Monthly Archives: January 2012

Tinker Bell Half Meetup!

Thanks to runDisney, I had the opportunity to attend a Meetup with Jeff Galloway (and other fabulous guests) the day before the Tinker Bell Half Marathon.

The morning started early – we met near the Disneyland hotel at 6:15 (not bad for someone still on East Coast time).  We were all given runDisney shirts to wear and set off on a 2 mile run through Disneyland.  Running in Disneyland and California Adventure at that hour was amazing.  I ran with my friend Carrie from ROTE and my new blogger friend Mallory.  Mallory took some amazing photos – I don’t know how she was able to tweet and run as well as she did!  We were told to be ready to run at a 12:00 pace.  I’m more of a 12:50 kind of girl, but I thought I could handle it for 2 miles.  We were running a 40 second run/20 second walk pattern, and well, I just couldn’t keep up.  We weren’t too far behind, but my heartrate kept skyrocketing, so I had to slow up a bit.  Mallory and Carrie stuck with me though, and we had a lot of fun.  We finished the run and I was shocked to see that we actually stuck to around an 11:30 pace!

We then headed into the Art of Animation theater for a few presentations.  It was fantastic.

We listened to runDisney’s Bob Hitchcock talk about runDisney and social media.  Bob’s a great guy and he definitely organized an amazing event.

Then he introduced Robin Trowbridge, who discussed all of the entertainment and special touches that go into a Disney race, such as having Tinker Bell fly during the 5K and having characters out on the course.  Someone asked what happens when Snow White needs a break – does another Snow White come out?  We were all appalled.  Of course there is only one Snow White!

We also heard from Lori, the runDisney member of the Disney Mom’s Panel.  What a sweetheart.

Megyn Price was the “celebrity runner” for this race, and trained up for this as her first half. She got to wear Bib #1!  She was awesome to listen to.  She was so normal and down to earth and, like every new runner, was terrified that she wouldn’t finish her first race.  (Spoiler alert – she did!)   She talked about how she had never been an athlete and how she wanted to do this to show her daughter how strong women can be.  It was fun when the tables sort of turned and instead of asking questions, people started reassuring her that she would be just fine.

And of course, the man himself, Jeff Galloway.  This was a great Q&A session – plenty of time to ask questions, anything from how to figure out run/walk intervals to the best way to start.  And he has a great rule – one that I follow myself: No puking.  I know many people who throw up after a hard run.  No run is worth that to me.  Jeff had great tips about listening to your body and doing what’s right for you.

At the end of the event, Minnie came out in her cute running outfit and posed for pictures!

Then we were treated to a wonderful surprise – we were invited to tour the Disneyland Dream Suite!  The Dream Suite is in New Orleans Square, by Pirates of the Caribbean.  It’s in a space that was originally intended for the Disney family, but it wasn’t built until 2007.  The space is amazing and is based off of the original plans for the apartment.  There were many sweet touches to the space.  We weren’t allowed to take photos, but I found a great online walk-through here.

What an amazing event.  And this was only a small part of the weekend, as the next day was the main event – the Inaugural Tinker Bell Half Marathon!

Such a cool opportunity!

A real entry will come later, but today I had the coolest experience thanks to runDisney.  It started out with a 2 mile run with Jeff Galloway.  We were planning to do a 12 minute mile, but we were in the stragglers and ran an 11:30! Fast for me! I ran with Carrie and our new friend Mallory.

Then we hit the Art of animation where we heard a bunch of speakers, including Jeff, many runDisney reps, and Megyn Price, who was just so genuine and lovely.

After that, we cheered on the kids races and got a tour of the Disney Dream Suite!  Such a cool day!  Thank you, runDisney!

So far, so good

As per usual, the year has started out quite well. I’ve stuck to my training schedule (though I must admit, I’m not doing the speedwork I should be) and will easily hit 50 miles this month. I’m at 49 already, and am planning a few runs before the half marathon next weekend, so unless something disastrous happens, 50 will be hit and exceeded.

I’ve decided that I really need to take charge of my weight this year. For many reasons, I’ve put on about 25 pounds in the last 5 years and that needs to change. I think it should help my running as well, which is always a positive thing.

The unfortunate thing is that my body’s going to get used to all these miles and I’m going to have to keep it up.

2012 is the year of the half marathon. So far, I’m registered for 8, plus one virtual. I’m also thinking 2013 is going to be the year of my first marathon… yikes!

Year in review

2011 turned out to be a pretty good running year.

I did not make my goal of 600 miles. I ran a little over 526 miles. Not bad, but I want to do better. Once again, I’m setting my goal for the year at 600 miles. 50 miles a month. I can do it if I stick to it.

I did run a lot of races this year.

5K – 1

8K – 1 (new PR, but only because it was my first 8K)

5 Mile – 1 (new PR, first 5 mile race)

10K – 2 (new PR – 1:18:45 at the Cold Turkey 10K. Had I known I was running so well, I would have actually pushed this race!)

10 Mile – 3

Half Marathon – 6 (new PR – 2:49:20 at the Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon)

For those of you counting, that’s 14 races and 4 PRs (but really only 2).

I haven’t fully set my race schedule for 2012 yet, but I’m anticipating at least 8 half marathons, 2 ten milers, and a couple shorter races as well. Let’s see how my legs hold up!