* on the subject ;)

For my family and friends who aren't familiar with what I will be up to on Saturday night, this is a night time half marathon that starts at 10pm.  The course starts at ESPN Wide World of Sports, heading down Osceola Parkway, through Animal Kingdom, back down Osceola to Hollywood Studios.  You go through the Studios, and down the path leading to the Boardwalk hotel, past the Yacht and Beach Club Resorts and then onto Epcot for the finish line!  There is also a 2-person half marathon relay taking place at the same time.  Runner #1 runs from the start line to Animal Kingdom, where they hand off to Runner #2 who completes the course and finishes at Epcot.
The best part of the night is after the race when we get to enjoy some Epcot rides and the Food & Wine Festival at the Post Race Party! Cannot wait! 

Here are some tips & reminders for fellow runners about the weekend:

1.  Print out your race waiver and have it with you when you go to packet pick-up.  It will save you some time, allowing more time for the important stuff like shopping at the expo or having a glass of champagne.. that they will likely have for sale since this is all about Wine & Dine baby! 
2.  Throughout the weekend, take care of yourself.  Sure, you are at Disney on a vacation of some sort, but on Saturday (the day of the race) you need to take care of yourself.  Try and eat your bigger meal of the day early (and really no later than 2pm or so) and have your typical pre-race fuel as your "dinner".  In this year’s program, Jeff Galloway outlines a great race day preparation routine.  Read it.  Live it.

My plan for Saturday:  Volunteer at Kids Races (kharma people, get out and volunteer!), pool at the Beach Club, nap in the late afternoon and then it is 13.1 miles of party time! 
3.  Make sure you read the Final Race Instructions for all you need to know about where to be and when... and how to get there. 
4.  Go to your assigned start corral for the race.  If you want to be with your friends/family, you need to go back in the corrals, people should not be moving forward.  Respect your fellow, faster runners. 
5.  Love the fact that the weather during the race will be about 70 degrees with about 70% humidity.  Honestly, living in Miami this sounds pretty great to me (I am crazy).  A few days ago it was predicted to be warmer, so I am pretty psyched that it seems to be "cooling off" a bit.  The low for Saturday night is 65, chil-ly! :)  Kidding, I am not that crazy.  The temps will be great, there will be no sun (praise God for the night race) but the humidity may not feel great.  Just get in the mind set, hydrate and you will be fine. 
6.  Thank your volunteers along the way.
7.  Spectators... as you are cheering us on don't forget to shout out our names - they are on our race bibs for a reason!  We love it, appreciate it and sometimes need all the encouragement we can get to finish this thing!
8.  Look for the sign at about mile 12.5 that says "Cold Bear Ahead" and know that is making me very happy! 

I hope this has shed a little light on what to expect during race weekend.  Good luck to everyone, it's gonna be a great night!

* Please note these are my opinions based on last year’s experience.  I am not any sort of professional anything and if you choose to follow this advice it is at your own risk.

One Looong Week

It's Wednesday?  Really, that's it?

It has been one long week and let me tell you why.

Last Thursday while I was out for my super early morning run, while it was still dark outside, I pulled a real blonde moment and tripped on a crack in the sidewalk.  And I dislocated my shoulder.

Don't worry, once I got home and was taking off my shirt, the forward motion of my arm allowed the shoulder to fall back into place. Aaaahhhh... that felt good.  But I was still in pain for the rest of the weekend.

It hurts a little still now, but mostly it is just very tight and cramped feeling because I am holding the arm steady, moving slow, etc.  I really would like to spin my arm around and around to loosen it up.  But I won't do that, I am being nice to my arm and letting it heal a little bit.

As a result of my fall I did not drive to Orlando for the Miracle Miles 15K :(  

Thanks for the shout out Victoria, but after reading your blog post about the steamy and humid weather, can't say I was super sad to miss it.  Plus I know even though I was a no-show, my registration money went to good use for those teeny tiny NICU babies.  

I also wanted to rest up because this weekend is the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon!  Woohoo!  I have run a couple times this week and all feels good, so my goal for Saturday night is to not fall and to get to the finish line.  Hope that works out for me.

I'll be heading up to Disney tomorrow night after work because on Friday I get to participate in this: 

You are among a select group of qualified applicants who get to enjoy a special opportunity to preview and prepare for the 2011 Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon next Friday at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.  
This unique event is to include a meet up and Q&A with runDisney’s official training consultant, Jeff Galloway, Olympic track and field coach Brooks Johnson, 2010 Disney Wine & Dine champions Melissa Wisner and Anton Van Zyl, along with nutritional tips with Disney Chef Gary Jones. We’ll have surprises along the way, so make sure you bring your camera! Additionally, you’ll have a chance to preview runDisney merchandise at the Health and Fitness Expo prior to general admission. 

I am so glad I follow Disney Sports on Twitter and was able to RSVP for this event in time when they posted it last week.  Anything that allows me to indulge my Disney dorkiness... sign... me... up. 

Of course, to Annette & I, the following line means only one thing:

Additionally, you’ll have a chance to preview runDisney merchandise at the Health and Fitness Expo prior to general admission. 

Coast to Coast tech shirts!  I really hope they have them, eek!

In other, random TV news... what fall shows are you watching?

How I Met Your Mother is off to a good start, so glad that Zoe girl is gone.  

Grey's was great last week.  Private Practice is back this week, yipee!

I am super excited Idina Menzel is back on Glee... side note about Glee, so glad Quinn is done with her 'rebel' stage... super annoying.

Ringer with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Up All Night with Christina Applegate & Will Arnett, Free Agents with Frank Azaria and the girl from 'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days' all seem to be good shows. 

When is Cougar Town coming back?  Stupid name, funny show.

Also, does anyone else get chills when Phil on the Amazing Race, starts the race by saying "The World is Waiting"?  Best line on TV. 

My first Group Run

Marathon training has officially begun.  Well, it officially began back on August 6th but I was on vacation.  When I got back I wanted to get in a few longer runs before the Disneyland half, and the group was only running 5 and 6 miles... apparently I am a running snob.
This past Saturday they ran 8 miles and I was excited to jump right in!  There are probably about 25-30 people in my pace group, and about 6 to 8 different pace groups with the running store I am training with.  There were a ton of runners everywhere.  
Saturday we ran out on Key Biscayne.  Parking at the Miami Seaquarium we headed back into town on the Rickenbacker Causeway and over the big bridge.  I loved the bridge!  After the Beach to Beacon 10K I know how weak my hill skills are, so the burning I felt in my lungs and legs was tolerable because I knew this would make me stronger.  

Rickenbacker Causeway bridge   Source

After running through part of a neighborhood, there was a table set up with water coolers for a quick stop.  Running with a group is pretty fun, it's like a little party.  Very social setting and the miles zip by.  I really hope I still think this when we start running 16, 18, 20 miles.
I had never run with anyone before and I had never run 8 miles without music, but really enjoyed both!
After the water break, we ran another mile before turning around and heading back to the Seaquarium.  We were all done by 7:45am, just about the time the sun was starting to feel hot - nice.
I met a lady from my group who lives in my neighborhood and was looking to run with someone early in the morning during the week.  Count me in!  Running in the dark sounds great to me, so we are going to meet up a couple days a week at 5am to get our weekday runs in.  It was great yesterday to be done running and showered by 6:30am.  
This weekend I am heading to Orlando to run the Miracle Miles 15K with Annnette and then I will be back in Orlando next weekend for the Disney Wine & Dine half marathon with Leah, Annette, Brian and some some people from Leah's work.  I am so, so excited for both weekends in Orlando, but I am a little sad I won't get to run with the group for the next couple of weeks.  Oh well, I am still getting the miles in which is the most important thing.
You may have noticed above that I removed the 'Sweat!' tab.  I hadn't been keeping up with it and just got bored, so it's out.  I know I don't need to write everything down to keep motivated.  The fact I have to go 26.2 miles on January 8th is motivation enough.
If you are bored, check out the updated 'Me & My Blog' tab and the 'Bling!' tab.  Someone had a lot of time on her hands Sunday afternoon :)

Remembering 9/11

Where were you on September 11, 2001?
I do not believe there is any more memorable day in the history of my generation.  
Here is my story...
On September 11, 2001 I was working at a financial services company in Boston.  It was located on the 26th floor of One International Place... if you are looking at the skyline of Boston from the airport, it is the tallest building you will see.  
That morning I had arrived to the building in time for a 7am aerobics class.  There was a gym in my building where I took classes and then got ready for work.  I was particularly happy that day because I was going to a computer software training class instead of to work!
After getting ready at the gym, I remember walking through the Financial District thinking this was a perfect fall morning.  Crisp weather, bluer than blue skies and bright sunshine.  I even remember what I was wearing, black capris, sandals, a green top with a white tank top... the weather was warm enough that day in Boston for sandals!  I stopped at Starbucks on the way to training and got a latte and a piece of pumpkin bread (it was fall after all!) and then I headed to the training.
Since I was not sitting at my desk that day, I was not listening to the radio like I normally would have been.  At about 9:45am I went to the ladies room and as I was in the stall I heard some weird sounding lady say "Someone, like uh, drove a plane into the Pentagon".  She sounded like a lunatic and I thought to myself "What a freaking crazy lady".  I went back to the training room and relayed to my colleague what I had just heard.  We both rolled our eyes.
About 45 minutes later a woman stuck her head into our room and said "The World Trade Center has collapsed and they are evacuating all tall buildings on the East Coast.  We need to leave now". 
Since I was not in my regular building I was only on the 4th floor so I didn't need to walk down that many stairs.  My colleague and I were so confused as to what was going on, we just had no idea.  She actually thought the World Trade Center that had collapsed was the huge convention center with the same name down on Boston Harbor.  She said to me "Do you want to go see?".   I was like "No, I think they are talking about New York".
People were just pouring out of buildings in Boston and heading for a "safer" place.  We ended up walking to my colleague's place in Brookline and watched TV for the rest of the day.  She thought it may be the work of Osama Bin Laden.  My thought.... who the f*ck is that?  I had never heard that name before.
As a result of leaving work on 9/11, the software training was rescheduled for the week after Thanksgiving in NYC.  My colleague and I were able to visit Ground Zero while we were there.  The amount of destruction that we saw over two months later was indescribable.  I can not even begin to fathom what it was like on that day.
Thinking back, it kind of gives me heebies, geebies to think that those repulsive terrorists flew by my building as I was getting ready for work that day.
Also, the colleague I was with on that day does contract work as a private investigator.  After 9/11 she investigated Logan Airport, where of course two of the hijacked flights took off from.  She couldn't tell anyone what her assignment was until about a year or so after it was completed.  I did not want to pry for too much information there.
My thoughts are with the families who lost someone on that day.  
September 11, 2001 is a day I will never forget.