Two weeks from now...

Two weeks from now the runDisney WDW Marathon Weekend Family Fun Run 5k will be well underway.  Many will have already finished and will have this awesome Fab 5 (plus Daisy) medal hanging around their necks, showing off their accomplishment!

Day two of the Health & Fitness Expo will be commencing.  Those running the half marathon, marathon and Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge will be gearing up for their races - picking up their packets at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, browsing the vendors at the Health and Fitness Expo, laying out their race clothes to make sure they don't need to run back to the expo to pick up something they forgot, enjoying the magic that exists throughout the Walt Disney World Resort, be it in the parks or around their resort, and fueling up for those runs, eager to reach the finish line and earn those much lauded medals that runDisney is known for.

This year's Donald medal is brand new after last year's 15th anniversary medal.  And, of course, the medal celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Walt Disney World Marathon is nothing other than spectacular with the bright colors and double spinner - the picture doesn't even being to do it justice.  Poor Goofy is left out of the "new medal" ring though.  He has two more years before he reaches his 10th anniversary and earns a new medal design.

Over the last year, runDisney has started releasing the corral assignments prior to the expo - probably to stave off the mass number of emails they probably were getting in years past asking for the information.  For the WDW Marathon Weekend and also for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon (individual assignments/team assignments) at Disneyland, they added a new feature to the release of the corral assignments - the estimated time (evidenced by proof of time) you needed to be assigned to each corral.  I posted the corral assignments for the WDW Marathon Weekend when they were initially released but am reposting them here with the addition of the time requirements.

I'm really looking forward to being back in Disney again.  I'll be arriving Thursday morning and heading straight to the expo to get my Goofy packet and browse the vendors.  From there, hubby and I will be off to check into our resort - the coveted Disney Vacation Club Treehouse Villas at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa - where we will be staying with some of our great friends we met through the Running of the Ears group.  The entire weekend is sure to be packed with meet-ups with all the people from this group throughout the parks, as well as before and after the races (look for the sea of red shirts near the family reunion tent that contains the H).

Keep an eye out for me on the course during both the half and full marathons!  I'll be sporting the newly designed Michelob Ultra Runners singlet and a SparkleTech skirt.

A new runDisney race - I Double Dare you!!!

So it appears there is a new addition to the runDisney family of races!  A Disneyland 10k in conjunction with the Disneyland Half Marathon over Labor Day Weekend.

Here's the video announcement!

Run the 10k along with the half marathon, and you'll qualify for the newest bonus bling - the Dumbo Double Dare! 

Two courses. 
19.3 total miles. 
Three shirts.
Three awesome runDisney medals. 

I can't wait to see the medal design for the Disneyland 10k and the Dumbo Double Dare!   I wonder what runDisney has in store for us for these medal reveals.

So... who's in?



Here are the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend entry fees per the runDisney website:

Entry Fees and Deadlines

Disneyland® Half Marathon

• $175 by February 19, 2013
• $190 between February 20 and April 16, 2013
• $205 on or after April 17, 2013

Disneyland® 10K

• $95 by February 19, 2013
• $110 between February 20 and April 16, 2013
• $125 on or after April 17, 2013

Dumbo Double Dare

• $280 by February 19, 2013
• $300 between February 20 and April 16, 2013
• $320 on or after April 17, 2013

Disneyland® Family Fun Run 5K

• $65 per participant

runDisney Kids Races

• $20 per child

Looking back in time

As the runDisney WDW Marathon Weekend quickly approaches, I often think back to my first marathon - WDW 2007.  It was the scariest and also the most exhilarating experience of my life.  I learned that day what I could really push myself to do when I set my mind to it.  I completed that first marathon in 5 hours 18 minutes.

Hubby & I after the 2007 WDW Marathon

I recently took the time to log all of my marathon and half marathon PRs in one place, along with various other distances.  It is rather baffling to see the progress I've made since I started running - with my first race being a 5k back in March of 2006.

Marathon - improvement 1:26:53
7 January 2007 WDW Marathon - 5:18:10
18 November 2012 Tulsa Route 66 Marathon - 3:51:17

Half Marathon - improvement 0:24:46
19 March 2006 St. Louis Track Club Half Marathon - 2:06:41
6 October 2012 Hero Run Half Marathon - 1:41:55

10-mile - improvement 0:07:15
25 November 2006 Alton Great River Road Run - 1:29:29
29 September 2012 runDisney's Tower of Terror 10-mile - 1:22:14

10k - improvement ~0:10:xx
Sometime in 2006 at a race I can't remember - ~ 58:xx
9 June 2012 Route 66 10k - 47:52

5-mile - improvement ~0:07:30
March 2006 Irish Parade Run - ~44:5x
28 May 2012 Highland Lion's Run - 37:27

5k - improvement 0:06:50
5 March 2006 Toolen's AOH run - 28:23
22 September 2012 Italianfest 5k - 21:33

On those days when you question your abilities, take a look back at when you first started and see how far you've really come.  This doesn't just apply to your finishing times, but your endurance and other aspects of life.  Every step we take is one more in a positive direction.  Despite all the crummy run days I've had, looking back at this, I can really see the progress I've made and that the hours of training have really paid off.

Almost time to go Goofy again... WDW Marathon Weekend info is up!

I've been stalking runDisney over the last week or two, anticipating the release of the Official Race Program and the waivers/corral assignments for the 2013 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend.

Well, the time has finally come!  Soon, these awesome medals will be MINE!

Half, Full and Goofy medals for the 2013 WDW Marathon Weekend

Family Fun Run 5k medal for the 2013 WDW Marathon Weekend

It's time to print your WDW Marathon Weekend waivers!  The corral assignment charts are below.

I am bib #20752 for Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge this year.  Hubby is bib #20022 - pretty impressive since Goofy numbers start at 20001!

The Official Race Program has been posted too.  This is your guide to the weekend - the schedule of events, including expo vendors and speakers, start times for each race and corral, party info, etc.

Course maps can be found here:
Mickey Mile course map
Family Fun Run 5k course map
WDW Half Marathon course map
WDW Marathon course map - This is an ALL NEW course for the marathon & includes the Richard Petty Speedway and the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex (including the Atlanta Braves Spring Training stadium) for the first time!

Final race instructions should be up soon - I'll add the link to that once runDisney releases it.

runDisney corral placements for the 2013 WDW Marathon Weekend races

The expo location and race times/locations can be found in the Runner Info section of the runDisney website for Marathon Weekend.  Here's a quick summary

Disney's Health & Fitness Expo
ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex
9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 10, 2013
9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. on Friday, January 11, 2013
10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 12, 2013

runDisney Kids' Races

ESPN Wide World of Sports Track & Field Complex
3:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 10, 2013
11:00 a.m. on Friday, January 11, 2013
11:00 a.m. on Saturday, January 12, 2013

Mickey Mile

ESPN Wide World of Sports Track & Field Complex
4:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 10, 2013
12:30 p.m. on Friday, January 11, 2013
12:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 12, 2013

Pasta in the Park Party

Epcot®
6:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 10, 2013
6:30 p.m. on Friday, January 11, 2013
6:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 12, 2013

Disney Family Fun Run 5K

Epcot®
6:30 a.m. on Friday, January 11, 2013

Walt Disney World® Half Marathon presented by Cigna®

Start/Finish: Epcot®
5:30 a.m. on Saturday, January 12, 2013

Walt Disney World® Marathon presented by Cigna®

Start/Finish: Epcot®
5:30 a.m. on Sunday, January 13, 2013

Downtown Disney® Cool Down Party

Downtown Disney Westside
4:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, January 13, 2013




If you can't make it to the expo, you can have friends or family pick up your race packets for you, but don't forget to send them your signed waiver, the packet pick-up authorization forms (from the Runner Info page) and a copy of your photo ID!  Each event has its own authorization form, so make sure you select the correct one.

• Walt Disney World® Marathon presented by Cigna®
• Walt Disney World® Half Marathon presented by Cigna®
• Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge
• Disney Family Fun Run 5K
• runDisney Kids Races
• Race Retreat presented by Cigna®
• ChEAR Squad

Greg & I will be meeting our Running of the Ears friends at the H family reunion tent before and after the half and full marathon - stop by and say hi!  We'll stand out in the crowd in our Michelob Ultra Runners gear.

Can't wait to see everyone there!

It's been awhile...

...since my last post.

As thrilled as I was with finally breaking that 4 hour mark in Tulsa's Route 66 Marathon, I paid the price for the intense training.

It hit about two weeks after the Rock N Roll St. Louis marathon, about two weeks before the Tulsa Route 66 Marathon... a severe case of burn-out.

After St. Louis, I had every intention of picking up my training with a "12 - 12 - 8 - race" long run schedule culminating with Tulsa, but it just didn't work out, except for a half marathon on the week of that second 12 mile long run.  Even my week day runs were difficult to me to motivate to get out for.  I was doing good to run there miles every other day and to get five miles in on the weekends.  Thankfully, I was still able to pull off the sub-4 in Tulsa.

After Route 66, I decided it was time to relax the running schedule.  Hubby & I had signed up for a Thanksgiving morning 5k, which we still participated in (and I managed to still run a great race despite the marathon 5 days prior, finishing in 21:45 and missing 3rd in my age group by 4 seconds), and followed that up with a 5 mile fun run with the Belleville Running Club.  I didn't run another step after that until a week later, where I ventured out for an easy 4 miles.  It was really hard to believe that I had a whopping 2 running days in as many weeks - I can't remember the last time I ran that little.

I've actually managed to get out the door two days in a row this week...  I just couldn't pass up the awesome weather.  I ran a good 4 miles yesterday - it was 60* out - absolutely GORGEOUS for the beginning of December.  Today, it was 55* and raining, but the 3.25 miles I got in still felt good.

I definitely still want to take a relaxed approach to my training for the time being, but with the runDisney Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend approaching in a mere five weeks, where I will be participating in Goofy's Race & a Half Challenge, I need to get at least some base runs in to maintain my fitness.  No doubt I can complete the 39.3 total miles that weekend - I've done that on considerably less training five times before - but I still want a good base so that I come out healthy and ready to jump into my next training plan.

What's up next...

Well, if I can manage to get myself registered, I might just try to BQ (<3:35) at the Illinois Marathon on 27 April 2013.  It's a fast, flat and gorgeous course, and it's relatively close to home.  Top it off with an awesome medal and a finish line on the 50-yard line of the stadium, and you've got yourself a pretty good event.  The decision isn't final yet - but the thought is definitely there.