2015 Jingle Jungle 5k Race Recap

One of the biggest takeaways from last year's Wine & Dine Half Marathon was that I wished we had registered to run Mickey's Jingle Jungle 5k that morning. So this year, I made good on that wish and registered for both!

Rachel wasn't able to snag a precious registration spot for the 5k this year, so I was going it solo that morning. With some clever costume repurposing by my mom (thanks to my friend Bridget, who gave up part of her Halloween costume for my cape), I was fully embracing the holiday theme to this race by dressing as Belle in "Something There" (you know - this beautiful dress).

This is definitely one of my favorite costumes I've run in so far, but that cape did NOT make running any easier in the heat and humidity we faced that morning! Not to mention the constant mistaking for Little Red Riding Hood. Where she features in Disney, I don't know, but I sure stumped the DJ for about ten minutes that morning as he tried to figure out who I was!

Now that Expedition Everest is no more, the Jingle Jungle is the only Disney World 5k that doesn't run through Epcot. A welcome change, especially coming up on Marathon weekend, when I'll be running through Epcot every morning of the Dopey Challenge! The course weaves its way through Animal Kingdom (starting and finishing in its parking lot), and packed 6 character stops into 3.1 miles, plus ops with a festively dressed Mickey and Minnie at the start line.

Starting near the front of Corral B, I managed to stop for 5 out of 6 of the on-course characters stops, and almost made it to Goofy and Donald before they closed the line off to encourage runners to the finish. Will have to pick up my pace just a tad to get all of them in next year!

This race is absolutely going down as one of my favorite runDisney events to date. I loved the course through Animal Kingdom (particularly later that evening when AK was cut to make the W&D course shorter!), loved how many characters were out, and loved the holiday theme. I'll absolutely be back next year...and have an eye on Minnie's Christmas outfit as a race costume!

Wine Dine Half - expo & hotel photo post!

Hello from Disney's Wine & Dine Half Marathon weekend! Sara is up early tomorrow to run the Jingle Jungle 5k, then Team CinderWars is taking on the Wine Dine Half in the evening. Today was expo day, and an afternoon chilling at the hotel, exploring all of the fun themes the All Star Movies resort has to offer!

More photos and fun behind the jump!

Comment dites-vous "half marathon" en français?

The MUCH anticipated and constantly rumored Disneyland Paris Half Marathon is finally coming to fruition! Disney announced it during the pre-race festivities at this morning's Princess Half Marathon.

Right now we don't have anything other than dates (September 23-26, 2016), but Rachel and already have our calendars marked off... will we see you in PARIS!?

Race Recap - Disney's Wine & Dine Half Marathon 2014

This past weekend, Rachel and I took on the first of back to back runDisney race weekends, and ran our 5th half marathon as a team. As you may have heard by now, the weather didn't quite cooperate for a perfectly magical 13.1 miles in Disney, but regardless, we set out to have ourselves a good time.

Avengers - assemble!

When Rachel and I made the decision to pass on the Dumbo Double Dare registration a few months ago, opting to save our credit card limits for the Wine & Dine, we thought we were giving up any chance of getting our Coast to Coast medal this year. Then runDisney announced an exciting new Disneyland race the week after W&D - the Avengers Super Heroes Half Marathon!

An inaugural, super heroes themed race in Disneyland?! The thought was too good to pass up for these runDisney addicts. After an incredibly brief conversation (along the lines of "so.... do we want to?" "um, duh?"), we decided we were in for the extended race-cation, combining Wine & Dine weekend with a cross-country flight to California for Avengers.

Now that we're officially registered for both races (WOO! Especially since Avengers opened 35 minutes ago, and is already at 75% as I type), it's time to start thinking about costuming, flights, accommodations, and park passes.... not to mention training schedules ;)



Are you running Disney in the fall? Have you ever run back-to-back Disney races on opposite coasts? If you could run as any superhero, who would you run as?

Race Recap - Sara's take on the American Family Fitness Half Marathon

In part two of our recap of our half marathon in Richmond, Sara relates her experience. Miss Rachel's take? Check it out here!

I had an awesome race. Going into it, I was positive I was going to tank - miserably. Anything that could possibly be going wrong in the days before a big race, was. Between fall allergies, lackadaisical training (I was battling burnout - but more on that later this week), knee and hip pain (from a terrible long run I'd done the weekend before), untimely girl stuff, a splitting headache, and what felt suspiciously like an oncoming cold, I was super nervous. I strongly considered taking a DNS (did not start) and just going down to cheer Rachel on. In the end, though, I started, and man am I glad I did.

Race morning dawned, and it was colder and wetter than I had bargained for. Unlike some, however, I actually enjoy running in the rain - I've always enjoyed a good downpour. I also knew that my splits tend to be better in the colder weather. So despite the less-than-perfect weather, we geared up and made our way to the start of the race.

Trash bags make the most fashionable rain gear, didn't you know?

We stood under an awning with a bunch of other runners, watching the 8k start (they really took the brunt of the rain - they were drenched before they even got the starting call), before heading to our corral to await the start of the half marathon. Before we knew it, we were off on our 13.1 mile trek through Richmond.

Rachel and I had agreed months ago that we were going to run this one separately. She wanted to see just how fast she could finish without reigning back her speed for my sake. So we jogged the first warm-up mile together, before going our separate ways.

As I trucked along the route, I kept an eye on my watch, keeping a vague 2/1 minute run/walk interval, but mostly tuning into how my body was feeling. And let me tell ya, I was feeling great. There were a couple hills that kicked my butt, but aside from that I was feeling pretty awesome. I had both knees taped up (I honestly don't know what I would do without KT Tape), and they survived brilliantly (until we took some wrong turns on the way to the car and wound up trekking up and down a few stairs and hills).

Somewhere around Mile 3, we got hit with another downpour - I loved it. As we ran through the neighborhoods, downtown area, and parks, the spectators lining the streets with their signs and cheering were fantastic. We all had our names on our bibs, and it was such a boost to hear folks calling your name as you ran past. Running through the neighborhoods was wonderful. Whole families were out on their front porches, watching the runners go past as they drank their morning coffee. Some of them had set up their own make-shift fuel, water, and even beer stations. The "junk food" station was by far the best - those gummy bears were crucial - although I was a little saddened to skip over the beer station.

I had a blonde moment around Mile 9 when I thought "hey, only a 5k to go now!" and laughed when realized my mistake when I hit a "5k Fun Run" sign at Mile 10... oops! When I got to that last 5k, though, and realized I was pretty much guaranteed a new PR, I thought of how excited I was to tell my parents and my boyfriend that I had done so much better than I thought I would today. I actually started tearing up a little, recalling the inspirational words Andrew had given me before I set off for Richmond, and at the thought of how proud all three of them would be, and how happy it made me to have such wonderful support cheering me on from home.

I didn't feel myself really start to tire out until Mile 12. Pushed through that looooong last mile, and turned a corner to find a glorious sight: a steep downhill to the finish line. Flew down the hill, and crossed the line with a new half marathon PR - by 15 minutes!

Grabbed my medal, water, and blanket (they were giving out really cute fleece blankets at the finish - another great idea by the organizers!), and wandered to find Rachel and her parents so we could head home, proud finishers of our third half marathon this year.

Reunited again, we were all smiles at the finish line.

Race Recap - Philly Rock & Roll Half Marathon

For our first "better late than never" race recap, Sara's looking back at the 2013 Rock & Roll Philadelphia half...

After we registered for the Dopey Challenge, Rachel and I knew we needed to find an early fall half marathon to run for a new PR so we could boost our corral WDW Marathon weekend. Starting at the back of the pack, though it had worked for the Princess, was not going to cut it for back to back to back to back races in January. After a little research on the available races, we settled on the Rock & Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon on September 15, 2013. Our choice proved a wise one, as we (spoiler alert) came out of it with over a 45-minute PR!

We left the DC area early on Saturday morning, leaving plenty of time to pick up our packets and wander around the expo before an early dinner and relaxing evening in the hotel. Packet pick up went very smoothly - longer lines for us runners toward the back of the pack, since this seemed to be a first race for many people, but the lines moved quickly and we were soon in the expo itself. Inside the expo, Brooks had a great island themed section dedicated to their "Run Happy" branding - we poked around a bit before heading into the main area in search of a couple items to boost the next morning's run.

I was disappointed not to find a KT Tape booth anywhere to get my knee taped up, but had tape back at the hotel room so I could do it myself later that night. We spent awhile digging through the Bondi Band suitcases, and came away successful - Rachel got a very fitting "No one ever drowned in sweat" band, and I got myself a new princess crown. Geico had a course preview video running at their booth, so we stood to watch that and see what we were in for the next morning, before heading off to find dinner.

Swag from the expo - highlights were definitely an awesome race t-shirt from Brooks, and the "Run Strong" bracelet for the Boston Marathon.

As we walked back to our hotel we got a chance to explore a bit of Philly - we spotted the "LOVE" sign from afar, took some fun photos with the game pieces, and grabbed bagel sandwiches for dinner in a cute cafe we found in a small park. As we were turning toward our hotel, we realized we were on the corner of Race Street, so naturally we had to document with some photo jumping fun. Then it was back to the hotel to check out the expo swag, prep our gear for race morning, and watch some "Sister Act" (we were delighted to find these back to back on tv that night)!

Having your race-cation hotel just off Race St has to be a good omen :)

The next morning we woke up, packed our bags to leave with the concierge (the one downside to this trip was that our hotel was not allowing late check out due to the race, so we had to check out before heading to the start line), and started out on the mile or so walk to the start of the race.

It was a little chilly as the sun was still working its way up that morning, so we were glad for our jackets and bondi bands to keep us warm. We hung around near our corral (22 out of 25, so pretty far back in the pack), which was hanging out just in front of the finish line at the base of the Rocky stairs. One of the most fun moments that morning had to be listening to "Eye of the Tiger" with that view - very fitting!

Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet, just two gals with the will to survive!

At last, it we worked our way to the start line, and it was our turn to go! We felt good starting out, and wove our way easily through the downtown area. Before we knew it, we came across Rachel's parents, who were waving and holding up the signs they had made us! They had refused to tell us what was on each of our signs until we were running, so it we got a little surprise and a chuckle as we passed them. Rachel's had her nickname from her hometown improv troop, and mine was a throwback to my Cinderella outfit at Disney.

As we kept going through downtown, my phone GPS kept ticking off some really speedy miles. We knew we were making good time, but we didn't think we were going as fast as it was saying. The phone was also way off from the on-course mile markers. Eventually, we realized the tall buildings were throwing off the signal, so it thought we were jumping around all over the place, when really we were following straight lines. All in all, the app wound up adding almost 1.5 miles onto our distance! Oops!

Once we got out of the city, we hit the up and back portion of the race, along the Schuylkill River. Beautiful to start off, but as the miles ticked off, we started getting anxious for the turnaround - it felt like it was never coming! Finally, it did, and we made our way back, starting to fight the mental battle. By the time we hit Mile Marker 12, we started having some fun to get through the final mile - our photo jumps came back, as we tried to time our jumps with the course photographers.

Success! Look at that air!

Finally, we turned the final corner off the water, and pushed ourselves up the final .1 across the finish line. Grins abounded, and our sub-3 hour half was in the books. By the time we crossed toward the back of the pack, they were out of chocolate milk, but we grabbed a banana and Gatorade, met up with Rachel's parents, stopped off at our hotel to pick up our bags before hitting up her parents' hotel (which had, thankfully, allowed for late check out) for a shower, and devoured a pair of (of course) Philly Cheesesteaks for a very rewarding lunch.

Do you track your pace through your own GPS device during races? What are your favorite motivators to push through the mental walls on long runs?