January Family Trip and February Princess Half Pre Trip

You got that right! There was an awful wind chill in Toronto while we were waiting for the park n fly shuttle. We got here and there was still quite the wind but nowhere near as bad. I didn't feel like I was getting frostbite! It was -36 when we left north bay

The difference in what Florida views as cold compared to us in Ontario is pretty amusing. There was a warning about the cold and getting hypothermia at -4C

Thanks! I've been hearing that RunDisney runners are really friendly and supportive

Well so far this trip sucks. On a happy note Erik is feeling good and was able to go ice racing this weekend
But guess who caught the bug yesterday......ME I started to feel it coming while we were at the expo but I managed to spend the day at Epcot. By the time we got home I felt terrible. I spent all day today in bed. We were supposed to go to AK and HS. I'm super bummed I missed the 10K. Goodbye glass slipper
I'm getting better so I really hope I can do the half tomorrow

I made it to the half! I finished in 3:04 which I'm very proud of Today were heading to MK and having dinner at the Crystal Palace. I'm glad I'm feeling better for our last day here.

Thanks! I'm feeling good now. All back to normal

I just need to get my (few) pictures uploaded then start my trip report. It'll be a pretty short report though

Well I still haven't got around to uploading my pictures but since there are only a handful of them anyway, I'll start my report and add them later.

For some strange reason, Erik chose to ice race instead of coming to Disney World So my Dad came with me instead. We stayed at BLT which was his first time in a deluxe resort. Actually, I think he's only stayed on property once at CBR. Anyways, the purpose of this trip was for me to run the Glass Slipper challenge ( a 10K on Saturday and Half marathon on Sunday). I had registered for the race in July and spent almost half a year dreaming of my 3 medals. Not once in all that time did it ever cross my mind that I might not get them. I was coming home with all 3 and that was it. Or was it? Sadly it was not meant to be as the 24 bug that was going around at home finally caught up with me But more on that later.
Thursday Feb 19

This was a long travel day. We drove to the airport (about a 3.5 hour drive) and then of course our flight was late boarding
We were supposed to take off at 5:15pm but it was almost an hour late. Luckily we still landed before 10pm so Disney still picked up our luggage We had two stops before us ( Fort Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge) and then we were home at BLT! We had a late dinner at Contempo Cafe and then since it was almost midnight, we headed to the room to watch some tv and get some sleep. Side note: I found it really hard to leave Erik this morning because he woke up with that 24 hour bug I had mentioned. I felt so bad leaving him when he was sick in bed But I knew he'd be better soon!

Friday Feb 20

We got up fairly early and headed to the expo at the Wide World of Sports. I picked up my race packet and we wandered around a little bit but didn't stay too long. I was starting to not feel good and was hoping it was just race nerves or that I was hungry. We then headed back to the resort to drop off the stuff and hopped the monorail to Epcot. We had lunch at the Boardwalk Pizza window and then rode Soarin, Spaceship Earth, Mission Space and Captain EO. My Dad's nickname that he's had forever is Fez so he always has to go to Morocco when at Epcot to check on his house ( there is a place called the Fez house)
I was starting to feel worse so we decided to head back to the room to rest for a bit and maybe come back for illuminations. sadly, that didn't happen. We weren't in the room very long when the flu hit me. I held out hope for a while that maybe I'd feel well enough to just walk the 10K the next morning. I set my alarm for my 3AM wake up call just in case, but by 10PM I knew it was over. I turned off my alarm, kissed my Glass Slipper and 10K medals goodbye and just hoped I'd make the half

Saturday Feb 21

Today was supposed to be a full day jam packed with fun. The plan was for me to run the 10K, then we'd head to AK for the morning and HS for the night. We had FP for toy story mania which my dad has never been on, tower of terror, and lights motors action. We were also going to do Star Tours and eat at Pizza Planet ( which I love). Then we would end the day with Fantasmic which my dad also has never seen.

Instead it turned in to me being in bed until 5:30PM My Dad walked over to MK. He said it was really busy so he didn't do much. He walked around checking out the resort and then relaxed on the balcony. I felt really bad about ruining his trip but I think he felt worse for me and how disappointed I was. I got up and took a shower to try and help make me feel better, then we went to Contempo Cafe so my dad could grab some dinner. I picked up a can of soup in the market place shop and we ate in the room. I was starting to feel better and by bedtime, I had my alarm reset for 3AM! I figured I might as well try the Half because what did I have to lose?

Sunday Feb 22

I was very surprised at how easily I managed to get up at 3AM. I was on the monorail by 3:30 and even though I was feeling better, I was really nervous. I had hardly eaten in 3 days so I wasn't confident I was ready. I was also nervous to be running by myself. It turned out to be ok. I was kinda lonely while we waited in the corrals but once the run started it was better. I struggled a few times though and wanted to quit. I made sure to take it easy though and take extra walk breaks. Today was not the day to PR The 3 hour pace group started right in front of me. I passed them on the way to MK but by the time we got there they passed me. I realized we were doing the exact same intervals so I decided to run with them. I lost them as we went through the castle ( the course gets really narrow, plus people stop for photos). I caught up to the them again in Frontierland and managed to stay with them until the road going by the golf course and Shades of Green.
I fell back and before I knew it, they were completly out of site I started to worry about the sweepers at this point because I knew I was now going to finish over 3 hours and I think 3:30 is the limit. I was really starting to get paranoid by mile 10 but then another runner shouted " only 5K left!" and I thought "what? 5K? That's our short run we do at home! I can do 5K!" I really needed that boost! As we were closing in on Epcot I checked my watch and realized I was actually making good time. I finished in 3:04 and I couldn't be more proud considering how crappy I felt the day before. In January we ran the half in 2:56 so I wasn't that far off I was super excited to get my medal and I wore it the rest of the day!
My Dad tried to watch me at the finish line but it was way too crowded so he headed to a different spot but I must have went by that spot as he was walking there so he missed me. Bummer!

After the race we headed back to the room. After I showered, we relaxed a bit on the balcony and then headed to MK. We had FP for Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain and 7DMT. We also did small world and pirates. We had a dinner ADR at Crystal Palace. Neither of us had eaten there before. It was pretty good. We mostly went to see Eeyore My dad got a good laugh when the handler told Eeyore that the next table he had to go to was the one with "the little girl in the corner". I will be 30 on March 22 Ah well, I'm used to it.

After dinner we headed back to the room for a bit and then headed up to TOTWL to watch Wishes. My Dad thought it was really cool to be able to go up there and watch the fireworks especially with the music piped in.

Monday Feb 23

Time to go home The Tragical Express picked us up at 8:50AM so we didn't have time to do much. We grabbed some Krispy Kremes at the airport and then found out our flight was delayed again. So we waited around and then finally boarded the plane home. It was freezing when we got to Toronto! Then we had a 3.5 hour car ride home but we made it.

Overall it was a fun trip. Of course it would have been much better if I hadn't gotten sick. But I had fun travelling with my Dad. As for not getting the Glass Slipper, if it had to happen, I'm glad it happened the way it did. There was nothing I could do about getting sick so I'd rather that than say running the 10K and then getting swept in the Half. that would have been worse. Also, if I could only run one race, I'm glad it was the Half and not the 10K. At least I got the main run done

But the main positive that came out of this is....another Disney Trip! If I had gotten the Glass Slipper, I wouldn't be running it next year. But now 2016 is my redemption year! And this time, I'm coming home with all 3 medals!

Here are the few pics I took

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