Racing For Fun

I’ve been thinking a lot this week about running and racing for fun. As I’ve mentioned many times on this blog, when I first started running, I made a promise to myself that I would not ever let it become just another competitive activity. I took every activity I tried very seriously when I was a kid, and running was going to be something I did just for me, to have fun, get outside in the fresh air, and get away from the craziness of life in law school. And then, about six months after I started running, I entered my first 10K race.

 

 

 

 

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Running A Disney Half Marathon in Florida or California

Wrapping up my recap of the 2016 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend, where I ran the 10k and half marathon races, I figured today is the perfect time to talk about the differences between running a Disney half marathon in Florida or California. I’ve now run two half marathons in Florida and one in California, and a 10k in each. By no means am I an expert – there are many runners who make it their mission to run all the Disney races, and I have no intention of doing that, because my wallet can’t take it! But having run at the marquee race weekend at each location in the past year, there are a lot of things I can share that any runner debating between the two should think about.

 

 

My 2015 Running Year in Review

As Christmas is upon us and it’s just a week until the clock strikes on 2016, I’m sharing my 2015 running year in review. I debated whether to do this, since earlier this month was my first blog-iversary and I recapped a few highlights then. But since Renaissance Runner Girl started off as a running and gluten free recipe blog, and I still focus a lot on running (with more lifestyle posts now than then) I figured it was only fair to give running a dedicated post!

 

 

Thinking Out Loud 9/17/15

This Thursday, I’m thinking about lots of random things. Like my recent trip to California. I’m still so happy I got to run the Dumbo Double Dare with my cousin and good friend, and experience Disneyland for the first time. And eat lots of delicious food.

 

Thoughts on the Dumbo Double Dare

To wrap up my Disneyland adventure, I’m sharing my final thoughts on the Dumbo Double Dare challenge, just as I did back in January when I ran the Disney World Half Marathon and shared my final musings on the experience. In case you’ve missed them, here are my posts on each day at Disneyland:

First Day at Disneyland

Day Two at Disneyland

Disneyland 10K Race Recap

Disneyland Half Marathon Race Recap

 

 

Disneyland Half Marathon Race Recap

I’m coming at you this Wednesday with my Disneyland Half Marathon race recap, including my opinion on the race course, thoughts on how it compared to the Disney World Half Marathon, and everything I ate in Disneyland when runger struck after! If you need to catch up before diving in:

First Day at Disneyland

Second Day at Disneyland

Disneyland 10K Race Recap

 

 

Disneyland 10K Race Recap

Good morning, and happy Tuesday! Today I’m sharing my Disneyland 10K race recap, the first part of the Dumbo Double Dare. My first day at Disneyland and Day Two flew by, and before I knew it Saturday morning arrived with a bright and early 4:15am alarm. We got up, got dressed, and left our hotel around 4:40, making the 20-minute trek to the corrals along with lots of other runners staying in hotels along Harbor Boulevard in Anaheim. I really enjoyed being able to get up “later” at the California Disney races versus those in Florida – still being on East Coast time made it feel early, but not unreasonably so!

 

Disneyland Take Two

The second day of my Disneyland Adventuring was even better than the first. As I mentioned, I woke up absurdly early on Friday, but I used the time to unpack and get settled and arrived at Disneyland Park as they were letting people on to Main Street. I had never been in a Disney park at rope drop – people get really crazy, running to their favorite rides! I strolled over to Dumbo first because I figured I needed to give my childhood favorite a whirl in my Dumbo race shirt.

 

 

First Day at Disneyland

Greetings from sunny Southern California! I’m checking in today to tell you all about my first day at Disneyland. I flew into LAX from New York on Thursday, September 3. I had to leave my apartment around 6am EST to catch my 9:30am flight, landed about 12:30pm PST, got on the Disneyland Express Bus at 1:15pm and finally arrived at my hotel around 3pm – 12 hours from when I left. I was pretty tired, since instead of sleeping on the plane I watched Tomorrowland (to get in the Disney spirit) and Pitch Perfect 2 (not as good as the original!) but I had a snack and went straight to the Expo at the Disneyland Hotel to pick up my race bib and tech shirts for the Dumbo Double Dare!