Addicted to Pinterest

When I got an account on Pinterest, I was completely hooked on the site. I spent hours and hours making boards and pinning things. Food, fashion and yes, I had my wedding already planned on there way before we ever got engaged.

Over a year later, I still love playing on Pinterest. I've loved finding inspiration for putting outfits together and finding new recipes to try. Throughout the past year, I also made individual boards personalized to each aspect of our wedding..invitations, cake, dress..the list goes on and on.

While Pinterest has been a great source of inspiration for me during this happy time, it also makes me stress out. Everyday I find new things on there and I want to find a way to incorporate all of the ideas! But then it makes my head dizzy when I think of all the new aspects I want to add.

We're less than 3 months away from the big day and I know I should stop peering at Pinterest for new ideas..but I can't stay away. I know I need to learn that I can't have it all and that no matter what, my wedding will be amazing..despite not having every little detail I found on Pinterest.

Do you look at Pinterest often? Do you find it hard to stay away because you keep thinking there will be a better idea on there that you want to use? 

Do's and Don'ts of Disney Race Weekend

Here are some of my thoughts on the do's and don'ts of a Disney Race Weekend!
Do

• Take a camera with you while running: There are lots of photo opportunities along the course so don't miss out! While there are characters along the route, race photographers aren't always there so make sure you have your camera or phone to take pictures with.
• Call to receive discounted park tickets: We received a link and coupon code to purchase park tickets. Unfortunately, it gave you the option of buying a 2 day pass or more; there was no option for a 1 day pass which it was we needed. I called Disney Sports and we got tickets for the half the price which was totally worth it.
• Pick up your tickets at a Disney Park: Since I pre-ordered tickets, we just needed to pick them up at Will Call so we did it at the Transportation Center before we headed to a park. The lines were SO LONG that day, we waited in line an hour just to pick up tickets. We wish we would have gone to the park to pick up (or if you needed to buy) tickets because once we got there, there were no lines there. 
• Get to the expo on the first day: We went in the late afternoon and walked right up to get our bibs and goodie bags. There was a small line to get into the official merchandise area but we waited about 3 minutes to get into that. I heard from others that the morning was CRAZY and long lines were everywhere. And by the second day, almost all of the official merchandise had been sold out. Seems like the afternoon on the first day is the best time to go.

Don't

• Expect a PR: I was in an early corral, so if I really pushed myself I could have had a PR. A lot of women do this race as a first timer however and some just walk the whole route as well. If you're in a later corral, there will be lots of walkers and first time runners which you'll have to dodge. I saw videos of people unable to pass in spots because of other people blocking the narrow areas you run in. This race is a lot of fun so take advantage of the stops along the route and get your pictures taken too!
• Expect race photos from the race photographer: I have never purchased race photos taken during the race because I didn't like them. But I had planned on it from this race because it was such a once in a lifetime experience. With that said, I for once made it an effort so smile and wave at the cameras. I even stopped and had my photo in front of the castle, which I was so excited to see. Well, unfortunately, 2 weeks later there are NO PHOTOS tagged of me. I am extremely disappointed in this. It's hard for me to believe there's not one photo of me. I heard that it was hard for the photographer to tag some photos of certain color bibs which is unfortunate. I still keep checking the site everyday hoping there are photos but so far no luck. At least I had some photos from the race on my camera.
• Walk around the park so much the day before: We did not plan out the day before the race very well. We just wanted to have fun and enjoy the day so before we knew it, it was almost 9pm, and we still had not had dinner! We had been up since 4:30 am too, ran a 5k and walked around 2 parks so we were quite tired. My legs were a bit sore race morning because of it, but I was there to have fun so I didn't let it damper my day. If we had thought about it, I would have liked a little bit more sleep the night before but oh well!

Disney Princess Half Marathon Recap

After a full day of park hopping and riding our favorite rides, I had a pretty sad ending to our Saturday in Disney World. After we walked out of the park and were waiting in line for the monorail, I reached into my pocket to look at my fitbit steps for the day, and it wasn't there! I went into panic mode and checked every pocket in my shorts and tore apart my purse multiple times. After numerous searches through my purse, I concluded it was gone :( I had it right before we went on Space Mountain and I'm assuming all of the jerking and fast turns in that ride made it fall out of my pocket. Although I was super bummed, B said I could use his fitbit to track my steps and mileage for the race the next day. After I got over being sad, I was secretly a lil bit happy I lost mine since it had been giving me problems syncing the past few weeks. It gave me a good excuse to get a new one now.

The night before the race, B and I didn't get a whole lot of sleep. We got back to the hotel late and I slept maybe 3 hours before our alarm went off at 3:30 am. I quickly got up, got dressed and we were out the door before 4 am. We hit a little bit of traffic around Epcot but nothing too bad. We parked the car at 4:30 and then parted ways. B headed off to the 4 mile mark at the transportation center and I made my way to the start line.

It was a good 15 minute walk to the start line from where the bag check was. As I walked through the bag check area, there were TONS of people still there around 4:40 am. We had been warned it was a 20 minute walk to the start and I couldn't figure out why so many people were still hanging out there.

I made my way to the start line and, thankfully, there were port-a-pottys to use there (I had previously heard there were none by the start line). After a quick potty break, I was in my corral by 5 am. I spent some time stretching and people watching..all of the costumes were so much fun to look at!

Finally it was 5:30 and we were ready to start! Fireworks went off for each corral which was pretty neat. I was in corral B so I didn't have much time to wait around. I'm thankful I got into an early corral based on my previous half marathon times and the first two corrals were women only which was nice. At 5:42 am, our fireworks went off and we were on our way!

Mile 1

It was beyond humid during the weekend. The day before it was 90 and it had rained so humidity was at 100%. I reminded myself to start out slow because a) I haven't run outside since October and was unsure of how my legs were going to handle the concrete and b) since it was so humid, I had to slow down significantly. I didn't want to overheat. Within the first half mile of the race, I realized it was going to be extremely sticky and hot. The start was fun though, there were lots of spectators and even a high school band playing. 

Mile 2

Already dripping in sweat, I was running an 11:30 pace..about 2 mins and 30 seconds slower than what I'm used to. I was fine with it though, I was hoping to save some energy to run faster later and I was doing the race for fun, not a PR.

Mile 3

Started to see characters at this point. I was going to stop for a photo, but quickly realized my legs were tightening up fast once I slowed down so I bypassed the characters for now.

Mile 4

Started to make our way past the Disney Speedway and ran through the transportation center parking lot. B was waiting here to see me so I was looking through the crowds to see him :)

Mile 5

Made our way into the Magic Kingdom and what a rush it was running down Main Street while daylight came up. I got a lil excited so I started to pick up my pace here. There were spectators EVERYWHERE! We ran down Main Street, through Tomorrowland and Fantasy Land and back through the Castle. When you come through the Castle, all you see is a HUGE sea of people. Once you run through the Castle, you make your way through Frontierland and back through the back lots of the park. 

Mile 6

Made the turn back towards Epcot and started to run past the Grand Floridian.

Mile 7

I was still feeling good at this point and had picked up my pace so I was confident it wasn't going to take me much longer than my previous half marathon times.

Mile 8

Still going strong, I saw B at this mile marker as we ran past the Polynesian Resort. 

Mile 9

Still trucking along, I started to get a bit tired as we ran on an off ramp. The angle of the road and incline wasn't too much fun. For awhile I was excited as I thought I might hit a PR time. But I slowly realized my GPS on my iPhone was off by almost a mile :( Sometimes I'm not a fan of my Nike running app. 

Mile 10

I started to hit a wall here due to the previous hill and more hills I could see in the distance. 

Mile 11

I slowed down here and was ready to be done once I saw the Epcot sign. We had a HUGE hill here also. My legs couldn't handle it so I power walked up it. 

Mile 12

I tried as hard as I could to pick my pace here. I saw B and gave him the thumbs up as I made my way into Epcot. We ran one lap around the park before making our way to the finish line. 

Mile 13 

I tried as hard as I could to sprint to the finish line but the heat had gotten to me. I gave it my all as I ran across that finish line! I finished in 2:40 which was the exact time I ran the Rock n Roll Chicago Half Marathon in July in the same weather conditions. I'll take it!

I was proud of myself as I crossed that finish line for keeping a similar pace to my previous half marathons despite the weather conditions. I received my medal, then made my way to get water. The volunteers were concerned with keeping everyone hydrated so you weren't allowed to leave the area until your water bottle was opened and you were chugging it down. Great way for the run organizers volunteers to keep us hydrated and for a faster recovery. 

Overall, the Disney Princess Half Marathon was the best race I've ever done. It was so much fun to run through the parks and the volunteers throughout the course were the most enthusiastic ones I've ever seen which makes running a bit more fun! Despite the unexpected hot weather, it was a great weekend and the bling we got wasn't too bad either! 

Tomorrow I'm going to recap my do's and don'ts of the race weekend so come back!