Wine and Dine Half Marathon Training Begins!

Well we are officially one week into runDisney's Wine and Dine Half Marathon Training!  Only 16 and a half weeks to go!  runDisney provides training guides for runners based on the Jeff Galloway training methods.  You can find them here! They update them every year and you can import them into your calendars for some gentle, or not so gentle reminders.

First Run of the 2014 Wine and Dine Half Marathon Training Guide!

I am notorious for not training.  I mean well, but then I just don't do it.  It seems like every race post starts out with some version of how it's another race that I haven't trained for.

Which there's no reason for that nonsense.  Jeff Galloway has 2 - 30 minute runs a week followed by a long run on Saturdays.  Like I can't find 30 minutes on Tuesdays and Thursdays to run, and I'm certainly not doing much on Saturdays. (except in the fall....we'll see how this works with football season!)

Running in the 90 degree heat along with at least 60% humidity should have me ready for Florida in November, right?

I'm combining the Couch to 5K intervals with the runDisney guide.  So last week, I did 2 - 30 minute runs, at 1 minute running and 90 seconds brisk walking, and then a 2 mile run on Saturday with the same intervals.  This week it's 2 - 30 minute runs with 90 seconds running and 2 minutes brisk walking with a 3 mile run on Saturday.

I'm hoping a combination of both increasing my intervals and mileage slowly will help me build my endurance, along with letting my knee and ankle heal from...whatever it is that's ailing them.

A very welcome unseasonably cool run!

I'm planning on heading to good old FleetFeet this weekend to get fitted for some new shoes.  My bargain bin Nike Outlet shoes aren't cutting it.  I plan on getting some new SuperFeet insoles as well. I L-O-V-E those.

What helps you to stick to your training for races?

Wine and Dine Half Marathon - First Obstacle Completed

Shoot runDisney races are so stressful just to register. They keep getting more and more expensive, and more and more popular.  I don't get it.

In the summer of 2012, I registered for the 2013 Princess Half Marathon. I registered for it early, but I don't remember doing it as soon as registration opened.  I do remember that it was after that that we learned about the Coast to Coast Challenge after that and many months later Ben registered.  I want to say that was around October but I'm not sure.

Our first runDisney and half marathon medal - Princess Half Marathon

We realized that if we were going to run one half marathon, we might as well go for our Coast to Coast.  We've never been to Disneyland so we figured now is a good time as any.

Disneyland Half Marathon Medal

Fast forward to January of 2013, Disneyland Half Marathon goes on sale.  runDisney had added 2 new events, the 10K and the Dumbo Dare Challenge.  Apparently these types of challenges make the races difficult to pass up.  The race sold out in 26 hours.  I remember fortunately being off that day from work, and calling Ben in a panic because we needed to register IMMEDIATELY!  We were calling our friends who we had planned on running with making sure they had registered.  Very stressful.

But nevertheless, we were able to get that coveted Coast to Coast Medal!

As it is with most people, as soon as you finish a race, you immediately start planning the next one.  Well the same things happens with me, for both running, and Disney trips. I immediately had my eye on the Wine and Dine Half Marathon.  Honestly, how could you pass up a party in the World Showcase until 4 in the morning for only the runners and their families?

I then started recruiting to get people to come with us.  We have a group of runners from college that I worked on selling it to, I tried to sell it to some friends who love Disney as much as we do.  We came up with 6 of us.  Should be an awesome time!

So I started doing my research, stalking blogs, and all that to find out exactly when the race would go on sale. I found out it was sometime in March, then sometime in early March, then March 4th.  Should be easy to remember, it was noon eastern time on Mardi Gras.  So 11:00 here in Nashville. I was working (dangit) So I told my boss that I would be out of commission at about 10:50 until...well until I got registered.  My husband called, we had a plan, both register for ourselves.  That way one of us isn't trying to register for the other. I stared at the clock for about 10 minutes, which takes FOREVER.  Like trying to watch a pot boil.

tick tick...tock tock...tick tock...go clock go!

I had roughly 10 tabs open in my Chrome. Facebook running groups, runDisney pages, active.com.  11:05...still nothing.  Then the facebook groups started blowing up "IT'S LIVE!".  HOLY CRAP I COULDN'T FIND THE LINK.  I am panicking.  I could feel my heartbeat in my throat as I think, am I seriously going to throw up because of registering for a runDisney race?

Finally, after some freaked out phone calls to the husband we found the link.  I got registered for the Wine and Dine Half Marathon and the Jingle Jungle 5K just as planned.  I call Ben back to make sure he had gotten registered.  He hadn't!  The page froze before he could get it submitted.  Cue another freak-out.  I take the reigns and get him registered.  WHEW!  We got in.  We check with our friends who are going with us.  Everyone got in!  HOORAY!

Now for the fun, and not so fun part.  The planning and waiting...oh and yes...the training.

So a heads up, if you are reading some of these posts and thinking, 'man runDisney sounds like ALOT of fun' you'd be right.  But do you research!  They are expensive!  They just announced a new Avengers Half Marathon in Disneyland where registration starts at $195!!!  Also know when it goes on sale.  Like your blood sugar check the runDisney website and check it often. They sell out fast, and seem to only be getting faster!

2013 Summary!

2013 has come to an end!  And if you remember from our very first post our goal for 2013 was to run one race every month.  If we doubled up one month, we still had to run one the next month.

Unfortunately we didn't hit every month, August and October ended up being very poor and busy.  We were prioritizing and budgeting as Ben likes to call it for the Disneyland Half Marathon in August, and in October was busy with football season and getting ready for #500Strong for homecoming.

We had some awesome memories however!

From our first run at Grassmere Zoo in Nashville for the Zoo Run Run then heading over and grabbing some spiked milkshakes at Burger Republic.

Starting 2013 off Right with the Zoo Run Run at Grassmere!

Then doubling up in February and doing the Royal Family 5K followed by the Princess Half Marathon!

Royal Family 5K at EPCOT

 And, while we didn't know it at the time, we were finishing half the runDisney Coast to Coast Challenge with running the Princess Half Marathon!

Princess Half Marathon in Disney World!

 While i'm not sure if it was the best idea, we certainly tested the limits running in the elements of the 2013 Charlotte Spartan Race

Then making it a family affair in March at the Color Run!

Color Run with the Famliy!

Then we headed to Georgia for the 2nd Annual Party of the Southland Adventure Weekend for Warrior Dash!

PartyOTS Adventure Weekend 2013

We brought a couple newcomers with us for Foam Fest in Nashville.  While it was our least favorite race of the year, the Banderas made it much better!

BANDERAS!

Then we all busted out our #Swag for the first Urban Obstacle Course by Muddy Buddy!

#SWAG

We learned at the Fourth of July 10K that after a 10K, 2 beers is my limit for re-hydration.  3 beers, and I feel terrible.

Sisters at the Fourth of July 10K

Then we missed our first Tennessee home game in 20 years to complete the runDisney Coast to Coast Challenge at the Disneyland Half Marathon!

After just running through the castle

We met some friends from college as they also completed their Coast to Coast Challenge.

The whole crew at the Disneyland Half Marathon!

Then we nearly froze to death at the BoroDash in Murfreesboro on Thanksgiving!

Ben and Jenn at the starting line!

And we finished it off with the Christmas Story 10K virtual Race!

It's a Major Award!

We look forward to repeating some races in 2014, trying some new ones, and continue to run in our drinking shoes!

Disneyland Half Marathon 2013! Part II

Race Day:

3:00am.  Our alarm went off.  That's a RIDICULOUS time to get up for a race.  The things we do for runDisney.  We put on our costumes.  I found an awesome tuxedo t-shirt for Ben in the print of the blue jacket the Beast wears and I wore a yellow tank top and skirt and a red rose for Belle.

Roughly 4:00am on Race Morning

I highly HIGHLY recommend costumes for runDisney races.  Do you have to wear them?  No. Are you going to be looked at funny if you do/don't wear one?  No.  But it's alot of fun.  There are TONS of ideas out there, just make sure to Keep It Simple, Stupid.  It is still 13.1 miles, you don't want to be uncomfortable at mile .1.

Ben trained quiet a bit harder than I did so we split up for this race.  He took off like a speeding bullet and I chugged along.

Jenn and Jan at sunrise at Paradise Pier

We made it to Disneyland

Fixing to run through the Castle!

BOOM!

 As we went to Disneyland we couldn't help but compare it to our beloved Disney World.  This race, you are completely done with the Disney parts of the race by mile 4.  Sure you go through Angels Stadium and

by the Honda Center, but it's lacking in the Disney Magic if you ask me.   The cool part about it is the entire community of Anaheim comes out to support you.  There were local marching bands, classic cars, dance teams, people on their front porches all out to cheer you on so that was awesome.

Welcome to Mile 4

Mile 9 is by, and through, Angles Stadium.

And of course you know I did the Angles in the Outfield move.  I also chanted "Quack, Quack, Quack" when running by the Honda Center.  

Now we were in the home stretch.  We were a bit slower that anticipated based on the heat and the (at the time) secret pregnancy (YAY JAN!) so now it was a race against the dreaded balloon ladies.  If you don't keep a 16 minute/mile pace they will sweep you.  We've heard horror stories of them blocking the course with a bus and requiring everyone to get on the bus instead of completing the race.  We've also heard that if you get back to Disney property they won't sweep you.  So it was a race against the balloons.

We Did IT!

Jenn and Ben with their DL and C2C medals!

The whole gang with their medals!

As I promised in the last post the blue banana vomit story.  So as me and Jan were finishing up, we called Ben and Tim to see where they were so we could meet up (and to let them know we are almost finished to get a picture).  They said they were in ESPN Zone.  If you know Ben and Tim that obviously means they are hydrating...with beer.  Come to find out, after the race, Tim chugged a blue powerade and ate a banana.  One of the two, or perhaps a combination of both, upset his stomach and that's where Ben found him...crouched over vomiting behind a kiosk.  Blue Banana Vomit.  Then this picture happened.

Don't you....forget about me....

After the race we could either wait for the shuttle back to the off-property hotel or walk the 1 mile.  We've already gone 13.1, what's another mile?  Turns out, 1 mile after a half marathon is a 51 minute mile. 

We got back to the hotel where I walked immediately into an ice bath.  I LOVE ice baths after a long run.  We originally tried this after the Royal Family 5K in February the day before the Princess Half Marathon.  We knew our legs were exhausted after 2 days in the parks, plus a 5K so we thought we had nothing to lose.  Our legs felt great after it and completely ready for the half marathon the next day.

Ice Bath Celebration

 After cleaning up the boys went to In and Out Burger.  This is the stuff of legends for Southerners.  I've never been to one.  Let me tell you, this is straight from the gods after a run.  We devoured our animal fries and animal burgers in silence.

Headed back out to the parks after the race to celebrate!

Of course you cannot celebrate without a Dole Whip Float!

Introducing Jan to the nectar of the tiki gods.

 

It was delicious

What a beautiful view.

Jenn and Ben...Enjoying the parks

I completely DESTROYED Ben on this game.  

CarsLand!  It was so cool!

One more day in LA so we toured Paramount Studios.  We saw Mychal Rivera's sister! Go Vols!

We went to see the Space Shuttle Endeavour which was simply amazing.

One more stop then we headed back to God's Country.

We had an absolute awesome time.  The parks were great, the race was finished, the Southern California TN Alumni Association chapter was so friendly and welcoming.  Even with the weather being unseasonably hot and the queue lines, restaurants, everything, not having adequate air conditioning for this Southern girl we had an absolute amazing trip.  

We got to the airport where they searched my hair!  I felt more violated than I did when I walked through the naked scanner.  Then we were of course pulled aside where the guy already knew what he was looking at through the scanner on my carry on.  He had see the mass quantity of medal and made me empty out my bag only to find 4 giant hunks of runDisney medals.  #runDisneyproblems

After planes, trains and automobiles we arrived safely back to Tennessee, only for me to realize we no longer have a Disney trip on the books.  Time to start planning.  Here's to Wine and Dine 2014!

Disneyland Half Marathon 2013! Part I

So after running the Princess in February we though, we might as well do another one in California to get that coveted Coast to Coast Medal!  So we signed up for it...even though it would mean the following 3 things:

• It would be the first home game Jenn would miss in 12 years
• It would be the first home game Ben would miss in 20 years
• It would be the first home game that someone from our family hadn't attended since 1973.

That's a big deal.

We made it out there, through planes, trains, and automobiles.  Yes we watched that during a layover.

Nashville -bussed-> Atlanta -flew-> Ft. Lauderdale, FL -flew-> Los Angeles -car ride-> Anaheim

We headed to the parks the 1st day (Thursday), our hotel was a mile from the parks so we walked.  When you're doing a 13+ mile run in a couple days what's an additional 2 miles each day?

Complete with First Visit Buttons!

We ran back and forth between parks.  I HIGHLY recommend park hoppers.  We went in first to California Adventures to get a fast pass for Radiator Springs Racers.  I had heard that was the hot ride right now.  So thankful we did!  We got the fast pass at roughly 9:30 and it was for 7:15 that night!  They sell out quickly!

Checking out the New Cars Land

This place served their cokes in giant cones!

This ride is so awesome

Lightning McQueen!

Part of Radiator Springs Racers

 The racers ride was almost identical to the Test Track in EPCOT.  However without all the advertisement which makes it way better.

Clearly I loved this ride.

I think I have the same picture of me on Test Track doing the same thing.  It was so warm and fast.  So awesome.

From there we went back to Disneyland and just started riding anything and everything.  The park was dead.  It was awesome.  

We also got a fast pass for "World of Color" so 2 of the big things we knocked out in the first day!  Side note: I found out my Papa died on this day...the "Up" scene in World of Color didn't go over well...at....all.

Grizzly Rock

For dinner we headed over to New Orleans.  

I got to see inside, now I'm obsessed.  Someone help me get inside!

 So we are standing outside of Club 33 as I take this picture and this couple comes up and also takes a picture.  I said "Hey if you are going inside you have to take me!" of course kidding...because no one goes inside.  They take their picture, ring the bell and go inside.  I was like "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!?"  It hadn't even dawned on me that they were in a suit and dress...I felt like an idiot.

Since Club 33 wasn't an option we headed next door to Blue Bayou.

 This place was awesome.  The ride for Pirates of the Caribbean floats by, the theme is awesome, and their "broiled filet mignon" was one of the greatest I've ever had.

Walt's apartment with the light left on.

Friday started out with more parks. I haven't mentioned the weather yet.  You know Southern California weather right?  Beautiful, sunny, cool days.  There should be an asterisk next to that that says "Unless the Altom's are in town"  It was low 90's, with 60-70% humidity the whole time.

Not that big of a deal, we live in Tennessee, we're used to that.  But we're also used to BLASTING the AC when we come inside.  That's not the case there, all their line queues, dining spots EVERYTHING is outside.

I'd say we handled it pretty well with minimal complaining.  Others did not.  We saw people with coats covering their heads from the sun, walking around with bags of ice on their heads. It was hilarious.

Trader Sam's was once described as the "Awesome badass child of the Enchanted Tiki Room"

 So this bar...where to start.  First it's a Tiki Room with alot of the decorations from the Enchanted Tiki Room in it.  Complete with totem poles with eyes that follow you around.

You order certain drinks, and the entire room is themed to do something. Whether it's the lights go out and the volcano erupts while alarms and red lights flash, or the ship in the bottle gets stormy and sinks.  It. Was. Awesome.

The first drink I ordered?  The "Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Rum".  It was like suntan lotion.  Would I order it again? Of course...if only to say the name.

The first drink Ben ordered was the Shrunken Zombie Head..complete with souvenir glass.

Right after I caused the volcano to erupt... 

 We ordered the Krakatoa Punch next.  It was DELICIOUS.  We could have drank a million of these...

Yes...the drink glows.

Hooray the entire gang finally met up for some Tiki Bowl Punch!

Finally we ordered an "UH-OA" which caused the room to start chanting while the lady threw cinnamon on our flaming sugar cube.  You know you have good friends when having not seen them in months the conversation goes how was the flight?.....blah blah blah.....so I'm hoping my poop schedule doesn't get thrown off too much.

We headed to the Expo after putting it off all day afraid of the nightmares we had been reading on facebook and twitter about lines that were 7 hours long!  Then headed to a Mexican joint in Downtown Disney for some margaritas and chow.  We were beginning to get hangry.  

Griffith Observatory

On Saturday we headed out for some touristy stuff.  We headed to "Home" to eat breakfast and meet a friend from Ben's old ska days.  Do we have a picture with him?  Of course not...

Then we headed up to the Griffith Observatory.  It was awesome.  You could see everything.  

The boys...being...boys.

Can you tell it was game day?  I'm sure people thought we were part of a cult or something...in a way...we kinda are.

Selfie with Bert.

This is what happens when you go out of town on a game day...and Ben wondered why the call was lost.

From there we split up, me and Ben headed to the Santa Monica pier to look for a Sharknado while the others headed to do other touristy things.  

We never found a sharknado so we headed to Q's for the official Southern California Alumni Association game party.  It was awesome.  50 Tennessee grads gathered together to watch the game on the other side of the country.  

We headed back to Anaheim and got stuck in the infamous traffic.  We finally got back to Downtown Disney to get supper and everywhere had 2 hour wait!  At this point I was getting hangry, we didn't get anything at the bar or the whole day since eating at "Home" that morning thinking we needed to behave somewhat for the race the next day.  We left DTD in search of food that wouldn't make us wait forever.  Turns out, Anaheim has NOTHING as far as chain restaurants.  No Chili's, Logan's, nothing.  Not that we were looking for that, but we were too afraid to venture out and eat at some hole in the wall the night before a race.

We ended up eating at Chipotle.  The night before a half...  It's never tasted so good.

I'll update Part II when I can including stories about the race, blue banana vomit, and Rudy.