Pity Party of One, Your Table is Now Available

This entire process has been a series of pity parties for me, but the one I have been dealing with this week takes the cake. This weekend is Princess Half Marathon weekend. This weekend would have been my ninth consecutive Princess Half and my sixth Glass Slipper Challenge. It sucks beyond belief, especially knowing that I will lose my perfect status for Glass Slipper.

Aside from the race, it's also a girls weekend for me, my sister (who is celebrating a birthday today!) and niece. We run all the races, eat all the food, and park hop til our heart's content. Well, I am still hopping, just not between parks.

I know the feeling will pass, I know at the end of the day it is what it is, but it still sucks, plain and simple. I know that I am extremely lucky to be healing as quickly as I am and to be surrounded by so many people that are helping with the healing process. Truly, I am (and I sparely use this phrase) blessed.

So thank you to everyone that checked in on me this week because of the race. Thank you to my niece for understanding when I asked for no more updates from the expo. And thank you to anyone who has participated in my pity party this week, I promise I'll put on my big girl pants next week.

2018 Recap and Plans for 2019

Part of me is surprised that it is 2019, and then the other part of me is like OMG finally! 2018 was kind of a really long year, is it just me?

2018 had its share of challenges for me, but it also had a ton of milestones. I completed my first (and only?) Goofy Challenge. Yes, that's 39.3 miles in two days...back to back...because I'm clearly Goofy. It was some of the coldest conditions I've run in for the half and then for the full, we had a 20-degree temperature swing from race start to finish. It was disgusting! But you know what? I did it, and I bet my previous marathon time. And it did it all with my squad beside me.

I also crushed the Princess Half Marathon. I have been chasing a finishing time of 2:30 for a long time and this year I wanted it more than I've ever wanted anything in my life. I ran with two members of my squad and they got me to mile 7.5 ish before telling me to run and if they caught me they'd kick my ass. It was when I hit the fountain in EPCOT after the turnaround that I knew I could do it. It was within my reach. I dug as deep as I could and when I passed the 2:30 pacer that I had lost around mile 5 I started to tear up. I did it. I did it with seconds to spare, but dammit I did it.

Oh, and I did this little thing called the Chicago Marathon. My niece and I signed up through ALZ Stars and planned to run together. Somehow I got a 43 minute and change PR. While that was awesome, nothing, and I mean nothing, beats running those 26.2 miles with my niece. To see how far she has come in her running and to
have her right there with me was the best thing I could have ever asked for.

I do not have any big races planned for 2019. Right now my focus is to run races I've never done before. I want to explore. I want to work on speed. I want to work on stamina. Basically, I want to be the best version of me, both running and personally, that I can be. I cannot wait to see what 2019 brings me. Thank you 2018 for serving me a giant slice of humble pie, now watch in 2019.

Princess Weekend 2017 - 10k and Half

So it's been a while since the race...a long while...I know....

Here's a quick photo recap and some thoughts on the races.

For the past couple of years we have kept with our Alice in Wonderland theme. Lorren and I typically run this race together and usually at some point she curses me out. 

We had our own cheering section on the Boardwalk this year. The whole crew came down in their jammies to cheer us on. I cannot tell you how many friends of mine that were running the race said they saw my crew. 

It was a good race, we pushed but not too hard since the half would be the following morning. 

Now onto the half! For the past few years there has been a group of guys that run dressed as princesses. They are total studs and we have had our eyes set on finding them and taking a photo with them. I knew they were going to be in my corral so I would be able to sneak a photo, but they were hanging near the front when we first arrived. Lorren and I jumped at the chance to score a photo with our favorite, Jasman. 

I knew it was gonna be a good race.

The race started a little late because traffic was awful, but when it did, I was good to go. I took off nice and steady and kept the same pace for the first 10k of the race. 

Then it was game on. For the last half of the race I kicked it into high gear and pushed. I had a goal and I wanted to hit it. I wanted to be under 2:40 and my ultimate goal is 2:30. I came in at 2:37 and change. It was huge!

Best part of hitting your goal? Having those you love at the finish! Scott met me to give me my medals and my parents and kiddos were there too. After Lorren and Cathy finished we all had our celebratory beers. 

This is the first time my Dad was at the race and I loved having him there. Even though he was a little peeved about the shirt we picked out, I adore this photo. 

Next up is Star Wars this weekend. If you follow me on my Facebook page check in for photo updates! 

Ted's Princesses Take Over Disney Part 3: That Time We Ran 13.1 Miles and Raised More Than 8k for Alzheimer's

Back in the fall my sister began researching ALZ Stars because since our Dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer's we have wanted to support the cause. There were several calls/texts/emails between us trying to figure out the magical number of what we would raise. We decided on $7,800 since he was turning 78 that October. Our mission was set and the four princesses began the process of not only training, but fundraising. 

One of the cool things about fundraising with ALZ Stars is that we were able to represent this amazing organization by wearing singlets on race day. This photo kind of sucks because it's blurry, but you get the idea.

This was also the first time the three of us completely separated for the race and the first time I went left while Cathy and Lorren went straight to get to our corrals. I landed myself in corral H for this race and could not believe it. It was such a small corral!

Lorren was behind me in I and Cathy was in K. I knew where I wanted to end up and tried to stay near the 2:45 pacer. My best time for a half marathon is 2:42 and change and my best time for princess was 2:55 and change. I was confident that I could beat one or both of these times. The corral was small, the weather was great and I had to do it, not just for myself but for the cause. 

Melissa was going to be on the course cheering us on and thanks to the magic of text alerts would be able to find us easily. Plus we were all head to toe purple, we couldn't be that hard to miss, right? I found Melissa at the transportation and ticket center but I was completely on the other side of the path. I did the crazy wave and kept going. Lorren managed to snag a picture with her when she passed.

One of my favorite parts of this race is running up Main Street. There is just something special about running towards the castle with a ton of strangers cheering you on. 

Once I hit the 10k mark I knew I was picking up the pace. 2:45 was a definite possibility at this point, now I just had to hold steady to come under 2:42. I was able to keep cruising along on that back stretch, which normally if you're in the corrals further back is a hard feat. Normally during that 6.2-7.5 mile stretch you are walking. Thankfully, we were all running at this point. 

The sun was starting to come out around the 15k mark and it was starting to warm up. The on ramp at this point is my least favorite part of the race, but I had to push forward if I wanted to hit this time. I gave the drill sergeant the side eye as I jogged past and pushed forward. Cresting the hill I heard Bruce Springstein telling me that "Baby you were born to run" and I pushed forward. I only had a mile and a half to go and I was ready to be done. 

As I approached the back side of EPCOT I sent Melissa a text to let her know I was on the way. Her response? "You're too fast! I'm not there yet!"

I clipped through EPCOT glancing at my Garmin every couple of minutes. I knew it would be close. As I came down the stretch I put everything I had into my finish. Arms raised as I crossed I was proud of myself. I didn't beat my best time, but I only missed it by seconds. I came in at 2:43:04 which is not bad seeing that I raced the previous two days. But the best part? Having Scott there at the end to give me my medals. 

I met up with Melissa and we waited for our other princesses to cross. Lorren was next and we celebrated with some beer and champagne. 

It was really starting to get warm by this point so we hung out in the shade and waited for Cathy. Fun fact, Cathy met up with another ALZ Stars member, Kayla Anderson along the course!

This was actually really cool because ALZ Stars is not one of the official charities of the race, so it is not a common one that you would see. Normally you see Children's Miracle Network, Team in Training and oh gosh...some other one that I cannot think of. 

Once Cathy crossed we were ready for some kit kats and champagne, the Bednarek girl tradition.

We also Skyped with Mom and Dad, which is never dull. Dad asked at least a dozen times is we had been drinking. Well, yeah.

And yes, this is how my parents Skype with us. You could probably hear us giggling. 

After we cleaned up we headed to EPCOT for a celebratory German feast at the Biergarten. But first we had to take favorite "all the medals" photo. 

And yes, we wore matching shirts that said "Run Your Shells Off." 

I still cannot believe we raised more than $8,000 for Alzheimer's (we can always raise more though, the link is still live...hint hint). Thank you to everyone that contributed and shared our page. We could not have accomplished this without you!

Ted's Princesses Take Over Disney Part 1

Another Princess Weekend has come and gone. It was so big it will obviously take more than one post to cover. To be honest it may take more than one post to cover the insanity that was the expo, but I will try to condense that part.

Never have I had to wait in a line that went to the parking lot just to pick up my bib. Granted we were there an hour after opening on the first day...but still. It was as if every single princess was there at that exact moment. I will give it to the cast though, those lines were moving and everything was really organized. Also, it was a gorgeous day, so I did not mind waiting outside (unlike January when it was POURING when we went to the expo).

We also had to wait to get into the expo, but I really appreciated that wait. Otherwise it would have been pure insanity in there, which apparently it was prior to our arrival. Apparently people were fighting (like Black Friday fighting) over merchandise from runDisney. I don't know what the big deal was because when we arrived not even an hour after all of this went down the entire area was restocked with merchandise. 

I have a love/hate relationship with this expo. It is always so crowded, and let's face it, some of these women are mean, but it is worth it to visit my ladies at Sparkle Skirts. We cleaned up at the expo and then headed over to EPCOT for a relaxing day in the park. 

No, seriously, it was relaxing. We just walked around the park and went on whatever rides we felt like going on. Fun fact, all three of us fit in the clam shell on Nemo. I didn't say we fit comfortably, I just said we fit. 

There were barely any lines for the characters, so we had a chance to meet a few of our favorites. We had a jolly time with Mary...

And then we met Baymax. Can I tell you how Lorren was geeking out the entire time in line? It may have been from the drink in the UK, but whatever, it was adorable. 

The 5k was the next morning so we had to call it an early night. To tell you how early we had to get up, Melissa was just coming in from her flight (which was delayed) when we were getting ready. 

We kept our tradition of wearing our Peggy Sue shirts for the 5k and we also kept our tradition of walking the 5k. The 5k is not timed, so it's a perfect time to stretch our legs before the glass slipper challenge.

This course is a favorite of ours. It winds through EPCOT and is full of characters, including this crazy crustacean. 

 We saw so many great costumes along the course and I think one of our favorites was a little girl dressed as Belle (she was maybe 4 at the most) and her Dad was Beast. Y'all it was so stinking cute. #allthefeels

We also pass one of my sister Cathy's favorite popcorn stands along the route. Sadly, it was not open. 

We had a great time at the 5k and most importantly scored some super adorable medals. We didn't waste any time though because we had breakfast waiting for us at The Wave. 

Melissa was able to score a couple of hours of sleep while we were at the race and was raring to go for the day. Breakfast at The Wave was insanely delicious, if you ever have a chance hit up that buffet. It is seriously so good.

We also had reservations for tea at the Crescent Solarium in the Beach Club. They are temporarily trying this location and we were thrilled to try it out. Somehow I got stuck next to this...

While things were more ladylike across the table...

The tea was very similar to the Grand Floridian but it had more a sea flair. I mean, obviously, right, since it's at the Beach Club. Three of us had these dainty little sandwiches...

Lorren had a plank of meat. I wish I had a photo to show you. It was literally a plank of wood with sausages on it. A huge plank of wood covered in meat next to these dainty sandwiches. It was amazing on so many levels.

After tea we headed back to change into comfy clothes and then Lorren, Melissa and I headed back out to the parks. Hollywood Studios was crazy busy, but surprisingly the characters were not that busy. We met our favorite Wookie first...

Can we talk about how tiny Melissa looks here? She's not even at his armpit.

We went to meet Kylo Ren next. I was pretty excited, I'm not going to lie. But let me tell you something...Kylo Ren is no joke. He is all up in your face interrogating you and the three of us were not entirely prepared for this, hence the pose...

We bailed after this and headed back to the hotel. The 10k was in the morning and we had another early wake up.

I'll have more on the weekend in a few days. Stay tuned!

Princess Weekend - Part 3...The One With The Half Marathon

Sunday was the final race of Princess weekend and the final 2 a.m. wake up call. I was the most nervous for the half marathon and had set a goal of 2:45 - 2:50 for myself on the race. I knew it was ambitious because Disney races are packed with people and are often hard to PR in.

The weather was so much nicer on Sunday morning and I was beyond pleased with it. All four of us sparkled (check out Michelle's first sparkle!) and I firmly believe they make you run faster.

Because of our awesome PR at the Lake Nona half marathon, Michelle and I were placed in corral J which is the last of the proof of time corrals. I cannot even begin to explain how amazing it felt to walk into that corral knowing that I had to bust my behind to get in there.

The other great part of being in corral J was that we had a pacer. She was AMAZING! Before we even started moving she was giving us pep talks and explaining how the race was going to go for us. Michelle and I had good luck running with a pacer at Nona, so we knew we would finish well with this one. The difference though, is Nona doesn't have nearly as many runners that the pacer has to navigate through. There were definitely moments where I was figured I lost the pacer and would never find her again...even though she was carrying balloons.

The race overall went really well. I hung with the pacer until about mile 8 or so, then I decided I would do my own thing. I lost Michelle somewhere before Magic Kingdom and you would be shocked how hard it is to find someone in a sparkly skirt with a blue shirt. I mean, it's just as hard as trying to find someone in a tutu.

The last 5k was brutal for me. It almost always is because I'm pooped by this point and still have two monster hills to tackle, complete with a toy army drill sergeant yelling at me.  Once I hit the EPCOT parking lot (and passed the pacer) I started getting a little emotional. I was almost to the Peggy Sue spot and knew she wouldn't be there and also knew that I wouldn't be able to handle any tribute at that point. I also knew I was going to PR by this point, just not sure by how much.

Once I ran into the park something hit me that was strange. There were no guests. I have NEVER been at that stage of the race and not had guests around.

I hit the last .2 of the race and my quads were shaking. I had to give myself a pep talk to make it down the final stretch and hit as I approached and glanced at my watch I knew I PR'ed. It was only by a minute, but hot damn that was my minute. (For the record, it was a minute for my overall half and around 25 minutes for Princess)

Scott was waiting for me at the finish with the biggest smile. I crushed it and watched the pacer cross after me. BOOM. I also crushed that snack box they gave us (much appreciated runDisney).


Michelle crossed not that long after me, and then Lorren and then Cathy. I am so proud of all of us for crushing another princess weekend!

After we noshed on some hot dogs and showered, the kiddos joined us and we headed to Hollywood Studios to celebrate Cathy's birthday.

We had dinner reservations at 50's Prime Time Cafe, which shockingly Scott and I have never been to. The dinner was fabulous and we all literally ate all of the things.

We were even able to snag our photo in front of Cinderella's coach. How awesome is this?!

The entire weekend was wonderful and definitely a physical test. I cannot believe that I PR'ed on this race and cannot wait until Princess 2016!

2015 Princess Weekend - Part 2

Princess weekend continued with the Enchanted 10K, which is the first part of the Glass Slipper Challenge portion of the weekend. 

Cathy, Lorren and I went with an Alice in Wonderland ensemble. We are really not ones to wear costumes, we consider costumes to be Sparkle Skirts and Raw Threads shirts, which is exactly what we wore. 

Cathy was the Red Queen (I wish I had the detailing on her shirt because it was amazing), I was Alice (obviously) and Lorren was the Cheshire Cat. It should be noted that Cathy had a drink stirrer from Southwest in her hair because it had a heart on it.

It was definitely warmer waiting for the 10K than it was for the 5K, but we still huddled around warmers and stayed in our mylar blankets until the race start. 

The 10K course is one of my favorites (minus the first mile and a half). The course wraps through the EPCOT parking lot, through World Showcase, around the EPCOT resorts (Boardwalk, Yacht and Beach Clubs) and then back through the front of EPCOT. 

Michelle and I hung together for the race and I had to snag a photo of one of my favorite parts of the race, the moment you see the torches illuminated when you enter World Showcase. How cool is that?!

The other cool part about the 10K was that my boss and her daughter volunteered at one of the water stops. It was so fantastic having my own personal cheering section on the course.

I finished the 10K in 1:23:03 and Michelle was right behind me. Cathy and Lorren were not that far behind either. 

After the race and a giant breakfast (and when the weather warmed up just a touch) we headed over to the Magic Kingdom to have a fun-filled day in the park. 

Part of that fun included having a giant bowl of pasta at Tony's Town Square and maybe a few loaves of bread. I think the majority of the restaurant was runners carb loading for the big day on Sunday.

Aside from noshing on bowls of pasta, we spent some time just exploring the park. There were a ton of people in the park so we were not able to go on a lot of rides. Come to think of it I think we only went on the train and into the Laugh Floor. 

We really didn't even stay that long because we were all exhausted and had another early wake up call for the half. 

Only one more post to go and I cannot wait to talk about the half marathon! It was by far the best I've ever run at Disney and there will be more on that in the coming days. 

2015 Princess Weekend...Part 1

I just finished another amazing Princess Half Marathon weekend and have so much to share that it's going to have to be broken down into 3 parts...at least.

Thursday I met up with my niece and sister from some breakfast and then we headed out to the Fit for  a Princess Expo. We picked up all of our bibs, t-shirts and then headed to browse the goods. Loren and I even waited in line for probably 45 minutes to buy some Princess merchandise. Seriously...I didn't even wait that long for any rides this weekend.

Oh, and yes, I am in my Chicago winter coat with layers underneath. Winter decided to hit the sunshine state in a big way. Apparently the Frozen theme was literal.

After the expo we headed over to Morocco for some lunch. Neither Lorren or Cathy had ever been there, so it was a fun experience for them and delicious as always.

It was definitely an early to bed evening since we had the 5K in the morning. It was also the coldest run I have ever been on.  Before the race runDisney had heaters set up for the runners and we were wrapped up in mylar blankets. I honestly have no idea how many layers I had on, but it was a lot.

Scott was working on site that day, so I was able to meet up with him before the race. I may have stood extra close to warm up.

The three us decided we were going to walk the 5K since we were running the other two races that weekend. Also, since it was pretty freaking cold, none of us really felt like running.

I love the 5K course. The course wraps through EPCOT and there really is nothing better than walking around World Showcase with all of the torches lit and the sun just starting to peek out.

The three of us also wore matching shirts in honor of Peggy Sue. Peggy Sue was an incredible woman that would hold up inspiring signs along the course to encourage runners. You always saw her going into the Transportation and Ticket Center (usually when you needed a boost) and again right after mile 12. She passed away around the time of the January marathon and the runDisney community has not been the same. The shirts we wore had her famous sign on the back and we received a lot of compliments. Some people knew what the shirts were for and some did not, but now they know.

We also wore matching flowers from Fellow Flowers. This is a great company that is meant to bond fellow female/mother runners. We wore orange flowers and the meaning behind orange is this: 

"Bold. Honoring the journey of friendship. We are connected. Fiercely united. Marching on...one foot in front of the other. For health, for hope, for each other. To cherish, to protect - always. Believe. Achieve. Bloom. Endure." We thought that color was perfect for our shirts.

Did I mention the 5K was cold? I'm pretty sure we all lost feeling in all parts of our bodies at some point. After we warmed up a little bit, we headed out to Animal Kingdom. Yes, we wore our flowers.

The parks were kind of crazy, but we were able to hit Expedition Everest, some of the animal trails and of course, lunch. We went to Yak and Yeti and feasted on some delicious food.

My friend Michelle joined us that night and it was another early night. The 10K was bright and early (we had to be on the bus by 4 am) and we had to get our rest.

I have more posts coming this week. It was an incredible weekend and I cannot wait to share the rest!