Category: Disney

How to Make a Princess Leia Costume

12/16/2015

In honor of Star Wars: Force Awakens opening tonight, here is a how to make a Princess Leia costume!

I have wanted to run as Princess Leia for awhile and knew the Star Wars Half would be the perfect race. Devin decided to go as Han Solo so we would match. What a perfect ending to 67.9 miles run together in 10 days!

This costume was super easy to put together and I even got to make my headband. I had ordered one that never came so I had to make one last minute. However it was super easy.

SUPPLIES NEEDED

white shirt
White long sleeve shirt if it's cold
White bottoms (I used my white tutu from my Bacchus costume at wine and dine)
Headband (you can order this or make it)
Silver belt

FOR HEADBAND
supplies needed: foam, glue, brown string, safety pin, headband

Cut the foam into 2 circles (I traced a cup) and cut 2 small foam squares
I cut 20 pieces of string that was 4 feet long.
I split them in half and then split them in thirds.
I then braided them (make sure to tie one end in a knot).
I then put glue in the center of the foam and started to glue the braid down. Let them dry for 12-24 hours.
Glue the extra foam to back of the foam circles and fit the headband in there.
Glue and safety pin the foam circles to headband and let dry for 12-24 hours.

Your hair is ready!

The string cut

Ear buns all glued

Backside of the bun

Headband all done

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Tuesday on the Run: Fall Racing Schedule

8/11/2015

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NYC MARATHON

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. This week's topic is Fall Race Schedule.

My Fall will start off quiet but will ramp up quickly and crazily and I really won't calm down until Spring. I am excited for all that is to come!

The kick off will be the Dumbo Challenge (10k on Saturday and Half on Sunday) at the start of September.
My next race is not until November 1st (unless I can find a flat and fast 10k course sometime in between) so I will be spending most of that time marathon training because 11/1/2015 will be the NYC MARATHON. I am still in a bit of shock that I was able to get in through the lottery and do not plan on wasting this opportunity. As the time gets closer, I will say more about it but as of now my time goal is 4:45 so I can finally get that sub-5 I am so ready for.
There will be no rest as I will be flying down to Orlando that Tuesday after the marathon for a bit of Harry Potter time (my final time with my current AP-tear!) and lots of eating and drinking at the Food and Wine Festival. The F&W festival will cap off with me running the Wine and Dine 5k on Saturday morning and then the Wine and Dine Half marathon in the evening. The Wine and Dine Half Marathon was my favorite race last year!
I will fly back to LA on Tuesday, go to class and then head down to Anaheim on Friday afternoon so I can run the Captain America 10k on Saturday and the Avengers Half on Sunday. The Inaugural Avengers Half was plagued with high winds so hopefully it will be better this year
The next weekend I will be running the LA Black Run 5k which will basically just be a fun run but I am still looking forward to it!
There will be a week break before I will do the LA Turkey Trot 5k and 10k back to back. Last year at the LA Turkey Trot I set a new 10k PR and am looking forward to doing it again.
And yes, a week after Thanksgiving, I will be gunning for a new 10k PR on the flat and fast course at the Santa Monica-Venice Christmas 10k. This course is so great and I am hoping it will be cooler than it was last year.

So basically that is it for the Fall. I will have December to ramp up my mileage as I head towards the New Years Eve Doubleheader (10k and half on Sunday), Star Wars weekend where I will be doing the 5k, 10k and half and all building towards what will hopefully be another PR attempt at the LA Marathon.

So for the Fall I have on deck and basically all in the month of November:

3 5ks
3 10ks
2 half marathons
1 full marathon

What does your Fall look like?

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Magical Mickey Mondays: 2015 Disneyland Half Information

8/11/2015

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It is Monday so we are linking up with another Magical Mickey with John at run.geek.rundisney and Katie from Adventures by Katie.

I can't believe it is almost here! Less than a month I will be celebrating my 5 year runniversary at the race that started it all.

Waivers and corrals are posted. Go type in your information here to print your waiver. From there, take the bib number (located at the bottom) and match it up with the corrals. Sorry 10kers-no corrals posted and this seems to be the norm now-boo!

I am excited because I am corral B for Dumbo which should put me in corral A for the 10k! Yay for getting good pictures!

They also have the course maps which basically look the same as past years.

Want more information? Don't forget to check out the Event Guide!

and I cannot forget my favorite thing. The igiftbag! It includes:
free drawstring backpack from Cigna
Bookmark from Lasting Commeratives
New Balance Tips
Tips from Florida Hospital
Clif shot
and more!

Anyone else getting excited for the DL half weekend? My brother is flying out for it (his first half!) and I am so pumped for the whole weekend.

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Magical Mickey Mondays: Ant Man Preview

7/13/2015

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It is Monday so we are linking up with another Magical Mickey with John at run.geek.rundisney and Katie from Adventures by Katie. With Ant Man coming out this weekend, I thought it would be a great time to review the preview that is happening in California adventure at Its Tough to be a Bug!

This is a perfect preview area for this movie. It is basically the same queue as the attraction but with the posters removed. It also had the Ant Man suit as well.

I knew nothing about this movie except that he can shrink to the size of an ant and have super human strength.

The clip we saw was him trying on the suit for the first time and going through many adventures as an ant. It made GREAT use of the effects in the theater with splashes of water, smoke and of course pokes and bumps. It was all very unexpected and so much fun! The 3d also was clear and very immersive.

The extended trailer they had also piqued my interest. It explained the story a bit more about how the suit was developed and showed other characters too.

I plan on seeing this movie but I'm not sure I can fit it in to see it opening weekend but we will see how the weekend shakes down.

Has anyone else seen the preview? Anyone else planning on seeing Ant Man?

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Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend Medals are Here!!

7/9/2015

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The medals are finally here! YAY! I love them all.

Here are my thoughts:

The 5k is ADORABLE!! It is so cute and I love that mickey and minnie are in Diamond outfits
I can't tell what the ribbon is for the 10k but hopefully they will have a lot more characters out than last time.
I think the Disneyland half medal does not photograph that well but it is easy to tell it is a diamond inside of the diamond and it spins!
Dumbo is the same as previous years and I like the red and yellow ribbon
the kid races are the fairies!! so adorable.

What do you think? Will you be running any of these races to earn these beauties??

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Magical Mickey Mondays: 4th of July at Disneyland

7/6/2015

5 Comments

World of color

It is Monday so we are linking up with another Magical Mickey with John at run.geek.rundisney and Katie from Adventures by Katie. This week I will talk about celebrating the 4th of July at Disneyland.

We the people!

Last year we went to Disneyland on the morning of the 4th to ride the new Alice ride and were shocked at how small the crowds were. I decided then I was going to Disneyland the next year.

Why were the crowds low? I think the main issue is all of the passes are blocked out minus premium. Many people that were there were tourists with park hoppers except at night, APs descended en masse for fireworks.

In the morning, I ran the Rosemead 5k, did some homework, met a high school friend that was in town for lunch, and then we headed down to Disneyland.

We got there around 3(no traffic!) and went shopping at Downtown Disney where my boyfriend got a new watch and a new sweater and I got a 60th anniversary jacket I've been eyeing. We did not wait to park, get on team, nor anywhere in Downtown Disney.

We headed into California Adventure, got a fastpass for Soarin, and rode Swings, little mermaid and saw the AntMan preview (which I will talk about next week!) and then did Soarin before heading into Disneyland. We tried to do Haunted Mansion but it broke right before we went into the stretching room. We waited for dinner at 6:50.

We ate at Big Thunder ranch with my cousin and her mom which I definitely need to write about at some point. We were seated quickly and our food came out in about 5 minutes! We had coleslaw, corn, beans, cornbread (which I didn't have!), ribs, chicken and sausage and iced tea. SO YUMMY!!

It was almost 8 when we were done and the park was a complete zoo. People had started camping out around 5 for the 850 paint the night parade. We decided to grab a spot on Main St and wait. We chatted with people around us including a group of teenagers from Denver whom met some girls from Norway in line for Starbucks (best line: a blonde Norwegian girl got a frapp and said it was too cold. One of the guys said-but Elsa, the cold doesn't bother you anyway! Haha).

Paint the Night is just fantastic. It seriously gets better every time I see it. We made a beeline to the street for fireworks. Disneyland Forever also gets better with each viewing. I've finally got to where I can stop just staring at the projections and really take it all in.

The reason we came started right after: patriotic firework show! They played Grand Ole Flag, Stars and Stripes Forever and the Star Spangled Banner with red, white and blue fireworks. It was exactly what I wanted to see on the 4th and basically how I have always wanted to spend the 4th!

After the fireworks, we Beelined to World of Color and made it was literally two minutes to spear before the patriotic preshow. It was the same music from the fireworks but they made great use of the space and the had fireworks too! World of Color: Celebrate has definitely grown on me more since the last time I saw it a month ago.

We headed out after that with tons of people and had bumper to bumper traffic the whole way home. Fireworks were being shot off basically every 1-2 minutes on the drive which was fun to see. The almost hour and a half drive was not!

I would totally do Disneyland again on the 4th. It was so patriotic and the fireworks were awesome!

What did you do for 4th?

Start of world of color. It went into Patriotic scenes around the nation

Fireworks at Disneyland

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HOw to Make a New Cinderella Costume

7/1/2015

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In honor of AP signups yesterday for the Princess Half marathon, here is one of the costumes I wore: New live action Cinderella.

Missed the recaps for the 2015 Princess Half marathon weekend? Here they are: Princess Frozen 5k, Glass Slipper Challenge (10k +Half).

The new live action Cinderella came together because I figured not many people would have it or know who I was and that seemed like fun!

My mom loves making butterflies so she made my top for me. I sent her a blue shirt and she added the ribbon and sewed the butterflies on as well.

The skirt was pretty easy and she made me a blue sheer one. It's great because I can definitely reuse it.

I would suggest if you do this costume to do a lighter blue than I used. Not many prints had been made at the time and we were going off of grainy internet photos. I had a light turquoise shirt so we went for it.

SUPPLIES NEEDED

light blue shirt
butterflies (my mom made mine out of fabric and pipecleaners)
A way to attach butterflies to it (I used ribbon). After that, they were sewn to the shirt (you could also pin them if you want to reuse the shirt again)
A light blue bottom. Mine was a skirt made with elastic and sheer blue fabric
Glass slippers! I just used my rundisney Cinderella shoes
blue sweatyband
bottoms-i wanted to wear shorts but it was still cold (about 45 when we started) so I opted for capris
I packed a long sleeve shirt but ended up just using a throwaway coat

Have you ever run as Cinderella?

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Disneyland Paris Rundisney Half Marathon Information

6/25/2015

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Information is finally here for the Inaugural rundisney Disneyland Paris Half Marathon from September 22-25, 2016!

I have been all in since it was announced at the Princess Half Marathon that this race was coming as is my boyfriend! We are pumped this news is out now.

EVENTS

runDisney Health & Fitness Expo
- Disney Events Arena®
- Thursday, September 22, 2016 – 3pm-8pm
- Friday, September 23 & Saturday, September 24, 2016 - 8am-8pm

- Headquarters for everything you need to prepare for race weekend is at the Expo.All runners must attend the Expo for race number, T-shirt and gEAR bag pick up. During the Expo celebration, you’ll be able to check out the latest in OfficialrunDisney Race Weekend Merchandise, and get a sneak peek at the latest in fitness apparel, footwear, sunglasses, high tech gadgets, and nutritional products. The Expo will also showcase a Speaker Series that includes appearances by celebrity runner and seminars on training, running, and nutrition featuring speakers and panellists from the running industry.

Disneyland® Paris 5K
- Saturday, September 24, 2016
- 7am
- You be at least 5 years old to run this race

- Everyone’s invited to join the excitement during the 5K (3,1miles/5km) through the most magical race course on Earth, Disneyland® Park and Walt Disney Studios® Park! Cheered on by Disney Characters, your run will take you down Main Street, U.S.A.®, past the iconic Sleeping Beauty Castle, through Hollywood Boulevard, and around the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™ **. Perfect for beginners, intermediates or even racing veterans aged pre-teen and older, this is a running event where every family passes the finishing line with unforgettable memories.

runDisney Kids Races
- Saturday, September 24, 2016
- From 10am
- You must be under 12 years old

- Bring out your youngest runners for a magical race chock full of fun and memories during the Disneyland® Paris Inaugural Half Marathon weekend. Children under 12 are invited to participate in a series of runs designed specifically for them. Parents can also run with their children. The event will feature a 100m dash followed by the 200m, 400m course. For older kids, there’s even a 1k and 2k race! And every participant goes home a winner with their very own runDisney Kids Races Inaugural Event Finisher Medallion!

Disneyland® Paris Half Marathon
- Sunday, September 25, 2016
- 7am
- You must be 18 to run this race

- Be one of the first to join the fun during the first ever Disneyland® Paris Half Marathon run through Disneyland® Paris. Your 13.1 mile Half Marathon will put you in the middle of all the Disney magic. At Walt Disney Studios® Park, you’ll run down Hollywood Boulevard, and past the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™**. At Disneyland® Park, you’ll run through Main Street, U.S.A.®, past Sleeping Beauty Castle, and then through the countryside and villages that surround the Disney Parks, circle back to Disney Village® en route to the finish line for a victory celebration and your exclusive inaugural Disneyland Paris Half Marathon Finisher Medal. And along with your family or friends, Disney Characters will be on hand to cheer you along the race course.

RULES

You will need to be cleared by a medical doctor to participate. here is an example of the waiver. You will need to submit it online as well as bring a copy with you to pick up your bib (this is pretty standard procedure in European races, especially ones run in France)
You will need to maintain a 16 minute per mile pace on the 5k and half marathon to finish
You will need to submit a proof of time by June 1, 2016 if you plan on running under 1:30 half marathon (is this a typo?!?)
You will need to pick up your own bib

REGISTRATION

Package registration for the Disneyland® Paris Half Marathon Weekend is scheduled to open on October 6, 2015
Take part in the Disneyland® Paris Half Marathon Weekend through one of our travel groups.
The runDisney Travel Provider Program provides runners traveling to our events special travel packages and superb customer service. These runDisney travel providers can help put together a travel package that is right for you! (these will include theme park admission)
Tour and Travel Partners list will be communicated at time of sales opening.
Limited race registrations are scheduled to start on January 12, 2016 for individual registrations.
Charity information will also be available on October 6, 2015.
No mention of AP signups or what time registration will occur

CASTLE TO CHATEAU CHALLENGE
What is the runDisney Castle to Château Coast Race Challenge?
If you complete a half marathon distance at Disneyland® Paris and at the Disneyland® Resort in California or a half marathon or marathon at the Walt Disney World® Resort in Florida, in the same calendar year, then you will receive an additional medal commemorating your achievement.
MORE BLING!!!

Of course I am in for the 5k and half have to run all of the races when I am traveling that far! and can we PLEASE note the 7am start time!?!?!? and I cannot WAIT to see that Castle to Chateau challenge medal-OMG!

and I am already thinking of costumes and the short list is Aurora and Belle so I will need to consult my little sisters (they love to help me select costumes for my races).

Anyone else wanting to do this race?

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Tuesdays on the Run: Challenge Races

6/23/2015

4 Comments

Dumbo 2013: so hot!

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. This week's topic is about Challenge races: running races back to back.

Challenge races are my BRF (Best Running Friend)! No really- Challenges are close to my heart especially the rundisney ones. I love the challenge of them and most importantly: the BLING!! I have been in since the first Dumbo was announced in 2013.

Since then I have run:

3 Dumbos and signed up for a 4th (2012,2013,2014)
2 Glass Slipper Challenges (2014,2015)
1 Dopey/Goofy
1 Rebel Challenge and signed up for another (2016)
1 Pixie Dust Challenge and will sign up for another
Signed up for the unofficial challenge of running the wine and dine 5k in the morning and half at night
Signed up for 1 Infinity Gauntlet challenge
Did the LA Turkey trot 5k/10k (back to back) and signed up to do it again
signed up for the 2016 New Years race (non-rundisney and it will be a 10k followed by a half an hour later)
signed up for the 2016 All Day Carlsbad 20k where I will run 4 5ks back to back (Master's Men, Master's Women, under 29, 30-39)

So 10 total with 6 currently signed up for and 1 more I will sign up for next month (Pixie Dust!!!).

I LOVE challenges and enjoy training for them (yes, I'm a weirdo). Since 2013, I have learned A LOT about challenges and how best to prepare so you can enjoy yourself.

Glass slipper challenge 2014

TIPS FOR RUNNING A CHALLENGE
1. BE REALISTIC
Are you ready to take on the challenge? I know we all love to be encouraging but I really suggest people tackle each distance individually before doing it all together. It will give you the confidence that you can do it and also well allow you to learn your body and how it adapt to training before jumping into new territory. You don't want to do too much too fast. The challenges will be there next year.

Also a huge thing-is this the right time? Check from now until the race: do you have enough time to train and prepare? If there's a wedding, graduation, move, job change, even time of year in there, this may not be the right time. You want to finish and finish strong.

2. TRAIN
This seems like common sense but it is not at all. You need a plan and you need to stick to it (this is so insanely crucial for Dopey-I've already written an entire post on Dopey tips here) to matter what. You have to get your body used to racing back to back days

3. EAT
This is one of the reasons training is so important, you need to practice eating enough calories and carb loading which can only come with practice.

4. SLEEP
yes this starts now. Having proper sleep hygiene while help with training as your body adapts to the increase in training. It will allow your body to repair itself and make sure you are rested for your runs.

5. CROSS TRAIN
Just running and running more will lead to injuries. Start now getting into a routine of being more active, weight training, yoga, stretching and rolling that works. It will keep you strong and also help with injuries.

Dopey and Rebel Challenge

WHAT I PERSONALLY DO
In all of my race recaps, I do a full recap of what I did the day before and after. This is important for me to go back and read after the fact to see what I can tweak for next time. I also have a running journal where I write out my plan before, during and after and make notes right after for what I learned/ can improve upon.

BALANCE
One of the main things I have a hard time balancing is being at Disney for challenge races. For me, this is much easier at Disneyland as I live 40 min away and can go whenever. For WDW, this can be harder but that is why I like to plan a few vacation days after the race to help with recovery and also get more park time in. You can't burn the candles at both ends-you will end up miserable and tired.

PLAN MEALS
Personally, I plan all of my meals first. I start with dinners. I like to have dinner around 5 preferably at a sit down location so that its reserved and will allow me to hopefully get back to my hotel room by 7.

BEDTIME ROUTINE
From there, I double check I have everything I need set out, double check my alarm and plan for the morning and try to get in bed by 8.

SLEEP
For DL races, that will allow me close to 8 hours before I have to get up. For WDW, that will allow me 7 hours before I need to get up. I don't believe it is just luck that the races I've gotten the most sleep before (Tink 2014 and 2015) are the races I've felt very strong at.

DURING THE RACE
During the race, I like to hold back for the first race (or series of races). The important thing is to get through the longest race well. The best way to do that is to hold back and take your time in the first ones. This is easier said than done because people FLY at the start. Stick to your plan and you will be fine.

FUELING
Make sure you are fueling properly during the race. I usually increase my fueling to include more shots or bloks before I will need it (yes, you have seen me taking clif shots during a 5k and 10k-gotta restock that sugar and glycogen). You are trying to hold glycogen in your muscles so the sooner you restock the sugars lost, the better.

EAT EAT EAT
After the race, you need to eat immediately to restock carbs. I always eat the box of food given at the finish and try and have a recovery meal within an hour. I usually head straight to food whether it is a meal or a food court stop.

REST AND STRETCH AND ROLL
Once in the hotel, I shower, stretch and roll and relax. I want to give my muscles a chance to recharge. I also lay out all of my clothes, accessories and food I need for the next day and charge all electronics.

I try not to rest more than an hour and usually don't nap. I head back out to the parks and grab lunch or a large snack around noon.

PARK TIME
Walking around the parks is great recovery. It keeps the lactic acid at bay but keep it easy. You will want to stretch when you can and keep moving and hydrating.

HYDRATE
Water is the key. You want to drink as much water as possible so you are well hydrated. I always carry a water bottle with me.

AGAIN AGAIN
Like I said, dinner is early and then back to repeat the cycle! After the final race, I do like a quick nap (an hour or so) before heading out to celebrate.

Pixie Dust Challenge

Oh and make sure to wear your medals around the park!

That should do it for tips. As always, check out my recaps from past races and feel free to contact me if you ever need help with training for challenges!

Anyone else like challenges as much as I do?

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How to Make An Ariel Costume

6/12/2015

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Missed the recaps for the 2015 Princess Half marathon weekend? Here they are: Princess Frozen 5k, Glass Slipper Challenge (10k +Half).

The Ariel costume I wore is more Disney bounding then costume. The only thing I would have done differently would be to add shells to the shirt.

Originally I was planning on running in a sports bra since Princess the past 2 years has been so hot and humid. Well it was freezing this time so I opted to wear the purple shirt I packed as precautionary measures since it was cold.

SUPPLIES NEEDED

purple sports bra and/or top

Green bottoms

Red hat or headband (or a wig if you're brave!)

I also had an Ariel bow I got from hot topic

My grandma made my skirt and picked it because it reminded her of sparkly water. Just be warned wearing something with glitter because it gets EVERYWHERE. I found it still in the bottom of the bag I packed my costumes in.

Have you ever dressed as Ariel?