The #PrincessMen – Year 6 | 2020

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Twenty Twenty.
If there was ever a lead up to an all-around strange weekend it was the 2020 Princess Half Marathon.

Writing about it after the event, and completing this blog much after the events of 2020 and Covid closures, it’s almost eerie to think about the feelings and all around attitude of that weekend. Coupled with the crazy weather we had with temperature shifts between the 5k (which we didn’t run), the 10k, and the Half. And also considering this weekend was a fairly short weekend for all of us.. I can’t help but consider this race memorable for so many reasons.

I was a year into a new job and a new company, and extremely busy back home at work. I was actually getting calls and emails during my vacation – which was frustrating to me since these trips go by so quickly already.

But we had pretty much the whole crew back again for one more race.

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The #PrincessMen – Year Five | 2019

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It’s already been five years running as the #PrincessMen .. Five?! Crazy!

Really though, it’s wild to think that we’ve been doing this so many years in a row already. And even more wild to consider how many people still get a kick out of seeing us out there running. And now we see a lot more men dressing as princesses on the course – I like to think that we have had a hand in that to some degree. So many people comment and post and social telling us they’re going to dress as a princess the following year, or ladies comment and say they’re going to make their S.O. dress up and run with them! It’s awesome. 

But let’s recap a few numbers, yeah?
5 – years running and still positively received 
4 – additional friends have joined the original group
4 – times in Buzzfeed in the past years
3 – times posted to runDisney’s social channels this year alone <-this one is the coolest

Really though.. making their social feed the day of the race is probably the coolest acknowledgement we’ve received

We’ve made several different posts, blogs, and feeds over the years. Last year runDisney featured us about a week after the event. It was Me/Jasmine, Beau/Pocahontas, and Joe/Belle in a Boomerang on IG and FB. 
We’ve been in Buzzfeed several times for best dressed, funny costumes, etc. 
But this year making the official runDisney social feeds the day of the race, as well as being acknowledged as we crossed the finish line was by far the coolest one so far. 



Haven’t heard/seen anything from our past years? You can check those out below if you’re curious and have a lot of time to kill.
Year One – how it started
Year Two – the return
Year Three – we all grew beards
Year Four – scattered on the course
which then bring us to…

Year Five

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Ironman Chattanooga – with the fam

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So at the time I’m currently writing this it’s been about a week since Ironman Chattanooga and I’ve mostly spent the time sitting around being lazy, with the occasional very-short workout mixed in. haha!
Note: Now, at the time I’m publishing this it’s been six weeks… I’m still being lazy with my post-race training, but I’m still getting out for a short work each day ;)

That being said, let’s get to my recap!

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2018 Princess Half as the #PrincessMen

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Year Four of the #PrincessMen was one of the more hectic, and short, trips of any year. 
And now, writing this whole report longgg after the actual race I realize just how crazy the whole weekend and trip actually was. 

At the time I was working at a marketing agency in Southern California. I kept my trip and travel minimal because I believed I was integral to the growth and success of this new company I was part of and helping build. In hindsight that was a huge mistake to miss out on time with my friends because the agency didn’t actually care about any of us, and laid off several of us just a few months later. It was a ridiculous and semi-hilarious period of my life to look back on. But oh well. 

So, leading up to this race I decided to do an overnight flight on Thursday, to arrive Friday morning. And then I’d take a Sunday evening flight home. It worked out for a few reasons though. I didn’t have a lot of money – the agency pay was abysmal and I barely made enough to survive. And Beau and Biggs also had busy schedules at the time and were planning minimal travel as well to save money.
This year I would be doing the Challenge with Biggs, so we had to get there with enough time for Friday Check In

Thursday/Friday

12 AM, Flyin out

Thursday night I had booked a midnight flight out of LAX. It was a direct flight to Orlando, and as it turned out I also ended up having an entire row to myself. Somewhat uncommon, even for a JetBlue flight. 

9 AM, Friday Morning Arrival

Friday after arrival we all got to the timeshare, I got cleaned up and changed for the day, and we headed to breakfast, followed by the Expo for race check in. 

No Disney trip is complete for us without at least one group trip to IHOP. 

After breakfast we headed to the Expo. Biggs and I would be doing the Challenge this year, so we had to check in and pick up our bibs earlier than the rest of the group who would only be running the Half and checking in later. 

The rest of the day was hanging out, laughing, and catching up on life. Joe and Erin came by to meet for dinner with us. Back at the timeshare that the guys were trying on their costumes. Biggs would be debuting a new setup he put together. 

Saturday – 10K Race Day

4:00 AM
Challenge, Day 1, Jasmine and Mulan!

An early morning as usual, and just the pair of us running today! We kept a pretty easy pace overall for the 10k. Running into several friends that morning, and of course stopping for some photos during the race.

One thing I will say after looking through all the race photos from PhotoPass was that Biggs managed to get into a LOT of shots. I feel like the fan really helps with grabbing attention though. haha!

Beau also came to hang out that morning and wait for us – in costume no less, even though he didn’t run that morning. 

We hung out for a bit after the race. Said hi to old friends and new, and then headed out. 

That afternoon we all hit Downtown Disney for Ghirardelli. I met up with Joe/Erin for some family photos. And then we all hit the grocery store to get ready for a group dinner with everyone. Having the whole group together at the timeshare is a great time, all the time. To be able to sit around and catch up with everyone truly is the best part of these trips. 

 

Sunday – Half Marathon Day

4 AM, another early one
The gang’s all here!

This was one of the huge-group years! It was awesome to have such a large group together for the race.

This was the closest we got to any sort of group-photo on the course itself, haha!

We all ended up broken up on the course pretty quickly – like within the first four miles or so. 

To be honest I didn’t realize the gap we had one everyone before the castle. So our group ended up split in two by the halfway point, and split in three by the finish.

 

Regardless of being broken up, everyone all had a great time. And if there was any result of us being split up it was that the following year it pushed everyone to train harder to be even more ready for the running and pacing. 

Wrapping up the run that day we hung out to wait for the entire group, of course, after the finish. Said lots of hellos to anyone that came up to chat after the race. And then we all returned back to the timeshare to clean up and go eat. The sunny day resulted in all of us having some slight level of sunburn, haha! 

And that afternoon Biggs and I had to return to the airport to fly home. 

Like I said, a very short, and somewhat anticlimactic race weekend that turned out to be too rushed, and far too short. This was the weekend that made me realize shortening a trip due to work was not worth it. That my time with my friends in Florida is far more valuable because I see them so infrequently. 

So let’s get to the photos from everything else – I’ll add more details in there. 

 

Now, on to all the photos from the weekend!

 

Packed and ready to go! 

LAX parking/shuttle portion of travel is one of the most annoying things

Decent legroom

Actually have a whole row to myself for the overnight!

Friday Morning: 

Heading to breakfast 

IHOP is a regular part of all of our trips since college

Expo time!

Gotta rock our own hashtag, right?

We were able to all find our princesses on the silhouettes 

In hindsight, maybe Biggs should have found a way to do the Kids Race also

Hitting the Outlet mall to pass time and do some shopping. Biggs and Beau are buying identical shoes, apparently. Adorable

Lunch of champions

Back the timeshare. Joe and Erin and arrived later that evening

Anthony, flirting with the waitress

Yeahhh… this new wig I ordered for the race was absolutely horrible

Beau and Biggs were both trying on their costumes for the next day

Biggs had put together a new entire outfit

Gotta get the corset ready!

Seriously, it’s the moments like this during race weekend that are hilarious. A bunch of dudes just primpin’ and getting things set

Alright it all works!

 

Saturday:

it’s early, but we’re all awake

Beau is up and dressed to join us, even though he’s not running today

Trimming the belt ties cuz THOSE are just gettin’ annoying

Apple sauce = Breakfast of winners

We found Paola! Or actually, she found us

Biggs loves meeting all the Mulans on course

It’s dark as hell, but we out here!

Great sunrise view over the showcase

This is around the point that Biggs’ outfits tend to get realllly warm to run in

 

Beau, waitin at the finish!

Another Jasmine!

With Paola

First race, done!

With Mariah

With Erin

Everyone loves posing with Beau, tho

With Melissa and Diannys (who we regularly see at events now!)

With Jill, we’re costume twins! 

With Teresa, another Jasmine!

With Andrea (i think?)

With Denise, who went as slave Jasmine!

 

Later that afternoon Joe and Erin caught up with us again for photos and to hang out

I always try to hit Ghirardelli if we can make the trip to Downtown Disney

Hitting the store for some groceries for group dinner

Everyone was going to meet us back at the timeshare

The Biggs family, Spoenemon family, and Bedford family all joined

Theresa/Flynn getting dinner going

Scott/Rapunzel and Ric/Elsa 

This was one of the bigger group meals we had that wasn’t us going out to eat

 

Race Morning

Joe crashed with us to get ready with the group in the morning

Naidymar was one of the first to be ready to go tho

Wigs and accessories ready!

Getting closer to being ready to go

Trying to draw on Beau’s tattoo

Wait… that’s totally wrong!

Gotta restart!

gurlllll!

Ready for the hot weather ahead

Doing the best we can with the makeup pencil

And we’re ready!

First Jasmine of the day!

The gangs all here!

The long walk to the start

Getting closer!

Found another Belle!

Is this everyone!? Who’d we lose?

Another Jasmine on the course!

Founda  Moana!

Found an Aladdin out there! I’ve seen Maynard at other events since this too!

Our group was totally broken up over the course at this point

Another Jasmine!

Whew! And we’re done! That was a HOT race day out there

Sunburn check!

We all got juuuuust a bit of sun today!

And sadly, just a couple hours later Biggs and I were back at the airport to fly home

The quickest trip we’d had for one of these races. And as I said before, it made me regret not taking more time to spend with everyone. 

Flying out of Orlando will make you understand that Pre is worth it for this airport alone

Back home, and another Challenge wrapped! 

 

 

Chromatic Cafe, Downtown San Jose. Now Open, featuring my work

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The new Chromatic Cafe Downtown San Jose location is open! And my work is featured on the walls!

I’m really thrilled to be able to share my work Downtown with everyone! I used to work downtown in college, and for a short while afterward, too. I still do photography around DTSJ as well – I have photographed the official headshots for San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo as well as other city representatives. So while that work is hanging in City Hall three blocks away, THIS work is what allows me to be creative in a genre that pretty much everyone can enjoy.

I first started shooting landscape photography purely out of boredom after thinking “THAT’S not hard. I can do that…” (most of you know me for my commercial photography, sports imagery, or wedding photos… right?)

And while I sell prints online, and have the last several years, I rarely see them in person. Because, let’s face it, I don’t print all my work because I don’t own a 20,000 sq/ft house to hang it all in, sadly.

But head Downtown! Grab a coffee, and check out the images I selected to hang on the walls!

17 N 2nd St, San Jose, CA 95113 (google maps: https://goo.gl/maps/ytRM2BiLsuT2)
Mon-Fri, 7a-2p (times will adjust as business hours/needs require, but to start off they’re sticking to similar hours of city businesses!)
www.chromatic.cafe

—

Check out images of the new cafe below! Along with a few details on the photos I currently have hanging up!

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The Irizarry Wedding – Montréal, Quebec

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I just returned from Montréal, Quebec where I had a pleasure of shooting Bianca and Robert’s gorgeous wedding… and taking my first official trip to Canada! Ok, so I’ve been there once, but it was only for about 2 hours to buy a car with my former roommate.

Anyway.. How did I end up all the way in Canada AND the OTHER side of Canada for that matter?
Well that’s simple… about 14 years ago I worked in Florida and met a guy, who grew up with another guy, who at one point served in the army and met another guy, and guys 2 and 3 later took a cruise where there were some loud or creepy other guys that creeped out some girls but it was ok because guy number 3 is loud and American-sounding-guy so the girls hung out with guys 2 and 3 and girl number 1 fell in love with guy number 2 and because girls 1 and 2 lived in Canada and guy 2 was in love they decided guy 2 would move and they’d do that whole marriage/love/forever thing so guy number 1 was like “yo john, guy 2 and girl 1 are doing a thing and you gotta come over for that” and I was like “Sweet.”

Told you. It’s totally simple.

But really though. I used to work with a guy named John. John’s childhood friend is Robert, the groom. John’s wedding gift to his long-time, childhood friend? My wedding photography.

Ok, maybe that was easier. But the first way of explaining it way more fun sounding.

As I’ve said before in other write-ups on weddings, it’s hugely flattering to be asked to fly somewhere for work. And I’ve been very fortunate to fly cross country for weddings many times.
This was my first international wedding I was booked for.
And after making sure, a few times, that Bianca and Robert had reviewed my photography and approved of John’s gift to the two of them, I started making plans with John regarding travel and details.

“I want lots of photos..”

That was basically the main request Bianca had as we started exchange emails and work out details for the wedding. I tend to stay out of the bride’s way during planning until things get close to the actual wedding weekend. I checked in a few times, and I asked Bianca to start thinking of any images she liked or wanted for her and Robert. And, while there were a handful of specifics, the majority of it sounded largely that she just wanted to make sure she would have plenty of shots to remember things by.

And that can be easier as far as requests go.

So, as usual with my huge wedding recaps and write-ups, I’m going to leave a lot of the details for the captions. Save to say that I had an absolutely wonderful time with Bianca, Robert, and their families and friends. Everyone I met in Canada was incredibly welcoming and very friendly. I would definitely travel back to Montréal again whenever that chance comes up.

Click past the break below for a HUGE collection of images, seriously it’s like 600 photos, from Bianca and Robert’s massive wedding celebration this past weekend.

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Racing in the IM70.3 Puerto Rico – my report

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#RaceInParadise, that’s what they call it. And it’s beautiful.

It was nearly two years ago now when I dropped the idea to my friend Naidymar that she should do the Half Ironman in Puerto Rico. “You should sign up! Go race in your home country! I’ll do it with you!”
That was basically the initial conversation. And it led to a race.

 

There were two reasons for me pushing to do this event:

  1. I had seen a bunch of the videos and marketing for IronmanPR online. The course looked absolutely gorgeous, and tough. And I was already pretty much sold on it.
  2. Naidymar is Puerto Rican. She is a dear friend. And I truly believed she was tough enough to train up to complete a half even though she had JUST got into cycling.

Looking back in a group chat we have with several friends that was the first time I actually said something. The original thought was to do a relay, but that quickly changed to each doing our own race. Things slowly progressed from there.

So when I got a text message from her saying “I’m signed up!” my reaction was both “Hell yes!” and “Shit! Now I gotta figure out logistics for that race…”

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Disney’s Princess Half Marathon 2017 as the #PrincessMen

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“Guys.. we’re gonna do the Princess Half.. and we’re gonna dress up.. as princesses”
That was pretty much how things started. And three years later here we are.

To say that the idea of #PrincessMen grew into something we would have never foreseen is obvious. To find ourselves welcomed so warmly by so many two years after that first run in 2015 is still a shock, but way more fun now!

After the first race two years ago we watched posts online over social media quickly questioning “WHO were those guys!?”. During the second race in 2016 we were greeted by “I was hoping to see you guys!” followed by topping Buzzfeed’s Best-Dressed list from the race. Haha!

Read about our first year here
Or, read about the second year here

Now in our third year, and back to our original large group (plus a couple new faces) we were met with “I joined the Half Marathon just to meet you guys..”

Consider that for a moment. Several woman out there not only considered, but signed up for, paid, trained, AND COMPLETED a half marathon and credited us with getting them there.
Shelly was just one of several ladies who posted comments like these online, or told us in-person during the race.
And while I’m proud that our antics and humor is encouraging anyone to get out and run/walk and improve their health and lifestyle – THEY are the ones that put in the work and finished the event.

And they should be incredibly proud.

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Ragnar Trail Relay – Lake Tahoe

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Ragnar Trail Relay – Lake Tahoe 2016

So this was one of the three main races I was hoping to complete this year. (The other two were Escape From Alcatraz Tri, and Half Iron Michigan that I opted out of in favor of a full Iron in December)
Ragnar was first introduced to me through a buddy of mine in Florida. He had brought up the possibility of doing a relay with our group out there in the Keys. But that was the road relay. Ragnar has two styles of races. Point-to-point road running, and multiple-loop trail running and camping. As I looked at the two different options I found their Tahoe race that immediately appealed to me _because_ it was in Tahoe and I knew it would be hard.

 

I’ve lived and trained in Tahoe two different summers for Ironman Tahoe. So I knew exactly what this race would require from me.

But I didn’t know enough people to assemble a team on my own. And frankly, at the time of this writing in July, I have competed in 11 races that I can think off the top of my head. Ragnar didn’t look like it was in the cards for me.

And then I randomly found a team last minute..

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Escape From Alcatraz 2016

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Everyone calls this race a “bucket list” race. Personally I think that term is ridiculously cliche and can’t stand it. I would prefer just to say “Yeah, it’s definitely one you should try and do if you’re interested”. And there’s currently a solid argument to be made that the 40% increase in cost this year is due to every triathlon writer calling this race “bucket list”.

I had first heard about Escape from friends. And then looked it up online back in 2014 for the 2015 race. I entered the second drawing, but was not selected. However I did get selected to race in the 2016 race in the next drawing that was held.

Reading about the race online was interesting because you see everyone’s underlying panic when they ask questions in forums or discuss it online. I didn’t consider the race distances to be difficult lengths. It was a 1.5 mile ocean swim in the Bay, 18 mile ride through San Francisco, and 8 mile run – including a beach section.
But my background with triathlons includes Ironman Lake Tahoe – so I now compare nearly every race to that one. People were particularly scared about the water, but when I lived in SoCal before recently moving back to the SF Bay Area I would train in the ocean. So waves don’t really bother me, nor does the salt.

And when it came down to the actual race, I knew I would have a fun time racing with minimal struggle throughout the day if I wanted. My goal would be 3hr 30min. And when race day came around I managed a 3:35:06

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