You only live once. Some more than others.

My first thought of the day needs no introduction:

After spending three years drooling over the Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon, I finally, finally, finally signed up for it this year.

Despite the three years of droolage, I still spent some time going back and forth on whether or not to pull the trigger.  This was for the sake of my pocketbook.  The race registration fee was $175, which already made me take a deep breath.  But then, add another $13.85 of those stupid Active.com registration fees, and also add another $74 for Adam to attend the post-race party.  I'm not even ready yet to think about the cost of airfare, lodging, and everything else.

All of this just to run a half marathon.  For fun!

I am definitely still experiencing some sticker shock even now.  But I know it'll be worth it once I get to Florida as I really do love Disney.  It'll be awesome to combine my love of running, food, and Disney within the span of one evening.

I'm already starting to keep an eye out for a picture of the 2013 medal, too.  Here's a picture of the medal they gave out last year:

Can't wait to get the 2013 edition for myself!

I am also excited to add Florida to my list of states raced in.  Right now there's a grand total of two (2) states on the list!  (Thank you, thank you, please hold applause.)

On a related note, I think I actually scared Adam the last time we went to Disney.  This is because I take my park visitation strategy very seriously.  Thou shalt never let a good Fastpass go to waste.  Even if it means darting through the crowds while doing my best impression of an NFL running back fueled by speed, agility, and physicality.  And leaving him behind to deal with the blockers.  (Purely hypothetically, of course.)  But that's another story.

"Go wide!!!"

On another related note, and also speaking of running insanity and Disney.  I just heard about the new Dopey Challenge that Disney will be offering in 2014.  As if their Goofy Challenge wasn't enough (running the half marathon on Saturday and the full marathon on Sunday).  The Dopey Challenge entails running a 5K on Thursday, a 10K on Friday, the half marathon on Saturday, and the full marathon on Sunday.  That's 48.6 miles in 4 days.

Good lord.  During the peak of my marathon training, I think there were only two months where I ran more than 50 miles within the month.

Too bad they've already created the Dumbo Double Dare at Disneyland (a 10K and a half marathon in the same weekend) because I think the 48.6-mile challenge is much more aptly named Dumbo.  But kudos to whoever out there will be able to achieve Dopeyness!  When I said above that we should keep crazy because we only live once?  I guess everyone has a different interpretation of what constitutes crazy.  =)

OK, going back to all of the non-Dopey, non-Goofy, and non-Dumbo peons such as myself!  Unless I sign up for any other halves in 2013 (I'm looking at you, Prairie State), Wine and Dine will be my fifth half marathon in 2013 and my eleventh overall.

Cheers to that!