Remember that time I wrote a really concise too the point race review that was proof read?  Yeah me neither.  Because it hasn’t happened.  And unfortunately this will not be my first short recap.  Or proof read one.  This weekend was just too amazing to breeze through so I’ll break it up, as I have before, so you can read the parts you’re interested in and bypass the rest.  But of course I would suggest looking at all the pictures because well…they are fantastic.

my official Disney Princess Media VIP Badge. I felt so important.

But before I continue, I have to send a huge, massive, triple XL sized thank you to the BlogRollers’ Get Moving! Initiative, runDisney, Disney Social Media, and the Walt Disney World Resort for all the magic they prepared and treated us to this weekend.  So truly blessed.

Day 1:  Travel, Meet Up, Expo, Wide World of Sports Tour, Welcome Reception, and Dinner!

After the flight from hell (first the flight was delayed an hour and then we started boarding.  10 of us made it on the plane before the captain came out of the cockpit and informed us the airport was on lock down and no one would get on or off the plane and all doors were to be locked.  Well that is settling.  After sitting there for another 40 mins it was explained that there was an issue with the flight martials who had been on OUR flight.  Great.  So the plane I’m on caused the entire airport to shut down) I finally had it to the Polynesian Resort where  the Social Media team was putting us up.  I was welcomed by my own personal party (Heather, Tonia, Lorraine, Christie, and Renee who was the birthday girl!).  After a bit Monique made it (all the way from the Netherlands!) and we got to meet the rest of the ladies of the social media team and Disney Mom’s Panel.  What awesome women!  We got ready to head over to Wide World of Sports for the expo (or our own personal bus of course).

T munching on a Mickey Rice Krispie treat on the way over

When we each checked in we were given a nice “Run Disney” Messenger bag with our bib and packet already in it!  Hello VIP treatment!  So we didn’t have to deal with packet pickup.  We were greeted by Mallory who served as our own personal tour guide of WWOS and she was great!  She gave us the behind the scenes tour of the complex and fields.  We then had about an hour to wander the expo.  Of course I picked up my two new Running Skirts Cindy has put aside for me : ).  Poor T was feeling awful and had to run to the bathroom real quick.  Her little Doodle had managed to give her a stomach bug the night before.  Bad news.  But she was a trooper and stuck it out!

stole this one from Lorraine

Next we met back up for our own private lunch reception out by the baseball field (the official training location of the Braves!).  They had delicious food ready for us and we enjoyed chatting a bit and getting to know each other a bit more.  It was so cool listening to everyone’s stories!

And then it happened.  Fate.  Approaching our tent was someone who not only did I have a massive crush on when I was 11 when I watched him win Survivor Africa but someone who became a true inspiration in my life over the past few years.  He is known other than the curly haired pro soccer player, Ethan Zohn.  He came and spoke at my freshman orientation my first week of college and that’s when I learned about his organization GrassRoots Soccer. Basically after having witnessed the tragedy of AIDS in Africa first hand, he put his prize money toward creating a program that draws African youth in with a great soccer program and also teaches them about AIDS, the importance of preventing it, and most importantly, how to prevent it!  Read more about the organization HERE.  I really feel a strong connection to groups that use fitness and athletics to make a difference and Ethan has really done that.  However, he became even more of an inspiration in my eyes when he contracted a rare forms of Hodgkins disease in 2009.  His first round of treatment failed but he never gave up.  I followed his journey through the videos blogs be left on people.com and got a bit emotional watching him shave off his signature curly locks.  But last year he was officially declared in remission.  Cancer survivors are heros.  They are fighters!  So we went from winning Survivor to really becoming one.

Photo from People

So basically when I saw him my heart skipped a beat (sorry J).  The group made fun of me a bit for my dreamy eyes adoration but he and his girlfriend Jenna (who is also a Survivor winner) were so sweet.  I got to have a real conversation with him about cancer, GrassRoots, TNT, and well the New York marathon.  But more on that later.

I thought I had died and gone to Heaven…until they introduced the one and only Jeff Galloway!  He had come to talk to us about the joys and challenges of running and then literally said “so what can I help you all with?  Anything you want to know, anything you’re worried about, anything I can help you with…go ahead and ask”.  And being the crazy runners we are…we did.  And he patiently listened and answered all of our questions!  He even personally assessed my IT pain and gave me some really awesome advice that I can’t wait to incorporate into my training.  He hung around to talk to us personally (and take some pictures of course) and then it was time for us to head over to Hollywood Studios for dinner at Mama Melrose (on our private bus again of course).

Minnie also came for a visit! Me, Minnie, and Heather

I made the tragic mistake of choosing a garlicky clam sauce.  Never.  Ever.  Again.  But again, more on that later (you know that scene in Anchor Man where he is running with the carton of milk and says “Milk was a baaaad choice.”  I had a “clams were a baaaaddd choice” moment).  We had an absolute blast and it’s a good thing the restauraunt was pretty empty because we were LOUD.  We were talking, laughing, giggling, and being girls.  These were really some truly awesome ladies and I had so much fun being with them.  Renee was chomping at the bit to get back to the hotel and she even denied Laura (our amazing Social Media host) an after dinner cup of coffee, but as she was getting ready to go, the waitress brought out her surprise Birthday Dessert (with extra forks of course).  Renee, Lorraine, Tonia, and myself literally attacked the door little dessert and it didn’t last long.

As much fun as we were having, we had an EARLY wake up call for the race the next morning so we returned back to the hotel (did I mention they have a private bus for us?).  When we got back to our rooms, we each had a bag filled with race morning breakfast items.  Bagel, banana, water, juice, peanut butter, different bars…they really did us up!  Oh and of course we had a few of these during the course of the day…