It has been a hectic morning to say the least but I am all in for the Inaugural Disneyland Paris half marathon! There was a lot of drama getting through (Get travel said they would call me but it wasn't confirmed/i was on skype with the disneyland paris number and also the american number). 

I got through the American number after a 40 min hold and we are in! We are staying at the Sequoia Lodge for 3 nights. I will be going with my boyfriend, his older sister and his niece. We will all run the 5k together (his niece is going to pick out our costumes as we had a long talk about who is from France and I am hoping she picks Beauty and the beast), she will be running the 400m kids race and I will be running the half marathon with his sister (I am thinking sleeping beauty costume with one of us in pink and one of us in blue!). 

Now from booking through DLP directly, I had to pay 100% right there which was a lot to put on my credit card but that is more miles to get me to europe for free! 

overall, i think we got a good deal on the package. It includes hotel, tickets, and bibs. We will get an email soon where we can all register officially with proof of times and such. we do have to get a medical form signed by our doctor to make sure we are cleared. I am going to have them fill out 2 just incase since i am running 2 races (oh the French!). 


now to plan the rest of the European vacation! We know we want to do a few days in London (have to pick up the sister and niece!), a few days in paris, I want to go to Mont st michel/normandy and my boyfriend wants to go to Rome. We are hoping to do 10-11 days but we will need to see. we may fly into London and fly out of Rome but we are not sure. 


I am so excited to earn the Inaugural 5k, half and castle to chateau medal!! Anyone else running this race? 

YAY info is here! Let's look into all of it. Here is the link to the Event Guide and also the virtual giftbag (which is basically the same as every other rundisney race). 

First, you will need to get your waiver and your bib number. 
Waivers are here
Make sure to print it, your bib number is in the bottom right hand corner.
5k-sorry no corrals released!
Here is the link to the half corrals 


I am hopefully in corral A for the 5k (My bib number is XXX) and I am in corral D for the half-the highest I have been at a WDW race ever! 

I tried to take screenshots from the Event guide but they are way too large to upload so here is some basic information:
EXPO : Friday, 11/6 from 10-7 and Saturday, 11/7 from 9-3 (buses run from 9:30-7:30)
5k starts at 7am and you will need to be on the bus by 5:30 (buses until 9am) 
Kids Races start at 10 and you will need to be on the bus by 9:45 (buses until 3:30)
Half marathon starts at 10 and you need to be on the bus by 8 (buses run from 7-4:30)

HOST HOTELS: All Star Movies, Music and Sports, Boardwalk Inn, Pop Century, Port Orleans: FQ and Riverside, Beach and Yacht Club, Caribbean Beach, Saratoga Springs, Wilderness Lodge, Polynesian
IF YOUR HOTEL IS NOT ON HERE, THERE WILL NOT BE TRANSPORTATION FROM IT. You will need to get to and from the Expo by yourself and also get to and from the races. 

Overall, i am super excited for this race! I will be with 3 girls that have never run a WDW race (one it is her first half ever!) and my best friend has decided to come down from Philly too! it should be an amazing time!

​Anyone else excited for Wine and Dine? 

Another Tuesday, another Tuesday on the Run hosted by our favorites: 
Erika from MCM Mama Runs, and Patty from No-Guilt Life.  This week's topic is how you balance running with other responsibilities. 

​As I have written about before, I am very busy and stay organized as best I can. Working full time and going to school full time while keeping up traveling and training for races is a lot. I think that's a large part of the reason I have signed up for so many races. If I pay to run, it will keep me on track so I can do what I need to do to stay healthy. The main thing I do is prioritize! 

I have a calendar in my office that keeps me organized for the semester and has all of my assignments, races, travels, large events and weekend long runs on it. It keeps me knowing what is coming up.

I also organize my time. Workouts happen before work. I usually have one rest day and 2 run days and 2 other days (core, strength and/or flexibility). I can only do a Max of 3 miles as I need to get home and get showered and dressed. 

I go into work late on Wednesdays so that my grocery shopping and then prep day. Friday after work is my secondary prep day. 

I also meal plan like crazy. I just buy enough food to get through the week and then prep all of it for lunch and/or dinner for the week. I often do crock pot meals once which last for 2-3 meals and heat up in oven meals which also last for 2-3 meals. 

After work, starting around 8, I start my homework until about 9:30. I do most of my reading on the train (I'm all done for the semester! Woohoo) so I rarely read textbooks at home. I also work on planning my assignments so they are done early. 

I also try really hard to get enough sleep. My goal is to get ready for bed by 10 and in bed by10:30 for a 6:15 wake up call. 

I also allow myself to do fun things on the weekend but it can't be all day. I can do something in the afternoon or evening but not both: I gotta get my homework done! 


But that's a snapshot into my life and how I stay organized. 

How do you stay organized? 

EAT WELL
My eating definitely was more on track with cooking meals. I made a great pot roast and also some chicken last week. 
I'm still indulging more than I would like so I need to be cognizant on what my habits and cues are. I was able to carbload amazingly for my marathon-lots of fruits and potatoes. I felt carbed up without feeling gross which was great! 

SLEEP WELL
I definitely slept much better this week averaging close to 7 hours a night. My goal for the last week was 7.5 hours and i got 7 hours and 12 minutes whichi s pretty good. It's a crazy week with teaching last night, class on weds, and a thurs football game. I will definitely need to catch up on sleep as much as possible this week and to help with recovery from the marathon

EXERCISE WELL
Last week:
Monday: 10 min weight routine
Tuesday: run with acceleration drills and cadence drills about 2.7 miles
Wednesday: core work 
Thursday: 3 mile run with cadence and acceleration drills + working the football game
Friday: rest day
Saturday: yoga and stretching
Sunday: Long Beach Marathon!


This week:
Monday: rest day
Tuesday: run with acceleration drills and cadence drills about 2.7 miles
Wednesday: core work 
Thursday: 3 mile run with cadence and acceleration drills 
Friday: a Cize workout
Saturday:5 miles
Sunday: core workout

BE WELL
two weeks ago was great with a birthday party, seeing Idina Menzel live (which is probably the best vocal concert I've ever been to) and Halloween horror nights which scared the crap out of me! A great weekend but now I'm a bit behind on schoolwork so hopefully can catch up. I was able to catch up-it seems like Friday is my new best day for homework. I am super motivated when I get home and then can relax a bit. 
the thursday night football game was horrible (and as you know, our coach at USC Is on indefinite leave for some alcohol issues) and it also made for a very long day but i was i able to leave work early on Friday. 

Saturday was great heading to Long Beach and getting to relax before my race. Sunday morning was eventful as I got into a car accident on the way to the marathon-the car rear ended me at 4am! I am currently working on the claim to fix my car so until i get solved, I am carless! I am fine but my car bumper is not. , anyway, my boyfriend dropped me off the race (boyfriend of the year award!) and ran the marathon and PR'ED BY 28 MINUTES! New PR 5:18:53 which is I am so proud of since it was hot hot hot (78 at the start, 91 at the finish). However i did not bonk which was amazing in itself. 

I feel that I prepped well for the marathon so expect some new posts soon about my race : 
​
How was your week?

Hi all! For some reason my site is having pictures and text jump around without warning, making it very difficult to have my recaps up. I am so sorry they are all over the place. Hopefully it will be fixed by this weekend and I will fix them. thank you for being so patient!! Until then, I won't be posting many pictures as that seems to be the issue. 

Hi all! Linkup Friday!! Thanks to our amazing hostesses: the DC Trifecta Bloggers (Courtney from Eat Pray Run DC, Mar from Mar on the Run, and Cynthia from You Signed Up For What?!). I will be writing this week about my 5 goals for the Long Beach Marathon 
​

I am running the Long Beach Marathon this weekend! This was a very last minute decision on my part (I decided after my 20 miler 2 weeks ago) and I'm actually pretty excited about.

So the Santa Ana winds are back which really blows. Basically they come in and blow hot air making it really warm. I've already done the ridic hot marathon at the LAM and crashed and burned once the temps hit 90. To be honest, that race still haunts me and when I saw the forecast I thought of DNSing. But I still need the miles for NYCM training so I might as well do it on a race course with ample water, supplies, and support.

But in the last few days I've calmed down. I was watching the weather last night and the forecast looks like it'll be high 80s and they said it won't be humid and won't last long meaning Fall is on its way!

A few things have been added though. With the high temps they are increasing water tables, supplies and even misting stations. However they are giving half marathoners the option to start at 6 with the marathons. Well there are usually 4000 marathons and 14000 half marathoners so this could be a cluster for real. I am staying positive they will give marathoners priority as the first 10 miles are the same and hopefully it won't be too crowded.

My training plan/coaching is going well so I'm going try those intervals- 60 sec/30 sec and see if it helps with the heat. However if the pace is too slow, I will pick it up or shorten the walk interval. I decided to run a tempo mile yesterday and with 60/30 I was able to run a 9:47 mile at the track without feeling tired. That may be my fastest training mile ever!

So on to my goals:
A- sub 5:00-11:27 pace
I've had this goal for awhile and I really want to crush it but it will depend how the weather cooperates.
B- sub 5:15 -12 min pace
C- sub 5:30 12:30 min pace
D- sub 5:46- 13 min pace
I would love a new PR!
E-finish with a smile :)
The weather is currently 100 outside and humid so anything can happen. I plan on starting slow and trying to keep hydrated and not have an epic bonk that happened during the LAM. Hopefully being close to the ocean will have a bit of a breeze.


But that's it! I am trying to stay positive and hope for the best so we will see!

When is your next race? Do you usually set race goals?

​Sunday came early but I was ready to tackle my 5 year runniversary! Ralph was tired but my brother seemed ready to go. We met up with the crew (Devin and Mari) and walked over the race start. It was much busier than the day before so we checked our stuff and used the restroom and met up with one of my grad students I work with, Karen and headed to the corrals! 

Typical corral fodder before it was time to start! I tried to start slow but with the downhill and then turning backstage instead of heading down Katella it was not easy! As soon as we headed backstage, it was insanely narrow and crowded and made it pretty congested. We spent A LOT of time backstage and finally entered the park by the pier. I went potty and then met up with Devin and Jake and we started the pictures! 

​​We ran by the Pier and got a fantastic picture before heading towards the front of the park and got another pic with the signs in front of Carthay. 

​We then made our way into Disneyland and took a picture by the train station, Partners and Naveen and Tiana. At this point, my brother ran ahead to scope characters and report back. With no one else catching his interest (and a lot of the course backstage!) he continued on and I didn't see him until I was back at the hotel! ​

We made our way to the castle and took some fun pics before continuing through tomorrowland, and back towards Small World to meet Captain Hook and Peter Pan. 

We then went to small world and took some of favorite pictures of the whole day! 

We stopped backstage for a pic with the horses as they will be moving when they break down on Star Wars in the Jan and the horse tried to eat my tutu! This horse selfie is HILARIOUS as his nose went under my tutu as soon as I snapped the photo. Too funny!

At this point we were backstage more and eventually came upon a really unique photo pop with Mac from Paint the Night! ​

After that, it was time to head out to the streets. We hit the Ball Road bridge right as the sun was coming up which made it insanely hard to see so we had to slow down. 

We both felt fine as we continued through Anaheim. Before we knew it, we were seeing dancing groups to keep us entertained and got to the miles of old cars, which definitely grows every year!

We got a free sponge from MousePlanet (awesome sauce!!) that I kept for the whole race. From there on out, we got an extra cup of water for use of the sponge! 

At mile 7, we got a donut from Sparkle Athletic, which definitely made my stomach a bit upset but it was worth it. After that, we turned towards the Artic train station and towards the sad Santa Ana trail. The part is always difficult as it is narrow and a bit up and down so it's definitely a slow process.

We soon got to Angel Stadium, got our Clif shot and I had another potty stop as it was a bit humid so I had been drinking a lot of fluids. We made our way into Angel stadium which is always a favorite on this course! It was packed to the brim with Boy And Girl Scouts! Outside of the stadium was marching bands which I also appreciate as a former Band nerd!

One story that really inspired me was a blind runner. We had been running about the same pace as him and he had a whole group that took turns running next to him and yelling -BLIND RUNNER COMING THROUGH! They ended up stopping to get interviewed by the news and I don't remember seeing them finish.

We were both feeling strong but it was getting warmer so we were starting to push the pace a bit. They added a new section of cheering sponsored by new balance around mile 12 which was an awesome pick me up

As we headed into mile 12, we decided to try and run out fastest mile. I wanted training on tired legs and I definitely got it

Our finishing time 2:31:05 running and an official time of 2:58:25 with all of our photo stops. The final mile was 10:34! Woohoo!

Once I finished, the tears started. Happy tears of course! The last few miles I had been counting down towards the end remembering how far I had come with my running. It insane to remember the mind frame I was in during my first race and where I am now! No pain, just happy to be done! And on top of that, the half medal was my 45th rundisney medal!! ​

This race will always be so special to me and this was the furthest up I have been to the front. I did not like the course changes as we entered backstage sooner and it was super congested. There was also more backstage time than usual and I'm expecting it'll get worse as the construction begins in Jan with the rivers of America area all closed.

Overall, this was the best 5 year runniversary I could ask for. I adored every minute however I definitely learned it is much different when someone comes to visit for a race. My legs were definitely more tired than usual and I got less sleep. I need to make sure to keep that in control for the future.

​Did you run the Disneyland Half this year?

Afterwards, we had the typical photo shoot before heading back ​to shower, get ready and head to breakfast. We had reservations at the Paradise Grill at Paradise Pier (and also got to see the end of the race). Basically to make a long story short, it was a HOT MESS! NEVER AGAIN! There was an insane wait (mainly because people made reservations too early after the race so we were showing up 45-90 minutes late) and also there was a 45 person party. they kept telling us-5 min more for about 40 minutes. We finally got seated and the food was good but it just took too long. In the future, we are going to try to just head into the park for some pictures and food and not deal with sit down meals-they are just too crazy. 

Afterwards, we were going to go to the Angels game but it was just too hot so we went to Disneyland instead. We had to park at the convention center! eek! but we took an uber to the front and had a good time. We met with Mallory and some other friends and enjoyed some celebratory drinks at Flo's and Wine Trattoria and Mad T party. We also got my brother to see Paint the Night and Fireworks (which he loved!) before I had to drive us home. What a weekend! especially because I flew out to Tampa the next night-insane! 

​Another Tuesday, another Tuesday on the Run hosted by our favorites: 
April from Run the Great Wide Somewhere, Erika from MCM Mama Runs, and Patty from No-Guilt Life.  The topic this week is fun runs so what pretty way to talk about them than to finally recap the Disneyland 10k!

I am finally ready to recap this great race weekend! It looks like the Disney 10ks are getting back on track as this was another fabulous 10k, so much better than last years and even better than the Star Wars 10k.
 
Some back story before we get into this. The theme was unclear until the training plan was released and then  the medal design was released. However it was still unclear if it was Snow White or Villians themed. We came up with a few ideas and settled on a wall-e and Eve costume and I would either be Mary (the lady that helps wall-e with the plant) or the Captain and carry Auto. However carrying Auto did not sound like much fun and I was worried no one would recognize me as the Captain.
 
As we started the conversations, Devin revealed to me that he was thinking about proposing to Brian at the end of the finish line which settled the decision. The ring would go in the shoe (yes we would have a plant!) and we would all help carry it. My job was to take pictures of all of this.
 
The 10k started at the normal time: 5:30. We decided to try a new route for walking from the hotel and it was MUCH shorter and easier. We decided to sleep in a bit later and see how it goes. I got up at 4:00 and we met at 4:30 to walk over. The new walking work well as it was quiet and not crowded and we arrived to the race area within 15 min! We definitely will sleep in another 20-30 min in the future as we just stood around for a bit. I checked my bag, used the porto and we headed to the corrals. I was in corral B as was Brian so Devin moved back to run with us (he was in A).

The pre race thing was pretty typical but I do think they had more room for the corrals than they had in the past which was nice. The coolest thing was since it was villains themed, they had this amazing electric guitarist come out and play the National Anthem ( a la Jimi Hendrix) and it was incredible!

Before we knew it, corral A was off and we were to (about 8 minutes after them). This course starts on a downhill so watch your speed! Also it is run mostly on road so avoid the middle of the road as you may trip over the reflectors (it happens every time-I always see someone fall). 

We headed down West Rd and turned left by the convention center (oh Hall D23 from the Expo!!), ran by that before coming out and turning into Katella. We finally made it back stage around mile 2 behind Carsland. The course seemed a bit crowded but then thin out as we kept going Which was nice! 

This course and the half course seemed to have more time backstage than usual. I even remarked-I AM READY FOR SOME PARK AND CHARACTERS! 

We finally entered the park around Carsland and did a quick potty break before continuing to the pier. There Dr Facilier was speaking so we stopped for a pic, followed by a quick pic at the Pier before continuing to run.

We stopped by toy story because Lotso was out-we only waited about 5 min which is amazing!

We ran around the pier, through Grizzly and over to the front of the park. We took a picture with storytellers before continuing on through Hollywoodland. We stopped for a picture with Hades from Hercules and skipped Lady Tremaine. 

At this point we headed back stage and over to Disneyland. The backstage areas were narrow and very crowded causing us to slow down a lot. We kept going and finally made it to Disneyland!

We ran down Main Street and took a picture by the castle, we ran through tomorrow land and over through fantasyland and stopped for a picture with Captain Hook and Mr Smee! 

We ran through the Castle and through frontier land and stopped for a pic with Brer Fox and Brer Bear and Brer fox tried to step on Hal the cockroach!! 

After this, we headed backstage and through downtown Disney to the finish!  TIME: 1:34:38 (running time: 1:09:23)

now this is where the proposal happened! I was in charge of capturing it on my phone and I am SO happy with the picture I was able to get. You see the joy and happiness on both of their faces and I am so lucky to be able to experience this in person!

The rest of the day was typical (minus celebrating an engagement!)! Went back to the room to wake up my brother and Ralph and we got dressed and headed to Flos for breakfast (and a stop at Starbucks!!). We went on a hunt for Pluto as it was his birthday (and it turns out-Oswald too! We didn't know!) Ralph and my brother went to USC to tailgate (yes they are insane) while we hung out in the park and tried to stay cool before dinner. 

We met up with Mari and had a fab dinner at Carthay (they made me a gluten free pasta with smoke roasted carrots and it was AMAZING!!) 

I got back to the room and ended up watching some of Teen Beach 2 before e going to bed later than I would have liked. Ralph and my brother got back at like 10 and woke me up and were being too loud! But I was able to go back to sleep. An early morning awaited us!! 

It is Monday so we are linking up with another Magical Mickey with John at run.geek.rundisney and Katie from Adventures by Katie.
​
Another price increase and this one seems like it was mostly a surprise. here is the article from MiceChat that breaks it all down. Let's look at it by park:
1. DISNEYLAND
parking is now 18 dollars (up one dollar)
same discounts as before
Passes:

• So Cal Select
• Deluxe
• NEW: Signature
• NEW: Signature plus-this cost over 1000 dollars! 
• So Cal and Premium only available for renewals.

Basically for these new passes, the Signature is the same as Premium except you are blacked out during Christmas Holidays (and I do think they will start adding in more blackout days). An extra 200 dollars for christmas? NO THANK YOU!

WALT DISNEY WORLD
Passes got new names: 

• Silver
• Gold
• Platinum
• Platinum Plus

PREMIER
this is my pass and it went up again-1400 but considering it is equal to Signature and Platinum Plus, it is still a good value. 

The one positive is all of the passes include free Photopass which is awesome! I will definitely make use of that, especially after we got Memory Maker when I went in June. the pictures are all so cute! 

My thoughts on this? Not surprisingly-especially the splitting of the Disneyland passes as the parks are always crazy on days when all Passholders are eligible especially with so many being closed during the construction of Star Wars. I think it will weed some people out for sure. For WDW, it seems like a good deal with the addition of photopass and also parking included on passes that it was not previously. 

What are you thoughts on the increase? 

In my world, October 1st is an important day!

1. Magic Kingdom opened on October 1,1971. Happy 44th birthday! Only 6 more to the 50th golden celebration (you know I wouldn't miss that for anything!)

2. Epcot opened on October 1, 1982, so happy 33rd birthday! My favorite Disney park!

3. I met my boyfriend 4 years ago on October 1,2011. We didn't start dating once away but I knew he was someone special from the moment I met him at a tailgate.

4. We met at our mutual friends birthday party (his bff from childhood and the younger brother of one of my classmates) and the rest is history!

So we will be celebrating this weekend by going to friends 25th birthday party in West Hollywood and also seeing Idina Menzel on Saturday!