From Corral I to Corral P: How this princess finished PHM 2015, despite being in the last corral

I participated in all the races during the Princess Half Marathon Weekend 2015. I registered for Glass Slipper Challenge, and the 5K. I was really excited to be participating in my 2nd Princess Half Marathon Weekend. Princess 2014 was my first Half Marathon, so the weekend already held a special place in my heart.

I have come a long way since this time last year. I worked my butt off to submit a good time for a good corral placement. I still have yet to break a sub 3 hour half (3:02:01 is my PB)  but I was happy to find out I was placed in corral I, which from last year, when I was in "M", was an exciting accomplishment.

Princess Half Marathon 2014!

Most of you probably know I completed Dopey last month, as my first marathon, most of you probably also know I tore my meniscus the day of the expo, but still managed to finish the challenge. 

Since my corral placement was good, I decided I would walk, (I trained to walk Dopey at about a 14-15 minute mile pace) dress up in a super cute outfit, and take pictures, which was the one thing I regretted doing last year, because lets be real, I feared the sweepers, I feared the balloon ladies, I feared not finishing. 

Well Sunday morning came quick, the alarm didn't go off at 2:45 like I planned. Thankfully my roommates went off a little after I was supposed to wake up, but I began to panic, because naturally I am a very anxious person, and lack of sleep,  & waking up at 3 am the previous 2 mornings, didn't help.

I had everything laid out for the race, I started to get ready. My costume consisted of a a green tutu, green sports bra, green sparkly bandeau, fairy wings, and a wand. I carried a lightsaber during the 10K the day before so I figured holding a wand wouldn't be an issue. Plus, It would make for some great photo ops!

Enchanted 10K Costume

PHM Costume

I got everything ready, and headed out to the busses. I realized halfway to the bus that I left my cell phone in the room, so I had to make a mad dash back, considering it was almost 4 am! In my panic, I forgot to grab my bib! I was freaking out, but remembered all the people who have told me that they too forgot their bibs, and Disney is very accommodating by giving them a new bib, a bracelet for their challenge, and a sticker with the letter of their corral, so they don't have to start in the default corral P that is printed on the extra bibs.

We were stuck in traffic, and I think our bus driver got lost, so when we finally made it to the races, I was very nervous, It was almost 5 am! Well, at least I was in corral I, so I had about an hour until we started, and I didn't care if I was at the front of my corral of not.

Original Bib :)

I went and talked to the people at the information tent and they said it would not be a problem to get me another bib. I was finally for the first time all morning, able to take a breath! Well, that relaxed feeling didn't last long, because unfortunately they informed me that they did not have any I stickers left to put me in corral I. I saw that they had L stickers and told them it would be okay to just put me in L. The volunteer became very snippy with me and told me thats not how it works. I informed her, very politely that as long as you don't try to go to an earlier corral, you can always fall back into a later corral, and I wouldn't mind being in L.  I got a few more people involved, and when they went back to look up my corral again, and my time submitted, they still would not put me in L. 

New Bib :(

To make things worse, I actually had someone say to me "Well, just because you did Dopey, doesn't mean you get special treatment." Um, special treatment? What? I'm not asking to be put in corral A! I'm trying to get put into a later corral then what I was previously supposed to be in! 
The lady must have had something against the letter  I, or the letter L, but overall the way I was treated was terrible. I pay a lot of money for these races. in 2014-2015 alone I have spent thousands of dollars on runDisney races, and merchandise. To break down just this weekend alone, Glass Slipper Challenge was $330, with fees, The 5K was another $60, and since I'm doing Tink in May for my Coast 2 Coast, Let's throw in another $330 for Pixie Dust Challenge.

My Precious

So obviously at this point I am very upset. I have nothing against the last corral. I think it's great that Disney allows people who didn't submit times, or may be running their first races to be apart of such a great race. But lets keep in mind I was injured, & supposed to walk the race! I'm sure if I was a super fast walker I could finish the challenge ahead of the balloon ladies, but I wasn't going to take that risk. I was already tired and my little legs weren't going to be doing no 12 minute miles walking!

Thankfully at this point I met up with my friend Morgan. This was her first half marathon, & she was running Glass Slipper Challenge as well! (Congrats on finishing girly!) All week long I had been giving her advice, and even though she was in corral O, I told her that her corral doesn't define her, and won't impact her on the course. A higher corral is just a buffer. However, I was having a hard time taking my own advice. 

They were already letting off corrals by the time I made it to P. Unlike most of the corrals I have been in, this one was pretty spread out. I would think people would be chopping off each others limbs for a spot at the front, aka, farthest from the dreaded balloon ladies, but I was wrong. Oh well, I managed to get a spot in the second row of the corral, which was pretty cool, but we still had over an hour to go until start. I honestly started to cry when they released "I". At that point we literally had almost an hour until we would start so I took the time to chat with some nervous people, cancel my Fast passes for seven dwarfs mine train, and my reservations for brunch because lets be honest, there was no way I was going to be making it back to my hotel before 11, between congestion on the course, and bus rides back to hotels, plus I'm no Kenyan, and pulling a hamstring wasn't worth a ride on a kiddie roller coaster I have been on 9 times before. 

It was finally our time to start, and I will admit, the excitement in the back of the pack was definitely pretty great. I may have just been delirious, but I think they had more fireworks for the last corral, All I know is I took off running. Which is literally the number 1 don't of long distance running of me, but oh well, all I could see was myself getting swept at the mile 1 marker because the balloon ladies too decided to take off running, and they are faster than me. 

The first 3 miles of any race are the worst for me. One of the reasons why I hate 5Ks. I am always so winded within the first 3 miles, which of course made me anxious! Thankfully I had run into some friends from instagram, and various Facebook groups. These same people I had been talking to for the past few weeks, giving them pep talks, telling them that being in the last corral was not a death wish. It was so nice to get some supportive hugs, to get me through those beginning miles. 

By the time we made it to the dip near the contemporary right before mile 5,  I was starting to feel good. I didn't see a balloon lady in sight.  My average pace was a 14 minute mile. I didn't feel exhausted, and my knee wasn't hurting. Even though I told myself I would stop for a castle picture in Magic Kingdom, I did not, because unfortunately it took me 7 minutes to get through the castle, and I didn't want to waste anymore time. 

I won't complain about the congestion in the castle, because it doesn't even matter anymore, but I'm glad so many first timers got to fully experience being under the castle, and had the opportunity to take it all in. 

I got past the 10K mark, still feeling good, but it was beginning to get hot. Since I figured I would be almost done by the time it was supposed to get super hot, I didn't bother to bring a hat or sunglasses.  I kind of wish I had by mile 8 though! 

Yes it was super congested! Yes I ran a lot on the grass! Yes I almost twisted my ankle or fell in a hole! But It was around this long stretch of pavement that I realized there was a reason I was placed in this corral today.  I picked up quite a few runners who were struggling, or dealing with anxiety over how far back the balloon ladies were.

I was in the same boat a year ago, at the same race, in the exact same place. I met a lot of ladies who were either injured, or completing their first half marathon. I told them my stories, how Princess 14 was my first half, and how I too was still recovering from injuries at Dopey, and about the whole bib problems I ran into this morning. I gave lots of sweaty hugs, and gave away some of the gum I had brought, as well as my margarita shot blocks, some salt packets, and some skittles!  I knew that all the stopping, and motivating would greatly impact my time, but I didn't care. It wasn't until that moment I realized I could still make a sub 3 half if I hauled ass to the finish line, but this race wasn't about me.  It was about helping others achieve their goals, and cross the finish line! 

The worst part about being in corral P was inevitably seeing people getting swept at the last hard sweep at mile 10. I was already up the overpass, but started to walk slower with some people who were injured. People started to cry when they saw fellow princesses being swept. I didn't think it was out of fear, I think it was just so emotional, and they felt for those who would not be able to cross.
However, I have so much respect for everyone who did get swept, you gave it your all. No race is ever guaranteed. You can be sick, or injured, and anyone can get swept. 

After helping more people, we were almost back into Epcot. I called my mom to tell her what had happened, and vented to her about how I was treated. She understood why I was upset, and despite still finishing without ever being at risk of being swept (I was with a lot of N's & O's when I finished) She suggested that maybe I take a break from Rundisney races after Tink. she is right, I have done so many, and its definitely time to take a year off.


I was very happy to run into my friend Cindy in Epcot, We finished the Marathon together, and run into each other at almost every Disney race, towards the end of the course! She also helps out runners, and doesn't focus on her time! She is amazing! 

I didn't stop for any real pictures, but since I was with Cindy, I was able to get a finish line picture with Prince Charming Donald, and a candid of me getting pixie dusted by the Fairy Godmothers. 

This moment made the whole morning worth it.

All in all, I finished, I got my challenge medals, am I still upset, yes, because I really wanted a picture with all the attractive "heroes" at their photo op. Do I regret being in P? Not at all. It was very humbling and gave me the confidence I needed, and the topic of a blog post to let everyone know that being put in the last corral is not the kiss of death. 

Finish line with my Prince Charming

Do not fear the sweepers, or the balloon ladies. Just keep moving forward, but realize you do not have a cushion for photo ops. Selfies are your friend at the character stops. Overall, It was a good race, and I am happy I was able to experience a runDisney race from the very back of the pack, while helping so many runners not give up what they had worked so hard for!

Everyone out there who gave it their all, y'all amaze me

-Kaitlyn

Dopey Expo Recap/ start of my marathon journey/ the night before Dopey

I absolutely love Expos. Probably more specifically Run Disney Expo's. I think I may enjoy the expo more than the race itself.

I'm going to give some background on why I love these expo's so much.

My first expo was the 2014 Disney Marathon Weekend Expo. I saw all the people picking up their bibs, and getting excited about the upcoming races for the weekend, I stopped by to see if I could get a pair of the coveted Minnie Mouse Run Disney sneakers ( I snagged a pair of the kids version & saved some money too!)

At this point I was preparing to run the  Princess Half Marathon in about 5 weeks. My training wasn't what it should have been, not even close. The most I had run at this point, was maybe 6 miles? But I saw a shirt that said I'm training for a Disney Marathon 2015.

"Wow! I would love to run a marathon" However, I don't think I realized how far 13.1 miles was at this point, let alone 26.2!

Well fast forward 1 year, and I'm one of those crazy people who aren't just running a marathon, but all 4 races! the 5K, the 10K, the Half Marathon, and the Full Marathon! Yep Thats 48.6 miles, and the decision I made when I signed up 9 months prior. I had so many emotions, I couldn't believe the weekend was finally here.

I went to a Dopey Challenge meet up after picking up my bib, and race shirts. I bought a Dopey Challenge Bondi Band, and a Dopey Challenge I Did It Shirt. I tried to find a 26.2 magnet or sticker, but there wasn't any I liked. I forgot to pick up a Dopey Challenge magnet amongst all the excitement, but thankfully was able to find one after the marathon! I was getting ready to leave, and something pulled me into the Dooney & Bourke tent and I walked out with a wristlet I didn't need, but it was my first marathon, my first Dopey, and I was being nostalgic.
I also apologize to the cast member who I made look through at least 15 wristlets for the perfect pattern placement.

I also met a super amazing lady at the expo who invited me to stay with her in her vacation villa after hearing that I was going to be driving back and forth to and from the races until I checked into my hotel on Friday night. She so so nice, and I am so thankful to have had a buddy help me get through this crazy challenge!

The night before the 5K we attempted to go to Downtown Disney for dinner, but it was so crowded we went to Noodles and Company, which was so much better! Not that we needed to carb up for the 5K, but any excuse to eat pasta is good for me!

Also, I attempted to go to bed at a reasonable hour, however, we were plagued with freezing temperatures for the 5K, so that called for a last minute costume change, and a trip to Walmart to buy out all the gloves, hats, hot hands, and blankets, because this is Florida, and as a Floridian, I do not go outside in freezing temperatures with big gusts of wind. I definitely wasn't going to be caught dead out there in a sports bra. Sorry Anna costume, the cold bothers this Dopey.

Stay tuned to find out who I became for my last minute costume change, and how the 5K went :)

Disclaimer: I own all of the pictures except for the Ryan Gosling Meme, & I'm training for a Disney Marathon 2015. - Thanks Google ;)

Princess Half Marathon Course Overview (Also works for WDW Half)

Whether Princess Half 2015 will be your first, or your fifth half marathon at Disney. Below is my course overview to get you in the spirit, and calm some of those pre race jitters!

*this is just a brief summary of what you can expect on course!


After making the long walk to the corrals, we will start on Epcot Center Drive. We will hit the mile one marker, and shortly after that begin to curve onto world drive heading toward magic kingdom! Be careful here because the road curves. I like to go in the grass at this point. Then we will run, and go through the magic kingdom parking entrance, this is pretty cool, so definitely take a selfie! watch your step as you go through the MK parking over pass, theres a speed bump! Next you will run through the parking lot, TTC area, there is a down hill closer to the TTC, and I always run down that since its a down hill. You will turn off and go past the contemporary hotel. ( at this point you are between mile 4 and 5) Here comes the big dip. There is a DJ at the top of the over pass clapping, and playing music, he is awesome! Run down the hill, and walk up it, but make sure you are on the right if walking, and left if running, raise your hand for at least 3 seconds to indicate you are going to slow down. Now you are going to curve again and see the mile 5 sign! 

Now comes the best part! you are going to enter through a side entrance of Magic Kingdom and run down main street!!! I suggest you go to the right. Get your cameras out, and pose for selfies, and let one of the volunteers take your picture. Also, be on the look out for Marathon photo people! they are all over! Ham it up, the race pics will be there even when the pain is gone!  Now turn right and go to tomorrow land, if you need to use the bathroom, go somewhere before you leave MK. Now we run towards the castle. Just know. it will narrow! you will most likely be walking through the castle, but thats okay, keep smiling because those photographers are waiting! after exiting the castle, you will be heading out of the park, past splash mountain, a med station ( your last chance for bio freeze was just before mile 3) and this is the 6 mile makers. 

Now leaving MK it is narrow, and a long stretch of boring. There are characters, and music, when you reach mile 7, the half way point, they play a song on repeat that we will vote on in the next few weeks. last year was let it go, surprised? I wasn't either.. Anyways, you will be passing by the grand floridian around mile 7.3? At mile 8, they give you fuel, last year was cliff gels, but make sure to have your own because they ran out both days during the WDW half and full 2015. mile 9 you will be so over this long stretch of seemingly endless road, but theres usually a med tent around here, so yay more bio freeze! 

Mile 10 is when you are approaching the over pass. there is a cool toy story army guy on it though who tells you to keep moving and is lots of fun. you can also look to your left before the over pass and think wow I was there 8 miles ago ( you may also have seen fast runners at this point while you were at mile 2, but take a second to do a victory dance because you too are only a 5K left from finishing the 2015 Princess Half Marathon!! 

Take the over pass slow, Its a curve, so I usually hang out on the grassy part that isn't on an incline as much. Now that you are at the top, look down and see all the people behind you, and cheer for them, or don't look down, keep moving! It's your call! Now this part is a little boring, but you are almost done! yay you see mile 11, and know it is almost done, and you are almost safe, just need to get to epcot! which Is about mile 12, when they won't sweep you anymore, I repeat, get to Epcot so you are safe!! Now that you are in epcot, you are going to start to get emotional, its okay, take it all in! That mile 13 marker will be there before you know it. You will hear the gospel choir singing, Just for you! Because they are so proud of you! You will turn another corner exiting Epcot into the Epcot parking lot, and see the finish line, Take a picture of that mile 13 marker, (or a selfie) And enjoy every second of running to that finish line. you deserve it! Take it all in! give minnie or mickey a high 5, finish strong, smile, cry, so whatever, it's your moment, you have earned it.


Princess Half Marathon 2014 was my very first half marathon, so the race holds a special place in my heart. I will be completing the GSC, starting in Corral I. I have not decided on a costume, but if you see a 4 ft. 10 girl wearing a tutu, having the time of her life (running solo) say hi!!

(throwback to my first 13.1! PHM 2014!)

Why running 20 miles on a treadmill is torture and highly recommended during Marathon training

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, nor a trainer, or a running coach, This is simply my own opinion.

Running 20 miles is a daunting training task. It is often the mileage that many people will train up to during marathon training.

It was the furthest distance I completed during my marathon training, however, I completed my final 20 mile jog/walk 2 days before the first race of the Dopey Challenge!

Stupid? Dumb? Crazy? Dopey? - Yeah, I know.

I hadn't run much since Wine and Dine after getting pretty sick, and having emergency acid nail bed surgery, I wasn't cleared to run until a week before Marathon day!

For me, It was mental, I needed to know that I could keep pace, and complete 20 before going into Dopey.

It was boring 5 hours on that treadmill!

Running to nowhere is no fun, I am pretty sure my apartment complex thought I was crazy on the same treadmill for a good chunk of the afternoon. I did it, though, and the end result made me feel so much stronger, and ready to conquer those 48.6 magical miles that upcoming weekend.


What helped me through the miles?

Besides my long, toned, elite runner legs ( I Wish!) I would like to attribute my  success to Huma gels, margarita flavored shot blocks, free wifi in the gym, Apple for making iPads so portable, Netflix for providing me endless episodes of friends, Audible for having the Neil Patrick Harris Choose your own Adventure Autobiography (Highly recommend! It's hilarious & 10x better with NPH reading it!) & Spotify for allowing me to search any genre of music to get me through the wall (except Taylor Swift, which would really have been nice around mile 17!)

I highly recommend the long treadmill run to be incorporated into training, because it its a totally different experience. If you can walk, jog, or run, on a treadmill for a long period of time, you can conquer anything!

Post 20 mile training Run. I am Dopey Ready!!!

Dopey Challenge: Prologue to Race Recap

A lot of you probably know that I have been preparing for the 2015 Dopey Challenge over the past 9 months, Well, I did it!! Yes! I ran 48.6 miles in 4 days, I ran my first (& last) marathon! I slept at most 3 hours a night for 4 days. I ran with a torn meniscus, I met lots of amazing running friends despite running the races "solo" I changed my costumes 1000000 times because it was actually pretty cold during the race mornings, & by cold I mean freezing! 

I had the most amazing, 5 days (yes, I'm including the expo) ! 
No, I would most likely not do it again (unless I hit the lottery!) 
I would not recommend running Dopey as your fist marathon (but it certainly can be done)

Bare with me as I post my day to day dopey race recaps. I am in school full time, and will be typing out posts in between classes.

Thank you all for dealing with me as I took some time off writing. I moved a week before Dopey, and with school starting back up I haven't had time to blog, but will definitely be playing catch up this weekend! 

 One of my many favorite signs from the Marathon

Where have I been? Not training, thats for sure.

Okay so between finals, working, going to NYC for Thanksgiving, & having acid nail bed surgery, It has been a crazy 6 weeks!

I finally have a few weeks before I move back to Orlando on January 2nd, just a couple days before my first Marathon! Nervous would be an understatement!

Due to injury, my long runs have slowly became non existent runs, but crossing fingers I will be cleared to run again on December 18th!

Since my training schedule has been less than ideal, I am planning to get in 2 mock Dopey Challenge runs, (4 days, increasing mileage each day, slow pace) Probably starting with 3 miles, 6 miles, 10 miles, and 20 miles.  I had hoped to get up to 23 miles in training, but not sure how that will work out. Have I mentioned this is my first marathon? Yeah, it is. Who is crazy enough to run 48.6 miles the same weekend you are running your first marathon? Oh yeah, that would be me again.

I keep going back & forth with emotions, so for the next 4 days, I will distract myself with costume making. I have 4 races to plan for!

On a trip to NYC, Let's Run a 5K in Central Park!

A week after running my 1st 5K, I went on a trip to New York City (! I had caught the running bug, and wanted to do another race while in the city that never sleeps!

Well, I decided I wanted to run said race when I was already in NYC! Needless to say I only had a pair of Uggs, that I definitely wasn't going to be running in!

So the night before the race I signed up to run a Charity 5K Central Park, Park Run. "Wow! Only $35! but the experience of running in Central Park in 30 degree weather will be worth it!" At least thats what I thought. Now, I still needed sneakers, Luckily for me,  I was just reading about these amazing new Nike running shoes, the Nike Flyknit, Free Runs, and decided I needed to have these shoes because they were probably amazing running shoes! They actually ended up not being very amazing, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I wear a small shoe size, The perfect size 5. Which believe it or not is a very hard to find when I'm just casually browsing the clearance shoe rack at over priced department stores, and even more difficult to find when you are on a time crunch and running a 5K in less than 12 hours!

At last we found Nike Town a store somewhere in New York that we somehow passed by twice before realizing where it was. I don't know how I missed the Nike Town letters, or the window display of Nike Sneakers, so I will just blame it on the cold weather this Florida girl isn't used to.

The morning of the race came, and I was running it with a few people from the group I came to NYC with (It was a college club field trip). We got lost on the subway, somehow took the wrong train, It was absolutely freezing! (Okay for me it was) Oh and my feet were already hurting, I could feel the blisters forming, and we hadn't even made it to Central Park.

Okay, so we arrived, and we realized there was no packet pick up, or bibs, no t-shirts, oh yeah and no medal either. Wow, this has got to be the most expensive race ever! Oh we are in New York City- thats why.

We start the race, It is now 33 degrees, I am frozen, and the group of us fall behind the elite runners. My ankles are hurting, I'm pretty sure my toes are frost bitten. Oh, and I'm not wearing socks because these sneakers are basically like socks on your feet, and barely provide any support. Here is a picture to give you a better idea if you aren't familiar with these expensive sock shoes.

I also attempted to avoid some hills by going "around" which actually took me to the outskirts of the park, and we ended up running close to six miles all in all, and never actually made it to the finish line. If there even was a finish line. To this day I'm not entirely sure where we were supposed to be running, but at least we got a nice morning tour of Central Park, ended up in "Spanish Harlem" and had to take like 3 trains back to the hotel, and walk another mile, and pass it, and have to be tourists and pull out Apple Maps to get back to the warmth of the Sheraton Time Square.

It ended up being a very memorable run, the experience was great, and I was very fortunate to have the experience to see Central Park in a new perspective. It was my first time in NYC, and I am proud to say I ran a race through one of the most well known parks in America.

I don't have too many pictures since getting a new phone, but here are some pictures from the run. Notice how my ankle is propped up? Yeah it was pretty swollen, not sure if it was the shoes or the temperature. Actually no, I'm going to blame the shoes. The very expensive shoes. ( That I have only worn twice!)

Notice my crazy layered outfit. I was wearing a long sleeve shirt, a sweat shirt, a scarf, leggings, sweat pants, ear warmer head band ( I have no idea what those are called) Oh and my super cool Betsey Johnson cross body. Remember I had to be resourceful. I had no idea I was going to be running my second 5K in New York City!