The princess half started the night before for me. My friends and I all packed up our fitness
belts and pinned on our bibs.We all turned in by 10:00 and were asleep pretty quickly. We
all got up and ready on time at 3 am. My cell phone was the official alarm
clock so I got to be the mom and whisper to everyone that it was time to get
up. We left the cabin early and hit the road. We were in high spirits. But
the road was already closed. No worries, they had the detours marked
clearly and the hundreds of other cars helped us know we were going the right
way. Unfortunately, we were crawling. So it felt like it took forever. But in
reality, we still pulled into the parking lot by 4:15 for a 5 am start.
It was a little chilly out that early with a cold front
coming in. I had added a white shirt under my racing tank. Even still it was chilly and I was anxious to
move. I didn’t really complain though because I knew that once we started
running we would love that temperature. Also, I wanted to help the girls embrace the temperatures.
Truly, it was nippy but not too bad. If you run you learn to love the
cold. You can run forever when it is cooler. So being cold is actually a happy
thing… I know runners are weird.
We made our way through bag check and down the long walk to
the corrals. As we got close, we decided to deal with the porta potties there.
The line was long and slow. By the time we were all finished, it was already
after 5 am. Oy…. But we were fine. The corrals were in sight and the race did
not start until 5:45 am. When we got to
the corrals, my friends went to the left to hit corrals G and H. I was assigned
to F so I should have been walking with them. But I showed proof of time and
was moved to A. Umm.. No… I run an 11 minute mile. So I properly directed
myself to E. The good news is with A I could go to ANY corral. You can always
go back a corral but you can’t go up. So I went to E, found my fb friend and waited with her and a great girl dressed as Belle.
Oh yeah, I didn’t tell you about my costume I was Tiana. I had a limeish green tank and a gorgeous Tiana tutu. I wore
a headband tiara. As mentioned before, I
added a white shirt underneath.
The race started with the fairy godmother, the national
anthem and then fireworks. Each corral got a countdown and fireworks. It was
great and helped you forgot about the chill standing. When E got up to the
start I almost wanted to cry. Even with friends in my corral, I was going to
run my own race. I had a strategy and I could not let others change that. But
it was so great to share the moment with 20K princesses.
The only glitch in all this magic was my camera. I bought a
great camera for $50. I love it. But it is a battery camera. I
never put the batteries in! I refused to
get upset though. I realized that I would just have to pay for the professional
pictures and I would probably have a faster time because I was not fiddling
with the camera. I do wish I didn’t have to carry it in my belt for no reason.
LOL. But such is life.
Mile 1
I really wanted to do a 1 mile warm up prior to the start.
But the walk to the corral did not permit that. So I really took the 1st
mile easy. But I did run the whole thing. When I get to mile 1 I was right
between 11 minutes and 12 with an 11:35 mile. Perfect! I was surprised that there were already
picture stops near mile 1. But the lines were long. So I just cruised on past. There would be no
pictures with Captain Jack for me. They even had the full pirate ship out
there!
Mile 2 -3
I started my run/walks after mile 1. So I had to learn how
to hug the middle and then get to the right to walk. But it wasn’t too bad. The
only hitch, I was quickly realizing that my bladder was OVER hydrated. I wanted
to run at least to the 5K mark but it was starting to be a HUGE distraction. So
right after mile 2 I decided to hit the porta potty line. I was still on pace
right at a 12 minute mile so why not right? Well, the line and the re-adjusting
of the layers took about 4-5 minutes.
I never saw the original group of runners I started with
again. Lol. That 5 minutes put me in the pack with a different set of people.
But I still saw some E’s on bibs so I felt ok. As I ended mile 2, I had a
momentary brain lapse. I decided I had already passed 3 and I was coming up on
4. I spent several seconds debating this fact with myself. I was mostly
concerned because I wanted to get to the 5K speed bump to track my time.
Eventually I saw mile3 and realized I was nuts! My total
running time was 36 minutes but that didn’t account for the break. So in real
time I was already 39 minutes into my run. But still right on pace to have time
for pictures.
During this stretch we went under an overpass with a
DJ. I made sure to raise my hands for
fun and also to help keep my hands from swelling. He was very encouraging and
told us we were headed to the water bridge. I didn’t know where this was but it
sounded great!
Mile 4
I entered Magic Kingdom and was so excited. But then I
realized I was just at the ticket center. I didn’t despair though. I had been
looking forward to seeing the contemporary hotel so I was glad to not have
missed it! Plus during that area they
had this drum line. They were amazing.
Then we were finally getting to the Magic Kingdom
Mile 5-6
OMG, OMG! I was running into Magic Kingdom. As we came into the park, we were headed down
Main Street. It was so great to be running toward the castle and to run past
the shops. We made the right into
tomorrow land and past the speedway. It was so cool to be running a half
marathon through my favorite parts of the park.
It was so funny to me
that the speedway warning recording was on – “Please use caution. You are
approaching the end of the track. Don’t hit the car in front of you.” In my defense, I had been up WAY early for 3
straight days and ran on all of those days. So at that point I was probably a
little silly. I did chew some gels as we started this portion of the race. So I
may have been sugar silly too!
When we rounded the corner, there were heralders on the
castle. They trumpeted to acknowledge we were approaching. I seriously almost cried
right then. I almost cried at least a hundred times. It is emotional to run a
long race. It is even more emotional to run your first race after months of
training. I just pulled myself together
and kept running right into my first photo stop. I did the “faked” action shot
coming out of the castle. I then ran down the ramp to take the official Castle
shot. There were 3 lines. I was so hyped to find a short line I walked off the
curb and into another runner. I was fine but more importantly so was she. Geez
Louise. Always a klutz.
The only “bad” thing was this guy telling the runners we
were half way done. Um.. no. We hadn’t even hit mile 6 yet and we all knew
that. Don’t lie to a person who has to
run 13.1 miles. Just don’t do it. Lol.
Mile 7-9
These were lonely stretch of highway miles. Except , of
course, they were not that bad. We were still on Disney. There was music and a
couple of character stops. I stopped to take a picture with Lilo and Stitch.
I also stopped for a picture with Meeko from Pochontas. My
friend was Meeko so it was an
extra special stop for me. I also think this is the stretch where I finally
saw another Princess Tiana. We chatted a little as we ran. Princesses are very
friendly!
As I crossed the 9.3 (15K) split point, I decided to once
again do a bio break. I swear over
hydrating is worse than under hydrating. I will NEVER drink that much before a
race again! But there were no lines so it was a quick trip for me.
I saw the princes as I ran this stretch of race. The guy
playing Tarzan was crouched low to the ground. His leg muscle caught my
attention from across the street. Lol. But the line was too long. So I kept
running. For the record, I am not a dirty old lady. Everyone commented on him!!
Mile 10-13.1
There was an on ramp portion of the race as you approached
mile 10. I could see that the ramp would take us back over the course.Since this was the hill I was dreading, I decided to take an
extra long walk break. I wanted to save my legs for the actual climb. Turns out
we always make things worse than they are.
The actual climb was not bad at all.
As you got to the crest you heard the Sergeant from Toy
Story telling us to take this hill. Lol.
They had a green army guy there for pictures. I almost wanted to stop but decided
that I had already taken too much time. Plus I am not a big fan of stopping on
a hill. I don’t like the sensation of falling.
On the overpass I did look down at other runners. There were
tons of them down there! I waved and
whooped as I ran past. I am sure I looked like a fool. But maybe my silliness
inspired someone to take that hill. Lol.
Back into Epcot and I decided to eat some more gels. I had
missed my last gel break because my tummy was not happy. But I felt like I
needed something and I could handle it. I am glad I slowed down a little. I saw
my friend from skating. She ran up to me and gave me a hug. I asked how she
was doing. She said great! I left her behind as I
decided to run the last mile.
That last mile was odd. You run into Epcot go to the fountain
and turn back around. I did take a break from my running to take a picture with
the cat from Aristocats. My girl loves
that movie so I had to stop.
Everyone had told me that when you hear the Gospel Choir,
you are almost done. When I heard and saw them I almost cried again. I was
doing it. I was about to complete my first half marathon. OMG. Really? Me the
person that hates running.
At 13 miles, I could see the finish line. So I really
sprinted that last tenth. I had been trying to stay in front of the 3 hour
pacer guy. He was my evil balloon lady. I was never in danger of being swept so
I never saw the official balloon lady. But the idea of running faster than a 3
hour half was very appealing to me. So I just kept getting in front of that
pacer. Trust me. You have to find random
things to motivate yourself.
My official time was 3 hours and 3 minutes. I almost did it
under 3 hours. But the good news is I finished just before the race itself had
been running for 3 hours and 30 minutes. I started 24 minutes after the start.
I had two bio breaks. I took 6 pictures and still finished by 9:19. I ran the
course with 2 minutes to spare for the official 3:30 limit for the FIRST group
of runners. I don’t know how it happened. But somewhere along the way I became
a semi fast runner! I love it.
As always, I almost cried but managed to keep it
together. When I got my medal it was the
end of a long journey. But it was also confirmation that I am beginning
something even better!
*************
I will be making the princess an annual run. I hope to run
it each time with my girls. But if I don’t it is ok. Princesses are very
welcoming! And at the end of the day, each person has to run their own race. So
you are running alone but you are never lonely!
