Operation Sparkle Recap: The Literal Frozen 5K

Morning readers!

It's time to talk the 5K! The only downside of Disney races is the alarm clock going off at 3 am. I'm a morning person, but even 3 am is early for me. But it went off and mom and I got up. We had laid out our clothes the night before, which I highly recommend, because it made getting dressed so much easier. I wasn't pacing around the room trying to find my socks or gloves or anything.

Luckily, when we got to the bus stop, the first bus was already there and waiting for us. And most importantly, it was WARM, which was good because Florida was experiencing RECORD LOWS. I HIGHLY recommend that if you are preparing for a Disney race that you weather watch like a hawk. Because I did, I was able to switch my regular running tights for my thermals and order a long-sleeved shirt to replace the tee I had originally planned with this costume from Amazon Prime. If I hadn't done that, I would have been too cold.

The coldest part of the morning was the waiting for the start. Especially once I had to head into the corrals because I had to hand over my blanket to Mom. But I had a trash bag and tried to get close to people for warmth. Soon though we were off!

Slow start because everyone wants a picture.

Entering EPCOT like a CM

1 down, 2.1 to go!

It was an odd race experience for me because I never actually got warm. I got warm enough, but I never felt myself break into a sweat. My only regret about this race is that I didn't take my time. I found out later I could have stopped for a character pic and still been okay since the 5K 1) isn't timed and 2) wasn't part of the Glass Slipper Challenge. But hindsight is 20/20...and honestly, staying out longer would have meant being cold longer. I did stop for a couple non-character pics though!

Anna was mic'd and asked if I had shopped at Wandering Oaken's

I found Catie at the finish and we had a pic taken! Then I had my first official Finisher portrait, found mom and we had breakfast at the finish!

This was an add on and I have to say the food was DELICIOUS. If you are considering a runDisney weekend, I have to say, consider one of the weekend breakfasts. It's in a tent, protected from the elements, and for Princess weekend, they had Princesses I could have met. I chose not to because we were meeting the appearing princesses in the parks, but if I hadn't been going to the parks or if a princess I hadn't planned to meet elsewhere had been there, I would have jumped in line! For Princess weekend there was a breakfast like this after the 5K and the 10K. We chose the 5K because 1) it was going to be my fastest finish, so sooner breakfast and 2) we already had 10K brunch plans. But I highly recommend the experience. It was nice to have good, hot food with little wait.

Then it was back to the hotel for a shower, a rest and then onto our chosen park for the day! I include some of my fave pics from that day at Hollywood Studios.

I beat Mom at Midway Mania!

Midway selfie!

The night ended with Fantasmic, one of my favorite nighttime shows, and then it was back to the hotel for another early wakeup call.

to be continued...

(This blog has been cross posted at The Main Street Mouse)