5 Tips for the Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend (and other things I wish someone told me ahead of time)

2016 Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend presented by Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals: Princess Half finish line! I’m middle right in the coral shirt

The 2017 Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend presented by Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals begins on Thursday! I am so excited to be participating in this runDisney race for a second year. This time as a Glass Slipper Challenge princess!

Last year I participated in the 2016 Princess Half and it was a celebration of many firsts: my first runDisney race, my first time training for and participating in a half marathon, my first “racecation” with friends and my boyfriend Tommy, and my first moment of pure bliss that can only come from running long distances.

2016 : A Year In Review and Goals for 2017

Hi friends! I’ve let a month go by since my last post (sorry about that!) but I wanted to end 2016 on a high note. In the midst of the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I sometimes feel like I am barely keeping it together between work, social events and making sure I have a present for each of my loved ones. The only thing keeping me sane this time of year is a good morning run to clear my head! Or evening run if I’ve been particularly busy.

Despite the craziness, this time of year I find myself reflecting on all that I’ve accomplished throughout the year.

2016 Fitness Accomplishments

1. Train and run a half marathon : DONE

My first big race was the 2016 Disney Princess Half Marathon in February. I had set a goal to finish, and to ideally finish the race in under two hours and 30 minutes. I not only finished, my time was 2:26:22. I jumped for joy and signed up for another runDisney race as soon as I could!

Me: Top Right! First Half Marathon in the books! Princess Half 2016

The Most Magical Season in the Most Magical Place on Earth: Christmas in Walt Disney World

Hi friends! I hope everyone had a fun, festive, food-filled Thanksgiving yesterday! I wanted to write a review of the 2016 Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party AFTER Thanksgiving out of respect- Thanksgiving deserves its time too! And now that the holiday season is in full swing, I wanted to share my experiences with everyone getting excited to celebrate Christmas.

If you’re heading down to Walt Disney World between now and December 29th, you have the opportunity to purchase separate tickets for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. Full warning that some of the evenings are already sold out! For future planning purposes, however, I highly recommend attending this festive, magical party.

Review: 2016 Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party

Race Recap: 2016 Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend – Presented by MISFIT™

Hi Friends! I’m back from another amazing Walt Disney World trip and runDisney race weekend. Here’s my recap of the 2016 Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend – Presented by MISFIT:

I hastily signed up for the Wine and Dine Half Marathon earlier this spring following my life-changing experience running the 2016 Disney Princess Half Marathon. I found the registration for this race exhilarating and stressful- the half almost sold out before my very eyes! But thankfully I made it in. Because of the inaugural 10K and Lumiere’s Two Course Challenge, I believe runDisney fans wanted to be a part of runDisney history and so the races filled up VERY quickly.

Introduction Part III of III: runDisney

Last July I agreed to my first runDisney race with a very close friend after a few mimosas (the ultimate confidence booster) and trained for my first ever half marathon for the 2016 Disney Princess Half Marathon weekend. I had always been intrigued by the race. I was familiar with the Disney World Marathon by accident, as my dad and I would regularly plan WDW trips in January and run into (pun intended) the runners at our resort. I had seen friends run the Princess Half in previous years looking incredibly happy and vowed that one day I would do the same. 

After an intense registration process, I was amazed to visit the runDisney website and see that there were multiple races, training and healthy eating tips, vacation planning suggestions, accompanying social media pages, and of course, a huge following of diehard fans. I quickly studied and printed out the Jeff Galloway recommended training schedule for “Beginner Runners.” At that time, I was running up to six miles, but still wanted to be cautious. My two goals for this race were to finish the race within the time constraints and have as much fun as possible.