Walt Disney World Half Marathon - January 9, 2010

I had a hard time falling asleep Friday night, the night before the Half. I was nervous, worried, scared...I really wasn't sure what to expect! At 3 a.m., my cell phone alarm went off! It was time! I could also hear wake up calls coming from the rooms around us! Maybe I'm not the only crazy fool waking up to run in the freezing rain!

Here's an article on what we had to endure for the Half....http://www.disunplugged.com/2010/01/11/temperature-low-but-spirits-high-for-2010-disney-marathon/

I got up, put on a sweatshirt, and went to the food court for some hot water. I wanted to drink my tea! :0) After getting my fill on green tea, I went back to the room and changed into my running gear.



Never have I run in weather like this! It was insane! I bought a $5 sweatshirt from WalMart at the last minute before we left and I'm SO glad I did! I definitely needed it!!!

After getting dressed, I walked to the bus stop, then realized I forgot my hot hands and my bottle of water so I went back to my room, then went back to the bus stop! lol There were SO many people that we were filling up all the charter busses so they had to call out a few Disney Transportation busses! That's what I ended up riding on. I did end up forgetting my Garmin which was plugged into the wall charging but oh well!



I got to the race and met up with Laura and Holly, a few friends! We talked for a while then lined up to walk to the start line. Our walk took forever...it was like a half a mile walk! Crazy!



These guys were everywhere telling people what to do! Haha!



By this point, it was sleeting. Yes, sleeting. I live in Louisiana. I don't run in the cold, especially not the freezing cold. This was a bit much for me!



These were a bunch of guys who couldn't wait for the portapotties while walking to our corrals! HAha

With this being my first Half, I got stuck in Corral G! Ugh. The Corrals went from A-G. Of course I was in the last one! Oh well. At least I had a running buddy, Laura! We made an awesome team!!! She actually went back a Corral so she could run with me!



Finally 40 minutes after the first runners started, it was our turn! YAY!



It took us a little while to reach the Start line.



These guys were cheering us on!!



Along the route were bands, cheerleaders, choirs, etc. there to keep us going! It was awesome!



No this was not our real time...we started way behind the real time!! About mile 3, my heart decided to be stupid and jump into this abnormal tachycardic rhythm that it does sometimes. I tried to walk it out and hold my breath but it wouldn't stop. I was SO MAD that it decided to do that so early into the half. UGH. Laura bend down to tie her shoe and I did the same and I finally got it to stop. It usually only happens if I'm overheated so I don't understand what happened there....



Anyway, we continued running and finally we saw the Magic Kingdom sign...couldn't wait to run around the Castle!



Mile 4 - This is about the time the falling ice was pelting us hard in the face. That mess hurt!



Mile 5...almost halfway!



We ran through the back parkling lot into the Magic Kingdom!



I couldn't believe every park still had their Christmas decorations up!



Running down Main Street...no feeling like it in the world!



I stopped for a picture in front of the Castle!



We looped in through Tomorrowland, then curved over to Fantasyland...



Where we saw Alice and the Queen of Hearts!



Mile 6 was in the Magic Kingdom



We also saw Princess Tiana and her friends in Liberty Square...



And these guys played a tune for us!



At mile 7, we stopped to refuel. I really waited too long to do that but I didn't want to stop while in the middle of the Magic Kingdom. Now I know better what to do for next time!



We finished off our refuel while waiting in line for a picture with Mary Poppins, Bert, and the Penguins!



Mile 8....the rest of the stretch was so boring! Nothing to see or do!!



See what I mean...just mile marker signs along the way! I will say that I always refuel with GU ... either the gels or the shot blocks. At mile 8.7, we were given Clif Shots...wow...that was the nastiest thing I've EVER put in my mouth! The GU gels are kind of a lighter consistency. The Clif Shot tasted like pure paste in my mouth! It was so disgusting. I threw the rest down on the ground! Ugh...



Mile 10...this is the point that I started to get miserable! Besides the cold and the freezing rain (which by this point had turned from ice pellets to RAIN), I was hurting bad. However, Laura and I kept it up and kept on going! We worked together really well!



Mile 11...almost there! The only time we really walked was at 11.5 miles. We walked until we saw the 12 mile sign, then we ran it on in home!



I was NEVER so excited to see this EPCOT ball! I kept praying for a sign or anything that even SAID EPCOT on it!!! lol YAY I wanted to kiss the ground when I saw this! Hah!



Finally to Mile 12...



...and it was a MISERABLE mile 12...see? lol We started running after that and ran all the way to the finish! I guess I got a burst of energy or something! Haha!



Getting closer!



We were almost there!



A gospel choir singing us in home!! Haha

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Mile 13...YAY!



The Finish Line! As I was crossing the finish line, I started to cry. I was crying not only because I was miserable and cold and hurting, but because this dream of mine, a dream that I have pursued for an entire year has finally come true! If you can DREAM IT, you can DO IT!!!!



Lots of Donald Medals!



Unused Portapotties! lol



We found Chip and Dale after the race!



and we found Daisy too!



Me and Laura, my awesome running buddy!



Yay I did it! Can't believe I ran a half marathon! What an amazing, exhilarating experience! Yes we were cold and miserable the entire race, but we made the best of it, we had a positive attitude, and we finished the race!

13.1
I DID IT!

Thank you, Disney! I really did have "The time of my LIFE"!!


This blog isn't finished yet, there's lots more races on the horizon! Next race: The Rock and Roll Mardi Gras Half in New Orleans! Yay!