Disney’s Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend!!!

Let me begin by saying, it’s been INSANE around here lately!  Seems like I’ve had a big event every weekend!  We got back from vacation and it’s been a whirlwind.  Sorry it’s taking me until just now to post a recap from the race!

So, I’ll begin with the Expo.


The Expo was held at ESPN Wide World of Sports!



Melissa and I at the Expo



The Expo floor full of soon to be racers!



Loved this!

Now, onto the race…with a little back story!  We began our Florida vacation with a four night Disney Cruise.  Last time I was on a cruise, I got incredibly sea sick.  Like lay in bed ALL DAY long kind of sick.  I even had meds meds meds (everything you could think of) coming out of my ears and nothing helped.  I finally discovered a lovely thing called “Sea Bands” a few nights before the end of that cruise and voila!  It cured my sea sickness.  So, we began THIS cruise, armed with TWO pairs of sea bands just incase!  They worked WONDERS!  It felt so odd to me that I could feel the ship moving but I wasn’t feeling sick!  Happy to have that issue out of the way, I went for a run on Monday morning around the deck and inside the workout room. I had a lovely view as we pulled into Nassau!



Sorry I look so rough.  This was my very last “official” time to wear my “In Training for Disney 2010” shirt!  So sad!




Jogging track around the deck!



The amazing water!

 

Running along the deck…then they closed it so we could anchor into Nassau….



So I went in search of the Spa/Fitness Center where I landed a treadmill right by the windows so I could see us docking in Nassau!  So very cool!  I also was able to watch re-runs of “Make it or Break It” on my personal treadmill tv! lol

Ok so that was Monday. I ran 4 miles. The PLAN was to run 3 on Tuesday at the Castaway Cay 5K, then rest until Saturday night when my Half was to take place!

Well, come Tuesday morning, it’s time to dock and the ship was still moving. Um…ok?!  What’s going on?  Well apparently Tropical Depression Lisa was trying to ruin or fun cruise!  On top of that, I was starting to get a sore throat and possibly was running a low grade fever.  Uhoh….  We were told the waters were too rough and that we would try again Wednesday. Ok…so I’m feeling kinda crummy…I’ll run the CC 5K tomorrow!  :0)

Of course, Wednesday rolled around and it was rainy and windy and the waves were even worse than the day before!  So…no Castaway Cay.  That was fine with me though because I was feeling the same…sore throat, really tired, kinda feverish…hoping a cold wasn’t trying to set in!  So we spent the last two days of our cruise just relaxing!  I also wished I hadn’t forgotten my vitamins and probiotics!  The closest thing I could think of that would compare to probiotics was yogurt. You better believe I ate up some yogurt those last few days of the cruise! Hah!

Fast forward to Friday.  We are off the boat, staying at the Polynesian.  I am feeling great. No problems…the sore throat is gone!  Yay!

Saturday morning rolls around…HALF MARATHON DAY!  I woke up feeling like the snot truck had hit me square in the face!  I didn’t sleep well the night before.  Great. Just great.  Here I am…in Disney World…the whole point of the vacation was the Half Marathon, and I’m sick. Lovely.  I had a straight on sinus infection/cold. Yuck.  Luckily, we have some amazing friend who took us to a Target so I could get some probiotics, tylenol cold, etc. Yay! 

I masked my symptoms all day with Tylenol Cold but was worried about the Phenylephrine in the meds because it makes my heart rate speed up. I already have issues with my HR when I’m running and I didn’t want anything to make this worse. I took it anyway and prayed hard that I would make it through this Half.
I was also able to take a nap during the day which was great. This Half Marathon worried me because it was my first night time race. What was I supposed to eat all day?  HOW was I supposed to eat?  Well, I woke up that morning and had a fruit bowl and yogurt.  Lunch time rolled around and we ate at Hollywood and Vine in Hollywood Studios.  It was reallly good and we had a blast eating there with the Playhouse Disney Characters!  Really…we did!  After lunch, I took a nap, then woke up and got ready!  I also ate a luna bar about 6 p.m. cause I wasn’t sure how I would feel later if I didn’t have something on my stomach.



Heather, Laura, and I met up together at my hotel and rode over to the race together!  Melissa was with us, too!




Everyone waiting for the race to start.  We were told to get there 2 hours early.  After we got there, we walked around trying to find water. All we could find at first was a table SELLING water/juice/fruit. Ummm no...  We continued our journey to the port-a-potty, then we spotted cups…people holding cups of water!  I asked where they got them from and if they were free!  We were pointed in the right direction and voila…free water!  Yay!



Before too long, we were in our corrals and ready to run!  I apologize ahead of time for the blurry pictures…it was a night time race and my point and shoot camera didn’t do so well!



This was a FUN race!  They had floats from the Electric Light Parade out to greet us!  It was awesome!



We ran through Animal Kingdom first.  If you look to the left of this picture, you can see the red lights we ran through…it was SO neat with running through those….it was dark outside and the red lights glowed…so very cool!



Each mile marker was a country!  I thought that was a neat touch!



Melissa and I stopped for a photo while Laura tied her shoe! :0)



We stopped for a few character photos along the way!



Goofy was playing with our ears! Hah!



Mile 9 leading up into Hollywood Studios!

It was at mile 8 that Laura hurt her knee.  Melissa ran ahead while Laura and I walked. I didn’t mind because I was Ms. Snot Rocket that night so the walking was fine with me! 



Leading into the backside of Hollywood Studios!

 

Rock and Roll!



We ran every which way through Hollywood Studios!  It was really neat seeing all of the behind the scenes action!



The Pixar Play Parade performers were out, too!



We met up with Buzz!



This is the tunnel on the Backlot Tour!  We ran through it!  Really cool!



They had some fun/unique characters out to meet!  What else was nice is that the lines were SUPER short…like 10 seconds and you were done!  Awesome!



Squirrel?!  Hah! :0)



We were on the big screen coming through Lights/Motors/Action!



As we rounded the corner, we saw the Osborne lights and we were mesmerized!!!!  It was absolutely incredible!  They also had Christmas Music playing!!!



Darth!



Gotta have a picture with Mile 12! :0)



I took a picture of this spot because it is significant.  The next time I’ll be running in this very spot will be January, and I’ll have almost completed my FIRST FULL MARATHON!!  Eeeek!!!!



I LOVED the signs that they had lining the way to the finish line!



Imagine running 13 miles dressed like grapes! :0)



Almost there!



This dude cracked me up…he’s wearing fairy wings, and he’s “flying” through the finish line!!



I can make it! 



Crossing the finish line!! 



Laura (my RB – Running Buddy) and I after the race!  13.1!  We did it!!!



Showing off my bling!

 

What a fun race!  I am excited that I was able to participate in the Inaugural Walt Disney World Wine and Dine Half Marathon!  The race was super fun and I had a blast!  Only complaint is that the After party was a crowded huge MESS but that’s another story for another day!

So there you have it!  My 3rd Half Marathon and 1st of this season!  There will be plenty more races to come so stay tuned! :0)  Thanks for reading!