Pre-Trip 2.5 Trips - 2 Coasts - and Skis?

Hi! Me again! Yes, it's Sandy...resident cake lady and fellow Disney lover.

(sorry for the huge picture...borrowed it from Facebook and my size options were something like thumbnail and poster)

If you didn't already think I was at least a little bit crazy, you're likely to think I may be in need of a minor intervention after all of this. I was going to wait a bit on doing a PTR, but I'm already feeling a tad overwhelmed by the details here and PTRs do tend to help me sort it out. So, I bring you my dual trip PTR!

TRIP 1

So, I had this GLORIOUS idea that we'd go to Disneyland to enjoy all of the 60th Anniversary festivities.

(just in case you needed to see how sparkly it's going to be - LOL)

I was hoping we'd go in early August so I could celebrate my birthday at DLR. Not exactly a diamond birthday for me at this point, but who doesn't love a birthday celebration at a Disney park? Plus, my birthday is relatively close to Disneyland's actual birthday. And while not cheap, with a summer trip, it was looking like I could treat myself to the Disneyland Hotel. Oh yea, I was going to live the dream!

Yes, this was a great plan until DH reminded me that I'd promised him a ski trip. Maybe you remember him...

Does this look like the face of a man who would crush my Disneyland dreams? OK, not completely, but his holding me to a ski trip has forced me to make some major plan changes for Disneyland. While you can ski in SoCal, you can't exactly do it in August. November is also too early, so we're going to be doing this over Christmas/New Year's break. Yup- this is where the insanity comes in!

I booked us for Disneyland just after Christmas and we check out on New Year's Eve, but I know the crowds will be absolutely insane. In fact, due to the 60th, they're expected to be even more insane than the normal holiday insanity.

Now, don't think leaving Disneyland to ski will spare us any headaches with costs or crowds. If you think Disney is expensive at the holidays...take a look at ski holidays! And the slopes are sure to be packed! We'll be driving up to Mammoth on New Year's Eve and spend a few days up there before heading back home.

Yes, I know we'll be missing spectacular NYE fireworks at DLR, but they should be setting fireworks off from the mountain. There was a unanimous decision by all members of our household to see NYE fireworks from the mountains since it was so different than anything we've ever done.

So, here are the basic details I've got right now...

WHEN- December 27-January 3
WHERE- Disneyland and Mammoth Lakes, CA

LODGING

For Disneyland...well, the Disneyland Hotel was waaaaaaay out of the budget for this time frame. Now, I think most of us have heard that while it can be magical, unlike WDW, there's no overwhelming advantage to staying at one of the 3 Disney owned resorts for DLR. Sooooooooooo, I started looking at the Good Neighbor hotels. Ultimately, I wound up booking what I initially considered for our 2012 trip that never happened. So, we're staying at the HoJo. I've read (and seen YouTube vids) showing it's between a 5-10 min walk to the parks. So, while not as relaxing, it's about the same as walking from the Contemporary to MK. We can totally handle that! It's also got a decent pool, came recommended by several of my SoCal Disney peeps, and gets decent reviews.

Splash/Play area looks cool

Not sure if these other pics will post, but I'm going to try...

Has sort of a retro feel...

Ok looking room...

So, we're booked for 4 nights...I bought 3-day hopper passes...and pre-paid for a premium character meal since the experts say this is one of the few prepayment meal options at DLR that can save you some $. We'll likely use it for Goofy's Kitchen...since I have no desire to do Ariel's Grotto!

I also plan on trying to get World of Color dining...and Carthay Circle is looking like our preferred choice. Some of the DLR experts I've spoken to said the dining packages are going to be a must just due to the timing of this trip. They also suggested the Fantasmic! dining package. While Blue Bayou is on my list of Must-Do eats and it is one of the F! pkg options, I just don't think I want to see F! I know - I know...California's Fantasmic! is far superior to WDWs, but I don't enjoy WDWs and I'm currently not wowed enough by the vids I've seen of DLR's to go out of my way for it. I know that's probably killing some DLR people- but not everyone is going to be in love with every show and with it being such a busy travel time...I think I might prefer to devote our time to other things.

Beyond that...I'm utterly overjoyed that I'm going to see the original IASW with the holiday overlay, excited to see the Haunted Mansion's holiday overlay as well...and ECSTATIC about everything with the 60th! Everything they've revealed so far looks amazing! In fact, it makes me kind of sad that WDW doesn't get this level of attention. And of course, we're going to Walt's park...so that alone is exciting.

Now, I know most of you aren't as interested in the ski half of this, but after we leave DLR...we'll be heading up into the mountains (in ideal conditions- about a 5.25 hr drive) and staying here...

I know most of you don't care much for the ski details, so I won't devote a ton of time/space to them. Due to Trip 2, I may actually just relax slopeside while everyone else skis or snowboards.

Oh, and the girls want to see "Hollywood," so I'm hoping to get in early enough on day 1 to do a little bit of sightseeing in LA. DH and I have been to the area before- were there in 2003 (and I was not in a Disney place at the time- even though we did spend a bit of time in Anaheim and hung out in their DTD) - and from our experience, it seems doable if we can get in early enough.

We'll also have to rent a car. We are going to have to pack a ton for the weather differences and we will likely have to drive some on snowy roads, so we're debating the pros and cons of renting a truck or SUV. We shall see.

Oh, and the girls have been practicing their cold faces (including happy cold)...

OK- now they're bringing the drama!

And for those of you who haven't read my trip reports with the kids...the one in purple is Kendall (8) and the one in pink is Sammie (6). And the girls know about the trip...no surprises on that level with this...but I'm sure I'll weave in smaller surprises as planning progresses. In fact, I'm going to try and get a cake...but I have to learn how they do it...since it's not like WDW.

So, that's trip 1.

Trip 2

I'm hoping to run the Princess Half at WDW in 2016. So, that's about a month and a half after trip 1. Due to my asthma, I'm still at a run/walk...but I'm about to start working on my pacing with one of these...

If you don't know what this is...it's a GPS watch...and once my right calf gets better, it's going to be my new best friend. A best friend that I curse at and probably have moments where I'm ready to toss it across the room.

I am not fast, but I'm hoping to get myself into a slightly better corral. So, I signed up for a half marathon for next month. Of course, I get injured right after signing up- FIGURES! It's not a major injury, but I still need to be careful...so I'm feeling like a total slug right now. I'm hoping to get back to training soon so I have a valid race time to include when registration opens for the princess. If there's time and my #s show improvement...I may try and get in another race after our busy season at work ends and before everything closes for the race for corral assignment.

While I know friends on here, at home and in various other places have expressed interest in joining me if they can make it work...DH and the girls definitely are staying home. So, this may wind up being a Sandy-only trip. Of course, the Princess is usually done during peak (President's Day week/winter break for some areas)...so it's not going to be cheap. Meaning I'm really going to have to be very shrewd with my budget and savings. I can't register for the race until mid-July and I don't think I can book lodging until August... so that at least gives me some time.

I'm still planning on Snow White for my running costume, I'm debating about the glass slipper challenge, and I might do different princesses if I go that route. We have to see how I feel and how the $ looks closer to the time. I know I also previously posted about upgrading my camera, but I don't think that's going to happen. I'm not all that bummed about it anymore because I'm learning some "new" things with my current camera. I recently learned that I can shoot in RAW...so, it has suddenly become more useful. It's embarrassing that I've had it this long without realizing that, but now that I have Adobe Lightroom- I am going to try and get the most out of my current camera before bumping up. Of course, I am totally clueless with Lightroom...so this is going to take some time.

In any event...it just feels so insane to do this so soon after DLR..at such crazy times.



So, that's it for right now, but many of you know that I like to post all kinds of little updates...so, I'll be sure to post things (yup- even the minute details) as they come up.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more details!

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

Well, ya know...Keep Austin Weird

Yes, yes it is.

I'll let you know if I ever wind up out that way for a race.

Please do!

Oh, I know...assuming I like the bag (and all of the pattern rumors sound promising), I will go out of my way to get that one! I'm just so picky about the patterns. I see so many people with collections with every pattern ever made, but I really only like about 25-30% of the patterns produced. I feel like a freak because I don't like this year's princess bag or the Haunted Mansion bags. Oh well.

You and me, both.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I swear...so much of this trip feels like 1 step forward - 2 steps back. Of course, the Disneyland part is easy. I booked a rental car for that part of the trip. Not dirt cheap, but not awful either. Got a full sized car for $165 + I booked it through ebates and will be getting something like 11% cash back. So that's good. And at least rental cars are easy enough to cancel and rebook should I need to change airports (more on that below).

So, my first woe is the Princess Half. I'm having serious monetary and physical concerns about running the race.

The Physical - so, I've realized that in warm weather, my body can handle 50+ miles of training per week. Colder weather...not so much. I stretch, I watch what I'm eating, I have things to help performance and still...I'm a wreck.

* I'm just about over a minor tear in my right calf that was part from my joggers not being the perfect shoe for me and part my calf muscles freaking out in the cold weather.
* The same shoes and tightening caused muscle strain in my hip on that same side as well.
* And now I'm dealing with runner's knee in on my left leg. I've never had this before, so everyone is thinking the cold is the culprit. I can feel my calves and quads...and they're like rocks...for too long. And I guess that can be a cause of seasonal runner's knee. GREAT!

So, what is this telling me? I'm not a very good cold weather runner. I have a race in just a few weeks and while I'm thankful I can walk it or go super slow without fear of being swept, I just don't see how I'm going to get a meaningful time for the princess. And to add insult to injury, the tutu I bought doesn't fit. I guess that should teach me to avoid junior's sizes. It would fit in the waist no problem...it's the adult hips that don't want to play nice. So, debating about returning it vs. opening up the seam and adding some velrco or a tie so I can secure it. I guess at least my fuel belt was a success. I paid $15.50 for a $45 belt + a lot of the power supplements really seem to help. I guess maybe I should look at some green leg warmers to help my muscles and fit the theme.

Back to the princess...this next issue is the biggie. Transportation for for getting to and from our ski destination is a problem that's going to suck A LOT more $ out of the budget. To the point where I just don't think I can swing the princess by February. This bites because I just realized DVC points for an AKL studio would be my best lodging bet. UGH!!!

The Monetary - In order to get up to the mountains in winter, I really should have a truck or SUV with 4WD. A rental truck or SUV is no biggie, but 4WD isn't always easy to come by. The bigger issue....chains. CA (like most snowy states) requires tire chains in certain conditions. Rental companies prohibit chains on their vehicles. So, a rental car is clearly not the way to go unless we want to take the chance of being stranded.

I figured CA would have shuttles like when you fly into Denver. They're not cheap, but they get you to the ski resorts. So, I was thinking $130-170 pp each way (or maybe a r/t discount), but I only found one shuttle service from the LA area and they want a whopping $900 pp each way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This leaves flying. Mammoth has an airport, so it is an option and they have 3 or 4 airlines that fly in, so there is competition. The air that I've priced so far seems to average anywhere from $84-135 pp each way. Of course, they all also charge baggage fees. You do the math...it's a sizable spike in trip costs.

I knew this could be an issue...but I just sort of brushed it off at first, but now that I'm looking at it...I don't see how I can do this and the princess. If I only had a little more time! And that's just what I'm thinking...

With a few months time...I could swing this. The only problem...there aren't any other races that I want to run at WDW until the fall. And then I thought- what about the Tink at DLR???? It's in May, so it would be a bit warmer...it would definitely be more time to save...and let's be honest...I like the DDB bags for the Tink so much more than the ones they put out for the princess.

I haven't made any formal decisions yet...but this may be a 2 trips 1 coast...the west coast...if worse comes to worse.

 

[Jessica Meier]

Got me on the edge of my seat!!!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Got me on the edge of my seat!!!

Got me freaking out! Yup...tune in for my 2nd freak out post in one day!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

So, on top of everything I posted above, I got one more new budget drain for this trip today...

I wanted to drop the dog off for boarding on December 26th. It's the day after Christmas, so I figured we'd be good. Mind you, we've never boarded around Christmas...just Thanksgiving, but I figured it would be similar. NOPE! They don't open back up until 1pm on Dec 27th. I'm planning on an early morning flight on the 27th, so that's a no go. My only other option is to board her on Dec 23rd. So, now we get to pay for 4 extra nights of boarding. FUN!

 

[coachwnh]

Best of luck figuring things out. Hope it all goes well.

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

So, on top of everything I posted above, I got one more new budget drain for this trip today...

I wanted to drop the dog off for boarding on December 26th. It's the day after Christmas, so I figured we'd be good. Mind you, we've never boarded around Christmas...just Thanksgiving, but I figured it would be similar. NOPE! They don't open back up until 1pm on Dec 27th. I'm planning on an early morning flight on the 27th, so that's a no go. My only other option is to board her on Dec 23rd. So, now we get to pay for 4 extra nights of boarding. FUN!

Can someone else, like a neighbor drop her off?

 

[Sudcaro- Sudcaro]

Sorry about all the stress and issues. Hopefully you will figure things out soon.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Can someone else, like a neighbor drop her off?

While we're friendly with some of our neighbors, we don't know any of them well enough to consider them an option. I thought about my mother in law, since she lives very close to our boarding facility, but she's declared that she's done with dogs. I did have an idea that may work in our favor if air prices follow similar patterns from previous years...

Flying on Christmas tends to be one of the cheapest days to fly around that time of year. It's possible it might save me as much as $100-200/pp by flying Christmas afternoon. No guarantees, but if this happens to be the case, I could extend the vacation by 2 days (well, technically 1.5). They would be budget days, but the air savings would be a better use of resources. i.e. we already have to board the dog for those days, so why not get cheaper air and use that extra $ for extra vacay time? I might even be able to save even more $ by incorporating it into Christmas presents!

The girls would think we're leaving on the 27th, but on Christmas morning...I could avoid the tons of useless gifts to crowd the area under the tree (I always say I need to stop doing this) and just have a few meaningful things along with a surprise of "we're leaving for California today!" Kendall was hoping for time to do a cheesy Hollywood tour, and I found one that's $39/pp that goes to all of the places she's requested. So, that could be one of the meaningful big gifts (that we could do with the added trip time)...and the date on the tickets (i.e. one day before when they think we're flying in) could be a great surprise reveal. Sammie seems to like aquatic life and I really wanted to do a whale watching tour. Those are $36/30 pp, so that could be the other meaningful gift...something to do before we check in for Disneyland. Of course I'd have to find non-Disney lodging for those 2 nights and bump up the # of days for the rental car, but I still see it coming out cheaper with the flying on Christmas day air savings. And as for food...if we do it on the cheap, it would probably be cheaper than all of the Christmas and New year's food/drink at home.

It still doesn't change the added cost associated with the air for Mammoth, but it may have us coming out ahead or at least breaking even with regard to the dog matter.

 

[Gaston's gal]

You will have a fabulous time at DL. I have been several times (& coming from the East Coast makes it not such an easy feat) and it never gets old! I've eaten at Ariel's Grotto and the food was amazing. I love all of the rides that are so different than what they have at WDW just because I know Walt helped with all of the planning. Make sure you get a pic of the window over the firehouse that's lit up--Walt's apartment. I always get teary looking at it. Enjoy your trip.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

You will have a fabulous time at DL. I have been several times (& coming from the East Coast makes it not such an easy feat) and it never gets old! I've eaten at Ariel's Grotto and the food was amazing. I love all of the rides that are so different than what they have at WDW just because I know Walt helped with all of the planning. Make sure you get a pic of the window over the firehouse that's lit up--Walt's apartment. I always get teary looking at it. Enjoy your trip.

Thank you Good to hear about Ariel's. The menu looks good, so I'm feeling optimistic. I think Walt's touch on DL is a big part of what makes the park so special. I keep prepping myself for seeing his firehouse apartment from street level. I know there will be tears!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

So, I'm really starting to like this idea of leaving for CA on Christmas day. We still wouldn't be starting the Disneyland phase until the 27th, but I know some of you are well aware of how I love a good surprise. I now have 2 different rental cars reserved (can cancel either one at no charge) just in case we arrive on the 25th instead.

I also came up with 2 other fun aspects for a reveal on Christmas morning...
1. The girls are used to me packing several days out, and with Christmas in the mix, it will be expected for me to get a head start. After they go to sleep on Christmas Eve, I'll finish packing- put all of the packed luggage under the tree- and add bows to each one.
2. I am going to try and get brochures for the Hollywood tour and whale watching cruise and make them stocking stuffers.

As for the run...while there is still some hope I can handle the budget for running the 2016 Princess and I'd prefer to have my 2nd trip to WDW, the 2016 Tink is sounding much more appealing from the physical part. We've had a couple of warm days here and while I'm still nursing my injuries, my muscles are so much happier. I at least have time. Registration for the princess isn't until July and I think Tink registration may occur in October. So, we shall see.

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

I also came up with 2 other fun aspects for a reveal on Christmas morning...
1. The girls are used to me packing several days out, and with Christmas in the mix, it will be expected for me to get a head start. After they go to sleep on Christmas Eve, I'll finish packing- put all of the packed luggage under the tree- and add bows to each one.
2. I am going to try and get brochures for the Hollywood tour and whale watching cruise and make them stocking stuffers.

Sorry if I missed it, but who are you going with for a Hollywood tour? I'm down to two options. Whale watching sounds like a neat idea. You can't just do that anywhere.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Sorry if I missed it, but who are you going with for a Hollywood tour? I'm down to two options. Whale watching sounds like a neat idea. You can't just do that anywhere.

This was the Hollywood tour co. I'm looking at right now.

http://www.ultimatehollywoodtours.com/?gclid=CLy1wvLwksQCFQGoaQod43UAtw

It looked like a good mix of landmarks and cheesy stuff.

In case you're interesting in the whale watching, this is what I'm considering.

http://www.newportwhales.com/

I like how they have daily spotting #s on record as well. It looks like grey whales and common dolphins will be our best bet for viewing, but I'd love it if Sammie got the chance to see an orca in the wild.

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

This was the Hollywood tour co. I'm looking at right now.

http://www.ultimatehollywoodtours.com/?gclid=CLy1wvLwksQCFQGoaQod43UAtw

It looked like a good mix of landmarks and cheesy stuff.

In case you're interesting in the whale watching, this is what I'm considering.

http://www.newportwhales.com/

I like how they have daily spotting #s on record as well. It looks like grey whales and common dolphins will be our best bet for viewing, but I'd love it if Sammie got the chance to see an orca in the wild.

I've looked into www.losangelestour.us, www.starlinetours.com and www.lasightseeing.net but haven't spent much time looking at the fine differences.

We'd love to do a whale watching since it's a very unique adventure, but I've already got a timeslot for an afternoon visitor tour of Jet Propulsion Laboratories (yes, very geeky) in Pasadena and probably will do the Griffith Observatory that morning, specifically to see the Leonard Nimoy theater.

Whales watching sounds so good, too.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I've looked into www.losangelestour.us, www.starlinetours.com and www.lasightseeing.net but haven't spent much time looking at the fine differences.

We'd love to do a whale watching since it's a very unique adventure, but I've already got a timeslot for an afternoon visitor tour of Jet Propulsion Laboratories (yes, very geeky) in Pasadena and probably will do the Griffith Observatory that morning, specifically to see the Leonard Nimoy theater.

Whales watching sounds so good, too.

I'm going to have to look at all of these tours and try and determine which is the best bang for the buck. Ultimately, I really don't need a ton (or really any) celebrity home stuff, but I know so many of them include this. I think Kendall just wants to stop at a number of the more iconic Hollywood spots. We shall see.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratories sounds interesting. I had thought about Griffith Observatory, but I just don't know if we'll have enough time. There are a number of things I'd love to do, but time is quite limited with the ski trip being tacked on to things. Part of me really wishes we were skipping it so we could head to Pasadena on New Year's Day for the Rose Parade. Oh well...not this time.

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

Part of me really wishes we were skipping it so we could head to Pasadena on New Year's Day for the Rose Parade. Oh well...not this time.

Oh, totally cool!!!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

OK- not totally Disney related, but the half I was training for in anticipation of registration times for the Disney princess is tomorrow. While weather should help dry things out today, we've had a ton of rain this week and the course area I saw today was a mess! Hence my muddy sneakers...

Thankfully, these are not my race shoes.

I am still on the fence about the $ for the princess vs. doing the tink, but as my muscles improve with warming temps, the tink is starting to seem like the more prudent idea. Plus, it'll give me more time to get in a good time. Speaking of which, tomorrow's run is a trail. Trails tend to be slower and this trail is more narrow, so it's highly doubtful that I'll post anything tomorrow that's suitable for a Disney race.

In case you wanted to see the race goodies...

Front of race tech shirt-

Back of race shirt-

Socks and hat-

Bib & chip-

While I haven't seen the medals for the half in person, they posted pics last night...

I know, not as cute as Disney medals, but it's a puzzle piece medal series since a lot of people do the multi-race challenges.

Now naturally, I have to treat myself for the race. And since Disney races were got me into this in the first place, my treat is Disney related. I thought about getting a Dooney from one of the RunDisney events, but the marathon bags these last 2 years look too much like sketch, I'm not a fan of the majority of the princess bags, and while I like last year's tink bag- I don't love it...which is really too bad since they keep showing up on the DisneyStore site at regular price. Now I do like the pop princess pattern and love the 2013 marathon pattern, but in both cases, I don't really love any of the bag styles. So, that brought me back to my grail bag/pattern.

Grail bag is the 40th anniversary pattern in the messenger style with at least 1 fully visible Donald. I have seen the grail bag style and pattern come up many times on ebay, but never with a proper Donald. I actually could have had one last weekend for a really decent price, but I just couldn't do it without Donald. My 2nd fave bag out of the 40th series is the bucket...and one popped up on ebay this week. I've seen people ask as much as $500 for it, but my winning bid was only about $12 less than what the bag would have cost me retail + tax. She should arrive this week. Here are the seller's pics...

So, a nearly full Donald on the front and a totally full Donald on the back.

I'll post at some point after the race to give you my thoughts on doing future half marathons...and what I think about doing the princess/tink post race.

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

Congrats, and can't wait to hear how it went!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Whew - I'm exhausted!!! Still...it was an INCREDIBLE day!!!

First off, if you aren't friends with me on Facebook...then you aren't aware of my added drama. Just before bed last night, I bumped DH's very tall -very full, glass of rum and coke and it spilled all over my open laptop. After race stuff this morning...I had to go laptop shopping. I work from home 2-days per week, so it's a necessity!

As for the race...I don't even know where to start!

I was nervous...never done anything like this before. Plus, I was doing this all by myself! No friends to meet me there or anything. On the flipside...this is how I do all of my walk/runs. It's me...just me. And I think that's why it's been a success, so to speak. I don't rely on anyone but me. It may be 38 degrees, 25 degree windchill, and raining...and it's on me to get out there and train. I put on those earphones, jack up the volume on my ipod, and it's all me. Not to sound all Baymax, but I AM NOT FAST! But I am driven! And that's what helped me today.

If you know the area, I was almost in Kemah, TX...not too far from the Kemah Boardwalk, pretty close to Johnson Space Center, and just north of Galveston. In other words, in temps nicer than what much of the country gets this time of year

I got up at 4:30a, did an abridged Albuterol treatment, got ready to go, and was out of the house by about 5:10a. I was nearly at the race site, when I decided to pull off for a bathroom break at a nice gas station. Sadly, I'd get to the race and have to go in the dark in a porta potty- not fun!. I won't bore you with the whole day, but...here are a few highlights...

- I met a few elite and competitive runners pre-race who made me realize it's about so much more
- I met several wonderful ladies who made it even more clear that finishing was my goal
- It was a gorgeous course...sun rising over Galveston bay as I watched deer grazing in the mist...just to name one of the beautiful sites along the way
- the "friends" I made pre-race would be there to cheer me along the way...faster or slower than me...supporting each other each time we crossed paths
- It was a slower course...a trail rather than a road race...and it was muddy...so, I wasn't expecting much.

In the end, while it's far from fast, my final pace was within Disney mandates. Disney races have a minimum of a 16 min mile pace. My best mile was 14.27 and my avg pace was 15.12. No, it's not great, but this was a trail race in mud = MUCH slower. If I can do this in a race that is automatically slower with conditions making it even slower than avg, I can only guess that I'd be faster on a road race like the ones at Disney. And yes, I went MUCH faster today when I was in road race segments.

In a nutshell, while today won't move me up in corrals...it proves I can keep a fast enough pace so that I'm not swept from a Disney race.

Today was such a great experience and from the people I spoke with, doing a Disney race would be a real achievement. I still want to do at least one more race and I think warm weather suits me better than cold weather...so, after this race...it's clear that I'm leaning towards the Tink. Sad to say, but dressing up for these things may just not be for me. I was happy to be in normal run gear.

Here are a few pics from today...

Me post race with my medal. And yes, I was even smiling going through the finish line.

Race shoes all clean before getting all mucked up on the trails

Darkness when I arrived!

St Patty's day libations waiting for me at home!

So, after today, I can't begin to express how much I want to do something like this again. I felt almost awkward with all of the "good job," "way to go," "you got this" kind of kudos all of the other runners/walkers and volunteers had for us. I mean, I go out every day by myself without accolades. Yes, the race I did today is known for being great like this, but it just makes me wonder how incredible a Disney race could be.

I don't know what else to say except that today has made me want a RunDisney half more than anything. I really think the Tink is going to be the best, but stay tuned to see how it all unfolds!!!