runDisney Tag

Disneyland Paris weekend recently wrapping up and Wine and Dine weekend just around the corner, all of us runDisney runners are so excited for the start of runDisney season! There's a runDisney tag going around and I thought it would be fun to share my answers as we're waiting for our next race!

How did you first hear about runDisney?

I first heard about runDisney when, as a passholder, I accidentally went to Epcot during a race weekend and I saw all of the runners. I didn't think much of it at that point. After my husband got into running and was looking into other fun races to do, he found RezRuns on youtube and we really discovered the magic of runDisney races from there. 

How many runDisney races have you done?

I have run 5 runDisney races on Disney property, 4 virtual races and completed 4 challenges. My first race was the WDW Marathon Weekend half marathon in January of 2019 so I jumped in the deep end of runDisney and did all of the weekends this year. (I'm coming for you Wine and Dine!)

What is your favorite runDisney race or weekend?

I have to reserve my final judgement until after Wine and Dine but WDW Marathon Weekend is my favorite so far. It's the biggest weekend and there are always so many more people at this weekend. It's like a big runDisney family reunion. I also adored getting to cheer for the marathon runners! Since I usually do the half marathon, the other race weekends don't offer that opportunity. It's really a magical experience cheering on the amazing marathon athletes.

What is your favorite park to run through?

It's so hard to choose! I really love running through the parks in the dark because they are so beautiful all lit up! So I guess that would make Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom my favorite.

What is your favorite runDisney medal?

I absolutely adore my Donald medal from WDW Marathon Weekend 2019. It's beautiful plus I have such an emotional attachment to it because it was my first runDisney race and my first half marathon. The runner up has to be my Kessel Run medal. The Millennium Falcon is hard to beat!

What is your favorite runDisney t-shirt?

I'm not a big running shirt person. I actually donate most of my shirts from local races! I want bling not shirts. lol I do really love the Mulan shirt from the 2019 Princess 10k. I love the bright green color and it feels really fun to me.

What are three songs on your runDisney playlist?

I'm a weird runner because I almost never listen to music while running. I'll run with silence for shorter runs or podcasts on longer runs. And I never listen to anything on races. But if I did listen, Go the Distance from Hercules, How Far I'll Go from Moana and Almost There from Princess and the Frog.

Do you go for a PR at runDisney races?

It depends. Sometimes, I just run slowly and enjoy the whole race. Sometimes, I run for time. And sometimes, I go fast just to get as much race done before the weather gets awful!

Which characters do you always stop for?

If there's a character that goes with the costume I'm wearing, I'll stop for them. If I'm doing a challenge, I'll usually stop for loads of characters on the 10k and stop for fewer on the half. I'm not a huge character person so I don't have a lot of must sees.

What is your favorite pre/post race meal?

Such a hard question! I am a fat adapted runner so I don't need to carb load. The day before a race, I try to eat similarly to how I eat at home with a focus on making sure I'm getting all my veggies. The morning of, I need tea and maybe a banana but I do run fasted a lot. After the last race of the weekend, I'm all about treating myself! I love saltly snacks immediately after the race and Dole Whip later on in the day.

What is your favorite costume you've run in?

I love my Cinderella costume from WDW Half Marathon! It was so magical to run as Cindy through her castle! 

Which costume are you most excited about running in?

I'm planning on running as Lady Tremaine for Princess Weekend 2020. It'll be cool to have the Cinderella and the Lady Tremaine photos side by side.

Red Carpet Run 10k Race Recap

My first road race of the season was the Red Carpet Run 10k. Last year, this race was my very first 10k so I was very excited to run it again and see how much progress I had made. This year, they relocated the entire race to a different town so the course was brand new to me. Will and my friend Melissa ran this race with me although they both opted for the 15k distance. September is definitely still summer in Florida and I was glad to opt for the shorter distance!

The course started in a cute historic downtown area although I couldn't see much of it at the race start since it was still dark out. This year, the race organizers decided to start the 15k, 10k and 5k all at the same time which meant the first 1.5 miles or so were quite crowded! The course was an out and back with three turn arounds, one for each distance. After the 5k turn around, there was plenty of space to run even while doing my intervals.

There were pacers for the 15k so I decided to try and keep up with the 12:00 min/mi pacer until the 10k turn around where I would be on my own. It had been a long time since I have run at that pace since I really slowed down my training run pace for the summer. I know that I had been doing a good job keeping up my fitness over the summer but there's always that niggling doubt that you've some how lost it! While I was definitely pushing myself, I was able to keep up with or ahead of the pacer for the first half of the race.

The course itself ran along the river in a mostly residential area. It made for a very pretty run as the sun was coming up. I was very happy that this course did not include running over a causeway but there were some baby Florida hills. The area where I do my training is super flat so I notice any little hill! All of the volunteers along the course were dressed in movie themed costumes and they had movie trivia along the route too.

I started out running a 45 45 interval which is what I have been using for my long runs all summer. But I started losing a bit of steam after mile four so I switched to a 30 30 interval. As I learned during the Star Wars Half Marathon, switching to a shorter interval is a great way to maintain pace while giving your body a break. Now I always keep a back up set of intervals programed into my phone in case I need them.

In the end, I still had enough energy to sprint to the finish for a final time of 1:14:01 which is over 5 minutes faster than my time from last year! And I came in at an 11:56 min/mi average pace. I was really happy with my performance.

After the finish line, I got to hang out with the other 5k and 10k racers while I waited for Will and Melissa to finish. They both also had great runs and it was fun to get to do a race together after such a long running break.

I love running in costume so I decided to wear the Cinderella running costume from WDW Marathon Weekend. The top and headband are by Crowned Athletics and the skirt is by Sparkle Athletic. There weren't a whole lot of other runners dressed up for this race but I did get some complements on my outfit!

Spartan Summer Training Review

Way back in June, I outlined my summer Spartan training plan in preparation for running my first Spartan Sprint in September. (You can catch the race recap here.) I found that a lot of the Spartan training plans available online were very intense and definitely aimed at an already athletically fit male. So I basically made up my own. I wanted to revisit my plan and let you all know how it went.

Running:

Running went 100% to plan. Coming off of spring race season, my goal was to maintain a 10k distance running base which would definitely prepare me for the 3-5 miles of the Spartan Sprint. Since I was expecting more of a standard trail Spartan, I did do some hikes in a local park to get me more used to "off roading."

Strength Training:

When I signed up for my race, I knew that there were going to be some obstacles that I just wouldn't be able to do but there were definitely some things I could work on. I did burpees/sprawls. I did a lot of hanging exercises to work on my grip strength. I practiced the sand bag carry around my neighborhood. I was really happy to see progress in all three areas over the course of my training. I still failed all of the upper body intensive obstacles but I've got a base to build upon now.

I do wish I had done more burpees/sprawls. I made it up to 60 burpees/sprawls in a workout but it's way different doing them inside in the ac rather than outside in the heat! I think it would be an awesome workout to stop and do 10 burpees every mile or half mile of a run.

Adventure:

I had so much fun doing adventures this summer! This was my opportunity to change up my workout and try something different. Besides the hikes I mentioned above, I also did some CrossFit style workouts, sprints, yoga, 7+ mile walks in my Vibrams at Disney and Universal and a workout taught by a Spartan SGX trainer. I did have to cut back a bit towards the end of the summer as my back to back runs started for Wine and Dine Challenge training but I'm glad I added in some fun workouts.

I also went to a workout with some of the members of my race team. We met up at a park that had exercise stations along a trail. We'd run between the stations and then do different exercises throughout. And if there was a station that didn't seem beneficial for our race, we'd do burpees. It was really fun to meet up with some of the team members before the race. I'd definitely do this sort of workout again.

Recovery:

I definitely upped my foam roller game this summer. I got two new recovery tools, a massage stick and a foot massage ball. The foot ball feels amazing! I didn't realize how tight my feet were until I used it. Now, I do a minimum of 5 minutes of foam rolling after every run with longer sessions after a long run. I know five minutes doesn't sound like much, but I know that even this baby step will benefit me in the long run.

Shoes:

I wanted to run my Spartan race in my Vibram Fivefingers (which was an awesome decision!) but they are definitely not shoes you can just throw on for the first time and go on a long run. I started in April with wearing them for nonrunning activities and I did start running in them over the summer. Going slowly is definitely the best method. Even just for day to day activities, I could tell that my feet were using different muscles than usual.

Once I worked up to being able to wear them all day for a long walking day at Disney, I started running in them. I started with 5 minutes on the treadmill twice a week and worked my way up. My time increased by 5 minutes every other week. If I missed a run, I'd repeat a week to make sure my feet were ready for the next distance. At 25 minutes, I started running in them outside as my midweek runs and continued building from there. One of the great things about Vibrams is that you can feel and grip with your feet but it took some getting used to even when running on the sidewalk and road!

By race day, I was up to 40 minutes or about 3 miles. (It's summer and hot and I run slow! lol) My race ended up being around 3.5 miles and I had no problem with the running part. And the grippiness of these shoes were really helpful on some of the obstacles too!

Overall, I was really happy with my training. There are some things I would have liked to add such as a day at our local indoor rock climbing place, more outside strength training, and trying to find some place to practice specific obstacles like rope climbing and the spear throw. Now that running season has started, I will be shifting my workouts to focus more on running but I will be keeping my grip strength exercises and my monthly yoga in the mix.

runDisney Virtual Summer Shorts Race Recap

Back in June, I did a full recap of the first race in this series, the Captain Marvel 5k so be sure to check out that race recap to see my thoughts on that race but I still had two virtual 5ks to run over the summer!

One nice thing about these being 5ks is that it's pretty easy to fit them into an existing running plan. You don't have to set aside a lot of time or miles to get in your virtual race. My issue was that my midweek runs were a bit over 2 miles and my short long runs were 4 miles so nothing fit perfectly. I ended up just running the 5k in lieu of one of my 4 mile long runs.

I ran the Iron Man July 5k on July 7th in my Captain America top because I'm team Cap all the way. At this point, my medals still hadn't arrived so it was a hot, sweaty underwhelming run.

About a week later, my medals finally arrived and I was able to hang up the two I had earned so far. Like all runDisney medals, they are stunning but I do wish I could have had them earlier!

The last race of the series was Black Panther themed for August. I ran this race on August 17th and by this point in time, I was deep in sports bra only running season so I didn't dress up for this one. Again, it was hot and sweaty as you can tell by our shiny faces! lol

I really liked the bullet journal spread I did for this race series. The Iron Man doodle came out a bit funky but Captain Marvel and Black Panther came out really well. I definitely didn't have any amazing times or experiences running this race series but running in the summer in Florida is always death.

And now that I've earned them all, the race medals do really look nice on my wall. Overall though, I don't think I'm much of a virtual race person. I'm pretty self motivated so I don't feel like I needed them to get me out the door and onto running. I don't like the 5k distance and that's once race distance I don't have a problem finding locally. Plus, it was a huge let down to not be able to wear the bib and not have a medal immediately afterwards. I much preferred the Star Wars virtual half as part of the Kessel Run Challenge.

So I think I'll probably skip the virtual series next summer and save my money for an in person race instead. Do you like virtual races? Are there other nonDisney virtuals I should try before writing them off for good?

Kissimmee Spartan Sprint Race Recap

So running in the summer got pretty boring. I plan on doing a few summer training wrap up posts including thoughts on my Spartan training and the rest of the runDisney Summer Virtual Shorts Series, but today we're going to dive into my experience at the Kissimmee Spartan Sprint.

Spartan races are series of obstacle course races that are known for technical courses, hard core obstacles and getting you really, really muddy. Spartan races are what got Will back into running and he's done quite a few. I never thought I would do one but I decided earlier this summer to sign up to for a new local sprint race. You can read more about why I decided to sign up and what my training plan was in this post.

The Spartan sprint was their first attempt at a city Spartan. Usually, they have trail races or stadium races and this one was marketed as short of a hybrid. That was a pro in my book since the stadiums involve a lot less mud. It was held at Osceola Heritage Park. We drive by it on the way to Disney and they host rodeos, car shows and a lot of other events. It has a small footprint and, as you can see in the map below, they really wound the course in and out all over the property to get the 3.5ish miles. Some of the run was on pavement, some on grass and even a bit through a horse stable.

Will did a great job getting a team together to race together and we all agreed to meet up before the race. We got there early to check out the festival area before we met up with the team. The festival area was pretty small compared to some of the other Spartans Will has done but it was very nice for a first time event. I thought that the merch was a bit pricey and decided that if I ever did a second Spartan, I would consider buying some merch at that race. There was also a place for photos so we had to grab a prerace photo.

I planned on running in a low key running costume since there were no water obstacles. (The course map is posted a few days before the race.) Also, the lack of a dunk wall meant I could wear my glasses! I really don't know what other glasses wearers do but once the course map was up, I gave up on the idea of running "blind" without my glasses. I quickly changed my mind about the costume once we got to the race site. It was still crazy, midsummer hot so I stripped to my sports bra and shorts and put on some sunscreen.

Our team was mostly first timers which was great for me! Pretty soon it was time for our heat to start and we lined up to get ready to go.

Obstacles:

1. Overwalls

There are usually a set of short overwalls to get into the starting area. I totally flopped on my first try but the second go was good. It felt really cool to fling myself over the wall! Then they had a very enthusiastic race announcer who sent us off to a chorus of Aroos!

2. 6' wall

There was a decent section of running before the first on course obstacle. A couple of people were really excited and headed of fast but I knew that between the obstacles and the heat, I'd need to start slow. I didn't bring an interval timer so I just ran intervals by feel for the duration of the race. I was not able to mount the 6' wall myself so Will stopped to give me a boost. (Helping is totally ok in the noncompetitive heats.

3. Z wall

Next came the Z wall which is a zig zag shaped walls with hand and footholds made of 2x4s. My vibram fivefinger shoes made this a lot easier than my running shoes would have! I could really feel and grip the footholds and I made it all the way across. Woohoo!

4. Low crawl

We headed over to the low crawl area where they had strung up bungie cords for us to crawl under. I was really glad that this was not a barbed wire crawl because crawling that low was harder than I thought it would be! I was also super grateful not to run into any ants on this obstacle!

5. Monkey bars

Then came the monkey bars. I have never in my life been able to do monkey bars but I had been working on my grip strength all summer so I wanted to try. The first and second bars were super far apart and I couldn't even reach to the second bar so I earned my first set of burpees.

6. Low crawl 2

I picked up quite a bit more dirt on the second low crawl. If I do another Spartan, I'm definitely putting crawling exercises on my plan!

7. Pipe lair

Next was the pipe lair which I was really excited about. Since I'm pretty short, it was a breeze to climb through the lair. This was definitely the most fun obstacle for me. It was like getting to play on an oversized playground.

8. Slam balls

Then we moved onto the slam ball station for 15 slams each. They definitely took a bit out of me but were totally do able. I think the ladies slam balls were 20lbs each.

9. Sandbag carry

The sandbag carry was the obstacle I was looking forward to the most. Will had gotten a sandbag from a Spartan training class he did earlier in the year and I had been practicing carrying it around the neighborhood. My neighbors probably think I'm weird now but I aced the sandbag carry. You can't tell from the map, but the carry path was in the shape of the Spartan helmet.

10. Atlas carry

I was not looking forward to the Atlas carry but they recently took the 5 burpees out of the carry which helped out a lot. We also had weighted rubber balls (like giant slam balls) instead of the traditional stones. The first time I went to pick up the 70lb ball, I could tell I was using my back too much and I stopped immediately. Thankfully, the volunteer saw I was struggled and showed me how to safely pick up the ball. I was nervous about my ability to carry the weight but I made it to the turn around point and back without dropping it.

11. Overwalls 2

Our group started doing more walking at this point. The heat and the strength work was really taking it out of me and I was glad for the slower pace. The Spartan races are all timed but it's really hard to compare one to the other since terrain and obstacles always change. So we didn't worry about our time. Then we hit another set of short overwalls which we all successfully completed.

12. Multi rig

A bit after the overwalls was the multi rig. There can be a variety of different kinds of hand holds on a multi rig but this one was all rings. The rings were actually pretty grippy but I fell off on the second ring and earned another set of burpees. I definitely need to keep working on my grip strength!

13. 7' wall

Once a wall hits 7', there is an option step that the ladies can choose to use. I tried using the step but I still needed a boost. Once on top of the wall though, I had a moment of panic as to how I was going to get down! In the end, the only way to get off of the wall is to jump so I did. It hurt my feet a bit to land that hard in the dirt but I managed not to injure myself.

14. Jerry can carry

We then came upon another carry through a set of horse stalls. They had inflatable weights filled with water for us to carry-two for the men and one for the women. While I appreciated carrying half the weight, it was really awkward to carry just one jerry can. I ended up ignoring the handle and just carrying it like a ball in front of my stomach. It would have been much easier to do this farmer carry style if they had also had two smaller weights for the ladies.

15. Spear throw

Ah, the spear throw, the bane of everyone's race! Every person on our team missed the spear throw. It was something I had zero opportunity to train for plus we were all tired by this point. My spear made it a comically short way towards the target. Burpees all around!

16. Box jumps

The box jumps were another Crossfit style obstacle at this race. Like slam balls, I hadn't done any in a while but I managed to do my 15 without any trouble. This was a great obstacle to take a bit of a breather between jumps and while waiting for everyone to finish.

17. A-Frame cargo

I was also excited that there was a cargo net obstacle in this race. It sounded so fun! I managed to scale to the top pretty easily but climbing over the top to start the descent was a bit unnerving. Once I actually started down and felt more firm in my footing, I was totally fine. And it did end up being very fun.

18. Hercules hoist

Up next was the Hercules hoist which meant pulling a sandbag up to the top of a pully and then bringing it down slowly. I managed to pull the bag about half way up but then got really tired. My arms had already been through a lot that day! I tried for a bit longer but then decided to just lower the bag and do my burpees. If I had waited for Will, he could have given me some more technique tips and I might have been able to make it but live and learn.

19. Rope Climb

The rope climb was immediately after the hoist and was another obstacle I had no way to practice for. Since I was lacking in both the upper body strength and technique plus my hands were tired from the hoist. I skipped this obstacle. We did have two team members make it to the top!

20 Weighted burpees

If we hadn't done enough burpees thus far, there were weighted burpees waiting for us at the end. We each had a weighted cylinder about the size of a foam roller that we had to lift over our heads for the standing portion of the burpee. For the ladies, it was 35 lbs. Like the rest of my burpees on course, I did sprawls (since it's really hard to do a burpee if you can't do a pushup) and it was rough. Definitely not a favorite!

21. Gauntlet

Last was running through the gauntlet! I was a bit nervous about breaking my glasses if I took one of the swinging bags in the face so I ran with my arms crossed in front of my face. I was a bit sad that there wasn't a fire to jump over at the end but the gauntlet was still a fun way to finish the race.

Right out of the gauntlet was the finish line where I got my medal! Woohoo! There was a nice spot to grab a photo before it was onto hydration and snacks. They had three beverage options-water, a Fitaid recovery beverage (which I knew I didn't like) and a Body Armor electrolyte beverage made from coconut water. Then there were bananas and granola bars. I usually bring post race nutrition with me to nonDisney races since I have been to races where I couldn't eat anything offered by the race so thankfully there were bananas!

Overall, I had a really fun time and I think the rest of the team did too. I am thinking about doing another sprint in December. While I did fail quite a few of the obstacles, I had a lot of fun and I definitely increase my upper body strength during my summer training period. I'm not sure how I would do with the intense strength training during my heavy running season but I'm open to doing more! If they do another race here next year, I would recommend it as a great beginner race.