Disneyland Half Marathon Registration

Today is the day! If you want to run through the Happiest Place on Earth in the Happiest Race on Earth, then you better sign up for the Disneyland Half Marathon taking place during Labor Day weekend. This course takes you through Disneyland and California Adventure Parks and on the streets of Anaheim. One of the highlights is running through Angel Stadium at about mile 9. It is truly a wonderful course! 

I am unable to run this year due to financial issues and scheduling, but I hope to run it next year or the year after! But, because I was feeling sad, I clicked on the link to sign up anyway. Registration has gone up a whole $20!! I don't know about you, but I think that's a lot for only a year. I remember $175 being way too much, but $195?! That seems like way too much money for a race. Rundisney should really consider lowering their costs (but that will likely never happen!). 

In conclusion, you should sign up because it's a super fun race! But hurry, registration was 99% full the last time I checked. Yikes! Rundisney races are so popular. 

QOTD: Will you be signing up for the Disneyland Half Marathon? How do you feel about the price increase? 

Fitness Friday: Running

I'm going to start a new weekly post on my blog called Fitness Friday. Basically I will be introducing a new way to work out every week. I will list the pros and cons of each that way you can decide if you want to try it out. It seemed like a fun way to find out about a variety of ways to work out! 

Now, let's get started with our first Fitness Friday! It's my favorite form of exercise...running! 

Pros:

-Relieves Stress: Running is one of the top forms of exercise that relieves the most stress. Running gets rid of the stress-causing compounds in your body. It's also a great time to get outside and clear your head. This is truly one of my number one stress relievers. 

-Helps Prevent Heart Disease: Dr. Peter Schnohr says that running increases oxygen intake that improves cardiac function. It also lowers your blood pressure. Plus, Schnohr and his team calculated that runners live up to 5-7 years longer than non runners do. If that doesn't get you out the door, I don't know what will!!! 

-Helps With Weight Loss: Many cardio exercises help with weight loss, but running seems to be the one that hits a home run. The increase of activity just burns and burns all of those calories. Depending on your speed and weight, you could burn about 100 calories per mile. During my half marathon, I burned more than 1,200 calories! Running can be used for weight loss or just to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Either way, it's a great calorie burner. 

Cons:

-Joint Problems: Osteoarthritis can be caused by running, but recent research shows that the number of people getting Osteoarthritis has gone down. Usually, joint problems come from running if you've already had a pre-existing condition. 

-Injury: Running can cause injuries out of nowhere. You could be having the best run of your life and them BAM! you pull something or get a cramp. It's awful and it happens sometimes. But this doesn't mean that you should stop running forever. The benefits of running are too great to think about getting hurt ;) 

-Time: Depending on your distance, running can take a huge chunk of time out of your day. Especially if your training for a long distance such as a half marathon or full marathon. Those 11 mile runs take lots of time and energy out of your day. But it also feels so good afterwards right?!

I hope that you guys enjoyed this first Fitness Friday post. Now why don't you go out there and try to go for a run? As Hercules says, "I know every mile will be worth my while." And it will! So get out there this weekend and rake in those miles. Have a great weekend :) 

*Remember to follow me on Instagram @runningemily1 

QOTD: Have you ever tried running? What are your pros and cons for the sport? 

Updates For TinkerBell Half Marathon 2015

I'm a little late to the party, but I just found out that runDisney's TinkerBell Half Marathon Weekend will have different dates in the year of 2015. Instead of being in its usual January time frame, women will be earning their wings Mother's Day weekend, May 7-10th. Check out the announcement video below:

http://youtu.be/NbdzfD0yJ8s

Rumor has it that they are moving TinkerBell to make room for another runDisney race on the west coast. That would be sooo great! WDW has so many different races whereas Disneyland only has two. It would be nice to have a fresh, new (maybe even themed) race for us west coasters! 

I'm hoping that someday I can run Tinkerbell and earn my wings! A women's-focused race sounds lots of fun :) 

QOTD: Does the date change of Tinkerbell affect you and why? 

I'm Frozen!

It's official, I finally saw Frozen. After all of the talk (all of it good), I just had to see what everyone was talking about. I listen to Disney pandora sometimes and I had loved the music that they played from the Frozen soundtrack. I found myself humming along during the movie :) 

It was such a CUTE movie! The storyline was great and the music was even better. And it won a Golden Globe?! This animated, Walt Disney film is the real deal. It's also nominated for 2 Oscars! 

Elsa was my favorite :) 

I also saw many pictures of people dressing as the characters during Disney World's Marathon weekend and TinkerBell Half Marathon weekend. The Olaf costumes were cute :) 

And did anyone spot Rapunzel and Flynn Rider? I know I did. 

I was also surprised by how much I liked Olaf. I found him annoying during the many previews I saw, but during the movie he was so funny and cute!

Overall, it was a great movie. 

QOTD: Have you seen Frozen? What was your favorite part? 

TinkerBell Half Marathon 2015?

The third annual TinkerBell half marathon took place today at Disneyland Resort. I've had so much fun looking through all of the pictures on Instagram today! It looks like such a fun race. 

For those of that don't know, this race is a women's focused race that runs through both Disneyland and California Adventure parks. The course features many different fun things such as running through Cars Land and having character stops. The famous show World of Color is also playing as you run. Sleeping Beauty's castle and Main Street USA are lit up as you run down them in the wee hours of the morning. The race finishes in Downtown Disney and you get to have this out around your neck!

So cute! I want this bling so bad! So now the question remains, TinkerBell 2015? This would be such a fun girls weekend to do with a mom or best friend. Registration is usually in early July. Will you be signing up? 

QOTD: Have you ever ran TinkerBell? Would you like to? 

Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend: Disneyland Day 2

Our second day at Disneyland was Saturday.Since we didn't hit up California Adventure the day before, we started there first.

We went straight to California Screamin' because it was only a 10 minute wait (what?!?). And it wasn't even a 10 minute wait! We basically walked on. It was great. All of us kids went on the ride the first time but my mom and Lex sat it out the second time.

A.J. decided to be funny...thanks.

Round 2

After only being in the parks for about 45ish minutes, my mom, Alexandra, and A.J. wanted to head back to the hotel and rest/do homework. Brad and I did not have to run a 5k that morning so we were feeling pretty awake. We stayed in the parks while they went back.

First, we went on Tower of Terror. For some reason this ride always makes me nervous and scared, every single time. I truly don't know how it does it. This is one of my absolute favorite rides in all of Disneyland and Disney World. I rode this for the first time in Disney World and I have to admit, the Disney World version is way scarier.

We went on Tower of Terror later that night also.

Brad and I also explored ToonTown.

The rest of the fam joined us for dinner at Naples (sooo good) and then we all headed back into CA Adventure. This is when we went on Tower of Terror for the second time. We also hit up Soarin' Over California. A.J. wanted some Ghirardelli so we headed there next!

Brad and I didn't think dessert the night before a race was that smart, so we stuck to our pasta. A.J. on the other hand got a full on sundae the night before the race! He was pretty brave.

After Ghirardelli, it was time to head back to the hotel and go to bed! I was so nervous going to bed that night. Post about the morning is coming soon :) Overall is was a very fun day 2 in Disneyland.

Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend: Disneyland Day 1

I am going a little bit our of order from my last post about spectating the 5k on Saturday. Our first actual day in Disneyland was Friday. Since we went to the expo and couldn't check into our hotel till three, we didn't end up getting to the parks until about five. That meant getting amazing sunset pictures of the castle!

As we were finding a place to have dinner, we went through the Fantasy Faire. This is a new addition to Fantasyland and I had never been to it before. I loved Rapunzel's little tower and the Flynn Rider wanted signs!

After we ate, it was time to go on some rides! We let Alexandra and my mom choose the first ride since they would have to head back early for the 5k. They decided to go on....Splash Mountain! The line was pretty long, but it was so hot and extremely humid that the line was worth it. It almost felt like we were in Disney World with all of the humidity throughout the weekend. It was pretty bad.

My pose was supposed to be a spellout of the number 13 since that's how many miles I was going to run. I totally failed. I even tried it on California Screamin' and Space Mountain and it failed on those rides as well. But you get what I was going for right...?

Next, we went back to Main Street and got some dessert. We found these amazing cake pops that were HUGE! They put Starbucks cake pops to shame. My mom and Brad got chocolate cake covered in chocolate. I didn't think I could take that much chocolate so I got white cake covered in chocolate with white chocolate drizzle. So yum!

Definitely getting this on my next trip.So good.

Mom and Lex headed back after dessert while me and Brad hit up a couple more rides including Space Mountain, Pirates, Matterhorn, and TeaCups.

Yup. There it is again. The failed 13.

We were exhausted ourselves and headed back a little bit before the park closed. We did a lot for only being in the park for a few hours. It was such a fun evening :)

QOTD: Have you ever been to Disneyland for just the night?

Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend: Spectating the 5k

On Saturday, August 31, runDisney held a family fun run 5k that my mom and sister participated in! I was so excited for them because my mom worked really hard for this. She is not a runner and she really challenged herself by doing this race. I was so proud of her. My sister has Addison's disease which causes her to not be able to run long distances. Originally, her doctor told her to walk it, but she pushed herself and ran the whole thing! Dang girl.

Snapped this pic as I was exiting Downtown Disney the night before the race.

Anywho, while their alarms were set for 3 am, my alarm was set for 5:30ish. I was going to wake up, then wake up my brother and we would walk near the finish line and wait for them to cross. Well, plans don't always go through do they? In this case, I slept through every single one of my alarms I had set. Ahh!!! Somehow, my brain triggered the idea that I was supposed to be somewhere and it decided to wake me up at 5:50. I jumped out of bed and started brushing my teeth immediately. Next I through on jeans and a sweatshirt (bad idea) and tried to wake up Brad. I tried a couple times...and a couple more. By then I was so worried that I would miss them crossing the finish line that I ditched Brad. Sorry!

I was late for this very important date.

I was so, so scared that I was going to miss Lex and my mom and then they would be mad that no one was there to support them. So at this point I had no choice but to run. I ran down the very long street all the way to Downtown Disney. And it was hot. And I mean hot, humid, the whole deal. Keep in mind that I did this in jeans and a sweatshirt. Once I hit the stoplight that leads to the Disneyland Hotel it was time to walk through a sea of people. There were spectators every for the 10k along with all of the 10k runners moving in the opposite direction as me, trying to get to their corrals. It was a mess and a lot of "excuse me's".

I finally reached a pretty good spot of the finish line and stood my ground! I probably looked like I had just finished the 5k by how tired and sweaty I was. I ended up waiting their for about 20 minutes before Alexandra crossed the finish line. At first she didn't see me, but then she found me and we waited for Mom.

Alexandra celebrating her victory.

About 20 minutes after Lex had finished, Mom came through the finish line and saw us. She was so happy to see us! Next they both got their medals and I may or may not have sneaked into the runners area where they got food, water, and a goodie box.

Happy to get some food and water!

We headed into the family reunion area and took some photos with the medal.

So proud!

Ended the morning with a beautiful sunrise!

I was so glad that I actually got to see them cross the finish line despite my alarms not waking me up. I had so much fun supporting them! Great job Alexandra and Mom.

What Brad was doing this entire time...

Half Marathon Finisher

So guys, it's official. I finished a half marathon! It was so much fun and amazing and everything I hoped it would be. Well, except the part about being super duper sore during/afterwards. I will share a race recap later on but I thought I would share some race photos with you. Enjoy these awful looking pictures of me :)
 
My favorite is the lower left one. It was right after I ran through the castle. I tried to manage a smile as I ran by the photographer :)

QOTD: Did anyone run in the Disneyland Half Marathon?

**I do not own the rights to any of these photos. I did not purchase these. These photos came through Marathon Foto**

Disneyland Half Marathon Costume Ideas

I just simply cannot decide on a costume for the Disneyland Half Marathon. Here are the things three main goals that I have for a costume:

1. Comfortable. I don't want to be running 13.1 miles in something that is chafing or extremely uncomfortable the entire time. So, I am looking for athletic clothing that could be interpreted as a Disney character.
2. Recognizable. This is the one I am struggling with. I have found great athletic clothes that go with the color scheming of some Disney characters but I'm not so sure if people will recognize the character just based on the colors in my outfit.
3. Affordable. This one would help a lot. I don't want to spend too much money.

I am proud to announce that I have narrowed my choices down to three characters!

1. The Little Mermaid. I would love to be her but I don't know if people will recognize that I am Ariel if I just wear a purple top and green shorts.

2. Rapunzel. This idea I got from Through Heather's Looking glass. She did this look for the Princess Half Marathon and I thought it was so cute! I would basically wear a purple top and shorts and then buy the mini Pascal bean bag and pin him to my shoulder. The only problem I have with this is Pascal. I don't know if he will be super comfortable on my shoulder.

3. Minnie. It's cute. It's classic. It's recognizable. And I would get to wear ears :)

Hopefully I can make up my mind before the race and post my outfit soon!

QOTD: Which costume would you wear to the Disneyland Half Marathon?

*I do not own the rights to any of these photos*

Sephora Disney Collection

As some of you may know, Sephora has a special line of Disney products called the Disney Collection. Basically they have picked a princess and come out with nail polish, eye shadow, lipstick, and perfume that interpret that specific princess. In the past year, they have come out with two different princesses: Cinderella and Jasmine. Today, Sephora has released the third and final princess that will complete the Disney Collection: Ariel!

 I am so excited for this because I was most likely not going to purchase anything from the Disney Collection unless they came out with an Ariel line. Sephora hasn't released the specifics, but they said that the line will premiere later this June. Hopefully I can get my hands on it and show you guys how it looks! Here's the teaser Sephora released today:

It looks fantastic and I'm thinking I might wear it during the Disneyland Half Marathon (since I'm dressing up as Ariel). Can't wait to buy!

QOTD: Have you bought something from the Sephora Disney Collection? 

June Goals

Happy hump day! I hope everyone celebrates today because we are so much closer to summer! I can see it. Today I thought I would share my fitness goals for the month of June. I'm hoping this post will keep me accountable for these goals and really make me realize if I'm staying on track with half marathon training.

1. Run at least 4 days a week. This sounds dreadful to me but I know I need to make it happen in order for me to get on track with training.

2. Run 5 miles. This also seems very dreadful. The most I've run while training is 2 miles. I just need to remind myself that September 1st is not that far away. Crunch time!

3. Stretch. I admit, I am horrible at this. You think being a dancer and a new runner I would be very good about stretching, but sadly I am not. I really hope I can learn to stretch before my workouts as well as after my workouts.

4. Eat healthier. This one will be very tough since summer is just calling my name to sodas, candy, chips, and chocolate. I'm telling myself I can still have those things, I just need to have them in minimal amounts.

Hopefully at the end of the month I can say I did all of these things. Have a great day everyone!

QOTD: Have you ever made short-term goals?

My Running Story

Today I thought I would share my "running story" if you could call it that. First of all, I am a NEW runner. Definitely not experienced at all. Back in January, my family all thought that we should do something together. Like a big event that we could all participate in. For some reason I kept getting stuck on the idea of running. Running a 5k or 10k, definitely not a half marathon or marathon. I brought the idea to the fam and they loved it! We picked a place to run our first running events that was going to be fun and exciting (also, my favorite place in the world) DISNEYLAND!

Like I said, I am a new runner. I mean I just decided to run when I signed up for the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend. Before I signed up, I dreaded the mile at school, never ran on my free time, and absolutely hated the thought of it! So, I decided that I would definitely not go past the distance of a 10k. The 10k (6.2 miles) is already a huge challenge for me.
Well, the day came when me and my family would all sign up for the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend. I reminded my mom the date and the time that they were going to release the registration. She forgot. Yikes. Luckily, I remembered and when I got home from school the day registration opened, I ran straight to computer and looked on runDisney's website.
Next, I went to go click on the 10k. Then I realized something horrible: the 10k was sold out! How could it be sold out? Registration had only been open for a few hours! This was crazy. My mom and sister had already decided to do the 5k but me and my brothers were challenging ourselves for the 10k. Now what would we do?
Me and my brothers had a little pow-wow and decided that we weren't going to travel all the way to Disneyland just to run a 5k. So, our only other option was the half marathon. The thought of that made me cringe. We were all very skeptical at first. Could we do this? It was 13.1 miles! We would have to train for a while and actually run 13.1 MILES! Once we got over this fact, we just closed our eyes and signed up.

So, I've been in training for a few months slowly, very slowly, working my way up in the miles. I'm up to about four miles right now. I have been sick so I haven't really gotten to run lately but hopefully I can get back to training soon! My brothers don't think they need to train (yeah right) so they aren't going to actually start running until June/July. I'm hoping I'll get a faster time than them just so that I have bragging rights and that my long-term training will actually be payed off. 

I am hoping to run in a few more half marathons because I've kind of fallen in love with running now. Hopefully when I'm older, I'll be able to run a full marathon! As for now, I'm sticking to half marathons. I hope you guys enjoyed my :running story" :) Have a great day!

QOTD: Have you ever ran a half marathon? What made you sign up?

Upcoming Races (Part 1 of 3)

Disneyland Half Marathon

Over the next few days I am going to discuss the three upcoming races I have scheduled. Today I am going to start with the Disneyland Half Marathon! I am really excited about this race since it will be my first half marathon and my first runDisney race. I am a huge Disney fan so I knew that if I was going to do my first big race, it had to be at Disneyland. The race is on September 1st during labor day weekend. I'm hoping that I will be able to go to the meet-up but I'm not sure if I will be willing to leave a whole day early just so that I can go to the meet-up. I'm trying to make it easier on my mom! Lol. 

This medal will be MINE in a few months :) 

One of the really cool things about this race is that you actually get to run through both Disneyland and California Adventure.

The race starts near the Disneyland Resort Hotel. During the first few miles you run through California Adventure  then you head into Disneyland. After exiting Disneyland, you head onto the streets on Anaheim. The next cool thing that the runners get to experience is running through Angel Stadium. The runners actually get to run around on the field. 

The starting line.

Running through Angel Stadium.

One of things I am truly most excited about (because I'm pretty nerdy) is the commemorative pin. I collect Disney pins like crazy so I freaked out when I found out they have a special edition pin for every race. Maybe I will be able to collect them all someday...I bought the pin when I registered, just to make sure it wouldn't sell out.

Eeeeek! So excited to get one of these!

All in all, I am completely overjoyed and excited to run this race! I'm counting down the days...

Here is the recap from the race two years ago...

If you are interested in joining the race, you will have to wait till next year! All of the spots filled up within a few days. This year, runDisney is adding a 10k race along with their 5k Family FunRun and the Half Marathon. This year, runners could be put to the test by doing the Dumbo Double Dare which includes doing the 10k on Saturday and the Half Marathon on Sunday. Here's the video announcing the 10k...

Well folks, that concludes today's post. I can't wait to run this race! Make sure you like Run Disney on Facebook and follow them on their Twitter page :) 

*Today's photos were featured from the runDisney Facebook page. I do not own the rights to any of the pictures*