Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Moab's Red Hot 33K


This race was a bit of a last minute decision. I've known about it for awhile, and actually considered doing the 55K as my first Ultra (this race has a 33K and 55K option), but ultimately decided to give myself an extra month prior to tackling 30+ miles on trails. After deciding to wait, I then thought that the 33K would be a great training run for my Ultra, but wasn't sure I wanted to spend the money on another race. However, after not being able to get very much training in on trails over the past several months, I decided it would be worth it for the experience.

And, overall, I am very glad I signed up, and definitely think it was worth it, if only for the scenery. The views were absolutely incredible. I've been to Moab a couple of times now - for some road races and short hikes in the National Parks - but this was my first time really getting out into the desert. And it was beautiful. And fun. And difficult. But I survived and have once again fallen in love with trail running (despite the fact, that I'm really not that good at it, as you'll see by my stats...but that's okay). There's just something so rewarding about running in these places that most people never even see.

I drove into Moab on Friday evening with the intention of picking up my packet and then having a relaxing evening at my hotel. That didn't exactly happen. For some reason, the packet pick up line took forever. It wound through the entire restaurant and outside. I am not exaggerating when I say it took an hour to get through it! So needless to say, by the time I got my packet, stopped by the grocery store to pick up something for dinner and breakfast, and checked into my hotel it was after 9:00. Not quite the relaxing evening I had in mind. But, on the bright side, the shirts are pretty cool!

Love the race shirts!
Moab at night!
I woke up at 5:30 the next morning so I could be checked out of the hotel and headed to the race start at 6:30. The race didn't start until 8:30, but they had a pre-race briefing at 7:00 that I wanted to be at. The start was about 10 miles north of Moab, and we had to park about a mile from the actual start, so I didn't actually make it until about 7:15, but luckily they decided to have the briefing at 7:30. The 55K runners started at 8:00, so I got to see them off.

The sun was just coming up as I walked to the start line.
Waiting for the start.
Finally, after waiting around for what seemed like forever, it was time to start! I couldn't wait to get moving because I was freezing by this point (especially my toes!). The first mile was all uphill, so I definitely warmed up quickly. Shortly after the 1 mile mark, we reached some incredible views before descending downhill for the next couple of miles.

Views from the top of the first hill.
Descending the first hill.
My fastest miles of the day were in this section - under 10 minute miles.
The next few miles were spent running on sand. It was definitely different terrain than I was used to, but I enjoyed it! The first aid station came pretty quickly around the 4 mile mark. I had some water, shed a few layers and continued on. Then the uphill and the slick rock started (and would continue forever!). But the views were truly incredible. The La Sal Mountains contrasting against the red rocks. I tried to capture it, but my pictures just don't do it justice (and on another note my iPhone camera has been terrible lately, it used to take such good pictures).




Around mile 6.



At around the 7.5/8 mile mark was the second aid station (the mileage seemed to be off for this race by a lot). I loaded up on some candy and chips and continued on. We had a bit of descending which was nice, but were still on slick rock. After awhile the slick rock really gets tough. Not only is just a hard surface, but you're also often running at a weird sideways angle.

This sign was right after the 8 mile aid station...very encouraging (note my sarcasm)!

Lots and lots of slickrock!
I like how this shows the vastness of the desert!
One of the incredibly steep climbs! This was rough.

It doesn't look it, but this was another extremely steep climb. It was practically straight up.
Oh look, MORE slickrock.


The next and last aid station wasn't until around mile 14/15 (14 to me, 15 according to the map), and the stretch between this one and the last felt like forever. So what a relief it was to finally make it. I stayed a lot longer at this aid station then the last. Grabbing some more candy and chips as well as soda (I know Ultra's have soda sometimes, but this was the first time I actually tried drinking it during a race - and it seemed to work okay).

By the time I left the aid station, I was exhausted. I don't know why, but my last several long runs have felt like this. So despite the last 5 miles being mostly downhill, I found myself still having to walk several times. Either way, I knew I would finish, it was just a matter of how fast! My main goal was not to be the very last (which I wasn't, despite how close I might've been). So I kept on going, run, walk, run, walk, etc. We also started to finally get some running on sand and dirt again which was really nice!

More slickrock right after the mile 14 aid station.
Probably the only flat section of the course.

Sand!


The final descent
Finally we reached a spot overlooking the final descent. From there it really was all downhill to the finish. Despite my lack of energy, I did manage to pick up my pace when some of the spectators started appearing and telling us it was "just around the corner." So I sped up and finished in 4:37:19. Definitely not a fast time by any means (slower than my marathon by over 10 minutes), but I finished!

The post-race party was okay. They had some water, soda, and chili, otherwise you could purchase food from two vendors. So I got myself a personal sized pizza (which was delicious!) and a cookie, and then waited around for the shuttle to bring me back to my car, before making the 3 hour drive back home.

All finished!
The guy in the center of the picture in the blue jacket and black pants is Anton Krupicka (famous Ultra runner). I was too shy to introduce myself even though I really wanted to!

 Overall, I did enjoy this race. I think it was well organized and I was relieved that there were other "normal" runners (this race attracts a lot of elites), and that I wasn't dead last. As mentioned several times, the views truly were phenomenal. I think I would've had a little more fun if I had at least had someone with me to enjoy the weekend with, as the post-race party was a little anti climatic when you're by yourself, but that's okay. I do think the race was a little on the high price side, but I did sign up last minute so not much I could do about that. My other semi-complaint, was how off the distance was (came in at 19.3, which is only 31K). I understand trail races aren't always exact, but over a mile short seems a bit weird (although I was so tired, that I didn't care too much during the race). I don't regret doing it though, and I even think it would be fun to do the 55K someday.


STATS:
Date: February 15th, 2014
Weather: 50's - 60's and cloudy
Distance: 33K (20.5 Miles - however my Garmin clocked this at only 19.3)
Bib Number: 7
Chip Time: 4:37:19
Garmin Overall Time: 4:37:25
Garmin Moving Time: 4:26:06 (I did stop a lot to take pictures - it was just so pretty out!)
Average Pace: 13:31 if it was really 33K, or else 14:22
Elevation Gain: 2,458 feet
Overall Rank: 224 of 262
Gender Rank: 103 of 129
Division Rank (Females 20-29): 20 of 21 (sad...at least I wasn't last though)
Garmin Splits:
Miles 1-5: 12:34, 10:01, 9:15, 9:53, 12:55
Miles 6-10: 13:35, 15:53, 20:43, 15:41, 15:23
Miles 10-15: 15:54, 14:05, 17:08, 16:01, 20:16
Miles 15-20: 12:39, 16:09, 13:18, 13:02, 10:18

Map and Elevation Profile:



Sunday, February 16, 2014

Black Canyon Winter Rim Romp

If anyone has been following my races, I'm sure they've heard me mention racing at the Black Canyon several times! That's because, well A.) I live right by this incredible landmark and national park, but also because B.) the local run club, the San Juan Mountain Runners, puts on 3 races per year at it! This however, was the first time doing the Winter Rim Romp - a snowshoe and cross-country ski race.

I heard about this race last year after doing the Black Canyon North Rim Race (which I have now done twice), but was still new to running, didn't know anyone in the club, and didn't know the first thing about snowshoeing or cross-country skiing. So needless to say, I did not choose to participate last year!

However, once I got more involved and started to meet people, I really regretted that decision! Mainly because, if you participate in all 3 races of the Black Canyon Race Series, you get a special prize (which this year was a sweatshirt). So of course, since I did 2 of the 3, I was super bummed...which meant I absolutely had to do it this year! I didn't care that I had only been snowshoeing once in the past 10 years, and twice in my entire life...I was going to do it!

So without further ado, here is my race report on the Black Canyon Winter Rim Romp 8K Snowshoe Race:

STATS:
Date: February 8th, 2014
Distance: 8K (4.97 miles)
Bib Number: 1540
Time: 1:07:14
Average Pace: 13:26
Elevation Gain: 540 ft
Overall Rank: 6 of 15
Gender Rank: 3 of 9
Division Rank (Females 20-29): 1 of ? (unknown, but apparently I was first - so quite possibly, 1 of 1)
Garmin Splits:12:49, 10:57, 14:22, 14:41, 8:40 (for .7 - off because my garmin didn't start right away).

(Note - they also had Classic Ski and Skate Ski categories, so there were more people at this event than the 15 that participated in the snowshoe category) 

Elevation Profile

Map

Honestly, I wasn't really sure what to expect for this. As mentioned above, I've only been snowshoeing one other time in my coherent years, and it was only for an hour or so, at a leisurely pace with my family. Not in a race setting, and we did not go very far. So I really had no plan, no expectation, other than to have some fun and finish. I wasn't even sure if I was just going to walk or attempt to run a little.

When the gun went off (I don't think there was an actual gun, but you know what I mean), everyone else started running...so I decided I would try running in the snowshoes. And that lasted a few hundred yards before it was time for a walking break. The course is an out-and-back, and started off with a bit of an uphill slope for about 1/2 mile or so, before gradually heading downhill for 2 miles. This worked out nicely for the first half - because I was able to run/walk for the first 1/2 mile as I got used to the feel for running in snowshoes. Then once I was used to it, the downhill allowed me to pick up my pace and basically run non-stop for the remaining 2 miles until the turn-around-point.

The problem then, was that now I had 2 miles of uphill to do! And let me just say, that was tough. I ended up just doing a combination of running and walking for these 2 miles. It was hard work though! But I kept moving as best as I could and surprisingly finished as the 3rd woman overall!

Pictures:

Waiting to start



Can't beat these views!

After the race, was the "after party" at Horsefly Brewing in Montrose. We got free chili and a beer as part of our race entry, and I got a medal for being 1st in my age group!

Bib, medal, and hat
This might be my new favorite drink - and it's made in Cedaredge.

Overall, I had a lot of fun at this event! I'm glad I stepped out of my comfort zone and did it! It was also neat to see the cross-country/snowshoe trail at the Black Canyon. I actually didn't really know they had this until this year. I knew they closed the road past the visitor's center in the winter, but didn't realize that meant you could use it for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing! I definitely hope to get up there and do this again!

Monday, February 10, 2014

Why I Love To Run & 2014 Goal Update

Ever since I started running, I often get the question, "why do you love running so much?" Well over the past few weeks since running my first marathon, I've really been reflecting on that question. Truth be told there are several reasons, but one has been really sticking out to me -

Running has taught me that nothing is impossible.

It has taught me that hard work, determination, passion, and commitment can get you anywhere you want to go.

Two years ago I thought running a marathon was impossible for an average person like me. I thought you had to be naturally athletic to ever do something like that. Someone like me, who was never any good at sports, couldn't ever run 26.2 miles. Running 1 mile was a stretch, let alone a 5K. But over the past year and a half, that "impossible" task of running a marathon, not only happened, but it didn't even seem "hard". Now, I'm not saying that running a marathon is a stroll in the park. But all those hours of logging mile after mile, of getting up at 5am to get my run in before work, of spending half of my Saturday running - it was worth it. As you continue to build a running base, things that once seemed impossible (running 5K, then 10k, then 10 miles, a half marathon, a full marathon), they don't feel that hard anymore. Of course there are days they can feel hard. And there are things I can do to make them harder, such as pushing my pace, covering more elevation, etc. But the point is, if you actually work towards something, you can do it.

Running truly has taught me that I can do anything. 

Which is why I set a pretty big goal for 2014. One race per month, the majority of which are fairly tough races. But I know I can do it. One day at a time, one mile at a time.

Which brings me to a few updates on my 2014 goals and plans that I discussed in a previous post. I've decided to change a few races and a few goals.

For starters, I'm going to remove my mileage goal (after completing 1700+ last year, I had set a goal to log 2000 miles this year). I still hope to log a lot of miles, but I don't want to be so incredibly focused on that specific number this year. If I feel like I need to take a rest day, I want to be able to do that without worrying about whether I'm going to hit my mileage. If I want to do a hill workout, which takes more time and effort but covers less miles, I want to do that. If I want to stop my run a mile early to get in strength training, then I want to be able to do that.

Second, I changed a few of my planned races. The main reason for this, is that I am now a member of the Colorado Beef Running Team! Which means, I get to run in certain races that they have pre-selected - so that factored into my plans a little bit. I think for the better though! They have some great race options and I'm looking forward to being part of a team and representing the Colorado Beef Council.


So, here is my, for the most part, finalized 2014 race schedule. The only months not completely solidified are November and December, plus I may add a few local "fun" races in. Bold races mean I've already put in the big bucks and registered.


JANUARY:
1/12 - Walt Disney World Marathon (check!)

FEBRUARY:
2/8 - Black Canyon Rim Romp 8K Snowshoe Race
2/15 - Moab Red Hot 33K Trail Race

MARCH:
3/22 - Gemini Adventures 24 Hours of Moab 50K

APRIL:
4/19 - Gemini Adventures Desert RATS Trail Running Festival - Trail Marathon
(I will also be volunteering the next day at the Half Marathon & 5 Mile Races)

MAY:
5/3 - Girls on the Run 5K (I am also coaching - so I will definitely be more focused on being with the girls on my team and less on actually "racing")
5/4 - Cimarron 50K (Probably didn't need to do this one, but I couldn't pass up a 50% off coupon - the plan is treat it more as a training run for Leadville).
5/17 - Black Canyon Ascent
5/26 - Bolder Boulder 10K (with my Dad!)

JUNE:
6/14 - Leadville Trail Marathon

JULY:
7/19 - Aspen Valley Marathon or Full (I am going to sign up for the full, but may decide to switch to the half closer to the race date). This is a Team Beef Race!

AUGUST:
8/16 - Pikes Peak Ascent (again, if I get in - registration opens March 12 and sells out FAST). Also a Team Beef Race.

SEPTEMBER:
9/27 - Bear Chase 50 Mile (wasn't going to sign up for a 50 Miler until after my first 50K...but I once again couldn't pass up a good coupon code...I think I may have a problem)


OCTOBER:
10/5 - Black Canyon North Rim 20K
10/19 - Denver Rock-n-Roll Marathon or Half (again, will register for the full, but may decide to switch to the half closer in). Another Team Beef race.

NOVEMBER:
11/9 - Rim Rock Marathon or Relay OR Moab Trail Marathon or Half - my plan is to keep this month open for awhile and get through a few tough months before deciding what I want to officially do.

DECEMBER:
12/6 - Westminster Fa La La Half Marathon


So there you have it. I know, to the non-running eye, I am what some might consider "crazy"...but to a lot of other runners, I'm not too bad ;). I'm just having so much fun pushing myself to new distances that once seemed impossible! It's a cool feeling - trust me!

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Walt Disney World Marathon

Warning: What you are about to experience within this post is a significant amount of photos just of me...I know, it's scary... (In all honesty, I do feel a little weird posting 50+ pictures just of me, but it was the best way to show the course, as I didn't take any photos myself on race day). My apologies.

I did it! 26.2 magical miles in Walt Disney World!


But I'm getting ahead of myself.

A real quick recap on my last couple of weeks of training (I was going to do a separate post, but I probably won't ever get around to doing it, and I want to post about the race!):

I did manage to get my two, 20 mile training runs in. Both were COLD and snowy. But I did them (had to wear a million layers and spikes on my shoes for both - but it just made running in shorts and t-shirt that much better on race day). During the last 2 weeks of tapering, I also ran a 12 miler at Marshall Mesa in Boulder while visiting my family. I love the Marshall Mesa area - it's hilly enough to feel like a trail run, but flat enough to actually run the whole time, and you've got gorgeous views of the Flatirons! Lots of fun!

The very last week before race day I developed a cold, which I was really bummed about. It wasn't horrible, but I had a lot of congestion and a sore throat. Luckily, once we got to Florida I seemed to feel better. I think the warm weather and humidity helped.


I did also manage to reach my fundraising goal for the Alzheimer's Association ALZ Stars. My goal was $1,026.20, and I raised $1,140.00! So very happy about that and I really enjoyed running this marathon in honor of my grandma! It felt good to make a difference while also achieving a personal goal!


P.S. It is not too late to make a donation for the cause: http://act.alz.org/goto/kateavery

Now for Race Weekend:


We arrived in Florida late Friday night. My parents and brother came for the first 4 days of our trip, so we rode with them to the hotel, checked-in, and headed to bed. On Saturday, they went into the Disney Parks, while Scott and I took it easy. We slept in a little, then went for a short 2 mile run. I wanted to get a feel for running in the humidity, as well as try out my race outfit one more time and make sure everything felt okay.

After our run we headed to the race Expo and packet pick-up at the Disney ESPN Wide World of Sports complex. This was by-far the largest expo I had ever been to. It was so hard not to buy everything. I did buy a few small things and a ridiculously priced jacket (I had to splurge on something!).


With my bib at the Expo!
My fancy jacket!
Race shirt & bib

After the expo we went to Walmart and picked up some snacks and breakfast for the rest of the week, and then grabbed dinner on the way back to the hotel. The rest of the afternoon was just spent relaxing until trying to get some sleep around 7:30pm (we had to wake up at 2:00am to catch the bus a little after 3:00am).

Pretty soon it was race morning! Surprisingly, I managed to get a decent amount of sleep, so woke up feeling pretty good! I had already laid out all of my race day gear, so getting ready was a breeze, and before I knew it we were on the bus heading to Epcot!

Race day outfit & gear all ready to go!

Race Day:


We had a couple hours to wait before the race started, but it actually didn't seem to take all that long. Before I knew it, the gun and fireworks went off for the first wave of runners! What surprised me was how long they spaced out each wave, and that they set off new fireworks at the start of every wave (that was pretty cool - I didn't realize they would do that!). Finally my wave was ready to start!

All professional photo's are by MarathonFoto
I started off pretty easy. I was a little cold, so I wanted to warm-up (in all honesty though, race day weather was PERFECT. Mostly 60's, maybe 70's by the end. It did get chilly waiting around in the dark, but it was bearable). The fact that they spaced out the waves by several minutes was nice because you really could run right from the beginning. However, also because of how spaced out the waves were, I didn't cross the start line for almost 15 minutes, which made interpreting the clocks at each mile a little difficult (and I was only in wave F, there were at least 10 more waves behind me).

The first couple miles went by pretty quickly. Even though it was just roads and no parks until Magic Kingdom around Mile 4, they had tons of entertainment along the course - every 1/4 mile or so there was something. Bands, characters, etc.

Not the best picture, but leg muscles look pretty beastly!
As we got into Magic Kingdom, we ran through the parking lots and roads for awhile, until around mile 5 when we were finally in the main part of the park. It was still dark at this point, so hitting Main Street USA was pretty cool because it was really well lit up and there were TONS of cheering fans. It was definitely one of the best parts! After main street, we went right through Tomorrowland, and then wound back towards Cinderella's Castle and through it. Overall, I would definitely say Magic Kingdom was probably my favorite park to run through. It was the first really exciting part of the race and it was still early enough in to really enjoy it and take it all in.


Main Street USA - Mile 5
Cinderella Castle - Mile 6

After leaving Magic Kingdom, we headed south towards the Grand Floridian Hotel just past mile 7. This is where my parents were planning their first spectator stop. It worked out really well because there was just a handful of people there, so I easily found them (vs. if they had tried to watch from Magic Kingdom - would've been impossible to find them). It was a nice boost to see them, and I quickly said hello, grabbed my sunglasses from them (despite it still being somewhat dark out), and then headed on.

After the Grand Floridian, we had another mile or so, and then we ran onto the Disney Speedway which was pretty neat. They had tons of cool cars to run by (Scott could name them off...the only one I knew was Herbie!). It was finally starting to get light at this part in the day which was nice.

Disney Speedway - Mile 9

Miles 9-12 were okay. We were running between the Speedway and Animal Kingdom, so there wasn't a whole lot of excitement, but there were still characters and  music which was nice. Finally, we hit Animal Kingdom which marked the Half Marathon point. It felt nice to know I was over half-way there! We briefly ran through Animal Kingdom, which was fun, but not as exciting as Magic Kingdom. They had employee's cheering, but no spectators.

Not entirely sure where this one was taken :)
After Animal Kingdom, we headed east towards the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. This was probably my least favorite part. For a whole mile, you could see the faster runners looping back, so it was almost depressing to know they were within a few yards of me, and yet also 3-4 miles away from me. Once I got into the Sports complex it was better. We ran between football fields, baseball fields, and onto the track, before running into and around the bases of the baseball stadium. They had the TV screens up with live coverage of the runners, which was cool. Shortly after the stadium, I saw my parents again at their second spectator viewpoint. I was about 19 miles in at this point, so I dropped off my handheld water bottle to them so I didn't have to worry about it anymore.

Baseball stadium - Mile 19
I continued on the loop, this time in the better position - 3 miles ahead of all the people I was passing, and started to make my way back north towards Hollywood Studio's. We entered into the back part of Hollywood Studios (where they had chocolate at the mile 23 aid station!!!), and exited the front of the park. By this time, the park was open to guests, so there was more cheering and excitement than Animal Kingdom had.

Hollywood Studios - Mile 23
As we exited Hollywood Studio's, we made our way onto the river trail that connects Hollywood Studios to the Boardwalk and eventually Epcot. We ran along the Boardwalk past the Beach Club Resort (that I stayed at once as a kid), and finally into Epcot! We entered Epcot through a back gate at the "England" portion of the World Showcase. We then ran around all of the various countries, and into Future World, where I saw my parents one more time just before the Mile 26 mark. I didn't stop to chat this time, as I was really ready to be done! I continued on towards Spaceship Earth (aka the giant Golf Ball), was a little disappointed we didn't go under it, but kept on anyways, through a back gate, and towards the finish line, where I finished in 4:26:45!

Epcot World Showcase (Germany and Mexico) - almost to 26 Miles
Spaceship Earth at mile 26!
Finish Line! 26.2 Miles in the books!
In general, I felt like this went really well for my first marathon. I felt good the entire time and never felt like I hit the "wall". I think this was because I fueled A LOT! I stopped at almost every aid station (I think all but the first and the last actually), and drank half a cup of poweraid and half a cup of water. I also started taking my Honey Stinger chews at Mile 8, and ate them fairly consistently thru the half-marathon point. Then at Miles 15 and 19, I grabbed a Clif Bar vanilla gel (which may be my new favorite gel flavor) and took the whole thing, then also had a banana somewhere in there, and the piece of chocolate at mile 23. So I fueled a lot, but I'm glad I did. I'm sure I lost a little time when I had to walk in order to drink and eat the banana, but I think it was worth it. I felt strong the entire race, and was even able to pick up my pace for the last 4 miles (my very last mile was even a sub-8 minute pace!).


Finisher!

Summary of what I did and didn't like about this race:

Likes:
  1. I loved how much entertainment was on the course! It was awesome! 
  2. TONS of water and power-aid stations
  3. Tons of spectators
  4. Because Disney owns all the roads, they were completely blocked off with no traffic, which was really nice.
Dislikes:
  1. Early start time. Getting up at 2:00am is pretty rough.
  2. I felt like the Dopey and Goofy challenges "belittled" the Marathon. I kept having to say I "ONLY" did the Marathon.
  3. My stupid Garmin was off and it kept telling me I hit mile markers way before I actually did. I stopped looking at after mile 18 or so because it was depressing (it actually clocked the race at 27.1 miles). I know this doesn't relate to Disney per say, but it was my main annoyance for the day.

RACE STATS:
Date: January 12, 2014
Distance: 26.2 Miles
Bib Number: 2561
Gun Time: 4:40:35
Chip Time: 4:26:45
Average Pace: 10:11 minutes per mile
Overall Rank: 3,659 of 19,198
Gender Rank: 1,153 of 9,697
Division Rank (Females 25-29): 219 of 1,655
5 Mile Split: 51:00
10 Mile Split: 1:44:23
Half Marathon Split: 2:16:03
20 Mile Split: 3:27:55 (pretty proud of myself for doing the last 6.2 in under an hour!)
Garmin Splits (these are slightly off since my garmin clocked the race at 27.09 miles total):
Miles 1-10: 9:59, 9:56, 10:03, 10:04, 10:01, 9:40, 9:36, 10:15, 10:13, 9:57
Miles 11-20: 9:45, 9:52, 9:39, 9:53, 9:47, 10:23, 10:58, 9:52, 9:55, 9:30
Miles 21-26.2: 10:07, 9:40, 9:28, 9:38, 9:17, 8:24, 8:09 (check out those last 2!!!)


Course Map

Finishers Certificate!


Another random thought:

As much fun as it was to do Disney as my first marathon, I think it might've been better as a second or third. There's so much you can do during the marathon (such as stop and take pictures with characters), but since it was my first, I wanted to see how fast I could do it in. If I ever do Disney again, I want to be able to take my time (although that is also why something like Dopey could be good - you could do the shorter races for fun and the longer races to actually "race".

Post-Race Disney:

 

Not going to lie, I was REALLY sore on Monday and Tuesday. It made walking around the parks pretty difficult. But I still had a fun time, and I'm sure the walking was probably good for my recovery anyways. I'm really glad we stayed the whole week after because I felt like I had enough time to see everything without totally killing myself. Here's some pics from the remainder of our trip:

Magic Kingdom (Sunday & Friday)
Universal Studios/Wizarding World of Harry Potter (Monday)
Hollywood Studios (Tuesday)
Animal Kingdom (Wednesday)
Epcot (Thursday)



Flattop Mountain & Hallett Peak

I've been wanting to hike to the top of Hallett Peak ever since I found out it was the gorgeous mountain towering above Dream and Emera...