Tag Archives: running

My Top Tips for RunDisney Challenges

This week was the bib-only registration for this year’s RunDisney at Disneyland Paris, and after taking last year off, I’m super pleased to be back and participating in the 36K challenge!

This will be my 5th RunDisney challenge, having previous run Disneyland’s Rebel Challenge (2016) and Pixie Dust Challenge (2017), Walt Disney World’s Glass Slipper Challenge (2017) and Disneyland Paris’s 31K challenge (2017), so this is not an unusual thing for me, but having only ever done challenges that involve a 10K and half marathon, throwing in the extra 5K will be a little different!

All of these previous events have given me a lot of experience in how I face these weekend challenges, and while I must REALLY reinforce the fact that everyone is different when it comes to their training, approach, recovery etc, I just thought I’d share some wisdom that might be of use to anyone who might be facing their first challenge, or just want a little nosey at how I do things.

Training is SO key

I consider myself notoriously bad at training, and you’ll probably frequently see me tweeting about how little training I’ve done for various races, but my body is so used to doing these races and these distances that I can get away with winging it a little. If you are not a regular runner, or these will be your first events, I cannot stress enough how important it is that you do some training, including running back to back days and take training advice from professionals and experienced runners only.

Do NOT expect to do it all

Running every day is DRAINING. The Paris races aren’t too bad as they start at 7am, but if you’re participating in a WDW event, you’ll have to be awake at 3am at the latest to get to your events, and this has a huge impact on your day. The most important thing I have learned is to take it completely easy in the day before the bigger races, eg after the 10K and before the half marathon (or before the marathon if you’re literally and running Dopey). Have a super chilled day in the parks, or spend some time relaxing at the pool, let your body recover and rest up and you’ll be much happier, trust me.

Take the shorter races easier

You might think that the shorter races are your time to shine and want to run them full pelt, but in reality you probably want to take the opposite approach. Going all-out on a 5/10K could put you in a much worse shape going into your longer races, and believe me you want to be feeling fresh and ready for them!

Walking breaks are your friend

Jeff Galloway, the official RunDisney training expert, absolutely SWEARS by run-walk-run, and whenever I’m doing a challenge weekend I always have this in mind. Taking walking breaks reduces the risk of injury, give you a chance to enjoy your time in the parks and help you breakdown the long distances if you’re finding things hard.

Don’t put pressure on yourself, and remember to have fun!

The races will put enough pressure on your body, don’t go piling on anymore! RunDisney events are incredible things and I have never done a race I didn’t enjoy, so just go out there to have a good time, and whatever you do will be amazing.

Who else joined me in registration this week?

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The RunDisney Castaway Cay Challenge

Yes hi, I am still talking about all the running that I did in January – I think its because I haven’t done any running since so I’m looking back on better times!

So many people thought that I was mad enough to run a FRICKIN’ MARATHON midway through my holiday in January, and most of these people were even more baffled to find out that only a few days after running the longest distance of my life AND while still on holiday, I ran a further 5K race, but here me out on the logic behind it.

You see, I wanted another medal.. Yep, that’s basically it.

Every January, following the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend, the Disney Dream cruise ship sets sail from Port Canaveral for a 4 night cruise. Its the same route and same cruise that the Dream does from Port Canaveral all the time, but this one particular sailing is jam packed full of runners recovering from their weekend races, who have mostly all booked it for the RunDisney Castaway Cay Challenge.

The challenge is this: if you participate in any race during the WDW Marathon Weekend – so this could be as little as the 5K – you can sign up for the challenge, which means that on the morning that the Dream docks at Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay, you take part in a special RunDisney organised 5K on the island, and as well as receiving the standard Castaway Cay 5K, which any guest can earn on any cruise that stops at the island, challenge participants also receive this challenge medal to round off their collection.

As with all other WDW Marathon Weekend events, bib and t-shirt pickup was done at the RunDisney expo at ESPN Wide World of Sports, but t-shirt exchange and merchandise were only available on the ship itself. Merch itself seemed a little lacking to me, there was a pin, a hanging ornament and a tech t-shirt available in two different colours, and that was all – although you could also buy a normal Castaway Cay 5K t-shirt in the gift shop on the island itself.

The challenge 5K starts earlier than the usual race, and takes a slightly different course around the island, meaning that if anyone is mad enough to want to take place in both 5Ks that will happen that morning, there’s a bit of variety. We had to meet in the ship’s theatre at crazy o’clock in the morning, and there were some drinks and bananas available there. There was a brief introduction and then each corral was led off the ship and to the start line, which was quite a walk away from the boat and it was still pretty dark at the time, but the sun had started to rise before the race kicked off.

Mickey and Goofy led us through a pre-race warm-up, and each corral were set loose on the island. There was only A, B and C, about 700 people participating, so it felt tiny compared to the other races I had done the weekend before, but it felt a lot less pressured with fewer people about. We started and ended on the island’s disused runway, and along the way there a handful of characters including Stitch, Vacation Genie, Captain Hook and Max, which was a nice surprise as I wasn’t expecting any characters on the course.

Despite recovering from the marathon relatively well, I found the first 3k HARD work, but we took it nice and easy and many people were walking – it all felt very relaxed. By the last mile my legs had found their strength again and we ran most of the leg, nicknamed by the cast members as the Ring of Fire, probably because it felt like it went on FOREVER, and then all of a sudden we were at the finish line! The finish line was complete with the usual bottles of water, bananas and snacks – I swear I still can’t face bananas – but there was also a bar set up where guests could purchase champagne and cocktails etc.

Doing the 5K was a really great way to see the island a bit before the rest of the guests descended on it, and you can stay on the island from then onwards, but we were starving and in need of a Cabanas breakfast, so we went back to the ship to eat and shower before the day of fun ahead of us!

Another one off the RunDisney bucket list!

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The Walt Disney World Marathon

Sunday 13th January 2019

On the morning of the marathon I was up at 3am. Luckily, I’d actually slept pretty well that night, unlike most nights I have before races, so it didn’t feel too awful. As I was staying at Disney’s Polynesian Resort, I had to get the monorail to Epcot – there were no buses on for monorail loop resorts so it wasn’t as busy on the roads – but the building we were in, Moorea, was so close to the Ticket and Transportation Center that it was quicker for me to walk there and just get the direct monorail to Epcot than it was for me to get the monorail from Poly.

Getting the monorail meant I did arrive at Epcot earlier than I was used to and the corrals weren’t even open yet, so after I walked from the station to the RunDisney stage area, I sat down for a little bit so that I wasn’t on my feet for too long, then once the corrals were open I made my way to G and sat back down for the wait. To give you an idea of the scale of this event, by the time I’d got to the start line I’d already done 5,000 steps.

While the race officially started at 5:30am, my corral didn’t actually start until 6:10, by which time I was bursting for the loo having drank a bottle of water while waiting to begin, so I had to stop at the first portaloo on the course, which was about three-quarters of a mile in – although on a full bladder it felt A LOT longer than that!

The course took us straight up to Magic Kingdom, which we entered just after mile 5, and those first 5 miles flew by for me, with the highlight seeing Leah at mile 4 cheering me on. The sun was just rising so the castle looked totally beautiful while we were running down Main Street, and in every RunDisney event I’ve done in WDW, this is the moment I look forward to the most. The Magic Kingdom stretch always goes far too quickly as well – it was actually just about a mile – but just before leaving the park via a backstage area we reached the 10k mark.

For some reason in basically every marathon photo I am holding a banana (and no, they’re not all the same banana)

The next stretch of the route was the part I was looking forward to the least; it was a full 10k again before we’d reach Animal Kingdom. Despite dreading it, however, this part went almost as quickly as the first quarter of the race. It was all road with very little entertainment, and it was starting to get hotter as the sun had properly risen by then, but I was still in my stride and feeling good, so it didn’t seem like too long until the course took me into Animal Kingdom. We came in at the top of the park, running over the tracks for the train that normally runs guests to Rafiki’s Planet Watch, then down through Africa, into Asia and past Expedition Everest before leaving the park through the back of Dinoland USA. The park was open by this point, and some runners were making the dash off the route to ride Expedition Everest, for which the single rider queue was open exclusively for. The half marathon mark was also inside the park, and despite thinking I would have a little cry at that point, I was focusing all my energy on pushing forward – everything from this point onward would be the furthest I’d ever run before.

In my head, the next stretch of the race wouldn’t be so bad – it was less than 10K until we got to the next significant part of the course at ESPN Wide World of Sports. In reality, this was the hardest part for me. Between mile 16 and 17 my wireless headphones ran out of battery, meaning I no longer had the Hamilton soundtrack to distract me from the blazing sun and 25C+ temperature with no shade, or the fact that being back on the roads meant there was absolutely no shade. This was also about the time that my ankle gave out, and suddenly it felt like each mile had trebled in distance. When I finally did get to ESPN, I thought the time would go by a little faster, but my feet felt like they were dying and there were actually almost 3 miles to run around the grounds, and those 3 miles felt like 30.

From ESPN the course took us up towards Hollywood Studios, where we ran in through the top of the Fantasmic theatre, to the bottom of Tower of Terror and then along Sunset Boulevard and out of the park through the main entrance, and from there we ran along the path that links Hollywood Studios to Epcot via the Boardwalk Resort area. By this point I was so ready for the race to be over, but I was still plodding along as best I could, thinking that once the route took me into Epcot at the UK pavilion, I’d only have a short bit of the World Showcase to run before leaving the park for the finish line. I was wrong. Turns out, we were running around the World Showcase the long way..

Despite having very little of the route left and still running, albeit very slowly, I found the World Showcase incredibly irritating. Epcot guests were in full swing by this point, so only half of the width of the path was coned off for the runners, but guests were still cutting into the running course, and a lot of the other runners were walking by this point, so I was having to do a lot of weaving, which was the last thing I wanted to be doing as I was nearing 26 miles. The course continued to be super crowded and blocked up by walkers almost right up to the finish line, so I was having to dart into any available space until it finally opened up at the finish line stretch.

I’m not even sure if I can put into words how I felt crossing the finish line. I expected to burst into tears but it had been so hot I don’t think I had any water left in my body to cry out. The whole thing didn’t feel real, and I’m not sure it even does now, because running a marathon is not something that I ever imagined I would be capable of doing in my lifetime, let alone with the year I had leading up to it. But I did it.

The plan and motivation for this race was wanting to run a marathon before turning 25, which I will be in October. I’ve always said that it would be my only marathon and that I would definitely never put myself through it again, but now its over, I wonder if I’ve caught the bug..

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I Run, Therefore I Am A Runner

As I make my slow return to running, I’ve been thinking a lot about the term ‘runner’. You see, as I’ve been away from running since the start of April, and have to very carefully ease myself back in on my still-healing ankle, I’ve been feeling like a bit of a bad runner.

And then it hit me.

If I go out and run, that makes me a runner. It doesn’t matter if I go out every day, or once a week, or even less often than that, taking part in the activity of running makes me a runner. It doesn’t matter if I run for 1 minute and then walk for 1 minute. It doesn’t matter if I run for 1 mile or 10 miles. I have never been a fast runner, even at my peak, but d’you know what? A 15 minute mile is just as far as a 7 minute mile.

I’ve never taken running overly seriously. I’ve always written my own training plans, changed things up on the fly, and if I’m being perfectly honest, last year I didn’t really train for any of the half marathons that I ran. I guess I’ve always been lucky to be able to get away with it, but things are different now. I’m finding it hard being so set back from where I was before, and feeling the pressure of my upcoming marathon, but it is just that, a setback. Setbacks are made to be overcome.

But despite all this, I’m still a runner. I don’t have to run a 10K every day to call myself a runner, I don’t have to have a precise training and nutrition plan to call myself a runner, and I don’t have to be a fast runner to call myself a runner. Anyone who gets out and runs is a runner, and that’s what counts.

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Starting Over With Fitness

During my physio session on Monday, I finally started my ‘return to running’ programme, yay! This isn’t an instant all clear for me to hit the pavement again, but its the biggest step in the right direction I’ve made since breaking my ankle back in April.

I’m excited, and also super nervous. I have less than 6 months until my first marathon, and now instead of building up from already being able to comfortably complete a half marathon, I’m now almost back to square one in that I haven’t really don’t any running since before my accident. The exception to that is a 5K fun run I did back in June (which my physio do not know about), and that was a huge shock to my little legs, so the thought of doing that 8 and a bit times over continuously is somewhat terrifying.

On top of returning to running, my fitness game has been somewhat weak of late. I’ve been having to adapt so many of my favourite workouts to not put too much pressure on my ankle, and quite honestly its just not been the same. Throw in stress eating from moving house, and the fact that now I don’t even have a gym to go to, I’ve gained quite a bit of weight recently, so its not even just getting back to my routine, I also need to shift the extra weight and get my fitness levels back to where they were.

So its time to get my butt back into gear, and first on the agenda is just getting active again. I want to start off with low impact workouts, and avoid going straight back into the sort of weights I’m used to using in the gym, so I’m going to start off with some of my favourite home workouts from YouTube – Tone It Up, Blogilates etc – as well as using Pinterest for inspiration, just to get my body back moving. I’d also love to get some swimming and cycling in for low impact cardio. Matthew and I are planning on turning our garage into a gym eventually, but as its currently jammed full of boxes and rubbish, it’ll be a bit of time before we’re able to do that, but once they’ll be no excuses to not go to ‘the gym’ in the morning!

Once I’ve got the all clear from physio, I’ve got a marathon training plan all ready to be put into action, although I’ve had to tweak it somewhat to account for the fact that I’m not able to knock out a quick 5K or 10K without much thought as I could at the start of the year. My physiotherapist will be starting me off on the anti-gravity treadmill (not quite as cool as it sounds, but a really useful bit of equipment) so I’ll get a little bit of a head start before I actually hit the roads myself.

It feels like I need to make so much progress in the next 5 and a bit months, but I’m ready to get started and push myself!

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My RunDisney Medal Collection

So I know I have been totally AWOL for the last two weeks, but moving house is insane y’all! I honestly thought I’d only be away from blogging for a few days to maybe a week but I have had NO TIME lately with sorting the house out.

But I’m back! And as today is registration day for the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend in January, I thought I’d take the opportunity to share my existing RunDisney medal collection! I managed to get registered on Tuesday in the DVC early registration window, which I’m so happy about, and I wish everyone registering today the best of luck!

Walt Disney World races

2016 – If you’ve been following me for that long, you’ll know that I started doing RunDisney events in 2016, and every single race has been an amazing experience for me. My dad and I started off in the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend , taking part in the 5K and the half marathon, which was actually our first half marathon. Back then, 5K medals were 2016 rubber ones (you get a proper metal one now), so Pluto here was our first RunDisney medal. The half marathon was one of the hardest races I have ever done because a few days before I developed a chest infection and I honestly felt like I was going to die before we’d even hit mile 4, but we did it and it was so worth it.

2017 – Running solo for the first time, I started off the year with the Princess Half Marathon Weekend in February. By this point I had the bug for challenges, so I did the Glass Slipper Challenge (10K and half marathon). The races were all Beauty and the Beast themed that year, which I was so happy about as I had already planned to run as Chip before the medal designs had been released, although the challenge medal was still glass slipper themed.

Disneyland races

2016 – The week after doing the marathon weekend in 2016, we left Florida and flew across to California to take part in the Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend, and this was where we completed our first race challenge, Rebel Challenge, which was completing the 10K on the Saturday and the half marathon the next morning on the Sunday. By this point my chest infection had cleared up, and I actually set my half marathon PB on this course.

2017 – In May I did the Pixie Dust Challenge at the Tinkerbell Half Marathon weekend. I saw a lot of hate on social media over these races but I had a total blast. The Disneyland 10K course is my all time favourite RunDisney course (RIP California races) and I think my favourite medal was from the 10K, although they are all so stinkin’ cute!

Coast to Coast

Both in 2016 and 2017 I earned a Coast to Coast medal for completing a half marathon* in both Walt Disney World and Disneyland in the same calendar year, but in 2017 I got a bonus of the ‘pink’ Coast to Coast, which was for doing the Princess and Tinkerbell weekend in the same year. The medal was essentially the same as the normal Coast to Coast, just in a pinky colour palette instead! 2017 was also the 10 year anniversary of the Coast to Coast challenge, so the blue medal was extra special!

*to earn a Coast to Coast medal, a minimum distance of half marathon must be done in each park!

Disneyland Paris races

In 2016 I took part in both the inaugural 5K and half marathon in Disneyland Paris (there was no 10K in the first year), and then in 2017 I did the 10K and half marathon, earning the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo Challenge medal! Both years I also got an additional challenge medal, the Castle to Chateau Challenge, for completing races in the US as well as Paris – the medal was the same for both years, just with a different ribbon.

Virtual Running Shorts

I only did the virtual shorts in 2016, which was the first year RunDisney did virtual races, mainly because its quite expensive to do considering you don’t get an actual event, but I loved the medals I got because they were huge!

This year has been totally RunDisney-less for me, which has been really sad, but I’m also quite happy as I’ve had so many injuries to deal with! I’m also still a little heartbroken that the California races have been cancelled until further notice, but I’m just praying they’ll return soon and I’m so excited to get back into training for the marathon next year!

Have you ever done a RunDisney event?

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Things You Need To Know About Tough Mudder

Its crazy to think that its been over two years since I took part in my first (and only, to date!) Tough Mudder event, and to say it was an experience is an absolute understatement!

I took part in a small team made up of a few people I knew from work and their friends, plus my dad, and had the craziest 12.5 miles of my entire life as I ran, waded, climbed and threw myself up, down and over the infamous obstacles that put the tough in Tough Mudder.

Its no easy feat, but its absolutely doable by anyone with determination and a bit of preparation, and if whether you’re already training, or thinking about taking on the course one day, here are a few words of wisdom for you..

Your team is much bigger than you think it is

Most people participate in the events in small groups and teams, but in reality, everyone on the course is on your side too. Total strangers will come to your aid if you need a leg up, hand over or just some moral support for anything that comes your way.

Label everything

If you want to run with a Go Pro, or a fitness tracker (only do this if its waterproof), or anything that could potentially fall off, label it. A friend of mine who regularly volunteers at the events says that after each race they scoop at least 10 Go Pros and more watches and sunglasses than you know what to do with out of the obstacles, and they do try and return them all, but that’s not easy if you can’t tell who’s from who’s.

You won’t be able to do it all alone, and that’s ok

I’m not being funny, but unless you can jump vertically 12ft in the air to get over some of the enormous obstacles in your path, you’re gonna need help every now and then, and people will be more than happy, as I’ve just said! Plus, its totally ok to fall/jump off everything!

You cannot prepare for Arctic Enema

Plunging into a container of ice water is like nothing I can describe. Its not like skinny-dipping in the English Channel on New Years Day, it will literally knock the breath from your lungs! Whenever I go out for a run in the rain, or complain about the cold I just think that I will never ever be as cold as I was in those moments.. But don’t worry, you warm up again pretty quick!

Cry Baby is not as bad as you think it will be

Crawling through an enclosure filled with what’s marketed as ‘tear gas’ is enough to fill anyone with a bit of dread – hell, I was so worried about doing this – but truth is, its actually laughing gas, and its not that far to crawl either!

But Electroshock Therapy really is

Probably the most infamous of all the torturous obstacles, and they love to save the best for last, running to the finish line through a structure with dangling electrical cables that are hooked up to car batteries is certainly an experience. Not all the cables will shock you, but when they do, oh my word.

You don’t have to do everything

All of the obstables can be bypassed, and there’s absolutely no pressure to participate, and no shame in saying no. I was prepared to skip quite a few, but I actually only missed one (which actually appeared in the course twice, so technically I did it once anyway!) which I was pretty impressed by.

It takes time

I did my event during the peak of my half marathon training, and I figured that 12.5 miles of obstacles wouldn’t take me much longer than just running the distance. Well it took us over 4 hours..

Bring a tonne of wet wipes and a big towel

After you’ve mudded up, you can wash off in a makeshift shower area, but this is outside (so unless you’re a bit of an exhibitionist, no stripping off), and the water is freezing (but warmer than Arctic Enema) and has no pressure. I showered fully dressed to get the mud off of as much as possible, then ducked into the women’s changing tent to put on as many warm clothes as I could, despite still being fairly muddy and wet, but all the veterans in there had wet wipes which seemed like a much easier way of doing things.

Enjoy the photos

I know that in many of the photos I look ridiculous, but seeing them makes me so damn proud of what I achieved. Never in a million years did I think I’d make it through that course, yet here I am, a Mud Legionnaire.

If you’re unsure about taking part, all I can say is just do it. You’ll amaze yourself.

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5 Reasons I’m Excited to Start Marathon Training

A few weeks ago I announced that in January 2019 I will be running my first ever full marathon. This announcement should have been the start of my training, but the universe had other ideas for me and I was struck with a knee injury that’s had me out ever since.

Fortunately, I gave myself over a year to train, so this little set back doesn’t bother me too much, and instead of starting now I’m just gonna rest, recover and prepare myself for taking the bull by the horns come January, and I’m actually starting to look forward to it more than I am dreading it! Here’s a few of the reasons why:

Carb loading

For the most part, I will be concentrating on eating as well as I can come the new year, but while I’m a firm believer in eating what you want and not having to justify food choices to anyone, I’m pretty excited for big bowls of pasta with the excuse of needing to carb-load.

Getting to be ‘that’ person

Marathon runners are kinda like vegans, pilots and people who do Crossfit* in that they tell as many people as they possibly can that they’re training for a marathon as if you’re the first person in the world to ever do one. I don’t care, its a huge deal for me so you’re damn right I’m gonna spread it like Love Island gossip. (this is already the second post I’ve talked about running a marathon in the space of a month, so there’s the proof)

*Dear vegans, pilots and people who Crossfit, please know that I’m making a joke and I have the utmost respect for all of you!

Running regularly again

Sometimes I feel like the most pathetic excuse for a runner because in the past year I have been the furthest thing from consistent. Sure, I’ve completed 3 half marathons and 3 10K races, but I’ll be the first to admit that I did those with practically no training and only a few intermittent 5K ParkRuns and the odd short distance run, and part of the reason for this is because I knew I could get away with not training. Well that’s not gonna be the case for this.. I’m gonna spend the next few weeks putting together a proper training schedule (which I thoroughly enjoy making) and sticking to it like an octopus on your face.

All the fun runs

I currently have no actual races planned for 2018, so I’m on the hunt for as many shorter distance races and fun runs that I can do to keep myself motivated through the coming year. A few on my list are Race for Life, Run or Dye and the Great South Run, and if you’ve got any recommendations please drop me a comment!

The satisfaction of a good run

When Dad and I started training for our first ever half marathon, there was nothing like the feeling of completing the next milestone both figuratively and literally. Back then it was 8 miles, or 10 miles or 12 miles, but now I’m looking forward to the feeling of doing my first ever 15, 20 and 25 milers.

I’m sure there’ll be a million and one reasons that I start dreading training too, but for now I’m concentrating on the positives! Wish me luck!

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26.2

Guys, I’ve got an announcement to make.

Now I’m back from WDW (waa!), its time for me to get my butt back into running, not just because I’m back from holiday but because something big is coming.

I am going to run a marathon.

Yep, yikes. I have six half marathons under my belt now from the last two years, and I set myself the goal a few years back that I would like to run a marathon before I turn 25, which will be in October 2019, so although dates have not been set and registration isn’t open yet, I will be entering the Walt Disney World Marathon in January 2019.

I’m terrified. This last year I have been very relaxed with my running, and hardly trained for any of the races I’ve done, but this is double the distance and therefore a million times harder, which is why I’m giving myself over a year to train.

The distance is one thing, I mean, I’m halfway there I guess, but its the mental aspect of the marathon that’s going to take real work. Its knowing that when my GPS clocks in at the 13.1 miles that I’m used to, I then have to do the whole thing all over again. Its pushing on for hours and knowing there are still a few more hours to go.

Then comes the potential for injury. In half marathon training I faced knee problems, shin splints, and even ran a race with a stress fracture, plus all the little aches and pains that come and go. I will have to be so careful in knowing my limits and knowing when I can and can’t push further.

Basically, I’m going to be about 13.1 miles outside my comfort zone. I’ve been winging it for the last two years and have been lucky to get away with it, but now I have to be serious, do my research and be ready to push myself. Of course I’ll be documenting the good the bad and the ugly, so everyone else can get some entertainment out of me torturing myself!

Can I do it?

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RunDisney Paris 2017: Day 1

Yes it’s only been a week but once again I’m coming to you from another trip as I’m in Disneyland Paris for the RunDisney weekend!

We had an early start to get the first flight out of Southampton to Paris, which was lucky as due to strike action CDG was crazy busy and we had to wait quite some time to get through passport control! Once we were through and eventually managed to find our hire car company, we were on the road to DLP, and headed straight Hotel Cheyenne where we waited for my sister to arrive before walking into Disney Village. First stop was lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, then we went to the Health and Fitness Expo to pick up our race kit.

I had mixed feelings about the expo. I thought it flowed better this year in how it was set up, but it felt very very empty and I was really surprised at how few exhibitors they had. It just felt a little scarce, although much better for my bank balance! Dad and I picked up our challenge bibs and tshirts, and Mum and Hannah got their 10K ones, then we walked into Disney Village for a bit of window shopping before getting the bus back to the hotel so we could finally unload all our stuff into the room before heading back to the parks.

Somewhat controversially, we actually went into the Walt Disney Studios Park first of all, as it was closing early due to the 5K in the evening. Amazingly, we managed to do the Ratatouille ride with less than a half an hour wait, and also RC Racer and even Crush’s Coaster in a fraction of what I would consider the normal wait time to be. After Crush’s Coaster, the park was past its official closing time so we were guided towards the exit, so we headed over to the Disneyland Park.

Once in the park, my family stopped for ice cream while I walked around the castle hub taking photos of the 25th anniversary decs, then we went into Adventureland to do Pirates of the Caribbean, via a quick detour through Aladdin’s Enchanted Passage. I don’t think I’ve ever queued that long for Pirates, although it was probably only about 20-25mins, but after the refurb I didn’t want to miss out. We then walked the loop through Fantasyland and into Discoveryland for Buzz’s Space Ranger Spin.

Once we’d saved the universe, we took up spots for Illuminations. I had hoped that the audience would remain seated but unfortunately everyone started to stand so on our feet it was.. Honestly, I don’t think it blew me away, and I don’t think it was any better than it’s predecessor Dreams. It was an early park close of 8.30pm, so we headed towards Disney Village but as the 5K was still ongoing it was total carnage. We battled our way through the crowds to the wondrous place that is Earl of Sandwich, grabbed sandwiches and headed back to the hotel on foot.

In the morning we’ll be doing the 10K, stay tuned! 

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My RunDisney Paris Weekend Outfits

I may have just got back from my Disney Cruise, but I’m off to Disneyland Paris THIS WEEKEND! I’ll be up bright and early tomorrow morning to be on the first flight to Paris, and I’ll be in the parks Friday-Sunday, but as per usual this trip is not without a race weekend!

I’ll be running both the 10K and half marathon in order to earn myself the Bibbidi Bobbidi Challenge medal, and I’ll also be getting my second Castle to Chateau Challenge medal, and two races means another two outfits to create!

I’ll be the first to admit that the costumes I created for this race weekend were a little bit last minute – in fact, my 10K outfit was something I literally threw together this week – thank goodness for my fabric stash!

So for the 10K I’ll be letting out my inner Star Wars nerd with this outfit inspired by Princess Leia’s Episode IV outfit. I have a good collection of plain coloured tech t-shirts now, so I only needed to make the skirt to go with a plain white top, and then I’ll be attempting some cinnamon roll style buns.

Then for the half marathon, I’ve created an outfit inspired by my favourite Mickey Mouse look: Sorcerer Mickey. I actually made this skirt from fabric I got out of the scrap bin at my local fabric store for just £1, and I’m so happy with how it came out! And while its probably impractical to run in a sorcerer’s hat, I do have this amazing scrunchie that I got from Shanghai Disneyland last year, and I even have a Mickey glove too!

If you’re also running this weekend, or are going to be in the parks, come say hi if you spot me!

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Photos to Take With your RunDisney Medals

Maintaining your fitness, a sense of achievement, or pushing your limits; anyone might think these are the reasons to participate in a RunDisney event. Sure, there’s an aspect of this in every race, but really its all about the medal at the finish line, and I’m definitely not the only Disney runner who thinks this.

If you’ve never seen a RunDisney medal before, let me tell you they are every bit as awesome as you’d expect them to be and more. For starters, they’re huge, and weigh a fair bit, but as well as they’re they are always so detailed and well themed, and well worth however miles you just sweated for.

For many, the completion of the race might be the end of the event in your eyes, but you’re gonna want to document everything perfectly, and in the hours and days after your race, medal photos suddenly become a priority. With 5 RunDisney weekends under my belt, I have perfected the art of the medal photos, and if anyone’s about to take part in their first event, here’s the definitive list of photos that you’re gonna want to take.

1. A finish line medal selfie

A volunteer has just hung that glorious medal around your neck and you’re stumbling towards the water table but what you really need to do is document that finishing moment with a good ol’ sweaty selfie!

2. A photo with the finishing board

Once you’ve picked up your free bottles of water and Powerade and grabbed your food box, the next stop before reuniting with your friends and family at the end of the race is to get that official RunDisney board photo.

3. A photo of your weekend medal collection

If you’ve run more than one race, or completed a challenge, be sure to get a photo wearing all of those medals at the same time, even if its too heavy for you to wear them all all day!

4. A photo in front of the castle

Sometimes this shot needs a helping hand of someone to hold the medal while you get the position of the photo just right, but its a classic!

5. A photo with the character on the medal

If you’re medal is themed based on a certain character, as so many are, be sure to go and see them to show off! They absolutely love seeing medals!

6. A photo in a themed location

If you’re in a park that has an area theme that matches your medal, grab a photo there too!

7. Your medal display at home

However you hang your medals at home, take a photo after every new medal has been added!

My next RunDisney event will be Paris in September when I’ll be running the 10K and half marathon for the inaugural Bibbidi Bobbidi Challenge and also getting my second Castle to Chateau challenge medal! Who will I be seeing there?

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Characters on the Course – RunDisney Tinkerbell Weekend


I might be back from Disneyland, but you’ll all know by now that that never means the Disney posts are over! And of course, yet again, the primary purpose of my trip was another RunDisney race weekend, this time, the Tinkerbell Half Marathon Weekend.

Again, I ran the 10K and the half marathon – the Pixie Dust Challenge – so there were 19.3 miles of running magic for me to share with you! Some of you may be aware of the somewhat dramatic twist that during the 5K there were no characters available on the course, and this is something that I have a very different opinion to most, but I won’t get into that now, instead I’m going to share the characters that were out for us at the 10K and half marathon!


The 10K:

  • Lost Boys – the Lost Boys were hanging out in Toontown as we entered the park just after mile 1
  • Pirates – there were a bunch of face character pirates scattered throughout the course, and they were lots of fun!
  • Captain Hook and Mr Smee – this pair met by the Storybook Canal Boats at about mile 3
  • Pirate Donald – I couldn’t resist stopping for my favourite duck on Main Street
  • Pirate Chip and Dale – the chipmunks were up to trouble in California Adventure
  • Peter and Wendy – this was really just a photo op as they stood a few steps above the pavement, but it was nice to see them out!
  • And pirate Minnie was at the finish line!




The Half Marathon:

  • Iridessa, Silvermist and Rosetta – I can never resist the fairies, and having never met Silvermist before this was one for the character list
  • Pirate chipmunks – Chip and Dale made another mischievous appearance, this time on Main Street
  • Peter and Wendy – during the half, Peter and Wendy were on the railway bridge, so not even a photo op
  • Lost Boys – the most boys were having a ball on King Triton’s Carousel on Paradise Pier
  • Pirates – the pirates were out in force again!
  • Pirate Pluto – this lovable pup was also kitted out for pillaging and plundering on Paradise Pier
  • Tinkerbell and Fawn – well it would be rude if Tink missed her own race, right?
  • Captain Hook and Mr Smee – this dynamic duo made a second appearance, this time in California Adventure

If you caught the Princess Weekend edition of Characters on the Course, you may be noticing there’s considerably less this weekend. This is primarily due to the fact that in WDW, Disney own all the land between the parks, so even when you’re not in the park, they can still put the characters out on the roadsides along the course. However in Disneyland, the majority of the half marathon course is on the streets of Anaheim, so there can’t be any characters along those 8 miles of the course. There were, however, some bands, DJs, and also a whole tonne of super supportive locals making that length of the course magical for us!

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February Disney Trip Day 6 and Princess Half Marathon

Hey gang! Well I dunno about you but I’ve had quite a day..

Up again at 3.30am and on a bus in under 20 minutes, but thanks to a crazy amount of traffic, it took us over an hour to get to Epcot for this mornings race! I finally got into my corral at 5:30am, which is when the race was due to start, but luckily thanks to the bad traffic, the start was delayed 10 minutes so I didn’t miss out on anything.
The race itself was a classic combination of hard work and a lot of fun; I probably spent about 30-40 minutes waiting for various character stops along the way, but also being my first half without my dad, I struggled a little bit to work with a proper pace and ended up winging it just a bit! I did come in quicker than the time I had set as a sort of goal, so no complaints here, and I was back to the hotel in no time for a bath and, today, a nice long nap, while Sarah went on a solo excursion.

Once I was back on my feet (just barely) I headed into the Magic Kingdom ready for a day of twirling around the place in my beautiful Chip skirt. First stop of the day was meeting Stitch in Town Square, and he loved my outfit and knew exactly who I was, pointing to the picture of Chip on Sarah’s tshirt! Then we had fastpasses for Space Mountain, but not until after I re-carbed with a Mickey pretzel, and we got put on the Alpha track – BOO. With some time to kill before Merida was back meeting (due to her being on parade) we went over to Be Our Guest and luckily there was a photopass photographer outside to take some photos of us in front of Beast’s castle.

Meeting Merida was big for us, as she was the last of all the princesses for us to meet. That’s right, it’s day 6 and we’ve done all of the princesses, eek! And speaking of princesses, next we had fastpasses for Enchanted Tales with Belle, where I was chosen to play Mrs Potts (because an adorable kid was cast as Chip) and Sarah played the operatic wardrobe! It was my first time being part of the show, and Sarah’s first time altogether, so it was amazing that we both got to be in it and meet Belle for photos too as well as get an Enchanted Tales bookmark!

We then wandered through Fantasyland to the Tangled toilets for some photos *cough* new range coming to The Happiest Fitness Co *cough* and met Peter Pan by the Neverland map. Afterwards, we ticked something off our Disney bucket lists by going to Starbucks and giving cute Disney names – Chip and Belle to be precise! A quick hub grass chill and a little bit of Move It Shake It, and we headed back to Be Our Guest for dinner!

It was my first time doing table service there, having only eaten once before during quick service lunch, and it did not dissapoint! We had steak which was delicious, and super filling, so fitting in the lemon meringue cupcake for dessert was a little bit of a struggle. After we ate, we had a photo with Beast, then headed back into the now cold and dark park, and to Ariel’s grotto for a quick mermaid meet.

As we headed to Main Street USA, the new projection show Once Upon A Time was starting, so we stopped midway down the street to watch it. Now I loved the old show, Celebrate the Magic, so I was a little unsure how to take this change, and as much as I hate being negative, I was so disappointed. Compared to Celebrate it just didn’t match up, and I didn’t even have to fight back a single tear – and I cry at everything. I’m glad I’ve seen it, but I probably wouldn’t bother again.

Finally, we finished up with a late fastpass to Big Thunder, because the wildest ride in the wilderness is ten times wilder at night!

And with that, it’s time for me to go to bed..

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February Disney Trip Day 3

So after our crazy early night last night, we ended up awake super early this morning. Typical.Our plans for the morning were to hit the RunDisney expo so I could get my bib and tshirts, so we had a fairly chilled morning at the hotel, grabbed some breakfast there and jumped on a transportation bus to the ESPN centre. Because Sarah had never been to an expo before, I was pretty excited for her to see what they were really like.


We got my bib and race shirts, and collected the pre-ordered pin I got for Sarah and my event jacket, then got stuck into the official merchandise, before getting into the 40 minute queue to pay. Yes, 40 minutes.. We also had a quick look around the main expo hall, but with fastpass commitments looming, jumped on a bus back to the hotel so I could dump my stuff, then hopped on another to Epcot.

Our only fastpass of the day was for Soarin’, a ride I haven’t done here since 2014 as it was being refurbished last year, and the new update is incredible! Honestly if you do no other ride in Epcot, do this.

 

Having seen that she meets in the French Pavilion on the World Showcase, I decided to bring my Aurora themed outfit forward, so we dashed from Soarin’ to the 2:30 meet, and while we were in the queue we overheard rumours that Belle would also be out in her blue dress, so after Aurora we got in the mystery line to meet Belle. She was super lovely, and it was my first time meeting her in her blue village dress, and another princess off the list!

Onwards, we grabbed a Starbucks and jumped onto a monorail across to the Magic Kingdom, then a bus across to Fort Wilderness for Mickey’s Backyard BBQ..


You guys, I cannot put into words how much fun Backyard BBQ was. There will be a full review in the coming weeks, but OH MY GOSH. There was amazing food, incredible entertainment and we just had the best time dancing with Mickey and the gang! 100/10 would recommend, and yes, that is 100 and not a typo.

From Fort Wilderness, we got the bus back to the Magic Kingdom, rejoiced at the park being much quieter than Tuesday, and took a good spot to watch Once Upon a Time and Wishes. The whole area between the partners statue and castle was sat down which was amazing. That was, until about 5 minutes before it was due to start, when the whole front of the audience decided to stand up. Ugh. We actually ended up leaving midway through in order to make our fastpass for Buzz, but having already watched it this trip and knowing we’ll see it again, it wasn’t really a problem.

After Buzz, we had our last fastpass of the day at Haunted Mansion, then as we still had 10 minutes til park close, we decided to run over and get on Big Thunder Mountain because the queue was pretty short, plus I love riding Big Thunder in the dark – it just seems to make it more fun!


Now past park close, we walked through a fairly empty Liberty Square back to the castle, and decided to hang out until Main Street emptied out a bit to get some photos in front of a clear castle, and we managed to sneak a photo shoot with one of the remaining Photopass photographers on Main Street. We eventually left the park about 11pm – an hour after park close – and got back to the hotel about 11.40, now pretty wiped and ready for a good nights sleep!

Today:

– Characters met: 7

– Total steps: 20,226

– Total distance: 8.46 miles

Tomorrow we’ll be in Animal Kingdom!

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My RunDisney Princess Weekend Outfits

This time next week, I will be at the airport getting ready to leave for Florida!!!!! I’m a teeny bit excited, can you tell?

And while this trip is a holiday for the most part, it also involves me taking part in the RunDisney Princess Half Marathon weekend’s Glass Slipper Challenge – the Princess 10K on Saturday 25th and the Princess Half Marathon on Sunday 27th. Do you know what that means? TWO RACE OUTFITS.

I’m putting a lot more effort into my costumes this year, and I’ve been grinding away at my sewing machine to create two outfits that I’m super proud of!

Nala RunDisney costume

I spent a lot of time thinking about what princesses I wanted to represent in the races, and after much consideration, I figured I’d give some exposure to an underrated, non-human princess – Nala from The Lion King. The skirt and ears are my own creations, and I’m completing the look with a performance t-shirt from AWDis Cool, the cutest ‘Lion in Training’ socks, which I was given in the Disney Halloween gift exchange, and my RunDisney New Balance trainers which I bought last year. This will be my costume for the 10K!

Chip RunDisney costume

If you’ve seen my other trip outfit posts, you’ll see that Chip is a bit of a running theme – no pun intended. Beauty and the Beast is definitely one of my favourite princess movies, but I didn’t really want to do Belle, so I opted for my next favourite character. I planned this ages before the medal designs were released, so I was SO HAPPY when I discovered that the whole weekend is going to be BatB themed, making this costume even more relevant! When it comes to half marathons, I’m a bit fussier about what I wear, so I kept it simple with another handmade skirt, and a white performance t-shirt, plus my yellow running belt for storing my phone, and my New Balances.

I can’t wait to kick off another year of racing!

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RunDisney 2017 Update!

princess-half

Yesterday the event information for the RunDisney Princess Half Marathon Weekend was released!

While I hadn’t forgotten, what with my trip getting so close now, my stomach actually did a turn when I got a text from my dad while at work to tell me that the event guide was live, and all of a sudden everything became very real and I actually got a little overwhelmed when I got home and it was time to check all the info – especially finding out my bib number, and ultimately my corral.

If you didn’t already know, I’m running the Glass Slipper Challenge, which consists of the 10K on Saturday 25th and the half marathon on Sunday 26th. I’ve run a weekend challenge before, at the Star Wars weekend in Disneyland last year, and I’m excited but also a little nervous to be participating solo this year, having previously raced with my dad.

Despite the slightly over-complicated route to get all the info I needed – downloading my waiver to find my bib number, then finding the corral listings – I let out a huge sigh of relief to discover that I’ll be starting in Corral G, the 2:25-2:36 finishing time. Its exactly where I wanted to be; close enough to the beginning that I’m not waiting forever to get across the start line, but also not surrounded by people running a much faster pace.

I was also really curious to see the course maps. I’ve run the half marathon course at WDW before, and I was sort of pleased to see that its the same route as last year as I know what to expect: start in the Epcot car park, run up to the Magic Kingdom, then back via the road by the golf courses and finish up in Epcot again. I was, to be honest, more interested in the 10K course as its not a distance I’ve done in Florida before, and I’m pretty happy with that too – its similar to the 5K route I ran last year, just with a longer stretch outside the park at the start of the race, and an extra loop around the Boardwalk as part of the World Showcase stretch.

It feels like forever since I last wrote about RunDisney, especially having spent the majority of 2015 blogging my training for last years races, but I’m really very excited to be racing again this year as part of my upcoming trip! As per usual, the best way to follow my adventures will be on Twitter and Instagram, and if possible again this year I’ll also get back onto Periscope for live course updates!

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Rewarding Fitness

Rewarding Fitness

Seeing results along your fitness journey is a fantastic motivator – it shows that all that hard work you’re putting in is paying off, and who doesn’t like to know that?

Rewarding yourself for hitting little goals is great, but defining those goals can be a little tricky. If your goal is weight loss, then its fairly straightfoward, but if, like me, your fitness journey doesn’t necessarily mean that the scales will be going down at all – for example, if you’re trying to gain more lean muscle. With that in mind, I’ve been thinking about new ways in which I can define success so I can reward myself with some treats!

Personal bests

A PB is always time for celebration, so set yourself a target to work towards, like a time for a certain distance, or a weight, and use that as the goal!

Fitbit streak

Now I have a Fitbit again, I’m back on the addictive path of constantly wanting to meet my step and activity targets for each day, so I’m going to be aiming to hit those goals every day for a consecutive period (30 or maybe 50 days) and using every time I manage it, treat for me!

Measurements

While sometimes you won’t find the number on the scales dropping, you’ll often see a huge difference in your body itself. Take a few measurements – waist, hips, arms etc – and check them every so often. You can reward yourself when you see those numbers changing in the way you want them too, perhaps every inch or two!

Sticking to routine

If you’re aiming to hit the gym 5 days a week, or go for a run everyday, reward yourself every time you manage to do this successfully over a certain timeframe, a month, for example!

Getting out of the comfort zone

Instead of just treating yourself over long periods of time, try and do something different every once in a while, and treat yourself when you do. For me, these are the days were I go to the gym in a crop top or sports bra, because it always takes a lot of confidence to be able to do that.

Have a think about what might work best for you, and roll with it! Then comes the fun part: deciding on your rewards and treats! To give you some inspiration, here are some of mine for this year:

  • New yoga mat
  • A pretty new swimsuit I’ve had my eye on
  • New jeans
  • Treating myself to a nice lunch
  • Nice running headphones

Have some fun coming up with your treats – the better they are, they harder you’ll want to work towards them! Good luck!

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Putting the Running Shoes Back On

Tips for buying running shoes

After taking time off from running through October, yesterday was meant to mark the start of my next leg of training in the run up to my 2017 races. The reality of that, however, was that I caught a 24 hour bug going round my family and spent the whole day sofa-bound, oops!

My point is, its time for me to get back into the swing of things! In just 16 weeks from this weekend I’ll be taking on the Glass Slipper Challenge at the WDW Princess Half Marathon weekend, and autumn/winter is my favourite time for training so I’m actually really glad to be doing it now! I’ll be taking things nice and easy in the first few weeks as I’m still a little concerned about the problems I’ve been having with my foot, but once I start my new job at the end of the month, I’ll be spending a lot less time on my feet during the day so will definitely need to hit the roads again, and I’ll be able to get back into a proper routine.

I’m also – and you could say more importantly – starting to think about my running costumes for next year! I have four Disney races booked already, but right now I’m just concentrating on the princess races. As much as I love the Disney princesses, I don’t know if I’ll dress up as one of them or go a little more abstract or do a side-kick; I keep turning to Etsy for inspiration but I think I’ll make any outfits myself to save money!

I don’t think I’ll be posting weekly about my training for these races, but I’ll definitely do a few updates in the coming months so stay tuned!

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YearOfFit: Putting Your Body First

Healthy Little Changes

Some of you might be aware that on Sunday I was meant to be running the Bournemouth Half Marathon. Here’s the thing: I didn’t.

After all the problems with my foot over the last two weeks, I made the decision on Sunday morning that running another half marathon on metatarsal damage was just going to leave me in a worse off state than I was already in, and with exciting races planned for next year and training to be done over the autumn/winter period, it just wasn’t worth the risk.

In any aspect of healthy living, its really important to not only understand your body and its needs, but to actually listen to them. This can be anything from knowing when you need to take a break from your workout routine to knowing when you’re starting to feel a little dehydrated, and this comes from developing a sense of mindfullness, and a closer relationship with your body. You might think I’m talking crazy. Its your body, you can’t get any closer right? Well you can be sceptical if you like – I used to be! – but actually its one thing to understand that you’re feeling hungry, but another thing to think about what your body actually craves. For example, I have hungry moments where I can eat as much junk as I can get my hands on, but still not feel satisfied, and these are the times that actually what I really need is a load of veggies. I’ve gone off topic a little, but my point is that the body has fascinating little ways that it communicates with you, without you even realising, and what your body needs is what you need.

For this reason, I’ll be taking this month off running, and relaxing a little with my gym training. While my foot does seem to be improving slowly, the last thing I need is to push myself too much and cause any long lasting damaging that might ruin my training for next year. And d’you know what? That’s ok.

A few months ago, if I skipped a gym day I’d be feeling horrendously guilty and worry, as if my whole body was going to explode just cos I’d missed a workout in favour of a lie in, but recently I’ve discovered that sometimes I’m better off for a bit of rest, maybe a treat day, and often I’ll go back to the gym feeling refreshed and ready to take on the next workout instead. I think the point I’m trying to make is that no one can tell you what your body needs, only you can truly understand that, and there’s nothing wrong with putting your body’s needs first.

I 100% recommend Pretty Happy by Kate Hudson (pictured), its such an interesting read on this subject!

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RunDisney Paris Trip – Day 2 and Half Marathon!

The great thing about racing in Disneyland Paris is that the starts aren’t quite as stupidly early as in the states; today we were up at 5.15am.


Pre-race breakfast was provided at the hotel, but I only had a banana and bowl of dry Frosties with some juice because the options were basically fruit and cereal! We headed to the race area and got into our corral, C, about 45 minutes before the race was due to start, but due to a hold up on the course the whole start of the race was delayed, meaning it was about 7.45 before we’d actually crossed the start line, by which time we were quite cold and I was already hungry again, oops..


The race took a different route through the parks to the 5K the previous day which was nice as it meant we didn’t know what to expect, and they also had completely different characters around – I think the only repeat I saw was Spiderman. I stopped for photos with Chip and Dale who were hanging in the Studios park, and also Robin Hood in Disneyland, but it was nice to see the other characters around – Alice, Captain America, Darth Vader – and Cinderella and Prince Charming were in Fantasyland with one of the floats from Disney Magic on Parade. We left the parks at about 5/6K and did quite a bit of backstage before hitting the roads of the surrounding towns. It was over 16K before we were back in the official Disney area, where we finished the race running through hotels Santa Fe and Cheyenne, and then around the lake, through Disney Village and a final loop of backstage to the finish line! Despite taking things really easy due to my foot injury from earlier in the week, we still finished in a really respectable time of about 3 hours, and were met at the finish line by Mickey and Minnie which was perfect, even if Mickey was taken away from me just as I went in for a photo!

Walt Disney Studios

Disneyland Pairs Sequoia Lodge

Once we’d got our race medal and Castle to Chateau medal, and grabbed our food bags, it was time to find Mum and Hannah and slowly make our way back to the hotel to grab a proper breakfast; the Disney hotels had extended breakfast hours for runners. Super quick rest and shower before we packed up the room, dropped the bags off in the car and as we made our way back towards the park the heavens opened and the rain began to pour! Because of this, we opted to get the bus to the parks, and ran straight through to Walt Disney Studios Park for the 12.50pm performance of Mickey and the Magician. I’d really been looking forward to seeing this, and it was a welcome sit down and break from the rain. I enjoyed the show, but personally felt a bit let down by a slightly less than perfect Elsa who hit a few bum notes, but was really impressed with the Lion King scene.

 

With very little time left before needing to leave, and empty tummies, we left Studios and Dad and Hannah went to get us a table at the Rainforest Cafe, while I shot back into the Disneyland Park with Mum to get some albeit rainy photos of my medals by the castle, and pick up a few gifts for family before we joined back up for lunch. Still on a bit of a carb fest, I had Rasta Pasta which was AMAZING, and they were doing 15% discount for runners which was a nice surprise! Few last bits bought from the Village, then back to the car to make the drive back to the Eurotunnel!

See you next time, Disneyland Paris!

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A Super Run Saturday

Its been ages since I wrote about running, and with 4 weeks to go until our Disneyland Paris races (and the Bournemouth half marathon the following week!), training is having to ramp back up, and today was a good run!


Super, in fact!

Bournemouth ParkRun was celebrating its 3rd birthday, and as a result there was a superhero theme to today’s run; naturally I saw it as the perfect opportunity to showcase my amazing new Captain America leggings from Poprageous. In order to get in a longer distance, Dad and I decided to run the 2.5k from our house to the park before the race, then carry on from the finish line to visit my nan, which was about another 4k.

Despite telling ourselves that we’d keep our ParkRun pace quite slow today, I went off pretty fast, but was feeling good through the whole course – although I’m back to struggling with stitches again, yuck! Slowing down a little in the second half of the timed 5K, we crossed the line in 33 minutes, paused for a slice of birthday cake, then continued on our way.

As I was timing the run in one distance, pausing MapMyRun only for when we were waiting for ParkRun to begin and our cake break, as we ran on towards our next destination and keeping a pretty fast pace as we had done throughout, it suddenly became fairly apparent that we’d hit 9K well under the hour mark, and if we could hold the pace as we were, there was a good chance that we’d manage 10K in a new PB. Unfortunately, at about 9.7K the road began a bit of an uphill, but I was determined to push on, knowing that just around the corner from the top I could coast a downhill, and that pushed me past the 10K mark in 1:02:59! Its only about 20 seconds faster than my previous PB, but its a confidence boost that I really needed; I’ve been feeling a little out of practice recently, what with recently holidays and my hatred of summer training.

Overall, we ran 11.5K in 1:14:41, and it felt really great!

Bring on Disneyland Paris next month!

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YearOfFit – Virtual Running Explained

I feel like recently I’ve been talking a lot about virtual races, and it kinda dawned on me that, being a relatively new concept, a lot of people probably have no idea what I’m wittering on about!

What is a virtual race?

Virtual races were design to eliminate the logistic or geographical issues with the traditional fun run; rather than having to be at a certain place on a certain day, these races allow you to run, or even walk, the required distance in your own time, at your own pace, and submit proof of completion to earn goodies like medals and t-shirts.

For some races, you might be required to complete the distance on a specific day, others may have a time-frame like a week or month, and some of these allow you to split your distance over multiple runs, eg. five 1K runs for a 5K.

Why should you take part?

I’ve had a lot of people ask me ‘isn’t it just like buying a medal?’, and yeah, I guess it kinda is, but there’s a lot more to it than that. Its really a way of motivating people to get out and be active, especially for people who may not be able to take part in actual races, and its also a great way to encourage children to get into running.

Also most races are organised as charity fundraisers, with a proportion or all profits going to a good cause. What have you got to lose?

The Happiest Fitness Co are holding the Frying Pan 5K virtual run in July, sign up here today and use VIRTUAL10 to get 10% off registration!

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My Running Confessions

I’m loving writing confessions posts, can you tell?

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I still feel a little bit weird calling myself a runner, but the fact is I’ve been training properly for almost 2 years now, which means I’ve got two years worth of confessions to make! As per usual with my confession posts, this is all in jest, but the confessions are true!

1. My first pair of running shoes were a fluke

When I bought the first ‘proper’ pair of trainers for running in, I just went into a Nike outlet store and picked a pair I liked the look and feel of. No testing, no assessing my stance or gait, I just put them on and bought them. Looking back, I was so fortunate to be that lucky; those were the shoes I ran my first 5K, 10K and half marathons in.

2. I only started using a GPS this year

I used to plan all my routes on Google maps to get the distance right. My dad’s always had a GPS watch, so I’ve relied on him too, but it was only in January that I bothered to start tracking myself, and I’m only using MapMyRun on my phone.

3. I’ve never used compression anything

Tights, sleeves, socks, whatever. I’ve not even dabbled in it.

4. I sometimes pause MapMyRun at traffic lights

Not always, but sometimes, and I definitely think more runners do this than admit to it!

5. I hate running in summer

Everyone always thinks that the summer is perfect for running, but I can’t stand it. Its hot, the sun gets in my eyes and it means either having to get up stupid early or running late in the day. Yuck.

6. I don’t have set intervals

When Dad and I were running the Star Wars half marathon back in January, we got talking to this guy about previous races and what not, and he asked us what our run/walk/run intervals are – you should have seen his face when we told him we just kinda made it up as we went along.. He actually didn’t talk to us anymore after that, ha!

7. I don’t like running in shorts

I just don’t trust them to not chafe, I’m sorry shorts.

8. Taping for every run seems ridiculous

When I developed knee problems at the end of last year and had to go to physio, I had to learn the art of taping in order to be able to do my January races while I was recovering. While it did help, it was a faff, and I can’t understand people using tape every single time they run..

9. Foam rollers aren’t as bad as everyone thinks

There’s a lot of hate for the foam roller, but they’re really not that bad if you ask me..

10. Dad and I make fun of people with crazy running stances

Yep, I’m bringing Dad in on this one so I don’t seem so mean.. And we don’t make fun of, we just comment on it because seriously, some people run in the weirdest ways. It doesn’t make them any less of a runner, and most of them are still faster than us.

Wanna fess up to anything?

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My RunDisney Bucket List

Its safe to say that having run four races already this year, and two more booked for September – plus I’m already planning my 2017 events! – I’m pretty hooked on RunDisney. Yeah, I’m not even sorry..

Rebel Challenge 2016

So I thought I’d write my ultimate RunDisney bucket list so I’ve got something to aim for in the next few years, yay!

Race Events:

  • Walt Disney World Marathon weekend
    • 5K – 2016
    • 10K 2019
    • Half Marathon – 2016
    • Marathon 2019
    • Goofy Challenge
    • Dopey Challenge
  • Star Wars Half Marathon weekend – Light Side (Disneyland)
    • 5K
    • 10K
    • Half Marathon – Rebel Challenge completed 2016!
  • Princess Half Marathon weekend
    • 5K
    • 10K
    • Half Marathon – Glass Slipper Challenge 2017 done!
  • Star Wars Half Marathon weekend – Dark Side (Walt Disney World)
    • 5K
    • 10K
    • Half Marathon
  • Tinkerbell Half Marathon weekend
    • 5K
    • 10K
    • Half Marathon – Pixie Dust Challenge 2017, done!
  • Disneyland Half Marathon weekend
    • 5K
    • 10K
    • Half Marathon
  • Disneyland Paris
    • 5K – 2016 done!
    • 10K – 2017 done!
    • Half Marathon – 2016 done!
    • 31K Challenge – 2017
    • 36K Challenge – goal for 2019
  • Wine and Dine Half Marathon weekend
    • 5K
    • 10K
    • Half Marathon
  • Super Heroes Half Marathon weekend
    • 5K
    • 10K
    • Half Marathon
  • Castaway Cay 5K

Extra Magic:

  • Coast to Coast Challenge – gained January 2016
  • Castle to Chateau Challenge – September 2016!
  • Pink Coast to Coast Challenge – gained 2017!
  • Castaway Cay Challenge – January 2019
  • Kessel Run Challenge
  • Pasta in the Park Party
  • Post-race breakfast
  • Participate in an inaugural race – Disneyland Paris 2016!

Can you tick off any of these?

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YearOfFit – 7 Things You Need to do After Finishing a Race

You’ve spent all this time training, and now you’ve run the race, so now what?

Rebel Challenge 2016

1. Walk it off

I know how much its taken for you to cross that finish line, but you need to keep moving. I’m not saying you need to walk miles, but just don’t stop completely once you’re done – otherwise you may not be able to start up again!

2. Stretch!

I also know how much your body is going to want to just sit down and curl up for the rest of the day, but I guarantee as soon as you do, your muscles are gonna start to cool and you’re really going to feel the effects of the distance you’ve just run. Just do a quick 5-10 minutes of stretching once you’re finished, and then maybe a bit more a few hours later. You’ll thank me, honest.

3. Congratulate those around you

I hate runners who don’t join in with the community spirit. You’ve all just completed the same course, so give someone a pat on the back or tell them they did a great job. Its not much, but its a nice gesture and you’ll feel better for it.

4. Take a finishers photo

Grab that medal and strike a pose. It doesn’t matter if you think you look too sweaty or worn out, preserve that proud memory!

5. RE-FUEL

This is totally dependent on your body’s needs, but especially after a long distance, you’re probably going to need to take on some food pretty soon after crossing that finish line. Grab a banana!

6. Collect any sponsorship money

No, not the second you’ve crossed the line, but if you did your race for a charity, try and get your money in as soon as you can after the event; its just good manners, and saves them having to chase you.

7. Feel proud!

It doesn’t matter whether you were first or last to cross the finish line, or whether its your 1st or 50th race, you should always feel incredibly proud of your achievement!

Remember, a 12 minute mile is just as far as a 5 minute mile, so just get out there and enjoy it!

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YearOfFit – Top Tips for Buying Running Shoes

Running is a great way to keep fit. Its a good workout, its versatile and the selling factor for a lot of people is that its cheap – but your running shoes shouldn’t be.

Tips for buying running shoes

I’m all for a bargain, but I strongly believe that getting a good pair of running shoes is an investment, and you shouldn’t just rock on up to Sports Direct and pick a pair based on the colour matching your favourite yoga pants. Trust me, your feet are worth it.

1. Get accessed

This isn’t as scary as it sounds, promise! If you go to a proper running shop, they’ll put you on a treadmill and get you to run a little bit to access your running style, meaning they can recommend a pair of shoes that will suit you best. It may be that you turn your feet out a little while you run (an over-pronator, like myself!), or you have weak knees or ankles, but by getting a professional to look at your gait, you can find a pair of shoes that are going to work with your body.

2. Shop around

Once you know what sort of shoes you need, you’ve got the freedom to shop around a bit! Try different brands, get a feel for all your options and check out outlet stores!

3. Always wear good socks

Even when you’re just trying on potential shoes, you should try to wear the right socks. Special running socks are available to give your feet more support, and you like to wear these, then be sure to take them with you when you try on new shoes; they can make a big difference to the fit! Wearing the wrong socks can also lead to blisters!

4. Know sizes

I always used to think it was as simple as knowing your shoe size, but some brands of running shoes recommend you size up or down. Asics, for example, recommend you buy their shoes half a size bigger than your regular size. General rule of thumb is a thumb – you should be able to press down about a thumb’s width at the end of your big toe, to allow space for your feet to move happily.

5. Don’t be afraid to be afraid of change

If you find a pair of shoes that work for you, don’t be afraid to stick to that same make and model. My dad, for example, always buys the same pair of Asics, because he knows they suit him, and that’s a totally normal thing for runners to do!

6. Know your shoe mileage

Believe it or not, running shoes have a sort of use-by date. Different companies may say differently, but in general you should be replacing your shoes after about 300-450 miles, just due to general wear and tear, and to keep you running at your best.

Do you have a favourite shoe brand?

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#YearOfFit – 5K by Summer

If you read my post on fitness goals that everyone can achieve, you’ll have seen that one of them was running a 5K.

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I genuinely believe that anyone is capable of finishing this distance, and to prove it, why not give this programme a go? Its six weeks, and what do you have to lose? Get those shoe’s on and let’s go!

Week 1

Tuesday: Walk for 1 minute, run for 30 seconds, and repeat 5 times. Easy right?

Thursday: Run for 1 minute, then walk for 30 seconds, and repeat 5 times.

Saturday: Run 1km, taking walk intervals if you need to

Week 2

Tuesday and Thursday: Run for 2 minutes, then walk for 30 seconds. Do this for 10 minutes.

Saturday: Run 1km. Try and walk as little as possible

Week 3

Tuesday: Run for 3 minutes, walk for 30 seconds x4

Thursday: Run for 5 minutes, walk for 1 minute. Repeat 3 times

Saturday: Run 2km in 2 minute/30 seconds run/walk intervals

You’re halfway!

Week 4

Tuesday: Run for 10 minutes, then walk for 2 minutes x2

Thursday: Run for 5 minutes, walk for 30 seconds x3

Saturday: Run 3km. Aim for 5 min/30 second run/walk intervals

Week 5

Tuesday: Run/walk 10 minute/1 minute three times

Thursday: Just run for 15 minutes

Saturday: Run 1km, walk 0.25km x4 (hello 5k!)

Week 6

Tuesday: Run 2km

Thursday: Run/walk 10 minute/30 second intervals for 3.5km

Saturday: Run your 5k!

I read somewhere recently that an 15 min/mile is just as far as a 10 min/mile, and this is such an important thing to remember; it doesn’t matter how fast or slow you might be, you’re still getting out and doing it!

So now you’re 5k ready, why not sign up for a virtual run? The Frying Pan 5K is raising money for the Rainbow Trust, you get an awesome medal and did I mention that I’m organising it?!

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I’m Still Running!

I’m feeling particularly chatty this month, can you tell?

I really love my blog as it is right now, but there’s one thing I actually really miss from my blog this year, and that’s writing about running. Last year, posting weekly about my RunDisney training became such a huge part of my blog because running was such a huge part of my life, and with the races being all the way back in January now (doesn’t that seem forever ago?), not writing about running has kinda meant its all taken a little bit of a back burner position in my life, so I just wanna write a little update to share what I’ve been up to in the last two months, and what’s going to be happening this year.

Coming back to regular training from the races was, to be perfectly honest, a bit of a let down. Not in the sense that we weren’t doing well, but when you go from running around Orlando, Anaheim and the Disney parks then come home to regular road-running, the scenery just doesn’t quite compare.

But we did it. A day or two after we touched back down on UK soil we had to face the dreaded recovery run. There’s never anything spectacular to say about recovery running; it feels like hard work, but its that hard work you have to put in so you don’t seize up into a big ball of retired runner. Then, my body’s jetlag response kicked in. FUN FACT ABOUT ME: jet lag makes me physically ill, and that put me out of action for what should have been our first ParkRun of the year. What a start, right?

Once I got over that, we got back into our semi-regular running routine, but really, my heart wasn’t in it. If you kept up with our 2015 training updates, you may have noticed that every few months I would lose my pep and get a little frustrated, and this would really just be me going through a funk of getting wound up with anything from the weather to the routes we were running, and this was starting to descend on me again. I was getting bored of running down to the beach and back, and I was getting really fed up of the mud that was taking over our ParkRun route, not to mention being ill, and all of this was accumulating into negativity on my end. Dad also went back to working away instead of at home, so with him having less opportunity to run with me, I was finding too many excuses to not go out.

Then something happened. I remembered that running is a big part of me, and that I didn’t want to hate it, and something clicked in my head. So we decided to give our local ParkRun a little bit of time off, instead visiting our second closest course a go; its much flatter and involves no mud, yay! I also started going back to my old schedule of running in the week – Tuesdays and Thursdays – but going solo to improve my independent running.

I’m setting myself a new training plan. At the moment, we’ve not got any long races booked until September, so I’ve got time to train back up to those distances, so for now I’m going to be working a bit more on speed over shorter distances, bringing up my 5K and 10K PB. Yes, this has an advantage for races, but it does wonder for my self-esteem and motivation.

So I’m back to running 2-3 times a week, one fast pace/short distance, one longer distance and a Parkrun on Saturdays if I’m not working. I’ve also already completed three virtual runs this year, yay!

Do you wanna here more about my running?

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8 Things Becoming A Runner Will Change Your Outlook On

In 2015, I took on the official title of ‘runner’ as I spent the year training to go from total novice to half marathon distances.

 

Now I’m by no means a professional, or the fastest, or an expert, but I am a runner nonetheless, and I’ve said it a good few times now: we’re a strange breed. Once you start taking your training seriously, you suddenly find your views and feelings on certain

1. Injuries – for normal people, a sprained ankle or bad back are an inconvience, sure, but for a runner, every little injury is a total disaster. Suddenly you’re filled with thoughts like ‘how many runs will I have to miss?’, ‘this will totally blow my training schedule’ and ‘oh God, what if I can never run again?!’; its basically the end of the world until you recover a few days later.

2. Bad weather – heavy rain, gale force winds, sub zero temperatures? Quite frankly there could be an earthquake and you’d still be considering ‘just a quick one’. I mean, once you’re wet, you’re wet, you might as well keep on running, right?

(Once you’ve run a Tough Mudder event, you know you’ll never be as cold and wet as you were coming out of Arctic Enema so rain worries become obsolete)

3. New shoes – shoe shopping is fun, yes? Um, no. Choosing a new pair of trainers opens up a whole can of worms: are they supportive, are they too cushioned/not cushioned enough, do you like the colour, have you worn this brand/model before, will they rub, I could go on..

You also hate throwing out your old faithful running shoes because you’ve gone through so much together.

4. Fibre – we all know fibre is good for us, but a big fibre-filled breakfast before a long run is an absolute no go, unless you want to lose valuable time in a port-a-potty or searching for a bush to squat behind.. Save your fibre for rest days.

5. Cold showers – suddenly the thought of jumping into an ice bath can sometimes be the best idea EVER. You’re not crazy, you’re a runner..

6. Medals and t-shirts – when you signed up for your first 10k, you didn’t really care all too much about that finisher medal or unisex performance top that was included in sign up, but now you basically decide whether or not a race is worthy of your time based on the standard of the medal/t-shirt; you can run that distance anytime, anywhere, so why should you fork out cash for the privilege if the goodies aren’t up to scratch?

7. Summer – we wait forever for summer to come around, but once its upon us, we quickly remember that we hate running in the daytime, and suddenly it’s a mission to rework your training times around the sun’s movement, and that’s before having to think about extra hydration, chaffing etc..

8. Runners – yep, now you’re a part of this community, you’ve left all your previous misconceptions about runners at the door. Every runner is still getting out there and doing it, we don’t judge each other. We smile and greet each other as our paths cross, we share race stories and training tips, and if you don’t get on with someone? Well you can just trip them up..

So now, want to become a runner?

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#YearOfFit – Fun Runs That Really Are Fun!

There are two types of people in this world: those who enjoy running and those who don’t.

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For the latter, the term ‘fun run’ generally seems like the furthest thing from it, but whether its a charity fundraiser, New Years resolution or mid/early-life crisis, most people will probably take part in at least one during their life, and today I’m going to tell you something that might surprise these people: some races really are fun!

Race For Life/Pretty Muddy

These ladies only races for Cancer Research UK are the ideal first race for any new runner. They’re laidback, there are normally a lot of tutus and people dancing, and you don’t even have to run it, so there’s that too!

Colour Runs

There’s a few different runs that do this now – The Color Run, Run or Dye etc – but the aim is pretty simple: show up in white, run around and have paint and coloured powder thrown at you, finish with an awesome party! I was gutted to miss our local Run or Dye last year, but I’m hoping to do the Brighton Color Run in September, and I’m so excited!

RunDisney

Do I really have to explain why these races are so much fun? Firstly, you’re running around the Disney parks. Secondly, there are character meets along the course, as well as a tonne of great entertainment and supporters cheering you on, and lastly, YOU’RE IN DISNEY. As you well know if you’re a regular reader, I have four RunDisney races under my belt already this year, with two more in September, and I’m already buzzing to do more in future years!

Virtual Runs

This is a fairly new and upcoming concept, and some people really don’t understand the point behind them, but I’m obsessed with virtual runs! Virtual races came about to combat the geographical and logistical restrictions of official races; the organisation of large events, participants having to sort travel etc. So how do they work? Just like any other race, you sign up online and pay your entry fee. This may be a charitable donation, it may also cover goodies like medals and t-shirts, all depends on the race. Your race may have a particular day, or a time period for you to complete it over, and all you have to do is complete the distance on that day or during that week or whatever, then submit a proof of run, like MapMyRun stats, photos etc to the organiser, and then you’ll receive your medal/shirt/certificate/whatever through the post. Its the satisfaction of a race without the hassle!

I’ve already completed one this year, and have 6 more coming up this year so far. I’m also thinking about organising one – if anyone would be interested please let me know!

ParkRun

ParkRun is an international organisation that holds weekly races all over the world, but there’s probably one pretty near where you are too! Its totally free to take part, with events run by local volunteers, and its a great way to get into running and join a community. Once registered, you’ll be issued with a personal barcode, which serves as your identification when you complete each race, linking your time to your account. I have two ParkRuns near me; I’m a regular at one and have visited the other once, but they’re both really great and its a real community, plus when you hit milestones (25/50/100 runs complete etc) you get a free t-shirt!

Are there any races you’d love to take part in?

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10 Things to Know Before Your First RunDisney Event

You’ve got a RunDisney event on your bucket list, or maybe you’ve signed up for your first one this year; you might want to read this..

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Don’t expect a PB

You can have every intention to go out and smash it on the day, but as soon as you see how beautiful the castle is all lit up, or that perfect sunrise shot you just have to take, not to mention all those great characters along the route, you’re gonna start caring less about your race time and more about having a good time! Now this doesn’t mean you won’t get one – I did! – but just don’t stress over it, ok?

Don’t stress over organisation

RunDisney events are impeccably organised, so do not stress yourself for a second about anything. Hakuna Matata.

Check costume rules

Yes yes yes to dressing up, but be sure to double check those guidelines, the last thing you want on race day is to be told that the outfit you carefully coordinated isn’t allowed.

Also please don’t be that person who waits until race day to wear their costume for the first time, rookie rookie mistake..

Pick up your participant t-shirts before forking out on merch

Instead of going straight for the official merchandise, go and grab your race packet – we thought our participant shirts were pretty awesome, so didn’t feel the need to buy all the other shirts on offer. Yay happy credit card!

Join the New Balance virtual queue

You’ve seen those shiny new releases and you just can’t wait to get yourself a pair, but silly as it sounds, sometimes you can’t just walk up to the booth and ask for a pair. New Balance set up a virtual queue, whereby you enter your details early in the day, then when it’s your turn, head on down to the desk and you’re golden!

If you’re doing a longer distance, there will be more than just parks

So the longer the distance, the more park you get to see, which is great, but it does also mean you’re gonna see a lot more of backstage and highways. In WDW for example, the 5k and 10ks generally only feature Epcot, while the half includes the Magic Kingdom, but there’s a whole lotta road between the two! Now the lovely RunDisney team try really hard to put on great entertainment on these stretches, but there just isn’t the same scenery going on!

There are early mornings involved

3am, just sayin’..

You are not alone

This works on many levels. 1) Chances are you will be running with at least 10,000 other runners, possibly up to 25,000. Believe it or not though, you probably won’t feel too crowded! 2) Most other runners are really nice and supportive, whether they’re just chatting to you as you go or counselling you as you hit the wall; complete strangers may just become your best friend for a few miles. 3) There are a few runners who can spoil it, those who can’t share their race nicely. They might shove past you because you’re not going ‘at their pace’, they might tut and groan; ignore them, you’re having a way better time than they are.

Don’t feel silly wearing your medals to the parks!

Everyone does it, and you’ll get all sorts of people congratulating you, asking questions, sharing stories etc, it’s a lot of fun. And if you run more than one race, multiple medals is 100% acceptable.

Races are totally walker friendly

Don’t be worried if you don’t think you can run the whole course non-stop, you’ll find the majority of people taking regular walking intervals – some as early as 100m into the race! Just be considerate and move to the side so others can pass you.

You’re gonna have an awesome time, I promise you, so just go for it! The goodies are worth every second!

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Friday Favourite Five – RunDisney Moments

Nothing brings me back to normality more than a regular blogging series, and 2016 welcomes the return of FFF!

If you’re a new reader, every Friday I choose five of my favourite things of a certain topic, simple! Oh, and welcome!

I’m still reeling from my Disney trip, and with four RunDisney races under my belt, I’m choosing my favourite moments from those experiences!

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1. The first time we entered Epcot on our first race

All of the races start outside of the parks, so that first step from backstage into the actual parks is pretty special. On our first race, the 5k, we race into Mexico on the World Showcase and the lake was lit all around with torches and all the countries were lit and it was just kinda surreal!

2. Running down Main Street USA

During the WDW half marathon, we got to run down the middle of Main Street, with crowds cheering us on as we headed towards the castle.

3. This selfie

If you read my post on the WDW half, you’ll know I really struggled with a chest infection the whole way round, so seeing this little guy and getting a hug and a selfie at the 7 mile mark was really helpful!

4. The Star Wars 10K

This was actually our favourite race; lame as it sounds, it was just all really good! We ran a good pace, it was a good course, we got to see a load of the parks, BB-8 was there..

5. The three medal finish line

Finishing the Star Wars half marathon sealed our completion of not only that race, but also Rebel Challenge AND Coast to Coast, meaning we received all 3 medals then and there. It was everything we had worked for and it was 100% worth it.

Have you ever run a Disney race? Would you?

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WDW Day 2!

Good morning!

I say good morning because while it’s still the evening here, the time difference means it’s about 2am back home!

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Today was our Animal Kingdom day; we got up about 7ish, had a leisurely breakfast and got a fairly quiet bus to the park. Despite being earlier than opening time, we were let in to head down to the tree of life and wait for the remaining areas to open at 9am, before we joined the crowd making a beeline for Expedition Everest. Quite honestly, today was a really lucky day for wait times, and we hit all the big ticket attractions – Kilimanjaro Safaris, Festival of the Lion King, It’s Tough to be a Bug – with minimal waits, and pretty much walked into Flights of Wonder and Finding Nemo the Musical! In fact, despite having three Fastpasses booked, we only used one of them, for Dinosaur. We also went to hang out with Rafiki at Planet Watch for a little while.

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After feeling we were done for the day, and with the prospect of the races looming, we grabbed a cab to the ESPN complex for the RunDisney expo. Having no idea what to expect, I expected the worst: huge crowds, long waits, lots of pushing and shoving.. Nope. I honestly don’t think it could have been any easier. After picking up our bibs, then our race shirts and the commemorative jackets I had pre-ordered, all of which took maybe 15 minutes tops, we hit the main expo area. There were tonnes of great exhibitors with cool products, including the official RunDisney merchandise area, and the oh-so- popular New Balance, and we even got to meet Jeff Galloway, former Olympian and official ‘coach’ for RunDisney; it was cool, there was a selfie. Apart from a few little RunDisney bits, we didn’t really buy anything, although I’ve got my eye on a pair of the limited release New Balance shoes..

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From the expo we went back to French Quarter to drop our race stuff and hang out for a bit before we caught the boat to Disney Springs for a bit of light shopping and dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express, before calling it a day and boating back to the resort to get ourselves together and properly rested for the race.

So tomorrow is the 5k, which is really a no-pressure run, and it kicks off at 6am – 11am for my UK supporters. I’ll try and Periscope a bit of it, all depends on our wifi signal, but in any case, wish us luck!

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RunDisney 2016: The Final Checks

We leave tomorrow. WE LEAVE TOMORROW.

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In 4 days time we’ll have finished our first race, 6 until our second. This time next week we’ll be celebrating the end of the first week at the Cool Down Party. ISN’T IT CRAZY?!

I wrote my first RunDisney post on January 28th 2015, and since then I’ve written 38 training updates, and it all comes down to the next two weeks. This is insane. Can you tell I’m excited?

This week was for tapering, the word that most runners simultaneously love and hate; the cutting down of training run distances to prepare your body for an upcoming race. As per usual, we ran three times this week: a 5k, a 7k, and another 5k, which we did today. The next time we run will be in Florida!

So we’re all packed, or at least I am at this stage in the day. Four running costumes, plus spares, and one pair of running shoes, because I only trust one pair of my shoes at the moment! I’ve got a roll of Dynamic Tape and spray for my knee, Dad’s stocked us up with painkiller gels galore, and of course I’ve packed probably too many pairs of Mickey ears, which means I must be ready!

Tomorrow is going to be crazy long, starting at 5am UK time with a 4 hour coach journey, a 9 hour flight and finishing in EST, so we will be categorically pooped by the end of it all, but I’ll be in Disney World and it will be 100% worth it.

If you didn’t catch it yesterday, you can read our itinerary here to see what we’ll be getting up to, and I’ll be live blogging every day! You can also keep up via Twitter, Instagram and I’ll be streaming some of our trip on Periscope, so be sure to follow me @lottiedoesdisney!

Are you ready for the fun to start? I AM

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My 1000 Mile Challenge 2016

It really is time to say goodbye to 2015, and tomorrow I’m going to be sharing all my New Year’s resolutions (so keep an eye out for that one!), but today I want to tell you all about one thing in particular I’m hoping to do in the coming year.

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I’m calling it My 1000 Mile Challenge, and it is what is says on the tin: throughout 2016, I’m aiming to run 1000 miles, whether it be an official race, on the treadmill at the gym or just going out and running; if I’m running, it will count.

While I’m aware how crazy this all sounds, it works out to less than 20 miles a week, or just under 3 miles a day. A year ago this would have seemed 100% impossible to me, but after the year I’ve had? I’m up for the challenge!

And, of course, there’s a reason for my madness – it’s all for charity! Each month I’ll be choosing a different charity to support (and please get in touch if you have any suggestions!), and shamelessly begging people to sponsor me, with the aim of raising £1000 collectively, and I’ll be sharing my fundraising pages on Twitter so everyone can keep up with how I’m getting on!

Am I mad?!

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RunDisney 2016: 2 Weeks to go!

Yep, in two weeks time we’ll have completed our first week of races and I know I say it every week, but really where has the time gone?! Despite being Christmas week (did you all have a fabulous one?), training waits stops for no-one when the big days are so close!

Two runs this week, both around five miles to test the water with my knee recovery. The great news is, its doing really well! I’m halfway through my physio treatment now and it all seems to be going in the right direction; this week I was taught how to properly tape it so that I can do it myself while we’re away as well.

In any case, both the runs went well, a little slower than usual; on Wednesday because of me being out of practice, and today because of far too much Christmas food! I can only describe it as all being comfortable. At this stage we should be tapering down, so we just need to keep moving, not worrying too much about this distances or pace, and this coming week especially, we just need to make sure we’re not going to be causing injuries!

So just one more week of running until we leave, its all getting so exciting! One more week, three more training runs..

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PS. Do you follow me on Twitter? This week I’m going to be posting a bunch of polls to see what you guys want to see during my upcoming trip and would love some input! I’m @lottiedoesblog 🙂

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RunDisney 2016: 3 Weeks to go!

Just a quick little update on this week today, I’m busy trying to feel Christmassy in preparation for next week!

So on Tuesday Dad and I headed out for a quick run after I decided my knee could probably handle it, and we’d only made it about 1k from home before it caved, and I finally gave in to the suggestion of going to Physiotherapy, which I did on Thursday evening.

Turns out, my knee-cap is mis-aligned, causing abrasion between bones around my knee and creating scar tissue, which is what is causing the pain I’m experiencing, so in the next few weeks I’ll be undergoing treatment to reduce this scar tissue, while strengthening the muscles in my legs which will keep my knees straight while I run, simple! Meanwhile, my leg is covered with KT tape to support my knee, so that I can keep running through the treatment.

Freshly taped, we went out Friday morning to test this theory, and it was an absolute dream; I felt totally fine, which cheered me up immensely, yay! We have, however, held off running this weekend due to it playing up slightly on Saturday, and also Dad’s had some backpain, so we’re going to allow recovery time (and cos its Christmas) before a final ramp up and taper down in the final weeks approaching races!

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RunDisney 2016: 4 Weeks to go!

4 weeks *tears up with excitement*

Now a lot of exciting things have happened this week, but running sort of hasn’t been one of them. We kicked off the week with a recovery run on Tuesday; I call it a recovery run because it was in no way a training run, we just had to keep moving following Saturday’s half marathon distance – we lasted about 25 minutes and everything was hurting a little. For me, that was the end of my training for the week. Remember that knee problem I’ve mentioned before? Yeah well our recovery run tipped it over the edge and I’ve spent most of my time this week with an icepack taped to my leg.

Tuesday evening also came with one of those exciting things I opened with: corral announcements, and the release of the event guide! So we’ve been placed in corral F, with a predicted time of <2:21, which we’re capable of, but I very much doubt we’ll do what with photo ops and character meets along the course. The release of the event guide means we now know our race courses, the expo set-up and all the timings and transportation details, so I can start memorising everything in an attempt to mentally prepare myself!

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Exciting thing number 2: we’ve received some of the details for the Star Wars weekend from our travel provider, so it’ll only be a matter of time before we have our corrals and other info through from RunDisney! Unfortunately techincalities have meant having to reschedule one of our breakfast reservations, but its really not the end of the world!

Dad ran on Saturday without me, partially because of my knee, but mainly because I was in London for the day with my lovely friend Chelsea (because I know she’s reading this), eating pizza and amazing cookies, but considering we walked over 10 miles around the city I think that counts as training! And despite a slight complication at the end of the day, I came home to a package from Walt Disney World – our travel documents!

This is happening!

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Winter Run Wear

Its the season of big coats, woolly hats and hands stuffed into pockets because you forgot your gloves yet again, and any excuse to stay home in the warmth is welcomed with open arms, unless you’re a runner..

We’re a strange breed, and a year or two ago I would look out on those braving the low temperatures to get in a training run and think ‘is it really worth it?’, but now I’m part of this world I welcome a brisk winter run because I know how to dress for the occasion.

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My first winter essential is my fleece, which I save for the coldest weather; its great for keeping away the chill while you’re out, but once you get back home you’re gonna want to whip it off pretty quick before you start to cook!

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Next staple of mine is a bunch of lightweight long sleeved tops, like this once from Asics. On cool days, you might worry that they’re not gonna keep you warm, but once you get going you’ll warm up nicely, but also avoid overheating. Something I love about running in colder weather is that its cool enough to run with my hair down, so chunky headbands that keep the cool off my ears and the hair out of my face are pretty great!

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I love my bodywarmer in the winter months – its super lightweight and not at all bulky, but at the same time makes all the difference out in the cold. I would also recommend a lightweight infinity scarf; even if you don’t want to run wearing it, it’ll help keep you warm once you start your cool-down.

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Bring on the thermals! Forget the idea that they’re thick or too hot, and find yourself a nice light one because you’ll be amazed how much warmer they’ll make you! Sometimes I also like to wear a hat – you lose a lot of body heat from your head, so it helps prevent you cooling down too much, and the same principle applies to gloves!

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Finally, the dreaded waterproof jacket! I say dreaded because who likes running in the rain, right? Well, like it or not, a lot of runners still do it, so the waterproof is fairly essential. I found shopping for mine pretty tricky; a lot of jackets claim ‘splashproof’ or ‘water resistant’, rather than waterproof, so you have to take a risk on whether you’ll be fully protected from the weather, but generally I would recommend avoiding cheaper/high street brands and go to a proper sports brand!

Once you’re fully equipped for the cold, there’s nothing to stop you from keeping up your training through the winter months. You never know, you might enjoy it!

xoxo

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RunDisney 2016: 13.1 (5 Weeks to go!)

I know that I post my RunDisney training updates on Sundays normally, but this week is a special exception for two reasons: 1) I have a special Christmas post for tomorrow, and 2) today’s run needs talking about.

Quite simply, we did it.

13.1 miles.

2:40:40.

Done.

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Despite many people believing that you shouldn’t run the distance you’re training for before the race itself, given that Dad and I have been physically ready for this distance for a good while having trained for almost a whole year, we wanted to just get out there and do it, to feel 100% confident in our ability to do it, and also to set our first PB, and a time we can work from.

Knowing this was our goal for the week, we kept our midweek runs short – around 30-40 minutes each, and pretty much entirely flat, leaving us in a good position for this morning.

Conditions today were not ideal. The wind at the seafront was ridiculously strong, which despite giving us a nice extra push for the first 5-6 miles, it was kicking up all the sand from the beach which got into our face and shoes, forcing us inland for the second half, at which point we had to turn around and start running back against the brick wall of wind. It was hard work, and had conditions been better we would have been totally fine, but the extra work took its toll mentally as much as it did physically.

In terms of pacing and split times, we remained fairly consistent. For the first 7k, 1/3 of the total distance, we kept an average of 11 min/mile, and completed it in just under 50 minutes, and despite feeling much longer, the second and third 7k splits only actually took 55 minutes, so we were pretty well paced the whole time, even if fighting against the wind drained us of energy.

After finishing, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, although I was too exhausted to do either! I’m honestly just so relieved and impressed, and 100% feeling prepared for January now!

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RunDisney 2016: 6 Weeks to go!

Six weeks. SIX WEEKS. That actually sounds like a short length of time right?!

We’ve dropped well below the 40 day mark now (TOMORROW ITS 5 WEEKS TIL WE LEAVE), and everything is becoming more and more real, not that it wasn’t before! We are 100% sorted on everything now, to do lists are ticked, and the only small thing I have to worry about is sorting my running outfits for the Star Wars races!

Our races are now top on the RunDisney site!

Our races are now top on the RunDisney site!

As for running this week, its been fairly non-existent I’m afraid.. I’ve been having some problems with my knees and getting so close to the main event I really don’t want to cause any problems. Dad’s also been working away a lot this week, so there really just hasn’t been a lot of time.

The original plan this weekend was to do another mini rebel, starting with a Parkrun yesterday. Instead of our usual course, we decided to try out our other local course at Poole as they were having a pacer event and we thought it would be fun. The Poole course is a lot flatter than Bournemouth, so the potential for a new PB was definitely there, but getting caught up in the pacer event, I started the course way too fast, and ran the first half on the heels of the 27 minute guy, and considering I have a PB of 28:14, it was a major stretch. By the 3k mark, I was having some real issues with my heart rate (which is becoming more of a recurring problem, and I know when it happens I should stop running..) but I pushed myself onwards, having to stop every few minutes to walk and calm myself down; I even had to stop mid-sprint-finish which is ridiculously unlike me. BUT my time came out at 28:39, so only 25 seconds off my PB, and I think had I not pushed myself too much at the start, a PB would have been possible.

As for today, after spending my shift at work hearing about severe weather warnings on the radio (50mph wind, what), Dad and I made the decision to give it a miss, and save ourselves for next week when we’re going the full distance and hitting 13.1!

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PS. We signed up for our first ever virtual run yesterday, but more on that closer to the time!

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RunDisney 2016: 7 Weeks to go!

I know I probably say this every week, but I can’t believe how fast the time is going, and the excitement is really getting to me – there’s a lot of squeaking going on!

We’ve had another good week; we only ran twice, but that was a tactical decision following last weekend’s mini rebel training and knowing we had a long distance this weekend. I also think given the amount of time we train, missing a run here and there really doesn’t put us behind like it used to, and the recovery time is good for us occasionally. Our first run was a classic training run – we went out for about an hour and did about 5 miles thereabouts, which is fairly normal for us on these sorts of runs.

Saturday’s target distance was 10 miles; a distance we haven’t covered in 9 weeks, but we took the same approach yesterday as we did back then: slow and steady. By holding back on our pace, we’ve found we’re able to go much longer continuous distances and avoid tiring, and today we ran well over 5 miles before pausing for a quick walking break. We were really lucky to have clear and dry conditions, but the winds were very strong at times, and the temperature had dropped considerably overnight, so it was pretty nippy! At the 10k mark, we’d been running for 1 hr 10 minutes, which actually isn’t too far off our race pace for that distance, and despite aiming to complete the full 10 miles in around 2 hours, we actually hit it at 1 hr 52 minutes, which was great!

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Better still, because we’d finished the distance quite a way from home, after a quick breather we kept on running, and not only did we carry on to 19k (11.8 miles), which is the longest distance we’ve ever run, we did it in a pretty impressive 2 hr 20 minutes – 4 minutes faster than our 18k record. Unfortunately by the 19k mark my ankle was feeling a little dodgy, otherwise we would have pushed the final 2k to the full 13.1 mile half marathon distance, which would have taken us around 12-15 minutes, so we can assume our half marathon time to be approximately 2 hrs 30!

Feeling much more confident about our efforts this week, I’m pretty happy to be going into our last 6 weeks of training, yay! We’ve sorted our American Visas this weekend too, so now all that’s left on our to-do list is sort our car hire for California! Eeeek!

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RunDisney 2016: 8 Weeks to go!

That’s right, in 8 weeks time our first week of races will be over! Today, in fact, marks exactly 50 days until we leave and arrive in Florida, and 50 days until our first day in the parks in California, which is beyond insane.

So another week of running; four runs for me, in fact. Due to calf issues, Dad decided to give our Tuesday run a miss, so I went out solo, but due to yuck weather I only did about 20 minutes running around our surrounding roads so I wasn’t too far from home when the rain got worse. Thursday, however, conditions were much better, and we did a solid 45+ minute training run, but still taking things a little on the easy side because we had a big weekend ahead of us..

Another Mini Rebel, yayayay!

Saturday we ran our ParkRun. It was raining, and it was windy, and once again we were joined by Sophia (who is now 9, crazy!). Despite conditions, we still made it in a respectable 31 minutes, which was Soph’s new PB – such a little trooper!

Continuing with the mini rebel, today we ran 7 miles, or actually 11.5km, which is a little further! We ran late afternoon, and for a change it was relatively dry right up until the last few kilometres, so conditions were pretty ideal; not too much wind along the beach is the best! We had a few minor setbacks, worst for me being the return of chronic stitches, but its still fairly amazing to think how far we’ve come in the last year, and at this point in our schedule, the last thing we want to do is push ourselves towards injury.

So aside from our training, this week the medals for the Star Wars weekend were released, aren’t they amazing?! We’ll be earning ourselves the middle three, for the 10k, half and Rebel, and I definitely think they’re the best ones!

You might have read my post earlier this week talking about our final checks for our trip, and I’m pretty excited to have started booking Disneyland dining reservations – just one so far, and I’ll be booking one more on Wednesday – and this week I want us to sort our American Visas as well, but its becoming very very real now!

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RunDisney 2016: 9 Weeks to go!

Today I’m coming to you all from a much better place than I have in the last few weeks, yay! My back is feeling a lot better – still not 100% but it’ll take time – and I’ve been able to start training at the gym again, which for me has such a positive impact on my mood, and I needed to feel better this week.

I went to the chiropractor on Monday about my back, and even after a treatment session still wasn’t seeing much improvement, so making the assumption that the problem was more muscular, I spent Tuesday religiously applying Deep Heat and Deep Freeze every few hours, which seemed to work wonders, and after surviving a gym session on Wednesday without too much bother, we were back running Thursday.

We did one of our usual routes, down through the town centre to the beach, along the seafront, up the zig-zag to the clifftop and home, which is about 7km, and while we took it at a fairly easy pace, it felt good and it was great to be back at it after all the worry last week.

Saturday was a ParkRun, and what a soggy one it was! Light showers turned to heavy downpours, and crisp autumn breeze became super blustery, and in my oversized waterproof coat I basically turned into a kite; resistance training to the max! It was a quiet race – not even 200 people turned up – and the course was turning to sludge, which slowed the pace a fair amount for everyone, not to mention dodging the people who had fallen in the mud (and stopping to help the up of course!), but I felt back on form, running ahead of my dad for the first time since returning to training after Europe. Timewise, it wasn’t a PB, but it also wasn’t my slowest: 31:37, which about 3 minutes off my PB, but I was never gonna do that in those conditions, and in fact only 5 of the 190 runners set new PBs!

AND MORE GOOD NEWS:

Today we signed up for the inaugural Disneyland Paris half marathon weekend in September 2016, to do both the 5k and half. I wish they were doing a 10k as well, but hey ho!

So yep, I’m back on the brightside, and races are looming on the horizon!

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RunDisney 2016: 10 Weeks to go!

Well after last week, I was hoping to be able to come back this week with an upbeat post announcing that we’ve had a great week and I’m finally back into my stride with this whole running business after my trip, but I’m afraid its not been a fairytale week..

Weather in Bournemouth this week has been all over the place, and Tuesday was especially horrible, so Dad and I decided that instead of skipping out on a run, or getting soaked to the skin in the rain, we would head down to the gym and do our regular 45 minute training run on the treadmills instead. In theory, it was a great idea; no rain or wind to hold us back, the ability to maintain and control consistent speeds.. The reality though is that it was practically tropical there, surrounded by loads of hot, sweaty people, and for us as road-runners, running on a treadmill is painfully dull, and also a completely different running experience.

Not too far into this run, we decided to cut it from 45 minutes to a 5k distance, which essentially cut it down to 30 minutes. Running on a treadmill is hard work when you’re used to roads, the impact is totally different and you have less control over yourself, and all of that combined really takes it out of you. There’s also no moving air to cool you down, and we felt it! Thinking nothing of it, the week carried on..

The plan for the weekend was another mini-rebel challenge, to prepare us for the real deal in January. With work schedules as they were, we made the decision to skip the second training run of the week, and do our consecutive runs on Friday and Saturday, 5 miles and 9 miles, but following Tuesday’s treadmill run, Wednesday came with bad news for me: the pain in my back that I had suffered a little in Europe had returned.

Still in pain Thursday and Friday, we decided to call off the 5 miles, and compromise with a 10k early Saturday morning, as Dad was heading up to the Rugby World Cup final. I felt fine, and we set off fine, but it wasn’t too long (about 3k, in fact) before the pain set back in, and we were forced to turn home. Doing so meant that we did about 6k in around 45 minutes, which in all fairness isn’t too bad in any case, but I just felt rubbish; I still haven’t got back to my usual standard and now I’m injured, and just feeling further and further from where I was before I went away.

And that’s really all I’ve got for this week. I’ve got a chiropractor appointment booked for tomorrow morning, but right now I just feel a bit pants, and all I want to do it getting running again..

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RunDisney 2016: 11 Weeks to go!

And another week has flown by, moving us ever closer to the big day, or days in our case!

This week has been our first full week back in training after my trip, so its been a case of taking things fairly easy. We’ve also had some issues with fitting in running this week, so we’ve only run twice.

Our first run was a standard 45ish minute run, taking a regular route down to the beach and back. We kept a good continuous pace, with a few walking breaks, and it was raining which was a good motivation! Overall we did about 7km in just under an hour, which is slow by our regular standards but a good way of getting back into it.

Yesterday was an 8-miler. We had a good start, but running into the wind for the first half was pretty tiring! That said, we were still keeping a good pace, and once we got to the turnaround point, it was a lot easier with the wind behind us, and going back seemed much easier. It took us about 1hr 40 altogether, which is a totally acceptable time, but coming back from time off, I’m still struggling a little with getting back into a positive mindframe.

Next week will be a better week though! We’re doing another mini rebel challenge, and I’m getting back on track with healthy eating and gym training, so once I’m back in the place I was before my trip, it will all fall back into place!

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RunDisney 2016: 12 Weeks to go!

Twelve weeks?! Its amazing how time flies when you’re not counting every week!

So its been 3 weeks now since I last did a RunDisney update, which was the week Dad and I completed our first Tough Mudder, and despite planning on running in the week following, that just didn’t work out; we were bruised and sore, and it just made sense to let ourselves recover properly.

And that week, obviously, was the week I left on my road trip, so there’s another two weeks without running for me! Dad’s been running a few times without me while I’ve been away, working primarily on his speed over shorter distances, mainly his <30 minute 5K.

We kicked back into proper training mode yesterday with our usual ParkRun. I took things a little slower, for a few reasons: firstly, I was coming out of three weeks off, secondly because I didn’t want to push myself too hard too soon, and finally, because we had a new member of the family ParkRun squad: my 8 year old cousin, Sophia. She’s a natural athlete, and having run a Race for Life earlier in the year, I thought it would be a really great for her to get into running more regularly. At first, she ran with my sister, who has a much slower pace than Dad and I, but it wasn’t too long before she was running at my heels, so I kept with her for the race, and we crossed the line together at 33:36; a slow time for me, but an amazing time for her, and given that I was feeling rusty, I don’t think I could have gone much faster without doing myself some damage!

So we’re back now! Proper training schedule has resumed, and its the final push to January now, crazy huh?!

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RunDisney 2016: 16 Weeks to go!

Coming off the high of last week (Dad’s PB and our longest continuous run), this week has also been a great one. We’ve definitely found our stride, if you pardon the pun, and every aspect of our running seems to be improving so much, we’re actually surprising ourselves!

As per usual, we ran twice in the week, Tuesday and Thursday; both very different runs. Tuesday was a fairly regular route for us, with a difference: we ran basically all of it! Pretty much all of our training so far has been a rather loose interpretation of Jeff Galloway’s ‘run-walk-run’ method, whereby walking breaks are encouraged so as not to overdo it or cause injury, but following our first continuous 5K last week, we’ve really found the kick up the backside to keep going, knowing that we can. We did walk a steep bit of hill, but other than that, we ran the full distance.

Thursday was a split run – we ran down to my nan’s house, about 3k, stopped off there for a quick visit, and then ran back home, so about 6-6.5k altogether. Generally, the outward journey is downhill, and the homebound uphill, but we tried to push ourselves as much as possible. Yes, we hate hills, but they do appear in most of our routes, so they’re pretty much an inevitable part of any run. When possible, we run what we can, but personally I don’t see any shame in walking them because it does save straining ourselves, and it still works our legs pretty hard.

Saturday was a 10-miler. Its the first really long distance we’ve done since we got back into training after Japan, but with the successes of the last week in mind we kept fairly positive. The route was chosen based on us having a pretty good knowledge of the distances of certain legs, and that helps us keep pace and also have an idea of the end goal, so off we set..

We ran at a slightly slower than usual pace, and comfortably completed the first 5k in about 33 minutes – not too shabby – but we kept on running. Comfortably, we hit the 6k mark, and then the 7k mark, and were basically shocking ourselves as we kept going! We decided that we would stop at the halfway mark – 5 miles/8k – mainly because I needed the toilet, and also to take on a little bit of fuel, but super proud of ourselves for running that whole distance without stopping to walk! Quick loo stop, fuel loaded, and off we went again, running all the way to the 14k mark before we reached a nasty hill that we walked, and then stormed the last stretch home!

Overall, we actually did about 10.1 miles in 1hr 58 (including our toilet stop!) and more importantly, feeling as if we could go on for another 3 miles quite happily! Knowing that, I feel totally confident in our ability to run the full half marathon in 2.5 hours, especially with another 3-4 months training.

Yep, pretty happy this week! Next week I’ll be running my first ever Tough Mudder race, which will be something a little different and I’m totally terrified, so be sure to send lots of pixie dust my way!

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RunDisney 2016: 17 Weeks to go!

Yep, we’ve flown through another week already! One more week closer to my birthday, one more week closer to Christmas, and one week closer to our races, eeek!

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In fact, we’re not far off the 100 day mark, and by the time I get back from Europe it’ll be closer to 80, and all the fun starts! November is really the month where everything happens – fastpass+ choices, paying off Disney World and Disneyland, and booking any dining in California, and once all that’s done then we’re practically there! (I also finished the first of my running costumes!)

We’ve taken it fairly easy this week, with three short-ish runs, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t good ones. I’ve had a pretty nasty cold this week but actually running seems to have helped me sweat it out a bit! With this in mind, we kept our first two runs this week fairly short, around 30-40 minutes, but fairly continuous, and we kept a pretty good pace. Saturday though..

Originally, we were planning on doing ParkRun, but due to timing issues we decided to do our own 5k earlier in the morning, but to run it at race pace, with Dad really hoping he could hit a new PB below 30 minutes. We set off fast, taking a familiar route through the town centre to the pier and along the beach, and were easily keeping a pace below 6 min/km, and, after managing a sprint finish, not only did we finish <30, we actually did it in 28:43 – Dad’s fastest time and only 30 seconds away from mine. Not only that, after a short walk to get our breath back, we actually ran the rest of the way home, bringing our total distance to about 8k!

Now Dad’s proven to himself that he can do it, he’s definitely got the bug, and we might actually go for another run this evening!

Next week we’re back onto big distances with a 10-miler, so we can start working on pace and stamina again. Until then, see ya real soon!

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