Sunday, December 30, 2018

Second Star To The Right And Straight On Till Morning [England 2017]

Caitlin and I were both bit by the travel bug when we were in college, hence both of us doing our student teaching in Rio de Janeiro, albeit different years. She traveled throughout Europe in the summer of 2016 while I was galavanting through Central America, but by the time Thanksgiving rolled around, we were both ready to book another trip. Next thing we knew flights were booked and Eurotrip 2017 was in the works. 

We started planning the trip the way any 20 something does these days-- pins the heck out their travel destination, starts to narrow down what is actually feasible, finds some AirBnBs, and then figures out what food must be consumed. We narrowed it down to London, Paris, and Edinburgh over the course of 8 days, so to say that it was going to be a whirlwind would be a serious understatement. 

We flew into London and hit the ground running. Literally, we changed in the hotel bathroom and ran out the door, so that we could find the ice cream macaroon sandwiches before our tour of the Globe Theater. From there we traveled to Buckingham Palace, where we didn't see the Queen, but we did see the changing of the guards. And honestly, it was a heck of a lot less exciting than I had imagined. Unfortunately, since the Queen wasn't home to invite us in for tea, we had to settle for getting as far as the Buckingham Palace gift shop. Honestly, I didn't hate it. 


I was SO STOKED for Day Two in London. STOKED. Because we had tickets to Warner Brother Studios to see where the Harry Potter movies were filmed. I geeked out HARD. There might have been squealing involved, honestly. We got to see SO. MANY. props and outfits as well as sets that were used in the films, and we got to drink authentic butter beer. 


Day Three was devoted entirely to embracing our inner tourist. The tackier, the better. We took pictures with double decker buses, we stared wide-eyed at Parliament and Big Ben, we waved at Westminster Abbey from the top of a double decker bus, we rode the London Eye, and we moseyed across the London Bridge. Sometimes tourist things are tacky, but sometimes tourist things are awesome. Day Three was filled with tourist things that were awesome. 



It also rained which made me feel like I was actually in London. I loved every second of it. And was also incredibly thankful for both my rain jacket and my umbrella. 

Totes glam in London, obvs.
After three quick days in London, we princess waved goodbye to the Queen and boarded the train to PARIS. I'd insert the dancing girl Emoji right here, if I could.

Chase Your Dreams And Touch The Sky (Dopey Challenge 2018: Full)

While thinking about and "training for" and panicking about the Dopey Challenge, I was most worried about the Full Marathon. I'd crushed plenty of 5ks, I'd done a couple of 10ks, and had schleped my way through a couple of halfs, but A FULL MARATHON was a whole different beast. TWENTY-SIX POINT TWO MILES. At once. Seriously, it sounds terrifying.

As with the 5k10k, and the Half Marathon, Tasha and I rolled into Epcot really freakin' early. We got our character pictures and stood near the heaters until it was time to shuffle to the corrals. And then sat there and turned into little ice cubes with our friends from the previous day who were also worried about not finishing A FULL FREAKIN' MARATHON. 5:30 rolled around and we were off-- well, Corral A was off. We stood around for a little bit longer until it was finally our turn.

Pre-race photo and post-race photo-- there was an obvious temperature difference

Our strategy for the full was the same as the half-- run as far as we can out of the gate, and then continue with intervals until death was imminent. It was still FREEZING at the start of the full, so I was still wrapped up like a Chipotle burrito in my two Mylar blankets and one fleece blanket. I'm sure it was adorable, but it was super warm.


Things picked up around Magic Kingdom where we ran into our friends, the Flamingos, as well as Tasha's mom who was there with water and snacks. And let's be real, even though I had done it the day before, running down Main Street, towards the castle, was magical as heck.


My favorite moment of the entire weekend was when Tasha and I ran into Richard at the Grand. Richard worked as a greeter at the Grand Floridian since 1991 (!!!!) and was just the cutest little man. We saw him during the half and he wished us good luck, and we spent the rest of the race talking about how much we wished we had taken a picture with him, so it was literally a dream come true to be able to take a picture with him during the full.


 The second best moment was obviously when we got free snacks as we ran through Hollywood Studios. But really, can you blame me? We were at Mile 23ish, were going on 7ish hours, andddd had just zig-zagged approximately 4-5 miles throughout Wide World of Sports. That candy, however stale it was, was a godsend.


From the time we finished our candy until mile 26, we talked about how excited we were for the bags of ice waiting for us at the finish line. Seriously, who knew that stale candy and free bags of ice were all needed to make some girls happy?

Approximately 8 hours later (no one ever said we were fast), four bags of ice, 8 packages of stale candy, and countless snacks taken from strangers on the side of the road, Tasha and I crossed the finish line officially labeling me as a marathoner and both of us as Dopey.

THE moment we became Dopey
Honestly, almost a year later, I'm still shocked that it even happened. I mean, 48.6 miles in one weekend in wild. Doing it with little to no training (is ill advised and stupid) is even wilder. But it was actually fun. Tasha and I thought about crying a lot, thought about quitting a lot, and laughed a whole lot more.

Dopey,  you were awesome, and, in the nicest way possible, I hope that I never see you ever again.

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

I'm Not Doing "Half" Of Anything, I'm Crushing the Whole 13.1 (Dopey Challenge 2018: Half)

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." -- Winnie the Pooh

All 13.1 miles were done for you, Aunt Denise.
Emotionally, the half was the hardest race of the Dopey Challenge. Morgan, who was also running the Dopey Challenge, and I both dedicated our half marathon to Aunt Denise who had passed away a couple of weeks before Marathon Weekend. Aunt Denise loved Winnie the Pooh, so we, naturally, both dressed as Pooh for the race. Shout out to Morgan for making my skirt right before she came to Disney. 

Every time I wanted to quit or complain, I just thought of Aunt Denise and knew that I had to keep going. And trust me, there were lots of times that I wanted to quit or complain. 


In standard Marathon Weekend 2018 fashion, the half marathon was cold. COLD. I feel like a broken record saying it, but living it was no picnic either. Unlike the 5k and the 10k, Tasha and I were actually running, so that helped with not turning into icicles for the third day in a row. The temps also warmed up a bit more than the previous two days. And by that I mean, I felt comfortable enough ditching my Mylar blankets/ HotHands/ gloves. But not warm enough that I didn't regret taking my gloves off about an hour later when the back of my hands were chapped and wind burnt.

The many faces of 13.1 miles.
I actually really enjoyed running the half, which is something that I haven't said before. Tasha and I were running 30:30 intervals, which meant 30 seconds of running and then 30 seconds of walking. For the entire 13.1 miles. Which was a lot of stop and go, but we also didn't get bored or tired. So win win? It also gave use ample time to plan our PhotoPass poses and then resort to the tried and true hands in the air. Every. Single. Time.


We also got to run through Magic Kingdom which was the first time that weekend we had run through a park other than Epcot and the first time I had ever run through MK. We were only in there for about a mile (lame.), but it was pretty, well, magical. Life goal is to get there while the castle is still lit up, but that means that I actually have to train. Ick.


Throughout the entirety of the Dopey Challenge, we were not far from the three flamingos. I have no idea who these men are, but they were easily one of the best parts of the entire weekend. Their loud and constant "caw, caw"s definitely provided more than one pick me up over the course of the weekend. I mean, the hats, the tutus, the caws, the fact that they were running far better than me each day? It was all awesome.


And there cherry on top of the half marathon was looking through all of the PhotoPass pictures and seeing that Morgan and I had matching poses with crossing the finish line. This one was for you, Aunt Denise.


Sunday, February 4, 2018

If Running Is Hard, Run More (Dopey Challenge 2018: 10k)

The 10k easily held the scariest moment of the entire Dopey Challenge. While sauntering around the course during the 5k, Tasha and I chatted about what characters we would stop for. Tasha had never stopped for a character during a RunDisney race, whereas I had stopped for a couple through Wine and Dine Weekend. We were in the last corral for Marathon Weekend, which stressed both of us out a little bit, especially for the half and the full marathon. We basically decided that we weren't going to stop for characters unless we both felt like we were maintaining a decent pace, far enough along in the race that we could make up time if we needed. My #1 character stop was Meeko, and hers was Robin Hood.


Lo and behold, just over a mile in to the 10k, we saw Meeko. The line wasn't too bad, so we hopped in and, of course, Meeko goes to take his break. I'm sure he was gone for only 2 minutes, tops, but it felt like an eternity. We got the picture and as we were walking away, we saw the balloon ladies (the unofficial pacers) and the sweeper bikes (the official pacers). Tasha shouted "RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN!" at the same second I started running and honestly, I think it was the fastest either of us moved all weekend. Our 2018 Dopey Challenge Survival Plan of just walking (AGAIN) went right out the window, and I don't think either of us had any regrets.


We learned a lot during Marathon Weekend. But I think our biggest takeaway was probably the importance of Mylar blankets. On Thursday, we were doubters. There's no way that a piece of foil (essentially) was going to make us feel warmer.  On Friday, we tried it. And by Sunday, we were firmly pro-Mylar blankets. I don't understand how they work, and frankly, I don't care, but at a 28 degree windchill, it was basically a godsend.

And I felt like a burrito, which made me laugh harder than it should have.

Corral waiting-- with Mylar blankets this time. 
Besides the realization that Mylar blankets are a godsend and the Meeko fiasco, the 10k was pretty tame. The course was almost exactly the same as the 5k from the previous day, except they added three extra miles of running on the road at the beginning. Since I wasn't winded at all by the time we got into the World Showcase, I was able to FaceTime some of my friends who decided to take a road trip on the one weekend a year that I couldn't go.


Tasha and I spent many miles talking about how we should pose for photos, but then each time we saw the lime green PhotoPass tents, we just froze and fell back on the favorites-- arms up, thumbs up, mouths wide open. Throw in a couple of dance parties and the classic "I hate everything about this" face and you've got yourself a 10k.

If It Scares You, It Might Be a Good Thing To Try (Dopey Challenge 2018)

Have you ever had a great idea, commit to it, and then are like "WHAT IN THE WORLD HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO?!"

That's how I felt about the RunDisney Dopey Challenge. Because it's just that-- dopey.


It's 48.6 miles over the course of four days throughout the Walt Disney World Property. It starts with a 5k on Thursday, then continues to a 10k on Friday, a half marathon on Saturday, and concludes with a full marathon on Sunday. And yes, it's every bit as daunting as it sounds.

But last January, when I saw that my friend, Tasha, had run her first RunDisney marathon and I was at the beginning stages of my running career AND I knew that I was going to be moving to Orlando over the summer, we started chatting about the races we've done and how we'd definitely have to do RunDisney races together. One thing led to another, and because a year is totally enough time to train, the next thing we knew we had both signed up to run the Dopey Challenge.

The four courses that would label was "officially Dopey"
I'd like to say that we were fully and properly trained and 100% prepared for these races. But we weren't. Not even a little bit. Our "2018 Dopey Challenge Survival Plan" included two things-- finish all the races and get all the medals. Timing wasn't even on our radar; we just had to finish.

There was the promise of these beauties waiting for us at each finish line. And honestly, for a couple of the races, knowing that a shiny medal was at the end was enough. 


From the first of the year until the Expo, which was the day before the 5k, I went back and forth between thinking "I HAVE SO MANY REGRETS" and "We'll be fine, we'll be so fine." Post Expo feelings were definitely "I have so many regrets and I might die, but I'm going to enjoy it for as long as I can."


Ready or not-- Dopey Challenge 2018 was finally here.

. . . . . .

And as a side note, or a PS, or whatever you would like to call it. I took this picture at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party in October, knowing that I would be completing the Dopey Challenge in just a couple of months.



"I think the Dopey Challenge should be renamed to the Seven Dwarves Challenge. Dopey because signing up was a dopey idea. Bashful because I don't even consider myself a runner, but I still signed up to do something so monumental. Sleepy because 2am wake up calls, four days in a row are the WORST. Grumpy due to sitting in our corrals for almost two hours in the freezing cold while we waited for the races to start. Sneezy due to the colds that have been going around. Doc because I learned so much about myself. And HAPPY because I did it!! (And now it's over!!)"

A 20 Minute Mile is Just As Far As a 6 Minute Mile (Dopey Challenge 2018: 5k)

Due to the fact that we live in Orlando, Tasha and I just drove ourselves to Epcot each morning of the Dopey Challenge. We were actually there before any of the resort buses arrived each morning, so on 5k day I was able to walk up to every single character with no wait. 

What's up, Fab Five?
Since the corrals were close to our cars and the 5k is untimed AND it was cold, we got all of the pictures we wanted and then went back to our cars until the last possible minute. Honestly, I think the race had actually started and we were still sitting in our toasty, warm cars. With the corrals and the wave releases that Disney does, we probably could have stayed in our cars another 15-20 minutes, strolled out around 5:50ish, and still had the pleasure of standing in the corral in the cold.


The 5k was incredibly relaxed, if not freezing. In following our "2018 Dopey Challenge Survival Plan", we walked the entire race. And let me tell you, it was boring. Not the conversation or the characters or the atmosphere or seeing the lights of Epcot all lit up-- that was all awesome. But we both wanted to RUN and knew we shouldn't. I think we strolled around the course with a solid pace of 20 minutes (or more) per mile. 

At all three mile markers throughout the course.
Three miles while never moving faster than a leisurely stroll doesn't allow for much time to warm up. And, honestly, I don't think either one of us actually got warm at all. We did our best through solid dance moves and posed laughing photos, but it was a bit of an uphill battle (Not literally, it was Florida, after all.) with a windchill that never broke 30 degrees. 




We high fived each other while crossing the finish line, but PhotoPass wasn't able to get one photo of us together. So our pictures made us look like big nerd high fiving nothingness. Problem solved-- kind of.


PhotoPass served us well over the course of 48.6 miles. And although they weren't able to get a picture of us high fiving, they did capture this gem. Which, honestly, kind of sums up our whole weekend, so you can imagine the Tom Foolery that took place.