Little Miss Mochi

2012 Princess Half Marathon Race Recap

On Sunday I declared that the wilderness of the Princess Half Marathon must be explored! I did the Princess half in a not-so-princess-y costume too - I did it as Russel from Up!

Registration for Princess up to the costume idea of Russel was all a very last minute idea. I wasn’t sure I’d get everything I needed on time, but I was able to pull it off. With some details on how I put together this costume, you can check it out here.

Before we left Disney property on Saturday, Sean and I went to Magic Kingdom to get balloons. Believe it or not, I did a little bit of research into what type of balloon I wanted to get to pull this costume off. I declined out of regular latex balloons which I could’ve gotten at Party City, the reason being for their durability. I knew they’d be much more susceptible to popping during 13.1 miles, even though I could’ve gotten a bunch of balloons for price. My choice was then between mylar balloons and the “Mickey double balloons”. I Googled and browsed a couple forums on mylar and Disney durability and life span. Perhaps it’s the engineer in me that made the final call to chose the double balloons because it had a fail safe where if one balloon popped, one could stay afloat.

I did do a bit of planned nutrient timing such that I wouldn’t be screwed half marathon morning, too. Saturday morning I had breakfast at Kona Cafe where I had pulled pork and poached eggs (protein) and I had essentially a “double meal” for lunch around 2pm where I ate two chicken sandwiches (protein + carbs), where that was my last meal of the day such that my stomach could digest it all. I kept water to a minimum the morning of the race, and for hydration I relied on the water and sport drinks on the course. Planning those out really helped where I didn’t have any GI issues at all!

I don’t think it matters how many runDisney races I’ve done - the morning races are by far the most painful in terms of how early you have to get up. Final race instructions said that commuters should arrive no later than 4:00am. I tried to go to bed around 7pm but I likely wasn’t asleep until past 8pm, and Sean and I were up at 2:00am to get ready. Even though I set aside my clothes the day before, man was I unprepared equipment-wise. I was going all over our home frantically trying to find different race stuff, like Body Glide.

We were running out of time, so we headed off to Disney. The drive there wasn’t too bad, but I specifically remember I-4 being fairly busy considering how ungodly early it was in the morning. We did avoid downtown and did 528 to I-4 because Google Maps showed that area was still red, considering that NBA All Star Weekend was going on around that time.

When we arrived at Epcot I met with the ROTErs at H tent, because every single race prior to this I always arrived so late that no one was there. I wanted to actually pop in and say hi for once. Afterwards I fell in line for the portapotties, because I knew that my costume would deny me any chance of using the restroom at any point during the course. Sean and I then went back to the car and I assembled my costume out there in the parking lot. I ended up not using the hat, even though I had it ready. The backpack, the flag, and the balloons were already enough to bear … I figured the hat could go to make it a little less of a PITA for me.

This was the last picture that Sean took of me before we parted ways at the entrance of the runner’s area:

Honestly, I felt a little bit like a fool because I was carrying so much. I was able to meet up with Brittany and Andrea so we were able to walk together towards the corrals, which in all honestly made me feel a little better. The catch-22 with my costume was that it attracts people’s attention, when on the contrary I’m actually pretty shy. Again, part of the reason why I dressed like this was so that Sean could see me easily out there on the course.

Here’s one BIG thing about my costume: it’s not crowd-friendly. I knew ahead of time that there was a rain system coming in around 8-9am so I knew wind would be a problem, and I knew that my Wilderness Explorer flag would get into people’s way.

But fortunately I already had a plan for it. It helps that I’ve done Donald and Princess a number of times before, so I knew which spots to watch out for.

My Wilderness Explorer plan of action!

• During the 20 min(-ish) walk to the corrals, I stayed off to far side such that people won’t get hit by the balloons or flag. I also held the balloons the WHOLE time with my hand above my head such that they wouldn’t bop people when the wind blew.
• I seeded myself at the very, very back of my corral. It helped that I was placed in Corral A (woop woop, thanks to my 1:55 time from Donald). The start of ANY race, Disney or not, is ALWAYS the most crowded. By putting myself at the very back of Corral A meant that no one in Corral A would have to deal with my balloons, and that there would be a nice cushion time of space between me and the start of Corral B. Here I am at the very back of Corral A :) 
  
• During the race, I stayed off to the side. I was never in the middle.
• During the race, I kept passing to a minimum, so I stayed at the pace of the person in front of me, particularly during parts of the course that I knew ahead of time would be busy. The reason for this was because if I did attempt to weave in-between people, I knew people my balloons and flag could be a problem. Sometimes I got “caught” behind someone who was going at a slower pace than I wanted to go, and I only passed these people whenever we were on wide, open roads.

So yeah, despite how obstructive my costume was, I was as courteous as possible such that I wasn’t in anybody’s way.

Most of the negativity that I got with my costume was during the cattle walk towards the corrals, though. I kept on hearing snide remarks behind my back on me being an “a**hole” for “choosing a costume that’s not even a princess and would just get in everyone’s way”.

Some person even tried to yank my Wilderness Explorer flag, too! And the thing was was that I had it duct taped to my backpack, so when this person yanked my flag, it sent me flying backward into a crowd of people behind me. The person who did it said she couldn’t stand the flag being in her way and that I “deserved it”.

>_>

<_<

And you know, good thing I’ve been dealing with trolls by playing pubs on League of Legends and with runDisney trolls the past few weeks! Otherwise, I don’t think I would’ve had the thick skin to just brush off how some people can just be plain mean. During that walk, if people don’t even realize that I’m already off to the far side on the dirt and even holding the balloons so that they don’t get booped, then … meh … not my problem.

But by all means, those two incidents were NOTHING compared to all the positivity, compliments, and how I was able to make people happy dressing up as Russel! During the cattle walk too, a girl came up to me and said that they were trying to catch up to me from way far back because when they realized I was Russel, they wanted to take a picture with me! Also, when I was in the back of Corral A, a couple ladies came up to me saying things like, “You know, I was wondering why you were running with a backpack and balloons and it took me forever to realize it, but you’re dressed up as the little boy from Up!” It made me feel a lot better about my outfit :)

When it came time to start the half marathon, Fairy Godmother came onto the stage and then sent us off into our journey!

At some point around mile 2-3, my backpack’s zipper came undone, and a lady actually came up to me and told me about it. We pulled off to the side, and she helped me put everything back together because my balloons could’ve also flown away! I really wish I took a mental note of who that lady was by her name or bib # … I can’t thank her enough by even sacrificing part of her own half marathon time to help me put together my backpack. Thank you SO much!

I really enjoyed moments when I passed by the volunteers and spectators, too. I would hear them recognize that I was a character from Up, and I know this only takes a few brief seconds, but seeing them go from the realization to having a smile on their face really made my day, and in an essence, really made that half marathon for me. I always smiled and waved to the crowd to appreciate their efforts for being out there, and for fun whenever I saw a girl out with her parent spectating out on the course, I greeted her as “Princess”. (I mean, how could I not? It was the whole spirit of the half marathon! ^_^)

Some runners did mistake me for being a pacer, though. I did say that I wasn’t and told them to be in the lookout for the actual pacers who were carrying sticks with regular red & white balloons that had what their goal time was. I also did mention what my estimated finishing time was (somewhere between 2:10-2:20, from eyeballing my Garmin) in case they were curious if they were going to treat me as a pacer.

I did also get to see one of my friends who’s a cast member out there - Tim! He told me he was going to be at Magic Kingdom during the course and that he was working custodial. When I was in Magic Kingdom, I also was on the lookout for him and we did find each other! It helped that Tim was in an uncrowded area where I could find him easily. Thanks for coming out to support us runners out there!

During the half, there were a couple times where I pulled off to the side to check my backpack. The incident with the zipper falling made me paranoid, so several times I made sure everything was secured and alright. You can tell how often I was checking my backpack from my cadence data from my Garmin too:

If I could go back and fix my costume, there are two things I would’ve done.

First, I would duct tape the end of the dowel to my backpack. I had most of the stick duct taped, but the end of it wasn’t. So, while I was running, the end of the stick kept getting caught on the back of my polo and also jabbing my right lower back. Sound painful? It was, lol. I actually have a big ol’ bruise on my back because of it.

Secondly, I would’ve worn a belt with the particular shorts I wore. Believe it or not, I’m towards the end of my “weight loss journey”. The shorts I wore were some old shorts that I got a couple years ago from Old Navy. They aren’t too big on me (size 10) compared to some even ones I still have in my drawer (size 17), and they seemed to stay on even though they drooped a bit when I first was assembling my costume at home. (Right now I’m a size 6-8.) But, with running and having compression shorts underneath them, those size 10 shorts were falling. -_-

I was really, REALLY hoping that Sean was wearing a belt, and that when we met up on Main Street if he could give me his. But when we did meet up, he told me he wasn’t wearing his. :( All I was able to pick up from him was a poncho which he brought and ended up packing inside my backpack in case it did rain between where I was and the finish, lol. The thought of actually taking off and packing in my backpack my Old Navy shorts and running with my compression shorts did cross my mind, but I figured I’d deal with it. So the whole race, I was pretty much pulling up my shorts every 20-30 seconds. =P

Here’s a pic of me towards the end of the race at Epcot. At this point we were somewhere between miles 12-13.

For the FIRST TIME EVER during a runDisney half marathon, I also took a picture with characters. At Epcot I saw Chip & Dale and instinctively I fell in line to take a picture with them because I was a Wilderness Explorer that morning! They also hopped up and down and clapped their paws when they saw I was one too, haha.

And finally here’s me approaching the finish line …

… pulling my pants up one last time …

… and I don’t know exactly what I was doing here at the end. LOL.

Sean met me at the end and had two flowers with Mickey ears for me as a congratulatory gift for finishing. He also picked my two favorite types of flowers too — white & pink. I love him!

We took pics with Rapunzel and Snow White at the end, and here I am looking like a wreck with my hair a mess, my bandanna crumpled, and my shorts falling down =P

It was also quite fitting that we were parked in the Explore parking lot too ^_^

The half marathon time I pulled out wasn’t my best, but running it for time wasn’t the point. (Actually, thinking about now, I think how I dress for a race reflects on how “serious” I take it.) I took it really easy and had fun throughout the course. I was in pretty good shape after Princess, as compared to times when I actually do go for time. Those cases I’m pretty beat and torn up, but post-race I was pretty bouncy and pain-free.

One thing that I found particularly interesting was my pace. Like I mentioned earlier, I kept passing to a minimum so that my flag and balloons weren’t in the way. So basically, I was only as fast as the runner in front of me, except in wide open areas where I could pass people when I felt the need to. And in following that rule, and from starting between Corral A and B, I was incredibly surprised how even my split times were, even with the number of times I paused and went off to the side to check my backpack.

runDisney - Disney’s Princess Half Marathon:
CHARLENE at 5K in 0:33:02.
Pace: 10:38 min/Mile. 
Estimated Finish Time: 2:19:23.
Estimated Time of Arrival: 8:09:26.

runDisney - Disney’s Princess Half Marathon:
CHARLENE at 10K in 1:05:48.
Pace: 10:35 min/Mile.
Estimated Finish Time: 2:18:44.
Estimated Time of Arrival: 8:08:51.

runDisney - Disney’s Princess Half Marathon:
CHARLENE at 15K in 1:36:32.
Pace: 10:21 min/Mile. 
Estimated Finish Time: 2:15:40.
Estimated Time of Arrival: 8:07:17.

runDisney - Disney’s Princess Half Marathon:
CHARLENE at Finish in 2:17:13.
Pace: 10:28 min/Mile. 
Time of Arrival: 8:08:43.

Despite some Negative Nancy’s I encountered at the very, very start of Princess, I had a BLAST as it was probably the most fun I’ve ever had on a half marathon course ever! (And I’m using “Negative Nancy” as the saying; I don’t know if their name was Nancy. =P) I think a lot of it had to do in part to my costume on how it made people smile and in turn making me smile, too. I generally don’t like to reuse costume ideas that I’ve already done, but I dunno, this might be one I might continue to do in the future.

Garmin data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/153114860

2012 Tangled Royal Family 5K Race Recap

Sean and I did the Royal Family 5K Fun Run together on Saturday! In some lighthearted fun, we were Lilo and Stitch ^_^

Getting up to do these Disney races are always the biggest pain in the butt (except for Wine & Dine, which is a night race). We were up at 4:00am and were out the door by 5:00am so that we could drive over to Disney. By the time we got there and parked, it was 6:00am, which if I remember correctly was 15 minutes before the suggested arrival time for those arriving by car.

The crowd wasn’t as big as the crowd for the 5K during WDW Marathon Weekend, and it looked like everyone was able to fit inside the corrals in one go. (During WDW Marathon Weekend’s 5K, not everyone was able to fit into the corrals at once, so there ended up being two starts for the race.)

We were one of the first ones to get into the corrals, and as you can see it wasn’t too bad!

Darrin & KJ also found us there!

Also Ben & Brittany!

But of course, once more people started filling in the corral got crowded. This was out view of the starting line. (Which, by the way, I think is one of the prettiest designs they’ve had for it!)

Rapunzel and Flynn sent us some parting words …

… and then everyone was off for their 5K adventure!

First, I want to remind you that this was a “fun run”, where in runDisney terms means that it’s an untimed race. The purpose of the whole thing is so that families can participate in a runDisney race together, where their runDisney weekends aren’t just limited to the main half marathon/marathon event.

So… how do Sean and I get our money’s worth for a $50 untimed 5K? We take pictures with characters! ^__^

Among all the other runDisney races I’ve done, the fun runs are the only ones where I actually do take the time out and fall in line for pictures. With it being untimed anyway, I feel no pressure to put in a time. And clearly, I feel no pressure into wearing actual running clothes and sneakers, lol. Fun runs are essentially a stroll through the park to take pics with groups of characters!

This was a pic of the 5K as we were standing in line to see Mulan, Xin Zhao Li Shang, and Mushu in China!

We also ran into Meeko, Pocahontas, and John Smith at America!

We also did see Jasmine, Aladdin, and Genie at Morocco. Sean really wanted to show off to Genie their matching blue attire, hehe.

While we were standing in line at France, a cast member said that Beast had to leave early. So before Beast left, we tried to catch a picture of him with Sean off to the side! Two beasts!

But we still waited in line to see Belle. :) Belle thought that our idea was adorable!

More silliness:

We were going to pass by Mickey, who we expected to be the last character on the course, just because we’ve already had pictures with him before. But then when we saw that DONALD DUCK(!) was there we decided to fall in line to take pics with them anyway, lol.

As we were coming out of the exit from Epcot and towards the finish line, we spotted this pet crossing sign too. Pet crossing means Stitch crossing, right? :)

We finished the 3.1 miles in the most excellent time of 1 hour and 8 minutes, haha! But hey, we made the most out of it for sure!! There was a lot of stopping and waiting in lines, but I wouldn’t do these fun runs in any other way!

At the end of the race, they did hand us goodie boxes, which was definitely a new thing. Clearly it was meant for the half marathon the next day, but I didn’t mind receiving one a bit early. :) In it it had crackers + hummus (my favorite snack by the way), trail mix, edamame (boo hiss), and a square of chocolate.

Our one group shot, since we all separated into 3 groups during the 5K:

Before we left we also did swing by Rapunzel and Flynn. I really like how Flynn also did Stitch hands in the picture too!

And we got our picture with Maximus, too!

Garmin data for our race can be found here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/153114867

Race pictures from the 5K provided by Brightroom can be found here: http://www2.brightroom.com/94078

ING Miami Marathon Race Recap

I finished the ING Miami Marathon this past weekend! This wasn’t my best race, nor was it my worst. I executed it as I planned to where I intended for a 4:30-5:00 finish time and ended with a 4:47 at an 11 min/mi pace, which is roughly over 2 minutes slower than my normal marathon pace.

Why did I intentionally slow it down? Well, it was for a simple and unfortunate reason - I commuted to this race alone. I asked Sean if he could stay at home over the weekend to take care of our needy kittens, so I dealt with a 4 hour commute to and from Miami. Not that a 4 hour drive is bad, but I really needed to finish the marathon in a condition such that I could drive back home safely. And by the way, if you’ve never finished a marathon, aside from the pride and adrenaline, the feeling your body has is essentially as if you got train wrecked with pain, heh.

I didn’t see the need to go balls to the walls since I already achieved a PR with my previous races, so I did this run for pure enjoyment, and I had a great time!

Saturday - 1/28/2011 - The Expo

I woke up early Saturday at 5:00am to get ready to head out for the expo for packet pickup, since there was no race day packet pick up option available. After I gathered all my belongings, I said goodbye to Sean and the kittens and left home a little bit before 6:00am. The drive itself was pretty smooth and traffic was fortunately not as bad as I thought it’d be. I had wanted to arrive at the expo early because I didn’t want to deal with the possibility of having trouble parking.

I arrived there about 10 minutes before the expo opened at 10:00am, and there was a pretty significant line for packet pickup!

Fortunately, the number of people there wasn’t actually that bad once the expo doors opened and everyone filtered into the exhibitor hall. I picked up my packet, t-shirt, and goody bag fairly quickly. I even had time to check whether the shirt size was appropriate, without the usual hustle and bustle.

They did have a booth for 82go water, which was the water that they planned to distribute at the aid stations. It looked pretty nifty and cool, albeit a little confusing. To open it you have to pinch the corner of the bag and then rip it open with your teeth. I didn’t exactly get this right the first time, but later in practice during the marathon I was able to get it down.

Another cool thing that they had at the expo was a wall that had all the participant’s name on there. The only other race that I’ve seen this done is Gasparilla and I honestly think it’s a nice touch. It’s always fun to find your name on the board, and it makes me as casual runner feel special. :)

They’re also pretty serious when it comes down to a trophy for the winner. This gargantuan piece is their trophy for previous winners of ING Miami, with all of their names etched on placards on it. I don’t know if I’ll ever be physically capable to bring in some competitive times, but a girl can dream.

I had to leave the expo early enough such that I could make it to my hotel check-in, so I wasn’t able to meet up with the ROTE crew there. I had been finding issues with getting a hotel near the start/finish mostly because they were at price points way beyond what I was willing to spend per night ($200+), and I settled for a hotel near the Miami Airport which was about 6-8 miles away for half the price. After check-in,  I got to the room I settled all my belongings in there and got ready for the race.

I did have a small dilemma with choosing what to wear. I brought my Marathon Maniacs tech tee, but because of the possibility of a hot race I packed my Lululemon tank top. The issue that I had was that that tank was something I owned is a size 12 when I was 35 pounds heavier than I am now, where now in Lululemon world I’m a size 6-8. So that top is actually quite … poofy. I did a jog-in-place test in front of the mirror, and nothing popped out, if you know what I mean. Even if it was extremely loose on me, the built in bra seemed adequate enough to hold things in place and the only nuisance of it was how it parachute-d out when normally this is a skin-tight piece.

As far as nutrition went, I did go to Publix which was conveniently located near my hotel. I got a dinner there which I thought wouldn’t kill me the next day — catfish, brown rice, and plantains. :)

Despite my best efforts, I still inevitably slept later than I should have the night before the marathon. I was hoping to be asleep by 8:00pm so I could wake up by 3:00am to have 7 hours of sleep, but I ended up sleeping somewhere between 10:00-11:00pm. It was my own fault though. I ended up talking with Sean on the phone longer than I should have because of silly reasons such as the hotel being haunted and everything being alright, etc. Haha, don’t judge me!

Saturday - 1/29/2011 - The Marathon

I still ended up waking before my alarm. I woke up at 3:00am on my own, and from there I got ready. I was checked out of the hotel by 3:45am and drove over to find a parking garage to park at around 4:15am. How early I got there was probably overkill, but I figured that if I got there early I’d save myself trouble with the commotion of race day parking in a downtown part of a city, as well as relax in the car until I had to go to the start.

The start and the finish were separate blocks from each other, and I wanted to park closer to the finish line, which meant the walk towards the start was a bit longer. I walked over to the start at around 4:45am, and it was bit of a ways away. To my surprise I was finding people coming out of the clubs there at downtown and were looking at me and other runners incredulously as we were walking to the start. In thinking about it, I do find it kind of amusing. Sets of my friends are pretty big on bars, clubs, and drinking downtown parts of whatever city like the people that I saw leaving. More often than not, I’ve been “rocking downtowns” by running through them instead of getting trashed. To each his own, but I like my way better. :)

For me, this was my first time out on downtown Miami, and I don’t think I would’ve wanted it any other way! We runners filled the streets up!!

I met up with my fellow HF, MM, and ROTE crews at the American Airlines Arena. I always screw up my chances on meeting them at runDisney races because of how late I typically arrive, but I’m glad I got to meet up with some friends that I’ve met online finally in person!

Our ROTE group picture, courtesy of Carra!

It was pretty chaotic heading into the corrals. There was so many people, and I was having issues trying to get into Corral F because I couldn’t even find the entrance to it. There wasn’t anyone there to enforce corrals either, and there was a lot of corral jumping, where people from later corrals (like H) moved themselves up to earlier ones (like C). Families would also stand in corrals with their runner until it was time for them to go, which was annoying because they’d take up space in these corrals where runners were already shoulder-to-shoulder. 

Corral chaos aside, once the race began, it went off pretty smoothly. I still have to say that I’m not a big fan of races that combine half marathoners and full marathoners, whether it’s during the first half of the race or the second. It usually makes the race much more stressful than I think it should be, with the worst scenario of this ever happening to me was with Rock n’ Roll Las Vegas. But the crowd that ING Miami had was a bit more manageable, and I was able to get through some packs of people with some winding.

It definitely got a lot better when the half marathoners split off from the fulls where the streets were finally less crowded. (Please don’t regard this about me putting half marathoners down, I’m just stating that it being less crowded was nice.)

I was pacing faster than I know I should have at my “normal” marathon pace (8:45-9:00 min/mi) during the first half of the marathon, so during the second half I took it intentionally slower such that I wouldn’t be completely train wrecked at the end. What really stood out in my mind was how I finished Goofy earlier in the month. I finished with a nice PR, but because I had pushed so hard, my hamstrings practically went into failure where I couldn’t sit and stand up without assistance. I knew that that definitely was not how I wanted to end up because I needed to be capable of a 4-hour drive solo home.

But something unexpected happened. (Actually, I know I SHOULD have expected it, just it was one of those things that I thought wouldn’t happen to me.) There’s this rule out there in the running world that you should never do anything different race day, particularly during a marathon or an ultra-distance running event. If you do, you’re increase your chances of cramps and injury. I thought that I wouldn’t have to worry about this with an intentional slow down (versus running faster), but early on during the second half around mile 15-16, my legs started seizing up.

First it was my left calf, then that faded away. Then there was this burning sensation on my right knee, then that faded away. Then it was my right calf, then that faded away. It was incredibly uncomfortable and absolutely distressful! Honestly nothing like that has ever happened to my during a race. For the most part, all of my ailments have occurred during my training where I was able to handle it with proper R&R. But with the problems that were going on, I was really concerned that I should have stopped the race.

But I still kept going. I did try to be aware that my brain has “heightened freak outs” during a marathon, but I reasoned to myself that I’d just pick off each mile slowly and that if I strongly felt that I could NOT finish the race, that I was going to pull myself out. But pick at each mile I did, while also walking a significant amount such that I could still be able to drive home. My splits ended up signifying this too:

For the most part, my race pictures from ING Miami didn’t show that I was in a world of hurt beyond the normal realm of hurt that I was expecting from experience with previous marathons I’ve done. That’s a good thing I guess, heh.

One of my favorite race pictures also happens to be this one below. I guess it’s because it’s a little bit different than my normal race pictures because of the pose I was caught in. Unfortunately, this picture also shows how loose my tank was on me too. (It’s supposed to be a skin-tight fitted tank.)

The crowd support at the end really helped me push through the discomfort in the last 0.2. I don’t know who any of those people are, but I am so grateful for their motivation that brought me to the finish line.

The injuries/ailments that I had during the course plagued me after crossing the finish line, and I did initially think about going to a med tent. As I was cooling down, I didn’t want to have to deal with finding it because it wasn’t immediately visible after crossing. My immediate urge was to go to my car and relax, and I did the post-marathon hobble to my car to do so. Once I sat and got myself settled on the driver’s seat, I called Sean and told him about the race, and that after I got myself together I drove home.

The drive was okay. I had to pull over to a rest area to nap for about 20 minutes because the exhaustion was creeping in, but I made it back home safe and sore, heh.

I’m not thrilled with what happened with my run at ING Miami, but I am alright with it. If anything, it’s another lesson learned with race execution. Like how I mentioned, it wasn’t my best time, nor was it my worst, so I’m not upset about it.

Now that my 2011-2012 marathon season is over, these next four weeks are all going to be about proper recovery and transitioning over for some duathlon and triathlon fun!