Dodging puddles and tourist.

Maybe one of the last times this season I'll be able to run the res.

Fine. I'm a runner again.

 Did you miss me?

Thank you, 59th St. Subway station for the inspiration!

I took a little hiatus from life. After the holidays and Disney, there wasn't much to look forward to. I can't sign up for any more out of town races until I find a financial backer (i.e. a job) and I really really want that Coast-to-Coast medal.

I'm slowly pulling myself out of this little funk. I wanted to get back into my route the beginning of this week. I took all of last week off from doing anything remotely active to let the right side of my lower body heal, and plus it was damn cold. I did not want to leave the comfort of my comforter, much less go run in 20 degree weather. Then it was easy to just not go to the gym, or clean my floor so I could do yoga. . . which leads us to earlier today. I told myself I had to do a long run tomorrow, so I should do a shake out run today. And that was that.

One little run and I feel better about life. Why is it so easy to forget that?

My legs were so ready to go. . my endurance? Not so much. Oh well. . .I'll get it back. . b/c I have THREE half marathons in March. No worries though. . .I don't think anything will be as hard as the back-to-back Disney half marathons. That is- until I run the NYCM. And then I might take an entire month off to recover.

After the gym, I went to Red Mango to check out the new flavor:

A-mazing.

I only got a sample, but next time, it's so on.

My new Nike Yoga pants!

That's good motivation to be active, right?

(Yes. Those are my infamous "house shoes" . . don't be jelly. You know you want to be cool like me)

I thought they were going to be tight fitting running capris, but I think they're a little too big. . so now they're yoga pants.

And if that's not motivation, then this definitely is:

 My seester sent me a King Cake for Mardi Gras!

In case you don't know what a king cake is.

Yea. It got here yesterday. . and it's pretty much gone. 

Did I mention the gym scale says I gained 10lbs?! 

That's what eating like a runner and not doing anything will get ya.

WDW Marathon relay

So, we still got to the start line for 4am, like everyone else. Except we didn't walk to the start line. We walked to the other end of the parking lot and got on a bus to go to the transition area. And hung out. Why I didn't realize I'd be there for at least 4 hours, I'll never know, and thus should've brought more clothes. Ronda and I hung out for awhile, but we left me after an hour or so (her partner was significantly faster than mine). I should've taken a nap or stayed off my feet, but I did neither.

I really wanted to make this race better than the previous day's and it started off amazing! I was fully prepared to hate running until about mile 3, but I was fine. No pain, no sluggishness. Until the stretch of Interstate between Animal Kingdom and The Studios. . . My God was it hot. There was no shade and no characters. It was miserable. I lost it mentally there and I couldn't get it back. While we were in The Studios, I talked to the guy behind me waiting for Mike and Sully. He said he had never seen people run this race so slow before and it was good they were being smart for the heat. That's when I said screw it and stopped running. I knew people were waiting for me at the finish, but I didn't care. It was too hot. Around mile 23 I ran into Ms. Jeannine who walked the last 3 miles with me. We talked and she took my mind off of how much pain I was in. We thought she'd get pulled off the course, but she didn't and thank goodness! I made it!!

 The relay start/finish.

It was a little confusing what you were supposed to do. They had a video that was supposed to show you how to do it, but it was still confusing. A lot of people stopped running when they saw their partner and didn't even go the correct way to get their medals. I'm glad I got to see a few transitions before I went, but it could've been better.

 1st Photo Op and look who it is?! Maleficent!! 

(If you didn't already know, she's my favorite villain. It's on my bucket list to meet her. I don't consider this officially meeting but I do think I'm a step closer to that goal. Pray to the Universe I can go back for the Tower of Terror 10 miler and meet her then!) I thought this was a good sign of an amazing race. Little did I know about the Interstate stretch.

 The lost tourists. They were funny.

 No stopping for Jack Sparrow today! I waited 15 minutes for him yesterday!

 Jiminey Cricket!

 Everest, I'll be back for you in May.

I signed up for the Everest Challenge 5k!

 Dinosaur!

 Dinosaur! Entrance from backstage.

 The beginning of the stretch of death: 

The McDonald's I would go to before/after work.

Dug and Russell from Up! 

 The Boardwalk.

 Me! on my way to the finish line (courtesy of Ronda!)

It was pretty awesome having people in the stands at the finish line.

 Team GD Runners! 

Get your head right, Graphic Design Runners.

 3rd medal of the weekend.

 Fruit Fly and I doing my signature pose!

 Dale was really excited to see himself on the medal.

The End.

WDW Half Marathon.

Oh, Disney Half marathon. THE marathon I started running for. How many things could possibly go wrong?! The race was definitely started on the wrong foot and it just went downhill from there. But I won't dwell on the serious disappointment, it's over now. And I have the most amazing medal ever. If you'd like Fruit Fly's point of view, you can check that out here.

 In the corrals

 And we're off!

 1st character stops were all ducks for Donald's 15 year anniversary!

 The mayor of Main Street!

Action shot!

 Tomorrowland waiting for Buzz Lightyear!

These spectators were awesome!
The first pic of people I saw again on Sunday and the lone person's sign said
"I'm so proud of you, Total Stranger"

The Princess and the Frog

 The end of the race sag wag and all :-(

 Chip and Dale!

 mile 13. What?! 

 The choir singing!

 Yes. I got it. OMG. It's amazing.

 Ice Bath #1, getting ready for day 3 of running!

Up Next: The Marathon Relay.

Disney Family Fiesta 5K

So. It's 5am. And I'm in a giant parking lot full of runners doing line dances:

 The electric slide with coffee in hand.

Ronda thinks we are crazy. Apparently line dancing is a southern thing? But it was the most fun I'd ever had pre-race. We were dressed amazing and there was no pressure, we walked the whole thing.
So on to the report (via photos)!

 Our outfits rocked!

 Jeff Galloway talking before the start.

 The 3 Caballeros sending off wave 1!

 Running through the cast member entrance of Epcot. 

 The backstage part of Test Track.

 Running around the world clock-wise. 

2 lost Mexicans photo bombing a runner in China.

A-mazing.

Just kidding, we know her.

See? We love Sarah!

 The Epcot Ball from the top of the worlds.

 The obnoxious line for Aladdin and Jasmine. Seriously.

 But Abu was there, too!
Had I known. . . I still wouldn't have stopped. That was obnoxious.

 Photo Op Stop.

 In front of the Christmas tree where I messed up my hip for the rest of the races. 

Awesome.

 I can smell the finish line!

 Us with the 3 Caballeros and our medals!

Once we were showered and ready for the day, Fred landed and we went to play in the parks for a moment.  The castle was still lit for the holidays, which was really cool to see.

Fred and I.

Ronda and I in front of the castle with our fabulous medals.

Up Next: The Half Marathon!