A while ago, the team at C3fit reached out to see if I’d be interested in trying out some of their compression gear. Because I love being able to test things out and share what I enjoy with you guys, I said sure!
Not only do they have compression tights, but they also have a full line of high-performance compression gear in fun, different prints. Example: I never knew I would love white camo as much as I love it on those calf sleeves up there!
I’ve always loved running in compression socks or calf sleeves. They keep me running longer with less fatigue, and help me recover after really hard efforts. Anytime I run 5 miles or more, you can bet I’ll have some kind of compression on.
I will admit, though: I’ve always been a little scared of compression tights. Because honestly – if the SOCKS are that hard to get on, how much more difficult will it be to wiggle my jiggle into a pair of super-suction-y full length tights?
Answer: not at all. The C3fit Inspiration tights are compression, but they’re nowhere near as hard to get on as I thought they’d be! They were no more difficult to get into than a pair of tights, didn’t give me any muffin top, and felt incredibly soft to boot. They were easy to move in regardless of the activity: they kept me supported (and looking fly) through a tough speedwork session one day, held up well during strength training, and even handled a quick post-run yoga session without needing to be adjusted.
Bonus: I look forward to getting to rock these more often when the weather cools off again. In the past I’ve faced the struggle of trying to squeeze compression socks OVER or UNDER my full length tights when the temps drop on race day or long run day, but with these I don’t have to! They support me all over and keep my legs fresh without the extra layer or added bulk.
And when it comes to compression socks, I consider myself an unofficial expert. I’ve run in a lot of different brands and have discovered that while they each have their pros and cons, there’s always something to love – and the C3fit socks are no different. They’re super plush but not too thick, and the colors are really vibrant.
As soon as I put them on I could feel the extra support all over. I know they say you’re not supposed to try anything new on a long run, but I went for 7 miles in these babies right out of the package and didn’t get one blister or cramp the entire time. And even though they were thicker than I’m used to, I didn’t get the “swimming in sweat” feeling I get with other thick socks. Winning!
Long story short, if you’re in the market for some high quality compression gear, check out C3fit. Whether you’re looking for socks, sleeves, tights, or whatever – they’ve got it and I’m pretty sure you’re going to like it!
Now that I’ve caught you up on all the great races I completed at the Disney Dark Side Challenge and the Newport 10K, let’s take a trip through the rest of my recent running (and non-running) adventures, through pictures, shall we?
My first workout after the Dark Side Challenge was a strong one, with a bunch of strength training, a solid bike ride, and a mile time trial in under 10 minutes!
The following week I celebrated May the Fourth by surprising my coworkers with a pop-up Tosche Snack Station, followed by a solid 4 miles and a night of Star-Wars themed painting and wine at Pinot’s Palette with my friend Jenny!
Following the Newport 10K, instead of jumping right back into training hardcore, I’ve been listening to my body and have taken it relatively easy. I even let myself go wild with a whole bag of popcorn to myself on Mother’s Day when me and mama celebrated by seeing Snatched together!
hanging with our girls Goldie and Amy 😉
My “downtime” isn’t really much different from training, I just cut back on distance during the week and add some weight training to maintain my strength. This time around I’m also doing some slightly longer runs of 6+ to keep my legs conditioned for when I start back up on double digits.
This week I ramped things up with 3 workouts in a row from Tuesday-Thursday (run/Xtrain/run) and the downtime has apparently paid off: my 5K time Tuesday shocked me in a good way, and last night I crushed 5 miles unexpectedly at a solid negative split effort:
Now it’s Friday, my official Rest Day (TM) and I’m hydrating and looking forward to a bunch of happy miles on the trails and treadmill this weekend.
How about you: what running plans do you have this weekend? Let’s hear it in the comments!
Lately I’ve been getting a lot of comments about how much faster I’ve gotten in recent months. While it’s taken a LOT of hard work and consistency on my part, I also I wanted to share a great resource that’s played a big role in my improvements in the past 6 months.
That used to say 12:15 avg. pace!
I met Golden Harper, the founder of Altra Running, back in October at the Runner’s World Half & Festival, and he shared some great insight with me on how to improve my running form.
Since then, I catch myself thinking “run proud” or “chicken wings!” nearly every time I run – and as you can see, it’s working for me!
Full disclosure: I AM an Altra Running Ambassador, BUT they’re not paying me for this. I just wanted to share this great resource in the hopes that it’ll help you as much as it helped me!
After going into detail about the snazzy costumes I ran the Star Wars Light Side Challenge in, I got a lot of positive feedback from folks who had considered Disney races or running in costumes. So now that the Dark Side Challenge is complete, let’s take a look at the costumes I ran in this time (and how I had to modify my plans to account for the heat)!
Originally I wanted to run as Phasma for the half and possibly do Greedo or Han Solo for the 10K. I even went as far as spending an entire evening looking at hip holsters on Amazon (an activity I don’t recommend unless you want your Amazon suggestions to be VERY WEIRD for the next few weeks).
But because this was a Dark Side themed weekend, I decided on Phasma and Vader pretty early on. And here’s how I made them happen!
Captain Phasma
My search for a Phasma outfit started off rocky: I couldn’t find the right shiny silver top and skirt in matching tones AND performance fabric in my budget. But, as fate would have it, at the same time, my friend Tiffanie (aka Star_Wars_Runnah), announced that she’d be running the NYC Marathon in support of the March of Dimes and would thank donors by making them skirts or full outfits depending on their level of support. The chance to support a good friend, a great cause, AND check my costume off the list while getting something one of a kind?? Thank you, universe!
To top it all off I added some personal finishing touches, including a DIY cape I made the weekend before and the outfit was complete!
This one was easy and functional, especially in the Florida heat:
And as a bonus: I can wear almost all of this costume again, even when I’m not running! Except for the silver gloves. Those things were so soaked through with sweat you could see through them and went right in the trash after the race, lol.
Darth Vader
For Vader, my costume was even more simple, and thank goodness: that heat was BRUTAL, and even though I was only in one layer, the sweat had pooled at the bottom of this dress and needed to be wrung out from miles 8-13 (bleh)!
Vader Dress by Her Universe (on sale for $25 when I got it!)
The end product was something super-easy to run in that still got the Star Wars love out there. Plus – as an added bonus – it looked super cute, if I do say so myself!
Have you ever run a race in costume? What’s the craziest costume you’ve ever seen at a race? Share in the comments!
Truth time: at both the Star Wars Light Side and Dark Side Challenge weekends, I had some anxiety issues.
At the Light Side races, I suffered a pretty nasty panic attack in the middle of Downtown Disney after finishing the 10K and hanging out with friends at the We Run Social meetup. I had to sit by a fountain and calm myself for 15 minutes before sitting down for dinner. I didn’t talk about it in my recaps because after it happened, I leveled off and the rest of the weekend went off without a hitch.
I was still sniffling when I took this picture.
But then just last month, between the 10K and Dark Side Half marathon, I started feeling kind of burnt out and stretched thin. While I didn’t have a full on panic attack, things were a little bleak as I made it to the start line:
I remember filming this video as we walked to the start area, and as soon as I posted it I realized – oh no, that’s not my usually happy bubbly pre-race thing! I should delete it! But I knew it was important to share the truth, and it stayed up. And that’s why I’m writing today.
In the documentary about her and her mother that came out after their passing, Bright Lights, Carrie Fisher has a manic moment towards the end of the film and says:
“You know what would be so cool? To get to the end of my personality. And just like, lay in the sun…. I’m sick of myself.”
When I saw the film for the first time and heard Carrie say those words, I burst into tears: finally, someone had said it. At last, someone was able to put into words the feelings I’ve had for years about myself when I get anxious or depressed or have an episode. And of all people to do it, Carrie Fisher. Of course.
My anxiety levels tend to get higher when I travel, even if it’s a fun trip. And when I have a big race on the horizon, my levels spike too. So a big race-cation is basically asking for trouble. Through trial and error I’ve learned that I need even more quiet time when this happens, and quiet time in Disney during a race weekend is hard to come by.
By the time I toed the start that morning, I was tired of running, tired of Disney, and tired of myself. Just like Carrie. But I managed to run my way through it – literally – and come out the other side, just like I have every other time. It’s painful, and it’s not easy, but there you have it.
Just like I always say when talking about these things, remember: this is only my personal experience. Whatever you’re going through, take it with a grain of salt. Not everyone goes through the same things, but I wanted to share for folks who might experience similar issues and show them that they’re not alone.
How about you: have you ever experienced anxiety while traveling or in the lead up to a big race? How do you cope?
A while back, the folks at the Riker Danzig Newport 10K in Jersey City asked me to sign on as an Official Blog Partner of the race and invited me to run for free. Initially I was stoked because this was billed as the “fastest and flattest 10K course in the tri-state area” and who doesn’t love a fast, flat course? But I also knew that I might still be recovering from the 19.3 mile challenge of Disney just a few weeks prior, and I didn’t want let my mouth go writing checks that my ass couldn’t cash.
Spoiler Alert: I woke up race day feeling ready to run and left it all on the course for a big PR!
Race morning arrived humid and cool with loads of clouds and fog. Already I was optimistic about my performance: with cloud cover and low temps, running would be SO much easier than it had been in Florida a few weeks prior.
The race organizers really knocked it out of the park with an easy-to-find start area, ample (FREE) parking, tons of clean port-a-potties, and loads of volunteers. It really was one of the most well-organized races I’ve ever run.
After we parked and made the short walk to the start & finish areas (conveniently located near each other), I picked up my bib and tech shirt and we futzed around for a bit while the rest of the crew arrived.
I managed to connect with Meesh from The Slow Sheep (hey girl!) and it was so fun to meet a blog/IG friend IRL! We chatted about how glad we were that it wasn’t all elites running the race, compared our race goals and wished each other luck as we headed into the start area. PS – she PR’d that day as well! Congrats, mama!!
pics or it didn’t happen, right? 😉
The “corrals” were just signs on the sidewalks that indicated pace per mile, and since I was feeling optimistic I seeded myself between the 10:00 and 11:00/mile markers. The race kicked off promptly at 8:30am and immediately I could tell the conditions were right for a PR. I just felt good. So I pushed for Mile 1 (10:27).
The only negative of this course is that much of those first few miles were on badly paved roads filled with cracks and potholes, so I spent the whole time looking down to make sure I didn’t twist my ankles. But once we got through Mile 2 (10:20), we entered the more residential areas and the roads smoothed out.
From here the course had lots of twists and turns – because I couldn’t run perfect tangents, the final course was almost 6.4 miles by my watch. But it was nice to see all the folks cheering us on from their porches and sidewalks. Plus the aid stations were well staffed and plentiful – I never found myself wondering when the next water break would be.
After I finished Mile 3 (10:27), the wind picked up and we turned a corner into a wall of wind. I pushed through, kept an eye on my watch and made sure not to slow down, and thankfully we turned the corner about a quarter mile later and the wind died down. That became the theme of the last half of the race: running INTO wind then away from it as we wound our way through the city. I was pleased to see that I stayed consistent through Mile 4 (10:32), and when we passed an “Executive Dog Spa and VIP Dog Lounge” I lol’d: is the DOG the Executive, or the owner?
With a few miles left I grabbed some water and took a gel then picked up the pace to finish Mile 5 (10:25), and then we headed out and around the piers that overlooked the NYC Skyline. It was a nice view, even though the wind smacked us in the face every time we turned a corner.
The sun came out with a half mile to go and by the time we hit mile 6, I was shocked to see how consistent my splits were – and that I finished Mile 6 in 9:52!! With a quarter mile to go, my iPod died and my legs were finally feeling the fatigue of running sub-10:30’s for almost 6 miles, but I knew I was going to PR by a lot so I pushed the pace for the final stretch and passed quite a few people.
Finally I turned the corner and spotted the finish line so I dropped the hammer and sprinted past Mike, finishing with a nearly 6-minute PR at chip time 1:05:54 (10:36/mile).
I left it all out on the course and damn, did I feel great. It was one of those confidence-boosting races where everything just clicks into place. The only other time I’ve had such an incredible experience was when I set a 15-minute PR at the NJ Half Marathon last year.
Now I’m wondering just how much faster I could run a 5K if I gave it a go. After all, my current 5K PR was set in roughly 90 degrees and full sun back in September, so who knows what I could do on a cool, overcast day?
Overall I give the Newport 10K an A+ – if you’re looking for a course to PR on, this is your chance!
After completing the Dark Side Challenge in Disney World by finishing the half marathon and 10K in two days, I wrapped up my weekend with my mama with some time in Hollywood Studios. The Great Movie Ride, The Voyage of the Little Mermaid… we had a blast:
We even stumbled upon the Star Wars show happening right in front of the Chinese Theater almost as soon as we got there:
I don’t think I need to tell you that’s me going “OOOOOOOHHHHH” and “YEEEAH!” in the background of both videos.
If you thought I was having a crisis of joy during the races just from all the Intergalactic Love, you should have seen me when this happened:
Hint: I cried. Like a big dumb baby. And my mother loved every second of it.
As if my day couldn’t get any better, we headed over to Star Wars Launch Bay to meet some characters, and they did not disappoint. Once again, I was a total idiot around Kylo Ren (I swear I should make flipbooks of these photos just so you can watch me get dumber around him):
But me and Chewy had a MOMENT with a capital M when I showed him my Millennium Falcon medal:
And I went 2 for 2 on getting lost in Wookiee hugs:
Mmm. Smells like Kashyyyk. And a little bit like sweaty Disney cast member.
After noodling around for a bit and having a drink at the Prime Time Cafe while we waited for our dinner reservations, we had the time of our lives at the buffet – where we shared our meal with Mickey, Minnie, and the rest of the gang! Commence happy tears breakdown #272 of the weekend.
Seriously, when Mickey hugged my mom, I burst into tears. I’m an emotional person, OK?!
After dinner we headed over to the theater where the Star Wars fireworks show was scheduled for 9PM, and man oh man. I wish I could describe what it’s like, but videos and photos and words don’t do it justice. It was incredible.
After the show, we called it a day in the parks and got ready to head back home the next day, exhausted and happy and already planning our next trip back.
All in all, running both Disney Star Wars races was a dream come true, when I didn’t even know I had this dream in the first place. When I “joined” the Star Wars fandom and discovered these races, they were a “wouldn’t it be nice” thing to add to my bucket list. But after talking it through with my husband and working out the financials – and a lot of hard work and sacrifice to get there! – my brand new dream was a reality. And it only took about 8,000 miles flown to run 19.3 twice in 2 different states and earn 8 beautiful medals that each represent their own accomplishment.
There were plenty of pros and cons on each coast, and while I go into them in detail in their own recaps, I can say this:
Disneyland was smaller but had a lot more on-course support from local cosplayers so the run felt much easier, plus the milder weather made it a breeze.
The races in Walt Disney World were less in the park and more on the street (and HOT AS HELL) but they offered characters before and after the races to help you make the most of your experience.
Both race weekends were excellently executed in terms of logistics. RunDisney races are NOT cheap by any means, but Disney quality and organization is second to none. There’s a reason they’re one of the most well-known brands in the world.
All in all, if you’re a Star Wars fan and have the chance to do even one of these races, I can’t recommend them highly enough. They take a lot of work and time (and yes, money), but it all comes down to creating experiences that matter, and Disney races allow you to do exactly that.
With the 10K complete (and another day of Florida fun under our belts), mama and I got back to the hotel on Saturday night and found this fun voicemail on our room phone:
Gotta love that Disney touch 🙂
The next morning we woke up nice and early – 2:30am again! – and after putting on Flat Vader, I headed out for the Dark Side Half Marathon and the completion of the Kessel Run Challenge and Disney’s Coast to Coast Challenge!
The same bus ride as the day before took us to the same Start location, but instead of doing any character photos, I hung out near the stage area and watched the pre-race show (and almost got picked for the trivia contest but chickened out)! The best part was getting to see The Last Jedi trailer on the big screen with everyone, and admiring the insane costumes some people were running in.
That’s a Millennium Falcon in Mickey ears, a SUPER REALISTIC Krennic (hubba hubba), a Dark Helmet, and yes… a George Lucas (I stole the pic from Disney’s website, it’s too perfect).
My friend Lizzie was running the half with her uncle, so we met up and headed over to the Corrals, where we chatted and waited for a final bathroom break, then went our separate ways. While waiting to start in Corral E, I managed to get some video of the fun psych up speech the Stormtroopers gave every morning about these races being a test for Captain Phasma to find the best soldiers and it gave me a little giggle.
Another fun thing I caught was the HUGE fireworks display they set off at the very start – Disney really pulls out all the stops for these things!
After corrals A-D and E1 went off, one of the coolest things happened: the corral was cut in half RIGHT in front of me and I was one of the folks that got to hold the start ribbon!!
Me and the folks around me were losing our minds – how cool was it to START our corral? It was an awesome experience to be the very first people to start, and gave me a taste of what the elites must feel (although they probably don’t selfie NEARLY as much when it happens to them):
When the gun went off and the fireworks shot off over our heads, I ran through some ash from the firework and laughed the whole first 100 yards – we felt like we were in the Olympics all by ourselves up there! I had to calm myself though: no sense in going out at an 8 minute mile when I still had 12.1 more to go.
The first 3-4 miles in the dark were on the highway and in back roads between parks, and almost immediately I noticed a difference from the 10K. They had more music on the course, screens playing the movies, and one section where they laid out a crazy laser light show along a stretch of about 100 yards between forest on either side, complete with big speakers playing music and background noises and Ewok battle cries to simulate the battle on Endor! I loved it, even if I did get blinded by a few rogue lasers.
By about Mile 5, the sun started coming up, but thankfully, it stayed behind the clouds. It was a true blessing: with the sun hidden, it stayed relatively cool, even though the humidity was still around 90%, even at 7am.
In addition to a few character stops that I didn’t bother making, I got to see another fun piece of Disney magic around mile 6: a real live elephant! I didn’t get a picture, but apparently the Animal Kingdom park has an elephant care and rehab facility where they treat the animals, and one was hanging out watching us run! I know there’s some controversy around the fact that these guys are even there at all, but I had to laugh at how random it was to find an elephant on my half marathon course. Only in Disney.
After the Animal Kingdom we headed back out on the highway for mile 7 on, and my stomach was starting to get a little wonky. So I stopped at a medical tent for some Immodium (just keeping it real, folks), and headed back out for the final 5-6 miles feeling much better.
The view of the rest of the crowd behind me from an overpass we ran under then over.
One of the last character stops I made was partially for the character and partially just so I could get a break from running in the humidity! Darth Maul was never really a *must have* for me, but I turned out to really enjoy this guy. The cast members managing his line led him off for a break right before I got to meet him, so I was “first” in line again. The one cast member thought the line deserved a photo, so she snapped one. And when she showed me, I HAD to have it. But as I was giving her my cell # to text it to me, Darth Maul came back and had to wait for me to finish chatting. He was not pleased. Either that or that’s just his face. Either way, it made for some funny photos:
After Darth Maul, we ran through Hollywood Studios and I managed to get a fun picture with my squad, along with some nice runfies and shots of the scenery:
While I had gone easy for most of the first 10 miles, I ran the last 1-2 miles feeling strong.
It was the same route we ran the day before so we got to pass the Dolphin and Swan resorts before entering Epcot for the final stretch (and I got to see Hux again! What’s up, General Bitchface Weasley?!)
Bonus: as we went through the Boardwalk, I found Denny of the Diz Runs podcast spectating at mile 11 (he’s at the far right in a red shirt below)!! Seeing a friendly face and giving him a big ol’ sweaty hug was just the boost I needed to get me to the finish.
As if Mother Nature knew we were almost done, the sun came out FULL force as we rounded the corner into Epcot.
Having to run the final mile in full sun was brutal, but the view was nice and knowing we only had a mile left made me run stronger than ever.
After learning that the finish line was just on the other side of Spaceship Earth during the 10K, that big metal ball was a sight for sore eyes.
Sore, sweaty, exhausted eyes.
I gunned it and made it through the finish with a big ol’ smile – I had completed the challenge!
After getting a cold towel and my medal (and a bottle of water that I was instructed to have OPEN as I passed through the finisher’s chute, thanks to a bunch of attentive medical volunteers), I was directed to the challenge tents where I picked up the bling that made me want to do this whole thing: my Dark Side Challenge medal, Kessel Run Challenge medal and Coast to Coast Challenge medal.
I won’t lie: I cried when the volunteer put the last medal around my neck. She hugged me and said “Oh, bless you! Congratulations!” and I couldn’t pull it together. These medals were more than just pieces of metal; they were the culmination of a LOT of hard work, travel, and time, and they were finally mine. A fun side effect of all that bling: the music they made when we walked around the finish area:
After a quick stop at the medical tent to ice my sore calf (no big deal, just tenderness), I hung out and waited for one last picture with Kylo Ren (again with my awkwardness), and called it a day.
After a relaxing pre-race day in Florida, my alarm went off at 2:35 and I poured myself into my snazzy homemade Captain Phasma outfit for the Star Wars Dark Side 10K! PS – a HUGE thank you to Tiffanie (aka Star_Wars_Runnah) who made my skirt and tank BY HAND to thank me for donating to her NYC Marathon March of Dimes fundraising efforts! She’s one of the only other runners out there who loves Star Wars as much as I do, and I pretty much fell in big-puffy-hearts-on-your-Trapper-Keeper-LUV with her after meeting her in Disneyland during the Light Side Challenge. Go give her a follow on IG.
If there was one good thing about getting to Florida a few days early, it was being able to acclimate myself to the heat and humidity. Seriously, it was brutal. Like, in the 90’s with 86%+ humidity every day we were there. But arriving a few days early gave me a chance to get used to it and hydrate extra, which paid off in the end.
So I hopped on the easy-peasy lemon-squeezy bus to the start area right outside my hotel and before I knew it, we were at the Magic Kingdom parking lot start staging area!
I SPY A MATT THE RADAR TECHNICIAN!
The coolest thing I discovered about the WDW races (when compared to the Disneyland races in Anaheim) is that they set up character photo ops at the start and finish areas to guarantee that you get a pic with whoever your little heart desires without having to worry about missing them on the course (or being swept from the course if you waste too much time waiting)! They had Phasma, Kylo Ren, Darth Vader, Jabba, Boba Fett, and BB8! So what’s a girl who arrived way early to the start to do? Go make some friends in low places:
I almost stole Salacious Crumb but the running from the cops would have added extra miles to my legs before 19.3, which seemed kind of pointless.
After heading into Corral C and waiting for what felt like a LOT longer than I waited during the Light Side Challenge (probably because I was alone this time), we were finally at the starting line!
Once the gun went off just after 5:30AM, we took off in the dark through the Magic Kingdom parking lot and out the gate that folks drive through, which was fun:
The one downside to the WDW races (compared to Disneyland) is the time spent off Disney property. The run down the highway to get to the first park was a loooooong one. Especially when it’s dark and about 90% humidity and you’ve got a cape that doesn’t breathe (but absorbs your sweat quite nicely) flapping round your ass the whole time.
They DO kill it on the pro photos though, especially in the parks!
This is a funny shot I had to share: apparently, social media is now a part of my very DNA, as evidenced by this pro shot after I stopped to snap some on-course pics:
Pathetic. Hysterical, but pathetic.
And while I kept an eye out for the character stops at each mile, no one really jumped out at me as a must have. Darth Maul and R2-D2 were there I think, but I was just kind of hot and wanted the whole thing to be over with, really. The last 3 or so miles as the sun came up were quite lovely, though!
And for all the miles of non-character filled highway we had to run, I will say that Disney made up for it BY PUTTING HUX ON THE MILE 5 MARKER. YOU GUYS, HUX. GENERAL BITCHFACE HIMSELF. I died.
He’s one of my favorite characters in the new trilogy. He continually looks like he’s watching someone NOT use a coaster on his new Ikea coffee table, and it’s killing him. I love his sassy ginger resting bitch face and cannot wait to see him return in Episode VIII.
They also had some non-Disney sanctioned folks (aka the 501st legion!) IN the parks, which was cool!
Another fun part about the Dark Side race (and dressing up as a Dark Side character): is getting to play a BAD GUY! I had SO much fun sassing the Stormtroopers – and they got into it too, saluting me and giving Phasma the respect she deserves (yaaasss QUEEEEN).
Right before we finished, the last character stop that I made was for Chewy, because how can you NOT stop for Chewy?
Here’s another fun pro pic. Of course I had to do airplane arms because I’m a child and can’t think of anything better to do in front of a race photographer:
Here you can also see how poorly my $4 silver gloves handled the Florida heat and humidity. They served their purpose.
Finally I entered Epcot, the final half mile in view of Spaceship Earth, and crossed the finish line with smiles and thanking the lord this running sauna was over with.
The medal was so cool: a badass Stormtrooper with a red ribbon that matched my pedicure of all things!
While I was glad the race was over, I was even more excited: now I got to wait for more character photo ops that I didn’t get before the race or on the course!!
Although I cannot, for the life of me, seem to NOT be awkward around Kylo Ren. I turn into teenage me, acting all weird around the hot guy and forgetting how to form sentences or look at the camera for a photo.
We did get to do the Force choke thing. heheh. Which was fun.
Finally, I jumped in line for a photo with my namesake and LOVED it. I wanted to hug her like Mickey Mouse, but I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t have liked that.
Fun Fact: Alex, who I met at the Disneyland races, also went for the Kessel Run Challenge and ran these races too. He snapped a pic with Phasma and posted this to Twitter:
Thank you for making me giggle-snort, Alex!!
Once I had my fill of character photos I headed back to the hotel on the bus and showered for a day of fun with mama and friends at Disney Springs.
I also made it to the WeRunSocial meetup as well, where I got to hang out with folks I’ve only ever seen online – so fun to make “real world” friends!
Overall we kept it low-key (to spare my legs before 13.1 the next day) and had a great time before heading back early for another 8PM bedtime and 2:30 wakeup for the next day’s half marathon!
Oye I promise I haven’t fallen off a cliff – I’ve just been super busy with a new exciting role at work and other life-related fun. But now that I have some time, I’m going to start my recaps for the Star Wars Dark Side Challenge! Let’s kick it off with the expo and pre-race fun!
For this race-cation, my husband opted to stay home and let the girls off the leash for a weekend – that’s right, Mama and I took on Florida in a big way. The flight was excellent (any day that starts with a mimosa that’s 95% champers is a good day) and we landed, picked up our rental car, and arrived at the All Star Movies Resort ready to take on the world.
Our first order of business was to get to the Expo to pick up my bib and ALL THE MERCH. After dumping our luggage and grabbing a snack, we hopped on a bus to the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex where everything was located, and found it to be super easy to navigate. We even made friends with a gentleman and his tween son on the bus – dad Paul was completing the Kessel Run Challenge like me and his son Avery was taking on his first Disney race. We had a good time talking Star Wars and racing while my mom shook her head, saying “you people are all insane but it’s great!”
Speaking of insane, the Expo was B-A-N-A-N-A-S.
After picking up my bib, getting my photo snapped for the Dark Side Challenge, and earning some bracelets that noted my Coast to Coast and Kessel Run medal status for the end of the half, we stopped at the merch tents at the bib pickup building and the expo building (they were about 100 feet apart). After snagging a few things at the expo, I stopped by the Altra booth to say hey to my people there, and hightailed it out of the building. I was going on 14+ hours of nonstop action and needed a break.
Seriously, I posed with EVERY SIGN THEY HAD. I couldn’t help it. I was on Star Wars overload!
When we got back to the hotel at about 7pm, we were wiped out, but we still had to explore the hotel – and lo and behold, we discovered that they were playing a movie in the outdoor Movie Room by the pool!
The crisis of joy continued as I got to watch The Force Awakens while tooling around on social media and planning my race strategy for the 10k/half marathon to come in just a little more than 24 hours!
After the movie, we wandered to the pool for a bit, grabbed some dinner, split a Celebration Cupcake (because: CUPCAKE), and called it a night.
The next day was blissfully free of any plans, so we literally did nothing.
No, for real, we really didn’t do anything but wake up when the hell we felt like it, ate breakfast, sat by the pool from about 7 hours, wandered around our hotel and made friends, and then went to bed again. It was GLORIOUS.
The best part of our day was after dinner: in the hotel lobby, we stumbled upon a couple of women who were laughing their asses off at these screens hanging in the hall. See, we’d seen my name on one before, and wondered if it was just a coincidence. But these sassy ladies cracked the code: there were apparently sensors that read our Magic Bands (bracelets coded with our info that let us buy things all over Disney and get into our rooms), which then displayed our names on the screens. Krin and Julia realized that if they walked slowly past certain areas, it triggered their names to appear on the screens, which they demonstrated for us about a half dozen times, much to our mutual delight.
Seriously, we were laughing so hard I had to use the bathroom. It must have been the Disney Magic they pump through the air vents 😉
After we got our cardio in by laughing with our new friends, we took a slow walk around the resort property and snapped some pictures – it really was a nice place, even if it was a more “budget-friendly” option it was still Disney, so the quality is everywhere!
After a glass of wine by the pool after dark, we headed back to the room for Flat Phasma and an early bedtime! That 2:35AM wake up wasn’t going to get any easier.
Jess Runs Happy 