Disney 2015: 10K, Half and FULL!

On Friday I got up at 0'Dark:30 once again and lined up for the 10K. It was cold again and this time I didn't have my family to penguin huddle with! The 10k route ended in Epcot and around the Boardwalk resorts but to get in the extra miles they first had to send us way down the road for an out and back. Fortunately Ana and Elsa were out on a bridge to liven things up. They were even making it snow!

Finally I hit Epcot:

And had a great run around World Showcase:

In 2013 I didn't take into account the amount of walking we were doing in the parks and the toll it would take on my legs. The rest of the crew wanted to go back to Universal on Friday but I opted out and spent the day taking a nap and resting my legs instead. Universal is a TON of walking with 2 big parks to cover and there was no way I was going to do that to myself the day before the half and the full so I sent my Wizard tribe off without me!

I had a very mellow day at Beach club and then in the evening I took the bus to the Magic Kingdom:

And the boat to Ft. Wilderness:

To visit my horse friends!

Well actually I did enjoy visiting all the horses but I was there to meet the crew for the Hoop Dee Doo Review!

The show was once again hysterical:

And we all had a blast!

Play that washboard!

The next morning we were up in the wee hours again for the half marathon:

MK arch!

We ran a RIDICULOUSLY slow half, which was part of my plan for the Dopey challenge. I wanted to run a faster full this year. So by the time we got to the MK the sun was up!

Almost finished!

And look who we met at the finish line with NO LINE for a photo!!

Only one more race to go!

Aunt Karen, Brit and the kids were already at Animal Kingdom so we showered and headed off to meet them. After a nice lunch at Yak and Yeti we hit some cool attractions:

Although the adults opted out of this fiasco.... I've been soaked through way too many times and the day was chilly!

 We had a great Italian dinner at the new Trattoria over at Boardwalk and turned in early.
 On Sunday I was once again standing in the Epcot parking lot in the early morning hours. I was nervous but hopeful. If you can get through the half with no weird twinges or blow-outs you're just happy with that. Last time I ran a 4/1 run/walk interval and this time I ran a 2/:30 interval. Same exact amount of running and walking but a shorter interval. It let me hold a 10 min mile pace pretty much for the whole race. I even got to the MK while it was still dark!

We also had a day of perfect weather! Not too cold at the start and just as the sun came up and wanted to beacon into your eyes as you came down Osceola, the clouds came in and cooled everything off. Don't get me wrong, it was epic for sure, but I felt strong the whole way and nothing gave out! At mile 24ish I passed Beach Club and Jeff and the kids were there waiting for me. I was so excited to be that close to the end and still feeling strong!

Almost to Epcot!

 Finished in 4:19!!! Such a big improvement on 4:45 in 2013. I was so pleased and nothing beats crossing a finish line and getting not one, but THREE gorgeous medals!

After hobbling back to the room and freshening up we headed to the MK for lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern and then did a bunch of things we had never done before! We rode the mine train, saw the new Festival of Fantasy Parade which was AMAZING...

 And then met these 2...

 So happy:

 After that we did a Monorail Resort Progressive Dinner. Apps at the Poly:

 Mains at the Grand Floridian: (We sent the kids to counter-service while we ate at Mizners...)

 And then we were going to do dessert at the Contemporary but decided to get it at the MK since we were right there and wanted to grab a spot for the parade. Teddy's not complaining...

Wishes was a perfect way to end the race weekend... what a great time!