Just call me Princess Pree. [Disney Princess Half!]

Last week Tuesday, I semi jokingly wrote on a Facebook post (regarding someone being gifted a Disney Princess Half bib) that I wish someone would gift me a bib to the race. I had wanted to do this race but unfortunately it wasn't in my race budget. Long and behold a few hours later I received a message in my inbox asking if I was serious.  After an hour of deliberation, (really just seeing if I can find a really cheap hotel - yes I live in Orlando but still 40ish minutes from Disney and who wants to wake up at 2:30 to get to Disney by 4 on race morning - NOT THIS GIRL!) I said yes and guess what…. Sunday I ran the Disney Princess Half Marathon!

So thankful to one of my BGR sisters for this opportunity! I had a blast at the race. Luckily for me the week before I had did a long run of 10 miles so technically I knew I could do this. But to be honest, I pretty much have the mentality now that as long as I kept my running consistent and do a couple long runs of 7 - 10 miles a month, then I don't need to train for a half marathon unless I'm training to improve my time / speed. But this race, I set out to run for fun - and good thing I did (read on). I mean it was my very first Disney race and I wanted to truly enjoy it.

For me, the race was lots of fun. I think you'll be able to tell from all the pics below! I actually ran with my actual camera so I could take really nice shots. It took me 3 hours and 25 mins to finish but I throughly enjoyed the experience (except the end - keep reading) and now I can say - Just call me Princess Pree!

Was there some negatives to the race? Absolutely - having to wake up so early - 3:30am, the traffic - I thought I wasn't going to make it!, the amount of people (really packed running through certain - well most areas ), and not being able to get into the parks for free afterwards LOL! But seriously I started in the 2nd to last corral which meant I started an hour after it actually started. Before I hit .5 of mile 1 the lead Princess was just about to cross the finish (she was running!!).  Then I tried maneuvering through all the walkers and such but it was so much work that by mile 2 I was like yeah I'm just going to enjoy this. It was all going well until mile 10. Started feeling my quads tightening and then the worst thing happened at the beginning of Mile 12 - they cramped up so bad I could barely walk. Luckily I was near a tree and stretched out so then I was able to walk the last mile! But still I loved the experience.

Would I recommend it for someone's first half marathon? Not unless they are in like the front corrals and not trying to really truly enjoy the experience. Some races you run for time, others you run for the enjoyment! Or in this case… the magic!

Nuun Representing!

  

Mickey was waiting for me at the finish line

33K steps ~ 16.5 miles

Breakfast fit for a PRINCESS!

xoxo, Preshii


Want to share this post? It's easy! Just use the buttons below!

My only goal was to finish.

Miami Half Marathon Recap

I've only done three half marathons and we can safely say, yesterday was the one that truly tested me. Maybe it was my fault. I didn't run but about twice in the past two weeks after my long run of 11 miles. I went into this thinking it was just going to be another long run, no biggie. It helped to keep the nerves at bay. However, my body was not having it on Sunday. From the get go, I wasn't really feeling super duper excited but I knew I had to start and finish so by the time it was my corrals time to go (30 mins after the actual start o_O - this is by far the largest race I've ever been too. Over 25K people!! Over 15K in the half!) I was feeling fine. I was ready to see the cruise ships and beautiful Miami-ness as I ran across the highway.

A couple of the sites.

The highway I was nervous about because of the hills. About .45(or less) into the race we (the half marathoners) encounter our biggest hill and it honestly wasn't as bad as I imagined it to be. Maybe because it was so early on and my legs were still fresh. Our next hill was on the same high way about 3 miles in. That wasn't too too bad either. I was still feeling good around these times. My pace was fine and I felt maybe just maybe I would finish around the same time as my other half mary's.

2nd Hill
Side note: There was about 5/6 hills.  2/3 were really mini. 

Well around Mile 7 I begin to really get tired. Then somewhere around Mile 8 and 9 my left quad wasn't feeling this race at all and started cramping up. I tried stopping a few times to stretch it and it helped for a bit then would come back. So more walking started to happen.  Then during mile 10 my right foot started doing some kind of weird cramping as well. It was bad that I could fell it curling up every so often when I picked it up. So more walking. Mile 11 was my favorite mile. They were giving out pineapples!!

And then to top it off I ran into my personal cheer group. One of my be sties and my Godsister! I didn't know they were going to be in that area and when I saw them I even stopped for a picture. It was more so because my leg was cramping and I was in pain and could use the 20 sec break!

I started back and boy I was thinking how can I make it these next few miles. Less than 1.5 to go now. I stopped to stretch and walk a little more again before reaching mile 12. I sent out a fb status that I was still pushing but was in pain!

Love the encouragements!

I started back up and reached mile 12 and then probably about .2 into it I started walking again to ease the leg and foot cramps. Long and behold one of my big sisters in running came running up to me. She too was cramping and only God knows how much we needed each other at that point. We started back running and silently pushed each other the next .9. When we crossed the finish line we were both so relieved and said how much we wanted to stop but because we were there with one another we didn't!

Anyway - thank God that is over and I can happily say I earned this bling! I am now MIAMI FAMOUS!

And I got my Florida storm series category 3 medal as well for finishing 3 of the 5 FL storm series races!!

My time wasn't awful but it of course wasn't my best but halfway through … my only goal was to finish!

xoxo, Preshii


Want to share this post? It's easy! Just use the buttons below!

Women's Running Series Half Marathon St. Pete RECAP!

I did it! I completed my 2nd Half. 2 Half's within 2 weeks! Was it hard? A little but I still enjoyed it and beat my time by 7 seconds. Not amazing but good nonetheless especially with the hiccups I had. 

1.) During the 10 second countdown to begin my right contact started feeling funny. As soon as we took off to run it fell out! I caught it and didn't want to stop because I was running with the 2 hour pace group but decided to stop anyway off to the side before the contact got too dry but because it was windy I couldn't get it back in so I just threw it away and charged on. Remember this is just like 1 minute into the race. How great that I now have to run 13.1 miles half blind. 

Almost to mile 3. That's a genuine I'm feeling good smile!

2.) I lost the charger cord for my mp3 headphones a couple weeks ago. I brought a new one online but it was the wrong one and I can't find the type anywhere in store. So the last time I charged my MP3 headphones was probably about 3 weeks ago. It last about 10 hours so I knew it was on it's last minutes before I started the race. Therefore I did buy new headphones and brought them with me. Around mile 4 my MP3 player died as expected. The unexpected is that I couldn't get my new headphones on to save my life. I tried for at least 1 mile to get them on. It sucked. So I had to just run for the remainder of the half with my phone blasting. Oh well. Worked out. 

3.) Disaster struck around Mile 8. My stomach was not having it. So I had to walk a lot during this mile to calm my tummy down and avoid a port-o-pottie stop. *shivers*.  By mile 9 I was feeling better again. Stomach wise.

4.) From about mile 9 until the end my left foot was killing me. I had to walk a little more and really push myself. It really sucked. But there I am pushing it those last few seconds to the end!

So those were my 2nd Half Marathon hiccups. Other then that, I enjoyed the route - though my one good eye. Beautiful scenery. Pretty much flat route. One tiny hill. And then we went uphill a little during mile 7. 

The first half, despite being half blind, I was really feeling good and keeping a great pace. 

But the second half slowed me down and I was in a lot of discomfort. 

I am loving my new charm :)

This medal is so heavy!!

Favorite part was the bubbly at the end and the amazing 10 minute massage I got. 

This pic was right after the half. I look and was soooo tired and in pain! My official time was 2:09:42! My first half I finished in 2:09:49. 

My treat for running 13.1 miles (and then having to walk 1.1 miles back to my hotel) was a CRONUT!! Croissant + donut. I have heard about them and you can't get them everywhere so I was happy to find out there was a place in Tampa who had them and it was delicious. I had the cinnamon sugar cronut. Jay got the vanilla filling cronut. Good too!

Anyway 2 halfs in 2 weeks... people are calling me a maniac. Just maybe I am... Not time to really rest. I don't plan on running again until Wednesday or Thanksgivings morning!

Are you a half fanatic?

xoxo, Preshii

Want to share this post? It's easy! Just use the buttons below!

Going with the flow.

Hey lovelies. It's been a stressful past few days and because of that I haven't had time to really do my last couple tapering runs of 20 minutes. The last run I did was on Tuesday. 2 miles.  Was supposed to do 20 mins on Wednesday and today as well. I'll be traveling back to Orlando today so not sure if I'll get those 20 mins in or not.  Sounds so easy to squeeze in but I'm so tired.  Can't really sleep like I would like too. But tonight I will get a full nights rest as well as tomorrow.  I'm not going to worry myself that I didn't get to taper run because I know that I trained and already ran 13.1 only 2 weeks again and I know that I can do it again.  I may not push myself as hard this run but regardless I will enjoy it and go with the flow. I've heard great things about these Women's Running series races and expect it to be awesome.  Speaking of races, today is the last day to register for the Nike Women's Half Marathon in DC on April 27th (or 24th eh). This is the race that everyone calls the "Tiffany" race because this series is known to give out Tiffany necklaces at the end as the finishers medal.  So I'm still debating.  It's highly pricey so I have until 6pm to decide.  What do you think? 

2 half marathons within 2 weeks.

Call me crazy.

HEY CRAZY!

I've probably mentioned it before but yes I am running my 2nd half marathon in a week. Which means that I am running 2 half marathons within 2 weeks. A little cuckoo some might say while others may say it's genius. Training once but getting two 13.1's out of it. 

I will admit, I'm a little nervous but I've already decided I'm not going to focus on anything specific. 

I'm not going in trying to beat my current PR.

I just want to enjoy the race and be injury free.

This race is the Women's Running Half - St. Pete.

I'm really excited because I have heard such great things about this race and I LOVE the fact that it's geared towards women!

So how have I been recovering and training for this next race you might ask?

Week 1 - Post Race.

Sunday: Allstate Half Marathon + lots of stretching

Monday: 15 - 20 minute relaxed walk + more stretching

Tuesday: Complete rest

Wednesday: 2 mile easy run

Thursday: 15 minute weight training

Friday: 4 mile run - kind of easy

Saturday: Rest (was suppose to cross train but um yeah...)

Sunday: 5 - 6 mile run (about to head out soon!) 

Week 2 - Post Race / Pre 2nd Half 

Monday: Rest + foam rolling

Tuesday: 2 - 3 miles

Wednesday: 20 mins of running + 15 min weights

Thursday: Rest 

Friday: 20 minutes running

Saturday: Walk around the expo

Sunday: RACE DAY!

So I'm basically just tapering all over again.

Hopefully everything works out and I have another good race!

Have you ever run 2 half's or marathon within such short timespans?!

How was your experience?

xoxo, Preshii


Want to share this post? It's easy! Just use the buttons below!

13.1 went something like this...

Here's my detailed recap. Enjoy!

I was so nervous on the way to the starting line. Jay was dropping me off and then heading back to the hotel because the hotel was around mile 4.5 as well as the exchange area for those doing the relay and near the finish line. I didn't need him to be at the starting line because I knew my BGR sisters in running would be there. Anyway, yes I was soooo nervous. I could barely talk without stuttering. He dropped me off as close to the starting line as possible and as soon as I got near the starting line I saw my BGR sisters and my nerves started going away. It felt good to see more familiar faces and at that point I knew I'd be fine. We took a few pictures and then we all went into our corrals.

I got between the 2:00 and 2:15 pacer groups.

The race started right on time and I felt good. I told myself to keep the 2:00 pacers within eyesight. I ran the first mile. It was easy and quickly turned hard when we went into a TUNNEL! It was great going down. Everyone (us runners) were cheering and full of energy but then we had to go back up the tunnel. Oh MY GAWD! It was insane. As soon as we came out we hit mile 1. My garmin lost signal but I don't think it was off by much. The mile 1 marker time was about 9:05 so I was pushing it!

I kept running until about mile 1.5 and then started my intervals. My intervals are not specifically timed. I go by my songs. So after every song, I take a 20-30 sec walk break.  This is fun for me. Anyway started my walk breaks and then we hit yet another hill! I wasn't expecting these hills! I knew there was a huge one coming up though before mile 5 near my hotel and I wasn't excited about it. After this hill we hit Mile 2.

I'm feeling pretty okay here. Texting Jay at every mile so he knows when to expect me. Mile 3 was okay and so was Mile 4 though my ankle started acting up so when I reached mile 4 I stopped and did some ankle circles to stretch my ankle a bit especially since at mile 4 I was staring at this humungous hill that I was going to tackle soon. I didn't take a pic. Bad blogger. But trust me when I say HUMUNGOUS!

The hill was killer. That's the only way to describe it. I wanted to stop and walk so bad but I didn't. I pushed myself to the top because I knew as soon as I went down I'd be seeing Jay and my friends as well as my BGR sisters soon. Jay took a video of me running by looking like this is easy. But I was tired. I'll post the video soon!

After passing them my tiredness was starting to keep in a bit as you will see in my splits.  I hit mile 5 and then started eating some more sports jelly beans (I ate half a pack before the race too). This is when the scenary got beautiful. We were running next to the beach. Such a beautiful scenery. I love it and it kept me going.

Mile 6, 7,  and 8 were pretty much the same. I started feeling good and was really pushing myself during mile 7. I guess the jelly beans were kicking in. You'll see the jump in my splits! I passed one of my BGR sisters that was ahead of me in the beginning. I knew then I was doing good on time and also because I never saw the 2:15 pacer group. The turnaround around was about mile 8.5. I was so happy to get there. I knew that meant I was more than halfway done and I could do this!

Mile 9 and 10 were good as well. Though I started losing my newfound energy during mile 9. A little after mile 10 I was able to start seeing the beach again and that was great. I love being near water. I opened my next pack of sports beans and began taking them. I text Jay and my booski's (Cam & Hermie) at mile 10 to let them know where I was. They sent me encouraging words and I so appreciate them.

Mile 11 wasn't too bad but I started feeling tired. I stopped for a little and took this pic of the ocean.

Mile 12 was difficult. My thighs were started to hurt and felt like they wanted to cramp up charlie horse style. No bueno. I kept pushing through though. Coming up on mile 13 I heard cheering from my BGR sisters and that made me smile and I pushed myself. No stopping now. I'm almost there. That last .1 of mile is always the longest LOL. When I saw the finish line I felt so good inside but still was scared my thighs were going to give out but I focused on looking for my besties and BF. I saw them and got so happy. So happy that I didn't even pay attention to the clock so that I would speed up. I looked up right before I crossed and it was a little after 2:10. I smiled and crossed the finish line!

Cammy took this pic of me going across the finish line!

After I crossed the finish line I posed, posed, and posed some more for pics and of course got my MEDAL!! I then found a place to sit on the ground until Jay and my friends found me.

About 10 mins after they found me I needed to go back to the hotel because *whispers* I had to go to the bathroom. My runners know what I mean. So we went back to the room. Hermie had to leave and Cam went to her car. Jay and I went to the room. After I went to the bathroom, he surprised me with a beautiful trophy. Yes I cried because I'm a punk. Then Cam came back and she had beautiful flowers for me. I am so appreciative of my support team. While in the room, I foam rolled a little bit and then changed out of my shirt and put on some comfy flip flops. Cam and I headed back to the beach party so I could take pics with my BGR sisters and get more goodies while Jay went to get us a table at the breakfast restaurant in the hotel (we would soon return to eat!).

My official time!! 2:09:49!

Overall I think I had a good first half marathon. I'd had almost a week to really think about it and it was really good. Loved the scenery and having an amazing support group. Though my body still feels as though it's recovering LOL. I'm always tired this week which is also probably why this post is just getting done!

xoxo, Preshii


Want to share this post? It's easy! Just use the buttons below!