Happiest Run on Earth

Disney's magical touch apparently extends to half marathons, as I learned this weekend at the Princess Half held at Disneyworld in Florida.  This is a perfect beginner half for those who haven't done many.  It's very fun and most of the people there just have the goal of finishing, so a slow pace (mine was about 10 min miles) won't be a big deal.  In fact, it's so crowded that you really can't actually run faster than that if you aren't in the first 2 groups.  And Disney does a great job of keeping you entertained.  I mean, how can you concentrate on the pain of your long distance run when you have disney music, characters and costumes distracting you the whole 13.1 miles?

Diary of Day:

3:30 am: Wake up, roll out of bed, and put on your costume.  It's so early, it's pitch black outside.  So my recommendation, make sure to stay at one of the Disney Resort & Hotels where they have a great transportation system in place.  You have to be at your starting gate/pen by 5am, no matter when your start time is.  So for me, that meant I had to be there even though my race didn't actually start till 6am.  And if I hadn't been staying at the Swan/Dolphin Resort (one I highly recommend as it is very convenient to the starting position at EPCOT), I would have had to wake up around 3am.  Trust me, those 30 extra minutes of sleeping are big!


Everyone dresses up, so make sure to pick out a costume.  Team Sparkle has some great recommendations!  I went with the Belle outfit.

6:10am: Finally, after an hour plus of standing my pen, Group F, starts.  Fireworks go off, the fairy Godmother waves her stick and we are off!  And funnily enough, around mile 2, we see the leaders on the other side of the road heading toward the finish line.  Only two + hours or so till that is us!

7:00am:  One of the cool thing about the Disney marathon is that every mile marker is celebrated by a picture spot/music.  So for mile 5, I finally stopped and took advantage.  I mean how could I not take a picture with Loumier?  And if you are running alone, as I was, don't worry.  The have people at each station whose job it is to take your photo with the character.  It provides a great distraction and a fun break. 

 




7:15am: You approach the best part of the run.  It's time to enter the Magic Kingdom and for the first time fans line your running route.  The one disappointing fact was that the entire race wasn't actually in the parks like you thought it was going to be.  Instead, you only really run through the Magic Kingdom and the rest is run on back roads connecting the different lands.  Still, its really something as you run 1.5 miles through the Magic Kingdom and is a truly unique part of the race.

Basically everyone walks when you first get in as everyone wants a photo in front of the castle.  So make sure to have your camera, as you won't want to miss the opportunity to take a break and get a photo in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle. 

The heralds trumpeted the Rocky Theme Song on your way out of the Magic Kingdom

FINISHER!

7:40:  Mile 9 and its suddenly gets really hard.  You have to prepare yourself mentally that the end of the course is basically all uphill.  And the course is pretty boring at this point, with you having to run up freeway ramps and hills on back-roads.  Other than the occasional honking by a passing car, there is no cheers to get you through.

8:10: You are almost there!  And with 1.1 miles left to go, you finally are surrounded by fans cheering you on.  As well, you enter your second park of the evening, going through the back end of EPCOT center and around the big white ball.  By this point your legs are shot after all those hills, but it doesn't matter.  Anyone can push through the last mile.

8:20: Finisher!  By the end the music is pumping and people are screaming, making the last 3/10ths of a mile the easiest yet.  Then, as soon as you cross that finish line someone places a really nice medal around your neck.  Let me tell you, finishing your first half marathon feels absolutely amazing.  Such an accomplishment and Disney makes sure to give you a medal that is as memorable as your memory of the event.

Disney does a great job with its Disney Runs program.  I would recommend any of the races.  From its tower of terror 10k, to its Kid dashes, to my completed Princess Half, to the Wine and Dine half I plan on doing in September.  So get active and get out there! And allow Disney to help you have fun while you push yourself further than you thought possible.  

Can't Find The Game?

Do you have those days where you really want to watch some sports game, but sadly its not on national TV?  So then you find yourself having to take off your comfortable sweats/pjs and put on some acceptable clothes, then drag yourself to the local bar and hope that you can get the bartender to put your game on for you?  Well, it tends to happen to me every Sunday.  After a weeks worth of going out, I just need a night to stay in, drinks some beers, and watch my game, all while staying in my not-appropriate-in-public clothes.  And luckily, I've found a way to do that!

No I haven't just splurged on every sports channel (you know, NBA league pass, NHL league pass, etc).  Nope, I've found the best website ever for a sporks junkie like me.  It's free and it has access to every game you could possibly want.  Just Google: VIPBOX SPORTS. 


Does it work perfectly every time?  Well, no.  Sometimes the links go out and if you don't have a quick internet connection, it falls behind and freezes a bit.  But, come on, its FREE!  And its a much better option than having to constantly go out to find a place to watch a game that ESPN/ABC/CBS/etc aren't covering. 

Someone passed along this tip to me and now I'm "Passing It Forward".  My gift to you.  Enjoy!

The Corner Bar

Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.
Wouldn't you like to get away?
Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name,
and they're always glad you came. You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name.

I think I found it.  My Cheers bar.  My neighborhood bar.  The place that's the answer to "Where should we go?" when you don't really have plans for the night, but don't want to sit at home.  And my place is The Three Monkeys on 54th and 8th. 

You'll be greeted by a bar that houses 36 beers on tap...so many choices!

I've heard it described as a "young professionals bar" and its true that it draws that type of crowd.  But even though is not a classic sports bar, it always has the right games on.  So you can go in and be assured that the prime time MLB/NBA/NFL that you want to watch will be on the number of HD flat-screens that surround the bar.  It's a great place to meet as a group for drinks, as if you can't find a beer that's to your liking from the multiple beers on tap, then you can always go for their specialty cocktails.  Especially now with the weather being so freaking cold, I've taken advantage of their Winter Warmer drinks.  Try a Three Monkeys Mocha with Godiva white chocolate liqueur, peppermint schnapps and coffee!  Can I say YUMM!

 

But that's not what keeps bringing me back to this place because, lets be honest, any good Irish pub has learned the art of showing what sports fans want to see.  No, I come because the food is flat out amazing!

Check out this menu: Three Monkeys Dinner Menu.  My recommendations are the Diablo Mussels, the Grilled Chicken Wrap and the Funghi flat bread.  I mean, you can't really go wrong as every time I've branched out I've enjoyed what I've gotten.  But I find myself constantly pulled back to the flat bread and wrap.  And my BF?  He literally hasn't gotten anything other than the Diablo Mussels as they are just that good. 

The one problem is that the place for sure get's packed, but hey that's a sign of a good spot right? Just don't go on a Thursday, as the office happy hour is in full swing.  Any other day, the crowd will be lively and fun.  Hope to see you there!

A Super Feast

A crock pot is the perfect Game Day Recipe Device

I don't know what your favorite part of the super bowl is, but mine is experimenting with new game day appetizer/main recipes.  This is especially true during a year like this year where I could care less who won.  The Harborough-bowl...really?  Gag me with a spoon please.  So, instead of spending hours dissecting the match-up between the two teams on ESPN, I found myself spending hours trolling various recipe sites looking for the perfect game day recipe.

An affective assembly line process was developed

After agonizing about it, I decided to do one veggie dish and one meat dish.  So I went with antipasta skewers with a pesto dip (http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/antipasto-skewers-with-pesto-dip-10000001875524/), as well as greek beef bites with a yogurt dip (
http://www.tablespoon.com/recipes/slow-cooker-greek-beef-bites-recipe/1/ ).

Verdict?  The skewers were a hit.  My bf's reaction upon seeing how many of them was, "Wow, that's a lot of food."  In a tone clearly indicating that many would be left over and you know, there's starving kids in Africa and all that.  I had to remind him that there is something novel called a fridge that allows me to save the leftovers to have the next day.  But wouldn't you know it, the crazy invention called a fridge wasn't necessary.  Within five minutes we had dominated the entire plate.  Like easily 10 each.  And could have easily done more.  So trust me, if you bring these to a party, they will do your proud.   And they were super easy to make! 

The beef bites...ya not that great.  I love the crock pot.  Like honestly the best Christmas gift I've ever gotten as you can put together dinners that will make you look like an absolute star in the kitchen.  This though, wasn't a great crock pot recipe.  Though the flavor of the beef was great, the crock pot made the beef feel little bit overcooked and tough.  Would probably have been better to just saute the beef then dip it into the yogurt sauce, which was pretty good.

Still, all in all it was a great football feast.  Finger foods and football just go together.  And the best part? Bought 40's of the beers we wanted so we can pour the beer into these sweet beer glasses I got for Xmas.  There's something that drinking from a glass instead of a bottle just gives you.  And I wanted that bar-like feel at home...and managed to get it.  Overall, was a great Super Bowl and a Super Feast!