Racing Plans!

*The  Disney recaps will resume tomorrow

I registered for 2 races today: The Magnificent 7k, put on by the local running group, and Geist Half Marathon in May!
I had wanted Geist to be my first half, last May, but wasn't close to ready for it. Now I know I'm ready, and super-excited! Any of you ladies want to come to Indiana for the weekend and run with me? The course is slightly hilly, by a gorgeous lake, and is supposedly really well organized.

I also plan on running a small local half the first week of May. I'm not going to stress about any specific schedule for these races, except the length of my long runs and making sure I do some speedwork each week.  My long run plan:

Week of:	Long Runs	Race
7-Mar	2:00
14-Mar	1:30	7k
21-Mar	2:10
28-Mar	2:15
4-Apr	2:20
11-Apr	1:30	5k
18-Apr	2:30
25-Apr	1:30
2-May	13.1
9-May	1:00
16-May	1:30
23-May	13.1

Do you do long runs by distance or by time? I really prefer time, but not sure how that will work for marathon training in the fall! I ran for an hour today, and except for a slightly grumpy IT band, everything felt good. Hoping to get some weight lifting in tomorrow.

What are you racing this spring? Have room for Geist on your schedule?

Part 5: Cinderella's Castle

To say I was excited about eating dinner in the castle in an understatement. I had made this reservation in early December, my first one made for thsi trip, and had been giddy about it ever since. We had about a 10 minute wait before our 8:05 seating, got our pictures taken with Ms. Cinderella, and were seated in the gorgeous dining room. Even the menu was themed: 



Belle, Aurora, Jasmine, and Snow White made their rounds for photos before we started eating.

Then dinner was served, starting with same rolls that seem to be at every Disney restuarant.

I began with a cheese plate: Brie, goat cheese and white cheddar. The brie was served with honey comb, and was delish. For my entree, I had cobia with tomoto sauce and pasta. The fish very flakey, and the dish had just enough spice to be interesting but not overly so.

The husband had duck for the first time ever, and he nearly licked his plate clean.

I had chocolate mouse with rapsberry sauce for dessert. It was ok, simple but good.

The husband had the trio for dessert:berries and cream, cheesecake, and a small mouse.

Overall, I was super pleased with the service, the atmosphere and the food. It was as good as some of the signature level restuarants, and the whole experiemce is just really neat. I give Cinderella's Castle a 5 out of 5 on my dining scale. *Also, since we went so late, it was probably much quieter than it would be duirng a more kid-friendly time.

An Update - what's next

I still have three Disney trip reviews to share (Cinderella's Castle, Animal Kingdom + Narcososee's, and a hotel review) but thought I'd give a quick update on my day-to-day happenings. I've been fighting a head cold since we got back on Tuesday, and work has been crazy trying to catch up and cover for a co-worker who is starting a two week vacation. My workouts have been good, if short:
 - Monday: walk around Disney
- Tuesday: 1 mile easy
 - Wednesday: full body weights and 10 minutes of rather unsuccessful jump rope
 - Thursday: rest
 - Friday: 1.25 mile run, abs, 10 minute bike
 - Saturday: 60 minutes on the stair machine, abs

I hope to get a long run in tomorrow before church.

After the PR at Princess, I feel really good about how my training is going, and in what shape I'm in. Now comes the question of where to go from here. Marathon training will start the second week of June for me, so that gives me a few months to work on other things. I'm running a 7k with a group from work on March 19th, but that won't require too much prep. Here's what I'm thinking:
 - Strength train more  - once a week at least
 - Do ab work every day (anyone done the 100 sit up challenge?)
 - Keep running: easy days, speed days, long runs
  - Choose and register for an April or May half
 - Focus on making better food choices, and hopefully drop some weight/inches before marathon training starts. Weekly weigh-ins, here I come.

In the spirit of weigh-in honesty, I was 179 today (amazingly low after the bingefest at Disney). In a perfect world, I'd like to toe the start line at Chicago at 165.

What are your weekend plans? I did some home decor shopping this morning, but am working later tonight and tomorrow.

Part 4: Princess Half Marathon Race Recap, my 16 minute PR!

My alarm went off at 2:00, and I was up, showered, and dressed by 3:05.I wore (because I enjoy reading this from other people):

• Nike capris
• Nike airborne running tank and airborne sports bra
• VS seamless bikinis
• A sparkle skirt
• My timex ironman
• Balega socks
• Brooks Dyads
• My pink ipod shuffle

The bus stop my part of the hotel only had two other ladies waiting when I got there, and we waiting less than 5 minutes on a bus, though the other stops around the resort were much more crowded, and had long lines waiting for buses. I arrived at the race at 3:45, ate a bagel with butter from the consection stand, browsed race merchandize. and dropped off my bag. My biggest complaint about this race: How far the start was from the drop off point - at least a half mile, if not more!

I was in corral C, so after the first two corrals started, I made my way near the front, and was off! I had three mental goals for this race: sub-2:50, running the whole first 7 miles, and  keeping an even pace in the start of the race. Miles 1 (11:43) and 2 (11:00) were run in the dark, and went by super quickly. By the time we got near Magic Kingdom at Mile 5, I was feeling really good. I hit the 5 mile at 58:02. Running through the castle was such a special moment - I was definately teary. To know how far I have come as a runner and a person  in such a really short amount of time was a wonderful feeling.

Miles 6 and 7 went through the Magic Kingdom and started back onto the highway to Epcot. I hit the half way point at 1:15, and was feeling really good, so I decided to try to run a new continous-running record, and run the first 10 miles, beating my old record by a full three miles. By mile 9, it was getting hot, and the course had little support along the roadway. I was struggling, but detetmined. At mile 9, I was at 1:48:30. I hit mile 10 at 1:59:10. I then took a short break until the next water station, and began to run again. I did mile 10 in a 5:1 run'wal ratio,  and started mile 11 in a 3/3, but ended up walking up a few long overpasses. By mile 12, we were reentering Epcot. Eveything in my body was tired - but I pushed as hard as I could - walking some, running the last 1/4 mile. I crossed the finish line in 1:40:46. a 16:09 PR.

The husband was waiting at the end with a glitterly flower:

His reaction to the day: that he'd never seen more men in drag in one place in his life. There were men as snow white, in tiaras, in ball gowns.

After a shower for me and nap for the Hubs, we went to Epcot to explore the world showcase. We had a quick and yummy lunch at San Angel Inn, followed by a much enjoyed Plum Green Tea Slush from World of Tea in Japan.

Note: I have a slight Duffy obessession. Yes, this makes me a dork.

Up next: Dinner with Cinderella

Part 3: Shutters

I am a huge fan of the in-resort Disney restuarants in most cases, and we always try to eat in whatever hotel we're at at least once. I knew I would want an early bedtime before my 2:00am race-day wake up, so the husband and I choose to spend Saturday night swimming and going to Shutters.

The meal started with bread, which was good, if a little hard.



I had chicken wings for my appetizer, and they were *fantastic* - honey-y and spice coated, without being mouth hurting hot.

In the spirit of carb loading, I ordered pasta with chicken for my entree. It had a jerk seasoning, peppers, and goat cheese. Overall - ok. There is a similar dish at Boatwright's at Port Orleans Resort that is AMAZING, so this was a little bit of let down.

We skipped dessert at the restuarant and ended up going to Downtown Disney for ice cream sundae's at Giridelli's, that were amazing as always.

My grade for Shutter: 3/5. Good, not special, but our waitress was super attentive and nice, and the husband had a jerk-rubbed Ahi tuna he raved about. I would definately go there if you stay at Carribean Beach, but not sure I would make a special trip. 

Princess Weekend Part 2: Via Napoli, and Epcot

We started out the day in Epcot, riding Mission Space and Test Track* before heading to Via Napoli for lunch. I was super excited because all of the reviews, everyone from Disboards to the Disney Food Blog to All ears, raved about it. We were seated at the long central table, and it took a good 10 minutes before our drink order was taken. We had the deluxe dining plan this trip, so we were able to choose an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert.
We orded the frito misto, basically a fried sampler platter, to share as the appetizer. It was . . fine. The calamari was chewy and tasty salty, like it wasn't well cleaned. We maybe ate a 1/4 of the whole thing - everything jsut tasted "breaded" with no real seasoning. The husband had spagetti and meatballs for his entree, and it was ok, but plain. He likened it to spagetti-os. I ordered the white lasagna, and what they brought was a few noddles literally covered in vechimel. No flavor, only four pieces of spinach I could count. Like eating the base for mac and cheese before the cheese is added. Two bites and I was done. We also noticed the tables around us got bread and oil - which weren't offered to us.

The waiter didn't ask if anything was wrong when he came to pick up my basically untouched plate and bring dessert. I ordered the Zeppoli, which are supposed to be like donuts, and the husband had tiramisu. His tiramisu was ok, but my zeppoli were cold, hard as rocks, and had the consistancy of yellow cake. Overall score for this meal: 0 of 5. Worst meal I've ever had at Disney.

After lunch, we explored the world showcase, and went back to the hotel to swim.

Up next: Dinner at Shutters

Race recap part 1

This will be a multi-part trip review, starting with the expo, then both races, a few detailed dining reviews, and then our hotel. Hope you enjoy!

Our plane arrived Friday in Orlando at 11:30 about an hour late due to the “intensive ice removal” they had to do before we could leave Indianapolis. We used Magical Express with no issues, and checked into our room at Caribbean Beach. I’ll do a full hotel review later – but it was great! We ate lunch at the hotel’s food court, got our refillable mugs (free with Deluxe Dining), and headed to the expo. Compared to Wine and Dine, the bus transportation seemed much “easier” – less crowded, better organized.

After packet pick up for both races, we did some shopping and I got a black Princess Half jacket, a pink Finisher’s t-shirt, purple running shorts, and a 13.1 Mickey window cling for my car. We had dinner reservations that night at the husband’s only food request: the clam bake at Cape May Café. We have gone for the character breakfast, but this was our first dinner trip. The buffet had clams, mussels, crab legs, and all sorts of sea food and sides. We ate probably too much, but the food and service were sublime. After a quick walk though Epcot, we made it back to hotel for an early night in preparation for the next morning’s 5k.

We left for the Royal Family 5k at 5:15. I wore: black nike tempo shorts, hot pink nike v neck, nike airborne sports bra, my zensah calf sleeve, cheapy target running socks, and my Dyads. The bus was basically empty, and the bag check area was equally dead. We took a few pictures in Epcot, and made our way to the start line area, where there were crazy long lines for pictures will Belle and the Beast and a semi-obnoxious DJ trying to get people to dance. I also saw a man in the greatest shirt ever: On the front “For my 50^th birthday my wife made me do this” and the back “ That’s why I married my favorite princess”. Super sweet! There were tons of people in costumes and tiaras. In the starting area, they had pace guidelines signs, and the husband and I agreed to split it up. He wanted to really “run” and I was trying to get in a pace run for the next day. The race started with fireworks and we were off.

My only complaint about this race is how not accurate the course map was. It took almost a mile to get into Epcot, running on service roads and under Test Track. It was really nice to be able to run through world showcase. I thought it was really funny how many people complained about the “hills” – come and run southern Indiana with me! I hit mile 1 and 2 exactly where I wanted: 12:10, 24:45, and finished the race in 38:08, though the course was more like 3.3 than a true 5k. The husband beat his PR by 10 seconds. We got our medals, went back to the hotel to change, and started our first day at Epcot.