This one caught me by surprise. The week before the Princess Half, Ted tells me his friend Andrew thought it would be fun if we met them in Jacksonville since his wife Melissa was running a race. I actually thought I was agreeing to a little 10k until I looked at the dates and started cursing. I was already facing a half I wouldn't be trained for; now I had a 9 miler the next week. On the positive side, the half would serve as a good long training run for the 15k!
So, we pack up our stuff and head to Jacksonville. On the way, Harry has a cookie fit. He wants the "chocolate cookies you have in the car!!" He's almost at meltdown level before I interpret correctly- "you want thin mints?" "YES!" Yeah, those cookies were in the car a month ago- they've long since been eaten. I break it to him that he's going to have to settle for something else since I can't produce Girl Scout cookies on demand. We stop at a convenience store before we hit I95. Ted goes in to get some drinks and some sort of cookies. On his way out, he spots of all things, a Girl Scout cookie stand. So Harry got his Thin Mints. And I suppose he learned that if he was loud enough and irrational enough, we'd do whatever necessary to meet his demands. That will probably come back to haunt us, but it totally worked in the short run and sometimes that's okay.
We made it over to the Expo. It's at the stadium, and it's really tedious to park my ginormous car. Of course, dragging all of us in is also tedious, but I expected that. We actually ran into Melissa on the way in. Our plan was to have dinner together, but I was getting anxious about dealing with my 3 and Melissa's baby. OK, actually I was only worried about Captain Harry, but that was a pretty big worry especially since he'd just scarved down a ton of Thin Mints. When you're trying to find the stadium and park, you just keep passing the cookies back...
We finally coordinated with our friends and ended up at their hotel. We walked across the street to a very nice restaurant. When I say nice, I mean no kid's menus, no high chairs, etc. I'm realizing that in the frenzy to get to the Expo, I forgot about the whole re-applying lipstick, brushing hair thing. Yep, I'm dragging in a horde of children looking like crap. Nice. Surprisingly, Harry and the babies were well behaved at dinner. Food was good, and it was fun to talk to Andrew and Melissa.
We headed over to our hotel by the Town Center. The hotel is in a huge outside mall type place. We had a suite, and were upgraded so that we were in basically a two bedroom apartment. I was sad we weren't staying all weekend!
So, it's the usual race day prep stuff. I put on the running skort I wore last weekend. Loved it last weekend, but it drove me crazy all day- who would have guessed? I drove over to the stadium. I ended up in a parking lot that charged $5. That irritated me but I didn't want to try circling the stadium. I did take a couple of pictures of where I was parked so I could find my car. I only took my iPhone this time, with headphones.
Everyone is just milling about by the start. I don't see anyone in costumes, and everyone pretty much looks like they just staggered out of bed and headed to the race. Not to complain, I'm not dressed up either, but it was a funny contrast to the Princess where everyone seemed dressed for the theme. I had on my fancy "Run Like a Princess" hat I bought at the Princess Expo. That was a lucky accident- I added it to my pile of stuff I was buying. I was so distracted holding the baby that I didn't notice it was $30 until I got to the hotel. I was a little irritated by it's price, but it turned out to be a fabulous hat.
So there I am, just standing in a sea of I think 15,000 people. I'm texting my mom because I'm so bored, and I'm listening to the always present 80s music. People aren't really chatting because they all have on their iPods.
Finally, the start! There's a cannon blast and the theme to Rocky. We head off through downtown. We pass the Maxwell House coffee place- it totally smells delicious. We're on a wide street but there are people all the way across. It's really packed. I was a little disoriented seeing Forest Gump blaze by in his short shorts with his box of chocolates. Bands were playing at almost every mile- I turned my music all the way down and tried to wave.
Then there's the Main Street bridge (I think- it's blue). It's not that bad, but I'm so over bridges. It has that grating that always makes me think I'm going to fall through or at the very least trip. We head through a trendy shopping area on San Marco and then we are on River Street. It's a really nice neighborhood- people are sitting in lawnchairs watching. There's a guy in a kayak watching us from the river- that would be cool. One yard had a "mimosa stand" which I thought was great. Some kids had sliced oranges they were handing out, and a runners club had those popsicle-like things without the sticks. It was a veritable buffet.
The spectators were funny in Jacksonville. They were out there and they were clapping, but it wasn't nearly as over the top as Disney. I think maybe that's because the spectators at Disney either are cast members or have a personal connection to one of the runners. I felt more like the Jacksonville spectators were out there to watch the race cause it was in their neighborhood- which is cool, but I felt weird, like we were on exhibit. It added to my feeling of isolation within the herd. I think that goes back to the iPod thing. Was no one talking because everyone was listening or was everyone listening because no one was talking?! Anyway, except for the couple of times some crazed dad pushing a stroller pushed through the crowd, I didn't hear much. Maybe Becky and I just talk too much and I've grown accustomed to chatting on the courses. Or maybe I was just way too tired.
The last mile was the bridge they call the "Green Monster." Much as I expected, it sucked. Although it did not suck as much as the bridge in Savannah, and the bridge in Savannah did not suck as much as the bridge in Brunswick. See? I have way too much bridge knowledge for someone who hates hills.
You go straight down the bridge and to the stadium for the finish. It was a little longer than I anticipated, but really was downhill. I cruised through and then ran smack into a horrible traffic jam. A mass of runners was slowly making their way to the medals and then to the Expo. It took me at least 15 minutes just to get free. I decided there was no way I was going into the Expo mess and broke out of the crowd as soon as I could. At this point, I was realizing my car was possibly on the other side of the hordes of runners coming off the bridge. As I got closer, I decided that my car was actually under the ramp the runners were coming down, so all was well. Turns out the $5 fee was totally worth it, since the man running the lot had to talk me through backing out. Again, the curse of the ginormous vehicle.
I drove back some ridiculous way to avoid the race route. I still made it back in time to shower and pack before check-out time at noon. I grabbed a quick bagel while holding Milo. I was telling Ted something about the race when I realized Milo had stolen my bagel and was gumming away! So, fully packed and checked out, we hit the stores and then drove on home.
Would I do it again? Yeah, sure, but it's not a big goal. If it works out in my schedule next year, great. I am glad I did it, but I'd really like to stay away from bridges...
Monday, March 30, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
The Princess Half
I tried to exercise some self-control and not sign up for this race. I really, really tried. I told myself that I'd run the same course in January; that Disney races are expensive; that I don't even like princesses... And then I argued back: I could go faster on a course where I knew what to expect; the whole family likes Disney and Harry would only be under 3 and free for another month; and some princesses are pretty tough. Thinking about the new medal finally did me in. I don't know why I bother trying to be good.
I sort of trained for this one after the half in January. My longest run still never made it past the Dolphin Days 10k, but I ran more consistently. My Disney running partner, Becky, recently hit a new PR of 2:23. I printed out a pace chart and taped it to my phone with a goal of 2:21. In theory I could run 3-6 miles at a faster pace than that goal, but not having run long distances in awhile I wasn't sure how long I could maintain a faster pace.
We drove down on Friday planning to hit the Expo that night. I dropped Ted and Harry off at the hotel, and Emma and Miles and I drove over to the Expo. Slight complication: the stroller was at the hotel and there was a Braves game at the Wide World of Sports. We parked the car and began the long trek to the Expo, carrying the baby. That might have been more tiring than the actual race...
We bought a bit of stuff at the Expo. Why does Disney insist on making ugly shirts?! Seriously, I could make a better shirt in like 30 seconds. One shirt said something like "Who's the fastest one of all" with an apple- cute idea, but on ugly gray. Another shirt said something about my other slipper being a running shoe, but on shockingly bright turquoise. They had potential, but missed the mark. Which is not to say I didn't buy them. Ahem. As I was debating the ugly shirts, Miles (who I was still holding after the eternal trek) was making a spectacle of himself. I didn't really think about the atmosphere at a women's only race- he had to smile at everyone and they all had to respond. I wonder if he could have crowd-surfed to the exit? Hmmm....
We made it to the room, and hit Epcot. After wandering the countries aimlessly, we drove back to our room at the All Star suites, and amused ourselves with all the pull out beds. (Three in one room- the couch, a big chair, and the ottoman! The coolest part- pillow storage was built into the beds. I wonder if most people are smart enough to see the pillows on the first try? I had a complete fit until I re-folded the bed and found them- then I was quite captivated, but I'm easily entertained).
Saturday morning, we did the Magic Kingdom thing. Emma got to ride just about everything, so she was happy. Harry rode Splash Mountain twice. You know where the boat starts doing that jumpy uphill thing for the last fall? That would be where Harry turned to me and said "I don't want to be on this ride!" Too late. He laughed at the end and proclaimed it his favorite, but declined to go a third time. ("It's scary and you get wet.") Good thing he declined, cause we weren't standing in line again!
Milo and I entertained ourselves while waiting. See? It takes so little to entertain me now.
And, it was off to Epcot. We got a Kim Possible phone thingy. You go on missions to the various countries. It's very cool- you follow the clues and strange things happen. For instance, in Norway, smoke comes out of a chimney. In China, a creepy door opens and then slams shut. It's all done in a way that no one around you really notices what's happening- it was a huge hit with us. It also stopped the drama between Ted and Emma- one wants to ride Test Track, while the other wants to partake of food and beverages... We actually had to turn in our Kim Possible Kimmunicator because Epcot was closing. Note to self: get to the Kim Possible station earlier next time.
Finally, the morning of the race. Hello, daylight savings. The race started at 7:00, which of course, felt like 6:00- that hurt. My phone managed to vibrate the alarm- like that could get me up! Fortunately Milo is an alarm all to himself so I wasn't too late. I got dressed and drove to Becky's hotel. We'd decided against wearing the WISH shirts, only because they are too hard to make "Princessy." Becky had on pink, and I had my "Princess" tiara. (Becky also had on not one, but two, knee brace contraptions. I'm thinking a good friend probably shouldn't have encouraged her to run, especially not for a PR. Of course, a good friend wouldn't run with a 10k with someone who'd had a baby 3 weeks before-- Becky and I are such bad influences on each other!)
We drove to Epcot and parked the car (which we later found again with only a little drama). Being old hands at this by now, we didn't even go to the herding area and just started walking to the corrals. It was really cold and dark. I had a little water and ate a Snickers marathon bar. I had to mess with my tiara until it felt right- it's a little too far back to be perfect in the pictures, but it didn't bother me. I was very amused with it, although a little insecure not having a hat.
I'm such a slacker now. I call Becky Kim Possible because she has all sorts of stuff in her belt (and her gloves pinned on it!). I had my phone in my pocket, my camera in my hand, and my key in a shoe wallet. That's it. I hadn't even had water that morning- just a Diet Dr. Pepper. For my first long race, the Minnie 15k, I had a water belt fully loaded with bottles of water and Powerade. In the bag part, I had bandaids, tylenol, extra contacts, sport beans, money, etc. I even had a bandana tied around the belt for some inexplicable reason. I probably need to find a place somewhere between being too prepared and just showing up...
OK, so we are in Corral A, which is pretty sweet. We're with the fast people. We're not completely delusional and don't go to the very front, but in theory, we could see the elites. (The closest I've ever seen the elites at Disney is when they are either warming up along the road outside of the corrals, or when the leaders pass us on their way back from MK). We can see the starting line banner, and can sort of see the presenters. Now that I look back on it, this may have been the first time I wasn't basically inside a speaker, so it wasn't completely deafening. A random man found his peeps in front of us. He was passing out lemon drops. Concerns of choking brushed aside, we accepted. I finally finished that lemon drop after a couple of miles. I kind of liked it.
The Fairy Godmother came out and rambled for awhile. I was pre-occupied with my lemon drop, the cold, and the sudden realization that I was about to run 13.1 miles horribly undertrained, but I'm sure she said something sort of encouraging. The wheelchairs took off amidst some colored smoke effects. I thought they might be waiting for the "big" start for the fireworks, but alas, no fireworks. Really, fireworks are fun, but over-rated. I always think they are going to be cool, and then end up hacking over the start line.
Becky and I take off. For once, I set my Garmin at the right time. The first mile is uneventful. It's a little crowded, but not anything like the January weekend. Costume watching is fun. Allthe guys started in Corral B and back, so a few passed us early. One was in a full Snow White outfit, wig and all.
The next three miles are all a blur. Lots of costumes to check out. Some entertainment- they had a few bands, string quartets (I think- all I remember is they were dressed formally), and a little group playing guitars. I tried to take pictures of the mile markers, but they all blur or delay too much because of the dark. The signs had different princess scenes. Apparently there were hidden Mickeys in the signs- I must be the world's worst hidden Mickey finder. I didn't even think to look. Of course, looking would have required slowing down. Didn't really think it through, but everyone there was in pink, white, or black (or full costume). I would never have found Becky again if I slowed too much!
It's getting a little lighter as we blaze down Contemporary Hill and blaze back up (and by blaze I mean we didn't walk at all).
Going into the Magic Kingdom was exciting as always.
I was a little disappointed to not see Chip and Dale in Tomorrowland cause that's usually where my picture madness peaks. We raced over to a bathroom by Ariel's Grotto and then got a picture taken outside the Castle. We took another one with Snow White by the Castle. Then we stopped for the posed photo in front of the Castle. It turns out I could start picture madness without Chip and Dale! Luckily, Becky reigned me in and we got back to trying to keep moving reasonably fast. There were a bunch of picture opportunities behind Splash Mountain, but we didn't want to slow down.
Silly me, at about mile 7, I looked down at the pace chart on my phone and told Becky we were right on pace. Yep, she really wanted that PR. That was when I started to realize that long runs in training are a good thing...
So, off through the boring stretch. There were princesses along the way, and more photo ops than at the regular half. The lines weren't long, but we both decided it would hurt too much to stop (well, hurt too much to start again). I thought the fairies at the bottom of the last overpass were in a really odd spot. It would have been so painful to tackle the overpass after a stop there.
We dragged on up the overpass with Epcot in sight. I say "in sight"- try blinding. The sun was up and I was wishing I had my hat. (My anti-fog glasses were not living up to their promise).
We really tried to dig in the last mile or two. All my pictures were of people's feet and the roads- it was so hard. We were pretty much at the grunt, point, and groan stage.
The finish- I look up and see we're headed for a 2:21 finish. Sweet! I'm so tired, I let Becky take off on the last few feet. I'd suddenly realized we were running for her PR, and I didn't have to hurry anymore... We got back together at the finish, got our fabulous medals, and praised our time.
And then it was back to the hotel for a quick shower, packing, and a trip back home. I think that the Princess was my favorite half- I love the traditional Donald, but there were a lot of advantages to the Princess. This one's going on my list of races I want to run again (ok, all Disney races are on that list, but this one is slightly higher than others).
I sort of trained for this one after the half in January. My longest run still never made it past the Dolphin Days 10k, but I ran more consistently. My Disney running partner, Becky, recently hit a new PR of 2:23. I printed out a pace chart and taped it to my phone with a goal of 2:21. In theory I could run 3-6 miles at a faster pace than that goal, but not having run long distances in awhile I wasn't sure how long I could maintain a faster pace.
We drove down on Friday planning to hit the Expo that night. I dropped Ted and Harry off at the hotel, and Emma and Miles and I drove over to the Expo. Slight complication: the stroller was at the hotel and there was a Braves game at the Wide World of Sports. We parked the car and began the long trek to the Expo, carrying the baby. That might have been more tiring than the actual race...
We bought a bit of stuff at the Expo. Why does Disney insist on making ugly shirts?! Seriously, I could make a better shirt in like 30 seconds. One shirt said something like "Who's the fastest one of all" with an apple- cute idea, but on ugly gray. Another shirt said something about my other slipper being a running shoe, but on shockingly bright turquoise. They had potential, but missed the mark. Which is not to say I didn't buy them. Ahem. As I was debating the ugly shirts, Miles (who I was still holding after the eternal trek) was making a spectacle of himself. I didn't really think about the atmosphere at a women's only race- he had to smile at everyone and they all had to respond. I wonder if he could have crowd-surfed to the exit? Hmmm....
We made it to the room, and hit Epcot. After wandering the countries aimlessly, we drove back to our room at the All Star suites, and amused ourselves with all the pull out beds. (Three in one room- the couch, a big chair, and the ottoman! The coolest part- pillow storage was built into the beds. I wonder if most people are smart enough to see the pillows on the first try? I had a complete fit until I re-folded the bed and found them- then I was quite captivated, but I'm easily entertained).
Saturday morning, we did the Magic Kingdom thing. Emma got to ride just about everything, so she was happy. Harry rode Splash Mountain twice. You know where the boat starts doing that jumpy uphill thing for the last fall? That would be where Harry turned to me and said "I don't want to be on this ride!" Too late. He laughed at the end and proclaimed it his favorite, but declined to go a third time. ("It's scary and you get wet.") Good thing he declined, cause we weren't standing in line again!
Milo and I entertained ourselves while waiting. See? It takes so little to entertain me now.
And, it was off to Epcot. We got a Kim Possible phone thingy. You go on missions to the various countries. It's very cool- you follow the clues and strange things happen. For instance, in Norway, smoke comes out of a chimney. In China, a creepy door opens and then slams shut. It's all done in a way that no one around you really notices what's happening- it was a huge hit with us. It also stopped the drama between Ted and Emma- one wants to ride Test Track, while the other wants to partake of food and beverages... We actually had to turn in our Kim Possible Kimmunicator because Epcot was closing. Note to self: get to the Kim Possible station earlier next time.
Finally, the morning of the race. Hello, daylight savings. The race started at 7:00, which of course, felt like 6:00- that hurt. My phone managed to vibrate the alarm- like that could get me up! Fortunately Milo is an alarm all to himself so I wasn't too late. I got dressed and drove to Becky's hotel. We'd decided against wearing the WISH shirts, only because they are too hard to make "Princessy." Becky had on pink, and I had my "Princess" tiara. (Becky also had on not one, but two, knee brace contraptions. I'm thinking a good friend probably shouldn't have encouraged her to run, especially not for a PR. Of course, a good friend wouldn't run with a 10k with someone who'd had a baby 3 weeks before-- Becky and I are such bad influences on each other!)
We drove to Epcot and parked the car (which we later found again with only a little drama). Being old hands at this by now, we didn't even go to the herding area and just started walking to the corrals. It was really cold and dark. I had a little water and ate a Snickers marathon bar. I had to mess with my tiara until it felt right- it's a little too far back to be perfect in the pictures, but it didn't bother me. I was very amused with it, although a little insecure not having a hat.
I'm such a slacker now. I call Becky Kim Possible because she has all sorts of stuff in her belt (and her gloves pinned on it!). I had my phone in my pocket, my camera in my hand, and my key in a shoe wallet. That's it. I hadn't even had water that morning- just a Diet Dr. Pepper. For my first long race, the Minnie 15k, I had a water belt fully loaded with bottles of water and Powerade. In the bag part, I had bandaids, tylenol, extra contacts, sport beans, money, etc. I even had a bandana tied around the belt for some inexplicable reason. I probably need to find a place somewhere between being too prepared and just showing up...
OK, so we are in Corral A, which is pretty sweet. We're with the fast people. We're not completely delusional and don't go to the very front, but in theory, we could see the elites. (The closest I've ever seen the elites at Disney is when they are either warming up along the road outside of the corrals, or when the leaders pass us on their way back from MK). We can see the starting line banner, and can sort of see the presenters. Now that I look back on it, this may have been the first time I wasn't basically inside a speaker, so it wasn't completely deafening. A random man found his peeps in front of us. He was passing out lemon drops. Concerns of choking brushed aside, we accepted. I finally finished that lemon drop after a couple of miles. I kind of liked it.
The Fairy Godmother came out and rambled for awhile. I was pre-occupied with my lemon drop, the cold, and the sudden realization that I was about to run 13.1 miles horribly undertrained, but I'm sure she said something sort of encouraging. The wheelchairs took off amidst some colored smoke effects. I thought they might be waiting for the "big" start for the fireworks, but alas, no fireworks. Really, fireworks are fun, but over-rated. I always think they are going to be cool, and then end up hacking over the start line.
Becky and I take off. For once, I set my Garmin at the right time. The first mile is uneventful. It's a little crowded, but not anything like the January weekend. Costume watching is fun. Allthe guys started in Corral B and back, so a few passed us early. One was in a full Snow White outfit, wig and all.
The next three miles are all a blur. Lots of costumes to check out. Some entertainment- they had a few bands, string quartets (I think- all I remember is they were dressed formally), and a little group playing guitars. I tried to take pictures of the mile markers, but they all blur or delay too much because of the dark. The signs had different princess scenes. Apparently there were hidden Mickeys in the signs- I must be the world's worst hidden Mickey finder. I didn't even think to look. Of course, looking would have required slowing down. Didn't really think it through, but everyone there was in pink, white, or black (or full costume). I would never have found Becky again if I slowed too much!
It's getting a little lighter as we blaze down Contemporary Hill and blaze back up (and by blaze I mean we didn't walk at all).
Going into the Magic Kingdom was exciting as always.
I was a little disappointed to not see Chip and Dale in Tomorrowland cause that's usually where my picture madness peaks. We raced over to a bathroom by Ariel's Grotto and then got a picture taken outside the Castle. We took another one with Snow White by the Castle. Then we stopped for the posed photo in front of the Castle. It turns out I could start picture madness without Chip and Dale! Luckily, Becky reigned me in and we got back to trying to keep moving reasonably fast. There were a bunch of picture opportunities behind Splash Mountain, but we didn't want to slow down.
Silly me, at about mile 7, I looked down at the pace chart on my phone and told Becky we were right on pace. Yep, she really wanted that PR. That was when I started to realize that long runs in training are a good thing...
So, off through the boring stretch. There were princesses along the way, and more photo ops than at the regular half. The lines weren't long, but we both decided it would hurt too much to stop (well, hurt too much to start again). I thought the fairies at the bottom of the last overpass were in a really odd spot. It would have been so painful to tackle the overpass after a stop there.
We dragged on up the overpass with Epcot in sight. I say "in sight"- try blinding. The sun was up and I was wishing I had my hat. (My anti-fog glasses were not living up to their promise).
We really tried to dig in the last mile or two. All my pictures were of people's feet and the roads- it was so hard. We were pretty much at the grunt, point, and groan stage.
The finish- I look up and see we're headed for a 2:21 finish. Sweet! I'm so tired, I let Becky take off on the last few feet. I'd suddenly realized we were running for her PR, and I didn't have to hurry anymore... We got back together at the finish, got our fabulous medals, and praised our time.
And then it was back to the hotel for a quick shower, packing, and a trip back home. I think that the Princess was my favorite half- I love the traditional Donald, but there were a lot of advantages to the Princess. This one's going on my list of races I want to run again (ok, all Disney races are on that list, but this one is slightly higher than others).
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