Central Florida Spartan Sprint

After the Kissimmee Spartan Sprint this summer, I really wanted to do another one. Getting to do the obstacles made me feel really powerful and strong. The next Florida race was the Central Florida weekend one week after the Space Coast Half Marathon. Will was already signed up to do the longer Beast distance on Saturday and when I said I was interested in the Sunday Sprint, we both signed up.

The Central Florida races were taking place about 3 hours from where we live. Since spectating isn't free and there's not usually a lot of places along the course to spectate, Will decided to go run the Beast by himself and come home afterwards. We'd drive back down on Sunday together for the Sprint. Unfortunately, disaster struck when Will got a flat tire around 9 pm on the drive home. He was fine, the car was fine aside from needing a new tire and we had a spare so he was able to get back on the road and make it home without needing a tow. But you can probably tell where this is going.

There is pretty much no way to get a tire replaced between 9 pm on a Saturday night and 8 am on a Sunday morning which is when we'd need to leave to make it to the Sprint on time. Even attempting to get a rental car before 8 am on a Sunday would be really unlikely. If it was a local race, we probably could have gotten someone to drive us but three hours each way at the last minute is a lot to ask even of a really close friend. So we were left with skipping the race as our only option.

I wasn't super upset Saturday night but at that a point I was just really tired and wanted to sleep but Sunday morning I was really struggling with my emotions. After the Space Coast Half, I did not feel great so I started out the week with a rest day. I had planned on doing recovery walks on Tuesday and Thursday but it was in the 40s during my walking time. I have no issue running in 40F weather but this Florida girl is not up for walking in near freezing temps at 5 am. I napped instead. So by Sunday, I had all of the angsty feelings from not having exercised all week on top of all of my feelings about missing my race.

I went out Sunday morning for a four mile run. The weather was actually quite nice for a run and it was a good time for me to get my feeling settled about my first DNS. It was a real bummer to have two not so great race weekends in a row but there will be more races. Marathon weekend is coming up. And there will be more Spartan races opportunities in late 2020.

One of the things that comes with running is that sometimes you will put in all of this training and not get to run your race. Injury, emergencies and inclement weather happen to everyone. It sucks when it happens but the journey is still worth taking even if the destination isn't what you pictured when you started out.

Space Coast Half Marathon Race Recap

The Sunday after Thanksgiving is always the day of the Space Coast Half Marathon and Marathon. This year it was on December 1. This race is known for having really cool spaceship medals and also a lovely riverside course. The Marathon goes north out and back and then south out and back through a tree lined neighborhood. The half marathon has two courses either the north half or the south half of the marathon course. I signed up for the half course as it was described as very flat with the north course having more hills. At least more Florida level hills.

Originally, I had planned on this being my PR race with my goal of a 2:36 half for proof of time for a future WDW marathon. With my amazing PR at Wine and Dine weekend, I felt way less motivated to push on this race but I thought I'd give it a shot anyways especially if the weather was nicer than Wine and Dine weekend. Alas, the weather was about the same as Wine and Dine with the race starting a bit later in the day. This race did have a 2:30 Galloway pace group running 60/30 intervals just like at Wine and Dine so even though I wasn't feeling super motivated, I thought why not.

Like most local races in my area, it was self seated corrals with both halves and the full starting at the same time. It was quite crowded as this is a super popular race. I managed to find my pace group and met the pacer. It got really tight close to race start as people kept piling in last minute. Then for some reason, the pacer decided that she needed to push further up in the coral leaving the rest of the group to try to squeeze through the crowd to keep up with her. Not sure what was up with that but it was not a great start to the race.

I wasn't able to see much of the prerace festivities because I'm short and there were just way too many people. But soon we were off. The beginning of the race was very crowded as we headed down a two lane road. I was glad to be with an interval pace group because it would have been very difficult to navigate walk intervals in the dark with such a crowded course. It took quite a while for the course to thin out. Part of the problem was that there was also a 2:25 non-interval pace group and a 2:25 and 2:30 pace group are going to be pretty close together especially at the beginning of the race. I have no idea why they had two pace groups so close together but I also learned there was a second 2:30 pace group that did not run intervals that started behind us.

I could tell from my phone that we were a bit behind in the beginning. I wasn't worried at this point as the same thing happened at Wine and Dine and we were able to catch up. The course had plenty of water stops but they were very tiny compared to runDisney water stops. We blew through the first stop. I managed to grab a cup of water but inhaled about half of it while I was trying to run and drink at the same time. This would become a trend as we ran through every water stop. I had to chose between skipping water, trying to drink and run or stopping and then having to really push to catch back up to the pace group. Because of this, I was not able to take any of my electrolytes during the first half of the race. I simply did not have time to mix it in my water cup without getting left behind.

I started getting worried as the course turned out to be hillier than advertised. They were gentle rolling hills that most runners probably wouldn't blink at but for someone who runs in an area so flat you can't ever tell there is an incline, I was not prepared for this. I felt that we weren't running fast enough to make pace especially as I knew my phone over estimated how far I ran. Then the second 2:30 pace group passed us..... Never a good sign when your pace group gets passed by another pace group.

I managed to stay with the pace group through the halfway point turn around. We passed quite a few spectators. There were a lot of unofficial booze stops but I was not about to stop for alcohol during a potential PR race. By mile 8 we still hadn't caught up to the pace group that had passed us and I was feeling really tired. I knew I could have pushed myself for longer but I didn't feel like I would have made it with the pace group till the end so I fell back from the pace group at the next water stop. I finally got to take electrolytes and some extra water. My salt solution tasted amazing which meant that I was loosing too many electrolytes.

I switched to 30 30 intervals and let myself slow down. At this point, I just wanted to finish the race. My legs started really hurting as I got further into the race. While I was running, they felt fine, but when I switched to walking all of the muscles in my legs felt really sore. I was too tired and cardiovascularly worn out to run longer intervals but my walk intervals were not fun either. I just kept putting one foot in front of the other and taking extra water.

I did get passed by the first place marathoner. I'm not sure what his time was but last year's winner finished around 2:20 so I had expected to see him. I also got to see the first few marathon pace groups and it was encouraging to see those runners still looking strong. Once I got within a mile of the finish, there were a lot more spectators and loads of people encouraged me to keep going while I was doing my walk breaks. I think I need one of those Jeff Galloway made me take this walk break shirts for local races because people don't know about interval running. I know from experience that I can't start skipping my walk intervals if I'm more than 0.1 miles from the finish.

Time: 2:39:40

Pace:12:11 min/mi

Finally, I made it to the finish line and got my medal. I was feeling really not good. I usually like to walk around quite a bit after a half marathon to help my legs cool down. After this race, I knew that if I stopped walking, I wouldn't be able to start walking again. I drank a bottle of water and found Will. He wanted to wait to see his official finish time so I went to find the bananas. They were hiding behind the giant line for pizza. When I got finished, Will's time was posted and I told him that I needed to go home. Usually, we like to stay and enjoy the festivities and catch up with our other runner friends to see how their races went. That was not happening today.

Looking back at this race, I could pinpoint several things that went wrong but I was still really happy with my time. It ended up being my second fastest half marathon so I couldn't be unhappy with the overall result even if it was a pain to get to. But after my amazing PR at Wine and Dine weekend, I was not super motivated. I definitely wasn't mentally prepared to PR a race. My nutrition wasn't that great during November and I hadn't been sleeping very well.

I had issues with getting enough electrolytes on course which is pretty normal. It was so bad that I drank some of the on course electrolytes during the last quarter of the race. I'm so not a fan of gatorade/powerade type drinks. I think I'm going to have to start carrying my own electrolyte beverage with me during races. I hate having to carry a water bottle. Oh, well. More experimentation is needed before Marathon weekend.

So I'll just say that this race was an educational experience that came with a really cool medal.

Fall Dapper Day 2019

Fall Dapper Day this year arrived bright and beautiful and.... chilly! Usually Dapper Day is quite warm in Florida (as it's very warm for much of the year here). It was actually so chilly that I almost changed my outfit since I actually planned an appropriately for warm summer weather. But I just packed some layers to add on as it got chilly in the evening and it all worked out great.

Dapper Day was back in Hollywood Studios this year after a few year hiatus while the park got a major overhaul. Now that Toy Story Land and Galaxy's Edge are open, the event made it back to our favorite retro park. And all of the Christmas decor was up so it was extra magical this year.

I had the pleasure of hanging with Paola, Anna and Martin. There wasn't a big meet up like I attended for Spring Dapper Day but I've been to enough events to run into people I know. And everyone is always so friendly that all you need to do is go up, introduce yourself and gush about everyone's outfits. Even a confirmed introvert like me ends up meeting new people every year.

My outfit is a darling shirt dress that I found at a local shop while hanging with my friend Kate just a few weeks before Dapper Day. It's a super cute 1950s style dress. It looks and feels really authentic but there are a few details that make me think it's a (later) homemade reproduction from a vintage pattern. The fabric, print and cut of the dress are so authentic that I don't care if it's 100% vintage.

The atomic print and cute sleeve ties jumped right out at me when I saw it in the boutique. I often have hard time finding dresses off the rack that fit but this one fit me so well that I just had to have it. It's made from a light weight cotton and is so easy and comfy. Many people go over the top fabulous for Dapper Day but comfort is must for me since I've had all day at the parks.

Dapper Day is so much funner with friends. People watching solo is nice but I love sharing the day with friends. We had so many laughs and oohing and awwing over how fabulous everyone looks. Girls just want to look amazing and tell other girls (and guys) how great they look. I love events like Dapper Day where we can all celebrate how great we all are without having to feel like someone is a winner and someone is a loser.

I love Hollywood Studios at Christmas time! It's so beautiful and magically retro. There is so much Christmas decor all over the park. They also have some great Christmas shows that I highly recommend. It got chilly and I didn't end up staying to see the shows on Dapper Day but I went back this past week to watch them.

Another great Hollywood Studios holiday offering is a holiday version of the Frozen Sing Along show. I saw an absolutely amazing performance of this show on Dapper Day. Live theater is so amazing and I love that Disney provides such amazing live performances for many people who may not have the opportunity to see live shows in their every day life. The Frozen show, in particular, has such rewatch-ability even without the extra holiday additions.

 I had such a great Dapper Day this year! I couldn't end this post without giving a shout out to the wonderful Erick from Erick Paul Photography who took all of these lovely photos. Thanks so much for capturing this wonderful day!

November Running Recap

Alright, November certainly started out with a bang! I had back to back races on November 2nd and 3rd at runDisney's Wine and Dine weekend. I ran the Two Course Challenge which was a 10k on Saturday and a half marathon on Sunday. So it was race-cation time!

I took the 10k easy and just had fun. Running at Disney is an amazing experience and I wanted to really enjoy it. You can read the recap here.

The half marathon was an amazing, emotional experience where I totally crushed my half marathon PR. I really encourage you to go check out the post I wrote up about it because I really just have so much to say about this race but I can't fit it all in here. I also got to hang out and catch up with so many of my running friends! It was a great weekend.

Then it was on to a recovery week. I like to walk in lieu of my midweek maintenance runs the week after a big race and then follow that up with a 4 mile easy long run. The weather was really nice and it was just so nice to have a chill run.

Looking forward, I have a half marathon at the beginning of December and another one at the beginning of January so my goal is to maintain my half marathon readiness over the next two months. I did a 10 miler for my long run. The weather was still in Florida fall mode which is probably still too warm for a lot of people but it was a great run for me.

 And then it was time for taper again! I had a nonrunning Disney trip Thursday through Saturday of this week including going to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party so it was a lot of late nights and time on my feet. My legs were definitely tired for my long run so I was glad that I was in full taper mode.

My next long run will be at the Space Coast Half Marathon the Sunday after Thanksgiving! Ah! Over the summer, race season felt so far away but now they are coming so fast. I hope you all have a lovely Thanksgiving!

Wine and Dine 2019 Part 5: Meet Up and After Party

One of the awesome things about Wine and Dine weekend is that half marathon participants get a free ticket to the after party. The after party takes place in Epcot on Sunday evening where you can enjoy the Food and Wine Festival and selected attractions. Guests can also purchase a ticket so your whole party can join in on the fun! The Food and Wine Festival is the most popular Epcot Festival. (My personal favorite is the Flower and Garden Festival.) Plus after running a half, you want to eat all the things!

The after party ran from 10 pm to 1 am but, as with the Halloween and Christmas parties, your ticket gets you in earlier. This year, you could enter at 5 pm with your after party ticket. After the night time show at 9 pm, regular guests leave and only wristband wearing after party guests are allowed to get on attractions and order at the food booths. This would be a great day to chill at the resort or check out Disney Springs if you didn't want to buy a separate park ticket for the day and just use your after party ticket in the evening. If you can make it till 1 am, that's still gives you 8 hours in the parks!

Last year at Wine and Dine, there were two meet ups-on at the usual meet up time on Friday afternoon and one at the after party but this year, it was decided to just stick to the after party meet up. The meet up was held in the overlap period so runners of the 10k and 5k who didn't want to purchase the after party ticket could also join us.

There was a really huge turn out this year! It was great to catch up with people I'd met over the last year of runDisney running. And I got to meet some new people as well. It was quite dark due to the time change which made it difficult to get video footage or cell phone photos. Thanks to photographer hubby Will, we were able to get some shots of the meet up.

After the meet up, it was on to the after party! Will and I had already visited the Food and Wine Festival several times but there were some more things we wanted to try. I got the mimosa flight which was good but very sweet. Last year, I tried one mimosa each visit and I think spreading them out is the way to go. There aren't a lot of allergy friendly options at the festival but there was one Epcot treat I really wanted.

One giant, bigger than my head pretzel from Germany! It was good and definitely a step up from the Mickey pretzels you find in the parks. Unfortunately, mine wasn't super fresh so I'll have to go back and try on earlier in the day when it won't have been sitting around for a while. (My current favorite Disney pretzel is from Baseline Tap House in Hollywood Studios.) Bonus: The Germany pretzel, Mickey pretzel and Baseline pretzel are all dairy free and vegan if you skip the cheese sauce. Or they're a great way to get your post race cheese if you were missing it from the snack box.

 It was really fun hanging out at Epcot late into the night! I don't get to do Disney at night very often because we just go for the day and the parks are so magical at night. But I did start to crash and left around 11:30 pm. One nap was not enough! It ended up being a good decision because standing on the bus back to the resort was a challenge! My legs were not up for bus surfing after the day they had!

Wine and Dine 2019:

Part 1: Expo
Part 2: 10k
Part 3: Half Marathon
Part 4: Two Course Challenge
Part 5: Meet Up and After Party-You are here!

Wine and Dine 2019 Part 4: Two Course Challenge

The Wine and Dine Two Course Challenge was my third runDisney challenge but the first one I got to dedicate a full training schedule to without having other races interrupt my training. I'm not going to lie. This wasn't my favorite training cycle. Much of this training was done in the depths of summer (which in Florida can last well into October) and it was rough. I knew running back to back training runs regularly would eat into my social calendar but having the runs take so much longer due to the heat made it extra difficult. It even made me decide not to do the Wine and Dine challenge again. (Which lasted just until they announced the 2020 theme of villains! Guess who wants to do the challenge again now?)

I do feel like I had a much better approach to running a challenge than I did at my previous two. Challenges take a lot out of me and we decided to prioritize rest and recovery this trip rather than park time. I loved getting to just chill in the hotel room and read a book! We also made sure to get naps plus I took an epsom salt bath after each race. We made it to bed early on Saturday night before the half and did lots of foam rolling over the course of the weekend. I also made better food choices on Saturday. (There's still always Sunday to eat all the things!)

I know for a lot of people these runDisney weekends are their time to get in the whole Disney experience. As a passholder, that's not the case for me. I was ok doing just a few Disney things and saving the rest for a nonrace weekend. It's definitely something to consider when planning your race-cation especially if you are running a challenge. And our rest paid off because Will and I both PR'd the half marathon. The moral of the story: don't slack on your recovery during race weekend!

I love going to Magic Kingdom on the Monday of race weekend. We almost always stay Sunday night in a hotel so we don't have to worry about rushing out of the hotel after the half. Magic Kingdom has some awesome places to get medal pictures. Will and I decided to go very Millennial and take some medal photos in front of the purple Instagram wall but the castle is always a great choice too!

Will rocked out all three medals but I'm a big believer in wearing only one medal at a time. And that challenge medal was seriously heavy! I bring a medal holder with my in my bag to store my medals in while I'm going on rides like Space Mountain where they might fly up and smack me in the face. (Tutorial here.)

We ran into Jen and Heather in Magic Kingdom and we all road Space Mountain together. It just worked out that we all had overlapping fast passes. It can be hard to arrange meet ups with people during the weekend because we're all busy and we're all tired and we all have different priorities race weekend but sometimes really spontaneous things like this happen. It really added to the Disney magic! The people I've met through runDisney are just amazing and the weekends wouldn't be nearly as fun without them.

Up next is the post about the Youtube vlogger meet up which is always one of my favorite parts of the weekend. If you have a chance to go to a meet up, definitely do it! I know that various running Facebook groups do meet ups so be sure to ask if your group is doing one. It's so amazing to get to meet your internet friends in real life.

Wine and Dine 2019:

Part 1: Expo
Part 2: 10k
Part 3: Half Marathon
Part 4: Two Course Challenge-You are here.
Part 5: Meet Up and After Party

Wine and Dine 2019 Part 3: Half Marathon

There are a lot of people who think trying to PR a runDisney races is a waste of a very expensive race-cation. For me, that is just not the case. I live in central Florida so the runDisney races span the entirety of our good running weather. With four race weekends from November to April, it can be really hard to fit in another local race for a good solid PR effort. I'm also not a huge fan of character photos. They are nice but I love action shots so much more and you can definitely get those while PR'ing at Disney. I use the run walk method and runDisney pacers do too. It's a unique opportunity for me to have a pacer who uses my running strategy at runDisney races. And as there is no time of the year when it can't be 80F or hotter in Florida, I've got to take the good weather races when they happen.

And that is exactly what happened for Wine and Dine. After spending most of June through October running in high 70s to low 80s with 90-100% humidity, I decided to make a PR attempt at the Wine and Dine half marathon because the weather forecast was supposed to be in the low 60s and low (for Florida) humidity. My current half marathon PR was from Star Wars weekend where I also ran the challenge. So I spent most of Saturday post 10k resting and recovering after a brief trip to Animal Kingdom. I did a lot of foam rolling and took an epsom salt bath to help my legs recover and much of the afternoon was given over to napping and relaxing in the hotel room. Nutrition was also going to be key for my PR attempt so I made sure to stick to good food choices on Saturday. After the half, I could let myself eat all the things. I went to bed super early (at 7pm!) plus the time change gave me an extra hour of sleep.

Then it was up at 2 am again to get dressed and catch the 3 am bus. The half marathon also started in the Magic Kingdom parking lot so the pre race area was set up exactly the same as the 10k. The character lines were quite long again so we decided to just get a photo with Pluto who had not been out for the 10k. I headed out to the corrals early which worked out great because I ended up taking four port-o-potty trips before the race started! #runnerproblems

I was in corral E again for the half. I had two pace groups in my corral, 2:30 using a 60/30 interval and 2:45 using a 30/30 interval. My PR was a 2:41:43 and my goal was to hit a 2:36:00 which is the cut off for the Marathon proof of time. I decided to start with the 2:30 pacer and fall behind them when I couldn't catch up rather than starting with the 2:45 pacer and breaking ahead of them part way through the race. For most of the summer, I've been training with a 45/45 interval but I was still using the 60/30 interval I used all last year for my short maintenance runs so I felt comfortable committing to the longer interval pace group.

It was really scary deciding to go for the faster pace group which would be aiming for a 11:26 pace. That's a bit slower than my 10k PR pace so I know I could go that fast but I had not run anything nearly that fast since April. There was definitely the potential for the wheels to totally come off during this race! But soon enough, we were off and I kept my eye on the pacer flag as we headed into the most crowded section of the course.

It was so nice having someone else in charge of the intervals. I have had problems at previous races not being able to hear my beeps for my intervals because the course was too loud. Being in a group of run walkers also made it easier to navigate the course because a lot of other people were starting and stopping with you. The beginning part of the course is a dark stretch of highway so I really just focused on keeping pace with the rest of the group. I did pass Heather and Jen on the course but the pace group was moving on and I just had to do a quick wave and keep going.

Due to crowding on the course, our first couple of miles were under pace so the pace leads had to speed up during miles 4 and 5 to make up time once we had a bit more space to move around. This was during Animal Kingdom and I had to spend all of my energy keeping up rather than looking out for photopass photographers. One did manage to get a shot with me in it but it's definitely a challenge to get candid photos while running with the group.

For Star Wars weekend, running through Pandora and Africa in the dark was one of my favorite parts of the race. Unfortunately, the time change meant there was no way I was making it to Animal Kingdom before the sun came up. So it worked out that I was focused on running rather than anything else for this part of my race. Thankfully, it was very overcast so the weather stayed nice rather than having the sunbaking down on us from Animal Kingdom to Hollywood Studios.

I knew from Star Wars weekend that the next highway stretch would be pretty boring. I was also getting pretty tired from running a sub 11:26 pace. But by that point, we had made up our time and could back down on the speed a bit after mile 6. My original goal was to aim to stick with the pace group until about the halfway point and then evaluate how I was doing. I felt great about the more relaxed pace and made a new goal to make it to mile 9 with the pace group.

During Star Wars weekend, I struggled a lot from Animal Kingdom to Hollywood Studios. I was killing myself to stay ahead of the 2:45 pace group and ended up having to run with them for a bit leading up to Hollywood Studios. But this weekend I was still feeling strong and staying with the 2:30 pace group. Mile 7 passed, then 8 and I was still sticking it out. A sort of manic joy came over me as I realized just what an amazing thing I was doing. Sure, I wanted to PR but I didn't imagine that I'd actually keep up with the pace group this long. I actually started tearing up several times during this section of the race.

It also helped that I knew approximately where the water stops were from Star Wars weekend. While it was difficult to drink and keep up with the pace group, each water stop left me feeling refreshed enough to make it to the next stop. Then we hit mile 9 and were into Hollywood Studios. The in park section here was tiny and crowded so I didn't even bother trying to get a photo. I had eyes on the prize and that prize was utterly smashing my half marathon PR.

The next section runs from Hollywood Studios, past the Swan and Dolphin and around the Boardwalk hotel. This section before you get to the wide boardwalk at the front of the hotel is notoriously narrow and crowded. I was actually surprised at how well our pace group stayed together. But we did lose a lot of time and had to overcompensate once the course widened up again. This is when I really started struggling.

There are also a couple of small inclines going from the Boardwalk into Epcot and while they are laughably small hills to most runners, my legs were really struggling powering up them. Just as we were entering Epcot at around mile 11.5, I had to call it quits with the pace group and fall back on my own. I walked for a bit while I got the interval app on my phone up. I knew from experience that if I switched to a shorter interval, I could still maintain a pretty good pace and give my body a bit of a break. I went all the way to my shortest interval set of 30/30 for going around World Showcase.

At this point in the race, I was in a really good position to still PR as long as nothing catastrophic happened. I did want to get some photos from this race so I smiled passed each photopass photographer and started looking for the next one immediately after passing the last one. Disney usually crams Epcot full of photographers so I took the good opportunities I had for photos and didn't worry about those that I wasn't in a good position for.

The character lines in Epcot were quite short at this point but still too long for me to want to stop when I was running for time. I was not going to ruin my hard work by stopping now! Again, the course ran through much of the same backstage area behind Test Track towards the finish line. On the way to the finish, I saw not one but two different characters with literally no one in line for them. This time I did decide to stop and spend the 5 seconds or so it would take to get a photo. Neither the big bad wolf nor Lightning and Mater where characters I had any particular attachment to but I had such a joy at my performance so far that I wanted to have some character photos as part of that experience.

Soon, I hit mile 13 and heard the race announcers mention that the 2:30 pace group was crossing right on time. I pushed to a strong finish but decided not to sprint as my legs were done and I knew that I was going to have PR either way. Plus I had a great pocket for a good finish line photo. I definitely could have shaved a bit more time off of my race if I made different decisions at the end but I regret nothing.

Wine and Dine Half Marathon

Time: 2:31:58

Pace: 11:36

I was very emotional as I walked down that long, long shoot to exit the runner area. I didn't know my official time yet but I knew I had taken at least 8 minutes off of my half marathon PR. (Actual finish time showed I took 9:45 off and was only 10 sec per mile slower than the 2:30 pace group!!) It was so far above and beyond even my secret A goal for this race that I could hardly believe that I had done it. I'm pretty sure only dehydration kept me from crying as I headed down towards the reunion area. I picked up my challenge medal and stopped for an "I did it" photo before meeting up with Melissa and Will again.

Will had finally gotten his sub 2 hour half and was celebrating with a hard cider. Melissa also had a very good finish time at this race. Jackey from Joyful Miles had flown in to cheer on the half marathon and she was waiting at the reunion area too. It was so awesome to have people to share my victory with! Will volunteered to get me a celebratory champagne while I rehydrated and refueled with some more appropriate post race nutrition. I'm usually not one for alcohol right after a race. I know it's not a good choice but I needed to celebrate!

More of the Joyful Miles crew stopped by as they finished so we could all catch up and share our race experiences but we had to head back to the hotel before everyone finished because we all wanted showers and mickey waffles before the hotel cafeteria stopped serving breakfast. (We made it but just barely!)

Wine and Dine 2019:

Part 1: Expo
Part 2: 10k
Part 3: Half Marathon-You are here.
Part 4: Two Course Challenge
Part 5: Meet Up and After Party

Wine and Dine 2019 Part 2: 10k Race Recap

There are a lot of different approaches to running a runDisney race. Some people just want to finish ahead of the balloon ladies. Some want to stop for every photo opportunity. Some run for time. And still others do something in between. Leading up to Wine and Dine weekend, I was all set to run slowly, stop for some photos and try not to die from the deathly heat we've been having in central Florida. But then a cold front was forecasted to roll in just in time for the 10k and half marathon and I decided to go for the big goal in the half marathon!

Having PR'd my half marathon at Star Wars weekend earlier in the year, I had some idea of how I need to run the 10k and recover in order to set myself up for success in the half marathon. So I planned on having my actual running pace be around a 14 min/mi which I had been running at all summer in the heat and humidity. I knew that since I'd be running in temperature and humidity lows that I hadn't seen since before Star Wars weekend, I'd need to really stay on top of myself to not go out too fast and kill my legs on 10k day.

We were up at 2 am to get ready for the race and hit the first bus out at 3:30 am. My 10k costume was Belle's yellow dress featuring a top and headband by Crowned Athletics and a skirt by Sparkle Athletic. These are my two go to companies for ready to wear running costume pieces! Running in actual running gear is a must for me for longer races and races where the weather is not ideal. It also made it really easy to get ready in the morning!

The course for the 10k was very similar to the Star Wars Weekend 10k except for the very end of the course which had to be altered due to all of the construction at Epcot. So the start area was in the Magic Kingdom parking lot. The characters available for photos included Anna and Elsa, chef Goofy, chef Donald and Mickey and Minnie in chef outfits. We opted to do Minnie and Mickey and then Anna and Elsa but the lines were too long to get any other photos before heading to the corrals.

There were a lot of people including Will and I that were really surprised by our 10k corrals. For Star Wars weekend, Will was in A for the 10k and C for the half and this weekend he was in B for both. As for me despite having a better 10k POT, I my 10k corral was bumped from C Star Wars weekend to E this weekend. I saw a lot of bibs of people like Will and I who had the same corral for the 10k and half and I also saw a lot of odd combos like A or B for the 10k but G or H for the half. Neither G nor H corral require a proof of time (POT). Not sure why some one running the challenge without a 10k POT would be put in one of the front corrals for the 10k when having run a 10k at a predicted A or B corral pace would definitely meet the POT requirements for the half. I also heard that the 5k corral assignments were very different from previous race weekends. I really hope that whatever happened at this race changes before I run my next challenge at Princess next year!

Since I just wanted to take the 10k easy, I wasn't super upset about my corral assignment but it did definitely affect my race experience. Will elected to stay in B corral rather than dropping back with me and that was definitely a good choice for both of our 10k goals.

The weather turned out to be really nice and I was actually a bit chilly waiting in the corral. Once I got started running, it was a really comfortable temperature. It was very crowded back in corral E which did help keep me at my 14 min/mi pace goal. There were a lot of walkers around me which made it even more congested than usual. Some times there was a row of walkers all the way across the entire paved running surface which made it difficult to get around. I run walk and always try to get to the side while walking so runners can pass me.

The first half of the course is all highway from the Magic Kingdom parking lot to Epcot. There are usually several character stops in the first three miles but they all had really long lines! I was loving just being able to not feel like death while running so I kept going past the early character stops and hoped for shorter lines in Epcot.

I ran into Kirsten from Crowned Athletics during the dark highway stretch so I walked with her for a bit and grabbed a selfie. I'm so proud of Kirsten for all she's accomplished with Crowned Athletics so it was great to run into her on course while wearing one of her tops!

Right as I got to Epcot, Robin Hood was out and I decided to stop for him even though the line was long. I think I ended up waiting about 8 minutes for him and he's not a character that is out in the parks regularly. He actually swapped out for his break right before me so I got a bit of character interaction as he was walking back to the backdrop. He kissed my hand and walked me over which was very sweet. Usually, race photos are just pose, click and move on.

Once in Epcot, I got my photopass photographer smile on and went for as many action shots as possible as I ran around World Showcase. It was still very crowded on the course and I even missed seeing that some characters were even available for photos! But I did end up with some great action shots from in Epcot. They are my favorite kind of race pictures!

I also ran into Kimberly and her mom who were wearing the cutest Minnie costumes based on one of her resort specific outfits. They were the most adorable people on course that day! The photopass photographers managed to catch a photo of the three of us talking but we're all making ridiculous faces since we weren't paying attention to the photographers so I'll spare the internet from our awkwardness. If you aren't following Kimberly's youtube channel, definitely go check out her latest videos!

The course exited Epcot by Mexico and we ran through some backstage area under Test Track. I really missed getting to run by Spaceship Earth but there was really no way to do that given the construction projects in the front of Epcot right now. Some of them are more short term but several are 2+ year efforts so we may see continued changes to the end of race courses for a while.

Wine and Dine 10k

Time: 1:36:44 

Pace:15:36 min/mi

Then it was on to the finish line! Pro tip: it's easier to get good finish line photos if you cross to one side or the other rather than in the middle like I did for this race. There wasn't a lot of good spectator space near the finish line again due to the construction so that may deter your family from wanting to spectate or purchase chEAR squad until the change back to the old finish line set up. There was also a long walk to get your post race goodies. Walk, get your medal. Walk, get water. Walk, get snack box. Walk, walk, walk, get "I did it photos". It's not a terrible thing but it's definitely very different from previous runDisney set ups.

I met up with Will and my friend Melissa who finished way ahead of me since they are speedy. They changed up the snack boxes again this year. The fruit leather was replaced with a tastier one. The bland gluten free pretzels were replaces with rice puff almond fruit clusters which were surprisingly good. And, to the disappointment of many, the nacho cheese was replaced with an odd tasting hummus. I'm dairy intolerant so I didn't miss the cheese but the hummus was not great either. The chips and apple sauce were still there and they added some sort of caramel thing that I couldn't eat either. I ended up just eating the banana and snacking on the rest of the box later on in the day.

Will and Melissa had already gotten some post race character photos while waiting for me to finish but I needed one with Donald!

We also ran into Jen and Heather from the Go Find Your Awesome podcast. I've been training all summer listening to these ladies and it was so amazing getting to catch up in real life. Running friends really are the best friends! I'm so grateful for people like Jen, Heather, Kimberly and Kirsten who share about their running journeys online. It's so inspiring and without these ladies and others, I would have given up on trying to be a runner a long time ago.


Wine and Dine 2019:

Part 1: Expo
Part 2: 10k-You are here.
Part 3: Half Marathon
Part 4: Two Course Challenge
Part 5: Meet Up and After Party

Wine and Dine 2019 Part 1: Expo

It's been a whirl wind runDisney weekend and I had such a blast. I'm starting the recap of my first Wine and Dine weekend with the expo. Will and I were running the challenge so we had to go to the expo on Friday to get our challenge bibs. We drove into Orlando early and were at the expo about fifteen minutes before it opened. For Star Wars weekend, we did this as well and it was really nice to get in and out of bib pick up quickly. We saw none of the crazy lines that are typical of opening day of a runDisney expo which is awesome.

The new ESPN set up dumps you right into the licensed runDisney merchandise area after you get out of bib pick up. It's really convenient especially if there are some race specific souvenirs you have your eye on. Sadly, we found the official merchandise pretty lacking this year. From talking to other people, it seems like a lot of stuff sold out on Thursday which is sad. I don't know if they ordered less product this year, if people went crazy because it was an anniversary year or if the ebay resellers were out in full force. I had my eye on the Wine and Dine Tervis mug and the mini medal replica pins all of which were completely sold out on Thursday. So I just ended up with the challenge magnet.

I've not been a huge fan of the generic runDisney merchandise. I get so much free running gear from the races I do that I can't justify buying more shirts when I got three from the race weekend already! Plus, they're designs tend to leave me underwhelmed. So my wallet left the official merch area still very full!

Then we popped over to the vendor area to get our shirts and check out the running stuff. The race shirts were an interesting selection of colors-gray, dark blue and bright orange. Personally, I love the bright colored shirts as it helps with visibility when running outside. So I was happy with the shirt designs this year. I don't wear a ton of long sleeved shirts since I live in Florida but these are pretty cute.

I also felt pretty underwhelmed at the vendor area. There were empty booths and it seemed like several regular vendors didn't make it to Wine and Dine this year. Since this is my fourth runDisney weekend this year, I already had my favorite companies and I tend to order from them when they have a sale rather than waiting to purchase in person at the expo. But the Altra booth had a pair of my discontinued Escalante 1.5 in my size so I snapped them up. Will also got a pair of Altra racers. Yay for new shoes!

I also picked up a few other souvenirs over the weekend. The 10th Anniversary gift for half marathon participants was a luggage tag in the shape of the medal. It's pretty cute and I'll probably hang it in my office next to my mini medal replica pins. We also picked up our passholder Food and Wine Festival magnet and coasters. So cute! :)

Wine and Dine 2019:

Part 1: Expo-You are here.
Part 2: 10k
Part 3: Half Marathon
Part 4: Two Course Challenge
Part 5: Meet Up and After Party