Hey everyone! Thank you so much for the good luck wishes for the half marathon <3
I DID IT!
(That’s my prince charming right there)
After a painful 4am wake-up call, the pilot and I drove down to the race where I met up with Kelly and Meara.
The pilot got this pic of the PINK fireworks they set off at the starting line:
He even saw me run past him! I was so excited 
It was FREEZING outside and wearing the Wal-Mart sweats and chucking them before we started ended up being a golden plan.
Here are my splits for the race and how I felt:
Mile 1: 8:47 I was so cold, hating life and wondering why I was doing this…again.
Mile 2: 8:51 Started to feel much better and found a good pace to stick with
Mile 3: 8:54 My iPod died (even though I charged it for 6 hours yesterday). I was bummed out, but Disney kept the distractions coming with DJs, bands, characters and trivia on signs lining the race
Mile 4: 9:01 I attribute this mile to seeing Tarzan in his loin cloth glory (sorry, Pilot heh heh)
Mile 5: 8:59 FINALLY started to warm up and got some feeling in my legs
Mile 6: 9:03 Stopped to get my pic taken in front of the castle and messed around with the Flip cam. Runners who can film and run are extremely talented.. I am not one of those people
Mile 7: 9:02 Had a blasty running through Disney World, waving and slapping high-fives with the volunteers and employees
Mile 8: 9:00 Took 1/2 Clif Gel and started to get a little tired. Kept thinking of the pilot’s pep talk to keep going
Mile 9-11 (8:59, 8:48 and 9:30): Started to get extremely HOT (not seksi-wise, but temperature-wise) and my right calf started to cramp. Decided to take a 2 minute walk break to take my jacket off, which ended up being a crazy challenge since I had no feeling in my fingers and had to take off my race bib and re-attach it to the shirt I was wearing underneath the jacket. I also rubbed Biofreeze all over my legs
Mile 12: 8:48 Came back with a BANG
Mile 13: 8:37 (I saw Meghann!!! It was so lovely to see her and Derek cheering us on!)
I ended up finishing at 1:58:10 according to the Garmin –the race distance was a little over 13.1 and my final chip time was 1:58:38.
Not too bad
While I was running the race, I kept being tempted to compare myself to last year. It wasn’t until around mile 10 (when I took the epic walking break) that I realized that last’s years Princess Half and this year’s are totally different beasts. Last year, the pilot was deployed and I trained a LOT more. I was also spinning twice a week and teaching step (and insane? Hahaha). This year, the pilot was home, it was a much colder winter –I’m a Triple W (Winter Workout Wuss)- and I didn’t train nearly as much. I realized that all I could do today would be my best for *right now* NOT my best for last year. ****Lesson of the day: Compare yourself to YOURSELF! It doesn’t matter what your friend did or what you could do before—do what you can do at this moment, with this situation.
So all in all, it was an AWESOME race and I had so much fun (despite the pain) Disney knows how to put on an awesome running event and if you’re considering doing a half or full marathon, definitely check it out.
When we got back to my aunt’s, check out the extremely cute sign she had on the door:
Lurve.
I took a terrible ice bath –my left knee isn’t my friend right now- and then the pilot and I went out for bfast at our favorite spot, First Watch. Since the wait was pretty hefty, we stopped at Bizzle for drinkies. I had a Refresh tea and a plain perfect oatmeal
At First Watch, I had the usual Tri-Athlete omelet (egg whites, mushrooms and green chilis with salsa) with salad instead of the English Muffin and fruit.
Face was rocked.
We’re back home now and are going to chill for a while before heading to the kennel to get Viesa. Then, THE OSCARS! I love looking at all of the gorgeous dresses
Have a wonderful night and I’ll see ya in the morning with a giveaway!
xoxo,
Gina
CONGRATULATIONS to all of the beautiful ladies who ran the princess half this morning!!! <3
Hi, I'm Gina. Welcome to The Fitnessista! I love blogging about my adventures as a new mom, military wife and fitness instructor, as well as sharing new workouts and recipes. Check out the About page for more info - thanks for stopping by!
Congrats! What an awesome run
Congratulations Gina! Thank you for your continued inspirational blog and experiences!
congrats on a great race! too bad about the ipod though
I KNEW you would rock it out. Next step is finding one to run in together.
And thank you, now I can’t get the mental image of a loin-cloth wearing Tarzan out of my head.
hahah, you’re welcome
You go girl!!
your aunt is so sweet! and congrats!! you did rock it!!! anyone that can complete a half in my book is absolutely SO amazing and inspiring!!! the disney half looks/sounds like such a fun race!!
lots of hugs to you, Gina!!!
Congrats!! I wish I didn’t live so far north. I would love to do the Princess Half !
CONGRATS!!! i love the metal thats toooo cute!
Great race recap – congrats! Love that you stopped along the way for pics – so cute! SUCKS about the iPod though – so glad you had other entertainment!!
Congrats on your half marathon
congrats! that race sounds like so much fun
Congrats!!
Congrats girlie!!!
Whoo hoo! Under 2 hours. Way to go!
Congrats girl!!! You rocked it!!
Congratulations girlie! You did awesome! That omelet sounds amazing!!!
Congrats and good for you for not comparing to your last year self! I totally watch the Oscars only because of the dresses too:)
Congratulations, Gina! Also, I MUST Get me one of those “Will Run for Wine” shirts.
Congratulations on a great race! I love your breakdown of each mile. You have a great perspective on race times. Wonderful recap!
you gina! awesome job! i wish they had the princess half in disneyLAND since that’s so much closer to seattle than disneyworld. considering i am OBSESSED with all things disney. my mom got me a cinderella cake for my 20th birthday this year…. and i guess every year previous to that… LOL.
Anyway, I was wondering how you liked your CHI rocket?? (Saw it on your hair post a while back)… I was thinking about investing in either the CHI rocket, CHI nano, or one of the Bespoke labs t3 dryers. My main issue is time. it takes me 15 minutes to dry my hair! (long, blonde, stick straight). How do you like your rocket and would you recommend any modelin particular or the bespoke t3 over what you have? I’ve heard good things about the chi and t3… the only personal experience i have with chi is i have a straightener that i never use because my hair is already stick straight, but it’s nice.
Thanks gina,
alyssa
You did an awesome thing girlie!!! I dare say you rocked that half Mary – hanging on when
the times are tough is the mark of a true champion!
And on another note – how cute is that finisher’s shirt?!?! Love it!!!!
Way to go!! You did absolutely amazing!! I LOVE the medal that you got at the end … its so pretty!
Wow!! Congrats! I hope I can do a marathon one day! Just need to start training but overwhelmed of how to start!!
Congrats!! Sounds like you had the most amazing time, I cant wait until I do this next year
)
Well done again and watch those knees.
Kmac xx
Congrats! I’m so in awe of everyone who ran this. What an accomplishment.
You are a WARRIOR! If my iPod had died, I would have considered giving up
I can barely stand the elliptical for 30 minutes without music…
My friend Stephanie ran the 1/2 too – she works at Disney and decided to run it for fun. For FUN… oh, I love my friends!
Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!
Congrats!! Ok, the bib saying “Princess Gina” and the finishing medal is seriously enough to make me wish I did it too.
CONGRATS on your run, girl!
Congratulations Gina! Great run!
Congrats, great job!
xo
K
Congrats Gina! I love the thought on comparing yourself to yourself right now and just doing the best you can at this moment.
Congrats, Gina!! You did an amazing job:D Love the fact you that you didn’t let a dead iPod get you down!
Congrats on the awesome race!!! You are a rock star!!
I love this post!! It makes me want to cry! I love the part when you talk about comparing yourself, to yourself. I am SO bad for not doing this. Thanks for the reminder. I’m so proud of you (and I don’t even know you! haha). You had an awesome race!!!!
thank you!
xoxo
Congrats girl!! I bet it was so nice to have the pilot cheering you on this time!
That tiara medal alone is enough to make me consider giving this princess half marathon a try
haha
Great job!!!! Your time is inspiring….
Congratulations!! Your time isn’t important – the fact that you FINISHED is what’s important! That would be so much fun to run in Disney World.
K
YAY! congrats!
Congrats to you !!! That is fantastic! Sounds like afun day was had and you should be proud. Aren’t we funny how we always want to compare how one race is to another depsite that everything is different in where we are at….Proud of you for starting and finishing and enjoying the race! Woooot!
Congrats! I’m running my first half marathon this Sunday! I would love to run the Disney one next year.. Do you have any tips for post-race recovery? Or pre- race prep even?
So proud of you for doing this. Truly, you can do anything in this world as long as you persevere.
[...] Followed closely by a dessert plate, starring dried fruit, Maranatha almond butter, and one of Gina’s Superoons. Speaking of Gina, a huge congratulations to her for finishing the Disney Princess Half-Marathon!!! [...]