Wine and Dine 2014 Recap

This past Saturday evening, I ran Disney's Wine and Dine Half Marathon. It wasn't my fastest half marathon ever, but it was by far the most fun I have ever had while running. 

Friday I made it to the expo where I picked up this shirt. I wasn't sure if I would like it since it seemed more on the brown side, but I grew to love it. I checked out some merchandise, but I couldn't justify the price so I passed on it. 

I always feel so awkward when I take a picture by myself.

Saturday I agreed to go to Hollywood Studios, but only for the morning. We did most of the shows so I was able to sit a lot and not wear down my legs. I left E and his mom with the kids, and went back to the hotel to eat and rest. I have never run a night race before so I wasn't too sure how to approach it. I decided to eat a larger lunch of pasta, nap, and then eat a bland dinner of a peanut butter sandwich. I think it worked pretty well. I napped too early though. I was awake by 3 and couldn't sleep anymore. The race doesn't start until 10 so I still had a long time to wait. 

After battling traffic I made it to the start area with plenty of time to spare. I wandered a bit until a friend from high school arrived. She was running with some friends of hers, and it was their first half marathon. After talking we realized she runs just a tad slower than me, and since she isn't used to running alone (her friends hadn't trained well and weren't the same speed as her) I offered to run with her. I am not used to running with someone so it was going to be a different experience for me. She didn't submit proof of time so we started in the last corral. It is very different starting in the last corral than starting in my usual corral. Plus we started near the back of the corral so we were some of the last people to cross the start line. We had to do a lot of weaving, and we were squished in the narrow areas. Oh, did I mention it was raining? The entire race it rained. It started about 9 o'clock and it did not stop. I wear glasses so I had a lot of trouble seeing when we came upon bright lights. Despite the rain and the massive amount of people in front of us, we did pretty well. We carried on a conversation the entire time, and the race flew by. Seriously, it was the most fun I have had. I found myself singing and dancing when we passed by music. There is a disco tunnel in Hollywood Studios, and I was definitely showing off my disco moves. Even at the end of the race I was singing and dancing so I know I enjoyed myself. I thought this race had a completely different atmosphere to it than Princess weekend. I am not sure if it is the night start time, or the anticipation of the after party at the Food and Wine Festival. Either way, there was a great energy among the runners and spectators. I was surprised how many people were out cheering us on in the cold rain. It was awesome! I tried to yell thank you every time I could to let them know it was appreciated. My finish time was about 20 minutes over what I had anticipated if I had run on my own. It was a bit weird to look at my watch to see it was 1:30 in the morning as I crossed the finish line. It didn't feel like it. 

After the race, I met up with E and we hit the after party. He had been there since 8 so he had enjoyed the food and rides. I wanted to change out of my wet clothes and then find some food. I told him I wanted to stay for a bit just because it was our date night. If the weather had been nice, I think we would have stayed much later. However, it was still raining and I was freezing. We left about 3am. I knew the girls would be awake around 6 so I was anxious to get some sleep. I managed 2 hours of sleep before they woke me. It was worth it though. 

Cold and rainy night at the France pavilion 

I highly recommend this race to someone who wants to run at Disney World. You run through 3 parks, and you get to eat at the Food and Wine Festival after. Win-win in my book!