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Ep 36 - Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend 2026
851 Plays30 days ago
We just got home from the 2026 Princess Half Marathon Weekend, and it was such a special one! This year marked the 10-year anniversary of Erika's very first race ever, which was the 2016 Princess Half Marathon!! In this episode, we're sharing all the details of our race weekend experience.
In addition to talking about the events of the weekend, we chat for a few minutes about the emotional tributes to Jeff Galloway throughout the weekend and the impact he had not only on us, but the entire runDisney community and the sport of running.
The big question we're aiming to answer in this episode of the podcast is: It's been 10 years since Erika's first Disney Princess Half Marathon... is it still a fairytale dream come true??
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Anniversary Reflection
00:00:00
Speaker
We've often said that our favorite run Disney race weekend is Princess Half Marathon Weekend, and this year marks the 10-year anniversary of Erica's first Princess Half. So the question is, is Princess still a fairy tale dream come true for us? Let's find out on this episode of One More Run, podcast.
Podcast Introduction and Recap Goals
00:00:23
Speaker
Hey everyone, welcome to episode number 36 of One More Run the Podcast. My name's AJ. This is Erica. We are married. And this little tyke over here is June, our dog. And we we introduced her a few weeks ago and she is just not quite as calm tonight as she has been in previous nights. And we're just, we're not sure what would happen if we left her upstairs by herself. So- I'm sure she's going to calm down soon. Yes. There we go. she's She's tired now. If you hear a little bit of rustling, I guess is what I'm saying. If you've never seen June, by the way, you need to go on Instagram or whatever and see a picture of of June. yeah So welcome to One More Run. This is our episode where we're going to recap Princess Weekend. And if you've ever heard one of our recap episodes, we kind of do it in timeline order of how things went down for us. We share our experiences. We talk about the good and the bad of that race weekend or that race you know experience, all that. So that's what's coming up. in this episode. And in general, we're really trying to help you feel confident and prepared for whatever race weekend you're headed into. yeah So if you've got a princess like on your like, oh, I'd love to do that one day. Hopefully this is helpful for that. Or if you were there, right?
00:01:32
Speaker
And you're like, oh yeah, that was awesome. Or, oh yeah, yeah, that was kind of hard. like But you know, just relate to it. So anyway, that's kind of how we're going
Listener Engagement and Community Connection
00:01:40
Speaker
today. Uh, we usually read a review on the podcast and Erica, uh, it's amazing how the timing lined up yes for this perfect review yes because, well, I'll let you explain it. Why, why do you think the timing just, I mean, couldn't have been better for review? So this was amazing because we, um, met somebody at the rise and run meetup this last weekend. Um, her name was Miranda yeah and she had told us, you know, I love your podcast. I've left a review and, um,
00:02:05
Speaker
she told us her handle and I was like, I know that that's like, we either just read that on a recent like recording, which may not have been published yet or it's next to come up or something. yeah yeah Um, and so we told her, you know, for sure, we're going to read it and everything. And then, um, and then she told us what she was wearing for the race for the half marathon. And so we're like, if we see you, like, we're going to, you know, we'll cheer you on. We're really going to look for you whatever.
00:02:27
Speaker
know, there's like, I don't know how many people were there. 17,000 people. Yeah. seventeen thousand something yeah Anyway, we're like standing the corral, which we got to start with another new friend, which was awesome. And all of a sudden we hear, and Erica, like from right behind us. And lo and behold, it's Miranda right behind us starting like, we y all started together. Literally standing right behind in corral seat. Yeah. The chances it got to be one in a million. Yes. It was awesome. So anyway, so we get to, you know, to record tonight and it's like, what review are we reading next? Miranda's review. It hers, yes. Which is awesome. So anyway, this comes from Miranda or MK Bowers 8 and it's titled Cures the Ren Disney Blues. I love that I found this podcast in the months leading up to my next Ren Disney race. It's helping keep me motivated and excited to keep training and prepared for what's to come. It's not my first time running Disney, but I still learn something new each time I listen. The guests AJ and Erica have on are fantastic and inspiring, and I can't wait to see what else is ahead. It feels like I'm listening to friends and could be right there with them having a great time. I also am glad I'm not the only adult that loves to watch the Mickey cartoons when I'm in the Disney bubble. Thanks, AJ. Hope to meet you guys one of these race weekends.
00:03:33
Speaker
And we just did. did. That was awesome. Thank you so much, Miranda. Yeah. It was so great to meet you and to hang out with you in the corral and just all the things. Yeah. And I followed up on Instagram after afterwards, you know, just to, how was your race? You know, how of course. And, you know, she ah she achieved all the things she wanted to do. i'm Sorry, this is not an episode about Miranda, but she wanted to get to the castle while it was dark. And she hit that objective. That's a big deal. Yeah. And she nailed it. So that's awesome anyway, proud of you, my friend. Great job. And thanks for the review. If you guys leave us a review, we'll read it on on air. um Okay, one more housekeeping thing before we dive into today's episode is that we had Devin on from Zippity DTs last week, which is a wonderful episode. Make sure you listen to that one. um But she offered us a Zippity DTs discount code. Yes. um And so I just wanted to like remind people to take advantage of that because I'm not sure I forgot to ask her like, How long is that good for? You know, like how long will that work on the website? So I will ask her. yeah But in the meantime, like i would say, take advantage that. Definitely take advantage of that. There are a lot of princess things that I'm sure she'll have online. um The discount code is one more run in all caps for 10%
00:04:39
Speaker
Yep. Take advantage of that for sure. Yeah. Okay. Erica, you ready to talk princess stuff? Yes, let's
Reflecting on Personal Milestones
00:04:44
Speaker
do it. Okay. So we're talking our experience at Princess Weekend, which was this past weekend. And this was our last race of the 2025-2026 Run Disney Race season. Yes. wow So let's dive into that. Usually we kind of have some disclaimers or whatever. These are less like disclaimers and more like just kind of a heads up yeah for context, right? Right. What you need to know kind of going into this whole experience for us. So first is that princess half marathon is really special to us, not only because it's fun, but because it was your first race princess yes was your first half marathon. And that was 10 years ago. Our first race was three years ago. yeah And so big break there, COVID, you know, just no interest in running, you know, for a gap. yeah But I mean, this literally to the to the month or whatever, it was 10 years for you. So yeah that that, it was a big deal. Yes, it was very special. um We say this a lot when we recap a race weekend, but this is just our experience. um Everyone's experiences are going to vary. So this is just what we did and how it worked out for us. Yep, certainly. And then um the kind of a hard left turn here is that um most of you probably know this already, and it's happened after we published our episode last
Jeff Galloway's Legacy and Influence
00:05:56
Speaker
week. We published on Wednesday mornings. Well, Wednesday evening, as most of you know, the Run Disney community lost the most influential person in running yeah and and our biggest cheerleader. Uh, Jeff Galloway passed away at the age of 80 and that loss had a big impact on the race weekend. Uh, I mean, as well as just on each one of us individually. Totally. And so, uh, we're going to kind of address that here up front. Uh, Jeff meant a lot to us. Uh, I didn't have a personal relationship with him. Right. I had a, I had a high five from him on the marathon. We saw him at every expo and the line was really long. And I always thought, you know, uh, I, I don't need to say hi. I'll say hi. And I, you know, Maybe another time or maybe I'll see him another time this weekend. And then I never actually did. You know? So I was going to ask you, Erica, like how do we even begin to describe the impact that Jeff's work and encouragement has had on us and even just the whole community? right How do we even begin to describe that? Yeah. So I'd say for myself personally, really, and for a lot of people that do run Disney is that
00:06:59
Speaker
Jeff really is the reason why I call myself a runner now. Like if I had not have known about the run walk method, I never would have started because there's no way that I could have just gone and out and, you know, ran a full marathon or, or a half marathon without stopping. Um, you know, and a lot of the times, especially people that aren't runners, like they hear that, that you're going to take a walk break and they think, well, that's not really running, but it is. Right. Um, and so I think that was why I was so emotional when we found out that we, um, had lost Jeff, because if it wasn't for him, I mean, I wouldn't have all these races. I wouldn't consider myself a runner. And then also, like I said, just for a lot of the run Disney community, we talk about how run Disney is so it's inclusive. It's for everybody. It does not matter your size or speed or ability. Um, you can get out there and you can do it if you put your heart to it and you know, you're set your mind to it. And, um, And I think it's because Jeff has inspired so many people and encouraged them and told them, you can do this, you know? And so. Yeah. um And when he said it, you believed it.
00:07:56
Speaker
Absolutely. You know, like sometimes you get those inspirational leaders or whatever. Right. They say it, but you still have the doubt. Yeah. But something about his authenticity and his credibility and just his the spirit in which he would encourage you. Right. You really believed him. Yeah. Absolutely. Whether was on stage, on the sidelines or in one-on-one conversation. Yeah.
00:08:16
Speaker
Totally. So obviously he meant a lot to us losing him right before the race weekend was hard. Um, what impact do you think it had on the races? But, you know, this is sounds weird, but good or bad, right? And what kind of impact do you think that that timing had? I think, you know, especially for the first couple days, everybody was pretty somber. Um, it sort of reframed like why we were doing it.
00:08:39
Speaker
i think a lot of people, you know, when they were, um, tempted to throw in the towel this weekend that they kept going for Jeff. Yeah. And, um, I would say that for me specifically, like there were several times on the end of the race where I was really tired, my hip really hurt and I was walking and then I would think I need to do another run. Like I just need to keep running. I can't just keep walking. And then I would think, no, Jeff would say it's fine to walk. Like Jeff would say you're injured and like, you're still speed walking and you're still doing running intervals. Like,
00:09:13
Speaker
I felt, you know, I felt better about that. And then when I was tired, of course, I still was like, I'm going to run some more for Jeff. You know what i mean? Like he would say that we can do it. So let's do it. So I think he, he gave me permission to run and walk this weekend. good So, yeah. What do you think the spirit in the, like the, the vibe in the air was like from expo through the, I mean, we were there at the 5k, we didn't run it, but we were there. Like, what do you think the, just kind of the, the vibe was?
00:09:40
Speaker
I would say that the first few days I feel like we're a little bit more heavy. Yeah. um I think Chris even said like we've we've been sad and not that we're immediately going to stop being sad, but it's Jeff would still want us to celebrate and he would still want us to have fun. And so. um The fact that she showed up and did everything that she did this weekend and Pelkey as well, yeah like everybody involved. Yeah. Weston still ran like all all the, all the, all the, the family, everybody that's close to Jeff still came in and showed up. And I think I heard her say, Carissa say like, uh, it's because Jeff would have wanted us to.
00:10:14
Speaker
Is that right? Did I understand that correctly? Yeah. Sorry. I just, uh, I started thinking about the music that was playing in his tribute video and that got me. Oh yeah. Yeah. They had an amazing video. They played it, I believe before each of the races, but we saw it before the 5k. Yeah. Um, just the music and everything. Like it was a really well done tribute. Uh, they were, didn't last very long. it would They didn't overdo it, you know? Um, but they showed that in front of thousands of runners before each race. And I thought that was really well done. Yeah, that was really special. Yeah, I don't know how Carissa got there and did that. We talked about it on the way on the way down, and you had anticipated, like, she's going to get out there she's going to it. And I don't know how she did it, but like she said, he would have wanted her to. And I think so i think her just being there like encouraged a lot of people as well. 100%. It was good. um The other thing, yeah know, people kind of, you know, paid honor, tribute whatever in a few ways. The video was really good. Yeah. We had the um everybody, i guess it was a not organized, but like on Facebook, people started chatting about like, you know, what they were going to do. And we saw they yeah a lot of people were going wear like a blue and green ribbon. Right. To run Disney colors or whatever. um So we we did that. A lot of people did that. Yeah. You know, just kind of Tons of people.
00:11:25
Speaker
Yep. There was a um we didn't see it. I don't know that it was on the half course, but there was a, they had a chair where Jeff normally would have been. It was. At the end of the course. It was at at the end of the half. I missed it. Okay. It's because of what happened for us as we came in. yes surprise Yeah. Surprise. We'll talk about that minute, but you know, why, why i the end was, we had to, special moment at the end of that race but we'll talk about that in the in a minute but as the jeff was i guess it was there for all three races yes it was like a director's chair yeah and it had his thumbs up on it and um it was really cool like that's where you would have seen him you know and people stopped by ah put their friendship bracelets that they may have given to him normally you know and so anyway that was really cool And then we were already gone by the time this happened, but the Galloway Pacers walked in.
00:12:13
Speaker
With Carissa, yeah. Yeah, at the very end of the half. yeah And obviously it's the Galloway Pace group, right? So that was a pretty special moment. There's videos of that online. I would you go find that for sure. yeah it's It's emotional.
00:12:25
Speaker
And like we said, i mean, just so proud of how they handled that. um I think overall the weekend was more of a tribute yes or a thank you yeah for sure an honoring of jeff and everything he's done for the sport yeah and the king community and all that and less of a sad memorial right know what mean like we kind of all went in a little sad yeah but i think that like quickly it was like i get to do this because of right of jeff yeah so do all these other people right yeah so yeah um I think to the Galloways and everyone that was close to Jeff, like I would just say that we're praying for y'all. We're very proud of how you've handled and carried this whole thing. And I'm sure it wasn't easy, yeah but you really have already carried on as legacy and in these first few days already. yeah you know And so we um were certainly in our and our in our thoughts and prayers because we didn't have that personal relationship with him. we He impacted us and we never even met him. yeah Can't even imagine if you had a had a close relationship with him. Yeah, so no.
00:13:22
Speaker
Any other thoughts on on Jeff before we kind of turn back into what, you know, the events of the weekend, anything else about Jeff Galloway and the man who literally made it possible for us to do
Princess Weekend Experience and Milestones
00:13:34
Speaker
this. Yeah. And we're literally hosting a podcast about running. Right. Of all things. Right. Because of him. Yeah.
00:13:40
Speaker
Totally. No other thoughts before we move on? Nope. Okay. Thank you all for letting us talk through that really fast. So we're going to talk about our experience this weekend. So before we dive into the timeline, Erica, why did we sign up for this race? You know, you sign up for this months in advance, right? Why did we sign up for this specific princess race? Yes. Well, we knew we had to do it really because two reasons. Yeah. One, we wanted to get our coast-to- coast to coast medals since the Disneyland race is going away. Yep. And also because, like we've said a hundred times now, it's the 10-year anniversary of when I ran my first princess half. Yeah. It's always been my favorite race weekend, and, you know, it just was a kind of a milestone race.
00:14:19
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, certainly. and And I would say we love it. Like we, every experience we've ever had at Princess, whether it was the first one you and I and Taylor did together, Taylor's our daughter, whether was that one, whether it was the one where we got to bring Addie, our other daughter with us last year. yeah Like we, you know, we've, this is our fourth one, you know, together, uh, your fifth. So we just love it. Yeah. Right. So I think those are the reasons we signed up. All right. So let's do this in timeline order. Normally we kind of like, I take a day, you take a day. Then, you know, we rotate like that. yeah So are you willing to start? Yeah, totally. Thursday was the first day really for us, but it started early. Yes. talk about that. Started very early. So we got up and decided were just going to drive basically like from the wee hours of the morning. That's right.
00:15:00
Speaker
So we arrived at the hotel bright and early in the morning and freshened up in the locker room, basically. They couldn't get us into our room early. Yeah, no, not that early. They looked at us and were like, uh, no. Yeah, no, no. Um, and then of course jumped on to try to get a virtual queue, which we totally lucked out this time. We don't we got group seven, which was awesome. I know. Yeah. It's, it's always like a roll of the dice, right? Yeah. You know, are you going to get group seven or group 135? Right. And we've kind of had both ends of the spectrum. Of course. We just got lucky on this one. That's right. The reason why we wanted to get to the expo early ah was because of the amazing Brooks shoes. yes um I had my eye on a pair and a friend of mine had asked me to try to grab a pair for her if if they had any. So, so yeah, so we know we did, we we did. We, we got to the expo. We didn't even look at the merch. We just ran to the Brooks line, got the shoes. Which, you know, not to make y'all jealous, the line really wasn't that long for us because we were boarding group seven. So we still waited in a 12 minute line or something. yeah But like people, everyone was going to the expo for these shoes. right
00:16:05
Speaker
Specifically, I think everyone was after the Rapunzel shoes. The Rapunzel shoes, yeah. And Belle shoes seemed to be pretty popular too. Yes. And by the time we got in there, even though we got in super fast, there already was a sign over two sizes of the Bell's shoes, which, you know, they were still shipping them to people's houses. But yeah, they were sold out for, you know, walk away. we were doing the switchbacks like, don't sell out before we get there. Don't sell out before we get there. Yes, yes. For sure. But we secured the shoes. Yeah.
00:16:31
Speaker
Awesome. sure did. How was the rest of the expo for you? Like, you know, once we got the shoes, like merchandise pickup, bib pickup, all the things like any, anything memorable. Yes. So
Expo and Preparation Insights
00:16:40
Speaker
I would say that the expo was definitely crazy, which we knew that it would be, you know, first day, first few hours, the lines did move, but the lines were very long. So the lines to get our bib, the lines, you know, to get in, to look at the merchandise we had pre-ordered some stuff. So we didn't really, you know, go in, know,
00:16:57
Speaker
really like super gung-ho about any specific thing other than those shoes. yeah um The bib pickup was simple. We were in the same line this time to pick up. Like our numbers were so close together. I still got C, which was awesome. Don't hear that the wrong way. I love It's my sweet spot. You of course got A, but you started in C with me and stayed in C with me. So that was whatever, a moot point. Kelly, you can see how much I love you. That is correct. Yes. I see what you did there. see what you there. see what you did there. So yes, let's see. You know what never talk about? What? We never talk about is they have mobile checkout at the expo. Yes.
00:17:35
Speaker
And so we've never talked about this before. the way to go. bottom line is if the line is really long at like the just checkout for merchandise, you can literally go in the Walt Disney World app, right? Mm-hmm. go to mobile checkout, scan every item yourself on your phone and hit pay. And then it shows you a QR code. You take that QR code, you show somebody at the exit and there's never a line for that. You just show them, you know, here, this is where I paid for it. They confirm that you, the items you paid for is what's on the order and you walk out. So if you ever kind of like the checkout, it's like a switchback of like, you're like, oh my gosh, I don't want to do that. Do the mobile checkout, which is, we learned about it a few, you race weekends ago and we like it.
00:18:12
Speaker
Yeah. One of the things that thought was crazy was that we were basically in the expo within the first 45 minutes of it opening. yeah And you had pre-ordered me the pink princess zip up jacket.
00:18:24
Speaker
And i was like, maybe I'll try it on before we go pick it up in case I need to exchange a size or something. yes And um there were no smalls left. 45 minutes in on the first day. yeah And the lady, um this lady asked a cast member, she was like, are there any more smalls? I mean, the expo just opened. And she was like, no, we're already sold out. Yeah. I thought that was crazy. yes I mean, it wasn't even like midday on the first day. It was 45 minutes in on the first day. Right. I guess Club Run Disney had already come through. So that would be a factor. Yeah. um But yeah. I don't know. That was just insane. I was glad that you had pre-ordered it for me, but. Certainly. Yeah. I feel like the more races we go to, i was talking to my mom about this, you know, the less I'm like, oh my gosh, I have to have x Y, or Z. yeah Like you just kind of have to.
00:19:06
Speaker
think we've said it a few times, it doesn't change your life. like It doesn't. It's really nice to have. Yeah. And chances are that when you're going to wear that jacket the most is that weekend. Right. Yes. You know? Yeah. And then, yeah, you might wear it again. Yeah. and and You know what mean? But you're probably going to wear it to next year's princess. Correct. flex that you were here at last year's princess. But you're probably, generally speaking, not wearing it.
00:19:27
Speaker
Not loted all the time like you think you're going to. Right. Yeah. Okay. so Anything else about the expo? I did not have Wetzel pretzel. How sad is that? I know. The line was long. I waited in the line. And then they were out of pretzels. And then they ran out of pretzels.
00:19:39
Speaker
Yeah. So we did not. They said it would be 15 minutes and we'd already been in the line so long I said forget it. Forget it. Yeah. That was it for the expo. I would say that you'll notice as we talk that we never went to any of the theme parks on this trip. um This was our first time escaping the parks altogether, but proof that it can be done. That's right. We had lots of fun exploring the the property, which we always talk about doing. Yep. We really wanted to take it easy. We wanted to be rested. We wanted to save money. We wanted to just be chill.
00:20:04
Speaker
Yeah. And so it was a very intentional decision. Yeah. Because we're always running around with our heads cut off, even when we had our annual passes. Like, it's still just, oh, but we're here, so yeah we got to do it. You know, we just, we said months ago, yeah let's make this one really easy. Yeah, totally. So, yeah, after the expo, we came back. We took a short nap since we had been driving for hours and hours. We finally unpacked, which normally that comes first, but that came way later. yep um And then another fun thing that we did was we went over to Fort Wilderness and visited with friends. That's the first time we've ever been there. yep Yeah. They were there. um Kimberly was going to do yoga. And so we have never been to Fort Wilderness. And so we went over and visited with them, met their family. And that was super fun. It was one of the few times that i had to like figure out the transportation because I didn't know it. yeah Right. Like I know that you can get there from the Magic Kingdom. So, but I think you take a boat and then we land we take the boat and we land at Fort Wilderness. And now I'm officially at somewhere I have never been. Right. And and it's nighttime. So I have no idea.
00:21:05
Speaker
Zero idea. You know, and they're driving us around on their golf cart. I'm like, this is where the hoopty-doo review is I'm like, oh, That's the loop-de-doo review. you know like I've just never been. yeah so It was a fun adventure. Hanging out with friends is always good. Yes. That was very fun. Great. And then we went back to the hotel, right? Yeah. And just called it a night if if I remember right. That's right. Mickey cartoons for sure. That's right.
00:21:26
Speaker
While was brushing my teeth. Awesome. Let's move on to Friday. So we got up super
Cheering and Encouragement
00:21:31
Speaker
early on Friday. We should have gone to bed early on Thursday and we didn't. We did not. think we got like three hours of sleep beginning that night. Yep. We got up. Actually, it was funny because we were sitting, sorry, backtracking, we were sitting there with our friends yeah and he said, what time are you getting up tomorrow?
00:21:44
Speaker
And we're like, oh, holy cow, what time is it right And they rushed us over. We got to go. Yeah, they rushed us back. Okay, so Friday we got up really early. We kind of just got up on a runner schedule. You know what I mean? Not quite as early, but we got up, caught the bus, which was really easy. ah We said it when we spectated at Disney World Marathon weekend. When you're not stressed out oh yeah and you're not wearing a costume and you're you're just riding the bus, yeah la, la, la. you know so Anyway, we did that. We were supporting our friend, Kristen, who is from home. Kristen, not Kristen, you may have heard. So we've had two Christens on the podcast. Yes. so now this Kristen is Kristen with a Y, not Kristen you've heard from running in makeup. So this Kristen, Kristen with a y is
00:22:29
Speaker
is from home and she was on the podcast on episode 15 so a long time ago talking about how this is gonna be our first race run disney race yes and we were like yes yes yes we are getting up we don't care how early it is or whatever yeah we are going to be there for your first run disney yes yes and so we hung out with her at the start line and uh then you know when she was ready to go get in her corral and we went and staked us a spot yes on the corner yeah what did you learn about spectating this time around um I learned that the louder and the more obnoxious you are, the more you lift up everybody else that's around you. Yeah, totally. Right? And so different from our last – our first experience was on Main Street and everyone was already loud. Yeah. and whatever and we learned from them. And then we went to Disneyland and cheered with –
00:23:16
Speaker
The other Kristen, oh gosh, this is getting confusing. yeah Running in makeup. Can I just call her running in makeup for now? yeah We cheered with her and we learned, wow, you can just be loud. You know what I mean? Even if no one else is around and you can just cheer and be a little bit silly. yeah And so we brought the fun because there wasn't anybody on the corner.
00:23:32
Speaker
Right. When we got there, I don't know if it's a normal thing, but not very many people to me in comparison to the marathon right or the half marathon. Cheer for the Spectatorship, whatever for the 5K pretty low. Yeah. Which I took on as a personal challenge. Oh, yes. let To say, oh, well, if y'all aren't going to be loud. Right. We We're going to twice as loud because these runners are still doing something special. That's right. Yeah. And so what was funny is as we walked up to the gate and I literally just like a total dork. Hi, where are you from? Who are you cheering for? What's your runner wearing? And they were, everybody was caught off guard or, you know, like 10 people there were caught off guard. And we just made instant friends. We did. Yes. We were handing out clappers people. And it was super fun because then as soon as the first runner came through, like not really very many people cheered, but we were like, yes and kind of caught everybody off guard and then i apologized to this one uh one lady i'm like hey sorry we're a little bit loud yeah she's like it's okay and i apologize to her now for like over like the course over the next hour right hey sorry we're a little loud she's like it's totally fine i'm like what's your runner's name you know i mean and so we were in the cheer for her runner when they came through yeah but we just loud and and obnoxious so obnoxious but There were a few runners, even on the 5K, which you know I know some people just walk it because it's not time, do whatever, that I screamed extra loud for them and pointed at them yes and said, I see you. Yes, absolutely. Right? yeah And that runner turned up the gas 20% to 30%. Yes. And that was enough. Yes. My voice was gone. Right. My arm was tired from the clapper thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was tired from just getting up early. Right. But it was worth it. Yes, absolutely. We stayed for the all the way from the first runner to the very last runner. Yep. Like you said, especially the ones at the end, like they just really needed that extra encouragement. It was so fun. um One of the new things that we did this time with another runner um who was spectating. Yeah. is that we called people out by their costumes. So last time we did like the ABCs of encouragement, yes this time we were calling people out by their costume, which was fun. Another thing that I absolutely loved was because it was the 5K, there was tons of little kids running. yeah And so to be able to like see, you know, little like five or six year old bell or whatever, I'd be like, good job, you're almost done. You know, they were so cute. Oh my gosh, yeah.
00:25:50
Speaker
I'd like to publicly apologize to the parents who, when their kid came around the corner and I yelled and screamed and pointed at them and said, oh my gosh, you're so fast. yeah And then they took off and the parents, you can like, whoa, whoa, whoa, where are you going? And then I'm like still screaming for the kid. Like, yes, yeah, keep going. You know, all the way down the thing. yeah So I'd like to publicly apologize if I sent your kid down the chute and you weren't ready for them to go. right. The other one was that little girl who they'd interviewed in the um in the corral, and she was like, I want to win. Yes. and we saw her come by, and you were like, you're winning. Yes. You're almost there. know. Oh, my gosh. They were all so cute. I think the kids was like one of my favorites. Yeah, you don't get to see kids on a marathon or half yeah marathon or anything like that. yeah, yeah. It was super fun. We enjoyed it. ah
00:26:37
Speaker
I know it seems really kind of maybe it seems not worth it to cheer for a 5K, but it's really fun. It was really fun. So I'd encourage you to do it, especially if you're coming down for the race weekend. You know what I mean? And you'll notice in our schedule, we rested and caught up with our sleep or whatever later. yeah But for those runners, especially, yes, I get it. Some people just treat the 5K as an opportunity to dress up and be in their costume and get photos. But some people are doing it because it's hard. Yeah. And it's their first race.
00:27:04
Speaker
And so cheering for them was fun. The other thing that was awesome was because we were there for the entire thing, yeah later we saw them all over the property and we were like, we saw you running this morning. We literally saw you running. Yeah, yeah some people, they they have no idea who we are. Well, most of them, they're running. yeah They'd have no idea. But we're talking to a lady on the bus over, we're gonna end up in the store here going to Fort Wilderness. I saw her running. Right. And we're talking to her on the bus and we never said, I saw you running whatever. But we're like, I remember seeing her. Right. You know, like especially, you know, when you stood there the whole time. So it was, it was a ton of fun. It was really fun I know we've talked now spectating a few times since we did it for the first time. And I can't believe it took us this long. Right.
00:27:44
Speaker
To spectate race. Yeah. It's awesome. Yeah, you should do it. yeahp We went back to the resort and of course, when you finish the five k whatever, it's still only like 7.45 in the morning. right And so we got breakfast at the resort, kind of just took it easy, showered and all that stuff. And then um there was something you wanted to do yeah that I was a little bit hesitant about. You ended up having more fun than me.
00:28:06
Speaker
That's kind of true. That is very true. We went to the Zippity DTs pop-up, which was at like um a hotel kind of in the Disney Springs area. So we took a bus to Disney Springs and just walked. It was very easy to do. But my takeaway there is if you love Zippity DTs, which they're not sponsoring this and whatever, like this is not an endorsed statement or whatever. But if you love it, you need to go to the pop-up. Yes. It's so well done. Yes. Like they take a hotel conference, at least at this one, a hotel conference room, ballroom thing, whatever and they decorate it. And it's like Barbie just threw up in there. You know what I mean? It's just pink and photo ops. You know what I mean? and And they had some new merch that you would know this, but they've had some new stuff specifically for Princess Weekend. They had some of the classics and um yeah, it was awesome.
00:28:50
Speaker
yeah Tell us who you met. Oh, I met Steve. Steve is Princess Security. And Devin said on the podcast last week that that's her husband. Yes. That, oh, yeah, no, you won't be the only guy. Steve will be there. And I just, I think he even said on the podcast, okay, so like one other person, like that's not, like I'm still not going. You know what I mean? Anyway, i walk in and Devin is awesome. Mm-hmm.
00:29:11
Speaker
Steve's like better. like Like Steve's awesome. And so I got to spend the whole time chatting with him. They're both just so down to earth and so cool. So so nice. yeah Anyway, so that it was really fun. Guys, if your if your girl wants to go to the pop-up, go. You know what i mean? And it really is. it's it's It's a ton of fun. Yeah. So we had a really good time. We sure did. Okay. So after that, we headed back, it took a long nap because we still hadn't actually caught up on sleep. So several hour nap, woke up and you surprised me. You're like, hey, does this, this hotel has a hot tub, right? And I was like, it sure does. You're like, can we go to the hot tub? And we did. yeah And so we sat on the hot tub. bring it up to say, it's just another relaxing thing. So instead of going to the park and seeing, can we get on Guardians of the Galaxy, right? And and all that. We love doing that. But this trip was more of like a
00:29:58
Speaker
How can we just come into this treating it like a relaxing vacation, you know relaxing situation? Right. So we did that. And then we weren't quite ready for bed because we'd taken a long nap and we weren't getting up early the next day. So we decided to just go do another adventure we'd never done. Yeah. Right. So we went to Wilderness Lodge um and we ate at Geyser Point. Yep. Which I'd heard, everybody says, that's great. You know, it's a poolside bar, but it sits on the water and it's really great. The electrical light parade pageant thing comes, boat thing comes by. So we did that. Yeah. And it was pouring down rain.
00:30:28
Speaker
Yep. Wore in our rain jackets, you know what I mean? But we did the whole trek and got out there and I'd never been to that resort and it's awesome. Yeah, it's really pretty. I think it's kind of like Animal Kingdom Lodge in that it's not easy to get to and from and all that stuff because of transportation, but the resort itself is awesome. Yeah, once you're there, you're in a love it like i Like if we had had the kind of relaxing weekend we had this time where we weren't doing a lot of transportation, that might've been like the place to stay. Oh yeah. I mean, that lobby was awesome. Yeah, it was really- Food was good. Really nice. Yep. Yep. Okay. So that was, and then we headed back and went to bed. Yeah. Perfect. Anything else about about that day? The big takeaway is spectate.
00:31:05
Speaker
Yes. Oh no, and go to the Zippity DTs pop-up. Yes. Oh, and go to Wilderness Lodge. and That's all. Anything else? No, that's all. Okay. Perfect. All right. So Saturday we slept in and we really needed it. Our bodies were so messed up and we were like, tomorrow we were run the half marathon. So we better actually get some sleep. but and Let's see. We did not set an alarm, which was awesome. I think we still both woke up early. The difference is that I rolled over and went back to sleep. I did too.
00:31:30
Speaker
For what? Like 20 minutes? No, like an hour. woke up at like seven and I went back to sleep till eight. Gold star for you. Thank you very much. Anyway, I kept sleeping. And then AJ, you went for a shakeout run. did. I just felt. I just felt. And I wasn't going for time or anything the next day. I just felt. Have you ever had that? Where you're like, I need to move. Totally. Yeah. And so I did that. Yeah.
00:31:51
Speaker
And then even though that it was only Saturday mid-morning, we started packing or I started packing, just started getting stuff um arranged, which I ended up being really grateful that I did that because we were super rushed on Sunday. Yeah, we knew we were departing immediately after the race. Yeah. so the packing and all that stuff was kind of a- Yeah.
00:32:08
Speaker
Prepping for that. Totally. So then after that, we did one of our favorite things for every race weekend is we went to the Rise and Run meetup at Disney Springs, which is always tons of fun. Meeting new friends, visiting with Rise and Run people. um You know, we all hype each other on Holler Hype. And so getting to see each other and catch up and all that good stuff, that's fun. um And then after that, we met some friends for dinner Disney Springs when we were there. Yep. um Look, if you're going to Disney Springs, like maximize the amount time and then get out. And then get out.
00:32:38
Speaker
Oh my gosh. No, it's awesome to meet up with ah old college friends from- Yes, who have also been on the podcast. Yep, Erin and Trisha have been on the podcast and they have caught that run Disney bug and they are in so much trouble. Yes, they have. So we yeah we talked run Disney all the through dinner. We sure did. It's awesome. It was awesome to hang with you guys. Yes. And then we went to bed early, like 7.45, 8. Yes. And we both were like completely out. Yep.
00:33:04
Speaker
And then we both just popped awake at what we thought was like 2 a.m. Right before my alarm. I was like, yes. Right. Yeah. Right before the alarm. I got it. Might as well just get up because I was like wide awake. Yep.
00:33:15
Speaker
It was not 2 a.m. It was 10 p.m. still on Saturday. Yeah. We had been asleep for two hours. Like two hours. That was it. And ah yeah I went back to sleep, but you had a hard time, I think. I did. Yeah. I basically just sauced and turned till two. But that's, you know, that's typically how it goes. So so yeah, that was Saturday.
00:33:31
Speaker
Yep. So like we said before, easy peasy stuff, right? nothing Nothing stressful. Yeah. So it is finally Princess Race Day. We've been training for this for a long time. Yep. And we're ready
Race Day Moments and Personal Growth
00:33:40
Speaker
2.15. The alarm goes off and we're out the door by three, which is our normal thing. And different. We normally go to the first bus stop, you know, so that we don't miss a bus whatever. Anyway, we like walk out of our room and we're staying right by a like bus stop two. Yep.
00:33:53
Speaker
You know, which is like, we normally don't do that because like the bus can get there and already be full. We see this bus pulling up and I'm like, did we go for And you're like, yeah, go for it. We just, we just went. There was nobody. The guy, the bus, he waited for us. Yeah, waited. I was like, is he waiting for us? So we started running. Yeah. And so we just got on that bus. There was like six people on that bus and we just got on. So much better than marathon weekend where we pushed it, got there, went late later and got lost. So I'm still just a huge fan of being at the race start, bored and cold than on the bus. Well, not bored, but cold. But looking for, you know what I mean? Like, oh, what should we do next? You know mean? Because that's what you're about to find out we just did. Like, do you want to take photos? You know, like, I'd rather be doing that with a little bit less sleep than on the bus going, oh my gosh, we're going to be late. I'm going to miss the whole thing. I mean, you're going for the race. So it's not worth the extra 30 minutes of sleep. It's not. It's not.
00:34:49
Speaker
Not in my opinion. Unless it's dopey weekend and you've been doing it for days, then I can't speak to that. That's right. um Okay. So when you're earlier your arrival is easy. We literally, we got in line for two character photo things. One photo turned out, the other did not. It was funny. We we went to get our picture with Minnie and we walked away and you said, that was not, that was not good. And I'm like, I know.
00:35:11
Speaker
And you're like, what? I'm like, I wasn't looking. You're like me either. She took the photo so fast. I didn't even have time to like register where the photographer was standing. And then she's like, okay, you're done. I'm like standing all awkward. No, no, we're not done. yeah yeah But they were moving people through really fast and we never want to slow anything down. no You know, we're not those, we don't want to be.
00:35:29
Speaker
No. Obnoxious, right? Yeah. So we just got out. No Minnie Mouse. No Minnie Mouse photo. um Anyway, so we did that. We saw some of y'all and at the kind of the beginning, whatever you call that. What is it called? It's not the reunion area. Well, I guess it is the reunion area, yeah but it's before the race. So it doesn't seem like it'd be called reunion.
00:35:46
Speaker
It still is. It's still that. Okay. So we met some folks by the bleachers. Is that true? Yeah. And that was really nice. Just catching up with y'all. Super, super fun. And then thanks to the podcast, we were able to start the race with a new friend and really connect with her. Like we said, oh, you're out sea. Like, let's start with you. And we just met up with her and literally got to spend time yes with her, which was really fun. Yeah. So Gracie, she like, start this started the day before. She had come late to the Rise and Run meetup. And she was like, I really wanted to talk to y'all, but she knew that we were going to meet Aaron and Tricia for dinner. Yep. So she's like, can I walk with y'all to dinner? And we were like, sure. So we're like talking the whole way there. It was awesome. We, you know, we had, we'd corresponded through email and and whatnot, but it was fun to just talk to her. And so then we found out during that walk to dinner that she was going to be in Corral scene. and We're like, well, let's start together. yeah And so we did, we like hung out in the Corral. and We did like the first little bit of the run with her. And that was just awesome. It was fun. was so much fun. It was fun just getting to hear someone's story and why they're doing this and all that stuff. And sometimes we get that, but it's like in microbursts just because of the craziness of race weekend. Well, let me tell you, when you're waiting in a corral, you got nowhere to go. And it was really nice to just be like, okay, so tell me this. And so-
00:36:57
Speaker
That was a lot of fun. Thanks for starting with us. and that was ah That was a joy for us. Yes. So 10 years ago, Erica, you ran Princess without me. Yes. That was your first run Disney race. And this weekend we got to do it together. Yeah. Right? I mean, it actually together together. Because yes even though we've done four princesses now, we've never actually run the princesses together. Yes. We've usually done the challenge. Correct. So we'll do like a together. Oh, that's a good point. And then we'll separate for the half. Right. Yep. So this was our first time running a princess half marathon.
00:37:28
Speaker
together Yes. which so just kind of fun like your tenth one or tenth tenth year yes fourth you know fifth one by gosh the math is killing me but but let me try and say it again tenth year ten years ago gosh i said it wrong again ten years ago this is your fifth princess that is correct and we got to run it together yes um So we're running and whatever, and you have this photo yes of you from, and don't, are you willing to let me share this? yeah Sure, yeah. Share this photo? and It's already been shared on Instagram. That's right, we already shared it. So I guess I can talk about it. Yes. Pre-healthy decisions, Erica? That's such a nice way of saying that, yeah. Okay.
00:38:06
Speaker
Ran her first marathon race at all of all 10 years ago yeah and you survived it. and But you had this picture of you, yes very different looking Erica, standing in front of like the Magic Kingdom parking lot entrance sign or whatever. yeah And even though the course of this time didn't actually go that same exact route because before you used to run under it. yeah Anyway, we got as close of a picture as we could this year, 10 years later of new Erica. Yes. That was really special for me because when I ran the Princess Half Marathon in 2016, it was just like a bucket list thing. you know like I had not run before. I hated running. um I was not in good shape physically or emotionally, really. And i was like, I want to just be able to say that I ran a half marathon once in my lifetime. And so I ran it, came home. I had not trained very well for it. The race did not. I mean, I finished, but it did not go great. I was in so much pain and I was in so much pain for like the weeks following. Yes. um Then about a year or so after that, I just decided enough was enough. And i changed everything about what I eat, how I live. You know, I started exercising Making time for yourself. Yeah, totally. And I lost 60 pounds and I've been able to keep that off to this, to this day. And so to recreate that photo was just really special to me. Just, just for me personally to see like basically the fruits of my labor really, I don't know how else to describe it other than, you know, it, it showed like all the hard work that I've put, that I've put into making myself better. And I would say, you know, that sounds selfish, but not better for me. I mean, I have as a by-product, but really it's helped me become a better mom and a better wife. And I have more um to give to other people because I've taken you know good care of myself. And um you know I just want to stay healthy and keep running long long into my whatever, 70s. Like Bob from Rise and Run. Yes, you know, just, I don't know. So yeah, it was very encouraging. Also, it was funny because when I ran in 2016, I didn't know anything about running. And I was wearing like the worst possible clothes. I was wearing like 100% cotton t-shirt,
00:40:13
Speaker
If you notice in the photo, I have like a sweatshirt tied around my waist. That was like my throwaway sweatshirt, but I didn't want to leave it on the side of the road. So like I carried it with me the rest of the way. favorite is the corded headphones. Oh my gosh. Everything about it was terrible. The old earbuds, you know, with the cord running down. Yes. Didn't have any fuel. I didn't even know what fuel was. I think I tried to run whole hungry? I think I tried to run the whole thing without any kind of anything. So yeah. You've come a long Come a long way. That's for sure. That's awesome. Any encouragement that 10 years, you made this big change or whatever. Any encouragement to someone who they're like looking at, I need to make some lifestyle changes, right? You know mean? And instead of looking at you like, oh, Erica's got it all together. Oh, no. I did not. Yeah. I know. But if someone sees current Erica, they might think, oh, but she's got it all together. She knows what she's doing. Any encouragement for that person? Yeah. Yeah. I would say, figure out what your why is. Why do you want to be whatever fill in the blank? Why do you want to be healthier? Why do you want to lose weight? Why do you want to whatever, um, your why has to be big enough to keep you motivated. Um, I would say that just focus on making, small changes, small, healthy changes. So like for every meal, I would be like, what's one healthy change that I can make. It doesn't have to be something major. It honestly, it shouldn't be something major overnight because then it won't be sustainable. Yeah. What's a small thing you can change that you can be consistent in and get those small wins over time? That's right. Right? And it builds that endurance. Absolutely. Yep. Which is like, even when we start running, we talk about slow and That's I was just going to say. Like, you know, when we all started these races, we thought there's no way I could run three miles, six miles, 13 miles, whatever it is. Start with one mile. Correct. And then work your way up. And walk it. Yep. And then barely run, walk it. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. hundred percent. The only thing I would say is that once you get a taste of how much better your body feels and mentally and emotionally and all the things, you know, I to have a stomachache all the time, like for years. And then it was like, once I started eating a little bit healthier and stopped drinking soda, was like, wow.
00:42:15
Speaker
I feel so much better. I have so much energy. yeah You know, sometimes people say, look, go I don't have any extra time or any extra energy to do X, Y, or Z. yeah But I find when you make the small changes, you have more energy. So sure invest in yourself because you are worth it.
00:42:31
Speaker
I love that. Thank you, Erica. Very proud of you where you've come. Thank you. In these 10 years. And now you're hosting a podcast about running of all things. Of all things. That's right.
00:42:42
Speaker
Awesome. Okay. So, uh, we took that photo. It was fun to, fun to take that photo with you. Um, so then we made our way through, and you know, all the spots that we have been a bunch of times now because we've been fortunate enough to do these races. And so, um, this course is very familiar to us now. Yes. Very.
00:42:58
Speaker
And, uh, We came in through Main Street and some friends, actually same friends we had dinner with the night before, they text us like at the last second and are like, we're coming to cheer you on. Yes. And and it was their anniversary. Aaron and Tricia were on Main Street yes at the butt crack of dawn. Are you allowed to say butt crack on sure podcast? ah Yes. As long as it's butt crack of dawn. okay they were at the They were up early cheering us on on Main Street, which is so awesome like when someone's willing to cheer you on because <unk> they're seeing you for five seconds. And they're doing a whole lot of work and effort and taking the monorail and all the stuff for that. yeah So we really appreciate you guys coming to cheer us on. it really So, so much. It gives you like this just boosts that you need to get through several miles or the whole rest of the race. Yeah.
00:43:42
Speaker
So thank you all for being on Main Street Force. So special. It was awesome. Erica, I know that you had hip pain yeah for a lot of the race. By the way, we got through the Magic Kingdom and that was as magical as it always is. yes And then we got out of the Magic Kingdom and I think that's like where you, like you might've been in pain the whole time, but now you really noticed the pain. is that Am I saying this right? Yeah.
00:44:01
Speaker
No? Yeah, no. Yeah, yeah, yeah. so you were dealing with hip pain on the back half. And I remember at one point you just kind of said to me, you said, okay, I'm i'm having a lot of fun, but like we're going to need to do a lot more walking. yes and uh so we did that no no problem like the whole point of this was to do it together right um uh during that back half the holler hypes really helped yes they did so some of those were super entertaining right so thank you all for sending holler hypes and then is this point with the is there anything before i talk about like the end of the race any anything exciting before i share what happened at the end no no no go ahead yep
00:44:35
Speaker
Okay. Do you have Kleenex for me? It's all the way over there. So if I need to get it, I will. Okay. So couple days ago or before, I texted our daughter Taylor and said, hey, I've got a surprise idea.
00:44:48
Speaker
And Taylor is in college. By the way, Taylor's our daughter. She's in college. You've heard us talk about her a bunch of the podcasts. She usually runs Princess with us, but she's at college, yeah several hours away. Yes. Anyway, logistical coordination and whatever. And bottom line is Taylor came on her own. We totally surprised you. And she was at the finish line. And I lost it. Oh, my gosh. So we're running in the final curve. I told Taylor exactly where she needed to be. She did she did all the effort to get there. I mean? She drove almost all night. She was there early. And I told her how to do the but all the things, right? Mm-hmm. And i we're coming around that final curve. I know she's there. i yeah She confirmed she's there. Coming around that final curve and I say to Erica, I'm like, hey, hey, hey, ah you want to walk? want to walk?
00:45:32
Speaker
And I'm like, are you crazy? You want to walk in the final curve? can see the finish line. I'm like, hey, you want to walk? And I think I have a video recording where you said No. And then you said, need to walk. And I said, no, you don't. This is when you're normally telling me, give it all you got. Come on, blah, blah, blah. Like, I was like, we are not. Yeah, I could see Taylor. Right. you couldn't see Taylor. I knew what she was wearing. Yes. Anyway, I'm like about to be hey, Erica, you need to. And you somehow out of the corner of your eye heard her, saw her.
00:46:03
Speaker
Yeah, I heard her. And then you said, Erica, look. Yeah. And she gave you the scream of all screams, if I remember right. Yeah. And she was on, probably illegally, on the bike rack, on the gate, standing on it, like leaning over. Right.
00:46:18
Speaker
Cheering for you. And I was like so, so surprised. Like I – could have had like a number of any other friends surprise us and I would have been like oh my gosh, you came? and Never in a million years would I have thought that Taylor would be there.
00:46:34
Speaker
It meant so much and I just wanted like – jump the gate yes yes that's what i was just gonna say i wanted to like stop and jump over the gate and hug her and then she's just like screaming go like and you can hear it in the video like she's screaming and then i'm just running bawling yeah like to the finish line and that's why we missed jeff's chair yeah because that was all happened right there and um yeah i just was bawling like I don't know. I'm very proud of all of our kids, but like she's 19. Like she has her own life in college and, you know, i know I drive her crazy. And so like for her to show up and support us like that on a race that she probably wishes she was doing with us. She's always done the princess with us. And so for her to do that, I mean, I just couldn't even tell her enough, like how much that makes me.
00:47:30
Speaker
Yep. So very, very special. It was awesome. Yep. Yep. So Taylor, thank you for coming and supporting us. So after the, you know, we had to do the finish line shoot stuff and we kind of were like trying to hurry yeah because we knew who was on the other side and we're trying to get to it. Right. Yeah. You know? And so we kind rushed through, no stretching. Yeah, no. stretching like grabbing myself from gear check like thank you and you know like out out the thing so we can get to her as fast as yeah possible and spend some time with her you know just we we she's in our um what do you call it like our our our photo what do you call that when you yeah not that i did it photo but like normally you hold the i did it sign but like yeah whatever that step and repeat yes andate yeah so she's in that photo with us yes you know yeah for sure i was like get in here like you just drove all the way here you should be in this picture yep So she was an awesome way to wrap up princess. Yeah. It was so great. it' So great. Cool. Anything else on that before I, no, um, this race locked in our coast to coast. And so of course we picked up medals and all that stuff for that. Yeah. And, um, yeah, we don't know when coast to coast is coming back. So this, uh, this is our way to lock that in. And then we hung around long enough to see some friends. We hung out with Taylor and we headed back to the hotel. we i mean, we, we would love to just hang out and party the whole time, but yeah, we had to get out because we were checking out of the hotel. We asked for an extended checkout. Guess what?
00:48:49
Speaker
Busy race weekend. Didn't get the extended checkout. And so we had to be out by 11 because we had to drive home because we had to get to work the next day. like This seems to be a theme this race season where like we have got these races, but like we also have just a lot going on and we're just trying to fit all the things. We got three kids and two jobs and now a new daughter. all the things. yes And so, yeah, just taking a week long vacation every three weeks doesn't really work. no so So we had to get home. Bottom line is we had like 45 minutes. That's that's generous. you think I was going to say like 30 and then I maybe pushed it.
00:49:23
Speaker
Oh yeah. You were like, theer is are is housekeeping waiting outside? i was like, are they at the door? yeah they're not, I'm going to put my makeup on. So we did that. And then, um, you know, once we were out of the room, we just grabbed some, some lunch, drove home, Uh, cause again, we had work and stuff yeah to be back to on Monday morning.
00:49:40
Speaker
That's right. Great. Anything else about the timeline before we talk about some of our other things like the good and the bad and what you loved and all that, anything else? No, I think that's it. Excellent. So we talk about the good and the bad on our episodes, uh, whatever the topic is, this is princess weekend, Erica princess weekend, 2026, I should say. yes What did you love about this weekend?
00:49:58
Speaker
I think one of my favorite things about Princess Weekend is that the costumes are legit on fire. Oh, yeah. like Yeah. Yeah. So many creative things, so many tutus and sparkles and yes just all the things, like more than any other race weekend, I feel like. The number of times I said,
00:50:16
Speaker
How is she running in that? Oh my gosh. What about the girl that had like the giant headpiece? What was that? Was it a doll from small world? I don't know. I don't know. It's pink and white. And I don't know, but this thing was huge. Yeah. And she ran in it. Yeah. Like I saw her running. Yep, and Maximus. Someone had huge- Oh yeah, a bunch of Maximus heads yeah from Rapunzel. That was awesome. But then we're not talking about the 5K. The 5K had great costumes. We're talking about time of the half marathon. 13 miles. I do feel like the costumes are really good at princess. Yeah, they are. um One of my goods there is kind of the same line. I love that guys embrace the princess weekend. Right, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I i embrace it in like, I might wear a Prince Charming shirt that has some pink on it. Right. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But there are guys-
00:51:00
Speaker
wearing tutus and dresses and they're full on supporting right this weekend yeah like i think that's awesome bob brought back his tinker bob costume yeah yeah exactly right exactly right like stuff like that the tutu guys like any any of that oh yeah i'm just like it just makes me smile yeah because you can't really get away with it if you did that on marathon weekend you'd be a little out of place you know what i mean like okay we're allowed to dress up but i'm not sure why you did that you know what i mean um princess weekend it's like everything's fair game yeah I will say I went into the bathroom and there was a guy in a dress in the bathroom and I immediately froze. like yeah Did I just go in the wrong yeah bathroom? Yeah, I did. For a half second, it was like, oh, that's right. That's a dude. Okay. Right, right, right. yeahp The other thing that I love is that there are a lot of first-time rent Disney runners. So I just feel like, and I could be wrong, but I feel like more than any other race weekend, there's a lot of first-timers at Princess. That's awesome. I think so too. And you get that you can, one of the ways you can tell is you get a lot of that like either so excited or so nervous. Yeah. You get kind of, you can really tell yeah that someone is like trying to figure out how all this works. Yeah. Or they're just like, oh And a lot of like girls trips.
00:52:08
Speaker
Yeah. Like groups of girls. That's true. Yeah. Not everybody's husbands are willing to dress in pink and go to the Zippity DTs pop up with you. That's right. Not everybody's husband is as awesome as you. That's right. I have pink shorts and willing to wear them.
00:52:20
Speaker
You love them. What are you talking about? I love them. As long as my shirt is black. Like i feel like I counter the pink shorts with a black shirt. Any other goods? No. Okay. Anything bad? Anything that, I hate to say the word bad, but anything you just didn't like? It felt very, very crowded this year yeah more than other years. And it may not have been, i don't know. It may have been the same number of people, but it just felt very crowded. The expo, the course, the finish line just felt very congested. would agree. And I'm curious if we go back and listen to other episodes, would we say that about other races too? like Like, do we forget between the races and then we get there and we're like, oh, it's so crowded. Or is it progressively getting more crowded? i don't i don't know, but I i totally agree. Yeah.
00:53:05
Speaker
that it felt crowded. It did, yeah. The course felt crowded like the whole time. There wasn't a lot of like, some on the highway. We didn't get a cider at the end of the thing, at the end of the race. Oh yeah, because the line was like 10 long. Because line so long that the little switchback tape on the ground had ended.
00:53:21
Speaker
We would have like not been able to shower. Right. And so we we were on a timeline, right but it just kept going and going yeah and going and going. And you, I, I went to what I thought was the end of the line and you're like, AJ, look, it goes all the way, all the way over there. I'm like, Erica, we don't have time for this. right So we did, we had to skip the pineapple cider just because it had to have been a 45 minute line. At least. I feel like maybe longer.
00:53:41
Speaker
So, yeah, I agree with you. That was hard about this weekend is it felt
Social Media vs. Presence Debate
00:53:44
Speaker
crowded. um The other thing I would say, and this this is maybe not specifically this Princess Weekend, and I think I said it before when we talked about race weekends we like or don't, you know, what we do or don't, is this is the weekend that feels like is the most ah where, going to say girls, but it could be anybody. Girls are...
00:54:00
Speaker
They need their selfies and their TikTok videos and their Instagram reels. whatever I feel like I just see way more like phones out cameras on on this weekend. yeah Maybe that's just a perception on my side, but I just, I feel like this is the weekend that is the least about running and more about looking cute. But that might just be my perception as a guy because the ratio of men to women is significantly different. Yeah. Right? So maybe if it's more 40, 60, 50, 50 at the other race weekends, they might be doing it as much, but there's less.
00:54:33
Speaker
Yeah. Or maybe it's just a perception of mine. But I would say like it to me, it's very clear that there's a lot of that going on. And I would just say, like, we love to capture stuff as well, but don't let the moment pass by, like, without being in it. Yes. You know? Like, it's more important for you to be in the moment and experience the race yeah than it is to post about it.
00:54:53
Speaker
So... yeah Yeah. And we, yeah, we post, you know, race pictures and we get a selfie and we do that too. Totally. Um, but it, we usually don't let it impact our race. Right. Or we've seen and heard so many stories of people that were like not paying attention to those around them because they were trying to do their Instagram reels and then like are stepping onto other runners, stopping in front of other runners, whatever. So just be present and be aware of those around you, I would say.
Inclusivity and New Runner Encouragement
00:55:20
Speaker
Yep. What is this weekend, Erica, that specifically Princess or maybe this, you know, well, yeah, let's say Princess in general. What does this weekend offer that the other race weekends don't? So in comparison to springtime or wine and dine or marathon, what does this one offer that others don't?
00:55:33
Speaker
I can confidently say you never really hear anyone say I'm only running the whatever. Yeah. Fill in the blanks. I'm only running the 10K. I'm only running the 5K. Like more than any other race weekend, I feel like you never hear anyone say that. I don't think I heard that all this weekend. No. And there is a challenge, but nobody ever says I'm only running the whatever. Do you think that's because of that previous comment we made about it it being a lot of newer newer runners or whatever? Like they're not in that vernacular.
00:55:59
Speaker
Possibly. vernacular Yeah. Yeah. Possibly. There's, there's the way less pressure like there is, you know, like dopey or even goofy. Yeah. So yeah, I would agree with that for sure. Uh, I feel like this is a very inclusive weekend. Totally. Uh, everybody's welcome. You're welcome to dress in a tutu if you want, you know what mean? Like everybody feel like is welcome at, at this weekend. Yeah, for sure. Um, and then I think this weekend more than others, but I'm, I'm curious if you agree with this. I feel like if you sign, if you do princess, you're probably going to sign up for another race. Oh yeah, for sure. If you did marathon weekend, I think you could have that. Like it was too intimidating or I felt like I didn't do enough or it was too cold. Um, or, you know, wine and dine is more expensive because it has the after party, but the after party is crowded. So then you don't go to the after party. You're like any of that. Whereas princess, I just feel like if you do it, you're probably signing up again. Right. Right. What do you think? you think that statement is true? Yeah, totally. agree.
00:56:57
Speaker
I would say that the princess weekend is probably um the weekend where the weather has been the best or more most consistent. Yeah. You know, for the most part, it's not freezing. yeah It's not super, super hot. Now we say that. still Florida. Yeah. And it poured down rain on Friday night and it soaked the course yeah for the 10K runners, but it's still, you know, it didn't, I mean, it was a wet course, but it didn't rain during the thing. every Every princess weekend we've had, yeah we might bring sleeves to wear or something like that, but we don't shiver yeah and we're not sweating to death. It's the most consistent. I totally agree. Yeah, totally. Okay, good. Another thing we do on our podcast, Erica, is running it back. Yes. We kind of just look back and say, is there anything you do the same or different? I'll go first on this one. If I was like with this one, if I was doing it again, I think the fairytale challenge is worth it. we know We did not sign up for it on this one. We've always done. No, no, we have not always done.
00:57:48
Speaker
Nevermind. The last two we did were challenge ones. Yeah. Right. I think for this weekend specifically, the challenge is worth it. Totally. i don't I don't have a real reason behind it. Yeah. Something about the camaraderie of it and the theming and all that stuff. Like this one's worth doing the fairytale challenge. I would go to marathon weekend and only do the marathon. Yeah. Right. But this one, I feel like you should do the challenge. I completely agree with with an asterisk. Okay, perfect. I really, really loved cheering.
00:58:18
Speaker
I feel like we should spectate at least one race from every weekend that we go to in the future. Yeah. So I think that if we had have done the challenge, I would not have wanted to spectate for the 5K just because I needed like a morning between. Of course. Where I wasn't like getting up multiple mornings in a row early, which is why we say we'll never do dopey. Yeah. um Just so that we're like at our you know peak performance. So um so that's the only reason why I wouldn't do the fairytale challenge. But I do really, really love the fairytale challenge. yeah So yeah yeah that's a hard one then. That is very hard. You know what?
00:58:50
Speaker
Side note. Yes. What spectating does before you run. So we've done this now three times. Yeah. It really centers you. It builds your nerves, yeah. Yeah. It really centers you. And then it also puts your perspective of you're seeing people do hard things, and you know that you were a part of their story. Then you really appreciate the spectators on your race. It really takes away that, oh my gosh, I didn't get the shirt I wanted in my size. It removes that because you see people doing hard things. Yeah, you're reminded of what really matters. And so I agree with you that you should, if you have the opportunity, spectate before you run. Yes. Or spectate after you run, whatever, if that works in the schedule. But I agree with that. Yeah. Any other running it back things you would do the same or different as it relates to Princess?
00:59:36
Speaker
I don't think so. Okay. So the bottom line question that I'd love to know, i think would love to know. 10 years later, all of this experience under your belt, right? All this run Disney stuff. You've got all the health decisions and changes that we've made. You've done every race that Disney offers. Yes.
00:59:53
Speaker
Is princess still worth it in your opinion? Yes. Yes. No hesitation. No hesitation. Okay. What's the one reason? It's still my favorite race weekend. It's still your favorite. I'm i'm i'm i'm interested because i kind of am falling in love with marathon. So tell me, tell me, tell me the one reason or or a reason why you just love this weekend.
01:00:12
Speaker
I feel like it's just like the most fun, inclusive, everyone's cheering for everybody. yeah There's no competition. You know, it just feels like the most run Disney spirit. And and that sounds silly because there's tons of run Disney spirit at marathon weekend. Holy moly, there's tons and tons. yeah But I just feel like some of the little things that could, some of the little doubts that could creep into people's minds at some of the other race weekends yeah are not there yeah for Princess. Yep. So I think because I want everyone to succeed, Princess is still my favorite yeah for that reason.
01:00:48
Speaker
I would still hands down recommend Princess for somebody's first run Disney race. First race, go do Princess. I 100% agree. We've already said why. Yeah. Yeah. and that just because we didn't sign up for springtime doesn't mean it's not a good weekend. Right. yeah know what I mean? It's still a great weekend. It's very much, much more chill. It's the end of the race season. I think, you know, that's great. Wine and Dine has that light. yes, we're back, you know, kind of vibes. And the weather's always pretty great. So like all their weekends have their thing. This one, I would say to your point is the most like, we can all do this. Oh, you're new. You've got this. We're here for you. Right. Yep. Kind of vibe. Yep.
01:01:24
Speaker
Awesome. Okay. So 10 years in, you're still still a fan of Princess Weekend. Yep. Awesome.
Significance of Medals and Personal Health
01:01:30
Speaker
Me too. As long as I can wear my pink shorts, I'm good with Princess Weekend. Okay. So that's Princess. Do you want to talk through some Run Disney news and personal training update whatever? I'm so glad that June has finally passed out over there and stopped moving around. Maybe I shouldn't say her name. I know. She's completely passed out. That's good. Okay. So the only real news that I can think of is that Springtime Surprise came out with their medals. I don't if you've seen them. have. Oh, speaking of medals, we didn't show our medals. Oh, yeah, we did. So this is the princess from this year. So we did Princess Half Marathon. So it was a tangled theme, which I love that movie. So that worked good. And then that is the old school. Yep.
01:02:11
Speaker
2016 medal from princess half marathon your very first medal of any medal you've ever had right yes that's your yeah very first my very first one so if the house caught on fire and you could only take one medal with you is this the one no no it's not no i would it would be our first marathon It's still, okay.
01:02:31
Speaker
yeah The marathon is a freaking beast. So the first time you do that, 26.2 miles. yeah I mean, nothing compares to that for your first one. Very cool. All right. It's still a beautiful medal We were noticing on the back that it has a place to write your time and place.
01:02:48
Speaker
for the race, which I thought was super interesting. um My place was 9,468. Yeah. My place was, I finished. Yes, exactly. Ahead of the balloon ladies. noticed they don't put that on the medals anymore. So I didn't know you know anything about Red Disney. Yeah. I remember being so petrified that I was going to get swept. Yes. And then I remember this moment where i came ah came up over the overpass yeah and I saw like a sea of people and the balloons like way, way out. Yeah. And I was like, oh, thank you, Jesus. Like I'm not i'm not going to get swept. I'm going to make it. Yes. also remember like crying, I think, as I was running through Epcot, yeah you know, around the World Showcase and... ah
01:03:29
Speaker
people being like, you can do it. And I'm like, I can barely walk. Yes. Yes. Yes. You know, the more we do run Disney, and i would even say this to other people, like the more you do this, you just get normalized and jaded to to that, right? Right. Because once you've done and you know you can, yeah Your confidence isn't that much higher and right know you know how far the balloon ladies are. yeah But man, that first time. Oh, it's scary. You don't know and you just hope you can make it. Yeah. yeah I was fully trained for my first prince at first half, first princess. Turns out I had a really good time, but like yeah like ah like ah a cheap, me you know, what do you call it? Clock time. right You know what mean? not yeah Not I had a good time. I did have a good time. yes my my You know what I'm saying. Your pace.
01:04:12
Speaker
Thank you. It was really good, but I still thought I was going to get swept. Right. Because you just don't know what is actually slow. You know what don't know. Yes. yeah Yes. yeah Keep that in mind. Okay. We got distracted by those medals. Let's talk about springtime medals. Yes. I don't want to go through each and every one of them or whatever. Just any general thoughts. I think the colors and everything are vibrant and great. They kind of, one or two of them give me like the same vibe as the Disneyland one. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Which I think is good. Mm-hmm. We didn't sign up for this race, not for any other reason other than it just didn't fit in our life and whatever. But like, right I think the medals are, you know, me and medals. I love medals. So, but I think, I think they're good. I think Disney personal opinion, they're doing a really good job with the medals. They are. Yeah.
01:04:51
Speaker
Lately. Yeah, they are. um there i I have no notes. Do you have any thoughts on the, on the medals? I'm always sad when I don't go to a race weekend, but, but yeah, no, it's all good. Yep. Personal training update. Then we'll call this thing done. I think Erica, you're, you're going to be done running for a smidge while you get your hip looked at if if that's what, yes. We talked about that on the drive home. Is that what you're thinking? we Well, I mean, yes, I'm going to have it looked at.
01:05:15
Speaker
Oh, okay. I don't know about the done with running part. I guess we'll see what I just, I just mean like, like you're going to like go take a look at it and like figure out the best course of healing for this, this issue. Yes. And not to like go on about this forever, but a lot of people are confused because they're like, we thought you broke your toes. Like people keep asking me, how is your foot? And I'm like, yeah, my head my foot's fine, but I did hurt my hip back in October. And I thought that with the break from, you know, no running during my broken toes, like that would heal yes and it has not. So yeah, the hip is the issue, but yes, I am going to go to the orthopedist.
01:05:47
Speaker
Cool. I've got to be honest. i'm ah kind of Not that I'm like not going to run like on a Tuesday or whatever, right but like I'm kind of glad I run Disney seasons over as much as I'd love to do springtime and I love the medals. I e personally just need a break.
01:06:02
Speaker
Yeah. From long distances. from Yeah. From the Saturday where you're like, oh boy. And so I would love to find that joy again of just like three miles, four miles is just Oh, that was nice. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. Do a little stretch, drink some water.
01:06:17
Speaker
Not. Okay. Now I have to like, let me get up for five hours. yeah Yeah. And so I love running. I still do. Yes, you I am. I am just kind of ready for a little bit of a break. Yeah. So I think that's the only thing from a personal training update thing. We are figuring out what we're going sign up for run Disney next year, but we're also hoping to get hip information from you. Yeah. I know one thing we really want to do is the Atlanta Peachtree Road Race on the 4th of July. Yes, we do. registration for that's coming up. If you live anywhere, by the way, anywhere near Atlanta and you can get to Atlanta for that race, I think it's the country's largest 10K or something. It's totally worth it. so fun.
Future Plans and Podcast Continuation
01:06:51
Speaker
It's like a run Disney race in terms of like energy and vibe and all that stuff. And it's a great Yeah. So we're 99.9% chance we're doing that. yeah.
01:06:57
Speaker
ninety nine point nine percent chance we're doing that oh yeah all right. So thank you all for joining us for this episode of the podcast. I did want to say that just because the 2025, 2026 run Disney season is over for us, that doesn't mean like we're not going to keep the podcast going. Like we're full steam on the podcast. We have some pretty incredible guests and topics lined up that y'all are going to love. So no race recaps for a little while for us. You know what mean? Because our season's done, but the topics are still going to be awesome. So we'll catch you next week for another episode of One More Run.
01:07:34
Speaker
Thanks for joining us for this episode of One More Run, the podcast. If you like what we're up to, be sure to leave a review on Apple Podcasts, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and follow us on Instagram. You can find links to all of that at AJandErica.com.