Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend | Recap

It's hard to believe that another Princess Weekend has come and gone! This weekend has quickly become one I look forward too all year long. I will admit that this year I did not train as much as I should have, but more on that later. For now, let's do a quick recap on the weekend!


FRIDAY
I took one of the first flights out of DC on Friday morning to ensure that I would have plenty of time to get settled and go to the expo without feeling rushed. After a quick layover in NYC, I was on the ground in Orlando before noon. Since I was running the 10k on Saturday as well as the Half Marathon on Sunday, I knew I needed to get to the expo to get my bibs for the races. I also wanted to take this time to get all of my race shopping done, so I wouldn't have to worry about it on Saturday.


Once I got to the hotel (more on that later), I met up with my mom and my sister and we hoped on a bus to ESPN's Wide World of Sports. There are 3 massive buildings dedicated to the race weekend. One building is for the bibs, one is for sponsors and vendors, and one is for runDisney merchandise. We always make sure to get our bibs first, and then go to the vendors and finally end at the runDisney merchandise. It can be overwhelming at first, but I love going around and seeing what everyone has. The vendors are great, and they will take the time to talk with you and help you with any questions you may have. 

We decided to lay low our first few days in Orlando. I'm a huge proponent of resting up before a race, so that's exactly what we do! Also, you have to wake up around 2/2:30am for these races so you want to relax as much as possible.

SATURDAY

My first race day of the weekend!! This was my first time running a Disney 10k and I LOVED it!! 6 miles is the perfect amount of mileage (in my opinion), and 6 miles through Disney is just plain fun. You start in the Epcot parking lot, run through highways for the first 3 miles, and you're in the parks and the boardwalk for the last 3 miles, ending back in the Epcot parking lot. I truly felt great after this race. It was really humid, so I wasn't able to wear my mermaid leggings that I was planning on wearing, but I still got to wear my leg day tank from Raw Threads. 



After the race, we relaxed at the hotel for most of the day. We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge and it was amazing! We hung out by the pool which also had a pool bar. I obviously opted for some frozé. We were really lucky with the weather in Florida, it can be a hit or miss when it comes to February in Florida, but it was warm and sunny the whole time we were down there!

SUNDAY


Ahh, the day you spend months preparing for. Sunday, aka Half Marathon day!! I'm not going to lie, I did not feel the greatest going into this half marathon. I was fine with the 10k, but I was sore and groggy the morning of the half marathon. I actually struggled pretty bad in the first half of the race. So much so that I was actually having a hard time breathing going down Main Street USA, which I am not happy about (there were tears, and not happy tears like last year). Thankfully I was able to pull myself together before we ran back through the castle which is when I got this photo. I have wanted a castle picture and honestly thought that the photographers missed me as I was coming out of the castle. I was so bummed until later in the day when I was looking through the race photos and saw this. I am so happy that they were able to capture me coming through the castle. 


I signed up to do the Fairy Tale Challenge which is why I ran the 10k and half marathon. It was such a good feeling to get my half marathon medal placed around my neck and then the Fairy Tale Challenge medal placed around my neck as well. I am really proud of myself for completing this beast of a race weekend. I have never accomplished something like this, and I am so glad that I did it.


After the race we went back to the hotel, ate, showered and got ready for the rest of the day. We had family from SC come down to spend the day with us, so we all ran around Magic Kingdom, rode roller coasters, and I watched the parade. Because of health issues, I cannot ride all of the roller coasters, so while they were riding some of the more intense rides, I opted for a sweet treat on Main Street USA.


MONDAY


We decided to do Animal Kingdom & Epcot on Monday. I love both parks, but I think they're the perfect two parks to split between one day. Thankfully the humidity had somewhat subsided, and it was almost a little chilly when we left for the parks in the morning. I opted for a basic white tee and denim shorts with my new race jacket from the half marathon.


Well there you have it. Our weekend at Disney in a nutshell. I will go over the whole half marathon process as well as a breakdown of our hotel and transportation in other blog posts.