2016 Flying Pig Half Marathon Recap

Race day is finally here. I am so excited to run the streets of Cincinnati. On Saturday, it had rained a good bit throughout the day which caused me to rethink my outfit since I had no idea if it would be raining or not race morning.

So in the theme of it possibly raining during the half, I decided to be a "fish." I bought my Trigger shirt and water shorts by INKnBURN.

We stayed about a mile away from the start of the race. The walk wasn't bad. I felt like it was a warm-up for the race.

It sprinkled on us for a little bit while we made our way to the start line, but stopped shortly before the race started.

One thing I thought was pretty cool about this race is that our corrals are called pig pens.

The race started right on time.

We made our way along the Ohio River on to the streets before turning on to a bridge (forgot the name) crossing into Kentucky. We ran in Kentucky for about three miles before crossing another bridge back into Ohio. So far this far has been pretty flat compared to what I was use to, but I knew it wouldn't last for long.

The crowd support along the course was unbelievable. Better than some of the big local races near me.

Mile 4 - 6, we made our way back towards the city. Around this time, the humidity was starting to kick in and I wishing I had gone with my original outfit instead, but how was I suppose to know?

Miles 7 - 9 was nothing but hills. At one point during the race, we were overlooking Cincy, which I thought was amazing. I wish I had stopped for a photo. It would have been worth the extra minutes.

Miles 10 - 13 was completely downhill. Yep, downhill. I loved it. I knew not to kill it the first mile downhill. I just let my legs and gravity do the work.

I was at the finish swine before I knew it. 

I finished at 2:00. 

The snacks we got after the race were amazing. I only wish I had a bag to put everything in it because I could only carry so much.

They had us meet up with friends and family by the Ohio River. Perfect place for a picture after a tough but fun half marathon.

After we finished up with photos, it was time to head back to our hotels to get ready for the drive home. It was a great weekend. I highly recommend adding this race to your bucket list. I will be back to run it again in the future.

Bye Cincinnati!! :(

2016 Flying Pig Half Marathon Expo Recap

After about two months, I am finally getting around to posting a recap about the Flying Pig half marathon weekend.

I have been looking forward to this race since I signed up for it back in August 2015. My friends and I decided to drive up to Cincinnati since it was only a 7-hour drive from Atlanta. It was kind nice to see the mountains of Tennessee and the green pastures of Kentucky near Lexington.

We got to Cincy about 6 PM on Friday, April 29th. We quickly parked the car and made a beeline for the expo. We wanted to try and get as much stuff as we could before they closed the expo. Since this is a famous race, I had been told that Saturday was a crazy day for the expo and a lot of stuff quickly disappear.

We got our numbers and the swag that came with it.

Race shirt, race bag, magnet, and poster.

By the time, we got our swag we only had a few minutes before the expo closed. I managed to get a shirt made in the Asics area. Oh, and I was able to locate my name on the banner of names of the race participates. I thought that was pretty neat.

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Saturday morning, we returned to the expo to see what kind of trouble we could get into. This was by far one of the best expos I have ever been to. Yep, even better than a runDisney one. Oops. But no, seriously, it was a lot of fun. They were handing out full-size samples of stuff, which I failed to get a picture of but I promise it was pretty amazing.

I took the time to walk around to each booth. Some things were for local stuff, and some stuff wasn't (most race expos are like that anyways). I saw a few races I want to check out next year, so I am excited about that.

Overall, I liked the expo. I wish I had gotten more pictures of it, but I was having such a good time that I didn't get the phone out.

Here are a few pictures that I did take when we got there on Friday..

Next up the half marathon recap!

Good Luck Everyone

It's hard to believe that this time last year I was making sure I was completely packed and ready to head to Disney to run the Disney Princess Half.

Not going to lie I am a tad upset I won't be down there this weekend running. :( I came close to registering in July but decided that I wanted to save up the money and use it for my Disney Marathon weekend in 2017.

So for anyone who is running this weekend - have fun whether it is your first (5k, 10k, or Half) or one of many have a blast. This was one of my most memorable races. I loved every bit of it.

I can't wait to runDisney again in 2017!!!

2015 Disney's Enchanted 10K Recap

Since I was doing the Glass Slipper Challenge, I knew I was going to run a much slower 10K so that I could save my legs for the half the next day.

Flat Ramona ready for the Enchanted 10K

Race morning started off early. I set my alarm for 2:20. I surprisingly jumped right up and got ready. I was out the door 10 minutes before 3. Plenty of time and luckily it wasn't too far of a walk to the buses either.

For some reason, I got on the second bus instead of the first one, which is fine cause I really wasn't in that big of a hurry to get there. It was chilly that morning but nothing like the Frozen 5K the day before.

Arrived at Epcot in plenty of time. Seeing how this was my first runDisney event I was able to walk around for a bit before heading over to my corral.

Brandi and her parents showed up. We talked for a bit. Before I knew, it was time to head over to the corrals.

Since I was in corral A, it was really cool walking past the other corrals with them cheering us on. Makes you feel like you are some elite runner. Ha Ha.

At 5 AM, we were off!!

I had to tell myself once I crossed the start to keep it slow. I have a tendency to just want to take off. Races do that to me. I had to tell myself that I have 13.1 miles to run the next day.

Mile 1 came before I knew it. :(

We turned on to a "hill". I say "hill" because it's nothing like the hills here in Atlanta.

At this point, I was feeling great. Legs were not tired from walking around the parks the day before, so that was a plus.

Mile 2 came up.

Mile. 3. Half way done. Still maintaining a good pace. Not too fast which is what I wanted.

Mile 4. Entering Epcot. So excited to run in the park when it was closed. So pretty.

Mile 5. Am I really almost done? LOL

Mile 6. Man this race went by fast. Only .2 to go.

And done!

I finished with a time of 1:07.

2015 Disney's Princess Half Weekend Expo

So I arrived in Orlando around four on Thursday the 19th. Checked into Pop Century Hotel, dropped my luggage before heading over to the ESPN Wide World of Sports.

As soon as got there I (being the noob at my first runDisney race event) went to the wrong building and got my bib and shirts first. Oops. It's okay cause once I was done there I went over to the Jostens Center where I got my shopping on. :)

The whole way down to Florida, I was a little worried I would miss out on some of the runDisney merchandise since some of my friends told me it could go pretty quickly. Luckily, I was able to get what I wanted without having to take anyone out (I kid, I kid).

After getting what I wanted from the runDisney merchandise area I went to the SparklySoul booth and purchased two new headbands. I just love them. 

And here are the race shirts for the weekend:

Since I got into town a little later than I wanted to, I wasn't able to spend a whole lot of time at the expo. I went to the vendors that I wanted to go to and then left.

Up next is my first runDisney race, Enchanted 10k. :)

Were you in Disney for the Princess Half this past weekend?