I'm a full-time mom who enjoys running, traveling, social media and Sour Patch Kids.
Thursday, January 21, 2016
Monday, January 18, 2016
Dopey Challenge day 4 Minnie 10k
Yes, 3:00am came very quickly. We were up and ready and at the bus stop by
3:30, actually running the last few yards to catch the bus. It was rainy and chilly, not ideal by any
means, especially because this was our only race that we were wearing non-tech
running clothes. We decided to dress
like lions from the Lion King and wore brown tee shirts and matching
tutus. Cotton absorbs water which makes
you cold and increases chafing.
Ugh. We arrived quickly to the
starting area and found some seats in the massage tent again. I had costume makeup that I used to make
Damaris and I look like Scar and Simba.
I think we turned out pretty good!
Not everyone recognized who or what we were but the people that did,
really liked it. Soon it was time to
line up in our corrals and wait for the start.
The rain kept going for our entire run.
I think this kept some of the characters off the course. We saw the duck from Ducktails and the bugs
from It’s a Bugs Life. I felt no desire
to stop for pics so we kept running.
This course did have us out on the bridges and on ramps outside Epcot so
it wasn’t a complete piece of cake run.
We entered Epcot and saw Mulan and her dragon outside of China so that
was our first picture. Next we exited WS
like we did for the 5k but this time we ran around the Boardwalk area. I got my picture with Mike from Monster’s Inc and
Mr. and Mrs. Incredible! 
Damaris and I are soaked by this time but not cold as the
running warmed us up. But our make-up
was water spotted so bad that it looked like we had skin infections! Back into WS and around to Innovations West
where we saw Phineas and Ferb so I had to get my picture taken with my favorite
guys. Then on to the finish line! Our finish time was a respectable 1:18:00 or
something. Back to the room for showers
and back to sleep. 
We decided to enjoy a big breakfast so we went up to
Wilderness Lodge and enjoyed their unlimited and amazing breakfast skillet
which included scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits with gravy and
waffles. We both had our fill! Then we drove over to Disney Springs
(formally known as Downtown Disney) for some shopping. I found some gifts for the kids and ordered
a custom painted Dopey Christmas ornament.
We wandered around some more, enjoyed some beverages and then drove over
to Wide World of Sports for a group meet-up I wanted to do.
I run a lot of my runs with an app called
Charity Miles. It’s a free app that logs
your running or walking miles and corporations donate 25 cents per mile to a
charity of your choice (they have 15+ to choose from). I started using Charity Miles for most of my
run in July and have been able to donate over $150! The founder of the app, Gene, was arranging a
meet up for his users at 3:00 and members of the Hogwarts Running Club, who
also use the CM app for “house points” were meeting as well. (I will write a blog about HRC and Charity
Miles soon to better explain, it’s a really great group that I’m very happy to
have found.) So anyways, about 3:00, I
wandered over to a group of people standing around and asked if they were there
for Charity Miles and they were. Conversations
about which “house” people were in and charities they run for quickly
started. Soon, Gene arrived with a box
of CM tee-shirts, which he gave each of us to wear for a large group picture. Then we did a HRC group pic and separate house
pics. It was really special to meet the
founders of HRC and hear that they were going to two different charities that
afternoon to present checks for tens of thousands of dollars, raised by people
running virtual HRC races. They also told us that one of the wheelchair athletes
in the half marathon was using a chair or “broom” that our contributions
purchased through Achilles International.
It made me feel really good to see the things that my small contributions
were helping make happen. #somuchgood
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| Gryfinndor HRC Hear us Roar! |
Next thing I know, Richard, Damaris’s husband, arrives from
Miami to pick up his half marathon packet.
He was only running that race this time. It was very nice to finally get
to meet him. Then we headed into Orlando
to find a place for dinner. They are Puerto
Rican and wanted me to have an authentic experience so we went to Melao Bakery,
a Puerto Rican restaurant. I was anxious
and took Richard’s advice on what to get.
I don’t remember what it was but it was SO GOOD! I do remember very sweet tasting plantains
that I devoured. Next we drove over to the Orlando Eye, a huge ferris wheel, but it was closed for repairs. We did walk around the area some and enjoyed some ice cream.
We returned to the resort to show Richard
around and prepared for the half marathon the next day. Richard might not have wanted a 9:00 bedtime
but Damaris and I needed it!
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Day 3 and Pluto's 5k
The alarm went off at the insane hour of 3:30 and all I
could think of was that the next 3 mornings would start even earlier! But that’s the main downside of the Disney
races so you know what you’re getting into.
We are up, dressed and ready by 4:00 and walk to the bus stop. It was a short wait and there were plenty of
runners and spectators waiting as well.
The bus arrived and we headed to Epcot where the race would start and
end. Damaris and I coordinated all our
running outfits so this day we were wearing Ink N Burn May the 4th
long sleeved tops (looks like Stormtroopers shirts) with our Robot capris. We got lots of compliments. I’m glad we were in long sleeves because it
was only in the mid 50’s while we were waiting for 90 mins. I did find the massage tent that was empty
and open for runners to wait in so we stayed warm in there until it was time to
walk to our corral at 5:00. We are in
corral B so we get in our spot and wait for the start. Soon the fireworks went off and the race
officially started.
This 5k goes around
a parking lot, then down some behind the scenes roads and finally enters at
Mexico in the World Showcase. It’s
always so exciting to enter the park, you feel like you’re really running a
Disney race then. We skipped the first
character stop (Chip and Dale) and continued into Epcot. I was surprised to not see any characters in
Mexico, Norway or Germany as I’ve seen them there in the other 2 5k’s I’ve done
at Epcot. Then I notice Timon from The
Lion King at the Australian area but I decided to skip stopping for him as the
line was long. Next up was Mittens from
Bolt at America Showcase. I’m not a Bolt
fan but darn it, I wanted a character picture!
We continued on and found Marie from Aristocats in France. Ok, so it’s an animal theme, I get it, it's Pluto's 5k after all. I was surprised that the course veered out of
World Showcase when we crossed the French bridge, heading towards the Boardwalk
hotels area. We did a little loop and
came back into WS in England (guess they eliminated some of the parking lot run
and needed to add the distance back). We
continued past Canada and turned towards Spaceship Earth, which was lit up
beautifully. I was surprised again when
the course turned left towards Soarin’.
I stopped for a picture with Stitch here. We continued running past Soarin’ and Finding
Nemo, back under Innovations West and turned again toward Spaceship Earth where
we exited the park and ran to the finish line.
Our finishing time was 48 minutes or so, not bad considering the 3 photo stops.
 |
| Stormtroopers ready for battle (pic mentioned below) |
 |
| Hi Stitch! |
 |
| Posing so pretty with Marie |
One fun note, I had taken a really good picture of Damaris
and I before the race and put it on my Instagram. After we finished, I was thrilled to get a
request from Charity Miles (an app that tracks your running or walking miles
and corporations donate money to charities for each mile you move, it’s really
cool and I use it for most of my runs, it also helps me earn points for my
Hogwarts Running Club house but that’s a whole other story) to use my picture
on their page! Of course I said
yes. And later that day, Damaris and I
checked our emails and saw that Ink N Burn used our picture in their newsletter
that day! Eek! So exciting!
After the race, we went back to the hotel to clean up and
then headed to the Polynesian’s Kona restaurant to have breakfast with a group
of Damaris’s friends. Everyone was very
nice and welcoming and I really enjoyed myself.
And of course, the Tongo Toast was insanely good. It was pretty much half a loaf of bread,
stuffed with bananas, coated with cinnamon sugar and drizzled with
strawberries. I inhaled it.
Next up was our day at Hollywood Studios, another park that
I haven’t spent much time in but was excited to see all the Star Wars
things. I was not disappointed! My Disney Chase Visa got us into a free photo
op with none other than Darth Vader! He
was very tall but kinda thin. But still
did a good job intimating us. Damaris held strong with refusing to go to the
Dark Side but I admit, I probably would have as he was staring me down! 
 |
| Connie, me, Damaris and Kate (watch that light saber, Kate!) |
 |
| Mt. Kilamarita (made with cranberry juice) |
Dinner! Oh my! We had
reservations at Boma, the African buffet at Animal Kingdom Lodge. One of the effects about traveling with just
one person is I could afford to eat at some nicer places since it was just me,
not a family of 4. We enjoyed a
pre-dinner cocktail at the Victoria Falls Lounge (I had a Mt. Kilmarita) while
we waited for our table. We were soon
seated and the waitress explained the food at the buffet, which I appreciated as
I’m not familiar with African food. But
the best thing about a buffet is you can sample everything! I really enjoyed the roasted pork and the
West African peanut soup. Highly
recommend Boma!
Our fun day was soon over and we returned to the hotel for
bed, after all, 3:00 alarm and another race awaited us!
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