Make sure to check out my recaps for the 2016 Glass Slipper Challenge (Expo, 10k + Half)

The Rapunzel outfit I wore for the Half came together pretty easy but since I glued the ribbons on, it took longer than I would have liked. Make sure to set aside at least a week to allow all of the ribbons to dry. 
You need: 

• Purple shirt
• Purple bottoms (I used a sparkle Athletic)
• Purple ProCompression  (I wore mine with yellow, pink and purple to bring it together)
• Purple hat (I used a sparkle Athletic)
• Blonde hair (either natural or weave)

For the shirt design you will need:

• White thin lace for the collars
• Thin pink ribbon for the corset 
• Medium pink ribbon for shoulders 

To complete the shirt design: 

• The lace goes around the collar and the bottom of the shirt all of the way around
• The medium pink ribbon goes on the shoulders. I did 8 ribbons on the shoulder (4 on each side of the shirt)
• I used tulle for underneath the corset that but is not necessary
• The corset was just the thin pink ribbon zig zagged down-this part took awhile as I had to make sure the ribbon was glued on before continuing with the ribbon. I did measure it before and just cut it if it was too long
• The bow was just tied ribbon glued on the top
• TIP: Make sure to put newspaper inside the shirt so the glue won't get stuck (this happened more than once to me!)

Hair: 

• For the hair I got yellow yarn and cut strips that were the same length as my armspan
• I cut 27 pieces and then grouped them into 3 groups of 9
• I tied the top of it and just braided it all the way down
• I put in clip on flowers (they were 99 cents at the craft store)

Overall, it was easy to put together and I loved how it turned out! 

​Has anyone else ever run as Rapunzel? 

Princess Half marathon #4: here we come! 
​
Mallory and I woke up at 3:05 and I was definitely a bit groggy and sleepy. I need to remember that for next time when a meetup dinner before and make sure I get enough sleep. It also didn't help that I was still jet lag. 
 We got ready quickly and were out of the hotel by 3:45 and over to the monorail. We didn't have long to wait for either monorail and got to Epcot by 4:15. We took the long walk over, took some pics, checked our bag and headed to the corrals. 

The walk to the corrals is about 20-30 min so make sure to plan accordingly. We had plenty of time to spare so we used the Portos and then went to our corrals. I was excited to be in D as this was the highest corral placement I have had in WDW ever! Yay! 

I somehow moved up to the front of the corral and was about 3 rows back-oops. I took off at what I thought was an easy pace and looked down and saw I was going a 9:25 pace. Uh oh. I slowed down and got out of the way but my shins were killing me. I basically had to slow down and walk a lot more in the first one mile to calm down my screaming shins. Even though I thought I was at a crawling pace, I still hit the first 5k in 11:31 pace so I recovered nicely. 

The first few miles are pretty dark but they added in a group of volunteers cheering right after the first water stop which was greatly appreciated. One thing I love about this course is the first water stop is about at the first mile which is appreciated as its been awhile since we've had water. 

After the mile 2 marker, they had a hot air balloon out but no pirate ship. This part was definitely really dark am I'm not sure why! It was hard to see until we got closer to the MK sign. The princes were out but I knew I could hit them on the way back.

We went through the magic kingdom sign and headed towards TTC. We hit another water stop and a new Porto system. Basically someone was stationed at the Portos and there was one line and all the Portos were numbered. The person stationed called out numbers and even though I didn't use it, Mallory said it work well and efficiently. 

I hit the 5k mark at 35:51 (11:33 pace)
​Running splits: 11:30/11:30/11:16

​This was my first time running by where the speedway was and it was a bit strange. Also since it was early and the sun was starting to come up, it was super foggy-looked a bit creepy. 
I finally stopped for a photo! Jasmine and Abu were out. While in line we saw the first place people fly by on the other side-so crazy! 

After have a jammed packed day at the Expo and crashing hard at 8PM, I was up at 330 and actually felt refreshed. However my legs were a bit stiff which is not surprising. I got dressed, made breakfast and tea, stretched and was off to the bus by 4.
We got on the bus around 4:10 and then had a crazy adventure. The exit to Epcot was closed and the driver was not told another way to go so we went all the way down to the AK exit and had to turn around to come up Osceola parkway. We made it there by 4:30. 

I walked over to check my bag and get in the corrals and got some good stretching in before we were moved up to the start line at 5:10. I chatted with a girl named Madison before we started. One thing was the microphones or the speakers at the front were not working. We could not hear anything which means people were talking through the national anthem. 

We started at 5:31 and the crowd was moving pretty fast. One thing I like about the 10k course is it opens up quickly so I was able to pull over out of the way to do my intervals. My plan was to use 60/30 as it's pretty easy on my body and I knew I was still in recovery from LAM. my plan was to go on feel and not run with pain. Well let's just say, my legs felt better than I thought they would. My first mile was a bit under 11 min, and then my running pace from there was faster. I was having to force myself to walk slower and take more breaks as I needed to save my legs for the half the next day. 
​
The course is the same as the WDW 10k with running out towards the Epcot parking entrance and looping back on the road until you hit backstage. From there, you go around the World Showcase and towards the Boardwalk area before entering Epcot and finishing in the parking lot. 

We kept going and passed the video sign playing Disney remix music videos and headed backstage. On the entrance backstage is where the halfway point is. It is interesting to note that this year there was 6 corrals (A-F) instead of 5. When we entered backstage, I heard the fireworks that let off corral E or F (I lost count somewhere in the middle) so as it usually happens, someone wins before everyone has even started!
We enter World Showcase by Norway and hit our second water stop. We passed China, Refreshment Port and Germany. I told a potty break in Germany and took a selfie with spaceship earth and made it to Italy where Jiminy and Pinocchio were waiting! 

We continued around world showcase and I stopped for Cogsworth and Lumiere in France who are just so cute! ​

We continued out of the International Gateway and over to the Boardwalk and I stopped for the Genie outside of ESPN Zone and even got to hear the Usc fight song (#FIGHTON!). We continued around the Boardwalk where I saw the Lizards! We made our way over to yacht club and beach club before heading back into Epcot. ​

Right before the entrance back into Epcot, Queen Sofia was there. We continued backstage and entered Epcot right before Journey into Imagination and continued past The Land and Living Seas before heading towards Spaceship Earth.

I finished in 1:33 (15 min/mile pace). My running miles were: 10:47/10:11/10:33/10:27/10:53/10:31/.2 in 10:12 for a total of 1:05. I added about 28 minutes with my one potty break and photo stops-not too bad! 

I grabbed my stuff and headed straight for the bus. I got back to the room to shower, stretch and relax a bit before grabbing a quick breakfast at the hotel. I got to the bus area and the AK bus pulled up immediately and a private shuttle to AK: score! I Waited for everyone else from the expo and we did the Safari, Everest and got a nice African margarita and tried the new pulled pork grits:YUM! I also got my  beloved iced tea too. 
We then took a taxi over to Disney Springs for the We Run Social meetup, a great round of drinks at Hangar Bar and a bit of shopping. We stopped by Fit2Run and got a free gift:woohoo!
I then headed to Wilderness Lodge to meet up with the BOGP Lizards and had a great meal at Whispering Canyon. A bit too much fun probably as we didn't leave until almost 8 and I didn't get in bed until 9. Oops! 
I definitely had a fabulous day but was on my feet all day so I knew my legs would be a bit tired. I passed out by 9 for a 3:05 wake up call.

Overall, I had a great time at the 10k however I'm not a huge fan of the out and back at the beginning especially because it's dark and not all of my pictures turned out that great. I'm excited to see how the Star Wars 10k turns out as its a completely different course than this course. 
​
What's the last 10k you ran? 

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? 

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. 

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. 

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? 

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?

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

During Princess Half weekend (all recaps are here: Princess Frozen 5k, Glass Slipper Challenge (10k +Half)
!) I was able to stay with my cousin at Grand Floridian Villas. We stayed in a studio and there were 4 adults total. 

Overall, it is gorgeous! There are Mary Poppins touches all over the hotel and everything was beautiful. One HUGE thing (which I think will be standard in DVC rooms coming forward) is the two showers. So you have the regular bathroom and toilet and also a separate shower by the sink. It made for getting ready in the morning fast! 


I slept on the pull out bed under the television since I had to get up 3 early mornings in a row. I love that bed, it was comfortable and also so easy to clean up in the morning. 


One down side: NO STORAGE! Seriously, the room sleeps 5 and all they had was a closet, 5 shelves in the closet, the same drawers on the night stand and one big pull out drawer under the bed and half of another one (if you pulled it out too far, then it hit the nightstand). They did have places under the bed to hide luggage though. I hope this is something they somehow fix. Most of us were living out of suitcases for the week we were there. 


overall, I would stay there again. We could see part of the MK fireworks from our balcony and the hotel is just lovely. The monorail is easy (as long as the express doesn't break down which is what happened to me one night and it took 45 min to get back to GF). 


Has anyone else stayed at the Grand Floridian Villas? What did you think of it? 

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


During Princess Half weekend, I was lucky enough to attend a facebook group meet up from the Glass Slipper Group at Afternoon tea at the grand Floridian. They have just changed their menu so I was not sure how it would all work out especially with gluten free eating. 

Everything is now ordered in a set, no more pots of tea by themselves. I was able to order the Chesire package which comes with a pot of tea, glass of champagne, and 3 courses-sandwich, scone and dessert.  

The chef came out to talk to me and said they could substitute gluten free bread for everything and make me a special dessert. 

Everytime I have been here, I have always gotten the Mad Hatter tea as its my favorite. This time I went with our servers recommendation and tried the Eros with  notes of vanilla and mandarin orange and was fantastic! 

The first course was the sandwiches. I had gluten free bread on all the sandwiches and cheese which was awesome. The next course was gluten free bread (cinnamon and regular) to use with all of the spreads. The last course was dessert where the chef especially made me macaroons! 

Overall I had a great time getting to know the ladies I have been conversing with online and the food was great. Since we had a reservation around 4, it actually served as my dinner. 

A few tips: 
1. Service is very relaxed (read:slow!) so keep that in mind. I enjoy it but don't expect to be in and out in an hour. 
2. Their gluten free accommodations were wonderful 
3. They are only open in the afternoon (2pm-5pm) and since the service is long, it can be hard to get a reservation
 4. It is expensive (we paid 50 each) but it is a hearty meal and they do take Tables in Wonderland!

Anyone else been to get tea at the Grand Floridian?

It was warmer but not by much! I decided to suffer in the cold and wear capris under my skirt and a short sleeve top. To make sure I was warm, I packed throw away clothes and took them off right before the start. 
The day before I went to tea with a Facebook group I am in (shout out to Glass Slipper Challenge group!) and had a great time. Then I headed back to MK to ride pirates and big thunder since they had been down earlier in the day. Well heading back was drama and I got into bed much later than I should have and couldn't fall asleep! I didn't end up falling asleep around 930 or so which doesn't go over so well with a 3:15wake up call. 
I got up feeling okay and decided to have a cup of tea before I left and another while on the monorail to wake myself up and also warm myself up. The monorail was much quicker today and I was able to make it to the team rundisney meetup! After that I went to check my bag, use the port a potty and head off to hang out with Joanne for a bit. 
I headed into the corral around 450 and they moved us up about 510 to the starting line. I was able to get some pump up jams in and also stay warm and even got to do the Cupid shuffle! 
Before I knew it, it was time to start. I knew this course very well: service roads out and back to backstage of Epcot, around world showcase, around the boardwalk and then finish! 

I continued down to the first water stop and this is the boring part of the course but it does really open up so I was able to drift all the way to the right and not be in anyone's way. Before I knew it, we were heading backstage around the halfway point. 

Backstage we had another water stop and entered just after Norway to world showcase. The only characters I remember seeing and not stopping for was Jiminy cricket because his line was pretty long. In France, Marie was out with no line! I had to stop for my girl Marie.

We continued through the international gateway and out towards the boardwalk where I saw princess Minnie was towards the end! I decided to try and get over to her as fast I could. 
Heading to the boardwalk, I saw Donald in baseball gear and had to stop for a quick picture.

Overall, this 10k was way better than the inaugural one last year and much better than the dopey 10k. I would definitely run this again. Some of that may have been because I was in corral A so the lines weren't as long but I feel like the characters out this time were much better than in past races. 

Did you run the enchanted 10k? What were your thoughts on it? 
Do you like the 10k distance? What was the last 10k you ran? 

What is up with me dressing as Anna and it been freezing for a WDW 5k? Or maybe I jinxed myself when during the WDW 5k I said-at least it will be warmer at princess. Well it was warmer and without the wind but it was still cold! I learned from my mistakes last time and also packed fleece pants for each race in addition to hooded jackets. 

I am not sure I have explained why I am coronation Anna this time around. I love Frozen, as we know, and Anna is my favorite mainly because I act a lot like her (or maybe she acts a lot like me...). Anyways, I let my little sisters pick out my costumes and I was originally going to be Elsa. Well when I was home for Christmas break, I woke up and my sister Ashley said-your hair looks just like Anna on coronation day, and well it did! Since then, my sisters have been making fun of my Anna hair, even when it is all done nice. 

The night before I laid everything out and when I get back after an awesome dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern, walked through my routine for the morning. I got into bed around 830 or so and was set to get up at 4:15. 

I slept pretty well and was up and ready to go, hair included (you can't tell, but I braided the top of my hair!). Got ready and headed to the monorail and was excited to finally get to take the monorail to a race! We got on the monorail at 5 and to TTC at 515 and saw it had been 25 minutes since the last one!! We had to wait almost 10 min for it to come and it took awhile from there and about 10 min to walk to the monorail station. We got to the pre race place at 540. I met up with Joanne and then heading to my corral right after. At 6 we started the walk from corral A to the starting line. 

I was so excited to be Corral A! I had been working hard to improve my time so I could have more time on the course. It was definitely worth it!

I kept my throwaway clothes on until the wheelchair start. The playing of Frozen music all the time made me incredibly happy and I even decided to listen to just Frozen music during the run.

 I was worried I would be cold but it was fine before and great when we started. Before I knew it, it was our turn to start. Not going to lie, I teared up a bit while starting: they played my favorite Frozen music (the part at the end when Elsa fixes the kingdom), I was running directly under the fireworks for the start and just the knowledge I was doing Princess again (running all of the races at that!) and so soon after dopey. I was also excited to try out my new interval that Jeff suggested at the Expo!

This was the same course as the WDW 5k so I knew what to expect: short tour through the parking lot, down the road we walk to for the half corrals, backstage, around world showcase and through Epcot to the finish. 

the excitement of race definitely got to me and I started off fast. Like first running segment in under 9:00 mile pace. The cold felt good and I felt good. I ended up being pretty speedy through the parking lot and got to Minnie Mouse in record time:7 minutes. If I had not stopped, that would have put me on pace for a 10 min mile which is unheard of in a Disney race for me. The line was short so of course I waited. 

Continued around world showcase and learned they were playing "Let it Go" over the speakers but in all different languages. It was a nice touch!
Mickey was out in America so I stopped for him and kept going around the world showcase. 

Continued to the front of the park towards spaceship earth and Elsa,Anna, and Kristoff were waiting to greet us! 
Went over towards the imagination pavilion and I stopped for a potty break so I wouldn't have to stop before getting on the bus. Over to the Land, the Seas, and back to spaceship earth. We kept going to the finish line and then I was done!

I finished in 48:xx. This isn't a timed race but I made note of the clock. For having 4 photo stops, numerous selfie stops and a restroom break-that's pretty good! 

Overall I enjoyed this 5k better than the one in Jan-maybe because I was in corral A? From what I heard, the corrals were released every 10 min. The course has a lot of entertainment and since it's not timed, it's a good race for young kids as well as first timers. I was ecstatic with the pics I got too!

When is the last time you ran a 5k? Have you ever run a Disney 5k? What did you think of the legit frozen 5k?