Disney’s Princess Half Marathon–How Do YOU Celebrate?

It is hard to believe that in just three short weeks, Disney’s Princess Half Marathon Weekend will be well underway. After months of hard work and dedication, deciding how to celebrate your accomplishment is an important part of planning your race weekend.  There are many ways to reward yourself for all of your training. Here are some of my favorite ways to say “Wahoo! I did it!”

2013 Full Zip Jacket

My celebrating actually begins before I ever even set foot in my corral. When I register for my runDisney race, I always purchase one of the commemorative pins and for the Princess Half, I also snag one of the commemorative necklaces. I started collecting the pins with my first ever runDisney race (Expedition Everest Challenge) and have collected the Princess Half Marathon necklaces since my first princess race in 2012.  Since that was my sister’s first half marathon, I thought it would be cool for us to have matching necklaces that we could wear long after race day as a reminder of our “sole sisters” accomplishment.  We have collected them every year since and wear them as a reminder of our time together on the course.

My celebration shopping continues at the Fit For a Princess Expo as I usually buy a commemorative tshirt or full zip jacket. I  love these not only to wear once I get back home–because let’s face it, you cannot easily work “You know, I just ran a half marathon” into everyday conversation–but also to use as motivation for running once race day is over. On those days when I just don’t feel like running, I put on my race tshirt or zippy and I am reminded of how good I feel when I cross that finish line and it gives me that push I need. It’s like having tangible motivation–in a polyester/spandex blend 🙂

The evening before the half, my sister and I have this tradition of going to the Germany Pavilion in World Showcase at Epcot to enjoy a pre-race beer. There was an article a couple of years ago in Runners World magazine about the benefits of beer for women runners when consumed the night before a race. I’m not sure that it has ever had an effect on our race day performance, but it is nice to be able to sit back, make a toast to all of our hard work and watch the sun set over Epcot. It is a great way to end our Disney day and gear up for the festivities that will follow the next morning.

Once we have crossed the finish line and have taken a ridiculous amount of photos of ourselves with our medals, it is time to get ready for our big celebration dinner. We like to plan on eating a HUGE post race dinner, especially since in the couple of days leading up to the race we are pretty careful what we eat. We like to either try a place at which we have not yet dined and/or place that is a little nicer than your usual table service restaurant. Our first year we had reservations at Narcoossee’s. Last year, we dined at Via Napoli. Our choice this year is California Grill. We are planning on not only eating a wonderful meal but also sticking around to enjoy the restaurant’s superb view of Wishes.  We usually plan on having a nice glass of wine, too, as we recount all of the details of the race to the rest of our family.

My Sis and I

This will be my third year taking part in the Princess Half Marathon weekend and I will be again, for the third time, sharing the course with my sister. This year’s race weekend will be a little different for us, as we are not only doing the Glass Slipper Challenge (6.2 miles on Saturday and 13.1 on Sunday), but we are also running the Royal Family 5K with the rest of our family (both of our parents and four of my five kids!). Yes, that is 22.4 miles for the weekend–if you are keeping track. So we plan on celebrating a little more than we have in years past by including the Happily Ever After Party at Downtown Disney on Sunday night into our post race celebration plans–at least that’s what we are planning. How long we make it on Sunday night is probably dependant upon whether or not we get in a post race nap!

What are your plans after you cross the finish line? What ever you decide to do, make sure you take a minute, look around, and enjoy that moment. This is what you have been waiting for, what you have worked so hard to achieve and you deserve to celebrate not only your accomplishment but to celebrate YOU!

Good luck RACERS!!! See you at the finish line!