You guys! It's here! One of my favorite race weekends of the year. The 2017 Wine and Dine Half Marathon will be my sixth year here, AND, it's the race that got me into running and runDisney (and honestly, Disney too – yes, I loved the movies when I was a kid, but I was too busy traveling for Irish Dancing to go to Disney as a kid, so now I'm feeling like a kid when I'm here to make up for it haha).
While I'm still sad it isn't a 5k and half marathon all in one day, with the half marathon at night (I LOVE night running. It's my favorite.), I do enjoy that there is a challenge and I can earn an extra two medals now. Now that I'm older, I really need my naps post-races with those super early morning wake up calls, so having to do that three days in a row really eats into my park time. It used to be just one day 'wasted' – wake up early, run the 5k, nap and rest all day, run half marathon, party, sleep in Sunday, and rock out the rest of the days. Now it's wake up early, run, nap, park time, bed early. Repeat. Repeat. So I feel like I spend too much time napping rather than having fun at the parks. I'm just so tired these days haha.
Anyway, the expo starts tomorrow and I'm excited to see what all of the merchandise is; runDisney just revealed the race shirts. I really want the kids one with Figment on it! How cute. I like Mickey and all, but I wish the 5k, 10k, and half marathon shirts had just a little more variety to them. I'll make my final decision on them when I see them in person. I'm really hoping that orange is more neon than it seems, but I really like the other colors.
Expo at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex (remember to print, sign, and bring your waivers):
Thursday, November 2, 2017 - 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Friday, November 3, 2017 - 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 4, 2017 - 9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Check out the event guide here for all the information you need.
The courses look interesting too. Different than last year. I'm a little nervous about the 10k and half you don't get to anything good until mile 4 or so. Plus, starting so close to Magic Kingdom, but not actually running through it kind of stinks. I know this race never has, but with the course changes, and starting in a MK parking lot, it's like why not? haha. I'm really glad the 5k is back at Animal Kingdom and that the half goes through AK, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot like the good old days (though I'll be missing the dancing lights!).
Regardless of good course or bad course, runDisney races are always a ton of fun, and I'm sure this year will be no different. Who else will be here? Any fun costumes? What are you most excited for? Any social meet ups happening that I'm unaware of and should go to?
Monday, October 31: Rest/Stretch & Roll
Tuesday, November 1: 6 miles (50/30) --> Skipped
Wednesday, November 2: Rest/Stretch & Roll
Thursday, November 3: Rest/Stretch & Roll
Friday, November 4: Mickey's Holiday 5k (3.16)
Saturday, November 5: Wine and Dine 10k (6.44)
Sunday, November 6: Wine and Dine Half Marathon (13.03)
Total Miles for Spring Marathon Training: 48.53 miles
It was another strange week for training as I was traveling to Florida for Wine and Dine weekend at Disney World. I ended up skipping my run on Tuesday because when I got home from work the rest of the night was spent packing. The usual. I knew I'd be walking around a ton at WDW, so I wasn't too concerned. I have my spring marathon narrowed down, but still deciding between two. I'll keep you posted.
Friday was the 5k, I think my mom and I ran 45/30 intervals. We had plenty of time to rest when we stopped for photo ops. I tried to remember to pause and un-pause my watch at each stop to get an accurate reading of what the time we were running was. I meant to compare to my mom's watch (since 5k isn't timed) to see how much of our time was spent waiting for photos. My watch had us at 43:55, which for a crowded Disney race isn't too bad. The one problem with the course is the out and back towards the end, where it's so narrow that you get caught behind a wall of people and can't go anywhere. I doubt there is any way for that to be changed, but it did get frustrating, especially if you are starting farther back in the corrals (I went back to D with my mom and we were near the front of the corral, and even at the start, we got caught by people just walking from the get go... not even an attempt at running through for a minute or two. Oy.), when you stop for photos, you just get farther and farther back with more walkers which makes it hard to navigate. Nothing against walkers of course, as part of my routine is walking, just saying it can be tough to get back up to the pace you want.
Saturday was the 10k. Early morning number 2. I definitely missed just the 1 early morning and then the late night. Much easier for me to handle than 3 early mornings. Woof. I do believe at this race I forgot to pause my watch for one of the stops, as our 10k is usually around a 1:20 lately. My watch had me at 1:29:57 with 6.44 miles. I think we tried the 45/30 intervals again.
Sunday was our last early morning. Again I tried to pause and start my watch, but I think there was one stop I forgot to pause, and one other one I forgot to re-start after going, so my watch only had me at 13.03 miles, but we all know it is over that from the weaving.
Anyway, Disney was a ton of fun, though I was extremely tired with having to wake up so early three days in a row. I had to take naps in the afternoon to try and make up for it. Woof. I'll hopefully have a fun recap of each race (though don't hold your breath as I generally get so backed up on race recaps that I never get to them haha). Some fun photos at least ;)
What are you currently training for?
