Well Hello
Happy to say I survived the Mickey Jingle Jungle 5K and the Wine & Dine Half.
On Saturday I was up at 4am to prep for the 5k as the first bus was leaving at 5am for the start line. The race started at 7am but I figured early was better as these races are busy.
I was the first person waiting for the bus but it was great as I got my picture with Mickey and Minnie.
I have to give it to RunDisney they throw a party at the start line. The DJs are incredible. They played songs I wasn't familiar with that caused break out dances. This DJ lost his voice but he danced along with the runners.
The 5k took you through the Animal Kingdom at one point we were running through some sort of animal area as it had a very distinctive smell.
Of course the costumes of the runners were awesome. One guy was a present and ran wearing a wrapped box.
I misjudged the weather and it was way cooler then I expected so I was a wee cold in my short sleeved Nike shirt.
I saw one kid running with all his shoelaces untied and his parents right behind him - odd.
I really enjoyed this race and the fun finisher medal. RunDisney now gives you a snack box at the finish as well as full bottles of Powerade, Dasani water and bananas. That box made a handy breakfast when I got back to my room.
Then I went back to the hotel put the Do Not Disturb sign on and focused on rest. Could not nap for the life of me. Had lunch at 1pm and stayed hydrated.
Race time came so fast. Once again I took the early bus to the Half start line. 14000 runners were taking part (66% female). It was good to be early as there was a very small line to the port a potties and a calm bag check. It was 3hrs to start time.
Different DJ but equally has fun and this time I joined in for the dances.
They loaded us into the corrals about 40min before corral A got going at 10pm. Corral D crossed the start line 16min later. This race took us through Animal Kingdom, Disney Hollywood Studios, Epcot and a whack of roads in between as the star was at ESPN.
We hit a mega bottleneck at Animal Kingdom as it was very narrow when we got in the park. I ran a great race up till mile 8 then I started to fade. At this point I was thinking about my not exactly diligent training and what it would be like to do this 50lbs lighter. I got over it as I saw loads of people stop at the side of the road or stopping at the medical areas for biofreeze.
I didn't carry any water as RunDisney does an excellent job with water/powerade stations plus a Cliff gel/shots station.
Hollywood studios had this amazing section we went passed The Osborne spectacle of lights. It took my breath away and I'm definitely going back to see that.
By the time we hit Epcot I was hurting so my focus was on the finish. I finished 8min slower then Tinkerbell. All I felt was a fire to do better next time. I grabbed my 2nd RunDisney snack box and a bottle of water. I collected my Coast to Coast medal and regretted not buying any Coast to Coast gear.
The bag pick up was incredibly efficient and I collected my free beer. I didn't fell like drinking it then as I hadn't eaten since lunch. I skipped the after party as there was a huge line at the Epcot gate as they check your bags. The funny part we were just inside Epcot as that's the finishing area. I headed back to the hotel and it was 2am so I had the chocolate milk I bought earlier, took an Aleve, just managed to put my PJs on and went to bed.
Woke up at 7:30, took a shower and had breakfast to start my park exploration. I originally planned to go to Animal Kingdom and enjoy it at a slower pace but I heard a lot of people at breakfast planning the same thing. I figured Sunday would be a zoo anyway so I went to Epcot.
I spent 4hrs there and will write more about that in a separate post.
I hope all of you are doing well
Hugs
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